Shouldn't I already be doing this?

New Years Eve is tomorrow which means friends, champagne, and resolutions. Tomorrow will be busy so I did some reflecting tonight. We are going to be hanging out with Aaron and Corinne and Kelliann at the Arakawa home. The girls will have Corinne's daughter to play with and see Mariko (their babysitter) who is also Kelliann's sister. We're excited to be invited to do something because we had no plans and don't like staying up.



Here are some of my thoughts for 2012:

Weekly coconut oil hair masks

Keep stretching daily

When I feel overwhelmed with the kids sit down and read them a story (this actually works)

Be more lazy, truly

Out load say I'm thankful when I am rather than acknowledging it in my head especially to the person (this is also wonderful for both parties involved)

Cook from our garden


The picture is somewhat unrelated somewhat related. Our son is growing before our eyes and he was actually reading this! Love seeing my children grow, we have a beautiful son. Happy 2012 everyone!

From nightstands to play kitchens

I bought an all wood nightstand and matching toy chest from my good friend Craig... man that guy's a hoarder. I wrote about it in a post a few weeks ago. Basically the purchasing experience was a nightmare but has delightfully turned into a day dream. Here is the before:

I wanted solid wood because I wanted these to last. I started by painting them with the number one eco friendly choice Olympic paint. We can't find a Benjamin Moore on the island which is my preferred. Olympics's paint tended to be more "watery" than B.W.'s. I realized I made a huge mistake by painting them ALL white. added some vanilla and it still didn't help. So... I borrowed Glen's sander. Glen is our awesomely nice neighbor who is well into is late seventies or early eighties and has an amazing workshop. He built his own house and actually put the roof on our home back in the 70's. So I got to work. Middle of project shot:

I wanted to do something like these:

We used a metal "dog pan" I got at salvation army as well as the tiny stainless steel strainer. The knobs from the drawers we used for the sink handles and the others will be the oven knobs. We ordered four wooden stove tops Two small to big which we will glue on the top of the night stand. The sink skirt is a curtain from our old dining room.  I was wanting an oven door but there wasn't enough room for them to play with a door being left open. This is how they turned out...

 With the new Baby in the new(old) high chair the girls can play kitchen and store all day. They also got play fruit and a shopping cart for Christmas. Play on Linly's!

Our baby is a 2 year old

These past few weeks have been super busy with my sister, dad and mother in law all flying in to visit us. In the process of celebrating Christmas we also celebrated Little's 2nd birthday!  It was very mellow, one because she doesn't need much to be impressed and two because it was the day that Syssa (Alyssa) and Grandpa flew in. All she asked for was muffins and rainboots like her sisters. Once Dad came we took her shopping for Hello Kitty rainboots which she has put on everyday since. Which makes perfect sense, they are appropriate for all outfits. Aunt Susan sent her some new fruit for their play kitchen, a pully alligator, and a some great story books. Mom sent her this beautiful vintage doll highchair circa 1950's from Etsy and some "baby bottles" for the babies. She had a great birthday!

She is shy yet fearless and we hear her laughs all day. She is our most affectionate child, and endlessly will announce how she loves you. She's incredibly delightful and is forming her own litle scratchy/sqeaky voice just like her sister. If you haven't heard the Bg Girl talk, it's quite funny. She looks so feminine but she has this little bird voice, almost like she is squacking. Which apparently runs in the family because now Little is getting it.

We also had our wedding anniversary the day after Little's big day. We celebrated seven years of marriage and eight years of being a couple. Over the years my sister has become much more attentive to my needs as a mother of three and a married woman. She gave us the BEST gift ever. An entire date day which began at 9 am and ended about 8pm. It was weirdly nice to sit in a quiet house, take our time, it was so needed. In fact while she was here we had three dates, WHAT!?!? Best sister ever! We went to our favorite spot Rockies, the beach was covered in sand just a few weeks ago. Just a reminder that it's winter and we live on lava rock.

Going to town is good for the soul

Richards first company party with his company based out of Honolulu was Friday evening. We had a great time and met some great people. This awesome guy Tony told us he cave dives all the time right in front of where we live. So we are planning to set up a time to cave dive with him and his girlfriend. Little did we know he is a man of many talents because later in the evening he also was our Santa Claus. We told the kids on the way home that it was Uncle Tony and they thought it as so funny. We also met another couple who are expecting there third child soon. Ben is shown in the picture below sitting by me. Susanna, Ben's wife, also volunteers with Aina so we had several things to talk about with them. We spoke with Bob and Karen Bates the "townies" from Honolulu. When she refers to herself she calls herself a "Townie" in reference to loving living in the city. We spoke with them for hours. She is  make up artist (it shows she has flawless skin) and he is a director who's recent documentary Ingredients is based on locally grown foods in Hawaii. We are looking forward to the premiere as a great date night and looking forward to seeing the "townies" more. Richard definitely needs to visit the city every once and a while. He enjoys it much more than more than I do! I feed off of other peoples energy through conversation and I think he feeds off of the energy of the city. No worries Honolulu, we'll see you soon!

