BLOG FEVER

I went on a BLOG attack. We had the most eventful few days that I decided to BLOG it all.
Read the entire month of APRIL to see the craziest week of fun and adventure.

The PASSION

Friday afternoon we participated in a LIVE version of Christ dying on the cross.

It was suppose to be a spiritual event that could bring a clarity to the events of HIS death. "JESUS" did a very convincing job in every station (14 total) and really nailed the performance.

A few of the others were a little less serious. It was more a part instead of a role. Some of the "players" forgot things so instead of them following the crowd, they were seen darting back to the chapel for nails, rope, scarves....

There were also some kids who didn't really understand the purpose. They were laughing and talking at times. I finally had to explain to them that this was the death of Jesus and it was not a HAPPY time. They finally moved to the back of the crowd.

I noticed these things only because I was so close and was following the crowd from each location to the next. If it had been done in a quiet purposeful way by all the "players", it would have been amazing, but it was very eventful.

We were led through the housing areas around the chapel, through the PX(post exchange), then back to the chapel.

I LOVED this event because it shocked people and made them wonder what was going on. It stopped them in their tracks at the PX and made entire mob of people get silent. There was one man who refused to make eye contact with anyone. I wondered what was on his mind. The last 2 stages were him being nailed to the cross and then put in the tomb. They nailed him to the cross in the PX parking area near a busy street, then carried him on the cross, across the street then HUNG him in the chapel lawn. It was unreal how pulled it off.

We did every station (the events leading to HIS death) except the 15th where he came back. That will wait until Sunday.

Enjoy the photos. They don't do the event justice, but with the rain and umbrellas (totally fitting of this event) it was hard to capture it all.

Goodnight Moon

After an interview on Monday (and a presentation in MY class), 2 back-to-back egg hunt days and the crazy "disney" adventure, the fun never ends.
I volunteered to go on a field trip with Sorenna and Thursday was the day. We went to see "Goodnight Moon".
I know what you are thinking, "How can they have a play based on a book that takes 2 minutes to read (if you are two!)?
Let me tell you, it was really well done and so fun. I was shocked and impressed by the entire play. The stage was just like the book, the characters were fun and the singing was good!
I wish I could have taped some so you could all see how it was done. You have to see it to believe it.
The play was in downtown Honolulu so the kids got to see downtown and Sorenna loved seeing my building that I would be in later that night. Sorenna has so many friends and some "boy" friends. Just friends!

Her best friend is a brown-eyed version of herself. They are so much alike. They started school with the same two teeth missing. They have so much fun together. When Sorenna was gone during the funeral week, Reece (that is her name) was worried she would never see her again and cried for days. Her mom was so happy when we returned to class. The funeral was the first time Sorenna had missed a day in 2 years.
Living in Hawaii has its advantages. We went to eat our sack lunches in a park......ON THE BEACH!

It was fun to watch surfers while we inhaled our sandwiches. We had a great day.

BUNNY EARS & EGGS

Bunny ears are so cute, but never as cute as when they are on a really fabulous girl.
These days it seems like school is more about numbers and producing and very little fun and parties. I know some parents are put out by a lot of parties, but we have gone to the extreme of forbidding them.
I wanted Cannon to have the same fun adventures that her sisters had in California, so as the old saying goes, if you want it done (right) you have to do it yourself.
I had to put in a PROPOSAL to do the party!
There could be NO candy; only sticker and CHOKING HAZARDS. I found that very funny. The supervisor actually told me that no choking hazards were permitted and I thought..."HELLO, anything that can fit in an EGG is a hazard..right" can I hear an AMEN?
So I got permission, made a list for parents to bring things in and then stuffed TOO many eggs for the best little preschool adventure. All the parents were happy and impressed. They all thanked me and the kids had a blast. The teachers even hugged me. The best part of the painful ordeal leading to the party was the beautiful smile on my little "bunny".

On a side note: I loved these ears. Cannon spent a long time making sure she colored every inch. I especially loved the fact that they blew up in the wind and looked like the donkey in Pinocchio.
The floppy ear look is her best.

Ghetto Mickey

The title says it all.

After a 2 week-long Spring break I was used to sleeping past 6am and knew it was going to be hard to motivate us all to get up and be on time to the first day of school. Lucky for us there was a huge PR event on that morning.

From 6:30-7:30 am, Mickey and friends were coming to post for PT(physical training) in the Park.

The girls were so excited and there was going to be a special "photo op" for those with the deployment card ( a card proving your man is gone). We got there on time and started to get worried. There were no characters. We got free "army PT" shirts for all the girls, started doing the warm ups and still wondering where they were.

Then it was time, the characters came out....and OH MY....this is NOT Disneyland!

There was Picacho (no idea how to spell that one), Scooby Do, and Steroid Spiderman.

Mickey Mouse looked like a very scary version of Mighty Mouse. Minnie had dark legs, and looked like she had gone through a psychotic rage when she put her lipstick on!
Tigger was a morphed version! He had the Tigger body and the Tony the Tiger head. Thorin said "I think he put the wrong head on mom!"

I just started laughing from delirium!

