Monday, April 9, 2012
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Easter baskets
We have tried to make our own baskets every year. Usually this means plain buckets with stickers... But this year the kids went "woven". Except for Elsie-- she just added ears to a Halloween bucket. 
Tuesday, March 27, 2012
Smooth
I'm on a smoothie kick, thanks to a visit to Maui from GreenSmoothieGirl.
Usually it's Jonah who makes the smoothies (see posts about my last pregnancy (autocorrect tried to make it say Prefab Nancy) and Jonah's regimen of a daily green smoothie and the giant baby and placenta that were created from that), but I've been trying to be as awesome as him and feed my kids 12 servings of veggies a day. So far, so good.
Green smoothie recipe (Blendtec or Vitamix required):
Fill blender 2/3 full with greens like spinach, chard or kale
Two bananas
6 frozen strawberries or other berries
2 Tbs flax seed
2 Tbs of some other health food powdery stuff you have in your fridge
Sprouts if you have them
2 cups coconut water or orange juice
Ice cubes if you like the punishment of cold teeth
Blend it.
Give to kids with a straw (very important)
Threaten that they will miss every birthday party they are ever invited to if they don't drink it.
Whala!!
This morning the smoothie is pink however. Had to change it up...
Usually it's Jonah who makes the smoothies (see posts about my last pregnancy (autocorrect tried to make it say Prefab Nancy) and Jonah's regimen of a daily green smoothie and the giant baby and placenta that were created from that), but I've been trying to be as awesome as him and feed my kids 12 servings of veggies a day. So far, so good.
Green smoothie recipe (Blendtec or Vitamix required):
Fill blender 2/3 full with greens like spinach, chard or kale
Two bananas
6 frozen strawberries or other berries
2 Tbs flax seed
2 Tbs of some other health food powdery stuff you have in your fridge
Sprouts if you have them
2 cups coconut water or orange juice
Ice cubes if you like the punishment of cold teeth
Blend it.
Give to kids with a straw (very important)
Threaten that they will miss every birthday party they are ever invited to if they don't drink it.
Whala!!
This morning the smoothie is pink however. Had to change it up...
(This post was made from the Blogger Ap for the iPhone. Well, I just checked out this post on my computer on a proper-sized screen and HOLY AVOCADO these photos are blurry! So much for the iPhone 4xlts or whatever it is! Plus it looks like a .02 megapixels camera. What am I doing wrong? Actually, I always take blurry photos, so maybe I don't want to know what I'm doing wrong because it probably has to do with my personality and I am way too old to try to change that.)
Monday, March 26, 2012
A dryer!
No photos yet because we are still living in the garage on beds perched on our boxes of stuff and I don't have the energy to bring out the gear necessary to add photos... so just use your imagination.
But I can say that a glorious thing happened this weekend when we finally got 220v power back here to the garage and we were able to plug in the dryer!! Now, I am no enemy of line drying (that's how they roll in New Zealand and Hawaii)... but winter is glorious, and warm, and wet on Maui so it was taking the clothes a whole six days to dry (inside the garage, of course, because the carport is a sawdust mess and a clothes line anywhere else would be subject to the daily rainstorms). Plus, I only had enough line space for one load of laundry... any of you can do the math. Basically we've all been wearing the same two outfits for three weeks. But GLORIOUS DAY! we have a dryer! I've finally been able to shrink Cam's new underpants so they don't sag so much (sorry buddy, I had to preserve that for history's sake), I've finally been able to wash Ana's stuffed dog that she still sleeps with every night, and I've finally been able to wash all of Po's cloth diapers at the same time. I feel so much excitement. What will it be like to finally have a dishwasher?! We haven't had one since we lived in Saint George, and that was exactly three years ago.
In other news, the floors are done!! They are gorgeous. Po goes in the house and just lays on them and pets them. Why then are we still living in the garage? Not because it is so cozy. And not because we finally moved enough stuff into the house that there is now room for Ana to twirl around in one spot ("I can finally twirl around in here! It's been weeks!"). Nope. We still have to wait for the electricians to get all the electrical updated and the baseboards installed and painted. It's just too hard to do it when the furniture is in there in the way. Plus it's not very safe to have the kids in the house right now with all the electrical stuff going on. But we are THRILLED that the end is in sight. So thrilled. This house is just gorgeous too. We love it more and more every day.
I know Jonah secretly thinks I'm fairly spoiled to get to enjoy such modern conveniences... but don't worry honey... I can still hack it out in the woods in a tent...
But I can say that a glorious thing happened this weekend when we finally got 220v power back here to the garage and we were able to plug in the dryer!! Now, I am no enemy of line drying (that's how they roll in New Zealand and Hawaii)... but winter is glorious, and warm, and wet on Maui so it was taking the clothes a whole six days to dry (inside the garage, of course, because the carport is a sawdust mess and a clothes line anywhere else would be subject to the daily rainstorms). Plus, I only had enough line space for one load of laundry... any of you can do the math. Basically we've all been wearing the same two outfits for three weeks. But GLORIOUS DAY! we have a dryer! I've finally been able to shrink Cam's new underpants so they don't sag so much (sorry buddy, I had to preserve that for history's sake), I've finally been able to wash Ana's stuffed dog that she still sleeps with every night, and I've finally been able to wash all of Po's cloth diapers at the same time. I feel so much excitement. What will it be like to finally have a dishwasher?! We haven't had one since we lived in Saint George, and that was exactly three years ago.
