H1 West

12 Days of Christmas: Cookie swap

2011-12-18T15:16:00.003-10:00

I think it’s about time I took a lesson in baking in low altitude, high humidity environments, or at least invest a few minutes of my time doing some Internet research in the area. I’ve tried to make cookies at least three times now that were supposed to “crackle” like the magazine picture on the left and it didn't work. I even used the shortening the recipes called for and didn’t replace it with butter (I read that this was really the only way to get a good “crackle” a few years back). Still, although these tasted fine, they clearly didn’t get the look I was going for (see my cookies on the right).
Robbie’s Cub Scout group held a small Christmas party for the boys and we were asked to bring cookies for a cookie swap. That sounded like fun to me, so when I saw this chocolate cookie recipe in a magazine I thought they looked festive and swap-worthy. I baked a batch yesterday morning but was disappointed. I vowed to do a few of things differently next time – one thing being dusting the cookies after they were baked and cooled. These cookies were rolled in powdered sugar before baking and it yellowed the sugar coating. Fail.

12 Days of Christmas: Snow globe ornaments

2011-12-11T19:58:00.003-10:00

Early last month I braved Macy's holiday department with the boys. I say braved because it stresses me out; they like to pull and tug on the displays and it drives me nuts and makes me nervous. Pre-coaching about store etiquette and then in-store scolding does little good as they get so excited for the lights and all, so I try to make it a quick tour and exit. I was looking for snow globe tree ornaments and I struck gold!
In the 90s I started collecting holiday snow globes – the big, mantel showcase size. Sometime shortly after our move to Maryland I realized that although I still loved them, having a collection of fragile, bulky, and heavy items just wasn’t practical. I switched then to snow globe ornaments. Family had gifted me some over the years knowing I was collecting all snow globe sizes. I quickly realized how much easier they were to unpack, display, and pack up again. So a new collection was born.
Back to Macy’s last month – I went purposely to see if they had any snow globe ornaments. Hallmark has had a few nice ones over the years as part of their Keepsake collections, but this year I struck out with them. At Macy’s I found three! And better yet, they were already 40% off. (In November? I don’t get retail sometimes.) I noticed one had an on/off switch on the bottom, which I assumed was a switch for a music player. Just last week I pulled them out and went to take a picture. I turned the switch and to my surprise and absolute delight it lit up. And not in a simple, classy way, but a tacky, crap-tacular fiber optic rotating light display way. Merry Christmas to me!

12 Days of Christmas: Advent calendar

2011-12-01T21:04:00.002-10:00

I'm back! I thought about starting my Christmas posts in October (if the stores can roll out the red and green, why can't I?). I was just kidding myself, it wasn't going to happen. But inspiration struck this week in the form of a gift from my sister: advent calendars for the boys. Arrived in the mail yesterday just in time to open door one. Beautiful!

Happy Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T15:25:00.002-10:00

New find

2011-11-24T01:12:00.003-10:00

How excited I am? This past weekend a Westside mushroom grower (I know, who knew?) was at my local farmers market. It was perfect timing as I was planning my holiday side dishes and needed some. The vendor was almost out and I took everything she had left. Only enough for one dish. Would it be the green beans or the stuffing? Well, I think they're too good to be paired with mushy bread as much as I like my version of mushy bread, so they will be with the green beans. The mushroom growers show up at the market depending on whether or not they have product to sell. Let's hope that is more often than not.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-29T16:22:00.002-10:00

I'm heading to the Apple store later this evening. A new iPhone is reserved for me! So I decided to do a quick dump of pictures from the last month or so before I migrate to my new device. Here's a palm-sized pumpkin from the Farmers Market. No pumpkin patch for us this year. Luckily, a couple of these little ones filled in just fine.

Someone had a birthday...

2011-10-29T16:18:00.003-10:00

Cub turned 4 at the beginning of the month. Robbie wanted Cal to wear a party hat but being a dog and all, he refused. Robbie improvised and snapped this picture. Cal ruptured the ACL in his other knee and had surgery this week to repair it (same surgery he had in May for the first busted knee). Broke my heart to take him to the vet clinic the night before and leave him in their kennel for the procedure the next morning. I don't think there was any doubt he knew what was going on and he wouldn't be home for a few days.
It was a bit rough the first 12 hours home, but it is now nearly 48 hours home and he's doing fine. I want to give him a new nickname but I don't know what to call him...RoboDog? What do you call a mid-size Beagle with two surgically repaired knees?

This one makes me a little sad

2011-10-29T16:15:00.004-10:00

Here's a drawing from late last month. Robbie drew our new normal - without Brady. We lost her on September 1, about a week later than the vets thought we would. We're sad but adjusting. I do love the detail Robbie put into Cal. He drew the classic Beagle tri-colors plus added a little grey that Cal now has. :)

Late afternoon at the beach

2011-10-29T16:10:00.002-10:00

Another side of paradise

2011-10-14T17:49:00.002-10:00

Enjoying a relaxed Friday evening with the boys riding their bikes in the driveway. After work today I picked them up from their respective after school programs and headed straight home. Unlike traffic earlier this week (as shown in the satellite picture - that red line is my bumper-to-bumper commute) traffic wasn't so bad today for a Friday. And for that I thank ESPN for the national broadcast of the UH Warrior football game this afternoon. With a 3 o'clock local start time, many folks started their pau hana activities a little earlier than usual. I know my office emptied out! Looking forward to a few more televised games this year.

Parking lot with a view

2011-10-01T13:51:00.002-10:00

Here's the view from my parking spot as I pulled into work one morning this week. I got a good look at it as I drove the last mile or so, too. A full, arching rainbow over the area. Now that made me smile. It was fading by the time I was able to shoot this, and my camera couldn't capture the entire length.
Happy to report busy here...and happily employed. :)

Come sail away

2011-09-23T18:10:00.004-10:00

Whew! Busy days here. Back to work for me, the usual school days for the boys, and lots of homework for our first grader at night. Add a couple of field trips and a lost baby tooth (literally lost on the school bus!) and I'm happy it's the weekend over here.
Robbie is officially a Tiger Cub (Boy Scout) and we attended the annual Raingutter Regatta for his pack earlier this week. The boys made their own boats out of supplied kits and raced them. One creative mom also made matching cupcakes for post-race snacks. I was impressed! Also concerned. She sets the bar pretty high for the rest of us with a designated snack day is still to come.

Proof!

2011-09-06T16:37:00.004-10:00

Well, thanks to the fine journalists here on Oahu, we now have the near-complete White Plains shark bite story. Vindication for the paddler...no longer an "alleged" event! Still a little troublesome is the time gap from when the attack happened and when they actually closed the beach, but I'll let that go. And I guess we will just have to laugh off the initial report that the shark took off with the board. (Are we a human telephone experiment over here or what?)
Here is the scoop from Monday's Star Advertiser:
Federal lifeguards reopened Nimitz Beach this morning after a shark attack damaged a surfer's board on Sunday. The incident happened about noon Sunday as a surfer was paddling on a 10-foot board about 50 yards from shore, according to Ocean Safety personnel.
The shark, of an unreported size and type, bit the rear of the board, missing the man's foot, an Ocean Safety employee said. The man on the surfboard paddled back to shore unhurt. A second unconfirmed sighting was reported about 2:40 p.m. Sunday.
State and federal officials put up warning signs and closed the beach Sunday.
Here's a link to a picture of the board plus the story of what happened in the surfer's own words (local news video).

Weekend water wrap-up

2011-09-05T10:55:00.010-10:00

It is a very sad holiday weekend around Hawaiian waters, with a little strange thrown in the mix as well. It started Saturday with reports of two Schofield soldiers drowning after being swept up in currents around Chinaman's Hat. Next a diver drowned off the Waianae coast, plus a freak accident during an organized Maui to Lanai swim left a swimmer critically injured. None of this I would have even been aware of had we not attempted to go to White Plains yesterday afternoon.
We arrived around 4:20 to the sight of a lot of people leaving. It was late in the day and it wasn’t particularly too hot nor too sunny, so seeing families and surfers packing it up in the parking lot and heading home didn’t seem unusual. We pulled in next to one such family pulling out. As we opened the doors and started to unbuckle the kids, they told us the beach was closed due to a shark warning. Whhaaat? Tell us more! Well, they tried and were very kind as we peppered them with questions they didn’t quite know the answers to either. What we gathered was at some point earlier in the day a shark had taken a bite out of a surfer’s board. No known injuries to the surfer, but they hadn’t seen the board either. Not sure why it took lifeguards so long to close the beach, but they finally made the call and asked everyone to get out of the water sometime around 4:00 PM. When we listened, we could hear the sirens wailing, sending the “get out” sign. So we got back in the car and drove off to KoOlina instead. When we got there…jelly fish warning! A first on Leeward beaches for us. Sure, they are regular occurrences in Waikiki, but KoOlina? Well, Lagoon 4 was packed so clearly no one was too worried. Noel and the boys got in and had fun in the water and no one saw a thing.
After KoOlina we hosed everyone off and headed to dinner. While waiting for our meals, we checked out various local news outlets for the shark story and stumbled on all the other bad news from around the island. It was interesting about the shark event - every web story used either “alleged” or “apparent” to describe the shark attack. Seems it was a paddle boarder who was attacked, and it was reported that the shark became entangled in the board’s leash and swam off with the board attached. So the paddle boarder had no physical proof of the attack and is left with a story of an “apparent” attack. Escaped injury, yes, but no trophy for the man cave either. Because you know if you are a boarder and a shark takes a big bite out of your board that is going up on display in the garage!

