Easter Hunt 2010

K: Ella, let's go play games.
E: I don't want to.
K: Me neither!!


Our Primary Easter Egg Hunt was last Saturday at Lions Park. They played some games before the hunt, since egg hunting only takes about 10 minutes. Ella hung with her friend Kira. They skipped out on the games. But Isaac played. Here he's choosing a goose.

I knew the actual hunt would be a disappointment. The big kids always seem to clean house, no matter how careful the planning. My kids were crying as soon as started. Isaac found 1 egg, Ella found zero. But their friends shared with them.
And everyone got a goodie bag in the end, so we left happy.


Thank you Primary leaders!

ONE Year Old

march 25. it's been one year since owen's birth. it's gone by so fast!
we had a banana cake with his friends at playgroup. he was more excited than he looks in the photo.
then we had cake again at home. he's such a sweet little thing, we're so happy to have him.
he's been doing a lot more of this lately:
pretty soon he'll be walking...running...jumping...pole vaulting...winning the olympics! can't wait!

one stone

(an update to my family, but posted here to kill two birds...)

temple family update: ephraim is leading a stake youth musical play. they're singing and acting out Oh Lord, My Redeemer. he's looking for ways to motivate and control youth. he has a colleague coming from UH tonight to explore the possibility of students in AS taking aquaculture courses through the program they've set up in Second Life. he's from israel, and i don't know how familiar he is with samoan style, or slow samoan internet. hopefully this goes far. ephraim wanted to see if it would even work so set up his avatar on second life last night, and it's really bizarre at first.

melinda: i hopped in a plane and went to apia (western samoa) wed-thurs while a friend watched the kids. i went with my friends bro and sis pili to tour this program called south pacific business development (you can google it) that does microloans to finance womens groups doing small business. it finances like 5,000 women who do anything from selling peanuts, fruit, flowers, handicrafts, to electronics and car parts. it's remarkable. eye-opening. freeing thousands of families from poverty. they use the grameen model, which you should also google. i loved watching it in action. we'd like to do something like that here, but our people will have to get over their lazy dependence on welfare, wic, and taxes. we also went to the temple in apia and i enjoyed quiet time to reflect without having to wipe a nose or change a diaper.
lately i've been reading "bonds that make us free" and "active parenting today", both provoke frequent self-evaluation, which i'm grateful for.

ella borrowed a movie from our friends today. it's called Barbie's Learn to Dance Like a Princess! so she's excited to try it out tomorrow.

isaac runs around like a hoodlum with the neighbor boys. they ride bikes, catch and torment toads, have at least two water fights with hoses, and scream and fight then come in a house and demand food and drink. is this healthy? what can or should i do? fortunately we get a break on sundays, but keeping those boys apart makes me feel like a prison guard.

owen is cute. i'm sure he'll be walking in a few weeks. his new discovery is climbing on a chair and then on the table. and he's attracted to plugs.

that's basically us. i loved all the conference talks about teaching in the home. i feel like it's a huge task laid on my shoulders, but lucky for me i feel like i've been preparing for this task all my life and there's none other i'd rather do.

Unhappy Hipsters

My sister Jan shared this blog with me. I'm sometimes annoyed by shared items, but this one's good.
Enjoy! Unhappy Hipsters

Busted

So yesterday I was driving home from church when a cop pulled me over. He clocked me at 33. It was apparently a 20 mph zone. And I didn't have my license. Oops. So I was double busted.
The officer asked me if I knew the island-wide speed limit... I said, 30? He chuckled, "No, ma'am. It's 25." Ohhh. 25.

So, I was breaking the law. I got a ticket. That's fair. And he let me go on the license thing. I mean, I was on my way home from church. I didn't have my license because Ephraim was going to drive, but he had to stay after for a meeting. So I had to drive, right?

The officer said, "Is this your first violation in the territory ma'am?" I said, "I think it's my first violation ever." "Well, you're just a good citizen." Yup.

And as we drove away Isaac said, "That policeman was cool." Yup.

I wonder how cool my fine will be.

Has anyone else ever been pulled over for speeding at 33?

Today

Isaac (reading): P-O-O-P

Ephraim: What does that spell?

Isaac: "Papa!"

Ephraim wrote "I poop here" on the seat of Isaac's nighttime diaper with marker. Yes, he still wears diapers at night. So he's still a little guy.

But today we took the training wheels off his bike, and he rode awesomely! So he's a big guy too.

Ella was a little jealous that he took off the training wheels before her. She refused to congratulate him. If she didn't go to school, she'd probably be riding on two wheels, too.

But then she wouldn't know "poop" from "papa".

Little Biker

I don't care if Isaac calls "G" an "H" or if he thinks the letters "L, M, and N" say "eh". But if he can ride without training wheels by kindergarten, I'll be a proud mama.

Getting off to check out this:

Those things 'pop' when you run them over.