a whole new girl

for her birthday, kalei wanted to get her hair cut and her ears pierced. well, we compromised - she could get her hair cut now, and her ears pierced when she's eight. so, here's a picture of how long kalei's hair was a month ago....

...and here's our girl now! as you can tell, she loves her new cut and feels like a rock star. she had nine inches cut off, and we will be donating that hair to an organization that makes wigs for cancer patients. her hair is so cute - it makes me want to get my hair cut to match! good thing she's still young enough to think that would be fun instead of lame!

hunters and gatherers

the kids sure had an enjoyable easter season. they started on the thursday before easter with an easter egg hunt at the university. they had a lot of fun and kalei and kawelo sat very nicely for their picture with the easter bunny. koa apparently just has some weird hang-up about people in costume. he doesn't particularly care for santa (up close) and the same goes for big red (the western mascot). last year at this same event, the easter bunny was kind of roaming the student union while the kids were hunting eggs and koa would scream and run away whenever he saw the 6 ft. bunny. this year he didn't scream quite as loud (thankfully, the easter bunny remained in his picture-taking spot this year), and only approached the bunny when he offered him candy. (note to self: talk to koa about taking candy from scary/creepy people/animals.) when koa did approach the easter bunny, it was at a run and he only paused long enough to snatch the candy out of the bunny's paw. on easter sunday, the easter bunny wisely stayed out of sight and left a few presents and hid eggs. the kids had a blast hunting them and then we talked about the purpose of easter. (it's a bit tricky working the easter bunny into that discussion. next year, we'll try to emphasize Jesus before they're hopped up on sugar.) all in all, it was a great time for everyone!

Best game of the Year

In case you missed it, here is a link to the best game of the tournament so far (of course, I am biased as an employee of WKU, but no matter who you are, this is fun to watch).

http://cbs.sportsline.com/video/player/play/collegebasketball/lmWv1XkJpaIRUgeUfXTJdNidsiQsqCVO

Enjoy the Madness! (sorry for the commercial before you get to the good stuff, but its worth the wait). --James

deep in the heart of texas

well, this is what we left in kentucky on march 8th....

... and this is what we found in texas!! (not until friday, but still.)

we went down to visit the leauanae's in round rock and had a fabulous time!

we started with some barbecue and banana pudding (kawelo's favorite).

of course, we hit ikea and the outlets at san marcos (the best shopping ever!!), and we visited the university of texas - shown here with the state capitol building in the background.

we went to some really great parks, too.

this one had a nature center with a dino dig area.

it also had a train that went around a huge section of the park (koa's favorite).

kam took our family's pictures and they turned out so wonderfully!

thanks, kam!!!

we finished up with another barbecue, leauanae-style.

it's not texas if you don't have barbecue!

we had such an incredible time!!

kalei's favorite was spending time with her cousins, and we all found our house a little lonely after being together all week.

thanks, leauanae's, for such a wonderful vacation!!

Army crawling

Kawelo has been doing this army crawl (and getting pretty good at it) ... I just wanted to stick it up before he figures out that it is more efficient (and faster) to do the real thing!

Tag

A: The rules of the game are posted at the beginning.
B: Each player answers the questions about themselves.
C: At the end of the post, the player then tags 3 people and posts their names, then goes to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know that they have been tagged and asking them to read your blog.

10 years ago today…Feb. 1998:
I was in the last semester of working on my MS in Exercise Physiology at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. I was collecting data for my thesis, leading the adult fitness classes for Dr. Golding, coaching the JV boy's volleyball team at Rancho High, and hoping that some PhD school would accept me into their program. Other than that, it was a pretty forgettable time.

5 things on my to-do list today:
1. Run statistical analysis for the Applied Exercise Physiology class' Lab#1 and post to BlackBoard
2. Call Kam and tell her how awesome her logos were for the journal, and which one we liked the best
3. Fax in an author agreement for a manuscript to be submitted to the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (work done long ago at Purdue that I am fotunate to be included on)
4. Switch kids with Bess so she can work out at the Preston Center, and end up taking Kalei to the doctor for the nagging cough that she hasn't been able to shake
5. Pack clothes, presentation materials, promotional items, etc. for trip to Birmingham, AL tomorrow for the Southeast American College of Sports Medicine conference (I'll be gone for three days, so please give Bess a call!)

What would I do if I were suddenly made a billionaire?
1. Pay tithing
2. Pay off all of my debt (credit cards, home and auto loans, mom and dad, etc), and surprise all of our family members with the same thing
3. Finally have time to work out the cure for cancer
4. Buy a small island country, and live among the natives (if no such country is available, then as a fall back I'd purchase the Hawaiian Island chain)

3 of my bad habits:
1. Like Jenny, cracking my neck (but also my back, knuckles, ankles, etc)
2. Waiting until the last minute to prepare my Sunday lesson for the Young Men (good thing for 1:00 pm church!)
3. Eating too much (sorry Bess! she has to put up with me munching while she is counting calories - great results though, keep it up!)

5 places I have Lived:
1. Bowling Green, Kentucky
2. Magnolia, Arkansas
3. West Lafayette, Indiana
4. Las Vegas, Nevada
5. Laie, Hawaii

5 jobs I have had:
1. Assistant Professor of Exercise Science
2. Graduate Assistant
3. Head Men's JV Volleyball Coach
4. BYU-Hawaii Physical Plant employee
5. Polynesian Cultural Center Brass Band member

5 things people don't know about me:
1. I am a mean professor (I don't take late homework, and I expect my students to be able to complete an essay exam in 55 minutes)
2. I could eat peanutbutter and jelly sandwiches for lunch every day
3. I don't exercise as much as I should (I know, I know, with the job I have you'd think I would practice what I preach ... New Year's resolution)
4. I have only been on a surfboard one time (I'm more into body surfing and boogie boarding)
5. I love watching movies, sports, and vege-ing out in front of the TV when I get a chance

I know some of these people have already been tagged, but I tag Kam, Kei, and Melo

a blue face is a happy face

mr. koa had a wicked good time at his family birthday party on sunday! he's happy to be three and we're all happy the sugar has worn off. :)