I am currently in a law class and they crossed SO many lines (copyright and false advertising just off the top of my head),
that I really hope they have a good lawyer when they get caught.

They also have a Disney breakfast on Saturday. I really hope they have the real characters there because a lot of the kids were freaked out by the scary Mickey Mouse. He looked like he had been chewed on by something. People are paying for the event on Saturday and might expect the real deal. I was happy we got to school on time and with tons of energy, even if it was adrenaline from FEAR!

Pearl Harbor interview

Adventures to Pearl Harbor:
This was our second time to explore Pearl Harbor. The first time was on Pearl Harbor Day (see previous blog 12/07/08). The reason for our trip was a fact finding mission.

I have to go back a bit to explain the reason for the project.....so here is the background:
Thorin has been a GATE (gifted and talented) student for 2 years, but our Hawaiian school does not offer a specific class so they have to differentiate the work. What this means is that the teacher has more work to teach a wider range of learning levels. It is very challenging to stay on top of the highest and lowest level students.
Thorin was assigned "Charlotte's Web" the same week Sorenna brought it home too.
I mentioned that to the teacher and she assured me that the levels would be challenging for the top students. Turns out, it wasn't. The few top learners and 2 GATE kids got separate assignments after 3 weeks of skating through the other assignment.
So, Thorin was to pick a subject she is interested in and do a laundry list of items to complete the assignment. She chose Pearl Harbor.
Her contract had 5 "must do" things and 5 "choice" things to pick from to assure an A.
The things she did on the MUST do list were:
*Read a novel "Boy at War" and do a test on it to include a book report and illustrated book report cover
*Do a timeline of events leading to the bombing
*Pick 1 Japanese and 1 American leader at Pearl Harbor and write reports on what their roles were
*Do a web quest about Pearl Harbor (another test)
*Draw a detailed map highlighting area of Pearl Harbor or do a diorama (she did both)

The things she did on the CHOICES list were:
*Create a work of art depicting the scene at Pearl Harbor
*Visit U.S.S Arizona and create scrapbook of trip (PowerPoint)
*Make a PowerPoint presentation about everything learned and present to the class.

BONUS: We scored an interview with a survivor and Thorin got the questions ready and I took photos and videotaped it.

She was such a gracious interviewer. She told him thank you for the chance and was ready with her questions and even stumped him a couple times.
She told him "it's OK if you don't know that" and once she asked for his opinion on something related to the attack and he told her he didn't have one.....she said it was fine, she just wanted to see if he had one.
He told her stories, showed her recently-found photos and was very impressed with her.
My favorite question was one he asked her.
He was very shocked she was in 3rd grade and was only 8 years old doing such an advanced project. After she had discussed all the things she had learned and all her research, he asked her when did she have a chance to be a normal kid and play outside and she said "Saturdays and Sundays and sometimes on Fridays because she didn't have homework that day."
It was funny because it was true.
Our days are really short during the week and we have church and FRG events. I also have school 2 nights a week, so things are fast on those days.
But we capitalize on every weekend!
I am looking forward to seeing her give her presentation.


Photos of Pearl Harbor after the attack!

Disneytopia Dance Show

The dance show was an adventure, but the girls did a wonderful job and I was really excited for them to perform. The show was a bit early this time and I was worried they were going to be lost in the piece, but they all did very well. Cannon was a fairy with wings. It was MUCH better and easier to assemble than that freakish square hat last season.

Thorin and Sorenna were jazzy girls in the silver pants. It was a cute number.

They performed with the ROCK band, theatre' group, and HULA classes.

I have the tape and will try to load it on YOUtube soon.

Just Hangin'

Bowling & hangin' for break

Spring Break and Bowling, doesn't it just sound like it goes together? It was really fun.
The girls got to bowl one game and had so much fun trying to keep the ball rolling. It was funny to watch the girls get so excited about getting some pins.
Thorin was very serious and then would laugh about getting more pins than she thought she would.
Cannon would muster the strength to get the ball to the line and HOPE that it wouldn't get stuck AGAIN!
Sorenna was too busy dancing to remember it was her turn, but she did really well when she did.
It was a blast. My favorite part of the day was finding out Cannon was finally big enough for BOWLING SHOES!
Classic!

TARGET is HERE!!!

Ok,

I know that is no big deal to you MAINlanders, but here in Hawaii it is a really big deal.

When we heard we were moving to Hawaii everyone told me we would be Walmart shoppers forever. I looked on line and found out there was going to be a Target soon.

The hoopla surrounding Target was crazy!

I decided to stay clear of the store for at least 2 weeks following its opening. GOOD IDEA!

So, we finally got around to finding the store (the biggest in the nation) and it was awesome!

I MISSED TARGET!

This is a real Target, not like the one near our old post (if you call a 1 hour drive close).

This one is 15 minutes from home and HUGE!

We were happy to find tons of things and just enjoyed trying on Easter dresses and looking through inexpensive kid clothes.

It was great.

Our favorite part was the giant PEEPS wall. I had never seen so many colors!

We really enjoyed our first shopping outing of the year...it was worth the wait.