Fashion With A Side Order Of 3 Eggs

I only have a sec to blog tonight so I'll make this short and sweet..........
I was laying in bed last night going over outfits in my mind that I am taking to the main land for our vacation- After letting my brain go into fashion mode, I figured my outfit situation out and started thinking about adoption- Still in fashion mode and thinking about adoption I realized that I had the most adorable headbands (thank you Hope and Kelly for these) with the most adorable bows for our little addition (no placement yet.......but we are hoping and praying for one soon) that will work great when she came home from the hospital but nothing for in the hospital-  At this point in our adoption story we do not know if we will adopt an infant, and if so, whether we will be able to be at her birth- If we are able, and if her birth mom allows- This is what you will see on my precious girls head during her hospital stay:

P.S. I ran to our local Wal Mart today and picked up new born hats- right around the corner from the hats were bows on clearance for $1.00- A little hot glue and waaa laaa.........

P.S.S 3 Eggs Left!!

Had us a little get together

A couple weeks back we had some friends over- Here is what the afternoon looked like- Such a fun day!

(About 1/2 of these pictures are compliments of our guest Mary- Thanks Mary your pictures are AWESOME!)

Mary and Lilly

The boys hiking

Beautiful Lilly

More Hiking

There is something so sweet about this picture

Dionne

Eli and Julie

Kimo and baby M

Martin

The boys cooking goat :(-

Jasmine and baby J

Beautiful Girls!

Uh-huh..Uh-huh..I like it!!

25 (I accidentally put 25 when it is 35)  35 Eggs to go and no word yet regarding the birth mom placing her 7 month old baby girl- Thank you again SO much for all of your prayers!

Passing by the baby section.....

It's so hard to know when walking through the store, passing by the baby section, and seeing something cute whether I should buy it or not- Theoretically we have not been 'chosen' by birth parents yet and there is that chance that we may not be chosen- That God has other plans for our life besides adoption- It hurts my feelings to even write but it's the truth. Today I found myself with a few minutes to spare before I had to pick up the boys-  I was wandering around the store and found myself gradually making my way back to the baby section.  I first was looking and mentally planning what I was going to buy Becca's Baby who is due in July- Then I found 2 adorable outfits that would look ever so cute on the twins my cousin Molly is having in Aug. (Molly is Becca's sister in law)- Then I found myself standing and staring at little baby girl hair bows, blankets, dresses, etc...I found myself picking up several and carrying them around with me justifying in my mind that I wanted to be prepared.....what if we were to get a call that we had been selected for instant placement (meaning that our precious baby had been born and we would need to get on a plane ASAP to fly to where she is)- As that thought passed my mind I remembered the 2 boxes of clothes I have for the 'instant placement'- ones that I have boughten, my mom has boughten, close friends have boughten, etc...
I put back several of the things I was holding but kept some also.  I had bought my boys things today at the store- just special 'goodies' that I knew they would like- and in the name of being fair to my child I have never met but have so much hope will join our family soon I could not walk out of that store without something special for her also.....
Wherever you are today my precious child we are SO SO SO SO excited to meet you and your birth mom- You and your birth mom are so prayed for and so very loved!!
P.S. Happy Birthday to my niece Sissy- She should be opening the Message in a bottle we sent!
Also, have not used any eggs yesterday or today- I am hoping to do some baking this weekend.

