'zona

Since we weren't able to visit Mitch's family for Christmas, we decided to head out after the peak travel rush subsided (not to mention the cold weather, too!) to visit the Valley of the Sun. It turned out to be excellent timing! The weather was perfect-not too cold, and definitely not too hot.

And the best part was getting to spend some time relaxing with the Seavey's! There's quite a lot of pictures, so bear with me. I decided to post as digi pages, and not a huge slide show...'cause I'm really not a big fan of slide shows.

The two little ones. We got to meet little Reina (Mitch's sister, Lynn's baby girl) for the very first time. She's just 3 months older than Jolee-and so petite! I think Jolee weighed more than her...But then again, Jolee is quite a chunker. They often just stared, and stared at each other whenever we put them next to one another. And, they're both thumb suckers, too!

Kela and Anna LOVED hangin' out with their cousin, Kai. He fits right in between them age-wise (although he's a tad taller than Kela!) and they were best buds from the get-go! All three of them were inseparable every minute of the day...well, except for early morning 'cause Kai wakes up at 5 am!!! And, our girls tend to stay up till after 10 pm while Kai hits the sack at 6 pm. So, technically, they were inseparable from 8 am till 6 pm. But, you get the idea.

We met our friends at this park in the "ghetto" area of Mesa. We didn't even know there was such a place! That is, until some cops came over to us while the kids were playing and asked us where we lived and why we were at the park. Long (but super funny) story short, we told him we weren't from the area but were simply there for the day. He informed us that some guy sitting about 50 yards away from us was a homeless guy who was spotted in a nearby alley with his pants down. Huh?
Apparently, the park we were at is next to a lot of homeless people and druggies. He nicely, but very frankly, told us to stay away from this particular park because often times, there are creepy druggies nearby, broken glass and needles in the sand, and oh-don't forget about the naked homeless guys in the alleys, too. LOL. Did I mention that there were TONS of other kids with their families at the park, too?!

Here we are at the Arizona Museum for Youth (A.M.Y)
This was our second time visiting, and they had so much fun!
What's not to love about a ginormous playground where you're encouraged to mess around, play dress-up, and make noise to your heart's content?

Jolee loved the baby corner. She apparently also loves herself. Well, the reflection of herself in the mirror. She must have stared, patted, and kissed her reflection for a good 10-15 minutes. I was cringing when she started slobbering all over the mirror...but thought "positive thoughts" and said a little prayer in my heart that no diseased or sick kids were in there doing the exact same thing before her. *shudder*

Ok, although it wasn't quite my birthday yet, Mitch's mom was kind enough to make me a birthday cake while we were there.
A lovely reminder that I'm getting old, old, old!
Thanks!

The Phoenix Zoo.
Here we are at the playground there. We probably could have stayed here for hours...

Grandma played hooky from work and came with.

The Phoenix Zoo puts the Honolulu Zoo to shame! (sorry, but true)

They had so much fun...I don't think we even saw all the animals, there was just too much to see for one afternoon. Plus, the weather was hot so a lot of the animals were just sleeping in the shade. I suppose one highlight for the girls (but not for my reptile-phobic husband) was seeing a live rattlesnake. Oooh! They were quite impressed, especially when a zoo worker came in and nabbed one out of the display window!

Just hangin' out at the park near Grandma and Papa's (Grandpa) house.

Of course, we can't leave Arizona without visiting the lake to feed the ducks. This is Saguaro lake. Can you pronounce it? I'll give you a hint--it absolutely doesn't sound like it's spelled...

Anyway, it was a short but long 7 day trip.
We LOVE visiting the mainland, but are always happy to come back home to our
Hawaii-nei.

jolee update

Jolee has gotten a bit better at eating. She still, however, makes quite a mess--mostly all over her face & hands as she sucks her thumbs in between bites and rubs her hands all over her face, clothes, etc. etc.

To keep the spillage at a minimum, I usually dangle a toy above her head...to keep her attention focused in one direction as I scoop the food into her mouth. Meal time is such a chore sometimes!

Also, as a side note, she's discovered stairs. A little too soon if you ask me...but at least she can't quite climb it yet. She has learned, however, to prop herself up on her feet while holding onto the steps, or someone's legs, or the wipe box, etc.

This one's a mover, I tell 'ya!

happy birthday, kumen!

Kumen turned 3! For a quick celebration, we headed out to that germ-infested place called, Chuck E Cheese to munch on some pizza and let the little ones run around and play.

And play, they did!

all "bussup"

Here's the hazards of being the baby of 3 siblings...

KIDDING!

Merely a mosquito bite gone awry...poor thing, though!

a lesson learned, a trial overcome

Last week, we had to pick Kela up from preschool early because she apparently started crying & wouldn't stop. Then on Monday, she wouldn't even let Mitch drop her off-she cried and cried and Mitch ended up giving up and bringing her home. Then Wednesday, she was fine when I dropped her off but when I went to pick her up, her teacher told me that she cried again during playtime. Playtime!?

On Friday, she started crying before we even left the house, saying she didn't want to go to school. Something is definitely up. (I know, it took a while to ask) But after finally talking it all out with her, I discovered the reason why. It turns out that her best friend at school is no longer there during the playground time. She arrives right about the time that we pick Kela up...so Kela no longer has a playmate during "free-time." She told me that "Nobody wants to play with me. They don't want to be my friend."

It just about broke my heart. Literally-my heart ached for her!

You think it would be easy to simply find another playmate to hang out with. Not so. She's just too shy to reach out to others on her own-I was the same way when I was a kid...so I know exactly how she feels.

As a mother, this is one of the hardest things, I think. To watch your child struggle with insecurities and difficult experiences like feeling left out by classmates and being alone. However, I did my duty and encouraged her to open up. I gave her a good long "pep talk," encouraged her to talk to her other classmates, and gave her a big hug and sent her on her way.

Paranoid me couldn't stop thinking about her the entire morning. To the point that I ended up arriving at her preschool an hour early for pick-up. As I "staked out" her playground during their play time, I got even more nervous and eventually went in to pick her up before lunch instead of afterward. To my surprise and relief, she had made a couple new friends and wanted to stay! She had asked a girl to share her M&M's and became friends...Mama was so proud!

This is what we did to "kill time" while Kela's at preschool. I got to go for a nice jog, and then let Anna and Jolee play at the playground.

she's up!

Lately, this is what Jolee likes to do. I'm thinking it's about time I lowered her crib another notch.

goop

I recently discovered this site. Have you seen it or heard about it?

Supposedly, it was created by Gwyneth Paltrow and it's sort of an informative, how-to-better-your-life kinda website. I read quite a lot of reviews/backlash from people saying that her information and recommendations are unrealistic for the "average joe" to even begin to afford. That the only way anyone could live that way is if they were born or raised in Hollywood with endless money, time, help, and so forth.

I admit, I don't completely disagree with those comments...however, after reading a few pages-I'm quite impressed.

I found the site pretty informative regarding health and food ideas and tips. Anyone who knows me, should know that I've been into cleaner, simpler living for quite some time. Granted, I may not be as strict with our foods and cosmetics as we should, but I try to limit our consumption of harmful chemicals as best I can. And while I absolutely won't be able to follow through with most of the suggestions (spelt flour? agave? organic everything? I don't think so-not on our budget), I have learned a few new things and even plan on making some of her recipes. I believe in a lot of her philosophy regarding foods and health and simple living...and if one day my financial situation were to allow it, I'd absolutely love to live more organically and naturally.

But for now, I'm doing what I can and learning as I go.