Market bounty

2011-08-28T12:21:00.002-10:00

I spent an unusually high amount at the Farmer's Market this morning but didn't really know why until I got home. The boys were with me and thus helped me shop. Without my noticing, Cub placed every variety of tomato available into our basket, and Robbie doubled my order of Japanese eggplant. I don't know who is responsible for the huge amounts of ginger (two large bags) but at least that freezes, too. Might spend the rest of this lazy Sunday roasting tomatoes and Googling eggplant recipes. No complaints from me.

Signs, signs, everywhere signs

2011-08-26T11:12:00.003-10:00

This should fall under the category of "Be careful what you wish for." Robbie's writing has reached another level: Signs! He taped this note to the Kleenex box after our dog Cal ate some tissue one afternoon. But my favorite is probably a sign he made just for me. One afternoon I was watching TV with the boys and I fell asleep on the couch. When he saw me nodding off, Robbie created a sign that said, "No sleeping."

Back to school night

2011-08-18T20:36:00.002-10:00

We're three weeks into school and tonight was Open House. The family trooped down to school and - what is a record for us - we were early enough to hear the Principal's welcome address from the cafeteria. (In our defense, one year traffic was a nightmare and the normal 15-20 minute drive took an hour!!) Robbie has a great teacher known for bringing animals into the classroom. Robbie loves the guinea pigs and he was very excited for me to see them, too. I let him loose with my phone and he took about two dozen pictures. It wasn't easy shooting through the cage bars. I think he did really well! Kudos to Ms. B for adding carrots and a bright green bowl for very photogenic pops of color.

Hawaiian quilt class

2011-08-16T13:46:00.008-10:00

Last Thursday we received very sad news about one of our two dogs. More on Brady's status in future posts, but we expect we will be saying goodbye to her this month. After her initial diagnosis, I left her at the vet clinic so they could conduct one more test. I drove away crying and began what I'm calling a 24-hour "fabric bender." I guess it really started earlier... after finishing the boys' curtains, I decided to sew something for my niece's birthday from some quilt scraps. I couldn't shake the sewing bug and I stumbled upon a website early last week with instructions to make a simple bag that I wanted to try. With that project in mind, I headed straight for the store on Thursday to get some fabric and thread.
On Friday morning I woke up and decided it would be the day to finally attend a Hawaiian quilt class I had read about but hadn't had the free time to attend during the summer. (Local quilt artist Nalani Goard now teaches traditional Hawaiian quilting every Friday at the Marriot Beach Club at KoOlina!) So for a little less than four hours, I stitched and talked story with other quilt enthusiasts overlooking the lagoon at the hotel. I picked the "Papaya" pattern in a bold orange-red. Hawaiian custom says that the first quilt you make you should keep for yourself. I'm torn...if it's for me, what will give me the push to finish it?

Winner, winner eggplant dinner

2011-08-10T12:02:00.006-10:00

Another recent find at the Mililani farmer’s market: Globe eggplant. The long, skinny (and some say less bitter) variety of Japanese eggplant is a market staple, but I’d never seen the globe variety until a few weeks ago. It was from the same new vendor that had the yellow watermelon for sale. I’ll be stopping by their tables regularly from now on.
A fancier dish was probably in order for the eggplant, but I went with the not-so-exotic eggplant parmesan. When we eat at our local favorite Italian eatery I typically get one of their baked eggplant offerings, so I thought I’d take a chance and try to recreate it at home. Didn’t fail, but not quite a raging success either. Maybe I should re-think the “I can make this!” approach and just leave this dish a treat to enjoy when dining out.

Tuesday inspiration

2011-08-09T17:25:00.002-10:00

This image was floating around the Internet and I stole it - I don't even know who to give credit to. But whoever put this simple collage of words together, thank you! I think a lot of us need to be reminded about daily time drains: "If you don't have enough time, stop watching TV."
One thing though that I probably would never be able to follow would be "If you don't like your job, quit." This would only be after something else was in the pipeline for me (and that's a big maybe) and a six month emergency fund tucked away to pay the bills. I'm just that way. But honestly, I would probably take any job right now!

Fix-it time

2011-08-08T17:30:00.005-10:00

Without the boys around to meddle, I’ve started to take on some DIY projects around the house. First up, a mini-demolition of the window blinds in the boys’ room. A few years back before we knew what was going on, Cub went through a significant wood chewing phase. That included a lot of toys as well as the slats of the window blinds. (Yeah, it was not a good time for us. He was diagnosed with an iron deficiency pretty quickly, but the damage was literally already done.) While he got better and we worked to stabilize his iron levels, I tossed out or donated nearly all of the wood toys in the house, damaged or not. I put the problem blinds on the ever-growing back burner and figured I’d think of something when it was necessary. Well, the boys broke the blinds this summer, so figuring out Plan B for the window treatment was now necessary.
I went with simple curtains – cheap and fun. I purchased 2+ yards of inexpensive fish fabric for $5.82 a yard, even cheaper lining fabric, and a $19 tension rod. I dusted off my sewing machine Friday, and by Saturday afternoon the new curtains were up. Mission complete! Next up for that room, re-painting the room and covering up the hand painted bugs that remain from the nursery theme (painted to match a quilt I made when I was pregnant with Robbie). I don’t know if I should channel my inner HGTV Design Star and do some fun painting, or just go for a simple, fresh new color. Or both. Decisions, decisions.

Not-so-welcome house guests

2011-08-06T14:14:00.004-10:00

Over the years here (that’s six and counting), we have had the occasional wasp nest in the second floor eaves. I’m not disturbed by them too much, the wasps seem to like to keep their distance and I’ve never seen more than one in the house. But just this past month we started noticing a lot more. When we actually stopped to walk around the house and count all the nests, we realized we had over 12, including this one, the closest one to an opening – right outside our back door. I guess we’ll have to get aggressive about removing them soon.

Back to school

2011-08-03T10:30:00.005-10:00

Yes, it's that time again in Hawaii. Classes started for public schools on Monday. Lunches paid for – check. Bus pass purchased – check. School supplies purchased, labeled, and brought to school (sorta) – check. Three mornings into our new normal and we seem to be doing OK. Late last year this kindergarten writing exercise came home in Robbie’s backpack. I visibly shook with laughter when I first read it. “If the dinosaurs come back thay wod help bild train tracks.” I met Robbie’s new teacher last Friday and she said to expect a lot of work on reading and writing in first grade. Well, if more gems like this are the result, I’m on board.
My mornings are alone, but I’m keeping busy. A baby gecko joined me this morning, hanging out near the ceiling above the refrigerator. As if he sensed I needed a little extra company! He is a welcome addition to our kitchen. When one of his cousins showed up last spring, the bugs in our kitchen disappeared for a few months. The kitchen bugs are back now, so I said to the gecko, “Welcome! Live long and prosper here, my little friend.”

Half Dome, May 2011

2011-07-30T16:26:00.004-10:00

You just can't take a bad picture of Half Dome - it's stunning no matter how it's shot. That said, I do really love this Yosemite location where Noel and Robbie were in the late Spring with the overhead branches framing the picture. Here's the last of the images grabbed from Noel's files. You can almost meditate to it!

Yosemite, May 2011 - take 2

2011-07-27T11:28:00.004-10:00

Here’s another picture of Robbie from Yosemite. I love this one, too, but unlike the other one, Robbie looks about 3! On the first day of the trip, Yosemite was cold, even for the locals. When all bundled up, Robbie transformed into a colorful Michelin man. His puffy ski hat that he picked out for our Tahoe trip in February covers his head and highlights his round cheeks, while he also gets lost in the plaid ski jacket. It’s kind of funny to me to see these images back-to-back, only taken a day apart. Warmer weather = older looking Robbie.

Yosemite, May 2011

2011-07-25T17:47:00.005-10:00

Noel and Robbie spent nearly a week in Yosemite National Park this Spring. I haven't seen too many of the pictures, but I was processing a few of my own shots last week when I noticed I was using a card that still had a lot of Noel's Yosemite images. So I stole a few and processed them on my own. I don't know why I love this one of Robbie. It has to be a Mom thing - seeing how big he looks, how much simple fun he's having playing with floating sticks by the river, seeing him in California. Or maybe I just love the long sleeves and heavy boots, which we never wear here!

Beach time at Paradise Cove

2011-07-22T17:08:00.004-10:00

Got a call while in Costco yesterday afternoon that two Hawaiian Monk seals were spotted in KoOlina and a volunteer was needed to help keep an eye on the animals at Paradise Cove until sundown. Sure! A perfect two-for-one...helping out and getting the boys to the beach. We dropped off our refrigerated goods at the house, grabbed our beach gear, and headed back down the hill. The two seals were around for about an hour before they headed out of the cove, but I stayed a little longer while the boys played around. They're in the cell phone picture above. If you look close, it looks like Cub is trying to pull Robbie off his boogie board. A very nice family hanging out in the water gave us another one after hearing the boys fight over the one we have. They were flying home today and had received it from another departing family at the beginning of their stay. Wish I could say I'm going to pay it forward, but we're keeping it!

