lost

Tonight we got to see the season premiere of Lost - the final season down at Waikiki...3 days before the world gets to see it. Don't worry I won't spoil it by giving away the story, for those Lost fans out there. We brought our dinner, set up our chairs, found a nice spot off to the side where we weren't crowded around by other people, poured our glasses of wine and then...couldn't hear a thing. It sounded like the adults on a Charlie Brown cartoon. Which explains why we didn't have a bunch of people crowding around us. But it was still fun...I think we caught most of the story line but will have to tune in on Tuesday to actually listen to the dialogue.

It's fun to watch a show where you recognize the places that they film. The stars did a red carpet walk before it began but we didn't go watch because we see quite a few of the actors around town anyway. I've seen them mailing packages at the post office, walking out of the grocery store with toilet paper in hand, driving down the road, at the beach and running around the neighborhood. They seem so ordinary....except they're famous around the world and make way too much money for the work they do. The life of the celebrity is an interesting one. Why does it seem so appealing to the world? It actually seems kind of lonely and fabricated.

oh so yummy smoothie

What happens when you drink a very-berry-spinach smoothie without a straw? This...

And this is what happens when you use a straw.

friends

The 5 minutes that there was calm in the house...otherwise it was lots of running around, laughing, shooting Nerf guns and just that crazy boy energy. But us adults enjoyed that 5 minutes of uninterrupted conversation...except there was one little girl that was then wanting to speak up.

Our friends left for the mission field this week. We will miss them but are so excited to see the work they will do in God's Kingdom. I always admire those that leave all they know and go to a land that is hostile toward them because of their faith. It helps to put into perspective where we are at and even though we are an ocean apart from what used to be familiar to us, we can proclaim our faith and freely worship together in community.

As I was thinking of their mission work I was reminded of something we studied in our Bible Study this week. It challenged me to think about what I put my faith in. I say Christ but my actions don't reflect it. How do I know? Because I become fearful, anxious, stressed, and irritable. I am more worried about accomplishing what I want done rather than trusting in God to use me for what he wants to accomplish. All signs that I am putting my faith in myself and others. Here is an excerpt from the study:

"...if they [disciples] wished to accomplish things as His disciples, then they would have to learn to trust in Him and in Him alone to do what was necessary through them...the success of it all was due not to any power in themselves, but in Christ. Jesus rebuked them for their "little faith."(Matthew 17:14-21)...He used the term "little faith" to describe a vain faith, one that was in themselves or in men rather than in the Lord...He meant that they had demonstrated in this case a kind of faith that was directed not to Jesus ("great faith") but toward their own ability ("little faith"). It was the kind, the quality of faith that was inferior, not the quantity of faith."

"This was a most important lesson, for thereafter many who undertook to do work in God's Kingdom would seek to do what they did in their own strength rather than by trusting in the Lord. It is never a question of whether we have enough faith, but whether we have the right kind of faith, whether our faith is directed toward God or toward ourselves." (Jack Scott commentary p.7)

Our friends are excited about where they are going. Their faith is built on a great trust in the Lord, even though where they are going has so many unknowns. They see this mission as a privilege to serve God. What a challenge for me to see their unwavering faith and what a blessing to know this sweet family.

Jude sayings

This kid cracks me up and is constantly entertaining us with funny Jude phrases. These were a few from just the past couple of days:

After Jason fixed a blown out tire on his bike (not sure how he did that one), he came riding up to me and with much excitement said "My dream came true mommy."

A Cars movie fan, he is constantly tearing around on his bicycle and saying "Sting like a beamer."

Yesterday he asked "Can we go to Green Walls today?" They just put in a Walgreens on our side of the island and as you can see it's about the only exciting store we have.

We are big Vitamin C fans...so every morning Jude asks "Can I have a Vitamin Seed?"

Our neighbor gave Jude a nickel and a dime and he came running in to tell me "Mommy, these are so expensible. You can have this one" as he hands me the nickel.

