12 Days of Christmas: Merry Christmas!

We're a little late all around this year. Busy yesterday and didn't get this posted. Art work from Robbie. Tomorrow, will try to order our photo cards. Hope everyone is having fun.

12 Days of Christmas: Home for the Holidays

My Mom stitched and framed this beautiful cross-stitch tapestry for me a few years ago. For reasons I don't remember now, I never brought it over to our home in Hawaii. So Mom hangs it in her living room during the Christmas season and I get to enjoy it while I'm here.

12 Days of Christmas: Santa Sand Sculpture

We went to Rumfire, a restaurant along the water at the Waikiki Sheraton, for dinner last night. I walked by this huge, indoor sand sculpture at least three times before noticing it! I guess I was a little distracted with the boys in tow. The sculpture is at least 6-7 feet tall, and pretty wide all around. The title was "Santa Taking Hula Lessons" or something, but I don't know if that's an accurate description. Looks a wee bit more intimate.

12 Days of Christmas: Holiday Windows

Late last month I picked up a bunch of ornaments to hang within the window frames in the house. My Mom is here and she went to work and made it happen! Just like a professional store front. Looks great from inside and out. Easy, festive way to decorate for the season without a big electric bill looming in January.

12 Day of Christmas: M&M Nutcracker

I passed this silly thing by many a times in the commissary in the past few months, but Saturday night I could no longer resist! You pour a small amount of plain M&Ms through an opening in the back, press a lever, and candies pop out of his mouth. Left alone to play with it, Robbie had a lot of fun. The candies were ultimately eaten, but not at pace you might expect for a 4.5 year old!

12 Days of Christmas: Princess Kaiulani Gingerbread Village

Every year since we got here, I've read of a fantastic holiday gingerbread display in Waikiki. We finally made it! This afternoon after lunch with my in-laws, we walked over to the Sheraton Princess Kaiulani Hotel to check it out. I was expecting it to smell better (no gingerbread/spice smell at all) but otherwise it was magic. The pastry chef is German and he models the scene on a classic European winter village. Two trains, tunnels and overpasses, ice skaters...it was all there. Even a working gondola! The boys loved the trains, of course, but we all felt like kids while looking at it.

12 Days of Christmas: Cinnamon Ornaments Redux

One of my holiday favorites came home in the backpack this week! Three survived transit, one (so far) has not survived display in the kitchen. Robbie was a little heavy-handed with the rolling pin this time around; two are a bit thin. I found a "recipe" in a holiday magazine and was going to see if it's something Robbie might want to do with his cousin Johnny when we visit next week. Recipe makes 60 ornaments. Hmmm, let's use our newly dusted-off math skills to divide the ingredients and create a much smaller amount.

12 Days of Christmas: TSA Bans Snow Globes

This just in - family flying through SoCal sent me this mobile pic. Seasonal signage at the airport says snow globes are banned in carry-on luggage. Bah, humbug! You've got to be crazy to pack one in your check-in luggage, so it doesn't look good for traveling snow globes this season and beyond. Friends, heed my cries and pick 'em up at your destination!

12 Days of Christmas: Clifford Tree Topper

The Kapolei library has to be one of the newest in the state system. It's clean, spacious, not musty...even has Hawaiian quilts hanging on the high ceilings. A very nice place to be. This year they set up a two-story Christmas tree, complete with Scholastic book mega-star Clifford the Big Red Dog on top. I like it! I've been spending a lot of Saturdays there in the last month studying. Going back to school next month! The bad news is I have to take a math placement exam, covering exercises and theories I haven't studied in over 20 years. And it's not like riding a bike—some of that stuff does NOT come back that easy!

Spotted nearby - the Saffron Finch

OK, so we've had numerous failed attempts to hang a bird feeder in our yard (couldn't keep them high enough out of reach of young hands) but I haven't given up bird watching. After a quick run to the grocery store on Tuesday, I spotted these small, yellow birds in the open area across the street. I've seen them a few times, but never where I could take a picture. Yesterday I gave it a try...parked in the driveway and ran in and grabbed the first camera I found in the kitchen. Ran out and started snapping. They scurried away from me, but I was able to get a few shots before they flew off completely. I checked a bird book we have in the house, and according to "A Pocket Guide to Hawai'i's Birds," they are saffron finches. In the category of "Cardinals and Cousins," the guide says they are an immigrant from South America, frequently found on the Big Island, around Kona and the airport. Hmmm...

12 Days of Christmas: Reindeer Paper Bag Puppet

The first Christmas craft came home in the backpack last Thursday afternoon — a reindeer puppet, complete with googly eyes and big red bow. Googly eyes have sure gotten fancy. These have shaded lids and eyelashes. The puppet is not in use yet, right now I'm enjoying it taped to the kitchen cupboard door. Something else I'm enjoying right now is the Eddie Aikau big wave surfing contest. Running today and the waves at Waimea are huge! Not literally there at the bay, but enjoying the live coverage on cable.

While the boys were sleeping...

I can't boast that I'm a morning person, but I will say I tend to get up early and function pretty well when I do. Noel, on the other hand, likes to sleep in and doesn't get up early unless necessary. It should surprise no one that while on vacation, I like to sneak out of the hotel room early and wander around while the boys - and most of the world - are sleeping. That could actually be the subject of a whole other blog...

On our last day on Kauai I set my alarm for 6:25 and headed out, camera in hand. I wandered through the hotel grounds, past the pool attendants scrubbing down the pool tiles for the day, and found another monk seal on the beach. This time, surrounded by no one. He had been there a while. He apparently rolled over on the first set of safe-distance ropes set up by the hotel staff, prompting them to set up another. So if he looks in distress here laying on ropes, rest assured he's not. I also did not disturb him, he rolled over, opened his eyes, and I got the shot. But he went right back to sleep.

Past the monk seal, I wandered further down Poipu Beach, where I watched a dozen turtles feed in the waters 10 feet from shore. Yes! So close. Fun to watch, ridiculously hard to photograph. I wasn't entirely alone, there were some roosters (it was Kauai, after all), surfers, and a few other early-risers, but it was still a nice, quiet morning. I headed back to the hotel after an hour or so, found Noel getting ready for a court appearance and the boys stirring. Had breakfast in the room, packed up, and checked out.

Monk Seal on Poipu Beach

Two Sundays ago, we were enjoying this seal resting on the beach in Poipu. Here's one more from our impromptu photo session.

12 Days of Christmas: Holiday Ornament classes!

Late last month I taught a beading class at Bead It! Kaimuki and next week I'll be teaching one more closer to home in Kapolei. This time miniature snowflake ornaments - one of my favorite patterns that I make in different colors for friends and family each year. Made with Swarovski bicone crystals and matching seed beads, this one is quick to stitch and quite addicting. And the color possibilities are endless! I put up a small tree on my kitchen counter and add these and other beaded ornaments to it, but they're fun on full size trees as well.

12 Days of Christmas: Hallmark Ornaments

It's time for the 12 days of Christmas! OK, not so much for the readers, but for the author. I had fun with holiday posts last year so I'm bringing 'em back, starting with recent holiday activity! Every year I buy the Hallmark Keepsake Winnie the Pooh ornaments. I know, I know, I'm embarrassing myself here. I can't explain why I like them or why I continue to buy them even though they are ridiculously overpriced. But I do. I used to get them 50% off the day after Christmas, standing in line with others before the stores open, trying to get the good deals. Once I started making better money, I started "treating" myself to all of them as early as November - at full price. This has continued, even though I stopped working after baby #2 arrived. But in the last few years, that's pretty much all the mall shopping I do. And yes, it's all for me.