Almost forgot to add a "first" for us: A mongoose ate our beach snacks. Well, one of the snacks. It was raining softly and the clouds were threatening a little more, so I semi-tucked our bags near the bushes lining the sand and covered them with a few towels so our stuff wouldn't get too wet. I made a fatal mistake of including our snack bag in the mix. As I went back to check my phone at one point, I heard some wrestling coming from under the towels, then saw a mongoose run off as I approached. He'd eaten through one Ziploc bag and was working on the contents inside. Luckily it was an easy mess to clean up and one easy lesson learned.

Yellow watermelon

2011-07-20T15:26:00.004-10:00

A unique find at the farmers market this weekend…yellow watermelon! New to me, maybe familiar to others around here. A few months back I was excited to see melons (cantaloupe, honeydew, and watermelon) popping up in the market stalls. Melon season had arrived! I’ve picked up a few of the smaller Thai watermelon variety so far this year, but that’s pretty much all I’d seen. On Sunday I was at the market a bit earlier than usual and was rewarded with the last yellow watermelon from the vendor. I brought it home and it sat on the counter for a day, then it sat in the fridge for two more days so I feel it was prime time for eating when I finally cut it open.
The verdict? Kind of strange, to tell you the truth. I’d love to do the geeky thing and have a blind taste test with a normal pink variety. The yellow tastes sweet like a watermelon and the texture and seeds are definitely the same, but the color really does play games with the mind and taste buds. I thought I tasted a hint of cantaloupe, but I really think it was the color tricking me! I probably won’t buy it again unless I want to literally insert an unexpected pop of color into a summer recipe. Yellow watermelon margaritas anyone?

A morning at the Arizona Memorial

2011-07-12T22:20:00.007-10:00

I love it when friends and family come to town. Of course it’s great to see them, but it also usually ends up the time I do a lot of touristy stuff. This happened this weekend when a high school friend came to town and Robbie and I joined her and her boyfriend at the Arizona Memorial. The first time I did the tour was back in late 2000 when I was on vacation. In the last couple of years, the Memorial’s Visitor Center was remodeled and under heavy construction. They did an amazing job providing new museum-quality exhibits, interior and exterior displays, and lots of shaded seating. There is still plenty of space to wander around and take in the history around you in what at times can feel like solitude yet you’re surrounded by folks all around.
I opted not to bring Jacob and was glad. Just too young…Robbie solo was just right. I “sold” the experience to Robbie as “a boat ride” to get up close to the Memorial we usually see from the Mall’s monorail. He had trouble (read: a whining meltdown) when he learned we had to see a short film before taking the boat ride. I still don’t know why. But he settled down for the movie and was really focused and quiet and I was really grateful. He’s not quiet getting the concept of time and history. Of the 1941 attacks, he referenced it as happening “yesterday.” Yet another thing I’m not too worried about right now. Once on the actual Memorial, he seemed more interested in the fish swimming around, but that was also fine with me. The picture attached is the Arizona’s mooring quay, seen from the Memorial, with the Ford Island Bridge in the background.
From the Memorial, we drove the mile to the Aloha Stadium Swap Meet. The one and only time I’d been there was back in ’06. Once every five years is fine with me! That’s all I’ll say about it. It was all OK in the end as I enjoyed the time with friends and we were able to buy a boogie board for cheap to replace the one we lost a few weeks ago. Win-win!

Arizona Memorial: The tree of life

2011-07-11T14:07:00.002-10:00

When I took the tour back in 2000, I completely missed - or it just didn’t stay with me - the boxy, open-air windows cut out of the far end of the Memorial walls. I think I noticed them this time around because in the last 10 years I’ve started quilting and jewelry making and look for patterns more than before. Nevertheless, they struck me as beautiful yet odd because they seemed neither military or naval images, nor Hawaiian symbols. After the tour I walked over to the information desk to get the inside scoop: They are the artistic interpretation of the tree of life from by Honolulu architect Alfred Preis, the architect of the monument.

Tropical beauty or community eyesore?

2011-07-04T12:28:00.007-10:00

Whether for good or bad, community associations are here to stay on Oahu. Leeward Oahu is a hotbed of ‘em, and we pay dues to not just one, but two (!) in our area. We dread any sort of correspondence from them and cringe when large legal envelopes show up in our mail box. Don’t get us started about how they are “requesting” that we all (100+ houses) paint the exterior of our homes. It is quite a sore subject around here. They even went so far as to research and provide us with pre-approved paint colors and labor estimates, delivered in said large legal envelope in our mailbox.
I was not surprised when I got a knock on the door late last week and was asked to trim the bougainvillea bush that was growing through our backyard fence and encroaching on the “common area” that consists of ground cover next to our neighbors’ shared driveway. (The picture is a little deceiving - the longest branches would have to grow another 12 or more feet before it would reach the other driveway and get in the way.) No doubt it was not troubling anyone but the grounds keepers, but I like to live by the “know when to pick your battles” approach so this morning I went out and trimmed it. Said a prayer for our little geckos as I was removing their habitat, filled the green barrel, and according to my iPhone app, burned about 200 calories.
Here’s the before shot, with my ever faithful and trusty Cal by my side as he is during all my domestic adventures. Whatever happens here in our little corner of the country won’t ever diminish my love for America, though…Happy Fourth of July all!

KoOlina sunset

2011-07-01T19:16:00.003-10:00

I've had friends in town this week, staying at the Marriott KoOlina Beach Club. While we were waiting for them to come back from a Leonard's malasada truck run, we were at the lagoon. Here's a towel-wrapped Cub looking at the water when he didn't know I was taking his picture - the only picture I could get. So frustrating that neither of our little guys liked to be in front of the camera at the same age.

Blackout!

2011-06-30T08:49:00.004-10:00

This is one of those posts that should be lumped under, “Lucky you don’t live Hawaii” (a play on the local series “Lucky you live Hawaii” which highlights fun events around town, or just celebrates life in and around the islands). I’m home this morning doing random chores and the like and wanted the Giants / Cubs game on my computer in the background. I logged into mlb.tv using Noel’s paid subscription to watch. Think again! Blackout restriction? Whaaat?
The text reads, “We’re sorry. We have determined that you are located inside one of the applicable Club’s home television territories and are therefore blacked out of watching the game you selected.” We are 5,000+ miles away from any MLB team. Our local cable broadcasts Angels and Dodgers games. Noel has been frustrated with this in the past and I think the blackout applies to ALL West coast teams from Seattle to San Diego. Why does MLB do this? Are they just mean?

Rainbow over Waikiki

2011-06-21T10:31:00.002-10:00

We've had a busy few days. We spent Father's Day in Waikiki at the Aquarium and later at dinner. Yesterday we were back in Waikiki for the day as I dropped off the boys with their Grandma while I went to an interview. Later in the afternoon we hit the beach for a little late-day play in the strong waves. Robbie had a blast; Cub just wanted to nap. Light rain showers came and went a few times, which created a thin rainbow over Diamond Head. More rain today so far this morning. That's OK. I've got plenty of chores to catch up on.

An evening on the other side of Oahu

2011-06-17T11:51:00.007-10:00

Had a nice micro-night out while the boys were with their grandparents last night. After dropping them off in Waikiki I drove out to Hanauma Bay for a presentation by Dr. Alex Karamanlidis, Greek wildlife biologist with MOm/Hellenic Society for the Study and Protection of the Monk Seal (www.mom.gr/), a group working to help save the Mediterranean Monk Seal. With a smaller population than the Hawaiian Monk Seal, the Mediterranean Seal is more critically endangered. (There were once three thriving populations of Monk Seals around the world. The Caribbean Monk Seal is extinct. Sadly, the last seal of that species was spotted in 1952.)
Dr. Alex is in Hawaii learning and working alongside scientists and biologists working with the Hawaiian Monk Seal populations, one area in particular is DNA and genetic research (I think. I wasn’t taking notes, and my memory is always shaky when I don’t have a pen in hand). He shared history of the seal, some fascinating stories and videos of present-day seals, and other interesting notes about their organization in Greece.
So what does that have to do with the chocolate, froufrou marshmallows pictured? I’d been busy most of the afternoon and skipped dinner. Heading home through Hawaii Kai, I decided to stop over at Whole Foods and treat myself to a few light items from the buffet bar. I also picked up the marshmallows because I’ve wanted to try them out after multiple segments about artisan marshmallows on the Food Channel, etc. My verdict? Not exciting. Fun for a while, but even with my sweet tooth, I would probably pass on them next time. I had two and felt kind of sick to my stomach almost immediately, to tell you the truth. They are heavily dusted with cocoa powder while the inside is a much lighter brown. I’ll have to figure out a way to use up the rest as I don’t think the boys will go for them.

Green barrel days

2011-06-14T11:15:00.003-10:00

Today is my mom's birthday. While we aren't with her celebrating on the West coast, I will be thinking of her later today during a very Mom-like activity: filling the green barrel. A year or two back, our community received green barrels for green waste (finally!). Sadly, I can count on one hand how many times I've actually filled it and left it curbside. One of those days will be today. When the early evening comes around and it's cooler, I'll hit the backyard for a fun game I call, "Did we plant that or is it a weed?" In the picture above, I *think* the green shrub-like plants are weeds. So don't laugh, it's a tricky game! The picture is poor; I think those *plants* look kind of nice and fit cleanly at the base of the tree. I might grant them a stay in the side yard until the next green barrel day in two weeks.
I've mentioned many times I did not inherit my Mom's green thumb. I strongly believe you can overcome this type of genetic deficiency with a little hard work, but so far, I clearly have not worked hard enough.

