It's Aloha Friday

Are you for SCUBA?




Here is the long awaited Shark video. Nathan shot the videos of shark and turtle down in the Haleiwa Trench. He was diving with his brother, Terry, and neice, Larissa.


Happy Aloha Friday!

Oh, that's why....

We don't have a cell phone. Mostly because we are cheap. We have had one in the past, but have found that it's mostly just a money waster. I feel a certain amount of satisfaction in not NEEDING a cell phone.

But today I can see why everyone else (as hannah would say) has one.

Nathan has been out of town for two weeks. In the last week I have missed all but 1 of his phone calls. There are 6 messages from him on our answering machine. And there is not a way for me to call him back.

And I don't know what time his plane comes in tomorrow...

And I'll be gone all morning.

Sorry Nathan!


A friend whose husband is deployed told me that she carries her cell phone with her at all times. She says she needs it, just in case he calls...She is so smart.

With Nathan deploying later this year, I need one. Maybe two.

But don't tell Hannah, she'll think she needs one...

Why a Blog?

I've been trying to talk my friend (I'll call her "Sarah") into starting a blog. It is something I love, and I think she would like it, too. (come on Sarah, just do it. Everyone else is...)

In discussing blogs with her, it has made me think about why I blog.

Why do I blog?

To be famous? (hold on while I check my site meter. yep. just like last week. 7 hits....) not so much.

Because I'm totally self centered and want to write about me! me! me? (maybe)

To make a political statement? no, though I do want to write more military-wife themed entries, I just get stuck and they end up in my draft file.

I don't really know what the blogging-draw is, but it fun. It is one thing I do just for me, and if it makes you laugh, then that's even better!

I started blogging in 2004, when Nathan was heading off on his first deployment (of a measely 3 months, Sarah. Sorry, I know that doesn't really count) as a way to keep in touch with him. I thought it might be easier for him to see photos on a blog than in an email.

I was pleasantly suprised to find that blogging can create real (imaginary) friendships.

I have been reading about Muse's life in Isreal for 3 years. I feel like I would recognize her on the bus if I ever got the chance to go to Jerusalem, where she would invite me to lunch and maybe a game of basketball. I love reading about her many hitch-hiking adventures, and have tried several of her recipes.

I would love to meet up with Miz Booshay at a Sheep Dog trial, then get her advice on what yarn to use in a sweater. Her daughter Katie and my daughter Sydney would have a great time doing cartwheels together and their freckles would match.

It has been especially nice to spy on our last hometown in Rapid City through my real life friend, Amanda's blog... I feel like I could pop in on one of her bookclub meetings and pick right up where I left off!

I love that my sisters are (mostly) all blogging. A hundred and fifty years ago we would all have lived in the same neighborhood and shared babysitting and recipes, but today we are scattered all over the USA. Laughing at silly things my nephews and neices have done, and watching them grow up on the blog has been a real blessing to me. I love that the blog gets me past the Sears Portrait wallet-sized-photo and into real life, you know?

I also like this record of my boring old life. I write about Things I wouldn't have gotten around to writing in my journal....How quickly the time goes!

So that's why I blog. To keep in touch with family and friends. To make friends. To have fun. To write about ME! ME! ME!

Why do you blog?

Shoot the Moon

wish i had that tripod...
the clouds parted for a while, but now it is mist-ing. I'm still hoping to catch a view of the total eclipse...rain rain go away...

I guess my little song worked. The clouds slowly moved away from the moon, and I woke Sydney up to see the Lunar Eclipse.

The moon was dark.

Dark red.

But I could not hold the camera still for the count of 15-one-thousand, so this is the best I've got:


Total eclipse or total mess?
(or the very hungry caterpillar)

Eclipse

Anyone else staying up to see the Lunar Eclipse tonight?

A Lunar Eclipse occurs at a full moon, when the Earth is between the sun and the moon. The shadow of the Earth covers the moon, making the moon appear RED. (thanks wikipedia)


Here in Hawaii, the eclipse will happen between 10:51pm and 2:24am with the total eclipse happening from 11:52pm-1:22am. We are very close to the optimum viewing area of French Polyneasia.

The moon should be right about over head for the big show.

If the trees near our home get in the way, I may go over to a nearby field to watch.

Any special tips for taking photos of the moon? Oh shoot. The tripod is still at my mom and dad's house. I may have to make a Walmart run for this....and I'm also going to have to quick find out how to set up the little delay thing on the camera...and change the exposure...and...

PS - a lunar eclipse is a leasurly event. So I should have time to play with the camera settings.

PPS - I just read here, that the minimum focal length (zoom) for a good moon shot is 300mm. Our biggest lens does just 200mm, which would give us a 1.8 mm sized image of the moon. Waa.

