Building and Growing

I took the kids to Lowe's this morning. Every other Saturday they have their "Build and Grow" workshops for kids. This is one of my favorite things to do with the boys. It's really a fantastic thing that Lowe's does for the community. They have little tables set up and they have pre packaged projects. In the bag they have all the pieces with pre drilled holes for the nails. They have a set of plans to follow and hammers for all the kids. They also give the kids aprons and safety goggles to keep. Each time you complete a project, they give you a patch to sew on your apron. Best of all, you get a snack and a juice box when you're done. And most importantly, it's free! There are all kinds of projects they've made: a squirrel feeder, a valentine mailbox, a few kinds of trucks, a measuring tape, a few different games, and today they made a firetruck. Some of the projects are pretty difficult for the carpentry challenged, like myself. But most of the time, they are pretty simple.
My boys really look forward to "Lowe's day" as they call it. Usually, I do Corban's first. On days I'm feeling really brave, I let him try to hammer a few of the nails. I do Corban's as a kind of a practice, because I usually mess it up a little, but learn how to do it right by the time I do Calvin's. So, while Corban is watching, and "helping" me, Calvin is talking to any other kid nearby who will listen. When I finish with Corban's, he then has a new toy that will keep him busy while I work with Calvin. Calvin has gotten pretty good with the hammer. He does all his own hammering. The only problem is that he gets distracted fairly easily. Sometimes he gets so caught up in what's going on around him, he forgets what he's doing. Unfortunately, he does not stop hammering. That generally makes for some sore fingers on my part! But when he keeps focused, he is pretty good. I really think it is a great thing to get kids interested in building. Even if they don't do a whole lot, they really feel like they've built it themselves. They are so proud of their creations. They love to get the patches and have me sew them on the aprons. Calvin has a box that he keeps all his Lowe's projects in, to keep them safe. They really get into it.

Child's Play

One of my favorite things is to watch my kids playing. I like to play with them too, but it is so much more fun to just observe, especially when they don't realize you are watching. That's how I get a lot of quotable Calvin material. I am always amazed with what, and how they play. I know that cliche, if you give a kid a fancy toy they play with the toy for ten minutes, then play with box for a week. Well, it is so true. While my kids enjoy their fancy toys, they find fun in the simplest of things. I could not even begin to count the number of hours they have spent playing with rocks in the creek. It really is one of their favorite activities. Sometimes they just like to throw them and watch the splash. Other times, they like to find different shapes and turn them into things. They like to find the really flat ones and pretend it's a blackboard, then find a pencil-like one to draw with. They've had many conversations on rock "cell phones" as well. The last time we were at the creek they each found one that looked (in their eyes) like a guitar. So, I took a "pencil" and drew strings and a sound hole and such. They sang and played guitar for a long time. Then we had a full day of puns about them being a "rock" band and such. Most boys have an uncanny ability to turn any object into a firearm. My boys do their share of that. But even more often they turn every object into a guitar. And in the event there is no object, they have both perfected their "air-guitar.". They like to have concerts and sing songs. Calvin has become pretty good at songwriting. A few weeks ago he was sitting around with his harmonica singing the blues. He spontaneously wrote a blues song for an attorney friend, Mr. Dan. He would sing a line something like this: "stuck in court all day long, don't got no way out". Then he would blow on the harmonica. I laughed so hard that I cried.

Now that Corban is talking more, his play is getting more fun too. He has a game where he will say, "Eat bugs?". He will pretend to eat like Cookie Monster. Then he will make his word for dirty which is mostly un-spellable, but would look something like this: "Cccchhhhhkkkk". He will then say, "Spit out". He can play that game all day.
The sad thing is, I feel I have missed so many opportunities to see them play. There have been so many times I felt too busy, like the dishes or laundry or whatever chore was so urgent or overwhelming. I know this stage of play won't last forever, so I'm trying hard to enjoy it as often as I can.

Where have I been?