The escape artist

2011-06-03T10:07:00.002-10:00

I woke up Monday morning to find an empty cone at my bedside and a cone-free and very content dog under the bed. I felt sorry for Cal Sunday night and left the cone loose. Too loose! He wiggled out of it and low-crawled under the bed during the night. That can't be good for his surgically repaired knee! The cone has been tighter at night the rest of this week.
Luckily for Cal (and my conscience), he's pretty good about scratching and licking his stitches. When I'm in the room with him, I try to leave the cone off so he gets a break. But when unattended, the cone must go on. We didn't crate him this week per post-procedure instructions. Instead we contained him in the kitchen with a baby gate with a little room to move. My heart sinks when I think we may be doing the wrong thing.

Summertime

2011-06-02T18:31:00.002-10:00

I'm giving the title of "Summer Mixed Media" to this work. Robbie made me a flower using rocks and sidewalk chalk on the concrete a few days ago.
Summer is in full swing; warm afternoons and longer days have arrived. We spend a few hours a day in the front yard on our rusting fleet of bikes and big wheels that Robbie has nearly outgrown. We got Robbie a larger bike without training wheels last summer but we don't have enough safe space in the front to ride it. For now, they seem to be happy working with what we have.

Return of the cone

2011-05-29T15:18:00.003-10:00

Summer is here; the boys are out of school for the next two months. We started our vacation Friday morning by dropping off Cal at the local pet hospital. A few weeks ago he ruptured his "doggy ACL" and needed it surgically repaired. I was still reeling from the hit to my credit card balance and admittedly did not think about his recovery until after the procedure. It's tough! We brought him home late Saturday night, coned, still a bit drugged, and stressed from more than a day caged in the clinic. It took me about a half-day to realize he won't go to the bathroom (quickly) with his cone on, so we are probably going to have to take it on and off for a week or more until he gets his stitches out. And then for most of the next 4-8 weeks I'm supposed to carry him around to keep him off both legs so he doesn't harm his recovery. Another thing I want to avoid (and I'm told it is common with these injuries) is rupturing the doggy ACL on the other leg, or make it more likely to happen in the future. I'm really going to need a vacation from my vacation this year.

Enough already

2011-05-21T17:31:00.004-10:00

OK, this is my last Seattle post. I think! I’m nearly out of post-worthy images on my iPhone 3 camera roll and I think you, my faithful one or two readers, are tired of my Adobe Photoshop Express iPhone app image processing that I've used and abused this week. (I do have to give a shout-out to the Effects > Vignette Blur tool – a combination of its “Vibrant” color tweaking-effect and the classic vignette. I love how it makes the colors deeper and really pop! The vignette gets old fast, but I like it here in the photo of the pig tracks, steps from the pig statue at Pike Place Market.)
I’m considering a new theme for next week – maybe some foodie posts?

Pig at the market

2011-05-20T10:58:00.002-10:00

This is a pretty well-known statue that sits at one of the entrances to Seattle landmark Pike Place Market. I know there's a story behind this, but I'm at bit busy at the moment to look it up. Just got back from the boys' elementary school's annual May Day show. Pre-schoolers sang and danced to "Alligators All Around." So cute!

More from the fish market

2011-05-19T12:47:00.002-10:00

I'm not much of a seafood eater, but family members that picked up fresh fish and shellfish at the market said it was yummy. We also had rainbow trout but we didn't get it from the market. My nephew (with the help of my uncle) left a fishing line on the dock and he caught a small lake-stocked trout. For the record, seeing a four-year old with the catch he waited fairly patiently for is a lot of fun.

More tulips

2011-05-18T08:38:00.003-10:00

Flower vendors at Pike Place Market were selling tulips - and lots of them! They're at the end of the blooming season in the Pacific Northwest and stall after stall had buckets of tulips for sale. I didn't know it until this weekend, but the Pacific Northwest has a similar climate to Holland, therefore tulips thrive in the region this time of year.

At the Pike Place fish market

2011-05-17T18:31:00.002-10:00

Holly girl

2011-05-16T09:06:00.003-10:00

Holly is my uncle's sweet, loving, and faithful Golden Retriever. She makes the perfect lake dog, safe in and around the water, and always present whether you're in the boats, on the deck, or on the docks. She doesn't need a leash and never wanders.
What a difference from our two beagle mixes who roam at will and we have to keep near-constant tabs on. Twice in the last six weeks one of Robbie's school mates has knocked on our door with our dogs in tow, saying they were on the loose around the neighborhood.
Comparing Holly to our dogs makes me think of the time when we took our dogs to training and dog obedience courses in Maryland. The instructor had a mature, well-behaved, and unleashed Golden by his side to demonstrate training techniques. I cried foul. Come on, a Golden is known to be the perfect, obedient breed. How hard was that to train?

Leaving on a jet plane

2011-05-15T14:16:00.002-10:00

Spent the past 4+ days in a mostly sunny Seattle. Only on Saturday night did it start raining and lucky for us, that was hours after we spent a really nice (read: warm, bright, and clear) afternoon walking around Pike Place Market, taste-testing local vendors at the Cheese Festival, and having a fabulous lunch at the Steelhead Diner. Flew home to HNL early today and now settling back in to the local humidity. Here's a shot of a restored plane that hangs just beside the Hawaiian Airlines check-in counter at Sea-Tac. The rest of the week I hope to post more shots of the quick trip from my phone's camera roll.

Pacific Northwest tulips

2011-05-14T08:19:00.002-10:00

Happy Mother's Day

2011-05-08T16:58:00.002-10:00

It became very clear this week that Robbie is not very good at keeping secrets about what he makes at school. He said one afternoon that he "made a ribbon for me." I didn't know what he was talking about until he came home with this on Friday. A lovely addition to my wall of art, using paper plates - my favorite elementary school craft medium!
Robbie comes home with a lot of not-quite-finished items. Note the white border on the top. He's a very thorough guy and he takes a long time to finish things, especially where solid coloring and painting is involved. I think his classmates finish their items faster and his teacher tells them all frequently to wrap up what they're doing before Robbie has completed his piece.

How do they do that?

2011-04-29T09:29:00.003-10:00

Amidst all of the hype surrounding the Royal Wedding, not a single media segment about how those darn hats STAY ON!? Fashion reporters and style watchers, you have let me down. They defy physics and I can't take my eyes off them. This blooming blue crescent moon was stunning; definitely one of my favorites. What sort of surprised me is that hats are required yet there appears to be no requirement for them to match what the woman is wearing! A good portion of the women in attendance were impeccably coordinated, of course, but then a select few hats were laugh-out-loud color and texture clashes. It made for fun television viewing. The actual ceremony? Not so much. All hail...TiVo.

Where's the fruit?

2011-04-27T07:41:00.002-10:00

We went to dinner last night at one of the many restaurants around town that offer a "Kids Eat Free" night. They also have a play area for kids right next to the lanai tables which seals the deal for us. They might soon be on our "black" list, although the management and wait staff are so nice it makes it a tough call. Food was so-so last night; they made the kids' chicken fingers with poultry seasoning and they didn't quite taste right. Even the fries were a little off. They also messed up my order. What really might be the final blow? They provide the typical kids menu which doubles as a coloring page. One section features pictures of a couple of fruits with the words, "FRUIT is good for you. What's you're favorite?" Nice, yes? But look over at the side choices for the small plates and there is no fruit offered! Three veggies sides are listed, but for my two picky eaters good luck with the tomato and cucumber salad, green salad, or collard greens options. We are not in an area where fruits are hard to obtain, so this kind of baffles me. If we go again, I just might point this out. As nicely as I can, of course. ;)

Happy Easter

2011-04-24T09:39:00.003-10:00

Guess who colored this bunny puppet?

Along the coast

2011-04-21T11:23:00.005-10:00

While participating in the monk seal count last weekend, I was walking on a trail just above a beach and came across this spider. I don't know what type it is, I'll have to do some research. I paused and took a long look at it because I loved the natural, bold yellow body. (Stare too long and it becomes a bit of a Rorschach test!) It was not too big nor scary, but I did stop in my tracks when I saw it and stepped around the web it was building.

At the market

2011-04-19T10:14:00.005-10:00

I picked up a bag of these small citrus fruits last week but I can’t remember what they’re called. (One average-sized fruit is the same as a large gumball, about an inch to an inch and a half in diameter.) I had seen them before but passed them by many times. I thought they might be similar to limes – a Hawaiian key lime, perhaps? But no, to my surprise they’re a lot more like a small Clementine orange. After sitting on the counter a few days, they're less green on the outside, too. When I thought they were more like limes, I wanted to make a localized version of the classic lemon bar. After realizing they’re not as tart as I thought they would be, I’m rethinking my plan. For now, I’ve juiced them and the juice remains in the freezer until inspiration strikes.
This Sunday the Mililani market is closed due to Easter. That means I have to make the trek into town and beyond for the KCC Saturday market. Bummer! ;) I’ve wanted to try out this market for years now, just never had the time or a good excuse to make the long drive on a Saturday morning. I think I have the time and the good excuse now.

