Danny, Kaity, Gio, Zeke and Lilikoi

The 20 DeMartinis

2012-01-17T21:51:00.000-08:00

Some family pics from Christmas with the DeMartinis. It was so fun to have everyone home and be all together. The only one missing is Buddy.

37 weeks

2012-01-13T16:35:00.000-08:00

Sienna, your belly post inspired me. Sorry for those of you who don't want to see this, but here is my huge bare belly. I took this on Sunday, so I am almost a week further along now. What I'm saying is I've probably grown. I'm feeling good and am not planning on having the baby for a least 3 weeks and maybe 4. (Lilikoi was 5 days late.) We still have Thanksgiving in Hawaii pics and Christmas in Nevada City pics to post. :)

Classic Gio

2011-11-10T23:16:00.000-08:00

This actually happened a few times with Gio. He was our sleep fighter. He never wanted to sleep because he didn't want to miss out on ANYTHING.

Wild Thing

2011-11-04T15:15:00.000-07:00

Thanks

2011-11-02T23:24:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the nice comments everyone!! I only "waited" this long to blog it because I'm lazy and didn't have any pictures. Still don't. Originally I was waiting until I went to the doctor. I didn't make it to the doctor until 20 weeks at which time I found out it was a girl!! We are so excited for Lilikoi to have a sister. Also my sister Sienna was born on February 3rd and my mom Pamela was born on February 4th. In case you were wondering.

For lack of a better picture

2011-11-01T23:34:00.000-07:00

By the way, I'm 26 weeks pregnant and it's a girl!! She's due on February 2nd which means we may have to name her Sienna Pamela.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-30T17:01:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we went to the Housing Halloween party and Stake Trunk or Treat. So, Halloween hasn't even come and our children have already begun having candy induced meltdowns. We are a family of Ninjas inspired by Lego Ninjago. Danny is missing his beard in this picture because it smelled like super glue and was making him high, but he looks legit. People at the Halloween party didn't recognize him. It was weird but all of the kids knew that he was the Sensei from Ninjago. I think I am going to amend my costume to become "Lord Garmadon" so that I fit the theme better. Danny made awesome nunchucks, throwing stars and swords for accessories.

We went to the Lane Farms Pumpkin Patch for Family Home Evening last Monday. The kids had a lot of fun. The corn maze was really hard and we kept hitting dead ends. It started getting dark while we were in there and the kids were getting kinda spooked. Danny hid and scared them and they all screamed really loud. It was classic. Gio was really jumpy after that.

Britta and Al came to be with us this weekend. It was really fun to have them. Our Saturday was really hectic with soccer, the Housing party and then Trunk or Treat. We did end up going downtown after Trunk or Treat and eating at The Habit and going to Yogurtland too. They were Pirates for tradition sake. We still have the bed skirt that Becky got from the Swap Shop and used as a skirt 3 Halloweens ago when everyone was here for Dave's wedding. :)

I wish we were swimming in Nevada City right now!!!

2011-10-25T21:48:00.000-07:00

My Zekey Boy

2011-10-23T19:10:00.000-07:00

Zeke is such a sweet, kind, and loving person. He is so fun to be with and so agreeable. He is always game to do anything. He will do anything I want or need to do. He really makes my life easier. He is such a good big brother to Lilikoi, always giving her a lot of attention. When I am putting her in her crib for nap time or bedtime, he always makes sure she has the special toys and stuffed animals she wants. He even lets her sleep with his special stuffed animals. He loves playing with Gio and all of the neighborhood kids. He has lots of special friends. He can play with anyone and get along really well. He loves playing with Bayblades with Rio and Amir. He loves riding bikes and scooters with Julian and Mahmoud. He loves playing all sorts of games with Maranda and Lilikoi. He goes to preschool now and he loves it. He is a good listener and is learning a lot. Lily calls the boys "my boys" and she calls Zeke "my Zekey boy." Zeke and Lily love giving each other big hugs.

Lily grew

2011-10-23T17:36:00.000-07:00

Lilikoi grew...but not out of her clothes. Here she is last Halloween and this Halloween wearing the same 12-18 months clothes. She has longer hair and longer legs, but she is as good-natured as ever.

Random videos

2011-10-23T10:48:00.000-07:00

Here are some videos I uploaded to Vimeo a while ago, but never posted.

Lilikoi lately

2011-10-09T20:23:00.001-07:00

Lilikoi is such a girl. She is a little mom. She walks around either singing or talking constantly. She is a parrot. She'll ask you a question like, "What you doing?" and then you'll answer, "cleaning up." Then she'll say, "Cleaning up? You cleaning up. Help you. You cleaning up the dollies?" She really just talks non stop. Danny and I are always just looking at each other and laughing whenever she talks. She takes care of her babies all day long. She is either covering them up with washcloth blankets and telling us to "shhh, my baby's sleeping" or she is bouncing, rocking and singing them to sleep. She loves to cook. She is always making pies and muffins in her little kitchen outside. She has her wild side too. When the boys are playing she just joins right in and wrestles and jumps and screams with them. She got these "True Religion" jeans from Liz. She's so stylish. She is standing behind me right now saying, "You wearing earrings? So cute. So pretty. They so cute?" Something the boys would never have noticed.

We're still alive

2011-10-07T00:23:00.000-07:00

Zeke giving Lily a ride on a cool bike at preschool. It took a little convincing, but he finally got her on the bike. He really wanted to give her a ride, no one else, just her.

Zeke's awesome soccer kick.

Go Lightning Strikes Back!!

I had this hundred dollar bill sitting on the desk because I had sold a bike earlier in the day. When Gio got home and saw it he grabbed it and started going crazy. He wanted it soooo bad. It was like the ring of power and it was possessing him. When I took it back he screamed and cried. He only got a few dollars in coins from the tooth fairy. :)

Something new

2011-08-02T09:25:00.001-07:00

Danny got some new glasses. He was complaining about his eyes a lot so he really likes them. He says it feels like his eyes are dancing on pillows. (Oh yeah, and a haircut. Gio and Zeke also got the same haircut.)

And, Lilikoi is using the big potty. She is really good with poop, not as good with pee. She doesn't realize when she needs to pee, but she loves to poop in the potty.

Zekey jumped!!

2011-08-02T09:12:00.000-07:00

Zeke jumped of Nana and Grandad's deck by himself for the first time. (Thanks Al for the picture.)

Zeke and Gio are up in Nevada City all week with Nana and Grandada and all their aunts and uncle. I think they are in heaven. We've been calling periodically to see how they are doing. Gio agreed to talk to me the other day only to ask, "When you come up here do we have to go home?" He does NOT want to come home. They have been swimming all day. On Saturday they swam, played badminton and bocce, and soccer all in one day. Then they finished the day watching a movie out on the deck before bed. They are so lucky!! Lilikoi is really jealous and keeps saying, "Go Nana's. Zekey boy." (She loves Gio too, his name is just a lot harder for her to say.) We are getting a lot done around here and the house is staying really clean. It is strangely quiet though. You can do ANYTHING with one kid. It is amazing. When you have one kid you don't realize how easy it is because you are used to having no kids. But when you go from three to one, it's cake.

