Family Photos 2012

This free digital scrapbooking design personalized with Smilebox

The Year of Clock

For ahwile now I've come up with some sort of theme for the new year. I tend to lean towards Chinese titles too. You know, this year is the year of the Dragon. I was born in the year of the rat...that sort of thing. Last year was the year of accessories. The year before that was the year of the scrapbook. This year will be the year of the Clock.
I have been less than impressed with my time managment skills. Little things like working on the blog, rocking a baby, or taking kids to variious activities have interfered with keeping a steady routine. Now it is a very loose routine that allows for some wiggle room but things like getting dinner ready so that we can all sit together or completing basic yet necessary chores to help our home run smoothly have been left unattended.
My track record hasn't been all that great. Yeah, I did complete Clarissa baby book but I didn't finish a book for Molly. I have bought quite a few accessories to enhance my outfits but I haven't been wearing them anymore lately. So I'm really nervous about keeping to my clock. I just hope by the end of the year I can manage my time and the family's time a little better than I have in the past. I feel a little more improvement. That is until I sit down to write a new blog post....

I just teach real language

I have friend that teases me. She insists on eating all organic food, she refuses to touch anything with soy, and thinks I'm silly for not teaching Jonah sign language. She used to teach at a preschool and found it very helpful to have the kids sign to her what they needed something. I laugh and tell her that as a language teacher, I just teach real language. Now I know, sign language is a real language too. I mean no disrespect to the hearing impaired that rely on that form of communication. But I find that barriers I would have with spoken language is no different with that of sign. I say cut out the middle man. Instead of teaching him to sign drink or cup I'll just teach him to say it. I'll still be left wondering what he wanted to drink or put in his cup no matter what. I remember Clarissa called all food cracker and so I had to go through the list of food she liked to learn what kind of cracker she wanted. Was it the green bean cracker, the pasta cracker, I just didn't know.
Jonah is doing a great job with his language skills. He is starting to babble away like he's really talking. It really is exciting for me to hear him pick up patterns and sounds. He learned "Daisy" first. But they are playmates during the day so I'm not surprised. Not even when the second word was a bark : ) He also says "Ada" for Adam. He yells his name up the stairs. But that is just copying me. He says "ma" for more and "ma-ma" for me. (I particularly love that mama thing. He will follow me around the house or look for me saying that one. Warms my heart everytime.) There is also a "na" but I'm not sure yet if it means no or mine. He says it with an intonation of mine but sometimes the context is more like a no. He hasn't really attempted his sisters names yet but definitely knows who I'm talking about when I say their names. He will also make a cute smacking sound to my cheek when I say kiss.
This is such an amazing time for him...and for me! I have loved watching all of them learn their language. Once their brain clicks it just starts flooding in. They recognize words so quickly and then begin producing those words almost instantly. I absolutely love it! And that's why I just teach "real language".

Jonah is One Year Older....I want to cry

Oh what I would give to go back one year and hold that tiny infant (albeit 9lb) in my arms again. I so love the infant stage and everything about it. I love how quiet they are. I love how they mold into my arms. I love cuddling them. I still remember worrying about baby Jonah whenever we doing anything. He was such a quiet baby. I'd be in the middle of helping one of the kids with a chore or homework and panic "Where's Jonah?" Or we'd pull out of the driveway for baseball practice and I'd start to drive away when I'd yell "Is Jonah back there?!" The kids thought I was crazy but that's just because they have no idea what all I have to think about in a regular basis and just how much an infant can mess with your brain. Oh but I miss it so much!
He is so lovely now too. He started to walk the week of Christmas. He was just brave enough to take a few steps from one couch to the other. By the end of the month he was walking all over the house. He has a fun routine...fun for him anyhow. He walks to the entertainment center and pulls out all the video games, next is a trip to the recycling center and he takes out all the bottles and boxes, after that he goes through several cupboards in the kitchen to empty out whatever he finds. If I haven't closed the door to the laundry room then he goes to the dog dish and splashes the water and dumps out the food. If the door is closed then he looks for an open door to the bathroom where it is necessary to unroll all the toilet paper and dump the baskets with the girls hair accessories. Once that is completed he climbs up the stairs, goes into the toy closet, and begins to throw several toys down the steps. By then he's good and ready for a nap. Oh and did I mention there is basket full of toys sitting in the very room where all of this began. I'm just very grateful the kids are willing to help me pick up his mess. It surprises me but they don't even complain. They must really love him a lot!

