Chloe is now a 6th grader in Keaau Middle. Her teacher is Ms Rodrigues. She has her friends Nina and Kaylee.

Hope is now in 4th grade, Ms Wilder's class. She a new teacher to Keaau Elementary. She has her best friend Lauren in the same class.

First day of school for Hope and Chloe. Another milestone.... Another step into thier bright future.

Dinner with Meghan

Wednesday night the girls and I had dinner with Meghan at Pizza Hut in Hilo. We wanted to get out of the house and do something fun. It was a great night full of fun and laughter.
We even talked about taking a day trip to the Kona side to SHOP at the new Target store!!! Wooo-Hooo!

Finally.. a clean room

After weeks and weeks of reminding and scoldings.... I finally got the fire lit under Chloe's butt and started to clean up her room. Needless to say, when she saw me in there - throwing away bags of stuff - she quickly found the time to clean her room.
She did the finishing touches.. but here the final results, and she wanted her Daddy to see her hard work.

Chloe's meal

Poor Chloe. She's been battling a high fever and today it peaked at 103.2 and that freaked me out. So we've all been watching her like a hawk. It's super hot here at the house, so we are tryin to keep her comfortable.

For breakfast she had miso soup, she's not hungry but I cut up some cold fresh cantaloupe and a few nectarine slices. She took a few bites, and will save the rest for later.

Pochacco is BACK!!

From when she was 1 year old, Chloe and herPochacco had a loving and comforting relationship. It started with a small blanket she got for Christmas from her Fairy God Mother - Tita.

For years I've scoured stores looking for any Pochacco items. But sadly, Sanrio 'retired' him officially some 15 years ago. But this year.. Sanrio has brought him back!!!

Chloe is thrilled! Here's the bag she choose for school, and even a small digital alarm clock. It's nice to see that sparkle in her eye again.
I love you Chloe!

KMS

We got the class schedule for Reece and Chloe on Tuesday. Sadly, we didn't get most of the elective class they wanted, but there's not much we can do about it.

Reece - aside from the usual core classes math, English, social studies, language arts and science her electives are - Intro to general Art, Teen Health, 2 Career type classes. She wanted PE and Yearbook. She's sad.

Chloe - same as Reece like core classes, Chloe's electives are - Career / Tech (don't know what that is for sure), Intro to Band(2 semesters), Explore Ukulele, Intro to Physical Science (2 semesters). Needless to say Chloe is TOTALLY unhappy with these choices. I'm trying to share all positive things about these classes.. but I'm really gonna need Roy's help this school year.

Today, I took Chloe to the mall to buy her a new backpack for school. I'm trying to boost her spirits. Luckily, the Hello Kitty store had lots of Pochacco bags.. and she picked one out. It seems to help her mood a bit. But she's still really upset.

Hawaii Tribune-Herald :: Hilo, Hawaii > Local News

Although we were NOT as home when our house was burglarized - this story still strikes a chord with me.


Hawaii Tribune-Herald :: Hilo, Hawaii > Local News

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Got Reece and Chloe class schedule! Chloe has lots of band electives and Reece has art, health and tech electives. Interesting.

Start again

Image by laffy4k via Flickr

This week is the week that Keaau Elementary School will post their homeroom assignments. Hope is eager to see who's in her 4th grade class.

This week is also the week that Middle School starts the registration of all incoming students. Here's the list:
Pay for Student Body Government dues $5.00
Pick up class schedule
Order Yearbook $26.00
Buy school uniforms (T-shirts) $6.00 ea
Pay for Lunch Account

And somewhere in between all that.. the KES PTSA is starting up again.
It seems like this has been the shortest summer break ever.
Hope and Chloe first day of school is Friday July 31. And Reece starts on Monday August 3 - which is also Roy's birthday.

So.. How does one motivate the girls to clean their room? I am at a lost and frustrated.

Gas

Image via Wikipedia

Hilo Chevron - $3.09, $3.19 and $3.29.

Thank heavens the prices are going down. It was getting scary at the begining of summer. Maybe things are looking up!

Before it get's worse

So, this morning I went to see the doc about this awful cough I've had. If any of you have been around me in the last year - you know what cough I'm talking about. It's that long drawn-out-hacking-dry-gonna-cough-up-a-lung cough. Early this year my self-neglect led to a bad case of pneumonia. It's sucked royally.

So this time around, with fears of swine flu, I didn't wait too long before I went to get medical advice. I'm glad I did - It seems I've got...Bronchitis with asthma to boot!

So, here I am on anti-biotic, cough syrup with codine, and an additional inhaler (symbicort).

I look forward to letting these meds help me to recover.

Christmas in July?

