New talents...

I did it...I finally figured out how to make my own blog background, with a little bit of help from cutestblogontheblock.com and some fabulous kits from scrapartist.com. What a fabulous resource they have been! I have to admit, it has truly brought out the OCD in me! I made five versions of my first background, before I finally made things line up evenly! Terrible, I know...I blame it on my Mom! Anyhoo...it has been an adventure and I have loved the process of this whole digital scrapbooking thing. What a fun new skill! I must say, I LOVE Maile's background more than the ones I created for myself...guess it's just the inspiration for hers...can't wait to meet that little guy! So while Maile is content with hers, mine is a work in progress. Any guesses as to how many I'll make before I find one that I LOVE? (The count so far is two, in 5 days...)

By the way, this post is so that I can put some space between the current post and the blog header...two pics of the same thing so close together...it must not be done! (Again with the OCD!)

Love to all, I hope this "meaningless" post finds you all happy and well. We are so blessed to have such a wonderful family and such fabulous friends. Much Aloha...Tree

Update?

Okay, for those of you who think it's time for an update, I totally agree! The holidays have been crazy, stormy, "floody", freezing, etc. I guess I just haven't made it out of the post-holiday funk...that and I've been a little stuck on Facebook! TeeHee!

So for the sake of updating...Hello to all of our family and friends! We love you all and are so happy to see you safe and well! Much love and Aloha to all!

Suds 102: Like Mother, Like Daughter

Some of you may remember a post we had earlier this year in which we highlighted a funny moment of Keola's... Well, there comes a time in a person's life when it is necessary to humble oneself for the sake of another.

Funny thing happened last night... I loaded the dishwasher and added the dish soap, thinking that all was well, and walked away. We left for basketball and when Ana and I got home, she said, "Mom! It happened again!" I'm thinking, what happened? Much to my chagrin, we discovered suds all over the floor. In my haste to finish the dishes and get out the door, I used dish soap rather than dish detergent. They were right next to each other...it was an easy mistake to make!

Desiring to teach my daughters about good sportsmanship...I took some pics to document my mistake. Needless to say, after three rinse cycles and several wet towels, the dishes are clean and the soap is safely away from the detergent! What is that saying...Turn around is fair play? Seems quite appropriate right about now!

No longer a tween...

Wow, to think that thirteen years ago, yesterday, I was in the hospital anxiously awaiting our ke'Ola, "first breath of life". Oh how time has flown by! It amazes me that the sweet baby I held in my arms is now almost as tall as me and can hold me in her arms...almost! She still loves pretty things, singing, dancing, and laughing until her stomach hurts. Some things never change. The new desire for make-up, pretty hair, and boyfriends is new though! Well...at least the boy thing is new!

What a beautiful, smart, talented, spiritual girl she has grown up to be. She keeps me laughing, causes me worry, challenges me constantly, makes me cry with her singing, and astounds me with her wisdom. I am so blessed to have Keola in my life. I am so thankful that Keo was sent to us, to care for, and nurture. What an amazing blessing came into our lives thirteen years ago.

Thank you, ke'Ola, for choosing us! "I'll love you forever, I'll like you for always, As long as I'm living, my baby you'll be!" Happy Birthday, sweetheart!

All hallows eve...

I've seen some cute pics of costumes from everyone and thought I'd share ours. I have to say, we had various costume parties throughout the week and I think the kids donned a new costume at every one! We ended up with a couple of rockers and it was actually pretty fun doing the hair and make-up. Of course, it's always fun doing hair or make-up on my girls!

18 Tackles, Pumpkin Patch, and Torture session...

So we went to Derek's football game and had so much fun sitting in the freezing stands...maybe that's why our girls are swimmers, we like saunas better than frozen benches! Anyway, Derek did an awesome job! After a brief scare in the first half, his team came back to beat Willapa Harbor by quite a bit and our awesome nephew broke his record by getting 18 tackles! Way to go...You rock! We'll sit on freezing benches any day for Derek!

Next stop...pumpkin patch! Well, fall is here and after much BEGGING from our youngest, we decided to make a trek to the pumpkin patch. It was a beautiful day out; the sun was shining, the kids were happy, and best of all...the corn maze was still there! Last year at this time, we had crazy wind storms and one of them blew down the corn maze...we were so excited to be able to make our annual trip through the corn, in the clay and mud! Our shoes were covered, but we had fun, and even played a game of pac-man in the middle. So here are a couple of pix and a flix of my family...check out their amazing technique with the pumpkins...I'm impressed!

Next stop...torture session... The Winn's invited us over for some really great Hawaiian food. Chris sure is becoming an expert at lau lau...I love it! After stuffing ourselves on lau lau, haupia,lomi lomi salmon, poi, rice, poki, and bread pudding, we had a really great laugh as KO "challenged" Auntie Chris...you decide who the winner was...

Seussical Revisited

Hey all...sorry for the radio silence you've been experiencing from my blog for awhile...we've been crazy busy, or just lazy, you decide! Awhile back I posted an entry about the girls' summer theatre program and promised that I would work on getting a video of it. Here it is...will it work? We'll see... Presenting Keola "Sour Kangaroo" and her stirring rendition of "Biggest Blame Fool". (You can see Ana dancing in the background, but you might need a microscope!) Enjoy!