I got the job!!! I was notified yesterday that I was hired. I'm so happy! The job is with Hospice of Kona. It will be a part time job. I will be responsible for case managing 4 or 5 patients. I start on Monday, Feb. 2. I'm really looking forward to working with Hospice. I was able to work in Hospice a little when I worked at the Health Departmetn and I really liked it. I have heard wonderful things about this organization, so I am happy to be a part of it.
The other really great thing about this job is that because it is part time, I will still be able to go into Jenna's classroom and help with projects. I went in today to help and the next two weeks will be Valentine's Day projects. It should be fun!
That's all I know for now. I will keep you posted on how the job is going. So, until next time...aloha!
Hawaiian Sunset at Hapuna Beach
Thursday, January 29, 2009
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
No word yet!
Hello! I'm sorry that it has been a while since I have written. There hasn't been too much to report. I'm still waiting to hear from Hospice of Kona. I thought that I would hear last week since I told them when I interviewed that they could contact my references and do a background check. I even offered to sign the paperwork, but the gal that interviewed me wanted to wait to talk to the director. I guess I can understand that. So last week on Tuesday I got an email asking me to sign for permission to do a background check. It wouldn't work online so I had to print it off and fax it back to them on Wednesday. On Thursday, I got another email asking for permission to contact my former employers. I had to print that off and sign it and AJ faxed that back on Friday! So, now it's Wednesday again and I am still waiting to hear from them! I know that they are busy, but I really thought that I would know by now! I am learning that things operate a little slower in Hawaii!! That's not all bad...I think we could all use a slower pace sometimes!
AJ has continued to be very busy at work. Hopefully this will be the last week of really long days. He actually had last Saturday off! Jenna and I were really happy about that! AJ wanted to do something so we decided to go explore a place called the Wiapi'o Valley (why-pee-o). It's a place in the northern part of the Island. There is a lookout over the valley and you can see along the coast for a long way! It's very beautiful! It was a little cloudy when we were there, but that's normal this time of year. Also, it rains a lot in this part of the Island, so we were actually lucky that we didn't get rained on! You can go down into the valley, but only if you walk or have 4-wheel drive. The road is at a 25% grade! It drops 900 feet in less than a mile! We took AJ's truck down VERY slowly!! It was ok, but a little scary. The road is not very wide and in places there is only room for one vehicle at a time, so they have "wide spots" in the road for you to pull over and let the trucks coming up the hill go first. Very interesting! Once you get to the bottom there is a really rough road to drive on to get to the beach. It's a black sand beach and the area is very pretty. Since it is winter, the ocean is really rough and the waves were huge! It's fun to watch them come crashing into shore. Jenna had a ball playing in the sand! She found a big stick that she used to write her name in the sand make a trail for me to follow. After we played in the sand for a while, we drove back into the valley. Again, the road was very rough and it had about 4 stream crossings to go through. I've posted a few pictures of how deep the water was. When you get back far enough into the valley there are HUGE, beautiful waterfalls!! The biggest one is 1450 feet, with 1200 feet of it being free falling! There are trails that you can take to hike back to the waterfall. That is something that we want to do in the future. Anyone that comes to visit and wants to do something adventurous and "non-tourist-y," this is for you! There are actually several places to hike in this valley. One of the other ones that we are interested in would probably take most of the day and we would camp overnight. Jenna is not big enough for this hike yet, so we will wait a couple of years.
Jenna is doing great! She has been invited to a couple of birthday parties. Both of the places had pools, so she got to swim for a whole day at both parties! She loved that! She is doing great in school. I have been fortunate enough to be able to go into her classroom on Thursday afternoons to help with art projects. I think that I will be able to continue doing this after I start working too. I think the job will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday with an occasional weekend on call. That's if I get hired, of course!! I hope to hear soon, so I will let you know! So, until next time...aloha!