Spring monk seal count

2011-04-16T15:59:00.002-10:00

Today I took part in the Spring state-wide monk seal count. My "zone" included mostly beaches adjacent to some industrial areas here on the Leeward side. I don't think I covered all that much but it sure took me forever! I found one seal (with the help of volunteers who had already been to the area on an earlier scout). He's the same one that I saw a week and a half ago at Nimitz Beach. Cute little young male from Kauai who first was spotted our way a few months ago.

The early bird gets the...

2011-04-13T17:47:00.003-10:00

Cheap, fresh local basil. Yep, at our local Sunday Farmer's market, one must get up and out of the house early and beat the crowds to get it. A healthy bunch at a few stands costs from $.75 cents to a dollar. At a higher-priced stand, the same amount will set you back $2.25. Seems like quite the mark-up, especially since I buy basil nearly every week to make pesto. That's $50.00 a year, more or less (a conservative estimate)! Still, when I miss out on the cheaper stands, $2.25 is better than the grocery store price of $2.25 or more for a fourth of what you get from the local farmers. Pictured here are Molokai sweet potatoes. They are deep purple on the inside and outside, and very sweet. These are left over from last weekend's haul. I will roast them soon for sweet potato fries or a simple mash. The white "spots" are natural juices dripping out. The spots appeared just after I had sliced one open before snapping the picture so you could get a peek inside.

Foul ball!

2011-04-09T11:16:00.002-10:00

We made it out to Manoa last night for another UH men's baseball game. While the boys and I were at the concession stand getting more water, Noel got a foul ball. I can't believe we missed it, but truthfully, I probably would have freaked out if I saw a ball heading in the direction of exactly where the boys had been playing before we left. Missed the excitement yet better in the end for my nerves.

Sittin' with the monk seals

2011-04-08T07:13:00.003-10:00

Did some volunteer time with the Hawaiian monk seals earlier this week. Thankfully it was on a sunny day with no rain. Today the rain has come on in a big way. Even the dogs are not going outside. Towels remain standing by, placed by each door. My ability to identify a seal on the beach remains comical, even on good days with binoculars in hand, a long lens on the camera, and the seals' markers in clear sight. I had none of the above this Wednesday. I realized when I hit the beach that I'd forgotten my binoculars (crucial for narrowing in on their flipper tags containing an ID code). I should have just turned around and went back for them, but I didn't and paid the price. Missed cues about who was what and who was where... I couldn't even make out male from female. I'm thinking I'm going to need my own web redemption soon. But I had a great day nonetheless, spoke with a lot of interesting and nice folks, and enjoyed the coast. My favorite question from a visitor concerned with one seal in a deep sleep: "Do they need to have water poured on them?" No, but I knew if something like that was needed, these kind people who were in enamored with the seals at first look were ready to pitch in.

Baseball in the park

2011-03-31T07:03:00.002-10:00

It's official: Robbie's first year of organized baseball is in the books. We ended the season with two games, an "awards" ceremony (passing out trophies and a pizza party after the last game), and a family bowling party Sunday afternoon. A lot of fun. No surprise here - Robbie likes bowling better than baseball. Cub was up for a few frames then became a little bored rather quickly. The last game was held in Waianae. It's a longer drive for us, but I like the park a lot. I like the feeling that you're surrounded by mountains, and here the backdrop is the Waianae Kai Forest Reserve. Skies were grey that morning, but not cold or windy.

UH Baseball

2011-03-30T11:39:00.003-10:00

We had a weekend full of baseball. First up was the University of Hawaii team playing Cal State Fullerton at the Les Murakami Stadium in Manoa on Friday night. I hadn't seen a live baseball game (not including t-ball) in years. I haven't forgotten how much I love watching baseball, but I'll admit I forgot how much I love sitting in a baseball stadium watching a game in person. Tickets are cheap - concessions are not - and the atmosphere is great at the stadium. It was a really nice night. We ended up in the upper deck, covered from the light rain that came through mid-game. I don't even know if that would have put a damper on my mood. I hope to go back a few more times before the season ends.

The end of a potentially short era

2011-03-21T18:23:00.004-10:00

Baseball (err, t-ball) season is winding down here. Robbie’s team played in a tournament over the weekend. Four games in all! It was a sunny, windy, dusty couple of days but I had fun.
It would all be more exciting if Robbie actually enjoyed it. He doesn’t. It’s hard to get him to go to baseball practice and hard to get him to go to baseball games. On the mornings when he wakes up and asks if he has “to go to baseball” and the answer is no, then he is happy. We have loved watching him play (despite a few rocky moments at the very beginning with Cub at practice that I wasn’t enjoying) and wish he would like to play more. He has already asked us that we don’t sign him up for baseball again next year. He would like to be the one who sits on the sidelines and watches his brother play. Two more games this weekend, another team potluck, and trophies for the boys during the end-of-season gathering. We are secretly not giving up that sometime in the future he might want to play again, and surely hope that at least he will be a big baseball fan like his parents and the rest of his family!

More birthday fun!

2011-03-18T10:00:00.002-10:00

Family is in town this week! The original event that started it all was my rock star, software-selling sister got another Gold Club trip to Hawaii for her sales year. They head to Maui tomorrow for a long weekend at the Ritz Carlton, but before heading to the Valley Isle, they came to visit us! They are staying at a KoOlina property I immediately wanted to move into. Seriously. Time to reset (again) all those retirement goals.
We are heading back today for more beach and pool fun. Last night they threw a second birthday celebration for Robbie, complete with a dinosaur cake. We had a few harrowing moments (but we're laughing now) as we attempted to light the birthday candles with no matches. My brother-in-law did it using paper towels and the toaster! And didn't set off any fire alarms nor should my Mom lose any of her security deposit. I feel the need for some sort of legal disclaimer here...really, do NOT try it at home.
Sorry no picture of the lighting, just the sugary carnage that remained. Robbie provided one of the many cute moments of the evening. A little confused by the birthday celebrations spaced nearly two weeks apart, he innocently asked, "So am I seven now?"

Hawai'i-grown chocolates

2011-03-14T13:26:00.005-10:00

Last weekend on Robbie's birthday I treated myself to a few locally grown and produced chocolate bars available in the Dole Plantation gift shop. I've seen various products around and have read a lot about one producer in particular lately, and figured it was as good a day as any to indulge. And indulge not just in the caloric sense - they are super pricey! A small box of 5 miniature bars? $6.00. The other bars pictured? $6.50 each. Were they worth it? Yes, if what matters most is supporting locally grown goods. Not really in most other areas. I'm not one really blown away by dark chocolates without a lot of added sugar and milk solids. (Darn sugar addiction!) In a blind taste test, I'd spot and go for the "milk" chocolate any day. But for fun (and after I get a job!) I'd buy them again for special occasions.

Makakilo Waffle House

2011-03-12T09:41:00.003-10:00

After the tsunami warning Thursday night, we are all OK. My in-laws came over early(!) Friday as they were in Waikiki, but ultimately no damage there. I was very tired Friday, but I'm getting back to normal today. Funny, I just can't stay up until 3AM like I used to! ;) And to be truthful, I didn't. I fell asleep on the couch in front of the TV and woke up a couple of times to dark, live camera pans of waves. Yup, I missed all of the "action." One strange bit of good fortune - public schools had a planned furlough day, as did some of the other state agencies. That made it a little easier knowing in advance there would be no school and Noel would also have a light day.
One of the hotels during our quick California trip last month had a breakfast buffet. No pancakes, but lots of waffles, so the boys had those instead. I've had a waffle iron for years but haven't used it more than once or twice. For some strange reason a waffle iron was on my must-get list despite rarely ever using it before (along with a toaster oven, a Kitchen Aid mixer, and other gadgets) when Noel and I got married. So I picked one up back then but it sat unused for a long time until this week as Robbie has wanted to eat waffles. And lots of them! Luckily my go-to pancake recipe works well and the ingredients are always around.
I picked up some organic Fuji apples from Costco earlier in the week. I was bummed to try them at home later and discover they were already getting a little mushy. Don't you hate that? I love apples very crisp. So I made a batch of cinnamon applesauce. I also had an idea to make apple waffles and the experiment was a success! I whisked a half cup of the applesauce in the pancake/waffle batter and gave it a try in the hot waffle iron. In my humble opinion, they came out pretty yummy. Moist, a little sweeter, and less dense than the regular variety. Another recipe for the "keeper" pile.

Birthday boy!

2011-03-05T12:50:00.002-10:00

Our oldest turns 6 today! He requested his favorite, red velvet cupcakes, and I couldn't pass up the chance to bake them for him. A few months back I tried a recipe off the Food Network site. OK, but not great. With another search I found a food blogger's version and it looked better. It was! We found a keeper. I'll it make again in the future, maybe next time try the multi-layered cake. Noel even liked the cream cheese frosting, but I made the much sweeter option the blogger hints at. I tried to stick to the original ratio of cream cheese, butter, and sugar, but it was much too strong on the cream cheese side for me. So I doubled or tripled the powdered sugar until you just got a hint of the cream cheese. It's closer to the version that Robbie likes at Genki Sushi anyway. Yes, that's right. The local sushi chain has cupcakes for dessert and that's where he learned to love them. That and a chance stopover at a cousin's house where they had a Costco red velvet cake, but that's a longer story.
It's raining here today, at least parts of the island. Robbie's baseball game was already called, so we will head to Dole to see about one last train ride before the annual pass we bought last year on Robbie's birthday expires.

