F is for fireman and froggy

Such excitement!
Giving a little of their shy side.
Jude giving the "what sup" head nod.
Ethan probably thinking "enough with the pictures already. I just want to go get candy"...
...and Jude wondering what exactly was going on.

We had lots of fun tonight....playing games, getting candy and having some good family time! We first started off at a local church's Fall Festival party and then headed off to our friend's neighborhood (which is apparently the place to be on Halloween). Ethan was an old pro and his costume seemed to be a big hit since he was the only firefighter around. And Jude being new at the whole 'trick or treat' idea, quickly figured out how to look cute and get candy in his bag.

My friend RT had an interesting link on her blog about Halloween....I don't think I ever heard of Halloween being a Christian holiday (or maybe every one else knew that but me) unless it was celebrated as Reformation Day. A very interesting read.

punkin' mush

Boys and fire...they couldn't stop starring at the lit candle inside.

Ethan said he would be the photographer because he didn't care much for the slime. Where Jude loved picking out the seeds and sticking his fingers in all the gooey inside.


We waited until the night before Halloween to carve our pumpkin (the little pumpkin is our battery operated one) because from our experience last year we learned that pumpkins turn to mush over night once they're carved. So we took our pictures and enjoyed the glow...knowing that in the morning it would be full of mold and fruit flies.

oh no...

...the sewing urge is hitting again....and it's pretty bad this time. I have some projects in mind and I found some great fabrics....at a really great price. So if my finished products turn out okay I might post some pictures. Hopefully this will be fun and enjoyable.

But my dream has always been to make things to sell....kind of like a side business. Not to own my own store but maybe through someone else's store, my own website, etc. We'll see...my dream may quickly fade when I hit those two big road blocks "this is taking way too long to make" or "it didn't turn out like I thought it would".

fall

Fall is my favorite season...and the season I miss the most in Hawaii. Jason bought me these mums when I got home from my trip to St. Louis...ahhhh!

future blogger

Jude jumps at the chance to climb up into the computer chair once someone vacates it...not a good thing. Most of the time I catch him in time to tell him "no-touch" and give him a distraction. But yesterday he somehow managed to log me out with 21 applications open...still not sure how he did that one.

one full day of adventure

The day started off like any other day at the station. Ethan and his fellow fire-fighter, Jude, whisked off to fight another fire today...Ethan full of excitement and turning the corners a bit too sharp and Jude hanging onto the dashboard for dear life.

For some reason Ethan seemed to have shrunk overnight...either that or his clothes grew...

...but with all of the experience Jude had, he could do this job with his eyes shut.

Once their job was done they had no time to waste as they had their early morning under-the-sea TV program to film...Ethan Octopus and Jude Star.

They then thought they could squeeze some car maintenance in before they headed off to their other job. Ethan is a good teacher and tried to teach Jude everything he knew about cars.
Judge Ethan and Judge Jude finished their latest case Matchbox vs. Hotwheels cars, just in time to catch their plane for their next adventure.
Their first stop was to China, where they quickly adapted to the culture. Ethan-son went straight to the kitchen to cook up a great meal of noodles and wantons in his Kung-Fu outfit...
and Jude-kid said he had such a busy day that he really just wanted to go play choo-choo's.

Before they realized it, their next flight was boarding and they quickly had to get to the airport to get to their next destination....Japan.They were just in time for a mid-afternoon snack but both were surprised at what they were served...Ethan mumbled out the side of his mouth to his little bro' Jude "is this really raw fish?". They both stood their speechless and started getting homesick. It was decided that they would take the first ship out that afternoon to get back to the Hawaiian islands ASAP.

Jude was glad that he had his sailing license because that saved them a lot of money on their voyage back home. At times he would start to daydream about the warm sunny beaches and chicken nuggets.They finally made it home and went straight to the pineapple fields to pick a pineapple or two for dinner that night.

Thanks to the Hawaii Children's Discovery Center of Honolulu for such a fun filled day.

