superman and lil' punkin

Our little pajama fighting hero...Superman.

Our lil' punkin.

I guess I was really funny or something...either that or they're really scared...I don't remember.

We had a fun time trick or treating with our friends. Ethan didn't seem to remember last years trick or treating adventures with his cousins in St. Louis but he caught on really quick to the idea of going up to someones door and knocking while holding his bag open for candy. He would come running back to me saying "look mommy. I got candy!" Jude just hung back in the wagon until he had enough and let out a "I'm tired of sitting here" whine.

grandma visits

We had a great visit with Grandma Wood (Sue). She stayed with me and the boys while Jason was away for orientation at Reformed Theological Seminary in Charlotte, NC. She was such a great help with the boys and the boys loved having her here. I loved having her here not only for the help but the companionship. It made the week fly by...so fast that this was the only picture I got to document her visit. We miss her already.

pumpkin mush

Well it was fun while it lasted. Our poor pumpkin didn't have a chance in this hot weather. We lit the candle for one night and the next day we woke up to mush and mold. So now we know to keep our pumpkin in the fridge if we want it to last longer than 2 days....or just get those plastic ones.

pumpkin carving

Well it's Fall...even though it doesn't feel any different here. But we're trying to get into the Fall mind-set. So we bought a pumpkin and carved a 'not so scary' face on it. We had been reading a book about pumpkin carving, that Grandma Wood got him, called The Pumpkin Gospel, so we thought it would make more sense if he got to experience carving a real pumpkin. Ethan was a little grossed out by the mushy inside and once he got slimed he was done. Which doesn't make sense to me because he can be covered in sand or dirt and it doesn't bother him a bit. We then put a candle inside and Ethan thought that was the greatest thing.... I don't know what it is about boys and fire....

"God's love is like a candle that shines from inside out. It's beaming deep within me, and so I now can shout." (quote from The Pumpkin Gospel")

brotherly love

We are reading through the book, Having a Mary Heart in a Martha World in our Bible study and today part of our discussion was about God's "unconditional, never-ending love"...agape love. Although the love we express is tainted with sin, I think God shows us little reflections of the magnitude of His love for us in our earthly relationships. I first thought of the love I have for my children...it is automatic...and for the most part, in spite of. But I also thought of the love that Ethan has for his little brother. There are moments of jealousy or irritations but I love to see how they light up around each other and to see how Ethan already wants to care for Jude. If this is a glimpse of God's greatness...it makes me stand in awe and thankfulness of who God is...because His love is even greater than this.

new haircut

I finally realized that having long hair in Hawaii wasn't worth it...it's way to hot. I went in and got it all cut off and it feels great. I kept wanting to grow out my hair but I just wore it in pony-tails all the time. So I thought maybe it would be easier and maybe a little more sophisticated (more 30 looking) if I got a shorter cut. So here it is!

earthquake

We had a 6.7 magnitude earthquake here in Hawaii yesterday. The epicenter was 19 miles off the Big Island (so they got the most damage) and about 150 miles from us. It woke us all up at about 7:08am. We went and stood under a door frame because we weren't quite sure what else to do. Nothing was falling or breaking around us it just shook things for a while. The only change in our day was that the power was out for about 15 hours. It was interesting trying to cook and entertain ourselves without power. It was a rainy day which we were thankful for because it kept things cool inside since we couldn't turn on the fans.

I went to go buy a few essentials soon after, since we didn't know how long the power was going to be off. I stood in line for about 10 minutes and then had an employee escort me around with a flash light, writing down all the prices of the things I bought so that they could calculate it all up at the register. I could only pay cash since the card machines didn't work either.

I still can't believe that the quake made headlines everywhere and for so long. It definitely didn't feel like that big of a deal here. Not trying to make light of the situation but it made me see how media can definitley exaggerate a story. So all of you who were worried or wondering...things are back to normal today as if nothing had happened yesterday. Thanks for your prayers!

who does he look like?

They say Jude looks just like Jason...I don't see it....he,he. Okay, he actually doesn't have a baby goatee. It's just prunes or as Ethan calls it "chocolate". For some reason Jude feels like he needs to blow a raspberry after every bite. As you can see it ended up everywhere. Saying "no" to him only created more smiles and raspberries. And then as it splattered on his face he would jump as if he was wondering what was hitting him in the face. So I thought instead of getting really frustrated, I would take a picture and laugh at how much it looks like he's grown facial hair...it's so hard to be mad at such a cute little face.

