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.

Just a little taste of what we've been up to.

We were away at church or family camp this weekend. The kids kept calling it summer camp-I kept trying to explain that it is October(fall!) but it's all the same to them!

Checking out the tidal pool-don't you love #3 with the life ring on in ankle deep water!

Sorry if this appears sideways-not sure why?


Shad playing in the sand with #4


#3 and Lala looking for crabs-they caught a couple!


Had a great time, everyone was sad to leave. Hope to update a bit more this week.

Next week we are going to be talking about marriage

in bible study and I just love the way the Lord works. As I'm cruising around the web today I come across two posts which correlate well with our study. First my friend Naomi has a post about women's role. Then I find this article titled the Seven Secrets for Wives on Above Rubies website.


*******
We took some food to our friends that had the baby last week and got to hold the little guy. He was so tiny, we couldn't get over it!! You must realize our smallest baby was 9 pounds. Little Lewis weighed in about 6 lb 3 oz, it was like holding a feather! He was very sweet(those newborn expressions are so precious!) and the family seems to be settling in very well with the new addition.

Birth

A friend of ours had a little boy last night or this morning depending on your point of view(just after midnight).
I'm struck by the treatment she was shown at the hospital. Upon being admitted she was whisked away to be tied down to all the monitors and told she needed to have an epidural. This was not what she wanted at all! She ended up being able to transfer to the midwife side of things where she was able to walk around, sit on a birthing ball, EAT, and use water as a means of pain relief. Such a difference in care depending if you were in the doctors care or midwives care. I was just shocked that there was such a Jekyll/Hyde care in the same hospital.
I think its unfortunate that doctors tend to have the mindset that giving birth is a problem and not a natural process. I hope that women will become more informed over the whole pregnancy/birth process. Whatever each women chooses is her choice but too often I have found the medical field will not be exactly truthful in giving positive and negative of each situation.

**I'd like to note that I do not think all doctors are bad, there are some great ones. Also not all midwives are great, there are some bad ones.

So yes I have strong opinions in the birthing world;) I talked to my friend several times yesterday and the last time I spoke with her I said have fun. She was like, um yeah-you're crazy this is painful. I said yes, it's like a marathon. There will be lots of work to get to the finish line, but what a prize you will receive when you cross that line!
I'm sure she still thought I was a little crazy but it's such an awesome thing to be around when a baby is born. Really had me thinking that I'd like to get back to working in that field sometime in the future. Right now I feel like I'm right where the Lord wants me, ministering to my children. I do try to stay up-to-date in the birthing field and am happy to help out when I can.

Edited to add: I just finished watching The Business of Being Born and I highly recommend watching it. Loved it! It brings up many of the same points I ponder or support depending on the issue.

What did we do last weekend?

Saw a volcano up close and personal.....



Dressed up as 'good' and 'bad' animals(good animals being native bad being introduced animals)



Sat on an African Giant Slug

......saw a lot of Hawaiian artifacts in a few older buildings. It was fun to see the buildings, didn't realize until we were there that I kind of missed seeing older buildings. Saturday was museum day and we were able to get our whole family into the Bishop Museum for free! Wish we wouldn't have taken so long to get there-it has been on my list of things to do for quite awhile. We had a nice afternoon there.

BTW we have a new toothless wonder.....can you tell she has two missing on the same side?

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!!

Happy Birthday!!!!

Yesterday was my husband's birthday......
Wow, I have so much to say that I can't, LOL!
So I'll just leave it at this, I'm so thankful that the Lord placed you in my life!!

I love you!