In other news, the floors are done!! They are gorgeous. Po goes in the house and just lays on them and pets them. Why then are we still living in the garage? Not because it is so cozy. And not because we finally moved enough stuff into the house that there is now room for Ana to twirl around in one spot ("I can finally twirl around in here! It's been weeks!"). Nope. We still have to wait for the electricians to get all the electrical updated and the baseboards installed and painted. It's just too hard to do it when the furniture is in there in the way. Plus it's not very safe to have the kids in the house right now with all the electrical stuff going on. But we are THRILLED that the end is in sight. So thrilled. This house is just gorgeous too. We love it more and more every day.
I know Jonah secretly thinks I'm fairly spoiled to get to enjoy such modern conveniences... but don't worry honey... I can still hack it out in the woods in a tent...
Saturday, March 17, 2012
Need a Summer Vacation in Hawaii?
Before we start advertising to the wide world, I just wanted to offer our house here on Maui to friends and family and my two blog readers out there. We need to go back to the "mainland" this summer for many different reasons, so we are going to rent out our lovely little cottage here in Upcountry Maui. We are flexible with dates, but need to rent it for at least two months between end of May and middle of September. The remodeling will be all done by then, so you will get a like-new Plantation Era classic Hawaii cottage. Three bedrooms, two baths. Large lot. Fruit trees. Well-kept dead-end road close to town. Only 20 minutes to the beach, waterfalls, jungle hikes, mountain biking, etc. I mean, it's Maui. What else do I need to say?
Contact me via email or Facebook or post a comment with your email address.
Contact me via email or Facebook or post a comment with your email address.
Thursday, March 15, 2012
Golden balls from above
Yay! The floors are all done except one last coat of finish... And they are gorgeous. We just have to wait one week while the finish cures and then we can move back into the house.
But living in the garage isn't so bad when our tangerine tree keeps blessing us with better than Costco Cuties tasty oranges. Mmmmm.
Sorry. More blurry iPhone photos. But can't reach my normal camera under the very organize stacks of stuff in the garage.
But living in the garage isn't so bad when our tangerine tree keeps blessing us with better than Costco Cuties tasty oranges. Mmmmm.
Sorry. More blurry iPhone photos. But can't reach my normal camera under the very organize stacks of stuff in the garage.
Saturday, March 10, 2012
Do not try this at home...
Today is our 12 year anniversary! To commemorate we decided to put our marriage through a very tough test: installing wood floors together. We are (hopefully) finishing the installation today after a week's worth of full time plus. The first day or so was fun, although we didn't know what we were doing. The middle few days was somewhat tricky, with stretches of efficiency but also lots of hiccups. This last part has been smooth sailing though. Jonah does most of the hard work, but I'm in charge of the messy glue and all the clean up at the end of the day. Is this a metaphor for marriage? I wouldn't know... We are still in Newlywed stage.
Ana has been the best helper of all, by the way. Wow. That girl is smart and efficient. A true Beer (that's my mom's family) when it comes to working. Or a true Linda. Too bad there aren't five of her. Except when she sits down to eat... Then we only want one. Chow down!
We have all moved into the garage to be able to do the floors--Little House on the Prairie one room cabin style. Cam says he would like to live out there forever, mainly because we took both big beds and pushed them together for one super giant bed. Plus, one bed is about 6 inches lower than the other, so the kids use the crib mattress to make a slide. Poem played on it for about six hours yesterday.
I myself do not want to live in the garage forever, though I've slept in worse places (like in the car, airports, airplanes, and on the floor of the bathroom during a bout of food poisoning).
The kids have found other good ways to entertain and educate themselves whilst we install the bamboo. See photos below.
But back to the main point, I am so dearly blessed to have been married to Jonah. He is a stalwart and loving man. He is completely committed o me and our marriage and our family. He always apologizes even when I should. He's also a total stud. Hubba Hubba!
Ana has been the best helper of all, by the way. Wow. That girl is smart and efficient. A true Beer (that's my mom's family) when it comes to working. Or a true Linda. Too bad there aren't five of her. Except when she sits down to eat... Then we only want one. Chow down!
We have all moved into the garage to be able to do the floors--Little House on the Prairie one room cabin style. Cam says he would like to live out there forever, mainly because we took both big beds and pushed them together for one super giant bed. Plus, one bed is about 6 inches lower than the other, so the kids use the crib mattress to make a slide. Poem played on it for about six hours yesterday.
I myself do not want to live in the garage forever, though I've slept in worse places (like in the car, airports, airplanes, and on the floor of the bathroom during a bout of food poisoning).
The kids have found other good ways to entertain and educate themselves whilst we install the bamboo. See photos below.
But back to the main point, I am so dearly blessed to have been married to Jonah. He is a stalwart and loving man. He is completely committed o me and our marriage and our family. He always apologizes even when I should. He's also a total stud. Hubba Hubba!
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