auntie melo!

melo came to visit us this month!!!! the kids absolutely loved having her around. (koa still remembers auntie melo in his prayers - so precious!) one of the things we did with melo was visit mammoth cave. earlier in the year, all the state park caves were closed because of some killer bat disease, but now they're open again - yahoo! it was totally huge in there - and very dark, of course. we almost hit a crisis in the beginning of the tour when the tour guide announced that they had 132 species of animals that live in the cave. koa promptly started to disintegrate. i got down face-to-face with him and assured him that he would not see any animals at all and that they were far more afraid of him. he bought it! crisis averted. (luckily, we didn't actually see any animals. phew!) we did get to see the main areas of the cave, including an area where an entrance had caved in - reassuring! it was interesting to see inside and hear the history of the cave. the kids all did really well, but were kidsicles by the end. (it's very chilly in there - the guide said it was 54 degrees, but it felt more like somewhere in the 70s, upper 60s at the least.) thank you, melo for visiting us! come again soon!!!!!!!!

kalei quotes

i was in the computer room and kalei and koa were playing a game in the living room where kalei was teaching koa facts about the planets. this is what i heard:

"look down, koa. it's uranus." (with 'uranus' prounounced like the body part.)

oh, man. i nearly laughed to snorting on that one.

bosom buddies..... sometimes

i saw this photo and had to laugh. i swear, i dressed the boys separately with no thought for what the other was wearing. so i like stripes - so what? they seem okay with it.

school days

the kids are in school! kalei is enjoying school so far, but mostly tells us about recess when she gets home. her teacher hasn't split the class into groups based on academic level, yet. i'm hoping she'll do this very soon so kalei can get her brain challenged. although, she seems to be having a great time at recess, and has figured out the intricacies of jumping rope - useful!

koa is loving his preschool! we're much more relaxed about it this time around (he's going to the same place kalei went), and were better able to prepare him. he's picked up on the school rules and told me all about how no one is allowed to run in school, only outside. hello? can we apply that to home as well? he's only been hearing that for.... let's see.... three years! one day at school and he's got it ingrained in his brain. i have got to ask ms. patterson what her trick is!

only two years till kawelo is in preschool, and three years till he's in kindergarten. where in the world does the time go?!

koa quotes

warning to our sensitive readers: the following contains comments regarding an indelicate subject - we're kinda used to it.

mama: i think kawelo is constipated.

koa: constipated?

mama: it means his poop is having a hard time coming out.

koa: i think his poop is reading a story.

mama: and that's why it's not coming out?

koa: it's a long story.

what rhymes with orange?

door-hinge? kinda! the point is, we are now the proud parents of an orange-belt! kalei's awards ceremony was friday, and she started the intermediate class on saturday. she was disappointed the she didn't get a chance to put on her sparring pads, but she really enjoyed her new class. way to go, kalei!!

koa commentary

at church this morning, i offered to take koa to the bathroom before his primary class because it's my special time of the month and i needed to change my, er, equipment. we scurried off to the bathroom and secured the giant stall (score!) and i helped koa do his business. then, it was my turn. i was trying to hurry along when i hear koa's angel voice (that carried really well in the now crowded bathroom) say, "that's gross!" a pause, then, "that's disgusting!" all i could do was sit there and laugh. i thanked koa for his thoughts and assured him that i felt the same way. i just laughed and thought i would explain everything to the ladies waiting in the bathroom. when we emerged, i found myself face-to-face with three visitors. i didn't know them, and they certainly didn't know me. ah, well. james got a good laugh out of it when i told him about it in sunday school. we both agreed that he will take koa to the bathroom from now on. hopefully, koa isn't scarred forever. i can't wait till he gets to see the "miracle of life" video in freshman biology!