Yes, you read that title correctly! Well, it really should say “Elijah can recognize the written word ‘mama’”, but saying he can read is much more exciting. My sister bought the boys a Magnadoodle board and they both love playing with it. I was sitting next to Elijah and just started writing a word on the board. Of course, ‘mama’ was first. He said ‘mama’. Then I thought he probably was just saying that because I was there. So then I wrote our names like Elijah, Rowan, etc. And he didn’t say anything or just repeated what I said. Then I wrote ‘mama’ again and he pointed to it and said ‘mama’! Wow, it’s so cool!

Did I mention that I also made a list of the words that I say on their own? They understand a lot more words, but just don’t say them yet. I think Elijah says about 45 words and Rowan is about at 40. Elijah also understands the concept of 1 and 2. We go over this all day. He’ll tell me how many cars he has. He usually will say it if he has two cars. He doesn’t like saying he has one. He’ll quickly find another car to say he has two. Rowan doesn’t quite understand yet, right now he always says he has two cars whether he has two cars or not.

Today was my day off, Alex came to babysit in the afternoon. It was a nice break. I haven’t had a babysitter since before we left for Hawaii almost 2 months ago. I didn’t do much, had a yummy lunch at Sushi Sano with Michael, then went shopping to get supplies for dinner as well as a potty chair for the boys. Then when I came home, I just knitted and vegged. It was nice. I really wanted to sleep but I never get a good sleep when I know I have to wake up at a certain time. Knitting was fun though, I finished one side of the Bavarian Twisted Stitch sock that I’m making for Michael. It looks good on his foot. I didn’t like the pooling of the colors (made stripes) but Michael liked it so that’s all that matters. He immediately put it on and is now sleeping with one purple sock (the other one I made for him) and one black/green sock. I wonder how long these socks are going to last.

We had Riki and Arne over for dinner tonight. I made tacos. It came out pretty good. I liked the “discovery” brand salsa and tortillas. The other time we made it with corn tortillas, the shells were kinda stale. So I opted for flour. Yum! The chips were also good (I think it was Fuego brand) and I was surprised. It was good to see them again, it seems like we haven’t seen them in forever.

We’ve also been doing research into Waldorf schools since a friend of ours who lives in Monaco has her son in a Waldorf school. On initial investigation, it seems really cool - lots of art and earthy things integrated with regular studies. We are really interested in this kind of alternative education, but Waldorf is kind of scary because they don’t teach reading and writing until they are in 3rd grade. To their credit though, they say that once they do learn to read, they just take off and start reading like crazy. So when you go to a school, you’re kind of locked in until at least the 8th grade. Also, some of the things we read about Steiner himself (the founder) are kind of weird and cult-y and made us feel uncomfortable. I’m sure it all would depend on the individual school and teachers. We’ll have to look into the school in Munich to see if we would like it or not. And being the TV/Internet addict that I am doesn’t bode too well in a Waldorf environment.

This week we have a few open houses to attend. I’m interested to find out more about other kindergartens! I hope we can find one that we like!!!

In other news, my dad finally got the electrical done in the house which was so shocking to me. I thought it would be another year before a decision was going to be made. A friend of my cousin’s was available and they’re finishing the job in 3 days. I thought it would take longer than that. But I think they are just replacing what is there, and not bringing it up to today’s code, which is fine. Also, my dad is having another guy come in to help him do the bathroom and possibly windows. So a lot is happening and I’m so proud of my dad to continue on with the momentum that we had when I was there. I only wish I could be there to see the changes going on and helping to make decisions. I told him that he has to make sure to take “before” pictures so we don’t forget what it used to look like!!!

My grandpa (mom’s father) is not doing too well in the nursing home. He hasn’t been eating too good and he’s now on morphine. I don’t remember what the morphene is for. So I think he will be gone sometime soon. “Buster” as he was called in his youth, lived a long full life and was there for me when I was into photograhy - he gave me a camera and a couple of lenses, which I remember using up until I went to college. With his savvy investments, he helped pay for my college tuition, as well as his other grandkids. All of us grandkids will remember his extreme pidgin english, and it was often a source of entertainment. “Cold, like hell” is one phrase Michael and I still use to this day. He was the only grandpa I knew. My dad’s father died when I was young so I don’t know him at all. I’m glad we all went to see him during this last visit.

