Aloha Hawaii!

Ahhhh....relaxation, sunshine and tropical beaches!

Thats right, we went on our first family vacation to Kauai and Maddie brought her friend Danielle. We ate Kalua pig, drank Mai Thai's and Coconut Milk, made Lei's, took hula lessons, visited the spouting horn and numerous waterfalls, went to a luau, fed the Koi fish, snorkeled and swam to our hearts content.

The weather was a little overcast and rainy but we made the best of it as we were still in paradise! The girls had a great time playing in the ocean with Jeff while I sat on the beach trying to soak up what little sunshine there was peeking through the clouds, taking pictures of the girls, playing with Jake and catching up on some long over due reading. Even with three kids in tow I managed to read three books in 5 days!

Here is a list of the beaches and Falls we visited:
1.) Wailua Falls: These beautiful falls on Kauai were made famous by the TV show "Fantasy Island" and were worth the drive to see!
2.) Opaeka'a Falls: Are known from the the movie "Blue Hawaii" and were the largest falls we viewed.
3.) Kapa'a Beach Park
4.) Waipouli Beach
5.) Kalapaki Beach: This beach was in front of our hotel. Maddie and Jeff went body surfing in it!
6.) Lydgate State Park: Is the perfect place for beginner snorkelers but the storm made it unsafe to swim in.
7.) Po'ipu Beach Park: Where we spent most of our time swimming in the ocean.
8.) Polihale State Park: This was the most beautiful beach. It was surrounded by a large reef and had visibility about 25 feet deep for snorkeling (so Jeff says...I wasn't able to go).


Here are some pics of the activities we did....Enjoy!

The season is upon us!

Maddie and I made a gingerbread house this Thanksgiving. Here is our wonderful creation!!! Our gingerbread house however will not make it to Christmas...Maddie ate it the next day.... :(

I'm in a Pickle!

Okay so I am not really in a pickle but I made some! Our family went to Larry's produce this weekend. Larry's is a farmers market type place with lots of yummy locally grown fruits and veggies. We got lots of fresh food and decided that we would try out pickling some things.... I bought a bag full of pickling cucumbers and Jeff got some jalepenos and onions for some variety. Once we got home we looked up a few ideas for pickling and began our adventure. Jeff nor I have ever pickled anything but both of our mothers have done it a time or two so we conjoured up the memories and jumped right in. We have to let them sit for a while but we have high hopes that they will turn out great. We will let you know!

Hiking adventure!

This last weekend Me, Jake, Jeff, Jack and Maggie went to Pena Adobe for a Hike/Bike ride. Of Course everyone else rode their mountain bikes and I strapped Jake into his front pack and set out for a hike. The weather was beautiful and Jake was bright eyed as we made our way up the mountain taking in the beautiful scenery and the crisp fall air! It amazes me how much Jake likes taking in the new world. He repsonds well to being outdoors and you can tell he really enjoys himself!

Maddie made the honor roll!!!

First trimester report cards are here and the proof is in the pudding! Maddison D'Marie made the honor roll! Since entering the fourth grade she has been working hard. This is Maddie's first year getting "real" grades. First to third grade you get N's for "Needs Work" or S's for "Satisfactory". This is her first year being graded with the A, B, C and D grades. Although Maddie has had many adjustments in the last few months I am proud that she worked as hard as she did to make the honor roll. Great Job Maddie!!!!

The Green Eyed Monster

A conversation that starts out as "I know this will make me sound jealous but..." is never good. Yup! The green eyed monster is rearing its ugly head in the life of Miss Maditude.

The other day we went to grocery store and in the dairy aisle she starts out a conversation with that phrase. "Mom, I know this will make me sound jealous but why is it that every time I answer the phone people ask me... "Oh Maddie how is your little brother Jacob or how do you like him?". "Why can't they just ask me how I am why does it always have to be about him?". As you can imagine this comment pretty much blew Maddie's "Oh I'm not jealous" front right out of the water.

Maddie is the only child that has been a constant presence in either my family or Jeff's. Due to this fact, I knew that our newest addition would pretty much rock her world regardless of how much we talked to her about Jake joining our family or how much we set aside time for her as an individual. I have spent many hours prior to Jake's arrival explaining to Maddie that babies are new and exciting for people and that she might feel left out or jealous but everyone loves her and we haven't forgotten about her. I have also explained that Mom has to take care of the new baby and needs her help but that doesn't mean we won't go do fun things together just the two of us. Well, she has been quite the trooper and won't display out right tantrums (not in her nature) but I have noticed a shift in her attitude and her performance in school not to mention the cues and conversations in everyday life.

To soften the blow this adjustment has caused to our only child of nine (yes count them nine) years I have taken Maddie to the movies, went to get Mommy and Daughter mani's and pedis, started a Mother Daughter book club where we read a book together switching off at each chapter. I try to keep her normal schedule making sure she is responsible for her regular chores so as not to overcompensate for our adjustment. We have regular conversations and I make sure to give her the time she needs by herself to adjust and just be.

As I know she loves her little brother Maddie has her good days and her bad days. Sometimes she feels like Jake gets everything and other days she is the typical nine year old that wants to sit in her room watching tv, talking on the phone, singing on her Karaoke machine, playing outside with her friends or writing a song. As parents, Jeff and I need to be mindful of her subtle cues and needs for attention as it is easy to get caught up with Jake since Maddie is in that transition age where she still is a little girl but is starting to pull away as she enters those tween years.

Keep us in your prayers....These are exciting times of change!

If the zoo wants you, let them come and get you.

Maddie had the day off of school in observation of Veterans Day on Tuesday so we decided to take a trip to the Sacramento Zoo. Our friend Sarah and her twin girls Reagan and Rylie joined us in our little excursion. Being a mom to a newborn after nine years I packed the entire house into a diaper bag or two for all the “just in cases” I could justify. Just short of taking down the crib we ventured off on the first real “far away” trip with the new baby. Anyone that is familiar with where I live will laugh at this comment since the Sacramento Zoo is 25 minutes away and takes about two hours to get through and that is even stopping to eat lunch! Of course, worried as I may have been, Jake fell asleep the moment he was strapped into his car seat and proceeded to sleep through the entire adventure. What can I say…..I am still glad to know that I was prepared for the worst!

Mommy and Maddie posing as Kangaroo and Joey!



Reagan, Rylie and Maddie hanging out with the crocs.




This Chimpanzee was so cute! We got to the Zoo early that morning and this little guy hadn’t had his cup of coffee yet.


These girls love each other!





This would be the view from outside the café where we enjoyed corndogs and burgers, MMMMM!