AJ has continued to be very busy at work. Hopefully this will be the last week of really long days. He actually had last Saturday off! Jenna and I were really happy about that! AJ wanted to do something so we decided to go explore a place called the Wiapi'o Valley (why-pee-o). It's a place in the northern part of the Island. There is a lookout over the valley and you can see along the coast for a long way! It's very beautiful! It was a little cloudy when we were there, but that's normal this time of year. Also, it rains a lot in this part of the Island, so we were actually lucky that we didn't get rained on! You can go down into the valley, but only if you walk or have 4-wheel drive. The road is at a 25% grade! It drops 900 feet in less than a mile! We took AJ's truck down VERY slowly!! It was ok, but a little scary. The road is not very wide and in places there is only room for one vehicle at a time, so they have "wide spots" in the road for you to pull over and let the trucks coming up the hill go first. Very interesting! Once you get to the bottom there is a really rough road to drive on to get to the beach. It's a black sand beach and the area is very pretty. Since it is winter, the ocean is really rough and the waves were huge! It's fun to watch them come crashing into shore. Jenna had a ball playing in the sand! She found a big stick that she used to write her name in the sand make a trail for me to follow. After we played in the sand for a while, we drove back into the valley. Again, the road was very rough and it had about 4 stream crossings to go through. I've posted a few pictures of how deep the water was. When you get back far enough into the valley there are HUGE, beautiful waterfalls!! The biggest one is 1450 feet, with 1200 feet of it being free falling! There are trails that you can take to hike back to the waterfall. That is something that we want to do in the future. Anyone that comes to visit and wants to do something adventurous and "non-tourist-y," this is for you! There are actually several places to hike in this valley. One of the other ones that we are interested in would probably take most of the day and we would camp overnight. Jenna is not big enough for this hike yet, so we will wait a couple of years.
Jenna is doing great! She has been invited to a couple of birthday parties. Both of the places had pools, so she got to swim for a whole day at both parties! She loved that! She is doing great in school. I have been fortunate enough to be able to go into her classroom on Thursday afternoons to help with art projects. I think that I will be able to continue doing this after I start working too. I think the job will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday with an occasional weekend on call. That's if I get hired, of course!! I hope to hear soon, so I will let you know! So, until next time...aloha!
Monday, January 19, 2009
Still waiting
Hello! I had a second interview with Hospice of Kona, the company I am hopefully going to start working for soon. I interviewed on Friday afternoon and I think it went well. They are now checking references and doing a background check on me. That should all turn out OK (at least I hope it does!) :-) I am hoping to get a call this week one way or the other. I will hopefully start working next week. I'm excited about it! I liked working in hospice when I was at the Health Department. I find it very rewarding.
The big storm that I told you about in the last post never came. If you remember, all of the schools on Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and Lanai were cancelled because of this big storm that was predicted. They were expecting winds up to 60mph, but I think the worst it got was 40mph. I guess winds at 70mph are "lower hurricane force" winds. So the kids got a 4-day weekend because they didn't have school today either in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day.
AJ continues to be very busy, working very long days, six days a week. This is the busiest time of the year. Hopefully things will start to slow down in a couple of weeks.
That's all that's new for now, so until next time...aloha!
The big storm that I told you about in the last post never came. If you remember, all of the schools on Oahu, Kauai, Maui, and Lanai were cancelled because of this big storm that was predicted. They were expecting winds up to 60mph, but I think the worst it got was 40mph. I guess winds at 70mph are "lower hurricane force" winds. So the kids got a 4-day weekend because they didn't have school today either in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. day.
AJ continues to be very busy, working very long days, six days a week. This is the busiest time of the year. Hopefully things will start to slow down in a couple of weeks.
That's all that's new for now, so until next time...aloha!
Thursday, January 15, 2009
Jenna's 8th Birthday and MORE
I'm baaaaack!! Yes, I know...finally!!! We have been busy, but honestly, I just haven't felt like taking the time to write. I needed a little break, I guess. Well, because I've taken so much time off, I have a lot to say so be prepared! On January 6 our little Jenna turned 8 years old!! I can't believe it!! Time goes sooooo fast!! We had a great day. She invited 2 friends over and I took them to the beach. They had lunch, played in the water and played in the sand. They had a great time. I've posted a few pictures. Her two friends are Enjolique (0n-jo-leek) and Eunjean (oon-jean). She had to pick the two girls with the most difficult names to pronounce! :-) I kept getting them mixed up all day! We stayed at the beach for several hours and then headed back to the house. It was also Sandy's birthday (Gus's wife). We had planned to have dinner with Gus and Sandy so that the "birthday sisters" could celebrate together. Sandy's parents were in town and so was a friend of Gus's, so they all came too! We ended up with 7 adults and 3 kids for dinner. It was kind of busy, but it all worked out great. Jenna kept telling me all day that it didn't feel like her birthday, but I think by the time she opened her gifts and had birthday cake, it felt like her birthday. She said she had a great day! Mission accomplished! She is such a blessing to us! She is a great kid (I'm a little biased, I know, but I'm the Mom, I can do that!) :-)
Last Sunday we had a nasty storm blow through (nothing like the midwest is getting, I realize that, but humor me here, OK?) We were watching it come across the ocean. You could actually see the line of rain. All of the sudden the winds picked up and it started pouring down rain!! Thank goodness we were still home! We were just getting ready to leave for church when the storm hit. We were able to get all of the windows shut before everything got wet. We moved the patio furniture on the lanai (deck) against the house, and good thing because the wind blew the rain half way across it!! I heard later that the winds at the airport were about 33 miles per hour! There were trees and branches and leaves everywhere! There was some flash flooding too I guess. Some people actually missed church because it was "too bad" to go out! AJ and I thought that was kind of funny! If they only knew how bad a "winter storm" could really be!! We were told that this was a winter storm for Hawaii. I can handle a little wind and rain! But, I guess when it rains really hard there can be mud slides and flash flooding, so people stay home to make sure everything is OK. On top of the mountain (Mauna Kea) they got 6 inches of snow. They actually had to close the roads leading up to the mountain. Now that's something you don't hear of too often in Hawaii!!