Sorry *again* that I have been so lazy with my posts. I guess I’m still in the “decompressing” stage. Ha, that might last awhile. Since the last post, it has snowed a couple of times and we now take forever to get ready in the morning. So much clothes to put on! I have to wear boots and not my moccassins and a scarf. It hasn’t been necessary to wear a hat yet.

We’ve gotten into full swing of Kindergarten open houses. We went to one this past Saturday. It was the same one that we went to last year. It’s an english speaking montessori kindergarten. It’s not too far from us and we like it well enough. The only thing that we don’t like is that it’s english only, no german. Of course the kids speak german when they’re not in class, but I think it wouldn’t properly prepare the kids for when they go to the 1st grade. We have a bunch of other kindergartens that we’re seeing too. Our friend, Audrey, is also looking for a kindergarten as well so we’re sharing resources. She doesn’t have to worry about german so much though because they speak german at home. Anyway, back to the open house. The boys did very well and I think put on a good enough show. The teachers there noticed how interested they were in everything and they didn’t cry at all, they had excellent manners. We were kind of nervous because we didn’t know how the kids would act with so many other kids and people around, but they did fine. Hawaii must’ve made them used to plenty people.

Audrey also told us about a playgroup that her son goes to that we’re interested in. There’s 8 kids and it’s 3x a week from 3pm - 6pm, and you leave the kids there. It’s a good first step to separation. I’ll have to find out more about it.

Today we went to our kinderturnen class and the teacher told us about another class that’s right near our house. It’s the same thing except in a bigger room. We got the phone number so we’ll see about signing up. That would be awesome to be able to go to something without the stroller!

The boys have been really fun, talking up a storm. I am writing down how many words they say without us having to prompt them. Elijah asked me where daddy was and I said “Daddy is at work”. Then he repeated several times “Daddy is at work!!!” I am also trying to teach them the concept of 1 and 2. They know the numbers, but not quantity. So now when I give them crackers, I ask if they want one or two. Of course they say two! And then the other day, I just gave Elijah one cracker and he looked at it and looked up at me and he said “two” and held out his hand. That was awesome! They are both starting to notice colors and I think they know blue, green and pink.

The boys miss Kalea (my parents dog) a lot. Everytime they see a dog in a book, they always point and say “Kalea”. They also like to say “Kalea, sit”, “bye bye Kalea” and “Kalea, no” just at random. I gotta print some pictures out of her so they can see her.

Other than that, I’ve been knitting up a storm. I am now knitting “Bavarian Twised Stitch” socks from “Socks soar on two circular needles” book for Michael. I’m knitting it using Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock in Blackwatch colorway. I’m not all that crazy about the colorway, I think I liked it better in the skein. But Michael likes it, so that’s all that matters. I do like knitting with circs instead of dpns. I’m using my new circs from Knit Picks, and they are so awesome. Very pointy!

I’ll try to be better about updating, but no promises! :)

Here is a picture I was supposed to put up - the plant benches that me and my dad made. We didn’t finish repotting, but we got a lot done!

The new plant benches

We’re back and still decompressing. I guess I should say I’m still decompressing. The flight back wasn’t bad at all. The boys threw a tantrum at the Honolulu airport, but once we got on the plane, they settled in and were fine. The flight to San Fran was so easy. Geez. They slept for about 2-3 hours of the 5 hour flight. I was worried a little bit because I had less than an hour to get to the connecting flight in San Fran. Luckily, some nice strangers felt bad for me and helped me to the bus that took me to the international terminal. The boys were quiet the whole time I was stressing about getting on the bus. We got to our flight with time to spare(!) and almost got the bulkhead row. I was going to take it (the flight was empty) but then this couple with two small babies wanted it, so I gave it to them so that they could use the bassinet thingy.

