Happy 39th Birthday to ME

My kids ROCK!  I'm sure everyone says that about their kids, but mine really do take the cake.  The Birthday Cake!  

A week before my Birthday, Ethan asked me what I wanted for my big day.  I told him that the best thing that I could get (besides healthy, happy kids) would be a really great card.  Homemade.  

Well, Ethan immediately locked himself into the guest/craft room and demanded that I stay out.  He spent every evening in that room, working his magic.  Every night when we forced him out, he would tell me how awesome his card for me was coming, and that on top of that, he was making me separate gifts.  After a couple of days of these reports, Alaina decided that she better get in on the card/present making deal so she wouldn't be left out.  Austin...well, Austin was in there in spirit.  :)

Robert was on a trip that week, but came back the Saturday night before my Birthday, so he was able to cook me a very fine cake the next day.  Don't the kids look worried about me?  I think they thought I wouldn't be able to blow all those candles out.

Then came the gifts!  Look how lucky I got.

That giant poster was Ethan's card.  It had pinwheels, oversized diamonds, glitter, glow-in-the-dark paint and lego men all stuck on it.  He knows me well.   Alaina's was also done in glow in the dark paint with lots of glitter as well.  In my humble opinion, there can never be too much glitter.  :)  She also made me that little popsicle stand (the one made out of popsicle sticks :)  Along with the card and stand she gave me a little poem that read:

You are the best 

In all the West! (and the South, East and North too!)

You the best cook

In all the book!

Your very pretty, 

and yet very Giddy.

Alaina

Truth be told, I did feel rather Giddy after I read that poem.  

While the cake was cooking, Austin got a little nervous that he didn't have anything done, so Rob helped him out with a giant Chinese star.  Who doesn't need one of those, I ask?

Ethan then unveiled his many presents that he made for me.  A pinwheel stick that worked quite well when held under the fan.

A special ramp with the word MOS spelled under it.  It was suppose to be MOM but we ran out of 'M's.  

And a special, bejeweled  hoop.  Again.  Needed.

Let's not forget these two special boys.  It was wonderful to get Robert home again, and Jason is just the frosting on my cake.  Look at that smile!  Look at that crazy hair!

And to top it all off, I got a bunch of sweet hugs.  

I'm thinking that 39 is going to be a pretty wonderful year.

I really hate life lessons.  Yes, I know.  I just said the 'H' word...but it's true.  I don't mind, so much, my life lessons, as much as I hate watching the kids go through theirs.  It's just so much more painful.  What, you may ask, has brought on this sudden declaration?  School Elections.  Ugh.

Last week the kids announced that they had to write a speech if they wanted to get voted for some school positions.  (I groaned inside, just remembering Ethan's crushing experience last year when he got beat out by a girl!)  Austin decided, like his big brother, to go big and go out for the vice-president position.  Fourth graders, as it turns out, only have the choice of vice-president or secretary.  Alaina spent a good, painful, evening trying to decide which position to go for.  She wanted to be the vice-president but knew her chances were better for being the secretary, since half her class wanted to be vice-president.  After excruciating deliberations, she chose to go for secretary.

Now, the first step for getting a position, is a class vote.  If you make it past that, you go on to the school-wide vote.  For their class, the only thing the twins had to do was give a small speech.  Austin wrote his in about 10 minutes and was pretty confident.  Alaina spent a full day carefully scripting her one-minute masterpiece, stopping only to recite it to anyone who would listen, every 10 minutes or so.  Ethan, in all his wisdom, gave constant, unsolicited, advice to both the kids, making sure that they were funny enough.  (This was the deciding factor in all elected positions speeches last year.)

The next day, I braced myself for an emotional afternoon and by the time the kids opened the door, I wasn't disappointed.  Austin had not won the chance to try out for vice-president.  Alaina, however, did get the secretary slot.  She, as usual, did not bring any attention to the fact since she knew how sad Austin was.  And he really was.  There were no tears, although it came very close, as he explained how he didn't get enough votes for the position.  "My speech wasn't good enough."  he whispered, "They didn't think I was funny."  Austin, for all his usual drama when it comes to bumps and bruises, was unusually subdued.  Alaina was sure to interject positive feedback, like, "He spoke really clearly and was really funny."  Ethan also interjected his form of positive feedback.   His leaning more towards insulting the other kids than praising Ausitn, but a worthy try, nonetheless.  Ethan did manage a few actual positive comments like, "I would have voted for you.  And Alaina too."