PPS - I could try to make a star trail photo like this, but I don't know how to lock open the shutter, and I still don't have that tripod.

ppps - Oh well, the eclipse should be interesting even if I can't get a photo.

PPPPS - curses, foiled again. I forgot that we live in a tropical rain forest. the moon is hiding behind cloud cover. big suprise. But I could see some stars, so maybe the moon will peek out a little later.

Mess Maker, Mess Maker, Make me a Mess

Some people are neat freaks. Some people are messies.

I am a messy. I wish I was a neat freak. Actually, I wish I could have a live-in neat freak to clean up after me.

If I thought no one would ever come by our house, I would never pick up around here, and our home would be covered in cinnamon toast crumbs, scratch paper, and dirty socks. Which is exactly what happened yesterday.

After a whirlwind of a day that included 3 birthday parties (one at the beach and one at the ice skating place) one trip to the grocery store, one hot home-made dinner for another family, one last minute towel to sew (I'm also a closet procrastinator) and two videos at family movie night, our house was a mess from top to bottom.

I was too tired to clean up and went to bed without so much as rinsing a dish. I even left my dirty clothes in a pile in the bathroom. Waking up to dishes in the sink, brownie crumbs on the floor and blankets piled all over the family room made me want to run back to bed, bury my head under my pillow and suck my thumb.

Why do I always have to be the mom?

We cleaned up and things are looking better, but I have a feeling that this house is just one busy day away from complete melt down.

Yikes!

It might be time to dust off my flylady notebook....

Towel-O-Rama

This has been a busy week for Tiki Hut Towels.

Two towels were mailed off to the mainland. A Ladybug towel for Deanne's daughter. And a Ducky towel for Suzanne.

And I sold 5 towels to a little children's boutique in Hale'iwa!

I approached the shop in July with my towels and she kept a shark to see if it would sell. She didn't seem to love them as much as I did, and suggested that I add something to make them say "Hawaii." She called a couple weeks ago to tell me that my blue shark towel sold quickly, and she wanted me to make a "girl" shark to go with it, maybe with some flowers.

I found a good pink towel, played around with some flowered fabric, and came up with this:


Note the appliqued flower on the fin:

What do you think?

I took it to school to ask a couple mom's if it had enough "Hawaii" and it was a hit at school, too. I am working on a couple of orders, now, from them...

I delivered a stack of blue and pink shark towels to The Growing Keiki, and now I'll wait and see if they want more.

Next up is a trade with Liam's Mom. She is making me a couple of coolio t-shirts, and I am sending her a Shark for her son's birthday!

Crash

I just heard on the news that a Black Hawk helicopter, stationed here at Schofield, crashed today in Iraq, killing all 14 on board.

I am so sad.

And a little scared for my neighbors and friends whose husband's fly those helicopers, and are finishing up a 15 month Iraq tour.

I will keep the families of those soldiers in my prayers.

Polynesian Cultural Center

Tiki Hut Tours enjoyed a day at the Polynesian Cultural Center with our Cousins!




This woman is from Aotearoa or New Zealand. We've been practicing making that face. What do you think:



Emily loved the tree climbing in Samoa




John had fun twirling the Poi Balls


The Ali'i Luau was a traditional feast!


The night show was fantastic!

I think Nathan liked the Tahitians. I'm not sure, but there were more photos of these ladies than any other group! Here's another view - a little closer up:



My favorites were the drums, the Maori stick game, and the fire knife guy.


How did those guys sit on the fire without catching their grass skirts on fire?

All in all a great day. Highly recommended!

++++++++

Some thoughts, just in case you decide to go:

You need to make reservations a couple days in advance- it might be sold out if you just decide to show up.

Stay for the night show. Wow!

It's expensive, and I'm cheap. It's taken us 8 months to finally go. Luckily our totally awesome cousins paid for us. I wish we had gone sooner! Very educational. And clean. And friendly. And fun!

Take your own water bottles. It's hot.

There is no alcohol. Sorry.

Our favorite shows to watch in the day:

Samoa: tree climbing, fire starting, etc
Tonga: drums - hilarious! Stick around to throw a spear and see how they make Tapa cloth.
Tahiti: learn how to move your hips. Or at least try.
Aotearoa: I don't think there's actually a show but this is our favorite spot to try activities like - poi balls, tattoos, and the stick game

You can go back for 3 more day's after your first day. One day was enough for us, but we have a season pass and plan to go back in a few weeks.

Find some shade for the boat parade.

That Samoan fire knife guy is kind of interesting. And odd. But he has strong muscles, and he's cousins with a guy in our ward.

Fun for young kids. Middle Schoolers. High Schoolers. And adults. Seriously. We had a group with all ages, and even the most "cool" had a great time.