Fishing at Fuller Lake

2011-08-01T16:59:00.001-07:00

While we were in Nevada City Danny took the boys fishing a few times. The first time we went to lower Scotts Flat with Pammy and Jos and took the canoe and kayak. Only Joslin caught a fish. So we had to go again. The second time we went to Fuller Lake. We went with Nana, Grandad, Jos, Ape, Nat, Ellie and all of us. They took the canoe and kayak out again with no luck. Then they fished from the shore and both Gio and Zeke caught a fish.

Medival Children's Festival

2011-07-31T17:05:00.000-07:00

While we were in Nevada City we went to the Medieval Children's Festival at Pioneer Park. There was a real fire breathing dragon, lots of fairies, a real troll guarding the bridge, a knight in armor, and tons of crafts. The kids LOVED it.

The last month in review

2011-07-31T12:17:00.001-07:00

We have had a fun Summer so far with more fun to come. Danny's dad and sisters came to Santa Barbara for Danny's birthday on June 21st. Then on June 23rd (the day before our 8th wedding anniversary) Danny left on his research cruise to Mexico for three weeks. The kids and I drove up to Santa Cruz for a few days. We met up with Pammy there, helped Chris and Da move a little. Did tons of cool stuff including the Monterey Bay Aquarium and the boardwalk. Then we took Enzo with us to Shelley and Steve's where we ate lots of good food and got to see the Springs. I loved it when Truman put the boys to bed by telling them stories. Then to Sacramento where Chris, Da, Maria, and Gabriel met up with us. Then we drove to Utah for the 2nd Annual Palmer Family Reunion. We bombarded Sienna's house for the first few days and then we headed up to Midway. We did lots of fun stuff every single day. Some of the highlights were the 4th of July parade, Seven peaks, hiking to Stewart falls, the Kamas aquatic center, Ada's baptism, Dairy Keen, swimming in deer creek, etc. You get the point. Pretty much every time we got in the car Zeke and Lily fell asleep. Everybody in the family was there except for Adam and Danny. We missed them. Mikey taught Lily the "Friday, Friday" song and she still sings it all the time. Lily discovered milk bottles and Elmo from her cousins and now she is addicted. On the way home we stopped in Nevada City for a few days. It was so nice to be there and go to the river. Then we came home for 2 weeks. Then on Thursday Grandad flew down and picked Gio and Zeke up in and flew them back to Nevada City on Friday. They are loving being there. Lily and I will meet up with them this weekend and Danny will come when he can. (He needs to write a paper right now so we're getting out of his way and giving him lots of time to do it. Also, we LOVE being in Nevada City.) So Danny took the camera with him to Mexico so I didn't take a single picture of my trip. Everyone else took pictures, but I need to get them. Danny met up with us in Nevada City when he got home from Mexico. We had a nice dinner with the DeMartinis, Pammy, Karen and Mimi and then we had a belated birthday cake for Danny. Then Karen played the piano and all the girls sang. Lily loves to sing happy birthday to Danny. She still sings it everyday.

Happy June

2011-06-20T23:22:00.000-07:00

I have tried multiple times to upload Big Sur pictures, but to no avail. So here are some random pictures that would upload. We have lots and lots more pictures.

Zeke at little shredders skate skool.

Gio putting tobiko on the inside out California roll he made.

Lily put Zeke's shorts on over her pants all by herself and also his biking glove. All while taking very good care of her baby.

Lily and I relaxing in bed at midnight after jumping on the bed and having a pillow fight. Danny and I had gone out on a date and forgot to tell the babysitter to ignore her if she cried. So when we got home she was awake and being really cute. So we had a little late night fun before we put her back to bed.

Gio and Lily in matching pjs and tie dye.

Big Sur

2011-06-05T17:13:00.000-07:00

Untitled from Kaitlin DeMartini on Vimeo.

We went to Big Sur with Al and Britta for Memorial Day weekend. It was so fun. Here's a little video of Lily being silly for Britta and Al, which she did the whole time. She LOVED hanging out with them, especially Britta.

2011-05-17T11:55:00.000-07:00

Thanks Mama for the cute shirt and shoes for Lily. She LOVES them. Here she is talking on the phone to Danny. I got her dressed and she went in her room and found the shoes and put them on by herself.

2011-05-17T11:10:00.000-07:00

Thanks for the new swimsuit Nana! Even though it is a 3T it fits me!!

Sometimes

2011-05-14T11:59:00.000-07:00

This little girl takes off her diaper and puts on new pants all by herself. She is NOT potty trained...

Happy Mother's Day to my other Mom

2011-05-13T23:54:00.000-07:00

I am so blessed. A lot of people complain about their mother in law. Not me. I have the best mother in law. She is so loving and giving and energetic and fun. She is so good to us. She loves my kids so much and they love her. She raised really good kids who love each other and are making a difference in the world. I love being married to Danny. I am so lucky to be a part of the DeMartini family. Happy Mother's Day Nana Nancy. I am so lucky to be your daughter.

Happy Mother's Day Mama

2011-05-13T23:26:00.000-07:00

Heavenly Father has a plan for us. He knew what He was doing when He put me and my momma together. I love her so much. I am so grateful for her in my life every day. I know that Danny is too. Because I have my mom, he gets spared my every insecure thought. He doesn't have to try and figure out what to say. My mom always knows what to say. She has been saying the same things to me over and over for a long time. She is my buoy and example. I learned from her to always trust in the Lord. Our family has been so blessed by Pammy's spiritual strength. She has always put our family first. I love being my mom's daughter. I just hope I can be more like her.

The Garden

2011-05-13T23:04:00.001-07:00

This is just to say that "we" planted our garden. By we, I mean Danny. He worked and worked and woke up at first light for many days to ready the soil. I weeded the plot. Then he turned the soil over and over with sand, mulch, compost, and manure. Then he planned it out, bought the plants, planted them and set up his watering system. He put in 8 or 10 tomatoes on the right side, a row of cucumbers along the back, 4 zucchini on the left. Our strawberries were already there. They are producing a lot this year for the first time which has been fun. Then we have some basil in the front. Our asparagus is on the outside and has been very productive for the first year. I think we planted the asparagus 4 years ago, so we've been waiting a while. Luckily, patience is one of my gardener's virtues. I love my gardener and partner.

Zeke's 4!

2011-05-13T11:46:00.000-07:00

Three days after Gio turned 2... Zeke was born. Our family was forever changed by baby Zeke. I think back to the days before we had Zeke and all I can think is how lonely Gio and I were for our little friend. He is always a bright spot in our family with his huge grin and excited hand gestures to help him tell his stories. He is such a good brother. He and Gio are perfect playmates and he is so sweet with Lily. He always surprises me with his random little displays of affection with Lily. He'll just walk over to her and say hi and give her a hug. She gets so excited and loves him back. Last night at dinner I made corn on the cob, watermelon and potstickers. Half way through dinner Zeke said, "Thanks for making such a yummy dinner mom." It was so sweet. He LOVES animals with all his heart and gets so excited about any living thing. He once fell asleep holding a frog in a cup. He had Gio pray for his frog not to have any bad dreams last night. He was asking Danny about what a zookeeper does. I think he has a future career in mind. Zeke learned how to ride a two wheeler without training wheels a few weeks ago and is a pro now. Zeke's birthday this year was pretty low key, but he is very easily pleased and didn't complain. He got just what he wanted. A remote control 4 wheeler with a power ranger on it. Danny made us a yummy breakfast of french toast with strawberries, they sang happy birthday to him at church, we flew kites in the afternoon and that night we had a tie dye cake with trick candles. He finally memorized that he turned 4 by using his fingers. When someone would ask him how old he was, instead of speaking and saying "I can't remember," he would hold up four fingers. (On the morning of his birthday he ran up to me and excitedly exclaimed, "Mom, it's my birthday today. It's my second birthday.) I love Zeke so much and am so grateful to be his mom. He is such a good example to everyone.