The End.

bubble blowing

Okay, I love that Blogger has made it so easy to put videos on my blog...so hopefully you all aren't sick of watching them. This one is of Jude blowing bubbles...or is that eating bubbles.

...and the reason for Jude's slicked over hair is because he just had his bath.

finger paints

Today we had fun with finger paints (or Jude's way would be hand paints). I searched on-line for an easy make-it-yourself recipe and found this one. As you can see it was a big hit and turned into a bit of chaos that ended in middle of the day baths...this was definitely a craft time that required no clothes.

Here's the recipe:

Mix together 2 tablespoons of sugar and 1/3 cup of cornstarch in a small pan, then slowly add 2 cups of cold water.
• Cook over low heat, stirring until the mixture becomes a smooth, almost clear gel (about 15-20 minutes).
• When it's cool, stir in 1/4 cup dishwashing liquid.
• Scoop equal amounts of the mixture into containers and stir in food coloring (or, for even more vibrant colors, use food coloring paste).

It even suggests using it in the bathtub since it has soap in it...but that's a little too out of control for me. It can be stored for up to a week...except there wasn't much left when Jude and Ethan were done with their masterpieces.

back home

Aged to Perfection!
Jeffry and his sweetie.
Tara and I had a lot of fun hanging-out time...watching movies, eating chocolate, staying up way too late talking, eating chocolate (oh wait, I already said that), shopping at Target...

That is our "new" brunette sister...we're not sure what her real hair color is anymore. But I must say I like this color.
Kyle took this picture...that's why we all have double chins.

The big party!
My cute little nephew...
...and my one and only (cutie pie) niece.
My parents...dry and warm after their polar bear swim in the Meremac River on our float trip. Maybe it's too soon to make jokes and laugh about that.

Well I'm back now from St. Louis and I still can't believe how quickly my time went there. I am so glad I was able to go and surprise my mom for her birthday and make some great memories with my family. What a fun time we had!

surprise

For those of you who knew I was flying to St. Louis to surprise my mom for her 60th birthday...here's a video. Boy, was she surprised! I am so glad I can finally blog about it. It is so hard to keep a secret like that.

**I never knew my laugh sounded a little bit like a hyena.

pledge

This is Ethan saying the Pledge of Allegiance...I love when little kids try to say big words. I was teaching this to Ethan before we did school each day, and he's such a kid of routine that if I forget he will remind me. He loves to memorize things and just absorbs things like crazy. I must say he is a fun student to have.



*side-note: please excuse the school mess on the table...it would be nice if there was an editing software that can delete backgrounds...or a software that would just delete clutter in real life would be even better.
**another side-note: he is facing a little paper flag that you can't see in the video...just in case you were wondering.

fun in the sun

I had MOP's (Mothers of Preschoolers) this morning but we had to skip it because we are still on the mend from our colds....bummer. One thing I have discovered from living in Hawaii is the healing "powers" of the beach for respiratory infections. The salt air is the best natural dehumidifier and the salt water is like saline nose drops. Although it's not (get it?...snot) a pretty sight to see, it helps with breathing for little ones. So we had fun this morning soaking in the sun and playing in the water.

We found an abandoned sand castle which is always a big hit...because they can demolish it without anyone getting upset.

You can tell the winter season is approaching here in Hawaii because the beach was practically empty today...except for the few walkers/joggers that ventured out on such a "cold" day. Being 81 degrees it's hard to enjoy the beach in such cold weather.

Ethan found a vine laying on the beach and realized it to be the best toy ever...forget all the cool beach toys.

We've had some cloudy weather and rain over the past week, so it was nice to be in the sunshine...I don't know if Jude felt the same way.

It's days like this that I love living in Hawaii. It's the best back yard in the world. Besides the cold water and the fact that I got stung by a Man-o-war 4 times today (3 times by one man-o-war...not smart I know....the tentacles on those things are really long), it was a great day.