Sittin' and Smilin'

I'm sure the day after Christmas is always super exciting, but at our house I was only excited about a couple things.  One, my kids were happy.  Two, the toys were not EVERYWHERE, they were localized to only the places I actually wanted to put my feet.  And three, Vaughn sat up all by himself really well!

He's just so darn cute so excuse my excess!

Seriously, look how cute he is!  That smile is the greatest!

Happy Birthday December Cuties!

Ok, so Chris is a little old to call a cutie, but he certainly is a December birthday.  His birthday as an adult is a rather subtle affair nowadays.  He is so happy with good food and something techie like a movie or video game.  It's almost the same every year.

So this year I went out of my way to make a special dinner.  We had saved a little extra for the holidays and I used it to buy some delicious king crab at Costco.  I was a bit nervous about the crab since the last time we'd had it was in Seattle,WA and it had been caught only 4 hrs before we bought it.  (I know-we were spoiled!)  But it turned out so good.  Add to that a plate full of lemons and a salad and Chris was in heaven!  He's so fun to surprise!  He takes it really well and while the kids didn't enjoy the crab as much as mom and dad, it was dad's birthday so really he's the only one that had to like it!

After that we opened gifts and had some fun.  Then we played some video games and watched some shows.  It was understated but still very fun.  So glad he had a birthday so I had a good reason to spend a little extra on dinner!  Yummmy!!!

Lizzy's birthday is the day after Chris' on the 10th.  We already decided that Liz would have a birthday party with her friends on Saturday, so we had a little family party the day of her birthday.

First we had our regular carpet picnic, pizza and soda, with our family movie - "The Secret of the Wings" - and presents from the family.  The movie was also a gift for Lizzy's special day.  She was so excited to get the movie, but it was twice as amazing for her to get the little tinker bell dolls from the movie right after we ate dinner.  She was so happy and generous.  All the kids were allowed to hold one of the new dolls during the film.  They all had such a great time.

Later in the week Lizzy had a great Dora birthday party.  We had a cute little Dora cake with Boots and Dora on top.  Then we played some games and Chris made a Dora playlist.  Seeing all her friends giggling and laughing and having fun!  Oh to be 3!

Happy Birthday Chris and Lizzy - we love you!

Family Pictures

Now, I know that everyone will be getting our basic family pictures, but here are some of the other ones that we had taken.  Our friend Kim Fletcher took all of these.  

I so loved taking these pix on the beach.  We decided to really play up the Hawaii factor.  We had so much fun.  Even Vaughn had fun and he is still so little!

I really like these mom and dad photos with the kids.  They are so fun.  Ally was actually pretty happy this day, she just didn't have her "cheese" smile ready most of the time.  

This one was a little embarrassing to do.  She insisted and we did giggle quite a bit.  I do love my husband so much.  Glad we have this one even if it still makes me giggle.

This is one of my absolute favorites.  I adore my Ally cat and in this one she looks just as cute and cuddly as she actually is.  It was so fun to take.

 And truly what do I say about this one.  My little V is so wonderful.  I was just trying to keep him happy while other pix were being taken.  Didn't even know Kim caught this moment, but I'm so glad she did.  I don't have so many photos of me playing with my kids.  I'm the family photographer and no one takes pix if the photographer is playing!

 So there you have it!  That is our whole family all playing at the beach.  I'm sure that's the best we'll ever look on a beach here in Hawaii.  The rest of the time I expect we'll be covered in sand and swim shirts!  Loves!

Happy Thanksgiving To Everyone!

I know that its customary to discuss all that we're grateful for on a post like this and while I am grateful for so many things my list of gratitude is relatively simple and straightforward.

I am grateful for a home full of laughing, learning, silly, happy children.  Never thought I would be that girl who was so enamored by her own kids that she's massively biased all the time, but guess what?  I am!  Ok, so I'm not massively biased all the time (mom's are VERY aware of our kids not so great characteristics), but I am totally enamored of my little ones.  I have these moments where I realize they are just so cute or so good or so, just well, mine!  And I feel so blessed.  It doesn't happen all the time, but often enough I've decided to keep all five.

I am grateful for my amazing husband who regularly puts the welfare of others ahead of himself.  He chose the military because he wanted to do something special with his life.  He chose the LDS church because he wanted to be someone special in this life.  He is amazing and I'm so glad he chose me because now we get to be something special together.

