Pre Halloween- Tricked and Treated!

Tyler was very excited this morning. Today was the day he got to take goody- bags to school for Halloween. He was up at 7, dressed and ready to leave. His school doesn't start till 8:15. The night before he had sat and watched as I packed orange, black and purple bags with an assortment of spooky toys. I packed all 20 bags into another sac and he sat by the front door, holding the bag full of treats--waiting.
Tara woke and announced that she was sick. This is a child who is never sick. Sometimes she sounds as if she barely has any voice at all (Kevin calls this her "cool voice") and she will tell you that she feels just fine. So today when she said she was sick, I went through my mental checklist. Runny nose? Yes. Sneezy? Yes. Temperature? 100.4. Sick? No way! She played me! Okay, yes she may have a little cold but she wasn't sick. She stayed in her PJ's, wrapped like a mummy on the couch and (no joke!) watched TV for 7 hrs straight. She was laughing, singing and telling me how I needed to come watch this or make sure I record that. I dutifully brought in chocolate milk when requested and food for lunch. When she thought I wasn't looking she snacked on candy she secretly stole out of my candy cauldron waiting for All Hallows Eve's children. In my defense, we just had a parent/ teacher conference. Up to this point she hadn't missed a day or even been late. I'm going to call this a mental health day- everyone needs one of those!
By the way, Tyler made it to school and had a grand time passing out his treats.....

The Peanut Conspiracy

The peanut. Small crunchy, packed with protein. Yuum! Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, peanut butter and crackers, peanut butter pie, peanut butter cookies, celery sticks with peanut butter, peanut butter and apples, pancakes with peanut butter- so many wonderful creations from a jar of peanut butter. Yum! Yum! Yum! Imagine my surprise when my daughter came home with a note from school announcing the horrors of peanuts. Peanuts and peanut products have been banned from her school. Think about that. Do you have any idea what that entails? If not, here is condensed list of what needs to be eliminated from the diet. http://kidshealth.org/parent/misc/nutallergy_cutout.html
No PB&J, no granola bars, no PB cookies- all of which are lunchtime favorites for kids and have been for generations. There are 848 kids enrolled at her school, 3 that have a peanut allergy. What about kids with latex allergies? No pens in schools! Dairy allergies? No milk at lunch time! Bee allergy? How about a giant bubble over the playgrounds to keep out those pesky stingers? I think this should get lumped in with the same idiots that are taking the Pledge of Allegiance (or yes, even prayer) out of schools. Isn't our country founded on the principles of democracy? To me, this would mean majority rules. We shouldn't have to cater to the needs of 3 out of 848 kids! I'm sorry but if little Susie goes to a party of 30 people, I hope little Susie's mother doesn't expect to be coddled. I would hope that little Susie's mother was vigilant in educating her child in what she can and cannot do. Ooops! I just implied that the child's parent should be responsible for the child! Oh my! That was a major faux pas in today's society. Today people want the government to be responsible or take care of their problems, or in this case it would be the DOE. I should probably contain myself though, those peanut haters might decide to include me in some multi-million dollar frivolous lawsuit.
Look- I am not a complete ogre. If you want to set up a table in the cafeteria that is peanut free...be my guest. I am not an uneducated moron either. I know how reactions occur and the risks involved. It would probably be a good idea to have an epi pen in case some type of emergency situation does happen. Haven't kids with bee allergies been doing this for years? The idea that a school can police the lunches and snacks of all students, faculty and staff for any products containing peanuts infuriates me. What is the problem?? What did the peanut do?
In a show of support for the peanut, I have chosen to buy all bags of candy containing peanuts that I can find. I will open my door on Halloween to the chorus of "trick-or-treat" and I will proudly give out handfuls of those delicious, peanut containing candies.

Halloween Fun

Saturday mornings are always a little nutty when Tara has a game on the other side of the island. It doesn't help when Kevin has to "run to work real quick", I am on an early morning cleaning rampage, the kids need baths, Trey has a runny nose and a friend's child is at the house that we will be taking to the game with us. Did I mention they all need to eat, get dressed, brush their teeth etc, etc.? We all get ready and leave the house every morning, why is it that Saturdays are crazy? I'll tell you why- it's my mothers fault!! The only difference between a Saturday and any other day is a genetic defect passed on from my mother that expects me to clean the house. Now, please don't get me wrong, this doesn't happen every Saturday but when the mood strikes- yikes!!!! Just call me Linda- my head spins and fangs show. So....eventually the kids were dressed, ready and fed, my house was cleaned (thanks Mom!) and we made it to Pearl Harbor, on time, for the game which occurred without incident. The island has a pumpkin patch and since Halloween is quickly approaching and I love to carve pumpkins off we went. There were ponies to be ridden, fields to search for just the right pumpkin, small farm animals to pet and lots of Kodak moments. If you want to see all the pictures find the 2006 Halloween Fun set at More Photos Here! When we left we were all starving so we went to Chuck E. Cheese. We fed them, gave them lots of tokens and then sat back and watched as they ran from one machine to the next on a quest to be the one to get the most tickets out of one machine!!! It is nice to be able to watch without having to actively participate. Peace for Mom and Dad....

