Christmas Eve

It's a little embarrassing of how behind I am on this blog, but here I go anyway...

Christmas Eve was so much fun. We went to Donkey Beach, Christmas hats on, and played and had the best time.

I took some pictures of the kids in Christmas hats, which turned out better than I hoped.

This is the one we used and that I sent out to some people far away to say Merry Christmas to...

Then of course, there was boogie boarding, tree climbing, shell hunting, swimming, sand castle building, body burying, rope swinging, and laying in the sand soaking in that warm December sun.

After getting home and getting the kids bathed and in jammies, we went Christmas caroling to our neighbors and brought everyone plates of Christmas cookies. All the neighbors loved it.

Then back home to listen to "T'was The Night Before Christmas" read by Grandpa Chuck, via FaceTime. It was a good one!

fancy

Lucky for Lullaby, she's our only girl. Just today she was asked how she feels to be in a family of all boys, and she answered "special". She is special, and I love to make her feel that way, instead of feel left out. So when she asks to be fancy and wear a bright red lipstick to church, I say why not? What a beautiful girl she is too.

treats

It's not always easy moving to a new place, and trying to make new friends all the time. But, we've gotten pretty good at it and it seems like each place we move to, we make awesome friends. Thanks to all our new Kauai friends for making us feel welcome. 

(Yes, that's a bite right out of the side... Thank you Sully)

all day hike

We drove to Waimea to see the "Grand Canyon of the Pacific" and the views were spectacular! We'd see this view before, but it never disappoints. 

We went up even farther until we were love the clouds. Literally. It was so amazing (and sometimes scary) to see!

Then we went out in search of the illusive "Berry Flats" hike. Although we thought we found it several times, we didn't, until right before we had to head back home because it was getting dark. We ended up having fun hiking on several wrong trails along the way though!

The kids got thoroughly muddy, and tired, from all the fun on our all day hike. There is just so much to explore here!

the wild one

This darling little boy of ours has a very unique personality. He is louder than all of our other kids combined. He laughs at his own jokes. He still refers to himself "Me is super hungry Momma!", "Me like that!", so funny. He watches himself in the mirror making silly faces, and talks to himself.  He tries hard things, but begrudgingly. He is brave, but not reckless.  He is musical and loves to sing and play the ukulele. He is bright and happy most of the time. He has lots to say. We love him so.

phone pictures

The kids take pictures using my phone sometimes and I giggle when I go back through them. It's fun to see what interests them. It's usually toys.

date night

Paul and I went out on a fancy date night. We got to dress up and it was so fun. There was even a hula show during dinner. 

cookie exchange

A few friends from church got together with me for a little cookie exchange.  I brought some extras too so the kids could frost some. I made some sugar cookies to share, and brought the recipe. Everyone else made some different kinds of cookies and brought their recipes to share. So much fun.

This was the first party I've ever been to where the grown ups started dancing and doing the poi balls. Pretty awesome.

Christmas Party

Our homeschool group had a Christmas party just before break and for our art class we made "edible art" and I made lots of marshmallow fondant for them to use in their cupcake creations. It was so much fun to watch them creating! Marshmallow fondant is a lot like playdoh, so it was easy for the kids to have fun with it!

During the party, lots of parents came in and taught mini crafts and classes. I learned how to make a star ornament from a palm frond. It was awesome!

The kids made ornaments, did a candy cane hunt on the playground, ate lots of treats, and had the best time. We love this awesome group!