Switch light at the Railroad Museum

2011-03-04T15:58:00.002-10:00

We made a special pilgrimage to the "train museum" before heading on to Tahoe. The plan was to fly into the Bay Area and drive directly to Sacramento from the airport. We figured it would be easier to wake up with the Bay Area traffic behind us and a few steps away from the museum in Old Town Sacramento.
First phase of our plan went well! The boys liked waking up with a view of the bridge and the railroad tracks from our fourth story hotel room. We liked not being stuck on 80 East any longer than necessary. And the museum! Didn't disappoint. We could easily spend the weekend there, but had to squeeze all we could in a half-day. This picture is a classic railway "switch light." My Dad purchased one a long time ago and refurbished it; his was very similar and had the same blue/green and red lenses. He had it in the house for many years. It always makes me think of him when I see one.

Where did the month go?

2011-02-28T19:48:00.003-10:00

Tomorrow morning we head to Robbie's elementary school for their monthly assembly. Our kindergartner was selected as a "Jet of the Month." He will be honored with others in front of all the classes. The announcement came home last week in the form of a form letter and it read, "For the month of Honesty." Yes, we had a good laugh about that. Good thing it wasn't the "month of Attendance" because we've blown that one. We took a quick but awesome family trip to Tahoe and SNOW! Lots of it. We knowingly pulled the boys out for a few days, and then all of us got sick and they missed more after our return home. We are still making up the homework.
The holiday started out waking up in a hotel along the Sacramento River, a short walk from the California State Railroad Museum, our first destination. Here's our view of the Twin Tower Bridge, processed through the Old Photo PRO (free!) phone app.

My nephew's quilt

2011-02-25T11:12:00.003-10:00

We were in the Bay Area briefly this past week, sandwiching a family Tahoe snow trip. So much fun! More pictures and stories to follow, until then, a little filler with the story of the quilt I made for my nephew. I've been meaning to post a picture for many years now...
My sister hosted us at her house late Monday night; my Mom made a yummy pot of soup, my Aunt came along and brought home-baked goodies, and Robbie played with his cousins and all of their toys. (After a brief run to see Great Grandma at her home, Cub was in quarantine back at the hotel with Noel. He was developing a cold and had an eye infection, so we kept him away. Poor Cub! He missed out on a really fun time.) I snapped this picture of the quilt in Johnny's room before the end of the night. If I remember right, when my sister was pregnant I asked her what nursery theme or colors she chose. She forwarded me a link with the design, so I tried to make a custom wall quilt to more or less complement the room. "JP" in the center represents my nephew's initials - "J" is his Dad's middle name, "P" is Dad's great friend and his godfather's name. "L" is his Dad's sister, "M" is our family name, "B" is for his Dad, "A" and "C" are for my Grandma and Aunt, and "F" is his paternal Grandma. "S" is for my sister and "H" is for me! The numbers were chosen at random, and "D" got in because I wanted to add a dog. All applique was by hand, created and designed by me using various online clip art pages and fonts. The piecing and minimal quilting was by machine and binding was by hand. Finished size is approximately 34 x 48 inches.
Robbie was very young and Cub had yet to come along, but it took me nearly a year to complete. My gracious sister never complained, even when the "final" product was delivered without a hanging mechanism. They improvised and seemed to do just fine!
Working on the quilt ornaments this past holiday made me wish I had more time for quilting, and seeing this makes me want to make something for my niece, but I have to be OK with this hobby being on the back burner for a bit longer. Hang in there Sarah, I haven't forgotten you! ;)

Happy Valentine's Day!

2011-02-14T07:02:00.002-10:00

More from the backpack

2011-02-09T14:37:00.003-10:00

Preschooler art alert! Another masterpiece came home in the backpack late last week. It was rolled and later smashed, hence the fold lines. I snapped a few pictures then placed it in the area of our paper recycles. Robbie found it and asked why I had it with the recycles, not wanting to part with it. Darn, the kid just won't let me throw anything away. I took it out of the "trash" pile and will let it sit a few more days, but will sneak it into the real trash bin one morning this week while the boys are in school. He'll never remember unless he starts reading this blog. At the rate he's learning, that will be sooner than I think.

Happy New Year!

2011-02-04T15:08:00.002-10:00

A lesson in patience

2011-02-02T23:40:00.002-10:00

This past Sunday the boys and I hit the farmers market a little late. The produce vendors were packing up; the popcorn vendor had already left. I looked around but no one had any ripe, yellow bananas left. Only the green ones you see here (small "apple banana" variety - I think in St. Lucia they called something similar the "five fingers" banana, but I could be off here). No bananas ready to eat made us switch up our normal routine a bit - finding a shady bench and having a few bananas before we get back in the car.
The hardest part is getting the boys to stop opening them when they're green. I don't cook with green bananas, so we waste a lot when the boys tear into them and realize they're not what they were looking for.
This bunch went on top of the fridge (and out of reach) once we were home. By Tuesday the boys were getting anxious for one, so I let them open a few, not expecting them to be consumed. But ripening on top of the fridge worked! They were ready and the boys learned a little more about their favorite fruit.

Future Picasso?

2011-01-28T09:24:00.002-10:00

No, I'm just kidding myself over here. This piece is simply an exercise in preschool cutting and pasting that went awry. I pulled this paper bag mouse puppet out of the backpack yesterday afternoon and had to laugh. Upon further review last night as Robbie was taping his brother's artwork on the wall, the chuckles kept coming. So many layers of funny to me! Happy Friday all.

No baseball?

2011-01-27T14:21:00.002-10:00

The boys both received mini-dry erase boards for Christmas. Noel has said they are a "genius" gift. I completely agree. (And I've only had to scrub off words written with a Sharpie pen once! To my surprise, permanent ink fades away with a little 409 and some time.) Robbie uses it more than Cub, but I guess that is to be expected. What we would never have predicted was that the white boards have ushered in a new era of child-parent communication for us: the written negotiation. Here's Robbie's attempt to get out of t-ball practice yesterday afternoon. Other favorite pleas include "No bath" and a detailed, ordered list of what he gets to do before bedtime.

Farmer's Market find: Peppers

2011-01-26T12:11:00.002-10:00

Impulse buy at the farmer's market this weekend! I don't even know what to call this variety of pepper. They're tiny (each less than an inch long) and I've never seen them used in a dish here, either. But Robbie picked up a bag to look at them, I asked if he liked them, he said yes, and then said we should get them. At a dollar a bag, I figured, why not? My first thoughts were to use them to flavor broth in a soup. We'll see if I get creative and come up with anything else.

Cal and the artwork

2011-01-17T14:50:00.002-10:00

If you want to keep things in good shape (or sometimes just simply keep things), you've got to keep them off the floor at our house. Our dogs are pretty good but we can't say they're perfect. Far from it. I have a half-dozen small Lego parts perched on the windowsill above the sink, items I found Brady chewing on. Cal likes tissue and paper towels, so we have to be careful about those, too. A not-so-destructive habit they have is laying down on anything on the floor. Towels, clothes, blankets, soft bags and toys....they will attempt to rest on it. Even artwork! They're just looking to be comfortable, but they end up getting lots of things very dirty. Here's Cal on a recent drawing. I snapped this picture and tossed the paper later when he moved.

Play ball!

2011-01-15T17:16:00.004-10:00

Guess who's playing t-ball this year? And guess who's more excited? We signed Robbie up last month for youth baseball (at his age they still hit off tees) and practices started a few weeks ago. The team has a practice tournament a week from now, league games start in a month or so. We picked up his uniform this week.
Unfortunately, I'm not liking practices so far. Cub comes along and doesn't sit still. Nearly two hours of following and/or running after him in open areas drives me nuts. Plus he wants to follow his big brother around and I sometimes find myself on the field with the team, pulling Cub away. Lord I hope he's old enough to play on his own team next year.

Christmas Day 2010 painting

2011-01-14T10:41:00.002-10:00

Happy Friday all! And a three-day weekend, too, for most of us. Here we'll be drying out and watching football. More rain and one whopping storm came through the islands this week. Knocked over a couple trees on our block. Of course, they were young trees with thin trunks, but they went down and will be missed until their replacements shoot up.
This painting is one of Robbie's works, painted with new paints received for Christmas. I love that we can archive our kids' art with photos, allowing me to toss them or re-purpose. I turned this and another painting into thank you notes and a birthday card for Grandpa Tipon.
Noel looked at the "piece" and swore he was in a restaurant last month where they had local works on the walls for sale (some as much as $5,000 ?!?) and he claimed Robbie's was "better."

Remains of the (painting) day

2011-01-14T10:38:00.002-10:00

Here's what was left of the paints after Robbie (and a little bit Jacob) painted a couple of masterpieces. All gone! Nonetheless, I still consider this gift "a gift that keeps on giving." I saved these mini-containers and washed them out. When I'm up for another painting session (yup, I have to mentally prepare!) I'll refill the little cups and let the boys paint until the cups are empty again. Seems like a good way to control paint in little hands. Plus a good old-fashioned lesson in color mixing awaits!

