Holiday Hiatus

As far as blog creativity goes lately, I guess I'm feeling a bit . . . let's see . . . what's the word . . . unmotivated? But it's not nearly as bad as it sounds.

Why am I so unmotivated you may wonder? Because I (and the rest of the family for that matter), have been enjoying a much-needed break from our routine, thanks to the arrival of the holidays, the arrival of Grammy Bev, and the absence of any school or other required activities. And while most of the time I thrive on routine and structure, it's nice just to take a break once in while. Sometimes my brain (and my schedule) just needs to slow down . . .

So, with that, we've been taking each day at a time . . . beach lounging, shopping, reading, going to the movies, playing on Brian's new Wii, and just enjoying the absence of obligation. It's been pretty nice, if I do say so myself.

The few things that we have scheduled have been in the fun category. Much to my delight, I've been able to sneak away for a couple movies with my friends ("Invictus" and "Precious" were both really good by the way). Brian and I attended the air station's Christmas party on Friday night in downtown Waikiki, and we had an absolute blast. We got a room at the Hilton, spent the afternoon hanging by the pool with friends, went to the party where there was lots of food, drinking, and dancing, and we even stayed up past midnight like adults (even though everyone bet against me that I wouldn't make it up that late) and went out for appetizers after the party. Then Brian and I got to sleep in, followed by a yummy breakfast overlooking Waikiki. Most fun we've had in a long time, I would say. The next day, we threw a double birthday party for Charley and Quinn, as their birthdays are only a week apart and they both wanted Princess parties this year. So to save on time, money, and pain, Heather and I threw one big party for our little royal subjects, which included nearly 20 kids and just as many adults. Everyone seemed to have a great time, and the kids were happily exhausted at the end of the night. On a side note, just one little piece of advice . . . DO NOT schedule your child's birthday party the day after a Christmas party. It's rough.

Tonight Charley is enjoying a sleep-over at our house with Tabitha's daughter, Becca, in celebration of her real birthday, which is tomorrow. Tonight we got take-out dinner, and ate it down at the beach while watching the sunset, and tomorrow we are taking all the kiddos to the water park, followed by a birthday dinner of french toast (Charley's choice). For Christmas Eve, we will be joining our neighbors for some drinks and appetizers, and on Christmas we are just going to be lazy and enjoy the day, at home.

So that's our life lately . . . a whole lotta nothin' with a bit of fun thrown in. Doesn't sound too bad, does it? ;)

Blessings

Ahhhhhh, the joys of the holidays, slower schedules . . . and . . . . my mother-in-law!!!!

Yes, you heard me right, my mother-in-law. She has only been here a week, but ever since she arrived, I feel my inner peace settling in. Some of you may totally know where I'm coming from, whereas others might have no idea what I'm talking about. But for everyone, I will shed some light.

My kids are completely crazy about their "Grammy Buv" (her name is really "Bev" but they have always said "Buv" for some reason). She is an awesome Grammy who helps them with everything from getting dressed, to making breakfast, to wiping butts . . . and those are only the every day things. When she's not doing those things, she is taking them for walks, playing games, throwing balls, or helping them ride their bikes. And when she's not doing that, she's reading to them, playing letter and number games with them, and using her thirty years of teaching experience to help them learn new things. She sings with them, laughs with them, and tells them when they are out of line. And that's just the stuff she does for them.

For us, she helps me shop, babysits whenever we need her to, helps me with meals, cleaning, laundry, and any other household chores, and she keeps us company. She does whatever needs to be done so that I can read my book, take a nap, sleep in, go out late, and run errands all by myself. Essentially, for the time that she's here, she provides me with a sense of freedom that I otherwise do not get to enjoy very often.

So Grammy Buv is here for a whole month, and we plan on enjoying every minute of it. So far, we've all been to the movies, watched the kids' Christmas program, went to the museum, spent the day at the beach, and ate out a few times. In the weeks ahead, we have Brian's Christmas party downtown (and we get to spend the night this year with NO KIDS!!), Charley's princess birthday party, Christmas Eve and Christmas of course, and then Brian and I are going to sneak away to Kauai for a couple days ALL BY OURSELVES. Talk about a fun holiday season.

