the silliest children in the whole world!

as you might have noticed, i'm really enjoying making sweeping, exaggerated statements lately (says the most exhausted - and luckiest - mama in the world)! i've had three photo sessions with the kids to try to get just a few good pictures to put up on the wall. (kam's pictures will, of course, have center-stage, but i want at least one more of each to fill it out.) here are the results from one of the sessions. good thing i'm looking for photos that capture their personalities, right?

the most amazing baby in the whole world!

okay, so i know that everyone thinks they have the most incredible baby in the world, but deep down i know that kawelo is tops. others might run a close second, but he still holds the top spot for 10-month-olds. kawelo (aka "Baby Kawelo") is now standing for close to a minute at a time. it's hard to capture on film because he's so interested in seeing the back side of the camera!

the face of eczema

i just wanted to show why we haven't posted tons of pictures of kawelo this winter. these pictures show the whole range of severity of kawelo's eczema, from very mild to so severe that his skin is raw and swollen and bleeds easily. his face has not been clear since the weather turned cold and dry, despite the creams and ointments we constantly apply. the good news is, since the weather is warming and humidifying, his face is getting gradually clearer. i cannot emphasize this enough: WOOHOO!!!!! so, get ready to see a whole lot more of this adorable face!

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!!