 

Sergio takes the boys surfing

 For my Dad's gift we got him a surf lesson from none other than our amazing friend, Sergio Lima. His wife Carly has become a dear friend and we thought of no one else to take Blair out for a surf sesh. He started off excited but nervous and ended catching his own waves. Serg even took The Boy out for some waves and it was so needed. It has totally changed his view of surfing, he had an awesome time. He jumped off the board and ran up to me and said " I think I'm ready now Mom." With a huge grin. Merry Christmas Pops, I know you enjoyed every minute of it.

Holidays are for the "Busy People"

We have had a lot of our family come visit us for the past 2 weeks and won't be done until late tomorrow. Until then, when I can download all our pictures...here is a glimpse of how our break is going. Merry Christmas Everyone! With Love- Lees

I heart hand me downs

                                       Our almost 2 year old dancing in her tutu

 I am the oldest of all the eight immediate cousins and only two are boys. Growing up when something didn't fit I passed it down. So my instinct when I had my own children was to happily receive any hand me down clothes. Even now, I still prefer hammy downs over store bought. There is something special about recycling a sweet child's outfit again and again. This week The Boy's teacher gave us several bags of clothes for the girls. There were tons of tutu's and cute 4T dresses. What we didn't need I gave to a friend that night who we happen to run into at Lei Lei's. I heart hammy downs, I heart sharing, I heart thoughtfulness.

 

     The Boy in Small Paul from thrift store. Q in Grateful Dead onesie 

I got when I was pregnant with Big Girl, Goodwill and our Big Girl in brothers shirt.

Date Night

We planned to go out for a Friday date night without realizing it would turn into a date with our son. I was in his class Friday morning like I normally am because I volunteer for the first hour and half of school. His teacher informed him how much fun Surf Night will be and how she was working the baked goods booth. With all talk of cookies, friends and prizes he was sold! The girls went to sleep  and went to Surf Night 2011. Sunset Elementary sponsors for several professional surfers to come out and sign autographs and take pictures with the public. Uncle Mike let him cut in line with him and his friend to go see some of his fellow surf friends. They also give away over 500 prizes in the raffle from t shirts to surf boards. I bought him two tickets and he won! We saw our friends Kai and Taylor as well as Sarah (all pictured) Being able to enjoy this night with Richard and introduce him to some of the other parents I see regularly was great too. It was so much fun to see our son playing and having fun with his little Grom(young surfer) friends without us being distracted. Awesome first Surf Night for the Lee Family.

I went to a Garage Sale...

You guessed it, this Sunday I went to a garage sale down the street. I was hopeful to score something for under three dollars because that's all I brought with me. I found a cute Lucky peasant top $3, love me some second hand. I found four beautiful handmade Hawaiian wooden bowls for $2. A large bag of fresh fruit from their yard with star fruit, avocados, tangerines $3. Then I saw it... a table. Could it be, an outdoor table? Yes it was. I was already examining it when I found the "Made in Indonesia" printed on the bottom and the solid screws bolted into the legs. I had to ask how much it was and to my utter amazement she said " Oh, $5..." It ended up being a teak table, which is incredibly durable and solidly built.

 Standing right next to me were two grass chairs and a matching bench. Now the seating was in fairly poor condition but we'd be putting cushions down anyway. She sold me the set for $15.  I swiftly told her where we lived and how I'd be right back with more cash. I was so excited to tell Richard and he was glad to give me the money. We moved here in June and have been looking on Craigslist, garage sales and stores off and on for many months for an outdoor table. I spent a total of $28 and got way more than I was expecting. So in the end, waiting for the right price in the right place was so worth the wait!

We chose chicken instead

This year was our first Lee Thanksgiving. No other family, no guests, no big day at my Dads or at my Aunts(whom we missed). Which also meant no turkey. Which was fine because turkey is overrated, there I said it. I don't mean the bird itself, I find them adorable. I'm also not saying the meat, I enjoy the darker meat. And I'm not downing anyone who made a delicious and adorable bird this fine Turkey Day. I'm simply saying that you can get together for the holidays and enjoy being thankful on Thanksgiving without the turkey. So we did that very thing. Call me Anti-American but I enjoyed this day without the famous bird and will probably do it again. Did I ever mention that I'm not competitive. ..Why waste all that time for a pat on the back, it's not for me I guess. We are so blessed and we celebrated Chef Dad for cooking our delicious meal and all in under an hour. We laughed and played all day and I am thankful, so very thankful.

 

The last line is " and the word D!" When we asked him what he meant he said " Whaa... Oh, I meant the world!" : )