Merry Christmas Birthday!!

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Honolulu City Lights and Nativity

We did it! We finally snapped a picture of Trey somewhere close to Santa!! Santa was perusing around the grounds of the Honolulu Hale where they had the City Lights display. Trey caught a glimpse of the man in the red suit so if you look closely he is about to wail. There were lots of Christmas displays including Santa and Mrs. Claus waving the shaka, penguins, sleighs full of toys, Christmas trees and wreaths and nativities. In the heart of Manoa, we ventured over to watch a living nativity complete with 3 kings, shepherds and sheep, a drummer boy, 2 angels, goats, a donkey and a horse and of course the family for which this season honors. The children all watched intently and all fell sound asleep as we left the lights of downtown and headed home! Of course there are more pictures added to my sets.....

Is it over yet?

Tyler went to the doctor Thursday for his 4 year old check up. My little boy has moved up in the world- literally. He is no longer in the 50th percentile for height and weight! He jumped up to 70th for weight and 75th for height! Yeahhh Big Guy!
The Christmas madness has settled in and kicked me in the butt. Tuesday I baked. All day I baked pumpkin rolls (I finally used Pam's recipe and it was awesome!), cheese balls, cookies and sausage balls. From these culinary, sweet creations I made little trays of goodies for the kids teachers and our work. My mother laughed and said the genetic flaw has surfaced. Work has been crazy, packages have been sent, received and wrapped, Tyler's birthday is today and the kids are acting as if they are on a strict diet of raw sugar. Yesterday our air conditioner went out with a 50/50 chance of being repaired before next week. I am at work dreading the idea of trying to sleep in the house during the heat of the day. I wonder what the rest of this day will bring?

The Nutcracker

I have fond memories of seeing the Nutcracker and I have been waiting for years to take Tara. I think it is just part of the holiday season and one of those things your just supposed to do. Tara got to wear her fancy black dress (finally) so she didn't really care where we were going. She was pretty impressed with the symphony and she was very excited to point out the instruments that she recognized. When the ballet began she ooohed and ahhhed over costumes and only once did she say very loudly "It would still be better if they talked, mom!". She enjoyed act I but by the end of act II she was bored. She didn't admit it but she got squirmy and she just wanted to unwrap the Christmas ornament of the ballerina she hooked me into buying at intermission. She did very well though. She was quiet, attentive and clapped appropriately. I occasionally had to be narrator because the story wasn't quite the same as Barbie and the Nutcracker. We had dinner after and did some shopping and I believe our Mommy-Daughter date was a success! Uuum...maybe next year I can take Big Guy? Nah! What am I thinking???

Billy Joel

"Sing us a song, you're the piano man. Sing us a song tonight. 'Cause we're all in the mood for a melody and you've got us feelin' all right". Can't you just hear it? This is the part where the harmonica comes in.....Wow! I hadn't been to a concert in years. I am not a huge Billy Joel fan either and on the way to the show I kept thinking to myself , "Am I going to know any of these songs?" He put on an incredible performance and I think out of the whole show there were maybe 2 songs that I didn't know every word. It wasn't just him though. He had a band! Trumpet, multiple saxes, trombone, drums and percussion, keyboards, flute, guitars and of course the piano. They all had solos and the sound was so inviting it was hard to stay in your seat. He was also comical. He came out and introduced himself as Billy Joel's dad. He's balding and even his goatee is gray but he banged on the piano with the fire of a much younger man and his voice had a richness I think is getting better with age! His piano was on a revolving platform and he joked that everyone would get a look at his bad side. At the end of the show, when the crowd was clapping and stomping and yelling for an encore, I learned something new. There used to be a time when everyone held their lighters up high as they swayed back and forth begging for an encore that they knew wouldn't be refused. Not anymore!! Lighters have been replaced by the soft blue glow of open cell phones. Got to love technology! The audience was mixed in age from 18 to old, so there were still some lighters in the crowd. Anyway we were richly rewarded when the band came back on stage. We heard "Scenes from an Italian Restaurant", "You may be right" "Only the good die young" and a very suitable ending was "The Piano man". It was an absolutely great show!

Extra! Extra! Read All About It!

