Christmas Elves

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Getting Close...

I cannot believe it is only three days till Christmas. Last I remember it was Sammy's birthday and then I blinked my eyes and Halloween and Thanksgiving just flew by and now Christmas is on our doorstep. Amid all the Christmas programs and parties I have been working like a mad dog. This year I wanted to make all my Christmas presents and I am happy to say the besides a couple of store bought presents here and there I did it. Well, I am still making things and will probably be up late in my studio Christmas Eve, but hopefully everything will get done. It has been fun and I haven't missed the mall shopping and holiday crowds at all. I also finally got our Christmas letters in the mail today, with the help of two little helpers. Today we will be cutting out cookies for our traditional Terry Christmas cookies. It looks like rain is in the forecast, so it will be a perfect day for baking. Hope everyone is enjoying these days leading up to the Big Day.

Happy 5th Birthday Sammy!

Can it really be true? Say it's not so. Can my baby really be five years old today? Was it really five years ago today that we welcomed Sammy into this world?

It seems like eons ago and yet just like yesterday. I can hardly remember life without my Sammy, but these last five years have flown by in a blink of an eye. And what a five years it has been. I wouldn't trade one of them for anything in the world.

Happy birthday, Sammy! I love you so, so much!

Bigger is Better

While walking the aisles at Costco yesterday, Sammy saw this 'ginormous' stuffed dog. The photo really doesn't do it justice. The thing was massive.


I immediately thought of Leina, my niece. She loves stuffed animals and the bigger the better. Although I don't think her room is big enough for this monstrosity.We also came across this, which caught Sammy's attention. A five foot long Christmas stocking.
I know Costco is all about the bigger and bulkier the better, but really, does someone need a stocking this big?

Caught Red Handed

Daniel brought home his first yellow card of the year yesterday. I was actually working in his classroom when he got it so it wasn't much of a surprise. And I should have seen it coming since I recently found Daniel in our bathroom doing to same thing. When I asked him what he was trying to do he told me that someone was showing him how to blow bubbles with his hands at school one day. He wasn't able to do it at home because it wasn't the right kind of soap. So I guess he decided to try it at school. Big mistake. Wondering what was taking Daniel so long in the bathroom, his teacher went to check on him and caught him in the act. I can just imagine Daniel leaning over the sink gently trying to coax a bubble from between his hands when suddenly his teacher, who he has a major crush on, walks in and catches him red (or shall I say soapy) handed. He probably jumped out of his skin. Oh that I could have seen the look in his face. I don't think he will be doing that again.

Notes from Daniel

I love that Daniel can read and write now. He is even learning how to spell this year. Hopefully he will be a much better speller than his mother. I often find notes and lists around the house like this: And like this:How cool is that?

The Next Top Ten Song

'Always Exclusive' performed by Daniel and Sammy:



Yes, they are saying 'always exclusive'. No, I don't know why. And Yes, my kids are quite strange.

Sammy's First Day

Today was Sammy's first day of his last year of preschool. He was a little shy this morning going to class, but had a great day. Sammy also has the same teacher and same classroom as last year, but instead of 4 boys and 8 girls, there are 4 boys and 14 girls. They added a teacher and added 6 more kids since the part time preschool is so popular. Fortunately, Sammy is not old enough to appreciate the boy to girl ratio.

As for myself, I got to have the day to myself with nothing to do. It has been a while. I enjoyed a nice lunch with Dan at Niban (my favorite place to get sushi) and got some stuff done around the house. A very quiet and mellow day indeed.

First Day of the 1st Grade

Daniel is officially a 1st grader. He was pretty excited about going back to school this morning. He didn't seem nervous of uncomfortable at all. I think it helps he has Ms. Foust, his teacher from last year who he adores, and is in the same room. It is a split class, half Kindergartners and half 1st graders, so there was some quivering lips and sad faces. I think it probably helped to have some older kids in there putting the younger ones at ease. When I picked up Daniel he was happy and in a good mood. He seemed a little tired. I expected as much as this year he will not have nap time. I am sure he will adjust as the year goes on.
Sammy starts his preschool class tomorrow. We ran some errands, played some Lego Star Wars together (the boys are obsessive about this game) and Sammy's theatrics kept me entertained.