The past few weeks were stressful for me (for various reasons that I dare not bore you with), but slowly, I feel the stress melting away . . . a little me time, a little Brian time, and of course that massage at the spa that I'm getting on Sunday won't hurt either.

Thanks Grammy Buv for helping us make this an awesome holiday season . . . you are a blessing.

"Deep Thoughts" by Charley Palm

"Mom, why don't cats wipe their butts after they go to the bathroom?"


"Mom, why does Daddy only sleep in his underwear?"


"Mom, why do girls have babies and not boys?"


"Mom, how do babies get in our tummies anyway?"


"Mom, why can't I marry my brother?"


"Mom, are we stopping here for gas or beer?"

"So close, yet so far away . . . "

There have been about a million times the past few weeks that I've wanted to sit down and write a good blog entry, but then life gets the best of me and I lose any small window of opportunity that I thought I might have (since this whole blog thing DOES take quite a bit of work, you know :)).

FINALLY I have a few minutes to skim through the past few weeks, which I once again have chosen to do with a picture-heavy entry (which is way more fun than reading my boring words anyway, right?).

So let's jump to the earlier part of November, before turkeys had been bought or pies had been made. We decided to take the kids to their first ever circus ("The Great American Circus" to be exact) . . . but since there were no animals, only one ring, no bearded ladies, and only a couple clowns, I would qualify it more as a trapezing/dancing/specialty-act type of event . . . but it was cool and fun nonetheless.

Apparently, however, this was still not enough to keep Zander entertained . . .

Around that time we also enjoyed the arrival of some old friends of mine, Jen and Justen, and their son Jaxson. We all go way back to my Montana days in Bozeman. I met them both right after I graduated from college, in '99, and then just a short year after that, Jen and I moved into together in Seattle. Justen was also going to school in Seattle at the time, so we all spent a lot of time together during my Seattle years. This was their first visit to Oahu, so we did all the usual things that are on the Palm family tour. Long story short, we had a wonderful time with them, and it was so great to just relax and enjoy the company of good friends.

They stayed with us for a week, and shortly after they left, it was time to participate in the preschool's annual auction that we spent months preparing for. The auction went really well, and the night was made even better when my friends decided to surprise me a with an early birthday celebration . . . and man, Risha can cook one mean cake. Oh, and of course there was wine too. ;)

We also had some other old friends from Oregon, the Smith family, arrive for a vacation that same weekend, so we enjoyed a day of lounging out at their beach rental, hanging out at the pool . . .

Eating an early Thanksgiving dinner . . .

And I even decided to take each of the kids out for a scenic canoe ride . . .

The kids got to hang with their good buddy, Conner (or "Corner" as Zander likes to call him) . . .

And we just enjoyed a nice long day catching up with the Smiths and all their Portland friends (and boy are they a fun group of people those Portlanders!). Shortly thereafter, my Dad arrived to share my birthday and Thanksgiving with all of us. He was even lucky enough to catch the preschool's annual Thanksgiving feast.

While my Dad was here, we did a lot of the usual stuff, lounging at the beach, swimming at the pool, eating a lot of food . . . you know, the usual vacation stuff. Can't help but love this place . . .

A local fisherman found these cool sea creatures for the kids . . . a sea cucumber and a starfish.

On my Dad's last day in town, we decided to go pay a little visit to Santa. As usual, the kids got their pictures with Santa done, but I'm going to save that one for my annual installment of the the Palm kids with Santa (coming soon!). But here is Santa reminding the kiddos about his reindeer . . .

And, of course, we had to end the morning with the Christmas train ride. Since we were the first riders of the day, the conductor decided to take the kids on 6 laps instead of the usual 2 . . . guess that must mean they are on Santa's "Good Kid" list.

So, let's see, where does that leave us . . . ah yes, Christmas.

