before and after

We just finished painting Ansley's room...well you know how I love before and after pictures. So I'm going to post some almost before pictures (because once again I didn't think of it until we had started putting the primer on) and then the after. I love having a girl!

Before: The brown wood under the window would have been what the real before picture would have looked like...dark and dungeon-y. After:Before: After: Added a little pink to the back of the bookshelf.For some reason our landlords took off some doors in the house...including this closet door, so I added a curtain and tie-back which hides all that loveliness behind it.

And then a few refurbished pieces...you know how much we like to re-do furniture. We added some fresh paint to this dresser we got at a estate sale for $12. And then I added some ceramic green knobs to it.The lamp I got at Ikea over 7 years ago and the shade had seen better days. So I took some left over fabric from the closet door curtain and wrapped it around the shade and added some beads from Ansley's old diaper bag to add a little shabby/chic to it.And we gave this bookcase a fresh coat of paint as well. Jason built this when Ethan was a baby.

last day of summer fun

Today we concluded our laid-back, free-time days of summer at the Dole Plantation. We decided to use a coupon we had and visit the worlds' largest maze (or so they claim) and then cool off with some pineapple ice cream. The maze actually turned out to be pretty fun...hot but fun. The boys raced around trying to find 8 different stations and then stencil their card with different pictures. But we certainly built up a sweat, which made the pineapple ice cream taste even more delicious.

Then before we left we had to stop and see the Koi in the green pond and feed them a bit of fish food. Ansley pointed to the Koi and shouted "fishie" so that everyone that walked up beside us knew that there were fish in the pond. Thankfully they all thought she was cute.

As you can see they weren't cooperating for the picture. I have a bunch of these and Ethan is basically the only one that is smiling and looking at the camera...Ansley was distracted with finishing up her pineapple ice cream and Jude was...well he was just being Jude and completely distracted.

beach day

We start school in a week so we're taking this next week to get out and do some fun summer stuff while we still have some free time. So we headed to a beach my kids call "sea glass beach". Not sure it's real name but it's a great place for kids. It's an old fish pond made by the Hawaiians long ago...which ends up being great for keeping the waves out and is just deep enough that the kiddo's can go exploring and still touch the bottom. This beach is also great for finding sea glass...hence the name we've given it.

...and this is the view behind us. Pretty incredible.

In the middle is a huge piece of concrete...not sure what it was used for but turns out to be a great thing to jump off of.

Always looking for treasure.

Ansley demonstrating what she would look like if she was actually in the water. But she had no interest in getting her feet wet.

My kiddos.

laundry

This has become my new "chore"...line drying our laundry. You might think it's because I am really concerned about the environment and want to save energy. Nope. Or you might think it's because I love the smell of laundry hung out on the line. Nope, it actually doesn't smell clean to me once I take it off the line. Or you might think we don't own a dryer. Nope, it works great and I still use it for my towels. I just can't get past the stiff, cardboard towels. So you're probably wondering why in the world do we line dry out clothes? Well it's to save money on our electric bill.

Our new place is great! But we do have to pay for utilities now, where before they were included. And you would think that living in a place with no air conditioning or heating our utilities would be the one thing that would be affordable. But unfortunately like everything else here they are ridiculously high. So to help reduce our bill a bit I decided to line dry most of our laundry...and what I have discovered is that I actually kind of enjoy it. Weird I know. But it's a nice break to have some time to think and slow down during the day. I actually look forward to the break. The part I don't look forward to is the putting all the clothes away. But I would have to do that whether I line dried or not.

sidewalk chalk

The kids were having so much fun playing in the rain and puddles...but I didn't realize they were also making sidewalk chalk art at the same time. What does chalk and water make? A very colorful-type paste that is apparently tons of fun to play with and smear all over the place. Fun and thankfully washable.

jabong

Our neighbor has an amazing backyard full of plants that produce all sorts of fruits and veggies...and she likes to share them with us. This one was a new one to us but we (I should say I) really liked it. It's a jabong fruit (our neighbor said was a Chinese grapefruit). Basically a grapefruit taste but bigger, more pulp-y and with a really thick skin. Really yummy!

the big 7

Today Ethan turned 7. Boy those years sure did fly by. Yesterday we did the friend/neighbor party and Ethan asked to have a water-type theme. So we decided to be local and rent an inflatable water slide. All the kiddo's had a blast....so much so that we had to kick them all out so our kids could get ready for bed.
I got this cupcake idea from the internet....bears "floating" in lifesaver rings. Then today we had our family party and opened presents. We are so thankful to God for Ethan and love him so much. We're excited to see in the years to come what plans God has for him.

homeschool

"...we [Susan Bauer and Jessie Wise] have come to one simple conclusion: if you want your child to have an excellent education, you need to take charge of it yourself. You don't have to reform your entire school system. All you have to do is teach your own child." (p.xx, The Well-Trained Mind: A Guide to Classical Education at Home)

Homeschooling started for us because it was our only option but as we've continued to homeschool our reasons have become so much more than that. There is not a school around here where I would agree with every text book used...but with homeschooling, I get to choose every text book and teach from a Biblical worldview in all that they're learning. For us, (as long as God allows us to continue) it can't get any better than that.

mommy's shoes

pirates

Pirates have invaded Hawaii...Pirates of the Caribbean that is. They are filming a couple of miles down the road from us so we decided earlier this week to go check out the pirate ship. We drove down to a park that was next to the boat harbor that the ship is docked at and tried to see through the trees.

Not such a great view but then we realized that we could walk a little ways down the path to get a clearer shot.As we watched for a little bit we realized there were actually people parking down at the harbor and walking up to the set. So we hopped back in the car and drove over to the harbor to see if we could get a closer look. This was as close as we could get but do you see Johnny Depp? Yeah, we didn't either. Apparently they film at night which is why they let all these people stand there and take pictures. You would think I'm a big fan of the movies if I'm driving all over trying to get a great shot of it but actually I was a little spooked by the first movie, had no desire to see the second and have no plans of going to see the third. Why did we go see the ship then, you ask? I thought the boys would like to see it...and maybe we would get a glimpse of a "star". But after about 30 seconds my boys said "mommy, can we go home?" So after the Honey Pumpin truck blocked our view I thought we had had enough and we hopped back in the car and drove home. The End.

bible study

I wanted to post a link to what our Bible study listened to on Wednesday. Joni Tada was the speaker and her message was so powerful, gospel centered and God glorifying. It helps to put suffering into perspective and see it for what it is...it's not about us. She is an amazing woman of God...not because she's perfect but because she is humble in her weakness (of sin) and yet so rich in her understanding of God's purpose for her. If you have half an hour of free time in your evening do listen...it will definitely get you thinking. Click here.