Not what I bough today- but a picture very fitting for
this blog

Spiders and Bird Poop

Matt and I were riding off into the sunset (it was actually the middle of the day but sunset sounds so romantic) on the 4-wheeler- the palm trees were swaying, my arms were wrapped around my man of almost 17 years, my head was resting on his back listening to the beating of his heart..ba-boom, ba-boom, ba-boom.....(cheesy cheesy cheesy)
uuurrrccchhh.......tires squealing to a stop....Matt and I look down at the same time.......
'MATT!!! DID YOU JUST SPIT ON ME!'(it's not uncommon to get a bug in your mouth when you are riding and spit it out) as I whip my had back from around his waste I notice that he looks down at his shirt at the same time........
I also notice that on my hand and down the front of Matt's shirt (cause he had turned around and looked at me by this time) was BIRD POOP! Not white sticky bird poop but purple and white bird poop- I'm guessing that the bird had eaten a ton of berries, we had driven under a tree where it was sitting, bam...in the line of fire we innocently found ourselves.....We laughed really hard as we wiped it on the bottom of Matt's flip flop and finished our ride-
I should have just stayed in the house the rest of the day cause the next part of this story grosses me out to even write.
Eli was attempting to take his dirt bike up a mountain and wanted me to come take some pictures (will post those tomorrow)- I was bringing the 4-wheeler (here's that 4-wheeler again) behind Eli just to the bottom of the mountain so I could walk up behind him taking pictures.  I ended up stopping and talking to Kelly as Eli rode up ahead- I could see Eli a quarter of the way up the mountain by the time I was finished talking- but was not sure exactly what trail he took to get up to where he was-
I left the 4-wheeler at the bottom of the mountain and started walking up by way of what I thought was the trail they used...What I did notice right away as I started up the trail was that there was an unusual amount of spider webs- Thankfully I had not seen any spiders in the webs yet- I started thinking that I must be on the wrong trail cause the boys would have broken through the webs- As this thought was going through my mind I SAW A SPIDER-  attached to his web still (Thank you LORD).  I stopped before hitting the web and turned around really quick to get outa' there- My hair was back in a pony tail and as I turned my pony tail whipped the spider off the web- I was so busy booking it out of the trail I did not realize until I was just about to the end of the trail that I felt something weird on my neck-
my hair is standing up on my arms as I write this blog-
Below is not the exact spider that was on my neck (may he RIP) but the exact type of spider that was on my neck
I have my egg update in my blog for tomorrow- I don't want to take away from the bird poop and spiders

Doing wheely's on the John Deere

Wheeley's are for adrenaline junkies who have a strong desire to flip over backwards and have their vehicle/atv/motorcycle/etc.. come crashing down on top of them.....They are for people that have a desire to challenge gravitational authority.....In my personal opinion they are completely scary and unnecessary (while saying this might I mention that my husband went back and forth in front of me on his dirt bike doing wheeley's the other day- my precious boys followed suit)
We've had a lot going on around here- Matt and the boys have been really busy completing projects-  I've had more free time than Matt and the boys so I graciously offered to do some mowing around here- Not the type of mowing that you can use a rider or push for- the type of mowing that required the John Deere.
I understand how to use the 4 wheeler- I also understand how to use the riding lawn mowers.  The only 2 pieces of equipment left are the back hoe and the John Deere Tractor.  I have never stepped foot on the back hoe to learn to drive it and have only mowed with the tractor a handful of times- for just a sec- just for Matt cause he really wanted me to learn how to drive it.
I can now say that I have done a wheely on a John Deer Tractor!
What I have learned this past week during my many hours of mowing is this.......
When you start out in 3rd gear with your RPM's revving at 25 and are on an incline you will do a wheely every time!
I was so shocked when the tires came off the ground-it reminded me of an out of control horse- as soon as those tires came back onto the ground the tractor took off (much like a horse that comes down off of reering and takes off running)- I never even thought to brake cause between my eyes being as big as saucers, my mouth hanging open, and the tractor revving up I didn't know really what to do- as the tractor burrowed up the hill I saw through my dilated pupils a very large branch right in front of me- Luckily it caught the exhaust pipe that sticks up on the front of the tractor and bent it clean down toward me before coming my way- It gave me an opportunity to duck out of the way and come out of my shocked state- I slammed on the brakes and inhaled the exhaust that the pipe was graciously blowing toward me (because of the newly bent exhaust pipe) and gathered my wits!
I hobbled the tractor back to the house and asked Matt if I he would mind fixing the pipe so I could get back to mowing..........He never even said a word :)
I now mow in 2nd gear unless I am going up a hill- then it's of course it's 1st gear with my foot hovering over the brake peddle!
On a side note- I have not used 1 single egg today.  My plan is to make cookies this afternoon but we'll see?
Below are some pictures I took yesterday- I was doing my normal 'check' of the beach and decided to veer off the beaten path and head up the hill just a bit- God's creation is so amazing!

I think the strong wind we have had blew several bird nest's
out of the trees- so glad that there was no babies in it!

My boys cut a trail that runs on the knoll that over-looks
long beach.  A vine like plant started growing and has
taken off over the last 6 months as you will see in this picture and the
picture below- It is a beautiful ride!

I love you Eli Ben-ja-stink!