Image via Wikipedia

The tv shows are playing re-run's of the Christmas episodes of various shows and movies. I love this whole Christmas in July thing.
My life used to skip over Christmas. Because all the years working in RETAIL - Christmas just fly's by. And besides, in retail, Christmas reaches the stores in August anyway.
But as soon as we had kids.. Christmas once again became a holiday to celebrate. The older we get, the realization that the season is actually so short - quickly prompted me to stretch out the holiday buzz.
I love playing Christmas music at the beginning of November. The music is such a great trigger for me. My Mom played Mitch Miller, Elvis Presley, Bing Crosby and Dean Martin Holiday albums. It was such a warm and loving time.
Now, I play the same but I like to add some jazzy (Pier 1 type) holiday music. I like to listen to the local musicians holiday music too - Kapena, Willie K, the Cazimeros Bros. And don't for get the instrumental and classical songs! Il Divo has a great holiday cd.

I hope that in the years that are ahead - my family will will celebrate the holiday with lots of love, memories, and music.

New me?

Obviously, the top photo is the "after" picture of the new hairstyle.
I like it - do you?

Finished another

Image by Litandmore via Flickr

I finished another book. Hate that cat by Sharon Creech. It was a new book on the juvenile fiction shelf. Mrs. Creech is a Newbery Medal winner. Chloe's 5th grade class read 'Love that Dog' I read it with her. Good book too.

FRG and Loco Moco

I wish I took pictures.
Today, I went to the Armory (KMR) to help the our FRG cook a meal to sell to the soldiers who were having a drills this weekend.

Apparently the meals that was planned for this weekend fell though and the soldiers were gonna have to eat MRE's. Not so yummy. So we seized the opportunity to earn some money. We are trying to raise funds to buy lei's and things for the returning soldiers.

There were a handful of ladies who had assembled to make Loco Moco plate lunches. The prices were a bit confusing to me.. but I was just working the assembling line.

All-in-all, it was a good day. It was nice to be around Roy's office and to see his desk. My heart ached a bit to see soo many men in ACU's (army combat uniform). I know that it makes him feel good knowing I'm there to support the troops at home.

Dr. Mitchell

On Saturday I took the girls for a well-check visit with their new doctor. Since moving to the BI, it's been a real pain finding a doc for the kids. We've used some urgent care ones in the past, but I really need to find an established doc for the girls. I had found one that was able to take us - but sadly, it didn't work out.

But this year, with my pneumonia taking over my life I was forced to find a doctor, and I found Dr. "D" at the Hawaii Family Health clinic. And they are wonderful. The staff and doctors are great. So it just kinda dawned on me... why don't I bring the kids here too!?

So, on July 11, 2009 they meet their doctor - Dr. Michelle Mitchell. She's a friendly honest doctor who I could tell right away that would be great for the growing girls. I tried to get a picture of doc and the girls - but doc camera shy.

The picture above was taken when they girls needed to get there TB test, and Reece to get her 2 of 3 HPV shot.

They are smiling now(except for Chloe)... but by the end - everyone was in TEARS!!! Hope sobbed and sobbed. I couldn't help but giggle through the whole thing. Bad Mommy!!!

Morning

It's a cool rainy morning here in Keaau. The cats were lounging about, kids still asleep. The sound of the rain was just the right soundtrack for mornings like this.

Finished check up with Dr. D. Bp still high. Exam went well. Got new med. Waiting for test results.

Babies Girls Everywhere!!!

In the last 24 hours I've heard from 2 seperate friends who have expanded their families recenlty. Ernest and Nalani P. welcomed a baby girl on Friday - her name is Aleah Lynn (not sure on the spelling). I met Ernest and his wife thru Jay, a much-loved and former neighbor. Ernest comes to cut my grass sometimes.
And the second family in the works is Yvette and Kimo K. Yvette was Reece's preschool teacher at Ala Lani Preschool on Maui. Yvette has since become a family friend who often stopped by our house after her afternoon walks. They are waiting to complete the adopting of their beautiful daughter from Taiwan. She is 16-months old and her name is Shu-Jhen. I've seen pictures of her and she's a cutie.

Becoming a Mom was a great gift. And hearing my kids call me "Mom" is a blessing. It's not where or how your child was born that matters, it's the love you and your family have that counts. And I know that both familes have the love and support of family and friends to guide them through parenthood.

Cheers to the new parents!!

Finished

Cover via Amazon

Finished another book this weekend.
Chicken Soup for the Coffee Lovers Soul by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen, and Theresa Peluso.

Great stories. Quick read.

I miss having coffee with Roy in the mornings.

Facebook and Fireworks

So.. I've set up a facebook account. Now what? Idk.

It's been an interesting weekend so far. Saturday night, the girls burned some morning glory sparklers, while I watched Aloha Kuwait 09 on OC16. It was nice to watch and helped give us a view of where Roy is. The girls were more interested in celebrating the Fourth with sparklers.

The people next door were there and made it a bit un-comfortable. But that didnt stop the celebrating.

This week is the last week I'll work as an EA at summer school. It's been interesting. Don't wanna do that again.

Happy be-lated 4th to everyone. Remember... Freedom isn't Free. Support the troops!

Heart Shaped

I took this picture to show what happened after I poked my finger-tip. The result was is this heart-shape made from the blood drop.

Interesting yea??

My how the kids out grow their clothes! Good thing it's almost time for back to school shopping.