Saturday, December 17, 2011

24 hrs

So I had this very clever post composed in my head comparing Jack Bauer's 24 hrs to the past 24 hrs in our household with a sick girl, teething baby and "bored" kid hyped for Christmas but as 24 hrs grew into 48 hrs of puking, chewing and complaining somehow the humor was lost.

So instead I share with you our priceless commercial.

2 Nutcrackers from Santa last Christmas: $40


Clara halloween costume: $10

New ballet shoes: $20

Ballet classes: $160                      


4 Tickets to Blaisdell's Nutcracker: Ugh

Being too sick to go: Heartbreaking

Making a full recovery just in the nick of time and meeting your bestie there: Priceless


Monday, June 27, 2011

While I'm at it


I am currently trapped under a sleeping baby that will only sleep if held (wow, how unusual for one of my children) so I might as well download the cameras since I have the time. These pictures are from Jason's Lanikai Triathlon, Hannah's ballet recital at the Mall (which Ella dressed up for as well) and of course baby Charlie.





A run through with the ever incredible Miss Nicole.


Hannah manages to keep cool and keep going even though her partner for the dance ran off the stage!
Prima Ella.


The boy finally opens his eyes.




One Week Old


Slowly, little by little I'm getting my body back. Its an achy process and I'm not in a hurry. I've done this before and realized I do more damage by being impatient. I am looking forward to swimming again and running and setting my bike back up but for the time being my arms are full with a 7 lbs appetite and I'm in full Mama Cow mode. I only need look at big sisters (or try to pick them up) to be reminded how fast this time will pass. Here are this weeks pictures for Grandparents and Aunties and Uncles as I'm sure by now most others are over pictures of my sleeping baby!







Thursday, June 23, 2011

Monday, June 20, 2011

Busy weekend

So I haven't posted in a while, not a whole lot of beaching going on but we finally made it to the beach on Friday! This past week the Beach Moms finally had a group swim. We've been plotting to get together for a while but stuff kept coming up or lightening kept coming down. We had a nice swim and then life got very busy for our family! The following pictures are intended for adoring grandparents.

Here are some pictures from the past few days.

This was Thursday


This was Friday

The girls chilling at home
The girls came to the hospital to meet baby brother
This was Sunday, heading home finally


This was Monday
I had decided I wanted him to be born on June 19th but of course we all know babies come whenever they want. I'm at least glad he didn't make me wait for his original due date of July 12 considering he was already 7 lbs on June 17!

Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Remembrance Day


Growing up in Canada November 11th, known there as Remembrance Day, was typically cold, gray and dreary. The trees were completely bare of leaves by this time and there always seemed to be a threat of rain. We observed the 11th hour on the 11th day of the 11th month in the center of town at the Cenotaph freezing in our girl guide or boy scout uniforms. The veterans and the cadets marched with the school bands. It was a day to remember the sacrifices of the veterans and their fallen comrades. It all seemed so historical, a thing of the past not to be forgotten, but somehow over. Veterans were grandfathers and great uncles, not young people. And their fallen comrades were names and faded pictures, not anyone us kids actually knew.



But on this Veterans Day I remember a 23 year old soldier. Lt. Dennis Zilinski was killed in action in Bayji, Iraq on November 19, 2005. We met Dennis 6 years ago during his senior year at West Point. He was the captain of the swim team and an active member of the Cadet Chapel. Jason was an officer representative for the swim team so we got to accompany the team to meets and attend their end of the year banquet. Dennis was a leader, quick with a smile and so full of promise and potential. And now he's gone.

I've been thinking about writing this blog for a while so Sunday I went on line to make sure I had Dennis' information correct to share with you when I discovered this celebration of Dennis' life, a 3 mile road race in New Jersey with an option for those of us around the world to participate. This site is a wonderful tribute to Dennis.
http://www.runwithdennis.org/index.html

I discovered the event a half hour before it began on Sunday morning so Jason and I were able to do our own little run but I will be actively recruiting runners for next year's Hawaiian chapter of the Run With Dennis Race. A great way to honor an outstanding young officer and veteran for Veterans Day.



Sunday, October 17, 2010

Beach Mom recruiting

I've been hesitating to write this blog for fear my little crew of new Beach Moms will disband but we're growing and I'm so excited! For a long time I have wanted to get a Moms Swim Club organized where we have enough Moms to divide into two groups one to swim and one to watch kids play on the beach. Up until recently I haven't met a whole lot of swimming moms looking for this kind of arrangement. Last year I had Kelley (sniff, sniff) who had the same childcare restraints I did, a surfing husband, loved to chase turtles and we were the same speed!! And then she moved away (more sniffing) but I know she'll come back to visit me soon (hint, hint!). So this summer Hubby did the Mountain Man Triathlon and I bumped into an old running partner, from when Hannah was a baby, and she was interested in swimming! We are currently up to 4 members but at least 4 more have expressed interest and its awesome! We even saw a turtle at Lanikai last week, which has never happened to me before! We also saw dolphins at the start of the Splash and Dash race on Saturday before we got in the water, another first for Kaneohe Bay! In other news:

I love this picture of Hannah and her ballerina buddies. This is their costume for an upcoming performance. They were allowed to try it on to make sure it fit and then ordered to put it away until show time. We of course put it on at home to show Dad and immediately got something on it, Hannah is convinced the audience will be far enough away not to see it. She clearly has learned laundry skills from her Mom, if no one sees it, its not really there.

Ella is an awesome Mom, she has four kids, 2 girls and 2 boys (although I've only ever seen one of the boys- maybe the other is away at college or something). And she tucks them all in at night and dresses the one that has a change of clothes every morning. When we go to a pool or water slide she strips baby down and takes her on the water slide naked, neatly seated between her own little legs. She has "Brand New Baby" on in the above picture. This is the one that goes with her everywhere. "Big Sister" generally naps in the car while we do errands or stays home. And the boy I have seen (Peter Pan doll) usually stays home. I don't know how she manages them all but she's doing a great job.

The Artist. Hannah has recently decided that she is an artist and it is so fun to watch her create. Mind you, we are personally responsible for great destruction of rain forests with all the paper she is going through but sometimes we head outside and use our awesome driveway canvass. We have the sweetest Tutu neighbor who has adopted the girls and keeps them supplied with sidewalk chalk and pads of paper. Thankfully our neighbors that share our driveway don't seem to mind all the fairy villages and mermaid scenes we create!