The next three weeks will obviously be primarily dedicated to Christmas and all its affiliated activities . . . children's Christmas parties (2 of them), adult Christmas party (2 of them), shopping, wrapping, cooking, decorating, eating, etc., etc. . . . and this year we have Grammy Bev (Brian's mom) to join in the fun. She will be arriving on Tuesday and staying for a whole month, so we are all looking forward to that. Oh, and I suppose I shouldn't forget to mention that we will also be squeezing a couple birthdays in there too, Brian's on the 11th and Charley's on the 23rd (with a co-Princess birthday party with Quinn, to-be-held in a couple weeks).

Wow, it exhausting just talking about all of it. Guess I better go take a nap . . . ;)

Time Flies

Oh my gosh, has it really been two weeks since I last blogged?!? I just don't know where the time is going anymore . . . it's all passing way too quickly.

I know that I owe you all more than a brief checking in and a litany of excuses, but I really don't have enough time at the moment to give you more than a brief hello. . . Heather is on her way over to take me out for a birthday dinner and movie, so I only have a second. But I just wanted you all to know that we are all STILL ALIVE, doing well, and keeping busy (of course). My friend Jen, her hubby Justen, and their toddler Jaxson were all just here for a visit, so I will catch you up on that. We are getting ready for my Dad's arrival tomorrow, followed by Bev's arrival on December 8th. People are coming and going, and life is passing us by quickly . . . but it tends to do that, especially here in paradise.

I'll be back . . . I promise. Stay tuned . . .

Making Do

On Fridays, Charley generally has school but Zander does not, so this is the time that he and I have our alone time. This past Friday, I decided to take him to a playground that is right on the beach, where he could run around and I could read a page or two in my book. And as an added bonus, this park actually has port-a-potties, just in case, unlike most parks around here.

So, there we were, enjoying the nice breezy morning at the park, when Zander suddently announces that he has to go poop. No problem, right? Because there are bathrooms right over there. Whew, it's our lucky day. Except when we reach the bathrooms, one of them has a padlock on it, and the other one looks like perhaps a poop bomb had recently exploded inside the ENTIRE THING, along with an entire roll of toilet paper. Too gross.

What to do . . . what to do . . . ah yes, when I called my friend Tabitha just a little while ago she said she was home, come on over if we feel like it. So I gathered Zander up and took him to the car . . . except I start to smell something a little funny. Oh no. Much to my dismay, I realize that Zander wasn't quite able to hold everything, and he had produced a minor accident in his underwear. Unfortunately, I did NOT have anything to put them in, so they went right in the park garbage. Fortunately, I DID have baby wipes in the car, so I was able to clean Zander up good enough, and then looked around for somewhere for him to go potty, since it looked like he wasn't going to make it to Tabitha's. A glance around the area revealed that there were way too many people to let him just pop-a-squat, so I searched in the back of my car and found a canvas grocery bag that would have to do. Poor Zander, though, wasn't able to get comfortable enough hovering over the sack that I had strategically placed IN THE VAN to produce much of anything except a few drops of pee that slid right off the bag on to my van floor. Awesome. So it was definitely time to hit the road and pray. I whipped on his shorts (sans underwear), and we were off.

I floored it to Tabitha's, and made it in record time. I unbuckled Zander as quick as I could, ran him up to her door in my arms, and rang her door bell, all the while assuring him to "hold it just one more minute." We waited, and waited, and waited . . . and no Tabitha. I set Zander down, whipped out my cell phone, and hit speed dial.

Tabitha: "Hi. What are you up to?"

Danielle: "Sitting on your doorstep. Where are you?"

Tabitha: "Oh, Im at Long's Drugstore. I will be home in just a few minutes."

Danielle: "Uh oh . . . . "

She invited us to go hang out in her back yard, but what good was that going to do in my situation? I asked Zander if he still had to go poop, and apparently his situation had changed, because all of the sudden he no longer had to go. Whew, close call. So we accepted her invitation, and decided to wait in Tabitha's back yard until she got home.

