Avery turns six

Avery turns 6

My sweetest daughter is six. It is so wonderful to have her in my life. She makes me smile at some point every single day. She is such a funny, caring sister, and daughter.
Some fun Avery facts:
She loves, loves to laugh. She also loves to make other people laugh. It is not unheard of for her to start giggling and then not being able to stop. (you can imagine how funny it is on minute ten, but this is a birthday post, so I'll keep it sweet!!)
She loves to learn. National Geographic magazine is a favorite. She looks forward to the large map that is included every month. We tape it to the wall, and learn all about it, then she stands up and tells you everything she's learned.
She has become quite dramatic when she is upset. Or, more dramatic, rather. (imagine great exits/entrances to rooms)
She has learned to stick up for herself.
She loves to tell stories.
Sometimes, she beleives them. (Her fellow classmates are anxiously awaiting the party at Avery's house, where we currently have a indoor and outdoor pool, as well as a complete zoo. Except the zebra.)
She loves to eat. She will try anything, and likes almost everything. Shashimi, sushi, almost all veggies..(Not mushrooms, though.)
She is a dreamer, and a believer! I love this girl to bits and pieces!!!!!

Now, for her day...



Avery has drooled over Sophia's American Girl dolls like crazy. Because of this, Sophia has forbidden Avery to touch them. Avery has continued to drool from afar, and moan, literally moan, how much she wanted one. I finally told her she sounded like a ghost, she told me I scared her. Then she moaned some more. For months.





I loved her face! She was so thankful..she must have said thank you twenty times right away, then another twenty every twenty minutes thereafter...



"Julie" came with us everywhere. (please note, Lyla does not have an American Girl doll. A fact which was not lost on her.)



We went to the movie Tangled. It opened on her actual birthday, and she thought it was made just for her. (P.S. are we going to look forward to every kids movie being in 3D??? hello $$$$$)

We were supposed to eat at Maui Tacos for dinner, but an abrupt change of mind from the birthday girl brought pizza instead.


The cake.

Well, anyone who knows me knows that I have usually made whatever kind of cakes my girlies want.
Avery wanted a cake of the solar system. All of the planets. In 3D. Did I mention Avery's birthday is the day before Thanksgiving?
For the first time ever, I did a re direct. She had mentioned Strawberry Shortcake, in the shape of Strawberry Shortcake at Lylas birthday party in July. (Are my kids the only ones who plan their birthdays at other kids parties?) I reminded her of that, and thankfully, I was not molding 9 planets, (and the Sun!) into a cake.






Well, she loved it. And that is what matters. Plus it was delicious...

Happy Birthday to my very sweet Avery Olivia!

You've Got To Be Kidding Me!

The following story has some content that some may find offensive.


I am going to "talk story" to illustrate why my blood is boiling.the source of my anger

.P.S. *****talk story is totally Hawaiian, and I love it. People take their time here, and talk story a lot. It basically takes forever to tell a story. It's great... unless you're at the store and in a hurry to pick the kids up from school on time

.

On Saturday night, I took Sophia and Avery on a date.
Sophia had finished a workbook she had been working on for quite some time and I was proud of her for following through. There was no time limit set on when she had to finish, but the reward would be a movie with mom. It took a long time..fast forward four months....to Saturday. I was so proud of her, not just for finishing her workbook, but for wanting to invite Avery to come with us on our special date as she knew how much Avery wanted to see the movie we were going to. My heart was so proud of her determination, hard work and her kind and thoughtful gesture. Avery was over the moon.

Also, the movie theater is at the mall.
The mall is heaven for little my little girls. First we talked to Santa. We didn't pay to sit on his lap, ($40.00???? WTH?), but we could say hello.
I'd say that Santa doesn't really appreciate the kids who's parents don't fork over the moula. He was pretty grumpy. Avery was in awe of him, his huge chair, and the 20 foot fake tree behind him. So much so, she was rendered speechless. She responded to the overstimulation by sucking her hand and nodding yes and no answers. Santa barked at her, "Do you know how to talk?
She nodded, he smirked and asked her to prove it. Billy Bob,,,, take it easy. I know you're hot. She asked for a Zebra, he said good luck.
He turned to Sophia, and asked, well, can YOU talk?
She nodded..Santa ROLLED HIS EYES! "And...?", he says.
"I'm going to tell Santa in a letter."
Bye Billy Bob.
As we are leaving, Sophia says," That was so NOT Santa."
Me, "I know. poor meanie. It's not even December yet"

Then we went and saw our movie. 3D good times, good times. Movies are so expensive! Dang. Liz, remember when we used to pay 50 cents at the Olympus Hills Mall with Kath and Ang??? Ya, well, I paid 39.00 for three tickets.
(I'm proud of my age, so I will happily age myself)

Anyway...

