remembering the new

I went to help with "Measurement Day" in Eva's class today. I made note of a few things that, when we first arrived, stood out to me because they were so different than what I am used to.

The kids keep their bags outside and then bring their work in. They remove their shoes before going in the classroom. When the kids were saying the Pledge of Allegiance I noticed that Eva was one of many dark haired kids, not just the only one. Although she is the only girl with short hair. And on the playground is the grandest tree I have ever seen.

It didn't take us long to get used to the new ways and new things. But today I was trying to remember all the things that stood out when we first arrived, I realized how easily things become normal to us. So here's to hoping that blue skies, beach days, outdoor adventures, lovely produce, a fun loving culture, and all the other beauties of Kauai... as they become normal to us, stay appreciated.

i just can't stop watching this video

Karl some serious stubble.  Watch Baby Max's face and hands when Karl rubs his hand on his chin.  The best part is that he would just continue to smile when Karl would stop.  

food find: star fruit and soursop

Where I come from, the star fruit gets to be more of a cute garnish.  Wanting to love the aesthetically pleasing cross section, I always tried it.  Only to find it sour and boring.  But here,  they are cute AND delicious.

 Soursop.  Not so cute.  If the soursop was in a tween movie, it would so be jealous of the cute little starfruit.  But this ugly fruit is supposed to be some sort of anti-cancer nutritional powerhouse.  Get past the spikes and the inside is not so bad, quite lovely, in fact.  There is a soursop in every tween movie, right?  I have given this guy two chances.  The first time it was crunchy, sweet, and delicious.  We ate some of it and threw the rest into our smoothies.  The second one, I let it ripen more and so it was soft and sour and, well, yucky.  I think I was just freaked out by the texture change.  It really didn't taste bad.  

Cute little starfruit and big ugly soursop.  I will buy them both again.  The starfruit because it is so much fun and the soursop because it is so good for me. And in that fruity tween world? Looks like starfruit wears high heels and soursop wears sneakers :).

another idea: outfit sorter

 One of the things I like to do is pick out the kids' outfits.  A chore for some, but it's fun for me.  I know that the day will come all too soon when they will want to do it themselves.  For now, I will enjoy it. 

The thing is, mornings aren't my thing.  And laundry isn't my thing.   These are not fun for me and these things I consider a chore.  I used to put the kids' outfit on hangers and then use day dividers on the bar that held the clothes but I wanted a change, and I didn't bring all the day dividers.  I brought some, but not all.  Annoying, huh?  I needed a new solution.  I had heard of using a shoe divider.  The challenge.  Finding a shoe divider on the island.  We have been going to a lot of garage sales.  The thing about garage sales is sometimes you take what you can get, like the rainbow shelving.  I don't like the way it looks, but it it doing a good job holding clothes and it was free.  So the shoe holder wasn't exactly what I had in mind, but turns out it is working perfectly.  

And so I share. 

I took my 50 cent shoe divider, washed it, inserted two sturdier hangers, labeled the days (I come to paradise and one of my first garage sale purchases is a label maker.  That's right, in my paradise, everything is labeled), and hung it up.  Each day holds two outfits perfectly.  I roll them up and it helps with wrinkles (my paradise does not include lots of ironing).  There are 8 pockets and so there enough pockets for each day of the week and then an "any day" pocket, which happens to be the most useful pocket yet.  Seems like we always need an extra outfit.   

I used a lot of words, didn't I.  I guess could have just said, "Use a shoe holder to organize a week's worth of outfits for the kids.  It works great."  But that wouldn't be me, I guess.

i'm a whale watcher

I can't believe this is where I live.  


Karl and the kids have spotted whales several times since we moved into this house.  I haven't seen any.  Too impatient to wait for them to come up, I guess.

We were scheduled to go on a whale watching ride for my birthday.  But sickness and then later, a much bigger deal, the tsunami warnings kept us home. 

The following Monday the conditions were perfect and we went.  My friend, Ani, was so sweet and offered to watch little (well, ok, big) Maximus.  In fact, she made the whole day possible.  Like, I said, sweet, right?