We let ourselves in, and I got comfortable with my book in a lawn chair, while Zander entertained himself with all the kid toys in the yard. All was well until about ten minutes into our venture, when Zander once again announced that he had to go poop. Uh oh. Now what?

I looked around for something, ANYTHING, for him to go in or on . . . and all I could find was a plastic target bag that was holding some outdoor art supplies. I quickly emptied it, raced Zander over to the middle of the lawn, and pulled down his pants. But once again, he couldn't quite help himself, and his entire bottom and pants were covered with icky icky poo. Ah, the joys of motherhood. So I did what any good mother would do, and made him squat and poop in the middle of Tabitha's lawn on the Target bag. Thank goodness he wasn't so shy this time, and much to my delight, he took care of business. However, my joy was short lived when I realized that I had NOTHING to clean him up with. I could go back to the front of the house, to my car, where the wipes were hiding, but that would require a trip down the alley and around the block with a half-naked kid with a poopy butt. Not an option. If I could only find something to wipe him with in the yard . . . . nope, those palm tree leaves are way too big . . . and those flower bush leaves are way too small . . . . but there is a faucet . . . and there is a watering can . . . and yep, I think that will work!

So I watered my son's butt with a plant watering can. Yes, son, the water WILL be cold.

When Tabitha walked in the gate a few minutes later with my naked son running around her yard, I told her not to even ask. I just need to borrow some boy shorts. ;)

The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

Okay, enough procrastinating, time to play catch-up. :)

This has definitely been a roller coaster week . . . the Coast Guard tragedy that I previously mentioned, coupled with Brian's immediate departure, and some tears, followed by some Halloween celebrations, some smiles, and some good times with friends. Once in awhile you just have to have one of those weeks I guess.

Before Brian left, we were wrapping up our second session of swimming lessons with Zander, and like his sister, he has turned into quite the little fish. He didn't quite make it to Level 2 yet, but he has a mean crawl stroke and can jump in the pool and swim to other side with almost no help. Now we just need to practice the back stroke . . .

Zander and Charley also had their Halloween parties and parades at school. Here is Zander with his two best pals, Kyle and Quinn.

And of course here is Aurora, a/k/a Sleeping Beauty, a/k/a Princess Charley. All was good until one of her princess shoes broke in half . . . then it was tragedy.

We also got to carve our pumpkins before Brian left. Charley was good at fishing out pumpkin guts, but Zander was not much of a fan (too "icky" he said). So he stuck to the easy jobs, while the rest of us got a little dirty.

And then it was time for Halloween . . . we started the day out with a neighborhood Halloween party, with old-school apple bobbing and mummy wrapping, followed by a long trip around the hood with a bunch of our friends. The kids definitely made a killing on the goodies (which I, of course, have helped them consume).


After a long summer of hot humid days, some clouds finally made an appearance and provided us with a few short showers this past week. We decided to celebrate with some good 'ol fashioned puddle jumping (because once in awhile you just need to jump in a few puddles).

When the rain clouds disappeared, we decided to meet up with a bunch of our friends, and hit the beach for a little fun in the sun. I feel so lucky to have such a great group of friends.

This week has perhaps been one of the slowest weeks I've experienced in a lot time . . . and we were not any less busy than usual (in fact, the week was pretty crazy), but I think it's because it's been an emotional one. We all miss Brian a lot around here, and we are keeping our fingers crossed that he will be home in the next day or two.

Tonight Charley is going to a sleep-over at Tabitha's house, and Zander and I are going to go spend the night at Andre's house so that she can get up early and go run a half marathon tomorrow, while I watch her kiddos. I think a weekend surrounded by good friends is just what I needed . . .

Reality Check

It's now November 3rd, and I know that I am three days past due on a good Halloween blog entry with some good Halloween pictures . . . but truth be told, I just don't have the energy for it right now.

Once in awhile, here in our lovely little Palm world, where we get to live in paradise and hang with two pretty cool kids and lots of great friends, things just don't go quite right . . . and this has been one of those weeks.