I am grateful for my faith that has both saved my life physically and my life in a spiritual manner.  I could not survive the weaknesses of mortality or the sadness or the frustration on my own.  I could not recognized the joy in sorrow, the light in darkness, or the hope in despair without my faith in a plan and person so loving in charge of that plan.  How much I love my Father in Heaven.

Now you know my gratitude list for this year!

You also know how much fun I had making my first real turkey!  Oh, you don't?  Whoops!  Here you go!

And this is what a happy Thanksgiving looks like in our house!  

Loves to all!

Goodness Gracious! 11 Years!

I know, I can't believe it either!  It has gone by so quickly in some ways and in others I feel like we have earned each year we celebrated last night!

we so love fancy drinks!

We usually have been celebrating big for our anniversary in the summer, like August.  But this year we spent August in a hotel room, not being very happy.  So this year for our anniversary, we went on a great date in downtown Waikiki!  Chris loves it down there and there is so much to do because it's such a touristy kind of place.  I didn't know at all what he had planned seeing as I was still focused on getting settled and being a new mom for the fifth time.  But he got us a babysitter and had me dress up and drove us downtown in the icky traffic.  I was so excited!  I love surprises from Chris, most of the time.

He parked and walked us directly to a restaurant called "The Top of Waikiki".  It's a tall tower with a spinning restaurant at the top.  The best time to go is just before sunset.  Let me just tell you!  It was amazing.  The dinner was so yummy and reminded me very much of a dinner we'd had on our honeymoon in Canada.  The best part was that I got to see my very first Hawaiian sunset!  It was gorgeous!  The company was good, the food was good, and the view was amazing!  What a fun night.

So I don't want to be super mushy - not really my style - but I do want to share how much I love my husband.  Twelve years seems like a lifetime in today's world since so many people never even get married in their relationships, but it seems like such a short amount of time to have done all that we have.  We have both earned our Bachelor's degrees, we've both begun careers (though mine is on hold for the time being), we have five beautiful and healthy children, we love the Lord and work hard to invite him into our home and our marriage, and we are finally beginning to get on top of our finances!  What more could a woman want?  Chris has helped me reach so many goals and made so many of my dream opportunities happen that I'm constantly trying to figure out what else I might want to do.  I'm not being "dreamy" or silly, I really have had my needs and wants taken care of with my best friend.  He loves me and our kids.  He loves his country.  He loves our God.  He is a good man and I am so honored to be his friend and wife.  I'm so glad he was patient enough to wait until I was ready before he asked me to be his wife.  Should have known then it was going to be an adventurous ride!

Love my husband!  Happy 11th Anniversary husband of mine!

All Five!

You know as you have kids you start to realize how very different each one is.  What works for one kid most likely doesn't work for their sibling.  It gets to a point when you wonder why that child didn't come with an instruction manual since you obviously have no experience with a person like this. And then something amazing happens!  That little person shows you exactly why he or she was placed in your family.  It may be a look or a dimple that is consistent across the family or it could be something more…how should I say this?  It could be something more unique or quirky that seems to just proclaim "I HEREBY ANNOUNCE THAT I AM A MEMBER OF THE CHRISTOPHER FOSBURG FAMILY!"  You know, something just like this...

I know it's silly.  I know it's a little odd to have an infant/toddler grooving to Metallica or Phantom of the Opera or whatever new pop song it happens to be.  But that is our family.  Music gets us moving!

It's so cute.  All my kids begin dancing before they can crawl.  A lot of people think this is just the kids getting ready to crawl, but experience has shown four times now, that the beat lives on as they get older.  Just check out dinner time at my house!  Love my kids!  So glad Vaughn came so we could all move to the music together.  What a special family I get to have.

Happy Halloween Everyone!

Well after all the moving and hotels and new baby brother and new house and new town, it was so nice to do something we always do.

Halloween this year fell on a Wednesday, so we got to have two Halloweens!  We had the regular one in our neighborhood and the one with our friends at church!

