Tsunami what??

Tsunami Salami. Much ado about nothing. But we're not complaining. It was an extremely exciting and boring day all at the same time. We did have to evacuate but we are blessed with wonderful friends who took us all in for the day until we got the all clear. I am exhausted and will rehash the events later along with pictures of the big bad tsunami 2010! Just wanted everyone to know that we are safe and very lucky that this did not turn out the way they predicted that it would. We appreciate all of your thoughts and prayers. Pictures soon when I get some rest! PS. Did I mention that Ike's whole family is here? They arrived Thursday evening, what a way to start their trip!!!

Am I under arrest?

So I'm pretty sure this is illegal.... but if a police officer had the nerve to arrest me for it then clearly they had no children! Mason has NOT been sleeping lately. I don't know if it's a tooth, a growth spurt, all the new tricks he's been learning but he has been waking up several times a night and Ike and I are EXHAUSTED!!!!

So, when he was still sound asleep when we got home from the grocery store I left him in the car until he woke up. Don't worry, he was in the driveway, under the carport, windows down, doors locked and I could see him the whole time. I got an extra 40 minutes or so out of the nap. Worth it to me because he has been exhausted too. I sure do hope the nights start to get better. We have been spoiled up until now, I guess this is pay back for all of the bragging we did about how great of a sleeper he was!

On another note, Ike's family will be boarding a plane in just a few hours on their way to Hawaii! Julianna is so excited to see "Cousin." We are really looking forward to their trip. :)

1/2

I can't believe my baby boy is already 6 months old. I love this boy. He has a smile that can melt your heart and his laugh just makes you feel happy. I am so happy to have him as part of our family.

He has more and more tricks these days. This was his first time sitting in a high chair at the restaurant. He can also sit on his own really well as of last week. He loves to sit in the floor and play with his toys. He eats pretty much any baby food that we give him and even had his first little cookie to gnaw on and turn in to mush.

This guy LOVES his big sister. He watches every move she makes. If she is in the room you can bet money that he is staring right at her. She loves him too. She gives him lots and lots of kisses and dances and sings him songs. I love to watch them together.

Hey Mom, what did you order for me?? Can't you see I need to eat?? I might blow away if this waitress doesn't hurry up!!!

Valentine's Night

After a wonderful and exhausting day with the family, Ike and I were really looking forward to our babysitters arrival so that we could spend the evening alone in Waikiki. We didn't have any reservations and we knew it would be busy so we just hoped for the best and went to see what we could find. It was a beautiful, just a little cool, but perfect to be outside. We were right about it being busy down there. People were everywhere and the restaurant where we wanted to eat (Duke's) had about an hour and 45 minute wait.... but their bar (The Barefoot Bar) was first come, first serve so we thought we would give it a go. We really lucked out. There was a table for about 6 people, with only 2 women sitting there and they offered for us to share a table with them. We got to eat right away and by the time we finished our dinner our restaurant buzzer went off to let us know we had a table available down on the beach deck. We paid our bill for dinner and went down to the other table for a drink and dessert. It worked out perfectly. After we finished we went for a nice walk on the beach and then stopped in a few shops before heading back home. It almost sounds cheesy when I think about it, like I made it up, but it really did happen and it really was a great night out. I'm so glad I have a wonderful man to spend Valentine's Day with every year. I hope he'll always want to be My Valentine. :)

Sitting at Duke's, the trees looked so pretty with the lights shining on them.

The Barefoot Bar

My Valentine and I walking on the beach with the hotel lights in the background.

We got asked at least twice if we were newlyweds or on our honeymoon. I guess we still look happy together. haha That's a good thing! :)

We ate "Hula Pie" which was basically a HUGE chunk of ice cream cake with a thin chocolate layer on the top , lots of whipped cream and nuts. De-lish.

On the beach. People were actually still out swimming in the dark. The water was cool but not too bad. I wouldn't have been swimming though!