After making Austin talk a little more he said, "I don't get it.  The girl who won just made weird sounds that didn't even make sense.  Like...Meeep.  And Bawooop.  I don't understand it."  It's so hard to bear the brunt of rejection.

Ethan's class election was the next day.  He had 'learned his lesson,' last year when he went for the biggest position and decided to go for class historian, because he was sure that not many people would be trying out for it.  He also had learned that he needed, above all, to be funny.  He never shared his speech with us but he seemed pretty confident in himself when he left for school.

By the afternoon I had braced myself, again, for the worst.  Again, it came.  The kids had ridden their bikes and Ethan burst through the door long before the twins reached the house.  His face was red and as soon as his eye met mine, he broke down into sobs.  Oh, but that child can break my heart.  Unlike Austin's reticent response, Ethan's experience came out in a choking, flood of words.   "I'm not popular, mom.  I only got 4 votes from my class.  The other kids are popular.   Everyone likes them.  People told me they were gong to vote for me, but they didn't.  They are LIARS!  I don't know why they didn't vote for me.  I don't know why I'm not popular."  Oooh.  Popularity.  I hate it!  I hate how early it becomes apparent to kids that somehow there is a social status scale and each kid has a certain position on it.  Of course, there is nothing to say to all this emotion.  I just put my arm around him and let him cry, telling him how much I loved him and how disappointed I knew he felt.  Life is hard for these little ones, and these are the easy experiences. I dread the harder ones I know are coming.

After a few minutes the twins walked in and EThan quickly wiped off his face and ran into the other room.  The twins already knew the bad news and they were careful not to draw any more attention to it.

It is so interesting to me how sensitive the boys are to these rejections.  Alaina would be disappointed, however, I am sure the experience wouldn't be as soul-crushing as it was for the boys.  Austin internalized the who experience, letting it chip away at his self worth.  I could tell he was telling himself negative things like, "I'm not good enough.  I'm not funny enough."  Ethan saw it as a complete rejection and personal insult from his entire class.  "They don't like me.  They lied to me.  I'm not popular."  I just wish I had the right words to make it easier for them  Some magical phrase that would take away their sadness and replace their confidence.

I know it is important for them to have and deal with these experiences.  I know it builds their character and prepares them for the real world.  Life can be hard and I want them to be prepared to work through it on their own.  I'm not going to try and solve all their problems for them or shield them from any worthwhile risk that might possibly hurt or distress them.   But I want to.   I really, really want to.

I've never experienced a picky eater with any of my babies.  That is, until fat, gorgeous, curly-top Jason showed up.  That child has refused more food than I've ever even offered my three big kids - put together!  What a baby he is!  He clamps his mouth shut, gives us the hand and shakes his little head until it looks like it may shake itself right off.

What is even more strange, is what actually makes it on to his short list.  Well, the first few items are just really givens.  Cheese.  (Now if he didn't love cheese, I would doubt that he was mine.)  Apples.  Pears.   Any kid would love those.  But, banana you ask?  NO!  He shakes his fist at bananas.  However, he adores olives.  And offer my baby a pickle and he will love you for life.  In fact, the other day he was a wreck because we couldn't seem to get him the pickle slices soon enough.  He scarf one down and start bawling, kicking his tray and banging his fist on the side of the high chair until we would serve him up another slice.  The child is obsessed.  Over and over he would yell, 'Pi--koooe!" and scream, "Dere!" (there) until he got what he wanted.  Sheez.

What else?  Ah.  Frozen blueberries and frozen peas.  Those he loves.  Toast, he tolerates.  Sometimes he'll eat a frozen yogurt, but sometimes he won't.  (who needs forks when you can inhale?)

Oh.  And tonight I made a lovely scrambled egg dinner with sautéd mushrooms with a side of homemade guacamole.  The egg he abhorred.  The mushrooms disgusted him.  The spicy guacamole, full of onions, garlic and hot sauce, well that, my child ate by the spoonful.  Straight.  With nothing else.

Of course, we can't forget about last Sunday when Rob made his Italian salmon.  Yup.  He loves, loves, loves salmon.  What next for our little gourmand?  Caviar?  Cordon Blue?  Maybe he isn't as picky as much as he has expensive tastes.

This child is beyond me, but apparently you can still grow nice and round living off of spice, vinegar, fish and dairy.

First Day of School

The kids are officially in 4th and 5th grade.  (Look at me, posting this before Halloween.  I'm awesome!)

