busy busy..

Man, I feel like its so hard for me to find the time(alone) to sit down and blog.

I don't like to do it when Hallie is awake, as it is much harder to get done.

I have been so busy lately.

First and fore most, taking care of Hallie Rosebud.

We are on the go a lot, either taking walks/runs in the morning, going to the Mothersongs classes at Princeville Community Center(they sing songs and play with instruments), or to playdates of which are in abundance on the island. Not to mention the every day stuff like going to the grocery store, feeding her, changing her, laundry, cleaning, taking baths, ya get my drift....

Joe has been in a class Monday-Friday, preparing to take the test to become a licensed real estate agent.

So, he is gone from 6:40 am till around 6:30 pm.

I have been working on a Christmas gift to all of our friends and family back home in Kansas, which has been a pretty lengthy process.

Then, I am working on the letter "G", that I volunteered (happily) to make for a little girls "alphabet" room.

I am verrrry limited on supplies, because Wal-mart is the only place we have that sells any "crafty" stuff, and its an hour away!

I made it work with crayola paints, and dirt from outside...didn't even have glue. I just used brown pain, then sprinkled dirt on it while it was wet.

I am a little concerned (well ok, alot) that it is not going to look like this when it arrives, going from Hawaii to Canada.

I am trying to think of different ways to package it, but as of now, have not come up with anything I'm completely sure about.

My "G" stands for GARDEN...

Last night was a long one.

Jalen had his first ever choir concert at Island School.

Hallie and I went down towards Lihue a little early, so that we could make a pit stop at Wal-mart, since they are right by each other.

His concert started at 7, but the kids had to be there at 5:30.

Totally not convenient for the parents who live on the North Shore.

I stopped before I left the north shore and got us burritos from a place called Fredrico's for dinner.

Beans, cheese, rice, and avocado.

Joe met Hallie and I at Wal-mart after his class, and we drove to the school together.

We backed up to some grass, opened up the back of the Xterra and ate our food, while running around after little Sugar Bear.

She would come in for a bite, then run off, and one of us would have to chase after her.

Turned out Jalen couldnt come outside, so he did not get to eat until after the concert.

His teacher is kind of "obcessive" about his choir.

Its his baby, so everything had to be perfect.

He sent numerous e-mails out to the parents prior to the concert, reiterating what the dress code was, proper procedures, times, no food or drink,  etc..

They sang a lot of cool Christmas songs, some with a Hawaiian twist.

Jalen got the part of the "bell ringer" in one of the songs.

He did it perfect.

Hallie was not very interested, and so we had to keep walking out of the auditorium with her.

I actually left at one point and tried to get her to fall asleep by driving around, when that didnt work I tried the Ergo baby carrier.

She wasnt having it..so I went back in.

The concert was over, and we handed Jalen his lei.

It is customary over here to give the kids a lei after a performance, or graduation, or any special occassion.

Jalen was a little shy about it, so he would only put it on outside for me to snap a pic.

I am so proud of him!

He did a great job.

He is a very talented and unique boy.

She finally fell asleep on the way home, but not before a good cry..

Stomach bug in the new house..

It seems a stomach bug has invaded our home this week.

Jalen got home from a robotics competition on Ohau, where he got to go with some kids from school, and teachers as well.

They got to fly over, stay in a hotel, and even rented a party bus to chauffeur them around in.

It was his first time away from us, other than summer camp.

He got to eat pizza, watch robots compete, meet new friends, and stay up late.

That being said, he came home exhausted!

They left on a Thursday morning, having to be at the airport at 5:50am! (don't forget, its an hour away)

They got back to Kauai Saturday night at 10:30pm, which brought him home by around 11:30pm.

He went straight to bed, but woke up around 1 am and was vomiting all over.

He felt better afterwards, but slept all day the next day (Sunday)..

Then, by Monday he was fine and went to school.

Joe started real estate school this week.

It is a class which preps him to take the state exam to become a licensed real estate agent.

The days are long, and there is a lot of information being thrown his way at a very fast pace.

Monday, after lunch, he didn't feel so good.

He struggled to get through the next few hours, then came home and laid on the couch.

Later that evening, he was in the bathroom, you guessed it, puking!

He did not sleep well that night, but knew he had to get up and go back to his class if he was going to stay committed and succeed.

I'm so proud of him.

He had to drag himself there, and finish out the day, feeling pretty crappy.

Later that evening (Tuesday), he was better.

Then, after eating a banana, out of the blue, I started feeling a little sick to my stomach.

I told myself "just go to sleep, and it will wear off, and you will wake up fine"..

Not how it happened.

I woke up around 2 am, actually Hallie woke me up wanting her milky, and I could feel it coming on.

I told Joe he was going to have to watch Hallie, and I headed for the toilet.

The next morning, I knew I was done getting sick, but the body aches were horrible.

We decided it would be best for Jalen to stay home from school and help me take care of Hallie.

I have to say, he completely amazed me, and I could not have made it through the day without him.

At around 7:30am, Hallie and I woke up, and I needed Jalen right then and there.

He came and got Hallie, and took her to his room.

They played for a while, then he checked in on me.

I explained what to do with her, so he put her in the high chair, gave her some mango, cereal, and her milky.

I could hear him talking so sweetly to her, and explaining things to her so diligently.

Later that morning, he took her on a walk in our new jogging stroller (which she likes a lot, but only for about 30-45 min)..side note: A few days ago was Hallie's first time in a stroller of any kind, because we have always carried her in a sling.

As the day progressed I felt a little better, so I was able to take Hallie and give Jalen a break.

Her and I laid in the bed together, read books, snuggled, and laid on the hammock.

Eventually she fell asleep. And so did I..

So, after 3 of us getting sick, we thought it was over.

Our hope is that since I still pump breast milk for Hallie, that her immune system is so strong, and that the antibodies my body produced to fight off the bug, she would receive, and be ok.

Time is yet to tell..

So, last night we all went to bed with the hopes that Mom would feel better in the morning, and Jalen would be able to go back to school.

Well, at around 3 am, Jalen came in and woke his Dad up and said he was sick again.

He threw up numerous times throughout the night and even into the morning.

He couldn't keep anything down, not even water, but handled it like a champ.

At one point he weighed himself, and had lost a few pounds.

He joked, "now I know why those super models make themselves throw up, because it makes you lose weight"..hehe

After sleeping all day, sipping on chicken noodle soup, and having his Mom take care of him, he is better this evening.

I am better, Joe is great, and Hallie is sleeping soundly.

I guess we should of got our flu shot....haha NOT!!

I would take a 24 hour bug any day-- over the freaky flu shot!!!



Other than the sickness, we have moved into our new home.

We LOVE it!

It sits on 1 acre, has many fruit trees, such as lilikoi, lemon, banana, orange, guava, and much more.

The street is quiet, and up top over looking Hanalei Bay.

From the end of our long driveway, you can see the ocean.