5-5-05 Baby

2011-05-07T23:47:00.000-07:00

My 5-5-05 baby is 6!!! Gio is such a kind, sensitive, smart, active boy. I love him so much and am so grateful to have him in my life. We had a really good day on Gio's birthday. We had Swedish pancakes with strawberries and whipped cream for breakfast. Then he had his birthday circle at school where he got to walk around the sun holding the earth while I told about things that happened to him each year. His class made him a birthday banner and he brought popsicles and shelley senbei for his class. After school he and Zeke watched Busytown Mysteries and we made cupcakes and he opened his presents. He got a huge mystery package in the mail that ended up being from Stuti and Sanchi with a remote control helicopter!! Exactly what he wanted. Gio really wanted sushi for dinner, so we went to Roll a Lot with the Spragues. It was so fun to be there with friends. Then we came home and we sang to him and he blew out his trick candles which he LOVED. Then we all fell asleep.

Truffles anyone?

2011-05-04T23:51:00.001-07:00

Danny loves to make beautiful food. He is of the mind that food only tastes as good as it looks. He loves to work on his food presentation. That said, his truffles were beautiful and tasted amazing. He made four different flavors. White chocolate covered milk chocolate blackberry, dark chocolate mint (with mint from the garden), dark chocolate with a milk shell, and almond milk chocolate (or something like that).

sidenote: Danny loves Lily soooooo much. He will give her as many truffles as she wants. And she is a chocolate lover. He offered her a small piece of the chocolate bar he was melting. She handed it back to him and said, "NO" so he gave her a bigger one.

Italy

2011-05-04T15:13:00.000-07:00

Danny and I attended EuroCeph 2011 in Vico Equense Italy. He did a presentation on his squid iridophore research and I got to tag along and eat lots of good food, read, listen to my books on tape, explore and relax. It was definitely a second honeymoon. Which is even better than a first honeymoon. The trip was made possible by Danny's lab and also by the DeMartini family (Joslin, Julia, Nancy, Emily and Britta--and Dave). We had amazing tag team babysitters whom we completely trusted. I know that the kids had fun and loved all of their babysitters. Today Danny had to go to Phoenix until Friday night. Gio said to me, "I wish you went with him. It could have been like a honeymoon... and Nana could have come." We video chatted with the kids a few times and they were always really happy. Our trip was 10 days. We flew into Naples and drove down to Vico Equense. Went to Pompeii and the Statzione Zoologica. When the conference was over we got a ferry from Sorrento to Ischia, an island off the coast. There we stayed in a hotel with a really cool view, hot springs and a beach. We rented a moped scooter and drove around. Danny drove crazy like the locals swerving around cars and buses in "the middle lane". From there we went to Rome and walked around for two days seeing lots of ruins, eating lots of pizza and gelato and spending Euro's like they were fake money. It was really nice to get away and have some time together with just Danny and I. Having 10 days with no cooking, dishes, laundry, bedtime/naptime was really relaxing. Here are a few pictures.

Reading with Grandad

2011-05-03T00:21:00.001-07:00

Grandad is the best reader ever. He can take an ordinary book and make the kids and everyone else in the room roar with laughter. For example, the book "The Berenstain Bears and the Messy Room" read by grandad can quickly have the whole house gathered around laughing. I don't know what it is. Maybe it's all of his special voices or could it be the extra added phrases here and there like "I told you a hundred times!!!"

2011-04-27T21:52:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pictures from this weekend that I thought were super cute of Lily and some of her friends. She is so loving and friendly. She can be a little bossy at times, like when making Britta sit on Buddy's bed with her. I love taking the kids up to Nevada City because they get so much attention from so many people. I really get a nice break. All of the aunts were amazing entertainers this trip. Joslin had planned some arts and crafts for Saturday which everyone helped with. They turned out super cute.

Tail end of Spring Break

2011-04-27T14:38:00.000-07:00

On our way home from Nevada City we stopped in Sacramento and then Santa Cruz and then San Luis Obispo. It was very fun. Gio and Enzo played Battleship the entire time we were at Enzo's house. Thank you Auntie Karen for the Battleship!!! We LOVE it!

Happy Easter!

2011-04-26T23:52:00.000-07:00

I know, I know. It's been a LONG time. Pathetic. I have so much to blog about. The kids and I went to Nevada City and Santa Cruz for Gio's Spring Break. Then Danny and I went to Italy. Then we went to Nevada City for Easter. We also took some fun pictures at the Faculty club the week we had 85 degree weather. So much to blog. Alas, I spend my time Spring cleaning. I have been purging like there's no tomorrow. My inspiration is half Zero Waste Home and half Simple Mom (both which Da showed me while I was at her house). I got rid of all of the random cleaning supplies that I had collected from the swap shop and never used. They were cluttering up under my sink. I also did this with the toiletries and lotions which had somehow multiplied and were overflowing out of the cupboard. Then I started in on the boys room. I got rid of all of the random toys that we had collected at the swap shop over the last 4 years. Their room was so out of control that there was no possible way they could clean it by themselves. Then I went through Lily's clothes. Her drawers were so stuffed they were useless. I really had to talk myself through the whole thing doing positive affirmations the whole time. It's really hard to get rid of stuff for some reason. Then I went through my clothes. Then I decided to change the entry way. Then I took everything out of the fridge and bleached the whole thing. I still need to do a lot of work. I think that my next project is going to be to revamp our 72 hr kits (Sienna got me excited for this one). I am loving how much easier the house is to straighten and clean (with my baking soda and vinegar). Here are some pictures from Easter morning before church. These guys were being so silly. By the time I figured out the settings on the camera they were to far gone.

Mormon.org

2011-04-03T18:13:00.001-07:00

Have you seen this video? Chris and Da just showed it to me. It's totally inspiring.

Don't you wish...

2011-03-17T18:16:00.000-07:00

your mullet was cute like mine? Don't cha?

Play Hard, Sleep Hard

2011-03-17T15:26:00.000-07:00

There are a few things these boys do really well. Play hard, work hard, and sleep hard. They have perfected the art of sleeping anywhere, anytime. They spent all day shoveling snow to make the perfect sledding run. I don't think they came inside all day. They were still going out there when it got dark. Inevitably they don't make it very long once they actually sit down for more than a minute. I think they get it from their mom. Heehee. Nana is the ultimate hard worker, hard player and never makes it for more than a minute once she sits down. She sometimes doesn't even make it in from the car without needing to rest her eyes.

