mystery solved

Ethan told me to watch him one day as he came racing down the driveway, slammed on his brakes and skid across the driveway... and then it all became very clear - the bald spots on his tires, the skid marks in the driveway, his tires needing to be filled quite often, etc.

just because...

...he loves me.

sparks-a-rama

Today Ethan's Sparks club had their big game day called Sparks-a-Rama. They had 3 separate Saturday practices and Ethan was counting down the days since the beginning of March. We got up at the early hour of 7am so we could get over there by 8am...which included stopping for a cup of iced coffee so I could stay awake. But with all of the screaming and cheering, falling asleep wasn't a problem. I loved seeing how they worked as a team, encouraging each other and not putting down someone if they failed to win a competition. So in the end his team got 1st place. As we were walking out I told Ethan how fun it was that they got 1st place. And he replied by saying that they didn't get 1st place because they were the last ones called up to receive their reward. So after trying to explain how they start with last place and then 3rd place, 2nd place, etc. to build suspense, I finally just had to show him the 1st place on his ribbon before he finally believed me. Funny kid...he still had fun even when he thought they came in last.

pig-tails

Ansley's hair is getting to that point where the bangs are starting to get in her eyes...but she's not keen on clips in her hair because it takes her all of about 20 seconds before she pulls them out and hands them to me. So a friend of mine suggested little pony tails and to my surprise she didn't try to pull them out. Plus I think she looks pretty cute with her fountain of hair sticking up on top of her head. Only 1 year olds can pull that look off and not look ridiculous.

paradise?

Looks like a science experiment you say? Nope. Actually this is part of the cost of living in a place people sometimes call "paradise". After we called our property manager and asked if she would send out an exterminator, her response was "It's a waste of money. They will come and spray and you will still have ants." Because of our "rainy" season in the winter, the grounds become too soggy for the little pests and these little critters decide that indoors is the place to be. We've had ants before but nothing this bad before. So the solution? Someone told me the other day to put a bowl of water out with an upside down cup in the middle. Then set your covered food on top of that. You would think a sealed Tupperware container would be enough...but it wasn't. So as weird as it looks to have these bowls of water sitting around, it actually works. The ants drowned before they could reach the cupcakes sealed inside.

our spring break in a nutshell

This past week was our Spring Break. And all those great plans I had to catch up on other things or accomplish things I normally don't have time for...never got done. I am really looking forward to tomorrow and starting up school once again. I realize the structure does well for all of us and we seem to get more done than when we have "time off". So I will just give a quick update of our spring break and I'll put the few pictures I did take of our "break".

Monday - was our only down day and we were just basically lazy.

Tuesday - Jason had hernia surgery so our day was spent picking him up from the hospital, going to get some pain meds, being quiet so he could rest, etc.

Wednesday - We had a field trip to the Aquarium to attend the "Ocean's Alive" class with some of our friends. There were crafts, scavenger hunts, obstacle courses through the "reef", and looking at all of the underwater animals and all of their habitats.
Ethan watching the sea lion feedings.
Jude watching the fish in the outdoor aquarium.
The boys had a chance to hold a live hermit crab in their hands in the outdoor "hands-on" aquarium.
Tropical fish are so colorful and unique...the boys were mesmerized by them.
Jude's favorite part was watching the "shawks". He had at least 20 questions that he asked the aquarium guide

The outdoor obstacle course......where Ansley was glad to finally get out of that stroller and use her legs a bit.

Thursday - Our next field trip was another aquatic experience (surprise, surprise). We went with the homeschool group to Sea Life park where we got to see the dolphin show (we got totally wet even though we were in the no-splash zone), the sea lion show, the stingray exhibit, and the touch-pool where the boys were able to touch a sea cucumber and a baby sea turtle. I forgot to take my camera to capture the memories but I must say that there is nothing like seeing your children light up over a new experience.

Friday - we had a friend over for lunch while the kids played and that night had some new friends over for dessert.

Saturday - Jude learned to ride a two-wheeler bike...WITH pedals and enjoyed feeding a wandering duck our green St. Patrick's Day bread. We live near a canal but rarely get a visit from these interesting creatures...they're a cross between a turkey, duck and peacock. Not sure what breed they are but as you can see are very friendly...especially when you have bread.That night we had a babysitter for the kids and went to a friends house for dinner to celebrate a birthday.

Sunday - Jason preached a great sermon on Revelations (our pastor is out of town and Jason is filling in) and had our small group over tonight. Sweet fellowship, challenging discussions, encouraging words, joy in the gospel...what a great way to end our spring break and refresh us for the coming week.

birthday party

Party for a 4 year old.