Mountains surround us.

Our lanai out back is huge, with a hammock sitting right outside the master bedroom sliding glass doors.

The view is amazing, it's so peaceful, and we could not be more pleased with our living situation.

Hallie loves to play in the garage and driveway.

We even had a play date the other day with a little girl maned Graciella.

We blew up the pool, they played in the water, and on her little trikes.

Jalen has his own room, and bathroom which he likes a lot.

The house is up to date, and totally our style.

We feel blessed to be living here, and are excited to spend the next 6-8 months here.

Sleeping GIant

Joe, Hallie and I did our very first, and definitely not last, hike here on Kauai!

The night before, Joe out of the blue said "lets go hiking tomorrow"!

I of course, agreed.

We pulled out The Guide to Kauai Handbook, and started reading up on all the different trails.

It gave lots of tips such as stay on the trail, don't go off the beaten path.

Never hike alone.

Don't be shy on how much water you bring.

Do not eat any berries that you are completely sure of what they are.

Bring compact foods, such as granola bars for energy.

The trails were rated from easy, moderate, and hard.

They also told which ones were "family friendly", and which ones had fruit trees to pick from.

We chose a moderate hike, family friendly, that was 2 miles there, which of course meant 2 miles back.

With a baby in tow, that sure seemed like a long hike to me, but I was up for the challenge.

Joe assured me that we could turn around at any time, and that we were not committed to anything if we didn't like it.

So, we started getting our bag all packed up!

Since we read don't be shy on the water you take,  we filled up 2 big water bottles, packed some snacks, and milk for Hallie.

After a big breakfast to energize us, the next morning we were off!

We had to drive about 20-30 minutes just to get to the trail, but let me tell you, it was so worth it!

The mountain is called Sleeping Giant, because from afar it looks like a giant sleeping on its back.

We got to the trail head, packed Hallie up in the Ergo baby carrier, put the backpack on and headed up the hill.

It had been raining up north that day so we chose a hike more on the east side and got very lucky that the trail was not muddy.

It was pretty much the perfect consistency, a little moist for traction, but not too much at all.

I led the way with Hallie on my back because Joe tends to take off like a rocket ship, or should I say speed *RACER* , and I cant keep up.

Your only as fast as the slowest person, they say.

As I climbed the mountain side, I was amazed at all the vegetation that surrounded us.

It was so lush, green and beautiful!

Every so often we would come to a clearing, where we could see out over the island and ocean.

It was absolutely breath taking!

The trail was very well established, so we had no troubles knowing where to go next.

Some of it was pretty easy, and then there would be these big lava boulders along with small ones we had to climb up and maneuver.

My heart was definitely pounding at times, and the sweat was starting to seep out of my pores.

My back was the hottest of all because little Hallie Rose was right up against me.

She was loving it the whole time!

We would stop every so often and get a drink of water, and let her feel the green leaves or flowers which she loved to pick and hold onto.

Once we reached the 1 mile marker, I decided it was time to switch roles.

Joe took Hallie and I took the backpack which was filled with our water, snacks, diapers, and milk.

He said Hallie felt lighter than the pack, and I said the backpack felt lighter, so it worked out nicely.

A little after the 1 mile marker, we came across a couple with two kids on their backs.

They were from Canada,  names were Jamie and Samantha.

Their kids were 4 years old (Harrison), and 9 months (Taylor).

They had obviously done this before, as the back packs they had their kids in were awesome!

So comfy for the child and the adult carrying.

Lots of room for storage, and even a little umbrella thing above the child in case of rain.

We spoke with them for a while and ended up hiking the rest of the way up with them.

At the top, there was a clearing with 2 picnic tables, and 2 lookouts.

We all just sat around, the kids played, ate food, and re hydrated.

After about 30-45 minutes of rest, we decided we would head back down.

It was getting to be about time for Hallie to take a nap, so we figured we would get going.

Good-byes were said, and we were headed downhill.

Joe carried Hallie on the front this time, for safety reasons.

I felt if he were to slip, he would most likely hit his butt, and possibly smash Hallie.

As we headed down, we had time to chat about life, us, our kids, and other things.

It was a great bonding experience for us.

Oh, and let me tell you, downhill wasn't that much easier physically than uphill.

My thighs were burning and I was definitely sweating!

By the time we reached the bottom, Hallie was fast asleep curled up next to her Daddy's chest, all tuckered out from her very first hiking experience.

Joe and I drank a lot of water, then headed out.

We realized we were starving, after all, we had just hiked 4 miles!!

So, we stopped at a local health food store called Papayas.

We both made huge salads at their sweet salad bar, and for dessert shared a piece of cheesecake.

It was such a fun day, and we both cannot wait to go on another hike!

Unfortunately, Jalen has no interest in hiking at this point in his life.

He would rather be surfing, body boarding, or swimming in the ocean or pool.

We are loving Kauai and all that it has to offer.

Our family is able to bond in ways we never thought possible.

We are learning new things about each other everyday, and getting to experience things together that we never dreamed of!

We are blessed and thank God everyday for those blessings.

Happy Thanksgiving!!!!

What a wonderful Thanksgiving we had this year!

It was the first time Joe or I was away from our family, but we were excited to spend it as a family in Hawaii!

Since we don't eat a lot of meat, planning the menu was going to be interesting.

The month before Thanksgiving, Joe and I wanted to take our "healthy lifestyle" to another level.

He did a detox, I didn't because I am still lactating and they do not recommend it because the toxins that are released can enter into the breast milk.

We excluded gluten, dairy, meat, and sugar from our diet. We were basically vegan.

It felt really good.

We ate a lot of veggies, fruits, beans, smoothies, and other products such as cheese substitutes.

Along with vitamins, protein powder, and superfoods.

Back to Thanksgiving....

That morning we woke up to a beautiful blue sky and cool weather.

I went on a run, and then we made omelette's for breakfast.

After that we packed up and headed to Hanalei Beach.

After hanging out, playing in the sand, and body boarding, we decided to go home and get things cooking.

We were invited to a pot luck on the beach, but because of Hallie's nap schedule, we opted out.

I had already brought a platter of fudge brownies and lemon mini muffins for the pot luck, that I did not want to take home or waste.

So, I had the idea to walk down the beach and give them away to the people (mostly tourists) laying on the sand.

The kids loved it!

We walked up to people and happily said "Happy Thanksgiving, would you like a brownie or lemon muffin"?

The smiles made me feel very good inside, and made me want to do that more often.

Once we finally made it home, we put Hallie down, and I realized we didn't have any appetizers.

Joe offered to go to Foodland and "hook it up".

He came home with goat cheese, crackers, chips and dips.

All stuff we don't normally eat.

So, Joe, Jalen and I took our snacks outside on the lanai and sat at the big table and played Monopoly.

It was fun!

We got in about an hour of fun before little Sugar bear woke up.

