tell us what you really think

It's so fun to see what the first reaction to foods are. #5 has tried a few things- always has the same funny expressions with each new try. Yet always wants more!
We had beans & rice for dinner last night with a variety of toppings. One such topping was an avocado a friend had given us from an over producing tree.
Ah ha a great new food for #5 to try!

What you looking at?


What is this? the taste, the texture ahhh

Down the drain

Don't you hate it when you throw money down the drain? I was feeling pretty productive today. I browned 4 pounds of ground meat with onions and garlic and packaged it for the freezer. A huge help for me as I don't always like the smell of cooking meat so that part is out of the way. Also got 3 dinners worth of meatballs made and packaged for the freezer. I was very tired after wards with my two little helpers and supervising the older two in their studies; yet very satisfied that this was done. Supper tonight was to be fairly easy: Fish, rice, fresh broccoli and grapes. Let me tell you that fish smelled sooo good coming out of the oven yet somehow my fish jumped ship and landed in the sink. It couldn't be a clean sink, no it jumped right into a big bowl that I had soaking from making the meatballs. No way, I want my fish!! After pouting and trying to figure out if there could be anyway I could save sudsy fish covered in raw meat grime. Wondering what to do for dinner now, finally decided to ditch the fish and opened some canned tuna. Mixed the tuna with some dijon mustard and herbs and served it over our rice. So we still had fish-just not what I was expecting-and expensive tuna at that if you count the cost of the fillets plus the cans. But at least I didn't use it as an excuse to eat out;)



ps be sure to check two post below if you want to see keiki hula

Big news of the day,

if you haven't heard, is we are staying here another 3 years. Woohoo! Our minds have been rolling around as we adjust to everything that means.
The kids seem pretty happy about it. I was kinda wondering how they would take it as they seemed pretty excited about moving but they seem to be pretty good about rolling with the punches so yay!

Some pictures from the last few weeks.

What is this you ask? A Mess you might say....and you wouldn't be wrong but no, there's more......


Well, they were carving animals(cats I believe and they being #2 & #3). We had been talking about Inuits.
Apparently that was a little more difficult than expected(or soap was more crumbly) so they made snow instead;)

Pears were on sale for 69 cents a pound! If any fruit is on sale for 99 cents or less I am all over it! So we got 7 1/2 pounds and made some Pear bread and Pear sauce. Both were really yummy and all gone now:(


Earlier this week we went on a walk up to a lighthouse. The day was very overcast so the view wasn't as good as usual but it was kinda neat too to see the mountains covered. I didn't take any pictures of that as I haven't figured out my camera well enough to get a good picture but here are a few of the family.

#1 running to catch up with the rest. That he didn't hurt himself I am amazed he kept walking right along the falling apart path and would fall himself.

#4 was a little tired near the end. He kept wanting to take his hat off but we were insistent that it stay on. So he then pulled the bill over his face so he could lay flat against daddies back. We thought it was quite funny.

My little helper boy. I was opening the oven to clean one night and this little guy grabbed a napkin and started going right to work for me. I thought it was the funniest and sweetest thing! So glad I have such joyful helpers! (although must note it isn't always so-we are all working on that)



We had another birthday this week. Our girl is 7!! She was very disappointed to find out we were still going to do school on her day. She complained "Why can't I have a summer birthday too!" (Note: all the boys are in June/July) Well the thing is we had a fun day dispite having to do some 'school'. Had great morning at the beach-now when we can't go to the beach in September I think we'll have to move her birthday to the summer;)

Ever since we had our pictures taken she strikes a pose, silly thing:)



Can I say that I love fall? Yes, I am talking fall Hawaii style but it is a nice cool evening. Perfect for the pot of potato soup I have simmering on the stove, which will go lovely with the freshly baked bread that we worked on this morning. Yum, the smells of fall. So what if I'm cool because it got a little cloudy and I'm sitting here under the fan in shorts. I'm going to enjoy this fall where we can eat out on the lanai. Who knows what the next fall will bring.

Speaking of food, I am oddly excited to share that our little guy, #4, will now eat salad. I've always give him a piece or two but he is finally at the point where he will eat a real serving of salad! Hip Hip Hooray!!

Camera charger, camera charger where art thou?

We reorganized our computer area and we now have a missing camera charger. Of course the camera is on it's last little bit of life so I really need to figure out where it got misplaced!



It was this one's birthday yesterday(June 6th, I actually started this post a few days ago).


He's the Big Number 4!!!

These are some cards the older two made for him. Aren't they neat pop up cards? I really like having all the Usborne craft books around. The kids are constantly getting great ideas from them!



We took a cake to bible study and sang to him. He had been a little more cuddly than usual before we brought the cake out-not sure why. But he did try to blow the candles out but they insisted on staying lit! This upset him quite a bit(I believe the picture of him and cake is after his attempt at the candles) so his sis blew the candles out for him. After he got his piece of cake to eat he was as happy as a plum!
He got a little black and decker tool set like daddies. It's really quite cute. Daddies stuff has the rechargeable battery that you slide on each piece, #3's has this piece too(although his isn't actually rechargeable-it does need a battery)
Today we picked up a scooter and helmet for him. He hasn't quite figured it out, I think he walked it more then rode it.
He's a very happy and healthy young boy-we are so blessed to have him in our lives!!

If you are interested in our cake recipe we used this for the chocolate cake. This was the icing-I used some odds and ends of colors I had left over from other events. It was really yummy!
#3 was helping me roll out the pie crust for our chicken pot pie this week. Now he's use to rolling out the pizza dough which is a little tougher for him to roll out. With the pie crust I had to keep telling him to go easy-then I finally realized he was use to the different consistency and was having fun with how pliable it was.
At the park today.

I blame this headless shot on the fact that they kept walking, while I was trying to zoom in a little on the fact that #4 was holding out a flower for me.

kitchen helpers

Today was #2's day to help me cook. To try to help with the fighting over who helps in the kitchen we have a 3 day rotation marked on the calendar. If that person is not interested in helping then I will let someone else help. We recently came up with the system because I needed help with the chaos that happened if everyone was in the kitchen at once. It seems to work pretty well, although #3 is really bummed if it's his day to help and we aren't doing a lot of cooking.
We had Chicken and Dumplings for dinner. #2 is quite handy with the carrot peeler and I found out tonight that she is great at picking the meat off the chicken. She was working on that while I was getting the dumplings ready, when I went to double check that she had gotten all the chicken off the bones I was very happy to see she did! Great job sis! C&D were yummy and some were sent to the freezer for a fast meal when needed. Not sure how well dumplings freeze but nothing like trail and error to learn.

Food and Fun

I made a couple new things this week that got a big thumbs up from the family. First was suppose to be a bacon and feta stuffed chicken breast. But the first chicken didn't butterfly that well so I just cut it up into small bit sized pieces. The next two chicken breast I managed to butterfly well but I went ahead and also cut them up into bit size pieces then drizzled a little oil and sprinkled some salt and pepper and basil and mixed it together. Then I crumbled up some turkey bacon and feta cheese on top and cooked in the oven. Very yummy!!
Now for the next item I have a real recipe for you to follow if you are the type who likes to follow a real plan. I made this bread, so good, especially with some apple butter on top!

#2 and #3, ready for bed last night


One of the new lamps in our home. We have a set of three, all different sizes.


Faster than the speed of light......it's #4!



He loves putting on these boots and dancing and stomping on the wood floor. Grammy, maybe you could look for some in his size this summer-of course he probably won't be able to get those on himself!