• Theme: Trains

The party started off with a ride on a historic train on the south side of the island. The dads and boys enjoyed the ride and met the moms and babies back at the house for dinner and cake.

• Those in attendance: 7 kids ages 6 and under...the majority under the age of 4...and the 6 adults.
• Cake: Thomas the Train cake made by a dear friend...with lots of blue and black icing.


• The birthday boy: Jude
  

the big 4

It seems to me that we have skipped a year in Jude's age...what I'm really trying to say is, how can he be 4 already? Wasn't he just 2? Today is Jude's birthday. This content, inquisitive, silly humored, cuddly, observant, speedy, serious, easily distracted, really looks up to his older brother, loves his little sister, gives his mama great smooches and his daddy great big bear hugs little boy of ours is growing up way too fast these days. God sure did give us a great little kid. Not that he is perfect but he's great because he is our Jude. As Jason always says "We've got the coolest kids."I must say it is really hard to get a picture of Jude where he is smiling and looking at the camera all at the same time. So these are the best of the best.
This is the pre-party to the main party which will take place on Sunday afternoon. More to come...

funny kids

A couple of funny things said by my kids this week:

Ethan was singing Jesus Loves the Little Children to Ansley and this is what I overheard:

"Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world, red, GREEN, yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight..."

I think he is following in his daddy's footsteps because I see a future sci-fi fan forming in our house.


Jude has developed a love for puzzles lately and he has outgrown the wooden puzzles where you can easily predict the shape that is needed for the space. So I think he is quite surprised by himself when he can put together a cardboard puzzle where you have to match up the picture to figure out what piece goes next. So earlier this week he went through all of our "harder" puzzles and came to me with much excitement proclaiming "Mommy, I did these puzzles all by myself!!!" To which I replied "Wow, Jude! You're such a good puzzle maker." (not the smartest sounding comment but I was a bit distracted by cooking dinner and that was all I could think of at the moment). To which Jude replied "Yeah, I want to be a puzzle maker when I grow up!" Do colleges have a B.A. degree in Puzzlemaking?

And not to leave Ansley out...this week she has learned that if she says very loudly with her mouth open very wide "Ta-taaaaaaa" (translation "ta-da") with her arms way out to the side, she can get everyone within hearing distance to look at her, smile and laugh. Not sure who taught her that one.

science experiement

What do you get with two 2-liter bottles, a 1-inch washer, some water and a little electrical tape? A tornado in a bottle...or a hurricane depending on what you're studying. We just studied about Jupiter this week and talked about The Great Red Spot, that is basically a storm of swirling gases...kind of like a hurricane. Only this storm has been constant for the past couple hundred of years. We've learned many fascinating facts about Jupiter. Such as, did you know that Jupiter is not a terrestrial planet and if you tried to walk on Jupiter you would sink right to it's core? Or that Jupiter has over 60 moons? Do you know why? Okay I won't get started cause this could turn into a really long post...

speed, I am speed

Our neighbor has a little bike that is called a Skuut bike and it is made without pedals...in the hope that the child riding it can learn to balance without having all of the other things, like pedaling, to think about. And as I've held onto the back of many bikes (okay really just Ethan's) the balancing part seems to be the tricky part of learning how to ride a bike. Well thankfully our neighbor doesn't mind Jude riding the bike around...which he does all the time...because her daughter doesn't like to ride it anyway. So I had to video tape him speeding around on it because he's quite fast. It makes me laugh to watch because it kind of resembles those cartoons where the characters feet are spinning in circles while its speeding away. As you can see it has helped Jude with the balance thing and maybe riding a bike WITH pedals is in his future.

tsunami

Don't worry, the reason I have been absent from the blog isn't because we got swept away by the tsunami last Saturday. We get tsunami warnings usually about once a year and they usually end up being nothing, maybe a little surge of water that no one even notices. Not that we shouldn't take the warnings seriously but I'm kind of over the media lately and their gross exaggeration of the facts. As we were watching the news at a friends house (where we evacuated because they live up on the "high" ground and we live in the coastal region) we were watching the live camera footage on the Big Island (where all the damage of the tsunami was supposed to hit first) waiting to see this wall of water come and wash out the park the camera was focused on. We did see the sea getting sucked out some and then the water rising again. Kind of like what the ocean normally does when the currents go out before a wave rolls into the beach. And the newscasters (trying to create the drama) were shouting (as if they were sports commentators at a game) "Wow, look at all the turbulence" and "There has definitely been a rise in the water levels" and "Remember, it's the not the first wave that is the biggest". Until finally the newscasters gave up and realized there wasn't really anything that exciting going on and they switched back over to the Olympics. So we packed up, said goodbye to our friends and went home. Kind of a crazy day.