That was the end of our game, as we tried to continue, but she kept wanting to grab the dice and money.

We then went inside and started to finish making our feast.

It was around 5:00 by then, and we still had to make the mashed potatoes, gravy, and crescent rolls.

Since we dont eat meat, but Jalen does, I did not want to buy or cook a whole turkey.

I ended up getting a rotisserie chicken, and a couple pieces of mahi mahi.

Everything turned out so so yummy!

We had chicken, fish, cheesy potato casserole, cream corn, sweet potato bake, mashed potato and gravy, crescent rolls and cranberry sauce.

I was so excited for dessert, which was a chocolate macadamia nut pie made at a local bakery. Vanilla ice cream was to top it.

I ate so much that I couldn't even touch dessert.

But not to fret, I had a piece the next day, and it was very good!

Jalen loves french silk pie, so I got him a single piece of chocolate creme pie which he devoured after dinner.

At dinner, we went around and said what we were thankful for.

ME
My Mom and Dad~they are always so supportive of all the decisions I make in life and show unconditional love to me always.
My beautiful family, I feel so blessed to have 2 awesome kids and a dreamy husband!
The opportunity to live in Hawaii
God~I'm so thankful to believe in my heart that there is a higher power helping guide me throughout life.

JOE
He was thankful for his Grandpa "papa" Gill, who has given us the means to live the life we do.
December 31, 2001~the day he met me:)
Our family~wife and kids he loves so much
Susan~who has helped him discover himself and lead him down the path he is happily on.

JALEN
He said he was thankful for being able to help people, like how we did earlier in the day by giving away brownies and muffins.
His family.
His little sister.

I just feel so blessed and am beyond thankful for so much my life has given to me.

We are very happy as a family and enjoying bonding here in paradise!!

~ALOHA~

a whole lot of nothing!

Man, Im having a total brain fart!!!

I cant think of anything specific I want to blog about.

I have all these random thoughts, but they are in no way connected, except that they are my thoughts:)

Part of me wants to say, "screw it, Im not going to blog today", and go hit the beach..

The other part of me says, UPDATE YOUR BLOG CARLIE BESS!! lol

Today is my day to do whatever I want, while Joe is taking care of Hallie, so I need to take advantage of my time.

Since we are both so fortunate to not have to work while here in Hawaii, we had to come up with something to give us space:)

So, he goes and does his own thing 2 days a week, I go do my thing 2 days, and then we go do stuff as a family on the other days.

It has been working out well.

On my day, I usually am laying on a beach, blogging, or doing nothing!

While he is usually out running around "getting things done"...

I guess thats the difference between him and I.




Anyway...

I am still not concrete on a post today, so I will just say that Im good, Joe is good, Jalen is doing fine, and Hallie Rose is happy.

We are going camping this weekend at a beach park called Annini.

It will be our first time camping with little Sugar Bear.

We are excited!!

I will post some pics and an update on how it went next week:)

~ALOHA~

Chicken Pox

We think Hallie had the Chicken Pox recently.

I say "think" because we didn't take her to the doctor to get an actual diagnosis.

I looked up a lot of pictures on the computer, and I am pretty sure that's what is was.

She started with a low grade fever which is very typical of chicken pox.

The next day she had these little bumps on her legs and back.

They started looking like small blister bumps, and more were popping up all over.

Then they started to itch a little.

We got some calamine lotion for the itch and she was acting pretty normal.

She would sit so still as we applied it to every bump we could.

After a few days, there were no more showing up, and the one's she had were starting to scab over and heal.

They are very faint now, and she is feeling good.

We are not sure where she would have been exposed since most kids are vaccinated against chicken pox these days, and very few kids get them.

We did go to a play group with some other kids a few weeks ago, but I don't know that any of them having it.

Who knows..all I know is she is better now, and I'm happy.

Halloween Hawaii style

As I sit here at the Kilauea Bakery, trying to decide what to write about, the first thing that comes to mind is Kilauea.

It is a small town/beach town about 15 min south of where we live, in Princeville.

This is were the Fall Fun Festival was last night for Halloween.

They had different stations with balloon darts, petting zoo, angry birds(sling shot a basketball into some stuff trying to knock it down), jail (pay 5 tickets to have your kid "arrested" and put in a cell for 5 minutes~which we did and they came got Jalen:), smash car (pay 2 tickets to beat up a real car for 2 minutes), book fair, oh and Jalen's favorite~air soft gun wars.

Hallie was the most cutest and prettiest little hula girl ever!

She wore it well and rang in a ton of compliments.

Jalen was "Jason", the scary guy with a hockey mask~right up his alley.

He wanted to carry the real machete, but settled for one he made out of foam and duct tape.

When we left the festival, we dropped Jalen off in Princeville to go trick-or-treating with his friend Adam from Island School.

Joe, Hallie and I drove around looking for food, but eventually ended up at home having smoothies and leftovers.

Boooo...

When Jalen got home, I had him give me a snickers and a twix, then headed to bed.

It was a good first Halloween in Hawaii.

Hawaii craziness

Whew, its been a crazy few weeks.

Trying to decide where to start....

I posted a while back about those pesky critters on the island that I despise so very much.

Those damn centipedes!!

Joe was going to the bathroom one night a few weeks ago, and got bit, or should I say stung by one.

A big black one.

The master bedroom is on the 3rd level, and to get to the bathroom, we have to walk outside, down some stairs, unlock the door to the 2nd level, and find our way to the bathroom.

Now, at 4 am, when your eyes are blurry and stinging because your so tired, it can be difficult and a pain in the ass to say the least.

I try and hold it for as long as possible, but Joe cant do that.

We got a key chain with a small flashlight to make it easier to see where we were going.

Joe had just got back in our door, and all I heard was "oh crap, it bit me"!

I sat up and said "kill it"!

I knew exactly what it was.

He shined the light in the corner of our room, and there it was, a HUGE black centipede.

It got him on the side of his foot.

He proceeded to hit it like 10 times with the only thing we had in reach..a trash can.

The thing finally died, and Joe realized that the sting was pretty painful.

He couldn't go back to sleep, so he went downstairs to put ice on his foot.

I cuddled Hallie back to sleep, and was so paranoid that there were more.

I kept getting my iphone flashlight out and checking our bed.

It was CREEPY!!

I would post a pic, Joe did take some of it, but I am to scared to even look at them.

He said it was very BIG!

We had already been thinking it, but after the centipede attack, we decided that the house we were living in was not for us.

It was not the most kid-friendly house.

There was no yard for Hallie or Jalen to play, and the road was a dirt road, so bike riding and skateboarding were out of the question.

It was also very far out from anyone or anything.

I mean, there were people, but the closest town was 10 minutes, and Jalens school was 1 hour away.

The long bus ride there was getting to J, and I don't blame him.

So, Joe and I were on the hunt for a new place to live.

Luckily our lease was month to month so moving was an option for us.

