Day 24

Build a Sandman!

It's Christmas Eve and the girls could not be more excited! Beau has been counting down and wakes us every morning with an exuberant "Christmas is in _ days!!!" She proceeded to remind us, no less than 12 times, that Christmas is tomorrow and Santa is coming!

A day at the beach was exactly what we needed. Family beach time away from any school/work/cooking/wrapping stresses is like a panacea for the soul :)




What worries could I possibly have when this monkey is around to make me laugh?




Daddy got some father daughter soccer training in. Alex laughed the ENTIRE time :)




Happy in Hawaii :)





Mele Kalikimaka from my family to yours!


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Beau-ism of the week

Beau had found a stick that was long enough to ride around upon the park like what appeared to be a horse.  Oh us common folk would assume it was a horse, oh no, not Beau.  This girls imagination would never waste time with a real creature.  Here is a little glimpse into the mind of this little girl...

Our neighbor Jon:  "Whatcha riding there Beau? A horse?"

Beau:  "ugh, no.  This is my unicorn Alestia, and see she has a beautiful pink legs with purple shoes, and see her hair is shimmery, like glittery, like the sun, like a silver purple crayon, and she loves when I ride her around for her exercise because she has a lots of energy, because she eats a lots of foods like for energy, so I have a to ride her so she doesn't get too much energy in the house, because energy is for outside the house, and for like I have energy to go to crossfit, because I eat lots of good foods or energy like I ride Alestia.
(notice the lack of periods, this was intentional.  She said the whole things as one long sentence)

Jon:  "Cool"

Beau:  "Yeah, she is pink."

Jon:  "Does she have wings?"

Beau:  "Absolutely not."

Jon:  "Can she blow out fire like a dragon?"

Beau:  "Absolutely not.  She is not a dragon, shes Alestia, and shes a UNICORN.  Not a dragon"

Jon:  "I bet your daddy would like it if she was a flying dragon"

Beau:  "Well...he likes her alright.  But he cant ask me because hes at the daddy store."

Jon:  "What's at the daddy store?"

Beau:  "Cigars"

And without another word she rides off on Alestia.

This girl needs to create something for a living.  She is never happier as when her mind is engrossed in the ingenious world of her imagination.

If left to her devises, she will move mountains some day.  I just know it.

Perplexing Moments with Alex

The girls were watching some christmas cartoon, I'm pretty sure it was garfield but Im not sure.  What can I say, Beau knows how to control the playstation and can turn on Netflix like a pro, it gives me more time to clean instead of micromanaging everything that happens in this house.  Win, Win!

Anyway... in the middle of a cartoon about a bunch of talking animals I hear this...


Alex:  "Hey! Pigs cant talk!"

Me:  "Wha?"

Alex:  "Mom, that pig is tawkin!"

Me:  "Um... he sure is!"

Alex (frustrated and confused):  "No mom.  Pigs cant talk!"

Me (pointing to the other animals on the screen):  "But cats, dogs, roosters, sheep, and cows can?"

Alex (points her tiny yet authoritative finger at me):  "Yeah!  But pigs CANT talk!"


Who am I to argue with that?

This girl, she will never take no for an answer. Never.  If she is not a professional negotiator of some kind it will be a waste of talent.  Some may call it stubborn, I can it passionate :)

Backtracking on Xmas

So things got a little busy and a lot stressful. But I still managed to celebrate all 25 days of Christmas, even if I didn't post it all on here.

And the best news...(drumroll please)... Hubby finished his Masters!!!! (Screw the drumroll, cue the marching band!!) I know I didn't elaborate but the Masters program was taking its toll on our happy family, by that I mean it was taking it toll on Daddy, which takes its toll on Mommy, which definitely affects the girls. So the only logical move was to put our brainy heads together ( by that I mean hubby's head is sooo brainy that by putting ours together hopefully some telepathy brain wavey absorption thingy would happen, thus making me smarter...totes worked too, obvi!) and get this masters done together. Who knew it took 2 bachelor degrees to get one masters! But it worked and we did it! Hubby is now a master :) at least he insists that is what he is called now.

Back to the 25 days of Christmas. I started this on my phone for some reason and this will be a long post so excuse me while I switch to the Mac :)

To be continued...