The boys did great on the long flight (10+ hours) and they were happy to sit in their seats but even happier to get to go to the bathroom for a diaper change. Elijah loved getting up on the changing table and looking at himself. He has a great “I-know-I-shouldn’t-enjoy-looking-at-myself-but-I-do” smile. I did the thing that Michael told me to do which was tuck his shirt in and say “WOW!” and make like he’s being presented. Kind of weird, but he loved it. We had a snotty kid sit in front of us and at one point was taking all of the boys’ toys and trying to eat their snacks. We watched some teletubbies, but only maybe an hour per flight. I was kind of bummed because I slept through them passing out the breakfast trays and was peeved that they didn’t wake me up. Oh well, we had lots of snacks and stuff to munch on.

When we finally arrived in Munich, I had a porter help me with my bags. I wanted him to only carry one of the car seats since I am being charged per piece. But he insisted that I have all my bags on and I told him that I only had 5 euros. He said “your husband will have more”. Uhhh, ok. Turns out, it was totally worth it. Not only did I have a load off, I was able to zip through passport control (I went to a special area), and then my bags arrived within a minute, then we zipped on out. Totally worth the 10 euros. Michael was there and we were all so happy to see him again! We fit everything in the car and came home. The timing was perfect, it was around bedtime for the boys. They slept very well in their new beds. They got back to a normal sleep schedule right away. I, on the other hand, am still dealing with odd sleeping hours, but that’s kind of normal for me.

Life is pretty much back to normal. It is colder than when we left, but not nearly as cold as I thought it would be. We’ve been going to the bakery everyday and getting our pretzels and pastries (yum!). Food is much simpler, less tv is being watched, more exercise is being had. I think the boys are wondering where all the people are though.

Friday morning we had a music class, this one is a little different than the other one. I was still hoping for more instrument playing, but alas, it was a sing-a-long kind of class again. Much to my surprise though, the boys did a lot of the movements! Usually they ignore them and run around, but this time they still ran around but stopped sometimes and participated! What a shock! Elijah is really into copying now, so it’s so exciting to see him having fun doing that. Rowan is more interested in running around still but sometimes will stop. It’s too bad that they are in the class together, I really feel they would do more if they were separated, since they encourage each other to do their own thing. Maybe it will get better, we’ll see. Elijah really liked the song “A Ram Sam Sam“, which is a Morrocan song that is sung in rounds.

We bought the boys a “Holzlaufrad”, which is a wooden bike that doesn’t have pedals. Rowan is intent on figuring out how it works, he won’t allow us to hold it for him while he rides. Very determined! They are still a little too short for it, but in a couple of months, I think we won’t be able to get them of of it!

We’ve recently got hooked into watching Depsperate Housewives. It’s a really great show, written very well. I just really hate the title.

Well, today is our last day in Hawaii. I am very nervous about flying tomorrow and wondering if I’ll be able to handle the boys and luggage by myself. What did we do today? SHOPPING and more shopping. Getting last minute stuff, returning some things that don’t fit and getting others. We went to Nordstrom Rack to get fake crocs for the boys, then to Taj clubhouse for some shirts, then to Sam’s club to look at the luggage (but didn’t get anything), then down to Wal-Mart to get a duffle bag (easier to store than one with wheels), then to Ala Moana to go to Children’s Place, Sears and Barnes and Noble. I bought “thank you” gifts for my parents - a new drill for my dad (his is older than me I think and that’s OLD) and 24 Season 5 for my mom.

I have spent the last few days visiting with friends and relatives, cramming it all in. Last Thursday, I visited with the Otas and finally got to see Debbie. She is pregnant again and is so sick that she barely leaves the house. Last Friday, I went to see the Pagaragans (my cousin Lynn’s in-laws). On Saturday, I visited with the Chars, John, Lisa and Taylor. Lisa is a friend from pre-school(!) and we went to Elementary, Intermediate and High School together. She and John are so much fun to talk to and visit. Sunday afternoon we went to our cousin’s 1st birthday (Shane) and saw a lot of the Kaneshiro side. Then on Sunday evening we had a “goodbye” dinner for us at the Tamashiros house. It was really nice of my aunties to cook for us. This morning I visited with another friend from high school, Denise and her family. I was hoping to get to visit with a whole bunch of others, but alas, I have run out of time. We will miss everyone! It has been awesome to have so much family around and to get together to have so much ono food.