Our wonderful Halawa Ward here in Honolulu had the Trunk or Treat in our church parking lot.  It was so nice to do it this way.  It is safe and fun and relatively short.  This year the young men and young women were so amazing and put together a whole bunch of games where my little kids could earn treats.  It was so fun.  My favorite game was where Evie and Lizzy raced to eat a doughnuts off a string held high above them as they knelt with their hands behind their back.  Evie won, but just barely.  Even Ally had a game at her level!  Afterwards we had a great dinner that was provided by potluck.  I love to bring desserts so that was our contribution.  Then came the best part of the night:  candy from our friend's decorated trunks!  The kids had a blast and I loved taking them around.

My kids were so adorable this year.  Take a look!

Vaughn this year is just too little for a regular costume, plus he's my last 1st Halloween baby.  We just put a cute orange "1st Halloween" cap and sleeper suit with black stripes.  He was so so adorable and totally lived up to the LAST BABY situation.  Thank you Vaughn!  He did a great job even though it was way past his bed time.  What a great baby he is.

Ally chose to be a pink fairy this year.  She wanted to be like Evie, but was no where near ready to give up the pink!  Ally was so adorable.  The wings were just velcroed on her back and were a little big for my little girl so I had to watch them quite a bit.  She kept dancing around to see the wings fly.  I loved seeing her get so excited. 

 Evie chose to be a night fairy this year.  We had a great time getting her all ready.  I didn't realize how much she looked more like a teen goth fairy instead of a night fairy.  Thank goodness she got her face painted so she could look like my 6 year old again!

 Joe of course, was Jake from "Jake and the Neverland Pirates" on Disney channel.  He was super cute and got the sword painted on his face to match.

 My little Lizzy was a beautiful Cinderella this year.  She got a matching butterfly on her cheek.  The funny thing about her costume though was that her first crown just wouldn't stay on and then the second one hurt her head.  So we found the jeweled headband in our Halloween bucket and grabbed the two inch hem I took off her dress (she's so little!) and tied it to her ponytail.  It turned out great.  She especially loved the bow.

my adorable children!

Now we are not pictured, but I was a night fairy with Evie to help her be more comfortable.  And I got to wear my awesome black pleather boots that I bought last year.  I wore my boots, black dress, and a pair of little blue wings.  Not my best costume I admit, but it was the motherly thing to do and I'm proud of that.  Chris didn't dress up this year as anything but a very busy, tired, and happy father of five!

Apparently our new neighborhood, Onizuka, is crazy about Halloween.  There were so many people out walking around and so many houses decorated.  Most of the houses were just a lot of fun, but some were pretty scary.  My kids just got tons of candy this year because of the double holiday.  We had such a blast and Chris got all excited to really go all out for the next year!  Wish him luck!  All of a sudden I remember the light up black cat we got for our wedding in '01.  Darn we don't have that cat anymore.  Chris is going to be upset!

We had a great Halloween.  Hope you did too!

Joe's First Friend Bday!

Today Joe had a great time!  He has a new friend in his primary class.  Her name is Rachel Harris.  They had a birthday at our Splash Park.  I've never heard of it before, but Joe had a blast!  It was one of the first times that I've dropped him off like that.  I know, I would have already done that if they were in school, but we haven't started yet.  Anyway, so Joe had fun and I loved that here in the middle of the fall my kids are playing outside in the water!

havin' a great time!

Mommy-Daughters Afternoon

This morning Joseph is again out with daddy and oftentimes daddy will run errands with his boy.  So after several of these Father-son outings, the girls and I decided to something too!  

We walked over to the BX and grabbed some awesome snow cones.  The ones here in Oahu are not normal.  They have all the great Hawaiian flavors, but then they all add great ice cream at the bottom.  At first I thought it would be icky, but so amazing!!!!

We had so much fun!  The girls were thrilled with the idea of wearing their dress up skirts!

 so fun!

Randomness

I know, so now that we're here "what are ya doin'?"  We are running around discovering things.  We discovered that Walmart is still Walmart even if it is more expensive.  On this outing it was just me and Eve and Joe so we had lunch at the McD's inside the store.  They had a blast!

 aren't they silly?

And of course I had to include an updated picture of my little boy!  He's getting so big!  Like all his siblings before him, that little dragonfly rattle is his favorite.  He doesn't have a lovey yet officially, but until he does, this is it!

Okay, so just one more.  My sweet little cutie!  I mean really?  Can you ever get enough of his adorable-ness?  I can't!  He's getting so big!  Holding his own bottle and chillin' in his or table swing!  (Wish I'd had one earlier!)