Robert stayed home long enough so that we could all walk the kids to school together.  I always think the first day of school is so scary and exciting.  I'm always so amazed at how brave the kids are when they start.  Especially Ethan.  The twins have each other to lean on when things get scary, but since Ethan is the oldest, he gets to experience every new experience by himself.  He's like an explorer, forging his way through the wild by himself.  That might sound a little dramatic, however, this is elementary school we're talking about.  (I don't even want to think about middle school!)  I sit home and worry until those sweet kids of mine come back home and spill the beans about the good, the bad and the ugly of the entire day.  Such sweet, brave, kids.  I can't believe how much they've grown!

In this first picture, Ethan wasn't taking advantage of the one inch of height that he still has over Austin, so I made them retake it.

Ahh.  That's better.  Gotta squeeze out every picture he can get until Austin passes him up... (this year? Next?)  No matter how tall Austin gets, Ethan will still watch out for him like the awesome big brother he is.  And Ethan can rest assured that he will always be taller than little Laina.

Group picture.  Proud Papa, adoring baby brother and weepy Mama.  What a send off!

Right before school started (and our Hawaii trip) Robert and I took the kids to see Les Miserable.  They have been looking forward to seeing this play since last year.  They dressed up to the nines to go to their first broadway show and even though we have the nose-bleed seats that force us to watch the top of the actors' heads more than anything else, they were sitting at the edge of their seats the entire time.  (Yes...from excitement, but I admit, it was also to see just a little bit better!)  

I knew that Alaina would have the hardest time because of how emotional the play is.  I had even tried to prep her several times by listening to the entire musical and carefully explaining the story to her so that she would be ready for all the sad parts.  She managed to cry several times in the practice runs, but I thought she might be able to make it through the actual play okay. 

As we progressed through the play, I was impressed at how well she was keeping it together.  There were a couple of tears shed as people died but nothing out of control.  That is, until we hit the last scene.  The one where Jean Valjean finally dies and joins up with Fantine and Eponine.  Oh, that poor child.  It was just too much for her to bear and she melted into audible sobs.  Robert lifted her up on his lap and she worked really hard at calming down, but it took a little while. 

She is such a sweet soul.  Of course, she loved every minute of it...she just can't help herself from becoming so emotionally involved in the storyline.  I love that she is so empathetic, even though I know it embarrasses her.  Fortunately for her, I believe that will be the most emotionally charged play they see this year.  (Their next one is Wizard of Oz...that should be fine, right?)  

Hawaii

When Alaina was 6 she started asking me if she could go to Hawaii.  I guess all those stories of Robert and my glory days as poor students living off love and the beauty of Hawaiian (free) beaches enchanted her.  So, I did what any good parent would do; I gave her an impossibly hard goal of earning half the money for a ticket, knowing full well that she'd never be able to do it.  I mean.  Really.  She was six.  And I only pay 25 cents for a day of chores.  (Considering the fact that there has been no adjusting of our minimum pay due to inflation and no promotions for the last three and 1/2 years, that is a lot of chores!)

Every pay period I doled out a bunch of quarters.  The moment those coins made it into the boys' sticky fingers, they were plotting ways to spend it.  If they had a toy in mind, they would put those quarters in their piggy banks for a couple of months at the most, but most likely they would make their way to the dollar store.

Not Alaina.  She knew what she wanted and she saved every single penny.  In three and a half years, she never spent a dime.  (Not true.  Last year she did gift me $1 for my Christmas present.)  Every birthday card would be shaken for cash to be carefully stored in her wallet.  Every penny earned was squirreled away.  I started getting semi-annual updates on the girl's progress.  At first I thought it was cute.  Fleeting, but cute.  After a couple years, I was very impressed, but still imagined she would break and find something really great to spend all that cash on.  Three years passed and I was even more impressed and slightly worried that she'd actually get there one day.  Then, this last winter, she hit $300.  Robert finally started to worry and sat her down and told her, in all seriousness, that times had changed and Hawaii ticket prices had risen to $700, meaning she would now have to get to $350.  Heartless, I tell you.

Alaina would not be deterred.  Instead, she took it in stride and continued the packing away of her hard earned cash.  With the help of another birthday, we knew she was going to hit her mark by this summer.  Finally Robert and I sat down and discussed a trip to Hawaii.  Since she couldn't possibly travel by herself, I took it upon myself to be the one to take her.  No, no.  I don't deserve any praise.  A mother sacrifices for her children.  :)

We decided it would be even more fun if my Mom came with us.  She also was willing to sacrifice for her granddaughter.  In fact, nearly everyone I talked to was willing to give up a week of their time to help the poor child out.  (Such love for Laina!)  Unfortunately there were just so many free miles we could scrounge up...(what?  We weren't actually going to pay cash for those tickets!  They're expensive!)