Faculty Club

2011-03-15T16:50:00.001-07:00

After we picked Gio up from school we were HOT, so we went swimming at the Faculty Club. We haven't been for a LONG, LONG time. I think the last time we went was in the beginning of October. I was worried that the boys might have forgotten how to swim. The boys were fine and had a lot of fun swimming. Lilikoi, however, was not so sure about the water. She didn't like it when I took her in the water and wanted to take off her wet swim suit. She did like playing in the baby pool gutter. A minute after I took this picture she also took off her swim diaper. We got some much needed sun and had a nice time relaxing on the hot sidewalk to warm up from swimming.

Chocolate Zekey

2011-03-15T12:35:00.000-07:00

Just looking through old pictures and wanted to put a picture of Zeke after he ate a bowl of ice cream (to match the one of Gio). I love this guy. He is so fun to hang out with. Right now Lily is sleeping and Gio is at school. Zeke is sitting on my lap and we're playing Starfall. He's getting pretty good at it.

Gio and the stolen truffle

2011-03-14T23:34:00.000-07:00

I was looking through old pictures and I came across this one. This was before we moved to California, so Gio was about 12 months. We were living in the blue house and Joslin and Julia were living with us. Maybe Becky too. Julia and Danny had made truffles and they were on a plate in the fridge. Gio somehow snuck into the fridge when someone opened it and stole a truffle and was sneakily eating it. When we caught him he quickly hid it behind his back. Have I posted this picture before? I feel like I have. Oh well.

Go Argentina!

2011-03-14T09:44:00.000-07:00

Lilikoi is going to be our secret weapon when we have a DeMartini family soccer match Argentina vs. Honduras. Thanks Jos for the uniform!

Lilikoi is becoming fiercely independent and will throw a fit if we don't let her feed herself. It is frustrating knowing that this is going to happen.

Hi Tucker!! We went to your grove. It is one of our favorite parks.

Big Zeke

2011-03-12T21:58:00.000-08:00

Danny and I just finished watching "Doc Martin" Series 1-4. We were obsessed. We were staying up until 2 in the morning every night because we couldn't stop after just one 40 minute episode. We had to watch at least 2, sometimes 3 or 4. We were addicted. And frankly I was exhausted. When my mom asked me if I was sad that I didn't have any new episodes to watch I told her I was kind of relieved. I was kind of excited to get some sleep and to get my life back. The next day Zeke said to me, "You finally got your life back, right?" I wasn't sure that I had heard him right. I just sort of blew it off until he said it three more times on separate occasions. Finally I asked him what in the world he was talking about. He said, "You finally got your life back from Doc Martin, right?" Note to self, Zeke is listening. I had no idea. I guess it's because he usually lets Gio do all of the talking.

Silly Lily

2011-03-08T18:33:00.000-08:00

This was the morning that I went to the bathroom and came back to discover that Goldilocks had eaten all of the berries out of my porridge.

Lilikoi loves her potty. She loves to get undressed and sit on it and then run away and pee on the carpet. Also, she likes to put her doll in it or all her clothes. (Luckily she's never used it for potty yet.)

Water in one hand, purse on her arm and she's ready to go. When she is ready to go and I'm not she goes around the house collecting my things for me. She brings me my shoes, my jacket, and my purse.

Joslin's Home!!!

2011-03-07T12:38:00.000-08:00

Can you believe it? I can't believe that she's home. Lilikoi turned 18 months and Joslin came home. We drove up to Nevada City to see her. Doug and Becky and Tucker came from Hawaii. Britta and Alan from Redwood City, Julia and Bryan from Orange, and April on a 24 hour train ride from Provo. Nana and Grandad, Ellie and Buddy were already there of course. Emily had gone with her parents to Argentina to pick up Jos and then to tour Honduras and had to get back to school and Nat was all the way out in Hawaii. (We missed you Nat and Em.) There was a huge snow storm the day before we drove up there. It snowed like crazy. I didn't take that many pictures. Doug got a lot more than I did and got better ones too, but I forgot to download them. We got there late Friday night. On Friday they made igloos. The girls made one in the circle and the boys made one down by the pool. On Saturday the boys and Granddad spent a couple of hours making a sledding run down the hill. We did many many runs down the hill with all different configurations. The run was so long and scary. We always made April go in the front because she was the bravest. Gio went on several runs. He wanted to go in the front even though I told him he would fall off and get run over. He went in the front and fell off and got run over. He survived. There was one scary part which was a bank by a tree. It always felt like you were going to whip out and hit the tree if you were in the back, but luckily no one ever did. The last night we were there Gio wanted to sleep out in the snow fort. Granddad agreed to sleep out there with him. They were so cute getting settled in there. They watched a movie on Granddad's phone. Then half way through the night granddad came in and Danny went out there. Doug slept in the one downstairs and Al slept in it the night before. Joslin did a really good job on her talk and so did granddad. We are so glad that we could go to Nevada City for the weekend and see Joslin and everyone else.

More Hawaii Pictures

2011-02-04T11:27:00.000-08:00

Truman and Gio. Truman, Mikey, and Minami were the best big cousins you could ask for. The boys had a lot of fun this day playing in the surf at Gas Chambers.

Jordon jumping point. It was so fun to hang out with Jordon on our trip.

Gio playing Infinity Blade on the iPhone while the rest of us enjoyed nature and jumped point.

The elusive Hawaiian Bobtail squid that we had to drive downtown 3 different nights to hunt for. In the words of Jordon it was 0% fun. Thanks Enos, Jordon, and Tony for getting me out of it 2 of the 3 times. And good job Tony for finally finding some.

Yes, Lilikoi is doll sized and those are mosquito bites all over her face not chicken pox.

The Zoo

2011-02-03T21:08:00.000-08:00

We have been so lucky with the visitors. Nana and Grandad and Julia and Bryan came to visit a few weekends ago. Britta and Al came to visit the weekend before that, but I didn't get a single picture.:( We went to the zoo. It was fun. We stayed a lot longer than we usually do, so we saw a lot more. Like the Channel Islands fox being super cute and the dozen otter babies play fighting. The boys were wiped out and fell asleep on the way home and wouldn't wake up to eat at The Natural Cafe. So, they slept in the car while we had a peaceful dinner (and dessert).

Fungi of the Forests

2011-01-31T08:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a good Saturday. We woke up early and went on a field trip with Danny's Fungi of the Forests class. Mushroom hunting, that is. Then we went to East beach where the kids played on the beach and playground and Danny played Ultimate. Then a little shopping and some Yogurtland. The only sad part is we forgot the camera. No worries we have already been mushroom hunting again. Danny said to me, "You know how you are always sad because we never go hiking? Just don't call it hiking, call it mushroom hunting and I'll want to go all the time."

Here is Gio hold some mushrooms Danny identified as "poison pies."

Lily brought her purse and a mushroom collecting basket.