I think I'm crazy!

The girls have been in gymnastics for quite a few months. They both really enjoy it a lot. And I really like the facility. They train kids for the Olympics here and help them understand what to expect in competitions. I had Clarissa go to help give her an edge for cheerleading. That is what she really loves the most. So when registration for cheerleading came up I had her on a squad right away. Molly really goes just because Clarissa does. And although it works really well for gymnastics, it doesn't fair too well with cheerleading. They are on the same squad to make it easier for me but truth be told, she doesn't really like it. And then Adam wanted to try basketball. I thought sure why not? The cheerleaders go to their games to cheer, with any luck they'd all be at the same place at the same time. Which of course would be true if they were all in the same age brackett. But nooooo.....they are not. And so the girls practice 5:30-6:30 at one facility and Adam practices 6:00-7:00 at another. The first game Adam began at 9:30 at one gym and the girls had to be at another by 10:30. The next game is at the same time at two different places. Luckily there are other parents that can help me out if Todd is unable to be around. But still, what was I thinking?! I must have been crazy! Yet as I watch them play/cheer and see them interact with other kids their age it doesn't seem so bad. I want them to have fun and I want them to learn new skills. It's good to be a part of a team.

Happy New Year!

I love a new year! For me it so exciting. That's because I love making goals. I love organizing the steps that I need to take in order to reach those goals. I love looking back at the goals I had written the previous year to see how much I accomplished and then determine what I need to do follow through with old goals. Though I'll admit that I'm nerdy enough to look at my goals several times a year to make sure I'm right on track. I love a new year!
This year is going to focus on Time Management. I want to make sure I follow the routine. It's not a very tight routine but it doesn't take much to throw one off course. And with a baby in the house, believe me, it gets thrown off course very easily. But since I'm focusing on managing my time better it has really encouraged me to get creative in my solutions. For example, I was having a difficult time juggling the help I gave to Clarissa for her homework, settling Jonah, get the kids to their various activities, AND making sure we sat down to dinner together. So now I make my meals in a slow cooker 3-4 times a week. It's nice to have dinner prepared early in the day while the kids are in school and have it ready to eat just at the right time. Of course the kids complain about what I've fixed so they end up eating cereal. But hey, that just means I get some good leftovers for lunch : ) I'm very excited about what will happen this year. I think it will be a very productive year.

Christmas Memories

It was another warm Christmas in Hawaii for 2011. Only we were in our house at Ft. Shafter. I don't think I was able to really share my feelings about moving to our house on post yet. We missed the holiday lights of Waipahu. Those people really know how to celebrate! But we did enjoy the relaxing, small town feel of our new neighborhood. Christmas fell on a Sunday this year so it was a little trickier. Adam was still baffled as to why we had to go to church on Sunday when it was Christmas. (I've definitely did something wrong when training this boy.) We were scheduled to meet for the first hour only so it wasn't really that bad. We had a lot of fun sitting around the tree; opening our gifts. The kids were very happy with what Santa brought them: Adam received some legos, Clarissa a bike, and Molly a talking My little Pony. They were also happy with what we and the rest of the family got them. They played the entire day. And since I did the closet cleaning the day before we had plenty of room to put our new items neatly away. We never did make it out to the North Shore to sit with the giant sea turtles this year. Having four children does drain your motivation a little bit. That would be my only regret. But I suppose if I can get out there sometime before the winter ends I will be alright. Yet I felt right to just stay right at home. It was calm, it was peaceful, and it was restful. Just how a Sabbath day should be. Especially one that was intended for us to ponder the birth of the Savior.

My Name is Earl

 

I love the show "My Name is Earl". It reminds me so much of where I grew up and the people that lived there. It made me laugh every time I watched it and it made me go "awwww....that is so sweet" at the end of each show too. But what I found particularly hilarious is the little details they added to the story line. Every time they showed a photograph of Earl, whether it be an old school photo, wedding photo, mug shot.... his eyes were always closed. Well, Molly should have been named Earl. I kid you not, every time I try to get a photograph of this girl the eyes are always closed. I have to take about 6 shots before I finally catch her with her eyes open. And for some reason she doesn't seem to understand that it's the camera that's capturing her image. She tends to look out into the great beyond. Nevermind I've explained to her that by looking at the camera lens I can get a great picture of her. So if I want to catch her with her eyes wide open I need to turn of the flash and put her some place where the flash is then not needed. What is the female equivalent to Earl? Earlvaline, Earlvette, Earlina, I don't know...