After the movie ended, we started to make our way back through the mall to our car. We were lured by a free standing calandar "store" in the middle of the mall. They are in every mall in America, I'm sure. You know, games, calanders, toys, etc...

First we see this


lilywhitebichons.com


Oh Mom, can we pick a calandar for 2011??????
Me, "no, but we can look."
We start looking at some different options on the BOTTOM TWO SHELVES, because that is where my children can reach.

They start going through the calandars with gusto!



Literally squealing with excitement, we saw calandar after calander






and then,



ON THE BOTTOM SHELF. NEXT TO THE STRAWBERRY SHORTCAKE.

My chiquita burrita kicked in and this was one pissed off chili pepper!!!!!

I guided my children to a basket full of oversize squishy balls to play with while I had a word with the person working there.

I said, "has the manager thought to put the, "how to grow and do drug calander right next to the marketed for VERY SMALL CHILDREN CALENDER????" Do you think you could put it on the top rack, above the eyes of people under 5 feet???

She got very defensive with me, and as anyone who knows mewill attest, I do not respond well with terrible customer service. At all. Had she been trained properly, her response would have been something along the lines of, "the manager is not here, I am not authorized to remove merchandise. She/He will be here...."

She decided to argue. She tried to tell me it was a company layout that is the same everywhere. Then she told me I was coming at her very energeticly.

While explaining that I was not actually upset with her, as a person,I looked to another display



Imagine four rows...




again, on the bottom shelf...(and all the way to the top shelf) Hello Soft Porn!!! Am I in the Twilight Zone, or would it make sense to remove the calenders with content for children away from mostly naked, with unrealistic bodies, men and women, and drugs!!!

What's next, Elmo shooting up?


As she was writing down the name of the website of the company, (which was wrong), I noticed Barbie stuff on the top shelf...so backwards...
pointing to my kids playing with the balls, she inquired if I was going to buy one. I replied with, "If you don't want children to see/touch them, then perhaps you should put them on the top shelf."

After a few more choice words, we were out...

I may or may not have flipped her off, as we were walking away behind my back. Hello fourteen year old.

Belive me, I am not a prude.I see the irony in the situation. I am not asking for merchandise to be removed, just rearranged.
I also know that there are stores such as Spencers that are completely inapproprate stores for my children, so I know how to avoid the store completely. It gives me a choice in the mall as to what my very small children will exposed to. (remember when Spencers was all vomit, dog poo, and practical jokes????Now you can get nipple rings and vibrators.)
When a temporary structure is opened in the mall, creating a mini, but still open store, next to the merry go round, kids jumping bouncing castle store, (sooo filled with germs. gross.) You are marketing around very small small children. Marketing right along with Strawberry Shortcake. I believe there is a time and a place for everything. I feel at six and eight it is not the TIME to be exposed to explicit drug/sex content. I feel the PLACE for such calanders, if they should even be sold next to toys, should be on the top shelves.

I don't think I'm being unreasonable. I think the mall office opens at 10:00 in the morning....

P.S.

Just as a footnote: I do believe adults should be able to make their own lifestyle choices. I mean, You know I love a Sea Breeze, (with a splash of orange), but I am not about to make my children one......


Now, I am done venting, and I feel better.

Some things I would do differently:


Realized after she repeated how the configuration for every mall was the same, this conversation was going nowhere.


I would have just asked the woman for the managers information, and continued on our merry way, she was flustered, and I didn't help her situation by telling her she better get her coping with stress skill set in order, because Christmas is coming, and she may have some chaos and disorder coming her way. As anyone who has ever worked in retail/customer service knows, people get mean. It is very, very hot, very few people are really excited to be there, and everyone gets cranky.

Just go ask Santa's "helper." It will cost you 40 dollars.

I usually love, LOVE Halloween. Even this year, I was so excited...the picking and choosing costumes, fabrics, and watching them come together. The school activities, and candy everywhere. What's not to love?

This year, my gouls were completley impossible. Tantrums, fits, screaming, All Day Long. (I don't remember melting down so much on Halloween. Throwing up? yes.) They honestly couldn't pull it together until we actually arrived at the party we were going to for trick or treat...Let's just say, Medusa had a headache like you read about...And then as soon as we got there, the flip switched, and the smiles came out. No pics of all of us together though. I am beginning to think that a Halloween family picture is as elusive as the loch ness monster. Just saying.