The mystery of the missing dad

2011-01-30T23:12:00.000-08:00

The other night I was neglecting the kids and trying to watch "Eat, Pray, Love" which I had gotten at Redbox 3 days before. Well, technically I was just neglecting the boys because I had paused the movie long enough to put Lily in her crib and she was crying. Hopefully, crying herself to sleep. PAUSE movie, again, as Gio comes running into my room and out of breath yells, "Where is Daddy?"
"What do you mean? He's sitting at the computer," I said to Gio.
"He's not there. He's gone."
"Is he in the bathroom?" I ask. Our house is not very big. If someone is there you can hear them. Gio runs to check.
"He's not in the bathroom."
"Have you looked everywhere," I ask again. He has. We walk outside and say his name. Maybe he took a phone call outside. Nothing. Mysterious. We are confused. I look at the clock and decide that if I take a break to put the boys to bed I might actually be able to finish the movie. We get ready for bed and say a prayer. "Bless that daddy is safe and that he will tell us where he is going next time." That's when it hits me. Is he hiding in your bunk bed? Gio dashes off. A moment later he comes running back, laughing so hard he's crying.
"Daddy is in Lily's crib. I was climbing up to the top bunk and I looked over and saw him lying in Lily's crib." Gio was laughing so hard it woke Danny up. Danny's story is that he felt bad for Lily and wanted to snuggle her. He climbed in her crib and next thing he knew he was asleep.

Pig Tails

2011-01-28T10:18:00.000-08:00

This is just to say that Lily's hair is long enough for pig tails now. So fun. PS- Don't worry I fixed Zeke's haircut.

Merry Christmas PJs

2011-01-26T20:04:00.001-08:00

Nana made our whole family matching pajamas. They are so soft and cozy. We love them. Now I want to see pictures of the rest of the pjs she made. Hint, hint. Doug and Becky, Al and Britta, Julia and Bryan, and all the single ladies.

Days 1-21

2011-01-18T19:46:00.000-08:00

I guess Danny's number 1 priority was to surf. He surfed every single day except Sunday of course. We got to surf together a lot too. Thank you to all of our babysitters. We love you!! These pictures are out at Gutters, taken by Doug. Also, apparently Danny and Jordon got Baggers that was barreling like Indo.

Hawaii- Adventure # 2, Sailing

2011-01-17T22:26:00.000-08:00

Doug always goes out of his way to make sure that the kids have fun. He really wanted to take the boys sailing and made it happen. THANKS CAPTAIN DOUG!

Hawaii- Adventure # 1, Kahana Bay

2011-01-17T22:09:00.000-08:00

We took kayaks and surfboards to Kahana Bay. We played in the water, pushed the kids on waves, kayaked around the bay, and then kayaked up the river to the tire swing. The kids loved every minute of it. They were so happy to be in the water and in the boats. I paddled with Lily on the surfboard and she kinda liked it.

Happy Birthday Sethie!!!

2010-12-05T12:59:00.000-08:00

Dear Sethie,

I still miss you and hope you had a happy birthday! I can't believe you're six!! Did you get a loose tooth yet?

Love,
Gio

Cranky Old Lady

2010-11-18T22:51:00.001-08:00

The other day at Costco Gio was walking backwards and almost walked into some lady's cart. She was watching him and giving me major stink eye. After she passed I told Gio to get in the cart because he wasn't watching where he was walking and he might get yelled at by a cranky old lady. Apparently that string of words is very melodic and fun to repeat. So for the rest of the trip Gio and Zeke were sing yelling "cranky old lady" over and over in Lilikoi's face and trying to get her to bite their noses. Which ended up being kind of a chocolaty mess because she was eating a chocolate cookie sample. They were all laughing hysterically and smashing all of the food in the cart, of course. I wish I had a picture of their messy faces, but here are some other random pictures taken lately.

Julia and Bryan's Wedding

2010-11-15T20:00:00.000-08:00

Julia and Bryan's wedding was so fun. Julia was the best bride of the summer. She sewed her own dress, for which she made the pattern and chose and found the fabric. She also designed and sewed 8 silk bridesmaids dresses. She made soap to hand out as favors. She knew what she wanted for every detail of the decorations and food and flowers and made it happen. April, Justine, and Kristin were amazing florists. April was the best Maid of Honor, fulfilling her bridesmaids duties with vim and vigor. Everything turned out beautiful and the party was really fun. Here are a few of the 800 pictures Danny took. Oh yes. . .Gio and Dotty shared a romantic moment when Gio graciously shared his bouquet (which Ape graciously made special for him...sooo nice...makes me cry).

Alan and Britta's Wedding

2010-11-12T10:29:00.001-08:00

Al big Al and Britta got married in San Diego on October 23rd. The wedding was beautiful. Britta was a beautiful bride and they both seemed really happy. It was really fun to be all together with the family. Dave rented a house on the beach and we all stayed together. He rented cruisers and we got to ride bikes on the bike path on the beach. It was so fun to be with baby Tucker because he's growing so fast and we don't get to see him all the time. Lily liked to point to him and poke his eyes and she learned how to say baby which sounds like "buh-buh". Zeke, in true form thought of a fun game to play with Tucker which was whipping him with a blanket and then covering his face with a blanket and ripping it off to say boo. One of the highlights of the trip for me was going for a jog on the beach in the morning and then surfing with Doug, Danny and Al. Gio was the ring bearer for the ring ceremony. He took his job very seriously and was very patient during all of the talking. He did try to take a little hike down the cliff before it started, while holding the rings, but luckily we caught him. During the reception we couldn't find Zeke at one point and then Danny found him sitting on the edge of the fountain all by himself, just staring at the water. A really cute moment was when Doug was talking on the microphone and Lilikoi ran up to him and stood with him while he finished his toast. Here are a few pictures.

Go Gauchos

2010-11-12T10:05:00.000-08:00

Gio and Zeke got their faces painted for a soccer game. It was a lot of fun. Gio LOVED it when they scored and everyone threw tortillas. He went around collecting tortillas and throwing them.

Danny used the cop's handcuffs and finally caught a fairy to prove they're real.

Lily marching in the parade with her baggy tights.

Lilikoi looking fetching in the arms of her father.

Their Halloween shirts from last year still fit!

Brothers are crazy. Alone these guys are pretty mellow. Put them together and this is what you get.

Cute tie dye dress from Grammy Pammy.

Lilikoi Trick or Treating and Boo (or Bo)

2010-11-11T01:11:00.000-08:00

Lilikoi trick or treating 2 from Kaitlin DeMartini on Vimeo.

lilikoi- boo from Kaitlin DeMartini on Vimeo.

Our long Halloween weekend

2010-11-10T23:38:00.000-08:00

Friday we went trick or treating at Calle Real shopping center, got to ride ponies (including Lily who is a big kid now, which is making me really want a BABY) and jump in the bounce house (I wouldn't let her go in the bounce house, but I know she thought she could handle it). Zeke was Peter Pan, Gio was a Policeman, and Lily wore her Halloween shirt that says, "Daddy's under my spell" (truer words were never spoken). There was a real policeman there handing out stickers and he complemented Gio on the authenticity of his uniform. On Saturday housing hosted a Halloween party with lots of fun crafts and a parade. For the parade Lily was a pink fairy, I was a green fairy, Gio stuck with the cop, Zeke was a leopard (handmade by Nana from a warm and cozy bathrobe, very ingenious and very comfortable for Mr. sensory issues with clothing). That afternoon we carved our pumpkins. That night the kids loaded up on candy at the stake trunk or treat where we were a whole family of pirates. Sunday was the primary program. Gio spoke his part very well. When he got to the microphone he made special note to Sister Neeley that he wouldn't be needing help. That night we trick or treated around family housing with Stuti and Sanchi who were both versions of Ariel the Little Mermaid. Gio was a cop, Zeke a leopard, Lilikoi a frog, Danny a golfer, and me a cat. Lilikoi was really a professional trick or treater. She is very observant and watched Gio and Zeke and knew exactly what to do. Lilikoi was the same frog that used to belong to Truman and was worn by both G and Z. Zeke trick or treated barefoot and at the end of the night Danny asked Zeke if he was cold and he said, "No, I was soft and cozy." We really milked the weekend. And what did we get? Roughly 10 pounds of candy that we don't know what to do with. Lilikoi was wise and altruistically donated all of her candy to a good cause: uncle Al via a messenger named Britta who came to our house!