So other than that I thought I would give a quick run down of what else has been going on...and I'll even throw in a few pictures.

- We are still recovering from our "thick as molasses" snot sicknesses. Thick snot is pretty miserable for kids that don't know how to blow their own noses yet. So we let the beach and the swimming pool drain our noses for us. I know the boys swim teacher loved that.

- On to other things less gross...I hit a baking/cooking mood this week. I think it was due to the fact that we took last week off (from school, MOPS, Bible Study, swim lessons, Awanas, etc.) to recover from our before mentioned sicknesses and it gave me a little extra free time. So my greatest accomplishment of the week was making three different meals from the same leftovers...and it all tasted really good! I got a huge package of boneless pork chops from Costco which I had intended on splitting into smaller portions and freezing. Well for some reason it all got frozen together and I was trying to think of how I could use it all up since it would take a couple of weeks for our little family to get through them. So my first meal was to marinate all of the pork chops in a Citrus/Basil marinade, then grill them all. The next meal, I cut up the grilled chops and made Pork Fajitas with a splash of lime, green peppers and onions. And the last meal, I put the rest of the grilled chops into a crock pot with some bar-b-que sauce and let them cook all day to make pulled pork sandwiches. So I thought I would document this amazing phenominon because it will probably never happen again...okay maybe I've been stuck inside for too long. I think I need to get out of the house before I start posting on how much I love my bread machine

- To keep ourselves occupied this week...being somewhat home bound so we didn't spread our germs...we made some playdough. I love fresh playdough and the fact that it keeps my kiddo's happy and busy.

I love you too Ethan!

- I did a bit of sewing to make a bear, bib, burpie set for Jason's school auction. It was fun to do and hopefully it will raise a little bit of money for them....if no one bids on it, I don't want to know. :o)-We rediscovered the water table...Ansley's first experience. This girl loves water (you can't tell that by her very serious expression) which is why we have learned to keep the bathroom doors shut. One time splashing her little hands in the toilet water was one time too many.

-The full moon was back and we hung out at the beach until the sun set so we could see the beautiful moonscape again. I love the beauty of God's creation! Because of Ethan's Astronomy study this year I am more in awe of the amazing detail of our universe created by God...I don't get how others can believe that it was all an accident and that it all fell into place with such great detail by chance.

- Lately we have had some winter/windy/rainy weather. You know a high of 78 degrees and a low tonight of 69 degrees. That calls for socks during the day and an extra blanket at night. I'm such a wimp.

Okay that's enough. I could keep going on about nothing but laundry is calling...taking the week off doesn't mean the laundry stopped piling up.

happy birthday

Happy Birthday Jason!

Blowing out the candles....I love the way Jude is looking at Jason...hoping he can help blow them out too.And the boys giving their dad a big birthday hug.Then we ran out to the beach after the "party"....literally, right before the sun set. I told Jason that he probably never thought he would live in a place where he can celebrate his birthday (in February...the middle of winter) and then head to the beach. What a crazy place that we live.The kids had fun digging holes...and then Ansley waited until they were done so she could sit in them. It was a great evening at the beach...a full moon and all.

puppy love

Our neighbor's dog had puppies recently and they let the boys take one (or two) home to "babysit" it for a while. They LOVE these puppies and ask everyday to go over and see them. They especially enjoy the times they get to "babysit" them. Jude was hanging out with little Lily here and letting her take a nap while he had his snack. Isn't she the cutest thing you have ever seen? If not take a closer look.
I think she wants us to keep her. Not that we have room for a pet or that our landlords will let us have a furry pet (unless we're babysitting their puppies for them).
And these two rascals (the dogs that is) are her brothers. They weren't quite as cuddly as little Lily but I think my boys enjoyed the energy and playfulness that they had. They gave a better respresentation of what puppies do...whine, chew and poop (thankfully we have tile floor)...and helped me to remember the reality of having a furry little pet. Not that I don't ever want one but with the stage that I'm in, I don't need any more whining, chewing or pooping (that I have to clean up) right now. :o)

my brain in tangents

This post will have a few tangents but it will all come together in the end...if not I blame it on the Theraflu. I'll start off with the fact that I am recovering from the flu-like sickness that has hit everyone we know...and I thought I avoided it. But it looks like I'm one of the last few to share in this community effort of building our immune systems. And as a friend of mine who just wrote me an e-mail recently said, "all I want is my mommy right now. " But since my mommy is thousands of miles away, I have to suck it up and lay around all day while my kids watch way too many videos...mommies don't get sick days.

