A week of thankfulness

I've decided that for Thanksgiving week, I'm going to blog about what I'm thankful for.  I have had a roller coaster of a year, to say the least.  It helps to reflect on the blessings I have encountered this year.

Today, and everyday, I am thankful for all of my lovebugs: TSgt Lovebug, C, Princess Cranky Pants, M and Sweet'n'Lo. We are the non-traditional family. By that I mean blended; a can of mixed nuts.  A family brought together by two people who fell in love.  Life in a blended family has it's fair share of heartache, grief and disagreement, just like any other family.  What makes us different is that we didn't meet, fall in love and have babies.  We had babies before we fell in love and then after, too. It throws a wrench into the "birth order" theory which is another post entirely.

After three years of life together as a blended family, we have found our sense of normalcy. We've got two of the kiddos full-time and two of the kiddos part-time.  But, it's a full-time love that we're sharing. There isn't a moment that goes by that we don't think about what we're doing and how it affects everyone, even when we are miles apart.

Each of my lovebugs has a quirk.  Sometimes, it's many quirks.  I love each and every quirk.  I love that it makes up the unique blend that is our family. I love that we are a non-traditional family.

To all of my lovebugs: Thank you!

A hui hou!

Changes ahead!

I'm going to be giving my blog a new look in the next couple of days.  I've already started. I'm going to go a new direction with my blog but I haven't decided which direction yet. But, I'm here to say that I know it's been awhile and that I'm coming back.  Don't give up on me!

A hui hou!

October?! I swear it was just September!!

I was hoping that once I got the school schedule down, life would slow down, too! That doesn't seem to be the case.  August flew by and September went just as fast! Annika is settling into her school routine just as I expected her to.  She is a "stick to the schedule" type of person.  As in, do NOT stray from the schedule or mass mayhem ensues.  I'm sure that it will get easier as she gets older but she does not adapt well to changes in schedule.  And that's okay.

We finally found a gymnastics class for her to join.  It sounds like just what she needs.  And Girl Scouts is coming up too!  After Fall Break, Annika started an after-school Math program.  She is very mathematically minded, but she has a hard time understanding certain math concepts.  Math Whizz will help her with this.  Next week is parent/teacher conferences.  Holy cows! I can't believe that the first quarter of school is done!

Lo is on the move.  Crawling, crawling, crawling! She does walk, but prefers to crawl.  She is a little peanut at 16 lbs but she is a very good eater so I am not at all concerned!

The hikes we've been taking are fun! I just bought a new pair of hiking shoes and I am eager to try them out.  Our hikes have been postponed or canceled the last three weeks due to scheduling and weather.  I am hoping that we will get back in the saddle this weekend.

As October comes to a close we have a visitor coming in: My MIL. She will be meeting Annika for the first time.  They are both excited.  We are also volunteering at the Making Strides for Breast Cancer walk again this year.  Annika is very excited about it.  She has been bugging Travis to get us signed up!  We have the girls' Halloween costumes.  Annika will be a Sweet Lil Treat and Lo is going to be Rapunzel from Tangled.

Going in to November we have a birthday party to plan.  It's hard to believe that Lo is 10.5 months old already! Time flies!

I think that's pretty much everything that's been happening in the last month or so!

A hui hou!

A new month, new outlook

The past doesn't have to hinder me.  I can use it to move forward.  That's what I am choosing to do.  I haven't had a horrible past and all things considering, life is pretty good. 

On August 31st, I signed up to be a Scentsy consultant.  I'm not looking to get rich or make it a full-time job.  I just wanted something to bring in a small bit of income and be able to continue staying at home.  Plus, I buy a lot of Scentsy! I don't get a discount on product but I do get a commission.  Okay, enough about Scentsy!

Life is crazy busy! School is going well for Annika.  Lo is growing like a weed.  And, we're enjoying our weekly hikes. That sums up the last few weeks.

a hui hou!

Makapu'u Lighthouse

In an effort to be more active, we have taken F3 (forced family fun) to a new level. There are several different hiking opportunities on the island of O'ahu.  My husband has always wanted to be an avid hiker.  I'll admit that I wasn't too keen on the idea of it at first.  I'm not as active as I could be, nor do I want to be.  But, I can try and I just might like it, right? So, our first hike was at Waimea Valley to go to the falls.  Our second hike was Manoa Valley.  Our third hike was a labor of love.  We tried twice and failed.  We were going to try one last time before moving on to another hike.  The third time was a charm!  It was definitely worth the wait.  The girls LOVED it and the view was amazing!

A little bit of background on Makapu'u Lighthouse: The lighthouse was built in 1909.  It was automated in 1974.  It's a two-mile paved hike that offers wonderful views of the entire coastline of Moloka'i. Two smaller islands can be seen from the lookout: Manana Island and Kaohikaipu Island. It's a wonderful spot to do some whale watching in the winter months.

The hike was hard and I'm feeling the effects today, but, the reward was worth it.  I love to hear Princess Cranky Pants say, "I love hiking!"

What will our next hike be?  I can't wait to find out!

A hui hou!

Busy busy bees!

With school back in session, life at the Miller house has been very busy.  Homework, school lunches and after school activities, OH MY!  I'll get back in to the swing of blogging.  I just need to catch up on some sleep. HA ;)

I have a lot to share... hiking trips, F3, etc.

A hui hou!

New blogging adventure(but, not)

For the month of August, I'm taking an online blogging class.  I'm not new to blogging.  I've been blogging for several years.  My first blog started at Myspace.  It was rudimentary, at best, but it allowed me to share my feelings with the general population.

The topic for week one was blogging goals.  More specifically, what are MY blogging goals?  I had no vision for my blog other than to record my memories of living in Hawai'i.  It's a quick way to keep the rest of the family and my friends updated with the happenings of our lives.  Last year was not a good year for me, in the blogging world.  I was tired, overwhelmed and not feeling the bloggy love.  I plan to change that this year.  I realize that I've only got four months left in the year, but I am determined to blog more than once a week.  I can do it.

I've already covered what I plan to blog about: my adventures in Hawai'i. Eventually I'd like to expand that to my adventures in baking and cooking.  For the time, I'm going to stick with the most attainable goal of blogging about life.  The main purpose of my blog will be to keep my friends and family updated on our life.  It's so hard to call everyone I know to let them know what's happening.  This may be a lazy way of doing it, but I'm not going to feel bad about it.  As I've had this blog for two years already, I'd like to think that I'm going to be a long-term blogger because I'm excited about what I blog about(mostly) and I feel like it keeps me connected to the outside world.


I've got a lot to say.  Sometimes it's funny.  Sometimes it's not.  And, I can't appeal to every reader all the time.  But, I'm not dry toast either.  I'd like to think I'm somewhat entertaining at times while also being informative.  It's a good mix.


I can only hope that I'm bringing a spot of sunshine to someone, somewhere.  I'm going to keep blogging until I feel compelled to do something else.


A hui hou!