Sammy and I both missed Daniel around the house. I'm not sure who missed him more, me or Sammy. It's probably a tie. Tomorrow both boys will be in school and I am sure the house will seem oh so quiet. I expect I will be enjoying some alone time quite a bit.

Home Again

Home sweet home. We made it back safe and sound. We had a wonderful trip and so, so much fun. The only negative was that the time went by too quickly. Really was that two weeks? I guess so because it is September already. September! Wow, the summer flew by.

And tomorrow Daniel has his first day of 1st grade. Now that cannot possibly be right. Not my little nugget. How can my first born be in 1st grade when I have such vivid memories of being in 1st grade?

So tomorrow starts another school year. And for Sammy his last year of preschool. Wait! That really can't be right. Sammy's practically a baby still. Okay, so he is a pretty big kid now, but I don't know if I'm ready for both of my boys to be in school full time. I will have to enjoy and treasure this last year of time with Sammy.

I hope that the boys have a great school year and I can't wait to see how much each of them grows and learns. What an exciting time! I am looking forward to it all.

Humuhumunukunukuapuaa

Last year on our visit Daniel and I were fortunate enough to see a turtle swimming around Hanauma Bay. No such luck this year, but it was still a great visit. The boys had a ton of fun, and even though I am starting to get pretty tired, I had a lot of fun as well.



We got up early this morning (who am I kidding, we get up early every morning) and were out the door by just after 8 AM. After sitting through the 9 minute orientation movie we trekked down the hill and set up camp in Tutu's favorite spot. Sammy and I played in the shallows while Suzy, Papa and Daniel headed out to deep waters. Many fish and one very cold boy later they waddled past Sammy and I on their way in to warm up and snack away.



Showing the resiliancy of youth, Daniel was soon ready to head back out, so I got my shot. Out Daniel and I went to find Papa, while Suzy took a turn chasing Sammy around. I particularly liked seeing the humuhumu, and we also got to see some cool fish that mimiced rocks. Speaking of mimicing a rock, I soon did my best rock impersonation, catching some much needed rest before the surprise of the day happened. Sammy, my anti-water boy, continued his surprises of yesterday by asking to go out in the deep water.



After getting out there, he decided that actually sticking that big head underwater might scare all the fish away. So, being the nature loving kid that he is, he declined to actually snorkel, but he did let me pull him around the bay for a while.


The boys then had a lot of fun playing in the shallows and sand together before we headed up the hill.

Proof that we actually made it up the hill (and didn't even take the shuttle, which was a mistake...) After that busy morning we snuck over to Hawaii Kai for an early lunch (Korean BBQ) and some treats at Zippys and Bubbies. Sammy was busy enjoying his pastry from Zippys, when his Mama came out of Bubbies with some more mochi ice cream. Needless to say, the pastry was soon forgotten as his begging kicked in.

Hawaii Kai is a pretty nice little community, with a waterway that we were enjoying during our lunch. After lunch we headed home for some much needed downtime, during which only Papa was able to sleep. That is, he was able to sleep after getting his first victory at Mexican Train, a domino game we have been playing a lot of.

What's going on tomorrow? Glad you asked, I think that we will be having some yummy food and finding some pristine beach. Wish us luck in finding the food and beach.

Day 3: Fishing for Sammy

What a day.

It started out early, although not as early as yesterday. The boys first started stirring at 5:30 or so, and we didn't have to start dealing with them until six something. So yesterday I got to enjoy the sunrise with my wife, but today I got to sleep 'in' a bit, it's a toss up as to which I enjoyed more.

After a great breakfast of bacon and eggs cooked al a Papa, we headed down to the beach for a morning stroll. The first discovery (of many) was this squid, which to me was pretty big, the picture just doesn't do it justice.


After the stroll along the beach we headed into Hawaii Kai, just 20 minutes away around Makapu'u Point, to pick up some more groceries, and any other yummy things that we could find. Suzy had scouted out this mall yesterday on her way to Costco, and had quickly zeroed in on Bubbies, a mochi ice cream place she frequented while spending a summer 'studying' at the University of Hawaii.




