99 Balloons

CONGRATULATIONS! Today (Fri.) Oprah announced that this couple Matt and Ginny had a healthy baby girl, her name is Hazel Emerson.I know that they will cherish this baby and the blessings she brings to them.
Oprah received many e-mails from people who were so touched and changed by this story. you just realize how important the little things are, they were on the show by skype and said how wonderful it was to hear this baby cry, a good healthy cry.be grateful for the little things in life, they are really the big things!

Today on Oprah (i know always with the Oprah-cami you should give her one more chance ;)
there was a couple that had a baby with a birth defect disorder and knew he would die they just didn't know when so they treated each day if it was his last and documented 3,000 pictures of him, their friends made this video and put it on you tube, it is really beautiful and very touching. go to youtube.com and put 99 balloons into the search. i tried to download it, no luck.
At his funeral they released 99 balloons, one for each day of Eliott's life. Balloons are special to us anyway, right kelly? it is really precious.

My Lips hurt real bad!

i was cleaning today and was looking through a scrapbook and saw this picture of caleb as Napolean Dynamite and Makana as Pedro. they were perfect for the part, people still tell caleb he looks like Napolean, not really a compliment, but funny i guess.sometimes he has the same tone and enthusiasm :) i had to scan a scrapbook page so it is not as close as i wanted but just a fun halloween memory.

green thumb?-NOT!

For book club we read this book "animal, vegetable, miracle" i really liked the book. Author Barbara Kingsolver decided to live off their land for 1 year. they would only eat what they could grow or  raise. It was really amazing, not something i am anxious to do but it made me think about where our food comes from. Thanks to Juli we made homemade mozarella cheese like she had in the book, it was really fun and super tasty with basil and tomatoes, one of my favorite salads. so i was inspired and think well, i will just start with tomatoes and basil trying to grow something of my own. The basil took off and has done great,we have had it on many things and made pesto with chicken and pasta and on sandwiches. so to the picture, i didn't do so well with the tomatoes, when i planted it it was doing well, growing and i had 7 little tomatoes, very exciting but i am not gardener- much to my father's dismay, the daughter of a farmer and gardener- and i didn't know that the pot wasn't big enough, you have to stake them and put a cage around them. because of this it got too heavy and fell over and broke, after that the leaves started to die and i thought it was dead, i mean look at it but then the tomatoes all started to ripen so i propped it up against the fence and kept watering it, so far i have had 3 tomatoes off it and should get the other 4 soon. i think i will throw this plant away and start over but gardening is a lot of upkeep and i am so impressed with anyone who can have a full harvest of edible goodies!

my new favorite dessert

I have an ice cream problem, i want to eat it every day. the thing is eating gluten free, i cannot have cookies or cake or whatever it might be that satisfies that sweet tooth. i try to eat just 1 oz. of dark chocolate-which i love too, and that is good during the day, then in the evening the ice cream craving hits. i like chocolate or mint chocolate chip in a cup stirred with milk but i am starting to see the effects of that on my body. i had to change something so when i was at the store i looked around, i know that skinny cow ice cream sandwiches are really good but i can't eat those anymore but now they have skinny dippers. they are dipped half way in chocolate and have mint and vanilla in one package, they are 80 calories for one dipper, i am sure way better than my shake i like, i haven't ever looked i didn't want to know. but these are really good and they satisfy the ice cream craving and their dipped in chocolate, what more could you want. now caleb has discovered them, i told him eat the regular ice cream, he said i don't want to get fat either, like that's going to happen.they have  been on sale at the store otherwise they are a little pricey so i stocked up when they were a good price, i don't want to run out :) just as a side note there was a thing on line that reported about really bad food, the large heath bar shake at baskin robbins has over 2,000 calories, can you imagine?! those calories sneak in there, peanut butter moo'd at jamba juice was also on the list of offenders.

but these things should be in moderation anyway, right?!

Baxter is ready for fall

Yesterday Baxter went to the groomer, i think it is so funny she puts this bow and fall scarf on him, of course he wants it off immediately and since we are not dog dress up kind of people we take it off but it was funny enough to take a picture, doesn't he look thrilled?! oh and he's a boy!

                            he's so much cuter when the haircut has grown out a week or so!

