And the Winner is....

Aaron...he was the closest guess. The price was $14.70, he guessed $15. Until next time.....

Merry Christmas! I hope everyone is being good so Santa doesn't skip your house this year. Be safe and remember the real reason we celebrate!

A Must Watch!

So Cute and SO true!

(Don't forget to guess, it's still going.)

Guessing Time Again....

So what do you think, $20, $30, $100....The possibilities are endless and this time there will be a prize! (Take a guess at what the brown thing is in the bottom right corner.) Two guessing games in one....you are so lucky (or I just really want some comments)!

Living in Hawaii has a few perks and China Town in one of them! Have fun! After 5 guesses I will give a hint (that is if no one guesses correctly).

Will I Ever Sleep Again?

That is the question I ask myself nightly. I spoke too soon when I was telling my friend that my girls were doing great sleeping in their own beds and I'm sleeping. The last few nights I just couldn't wait for the sun to come up. At 11 and 12 and 1 and 2 and 3 and 4 and 5. Getting back to sleep is no easy feat for me. I just pray for the patience to carry on and make it until it's time to really get up.

Is it just me or does anyone else have this problem? If is not Lucy it's Ellie. If it's not Ellie is Lucy. Recently the thought of going to bed gives me anxiety. Getting comfortable and relaxing isn't nice anymore. I know I will be awaken by, "mommy, I want hold your hand", "mommy, I want to sleep in your bed", WAHHHHHHHHHHH!", "WAHHHHHHHH",WAHHHHHHHH", or "mommy, I have a go pee pee". All legitimate excuses, but man it sure can take a toll on you during the day. Oh and get this, if I'm not up with them I'm usually dreaming that I am, yes dreaming, about getting up in the middle of the night with them. Sucks, I know!

Will I ever get time to myself, will I ever get to take a shower by myself, will I ever get to go to the store without hearing, "I want, I want" (oh, wait that's me), will I ever get to do my exercise video without having someone sitting on my lap, will I ever get to eat a meal is peace while it's hot, will I ever sleep again? I know there will come a day when they wont want me and I'll stay awake anyway and check on them and worry about them and fret over them, and and and...

How's your day going?

Guess I wont be moving to the Big Island anytime soon!

While Julius was on the Big Island (Kohala) he went surfing.  When he came back this very nice message was on his rental car window.  

Move Over Beethoven

We had a great time in California.  I spent money, did stuff with friends and had a nanny (aka mom), how much better could it get.   The girls and I had a great time with the family.  The weather was spectacular, well it was cold between 4pm and 12pm, but the rest of the time was great.

We are happy to be home and back to our regular routine.  There is nothing like a vacation, but being home is really great, too!

Here are the girls playing the piano at mommer and papa's house. Aren't they cute!?!?!?!?

CALIFORNIA

I'm in Sacramento (freezing my little toesies

off) and loving ever minute of it (well, Julius isn't here so maybe not every minute). The girls are having so much fun with the family. I am sitting here right now by myself...no children jumping on me, crying for or because of something, asking for food or a drink, ecetera, ectera, ectera. This is going to be a really good three weeks! Will post soon!

Born To Be Surfers

Momma Bear

(This picture has nothing to do with my post, just thought it was cute and that you'd like to see one of my many "photo shoot gone wrong".

So, the other day I had to go to Wal-Mart to get a few things and of course I took my children with me. I like to go out early in the morning, first, because they are up dang early and we might as well and second, because going out and doing things gets them dang tired and they take really great naps. Well we weren't there more then 2 minutes and Lucy starts whining and crying and wanting to be carried, wanting to look at princess stuff (if she is crying and whining I don't let her look at stuff she likes), so I decide to just get the toilet paper and leave. Well, as we are walking to the cash registers, I have all the old cronies looking at me and at Lucy and wondering if she's lost or a brat or whatever (old people... love you guys, but sometimes....didn't you have children once?), but one lady.....says as she walks past me, "Gosh (the other word), shut up,mumble, mumble, mumble". Right in front of me! I don't know what happened to me, but I totally lost it. I am right there near the cash registers and I'm not really sure how loud I said this, but I said, "Haven't you ever had bad day.......Well, she's having one today!!!!!"