So.  Robert got the tickets and broke the news to Alaina one week before she was going to hop on the plane.  Alaina was ecstatic.  She could talk of nothing else.  She wanted to pack that very instant, but we made her wait for a few days.  Every night she wanted to snuggle and talk about the exciting adventures we were going to have.  It was sweet.  And intense.

Finally the moment came and off we went.  We met Mom in L.A. and flew together for the remainder of the flight. Alaina's little nose was glued to the windows the entire decent.

When we landed, we found that the North Shore, where we were staying, was having an unseasonably wet week.  We had to find our way to the condo in the dark, through a rainstorm but we were able to get there without too much of a problem.  When we woke up the next morning, it was to a complete downpour.  Fortunately, in Hawaii, if you want to find the sunshine, you just have to drive to a different part of the island.   Since we hadn't made any set plans, we were able to follow the sun for our adventures.  We mostly let Alaina choose her activities, however, both Mom and I have a few friends in a Hawaii, and so we were able visit with them as well.

Nothing really talks about a trip as well as a bunch of pictures, so I leave the details to a minimum and flood this post with pictures of Alaina.  :)  (prepare yourself.  There are over 50 pictures here.  Possibly the most pictures I've ever put in a single post.   If I was really nice, I'd separate them into several posts, as to not overwhelm you.  However, it is late at night and I don't have time or energy to make this easy.  Just scroll through fast or close the page half way through.  I justified putting all these pictures in by remembering all the time it took Laina to get there.)

On our first Sunday we went to church with some good friends of mine from our college days, Kristi and Jeff Collins.  One of my last memories of Hawaii was of Kristi bringing home Malia, her oldest, from the hospital.  She had one of the most harrowing and painful birthing stories I've ever heard  (I'll just say:  emergency c-section...no anesthetics.)  but then she brought the most perfect little child home with her.  Since then, Malia has grown into a sweet, pretty girl and has been joined by her sister Rachel and brother Andrew.  After church we walked along Kailua Beach...possibly the most gorgeous beach I've ever been on.  

 After dinner everyone scattered, but I did manage to get this picture of Kristi and Malia.

The Dole Plantations.  We saw lots of pineapples.  We ate pineapple ice cream  and...

We saw a double rainbow.  Can you see it?  ("A double rainbow!!!!  What does it mean!?!"--youtube favorite.)

At the condo.

Hanauma Bay

We did attempt to snorkel but the water was so murky here that when Alaina was only a foot away from me, she would disappear.  So we mostly hung out and built sandcastles.  Here Mom and Alaina are telling stories about the rocks they found for their sand castle.  They are two peas in a pod with their love for stories.

Another day at Kailua beach.  The water here was just amazing.  We spent all afternoon just taking turns with Alaina jumping up and down in the waves.

 

And building more sandcastles, of course.  (Although, Mom's little bumpy buildings here looked a little suspect.  We weren't quite sure what she was going for...)

We spent most of our time at the beaches, but we did have a few places on our to-do list.  One was to go up to the Pali, where the wind is always blowing a million miles per hour, and the view of the North Shore is tremendous.  The wind didn't disappoint, however, Alaina (poor girl) had discovered a new trait that we never knew she had.  Car sickness.  With all the windy roads, the sweet thing didn't stand a chance.  We weren't able to pull over fast enough and she threw up on her clothes.  Fortuneately she had brought her swimsuit with her, so she got to wear that up at the chilliest, windiest place on the island.  What a trooper.  

It did get cold enough that she got to share Grandma's shirt for a little while.  :)

Here we are doing our best super-man impressions.

Here we are at a random beach we were passing and couldn't stand not to be on.  So we took a walk and Alaina took a swim.

Another thing on our to-do list was the PCC.  The Polynesian Cultural Center has got to be one of the best places to see native Hawaiian (and all the islands) dances and traditional way of life.  

We stayed and ate at the buffet and afterwards we went to the night show.  Alaina said that the fire dancers were her favorites, while I always have a love of the Tahitian dances.  We weren't allowed to take pictures, but we did get a good one of Alaina up on the stage before the show started, dong the hula.  :)

Here is a little video of the same moment.  It is a little shaky but what you aren't seeing is that Alaina was in front of a pretty full audience of people waiting for the show to start.  She was clowning it up and people on both sides of me were laughing at her antics.  I don't know where she gets such bravado, but it is sure fun to watch.