And at random times of the day he will turn to me and say "I like ya mommy."

local language

When we first moved to Hawaii we learned quite a bit that first year when it came to the local language. Things like going she-she (pee-pee), all pau (all done), auntie and uncle (what kids call any stranger they meet), pu-pu's (appetizers) and keiki (child). But something new we started hearing a lot after Ansley was born was that she had two giddie, giddies. Huh? Apparently that is what they call the hair swirls (which I would call a cow-lick) and when there are two or more giddie, giddies you can expect to have quite the rascal of a kid. Funny how that is so true of Ansley.

Unfortunately two giddie, giddies also makes your hair do this...and this...no matter how much you try to wet it down.

we have a walker

We have an official walker! She prefers it now...unless she has a lot of obstacles to get over, then she reverts back to crawling. As you can see she can multi-task as well...drinking and walking.

glitter

Jude's creation

After Jude asked me for the millionth time if he can do a "craft", I finally let him pull out the craft box and he came up with this masterpiece. I have to say there is nothing I dislike more than glitter...and even worse glitter glue (cards with glitter drive me nut-so, and the make-up with sparkles...I won't even go there). The sparkles bother me because no matter how much you clean up glitter, there are always specks of it that linger. I'm pretty sure 5 days from now I will still be finding a random speck of glitter stuck to their faces. But I had to let go of my control issues of wanting a glitter free life and let my kids enjoy crafting for a day. Check. We're done for the year now, right?

bonk!

Not sure where Ansley picked this up but it's the one thing she does on demand. We try to get her to wave bye-bye or clap her hands or repeat words...you know all of those developmental things the doctor asks you about...and she just stares at us like we're weird. But as soon as you say "bonk!" she immediately bonks herself in the head with her hand or toy if she's holding one. It doesn't look very smart but she always gets a laugh out of it from us...I think she is going to be our little comedian...either that or the class clown who always gets in trouble for trying to be funny.

bear order

Two more orders (the other one I forgot to take a picture of...and it included a bib and burpie). Glad to get some more business.

project complete

This was a project that ended up taking waaaayyyy longer than I thought but I am pretty pleased with the outcome. It was my $15 find at the thrift store.Once again I forgot to take a before picture before we started sanding it down...but you get the idea of how ugly it was.And after...a beautiful ebony stain.

resolutions

I'm not one to usually make new years resolutions but this year I made one...only I'm not starting until this Sunday. Does that still count?

Now this is not for the purpose of becoming the perfect homemaker because if you saw my house on any given day you would not think that of me at all. But the goal is to give me some accountability.

A friend of mine shared this website with me http://www.motivatedmoms.com/products.html and it has check-off lists for house chores...I am all about check-off lists. It makes me feel like I accomplish so much. Living in a 1200 sq. ft. home with three small children usually makes my cleaning efforts last about 5 seconds, so I can't find satisfaction in the look of a clean home. But check-lists prove that I did do something.

I like these lists because it is just a little here and a little there...not overwhelming at all. But it gets more than the basic laundry, dishes, cooking, etc. done. Stuff like cleaning out the dining room light fixture or wiping down the front of the dish washer. Things I don't normally get around to. I like it because it breaks it all down into manageable chunks so that I'm not just spending my whole day cleaning. I don't have time for that.

So here's to a cleaner house in 2010! Clink, clink!

Happy New Year!

This year we brought the year 2010 in with a big bash...normally we are half asleep on the couch watching the ball drop on TV, then we tell each other happy new year, get up and close all the windows so the smoke from all the fireworks doesn't fill up the house and then we go to bed. But this year some friends of ours invited us to a dress up event where we had amazing food, some dancing, good conversation and champagne all night.
Girls just wanting to have some fun.I love that this picture shows just how uncomfortable Jason is when he dances. But I did manage to get him out there for one whole dance...and now it's documented on film.