One of my best girlfriends, Bridget,  from middle school and high school came out to visit me shortly after that.

I was so excited to have a friend come visit!!

She stayed in the studio apt downstairs, and we had a blast!

We went to a few different beaches, out to eat, drank mimosas, celebrated my 34th birthday, went to church, hiked to a waterfall, went on morning runs, enjoyed a girls day, and had a ball!

Joe really enjoyed having her there also.

It was fun for us all to see a familiar face, and have a friend to entertain.

Hallie got really used to Bridget being there, and would look for her in the mornings.

Bridget, the awesome friend that she is, even watched my kids for a night so Joe and I could go have a date.

It was her birthday gift to me:)

We hadn't got to go anywhere just the two of us in months, so it was really really nice.

We ate at Postcards Cafe in Hanalei, and it did not disappoint.

The fish I got, seafood pasta he got, and the chocolate lava cake was all so scrumptious!

So, leading into the events that unfolded these past few weeks....

It was Bridget's last day on the island, and we let Jalen stay home from school so that we could all take her snorkeling for her first time.

We headed up to Tunnels Beach at about 9 am.

Great time on the beach, good snorkeling(I saw a big sea turtle up close), and overall good morning.

We were headed back to the house, when something totally unexpected and frightening happened.

We were all in the car, 3 adults, 2 kids.

Some crazy man with an apparent case of road rage pulled up behind us, and proceeded to fly by us.

Mind you we are on a very small and narrow 2 lane highway.

Joe had his arm out the window already, just feeling the cool breeze.

As the guy flew around us, he kind of lifted his hand up, like "dude, what are you doing that for"?

Well, big mistake.

The guy slammed on his brakes, got behind us, stopped his car, got out and was pointing a huge gun at us.

This was not just any ol' gun.

This was a big black assault rifle.

Now weather or not it was real, we don't know.

At the time, it sure felt real!!

Bridget screamed "hes got a gun" and we drove off.

He raced in his car and proceeded to pass us again, as we all ducked thinking he was going to shoot.

Bridget layed over Hallie Rose (she was sitting next to her), I sunk down in my seat, Jalen crossed his arms and tried to melt into his seat as much as possible, and Joe said "hold on", as he slammed on the brakes of the car to get away from this crazy fool!!

Thank God he did not shoot, and drove off.

We pulled over and called the cops.

Long story short, they know who the guy is (its a small island), and turns out he lived 5 houses down from us!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

The cops cannot do much until they catch him with the gun.

We felt like the signs were all telling us we were not meant to be living there anymore, and we were scared of that crazy guy.

Not to mention, another centipede was found in our bathroom the night before this all happened.

Joe had to use his ninja skills and kill it with a butcher knife.

SICK!

That day we all piled in the car to take Bridget to the airport, and never went back.

I take that back, Joe and I have been back (separately) to clean the house and pack up what little stuff we had there.

We found a condo to rent the day this all happened, and have been living there every since.

It is in a very nice part of the island, populated, and safe.

Its unfortunate that we had to go through such crap to get us where we are at today, but everything happens for a reason.

The condo has a pool just steps away, and it works out perfectly for Jalens school.

It is closer, and the bus comes here to pick him up.

We found a house that we really like a lot, and just found out yesterday we are the owners first pick to move in as tenants.

It is in this same town as our condo, on an acre of land and a very nice home.

The owner has not ever seen a centipede in his house, and assures us we will not see one either.

It has been a crazy ride the past month or so, but we are hopeful our luck is turning around.

We love Kauai and don't want to let a few random incidents give us a bad impression or ruin our time here.

So, that's the update on our Hawaii life.

Until next time......

Pray for light and love to follow our family <3

10 random facts about Hawaii

1. It rains, or at least sprinkles everyday, if not every other day.

2. There are no snakes on any of the Hawaiian islands.

3. There are little lizards all over, including in our house. Harmless though.

4. The locals have a lingo all their own, its called "pigeon".

5. Included in "pigeon", is the word "yeah" after every sentence..example: "Today was a good day at the beach, yeah". Or "I'm really craving tacos for dinner, yeah". lol

6. Bethany Hamilton, the girl who got her arm bit off by a shark and then became a professional surfer, is from the same town we live in. The beach where she got attacked is about 3 minutes from our house. And there is a new movie out about her story, called Soul Surfer. Go rent it!

7. Hawaii has very cool nights and mornings. We even use a down comforter at night.  It then warms up from around 11-5.

8. There are chickens and roosters all over the islands. There was a hurricane back in the 90's which washed out farms, and displaced the chickens and roosters. They are everywhere, and will definitely wake you up every morning at around 5 am, until you get used to them and can sleep through it.

9. The food here is very expensive! Especially on the North Shore. 1/2 gallon of coconut milk $7, box of organic cereal $6, block of organic cheese $7, dozen organic eggs $8, bag of organic tortilla chips $5..the list goes on and on..

10. Everyone here drives R~E~A~L~L~Y slow..if the speed limit signs states 25 mph, they go 15..if the speed limit sign says 35 mph, they go 25..if it says 50 mph(which is the highest it gets), they go 40..sometimes it can be really annoying, especially if your in a hurry to get somewhere. I just tell myself to chill out, and relax!

Jalen for Island School VP!

I am so proud of my 12 year old!

He is one of the neatest kids I have ever met.

He just started his new school 2 weeks ago, and is already running for student body VP.

To prepare, he had to write a speech (I helped him).

We told him he should memorize it, being that he has no problem reading something a few times, and knowing it by heart.

We thought that would make an impression on the kids and teachers listening.

He sat down and in about an hour or two, he had it down pat.

We practiced in our living room over and over.

At one point, we were all having a laughing fit, for no apparent reason.

It took about 10 times of trying to get it recorded, because one of us (Joe, Jalen or I) would laugh, which in turn would make him laugh and mess up:)

Hallie just sat there chugging her milky, and looking at us like we were crazy!

He finally did it without laughing.

<<insert video, freakin' blogger won't let me..grrr( I will try later )>>


Jalen did a great job on his speech at school , and got many compliments from teachers and students.

He felt it was going to be a close race, being that there was a 6th grader, 7th grader(Jalen), and an 8th grader.

He had lots of kids who came up to him and told him he did a good job and that they voted for him.

There was also those kids who said they were going to vote for Jade, the 8th grade girl running.

He said it was between him or Jade.

So, the results are in......

Unfortunately, he didn't win:(

Gosh darn it!

Joe and I were so pumped that he had the guts to try out for such a thing, and did SO good on his speech.

BUT, we also feel it is a great learning experience, and that someday, good things will come his way.

He has a knack for talking in front of people, and is very well spoken.

WE ARE SO PROUD OF YOU J-BIRD!!

You get an A for effort:)

Just another day in paradise:)

Today was a great Sunday, and its not over yet.

Hallie woke up at around 7:30, and Joe got up with her.