She didn't like that very much and by the looks of it I didn't get support from anyone around me. I have never felt the mother bear come out in me. I have felt it in other ways, but never the protecting from another person, and I was mad and irritated at Lucy, but couldn't help but feel... protective. WEIRD! So now I'm mad at Lucy and mad at this old lady, my day started off really well. I did have to call me conscience (my mom) to make sure I did the right thing. (She always knows how to make me feel better.) She told me just wait until the kids get older and you have people coming to your door to tell you what your kid has done....not looking forward to that. I guess I can live with them having fits in Wal-Mart.

Anyone ever done anything like that?

The Answer

You were all WRONG.  Sorry, no one wins the trip to Hawaii. (Lib, I didn't get any help finding my eternal companion...so you are on your own, too.....though your mom tried her darndest to help!)  Jody you cheated because you know I only spend usually around $20.  Bad Girl! 

$21, that's all I spent (that's counting all the stuff that's not in the picture, too).  Not too bad huh!  Hope you had fun guessing!  More guessing games to come.  (You'll have to play the next guessing game to find out what the prize was!)

China Town

Moving to town we decided that we needed to start going to China Town (we live only a few minutes away) to get our fruits and veggies and a other things. Well it took us a while, but now we go every week, sometimes 2 times. Missing from this picture is 3 bags of mung beans, 3 plums, 2 nectarines, 2 bananas and 4 filipino thingys (we kinda get a little hungry while we are there and eat them before we even get to the car or give them to people).

Our kids love to eat the fruit and veggies and it is soooo much cheaper than at the grocery store (this would probaby cost close to $50 at the grocery store....no joke). We are eating healthier and fresher. I love it when the girls go into the fridge and get out broccoli (yes, they love it) or a nectarine or plum...they think it's candy!

I was going to tell you how much everything cost, but decided against it...I want you to guess (that's a way to get some comments)! Whoever guesses right, first, I will do something for you...maybe!

Tanks, eh!

What is it about comments; it really makes one (me) feel special. I know people look at my blog, but comments are the BEST! Thanks to my friends and sister-in-law for the many comments that they left. I know they were from me and 3 other people, but it was fun to see the 24 comments on the bottom of the post. I know I sound really pathetic and I might be, but it was fun! Mahalo!

Our Sufer Girl

Whether she wants to or not, Daddy is going to have a surfer in the family. Lucy does love to get on Daddy's board and paddle in the little tide pool (so we aren't forcing too much...just supporting and encouraging more in certain areas). This is the first time she stood up on the board and was doing really good, she has always had really great balance (she takes after Daddy). Now Ellie on the other hand didn't enjoy sitting on the board (hence, no pic of Ellie) and takes after Mommy with her balance.

100% Guaranteed to Cure a Cough

Okay so maybe it's not 100% guaranteed, but I love it and it seems to work for me. If any of us have a cough, we put VICKS VAPOR RUB on the bottom of our feet and then put socks on.....totally works for us and we sleep nicely through the night.

Other things I live by:

• Mr. Clean Magic Eraser, don't ask questions just use it.
• O.P.I (or whatever it is) for my fingernail polish
• Hyland's Teething Tablets
• O.B. tampons
• Clorox2 for colors to clean the spots on my rug
• Define-A-Lash Maybelline Mascara Waterproof

There are probably so many more and I will think of them as soon as I post this blog, but....

YOURS?

Make Life Easier

I love the magazine Parenting, it has so many great articles that (if you actually do it) can make a parents life a little easier. When kids come along life gets a little (a lot) crazier.

Julius and I used to go surfing all the time. We would get home from work, stick our boards on the car and go. We would get to the beach take our boards and surf for hours then go home. Now we have to get toys, bathing suits, snacks, tent, umbrella, lots of towels, extra snacks, sippy cups, diaper bag (and make sure it actually has diapers in it) clothes to put on after we shower them off, usually someone screams and pitches a fit before we go, and....well, you get the picture. And that is before we even get to the beach! But we have gotten it down to a science and enjoy going, but there are some things we can do to make our lives easier.