Creative Caleb

Caleb is very into drawing, it is mostly Volcom (surf brand if you are not familiar) signs but he just loves the action of the drawing. he would love to design t-shirts, for Volcom preferably or make his own brand. Ryan Jung had this signature, CS for commando surf, Caleb has kept that going while Ryan has been on his mission but i have been encouraging him to come up with his own brand so i guess he found something he likes. MN* which would be monster (mon -star), yesterday he was playing around with my camera and created this, the  monster in the corner of course . this was done on the computer, it is a little easier on paper. Caleb has a very enviable collection of Sharpies of every color i think there is. I think this is his niche but i am afraid it is not the most profitable occupation but for now he is loving graphic design and i love his creative outlet.

Jacob Black

mymmy frinesoaching and i am so excited as i know many of you are. my friend Carrie lives in L.A. and her daughter Carlie (on the left) was working concession at a football game and Taylor Lautner who is playing Jacob Black in the movie was there-isn't he sooo cute!?Carrie asked if she could take a picture and he was really nice about it, Carlie was embaressed but i am sure is thrilled that she has this picture, especially when the movie comes out. There are many trailers, blogs, and websites about the movie but at you tube people have made all kinds of montages, songs, raps etc. on the movie, it's pretty funny. I love the cast they have chosen, Esme is played by Liz Reaser who played Ava on Grey's Anatomy, i love her and kristen stuart for Bella, i think Edward is going to have to grow on me but i can't wait to see it all come together, i think the hardest part is going to be waiting for the next movie!

(don't ask me why this whole thing is underlined i can't get it to stop!)

Some Snail lovin'

O.K. my house is just weird, it is like a magnet for all things creepy crawly. i went to take baxter out for the last time of the night and i walk out onto the front lanai and see these things all over which was weird because i had just swept so there shouldn't have been anything on the ground. as i stepped closer i realize it is baby snails but lots of them! i didn't run away, not so scared of the snails but i called caleb to show him, we counted 30 babies, then we saw the 2 couples that must have birthed them right then. snail lovin'! that's something i have never seen!

                                                              ahhh, snail lovers
                                                                the other couple
                                                      snail babies, (the little brown dots)
               close up of snail babies, did you know they were born in those little tiny shells?

 WHAT COULD BE NEXT, LOCUST, FROGS, GECKO BABIES?

From mice to guniea pigs

Matt wears many hats but one of them is the president of the Hawaii Association of Nurse Anesthetist (HANA), this past weekend he put on a conference for Nurse Anesthetist in Hawaii at the Sheraton. He had an ultrasound company come with new technology for anesthesia. the purpose is when starting central lines you can use the ultasound to see the veins/arteries you need to utilize. (that is my layman's english version). Matt had Kiley and Caleb come down to be models for the demonstrations and hands on experience. Caleb got lucky his was the neck but for about an hour and a half someone or another rubbed an ultrasound wand on his neck but he didn't mind he was getting paid and afterwards he said i learned a lot and now knows how to use an ultrasound! maybe this will inspire a medical career!

Kiley didn't get so lucky she had to wear a swimsuit for the vein or artery in your groin/thigh area, everyone was very proffesional and really nice to her and kept telling her it was much easier on her since she is thin, than some of the plumper ladies they have that are a little harder to find things on. her group got a little experimental and asked if they could do all kind of things like stomach, arm and wrists and legs. by the time she was done she had been slathered with so much goop she had to go to the bathroom with a towel and wash off. she was a trooper and earned her pay!

Mouse in the House

Normally i would keep a story like this to myself, it is kind of gross and makes no one want to come to my house including my daughter away at school but it is just too crazy not to tell.

about a week ago we had a leak in our dishwasher it seemed to be all of a sudden but was not stopping so we called the guy, it is only 4 months old so he said he would be out to take a look.

he takes apart everything and says you have a rat, i said i do not! i have never heard one, seen one, seen their little presents left behind, nothing. he took the rubber tubing out and showed me that something had chewed a big long hole in the tube, well what can do that, not a gecko! so i put some traps all through the kitchen and under the dishwasher. still nothing. when our property manager called he said the exact same thing happened to him in the same week, ok weird but he knew he had mice and was catching them. after a week we still had nothing, i was sure he had just been here and left. SO... last night i went to grill our dinner, i always heat the grill for a little while to burn off anything that might have been in there which usually is ants, but i turned the gas on and  opened the lid and there was the mouse, rat, whatever, he wasn't tiny, sitting in the bottom of the grill! well i HATE mice and went running upstairs to matt (not realizing i had left the gas on but at least he was gassed a little) matt was like kill him, turn the fire on, i just was so surprised i couldn't think so i ran back down and saw the gas was still on and the lid was closed so i just hit the ignite button (all of this not so smart), there was a small explosion b/c it had filled with gas but since the lid was closed the rat/mouse thing went shooting out the side of the grill! oh my gosh, so we thought that would be it at least but he went running off into the outside closet. we heard him a little so we opened the closet and matt was going to stab him with the rake(sure) but of course we couldn't find him again. i HATE this, i would say i am a clean person and in the last month we have had an infestation of roaches and now a mouse(i can't call it a rat), there are drawbacks to paradise!!! we had an exterminator for the roaches i thought that would have taken care of the other visitor but i guess not. so now i have a gassed, half charred thing running around- what now?! this is disgusting!

