Lessons, Love, and Life

Daddy and Sissy making the tables pretty for Family Fun Night.

 

Little Bunny Foo Foo - (this was the only semi good picture I got of her while she was wearing her ears and tail).

 Kawenas findings - Cali disappears when the camera comes out for some reason...  :)

 Hapuna!  It was really windy that day, so the beach was very flat and the tide was really low.  Reminded me of a Mainland beach, save for the teal colored ocean and warm water.  :)

Our colored eggs - all 17 of them.

 Kale bidding an a hui hou to our dear Troy & Renee.

 THE Valley.

"In the sands of time, leave footprints."  Me and my buddy Renee.

 Troy and Renee.

Sad to see our friends go, but what a great time in Waipio Valley!

Wishing on Dandelions causes one to go cross-eyed for a bit.

On one of our after school walking expeditions.  These are the little seeds that form on impatiens - you can pick and pop them when they are large enough and when they are popped, they resemble caterpillars!

Happy to have a few moments to sit down and blog for a second!  Been so thankful these last days for friends, family, and the support of those who love our 'ohana.  Being close to God, being a part of this community, showing compassion, and having deep friendships have kept my soul lifted.  I truly understand what it is to "feel at home" and am thankful I have the privilege of being here in this moment.  Who knows what tomorrow will bring, but I trust God is leading the way.

Nothing new to report, really - Terry's applications for East Coast jobs are still in, but no nibbles yet.  Still trying to get something firm established here, but also, no opportunities.  Been having an ongoing garage sale (thanks Dad for manning them for me, and convincing me when I feel otherwise) to start purging - needs to be done anyway, and makes things easier if we do have to move.

Girls are doing well in school - Calista is taking part in Hawaii State Assessment testing for the next 2 school weeks, which means there are no furlough fridays until the end of April.  She has been a bit stressed, especially since she had a big report and presentation due today (needless to say, Mama and Daddy were up LATE last night), but as usual this little girl pushes forward resiliently.  Oh, my precious Cali Girl! 

Kawena is building up a little bit of attitude, and it's a little surprising to hear some of the reasons she comes up with for disobeying, or her absolute stubbornness.  :)  For example, yesterday on our walk - "Mom, that smashed thing in the road is NOT a frog, it's a chameleon."  I answer, "Kawena, if you think you know better than Mom, go over there, look closely and I guarantee you it is a FROG!"  She answers quickly and quietly, "Chameleon.  Chameleon.  Chameleon.  Chameleon."  End of story for her, no convincing her otherwise.  What can I do?

Noah is in his last, what, 25 days of school?  I don't want to actually get the calender and count, but that's what I heard.  :-D  Eeeeekkk!!!  Still not sure on what he'll do after graduation, but I'm sure something will strike his fancy and get him going.

Kale and his pup are doing well.  Nursing school, and tennis season starts up again soon.  Scooch the Pooch is totally healed and back to his crazy self.  :)

Anyhow, if you've read this all the way through, you have more patience than I.  Lots of love.

Peace,

Mrs. C

Ramblin' wreck

Wowzahs!  Has it been a week already?!  :-) 

Had a great, busy week - girls are off today for Good Friday, so we are at home this morning 'cleaning' the house and getting ready for Union Sunday.

Celebrated Mitchel Kamakani's 16th Birthday this past Sunday with a wonderful family gathering here at the Campbell Hale - can't believe this boy will soon be on the roads driving!  Feels like just yesterday this boy was a little blondie, running around in matching aloha print shirt and shorts.

Our dear friends Troy and Renee are visiting, and we are having such a great time with them.  Sure do miss having them here!

I hosted the first Parent/Principal Coffee Hour at our school on Wednesday, and what a great success it was!  We had 8 parents in attendance and I have no doubt it will continue to grow.  I believe the 'Principals Office' holds a stigma, regardless of how old you are and the reason for being in it, so I figured this Coffee Hour would create an informal environment for an open forum and relaxed discussion.  It also provides parents the opportunity to network and get to know each other.  It was great, and I learned A LOT!

Scooch is doing well, recovering slowly but surely.  Noah is all healed, and is quite proud of having survived his first (and hopefully only) dog attack.

Terry and Kale had their first practice for the adult Rugby league yesterday, and are excited about playing!  Tournaments coming up at the end of Summer and early Fall, hopefully they're ready.  I hear the team will range from 20-50 year olds, so it should be nothing short of interesting - I know the older guys are worried about some young bucks running circles around them, but nothing compares to experience!  :-) 

We will be at Family Fun Night for the school this evening, hosting an egg dyeing event and an Easter egg hunt.  Ahhhh!!!!  Nothing better than 1000 eggs and a bunch of screaming kids - the ladies who host this have dubbed Terry as Egg Security.  I should've made him a shirt saying just that!  :-D

Well, I better get going...hope you're having a Good Friday!  :)

 Love,
Mrs. C

Blogging mishaps, dog attacks, and Whale tails.

