I am thankful!

Wow! What a busy week!

Lad and Dallen had a chance to help the Boy Scouts of our ward prepare an imu pit! It was a great experience for Dallen to see what an imu pit is and all the preparations that takes place to make it a success. He helped carry "thousands" of rocks into the pit on Monday night and then helped distribute the pans of food cooked in the pit on Thanksgiving morning. It was a good thing for him to help and work - better than being a couch potato! No pictures to share - I completely forgot! Shucks!

On Wednesday afternoon, we all had dental appointments. This was to be Brennen's first visit and I was not sure if he would actually sit in the chair or not. He has, on previous visits to the doctor, screamed "bloody murder" when Dr. Russell was trying to listen to his heartbeat with the stethoscope. I'm not sure why - that is just the way he is. He's my opihi but there are other instances where he shows much more bravery than his brothers. Anyway, he didn't want to go into the exam room so I took him and had him on my lap - then, we reclined and it all broke loose. When our dentist approached him with the little mirror instrument, he started to scream and thrash. He's heavy and tough - it was extremely difficult to hold him. Well, after about 5 (seemed like 10) minutes of that - we gave up. He will have to go to a pedodontist and will probably need to be sedated for his safety for any exams and/or work. The good news - the rest of us didn't have any cavities. The funny thing was when he came back out to the waiting room, he immediately climbed into the stroller and locked himself in. When I came out of my cleaning a half hour later, he was still locked in the stroller. Maybe it was his "safe" place?

That night, the 3 of us (Dallen, Brennen & I - Austen opted to stay with Grandma and Chyler) attended a BYU-Hawaii Seasiders basketball game with Lad. They killed the other team winning by 20 points. It was Brennen's first game ever, I think. He did pretty good. I thought he would watch the game a little more because he's very attuned to anything to do with sports but I guess there was a lot to watch all around us. He ate nachos and drank fruit punch and ran around the arena a few times. My point on Brennen's bravery - close to the half, the Seasiders Gecko mascot came out on the floor. Brennen's eyes immediately locked to the mascot. He was so intrigued! He actually went up the the Gecko by himself 3 times - trying to get his attention. He finally succeeded on try #3 and ended up dancing and holding hands with the Gecko. (I was sick that I forgot the camera...again!!!) Dallen and Austen would never have had the guts to go up to any larger than life mascot at Brennen's age. They are still wary of Chuck E. Cheese when we go there. I can't figure out what is more scary about his pediatrician and his dentist? Maybe if they dress up with big, bobble heads???

Finally, to Thankgiving Day. Our family came to our house and had a wonderfully filling dinner! It is so nice to get together with family and just hang out. My cousin, who has the only other little person in the family here on Oahu, had to leave early to go to her in-laws but the boys had fun with her while she was here. Brennen couldn't wait to get started on my Aunty's famous layered jello and Chyler was seen trying to attack Dallen's plate! All in all, it was a great day!

I am thankful for so many things and probably don't express it quite as often as I should. It's nice to have reminders during the holidays to really make you stop and think about what is important and special in our lives. I am thankful for my family - for parents who have loved and supported me in so many ways. I couldn't have asked for a better Mom and Dad. And I am thankful for my husband - even though he exasperates me probably the most out of anyone, I know he loves me and cares for our family. He works hard and is stretched in a lot of directions (which I tell him is his own doing) and even though he needs reminding about what is most important (US!), I know he does his best to care for us. And I am thankful for my children. For Dallen who I am enjoying more and more. He surprised me tonight - I put all the kids down, Lad was at a game and I came upstairs to blog and left him playing his DS downstairs. Next thing I know I hear him tromping up the stairs. He sits next to me in the office and continues playing. I asked him how come he came up here...he said he was a little scared to be by himself. I thought he was oblivious to anything while playing and it was nice to know that he still needed me. I can't take that for granted. For Austen - I love his sweetness. Yes, he can be very hardheaded but he is the most sweet and affectionate child I have. He is also the biggest helper in our family. He loves to help Lad in the yard. For Brennen, he'll always be my baby. He is the most attached to me and deep down, I love it! I love how he's the one to greet me every morning with a hug and a "Good Morning, Mommy!", always with a smile. And for Chyler - I've been waiting for her so long and she's been well worth the wait. She's always smiling and has brought so much joy to all of us. With her personality coming through more and more, she's such an important part of our family. I am thankful for the gospel - I just can't imagine my life without knowledge of the gospel teachings. What a different life I would have! I am thankful for my home. I am thankful for this beautiful place where we live - we travel and enjoy other places but it is always a welcome relief to come home to Hawaii. Last but not least, I am thankful for my friends who help keep my sanity in check and always make me feel that I'm not alone in my fears and flaws - that is such a priceless gift.

Oh, and I am also thankful for our animal friends. Bunny is there to greet me when I come home wiggling her nose and unlike my children, is always happy to eat what I feed her. And for Sugar Ray - who is such a nut! I took some pictures of him - he sneaks into bed with our sleeping children - there he is with his greatest tormentor, Brennen, after he fell asleep. He's scoping out the birds outside - darn that screen door! And finally, there he is after some Thanksgiving turkey - he wouldn't (or couldn't) move!!

