Student of the Month!

The beginning of December started out with a bang!  Zachary was selected as the Student of the Month and honored in an assembly at Koloa Elementary.  It was a surprise, so he did not know until the assembly that he'd been chosen.

Mr. Hasagawa did a drum roll and called out each student's name, explaining the reasons the teacher had selected them.  Zac was selected for being a willing student, always prepared and excited to learn.

Zac walked toward Kate and I, trying to suppress a smile.

 Kate decorated him with a lei.

 He was all smiles after the assembly.  Over and over, he asked, "Are you so proud of me, Mom and Dad?"  Yes, buddy.  We are so, super proud of you!

The rest of that week was not as great.  At the assembly, two kids threw up.  We knew the tummy flu was going around, so we were not that surprised when Kate came down with it.  She would run to the toilet to "fro up," wash her hands, and then run around and play.  In the meantime, Zachary came down with a severe ear infection and a bronchial infection.  Several doctor appointments and a week later, everyone was fine.  We only had one major mishap.

On Day 2 out of 4 for Kate's tummy troubles, I thought she was okay.  She'd been running around and happy for a couple of hours, and Brady wanted me to get a permit fee turned in to the county.  It was a 30 min drive there and 30 min drive back, and while I was a little anxious about her tummy, I didn't think she was still sick.

Right after submitting the check, I put the kids in the car.  Kate started fussing, and I worried that she might be...

WHAT!?  Yes, I couldn't even finish that thought before she threw up again, and again, and again, all over my car.  The worst part is the poor child is potty trained, so I literally had nothing to clean her up with (bye-bye wipes), and there were no restrooms I could get into without making a major scene.  She was sticky and miserable, the car absolutely REEKED, and the best I could offer her to de-mess herself was my shirt.

Of course my 30 min car ride home involved some additional traffic, so it was a full 45 minutes before my baby got to the bathtub.  The whole way home, Zac was singing her songs, trying to keep her happy.  All the while, he had a "It really stinks in here" expression.  Wish I had a picture of his face.

What a mommy moment.

The moral of the story is you should never get rid of all your wipes.

Family Pictures 2013

Heidi did us a huge favor and took our pictures earlier this month.  She took them even though she had 50 other things on her PTA-president plate AND sick kids.  We were lucky to get it done that day--for the next two weeks it was pretty rainy and the kids were ill.  It was a bit gray, but the colors were still fairly vibrant.  Thanks, Heidi!  The pic above is our favorite.

 We like this picture because of the rooster running behind us.  See all the mosquitos?  No, probably not, but you could see the bites later on!

 I love this picture:

 Kate gazing at Daddy:

 My 2nd favorite family shot:

 This one made it on the Christmas card:

 ...but not this one.  We had to bribe the kids with a "silly shot" every few minutes.

 Another "silly shot":

 Kate's diva pose:

Brady snagged a couple shots of the kids and I'm so glad we forced them to sit for another 10 minutes.  Torture, but such cute results!  Zachary looks so grown up to me in this shot:

 And this girl, argh, growing up too fast:

 Funny story about this pic:  I had it canvased for Brady to open on Christmas.  I carefully found a hiding spot in the house, and promptly forgot about it, until I started this blog post.  He opened it tonight.  It's nuts to me how much the kids look like him.

 Favorite Kate photo:

 Favorite Zac photo:

Thanksgiving

 I love Thanksgiving.  I love that it sneaks up, then hands me a 4-day weekend with my entire family.  I love that I've never had to go it alone.  I do not think I would do T-Day if I had to do all the cooking.  We have great friends that cook well, and that works in our favor.

This year, we started off ambitiously with a wall of thankfulness in both kids' rooms.  Each day, they were supposed to draw a picture of something they were grateful for, and include it in their prayers.  The good news is they prayed with gratitude for a lot more than "this day," and the bad news is they ended up with a mere 4 pictures on their walls.

Thanksgiving morning was perfect.  I had several dishes to make, but I was able to prep them all the night before (after a surf session...see? perfect!).  I woke up early and took off on my annual long run.  I made it 10 miles, but it was a bit more labored than I'd like to admit.  I got home and took the kids to the beach while Brady played in a Turkey bowl.

I love going to the beach on holidays.  It makes me feel like I'm living in a dream world.

Can you believe how long she is?  (This swimsuit taught me that you only buy clothes for your kids that you LOVE because they ultimately decide what goes on every day, and this ill-fitting suit makes it's appearance all too often.)

 Zachary finds a friend to "surf" with at every beach:

 Zachary drew a turkey in the sand.  (This picky eater came home from his Thanksgiving feast at school to exclaim, "I LOVE TURKEY!"  It was the first and only time he willingly ate meat.)

Nic and Heidi hosted Thanksgiving again this year, and we celebrated together with the Chadderdon's and their parents as well.  The food was delicious.  My favorite food item was the turkey-shaped rolls that Courtney and Paisley made (see above).

 This silly jello made an appearance again this year.  I left it out on the counter too long and the humidity sopped out all stability in the layers.  It was a mess.

 Heidi did a darling job decorating.  She made little pilgrim hats and used them as pencil holders and treat holders.

 The spread:

 We spent the afternoon chatting and watching the kids play together.  I love the Kate/Tate combo.

 It was hysterical watching these kids drive all over the yard.  They squealed and laughed like crazy.

 Nic and Heidi suited us up and we spent the rest of the night in a sudsy hot tub.  Perfect day!

Friday, we woke up to cloudy conditions.  We planned to go to the north shore, but the beaches were closed for rip currents and flash flood warnings.  Instead, we went to Poipu beach.  It was a yucky day, but we didn't get rained on until we pulled out of the parking lot to leave, so excellent timing.  I tried to surf, but only caught two waves in the choppy conditions and ended up seasick.  Ha!

Brady says he's never seen a turtle beached.  I can't believe that--I think I see one a few times a month.  I guess someone has to work...

 I'm so happy to have updated beach pics of the kids.

 Zachary was so excited to put up the Christmas tree.  We told him for weeks we would put it up after Thanksgiving.  He was crushed on the actual Thanksgiving day when we got home late and didn't immediately set up Christmas decorations.  Knowing the bad-weather forecast for Saturday and Sunday, we told him the Christmas things would come out for sure on Saturday morning.

We went to bed that night and found this sign hanging on our bedroom door.  I love it so much, and especially love that he can communicate with us in a new way.

Saturday, we put up decor, watched a lot of football (and a basketball game--go Cougs!), and saw "Frozen" in 3D.  The entire movie, Kate kept looking at all of us in glasses and saying, "WE MATCHES!"  She was entranced by the show, and so were the rest of us.

 Sending Brady off to work and Zac off to school on Monday was sad, but at least we have Christmas break coming up!