1. SAY "NO". Do you really have to volunteer for everything. People already like you, don't make yourself crazier that you already are! "Yes" is simpler to say, but is it really?

Even simple things like letting your daughter/son choose from their entire closet full of clothes, say NO and only let them choose between two of them. Or alternate foods at dinner time.....say NO and if they don't eat what you've given them....too bad. I have a friend who makes different meals for each of her children (and husband)......I don't think so!

2. ASK FOR HELP. Pretty simple, but so hard. I have kind of forced a friendship at church (Hi Nicole)...I know, I'm pushy what can I say, but I wanted to have someone close that I can go to for help and that I can help as well (it goes both ways, so if you ask for help be ready to give it). We are there if someone needs to drop off kids to go somewhere or just talk. It's kinda nice. Asking for help takes you out of your comfort zone a little, but it is so worth it in the long run.

3. PLAN AHEAD. My ward starts at 8am (I know!). We used to get up and force everything....baths, breakfast, clothes, hair etc. I usually went to church without the spirit, with crying babies and usually missing something from the diaper bag. Now I get everything ready the night before. Church really is so much more pleasant...I am sooooo much more pleasant! My children like me so much better and I don't have feel guilty anymore. Just a little planning is all is takes.

4. LET YOURSELF OFF THE HOOK. Don't compare yourself to all of your friends and try to keep up with whatever they are doing. The grass always seems greener on the other side! Don't be so hard on yourself when your kids are screaming in the store and you have to drag them out kicking and screaming or when you spend all of church out in the hall because you kid is being bad. It's okay, we all have to go through it! You're a good parent....I promise!

5. DO ONE THING AT ONCE. How many of us drive, shop, play with our kids, talk to our friends while thinking of all the hundreds of things we have to do for church, school, work, kids, house, etc. STOP! Just do whatever it is your doing, all the other stuff will be there later. I find writing stuff down helps me to get it out of my head, then I don't have to think about it again until I have to do it. Be in the moment. If you are playing with your kids, just enjoy playing with them. I am not a great mutitasker, so this one is really good for me. I think multitasking is bad for your health!

Taken from the May 2008 Parenting magazine, "I'll try anything!" pg 103-106 (with my added 2 cents!)

What have you done to make your life easier? I want to know!!!!

Why I Don't Buy Toys!

Yes, my children do have toys, but I don't really go out and buy them, they come to me, but even if I did spend hundreds and hundreds of dollars on my kids, what do they end up playing with???????.............the crap in your cupboards!  Ellie loves the plastic container cabinet.  The second she pulls them out she will leave and the second I put them back in she's back to do it again!   It totally drives me insane, but then it keeps her quiet for a few minutes....I'm a total sucker for a few minutes of quiet!

Who would have thought...

I can't believe I'm doing this, but I have to...Dark Knight was an awesome movie. I actually went on a date with my hubby (first time in a long time) and he wasn't into watching The Sisterhood of the Traveling Pants 2, so I gave in a saw Dark Knight. Holy Moly, I was chewing a piece of gum and didn't realize that I was chomping down on it so hard until the end of the movie....My jaw hurts!! Heath Ledger (God rest his poor troubled soul) who was amazing, I sat at the edge of my seat the entire movie waiting for what he would do next.

Go see it, you'll be glad you did!

My Lookielous

The girls love to look out the window and see what's going on in the neighborhood. They both get their little toes up on the baseboard and hang on for dear life on the window ledge, it's so cute! They know the sound of our truck and know that daddy or mommy is coming home. They also look out and wave when the neighbors are coming and going.

Confession

So I lost my voice and for the last couple of days our home has been very calm. Are those two connected?

My Surfer Dude

Here is my husband body surfing (no board) at a spot called Point Panic. He is totally obsessed with looking at pictures of himself surfing, it's kinda cute (why do guys like looking at pics of themselves?). There is a guy who takes pictures of the body surfers out there early in the morning and Julius loves to go to the guy's website and see how many good shots there are of his body surfing session...this one is pretty cool! You can only body surf at this spot as it is very close to the rocks and isn't all that surfer friendly...although he has surfed there (if you get caught it's a $50 fine).