2011 Postage Stamp News

2011-01-05T11:04:00.009-10:00

This post hints of a PSA, but I just learned this yesterday (and only because I was standing in line at the post office) and thought I’d share with those who have the good fortune of NOT having to stand in line at the post office. All commemorative stamps issued in 2011 will be “Forever” stamps. ALL of them! One of the first to be issued is the “Year of the Rabbit.” Purchase any of these for the current rate of $.44 cents (note in the new design a number is not shown, just "Forever") and in the future when a price hike happens again, you can still use them without those pesky additional-cent stamps. 2011 releases include a Ronald Reagan stamp, Mark Twain, artists, actors, scientists, inventions, Owney the Postal Dog, and…wait for it…Pixar stamps! Although there are posters up in the post office, this news is surprisingly hard to find at www.usps.com. Even the “Forthcoming Releases” page is currently blank. I’m curious as to why they haven’t screamed it to the world. Or at least used the modern equivalent…creating a special banner for web pages. This is great news for those who love the practical aspect of the forever stamp and want to mix up their stamp purchases with special commemorative issues. A win-win! Thank you USPS for this year-long gift.

Goodbye 2010!

2010-12-31T15:11:00.003-10:00

Here's one last shot of 2010...Robbie taking pictures with my iPhone. While I was trying to get a decent shot of Cub for the holiday cards (the boy just doesn't sit still long!), I gave Robbie my phone and he took a few images in the small park near our house. So, I guess you could call this our holiday card outtake for the year. I was quick to delete some "bad" images right off the camera because my card space was low. I realized later I probably deleted a couple of true outtakes that were pretty funny.
Happy New Year, all! Be safe out there. All the best in 2011.

Done!

2010-12-30T17:19:00.004-10:00

I finished my ornaments before the 25th this year. That would have been fine if we were in California. But we were not, so they were mailed late. Living here, I know I shouldn’t be against sending large gift packages, but for some reason I don’t want to. I like to make small, handmade, non-breakable gifts that fit in small envelopes. I don’t want to have to stand in line for postage and I can drop them into a blue, street-side post office box with a lot of stamps. Another bonus? While the cut-off for guaranteed large package delivery from Hawai’i to the Mainland usually falls between the 15th and the 20th, in years past I’ve mailed things as late as the 21st and 22nd and items were received on the West Coast. Nice!
Beaded and quilted items do the trick, and luckily, that’s what I like to do. This year I made gingerbread quilt blocks. All the materials (except for the ribbon used to make bows – and that only cost me $2.00) were already on hand, purchased years ago for other projects and just waiting to be used up. The gingerbread are made of brown ultrasuede, hand-stitched around the sides with DMC embroidery floss. All other fabrics are standard cotton quilt fabrics in reds and greens, of which I have plenty! I had fun breaking out my sewing machine again and loved diving into my fabric stash (the only downside is that I did irritate Noel one too many times when he came home from work and found the ironing board set up in the kitchen). Sorry friends and family, I think you’ll be seeing a lot of these in the holiday seasons to come. Beaded ornaments just might be on the backburner for a while.

12 Days of Christmas: After-Christmas sale SCORE

2010-12-27T09:24:00.002-10:00

Noel and I dropped the boys off with the grandparents yesterday and went to the mall for an evening movie. Although Noel suspects it, I did not know their was a Hallmark store right next door to the ticket window. (I *did* know their was one at the mall and that's partly why I chose that location for the movie, but we were late so I thought my chance was gone.) We had five minutes before the store closed and I ran in. Sweet! They had the Polar Express ornament the other store had sold out of. And 50% off! I was going to get only one, but Noel encouraged me to get two. The boys, playing with their Santa ornament deliveries as toys, had already broken a few. So Noel thought a spare would be a good idea. Oh, no no no. These babies aren't going to be seen by the boys, at least not this year. I'm sticking them in the Xmas garage box today, maybe Santa will deliver them next year! Or maybe the boys will have one each in the very far future when they have their own trees.

12 Days of Christmas: Inspiring gifts

2010-12-25T15:46:00.002-10:00

Merry Christmas to all! Here's to family, friends, and good health. Hope everyone is enjoying all today. This lovely beaded table runner was a gift for me. Beautiful and inspiring...oh, the things I can make next year.

12 Days of Christmas: Christmas lights!

2010-12-22T16:17:00.002-10:00

After dinner with the boys last night, I made Noel drive through a Kapolei neighborhood that goes all out with light displays. It's the same neighborhood with the Heineken tree -and yes, it's still there. They didn't disappoint with the display this year. I think the boys liked it a lot, maybe because there's even a train that circles under the Heineken tree. We might go by once more in the next few days and get out and walk around a bit - last night we were kind of in a hurry to get to the store for the one more thing I needed for my ornaments.

12 Days of Christmas: Almost homemade cookies

2010-12-21T10:55:00.002-10:00

I wanted to bring some sweets to a Christmas party last Friday, but didn’t think I’d have the time to do iced sugar cookies or gingerbread like I wanted to. I found Betty Crocker Pumpkin Spice cookie mix in the grocery store (placed right where they wanted me to see – and buy - on the end of the aisle) and picked up a package. I don’t even know if I’ve had pumpkin spice cookies before, but I love pumpkin bread and I love pumpkin spice lattes from Starbucks, so I tried them. Yum! If you love the seasonal latte like I do, you are going to like this cookie. I followed package directions except for the baking times. I needed an extra 3-4 minutes and a few still turned out a little gooey. The packaging also says to use Betty Crocker Cream Cheese frosting (of course), but I mixed up my own quick frosting of powdered sugar, melted butter, milk, and a drop of vanilla. I drizzled on the frosting, let it set for a bit, then plated them and headed to the party. Sorry, no time for even a cell phone picture.
I really want to make my own now. I checked out the ingredients and other than the typical cookie ingredients, they had a couple of different flours, “pumpkin flakes,” and a number of spices they wouldn’t list. I think I’ll try to tweak a basic sugar cookie recipe by adding a little wheat flour, brown sugar, pumpkin puree, and pumpkin pie spices. That will have to be after Christmas…I’m close to finishing my ornaments, but I think I’m throwing in the towel to have them finished, mailed, and delivered on time.

12 Days of Christmas: Santa Claus Station postmark

2010-12-19T08:39:00.003-10:00

I received the 2010 postmarked item from Santa Claus, Indiana. I think it's kind of fun, but I know not everyone is into stamps and all. It's not too late to get something with the special cancellation, but it is too late to get it back to you by the 24th. This from a third-party site:
If you want to have the Santa Claus Post Office add a picture postmark and then send your holiday mail onwards to your recipients, package all your cards and letters -with postage stamps affixed-in a sturdy envelope or box, and mail to:
Santa Claus Postmark
Postmaster
Santa Claus Station
Santa Claus, IN 47579-9998
Be sure to send your box or envelopes early. The post office should receive them no later than December 15 to ensure Christmas delivery.

Soup of the Day

2010-12-18T12:21:00.002-10:00

Here's one of my favorite things to make with a big bag of baby carrots from Costco: Carrot soup. Shockingly not local for me, but inexpensive, filling, and good for days I wake up and vow to eat less sugar.
Starting in a large soup pot, I sauté 1.5 - 2 white or yellow onions with 1-2 tablespoons of minced garlic in a generous amount of olive oil. I add a ton of coarsely chopped carrots, let cook for a minute, season with a hearty dash of black pepper, then add chicken or vegetable stock to cover the carrots by an inch or two. This time I used two entire boxes of stock, and needed more liquid, so I added 2 cups water. Let it boil and/or simmer for at least 25 minutes, then purée with an immersion blender. Serve immediately or store in glass jars in the fridge. I'd guess that is anywhere from 4-8 servings. I filled four glass pasta sauce jars.
Today is a good day for soup (but truth be told, even on the hottest summer days here I make soup - one of the quirks I picked up living in St. Lucia). We're expecting a lot of rain to pass through starting as early as tomorrow. That means cooler temps, yet nothing you need a jacket or long sleeves for. It's humid so we'll probably have the AC on for a few minutes per our usual.
An interesting note about baby carrots - they're just a typical variety carrot processed through large machines to look that way. First they're sent through a peeler and then a cutter to shape smaller carrots and round the corners. (I assume any bits leftover from this process are used for shredded carrots used in packaged salads, and what remains after that, probably goes to making something like commercial stocks. ?) I must have been watching The Food Network or some cooking segment somewhere to learn this, don't quite recall now. I rarely buy unpeeled carrots these days. Just because it's less work, I take the shortcuts.

12 Days of Christmas: Gingerbread sandwiches

2010-12-17T08:41:00.002-10:00

To get Robbie to eat something at some point last year, I offered to cut the bread with a cookie cutter and he could pick the shape. He opted for a gingerbread man and continued to ask for it throughout the year. It was humorous in June, but now, finally, it's appropriate! Sometimes Cub will eat the sides that are left, but it's usually me who takes care of them so they don't go to waste. I just have to plan ahead so I don't eat multiple sandwiches all by myself.