While we were watching the storm on the ocean, we could see whales coming out of the water and slapping their flippers on the water. We could see them with the "naked" eye, but we could see them a lot better with the biloculars. It was pretty cool to see!
AJ has been really busy at work. They are busy starting the process of filling the 26,000 little hives for raising queen bees. He has been gone at least 12+ hours a day, and working Saturdays too. Fortunately this process will last only a couple more weeks. After that, he should be back to regular hours. Jenna and I will be glad to have him back with us for dinner at night!
I have good news! I have applied for a position as a Hospice nurse and have had one interview. I think it went really well. I have another interview on Friday afternoon. Hopefully after that I will be offered the job! It would be part time. I really hope that I get it. It sounds like a great company.
AJ and I are watching the news right now. There is more bad weather on the way! They are talking about winds from 30-50 miles per hour with wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour!! They have already cancelled school on the entire islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and Lani'i!! The Big Island is supposedly going to be OK. I hope so! The waves have been crashing really hard lately! We can easily hear them from our house.
Hawaii switched to digital TV today. It sounds like everything went OK. I'm glad the switch is over. I'm getting tired of hearing about it!! Well, I think I have finally gotten everyone up to date. I'm sorry again for the delay. I'll try to write sooner the next time, so until then...aloha!
Last Sunday we had a nasty storm blow through (nothing like the midwest is getting, I realize that, but humor me here, OK?) We were watching it come across the ocean. You could actually see the line of rain. All of the sudden the winds picked up and it started pouring down rain!! Thank goodness we were still home! We were just getting ready to leave for church when the storm hit. We were able to get all of the windows shut before everything got wet. We moved the patio furniture on the lanai (deck) against the house, and good thing because the wind blew the rain half way across it!! I heard later that the winds at the airport were about 33 miles per hour! There were trees and branches and leaves everywhere! There was some flash flooding too I guess. Some people actually missed church because it was "too bad" to go out! AJ and I thought that was kind of funny! If they only knew how bad a "winter storm" could really be!! We were told that this was a winter storm for Hawaii. I can handle a little wind and rain! But, I guess when it rains really hard there can be mud slides and flash flooding, so people stay home to make sure everything is OK. On top of the mountain (Mauna Kea) they got 6 inches of snow. They actually had to close the roads leading up to the mountain. Now that's something you don't hear of too often in Hawaii!!
While we were watching the storm on the ocean, we could see whales coming out of the water and slapping their flippers on the water. We could see them with the "naked" eye, but we could see them a lot better with the biloculars. It was pretty cool to see!
AJ has been really busy at work. They are busy starting the process of filling the 26,000 little hives for raising queen bees. He has been gone at least 12+ hours a day, and working Saturdays too. Fortunately this process will last only a couple more weeks. After that, he should be back to regular hours. Jenna and I will be glad to have him back with us for dinner at night!
I have good news! I have applied for a position as a Hospice nurse and have had one interview. I think it went really well. I have another interview on Friday afternoon. Hopefully after that I will be offered the job! It would be part time. I really hope that I get it. It sounds like a great company.
AJ and I are watching the news right now. There is more bad weather on the way! They are talking about winds from 30-50 miles per hour with wind gusts up to 60 miles per hour!! They have already cancelled school on the entire islands of Oahu, Maui, Kauai, and Lani'i!! The Big Island is supposedly going to be OK. I hope so! The waves have been crashing really hard lately! We can easily hear them from our house.