The park doesn't open until noon. We think eating at the McDonalds in Laie is a fun part of the day. It has a waterfall and serves haupia pie (coconut) in a Tiki Hut styled building. If you hate McDonalds, you could eat breakfast at the Hukilau Cafe (of 50 First Dates fame.)

Laie is a teeny tiny town in the North West corner of Oahu. Within a few blocks you can find the PCC, BYU Hawaii, and the Temple.

Call me, we'll meet you at the Luau!

Hurricanes, Earthquakes, and Fires! Oh, My!

We heard there was a hurricane on the way, so we went to the beach!



We saw helicoptors dropping water on a wild fire near our home, so we stopped for some Shave Ice on the way.



Nathan and his brother, Terry, went scuba diving in "The Trench" while we snorkeled and played in the sand at Ali'i beach. They saw turtles:



and

(insert Jaws theme song)

a

SHARK!


A white tipped reef shark. About 7 feet long. Scary! (Nathan took some totally cool video of both the shark and turtle with his fancy new underwater camera - happy birthday to Nate - so if you know how to upload video to blogger, let me know.)

It was a beautiful day! And a great way to wrap up our visit with our fun California cousins!


I didn't feel the earthquake, and though we had a little bit of wind and rain, we didn't see much of Flossie.

I think there was a Tsunami warning along with an earthquake today in Peru? but that's been lifted. Let's see: Hurricane, tsunami, earthquake, drought, fire...Are there any natural disasters we're missing out on today?

^^^^^^^^^

ps - In the interest of honesty, that first beach picture is actually from a few days ago at a totally different beach, but it's a cute picture, isn't it? We really did go to the beach during the hurricane warning!

First you were all like "whoa", and we were like "whoa", and you were like "whoa...”

On Turtle Beach


Jennah's ready to snorkel


Uncle Terry and Aunt Lori Snorkeling


Brook and the Turtles

You've got serious thrill issues, dude.

Awesome.

Tiki Hut Tours take Two

Welcome to Hawaii, Dudes!

School's In

Keeping us safe on the way to school

At School

And all the way home

I think the big military man crossing guards are odd in a futuristic war movie kind of way, but I do appreciate them. I'm embarrassed to admit this, but one day last year they saved John's life.

John was riding in the jogging stroller, while Emily and Sydney were riding their bikes. As we crossed the intersection in the above picture, Emily had some trouble getting her bike up onto the curb. I let go of the stroller and turned to give Emily's bike a boost up. While my back was turned, John's stroller rolled backwards off the sidewalk, bumped down the curb, and kept on rolling into the street.

I didn't notice, but the crossing guard did! He ran across the street, swooped up the stroller from middle of the road out of the direct path of a zooming white van, and held onto it for me until my hands were free. (bad mom award) When I thanked him, he said (you won't believe me, but he really did say this:) "Just doing my job, ma'am."

Healthy Eating

If someone tells you they "eat healthy" what does that actually mean?

Does it mean they eat Wheat Thins rather than Doritos?

Does it mean they eat the Reduced Fat Wheat Thins?

Does it mean they eat Uncle Bob's Organic Whole Grain Wheat Crackers?

Does it mean they eat no processed food and would prefer an apple, thank you very much?

What does it mean?

*************

When I am "being good" that means I am eating oatmeal for breakfast. A sandwich and a salad at lunch. Or maybe a Bean Burrito no onions for lunch. And a good dinner without too much bread or second servings. No snacks. or maybe some popcorn at about 3pm. Lots of water.

But I'm pretty sure that's not really healthy eating. So, if your friend, who "eats healthy" is coming over, what do you just have around the house to serve?

Wording help needed

I'm typing up some Thank You notes and I need some help with the wording.

On the front of the card I have this:


and it says: You've been a real lifesaver.


Inside of the card it says:

We would have been sunk without your help at Girls' Camp.
Mahalo, blah blah blah.

We'll be giving out a pack of lifesavers with the Cards.

Does that SUNK part make sense? Or does it make you think of a skunk and other stinky stuff? Any ideas?

Back to School

$100 in school supplies. Check.
3 new outfits. Check
1 new pair of shoes. Check.
Backpack loaded with supplies. Check.
Lunch packed. Check.
Hair in ponytails. Check.

And we're back to school.

Didn't we just start summer?

This seems a little early to be back in school, but there also seems to be a little less first day of school stress and pressure.

I wonder if it's an apple for your teacher in Hawaii, or a pineapple?



And now I just have to decide what I'm going to do with John. Joyschool, or a neighborhood swap. I really want to just do the neighborhood swap, but I feel like I'll be letting down the Joyschool girls if I drop them. I don't know...