Tara was recognized with the Citizenship Award for the month of October for Ms. Wolff's 1st grade class. Way to go!! We all gathered in Mokapu's cafetorium for her assembly Thursday morning. She walked to the stage, shook the principle's hand and then turned around and beemed with pride. We were offered punch and cookies (peanut free of course) after the ceremony and as we were all leaving Tyler said "love you Tara!". Even Big Guy was proud of his sister.

Tyler has been reading a special Halloween book with his teacher. There are several pumpkins in the story but his favorite is the lumpy, bumpy pumpkin. I found one while shopping and presented it to the boy. He carried it off like a treasured toy and gave it a position of prominence in the living room. I wonder how he's going to react on carving day?

Earthquake day has come and gone but I still have e-mails to answer so I'll address it here. They say that animals, especially dogs, inherently know when quakes are about to occur. I am convinced I must be part dog. After being awake till 4am, for some reason, I popped awake at 7:05. It was the kind of "popped awake" where your mind is racing, and you have a sense of panic that makes you want to run through the house making sure everyone is breathing. Couple minutes later the quake happened. See? Part dog- explains it for me! The first one hit hard and lasted. I was holding my breath in anticipation of the crashing noises I would hear as all of our stuff fell off walls or vibrated off the shelves. When it was over I ran downstairs and asked all the kids if they felt it. Nothing was out of place and everyone was ok. Half of them were still sleeping soundly (we were having a sleepover). I turned on the news and the next one hit. Then we lost power. We spent the day with friends and neighbors. We all gathered at my house and cooked on the grill all day. I had my small AM radio, a hurricane lamp, lots of candles, tons of water, extra propane- I thought it might be a couple of days before they restored power to the entire island. The day passed without incident. The lights came back on around 9pm. It was actually a good day. It was an event that pulled friends together and we all hung out, played games and enjoyed each others company.

Fall Break

Year round school. Sounds frightening doesn't it? Ask at the end of the year again, but so far, we like it. The kids have a 2 wk fall break, a week for Thanksgiving, a month at Christmas, 2 wk spring break, 6 weeks for summer and lots of 3 or 4 day weekends scattered throughout the year. The weather is always beautiful here so a break any time is reason for an outing. If we were on the mainland, I think I would like it even more. When you live far from loved ones, vacations are not true vacations but whirl-wind trips to stay with one family or the other. You are rushed from one scheduled visit to another trying to see as many people as time will allow. Year round school gives you more options. The traditional summer vacation can be added to a week camping in the mountains during the fall, or you have extra time over Christmas to enjoy some skiing without being pressed for time due to the holiday rush. The idea is that you have time to visit family and have a pleasure trip too. (Not that visiting family isn't a pleasure!!!) Tara just had her fall break 2 weeks ago. (Right after Dad left for his latest trip to Italy, Germany, yes- Germany in Oct., Prague, etc, etc.) The kids had 12 days off. Some of those were spent hanging out close to home but we did lots of day trips too. We finally went to Hawaiian Waters. We had been so busy doing island stuff that we had no desire to visit a water park. Big mistake! The kids had sooo much fun. We went with friends who have kids the same ages, so Christa & Tara, Joshua & Big Guy, and Nikki and I and our babies, all had a blast. I was in the pools sliding down slides and splashing and having such a good time I forgot to break out the camera. Who knew?

My dear neighbor Melissa talked us in to hiking up to the Mokapuu Lighthouse. She swore it was just a 1/2 mile. Uuuumph. Mile and a half, straight up, with 8 kids and 4 adults. Unfortunately for me, Tyler wanted to join Trey in the baby jogger. That's a lot of weight to push straight up hill. After lots of huffing and puffing and sweat covering us from head to toe, we reached the summit. We all made it without experiencing true physical injuries. The views we found were incredible. We could see the windward coastline one way and up to Diamond Head in the opposite direction. The island of Molokai was outlined in the distance too. We enjoyed the views our efforts had provided us and then we had to go back down.........