 Though this photo may not show the excitement, my kids had a blast.  They look a little sleepy here because we had to get up at six to get there and the ride was six hours.  I love this candid shot of my family.  And it shows my jacket that my sister sent me for my birthday.  I love it.  I didn't have a light jacket so I had been sporting this grey cardigan sweater to the beach.


 All of these photos were taken by the on board camera guy/crew man/entertainment, Erik.  Imagine having Ray Romano on board.  It was like that, except he took photos, served snacks, kept us safe, AND knew all about the ocean.  The captain, Chris, who very much looked like Easy Rider, made finding whales and dolphins seems so simple. 

We rode on a Zodiac raft, the kind that the coast guard uses.  Almost immediately we were surrounded by dolphins.  The captain knew just how to play up every dream that anyone might have about being surrounded by these beautiful creatures and put on some Sarah McLachlan.

The Napali Coast was beautiful.  And the history was so interesting.  

 These birds are called Boobies.  And the happy old guy in the back corner of the boat was so thrilled to tell Samuel, "Now you can say you've seen some Boobies!"  as his wife threw him dirty looks.

  

 It seems that there were many mommy and baby whales that day.  Funny, it made me miss Maximus.  

 If there is one word I would use to describe these whales it would be majestic.  

  If, by chance, you come to Kauai, I totally recommend Napali Riders.  It is something that my family will remember forever.  

Here are some of the snapshots that we took:

 Samuel, while making all of us nervous, was very comfortable on the boat.

 And Eva is one very lucky girl, if for any reason, just because she got to do the back float in the middle of the ocean with her daddy.

This ended up being a beautiful day and a beautiful adventure, tucked into my file of beautiful memories...

food find: winged bean

The island is a true melting pot.  With all the countries of origin, come all the different accents.  The dialogue went like this:

-what's this?

-a wing bean.

-a what? 

-a wing bean.

-? (It was more of a face, nor really words.  Were they saying string bean?)

-(flapping her arms to show us) like an angel.  WING bean.  

-(feeling stupid) Ohhhh, a WING bean.  

We asked how you eat them.  She said boil them and eat them like a bean.  I am sure there was more to it but she probably didn't want to have to repeat herself three times and then act it out.

Here are our wing beans or winged beans.  I ended up throwing them in our miso soup. 

I can't find any miso soup bowls on the island.  It is bugging me.  Maybe after you drink miso soup out of a certain kind of bowl for thirty something years, it just doesn't feel right to use anything else. 

It worked and they made it on my "buy again someday" list.  They passed the family test.  Maybe it's the light crunch and the mild flavor but I think it is the cool cross section that won the kids over.  Who ever said looks don't matter, didn't have kids.  

old day

I woke up on my birthday like six times.  Each time grouchier than the previous.  

My poor family.

The day before my birthday I got mastitis.  Sorry if that's TMI but it's a part of my life.  It's a part of nursing (though I didn't know it with my first two).  The first time I got it I told Karl and his face lit up like I just said a funny joke.  That is because in his younger days he worked on a dairy farm and he would treat cows for such a thing.  And for his wife to tell him that she had the same thing as those cows, well, amusing, right?  Um, if you have had it, you know there is nothing amusing about it.  Nothing.  Achy, fever, chills, you kind of want to die but you know that would be bad because you obviously have a baby to take care of.  And mentally, getting this stresses me out big time because the biggest remedy is rest and forcing people to let me rest is a very non restful feat.

So, I had that to deal with.  And then, sweet baby Maximus decides that he needs to wake up more in the night and be a little less content during awake time (please let it just be teething, please let it just be teething, please...).  

And THEN, there is a tsunami watch.  I found out because mother-in-law texted me.  We don't have a TV and I had no idea.  It didn't end up being a huge deal here, especially for us because we live about 500 ft above the ocean level.  People closer to the water did have to evacuate but we didn't.  I did throw some clothes, a flashlight and some food into a bag just in case.  