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Backtracking on xmas Part II

Sorry about that :)

Day 4: Make Hot Cocoa

Its safe to say, this is always a favorite.  Especially since I let them have as many "marshmeddows" as they want.



Day 8: Meet Santa!!!

The squadron always throws a keiki christmas party that is a huge hit.  There are crafts, coloring, cookie decorating, food and drinks, and of course SANTA!

Alex was still a little shy but that didn't stop her from running up and jumping on his lap.  Alex didn't ask for anything because she was really confused why he would give her a book and then ask her what she wants, "But I have a new book! See!" while she shoves it in his face.  Beau asked for "A pink unicorn with a yellow beautiful hair, and a rainbow on her back. A PINK ONE!"  I really would have appreciated Santa helping out by saying no. I had to break it to her later that Santa cant give away magical creatures, they have to stay free.

This year he left riding out on his convertible, only after talking to ALL the kids.  Its so nice to have kids at the age where they are thrilled to see him and even happier to sit on his lap.  No more screaming and crying for us :)



Day 12: Go to a Christmas Party

Its school christmas party day so that made it easy for me!  I didn't get to go to Beau's party so no pics but Alex had a blast at hers :)

 Of course, as long as there is frosting involved, this kid is pretty easy to please.



Day 15: Deliver gifts to friends

Every year we deliver our toffee and christmas cards to our neighbor friends.  Who wouldn't love to receive anything from these 2 elves?!

Day 16: Movie and Popcorn night!

I made magical christmas popcorn, huge family secret (shh, its got sugar in it).  Sam doesn't like sweet popcorn so I had to make salty too, fine by me because I like both!  This is always a favorite night for all :)

Day 18:  Look at the Christmas lights!

This is MY favorite night!  I just love walking around the neighborhood with my happy little family and looking at lights!  I would do it every night if we could :)

I love these little monkeys.  They warm my heart everyday.

Day 19:  Lets go to the Movies!!!

When Beau reads this in the advent calendar she always jumps up and down.  These girls love going to the movies!  We went to see Rise of the Guardians and they got to pick their candy.  Popcorn, candy, mini corndogs, coke, AND a cartoon.  Can it get any better?!

PS, alex saw this pic and said, "why am I a doctor? Why do's I have a doctor coat?" Ha!

Day 22: Make a Gingerbread House!

I am not a fan of gingerbread house day.  The girls love it but they always cry when I throw the remains away.  I am not going to keep a sugar house just lying around to attract bugs so I just let them decorate and eat at the same time, after they are starting to vibrate from the sugar high I toss it all.  Then comes the tears, then comes the guilt gifts.  Its never fun for long.  This year was no different.

Step 1:

Mom divides the candy, all smiles :) 

PS, prebuilt gingerbread house, GENIUS!

Step 2:

Mom pipes all the icing and they start to decorate, still happy

Step 3:

They finish decorating and admire their beautiful creation, happy girls

Step 4:

Start eating, very happy girls!

Step 5: When all the candy is gone and they have started gnawing on the corners of the roof, mom steps in and throws it all away.  No pictures because its not a pretty sight.

Step 6: Tantrums ensue.

Step 7: Someone cries themselves to sleep.

Step 8: Someone makes mommy feel guilty and horrible.

child brings out the quivering bottom lip, "Mommy. When you frew away my gingabead house it make me very sad!"
mom sniffles away the beginnings of tears, "Oh. My. God.  I am going to go buy you some gingerbread cookies!  Ok?!"

Step 9: Mom rushes into pre christmas shopping mayhem for store bought cookies.

Step 10: Girls are happy.  Mommy is tired.

Step 11: Repeat in 2013



Day 23:  Christmas Waffles!

Last year I made read and green waffles.  This year I wasn't quite as motivated so I just made red waffles.  No one was happy about this, at least until I placed a plate of syrup drenched waffles in from of them.

I think they like it :)



Thats all!  Today is Day 24 so that will be a separate post.  Any days I didn't mention here are due to no pictures or it was just a book or candy day.  There was "Lets go to the Pool" day, "Have a christmas Playdate" day, and "Deliver Cookies to Daddy's Work" day that I'm really upset I didn't get any pictures.  Maybe that should be my New Years resolution, to take more pictures...hmmm, I think I like that idea!