Well, now onto the rest of documenting the holiday that shan't be named....


The cast of characters:



Perseus. He made his own sickel...




A very ornery medusa.



Vampire Girl..(Transylvania Princess???) Did not get a picture with her entire costume. Imagine a red and black cape to complete her very scary costume. My favorite.



A very, very cute orange fox. Imagine a big, big bushy tail. Too big, apparently.
Seriously, this was my favorite...



A very sweet monarch butterfly. My favorite costume...she loves this, and it continues to be a hit...





The End



P.S.

Lesson learned:

It's

All

About

The

Kids!!!



Otherwise, we would all be Jehovah's Witness' next year.

The Great Pumpkin Patch




I admit it, I almost always find these crazy adventures for my family to experience. Sometimes, in my head, I can see the perfection of the memory before it has even happened.
This year, I found a pumpkin patch on the island. I was beyond excited!! I miss fall. I miss fall a lot. So, visions of my jean/sweater clad children gallavanting through the pumpkin patch proved too much for me to pass up. Picking our own pumpkins!!! I even made pumpkin bread for our adventure...Plus, think of all the photo opportunities! Yes, this pumpkin patch was high in the mountains of Kohala coast. It is about two hours from our house. Why not make a day of it?

The Kohala Coast is one of the most beautiful drives I have taken.




We drove through pastures, fields, and mountain roads



Sometimes, we would turn a bend and see something like this....



Sophia's dream house



I think it has something to do with the tower. She was so funny! after exclaiming the perfection of this house, she couldn't believe I also did not think it was a dream house. Anything with scaffolding and a tower I don't want any part of. She responded with, "I bet it has stairs."


The last turn before the girls were starting to go stir crazy. Did you know riding in the very back of a mini van is remeniscent of the wild mouse? without the fun???



Ten minutes after the last picture was taken we saw a wooden painted pumpkin on the side of the road. "Your almost to the pumpkin patch!" OOOh the excitement."you guys have done so great on the car ride! I bet your going to find the best pumpkin ever! comments ensued. Also excited to stretch our legs, have a snack, etc...

Pulling up to the pumpkin patch..



Um, I completely related to Chevy Chase upon arriving at Wally World. Had there been a moose available, I would have punched it. Argh....
deep breath. deeper breath.
The kids did great. The grownups needed a few minutes. (que the best forced Mary Poppins voice here...) No matter, lets have some pumpkin bread. (No stretching, we were on the side of a highway.) I reach around to the snack bag, and realize it has been left hanging on the front door knob.
deep, deep breath...

Let's just head back to the park. (20 minutes away) My amazing girlies just said 'okay'.
I don't really need to repeat what was said under my breath.

After a stop at a gas station for snacks..(I swear the only thing healthy in a gas station is sunflower seeds. and bottled water, which really isn't that healthy for our planet.) My kids lit up like a Christmas tree when I pulled up with my bag from the gas station.

After stuffing themselves on snickers and gaterade, We played around a while..

She takes my breath away.




Her, too



Me, after a few deep breaths.




Mr. Wonderful



No pictures of my eldest. She could not stop once she hit the playground, and all of the pics I took are of her back. I loved seeing her stretch her legs after such a long drive, and felt grateful for my healthy children.

We decided just to wait until we got closer to home to find our pumpkins....
Shock surprise!!! they were sold out! at five grocery stores and walmart. I did find some small small pumpkins. (I would not be detered from carving pumpkins)



We felt like little mice, carving our tiny little pumpkins. After driving for so long, we were late getting home and decided to pick up a pizza from our local Boogie Woogie pizza place. Then we got busy on our pumpkins.




Some pros:
We had an adventure all right
We perservered, and still carved pumpkins
even though my day was nothing like I imagined, it turned out to be a great lesson for me.
I learned much about patience through my kids. They were amazing with response to altered plans. They just rolled with the punches.
We got to see a part of the island we hadn't seen yet
pumpkin carving took 10 minutes

Some cons:
Because my kids eat super healthy almost all of the time, (sans baked goods. we are completely addicted to baking, and therefore sugar), it is so hard for them to have junk food. Sophia missed out on the pumpkin carving because she was puking the aforementioned snickers, gatorade, and pizza. Poor kid. Avery and Lyla both were having issues as well, although it didn't involve puking, if you know what I mean.

My too high expectations for holiday fun....

speaking of high expectations...let me tell you about Helloween....



Next time. I had yet to learn the lesson of high expectations...