Happy Halloween

2010-10-28T11:36:00.001-07:00

Seriously?

2010-09-26T15:57:00.000-07:00

Gio never wants to go anywhere. Ever. Every time I say it's time to go he yells, whines, wails (over and over and over), "NO!! I want to stay home," or some variation on that theme. I never know whether he's just trying to assert himself and test his power, or if he actually doesn't want to go. Whenever we do make him go places, he is always happy when he gets there and has a lot of fun. It's just getting him out the door that is the trick. So, the other day I wanted to go to Costco on the way home. In order to put off the inevitable tantrum a few more minutes, I didn't tell Gio we were going, I just started driving there. As soon as he realized I wasn't driving home, the yelling began. "Where are we going? I DON'T WANT TO GO ANYWHERE!!! I WANT TO GO HOME!!!" Instead of just getting mad at him, I decided to take a different approach. I said, "You always say you don't want to go anywhere. I can't take you seriously anymore." After a moment of quiet, "Where? Where? Where CAN'T you take me? Where? Where are you going? Where is seriously?"

PS- Gio had fun at Costco and ate so many samples I think you could call it dinner.

These are from Gio's first soccer game. He had a lot of fun at his last game and dribbled the ball past three defenders. After the game he told me, "I got a point." I didn't know what he was talking about so, I started explaining that you had to get it in the goal to get a point (as if he didn't know). Where have I been? After I got the story from Colin, Gio said, "I love Coach Colin because he gave me a point."

It was 100*F today. The hottest day since we arrived 4 years ago. I liked it a lot. It makes the beach that much more enjoyable. Lilikoi had to go topless because her mom accidentally grabbed her swim diaper and bottoms. Oops.

Lilikoi's Birthday

2010-09-26T15:35:00.000-07:00

Lilikoi turned 1 on August 29th (and I turned 29). We had BBQ hamburgers and a cake. Everyone was completely exhausted and recovering from Julia and Bryan's wedding the night before so it was pretty low key. Here is Lily with her cake. She didn't really dig into it until I got her a piece and put it on a plate. She's so polite. After getting messy from her cake she got to take a sink bath which she loved.

Seen and Heard

2010-09-22T22:48:00.000-07:00

The first day of school. Gio did really good. It was pretty hard on Zeke though. He wanted to stay so bad. Then when he realized he couldn't stay, he cried for Gio to come home with us. We love Gio's school, teacher, and classmates. Oh and Lilikoi didn't get the memo that pajama day was canceled. How embarrassing (and she was in her boy pjs).

The fish pictures are from Bullard's Bar this summer. I just love how Gio and Danny look like little twins in the picture. They seem to have a lot in common.

The last picture is Gio and Zeke in their tie dyes from Grammy Pammy. Thanks mom! I wish I could take credit for all of the cool tie dyes that my kids wear that you made.

Me: One of the reasons we're getting rid of the salamanders is because Zeke doesn't know how to treat them nicely.
On cue... Zeke: "Here Gio," and he throws the salamander at Gio.

Seen and Heard: Lilikoi's language is really blossoming lately. She says mama, dada, hi, bye, that, and apple. Last night after dinner I brought out some watermelon. We all took a piece and started eating, ignoring/forgetting the poor baby. But, not for long. Soon we heard a little girlie pointing and yelling, "THAT!!!" We all had a good laugh. Which started the laughing that didn't stop. Which started the wild man throwing his watermelon rinds on the floor. When Danny said, "Zeke stop. Who does that?" Zeke looked a little confused for a minute and then smiled and squealed, "Meeeeeee!"

Seen and Heard: Tonight after getting Lily out of the bath I held her up to the mirror and she started patting the mirror and chanting "hap-py, hap-py, hap-py." A new word?

Zeke the wild child

2010-09-21T00:17:00.000-07:00

Zeke is a wild child. There is a whole series of pictures of Gio and Zeke in this meadow with the snowy mountains in the background and crazy wild hair, but in all but the first few Zeke has no pants on. On one hand, Zeke is as easy going and mellow as they come, but he has a CRAZY streak in him that cannot be stopped. For example, the Halls came to visit last Friday and Zeke was soooo excited to see Sethie that he could not stop jumping on him. At all. The whole time. He was like a little excited puppy. Another case in point, he can't get enough of throwing pillows at Lilikoi. Also, at bedtime, he gets this crazy second wind and jumps on the bed for 15 minutes straight while making jokes. He's really good at making us laugh.

I love this girl!

2010-09-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

I think that I should get a prize for being the worst blogger. I guess my only excuse is that I am kind of overwhelmed with having 3 little kids. Rest assured though we haven't stopped taking pictures and I do write in my journal once in a while, so all is not lost to memory alone. The kids are all doing well. Gio is loving kindergarten and now plays soccer. He came home from school yesterday telling me that "there is a beading class at school that I joined". After quite a bit of interrogation I am still not quite clear about what he is talking about so I am going to ask his teacher (only because the story included paying some older kids money which he got from Fernando...hmmm). Zeke and I are having fun together during the day while Gio is away. He is still an attentive and adoring big brother to Lili except that he sometimes treats her like she is his age (ie. tries to have pillow fights with her etc.). He assures me that she likes it as long as she is not crying. Often she freaks out when he just gets too close. Lilikoi's favorite activity is being raced around in the cozy coupe car by the brothers. They run as fast as they can and she moves the steering wheel back and forth and squeals and laughs the whole time. I really need to get it on video. She is a good driver although she did fall asleep at the wheel yesterday. We miss everyone and I after this summer I have a renewed desire to live near/with family all the time. Family is the best.

Bullards

2010-08-01T23:53:00.000-07:00

We love going to the lake with the DeMartinis. So much fun. Gio LOVED tubing with Simon. Lilikoi didn't really like the life jacket. We tried to take a family picture, but that is the best we could get.

Yosemite Pictures

2010-08-01T16:49:00.001-07:00

Here's a few of our Yosemite pictures. Yosemite was awesome. I loved being there with the whole family. My boys definitely became better hikers. The cousins all had so much fun together. Some of my favorite moments were Ezra teaching Gio card games in the tent while I took a nap, and hearing everyone's childhood memories. I loved all of the swimming especially and the beautiful meadows. Thanks everyone for being so fun.

A Little Step

2010-07-25T22:45:00.000-07:00

Lilikoi's step from Kaitlin DeMartini on Vimeo.