I slept until about 8:45, when I woke up after a weird dream of being at McDonalds.

I was buying a smoothie, biscuits n gravy, water, hash browns, and a coffee for Joe.

I kept thinking, "why am I getting crappy McDonald's"?!?

"why does Joe want coffee, when he knows it messes with his system"?!?

Then, the cashier guy, led me to a locked door that only McDonald's employees could enter.

Behind the doors, was an amazing department store, with anything and everything you could want.

Then I woke up...


It was a very cool, crisp morning today.

I put on my pajama pants and a sweatshirt.

We have noticed the past few night, its been very cold at night.

So cold, we are all 3 wrapped up together in our down comforter.

Hallie doesn't like to sleep with anything but a diaper, so I try and snuggle her as much as possible.

The mornings here are the most beautiful part of the day, in my opinion.

The cool air is a great break from the hot afternoon sun.

I'm not usually a morning person, but in Hawaii I don't seem to mind getting up and around.

When I came downstairs, Joe and Hallie were just playing around on the floor.

Hallie came right over to me, and wanted me.

I scooped her up and gave her a big ol' good morning hug!

Joe and I chatted for a bit about our plans for the day, and he was off to go run on the beach.

I woke J-bird up, and told him to get ready for church!

We have never been to church as a family before.

Joe is not the most spiritual person on the planet, and definitely not religious.

I was pleased when he brought up wanting to go try out this cute church in Hanalei.

So, I started pumping, all the while I was making toast, brushed my teeth, and ordering Jalen around to help me out. lol

BTW..its not a "hand's free" pump, so I had to hold it up to me, carry around the pump, AND get things done.

I didn't want to be late.

We were out the door, and on our way to meet Joe at church.

As we arrived, there were many people who you could tell were visitors.

They were taking lots of pictures of the church, inside and out.

The dress was very casual, one guy even wearing a tank top and sunglasses.

This church was built in 1884, and is the prettiest church Ive ever been to.

The back drop is like nothing you have ever seen before.

As we entered and picked a seat in the back, we watched as the lady who greeted us pulled on the thick rope to ring the church bell.

Right away, they started playing Hawaiian music and instruments.

They then had everyone who was new, stand and say their name and where they were from.

Joe told them our names, and where we moved from.

Oddly enough, there were 2 other groups there from Kansas.

The service was very laid back, and the songs were sang partly in Hawaiian and partly in English.

It was very cool.

Jalen got invited to go off with the kids to Sunday school, which he enjoyed alot.

They got to sew a bing bag, and next week they will learn to juggle them.

I walked around alot outside with Hallie, as you can imagine she was not wanting to sit.

After the service, many people came up to us and introduced their selves.

It felt good to know they were so welcoming and nice.

The feel of community here is awesome!

We will be going back next week.

After that, we headed over to Harvest Market (the natural food store) to get smoothies, and some food for Hallie.

We sat outside in the shade and filled our bellies.

Joe got an avocado, carrots, sprouts, and tomato sandwich.

I got a smoothie and some pirate booty.

Jalen got a burger from Bubba Burgers.

And Hallie Rose got a little of it all, except the burger (we do not give her meat often, especially red meat)

Its amazing what a little food can do for the body!

We were energized and ready to head on over to the beach.

Jalen wanted to boogie board, and Hallie was ready to play in the sand.

The waves were pretty big, so we couldn't get Hallie in.

Her and I only stayed for about 30-45 minutes, until she was fussy.

When asked "do you wanna go bye-bye"?

She shook her head "yes"..

So off we went....

She fell asleep on the ride home, after eating a bunch of pirate booty (a popcorn snack), and drinking some milk.

She is still asleep, I'm blogging, and the boys are downstairs in the studio watching a movie.

Jalen is going to make us an appetizer tonight.

From what he has told me, it sounds like a creamy artichoke dip.

I cant wait to try it!

He made meatless tacos last night, with our help.

He picked out this meatless ground veggie stuff, which was a shock to me since he is usually so against trying those products.

It was SO good!!!

Tasted like meat, but had kind of a veggie yummy flavor to it.

We all were a fan.

After dinner (or should I say DURING dinner), we got out a new toy food set for Sugar Bear.

She LOVED it and made her "happy face" when we showed it to her.

She therefore did not want anything to do with eating her real food..lol

Its made by Melissa and Doug brand, is all wooden, non-toxic, and MADE IN THE USA!!

All of the pieces velcro together, so she can pretend like she is cutting up veggie or bread with her wooden knife.

Smiles and laughter is what we get every time we help her do it.

She played with it for hours, until it was time for bed.

Later this afternoon when Hallie wakes up, her and I will go take our shower (outside), and we will all probably just hang around and enjoy the rest of our Sunday evening.

I guess you could say, today is just another day in paradise:)

milky, change and an update on Sugar Bear..

The milk finally arrived!

After running around, calling people, and finally getting all the right supplies, My Mom sent our box of breast milk off with the UPS delivery guy in hopes that it would arrive safely.

The cost was outrageous!

I guess being that it weighed over 30 lbs, and was to be sent overnight, they felt the need to charge an arm and a leg.

We bit the bullet, paid the $600 and waited....

It took 2 days from the time they picked it up, to the time it arrived on my doorstep.

Joe anxiously ran out and helped the UPS guy get it off the truck.

We video taped the opening of the box, and thank God, it was all still frozen solid!

There was only a tiny sliver of dry ice left in the styrofoam cooler.

We now have a freezer full of frozen donated breast milk, and are happy as can be!

Of course, the day it arrived, I got a message on facebook from a mama on Maui that has milk she is willing to give to us.

Wouldn't ya know?

I have been searching high and low, with no luck of a milk donor in Hawaii.

As soon as we pay a butt load of money, and have some shipped all the way from Kansas, I get a reply.

Oh well, I guess that for whatever reason we were meant to have that milk shipped.

We actually did really need it, because although I was contacted by a girl on Maui, she only has 50 oz right now, but is going to continue pumping for us and we will arrange a pick-up in about a month or so.

Then, about 2 days later, another girl contacted me.

She is on Ohau, and has about 100 oz to donate.

Her friend is coming to Kauai in the next few weeks, and will bring it with her.

I swear, the world works in mysterious ways!

I'm just happy to have milk for my baby, and feel so grateful to the women who so graciously donate.

We have still been giving it to little Hallie Rosebud sparingly (well kinda), and trying to push more foods and water.

She ate a ton of pasta today for lunch, and kept making an "mmmm" sound the whole time she was stuffing it in.

She then took down 4 oz of milky, and fell asleep.

We are going to make the 1 hour drive to Island School (Jalen's school) this evening for a fundraising event.

I am volunteering at the 7th grade game, which is the 2 liter ring toss.

I thought this might be a way to get to know some of the kids and maybe even parents.

Jalen has started a robotics after school class, which he loves!

The first day he said his group wasn't serious enough about it, and were goofing off more than building the robot.