Bad Jamie!

Went to Costco tonight and I totally traded grapes for ice cream and cookies....is that bad?

Past and Present Addictions Meeting For The First Time

I used to love the New Kids On The Block...It is more than 18 years ago that I had my heart set on marrying Joe McIntyre.  Well, I never did marry Joe, but I did save all their stuff I bought and have sold it on ebay!!!!!

I love ebay, what is it about ebay that is just so....addicting, fun, exciting, different....when I put my stuff for sale on ebay, it's...euphoric.   I love to sign in and go to "My eBay" and see how much the price has gone up since the last time I checked (which is usually every 5 mins...I get excited).  My NKOTB stuff is selling like hotcakes.  Man, people out their are strange...yes, I know I bought this stuff myself, but that was 20 years ago! (Man, I never thought I'd ever say "20 years ago"...weird!)  I have sold my magazines, old worn out...wait let's be politically correct, "vintage" t-shirts, buttons, card games, and right now the ugly carpenter's hat is at 10.00

Two worlds coming together.  One addiction, that I put a lot of money into, is making me money on another addiction.  I've made enough money to pay for our car registration....gotta love that! 

A Wonderful Start to a Long Weekend

I call this picture "my little crabs". Julius took the day off and we went to the beach. I know you are probably thinking that we are pretty boring as we always do the same thing, but we really do love the beach. We were there all by ourselves which was really nice! The girls just played and played, Julius surfed, and I read a book and took pictures of the girls. Ele feel asleep on the way home and Lucy asked to take a nap.....who could ask for anything more?!?!?!?!

HAPPY Independence Day!

Yeah, Right!

You Are Snow White!

Pure and trusting. You are a gentle soul who can get along with just about anyone. Everyone you meet instantly falls in love with you. How can they resist? You have a pure, lovable nature that's irresistable. Just don't trust everyone who comes across your path.

Which Disney Princess Are You?

"Old Lady"?!

Old Lady? Old Lady! While we were at the beach the other day I was taking pictures of the girls and these little kids were playing around us and one of them said to another, "hey, watch out, the old lady is taking pictures." WHAT? Old Lady? Excuse me?

Though I have started to notice my eyes are different, what in the heck are those lines all around them? Why do my eye lids seem to stay pushed to one side after I put on my eye shadow? What is this spare tire thing that has seemed to get caught around my waist after I turned 30? Why does the skin on the back of my hands seem to be thinning? What is this gray thing growing out of my head? Why are there lines on my forehead when I'm not even scrunching my eyebrows together? Are my lips getting smaller/thinner? What is happening to my body?

Old Lady? Well, I guess. It's pretty sad, though... it's only when I've started to become an "old lady" that I've really gotten to like myself better....now that everything seems to be falling apart, I'm more happy with who I am. But, I think I might have to stop smiling, laughing and scrunching my eyebrows together. Can't afford anymore wrinkles! We never appreciate things when we have them. Never thought one should appreciate snappy eye lids....wish I would have known!

Going Green

I'm not a tree hugger and/or environmentalist, by any means, I don't even really believe in global warming (I know, I'm going to hear it from some of you for that comment), but I do believe in saving money and if "going green" is the way to do it I'm all for it! Save a few trees or land fills while I'm at it.

Here are just a few things that I'm doing:

• Reusable bags from the grocery store. If I forget them I will carry the stuff out without the bag, I usually get stopped and have my receipt checked because they think I'm stealing....

• Hanging my clothes out in the line to dry. I love this one and am totally obsessed with doing it! We have cut our gas bill in half by doing this....they smell really good, too.

• Our water heater is turned down almost to the lowest temp....our visitors don't really care for this, but come on we live in Hawaii.

• We started a garden. The picture you see is the start of it, tomatoes, watermelon, and cucumbers.

• Being efficient while washing dishes. I always thought my mom was so weird doing this, but I have totally turned into her! While I am rinsing the dishes I have the other one ready and while I'm putting the one I just rinsed in the drainer, I am rinsing the other on off.....it is really efficient, not only do I save water, but I get my dishes done really fast.