We are alive and having a fun summer. We will soon edit our raw pictures from Yosemite and share them on snapfish. We are slow. I feel like the one thing I never have time to do is sit down at the computer (for more than 2 mins at a time). Anyway, Lilikoi loves to stand up and balance for a long time, but for some reason she doesn't really want to walk. Here's a little video.

We love Summer!!!

2010-06-09T15:51:00.000-07:00

Zeke loves wearing his "swimming hat" and goggles. He likes the costumes with minimal clothing. He loves to swim and thinks he knows how even though he totally doesn't.

Lilikoi can wave hi and mimic a few words. She says "mama" and "dada" in context and gets sad when Danny leaves for work. She cut her first tooth (bottom right) but you still can't really see it.

Gio got his first crush. The other night he said to me, "Do you remember Marielle? She always wears really pretty dresses to church."

Preschool Graduation

2010-06-03T23:21:00.000-07:00

As Gio sat on the wall next to his bestie Seth with all of the other graduates Teacher Caroline yelled to Teacher Lea, "Is Gio graduating???" Come on, just because he can still fit into some size 18 months clothes, Don't Hate. He's 5 I promise. Gio looked good in his tie (a great grandpa Austin hand me down) and didn't let it hinder him from getting good and dirty on the playground. Also, Gio has Doug disease and makes a face every time he sees the camera.

Minikoi

2010-05-11T22:42:00.000-07:00

Lilikoi is mini, but she thinks she's big. The other day she crawled over to the door to look at the kids outside and banged her hand on the door and yelled until someone came.

Today Gio and Zeke put together the model wooden boats they got for their birthdays.
"Who gave you these?" I asked Gio. He didn't know.
"I don't know either," I said, "because you guys opened your presents without anyone watching or knowing."
"That's what pirates do," he said.
"What?" I asked.
"They sneak up and open their presents without their mom's knowing. That's why I did that."
Whoever they are from. Thank you. They were really fun.

Lucky Lili

2010-05-10T23:52:00.000-07:00

Everybody needs an uncle who loves them as much Uncle Dougie loves our kids. We are lucky. (Lilikoi looking up at Doug with her feet in the Yuba on a Sunday afternoon.)

The Pirate Party

2010-05-09T16:57:00.001-07:00

Do you like the invitation Danny made on illustrator? It turned out awesome I thought.

Gio is 5!!!, and Zeke has no idea how old he is. Gio decided that he wanted a pirate party in the backyard. Luckily we all already had pirate costumes and plenty of swords. However, Zeke opted for his Peter Pan costume. The kids ate (Gio's menu) and played with swords. Then we did a little pirate necklace craft. Next we got out the treasure map, made by dad. The treasure map led the kids out the backyard gate to the playground, up the slide, across the monkey bars, through the garden and between the loquat trees where the chest was actually buried underground. Sienna ordered a real treasure chest online that arrived at our door to be filled with treasure and buried in the nick of time. Danny was a really fun pirate. Gio and his friends got a huge kick out of stealing the treasure map out of Danny's pouch and Danny, aka Captain Red Beard, having to get it back. My friend Jacquie made an awesome and super yummy treasure chest cake, we had a treasure chest pinata and a water balloon fight. And it was a success! (Minus the inevitable succession of birthday induced meltdowns, like the one when the other pirates ran ahead of Gio the head pirate and he was screaming because he wanted to be the leader.) Here are too many pictures.

Lilikoi

2010-04-09T10:09:00.000-07:00

Lilikoi Crawling (7 months) from Kaitlin DeMartini on Vimeo.

Easter Photo Shoot

2010-04-08T23:22:00.000-07:00

Dancer and the Octopus

2010-03-17T00:02:00.000-07:00

One night while we were dating Danny and I went spear fishing at night in Laie Bay. I caught a fish and thought I gave the bag to Danny to hold. When we got home neither of us had the bag. He said he didn't want to drag around a bloody fish at night so he gave it back to me. I guess it's kind of hard to communicate under water in the dark.

Picking Mandarins

2010-03-16T10:56:00.000-07:00

Danny has been getting some really good pictures lately. A few Sundays ago we took a little walk and picked some mandarins. Gio climbed to the top of the tree to get the biggest and hardest to reach oranges. He loves to climb and swing and be a monkey.

Seen and Heard

2010-03-16T08:00:00.000-07:00

Heard: Gio and Stuti: "Can we do arts?"
Seen: A variation of this picture every single day for the last two months. Gio and Stuti get out all of the paper, pens, and stickers and color for 30 minutes to an hour at a time. Stuti really is Gio's mentor in the coloring department and as a result he is getting really good at dotting his "i's" with hearts, drawing curly letters, drawing hearts, rainbows, and flowers, and making birthday crowns. He does still do his own thing and draw rocket ships and space ships sometimes, but mostly when she's at school.

Rub-A-Dub-Dub

2010-03-15T22:38:00.000-07:00

...three kids in a tub. The lighting in these pictures is kinda weird, but I like them anyway. Lilikoi loves taking baths. They all do actually. They don't like washing themselves with soap, but they like being in the water. Lilikoi likes to splash and her brothers never fail to make her crack up. For some reason they get really silly in the tub and act crazy.

Christmas Sledding

2010-03-09T10:13:00.000-08:00

Gio and Zeke Sledding from Kaitlin DeMartini on Vimeo.

Danny and Dougie took Gio and Zeke sledding this Christmas. Once they finally convinced Zeke to put some warm clothes on they had a lot of fun. Here is one of their runs.

Danny loves squid!

2010-03-07T23:17:00.000-08:00

In case anyone was wondering what Danny does or how his research is going here is a little update. He made this poster to present his research for a couple of different events. At the last minute he decided to enter it into a contest and he won $250! The colorful pictures are the squid skin changing colors.
Also, in case anyone was wondering I do love my husband even though I never post about him. Danny is a really hard worker and takes really good care of his family. The kids all love him. The other night at bed time he played human dump truck with the kids for like 15 minutes straight. The kids would climb up on his back and he would dump them off. They were hysterical with delight.

Lilikoi

2010-03-07T22:53:00.000-08:00

Also, I make her dress up a lot.

Lilikoi is 6 months

2010-03-07T22:28:00.000-08:00

I can't believe how fast Lilikoi is growing up. All of a sudden she went from a baby to someone who could sit up, scoot, and eat food. She loves her brothers and their friends, taking naps in the baby carrier, taking baths, and all of the fruits and vegetables she has tried. She hates getting dressed and riding in her car seat. She is a voracious eater. If you stop feeding her for one second to feed yourself or do anything else she gets really mad. She practically attacks the spoon on every bite. She babbles a lot and says mama and dada sometimes. She loves to bounce in her bouncer and laughs a lot while bouncing. I really love having a baby girl. It is so fun.

Zeke loves Lilikoi

2010-02-10T08:50:00.000-08:00

Zeke hugging Lilikoi from Kaitlin DeMartini on Vimeo.