Hey You!

I am so sorry for the false updates earlier - I did a mobile blog, which as you may or may not know, is done via text messaging.  For some reason, that function freaked out and separated my text into 15 different posts which, if you are subscribed to my blog, e-mailed you for every new post.  So that being said, if you had a ton of messages in your inbox because of that little mishap - I'm sorry!  ;-9

Anyways, here's what I mobile blogged-

Eeeek!  Lots to digest this past week - where do I begin?

Noah and Scooch were attacked by our neighbors hunting dogs on Wednesday afternoon.  He was walking back home from Cody's (our other neighbor) with Scooch, when the neighbor let his 3 dogs out for a run (which he does consistently but it has never been a problem).  They caught sight of Scooch and went gunning for him.  Noah scooped him off the ground, somewhat out of reach until one of the dogs got up on the rock wall and jumped from there to attack.  He got Noahs hand, at which point Noah dropped Scooch and the 3 dogs pinned the puppy down and started biting his neck.  :( Terry ran out to help the neighbor beat the dogs off, chasing after the one so set on getting Scooch that he ended up going all the way in to the studio.

Noah and I rushed out to the clinic to get his wounds cleaned out, get a T-dap shot, and a prescription for antibiotics.  We waited in the waiting room for almost an hour, and when I checked as to why it was taking so long, the receptionist told me it's because I scheduled the appointment last minute.  I told her, yeah - I called you right after the dog bit my brother.  Did you expect that I would forecast and call the day before?  :-9 Silly.  Anyways, Noahs great, Scooch is fine, he's just recovering and milking it for all it's worth.

Happy we got all that done in time to be seated and ready for Bible Study! :)

I've been dreaming a lot lately, really intense dreams, which have made my nights a bit sleepless - just wondering what that's about and waiting for it to pass.

Just found out yesterday that one of my elementary school buddies is battling breast cancer.  Aren't we too young for that stuff?  :(  My thoughts and prayers have been with her and her little family, she has a brand new little baby girl (7 weeks old?) and started her treatments 1 week after the baby was born.  What God brings us TO, he will bring us THROUGH.

We are driving down the hill for some beach time at 69's - watching whales breach and spout as we drive the coast.  Happiness...

Thinking of you,
Mrs. C

So that blog was at about 10:30 this morning - on our way to the beach, which was INCREDIBLE.  There was no vog today, which meant beautiful unobstructed views.  We met a bunch of friends there (some planned, some not), and played in the sand while watching various pods of whales from the shore. 

 Whale Tail!

T

The day winds down...

Rushed everyone back up the hill so I could get to Zumba, and then a much needed coffee break with a great friend.  Just the kind of day I needed with all that's been going on...

Tomorrow we will be in Hilo for Rugby - the season is winding down, and we are going to miss it!


Talk to you soon,
Mrs. C

Rugby, Scooch, and Being Sicky

No post yesterday - spent all day at the field in Waimea watching Rugby. It was a beautiful "typically" Waimea day, cool in the morning, warmed up slightly in the afternoon, cold again, rainy, sunny, then a downpour just as we were packed up and pulling away from the field. Would have to say being in the bi-polar weather all day is probably what got me feeling sick last night - sore throat, over all feelings of yuckiness. Calista was complaining of the same, so she and I stayed home today while everyone else journeyed on to Kona for meeting.

What I forgot to mention is that Kale, feeling the need for companionship?, bought a puppy (there was a family selling some at the field yesterday) and we welcomed Scooch to the family. He is a mix breed, Pitbull and something else - there were numerous guesses as to what he is mixed with because no one was quite sure. The parents are hunting dogs, which are generally what we refer to as "Poi" dogs, Mutts in standard terms. So, Cali and I (mostly Cali) spent the day babysitting this Kolohe little guy, who settled in nicely in our home before being whisked off to Ninoole this evening to be introduced to his real home. I like this, enjoying the cutie during the day and then sending it home at night. Now I know how the Uncles feel about their nieces, and grand parents about their grand babies. :)

Tomorrow it's back to school for the girls and big guy, finally a full week of school. We forget what it's like to have school Monday thru Friday, so I'm interested to see how we fare. :)

Love -Mrs. C