Mama On The Move

There was a massive 8.3 earthquake in the Pacific this morning which may mean there is a tsunami (tidal wave) headed our way. I know what a tsunami is because I learned it from Gilligan's Island many years ago. Isn't it amazing what sticks in your brain? Here's the current report. I need less excitement in my life.

Earlier this week Kerry and I were talking on Skype when a missile hit his base. We both jumped and he said, "Wow that was close, I'd better go see what's happening!" I made him promise to call back as soon as he could, it was scary knowing he was under fire at that very moment. He wasn't able to call, but he did email to let me know he was all right. Unfortunately, not everyone was. One soldier was killed and six others were wounded. Kerry wrote me yesterday to tell me about the memorial service they held for the soldier who was killed: ************************************************* All gave some……some gave all. I attended our unit’s first memorial this afternoon for one of our soldiers. This was the unit’s first casualty. We have had several soldiers wounded, but we have not lost anyone until this week. I did not know the soldier. I knew his unit. I knew his name and rank. I knew his military specialty. These things I gathered from the hand-out that was provi...

We really enjoy going to the beach. Living in Hawaii would be very bad if we didn't. But now that school is in session, the only time most people can go to the beach is on the weekend. The weekend is now our least favorite time to go to the beach because it's so crowded. This morning I told the kids that we could go to the beach on a Monday if they get Monday's school work done over the weekend. They can do school on a Saturday and then take Monday off if they want. Emily (who had the iPod blasting away in her ears) looked at me and said, "You-tome?" I, not understanding this word, looked back at her and repeated, "You-tome?" Emily said, "You said we'll go to the you-tome on a Monday. What is a you-tome?" I replied, "I said we'd go to the beach on a Monday." "Well, I heard you-tome ." She hates to admit being wrong. I looked at Katie who had been sitting there the entire time and said, "You heard me. Did I say...

Boys do odd things. I can usually take one look at my girls and know what is going on with them. One glance at Emily and I can tell something is upsetting her, or she's tired, or she's in a silly mood and close to exploding with it. I have no idea what's going on in Ben's head at any given time. It's like trying to raise an alien. When Kerry's here, he gets Ben. He can explain to me why Ben is acting the way he is. Many times, there is not much of an explanation beyond, "That's just what boys do." But at least if Kerry seems unperturbed by it, I know it is part of "normal" boy behavior. This week, Ben and three of his buddies decided to get buzz cuts. It was partially a dare, and partially an "if you do it, I'll do it" sort of ritual. No one wanted to be the one who didn't do it. To be fair, one boy regularly cuts his hair like this. The other three had more of a challenge in doing this. Ben literally does not care i...

Some days are more difficult than others......... Letting Kerry go back to war was one of those really bad days. We miss him.

We decided to go out to lunch before taking Kerry back to the airport. We picked Ben up from his Human Anatomy class and he mentioned that they had eaten a pizzza while they worked. "Oh man!" I exclaimed. "We were going to eat, but you've already had lunch!" "Just once," replied Ben.

I can not believe we have not visited the Polynesian Cultural Center before now. This has been my favorite tourist attraction so far. We bought annual passes so we can go often. If you are planning a trip to Hawaii, this is a must see! The Polynesian Cultural Center consists of eight villages representing Hawaii, Samoa, New Zealand, Fiji, Tonga, Easter Island, Tahiti and the Marquesas. Each village has crafts, music, houses, games, and natives in traditional dress to give you an idea of what these Polynesian islands are like. Granted, these villages don't have pigs and chickens running around in them. And the "natives" smell clean and have all their teeth, so it's probably a Disney-esque version of Polynesia. And for this we are truly grateful. I put most of the pictures in a slideshow at the top of this post. I took so many, this post would run on for days if I tried to describe everything. We saw dances, listened to concerts, watched ancient rituals, tried fresh po...

I can hardly believe it............... But Katie is nine years old. How can the years go by so fast when the days go by so slow? Nine years ago today I was offering to arm wrestle the lady in the next hospital bed to see which of us would go to the operating room first. They only had one OR room for c-sections that day so we had to go one after the other. The person who went second was not only going to have to wait for the first baby to be delivered, but was also going to have to wait for the room to be completely cleaned and sanitized. I really wanted to go first. I still don't know why they picked her. An arm wrestling match would have been so much more fair. Katie wanted a party with some science experiments. We had been to one at another child's house not too long ago but when I asked the mom about it, she said they paid $400 to have someone come put on that science party. Uh, no. I knew we could come up with plenty of science experiments that we could do for a lot less w...

Emily P said... Oooo ! Pick me Pick me! Does this enter me in the drawing? Hope so! Congratulations Emily P! Please contact me! *Winner was chosen by random.org

Do you remember this spelling rule? I before E except after C, or when sounded like A as in neighbor and weigh. This week I've been checking out software for a spelling program called SpellQuizzer. SpellQuizzer is a spelling program for helping children master their spelling and vocabulary. The kids and I tried this one out and have found it to be an excellent resource for helping them practice their spelling words. Frankly, I really hate calling out my kids spelling words to them every day . You have to do it every day or they don't learn their words well enough. But I have trouble keeping my eyes open listening to the same words over and over and over. I tried pawning it off on the kids and having them call out their words to each other but that usually wound up with accusations of mispronunciation and deliberate sabotage. If we run out of time to get all our schoolwork finished, spelling is the first thing to be shelved for the day. And spelling always winds up being their...

Another thing everyone should do while they are in Hawaii: Rent a pontoon boat and head out to the sandbar in Kaneohe Bay. The view is just incredible. Of course, it will rain on you for five or ten minutes. It pretty much does this every day, no matter where you are on the island. Bring an umbrella. And don't complain. You're in Hawaii . But then it clears up quickly and the glorious skies are visible once again. We had twenty-eight people in our group. The kids all had a blast playing on floats and running around on the sandbar. Katie swam around with a life jacket that was entirely too big for her. You have to check the tide charts before you reserve a boat. The sandbar is only exposed when the tide is really low. Some days it is the size of a football field, some days it is a little smaller. If you don't read the charts, you will arrive to find there is no sandbar at all. This is Coconut Island, although you may know it as "Gilligan's Island". Remem...