Luckily, the 2nd day, he switched groups, and had a much better experience.

The only downfall is, we have to go pick him up at 5pm, all the way at his school.

We just got a 2nd car yesterday, so it will definitely make things easier.

Joe will be able to go get him, or I can go without Hallie.

Its just way to long for her to have to be stuck in that car seat.

Joe and I have both been running on the beach the past few mornings.

Yes Joe, who hates working out, is running on the beach and actually liking it!

He drops Jalen off at the bus stop at 6:35am, then heads over to Hanalei Bay Beach.

When he gets home,  I go.

I am sore today from my run yesterday. Its amazing how many more muscles you use running on the sand compared to running on the street or treadmill.

We hope to keep it up!


Just a little update on our little Sugar Bear..munchkin..boo boo..love bug...

~her yellow breast milk poop, has just recently turned into "big people poop", and she is NOT happy about it...haha, sorry if that was TMI:)
~she loves dogs. makes the high pitched squeal every time she spots one.
~she loves her smoothies. we give them to her in a cup with a lid and straw. she drinks it down!
~she can say "daddy, mama(or sometimes mommy, but not often), "day" (jay)
~she signs "more" and "milk"
~when we ask her if she wants to go to the beach, she shakes her head "YES"!
~she has her top 2 teeth and bottom 2 (more are going to be coming through soon, I can see them buldging)
~she loves water~bath, hose, baby pool out back, ocean..
~she hardly ever gets to take a bath, because we always take an outside shower together. daddy sometimes comes down to help wash her, and then wraps her up in a towel(which she loves)
~she loves this new coconut mix stuff we recently bought at the health food store. its called Laughing Giraffe, and they have different flavors. she signs "more" any time we give her some
~her favorite foods are smoothies, toast with butter, peanut butter, or almond butter, scrambled eggs, yogurt, black beans, pinto beans, and brown (or white) rice.


She is a dream baby and we still pinch ourselves everyday!

Joe and I are very happy, and in a great place in our lives right now.

We feel so blessed to have the 2 most awesome kiddos, living our dream in Hawaii, and happily married:)

Got breast milk?

For the past few weeks, we have been running low on our "liquid gold".

Or should I say, Hallie's life line?

We came to the islands, with 2 coolers packed to the brim with donated breast milk.

We emptied out our deep freeze, and even added to it some that a local donor in Kansas had given us just days prior to leaving.

Well, we are down to about 28 bags of frozen breast milk left.

I get a nervous tummy even thinking about it.

Hallie loves her milk. And we love feeding it to her.

I am still pumping twice a day, and producing about 10 oz/day.

I feel really good about that, but it just isn't enough.

She drinks 4 oz bottles, and on a low intake day, will want at least 5 bottles in a 24 hour period.

It is not only her nutrition, but a comfort for her when she goes to sleep.

She likes to suck and likes her belly full.

I even feed her sometimes a few ounces in the middle of a nap, and it most definitely keeps her asleep for at least another hour.

Not only are we running low on the frozen breast milk, I recently ran low on my domperidone, the medication I take to produce milk.

So, I ordered more, but unfortunately ran out while waiting for it to come.

Those few days were kind of stressful for me.

I didn't want my milk to dry up, and I knew we were running low on the frozen.

My domperidone finally came, and I am back in the game. I'm pumping right now, as I type, and usually get around 4 oz.

I'm hoping my supply will increase over the next few days.

I finally found a donor in Kansas, and so my gracious Mom went and met her to pick up the milk.

She then did all the research and running around to get it prepared to ship to Hawaii.

It is supposed to go out today.

THANKS MAMA!!! YOU ARE THE BEST!!!

Luckily, Hallie is starting to eat more and more food.

We have been offering her food since she was like 6 or 8 months old, but she just never really showed any interest.

She would just suck on certain things, or throw it on the floor.

Just this week, she started actually gumming the food, and swallowing a substantial amount of it.

Some of her favorites are black beans, brown rice, yogurt, raisins, dry cereal, fruit, and she LOVES smoothies!!

We put so much good stuff in our home made smoothies, so it makes me feel really good when she drinks up a glass of it!

I know things will work out just the way they are supposed to, but it makes me really nervous when my Sugar Bear isn't eating alot of food, and her milk supply is dwindling.

I have just been trying to stay calm, and say a prayer that God helps everything work out~ so that we have a happy baby. Not a hungry, "I want my milky" baby..

We are trying to cut back on the milk, and make a push towards more water and food.

She is receiving it fairly well.

She still loves her milky, and will point to it and baby talk, as if to say "I really really want some milk, so if you could please get me some that would make me really happy"!

When we get it for her, she smiles, and walks around with one hand on the end of the bottle, drinking away! (she is holding her own bottle most of the time now)

SMOOTHIE RECIPE

1 cup frozen organic strawberries
1 cup frozen organic mango
1 organic banana
1/2 cup frozen organic blueberries
1/2 cup plain non-fat organic yogurt
heaping full of raw organic honey
1-2 T organic cinnamon applesauce, or dash of cinnamon
1 T chia seeds
1 T hemp seeds
1 big handful of organic spinach leaves (or any type of lettuce, but spinach is the best)
fill almost to top of fruit with cold water, and blend on high until smooth and creamy!!

I like to pour in a big tall glass, and add some frozen blueberries on the top...its delish!!

Our family absolutely loves our smoothies, and we even have them for dinner sometimes if we are not very hungry, or maybe had a late lunch.

This recipe will make alot, so be ready to share with friends and family. If there is leftovers, just leave in blender (or pour in a glass), and stick it in the fridge for later.

Happy smoothie drinking:)

Weekend update

Today was a good day.

We hung around the house for most of the morning, then to my protest, we had to get out of the house!

Joe mentioned that there was a waterfall on the property of the farm he is working at that we have access to.

We packed up our water, Hallie's diapers, bottles, snacks, and headed out!

It took us about 20 minutes to get there, but boy was it worth it!

The landscaping was beautiful!

We walked down a small hill, and over a wooden bridge.

There it was.

The first waterfall we have been to since arriving to the islands..

We hiked over to it, and of course, wanted to get as close as possible.

Not so easy when your toting around a 1 year old:)

Joe was pretty determined though.

Since I haven't had very good luck with my balance and walking to waterfalls (wink, wink Jalen and Joe), we decided he should carry Sugar Bear.

We made our way over to the falls, and I took Hallie, while Jalen and Joe went and got under the water.

It was a little brisk, and started raining on us.

I held her close to keep her warm as we sat on the rocks and watched Daddy and bro bro.

After a few minutes we decided to go down stream where it was more calm.

Joe and Hallie walked on the grass, while Jalen talked me into floating down stream with him.

It was a rough ride.

We both had a flotation device (donkey and a ring), although the water was only like a foot deep.

Man, I tell ya what, it was a workout!

Not to mention how beat up I got.