Hawaii switched to digital TV today. It sounds like everything went OK. I'm glad the switch is over. I'm getting tired of hearing about it!! Well, I think I have finally gotten everyone up to date. I'm sorry again for the delay. I'll try to write sooner the next time, so until then...aloha!
Saturday, January 3, 2009
HAPPY NEW YEAR!!
I hope everyone had a Merry Christmas and are getting the new year off to a good start! We had a great time in Wisconsin over Christmas. The time went way too fast but we really enjoyed seeing so many people. The weather of course, was typically Wisconsin weather. We saw everything from above zero to below zero to nasty wind chills, to rain, ice, fog, and sunshine!! It was crazy! We certainly don't miss that kind of weather! We have different kinds of weather to aware of in Hawaii. Believe it or not, it's not always sunny! Shocking, I know! Hawaii has had a lot of rain lately, causing severe flooding and mud slides. Fortunately, it has not affected us as much as the islands north of us. While we were in Wisconsin there was a power outage on Oahu (where Honolulu is) that lasted anywhere from 6-17 hours! The whole island was affected! Barack Obama happened to be in Honolulu at the time, vacationing with his family. He was offered a generator, but declined.
Speaking of Obama, our realtor was telling me about someone she knows who was visiting Honolulu. This gal was walking on the beach when all of the sudden these guys in black suits, black shoes (in the sand!) and dark sunglasses came up and told her she needed to turn around. Appearently, she was getting too close to where Obama and his family were playing on the beach!! You'd think the Secret Service would try and disguise themselves a little better! Or at least wear something a little more relaxing! They are on the beach afterall!!
We had a very boring, relaxing New Years Eve. We were still a little jet lagged, so we were pretty tired. Jenna wanted to stay up until midnight so bad! But she only made it until 9:00. The night before she and AJ were both alseep by 7:00! We're on track much better now!
We are in the process on planning Jenna's birthday. She has big plans and AJ and I are trying to downsize those plans a bit! Gus's wife Sandy has the same birthday as Jenna, so we will probably do something with them. Jenna likes getting together with her "birthday sister." I'll let you know what we end up doing, so until next time...aloha!
Speaking of Obama, our realtor was telling me about someone she knows who was visiting Honolulu. This gal was walking on the beach when all of the sudden these guys in black suits, black shoes (in the sand!) and dark sunglasses came up and told her she needed to turn around. Appearently, she was getting too close to where Obama and his family were playing on the beach!! You'd think the Secret Service would try and disguise themselves a little better! Or at least wear something a little more relaxing! They are on the beach afterall!!
We had a very boring, relaxing New Years Eve. We were still a little jet lagged, so we were pretty tired. Jenna wanted to stay up until midnight so bad! But she only made it until 9:00. The night before she and AJ were both alseep by 7:00! We're on track much better now!
We are in the process on planning Jenna's birthday. She has big plans and AJ and I are trying to downsize those plans a bit! Gus's wife Sandy has the same birthday as Jenna, so we will probably do something with them. Jenna likes getting together with her "birthday sister." I'll let you know what we end up doing, so until next time...aloha!
Friday, December 19, 2008
Rick and Deena's Visit - Part 2 - finally!!
Sunday, December 7:
Today was another great day! We went to a place called Kiholo Bay (Key-ho-lo). We walked along a dirt/lava path to the ocean. Along the way, we saw several wild goats! We hiked over some rough lava to the edge of the water. From there we waded through thigh-deep water, and then through another body of water that was (on ME) chest deep! The water was much deeper than any other time we have crossed. I guess the tide must have been in. We made it safely across and immediately found what we were looking for…giant sea turtles! I think they are one of the most magnificent animals ever created! They are so beautiful! The ones at Kiholo Bay come out of the water and bask in the sun. They turn completely white when they dry off. When they are in the water, they are dark brown or black in color. They must have been 2 or 3 feet in diameter. They were huge! We saw a few smaller ones too. It was so cool to see! I posted some pictures for you.
After we made our way back from seeing the turtles, we headed to Hapuna Beach (Ha-poo-na) to play in the water. This is a great beach for body surfing! The waves were really big at times, making the body surfing a blast! Jenna used her boogie board to ride the waves closer to shore. She did awesome! Jenna and Deena made a fabulous sand castle. I wish I would have taken a picture of it! I guess they will have to come back for another visit so they can build another sand castle!!