Last week we went to the Marine Corps Holiday Party. I showed you all pictures of the kids playing in the snow. We were supposed to keep a low profile because we were Navy infiltrating into a USMC party. (We really were invited!) I guess the kids were having too good of a time and it was obvious to all, especially the photographers. I did several interviews answering questions about the kids. This weeks edition of the base paper, The Hawaii Marine, came out and Big Guy's very intent face heaving a snowball is on page B3. He's so cute who could resist? Here's the link.
http://www.mcbh.usmc.mil/news/Dec15B6.pdf

Bad Day Ends Okay!

My Wednesday didn't start well. When I jumped in the van to take Tyler to school I noticed a paper sent home from cheer leading practice about a cupcake exchange for Thursday. Instant panic mode set in. I called coach Angela when I got home to find out how many cupcakes I would have to make and her first question was "Where were you on Sunday?". I didn't have a clue what she was talking about. To make a long, sad story short, I had the dates confused about Tara's end of season gala party and she missed it. The invitation has been hanging on the fridge for 2 weeks and Kev and I both thought the party was the 16th. That's the date written on the calendar and in our minds it was set in stone. The mommy guilt set in and I was miserable all day. To make amends, I got on-line and ordered tickets for the Nutcracker so she could still wear her oh-so-fancy dress.

Tara got home and I tearfully gave her a hug and apologized. My dear sweet child looked into my eyes and said "It's okay mom" and that made it even worse.

Shortly after I got the bad news, I got another call. The cheerleaders had been invited to an impromptu performance by the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders at Hickam. Well of course we had to go. The show was the closing performance for their USO event they had been performing in the desert for our military. It was actually pretty awesome and the girls were entranced. The show was about an hour and a half. Certain girls were selected from each base to go up on stage and place a lei on the Colt girls as part of their finale. The coaches chose Tara since she missed the party. She talked non-stop on the way home and she caught a t-shirt and got all the girls autographs. I got major cool points for this one. I am now mommy guilt free!

We got Tyler and Trey's pictures in yesterday too. Tyler got a t-shirt with all three poses on the front. He slept in it last night and insisted on wearing it to school today. The pictures were great and I have posted them under More Photos Here. The USO show pics are there too!!

Happy Birthday Grandma Judy!

http://www.vidiLife.com/index.cfm?f=media.play&vchrMediaProgramIDCryp=6D2A50F2-F05F-4373-BCAC-5

Thanksgiving- Revisited

Our fire on a cold night

My neighbor Rey is in the USMC. He is married to Melissa and is the father of Asia, Cassidy and Rey Rey. He had a temporary duty assignment in Vietnam. His job was to actually go to various sites that the US had gained information about to look for any fragments/pieces/scrap metal etc of MIA soldiers. The story is pretty interesting. Hopefully their work will give some families some long deserved answers. He worked hard, lived wretchedly and missed his family greatly. When he returned, Melissa decided to cook him Thanksgiving dinner since he missed out on the self-imposed turkey gluttony. She created this feast on Sunday and being the good neighbor that she is, she included her neighbors and even brought the entire dinner here. She fixed a fabulous meal! She made a Jiffy cornbread stuffing that was wonderful and my personal favorite is her pumpkin roll. Kevin and Rey ate pumpkin roll till they were orange. All the kids thought it was wonderful to have such a fabulous feast and when we eat here, we put the kids in the kitchen while the adults enjoy some peace on the lanai. Rey brought over his fire pit so we had dinner by the fire side. It was actually 68* and breezy so we truly needed it! That's cold!! Thanks Melissa for another great meal and I can't wait to make Tamales at Christmas.

My friend Kelly's (Richmond Kelly as opposed to Florida Kelly) daughter recently tried out for all district band- and made it! She plays the french horn (along with piano and sax) and made 4th chair! Congrats Lexi!

Just for a laugh......Mike Furey saw Tara's pic on the cover of Sports Illustrated and was on his way out to buy a few copies! I told him not to bother because I had bought them all so he wouldn't be able to find any!!

LOL!

One more pic from our breakfast with Santa!