I know It has been a while since I have posted. Things have been just slightly overwhelming the last few weeks. Calvin started school last week. Of course, he loves it. I on the other hand am having a hard time dealing with it. It is difficult on so many levels. I am getting more used to it though. Things are better this week. The first week my plan was to just keep really busy. So, I kind of drowned myself in activities. By Thursday, I was really regretting that tactic. I was then not only overwhelmed emotionally, but physically as well. So, I decided this week to slow it down, a lot! You might think as much as Calvin talks, he would have a lot to say about his days at school. Well, contrary to logic, trying to get any information out of him is nearly impossible. So far, all I know is that he wants to marry the girl who sits across from him, because he is in love with her. Anytime I ask about what he learned, he is suddenly at a loss for words. First he tried to tell me that his teacher did not even try to teach anything. I said if that were the case I would have to call her and ask why she was not teaching anything. So, then he said she did teach things, but he just could not remember them. I have heard that this non-communication is pretty typical, I just never expected it from Calvin.
Corban on the other hand. Well, he cries every morning when we drop Calvin off. He says he wants to go too. I do not buy that for a second. He does not understand that it would mean having to leave mom, while also entrusting himself to the care of people who are not mom. And in Corban's world, that would be panic inducing. If I so much as make a move towards my shoes he starts to hyperventilate and convulse. That is really not an exaggeration. I will say though, that since Calvin has started school Corban is a different kid, at least while his brother is gone. He is so quiet and mellow you would hardly believe it. But he really does miss him. He gets all excited when it is time to go pick him up. Which is strange given the way they treat each other the second they are reunited.
It will be interesting to see how things continue to develop as the year goes on. Hopefully it won't take that long for us to all get used to all these changes.

Quotable Calvin

One night as I was putting Calvin to bed, we were just chatting. Calvin looked at me and asked, "Why does Daddy have hair inside his nose that comes out?" I explained that it just happens like that when you are a grown-up. He got all excited and said, "When I am a grown-up, will I have hair in my nose too?"
I guess we all have different things we look forward to.

One afternoon while sitting around Calvin looked at me and said, "If you are alive and not dead, when I'm a grown up, will you come and visit me where I live?"

Last week I told Calvin that it was Mommy and Daddy's anniversary. I told him when it was and what it meant. The next day I overheard Calvin say to Corban; "Corban today is the most special day, you know why?" I thought to myself, how sweet he remembered it was our anniversary. I was just in the middle of that thought when I heard the rest of the conversation. Calvin went on to say it was the most special day because Nana was coming over to babysit them. Corban, of course, agreed that it was a very special thing.

I have accepted the fact that Calvin is quite scared of bugs. But apparently he is also afraid of plants now. Earlier this week, we were up at Craig's Creek. As we walked along the bank I could hear him behind me saying with each step, "One, two, three, four...not poison oak. One, two, three...POISON OAK, POISON OAK!" He did that with each plant he saw. I mean, it is one thing to be aware, but this seems excessive.

This afternoon we were playing outside in the yard when he yelled; "Mom, Mom, a poisonous tomato!" I had to think about that for a while. I eventually realised that there was a mushroom growing in the grass. Maybe five minutes later, I heard him giving Corban a stern warning not to touch the poisonous tomatoes or he would die.

