Our Little Opera

Last week in school we had music class.  We learned about opera.  I sang some of their favorite tunes, but with words about getting up in the morning and finishing our chores.  They thought it was hilarious.  Seriously.  I had to sing the songs at least three times.

So after I did a lot of singing we finally learned some about what opera is and how its different from other music.  Then we watched an opera, Cinderella.  It was about 3-4 hrs long.  They wanted to watch the WHOLE thing!  Amazing.

Why am I sharing all this beyond the fact that the kids really enjoyed music class?  Well tonight as I was putting Evie to bed she mentioned that she wanted to be a really good singer.  I sang to her that she needed to work really hard and practice.  Then she asked about her range and I sang-told her that she could learn a range and do very well.  We had an entire conversation in song.  Cracked me up.

Then she sang goodnight after I gave her a kiss and sang she'd see me in the morning.  Best bed time activity ever!

Love my Evelynn!

Superbowl 48

It has been a long time since I've just sat and watched a football game.  But it's the Super Bowl, you say.  Nope, not interested.  Getting to church on time, interested.  So I agreed to watch the game with my husband after church if he would just help me get the kids ready and in the car on time.

We got to church a little late, so I joined him at halftime.  Loved the Bruno Mars show.  Really loved hearing how happy my husband was every time the Seahawks did something cool.  I liked the second half opening kick touch down and the Kearse touchdown was neat in the 3rd Quarter.  Laughed and giggled at the commercials.  Glad I watched it with him.

Congratulations, Seahawks.  Thanks for making my husband so happy to be from Washington State. We love you.

It's Pumpkin Time!

When we first started having kids I discovered a horrible secret!  Though Chris loves birthdays and Christmas and he can't get enough of Halloween costumes and decorating, he HATES doing pumpkins.  So after the first year that I carved Evie's pumpkin and did everything myself, I decided things had to change.  Now, we still go pick the pumpkins out as a family (be it farm or store) and then I do all the pumpkin fun after that.  Because I do it by myself we have found a less messy (sort of) and easier to complete way for our kids to do pumpkins.  WE PAINT!  Honestly, with little kids and the warm weather we've been living in for several years, painting is the way to go!

So I covered the kitchen table with one of those vinyl tablecloths taped down and covered my kids in Kmart smocks.  (super cheap)  They each got their pumpkin, a paintbrush, cup of water, and all the paint their little paper plates could take.  

I was pretty sure that both Eve and Joe had the idea down, but Liz and Al are still pretty little so I knew I would be multi-tasking a lot.  With Vaughn at the table my eyes were going to need to be VERY open!

Vaughn had a lot of fun and was finished very quickly.  He had a small pumpkin.  He was also finished quickly because there's only so much paint I think a kid can ingest before a hospital visit is necessary.  He loved it.

Each of the kids were very focused.  But like I said, Ally and Lizzy were a bit smaller than was okay to just let them go crazy.  So I watched Al do her thing and boy, was it fun.  

She loves to pose for all my pictures.

Lizzy was doing a great job until she realized I was watching.  Then her paintbrush got a little carried away as she went from concentration mode to singing mode to crazy girl pose!

focused

singing

pose!

Joe was having such a great time.  He's a very careful child when he's doing pretty much anything.  Artwork is one of the more difficult subjects for him because there are not a lot of rules and guidelines. He did do a beautiful job and helped keep the girls on track.  (by this time Vaughn had gone to bed, so it was just him and the girls).

Evie's passion is anything artistic and free.  She loves to paint, draw, color, create, make, or change.  She had so much fun doing the pumpkin that she of course requested some extra paper when she was done.  She still had paint left.

We had so much fun and the kids had a great time.  Their creations were fantastic.  This is still one of my favorite holiday activities.  So lucky I got to have great kids to share it with.

super cute video!

FHE at the Laie Temple

After such a long weekend, Sunday was absolutely wonderful.  Listening to soft, spiritual music, no appointments to go to, nothing to buy, nowhere to go except to church where you get to hear the scriptures and think about our spiritual life instead of the things we think about the rest of the week.  Talk about a rest!  What a blessing.

On Monday we always do Family Home Evening.  It's a night to just be together as a family and to focus on those principals that the kids need to learn like honesty, kindness, or service.  This week we decided to do something pretty special.  We decided to visit the Laie Temple as a family.  Chris and I go to the temple every month to do work for our ancestors and we love it, but it's not a little kid activity.  They are usually with a sitter.

So anyway, we all drove up to the temple and went inside the visitors center.  Chris and I had never been and it was wonderful.  We so enjoyed all the history of the building of the temple and how it has impacted the local Hawaiian culture in the area.  It was so fun and interactive for the kids.

 Walking to the temple grounds.  I was originally a bit nervous taking such small kids, but the Visitor's Center was well prepared and actually excited to see us!  The kids were unsure how to do this because they knew it was special, but also that they needed to be respectful.