Last Thursday night, around 9:00 p.m., Brian got a call from work, informing him that a C-130 had collided with a Marine helicopter off the coast of California, and he needed to be ready to fly out in about an hour. After a few minutes of pure shock, he switched into work mode, and hastily packed a bag for an undetermined amount of time . . . and then he was gone.

As I'm sure most of you have heard, we lost seven Coasties that night, and the Marines also lost two men. One of the Coast Guard pilots was a roommate of Brian's at the Academy, and one of the crewmen was someone Brian had worked with in Sacramento and here in Barber's Point. A very very sad day . . .

So, on this end, it would be easy to be disappointed that Brian missed Zander's last swimming lesson, and Halloween celebrations, and all sorts of other stuff. But in reality, none of that matters, because we are sitting here counting our blessings that at some point in the near future, Brian will be home again.

Please say a prayer for all those men and women lost and their families and friends.

My Babies

Oh where, oh where, have my babies gone?


This week we got their fall school pictures back, and it hit me like a freight train that my kiddos are definitely not babies anymore, and not even really so much toddlers. The are just regular 'ol kids!!

So here is my Zan-Man, my baby, my three-year-old . . . .


And his class . . .
And here is my favorite girl, my first-born, my four-year-old . . .

And her class . . .
It's hard for me to believe that the kids are big enough for preschool, and that we've already been in Hawaii more than two years, and that we have only about 1 1/2 years left here . . . seriously, where has all this time gone?

I frequently mention that now that I'm a stay-at-home mom, my days seem busier than ever before . . . and whether or not it's true, my concept of time has totally changed. I suppose my feeling of busyness makes time fly by that much faster. I'm just so thankful that I'm here to soak up every last minute of it!

Soooo, our visit with Aunt Marge and Uncle Mike was a blast. Brian and Mike got lots of fun golf time in, and the the rest of us got in a bunch of much-needed beach and swimming time. There were a lot of laughs, a few tears, and just a nice visit all around. It makes me feel so much closer to home when a "piece of home," like my family, is able to come and spend some time with us. Thanks for coming guys!

Other than that, just doing the usual with school stuff, wrapping up swimming lessons, and getting ready for all the Halloween festivities. I will leave you with a few funny things that Zander has so kindly shared lately . . .

1. Zander LOVES the movie "Cars," so he has named our vehicles Sally (the van, because I drive it), Lightening McQueen (the Subaru, because it's fast), and Mater (the Jeep, because it's old). Aunt Marge and Uncle Mike told Zander they needed a name for their car, and he looked Mike square in the eyes and told him, "Your car can be named Chick because he's a cheater."

2. Zander and Aunt Marge were discussing ages, and Zander told her he couldn't wait to be 4 years old and 40 pounds . . . then he looks at her and says in amazement, "So, you are 45 AND a lot of pounds???"

3. Zander told me today, "Mom, everyone knows how cool I am . . ." and so I asked him who 'everyone' was, and he said, "Quinn, Kyle, and Ellert." Guess my son needs a lesson in modesty. ;)

Sitting on the bench . . .

A few months ago, thanks to the inspiration of a good friend, I got a wild-hair and decided to start running (like the jogging variety), mostly for the sake of my health. I forced myself through those first few painful weeks, and realized that it wasn't so bad. Then I decided to take it a step further, and I threw in a couple days each week at the gym, and had a nice little routine of running and working out going on. I was even inspired to sign up for a 5k last month, and decided to do the same thing this month. So, through a lot of time and hard work, I felt pretty good about the race I was going to run this past Sunday.

And then karma struck . . .

After laying out all my race gear for the next morning, Zander asked me to give him some loves and carry him downstairs. Being so wrapped up in enjoying every second of his embrace, I missed the bottom stair and collapsed to the ground with Zander in my arms. Fortunately, Zander was just fine and landed on his feet. Unfortunately, I was not so fine and landed on my ankle. Can you tell which one?

Yeah, not so mysterious. As I lay there clutching my ankle and screaming in pain, the first thing I did was realize that the race the next day was not going to happen for me. And I was so bummed.