My Eli....who will be 15 very soon is one of the smartest little chaps I have met- He is especially skilled in the area of knowing exactly how to get on his mom's nerves.  Whether it be we are driving home from school- he is sitting in the back seat- he props his feet up on the consul that separates the 2 front seats and rubs his feet together so that his feet scum comes off and looks like dandruff on the consul- he removes his feet and I happen to put my hand, elbow, or lean against the consul and waa-laa I have Eli's feet scum on my person.
Or maybe when we are sitting on the couch together and I smell something horrible and ask 'WHO FARTED!'- Eli's the first to say 'no'- I keep smelling random whiffs of the same stench and finally in a firm voice tell Eli that He is the one that farted.....He innocently looks at me and say's that he did not fart but has been blowing his breath on me- he strategically could blow his breath from the side of his mouth and direct it my way-
AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH Eli Ben-ja-stink!!!!!!!!!
Oh the list could go on-
Along with knowing how to get on my nerves, my Eli is also a pro at making Matt and I so proud of him-  It's indescribable, the feeling that well's up inside of my mom's heart when I hear him say something that is profound and beyond his years with wisdom- or when he does something when he does not know that someone is watching and that something he did was so genuine and kind it brings tears to my eyes.  I had one of those moments today- oh I am always proud of both of my boys- but today was a moment with Eli that signified both his maturity and tugged on my heart that he is indeed growing up.
 It was a small thing- simply that he has a 2 day job on the other side of the hill from us- Because this job is accessed by private ranch roads on both sides of the property he is able to drive himself by way of his dirt bike.  So, on top of driving himself to his job, I also noticed a back pack on his back- He had made his own lunch, packed his own water, and gotten himself out the door without ANY sort of reminder or help- I was not even around when he was doing all of this.  Why does it seem like yesterday that he was a 3 year old that needed help tying his shoes and brushing his teeth.........In the blink of an eye he has grown up-
Eli Ben daddy and I are so proud of you- The boy that you are growing out of and the Young man you are growing in to- God Bless you Sweetie.

just heading out to work

He was waving goodbye- caught the tale end of the wave

One day soon this 'drive away' will
signify all grown up and heading out to face the world on his own.

P.S. boiling 6 eggs for deviled eggs- Also noticed in my original post that I put May as the expiration for the eggs- Nope it is April 11- 97 eggs to go!!  Also, thank you Holly for the coconut cookie recipe, I will be making that hopefully tomorrow.

Pioneering Hawaiian Style

Since moving to the ranch here in Hawaii I have a very rough draft understanding of what pioneer women must have felt like.  Moving to a 'strange to them' land, very far away from their friends and family, isolated, and having traveled to their destination by way of a very bumpy road and steep mountains.

It has crossed my mind no less than one hundred times what these women must have been feeling- and at some very deep level I can describe it- I can relate and I completely and totally admire what they did.

It has been a pioneer journey for our family over the last 22 months- The night we landed in Hawaii I had the strangest feeling......an alone feeling I had never experienced- We were 3000 miles away from 'home' with not one contact on the island we moved.  My friend Holly (who lives a couple islands over) was my only 808 contact- We were starting from scratch.

Everything was different- EVERYTHING! Traded subdivision life for ranch life- Traded Power from a power company for a generator and solar- Traded cell phone reception for a sketchy phone line that only works when it has not rained (when it rains hard, the phone wire that runs on top of the ground floats in the rain water and is fuzzy at best)- Traded easy access to friends and family for an over-abundance of time with Eli, Ryan, Matt, and Oklie- Traded air conditioning for balmy humid Hawaiian days w/o any sort of air conditioning-  Traded a packed social life for complete isolation- Traded a paved 2 lane subdivision street with street lights, curb, and gutter for a windy, straight up, straight down, pot hole ridden, over-whelming 5 mile road............traded it all, just for now, in the name of ADVENTURE!!

A deep sense of accomplishment along with a deep sense of longing must have graced the minds of those pioneer women.......accomplishment in the fact that they had made it to their destination and survived- but longing because leaving everything you've ever known- the comforts, smells, sights, feeling of belongings, knowing where you are going is on your mind everyday.

Would I go back and do it all over again- Oh heck yeah......but would I go back and re-live a single day over- not even one.  Not because I don't appreciate the journey but because as any pioneer know's- you hold tight to the ground already covered- it wasn't easy walking getting where you are.  Each step takes courage, concentration, and determination.................

This picture was taken from the plane when we came to check out our job- We
had never even stepped foot on or seen our island before- I remember my thoughts were a mixture of
excitement and sheer terror at the thought of moving here- I grabbed my camera just before the plane
was going to land and visually captured a picture that will be forever burned into my memory-

P.S. Used 4 eggs for breakfast (made potato's O'Brian with bacon and scrambled eggs- thanks for the idea when I stayed at your house Holly!) and 3 eggs for blueberry/sour cream cheese cake- 103 to go!!