Another awesome adventure we had was thanks to Tina and Ron. They came to visit back in September and borrowed my copy of Oahu Revealed. Kevin and I spotted a turtle when we were snorkeling in K-Bay but we have been looking and looking ever since. Tina found a page in the book that talked about Lanikea beach or Turtle beach as the locals have labeled it. The beach is on the North Shore and Tina, Ron and the kids saw turtles in the water and turtles in the sand and we did too. Turtles, turtles- everywhere. I think they live there. The beach is covered with algae covered rocks and the algae attracts the turtles like an ice cream truck does kids. So far this year round school stuff has been a blast- and add this to your list of things to do!!

Shrimp Truck Plate Lunch

Anyone wondering why shrimp truck plate lunch is in my web address? Well, if you know me, you know food should probably be listed as a hobby. If I go on vacation the one item I want as a souvenir is a cookbook. The food here is an eclectic blend that is derived from the many cultures found here on the island. Musubi, Poke, Sushi, Kailua Pig, Malasadas- my list could go on and on. When you visit here it is a must that you drive to the North Shore. Stop in at the Dole Plantation for a pineapple flavored treat and maneuver the maze or relax on a train ride. Meander through Haleiwa to explore the surf shops and have a shaved ice. Stop and watch the beautiful and sometimes turbulent beaches of Waimea, Pipeline and Sunset, which is considered the surfing capital of the world. Take time to snorkel the many coves and reefs at Shark's Cove (the sharks don't really live there!). As you pass the Turtle Bay Resort, this is when you really need to start paying attention! The shrimp ponds will begin to replace the views of the awesome coastline. Normally, this would be a bad thing, but sprinkled around the ponds are the shrimp trucks which I crave. The trucks vary and in time I hope to try them all. Two of my favs are Giovanni's and Aloha Chef. A shrimp truck is just as it sounds. A truck on the side of the road with some sort of picnic-type area around it. There is nothing fancy here. Your order will be served in a styrofoam box with a plastic fork rolled up in one single napkin. I think the lack of ambiance is just part of it's charm. But the smells- the smells will unwilling make saliva form copious amounts within your mouth and your stomach will begin growling in anticipation of this island treasure. The menu is sparse, usually including a garlic shrimp scampi, a lava shrimp and maybe 1 or 2 variations. You will receive 10-12 large shrimp and a pile of rice. (Did I mention rice comes with everything here? Rice is for a whole other post...... ) The shrimp scampi is prepared with chunks of whole garlic and the shrimp are hot and fresh and the buttery concoction is drizzled over a heaping bed of hot rice. Yum! The lava shrimp is hot and spicy and if I could duplicate these recipes in my kitchen I could leave the island without fear.


So, when you come here... go everywhere, taste the many different foods the island has to offer but do not miss the shrimp trucks. If it has not become glaringly obvious these are my most favorite of island fares and for which the address was born. Is anyone else now hungry?

Kathy, Tom, Barney, Judy and Rose Marie

Today is the day. I have talked about setting this up and now is the time. I am isolating myself at my desk but this will be done today! Wow! I can scratch this off my list....
Yesterday began very early. Tara had an opening ceremony for football/cheerleading which began at 0830. The event occured at Hickham AFB which is on the other side of the island. The hot side. This cheerleading stuff can be "all consuming". We (the moms) have painted, glittered, re-glittered and applied sealant to a 5 gallon bucket that our aspiring little girls will use as stools as they cheer. Uum? What happened to standing and cheering as you rally the stands in support of the game? Anyway, the 3-4 weeks of practice 3x a week for an hour and a half paid off. Our girls looked wonderful and had quite a perfomance!

The entire armed services from Oahu was there to show off their football players, cheerleaders, coaches and staff. Each group perfomed a routine and those important to the Youth Activities program were recognized. A final pass and review was done and then it was over. The coaches presented the girls with a lei and that inspired more picture taking. One thing I always enjoy with anything military. An event, even a movie, begins with the Parading of Colors (the flag) and the National Anthem. Two little girls from Hickam sang the Anthem with such pride it brought tears to my eyes. I enjoy that aspect of miltary activities. It inspires pride and respect and that is a good thing.

The day was not finished there. Tara had a game at noon. They were able to then use those beautiful buckets!! The real story here was not how cute and adorable my little girl was, but how nasty and dirty the boy got. The boy would be Tyler. Trey is still dubbed the baby. It has rained here lately which created lots of puddles, muddy puddles. A football? Mud puddles? Little boys stuck at their sisters game with nothing to do? I am sure you can connect the dots here..... In case your curious, my husband was the one throwing the ball to the boys- and the one that walked Tyler home.