After quickly finishing off the dozen packets of goodness (and an additional three more just to make sure the first twelve were accurate representations of true mochi ice cream), we took care of business at Foodland, and stopped in to pick up some sushi for lunch.

We needed to hustle home because we were having our first guests of the season at Hale Terry, Auntie Bonnie, Cousin Amy and Granpa Burge we coming. Daniel had a hard time sitting still during the sushi lunch (yes there was ika, no it was not the ika from that morning on the beach), because one of the main reasons he was excited about coming back to Hawaii was to build legos with cousin Amy. Wish granted.


It was such a busy morning that Suzy and Sammy needed to take a quick nap to rest up for the evening's festivities. Once there power nap was done we headed to the beach for some time in the water.



Yesterday was fun in the water, despite the flat conditions. Today was great. Stupendous. To quote one of my favorite TV characters, 'Awesome'. Why? Glad you asked. For the first time in his life, Sammy rode a boogey board wave into shore. Last year was great, Sammy went out in the surf with me, but hung on to my neck so tightly there was no chance he was riding a wave in. This year, it started out much the same, but to my surprise he got braver and braver the longer we were out there. Lo and behold, after half an hour or so, we had caught three waves. Amazing.


I thought my day was done after that, but nope, I was wrong. Daniel decided he wanted back on the board, and he then shocked me by agreeing to catch a wave in by himself! I had him out there, found a good wave, and gave him a shove. He even got clobbered once, shook his head, wandered around the beach for a few seconds, then turned around and ran back in with me.

Couldn't believe it. What a day.

So, why the 'Fishing for Sammy', title? Well, after his second successful wave ride I was getting a bit cocky, and picked a bit of a bigger wave for our third try. Not a great idea on my part, and we got pounded. I think it was mainly on the followup wave after our ride was mostly over, it knocked me over, and thus down went Sammy, with the board on top of him. I reached out with my hand underwater, grabbed the first thing I could, and up came a Sammy leg, thankfully still attached. I had caught myself a thoroughly wet, a bit scared, but still mostly happy Sammy. I decided not to throw him back in, he is a keeper!

Day 2

I slept well last night, but woke up early and just couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to watch the sun rise. I love being awake in the wee hours of the day. I love the quietness. I just sat and listened to the roar of the wave as the sun slowly made its way over the horizon.

After breakfast and a nice stroll along the beach Papa, Tutu, Sammy and I made a Costco run and loaded up on lots and lots of food.
Papa and Sammy napped together after lunch and then we put on our bathing suits and headed down to the beach. Daniel and Sammy jumped waves and Daniel even did a little boogie boarding with Dan and Papa.

We made it!

As I write I am looking out the window at an amazing view of the beautiful Pacific Ocean washing up against the beach at Waimanalo. Yes, we are back in Hawaii for our second annual gathering at the House of Stones. We had a great trip yesterday. Did I really just say that? And we even had the boys with us. It was the easiest trip with the boys yet. We had no delays or problems. The boys were well behaved. The lines were short and amazingly the flight went by quickly. I couldn't have asked for a better trip. Well, maybe first class, but that would be pushing my luck.

It took Sammy all of 5 minutes before he was begging to go down to the water. Of course Papa couldn't resist the pull of the blue water either and the two of the hit the beach as soon as all the bags were unloaded.

Papa took Sammy out to wave jump. This involves Papa helping Sammy jump over the waves as they roll in (poor Papa's back). By dinnertime Sammy and Papa were drenched and had sand in every crease of their bodies.

The boys were wiped by the time bedtime rolled around and fell right asleep.

It is good to be back.

Cub Scouts

Daniel and Dan had their first scouting event last weekend. As you can tell from the pictures Daniel was very excited. Dan was too, but not as much as Daniel. They had a fun filled day at Balboa Park: going to the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, watching glass blowers at the Spanish Village Art Center and watching and making puppets at the Marie Hitchcock Puppet Show.

I don't know much about Boy Scouting. I know you do stuff and earn badges, but that's about it. A pack, den or whatever it's called, of boys sounds like a scary thing to me, but Dan enjoyed his scouting years and is excited to begin this journey with Daniel. And I know Daniel will love being a Cub Scout.