oh and i was going to put a little picture of a mouse on top of the post, there are like a zillion pictures of mice but i hate them too much and can't look at that everyday!

Tag you're it

i steal blog tags, found this on someone's blog, tag your it! Nikki this is your chance!

1. Where is your cell phone? ....................in my purse

2. Your significant other?.......................at work, as he says, holding people's lives in his hands

3. Your hair?....................................needs to be cut again

4. Your mother? .................................young at heart

5. Your father?..................................recovering from gall bladder surgery


6. Your favorite thing?..........................books


7. Your dream last night?........................can't remember

8. Your favorite drink..........................well it's Dr. Pepper but i try to drink it sparingly!


9. Your dream/goal?.............................. to have a great house with a horse
(not likely in HI- it's a dream)

10. The room you're in?..........................the computer room (the little hallway space between the kitchen and living room)

11. Your children?............................... Kiley, independent, adventurous, appreciative  Caleb, teenager!, funny, and stylin'

12. Your fear?...................................said it before, getting old


13. Where do you want to be in 6 years........... enjoying life with matt and possibly a grandchild ?! (scary i know but ki will be 25)

14. Where were you last night?...................watching project runway, love it!

15. What you're not?.............................adventurous

16. Muffins......................................gluten free only but can live without them

17. One of your wish list items?................. for my kids to be happy and healthy and make good choices in their life.

18. Where you grew up?...........................St. Louis


19. What you read last...........................
Nicholas Sparks, the Lucky One

20. What are you wearing?........................dog walking outfit, sweat shorts, t-shirt and baseball hat

21. Your TV?.....................................on way too much

22. Your pets?...................................best dog, Baxter

23. Your computer? .............................. a Mac


24. Your life?................................... is good but boring, i admit

25. Your mood?................................... relaxed

26. Missing someone?............................. my far away friends

27. Your car?....................................Chevy Trailblazer, would like something smaller but who's going to buy a gas guzzling SUV now?

28. Something you're not wearing?................shoes

29. Favorite Store?.............................. target, banana republic outlet

30. Your summer?.................................same as winter, in HI

31. Like someone?................................ my hubby!!!!


32. Your favorite color?......................... the new green, like fresh cut grass

33. Last time you laughed........................ last night

34. Last time you cried?........................ sunday 


35. Dislike?..................................
finding food to eat

36. Like?................................... traveling

Happy Birthday Baxter

Baxter turned 2 last week, i can't believe we have almost had him for 2 years (he was 6 weeks when we got him). he is the best dog and we love him so much. he looks at you every morning or follows you everywhere you go until you take him on a walk. he loves to go outside, walk or play at the park. he sits on the stairs and watches you at the computer. he is always at your side when you are sitting on the couch and he loves to snuggle when i am reading or napping.

he has 2 things he loves, his monkey that he drags around and plays with. he doesn't care too much for toys or things to chew on but he does love his blanket that he pulls out of his crate every morning. we put it back in throughout the day but like a little kid he pulls it back out so i have given up, it sits on the floor in the living room all day until he goes back in at night.

this is a picture of kiley and caleb when we got him almost 2 years ago, he was so cute and has been such a great blessing in our lives. happy birthday baxy we love you!

T.V. Premieres

o.k. my one vice i will sadly admit is t.v. matt doesn't help the situation since it is his too but it is so exciting when a new season starts and they are all coming. i am so excited grey's anatomy started, private practice, the spin off starts tonight. survivor (it's like our 14th season or something) started along with brothers and sisters and top chef is still to come- my favorite. Project Runway is winding down so i can drop that one- pheww. that just leaves Rachel Ray and Oprah(which has been so good lately) as my dailies. i usually just have one a night that's not so bad right?

what is your vice or favorite t.v. show?