It's one of those days....

...when it's emotionally difficult to get out of bed. I had some vivid dreams last night. Of playing around the E Ala as kids at Pōka‘i, of shave ice and Teri sticks from the hardly ever open Nene‘u's. I woke up missing the feeling of Kaiaulu, especially after a long hot day, Kaiaulu would caress your skin seemingly out of nowhere and bring some blessed relief. I woke up aching, missing people and places, my hands twitching to feel the sand at Keawa‘ula and drive through first, second and third dips. I think mostly, I'm aching to give these gems to my kids. Far from anything I could ever buy for them in any store, these are the important things I would like for them to have. I know they're creating their own connections and associations with places and people, but they need the opportunity to form a connection with the one hānau as well. I got to thinking about the beauty in spaces. We were camping up at East Canyon a few weeks ago, and as soon as we got there, my shoulders fell away from my ears, and my lungs expanded. We hadn't even set up camp yet so there was still work to be done, but just being in that space, the clear wide open sky, the hills surrounding us and the beautiful lake seemingly at our feet, immediately shifted our perspectives. We got to talking bout ow places are differently beautiful, like how Washington state is incredibly green, and how Arizona has a stark kind of beauty that sneaks up on you. That night before we went to bed Dave and I started talking about how being in such places changes you, and how we are not so far removed from our ancient selves that we are not still aware. We got to talking about how we are shaped by our environment and what beautiful, incredible, lives we must have lived being intimately connected to our surroundings in Hawai‘i.. Our thought patterns must have been different. We for sure operated at a higher frequency in our thinking, our creating, and our doing. Not being encumbered by what we today consider necessities, we must have lived lives filled with spirituality, appreciation and acknowledgement of our minor place in the whole, interacting and depending on the quality of our surroundings for the quality of our lives. Those thoughts are what got me up and moving today. Because my daughters depend on us to share these things with them. Making a goal of taking them home next year. It's a necessity.

Hello World

It's been a long while since the last post.  I keep thinking about posting, but as we're all aware, thinking doesn't always translate into DOING.  I don't recall exactly when the last post was, I'm refusing to look at it so as not to feel bad. However, this is what we're we're up to NOW.

Summer is in full swing, so we've been having 'adventures' with our girls.

At the Natural History Museum...Lehua: "Mom! Why are all the dinosaurs naked???!!"

Plotting their journey through the Wasatch Farmer's market:

Swimming, swimming, swimming: Kalei: "Grandma, I don't want to grow big." Grandma: "Why is that?" Kalei: "Because I don't want to get my ma'i." Good Lord, this child is only 4.

They've also been learning to participate in things more....they like to be observers until they're comfortable, or until someone they're comfortable with is RIGHT. NEXT. TO. THEM. We're trying to work in gently bringing them out of their shell.  The one that doesn't exist at home. Or with their family. The shell that we're always shocked to see.

We've also had some graduations in the family, Raina's and Kapeka's, and Boogs' graduation, congratulations to all of them!!!  Our Pumehana would have been graduating with them, and we're excited for Brianna's next year.  Our princess Pume will be turning 18 soon, what an enormous milestone!

Dave and I have been making strides in getting healthier.  I've been on Vi-Salus for about two and a half months, and so far, 5 inches off my waist, and lost 22 lbs., I don't plan on staying on Vi-Salus forever, so I'm learning about healthier eating, for myself and my 'ohana and Dave and I are committed to working out and getting fit.  FIT. Not skinny.  There's a difference. The girls like to workout with us as well, which we love.  I love having Lehua ask if we're going to do Yoga, and watch her get into varying positions.  And having Kalei ask if we're going to workout in the gym, and of course, Pume just giggles when we do workout in the living room, she thinks us contorting our bodies in yoga poses is funny. :) 

We're looking forward to a lot more adventures with the girls, and we need to make sure we're healthy and energized to keep up with them!!! 

So. Delish.