Oh My Goodness, He's 4!

Today my little boy turned 4 and he is so not a little boy anymore!  We had such a good time with Joe and the family today!  

With so many kids and activities birthdays are of two kinds.  We have family birthdays and we have friend birthdays.  This year where we had just moved here to Hawaii, Joe obviously had a great family birthday.  Chris and I got Joe a new bike - Lightning McQueen - and we did presents and a small cake. But the best part was going to the super kid-friendly beach at Ko'olina Resort.  

It's a resort style location where there are four manmade lagoons.  There are no waves or craziness to make it unsafe for little ones.  We had such a great time together.  The kids so love the beach.  We are definitely an outdoor kind of family!

This is exactly what it looked like and how many times can you say that?!  It was such a great day for all of us!

Happy birthday Joe!  We love you.

First Date Night in Waikiki

So we have officially been in our house like maybe two weeks or so.  Enough time to realize how much we need a date night.

Chris has been having a hard time with the fact that we live in the amazing place and he can't even tell we live here while he's at work.  He has no window in his space and the one in the office doesn't even show palm trees, or so I'm told.  

So since we have a sitter and it's time to go out, he's dying to go downtown to Waikiki.  

We found this great place called "Duke's".  They have an inside area for the regular fare, and an on-the-beach section that's more burgers and fries.  It was so much fun.  Chris especially liked watching the sun go down over the ocean while we waited for our food.  The beach is literally just beyond the little wall that separates us in the restaurant from the beach goers near the shoreline.  We even watched a catamaran come ashore.  It was great.  Chris is a fan of the tiki torches and so he took this picture.

He wants to get tikis for our backyard, but all I had to do was mention all the ways the kids could get into trouble with fire so close at hand and he was kind enough to let it go for the evening.

So silly!

WE ARE OUT!

So one of the first things we did when we moved into our new home, was to buy a plastic pool (or two) and get outside in the sunshine.

Oh, how good it feels to be out of that hotel!

Our very first date in Hawaii!

Oh how wonderful are the parents!  So we've been her in town only a little while and guess who comes to help us out?  The Fosburgs!  Originally they had planned to help when Vaughn was born, but I was able to convince them to come visit us in Hawaii and set up house!  I'm so glad they agreed.

After 6 long weeks in a hotel on island and finally getting a house and then getting all our HHG (stuff), I have to admit I was a bit (or a lot) overwhelmed with the idea of organizing and putting together a whole new home.  Plus somewhere in there I'm supposed to mother.  It's been difficult to say the least.  The worst part?  Chris has been a bit depressed with his new job.  His last job was very high demand on his time and his skills while he doesn't really have a job here so the difference is stark.  They are readjusting his department and don't know where they want him yet.  Not so good.  He's even more unhappy due to the fact that he can't even tell that he's on an island because he can't see the beach from the house or his office.

Anyway, so when Mike and Ronda came down we were all very happy.  Something familiar in a sea of unfamiliarity has really helped us calm down and start slow on all the work that needs to be done to get the new place up and running.  One of the best things about my in-laws is that they are so much more than that.  They are a major support and great friends.  So when they saw how frazzled and overwhelmed I was, and how sad and depressed Chris was, they encouraged Chris to surprise me with our first moment of alone time in a while!  Chris took me to THE BEST snorkeling spot on our new island.  We went to Hanauma Bay.

Hanauma Bay is the best for a reason.  It's a wildlife preserve so there are extra steps to visiting.  We were let in free because we are military and then we had to watch a video about proper conduct while in the water and on the beach.  It is so impressive right from the first view!  Absolutely gorgeous!

We had such a great time.  I loved all the fish.  I even saw the state fish, Humuhumunukunukuapaua'a! Yes that's it's name.  It is beautiful.  We saw so many different kinds of fish and coral and all by ourselves.  It was amazing.  I even got to lay on the beach for a while and get my token Hawaiian sunburn.  (I don't tan, just to remind you!)  I also got to enjoy the little beach birds.  I had a small snack which several tried to steal!  It cracked me up!

What a great surprise.  I got my husband, a beach, and a time to be a young woman in Hawaii.  What more could a girl ask for?  More time, maybe?  Ok fine, I'll come home.

Thank you Chris.  Thank you Mom and Dad.  So many wonderful people who love me!