Walkin' in a Winter Wonderland . . .

Good day all!  I'm exhausted!!!!  Last night, I helped my girlfriend who is getting married next year, do her wedding invitations so we could mail them out today.  I got home after midnight and had to unwind a bit before going to bed.  This morning, I got up early to get myself and the kids ready for our annual "Winter Wonderland" at our church.  It's so much fun to see my kids (well, my son) having so much fun!!!  My daughter (I should actually call her my "opihi"), did not enjoy herself.  She mainly enjoyed the food!  Here's some pics of our loooooooooooong day!

Santa, Shadow, Little Peony (Opihi girl), and 1LuvnMama

1LuvnDad & I couldn't get our daughter to sit with Santa so I had to be in the picture (urgh!).  I should post last years picture . . . it's almost the spliting image to this year's picture.  Why is that?

Check this out!  My 2 kids LUV arts & crafts!  I wonder, wonder why?  :o)

There were tons of **SNOW**!!!  All the kids including my kids shared in this event of playing in the Hawaiian Snow.  Here is Shadow making a Snow Angel!

Little Peony looks happy but she only held this snowball for like 5 seconds, dropped it back on the ice, and wailed!  Go figure how her day went . . .

Anyway, I forgot to post a picture of our Christmas tree.  It's been up for several days now.

Well, this is definitely my last post.  Flying off to LV tomorrow!  Woohoo & a Boo-hoo too!  I must JOURNEY on to getting my things packed.  I'll be back before you know it!  :)

Not my creation . . .

Today was a very busy day for me and my family.  We had lunch at Willow's with the family (19 of us total).  Had a good time eating and talking story . . . ate a bunch of my favorite dessert . . . fried haupia!!!! ONO!!! 

{SHADOW}

*LITTLE PEONY*

After lunch, my Aunty G took my brother and his family, my cousin and her family, and myself along with my son to her friends house up on Wilheimina Rise.  Let me tell you, the view from up there is BEAUTIFUL!  Keep reading and scroll down for a picture of Diamond Head. 

Anyway, every year, my Aunty's friend prepares a day of gingerbread house decorating.  They put this event on for 3 weeks - - 1 for the wife's side of the family, 1 for the husband's side of the family, and lastly, 1 for all their friends.  We were so fortunate to participate this year!  1LuvnDad & Little Peony went home for a nap after lunch, so it was just Shadow and I.  This is Shadow's chance to shine and CREATE!!!

{No laugh eh!  I made Little Peony a gingerbread house  . . . try like in 5 minutes!  Had to work fast because the kids were getting restless and tired!}

OMG!! This Christmas Tree was GIGANTIC!  I was in awe of the tree with all its beautiful ornaments!  Oh, forgot to mention that there were 2 other Christmas trees there too.  Well, hope you all had a great weekend!  JOURNEYING forward to another busy week! :)

It's In The Genes . . .

No not jeans, but genes.  Shadow & Little Peony is a part of the AWANA program at our church.  Shadow is in the Cubbies program and Little Peony is in the Puggles program.  When service was done, I went to pick-up my daughter in the nursery.  The Puggles leader explained to me that Little Peony did a great job & that she is quite into "crafts".  Here is her artwork . . .

The leader commented that my daughter enjoyed gluing and pasting the cotton balls on her cloud.   She thinks Little Peony has her mommy's genes. { BIG, HUGE, SMILE :o) }  I hope so.  Crafting and creating is fun!  The imagination is so powerful.  I can't wait till Little Peony is older . . .  to teach her and to do projects together.  Oh boy, I am excited and anticipate the JOURNEY with my daughter!

The Heat Is On!

Do you remember the song The Heat Is On sung by Glenn Frey?

The heat is on, the heat is on,
the heat is on, the heat is on,
 oh, it's on the street, the heat is . . . on!

Okay, showing a little bit of my age here.  Well, the pass several days have been really, really, I mean, really HOT!  It has been so unbearable that it's nice to be at the mall or grocery store where there is air condition.  The humidity is awful!  It doesn't help that we've been experiencing vog again. 

Since it was so hot, Shadow and Little Peony played in their pool.  I swear, it was so tempting to just jump right on in with them.  They both enjoyed 2 straight days in the pool and got 2 shades darker too.  While the kids splashed about in the backyard, 1LuvnDad cleaned our very dirty windows and screens.  Yup, he did that 2 days in a row as well.  I didn't realize how many windows we had.

Here are some pictures of the kids.

