In like a lion...

March came in like a lion.  We had so much rain that I thought I was going to need to build an ark.  Yikes! It's crazy to me that it's already the end of March! There is a lot that has been happening. School, work, vacation.

Our vacation to the Big Island was AWESOME! It was just what we needed, when we needed it.  We did a lot of touristy things.  And, we got food poisoning.  That was the worst part of vacation.  We didn't let it slow us down too much.  We just adjusted our schedule a bit. No big deal.

We took hundreds of pictures.  It was fun to document every single moment of vacation.  It was fun to enjoy the beauty of the Big Island and its slower pace.

And now we're in the last quarter of school.  The last two months before the summer schedule. I feel like it's so overwhelming. It shouldn't be.  This isn't something new.  Yet, every year it sneaks up on me. Blah.

So, I'll leave it with the "tease" of adding pictures from our vacation soon... :)

Sickness, be gone!

It's a myth that you will never get a cold if you live somewhere warm.  I mean, really? Do you think that we are immune to it simply because it's warm? We live on an island. An island that's main industry is tourism.  How do you think the tourists get here? Where do they come from? How do they get here?

Before somebody gets up in arms about how I shouldn't be complaining because I live in paradise, I think that I should say "walk a mile in my shoes" and leave it at that.  It's no different than those people who live in areas of extreme cold and snow saying "ACK!! It's snowing!" Well, yes, it does that where you live!

This year has been particularly rough on the illness scale.  With a wee one who catches all of the bugs that come home with her older sister and having a middle one who seems to catch one out of every four illnesses that she brings home, it has taken it's toll.

So, that's what we've been doing for the last month.  Sick. Healing. Sick. Healing.  And now we're gearing up for Spring Break! This year we're leaving the island for a mini-vacay.  I can't wait.  Five days of F3!! No computers.  No facebooking or tweeting.  No PHONE. No texting or phone calls.  It's going to be great.  I can't wait!

Oy! Slacker McSlackerson!

It's been two weeks since my last blog update.  Ugh.  Where does the time go? I know that we've been busy but to look back at it, I can't see it.  That being said, I've got a new computer and I'm learning how to use it.  It's proven to be quite the challenge! I have to transfer all of my documents, music files and pictures.  That task is monumental! I also need to learn how to upload pictures from the new camera to the new computer. I'm not illiterate when it comes to most technical things but I am with this, apparently.

I'll blog more as I figure out my technical issues! And, I have pictures to share!

Being a tourist (img hvy)

Last weekend was Pro Bowl weekend.  We would have loved to go to Ohana day on Saturday but we didn't register in time.  That turned out to be a blessing in disguise because it was CRAZY busy.  We opted to visit the USS Missouri instead, which was celebrating its 68th birthday! We had been wanting to go for quite awhile and this was the perfect opportunity.

We started the day at Wright Bros. Cafe, eating our breakfast overlooking the channel.  Wright Bros. has become our favorite breakfast spot.  It's right on the water and the food is yummy and made to order every time.

After breakfast, we headed over to the Mighty Mo, detouring and going to the Utah Memorial first.  There is very little on the USS Utah and it's role during the attack on Pearl Harbor.  The USS Utah was a battleship that was attacked and sunk on December 7, 1941. It was hit at 8:01 AM and at 8:12 the mooring lines snapped causing the Utah to roll over on her beams. The ship remains in the harbor and was deemed "out of commission, not in service" on 5 September 1944.

The Mighty Mo is HUGE.  We didn't even make a dent in the tour and we might have continued if the kids weren't grouchy and hungry! There were activities for the kids: Battleship, mini sail boat races and the sink/float experiment.  It was very interesting to see what life was like on a battleship.  Even more interesting is the the Mighty Mo was the last battleship to be commissioned and decommissioned. I think that we will attempt the tour again when it's just the two of us.  I know the kids enjoyed it, but, I think that we would get more from doing the full guided tour.

Student of the Quarter!

Annika was chosen to be a student of the quarter by her teacher, Mrs. Kawano.  She made such a wonderful improvement from first quarter! Her grades improved AND she was chosen to be a HOST (helping our students together) to welcome new students.  She was chosen because she is so friendly and happy.

The SOQ assembly was on 25 January.  Travis and I both attended the assembly.  I'm sharing the pictures below.  Enjoy!

Thursday's truths.

Today's post will be similar to the "Tuesday's 10" that I've been reading on other blogs.  I don't want to put a constraint on what I share/don't share.  I think that my "truths" will give a glimpse of what my days consist of, what I'm thinking that day, some insight into my personality that doesn't come out often.  Enjoy the "truths."

1. I don't normally like coffee.  The smell of it makes me gag.  Literally.  It's horrible.  The smell of coffee beans roasting is even worse.  I'm not sure how I survived at Caribou Coffee Company for as long as I did.  (I loved that job, btw). That being said, we recently invested in a Keurig.  It's the best thing, EVAR. I love that I can quickly brew tea, make a cup of hot chocolate and even brew hot tea over ICE.  It has cut down the time I spend brewing tea.  My drink of choice has been half Caribou blend, half dark hot chocolate.  It still smells disgusting, but it tastes so good!

2. I've been slacking in the laundry department for a couple of weeks.  I don't know if it's because I've been sick that long or I'm just being lazy.  I do what needs to be done and leave the rest for the next laundry day.  It annoys me, but, I'm in a funk and can't snap out of it.

3. I pray for Lola to take long naps.  It maximizes my lazy time.  This is horrible.  Why do I torture myself this way? I should be spending as much time as possible playing with her.  I am hoping that this "depressive" funk passes soon.  I know that my family is hoping the same thing.  It's bound to get better, right?

4. I love spending time with my lovebugs; all of us together.  It's the highlight of my week.  It's the biggest bit of sunshine in my life.

So, today's "Thursday's truths" confronts my depression.  That's a self-diagnosis.  I haven't been formally diagnosed, but I think that this funk stems from grief.  And, until I can manage that grief, the depression will keep growing.  I pray that my family has the patience to walk through this with me.

A day in the life...

I've often wondered what the trick to stopping time is.  I haven't figured it out, yet.  That doesn't keep me from trying. My goal for the next 7-8 months that we have left? Make the most of it! Document everything.  Even the mundane, everyday stuff.

We've had to prepare the rooms for the kids.  Mikey arrived on island on January 17th and it prompted us to do a bit of Spring Cleaning.  Here are some pictures from the attempt to purge.

Catching some Sesame Street before starting the clean.

Lola discovers that the dog crate is a fun place to play.

Annika is ready for school.

Dinner with Mikey.

Mikey and Dad.