I made this for lunch today. And it was so simple. THE most simple fettuccine I've EVER made, and the BEST by far. Word of caution. It's so simple you''ll want to make it all the time, but hopefully the amount of butter and cheese encourages you to make it for large crowds so you can share the calories and fat grams. The girls LOVED it. Hubby LOVED it. I LOVED it. And therein lies the problem. LOL

I couldn't be bothered with creating a clickable picture to take you directly to the recipe. Learning that is on my to do list and it isn't gonna get done today. Here's the page where this ridiculously easy, de-freakin-licious, and fattening recipe is located. Enjoy!

Our own Cookie Monster

Backseat convo:

Lehua: Leilei, what's Daddy doing?

Kalei: Putting gas in the car.

L: Why?

K: So the car can go. If there's no gas, the car can't go.

L: Why?

K: It's like Daddy's feeding the car. So it has energy and can go.

L: Oh! You mean like with OREOS?

K: Yes, but you put those in your tummy, silly! You don't put oreos in the car!

Never. A. Dull. Moment.

Feeling like SPRING!

Complete with Spring FEVER!!! The girls keep asking me, "Is it warm outside?" I answer, "Yes." They immediately inundate me with a constant (I do mean CONSTANT. Imagine the SAME question being asked with the speed of a machine gun. Yeah. ) "Can we go camping?! Can we go camping?! Can we go camping?!" And after being asked the SAME question about a gazillion times, (YOU try getting a word in with those rapid fire questions coming at you.) I finally say, "It's TOO COLD." Loud enough for them to hear over their own voices. In other words, REALLY LOUD. They stop and stare at me. Kalei responds with, "But MOOOOOOOOOM, you just said it was warm!" Lehua responds with a succinct, "DAMN." Okay, it was FUNNY, I didn't let her see me laugh, she did get scolded for her language. Ohhhh my lovely one track minded children.....don't you know that 'warm' is relative here in Utah? Especially in March?

We celebrated Kalei's 4th birthday with the 'ohana, and are getting ready to do the same for Lehua's 3rd birthday. It's a little strange that she's turning 3. Because she is super akamai. And apparently has a great grasp of the English language and is not afraid to use it. Example: We're in the grocery store and Lehua points to the woman standing behind us in line and says, "Mom, why doesn't her clothes match? Did she not do laundry?" I'm standing there like a deer in headlights for what feels like forever. In my head I'm cursing the powers that be that I'm stuck in the line of the SLOWEST. CASHIER. IN. THE. WORLD. So I respond with, "Lehuakona. That was rude, and I know you know better. Say sorry." I turn to the woman, Lehua looks her in the face and says, "I'm sorry you didn't do laundry." Arrrghhhhh. Afterwards she did end up saying sorry, but I have a suspicion it was just to placate me and not because she was actually sorry.

These two monkeys are a never ending source of amusement for their sister Pumehana. Pumehana is actually really sensitive, and sometimes their bickering, whining, arguing and crying makes her cry. Lately she's been in a mood which is highly unusual for her. But since she's never ever like that, we're giving her a lot of leeway. She is, after all, a teenager. She's going to be 18 years old, and she's still a sweetheart. Normally.

Here's a video of the two monkeys saying hello to their Aunty Deanna. I need to remember to get her email address so I can send it to her directly, but in the meantime, here's hoping that she drops by the blog and gets to see it.

Sometimes it's awkward...

So it's been a really really long time since our last update. Coming back to update the blog after such a long absence is like running into a good friend in the grocery store. You know, that one friend who is so thoughtful in keeping in contact with you, and you keep meaning to call them back, but like the slackers we often are, we never do. And you see them in the store and for a split second your face radiates the joy you feel in seeing them.....until your guilt kicks in a nano second later and your face freezes as you try to either backtrack and make excuses or hope they didn't see you and you can escape....while you promise yourself you'll call them AS. SOON. AS. YOU. GET. HOME. (But you won't. Slacker. lol)

Anyways, needless to say between the last post and today, there have been numerous funny, wonderful, enjoyable, remarkable things that have happened, as well as our fair share of frustrating, disappointing, stressful things. That's how it goes. We just hope we handle ourselves gracefully in times of stress, and remain good examples for our kids. WE HOPE.