There was lots of screaming, laughter, and Oh my Gods!!

We made it, but not without a few scratches.

When we finally left there, we were really hungry, as it was 1:30.

First we wanted to stop at the Hanalei Dolphin Fish Market and get some Ono for dinner..yum yum..

After that, we went to the Hanalei Cafe, and I ran in and got us food.

Hallie was asleep in the car, so we got it and drove home.

Felt good to get out and about with my little family!!



SATURDAY

Yesterday we went to the Hanalei Farmers Market.

Just Joe, Hallie Rose, and I..Jalen wanted to sleep in.

Its apparent he is hitting his pre teen years with the amount of sleep he has been wanting to get lately:)

As we arrived, the parking lot was packed.

We got there just 10 minutes after it opened, thinking we were gonna be the early birds..I guess others had the same thought.

We immediately bought some sweet Kauai corn, 2 cucumbers, and 2 zucchini..I was feeling the need to buy right away because it was so busy.

Ends up, we didn't need to rush, as there was alot to offer.

We had a really good time.

Walking around, looking at the different unique fruits, and sampling some.

We sipped on a smoothie, and Halllie munched on some gluten free pizza crust (she has finally been eating more food, yayy Hallie Rose)

By the time we left, we had a bag full of yummy fruits and vegetables, and even a funky home made pizza (for Joe)

We will definitely be going back next Saturday!!

So far, we are settling in very well here.

We love the lifestyle, weather and nice people.

I think it is going to really open our minds up to new things, and bring us closer as a family.

We might even be attending CHURCH next weekend, at the cutest little church in Hanalei..also, yoga and meditation..if that doesn't say change and open minded, I don't know what does...

<3 Ahhhh....life is good! <3

Pesky little critters

The other day, Joe and I were sitting on Jalen's bed with Sugar Bear.

All the sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw something..

I looked, and to my despair, I saw my worst Hawaiian nightmare.

It was a CENTIPEDE<<

EEEKKKKK....

I immediately ran and grabbed a flip flop, and handed it to Joe!

The nasty thing was squirming its way across our living room floor.

Joe hit it a few times, and man, that thing did not want to die.

Finally, after hitting it about 10 times, it was dead.

Its legs were all scattered about, so he had to get a wet paper towel to clean up the mess.

I just sat there with Hallie, watching in horror.

My SIL, Rachel, said, "centipedes are cute"!...

Ummmm, NO Rachel, caterpillars are cute..centipedes are scary!!

Ive heard that they have a very mean bite!

They have these fang like things, that they stick into you, and release a venom.

From what I have read and heard, they are only poisonous if you are allergic to them.

Kinda like a bee.

But, I have also heard it hurts REALLY bad!

My worst fear is one biting Hallie or Jalen....or ME! lol

I check my bed every time I get in it, and I have made Joe promise to also start checking it before getting in with Hallie Rose.

Later that night, Joe went to use the bathroom in the downstairs apartment, and what do ya know, there goes another one crawling across the freakin' floor!

Now, I lived in Hawaii for 6 months a while ago, and cleaned houses while I was here.

I only came across a centipede 1 time.

Luckily, I had a guy there to help get it.

This time around, we are living up in the rain forest/jungle though, and my concern is that there are more up here.

So, the past few nights, I have not slept well at all.

I'm afraid to straighten my legs in the bed, for fear one is going to be at the bottom of the bed.

I lay there thinking about how I just want to go back home to Kansas, where I'm safe in my bed at my clean, bug free, Slater home.

Oh, did I mention that they are NOCTURNAL?!?

Of course, I wake up in the morning, and I laugh at myself for being so paranoid, and realize that I'm in paradise, and I do not want to be back in Kansas in my comfy bed.

I want to be here, enjoying Kauai with my awesome husband and kids.

I tell myself that I need to not think about them, or that will attract more.

Which I whole heatedly believe.

I just pray to God that he keeps them far far away from me and my family!!

I don't mind the little gecko lizards crawling all over the house.

They are cute, and don't bother me at all.

The ants, roaches(which I have yet to come across, but I know they are there), and other bugs are all fine and dandy.

If only there were no centipedes in Hawaii, it would be the most perfect place in the world.

There is no such thing as perfect, though............

Home away from home

Well, we finally found "the one"..

We were hoping to find a home in the location of our dreams, with the amenities that we wanted.

After looking on Craigs List from Maui, we came across one that looked nice and was within our price range.

Joe called on it.

The woman he talked to was name Kay, and she is the owner.

She and her husband are living in California, off the grid, which means they have no electricity, but are completely sustainable on their own. I'm not sure about running water, but I would assume they HAVE to have it..??

They are building a community of small pods of which are "off the grid" also.

Joe had a good, long conversation with her about her home on Kauai.

He was very excited when he got off the phone with her, although I could tell he was trying to contain it.

After all, we were still on Maui and hadn't even seen the place yet.

She explained that the home was built by her husband Sam, who is a home builder.

They used mostly recycled materials, and were looking to rent it long-term to someone who was "green-minded".

The bottom level is a separate studio apartment, with a queen size bed, full kitchen, and an outside shower(Joe's dream)

The middle level is the living room, kitchen, bathroom, and 2nd bedroom (Jalen's room)

Then, the top level, which is accessed from the outside, is a huge master bedroom, with a king size bed. Perfect for Joe, Hallie Rose, and I!!

The house is tucked away in the mountainous region of beautiful Kauai's North Shore.

It is completely surrounded by lush greenery, avocado trees, papaya trees, lemon trees, and passion fruit trees.

It is 1/2 mile from the ocean, and about 1 mile from a piece of property that Kay also owns, which is located on a private beach.

There is no home on that piece of property, and we would be allowed to use it for our own entertainment!

The home for rent is at the end of a dirt road, and is very secluded.

Just what we were looking for!!

So, without even seeing the property, we already wanted it!!!!!

She promised us that she wouldn't rent it to anyone else, and would give us first dibs.

We anxiously flew to Kauai that next Monday, and headed up to see the home.

As expected, we absolutely love it!

We called her right away and told her WE WANT IT!

She was pleased to have a "green-minded" family to rent her home for the year, and we were pleased that we didn't have to continue looking around for a place to live.

It worked out just about as perfect as we could have asked for.

So, here we are, living our dream.

Perched up in what feels like a big ol' tree house.

As quick as we could say "we want it", our lives have turned into recycling everything we can, composting our scraps, using NO dryer for our clothes and only the clothes line, using the least amount of electricity as possible, no AC, and pretty much living the simple life.

We feel like we should have learned to live like this a long time ago, and that if more people tried to live like this, the world would be a better place for our children and grandchildren.

Moving on.....

The next step was finding a school for Jalen.

He had been out of school for 6 days already, and we had no plans on what we were going to do.

The North Shore of Kauai is very limited on schooling options.

After doing some research and asking around, we came to the realization that we had only 2 options.