We had to hurry back from the beach so Jenna could shower and go to practice for the church Christmas program. While she was there, AJ, Rick and Deena went to the Kona Brew Pub so Rick and Deena could try some local brews and buy souvenir t-shirts. I waited at the house for Jenna to get home from rehearsal. When AJ, Rick and Deena came home, Deena showed me how to make a Thai dinner using fresh Ono and fresh Ahi (types of fish). It turned out great! It was so good!!
Monday, December 8:
AJ had to go back to work today and Jenna had to go to school, so I was terribly burdened with the job of taking Rick and Deena to the beach! It’s a tough job, but I think I lived up to the challenge! I took them to Kahalau Beach, the one we call “Turtle Beach.” It was kind of a cloudy day. The water was super high! Higher than I have ever seen it! There is a large lava rock area that we usually sit on to put our flippers on, but that was completely under water! I couldn’t believe it!! It was windy too, so the water was rough, but we went out snorkeling anyway. It was a little cloudy because the sand was stirred up since the water was so rough, but when you got out over the coral, it was awesome! I headed straight for the area where I found the turtle the last time. It was a little harder to find since the rock I use as my landmark was under water! I went in the general direction and it wasn’t long until I found him eating algae off of the bottom of the ocean!! It was so cool to see him!! I took some pictures with our underwater camera. I posted them for you. I went to find Rick and Deena. The water was so rough, I has a hard time swimming back to shore! I was getting tossed all over the place! I finally found Rick and I showed him where to find the turtle. When we got back to the spot, there were 2 turtles in the area!! It was so amazing!! I tried to take some pictures, but it was hard to get good ones because the water was so rough. I attempted to get some video too, but it didn’t turn out very well. I will try and put the video on my blog for you to see. But beware, you might get seasick! After a little while, I went to find Deena. It seemed like it took forever, but I finally found her! I took her to where Rick was, but the time we got there, one of the turtles had swum away. We all spent a lot of time watching the turtle eating off of the bottom. It was so neat to watch. I can’t remember exactly, but Deena read something about what the turtles eat…there are hundreds of kinds of algae, but the turtles only eat about 40 kinds! That really makes a person want to take care of the ocean! The turtles are so beautiful, graceful and fun to watch. I can’t imagine the oceans without them!!
Tuesday, December 9:
Today Rick and Deena went back to Seattle. Before I took them to the airport, we walked around Alli Drive for a while and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We sat on a rock wall and watched the ocean for a while too. It was nice. It was hard to see them go; we had such a great time with them! It was wonderful having visitors and we look forward to having more!!
Fastforward to Friday, December 19...We are getting ready to leave for Wisconsin in a few hours. We have been told that the weather has been bad. I have been praying that it gets better before we get there! I don't mind having snow; I just don't want to drive in it!! We will see many of you soon. I'll be back to blog after we get home. So, until then...aloha!
Today was another great day! We went to a place called Kiholo Bay (Key-ho-lo). We walked along a dirt/lava path to the ocean. Along the way, we saw several wild goats! We hiked over some rough lava to the edge of the water. From there we waded through thigh-deep water, and then through another body of water that was (on ME) chest deep! The water was much deeper than any other time we have crossed. I guess the tide must have been in. We made it safely across and immediately found what we were looking for…giant sea turtles! I think they are one of the most magnificent animals ever created! They are so beautiful! The ones at Kiholo Bay come out of the water and bask in the sun. They turn completely white when they dry off. When they are in the water, they are dark brown or black in color. They must have been 2 or 3 feet in diameter. They were huge! We saw a few smaller ones too. It was so cool to see! I posted some pictures for you.
After we made our way back from seeing the turtles, we headed to Hapuna Beach (Ha-poo-na) to play in the water. This is a great beach for body surfing! The waves were really big at times, making the body surfing a blast! Jenna used her boogie board to ride the waves closer to shore. She did awesome! Jenna and Deena made a fabulous sand castle. I wish I would have taken a picture of it! I guess they will have to come back for another visit so they can build another sand castle!!
We had to hurry back from the beach so Jenna could shower and go to practice for the church Christmas program. While she was there, AJ, Rick and Deena went to the Kona Brew Pub so Rick and Deena could try some local brews and buy souvenir t-shirts. I waited at the house for Jenna to get home from rehearsal. When AJ, Rick and Deena came home, Deena showed me how to make a Thai dinner using fresh Ono and fresh Ahi (types of fish). It turned out great! It was so good!!