• I shop at the thrift stores or on craigslist, I don't know why more people don't do this. There is some really great stuff out there and for really cheap.

• I turn off my oven for the last few minutes of cooking. There is enough heat in there to finish the job.

• All of my electrical things that don't need electricity all the time (i.e. refridge) are connected to surge protectors and I turn them off whenever not in use.

• RECYCLE!! We don't have a program in our area for newspapers, cardboard, or the plastic items with 1 or 2 on the bottom, but my friend's area does. So I save up my stuff and take it to her place and add it to her stuff.

I know some of these things sound a little silly, but it has really made a difference in our bills and my peace of mind. I'm not patting myself on the back, just letting you know what's working for us. I don't want to be a wasteful person and I am trying....very trying (as my mom would always say).

Just A Pic Of The Family

I HAD A BAD DAY

Yes, I did have a bad day and I wrote a little song to go with it. Tune to Daniel Powter's Bad Day.

BAD DAY

Where is the moment I needed the most
You have 2 babies and the magic is lost
I’ll tell you my blue skies faded to gray
I’ll tell you my passion’s gone away
And I don’t want to carry on

You wake up in the morning and hit a new low
You’re faking a smile with the Cheerios you go
I’ll tell you my life feels way off line
I’m falling to pieces with every whine
And I don’t want to carry on

Because I had a bad day
I’m feeling real down
I sing a primary song to turn it around
Lucy says “NO, NO!”
She tell me lots of lies
I work at a smile and I want to sigh
I had a bad day
The wrinkles don’t lie
I’m getting real old and I really do mind
I had a bad day
I had a bad day

I Love Life ...For Today, Anyway

Sometimes I just go about my day and forget that there is a big world out there. I get so caught up in doing laundry, cleaning this or that, putting Lucy in time-out, that I forget to have fun. Well, I went to the beach on Saturday and Monday and had a great time. Ellie loves to explore the sand and Lucy loves to play in the water. What more could a woman ask for. We are potty training and have had a few "incidents" that I wont go into, (but if you really want to know, email me and I will tell you), but they were pretty funny. I am really glad not many people were around! Life is good and I enjoy getting out and getting sun, it's good for the soul. My goal is to do fun things more often with the girls; dishes, laundry, and time-outs can wait, they are still going to be there when I come home!

I Hit Her

(Now before you go and call CPS on me, read.) Lucy and Ellie have finally started to play together (by play I mean Ellie wants to be near Lucy whenever possible). Lucy doesn't really like to have Ellie around when they are playing because Ellie touches her stuff and Lucy is in time out a lot as she "disciplines" Ellie for it. For the most part I am near and see Lucy doing it, hence the time outs. One day I hear Ellie scream and cry and see Lucy running out of their bedroom (with a guilty face) and I asked her what happened, she said "I hit her". First, I was thrown off because she said a sentence, second, because I understood it, and third, because she told the truth. I didn't know what to do, so I just turned around a walked away (to get Ellie, I'm not too neglectful, this all took place in a matter of seconds). I got some good advice from my mom as I always do, but I would like to know what you would do. She was honest, I wasn't there to see it, I know I should have done something, but what? And what should I do to get Lucy to be nicer to her Ellie?

Potty Training

Who would have thought that this would be soooo hard? I have to say, I don't enjoy it one bit. It always just seems kids one day are in diapers and the next they are in undies. No one told me that I would have to ask her every other minute for who knows how many days about going pee-pee or poo-poo. You know I used to have decent conversations with people, now my day consists of talking about bowel movements. Today we had a little drama about going #2 in the toilet. Lucy was totally freaking out, not wanting to "go" on the toilet. Well, after 30 minutes of her saying, "No pee-pee, poo-poo in toilet" (I wont tell you I saw "it" wanting to come out...gross) I got her to put on a diaper. Well, she lasted all of 2 minutes in the diaper and then told me she wanted to go in the toilet. After she did some of her business came out she got very excited, but then started to cry.....oh,the drama. After more than a half and hour of whining, crying and fighting me about going on the toilet she did it and we did a little dance of joy in the bathroom. OK, maybe I do enjoy some aspects of it....crazy, I know!