Home school him, or send him to Island School, which is a private school located in Lihue.

Its only about 32 miles, but with the 2 lane road that travels there, and the slow drivers on the island, it can take 45 minutes to an hour to get there.

It is very pricey, but they offer alot of great stuff.

Their  "healthy lunch" program which consist of mostly organic foods, is made from scratch daily. Nothing frozen.

They also offer after school programs such as robotics and scuba diving.

The kids who graduate from there almost all end up going to major Universities.

The school has a great reputation, to say the least...

What to do? What to do?

We wanted him to have social interaction with kids his own age, and the thought of homeschooling him, gave me anxiety.

We decided to call Island School and make an appointment to go talk to them.

The very next day, which was yesterday, Jalen and I drove down for the 9am appointment.

Right off the bat, I got a great feeling from the atmosphere.

Open campus, friendly staff, and just a very laid back, welcoming feel.

The appointment went well, Jalen took a math test, and when we left, he was officially a student at Island School.

He was to start the next day.

Joe and I had talked the night before, and we both agreed that a school setting would be the best fit for Jalen.

We were not looking forward to the long drive to take him there and pick him up everyday, but we were willing to do it if it meant our son would be happy and be getting a good education.

Come to find out, last year some of the parents of the North Shore pitched in and bought the school a small van to transport the kids from the North Shore to the school.

Luckily, there was room for Jalen!

His Dad took him today, and he will ride the bus home.

He said the drive is not a big deal to him, as he has his iPhone to keep him busy. He can listen to music, watch movies or TV shows, or even do his homework if he wants.

Its a beautiful drive also. With the ocean on one side, and the beautiful mountains on the other.

Overall, we are very happy at how things have worked out for us here on Kauai.

They say when you move to Hawaii, the islands either accept you, or chew you up and spit you out!

I would say we are being accepted:)))

Hallie and I took a long walk this morning and it was so nice.

She loved looking at all the beautiful, lush trees and flowers.

We even saw a few dogs along the way, which is a huge plus in her book...



Yesterday was Joe's 35th Birthday!!!

Jalen made him the sweetest picture slide show, which played to music.

It was definitely a tear jerker.

We made signs and hung them up all over the house, and then last night we went to play miniature golf and eat Hanalei pizza, which was a surprise to him.

It was a fun-filled day with my awesome family. I feel like one blessed girl <3

Maui Wowie!

So, we made it!

We arrived on Maui 3 days ago. Not sure what to talk about first.

I think I'll start with our crazy trip over here!

So, our car picked us up at 4:15 am, because our flight was scheduled to leave at 6:10am.

Well, our "car" was actually a stretch limo!

Joe wanted to surprise Jalen because he had never ridden in one before. I was surprised too!

We had a toast with our morning smoothie in champagne glasses, to "our big adventure".

Hallie woke up happy, although she didnt sleep well at all the night before.

She was teething and cried on and off all night (atleast it felt like all night)

She didnt like the fact that she couldnt see the lights in the limo, or the boys, because her car seat was rear facing.

We arrived at the airport, and were anxious to get through security because we had 2 coolers of frozen breast milk that we needed a physical check on.

Since we dont like it to go through the x-ray machine(unnecessary radiation), they have to pull it all out, and look through it. It can take a looong time.

We have done this a few times, so when they tell us "but it HAS to go through the x-ray machine"...we tell them, "NO, we know our rights and it doe NOT have to go through the x-ray machine"!

It is considered medication for the baby and is not subject to the x-ray if we do not want it to be.

I posted on Human Milk 4 Human Babies fb page a few days prior to us leaving because we were getting low, and thank goodness, a girl from Shawnee, KS replied and brought over around 400 oz for Hallie Rose! (see milk sharing post if your wondering about donated breast milk)

So, we made it through security, and were ready to start our adventure!!

The first leg of the trip was from Kansas to Denver.

The flight was around 2 hours long.

Hallie slept for about an hour, and Jalen watched a movie on the comp. It was a small plane, which I am not a fan of at all.

The second leg, was from Denver to Phoenix.

That flight was around 2 hours also.

Hallie slept only for about 20 min on that flight.

Overall, those 2 flights were pretty uneventful....compared to our next leg:)

The final leg was from Phoenix to Maui, which was gonna take about 6 hours.

We boarded the plane, and unfortunately, we couldnt all sit together. Jalen sat in front of Joe and I, in the middle of an older couple.

They were not very friendly at all!!

Joe, Hallie and I sat next to a woman who was not very baby friendly at all! It sucked!!!

Everytime Hallie would fuss, she would grimace and breath really deep and loud.

At one point, Hallie was playing with some blue silly putty stuff, and threw a ball of it into the ladies lap.

She freaked, and said "omg, I have on white"..

Her bad energy was definitely being felt by all 3 of us!

No one likes a crying baby on an airplane, especially the parents. But when the person your sitting next to is nice, it makes thing SO much easier!

As if it wasnt stressful enough trying to keep our 1 year old happy and busy on a 6 hour flight, having sucky people to sit next to made it worse.

I was up walking Hallie around, with about 1 hour left.

I saw some commotion up by our seats, and people crowding around.

"Oh no", I thought..."whats happening"...

I rushed up to see what was going on, to find our Jalen had woke up from a nap, and puked all over himself!!!

That never has happened before. He always has made it to the toilet in the past.

So, I handed Hallie to Joe, sent Jalen to the bathroom and started cleaning up...

To make a long story short, the people around us were very rude and unhappy, the flight attendant was rude, and here I am trying to clean up puke.

Not to mention Hallie was fussing because she wanted me!

AND Jalen did not have a change of clothes...

Luckily, there was some nice people on the plane who heard what was going on, and offered up a pair of shorts for Jalen.

He was fine after puking, not sick at all. I said it was probably KARMA...those people were all so rude, unhappy, and mean.

Look what ended up happening to them. They nearly got puked on, and the lady next to us had a fussy baby in her ear for hours.

Then, to top it all off...Hallie pooped. Big time.

As soon as they put us in a row all together, the energy was much better, Hallie was a happy baby, and Jalen was a happy 12 year old.

Man, was I happy to get off that plane, and see beautiful MAUI:)))))






Since being on Maui for a few days, we have come to the realization, that its not the island for us.

It is beautiful, dont get me wrong, but it is way to big and busy for our liking.

We took a vote, and with 100% of the vote, we have decided to move to KAUAI!!!

We love it there.

It is small, intimate, quaint, beautiful, and just what we want in our island life!!

We leave in 2 days, and have been busy searching the internet for a short-term place to stay, rental car, and a long-term place to live.

We are excited to be somewhere we are familiar with, and know we absolutely LOVE!

We have had a good time here on Maui, but we are ready to get our feet planted on an island we can call home for a year.

My hands hurt from typing, so Im gonna go for now.

I will keep you all posted on our adventure to Kauai.

ALOHA!!!!!!!!!