A trip the clinic the next day revealed just a severely sprained ankle, nothing broken thank goodness. But it still didn't look too pretty. I officially have a cankle.


Thankfully, I'm being taken care of by a great pair of hands.

So here I am, all gimped up, throwing myself a HUGE pity party these past couple days. Everyone tells me to stay off my feet, but do you know how hard that is with two small children that are in school and various other activities? Thankfully I am surrounded by some great friends who have been so kind to give me rides when needed (thanks Heather), offered to take the kids off my hands (thanks Beth), and even brought me dinner (thanks Risha) . . . plus all the other friends who offer to do stuff whenever I seem them. I know it's time to just wrap up this little party I have been throwing for myself, but perhaps the thing that bums me out the most is all the running and exercising that I have been enjoying lately . . . the doctor said this thing could hurt for up to nearly a year.

In other news, my Aunt Marge and Uncle Mike are visiting from the Seattle area, so that's always good for some fun times and tons of laughs. They are spending a few nights in hotels and a few nights with us, and the kids are so excited to have more people to play with. I probably won't be QUITE as good of a hostess as usual thanks to this stupid injury, but thankfully they are about the easiest guests in the world. Thank goodness for small blessings . . .

Fuel Shortage

Danielle: "Come on Zander . . . let's hurry it up . . . your walking super slow, Charley is way ahead of us, and Miss Andre is waiting for us to get to her house."

Zander: (stopping dead in his tracks on the sidewalk) "UUUUGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!!!"

Danielle: "Alright buddy, what's the problem now? Why are you stopping and whining?"

Zander: "Because Mommm . . . " (big sigh) . . . "I'm all out of gas."

Breaks

So, where were we . . .

Ah yes, the kids had fall break last week, which coincidentally was the same week that Brian had to head to Seattle for some training. So it was just the kids and I left to entertain each other . . .

I don't think we had a quiet moment the entire week, as we went to the museum to see the new dinosaur exhibit, swam at the pool a couple days, went to a luncheon at a friend's house, and had several playdates with various buddies. We also managed to squeeze some cleaning and grocery shopping in there somewhere before Brian came home too . . . we didn't want him thinking we were complete bums all week. :)

Speaking of Brian, his time in Seattle wasn't all that bad either . . . even though he was there for work training and was forced to stay on base for part of the trip, he still managed to squeeze in a Mariner's game, hung out with some good friends of ours from our Sacramento days, had dinner with his Uncle Roger and Todd, and he even got to spend a couple nights in nice hotels right in downtown Seattle. Needless to say, I think his break from Hawaii wasn't too bad.

Despite the fun we had here at home, on Friday both kids informed me that they never wanted to do fall break again and didn't want to ever miss school. And by Friday, I probably couldn't have agreed with them more. So after a weekend of enjoying Brian's return, they headed back to school yesterday, much to their relief. Both kids absolutely adore their teachers and have lots of friends, old and new, to make school that much more fun. I couldn't be more happy with the school situation this year.

We also resumed swimming lessons for Zander, which we hadn't done since last spring. It is amazing how much progress he made over the summer, especially with his confidence, so we figured we better squeeze one more session in before the teacher takes his winter hiatus. Charley is also becoming a pretty darned good swimmer these days, which will fulfill Brian's life-long wish that they both become fish in their spare time.

On Sunday I will be racing my second 5k, and shortly after the race I will be picking up my Aunt Marge and Uncle Mike from the airport . . . which means lots of pool and beach time for the kids and I, and lots of golf time for Brian (Uncle Mike just happens to be a golf pro). Good stuff comin' up.

Oh, and a description of the week would not be complete without mentioning "Oreo" (a/k/a Jack). We found him running around lost when we were on a walk by our house this past weekend, and after asking a few neighbors if they knew him, we decided to take him home and try and track down his family. After a phone call to the humane society and a posting on Craigs List, "Oreo" and I snuggled up on the couch and became fast friends. In fact, I told Brian that if nobody claimed him, I didn't think I could let him go. However, about 10:30 that night, I got a call from a very distraught woman who had seem my posting on Craigs List, and it turns out she was the dog's mommy . . . and his real name was Jack. Our love affair was short lived, but it was a fun one.

