Fall in Hawaii

In case any of you were wondering, I LOVE fall. It is my favorite season. I love the colors, I love the crispness in the air and the sound of crunching leaves under my feet. The weird thing about my obsession with fall is that I've only experienced a true sense of "Fall" a hand full of times in my life. I was born in Little Rock, but my father was in the Air Force so we moved quite a bit. We moved from Little Rock to Hawaii to Florida to Georgia and back to Florida again. And now, I'm back in Hawaii with MY family. So as you can see, I'm no stranger to a tropical climate.

Anyway, there is one Autumn that will always stand out in my mind as being the epitome of my favorite season. It was in 2001; the year I spent in Arkansas after my graduation from high school. I was living in North Little Rock with my second family, the Godbees, and my friend Ashley (whom I've mentioned many times, I know) invited me to ride up to Fayettville with her and her family to see a Razorbacks game. She and her most of her siblings all graduated from the University of Arkansas (where the top picture was taken) and her brothers, Josh and Chad were still attending at that time. So, I got a great tour of the campus and it was seriously like a fall lovers dream! It even smelled wonderful. It was that smell that you can't just nonchalantly breathe in and out- oh no, you have to take it in- breathing deep and allowing the crisp air to fill your lungs and rejuvenate you in every way. It was such an array of vivid oranges, golds, reds and yellows that I couldn't help but marvel at the talent and imagination of our Creator. It reminded me how blessed we are, even in this depraved world, to be able to see His handiwork all around us.

All that being said, I tend to get a little sad this time of year since moving to Hawaii over 3 years ago. Fall in Hawaii means, more rain and the temperature going from 87 degrees every day to 80 degrees. But racking up over 14 years in a tropical climate (between Florida and Hawaii) over my life has not eradicated my love for crisp, cool weather and I have to admit, it's hard to get into the "fall spirit" out here. Still, I try.

Since I cannot change the weather, I influence my mood with food. Even if it is a not-so-crisp 87 degrees outside, somehow a hot bowl of chili can still warm me up on the inside. I made a big pot of turkey chili last night and topped it with sour cream and cheddar cheese and some corn bread on the side. Tonight, I plan on making another fall favorite for me...grilled cheese and tomato soup. YUM!



So, for all of you who are blessed to experience my perfect fall this year, take a deep breath, enjoy a bowl of chili and a good book on the couch by the window and roll around in some leaves...for me!

More Fun at the Park

Last night, our family ventured to the park, yet again. When we first arrived, there was no one around and Éva had the entire play ground to herself. I, of course took the first few minutes of park time to shoot away with the camera without having to worry about maneuvering around little bodies to get good shots of my big girl. I got a few of her climbing all of the playground equipment and then a few of her trying to steal the soccer ball away from Paul. It wasn't long before the park was full of boisterous, laughing kiddos.

The first kid to show up after Éva was a 9 year old boy who immediately took an interest in Paul and I. Well, I think it was more of an interest in our digital SLR camera, but nevertheless, he didn't wander far from us throughout our stay at the park. He would follow me around for a while, talking non stop about this and that and other random things and then he'd head over to Paul and back and forth he went.

One mother brought her two children and proceeded to chase them around the playground wriggling her fingers up by her face as she spouted things like, "When I catch you I'm going to make a sandwich with your little toes and gobble up your sweet little ears." Her children would scream and run and then stop to allow their mother to get close enough to cause their adrenaline to surge before they rocketed off again with a high pitched squeal. This confirmed what I had always known as a child; it is most definitely the anticipation of being caught that makes a game of "chase" so much fun. Éva loved watching the kids and their mom run around the play ground and at one point, when the mom finally caught her little girl, Éva looked at me and shouted, "Wow! Momma, you see that?" I told her I had and laughed uncontrollably for a good few minutes.

As I observed the interaction between the mother and her children with a smile on my face, I wondered how Éva might react when the woman tried to include her in their game. I was sure her approach would send Éva running to me as she tends to be a very cautious little girl, but instead Éva giggled and ran in the opposite direction from where I was standing. She then began to follow the woman around just waiting with wide eyes a huge grin from ear to ear for her to turn around to do what she was threatening. Even Éva, at 2 years old, felt the need for a good adrenaline rush.

Meanwhile, Izzy sat in the stroller and flashed a few smiles for the camera. I know she's envious of her big sister. Getting to run around like that and climb all over the primary colored play ground. In time, my sweet Izzy. In a very short time.