Not very interesting I know, but...

So, I'm blogging really drab topics lately and I'll try again later for a more interesting topic...but for the record, I paid $33.09 to fill up my 16 gallon gas tank today...at Costco! The wait took less time than I thought with the slew of cars that were there but the price was just too good to pass up. $2.04. That's about a 65 cent savings. Plus, I was there to brave the pre-Thanksgiving crowd (YIKES!) with 3 kids in tow, no less. So, if I survived that without losing my head or a kid...then, what's a 15 minute wait in a gas line!??

Could it be??

Thankfully gas prices are consistently dropping (KNOCK ON WOOD) as of late. Today I found myself driving from Sam's Club on Kamehameha Highway with the gas light on so another fill-up was needed. On a side note, I've noticed that the Odyssey guzzles gas. With the same amount of driving, I could fill-up my Caravan maybe every week and a half to two weeks. But I'm lucky to go a full week without seeing my needle hovering over the E in my Odyssy. And I believe the Odyssey has a slightly larger tank. Anyway, back to my gas light being on. Leaving Sam's, I had the full intention of stopping at the Aloha gas station ($2.85) at the entrance to the Penninsula but then I thought..."It's humbug to go in and out of that station so I'll go down a bit to the Chevron. The prices there won't be too much more." I went down a bit only to try to pass the bus and could not get back in time for the Chevron ($2.87). So, I went down some more while eyeing my gas gauge - it was still a smidgen above the E line (don't worry Mom!) so I was good. The next gas stations are near Pearlridge across the watercress patch. I took a look at the prices - "Oh, good! $2.76. But, we were at the stoplight so I was able to check out the prices for the station across the street. $2.75! I turned in and the whole point of this post? For the first time in a VERY long time, I filled up my gas guzzler for under $50! Yeah!! $46.20. Wow! Amazing!! I know Costco is only $2.40 now but I am such an impatient person I refuse to wait in line for gas. I know, I know...I'm still working on the patience thing!

Gender Confusion

So, we took Sugar to the vet yesterday and our Sugar is now a Sugar Ray. She's a HE! So much for the balance in the testosterone in this house.

On Tuesday, I had the kids take their annual Christmas picture. I dread this every year because it is such hard work!! This time around, Dallen and Austen did really well but the monkey was Brennen. He lost interest pretty fast. I think we got a couple of good shots - but that's always a fluke rather than by design.

Chyler has been pretty good about pulling herself to a standing position for quite a while now. She can now go up, come down and cruise a bit. Yesterday, I saw her let go of whatever she was holding on to and stand on her own for a few seconds. I know, walking is just around the corner but I'm not looking forward to that. If she does walk before age 1 - she may be my earliest. Dallen holds the record of walking = 1 week before he turned one. Austen walked in his 13th month and Brennen in his 14th. We shall see!

Catty!

I'm at work but eating lunch so I'm multi-tasking and reading other people's blogs. One had a video featuring a cat so I had to view it. Then, being the YouTube-type addict that I am, I had to view some others. I loved this one! I have to get a dog to go along with our cat. Granted, our cat is very much dog-like. I never imagined a cat would be like this...she's SO opposite from the stereotypical CAT. Anyway, enjoy this video - I'm thinking that the dog is a boy and the cat is a girl...happens in every species!


Puppy Versus Cat - The best home videos are here

It's Hallo-weeeen Time!

This year, since our ward didn't have any Halloween activities, we had to fend for ourselves! What a hard job! There's a lot of decision making when it comes to Trick-o-treating. What to do? Where to go? And that's not even including costume decisions!

Dallen made it easy - he wanted to be Spiderman again. Austen switched from Thomas to Bob the Builder from day to day. He finally decided to go as Bob so I went to get him some 2nd hand overalls and a plaid shirt and found a "Bob" tool belt and tools. He was so happy when he put the whole outfit on. Although he gave up on the hat pretty quick. Chyler was a Pumpkin Princess. There's a reason why Gymboree is pretty pricey - their stuff is SO cute! Anyway, I found this relatively cheap costume on eBay. She was, at first, annoyed with the headpiece but after distractions - she kept it on. It was a really beautiful costume. And when she sat down, she really had the shape of a pumpkin. And then Brennen. I bought this Nemo costume last year because I thought it was so cute and it was but he insisted he wanted to be Elmo. So, we were going with Elmo (Dallen's old costume). He put in on - he was so happy - then, the headpiece kept covering his eyes, he was getting hot and "itchy" - and then finally, the meltdown of "off, off, off" happened. He really wanted to be Elmo but I think the costume was a bit stifling. I remember Dallen hating the head thing too. So, to my glee, we did the Nemo. It was so cute! He insisted on wearing the headpiece which I thought would be a no-go since Elmo was a bust. When he walked, his tail swished. It was too cute!!


Since we have such good friends who were also looking for the answer to "what do we do for Halloween?", we all decided to trick-o-treat together then have a potluck at our house. And we all know that more kids = more fun! Our family had a great time, especially our boys. Dallen was looking forward to this day all week. It was a really fun evening!