Monday, December 8:
AJ had to go back to work today and Jenna had to go to school, so I was terribly burdened with the job of taking Rick and Deena to the beach! It’s a tough job, but I think I lived up to the challenge! I took them to Kahalau Beach, the one we call “Turtle Beach.” It was kind of a cloudy day. The water was super high! Higher than I have ever seen it! There is a large lava rock area that we usually sit on to put our flippers on, but that was completely under water! I couldn’t believe it!! It was windy too, so the water was rough, but we went out snorkeling anyway. It was a little cloudy because the sand was stirred up since the water was so rough, but when you got out over the coral, it was awesome! I headed straight for the area where I found the turtle the last time. It was a little harder to find since the rock I use as my landmark was under water! I went in the general direction and it wasn’t long until I found him eating algae off of the bottom of the ocean!! It was so cool to see him!! I took some pictures with our underwater camera. I posted them for you. I went to find Rick and Deena. The water was so rough, I has a hard time swimming back to shore! I was getting tossed all over the place! I finally found Rick and I showed him where to find the turtle. When we got back to the spot, there were 2 turtles in the area!! It was so amazing!! I tried to take some pictures, but it was hard to get good ones because the water was so rough. I attempted to get some video too, but it didn’t turn out very well. I will try and put the video on my blog for you to see. But beware, you might get seasick! After a little while, I went to find Deena. It seemed like it took forever, but I finally found her! I took her to where Rick was, but the time we got there, one of the turtles had swum away. We all spent a lot of time watching the turtle eating off of the bottom. It was so neat to watch. I can’t remember exactly, but Deena read something about what the turtles eat…there are hundreds of kinds of algae, but the turtles only eat about 40 kinds! That really makes a person want to take care of the ocean! The turtles are so beautiful, graceful and fun to watch. I can’t imagine the oceans without them!!
Tuesday, December 9:
Today Rick and Deena went back to Seattle. Before I took them to the airport, we walked around Alli Drive for a while and had lunch at a Mexican restaurant. We sat on a rock wall and watched the ocean for a while too. It was nice. It was hard to see them go; we had such a great time with them! It was wonderful having visitors and we look forward to having more!!
Fastforward to Friday, December 19...We are getting ready to leave for Wisconsin in a few hours. We have been told that the weather has been bad. I have been praying that it gets better before we get there! I don't mind having snow; I just don't want to drive in it!! We will see many of you soon. I'll be back to blog after we get home. So, until then...aloha!
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Where does the time go??
WOW! I can't believe it has been so long since I have written! Time has been flying by! I haven't even told you about part 2 of Rick and Deena's visit. I will. I promise. It's too great not to tell you! But first I want to get you caught up on what's been going on.
I have been going into Jenna's classroom helping the kids make Christmas decorations. Each child made an ornament out of clay with their picture on it and decorated it with glitter. They turned out really cute. I actually stole the idea from Jenna's babysitter! Thanks Jeanette! We also made an "ojo de Dios," or "eye of God." The kids wrapped different colors of yard around popsicle sticks. This project was a little harder for the kids, but they turned out OK. Lastly, we made angels out of pinecones. It's kind of hard to find pinecones in Hawaii! As you can imagine, there just aren't very many pine trees around! One of the teachers had some from a different project that we used. The kids decorated the wings and drew faces on macademia nuts. This project ended up being mostly MY project because I had to use a hot glue gun to glue the wings and macademia nut heads on. Oh well, the kids enjoyed it and that's what matters most. I was in the classroom 3 days last week and twice this week (so far). Some of the projects took longer than expected, but the Christmas decorations will make nice gifts for the kid's parents.
We had our Christmas concert at our church on Sunday night. Jenna and the kids put on a really cute play. Jenna was a camel and an angel. She had 2 lines and did great! I was in the adult choir and we performed our songs too. It went pretty good. I think I could have done better, but I'm just not that good of a singer. Sometimes I have a hard time hitting the right note, especially when I want to join the sopranos! It was fun though and I would probably do it again.
Jenna's school Christmas program was Tuesday night. Each class sang songs and the girls that do hula performed too (which includes Jenna.) I was asked to make outfits for Jenna and 2 other girls. I borrowed a sewing machine from someone at school, but didn't get it until last Wednesday. I bought fabric, but then was told that I should use white sheets instead, so I didn't get started until Saturday. We both had rehearsal for our church Christmas program on Saturday and there was a Christmas parade that evening that we went to. I'll tell you more about that in a minute. I made 2 skirts on Saturday, but I didn't know the measurements of the girls I was making them for! I had an idea of how big they were, but I didn't have any numbers. The hula instructor gave me an idea of how much fabric to use, so I hoped that what I was making would fit the kids! Jenna had hula practice on Sunday afternoon and then we had our church program in the evening. I didn't get back to making outfits until about 9:30 Sunday night! I still had one skirt and 3 tops to make! I was up until about 2:45 working on them. When I went to bed I still had Jenna's shirt to make, but I figured I could make that on Monday. I needed to have all of the other ones finished by Monday so the hula instructor could hand them out to the girls. I found out Monday afternoon when I was in Jenna's classroom that all of the outfits fit! I was so relieved!! They weren't that hard, but it just took a while to do. I posted a picture of Jenna in her outfit. Anyway, all the kids did a great job at their school performance and the hula girls did great too!