 I so love the Christus statue.  This is obviously a reproduction, but its such a beautiful statue that we took a family photo.  The kids just sat and stared at the representation of Christ for a longer time than I had thought they would.  Kind of neat for mom.

 This display shows how the Book of Mormon is translated into so many languages.  Evie really enjoyed this one because she reads her own copy at home all the time.  She listened to the first verse of the first book at least a dozen times in at least 10 different languages.  She especially liked hearing the verse in Spanish because that's the language I speak at home.  I learned it on my mission to the Dominican Republic.

 This sweet Sister Missionary was so kind to our kids.  She walked through the whole exhibit with us explaining the videos and the displays.  I was so grateful to have such a nice person helping us out.  She really helped make the experience pleasant.  Joe sat at this display for a long time.  It shows different stories about real kids doing great Christlike things.

 This video showed the Apostles of the Lord sharing their testimonies about the Savior, the Book of Mormon and the Bible as the word of God, and of the latter-day Prophet and his work on the earth today.  I think I was the one that liked this most.  I had already heard these testimonies so I knew I liked them, but I also got to sit down and just cuddle with Vaughn while we watched.

 My kids sitting in front of the fountain.  It's water, it's blue, it's refreshing.  Of course my kids liked it here!

 After the visitor center we walked the grounds all the way up to the temple itself.  The grounds are really beautiful so it was an enjoyable walk.

 The temple grounds and the temple itself is covered in these beautiful statues and friezes.  I loved this one because of the fountain part.  The water came from here and then went all the way down to the lower level.  It was beautiful.  It is also a big part of Hawaiian culture.

 On the very top of the temple there are some beautiful friezes that depict the different times recorded in the Bible and the Book of Mormon.  The interpretations of these friezes is on the lower level of the grounds right next to the visitor's center.  This was all of our favorite part.

And that was our special FHE this week.  The kids had a new understanding and appreciation for the temple and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  It was reflective and fun and so nice to share something so special with my kids.  I'm so grateful for the opportunity we had to do this!

Hickam Safety Fair '13

This is our second safety fair on our base.  It's always held at the Ka Makani community center and has so far been a wonderful and positive experience for our family.

The community center does a great job with fun activities like a bouncy castle (always a hit), fire safety instruction like stop, drop, and roll and fire drills, free Hawaiian ice and dinner, and our favorite:

 meeting the military police dogs!  

They always do a presentation on how the dog helps to catch bad guys and the kids are so good at patiently waiting to pet the dog (the only time you CAN touch a police dog).

Thanks Hickam for a fun way to remind the kids (and adults) to be mindful of our safety preparedness!

These pix were taken by a woman who prepares the advertising for the safety fair.  She liked that all my kids were so engaged!  I liked that they were having fun learning at the same time they were practicing new skills.

Welcome September!

We have officially begun the new school year!  And with that comes the ever present need for downtime when we can get it.  One of the weekly activities we love is our Park Playgroup on Wednesdays.  It gets us out of the house.  It's a great mid-week change.  The kids get to see their friends and make new ones, and guess what?  So do I!  I love park day!  So this was our first Playgroup visit for this school year.  (the last section is just cuteness of Vaughn)

 getting so big!

 Evie loves to help out Vaughn - he likes it too, most of the time

Vaughn just discovered this Little People's truck - it's perfect for little chubby fingers

Ok, so looking at all these pix I realized they're mostly of Vaughn.  Apparently, I was gravitating toward the only kid I didn't have to try to coral into learning this week.  Wouldn't you?  He was the easy one for the moment.  Trust me, he's heading toward two.  I'm sure it won't last.  I'm taking advantage while I can.

Bellows Beach

I know that I've posted about the beach, I mean, we live on an island.  We go to the beach a lot.  But Bellows beach is the best beach on the island so we love to go there.  Plus, we go often enough that you can actually see my kids growing up on the sand.  It won't last forever, but we're taking every opportunity we can! Yes, the weather really is like this almost every day.  This was our last day of "summer" before school began on the 3rd of September.

he goes marching out….and comes surfing in.

Little V gets better at manipulating the sand every time I go.

Eve goes out and Joe comes in!

...and she's off!

Evie so loves the water.  I have to work so hard to get her to come in.  We've had discuss undertow and current and basically anything she needs to know about the water since we can't seem to keep her near us for more than a minute or so unless we have food, of course.

pretty sure that's Joe.  He spent most of his time underwater!

whoa, careful dad!  

V and Liz doing a great job together.  My sand babies.

Joe and I have this new tradition.  We love to play catch on the beach.  Sometimes we play with the football and sometimes it's a frisbee.  We've really enjoyed the activity.  We even got special toys to do it that don't mind the water.  It's a blast.  Thanks dad for taking pictures of our fun!

I know you can't see the football - it's blue.  It often looks like another island.  

Look carefully!

He's getting so good!  Great throw Joe!

Mom finally caught one!

After all that playing, getting a chance to relax in the ocean is a treat!