My Ballerinas

We became good friends with a family from Adam's baseball team. They also had a little girl that was getting used to going to all the practices and games and they introduced us to a wonderful Christian based Arts Academy. The girls started taking ballet classes with a wonderful instructor. They began every class with a prayer and they danced to songs that focused on God's love for us. I loved taking my girls there and loved watching them dance.

Adam's Birthday

 

Adam's birthday was on a Monday this year. I thought it would be fun to take a break from school and go on a special field trip on his day. He had been participating with the online school Connections Academy for three months now and so it was easy to get away from school. But I also kept Clarissa home so that she could join us in the fun too. Adam had just finished a research paper on the bombing of Pearl Harbor. So it was quite fitting for him to visit the Arizona Memorial. He was able to meet one of the veterans from that day. He had a great time and is now hoping that every year on his birthday he can skip school and take a fun trip. I think that sounds like a lot of fun too.

Clarissa's Birthday

Yeah, it's a little late in the making. But what a special day we had with Clarissa. She is fabulous!!

A scrapbook by Smilebox

Princess Party

Another free invite card by Smilebox

Happy Halloween

It was another great year for trick or treat. I wasn't sure if I was going to allow it though. Adam has a serious issue with candy. It's a disease. And I'm not joking. After our trunk or treat I allowed the kids to keep their bag of candy in hopes it would be gone quickly. Adam had it gone in two days. Molly took a couple more days. Clarissa never really finished hers. But it came with a penalty. They couldn't get to sleep very well at night. They couldn't stay very focused at school. And there were some emotional meltdowns. After Halloween night, though, I decided to keep the bags hid. First I threw away the stuff I didn't want them to eat. Then I took out a few of my personal favorites. The rest I have been rotating around the house just so no one finds it. And I know Adam is searching for them every chance he gets. If they behave well during the day then they may have a piece or two after dinner. There is a tradition I heard of recently. Apparently there is a mom out here who after trick or treat gives each of her a children a sandwich bag. They are to fill that bag with whatever candy they want. The rest of the candy is placed into a bowl and offered to the Great Pumpkin. I wish I would have been that clever from the very beginning. It might just be our new tradition for next year. We haven't had any junk food in our house for several months. It makes me sad to have it around again. But enough of the candy. The dressing up part was so much fun. The girls were amazing if I say so myself. It was all inspired by Clarissa. She said she wanted to have her face painted green for her witch costume. And that led to painting Molly's face for her kitty costume. I asked Adam if he wanted me to paint his helmet design on his costume for the church activity night but he declined. His loss : ) I still have a lot of practice yet to do but I kind of hope they want to do something like this again next year. Yeah, it's time consuming. But this is the stuff I really enjoy doing for them. They actually appreciate it and have fun with it. Watch out Olivia! You have some competition. (That's for you Jerseylicious fans out there : )

Oh, and wasn't the dog adorable too!!

New Determination

OK, so I know that I'm way behind on posting photographs. And then the last couple of days I was reminded why I avoid coming to the blogspot. It is way too time consuming and it becomes a real source of frustration. I want to share our stories, I want to show it creatively, but I want it quick. Well, you just can't do that quickly. And since my computer doesn't seem to allow for easy uploading of photographs, (yeah, I know there's a double of the jack 0'lanterns photo. It won't delete, grrrr!) I have that much more difficulty. Also, I like the idea of going in chronological order of events. I'm just too far behind for that at this time. And so new strategy! No order. Time limit. If I only get one done then so be it. And since Jonah has been telling me now for about 10 minutes that he is all finished with his snack and would appreciate a diaper change, as well as a change of scenery, I say good day to you!

Aloun Farms

Molly was able to go to the local pumpkin patch for a field. (And I got to chaperone, yeah!) But of course the others were jealous about not going. So we spent a couple of hours one Saturday morning to go pick out pumpkins and ride the rides. It's just not the same though. I miss the cooling temperatures, the colors, and definitely the scent of Autumn.