Hawaiian Vacation

Here is a compilation video of our recent trip to Maui Hawaii. We were there for a week and enjoyed the hikes, the snorkeling, and the food! We enjoyed the beach also - Cat a little moreso than me. It was a nice break, and we had a great time, but we missed the kiddos and will probably not spent a whole week away from them any time soon. The sites in order of appearance are:

1) Haleakala Crator
2) Our Hotel Room View
3) The Dunes Golf Course
4) Road to Hana
5) Iao Valley

I apologize in advance for the shakey camera hand in the first couple of minutes. It was about 50 degrees on the top of Haleakala with 30mph winds. I think my camera hand nearly froze off...

Becca Walking... sort of

Here is a little clip of Becca walking with the aid of her little walking toy thingy.

When good cubs go bad

So Bella has a facination with bears lately. When we went to Beaver's Bend State Park a couple of weeks ago, we didn't go hiking, we went on a bear hunting expedition. She even has some songs about bears. Here she is playing a bear and attacking mommy. Becca even gets in on some of the action...

Canon Rebel xsi Commercial Song

Wow, Cat has really foo-foo-ed up our blog. nice...

At any rate, here is a little video clip of the song that inspired me to want to learn how to play the piano. It's a 30sec commercial that aired back in the fall of 2008, and it has recently been put back into the rotation. I tried to watch utube videos to learn how to play it, but it was not working for me, so I emailed the composer Michael Montes asking if I could purchase the sheet music. He said Canon owned it, so he couldn't sell it to me, but there was nothing in his contract with Canon that said he couldn't give it away for free, so he emailed me the sheet music and an MP3 file of the song. Woo hoo I was in business. It took me several months to get to where I could do the jumps in the last half of the song. The correct tempo of 100 is still a little too fast for me. This recording is about 65ish. Perhaps I will get there someday.

You saw a what?

Within the last two weeks Bella has started to see things in her room. At first it was a doggie in her bed, and after being startled awake by her screaming at the top of her lungs, I found her clawing at the bed railing, ready to do a kamikaze dive off the bed. There was of course no doggie, but I did wind up sleeping with her to prove the point. I got no sleep the rest of the night because she kept flailing her arms. On the way to church the following morning, I was yawning and she said, "You tired mommy?" I said, "Yes baby. Someone woke me up in the middle of the night and kept slapping me around." She looks at me seriously, "Daddy slap you?"

And then there was a dinosaur. When I ran up to her room, I forgot my glasses, so when I looked in the direction that she was pointing, I thought to myself, my goodness, that does look like a dinosaur in the middle of the night without my glasses on. And on several occasions, there have been ladybugs (she has always been frightened by ladybugs). One night she refused to get back under the poka-dotted sheets until Todd put some socks on her.

So I've taken the toys off her playtable so they won't cast shadows, I've put solid colored sheets on her bed, what else can I do. Hum, don't ask a question you don't want an answer to. She woke up yesterday morning, stating so sure of herself, "There's no ladybugs in my bed." That's right. "There's an alligator in the sky." Ok, but at least she didn't scream about it in the middle of the night. However, last night she did scream that there was a dolphin in her bed. Go figure.

Piano Prodigy

Here is a little tune Becca composed this afternoon in her free time inbetween her late afternoon bottle and her jars of winter squash and beef medly.

Bella Bits

I've started playing soccer again, and my first game was pretty rough. As Todd put it, "It looked painful." So, I had scraps and bruises all up and down my legs, literally. Bella saw my leg and said, "Oh! Mommy needs a band-aide. Mommy, you ok?" Me, "Yea, baby. I'm ok. But my leg hurts." Bella, "Come on Mommy. I tuck you in." 

One evening Bella and I went over to Popo and Grammy's to pick up Becca. As we were leaving Becca was munching on a graham cracker.  She has a ferocious appetite for graham crackers. We were loading into the car, when Bella notices that Becca has a cracker.  She yells at Becca, "NO BECCA! Don't eat it all!  I want to taste it."  No response. "Becca!" No Response. "Becca, throw it over here." No response. Much later all I hear is a little sigh from Bella as she realizes Becca ate it all. 

Going through the drive thru at Taco Bueno has become an after church ritual. This past Sunday I noticed that Strawberry Smoothies are on the menu, so of course I had to get one. And of course, it would not go unnoticed by Bella. So immediately I hear from the back of the car, "I want to taste it." Begrudgingly I pass the cup back to Bella. And to my no surprise, she is gulping it down. In an attempt to reclaim my drink, I reach back to Bella and say, "Come on Bella. Give it back to mommy." Bella, "Keep your hands to yourself Mommy." Alrighty then.