We went to the Kona Christmas Parade on Saturday night. AJ said it was the first Christmas parade he has ever been where he could wear flip-flops! It was certainly odd. The parade was fun. There were some really cool floats! I posted a picture of a train. Jenna and her friend Enjolique made a haul on candy! Founately, she got a lot of candy canes which I am not crazy about, so I won't be eating too much!! It was strange seeing santa dressed like you would normally see him, while everyone else is wearing shorts and t-shirts! We were telling our friends about the Christmas parade in Darlington a few years ago when it was so bitterly cold. We have met so many people that cannot even fathom what that kind of weather would be like! I just tell them, "You don't want to know!" :)
We are in the process of planning our visit to Wisconsin. We will be there for 8 days and we will be spread between 3 towns. We will be busy, but we are really looking forward to seeing our family and friends. I've been told that the weather has been and is going to be bad! I don't mind having snow, I just don't want to drive from Chicago in it! Please pray that we have safe travels!
We had a huge rain storm go through the islands last week. It was so bad in Honolulu that there were flash flood warnings for the whole week. Many people in several different towns had severe damage to their homes - some lost everything. Fortunately we didn't get near as much rain on the Big Island. One day last week it rained for about 10 hours straight, but that was as bad as it got. It actually thundered for a while too, which is really unusual for Hawaii. The rain was snow on top of the mountain. For several days after the storm people were going up to the top of the mountain to bring snow down to build snowmen! I heard of at least 3 snowmen in the area and saw one myself. It was kind of odd to see, but it helped to make it feel a little more like Christmas! I'm sure they didn't last too long! After we get back from Wisconsin we are going to take Jenna up on the mountain with her boogie board and slide down the hills. It should be fun!
AJ had a very interesting adventure recently. He was on his way home from work one night when he saw a cow running down the highway! He said it was really hard to see the cow and cars were swerving to get out of it's way. He saw another truck chasing it, trying to keep it on the shoulder and not in the road. The driver of the truck was driving from the passenger's seat and had a lasso hanging out the window, trying to lasso the cow!! What was he going to do if he did get the lasso around it!? Did he think he was going to stop it?!? He probably would have gotten into an accident! Anyway, AJ helped chase the cow for a while, trying to get it off of the highway. After about a mile and a half, the cow finally ran down a side road and they lost it. We found out later it ran through our church's lawn before taking off down the road! I wonder where it is now??
There is going to be some big excitement in Hawaii this month. President-elect Barack Obama is coming "home" to Hawaii for a memorial service for his grandmother and a vacation before the inauguration in January. He will be on Oahu, where Honolulu is, so we won't have to deal with all of the traffic and hoopla that his visit will involve.
Well, I think that gets you up to date pretty well. I will tell you about the rest of Rick and Deena's stay before we leave for Wisconsin. I didn't want to make this any longer than I already have!! So, until next time...aloha!
I have been going into Jenna's classroom helping the kids make Christmas decorations. Each child made an ornament out of clay with their picture on it and decorated it with glitter. They turned out really cute. I actually stole the idea from Jenna's babysitter! Thanks Jeanette! We also made an "ojo de Dios," or "eye of God." The kids wrapped different colors of yard around popsicle sticks. This project was a little harder for the kids, but they turned out OK. Lastly, we made angels out of pinecones. It's kind of hard to find pinecones in Hawaii! As you can imagine, there just aren't very many pine trees around! One of the teachers had some from a different project that we used. The kids decorated the wings and drew faces on macademia nuts. This project ended up being mostly MY project because I had to use a hot glue gun to glue the wings and macademia nut heads on. Oh well, the kids enjoyed it and that's what matters most. I was in the classroom 3 days last week and twice this week (so far). Some of the projects took longer than expected, but the Christmas decorations will make nice gifts for the kid's parents.
