scooter-ific!

kalei and koa had a fabulous time on their scooters today.

kawelo and james were an appreciative audience for the silliness.

jumpin' for joy

at first, kawelo was not so sure about the jumperoo.....

..... but he's decided it's a good thing.

royalty for sale

well, i am facing a bit of a disappointment with kalei's school. in their amazingly tireless effort to raise money, the administrators at her school had an idea to have each class (each class, not each grade) nominate one boy and one girl to "run" for either prince, princess, queen, or king. the way the children "win" this contest is by raising the most money. they are not voted into this position like a simple popularity contest that would be annoying enough in itself. they do not achieve this goal by hard work, unless that hard work has a lot of dollar signs attached to it. the one with the most money wins. the losers get nothing. i hate this idea. i am sure it sounded like something new they could try that they hadn't introduced before. i'm sure no one thought about what this might be teaching the kids: money buys you what you want. period. i was talking to a friend whose daughter is in first grade and she said that her daughter's teacher had sent home an opt-out form for those parents who didn't want their children to participate. wonderful! someone actually thinking that some people might be turned off by this idea! so, when i stopped to pick up kalei today, i asked the ladies in the office if this could be done by every teacher if this is to be a yearly event. i was very polite and didn't even give a whiff of what i really thought of this "contest." the princi"pal" was there in the office and his suggestion was that if my child was nominated and i didn't want them to participate, then we could turn it down. yeah. my five-year-old would understand that. my eyes narrowed. that's when i informed the office ladies (the princi"pal" was finished listening at that point - at least pretend to listen to my suggestion!) that i didn't see how this promoted equality among the students or taught them anything helpful. i'm not angry about this whole thing, just disappointed. i'm trying to keep kalei five. i'm trying to keep her in modest clothes and looking like a kindergartner. she's surrounded by classmates who watch "zack & cody" and are going to be sharpei (from "high school musical") or hannah montana for halloween. i know that money can be a large factor in life. but it shouldn't start at five.

fall fun

yesterday, we went to a local orchard to pick pumpkins and enjoy their fall festival. the kids had a great time on the hay ride to the pumpkin patch (yes, we picked the green-turning-orange pumpkins on purpose) and in the castle bouncer. koa also played on a straw castle while kalei got her face painted. the temperature might still be in the upper 80's, but fall is here!

potty woes

koa is showing more interest in the potty. so far, he has only actually done something on the potty once, but we're encouraged that he'll sit on it. since this picture, koa has selected a bob the builder potty seat. now he doesn't have to worry about falling in. :) -bess

Days of Glory?

I've been tagged, so here are the answers that everyone has been waiting for:
1. who were your friends? Kaulana, Chris, Packard, Wallen
2. what sports did you play? Baseball, volleyball, track
3. what kind of car did you drive? station wagon (but it was mostly riding the bus)
4. on friday nights, what were you doing? Probably at home watching the A-Team
5. were you a party animal? No
6. were you considered a flirt? No
7. were you in band, orchestra, or choir? Band (the Holiday Bowl trip was good fun)
8. were you a nerd? Depends who you ask ... if it's not me, then probably
9. did you get suspended/expelled? Nope
10. can you still sing the fight song? Our fight song didn't have any words to it (that I know of ... it was the knock-off version of the USC fight song) ... I can sing you our alma matter though
11. who was your favorite teacher? I'd have to say Mrs. Lemone for English
12. where did you sit during lunch? In the cafe
13. name of school? Kahuku High and Elementary (probably should include Intermediate in there too)
14. school mascot? Way back when Kahuku was poor (oh wait, they still are poor...) we got old football uniforms from Iolani (a private school) that said Red Raiders ... so that became our mascot by default (not very politically correct either)
15. school colors? Red and black
16. rival high school? Some of my sisters have put St. Louis, but when I was in High School they always beat us, so for me it was Waianae and Farrington
17. did you go to prom? Yes
18. if you could go back and do it again, would you? No
19. what do you remember most about graduation? Having to read off all of the names of the dignitaries (senators, etc.) who came and hoping to get their names right
20. where did you go for senior skip day? I heard they went to Malaikahana, but I couldn't get a ride and didn't want to walk...
21. favorite memory? This is sad, but probably some goofy band trip
22. were you in any clubs? If I was, I can't remember
23. where did you go most often for lunch? The cafe
24. have you gained some weight since then? All muscle ...
25. who was your senior prom date? Vangi in 11th grade, and Mahala as a senior
26. are you planning on going to your 10-year reunion? Come and gone already (yes I attended)
27. how many fights did you get in? None
28. who was your high school sweetheart? I was a lone wolf (didn't want to limit the James-enator to just one lady...)
29. do you still talk to people from high school? Kaulana is the only one (who is not family, of course)
30. did you win prom queen or king? No
31. where did you work in high school? PCC (brass band)
32. what were your grades? OK. I was salutatorian
33. what was your dress style? Cool 80's (long hair in the back, pants with multiple pockets and/or zippers, jams, t-shirts) ... as opposed to uncool 80's