Oh, and there MAY have even been a day when lumps of coal were placed in the advent calendar, but then at the last minute I changed my mind and put candy in.  I'm such a sucker.

Perplexing moments with Alex

While driving in the car...

Alex: "Daddy, I don't want to ride on a shark."

Dad: "No? ...Ok."

Alex: "Yeah, acause it might get my shirt wet."

Dad: "Well that's as good a reason as any I guess."

Me: "She's not wrong."

Dad: "Never is."






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25 Days of Christmas

It's that time of year again!!! It's probably been about 7 months since I posted on here but as some of you know I have been beyond overwhelmed with these masters classes. I restricted myself from the computer until this was all over and I am ALMOST done (last day of class is december 24th!!!!) so hopefully I can get regular about this again soon. Until then...

Day 1: Find Gingy!



Our favorite little creeper is back and the girls were soooo excited to see him. Beau said to me a few days before his scheduled arrival "I bemember with my mind that Gingy was here and we had that box with the numbers (advent calendar) and he would fly to Santa! I bemember that! We should do that again!"

As you wish my dear :)

Day 2: Buy a Toy for A Stranger!

The girls schools are participating in Toys for Tots so I thought it would be best to let the girls pick out their own gifts to give. It took some convincing that there were kids who deserved them, Alex was convinced no other kids needed toys "but mommy I NEED dis! No oder kids NEED dem!!"

In the end they were very proud to buy dolls for others :)




Day 3: Make Christmas Cookies!

This is always a favorite day for the girls AND Sam. I let them choose the cookie colors and I guess Christmas colors for 2 little girls are pink and blue. They taste delicious anyway :)





That's all so far!!

I won't be posting everyday because I still have 7 papers to write...wish me luck!


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Beau-ism of the Week

I was wasting time on Pinterest and this picture showed up on my feed

Beau saw the picture and said, 

"Oh she gots her skin all ruined because her been suckin her thumb.  She should stop sucking her thumb if her wants to get her stomach all better."

I think maybe we tell her too many things are the result of her thumb sucking.  Not a day goes by when you won't hear something preposterous come out of my mouth like,

"Well, honey, your ice cream must have run away because it saw you were sucking your thumb"

or

"I think your tummy hurts because you were sucking your thumb"

or

"That woman on the movie is crying because I told her you were sucking your thumb"

At some point in the future I am going to ask myself where I went wrong, what was that one point in time that I really screwed up my kid.  There is a strong chance I won't remember this moment so I'm sure I can just blame it on my husband when we get there.  

I'm such a good mom.

It's baby fight club

Tattooed and punching things...it's baby fight club in my house, courtesy of Aunt Elly :)


Playing with their punch balls, moments before it turned into "ok you stand there and I will punch you with my balloon in your face...No Alex it won't hurt!"


Beau said tats are "so super tough"! Direct quote.


Ali claiming she looks "so cool"! Thanks for the Easter presents Aunt Elly, they love them!!! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Happy Easter!

Hurry Home Daddy!!! We miss you already :(


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Alex being Alex

"What you looking at?  

You want my cracker?"

"Nope, can't have it.  See too late, its already in my mouth" 

"Whats wrong with you?  

Its. Already. In. My. Mouth" 

"Dude. Your getting on my last nerve" 

"That's it, I have no other choice....

I'm going to have to tell your mom."

Whale Watching Catamaran Cruise

We had an adventure of a lifetime!  I had bought these tickets on Living Social for a sunset cruise on the north shore way back in July.  Fast forward to February and the tickets are about to expire!  Well I am so glad we waited as long as we did because had we gone in July it would have been a completely different cruise.

We got to see whales!!!  When I went on the shark dive I got to see the back of 2 whales but they were very far away.  Not the case this day, we saw dozens!!!  The closest ones were just 30 yards or so away!!

Posing before the cruise

Aww, aren't we adorable :)

 The captain let Beau and Ali help "steer"

Sitting on daddy shoulder

Beau was looking for whales

Managed to catch one on film!

The sunset was amazing

Its safe to say Beau had a fabulous time!