We're celebrating Kaleineneke's 4th birthday this weekend. She is, at this very moment, walking around the house with a plastic serving tray on her head, practicing walking like a 'princess' in her not so humble opinion. She's even practicing saying "Your highness", if only to teach her sister Lehuakona how to say it 'appropriately'. (Insert big sigh here)

4 years went by quickly. Her vocabulary is impressive, as are her cognitive skills, but what amazes us the most is her creativity. She is a 4 year old weaver of stories. She creates these intricate stories starring the clouds she sees in the sky as we're driving. Her emotions are just under the surface, ready to burst forth through song, dance, explanations and stories. We walk the line with enthusiastically encouraging her without her becoming vain (which we're seeing traces of.).

As for Pumehana, well, she's going to be 18 years old this year. Rather than feel old, her daddy and I feel accomplished. This baby was deemed 'unsave-able'. Doctors and nurses told us she would not make it past the few minutes it w

ould take me to go from my hospital room to the NICU. Our entire 'ohana has poured aloha and positivity into her little body, and encouraged and prayed for her and with her every step of the way. Her spirit is tremendous and we know she is filled with the aloha of her ancestors. She is an amazing big sister.

Lehuakona, our 2 year old is a bundle of energy, enthusiasm, and wit. She is by turns hilarious and stress inducing. SHE makes me feel old. Her creativity equals that of Kaleineneke, it just takes a different form. She is physically creative. By this I mean that she finds numerous strange and alarming ways to express herself. Such as....a half gallon of milk poured on the floor, followed by half a box of Fruity Pebbles with her stomping on them. Why? Because, "Hey Mommy! It's CRUNCHY!" with a huge smile on her adorable (well not so adorable at that moment) face. To provide some context, five minutes earlier, she had decorated her sister Pumehana's bedroom wall with dark brown crayon. Which is what I was cleaning while she decided to play "Snap! Crackle! and Pop!" in the kitchen. Today she decided she would paint me a picture. Using toothpaste. On the bathroom cabinet doors. And floors. I'm laughing now, but you can bet I wasn't finding it so humorous this morning. Even when she smiled and said "Do you like the picture I made for you Mommy?"

Mr. Carden and I are getting better and better at rolling with the punches. There's a lot of laughter at the kids' antics when we're laying in bed and the girls are sleeping. We've been doing great at our resolutions which were to spend more time with just the two of us each day. My resolution to read 100 books in 2012 is going superbly as well. I'm currently on 19 books and it's only March 1st. Yes, I'm feeling pretty smug about it. I do intend to post on our blog more often, and while that's not a resolution, it is a goal nonetheless. Hopefully these posts survive in some fashion over the years so the girls are able to read it when they're older. Because I'm NOT writing all of this twice.

FEBRUARY!

Everyone says it, "Where has the time gone?" and we'll chime in right along side them, because we're amazed that January has passed so quickly!!! Our recent club gathering this past Saturday was fun, with everyone visiting and for those of us who aren't so great at making lei (read: TINA) still enjoying everyone's company. We have a fun, and different activity planned for February, we're just waiting on some confirmations and we'll begin letting everyone know.

We do have our Mainland Council Association of Hawaiian Civic Clubs quarterly gathering in February, and we're looking forward to sharing time, space and mana'o with club leaders from across the Continental United States. We hav

e a grant "boot camp" workshop scheduled, which will hopefully enable us to secure funding to better assist in our people's and our community's growth.

We do want to share some of the amazing initiatives occurring in our community, especially the amazing work of `Anapesi Ka`ili, take a look at

the flyer below. It just can't get any easier to stay abreast of issues that impact us as Pacific Islanders!! Please help spread the word!!