road to maturity

several events in the past year have led to my feeling more like a grown-up. even though i had two kids already, i didn't really feel like i was older than 20 until we bought our home last summer. buying our home was awesome! i could paint the walls any color i chose (thank you, james, for that freedom!) and replace flooring and plant whatever i wanted. however, there is a side to home-ownership that is decidedly un-fun. replacing the chimney cap. fixing the air conditioning. having shingles replaced. even though each of these is totally not where i want to spend money, they are necessary and i need to look beyond the money vacuum and see the benefits of home maintenance. kalei's going to school has also inspired more maturity in me. now it really matters that she is in bed by 9, and that she eats enough breakfast so that her brain doesn't shut down 2 hours after she gets to school. each of these events has prodded me to put aside my own desires (to ignore the rusty chimney cap and blow some money at the pottery barn outlet! or to let kalei and koa stay up until james gets home after teaching a night class!) and focus on what's best for the kids, or the house. now i get to focus on what's best for our family. i'd really like to go to china. i think it'd be awesome to stand on the great wall. however, the prophets have counseled us for longer than i've been alive that debt is a no-no. we have been warned and warned to get out of it as fast as we can. so, with that in mind, i've decided to stay home. james' trip is paid for, but he won't make enough by teaching the class to even cover my airfare. i'm disappointed, but, honestly, china was never on my list of top 5 places to visit. so, like the mature person i'm trying to be, i'll set my goals and focus on debt-reduction so that we will be in a better place by the next summer olympics. that way, i'll be able to go somewhere that is in my top 5: london. :) -bess

Budding Artists

Here's our tribute to "So You Think You Can Dance" as referenced by Malia (when I figure out how to link to the actual blog, I'll do it, but for now you'll have to trust that she's made such a reference). Not only dancers, but photographers too! Hope you enjoy this as much as I did.

11 weeks young

kawelo is 11 weeks old now and it seems like it's just flown! since he's our last baby, we're really trying to savor his babyness and time is slipping by way too fast. at his 2 month appointment he was already 13 pounds, and we think he's been our smallest baby! he loves to watch kalei and koa run around and he coos and quivers like he just can't wait to get out there and tear it up with them. koa calls him "beddo," since he can't say his v's or l's, and is generally good with him (although he will poke him awake if he gets bored while shopping - little stinker). kalei loves "baby kawelo" and remembers him in her prayers every night. he's definitely a blessing and the perfect caboose to our family train. -bess

Doing a Yahoo search on yourself

So with all of the extra time I have now before classes start and things get really crazy, I decided on a whim to do a Yahoo search on myself (I guess some people "Google" themselves, but I am partial to the Yahoo search so that's what I went with). In addition to the department webpage (which I had to lobby for a year to be added to) and all of the old research stuff that is out there, I was surprised to see that I was listed in the WKU Libraries blog. Although I am glad that our upcoming journal is being advertised, I guess you never really know what is floating out there on the internet about you ... kind of frightening when you think about it. -James-

fix it or forget it?

i've always been late. i was born 2 weeks late, and it's been downhill from there. my senior year of high school, my dad taught seminary in our living room and i would walk in late - still in my pj's. i was only on time for my wedding because i woke up at 4 a.m. and couldn't get back to sleep. my parents are very polite about it, but will tell me it takes 20 minutes to get to their chapel when, in reality, it only takes 10 in the hopes that i will get to church on time when we visit. i think i'm supposed to be embarassed by my perpetual lateness and make a resolution to do something about it, but i have way too many things already on the "to be fixed" plate to add something that just seems to be a part of me. i'm afraid to pray for help on this because i don't want Heavenly Father to send me some kind of awful experience to teach me to be on time. i mean, life itself is already enough of a refiner's fire without me asking Him to turn up the heat. i do want to eventually be a punctual person, but first i want to be a patient person, a charitable person, a humble person, a budgeted person.... :)

great expectations

perhaps jumping right into calorie counting was a bit lofty in the goal setting department. apparently i am unable to go cold turkey on sugar at this time. there are two, sometimes three, times during the day when i get munchy: late morning, mid-afternoon, and late evening. i prowl the kitchen looking for just the right snack, and rarely does celery hit the spot. however, i am working on making healthy-ish calorie substitutions. for example, instead of ice cream, i'll pick an ice pop. still technically empty calories, but less of them, right? that's a step in the right direction! :) and it's a frozen liquid, so it's almost like having a cup of kool-aid, and that kinda meets part of the eight daily glasses of water recommendation! i'm telling you, i'm this close to a healthy diet... or an honorary degree in rationalization. :)

choice & accountability

okay, so this is the first day of calorie counting. even though i have thoroughly enjoyed indulging every chocolate cake/cookie dough/m&m/ice cream craving i've had for the past year, the time has come to break myself of this extremely delicious habit. i must admit i'll miss it. the children won't because i hardly ever ate anything scrumptious in front of them - i didn't want to share. i'm hoping the benefits of weight loss will overshadow the sadness and, perhaps, crankiness of sugar deprivation. i've heard it takes 21 days to break a habit. 21 days = 504 hours. wish me luck! 4 hours down, only 500 to go. :)