Zeke absolutely loves Lilikoi. Whenever I am holding or nursing Lilikoi he is right there with us holding her hand. He is always telling her how cute she is and saying, "She loves me." He calls her Willamina a lot which she loves. He loves to hug her. He sometimes squishes her a little but she doesn't always mind. He lets her grab his face and scratch him a little and he just laughs about it. He claimed one of her pink blankets as his own so that he could be like her. This morning he said, "What does blond mean?" And then he said, "My hair is red." (Like Lilikoi's I guess.) Zeke likes to feed Lilikoi her rice cereal and is always running to get her toys or laying next to her on her play mat. Although he does tell me every once in a while to put her down and hold him, I don't think she could ask for a better, more attentive and adoring big brother. Sidenote: Zeke never leaves the house without his gun, dagger (aka whacker), or motorboat.

I Am a Builder

2010-02-09T21:27:00.000-08:00

For the primary program Gio practiced and practiced until he learned all of the words to the song "I Am a Builder." He was so proud of himself. When they finished singing it he turned to Danny who was sitting in the front row and said, "I sang the whole song." He may or may not have been a little lost the rest of the time, but that is beside the point. Gio is really trying to be a good example. After a recent dinner discussion/lecture that started with Gio saying that it was okay if he ate and talked during the prayer because Zeke was doing it he ended up saying, "I want to be a good example for my little brother and sister." He is a good example to me too. On more than one occasion he has said to me, "Mom that is not speaking with kindness." Oops. Here are some things that Gio has built lately with his Legos and Magformers. He has a talent for building. We find ourselves constantly saying, "There is no way I could have come up with that."

Family Pictures

2010-01-26T23:44:00.000-08:00

We procrastinated taking our family pictures until right before we were leaving to the airport. Zeke's expression in the tree says it all. Not a good idea, but we made it through and got a few good ones I thought. Our second mistake was trying to take pictures up on the tower. Yes, the same tower that Zeke had fallen off of the day before. You know, when he tried to climb up the back of the chair while 10 feet off the ground (a bad idea on solid ground) and flipped over bouncing off the bushes before landing. He was spared any physical harm by the tender mercies of the Lord, but needless to say that the next day when we dragged him up the wobbly ladder to the top he would not unbury his face from my lap. No matter how many times I told him we wouldn't let him fall off again. Hence the picture of our feet. What would a family photo session be without a lot of defiance, bribery, and a few tears, right?

Hawaii

2010-01-26T23:25:00.000-08:00

We had so much fun being in Hawaii for 2 weeks. I didn't want to leave. I kept saying things to Danny like, "Life is so fragile, you never know how much longer you're going to live. So you should be where you want right now, right?" In other words, we should never leave Hawaii again, right? It's definitely Hawaii, but more it is being with your family. I loved being with my mom, and Adam and Mikey and Minami, Yesenia and Mariah and the Springs, Jake and Mighty, and Robing, Doug and Becky and Al and Timmy and Enos. I love my families. They make me so happy.

Aloha

2010-01-26T23:16:00.000-08:00

The last time I posted was right before we went to Hawaii for Thanksgivng. These are some of the pictures Adam took while we were there. One of Lilikoi's many new nicknames is Little Red, because she has some awesome red hair.

Silly Turkey

2009-11-18T08:38:00.000-08:00

Gio is being like the silly turkey in "Blue Hat, Green Hat" by Sandra Boynton with his shirt on his legs and his pants on his arms. He has the funniest ideas sometimes.

Zeke doesn't take naps (for the most part) anymore, so he finds himself catnapping here and there, because he really still needs naps.

This is what happens when you feed your child blueberries for dinner: they turn into a dragon.

My Family

2009-11-16T22:01:00.000-08:00

I asked Danny to take a picture this morning because I wanted to remember how sweet my little brood of babies is. Zeke was sharing his blanket with the rest of us. He spread it across all of our laps. He is really such a sweet big brother. He will do anything to make Lilikoi smile. This morning was amazing. Danny took Gio and Zeke to school and Lilikoi and I stayed home. She nursed and slept and I cleaned like a mad woman. I was determined to be super productive . I showered super fast. That alone usually takes me all morning/day. Made the bed. And on and on. The house hasn't been this clean in over 11 weeks. I also made and sent 3 packages and speed walked to the post office to send them. Did all the laundry including the diapers. Mopped and vacuumed the whole house. Got rid of all of the swap shop extras that have just been floating around with no where to be put away. And the funnest thing I did was watch Lilikoi roll over from back to front and back. Video coming soon. (As soon as I take one.) I will admit that I only finished half of my to do list, but I felt good about what I did and I'll take what I can get.

Gio and his candy

2009-11-12T23:13:00.000-08:00

This picture really doesn't do his pile of candy justice. He worked really hard walking up and down the stairs for almost 2 hours. Danny said that Gio kept knocking on the doors and saying trick or treat before the door opened. Then when the person would come out with the candy he would just stand there silent. He really had fun though and kept saying "I got way more candy than last year."

Pumpkins

2009-11-06T21:50:00.000-08:00

Here is Danny's phallic squid pumpkin, Zeke's surprised pumpkin, and last but not least Gio and Stuti's jagged teeth creation.

Halloween

2009-11-06T18:04:00.000-08:00

We love Halloween around here. Gio loves to dress up everyday, but only on Halloween does he get to be in a parade and get buckets full of candy. The question "What were you for Halloween?" doesn't have a simple answer. Gio started off the week as a firefighter. We bought the entire costume and made him oxygen tanks with 2 liter soda bottles and black duct tape. But, when I poured out the bag of costumes and Zeke put on his Peter Pan from last year, which had magically become Robin Hood, Gio had to have one too. So, we went over to the swap shop and found a green pillow case and transformed it into Robin Hood's tunic. He completed the rest of the ensemble and ran around for the rest of the afternoon as Robin Hood. When Nana and Grandad showed up minutes before trick-or-treating with an Astronaut costume he was giddy with excitement. Lilikoi also wore three costumes: a fairy, a pea pod, and a lady bug. Zeke on the other hand is a boy who doesn't even like to wear normal clothes. So, he wore his Robin Hood shirt, but hated the belt so he took it off. He didn't mind that Gio stole his hat and shoes because he didn't like them anyway. He opted out of the parade. He hit one row of apartments trick or treating before he agreed to change his costume and became a medieval knight. We really wanted him to be a pirate with Danny but he refused. They trick or treated the whole night without shoes. Zeke's costume was basically like wearing nothing and so he got a little cold. One of the highlights was a box maze made by our BFF's Arnold and Abril. The kids played in it for hours.

The parade was pretty cute. Gio really wanted to walk with Stuti and hold her hand, but she held hands with a row of 5 princesses instead. Poor Gio. Gio won the costume contest last year for scariest costume as a pirate and went up this year in the cutest costume division, but Stuti won. He was pretty sad and told me, "I really wanted to win."

2 Months

2009-11-05T16:56:00.000-08:00

10 lbs. 10 oz. 50th percentile
22 1/2 in. 50th percentile

And she got shots (hence the bandaids on the thighs).

Danny gave Lilikoi a really nice blessing on Sunday. I am so grateful for the gospel.

2009-10-19T01:15:00.000-07:00

October

2009-10-14T17:45:00.000-07:00

Six Weeks

2009-10-13T21:18:00.000-07:00

I love Zeke!

2009-10-07T01:04:00.000-07:00

2009-09-05T15:39:00.000-07:00