What have you been up to in the past several days?  I hope the tradewinds will come back and continue to stay.  Unless, we'll be JOURNEYING into more hot weather and more dips in the pool!  *maybe head on down to the beach*  ;o) 

Mission: Success!

She did it!  Confirmed!  Little Peony did a whoppin' #2 in the potty!  I'm still in shock and what a milestone for her.  Let me tell you, 1LuvnMama is so, so, so proud of the little girl!  Her brother, Shadow, wasn't potty trained until the age of 2 1/2.  I'm proud of him too! 

Layout created by:  1LuvnMama
Font:  Pea Bonnie Script

My first drawing using my Wacom tablet.  Just doodling around . . .

a little sketchy, but it was fun to make this for Little Peony!

Well, want the play by play action on today's potty experience?  Little Peony once again tugged at her diaper whining.  I sat her on the throne and nothing happened.  Ten minutes later, she did it again.  I picked Little Peony up and placed her on the throne.  This time the grunting was serious . . . and there "IT" appeared.  It was so cute to see her reaction.  She puckered up her lips and smacked them together to tell me it was a fish.  I just laughed and gave her praise!   When she was done, I let Little Peony flush the toilet and say goodbye to her 'fish'. 

I'm in awe of her!  She is quickly growing up before my eyes.  I'm thrilled, but sad that Littley Peony isn't a baby anymore . . . she's turning out to be such a BIG girl!  One thing I realize is that this is her first experience with the potty thing.  The JOURNEY will take time as she transitions, but I am ready for the long haul!

Could this really be?

This is 2 days in a row that Little Peony has sat on the royal throne, the "potty".   Nothing interesting happened, if you know what I mean.  *chuckle, chuckle*  I do hope that what I'm sharing isn't TMI (too much information) for you, but thought to myself, all parents go through this particular milestone.  Maybe I'm just thinking out loud.

Well, it all started yesterday.  I was on the computer and Little Peony came straight up to me, whining while tugging on her diaper.  She wasn't very happy and I wasn't quite sure what all the fuss was about.  But the tugging continued.  Does she need a diaper change?  Is there an itch that's irritating her?  Does she need to go potty?  !!DING!!  A lightbulb moment!  Could this really be?  My 19 month old daughter is getting ready for potty training . . .

First, the diaper came off.  Second, I quickly sat Little Peony on the "throne".  Third, I held on to her petite little body so that she wouldn't fall in.  And last, the waiting game.  Face to face we waited, and waited, and waited.  Little Peony kept smiling at me and made grunting noises (sorry, TMI again).  No luck, but good effort!

Today, the same thing happened.  My daughter tugs at her diaper whining again.  We rush to the throne and nothing happens, except for the wonderful smiles and the grunting sounds . . . again.  Is she just playing me or what?  Or is this her "AHA" Oprah Winfrey moment of possibly transitioning from a diaper to the potty?  Stay tuned for Little Peony's JOURNEY to pottyhood -this could get interesting. 

Oh No! Broken Nose!

PICTURE THIS:

I'm laying on the carpeted floor, knees propped up as if getting ready to do some sit-ups.  Little Peony tosses her leg over my body and sits on my tummy, back facing my face.  She happily bounces up and down, up and down, in such joy and happiness.  Many times over, she repeats the same scenerio.

NOW PICTURE THIS:

I'm laying on the carpeted floor, knees propped up as if getting ready to do some sit-ups. Little Peony tosses her leg over my body and sits on my tummy, her back facing my face.  This time she thrusts back in full force, not knowing the severity of what's to come.  CRUNCH!  Ouch!  My nose!  My eyes start to well with tears . . . the pain is excruciating!  Did she really?  Did she really break my nose?

Little Peony quickly removed herself from my body as if to see why I was moaning in pain and holding my nose.  She began to rub the back of her head and amazingly, she was okay.    Immediately, my nose began to bleed from the left nostril, I'm in shock!  Can't believe this was actually happening.  I got some tissue and placed a cold ice pack upon my nose which gave some relief, hoping that nothing was seriously wrong.

That night, I went to bed.  The next morning, I rushed to the bathroom.  I looked in the mirror and to my surprise, no swelling and no bruising, just sore on the bridge of my nose.  No need to call the doctor.  However, later in the day, I noticed some very slight bruising, a tinge of blue.  Do I now call the doctor?  I search the internet for information relating to broken noses.   I'm no doctor, but thought that my situation wasn't severe. If I did go to the doctor, he would recommend I use a cold compress and maybe prescribe some pain medications.

This morning, my nose is still sore and the slight bruising is still there . . . my battle scar.   I'm going to take it one day at a time . . . a JOURNEY to healing my broken nose.