Alex found the snacks

But we didn't just see them, we got to listen to them too!  The captain had a nifty microphone that he placed in the water and we listened for about 10 minutes to the amazing sounds they make.  Here's a video :)

The Whales migrate down here every winter to have their adorable babies, its estimated that close to 30,000 make Hawaii home over the winter months!  You would think with those numbers I wouldn't feel so special getting to see a few...you would be wrong!  It was amazing!

Once the sun set we brought the girls in and the captain turned on the "super duper bright red light" (that's a quote from Beau, not the captain)

Heres a special little clip of our awesome captain blowing the conch shell.

Trip of a lifetime!

Parent Teacher Conferences

A few weeks ago it was parent teacher conferences for Beaus school.  This was a first for all of us so I was actually a little nervous!  No one wants to hear that their kids are struggling in school and I wasn't sure I would be able to handle that kind of news with any sort of grace. In fact I had already prepared my answer for when she would tell us Beau has ADHD and needs to be sent to a home to for professional help...

"You think you know my kid?! Huh?! Lets take this outside and I can introduce you to my friends Lloyd and Harry!" (for this to make any sense I must explain that I have name my fists Lloyd and Harry...for that to make any sense you must know that those are the main characters names in Dumb and Dumber...if that doesn't make sense you must leave my blog because you are obviously a terrorist)






....What was I talking about?....




Well the nerves were all for nothing because Beau got a rave review!  Im sure the teacher gave everyone a rave review but at least the things she had to say about Beau werent general compliments they were all things we already knew and loved about her.

Beau's rave reviews were...
Might be the happiest kid I have ever seen (well thats good to hear)
Seriously I have never seen her even a little sad (you must be a lot nicer to her than we are)
She is genuinely excited about everything (can you teach her how to go to bed at night without crying?)
She loves everyone and everything in the class (do you babysit?)
She has a great self image and confidence (we already knew that her royal highness has a good self image)
She is very independent (duh)
She knows all the fundamentals to move on to kindergarten next year (woohoo! Mommy gets one kid to go to school full time next year!! *happy dance*)

Beau's not so rave reviews were...
She loves to talk on the quiet carpet so she has to be reminded it is a QUIET carpet (no big surprise there)
She can't tie her own shoes (we only wear flip flops here so that needs to be worked on)
She could only count to 26 when we tested her (Beau responded by counting to 30)

And the final thing her teacher said she needed to work on...
Teacher: "She can't do a forward somersault"
Me: "..... ok.....wait....seriously?!  Beau do an applesauce"
Beau immediately does a perfect somersault,
Teacher: "OK i guess we can mark that off the list"
Me: "Yeah for some reason when she was like 2 she called it an applesauce and we have all called it that ever since"
Beau: "15.16.17."
Me: "Its probably just because it was the longest word she could pronounce so she thought it was the same thing"
Beau: "26. 27. 28."
Me: "Beau you can stop doing applesauce now"




So our little angel is going to move on to kindergarten next year!!!!  What?!?!

And I didn't even have to call in the help of Lloyd and Harry.

Just the 3 of us...

Sam had to go on a last minute trip for the week so it is just the 3 girls!

When my whole family is together its hard to find the time to keep this blog updated...but when the hubby is away I have no one to talk to after the girls go to bed, perfect opportunity to keep family, friends and Sam updated.

Today the girls let me sleep in (wonderful gift since we were out late for St. Patty's day last night), but we were up and running in time to watch Daddy's plane taxi away by 9.  I like to treat the girls (and myself) a bit when Sam leaves so we went out to breakfast at a restaurant here on base.  Its just a grille with not great food but the location is awesome.

You can't tell from this picture since that dang sun is always out in Hawaii ruining my pictures ;), but the ocean is right over that grass hill.

Then we fed the fish and waited until it was time for our photo session with a new photographer I found here.  While feeding the fish I received an email that the photog had to cancel because she was sick (sounds to me like she had a case of the "I partied too hard for St. Patty's Day and now I have a hangover".

The girls were already dressed pretty so I decided to take the photos myself :)

Here are a few of my favorites, though these have yet to be photoshopped so they aren't great yet.

Alex is running after the plane saying "that's daddys plane"...its a Hawaiian Airlines jet...I'm sure daddy wishes it was his plane sweetheart.

Hurry home babe :)