Mama On The Move

This is the beach we camped at this weekend. It is incredibly beautiful. The water was so clear it was like swimming in a pool. The ocean has amazing shades of blue and green in this area. Some beaches on the island have very coarse, beige sand. Bellows has a very fine, white sand. When we first arrived one of the moms said, "I love this beach! The sand is like sugar! It's so pretty!" Someone else said, "Ugh! I hate this kind of sand! It sticks to you like glue. Three weeks from now you'll be taking a shower and you'll still be finding sand on yourself somewhere." It's funny how people can have such different opinions about what makes a good beach. All the kids with us had a blast in the ocean. The waves were just big enough for some boogie boarding. The water was clear enough for good visibility while swimming. Katie came and told me that one of the boys her age had told her there was a Portuguese Man of War in the water. "No, there isn'

This weekend we went camping with a group of friends from church. It was the really good kind of camping where we cooked food over a fire............... ......and swam in the ocean . The kids got to help set up the tents. Being allowed to hammer in a tent stake is apparently a great joy when you are a kid. Ben was handed a hatchet and he was as happy as a boy could be. Between all the different families in the campsite, we had quite a variety of tents. There was the Taj Mahal . The Holiday Inn. And the Motel 6.

Let's go fly a kite Up to the highest height! Let's go fly a kite and send it soaring, Up through the atmosphere Up where the air is clear! Oh, let's go fly a kite!

A friend sent me a link to the Tropic Lightning Blog which asked for people's opinions about the public schools in Hawaii. Because this is a local military blog, all respondents have personally dealt with the Hawaiian school system. Here is a sample of the comments: "We tried...honestly tried to deal with the Public School system. Regardless, one of my children will end up going to a private school next year...at a cost of over $10K for the year it is extreme, which impacts the families which must "endure" the paradise which we all inhabit." "I hate to leave this beautiful island but for the sake of my children I am so blessed to go. God help those who are stuck in Hawaiian schools." "My experience with private school is that we are paying premium prices for average results. The homework loads are high, but the actual classroom teaching and emphasis is low. However, the alternative option of public school is unacceptable." "Our 5 year s

Ben was recently invited to attend a "How To Host A Murder" type party. He played a futuristic half-cat half-human. He spoke in a condescending British accent all evening (and all day before he left). No surprise, he won the "best costume" award at the end of the evening.

This student has been accused twice in three years of planning a Columbine style attack at his high school. I would not be happy knowing there was a student at my kid's school who had already tried to plan a mass murder on school grounds.

This morning we took the kids to a big breakfast buffet. Everyone ate their fill and we headed out to take Kerry to the airport. About the time we got to the car, Katie mentioned that her stomach felt "funny". About two minutes into the drive Katie was wailing that she was going to be sick. Luckily we had just purchased a few items, and we had two plastic shopping bags in the car. I handed her one and she threw up her breakfast in it. Emily was in the seat behind her, holding Katie's hair up. Ben was in the seat next to her holding a bottle of water for her. And I was in the front passenger seat trying to help her hold the bag and not (please God!) spill it in the car while Kerry drove. We're quite a team when it comes to someone being sick. Once she filled up both bags, she felt much better and became quite descriptive about the experience. "I threw up everything except the omelette. I didn't see any of that in there. You know what though? I need to chew my