days of yore

malia tagged us to answer these ?'s about high school. :)

1. who were your friends? susie & brenda till they graduated, then brandy, cheryl, & meg

2. what sports did you play? none - i was in student council and did drama.

3. what kind of car did you drive? station wagon (yuck!), then red mustang (yay! then wrecked - sad!), then blue datsun (cute!)

4. on friday nights, what were you doing? football games (my boyfriend played)

5. were you a party animal? no

6. were you considered a flirt? probably - before i got a steady boyfriend.

7. were you in band, orchestra, or choir? NO WAY! NOT cool at my school. :)

8. were you a nerd? probably.

9. did you get suspended/expelled? um... i got two friday schools (you stay after school on friday for 3-4 hours) for skipping school.

10. can you still sing the fight song? "warsaw high, oh warsaw high, warsaw high, we're all for you!..." not imaginative, but catchy.

11. who was your favorite teacher? deb schafer - she taught drama my senior year because the regular teacher was out on leave. she was straight out of college and awesome!

12. where did you sit during lunch? in the hallway leading to the cafeteria (there were benches and such).

13. name of school? warsaw community high school

14. school mascot? tiger

15. school colors? black and orange

16. rival high school? wawasee high school ("wawasee, wawasee, gonna get beat!" again, not imaginative, but catchy.)

17. did you go to prom? yes - junior & senior years

18. if you could go back and do it again, would you? no, thank you.

19. what do you remember most about graduation? feeling excited and that it was about time! also, that i had found the quote that the seniors had chosen to be our class thought: thomas payne, "we have it in our power to begin the world again."

20. where did you go for senior skip day? i didn't skip on that day.

21. favorite memory? being Annie, proms, friday night football, powder puff football & all homecoming activities, driving pre-license, tattoos (i'm telling you, my kids won't get away with much because i've already been there, done that) :)

22. were you in any clubs? i don't think i was officially in any clubs.

23. where did you go most often for lunch? we weren't allowed off-campus.

24. have you gained some weight since then? i don't even want to think about it. in other words, heck yeah.

25. who was your senior prom date? ben

26. are you planning on going to your 10-year reunion? actually, it should've been last summer, but apparently there wasn't one.

27. how many fights did you get in? just one - kinda. i was in charge of powder puff football for three years and this girl who was kinda a friend of mine wanted to play our senior year (she had not played any previous year), but she did not attend any of the required meetings to play (we handed out release forms and explained all the rules and we even had a meeting DURING SCHOOL and she didn't come to that one). so she went crying to the student council advisor who let her in, even though i had told her that she was out of luck. she and i had it out in drama class (how appropriate). we didn't come to blows, but i think everyone there thought we would. :)

28. who was your high school sweetheart? ben long

29. do you still talk to people from high school? the ones i knew from church.

30. did you win prom queen or king? no

31. where did you work in high school? my dad's veterinarian office

32. what were your grades? pretty good - i was 25th out of 420-something

33. what was your dress style? comfy all the way! i even had these adorable bunny slippers i would wear to school with cute pajama pants. :)!

i am definitely tagging james (some of his answers might surprise me) & jeni & alan (i can't wait to read your answers!).