And this is one of the things we bought while walking around. Ike got a birthday present a few days early. We went into a ukulele store and picked out one to bring home. He didn't bring any of his guitars with him so I thought this would be a fun little toy for him. It has been fun for all of us. Julianna has even tried it a few times! Can't you just picture us out on the back deck, me in the hammock with a cocktail and Julianna practicing her Hula while Ike plays the Ukulele! haha In all of our free time, right? :)

Birthday Wishes

Happy Birthday SUPER DAD! We love you so much and can't wait for you to get back home. We have missed you this week. Julianna has asked every day this week if it is Daddy's birthday yet. I think she has realized that birthday means cake and presents but she doesn't realize that they are not always for HER! haha I'm sure Daddy will share. He always does.

Ike, you are the best. We are so thankful for you. Can't wait to celebrate tomorrow (we hope). WE LOVE YOU!!!!!

Valentine's Day

This Valentine's Day was one of the best I've had... maybe EVER. We spent the day as a family, exploring our new "home" and really enjoyed being together. We left the house around 10am and headed to the local flee market. It is huge and there is A LOT of stuff. There's a lot of junk, but some neat stuff too, and it's cheap. It was fun to check it out. Then we drove to Pearl City and did a little shopping. While we were at the mall a group of young Hula Dancers were performing. We stopped to watch them for a while and Julianna LOVED it. We were headed home and spur of the moment decided to be adventurous and walk the Makapu'u Lighthouse trail. We really were not at all prepared, not that it's a hard trail, but we had no water, we were both in flip-flops and Mason was WAY too tired and crying most of the time. We enjoyed it anyway. It is a great spot to see Humpback Whales and we did see several. They were pretty far out so I didn't get any great pics of that. You can just barely see a fin or a tail in my pics so I didn't post any. I'm hoping to get some really good ones of that soon. Here are some of my favorites from our little adventure.

These feet were HURTIN' for certain. I had to go get a pedi the next day. :) I REALLY tried not to complain at all because Ike was pushing both of the kids up this trail in the double stroller and he only had 2 oz of water to drink because we had to give Mason a bottle to make him stop screaming. Like I said... not prepared. But it was a great day that continued into the night. We had a babysitter lined up so that Ike and I could enjoy an evening together.

TO BE CONTINUED....

Cloud 9

We had a very special Valentine's Day yesterday. These two definitely keep us on "Cloud 9." We are so blessed with lots of love. I love my family!! I hope you all had a fun Valentine's weekend with the ones you love. :)

It's a bird, it's a plane, it's...

Julianna actually asked for me to take her picture today. How could I resist? She said, "Mommy, will you put me up in that tree and take my picture?" Um, hello... she is now staging her own photo shoots. I LOVE IT! They turned out pretty cute. I especially love that first one of her cute little blue eye peeking out from behind the leaf. Precious.

Our Weekend

What did you do this weekend?

On Saturday night we snuggled in a sleeping bag and watched a movie.

Julianna got a new dress which she looked BEAUTIFUL in.

I upgraded my camera and took lots of pics of her in it.

Mason looked handsome in his helicopter outfit.

We walked to church on Sunday morning. Is this not the coolest double jogging stroller? Julianna loves her seat up front and Mason rides comfortably in the back. I love that we can walk every where around here.

We went to the Skipper's house for a Super Bowl party where Julianna got to play with her friends.

Today after school we made cookies and decorated them with icing.

Julianna did most of the decorating all by herself. As you can see she was really concentrating!

We went to a friend's house on base. The view driving was so pretty I pulled over to take a picture. Ok, I didn't actually pull over... I just slowed down. Talking on a cell phone and texting is illegal but I never heard anything about taking pictures while driving. :)

Mason sat in a Dora the Explorer chair and wasn't too thrilled about it. ha

Then he came home and had a bath and was happy as clam. Look at that sweet baby smile. He was so sleepy. Both of the kids are asleep and Ike and I are now catching up on our DVR shows. Monday TV is the best! Hope you all had a great weekend too!!

Where's Mason?

Kitchen Sink

What's your view like from your kitchen sink?

I have to say that having this to look at makes scrubbing dishes just slightly more bearable.

I wish I could photo shop the power lines out of this one but I don't have the software. Just pretend it's not there! ;)

This is from the back door going out on the deck. Isn't it pretty. I have to admit, I would really enjoy a little taste of the snow that Maryland is getting this winter. But this will do...