16 Days Till Christmas!

16 days till Christmas! Wow! We have seen the tree lighting ceremony on base, Saw Santa at Tyler's school, Santa was at the tree lighting, Santa was at the holiday party where we played in the snow and we had breakfast with Santa too! How many times will we see Santa this year? Really! Tyler is now convinced that Santa got rid of the sleigh and lost all of his reindeer. Why does he think this? Last year Santa showed up at Kevin's work in a leer jet. This year he keeps riding up in the fire truck with sirens screaming and horns blowing and lights flashing. Every time we ride past the fire station he wants to stop so he can go visit Santa. Makes sense to me. If he always arrives on the fire truck he must live at the fire station. Right? Poor kid. The best part of the Christmas season is the threat of toy deprivation based on behavior. "You better be good because Santa's watching you" really works. Although as soon as the sentence is spoken Tyler looks over both shoulders and up in the air as if he might actually catch Santa watching.
I was able to drag Kevin out shopping twice this week. He has done more shopping in the past few days than the entire time he has spent on the island. He really needs to leave the base more. He never has a clue where we are or how we got there. I think the holiday madness is beginning to take it's toll on him though. Every time he comes home from work he talks about a new det he might have to go on. I believe it's wishful thinking.
Tara has upcoming parties and she's getting very excited for her month break. She is already asking if we can do more hiking and go to the beach and go snorkeling etc etc. She has a fancy black sequined dress for her (oh so fancy!) cheering end of season party and she made the cover of Sports Illustrated. You can view the photos under links.
You may notice a lack of pictures of Trey. He doesn't want anything to do with the bearded fat man in the red suit. That will change next year I'm sure!

Snow in Hawaii???

What? Snow in Hawaii? Yes!! That's right! You're not looking at a picture from KC or Colorado. That's the basketball court across from Ft Hasse beach covered in two giant snow mounds. The Marines used their re-con know how and produced snow, even in Hawaii. The kids had a wonderful time throwing snowballs and sliding down the ice hills. Baby Trey just couldn't muster up the courage to jump right in so he enjoyed the fun from the sidelines. Those Marines can do anything!

Santa's Wonderland

Saturday was another busy day here on the island. Tara had a game at Pearl Harbor at 9am. Kevin didn't get back till 2am but there's no rest for the weary. We all piled in the van, picked up another cheerleader who needed a ride, and headed over the hill. Once we got there we discovered that one of the football teams was a no-show so we drove back over the hill and went to Santa's Wonderland. Santa's Wonderland is set up at Tyler's school every year. The admission is free with a Toy-for -Tots donation, and Santa is there for pictures along with different classrooms set up for activities. In the classrooms, you could make leis, Christmas ornaments, gingerbread men, treat bags, wreaths or get your face painted. If that wasn't enough they had 2 jumpy houses and a playground full of fun too. The kids all had a great time with just one small hitch. Kevin stood in line for Santa pictures. I took the kids to the different rooms for the activities. Tyler refused to get out of line. I don't know if he wanted to be with Dad or if he thought he may somehow miss Santa, but he wouldn't budge. He stood in line for an hour patiently waiting to see Santa. Personally, I was a little disappointed with Santa. They had a long line of people waiting and I understand there was a time crunch but..... it's Santa Claus. He didn't utter not one HOHOHO and he didn't ask any of the kids what they wanted for Christmas! What kind of commercialized crap is that? He's got to ask what they want for Christmas! They scooted them in, snapped a few pictures and moved on. Anyway, they all got pictures and they were all happy to see Santa, so if the kids were happy Mom was happy.
Kevin did the icicle lights last night while the kids and I finished the rest of the house. Whew! I can't believe it's done.....and we still have weeks left!

Tyler's School Pictures

Today was Tyler's very first "school picture" day. He was most excited. He just could not get out of this house fast enough. The photographers allowed siblings and Tyler was very pleased that he would be the only one having pictures taken with baby Trey. He smiled ever so sweetly upon demand and when they did the sibling shot he held onto his brother as only a true BIG brother could. He followed directions and his smiles were genuine. I believe the entire show he put on for the photographers was only for the reward offered. He talked about this tiny red brush/comb for days and when they placed this plastic trinket in his hands his face filled with joy and he treasured it as if it were the best McDonald's Happy Meal toy ever. Hey- whatever works!!

TGIF! Kevin comes home tonight, it's Macy's birthday (happy birthday Macy!) and we have a new little 5 year-old boy moving next door named Ty. Another little kid on the block- just what we need! I truly know I am a little warped, but I took great pride in snapping this shot of Trey crying today...hehehe! He's always laughing- I needed proof that he cries!