12 Days of Christmas: Santa's workshop

2010-12-15T14:16:00.002-10:00

The boys start Winter Break on Friday. I've spent a good chunk of time yesterday and today shopping and assembling the holiday goodie bags for their classmates. I'm happy to say I'm done and I got it all finished while the boys were at school so they didn't see a thing. And they couldn't get their hands on anything. :) I bought a bunch of PlayDoh supplies, from the small tubs of multiple colors to a big pack with lots of shape cutters, and split all of it up into smaller, individually wrapped gifts, plus tossed in a few pieces of chocolate. Hurray! One more thing checked off the to-do list.

12 Days of Christmas: Our Charlie Brown tree

2010-12-12T20:00:00.003-10:00

Back in December 1999, I was working my first technical writing job in the Bay Area. During Christmas, someone set up a type of pre-lit tree on a small table near the break room. I'd never seen something like it before; it was a fiber optic tree. The "bulbs" were fiber optic fingers and multiple colors flashed or "transitioned" as a unit in the base rotated. It was cheerful and cheesy and borderline tacky and I wanted one. Off to Target I went and bought one of my own. I brought it home and my parents laughed but allowed such a sight amongst Mom's standard classy holiday decor anyway.
I still have that same tree after two major moves, but it is beginning to show its age. It's probably 100 in artificial tree years, yet it still makes me smile. The lights no longer change colors but it otherwise works (the rotating base stopped rotating after we moved to Hawaii). It was stuck on purple a few years ago yet this year the color was mostly white upon the first lighting. Each day since that we've plugged it in a little more purple comes out. It looks a little less cheesy this way. Long live our little tree.

12 days of Christmas: Stocking stuffers

2010-12-09T16:07:00.002-10:00

When I mentioned in yesterday's post I wouldn't be spending any money on gifts this year, it wasn't 100% accurate. I won't be spending a lot, but we will get the boys a few things. I've already picked out the items Santa will leave for them on Christmas morning. A few Hallmark ornaments (I couldn't let a holiday season go by without getting a fix for my addiction), one holiday Thomas character train engine each, and some candies. I am going to try to start a tradition that the boys get at least one ornament to hang on the tree Christmas day. Boys being boys, I'm not sure if they will be crazy about this plan, but I like it.
Speaking of Hallmark ornaments, when I saw this year's offerings some time back, I planned to buy one representing the Polar Express movie. It's a ticket, train engine, and gold bell all in one. I waited too long. According to the store associate this past Monday, they had been sold out of that one "for three or four months." Wow! That was quick. I haven't called around to see if other stores had it in stock. Following in the vein of keeping Christmas simple, I'm not going to get too worked up about it. The Lionel train ornaments that I bought instead are perfect.

12 Days of Christmas: I have a lot of work to do

2010-12-08T14:29:00.003-10:00

School is officially over for me. Sort of. Today I had my last day of on-campus classes, and all that is left is an online final due next week. I'm feeling great with the semester behind me, but it's no time to rest. I started my annual holiday gifts after Thanksgiving but I didn't get very far.
Unlike recent years, this year there will be no beaded snowflakes and little to no beading at all on my ornaments. I wanted to challenge myself to do something with all the craft materials already in my craft closet, and that challenge included not buying any new beads. That's right, spending no money on gifts this year! Lucky for my recipients, I bought a lot of nice stuff in years past that I never used and I'll get by just fine. :) While we lived in Maryland I started quilting, and although I haven't done much since Robbie was born, I have a fantastic fabric stash that still calls out to me on a regular basis. Time to stop blogging and get sewing.

12 Days of Christmas: Gingerbread Iolani Palace

2010-12-04T20:37:00.002-10:00

We were in Waikiki last night for dinner. Before we left the house, I told Robbie that we could go see the holiday gingerbread display and train at the Princess Kaiulani Hotel after we ate. As we made our way to the restaurant in the car, we passed the hotel. Robbie remembered the location from last year and pointed it out. That memory is going to get us in lots of trouble.
For the first time, pastry chefs have created the Iolani Palace (the only royal palace in the United States) in gingerbread, chocolate, and icing. According to the signs next to the display, the palace, "with its 88 columns, took over six weeks to build." It looked amazing. Hopefully it will be a fixture in future displays.

Happy Birthday to my mother-in-law!

2010-12-03T18:39:00.003-10:00

This is the cake I baked for her last year. Is it sad that I remember I took a picture last year that I never posted, or simply sad that I remembered I took a picture at all?
It was a beauty! Chocolate cake and frosting from scratch, using a recipe I found on the Hershey's website. Sooo yummy! And my mother-in-law? Sooo worth it! The heart sprinkles were all I had at the time, leftovers from Valentine's Day cookies. I think I laughed out loud when I was making the frosting and thought to myself, "This is just chocolate-flavored butter." I liked it so much I made it all over again for Robbie's birthday in March. This year? We've expanded our tastes. He now requests red velvet cake.

12 Days of Christmas: It's that time again

2010-12-01T20:06:00.002-10:00

It doesn't feel like it here in Hawaii, but it's December, and Christmas is a mere 25 days away. This picture is an archive from the Camera Roll - a close-up of holiday tree set up with local flair at the Outrigger Hotel in Waikiki. I heard over the weekend that the large, gingerbread winter wonderland scene has been set up for the season. The boys LOVED the train last year and were upset when we could no longer go. It's calling us now.

Apples? Really?

2010-11-29T20:12:00.002-10:00

That was my reaction when this came home in the backpack the day before Thanksgiving. I don't know what was discussed earlier in the day to plant this seed, but our kindergartner claimed - and now has recorded for all time - he was thankful for apples. This is how the conversation went after I read this:
Me: Robbie, what does this say?
Robbie: It says, "I am thankful for apples."
M: Do you like apples?
R: Yes.
M: I have apples in the fridge right now. Would you like one?
R: No.
I had apples because in addition to pumpkin pie, I was going to make an apple crisp. It's one of Noel's favorite treats and it just sounded yummy. My version? Not so good as those restaurant versions he orders and I finish off. I tweaked a good part of the recipe on a whim and among other things, was a little heavy-handed with the spices. Too much cinnamon is NOT a good thing, especially when combined with too much nutmeg and ginger. Next time I'm Googling "apple crisp restaurant knock-off" and going with what pops up. No more audibles!

Farmer's Market find: Negi

2010-11-28T17:16:00.004-10:00

Today I am cooking one of my favorite "what to do with leftovers" dishes: Onion, leek, and potato soup. I like it because if you have extra mashed potatoes (and unless you're lucky enough to unload them on guests on the way out the door, then you do!), it's really simple. Slice onions, leeks, and garlic very thin. Sauté in oil until caramelized, pour in stock, bring to a boil, and then add mashed potatoes and stir. Let boil and/or simmer as you wish and that's it.
I didn't buy leeks earlier in the week, but this morning I was lucky to find negi, a long (long!) Japanese green onion-like vegetable. The white parts you see in the picture were about 10-12 inches long and there were an additional 12-18+ inches of the green parts. Carrying them away from the vendor's table, I felt like I was carrying spears. The guy who sold them to me said not to use the green parts, so I didn't.
It wasn't a leek, but close enough, and local from the farmer's market, so I had to give it a try in the soup. It's still simmering on the stove, and so far it looks and tastes good. I didn't have low-sodium stock so it's bordering on too salty. Other than that, I have high hopes.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2010-11-25T07:53:00.002-10:00

Hope you are sharing the holiday with good food and loved ones today. Here's some kindergarten artwork that came home in the backpack this week. I think I've spotted a trend...preschoolers have full-sized paper plate art, kindergartners use pupu plates.
Enjoy the day!

Countdown to turkey...maybe not

2010-11-24T20:33:00.002-10:00

Cranberry sauce chilling, pumpkin pie baked and ready for the big day...tonight I'll chop some veggies and then call it a day. Lots to do, but tonight I'm beat after a couple late nights/early mornings in a row. Here's the menu I've been working on for a week. (Cub wanted to help "highlight" items for me.) A few things have been cut from the starting line-up, including the turkey (gasp!). I couldn't find one small enough. Just three turkey eaters at the table tomorrow, so a big bird would just be a waste. Another year I don't cook a turkey...and another year I don't mind at all. :)

Carnival fun

2010-11-21T14:58:00.004-10:00

Somehow despite all of us being sick for at some point during the last half of October and well into November, we pulled ourselves together and managed to get out and have a good time here and there. One Sunday after dinner we went to a weekend carnival in Kapolei. Last year we missed it, but Robbie spoke often about the Ferris wheel. When it started going up a few weeks ago (the bus drove by the lot every afternoon after school) this time he was going! The only time Robbie seemed a bit apprehensive was the first jolt to start the wheel turning. After that, the ride was smooth sailing and he loved it, not concerned at all with the movement or being so high up. Who knew? I was very happy that he did not seem at all interested in going on the mini-roller coaster. As we walked by, I heard a little girl say to her parent, "Look! The roller coaster is fixed now. Can I go?" Broken ride at a traveling weekend carnival? I'll pass!
That big, white glare ruining my picture is a ticket booth. They make a TON on these rides. It's about $3 each person, on average, for one ride, and no young kids free on anything. A sign at the front read that the rides were all "discounted" from 3 to 2 tickets (would have saved us about a dollar per ride) because it was the last night of the carnival, but word didn't get around to the ride operators, who were still charging full price. Boo!