We had our Christmas concert at our church on Sunday night. Jenna and the kids put on a really cute play. Jenna was a camel and an angel. She had 2 lines and did great! I was in the adult choir and we performed our songs too. It went pretty good. I think I could have done better, but I'm just not that good of a singer. Sometimes I have a hard time hitting the right note, especially when I want to join the sopranos! It was fun though and I would probably do it again.
Jenna's school Christmas program was Tuesday night. Each class sang songs and the girls that do hula performed too (which includes Jenna.) I was asked to make outfits for Jenna and 2 other girls. I borrowed a sewing machine from someone at school, but didn't get it until last Wednesday. I bought fabric, but then was told that I should use white sheets instead, so I didn't get started until Saturday. We both had rehearsal for our church Christmas program on Saturday and there was a Christmas parade that evening that we went to. I'll tell you more about that in a minute. I made 2 skirts on Saturday, but I didn't know the measurements of the girls I was making them for! I had an idea of how big they were, but I didn't have any numbers. The hula instructor gave me an idea of how much fabric to use, so I hoped that what I was making would fit the kids! Jenna had hula practice on Sunday afternoon and then we had our church program in the evening. I didn't get back to making outfits until about 9:30 Sunday night! I still had one skirt and 3 tops to make! I was up until about 2:45 working on them. When I went to bed I still had Jenna's shirt to make, but I figured I could make that on Monday. I needed to have all of the other ones finished by Monday so the hula instructor could hand them out to the girls. I found out Monday afternoon when I was in Jenna's classroom that all of the outfits fit! I was so relieved!! They weren't that hard, but it just took a while to do. I posted a picture of Jenna in her outfit. Anyway, all the kids did a great job at their school performance and the hula girls did great too!
We went to the Kona Christmas Parade on Saturday night. AJ said it was the first Christmas parade he has ever been where he could wear flip-flops! It was certainly odd. The parade was fun. There were some really cool floats! I posted a picture of a train. Jenna and her friend Enjolique made a haul on candy! Founately, she got a lot of candy canes which I am not crazy about, so I won't be eating too much!! It was strange seeing santa dressed like you would normally see him, while everyone else is wearing shorts and t-shirts! We were telling our friends about the Christmas parade in Darlington a few years ago when it was so bitterly cold. We have met so many people that cannot even fathom what that kind of weather would be like! I just tell them, "You don't want to know!" :)
We are in the process of planning our visit to Wisconsin. We will be there for 8 days and we will be spread between 3 towns. We will be busy, but we are really looking forward to seeing our family and friends. I've been told that the weather has been and is going to be bad! I don't mind having snow, I just don't want to drive from Chicago in it! Please pray that we have safe travels!
We had a huge rain storm go through the islands last week. It was so bad in Honolulu that there were flash flood warnings for the whole week. Many people in several different towns had severe damage to their homes - some lost everything. Fortunately we didn't get near as much rain on the Big Island. One day last week it rained for about 10 hours straight, but that was as bad as it got. It actually thundered for a while too, which is really unusual for Hawaii. The rain was snow on top of the mountain. For several days after the storm people were going up to the top of the mountain to bring snow down to build snowmen! I heard of at least 3 snowmen in the area and saw one myself. It was kind of odd to see, but it helped to make it feel a little more like Christmas! I'm sure they didn't last too long! After we get back from Wisconsin we are going to take Jenna up on the mountain with her boogie board and slide down the hills. It should be fun!
AJ had a very interesting adventure recently. He was on his way home from work one night when he saw a cow running down the highway! He said it was really hard to see the cow and cars were swerving to get out of it's way. He saw another truck chasing it, trying to keep it on the shoulder and not in the road. The driver of the truck was driving from the passenger's seat and had a lasso hanging out the window, trying to lasso the cow!! What was he going to do if he did get the lasso around it!? Did he think he was going to stop it?!? He probably would have gotten into an accident! Anyway, AJ helped chase the cow for a while, trying to get it off of the highway. After about a mile and a half, the cow finally ran down a side road and they lost it. We found out later it ran through our church's lawn before taking off down the road! I wonder where it is now??
There is going to be some big excitement in Hawaii this month. President-elect Barack Obama is coming "home" to Hawaii for a memorial service for his grandmother and a vacation before the inauguration in January. He will be on Oahu, where Honolulu is, so we won't have to deal with all of the traffic and hoopla that his visit will involve.
Well, I think that gets you up to date pretty well. I will tell you about the rest of Rick and Deena's stay before we leave for Wisconsin. I didn't want to make this any longer than I already have!! So, until next time...aloha!
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