"The biggest mistake I made [as a parent] is the one that most of us make. . . . I did not live in the moment enough. This is particularly clear now that the moment is gone, captured only in photographs. There is one picture of [my three children] sitting in the grass on a quilt in the shadow of the swing set on a summer day, ages six, four, and one. And I wish I could remember what we ate, and what we talked about, and how they sounded, and how they looked when they slept that night. I wish I had not been in such a hurry to get on to the next thing: dinner, bath, book, bed. I wish I had treasured the doing a little more and the getting it done a little less”(Loud and Clear [2004], 10–11)
-Anna Quindlen

Oh, how I wish never to make that mistake knowing that it is almost inevitable. Especially for a personality like mine. Always looking ahead, always impatient for the next thing.

Lord, help me to slow down today and all the days after so that I might really see the perfect gifts you've given me. Help me to treasure every moment, every opportunity to teach, every cuddle, every smile, every tear wiped away from baby soft skin with the hem of my shirt. For tomorrow, she'll be a woman ready to start her own family and all I'll have is memories of when she belonged only to me.

Dinner Time Smiles and Dances

Dinner time in our house is usually very interesting. That can be a good interesting or a not-so-good interesting depending on Éva’s mood. Last night however, was a good night. The actual meal wasn't so great (Chicken Picata...a bit too lemony) but both Izzy and Éva were in the mood to entertain and Paul and I were happy to watch.

I LOVE Izzy's smiles. They're big and wide and full of joy. She is such a happy baby and it really does take a bit to rattle her. During dinner, we usually set her in the middle of the table in her Bumbo so that she can be a part of the dinner "conversation." She really loves this and I do too as it allows me to use both hands to eat and she still feels like she's close. She's always very content this time of day and I love to talk to her and coax those very willing smiles from her sweet little face.

Éva mostly enjoys dinner time, except when Mommy has made something weird like chicken picata. But she endured the tart poultry (I think the white rice made up for it) and even squeezed in her Dinner Dance.

Oh yes, the Dinner Dance. The Dinner Dance began when she was a little less than a year old. Paul and I noticed that when she was enjoying her dinner, she would do this sweet little shimmy-shimmy with her hands up in by her shoulders in little fists. She would be in her own little world, staring at her food and then BAM...the dinner dance would show up. So cute. Well, now it's a dinner time fave.

Last night, as we ate our chicken, Éva looked at me and said "Momma, dinner dance!" We both shimmy-shimmied as Daddy snapped away with his camera. Dinner time fun at it's finest.

The Sweetest Words

Éva loves to make me wait for things. I think she knows how badly I struggle with patience. When I call her to me, she takes her sweet time, taking the smallest, slowest baby steps I've ever seen. If I tell her she needs to finish her dinner, she doddles all that much more. And when it comes to her milestones, she's always made me wait. She made me wait until she was almost 9 months old to see her crawl. She made me wait until she was 14 months old to see her walk. Her first word was "Dada" when I specifically asked her to say "Mama" first and now, she's already told Paul "I love you" and I haven't been able to get her to say it to me even by bribing her with fruit snacks and juice.

But, tonight, as I left her room from kissing her good night, there it was; with no coaxing, bribing or prodding..."I luh you, Momma."

My heart melted in my chest and I turned right back around, peeked my head in and said, " I love you too, Love Bug."

That little stinker.

Family Walk

So, last night (after cheating with too many slices of Boston's Pizza) Paul and I decided to take a walk around the neighborhood with the girls. Paul almost never leaves his camera behind and it's a good thing, because the sunset was so pretty.

The houses in our neighborhood on base are nothing to speak of, but the scenery is beautiful.

Here's a few shots we were able to get, trying to maneuver the shot so that the houses and power lines weren't in the way.

Paul's Downfall

...will almost always be sunglasses or shoes. They are his weakness. He has an affinity for them the way I have an affinity for diaper bags (I'm on my third and in the market for number 4) and coffee cups.

Last night, on our way out the door for a family walk, he confessed that he had purchased yet another pair of sunglasses from the Navy Exchange. He first saw them a few weeks ago while we were walking around there, torturing ourselves by making lists in our heads of the things we would like but new we didn't need and couldn't afford. He stopped to gaze at the Aviator style Armani sunglasses on sale for $22 and I stopped to check out a Fossil handbag that could possibly be used as a very stylish diaper bag. He showed them to me and we both agreed that they weren't really needed (neither was my quasi-diaper bag) as he has a great pair of sunglasses already.

So, you can imagine my surprise (or lack thereof) when he stopped by his car, reached in and pulled them out. "I paid cash and they were only $17," he justified. I just rolled my eyes and said, "Oh, let me hold them...I want to see how they look on ME."

This then turned into a mini-photo shoot with his new sunglasses and my trusty $7 pair.