That's sort of all the logistical stuff around here. Charley has recently become quite intrigued with learning how to read, write words, and do simple math all on her own, so we are pretty excited by her enthusiasm. In fact, it seems quite contagious because Zander is seemingly trying to follow in her footsteps, especially with the whole reading thing. They are also both at that phase in life where they ask a million questions a day about the world around them, and their imaginations are all over the place. Charley seems to naturally be very imaginative, but I can see her influencing Zander in that department too. They are each other's best play buddies, and even though there is no shortage of squabbling around here, I couldn't have asked for a better pair of siblings . . . I guess the whole thing of having two kids 20 months apart is finally paying off. ;)

Through the eyes of a child . . .

Three days ago I let the kids pick out whatever they wanted from the cupboard to take on a picnic dinner, loaded them up in the double stroller, and pushed them two miles to the park. We ate fish crackers and princess cookies at a picnic table while the sun set over the hills, and the kids didn't even give much thought to the nearby playground. They were just simply content with their dinner pickings.

Two days ago, after dropping daddy off at the airport, we popped some popcorn, baked some cookies, and all sat around watching a kid's movie. Come bedtime a short time later, the kids couldn't have cared less that it was time to hit the rack. They were still happy about the pre-bed snacks.

One day ago, we got to drive daddy's car to the store instead of our usual mini-van. The kids were simply joyous at the prospect of being able to roll down the windows and feel the wind on their faces as we drove . . . not something they normally can do in the van. I snuck a few glances in the rear view mirror to find them holding hands as they smiled out their windows. They were just thrilled to be in a car where they could touch the wind and each other.

And then it hit me . . . at what point in our lives do we forget to find this kind of happiness in such small things? When do we quit finding joy in fish crackers, popcorn, and open windows?

Thank you Charley and Zander for reminding me of what I've been missing.

Rewards

Zander: "Guess what Mom?!? I cleaned my WHOLE room all by myself."

Danielle: "Good job buddy!"

Zander: "Sooooo . . . do I get a special treat?"

Danielle: "No."

Zander: "How come?"

Danielle: "Well, because even though you were a very good boy for cleaning your room, you don't get a special treat every time you do something good. Sorry bud."

Zander: "So cleaners don't get special treats?"

Danielle: "Yep, that's right."

Zander: (after a few seconds of deep thought) "Ohhh, so just poopers get special treats?"

Organized Pumpkin Patching

Today we got to take the kids to the Aloun Farms pumpkin patch as part of a preschool field trip, and overall it was a pretty good day for it . . . no rain or mud (like last year), not too hot (the year before), not picked over (both years), and we got to go early in the pumpkin season. before all the crowds filter in.

There is only one pumpkin farm on the island, and it is only about ten minutes from our house. Here is a picture taken from the farm looking at the hill we live on (we live just on the other side of what we call "Palm Mountain").

First the tour started with a talk about corn . . . the kids weren't too interested in the corn, but they were both happy to sit by their best buds. Here is Zander with his best friend (and our neighbor right next door), Kyle.

And of course here is Charley with her best pal (and one of our adopted children), Quinn.

The kids were dying to go on the hay ride, so thankfully the corn talk didn't last too long. We all bolted for the tractor and made it on the first ride . . . .

After the hay ride, we got a chance to take some silly pictures.

After we were done taking pictures, Charley and Zander proceeded to play in the pumpkin patch while Brian and I visited with friends. After about 15 minutes or so, we decided to wrangle up the kids and head home, as it was starting to get really hot. Charley was insistent that she needed a few more minutes, and we weren't really paying attention to what she was doing, so we let her have her few minutes. She finally announced, "There!!!! DONE!!!!" So we looked over to see what she was talking about . . . .

She single-handedly "reorganized" the entire pumpkin patch into a pretty decent circle. Ummmm, can you say OCD? Huh . . . I wonder where she gets that from. ;)