lost in the details

today i had the opportunity to speak in sacrament meeting. my topic was "primary organization and its current role in the church." as usual, the topic ended up being more for my benefit than anyone else's. :) the story of how the primary was organized was really interesting. who knew primary didn't get organized until almost 50 years after the church was official?! not me. but reading about the amazing woman that got the ball rolling to get primary established and finding talks from prophets and primary presidents about how vitally important primary is and how much Heavenly Father is depending on us to rear up a righteous generation was so inspiring to me! preparing for this talk helped me see primary again. it helped me focus beyond the mechanics and really look at the children today and see them for who they are preparing to become: seminary students, missionaries, institute students, primary teachers, bishops, mothers, and fathers. kawelo needed to be fed during senior primary's singing time and it was wonderful to sit and listen to the children sing. some sang out of tune or abnormally loud, but i couldn't help but think that no sound must be sweeter to our Heavenly Father than children singing that they're "trying to be like Jesus." i love that Heavenly Father looks over our fumbling mortality and sees what's in our hearts. i love that today, listening to the children, was more inspiring than even mo-tab could've been. (cue whitney houston's "i believe the children are our future...") :)

Getting Better with Age?

So Barry Bonds broke the all-time home run record this week. It has not been without controversy, as some have suggested that he has used performance enhancing substances (steroids), and there have been pictures posted at the beginning of his career and now:

I'm not sure if he is guilty or not, but I don't mind that he has the record. Records are made to be broken, and someday his name will be replaced. As far as I know, he has never tested positive for any banned substance ... of course athletes with millions of dollars may be able to keep one or two (or many) steps ahead of the testing agencies. With that said, I'd like to enter my own evidence ... and you can judge whether or not I am also guilty of using performance enhancing substances:

Despite the quality of the more recent photograph (Kalei is a budding photographer who loves to take pictures), I think that you can see the definate change in my body that has taken place over just a few years... OK, I admit to ingesting performance enhancing substances ... if by "performance enhancing" you mean that I am actually slower and can't jump as high as I once could, and by "substances" you mean cookies, ice cream, and pizza. I would just like to think of it as getting better with age. Hey, if Barry Bonds can do it, so can I.

boy crazy

i never suspected i'd have two little boys. kalei was so laid-back and sweet as a baby and would just sit and chill with you. i'd see little boys her age and see them tearing around and burning off energy and think very superior thoughts about how those parents should get some control over that child. :) then i had a son. now i understand: boys are just different. it's funny - i kinda expected all my kids to be the same. i mean, they all come from the same set of genes! and then i'm surprised when they look and act uniquely them. kalei is still sweet and silly and loves to laugh. koa is energetic and talkative and such a ham. kawelo is still pretty new, but he has shown a trait that the others share: the demand for food. (i think it's a toss-up whether that comes from the flora side or the navalta side.) i'm way intimidated by the idea of staying home with two little boys all day. kalei liked to color and paint and make bead jewelry and play with her dolls. koa likes to run and kick balls and throw balls and dump out all the toys and build towers so that he can knock them down and laugh and laugh. do i have the stamina for boys? what was Heavenly Father thinking? i feel like He is nudging me and chuckling. i know that He knows that i can do it. and with His help, i can do anything... even raise two sons. :)

strong boy koa

this is koa's "broken" shirt. (it's the only one he has that's sleeveless.) his new response to everything is "no!" he's absolutely hilarious (to us) and has a great sense of direction when he throws (even though we have to keep reminding him we don't throw in the house). he definitely likes to show his strong muscles... and his strong will. -bess

separation anxiety

so, kalei's going to school has definitely brought up some separation anxiety... in me. :) she's doing fabulously and loves school and is learning about the letter A and eating lunch with her friends (although she doesn't know their names, yet) and eating snack and playing on the playground (not this week, though, because we have a heat advisory) and singing songs and coloring and just loving it. i am remembering the 5 elementary schools and 2 middle schools i went to and hoping with all my might that the other kids will be nice. that's it. that's my worry and wish for her. i know she'll have no problems learning what she needs to know. i know the staff at the school will make sure she gets to wherever she needs to be. i just want the other kids to be nice. i want her to find some good friends. i remember each time we moved (dad went back to school when i was little, so we moved for his residencies and then with jobs), i wasn't worried about me - i worried for my brother. would josh make friends? would somebody sit by him at lunch? of course, looking back, these were silly worries. josh made friends easily. but at the time, they were very real. i'm not as consumed now as i was then, but the start of school has definitely made me remember. i'm sure my worries are as silly now as they were then. kalei is bright and happy and friendly. but, still, in the back of my head, i pray that the other kids will be nice...
-bess

First Day of School

After weeks of anticipation, the golden moment finally came for Kalei to begin her formal education (it couldn't come soon enough for her - the countdown was 14 excruciating days since returning from grandma and grandpa's in Florida - every day was the same "is it time for me to go to school today?").

I'd also like to point out that Koa was trying to get out the door for school. It was a sad little boy who had to stay home with Mama and Papa that day (he is Kalei's little shadow, and she is good natured about it). Notice that he only has one slipper on ... segue into the only Australian joke I know: the setting is the deep Australian outback, and a guy walks into the only bar around wearing only one slipper. The barman looks at him and asks "Lose a slipper, mate?" The man looks back at him and replies with enthusiasm "Nah, found one!"

Thank you, I'll be here all week - James

catching up!

so, we're catching up with the whole blog scene! i don't know that our thoughts will be as interesting as others', but they'll be ours and they will definitely be random. of course i can't think of anything to write about right now, but maybe this'll get easier with practice. welcome to our blog!