Friday To Do & Friday Feast

Where has the week gone? I have so much to do:

Go running
Dust (including the fans)
Sweep
Mop
Vacuum
Clean mirrors
Babysit Emily's friend
Go to the middle school to help with some crazy PTA thing
While at the middle school, ask if Hannah's schedule can change to include Band
Go to the Housing Office to file an "install my AC" form
Scrounge around for money for the pool
Go to the pool
Take a nap
Call Diane about the box of camp stuff in the back of my car
Do the Friday Feast
Laundry
Think of something easy to fix for dinner (hamburgers?)
Have a totally rockin' family movie night (Bridge to Terribithia)




What are you up to today?


&&&&&&&&&&&&&&

Friday Feast

Appetizer
Describe a toy you remember from your childhood.
We had a Richard Scarry Busy Town village building set. We could build houses and stores and a barn and silo all on a green grass grid. We played with it together with Little People. Mom still has that very cool game, and my kids love to play with it when we visit. I've been trying to find this set for myself on Ebay, but apparently we were the only kids to have this game...



Soup
On a scale of 1 to 10 (with 10 being highest) how observant are you?
2. I forget to notice things, like what people are wearing, what they look like, and names. I would be a terrible crime witness. Sometimes I have a moment of panic when I realize I have no idea what the kids are wearing or how their hair is fixed.

Salad
Where would you rather be at this very moment?
In bed. I stayed up late last night watching Catch and Release, and now I'm regretting it. Yawn!

Main Course
When was the last time you learned something new?
Hmmm. I guess just yesterday. I was driving onto the base and saw a big sign announcing "Drought Conditions. Conserve Water." It was a suprise to me - drought? even in Hawaii? Seems a little odd to me. We get a lot of rain her at our house, but it is a little dryer than it was...

Dessert
Fill in the blank: I have ____________ but I haven’t ____________.
I have brushed my teeth, but I haven't put in my contacts. yet...

-----------

Before I get back on the computer I am definately going to so something on my list.

Have a great day!

Huh?

I have not minded having a 7 month vacation from Visiting Teaching. Visiting Teaching is a way that the women in the Mormon church establish friendships, serve each other, and make sure that needs are being met.

It has been nice not to have that bit of guilt leading up to a last week of the month. But it has been fun to get going with it again, especially as I have a fun companion and all the ladies we visit seem genuinely happy to have us come (a big change from my last route where my companion, though fun, was working and going to school and hard to catch up with, and the ladies we visited didn't particularly like us)

So, we were visiting this one woman. And she said something that I am still pondering. Maybe you can help me with the translation...

I was telling a little story and I said something about how my husband is good at conversation, especially in getting to know people really quickly. I also mentioned that I am the opposite and tend to get stuck after "Hi." "How are you?" and "Where are you from?"

She responed with this: "Yeah, I KNOW, when I first met you and your husband I thought: What does he even see in her? He is such a great guy, and what could he possibly she in HER?"

meaning me.

She said it more than once to make her point.

She didn't seem to be joking, though we were all laughing at that humorous little joke.

But I was left wondering, Huh?

Is that the kind of thing you just say to someone?

I mean really, we have lived her for 7 months, and this is only the second or third time we have talked. I know who she is and all, but our paths don't often cross on Sunday, as I teach a children's class. Though for the short time that I attended Relief Society when we first moved here, she did not sit near me or attempt to get to know me. Waaa!

What does he see in her? Shesh, that's easy, he's got one smokin' hot babe as a wife. Not much of a conversationalist, apparently, but she's hott!

Am I right?

Happy Birthday to You!

Dear Nathan,

Roses are red,
canaries are tweeties
Lemons are sour
and you are my sweetie

Hope you had a Happy Birthday!

Yours,
wendy
xoxo

Mary had a little Birthday

My little sister Mary is celebrating her birthday today!

With a name like Mary, how can you not be cool? Mary had a little lamb. Mary, Mary, quite contrary. Mary, Mary, Why you buggin'? Mary Christmas. And, my personal favorite: Night-Mare! (which used to send her wailing and crying to our shared bedroom)

Mary is smack-dab in the middle of the seven girls in our family. She is just 2 years younger than me, and I can't remember a time in my life without her as my friend.

My favorite thing about Mary is that she is always so sweet and positive. She lifts me up and encourages me to do my best. She is a terrific mom to two sweet and energetic kids. She is a new Primary President in her ward. She shares my Harry Potter love. And she still trusts me at the wheel of a car, even though she was there when I nearly drove in to a large chainlink fence...

Mary, I hope you have fun celebrating your birthday on the beach in California!

Happy Birthday to ewe!







It's fleece was white as snow...