Which brings me to my other tangent. A friend of mine came to pick up my boys while Ansley napped so I could rest and give the boys some good play time with their friend. Let me just say, that I am thankful for great friends.

And this leads me to my last tangent. This same friend gave me a gift a while ago and it has just sat around because I wasn't quite sure what it was. My first thought was that it was little air fresheners because they had a strawberry smell to them. They came in this cute little packaging...

...but the directions were in Japanese.So I went to open one thinking I would set it out as an air freshener (not quite the scent I would prefer) but noticed it was kind of runny. Underneath these cute little egg shaped containers I found these.They looked spoon-like to me so I assumed it must be something to eat. Now usually I am sort-of adventuresome when it comes to trying new foods but I was really hung up on the idea that these were air fresheners...which made it hard for me to think of ingesting them. Well to make a short story really long, I asked another friend of mine who travels to Asia quite a bit if she knew what they were (because I was too embarrassed to ask the friend who gave them to me...dumb I know), and she told me it's like a jello and they're really good. So what did I do with the last two that weren't open yet? I gave them to my boys and they gobbled them up. Don't worry, I did try a little bite before they ate it just to make sure it tasted like a jello-y substance.

name

The advantages of having a dad who is learning Greek and Hebrew for his seminary degree...you learn how to write your name in Greek. As I was checking Ethan's papers I came across this paper with his name written this way. He even told me that the circle with the line through it (Theta) actually stands for the "th" in his name. Glad my 6 year old can teach me something. :o)

the week of haircuts

This week there was a lot of hair cutting going on. I am once again chopping a little here and a little there on mine...but that is nothing new. And then I gave Ethan his buzz cut again...he prefers it short. But then there was Jude, who was in major need of a haircut. I knew it was time when his swim teacher put a swim cap on him so he could see while he swam. So I was going to do the usual trim but he asked this time to have short hair like Ethan. Part of me had a hard time letting go of his longer, blondish hair that he has had since he was a toddler. But as Jason said "it will grow back." Well it's been over a day now and I still find myself staring at him...shocked at how different he looks. Like any 3 1/2 year old boy would do...he looked at himself in the mirror and said "cool". But I am missing his longer, blondish hair. It's just hair right? I can't help it though...I think I will just let it grow back out now.

Before:After:

she's got the moves

Ansley has been quite the dancer lately. Whenever she hears music playing...whether it's the Thomas toy train playing the theme song, or the cell phone ringing, or The Office theme music, or the radio or CD playing or her dad playing his guitar...she starts swaying. My other two kiddo's never seemed to notice music much but she definitely has an ear for it.

homemade cleaning

For a while now I have wanted to try to make my own cleaning products for a couple of reasons 1) no harsh chemicals 2) less expensive. But I was always hesitant because I didn't know if it would clean as well as the stuff I bought in the store and it seemed like a lot of work. But I found a few "recipes" for homemade products on-line and tried it a couple of months ago. They actually ended up being so easy to make and they actually clean! So for those that care to know, here is what I use. These four products (vinegar, baking soda, castile soap, borax) clean my whole house and it is so cheap (because I can buy in bulk at Costco...i.e. $4 for 5 liters of vinegar)...plus my kids help clean and I don't have to worry about it hurting their skin like the chemicals from other products would.

Multi-Purpose Cleaner

1 spray bottle
Fill half with water and half with vinegar
10-15 each drops of lavender and tea tree essential oils (lavender is anti-bacterial and tea tree is anti-fungal)

I use this spray on counters, tables, floors, toilets and with the lavender and tea tree oils it doesn't have that vinegar-y smell. I don't like my house smelling like pickles.


Soft Scrub

Baking Soda
Castile Soap (I got Lavender scented)

I put the baking soda in a shaker container (cleaned out Parmesan, spice, etc.) and sprinkle it on the surface that I am cleaning. Then I put a few drops of castile soap with it. It has the scrub from the baking soda and the soap-y clean from the soap. This works great on sinks and bathtubs.

Toilet Bowl Cleaner

Borax
Castile Soap

Sprinkle some borax in the bowl with a few drops of Castile soap. Let sit. Swish around with toilet bowl brush and flush.