Memories

Zach and I will be celebrating our 10th anniversary this August. Around our anniversary, I always enjoy reminiscing about our friendship, courtship and wedding. So I thought I would just share some of my fondest memories. This time I will share about how we met and started dating.
When I was in 11th grade, Zach was just getting back from his stay at Bible school in England. The very first time I noticed him, he was showing our Bible study group his pictures from his recent trip to Israel. Then, he sort of came and went for a while. While he was gone I became good friends with Zach's best friend. I was also trying to learn how to play bass guitar. Someone mentioned that this guy named Zach was selling his bass amp, and gave me his phone number. I called and some lady with a southern accent answered the phone (which stands out in Hawaii), and took the message that I wanted to buy his amp. A few days later, we met formally when I bought his amp for $100.00. Not long after, Zach and our mutual friend (who was living at his house) were hanging out together every day. After a short time of this, I realised that I liked him. So, I started praying about him, diligently. He was pretty much all I thought about. After about a month, pretty much everyone who knew me, knew that I liked Zach. Except Zach. We still did everything together as friends. We even started a small band. It was silly but fun. Meanwhile Zach was planning on going away to California for college the next spring. I didn't know what I was going to do. I thought about writing him a letter, letting him know how I felt. Not that it would do any good, but at least I would get my feelings off my chest. I would constantly be asking my girlfriends if they thought he liked me. Of course they would all say, "Yeah, he totally does!" That year for Halloween we decided to dress up as our "glam" rock band. Zach came by the school at lunch time (by surprise) to go shopping to find costumes. I was sitting in the cafeteria and 6 hysterical girls came running in telling me Zach was here and looking for ME. I could hardly contain my excitement. Shortly after Halloween, I came to the realisation that he was obviously not interested in me. It never occurred to me that perhaps he didn't know I liked him. I was sure he knew. I became convinced that he just wanted to be friends. So, I officially gave up. I told myself I was over it and was going to move on. Well, maybe a day or two after that, Zach was getting ready to go to his college classes in the morning. His dad pulled him aside and told him something like, "You know Zach, I think that girl Sophie has a crush on you." The next day after our High School Bible Study meeting, he pulled me aside and asked if it was true. I very calmly (though I was shaking like a leaf, and my heart was beating like a hammer) told him that it was true. Shortly thereafter, we were officially "dating." Needless to say, he postponed going to school that Spring. The rest, as they say, is history.

Pictures of Vegas

This is THE Hotel


New York New York

Not sure what "religious nightlife" is

Apparently there are dieties of

adult beverages, her title is

"tequila goddess"

View from our hotel window

at sunset

Fountain show at the Bellagio

Billboard right before you enter the strip

Outside of our hotel "Treasure Island"

Inside atrium at the Bellagio

each piece is a handblown glass flower

Eiffel Tower

Inside the Venetian they have a sky that changes

with the outside sky

Gondolators gondolating

There is redemption in Vegas

This giant clown was a little scary



You may have noticed that all the daytime pictures were taken from a car window. It was too hot to walk around outside, except at night. Even at night it was still HOT but slightly less unbearable.

What Happens in Vegas..........Goes on my Blog (part 2)

So we are back from Las Vegas and it is good to be home. We had a good time. It was very nice to be able to spend time with some old friends. But in reflecting on the whole Vegas experience, I have come to the conclusion that you could sum up the city in two words: excess and extreme. Every thing is done to the extreme and in excess. The heat is extreme and excessive. The buildings are extreme and excessive. The prices of everything are extreme and excessive. They charge you for things that would be free anywhere else you go. They even charge you for air! Well, you can pay for air if you want, every hotel that we saw has an oxygen bar, where you essentially pay money to breathe. The food portions are extreme and excessive. The noise is extreme and excessive. There is constant noise EVERYEHERE, music is blasted at all hours in every space. The waste and consumption are extreme and excessive. The debauchery is extreme and excessive.
What also struck me is the psychology behind everything. Like the placement and layout of casinos. Every aspect of a hotel and casino is calculated to make the maximum amount of money possible. Casinos are like giant mazes because they want you to get lost inside. They figure you will give up trying to find the exit and you will decide to spend money instead.
We really did not do any gambling, it is just not our kind of thing. But we did have fun. We saw some excellent shows. We saw Cirque de Soliel, the show was called Mystere. It was so amazing and creative. The things that they do are pretty unbelievable.

We also saw the Blue Man Group. It was nothing like we expected. All I have ever seen of them is there PVC instrumentation and some drumming. But it was more a comedy show with bits of that mixed in. It was very impressive, eccentric, and entertaining.

So all in all we had a good time. I will post some pictures in a separate entry.