7 months old

I can't believe how fast our little boy is growing. These pictures pretty much sum up all the facial expressions of Jude...the really serious/concentrating very hard face (usually there is the furrowed brow too but he wasn't concentrating that hard in this picture), the blowing raspberries and drooling face, and the big smile with his first little tooth sticking out face.

A little summary of what Jude is up to...

...he is crawling everywhere now. Nothing stops him...except the baby gate or a closed door. He pulls up on anything that has a hand hold....even strangers legs. He even stood alone for a few seconds the other day (I think it was a fluke though). He giggles when tickled and sometimes when his brother does something silly or when daddy plays peek-a-boo. He doesn't really do baby talk yet just kind of a low growl. And he loves to eat anything we give him...he even tries to find the crumbs that Ethan leaves behind. His really new trick is to scream...which is very ear piercing...to get what he needs. From things like getting Ethan to stop sitting on him to letting us know when he is done in the highchair. Sometimes it's a playful scream which is then followed by a big raspberry and spit flying everywhere. It's amazing how quickly they figure out how to get their way...and use something that is so annoying or disruptive that it's easy to give into it...it definitely grabs our attention. Water has become his favorite thing lately. As soon as you set him in water his little arms start splashing like crazy.

So that is the run down of our little cutie. It's fun to see him become so independent and to see his little personality come out. We look forward to seeing him grow more and more.

local bananas

Although sometimes I feel like I am a local banana, that was not what I was referring to. Ethan, Jude and I like to venture out to the farmers market on Thursday mornings (when we remember to go). You can get some great local, fresh produce for a pretty good price. Ethan loves when we get the local apple bananas and asks to eat one right away. I must say that I actually prefer apple bananas over the original ones. I can't describe why so if you want to try one yourself, you will just have to come out and visit us.

our vacation - part 3

It was great to walk on the beach in the evenings. Ethan loved walking through the tide pools and finding all sorts of treasures. I tried to get a good sunset picture but the picture above was all I could get.

Well it's nice to be home now. I think we all feel a little more refreshed than when we left. I would have put this all on one post but blogger only lets me put a few pictures on each post. If you want to start at the beginning scroll down to "our vacation - part 1" and work your way up.

our vacation - part 2

Ethan and I went on a train ride while we were vacationing. It's the only place on the island that has trains, and Ethan was so excited when we drove by. It was a 90 minute train ride that went along the southwestern shore on Oahu. We had a tour guide that talked the whole time and told us all about the history and vegetation facts along the way. And then when we got to the end we walked to the other side of the train car and sat down as it traveled back the same way it came. It was actually really interesting and entertaining....except for the hard bench seats that we sat on. Maybe when Jude gets bigger we'll do it again.

This wasn't the train we rode on but they had quite a few retired train cars and engines that we got to see.
It was great to have the beach right out our back door. Jude had his first experience of playing in the sand. He was quite mesmerized at first and then he put a fist full in his mouth and wasn't so happy about that. So our play time didn't last too long. You can tell we are all a bunch of fair skinned Haole (what Hawaiians call the white people)....with our hats and sun shirts.

our vacation - part 1

Well this was our first vacation here in Hawaii. We ventured on over to the other side of the island to Barber's Point where we rented a cabin right on the beach. Usually our vacations were going to see family, but since that's not very easy to do when you live in the middle of the ocean (and two small children on a 10 hour flight doesn't sound very appealing to me yet) we actually had to plan a real vacation. It was a much needed break. Jason left his cell phone and laptop at home so he had 3 whole days of not thinking or hearing about work. As always we feel like we now need a vacation after coming back. It's always hard to sleep in a new place, pack food, clothes and everything else a toddler and baby would need, and then to un-pack it all when we get home. But it was fun anyway and a great time to be together as a family.


When we got out to Barber's Point we got to hang out with our favorite family here in Hawaii. Beau and Malia and their girls played at the beach and had dinner with us. We all enjoyed the air conditioning together. It was fun being with them and once they left Ethan wanted to go home too. Thankfully he got over it and decided it was okay to sleep here instead. After having an accident in the bed once and falling out of it twice, he finally adjusted to the place the last night we were there. It's funny too that it took us about a day and one freezing night to figure out how to adjust the air-conditioners. It's been so long since we've had to work a thermostat.