End of October

I can't believe it's been nearly three weeks since I posted anything. Time has a way of getting away. I think I've made that complaint before, ever since giving birth to a fast-forward daughter! We're in the height of Halloween excitement. We've actually been in the height of excitement for the past couple of weeks, ever since the kids decided on costumes. Charlie, frugal and sensible, decided on the typical white sheet ghost. Being that I had an old, white sheet, it all came together pretty quickly. Emi, on the other hand, first decided to be an angel and was saving her allowance for some feathery, white wings she saw. Of course the wings were sold out a week later, so now she has decided to be a vampire. It's a vampire with an Emi twist. I'll post pictures when the big day arrives.

This week is spirit week at school, so the excitement continues to build. Today was green day. Tomorrow is mismatch day. That sort of thing. I spent the morning at the beach- Monday is my day to get a bit of time off during the day. My brother watches Charlie, I get to surf, and this evening is Aaron's card night. He is playing with a group he put together in town and I think it has been a lot of fun for him.

We're easing into our 'winter' here. It still gets hot when the sun is out, but we've had more rain and the evenings are starting to cool down. We have the windows closed occasionally at night, and the fans are off more. It's always a relief. We had a hot summer and the cooler evening are nice. But being that this is Hawaii, winter means we only have to mow the lawn every ten days or two weeks before it's all over-grown, and we don't have to go out quite as often to beat back the jungle!

I haven't taken any new pictures, but I will this coming weekend and post a few.

More Fall Break

It was actually pouring rain at our house but I packed the kids into the car, along with three friends, and we headed down for a morning of tide-pooling and swimming. It's often clear at the beach, because the prevailing wind blows the clouds up the mountain. The kids discovered sea urchins and they actually picked up the spiny, poky things. That's more than I ever wanted to do! Charlie likes to pick up sea cucumbers and squeeze them, which makes the salt water squirt out of them. Like living squirt guns, with a bit of a gross-out factor when you are following along behind your big sister and her friends.

I find that when Emi is off of school time moves at Emi speed, which is constantly fast, busy, and full of movement. There is no down time and activities are a must. Today we'll head somewhere- a park or the beach or maybe the pool. It's sunny, which is nice since last night it rained torrents. A bit of clear weather helps dry out the damp that comes with the rain- it's hot enough that we leave the windows open.

just a quick catch-up

Well, Emi ended up being pretty sick the week after the fair. She missed the entire week of school and I got a bit worried about dehydration but she pulled through. That week was a haze of illness and way too many movies.

This is our fall break, being that we're on a year-round school schedule. This means that I'm busy with play dates and having friends over. It's only Monday and I'm already exhausted! Hours and hours at the beach, then hours and hours of feeding kids and I'm done. Seriously, I think I just ended up feeding kids for the last four hours of the afternoon and then again all evening. Amazing. But the kids are asleep, the house is quiet, and I'm ready to start some homework. Ahh, the joy of an on-line class!