So the waking up (at least) six times was because baby was sad or hungry, or because I was all fevery( and then chilly and then fevery again), or because the tsunami sirens were blaring, or because I was worried we would need supplies, or... I kind of felt like I was just wandering all night.  

I woke up (the last time) to birthday wishes from my family and on Facebook (feels weird, I am blogging about Facebook) were birthday wishes/ I hope you're okays.   People were worried and I didn't realize it.  

But then I started worrying about the people in Japan.  Um, my people in Japan.  My aunts, my uncle, my cousins, their kids...

It turns out, everyone is accounted for and okay.  My cousin, who we are the closest to happened to be out of town for work.  His wife was visiting his mother and his daughter was in Guam for vacation.  His home is on the 15th floor.  And the insides were like a giant picked it up and shook it.  Dishes, bottles, TV, piano, everything broken.  No one was home, no one was hurt.  

I keep wondering about my friends there.  Some of them have checked in on Facebook, and when they do, I give a sigh of relief.  But  then I keep wondering about the other ones.  

And then how about the people that I don't know?  I keep thinking about how cold it is up in Sendai.  I hate being cold.  People that once had everything they needed had everything washed away in seconds.  And now, since kids are my business right now, I think about the kids there.  Little baby Maximus' that need food and shelter.  

So, um, that was my birthday.  It was a lot to process in my (pounding) head.  We did celebrate.  We went to dinner.  Karl and the kids (with the help of that oh so nice Betty Crocker) built me a cake with 35 candles (to humor Samuel) on it.  I said I wanted cards from the kids and I got them.  Eva went on Youtube and learned how to make some lilies and a star basket to put them in.  She kept exclaiming how technology is amazing. 

Karl may be able to come up with some grouchier birthdays of the past but this one my take the (birthday) cake (ha, ha).  

As time goes on and I see more and more coverage of the devastation in Japan, it seems to sink in more.  I remember where I was when 9-11 happened.  We were in Chicago and I was a teacher.  I will always remember that day.  Sprinkled with celebration, but with a sad, somber undertone, I think my 35th birthday will also fit into that file.  

This is the cake that Karl and the kids built for me.  The kids were excited to put so many candles on it.  I was so focused on blowing out the candles in one breath (which I did very very fast) that I blew them out and Samuel said, "You didn't make a wish."  He was totally right.  Like I said.  Old.

food find: lilikoi

Our first experience with the lilikoi was in pie form for dessert at a popular noodle place called Hamuras. It is a merengue pie and because of its springiness, we call it "boingy pie."   It is so light, it kind of melts in your mouth.  Not all lilikoi pies are created equal.  We have been to two places that claim to have the best.  This one is the winner in our book.

The actual fruit it a type of passion fruit.  We picked one to at the farmers market and tried it to realize that there is a reason that people mostly use the fruit to flavor things rather than eat it straight.  Too seedy, tart, and slimy.  

blurry photo of the lilikoi

So the name "passion fruit" is kind a misnomer for this guy.  At least for me.  But the pie is something to be passionate about.

Just ask Eva.  She loves lilikoi pie.  So much so, that we got her one to celebrate her birthday.

And speaking of birthdays.  It's mine today.  And my wish is to have this cake.

I saw it a few days ago on this blog and I can't stop thinking about it.  

Will somebody please build me this cake?

every once in a while i get a great idea: giant white board

I spent a lot of time wishing I didn't do things.  Just the way I am.  But sometimes I come up with something that I am really glad I did.  It's time I share...

We came to the island two weeks before Eva's birthday.  I was trying to think of something that would make it special and make up for the fact that she would be away from friends, family, and any toys that didn't make the nine suitcase cut.

I actually planned ahead on this one.

Back when I was getting my teaching degree, I remember some experienced elementary teachers giving us some pointers on how to come up with teaching materials on a very very small budget (insert speech on how it is dumb how little that budget is).  One of the ideas was to go to Home Depot and get what they call shower wall and cut it up into small boards to make a small white board for each student.  Fact is, white boards are fun for kids and it makes math, spelling, writing all that more exciting.  So I thought, if small is good, big is better, right?  

