Wednesday afternoons Jude and I get to hang out together while Ethan has Awanas. It's fun to have this time with Jude. He becomes quite chatty and I think he enjoys the one-on-one attention. But during this time I also have to get dinner ready, so Jude has to figure out what to do on his own. He's usually pretty laid back and is good about playing on his own (I guess it's a second born thing), so I brought out the play dough for him to play with. He sat quite contentedly and quietly (except for the occasional dialogue he was having with his pretend characters he made out of play dough) the whole time I was getting dinner ready. I stopped at one point just to watch him play and just had one of those mommy moments where you want to go over and squeeze your kid because they are just so darn cute.
I truly am thankful for my boys (and this little baby girl growing in my belly) and that God chose me to be their mommy. It is a gift and blessing to be a mom and so often a big part of my sanctification. It is a high calling that requires constant running to God for wisdom and strength. I just pray that above all God would be glorified through my efforts at being a mom to my children.
"Behold, children are a heritage from the Lord, The fruit of the womb is a reward."
Psalm 127:3
You can't even put a price on that. So you better hurry before we fill our house up with kids...then there won't be any room for guests, unless you don't mind sleeping in a tent in the backyard.
Then they each were able to pick out one pumpkin each to carve in about a week because any sooner and we'll have a carved pumpkin of mush.
This was the "chief" who showed us his fire dance, fire starting, conch calling, and coconut shelling skills. Very impressive.
Here's Jude drinking the coconut milk from a freshly cut coconut. He will try anything. He also ate the star fruit (seeds and all) they were picking off the trees and handing to us.
And then we finished off our tour with a boat ride around a 800 year old fish pond created by the Hawaiians...and the beautiful Kualoa mountains in the background. Apparently the big draw to these gardens and farm are the many movies/TV shows filmed on this location (LOST; 50 First Dates; Gilligan's Island; You, Me and Dupree; Fantasy Island; Jurassic Park) which they pointed out to us as we sailed around the pond.
This is our first eggplant which still needs to grow and ripen a little longer...but isn't it beautiful. I can't wait to roast it on the grill and eat it.
This is our mint plant which is growing like crazy. I have enjoyed drinking mint water since I have to drink so much water...being pregnant and all. It is really refreshing.
Next is our basil plant which looks puny now but I just cut it back to make some fresh basil pesto. Thanks to my friend Jocelyn on how to make it and freeze it...can't wait to use that in my next recipe...yum!
Ethan tries to plant every seed he comes across, either while outside or eating. So one night we were eating watermelon and he decided he would plant the seed to see if it grows. He always follows that with "does this plant grow in Hawaii mom?". This particular species does...a Thai watermelon. So we'll see. I think we may have to plant this one in the ground because I'm pretty sure these plants need LOTS of space...more than a little container.
And last is our yellow squash which produces these beautiful flowers. And that's about it. I've heard from friends who try to grow yellow squash that they don't actually get any squash either. So I'm not sure if the bees aren't doing their job or maybe these plants don't enjoy the warm Hawaiian weather. So we'll wait a few more weeks and see what happens. If not I may just replace it with zucchini, which is what I really wanted all along. I just couldn't find a starter plant anywhere. I guess everyone else wants zucchini as well.
swimming
team work
