a Christ-centered easter

this year, we're trying to be better at teaching why we celebrate easter. so, i was especially glad to remember this advent calendar that i received last year at a church activity:

each egg contains a scripture and an object to represent that part of the story (i.e., 3 dimes for the 30 pieces of silver, a rock for the stone that sealed the tomb, etc.). the older kids have gotten into it - they're always excited to see what the next egg holds. i'm excited that (hopefully) the kids have more of an understanding of the Atonement and Christ's resurrection. i still have no idea how to explain the easter bunny's presence in the celebration, but i'm sure james (with all of his years of schooling) will come up with something for that. happy easter, everyone!

she matches!

now her belt matches her hair and eyes - a definite fashion plus. i don't think you can see it well in this photo, but our girl just moved up to the rank of brown belt. she's quite proud of her "dark belt." in fact, she loves that "it's so dark, it's almost black!" that's right, sweetpea, keep your eyes on the prize. now she'll be in a new class and will be required to break boards in addition to the regular testing components. congratulations, honey girl - we're so proud of you!!

where old becomes new again...

james & i thought that our deck required a complete re-do: tear it down and rebuild. however, james busted out the power washer over his spring break and lo, and behold....
viola!

can you believe the difference?!
whenever i walk into the kitchen, i stop at the windows and stare at the deck - it looks new!!! now, it just needs new hand rails and some stain - money saved - i love it!!!

little dragon

here is our newest tae kwon do student!

koa & i swapped as tae kwon do students - meaning he's in and i'm out (don't worry - i'm totally okay with it - sparring 6 ft. men is not my thing). he is totally loving his class and we couldn't be happier for him! can't you see the excitement in those beautiful eyes?!

celebrity look-a-likes

the 2nd grade classes at kalei's school are all doing a "wax museum" event where each child selects a famous person from history and then dresses like him/her and gives a short speech about their life. kalei chose pocahontas, which i thought conveniently suited her coloring. here she is giving her speech:

and admiring her costume:
(i asked her which costume she liked the best - some of them were quite elaborate - and she said, "mine, of course!" i love you, girl!)

the boys enjoyed their snacks:
(shhhhhh! don't tell the librarian!)

a quick look at a few of the other celebrities:

kalei did a great job - we're so proud of you!

happy st. patrick's day!

happy st. patty's day to you all!

may your house always have indoor plumbing,
may your children clean their rooms,
may your cars never make a weird clunking,
may your roses never cease to bloom.

well, that's the best i can come up with on the fly. in a nutshell, we wish you the best!
the kids had fun dressing in green (even though kawelo had no idea why he was dressed totally in green - he was cool with it, though - according to koa, green is kawelo's favorite color), and we attempted an all-green dinner. below is my attempt at green eggs:

disclaimer: i have only paste food coloring now-a-days. it's AWESOME for icing, but not so great with eggs. the kids & i agreed that they looked kinda gross, so we just dined on yellow scrambled eggs, lime jell-o, broccoli, kiwi, and a donut for luck. we hope you all have had a wonderfully lucky day - we're sure lucky to know you!

deja vu

remember this photo (from way back in 2007)?

we recently rearranged and someone found the same fun playspace:

which of course led to:

who was then spied by a certain someone else:

and that led to:

and no one likes to be left out, you know:

the kids had tons of fun with this, even though we could hear them cracking their heads in the tight space from time to time. silly monkeys!