I figured we would have hardly any toys and lots of blank wall space and so I started thinking...

I made sure there was a Home Depot in Kauai.  Then I made three dry erase markers out of old socks and packed a set of markers that I have had since my teaching days.  

A few days before Eva's birthday we went to Home Depot and picked up the shower wall.  They knew what I was talking about but turns out it is called white panel board.  Thrifty white panel board, even better.  We also picked up some things to put around the edges.  It was right by the board.  It took two of those.  

Karl and the Home Depot guy loading it in our 1998 mini van.  It was a miracle, like the van was built to carry thrifty white panel board.  See that gecko?  Cute, huh?  Don't get attached.  I'll tell you why later.

And for just over $20, Eva got a giant white board for her birthday.  The ideal kind of present to me, no batteries, uses her imagination, isn't a big plastic eyesore...

She woke up on her birthday, saw it, and got started right away.

I would love to mount it, but we are in a month to month rental and so it's not worth it right now.  Eva just bought a big set of dry erase markers at Costco for $10 to use on the board.  

I do feel a pang of guilt every time I see the board because when we first got it, I was moving it   to get to just the right position to project  movie onto it.  After the movie, we moved it back to see that I totally squished a little gecko into the wall.  So sad, right?  

The giant white board, easy on the budget (ahem, if we had one), useful, and encourages creativity, and weeks later is still being played with (because we all know that isn't always the case with a lot of birthday gifts), this one was a winner.

food find: rambuton

Funny how once the newness wears off, you kind of forget how extraordinary something once was.  Thanks to the almost daily farmers/sunshine markets that they have on different parts of the island, we have been trying so many different types of fruits of veggies.  Some we love and put it on our regular list of things to pick up.  Some, well, not so much.  We have also tried a lot of local dishes.  

And I can't believe I haven't been blogging it.  Food was, after all, one of my first blog loves.   

The perfect food to start is absolutely beautiful when fresh, frightening when not, delicious, sweet and looks like it came straight out of a Dr. Suess book:

The rambutan.  Sounds like the name of a dance, doesn't it?  I had these once before on the mainland.  My sister in law ordered them from somewhere and sent us home with a few when we visited.  I remembered how good they were so I was excited to see them at the farmers market.  Grows on a tree and we can buy them by the bag, the bunch on a branch, or sometimes 3 for a $1 or something around that.  The first time I bought them the lady was kind of a pusher and somehow I also ended up with a bunch of bananas she told me to buy for my kids.  Karl saw the whole thing happen and was laughing.  


They taste kind of like the most delicious grape ever and the kids love them.  They are similar to their less flamboyant looking cousin the lychee and their homely looking cousin the longan.  Don't know those guys?  Maybe I should introduce them, too.  And maybe because these look the craziest, and maybe because they are new and most unique, I think these taste the best.  

Come to Kauai, and I will buy you (and peel for you, it's kind of tricky at first) a rambuton.

so long, survival mode

Maybe it's a conversation starter.  Maybe it's because they genuinely want to know.  Maybe it's because we have an eight year old, a six year old, and a 4 month old.  But the first thing they ask is why we are in Kauai.  

Our answer is always a version of the same thing.  We sold our house, didn't know where to go next, thought Hawaii sounded like fun...

To some it makes perfect sense.  To some it doesn't make sense at all.

To be honest, some days it makes perfect sense to me.  And some days it doesn't make sense at all.

The days it makes sense go like this:

The view of the sunrise from the back porch, or lanai as they call it here, is breathtaking.  

Karl gets done with work (he starts and finishes earlier here since we are in a different time zone than most of his clients), we load up the car with boogie boards, swimsuits and towels, and a few snacks, and we pick the kids up from school at two.  They hop in and do their homework while we drive to the beach.  There we have a few hours of beach time.  The kids play in the sand, splash, boogie board, dig, run, all the things that kids love to do.  Baby and I sit on the blanket, sit on the chair, eat, nap, all the things that mommies and babies like to do.  Karl switches between activities.  When the sun goes down, we pack up, grab some dinner and head home.  Those are the days that I know that it makes so much sense that we moved here.