This is the beach the was a minute walk from our condo in Laie.   The waves were choppier which made for really great jumping.

We were there with just about 6 other people.  Isn't that crazy!

 We stopped by the LDS temple as well.  Alaina loved the visitor's center and especially loved talking the ear off of all the missionaries there.  I haven't really met a single person that my girl can't tell her life story to.   (Or my life story, for that matter.  "My Mom's body didn't use to work to make babies when we were born but now that she's old...."  Nice!)

Out by the old Banyon Tree.

I had to include a hair picture.  Just one....I promise.

We joined up with Jeff and Kristi and their family again at Three Tables Beach.

We stayed for a good while after they took off because I just couldn't get Alaina to come out of the water.

Well, who can blame her?  I did finally get her to come out by embarrassing her enough at the end though. I had been calling her for a good 5 minutes and she kept ignoring me.  Completely.  So I started yelling, "I know you hear me child!  I know because all those people around you can hear me too.  Look.  Now all of them are staring at you.  They are wondering why you don't listen to your Mama."  I went on and on until everyone around her was laughing and pointing at her.  Finally she looked up and said, cool as a cucumber, "Oh.  Hi Mom.  I didn't hear you." before she sauntered out.  What a pill!

 We spent a good part of one day hiking though Waimea Falls.  It is a botanical garden and it is absolutely gorgeous.  I have decided that I need to have this view from the back of the house I retire in. In fact, we were all scheming how we could relocate into the actual park.

You could wear one of these leaves for an entire outfit if you found your self in tight spot.  Or in a yellow polka dot bikini.  :) 

Here is Waimea Falls.  It doesn't look huge from the side, but once you swim up to it, it can be a little intimidating.  Robert and I swam up to it about 12 years ago, and then the only other people in the lake were our friends.  This time it was pretty full of tourists.  Mom and I decided not to go in, but Alaina was so brave and swam in by herself.  She went right up to the falls and jumped into them two times.  I'm so proud of her courage.  

Right after that we went to Hale Iwa for Shave Ice.  Now, when we were there, it was always Matsumoto's that was the place to go.  However, we were informed by the Colins that Matsumoto's was just for the tourists these days and not so tasty anymore.   Apparently the new place for locals to go is just a few buildings down at Aoki's Shave Ice.   We weren't disappointed.  Well, Alaina did order the strangest combo ever including a healthy dose of sour apple mixed with two other strange flavors. She swears it was delicious but after one taste of her's, I stuck to my own, yummy shaved ice.      

Near the end of our trip we decided to take Laina to Wikiki.  It's such a famous beach that we felt she had to at least experience it as well as a little bit of Honolulu.  After spoiling her with the gorgeous beaches of the North Shore, with their pristine water, sugar sand and relatively empty beaches, she was not so impressed.   If you see her face in this picture, you can see how worried she is that people would be running over her.  We didn't stay long and we were all happy to get out of the crazy of Honolulu traffic.

About 15 min. inland, out of the center of Honolulu is the gorgeous town of Manoa.  It is mostly a college town with older homes with actual yards and quiet, tree-lined streets, tucked right into the base of the mountains.  It is so breathtakingly beautiful.  

And although the view is something amazing to see, the reason we were there was this amazing lady.  Sally Lee was my social worker when we were going through the adoption process.  She brought us our sweet Ethan and just for that we we'll always be eternally grateful.  She was also by my side at the hospital when my etopic pregnancy burst through my fallopian tube and we lost our first set of twins.  She is such a kind and beautiful person and I was so very happy to reconnect with her on this visit.  We were also able to meet some of her family who are just as wonderful as she is.  The very good news is that she has family in Saint George, so there is a chance we'll be able to see her again, sooner than later.

Sally also offered to feed us on our way to the airport, and so, instead of shoving down a bag full of fast food before we rushed off, we got to sit down in her beautiful home and have a delicious stir fry she claimed to have just thrown together.  (I'm going to get the recipe and see if that is really the truth.:)   

(This picture was taken before Alaina knew I had my camera up.  I think she looks so peaceful and beautiful.  I sure do love this girl!)

Finally we made it back to the airport.  Our flight was the red-eye and Alaina was such a trouper.  During our layover, she couldn't wake up and went right back to sleep until the next plane came.  

Hawaii really was a wonderful trip.  I think I'll have Alaina save up for Austria next....