kid surf

Kids are learning to surf.  For now, it's Karl pushing them when a wave comes and they ride it.  

Samuel is so good at it, but takes some coaxing to get started.  Okay, and takes some coaxing to stay out, too.

Some rides end like this.  That might have something to do with it.

Eva has endurance and is super stable.  

And tough.

 Maximus doesn't surf.  Not yet.

 He mostly relaxes.  And plays in the sand.  And makes people happy.

chairs, chevron, and an upholstered box spring

We moved into this house owning 4 chairs.  We have 5 people in my family and Karl uses one as his office chair.  I entered chair hunting mode.  

This was one of my first finds. 

Before:  A lovely putty and burgandy...

I used some liquid sander, spray primer, and then spray it the same blue that I seem to use on everything.  I'll name it Default Blue. 

Then came decision time.  I feel the same way about decisions as I do that swirly beach ball (or hourglass for some people) on my computer when it is being slow.  I took a photo with each of my options and then put this together on my phone.  My phone.  Did you hear me say, "My phone?"  I know I sound old, or like Kip, but, man, technology...

When in question, post it on Facebook.  I asked, "Which one would you choose?" I got more responses than when I posted that I was having a baby.  Chair grabs more attention than baby.  Haha.  I've been texting a lot.  And, now, "haha," feels like a perfectly normal way to express myself.  

The results:

gray dot: 0

green chevron: 10

orange dot: 0

coral floral dot: 13

yellow chevron: 5

The winner: Coral dot. 

The result:

It doesn't usually sit by my bed.  That was just for a few days while I set up a hobby space.

The fancy back is all about looks and not about comfort.  So the first runner up, green chevron, found a home as a pillow.  

This chair ended up looking a lot like Eva's chairs from when I did her room two years ago.  I guess I miss those chairs.  Now is a good time to talk about how much I wish I would have just sent all my crap when we first moved here.  It costs a lot to ship it all but I have been using so much time and money trying to make my home a home that I think it would have put us ahead in the long run.  Regret.  Lesson learned.  Next time I move to Hawaii, just ship my stuff.  Haha.  

I know that chevron is super trendy right now.  I just bought a sweet little gray chevron sleeper for Baby Maximus at Old Navy and well, you know when Old Navy carries it... like my friend put it, it's nearing its expiration date.  Like milk.  Timeless?  No.  Happy?  Yes.

I bought some in a few colors.  Because I buy in multiples.  So, my house kinda has a theme right now.  I am not so into themes.  But it is a happy theme.  

I am not quite ready for neons in my house.  So until the chevron joins the birds in the graveyard... I will continue sewing in my crooked stripey theme.

The yellow chevron, tied for third place, found a few homes.  I bought a ton of this.

  

You can see it in the photo above but here is another shot:

I kind of upholstered my box spring.  I like platform beds but we didn't bring ours, right?  After a year here, we finally bought a real bed and a new frame wasn't in the non-budget of ours.  So I made do.  I didn't want a frame because I like it low, and without a frame, a skirt doesn't work.  I don't like the look of the naked box spring and I didn't have a spare fitted sheet.  So this was my solution.  

I ordered this chair online on a free shipping sale. A rare chance to get something this big shipped here.  Or should I say little.  I had visions of curling up and reading in this one.  But when it came, it looked like this chair will be used only for reading books that I want to be sure to not fall asleep while reading.  

The gray chevron found a happy home, too.  Another post on that one.  I'll spare you, today.  Because I have a way of turning, "Hey, look!  I finally finished a chair!" into a novel.  

Now I have a chair to sit on while I made crap, and one to sit on while I read boring books, and my box spring doesn't have to be embarrassed anymore.

kauai kumquat marmalade

I didn't know I like kumquats.  But that was because I never had them freshly picked from the tree.  And maybe that is how it is with a lot of foods... best fresh.  

 I always feel so lucky when I get a chance to do silly things like make jelly with fresh fruit.  So wholesome, so productive.  Wash them, half them, pop out the little seeds, chop em in the blender, boil them with (a ton) of sugar, add pectin...

 And there you have it, beautiful marmalade.  As fresh as it gets.  We had some in a smoothie.  Added a touch of "elegance" as my mom kept saying.

Maybe the best part of this whole jelly thing is hanging with friends and family and "talking story" while we make it.  I love having this jelly to share with friends and family.  Although, maybe I shouldn't have been so generous with my lilikoi jelly last time.  I am seriously in love with that stuff and ours is all gone.  Haha, some parent I am.  "Kids, don't share too much.  You'll be sad when you can't say that you have some delicious jelly and no one else does."  I love trying new things and learning new things.  And I'm grateful that island life is giving me lots of that.  

eva's hula concert

The wahine (women) group of Eva's hula halau (school) got invited to Merrie Monarch this year.  I guess it's like the olympics of hula. It's kind of a big deal and on the Big Island so that means a lot of fund raising.  So, they had another hula concert.  Smart, right?  Family, friends, and even tourists always seem more than happy to shell out money to see some hula.  

She did her Puka Puka Pants dance, again.  Puka means hole.  So part of her costume was old jeans with patches on them.  We hadn't lived her long enough to have old jeans yet.  Eva hadn't grown out of anything or worn anything out yet so I picked these up at the thrift store for ten cents.  And though I know that the make up makes them feel all fancy and seems to help them put some drama into the performance and make their faces show better, it still kinda freaks me out to see a little girl with make up on.  

 There is my Eva in the middle of the photo.  

This dance was called the Green Rose. I felt so lucky to actually see her at this performance.  It is so fun to watch that girl move.   

 I love this photo of her.  This pose is very Eva.  Her facial expression, too.

 Maximus was very supportive during the show.  He slept for half of it.

Samuel was very supportive, too.  He fell asleep about two songs into the show. We had hiked a couple of miles in the sun earlier that day and it must have worn him out.  And since that kid runs circles around us when we hike he probably hiked about five miles.  He's so cute when he's asleep.  And very cuddly.  And never hurts anyone.  And never argues.  And never breaks anything.  Sleeping kids are so cute.   

At the end of the show, everyone comes out and holds hands and sings E Hawaii, a song that I love hearing my kids sing.  

Eva sneezed... 

 ...and then held her friend's hand again with her gross hand.  You can see her cute friend wiping her hand.  Poor thing.  It cracked me up.  

 Hula.  It's on my list of reasons why I am glad we live here.  It is so fun to watch such a graceful, meaningful dance.  I am glad that Eva gets to experience this.