The days that it doesn't make sense go like this:

I wake up on the futon (not the couch kind, the real kind on the floor, because that is what we have chosen to sleep on until we figure out a more permanent living situation.  Moving mattresses is the biggest pain ever) and I get to choose from one of the few outfits that I am already sick of.  I spend the morning vacuuming ants and every crumb that could possible attract ants (one mass e-mail to everyone I know on the island about what I should do about unwanted creatures, one trip from Expert Exterminators and $175 later those are taken care of).  On top of that, I jump at anything that moves, there are a lot more creatures here in Kauai and I am afraid of most of them.  Then Maximus does something adorable and I start to feel sad that my family at home is missing it (sometimes taking a video and sending it helps).  Then I start missing my family.  Then I start wishing I could go to lunch with my friends that I miss.  Then the counselor from the school calls to let me know that Samuel got sent to the office again and while they ask me if I have gotten a local phone number yet.  I kind of didn't want to and they scold me and I feel like I am Samuel, in trouble by the school.  Then I start feeling like our minimalist ways are more like camping and I start resenting it and I start missing my stuff that we left behind.  Then I feel bad for resenting and missing.  And you know how when you get back from a family vacation, you are somehow exhausted?  

And, well, you get the picture.  Cry me a river (in paradise), I know.

The good thing is that things are starting to settle down.  I am getting more organized and silly necessities like registering our car, getting local drivers licenses, getting dishes, kitchen knives, and things like that have been taken care of.  

And that is why I say, "So long, survival mode!"

Maybe that's wishful thinking.  Maybe our chaotic, spontaneous ways will always keep me in survival mode.  But tonight, I am going to pretend like I planned all this out.  

We have had more family time than ever, the people here are seriously so so so nice, sunshine is so good for me, and Eva is adorable in her hula class.  Those are not words of someone in survival mode, now, are they?   And look, this is a real blog post, not from my phone.  Though easier and faster, a real post looks so much better and SOOO not survival mode...

play gym... yes or no?

I love stuff. 

There.  I said it.

But I am kind of on a stuff diet.  No, it's not a diet.  It's a lifestyle change. Tee hee.

I keep coming up with new things that Baby Maximus needs.  I have tried to keep it minimum but somehow I still finding myself walking around the Bumbo (free), pushing aside the portable Bobby swing (craigslist), and moving the folding chair/highchair/miracle chair (it's dumb, I bought it on a whim and it took up half a suitcase.  Lame.  I probably should have packed the play gym that my sweet sister in law offered me, instead) whenever I need to vacuum.   And while I am confessing... I somehow have an extra vacuum, an extra car seat, a set of dishes, a blender, a coffee maker (huh?  We don't even drink coffee), a set of knives, and a bunch of other stuff that I don't need.  I could already have a mini garage sale and I have been here just six weeks.  I haven't given up on the less waste thing.  I am just a slow learner.  Skinny people don't need diets.  

But as my baby lays there playing with nothing but his left foot (again.  The left one is his favorite) I can't help but wonder if I am not helping him living up to his potential.  It's the same feeling I get when Samuel does flips into the pool and I wonder if he needs to be in gymnastics or some other class.  What if he could be a genius if only he had toys dangling above his head? 

I kind of think it would be fun to make one.  Or, rather, have Karl make one.  But, woodworking tools didn't make the cut when we were packing for Kauai.  

It's all so silly.  I saw the movie Babies. I saw that the moms didn't need giant plastic toys to have healthy smart happy babies.  But they didn't need an Ergo, or a baby blanket, or diapers, or a floor either.  Those things are on my need list.  

So, do I add a play gym to the "need" list?

What are your thoughts?  Did your babies use them enough for it to be worth the money, space in your house, and eventually landfill space?

Is there something you thought your baby needed but didn't end up using?  

What about something you used more than you thought you would?