The boys are doing very well, I think they will be very upset to leave. They have gotten used to the slow paced life of Hawaii. They love saying hi and bye to the dog, Kalea. They are also getting good at vocalising what they want. Elijah has learned “handsome face” which he does the exact opposite. Rowan actually retrieved a diaper, gave it to my dad, and lied down in front of him for a change (WOW). The boys love rice and soup. I’m sure they will be campbells chicken noodle soup eaters soon. They love to say bye to everything, including toilet paper being flushed down the toilet. They are happy to hug and/or kiss anyone when leaving. They can put their own shoes on (slip on kind). Rowan is really sneaky when trying to get to my mom’s coke or frappacino. Cars are still their most favorite thing. They can easily find the loudest noise to make in 5 seconds. Elijah is a budding artist, he is getting the hang of using crayons, pens and he likes his new magna doodle board.

I finished my Pomatomus socks (picture posted soon). I have been pretty productive with my knitting here. Must be because I don’t have to do any cooking (thanks, Dad)!

We are looking forward to seeing Michael again, we are so incomplete without him. The boys haven’t been asking about him, but I know when they see him again, they’re going to stick to him like glue and not want him to leave again. Wish me luck for tomorrow!

Today my mom was off of work so we spent the day repotting the plants. There are a LOT of plants. We both spent a good 3 - 4 hours repotting and maybe got 1/2 done? The tables look fabulous with all the plants on them, it looks like a real nursery! So many of the plants needed to be divided. One plant was divided into 10 plants, that’s how big it was! So, we might not have enough space once we divide up the plants. My dad had all the equipment - soil, rocks, fertilizer, etc. so we didn’t have to buy anything. It was incredibly satisfying to repot plants and see what a difference it makes. I’m hoping that the orchids will bloom again next year. I am so excited to see everything grow, my dad will have to send me monthly progress reports and pictures. They are like my babies now.

We also had a lot of people come over to do estimates on the remodelling that they’re planning. Once I get set on doing something, everything goes quickly. We’re excited to see what the estimates will look like.

Other than that, no real news. Knitting has slowed down some because of all this other work, but I’m still trying to do at least 20 rows a day.

The last couple of days I actually got off my lazy butt and did something. Last week I decided that I would clean up my dad’s patio area as a project to do before I leave. My dad has a lot of plants and it has been ignored overgrown with weeds for several years. For some odd reason, as messy as I am, when it comes to other people’s messes, I like choosing the most messy thing and clean that up. I guess it’s because it’s the most rewarding. Anyways, I never had the motivation to start and the boys and knitting has kept me pretty well occupied.

Yesterday, my mom was home in the morning and was able to watch the boys so I started cleaning up. At first it was just light kind of stuff, pruning the plants, just trying to make a walkway. After a few minutes though, my dad decides to help out and we really got a lot done. In a couple of hours, you could actually walk across the patio. At that time, I looked at his hodge-podge of shelving - he has one decent plant table and the other two was rusted corrugated roofing put on concrete blocks. It was so messy and dangerous! He even had a rusted old bbq grill frame that he turned into a makeshift shelf. We laughed about it and then we got the idea to build two more work tables. It really doesn’t look that hard to make, should take us at most a day. With this renewed energy, we took all the plants out, threw away the old “stuff”, and cleaned it up really well so that you could actually see the stone patio. I don’t know when the last time was that we could see the stones. At one point he pointed up at the mesh cover and said “see this hole? I used to have my weber here.” And there was a perfectly round hole in the mesh material burnt off. He didn’t mean to be funny but I was laughing so hard. I just pictured my dad happily cooking away on his grill and then one day looking up and noticing a perfectly round hole. I’m still laughing at that one.

Then he said “geez, when you come home I have so much work to do”. Haha!

Most of the time I couldn’t tell what were real plants and what were weeds. When in doubt, it’s a weed. I threw so much away. But there are some plants that just went crazy and thrived in an “ignored” environment. One of them was orchids. Actually, the orchids weren’t thriving (no flowers), but they were still living. I think of that movie “secretary” where that guy had that special humid environment with the little spray misters that would mist them every few hours, and here my dad is ignoring them for how many years and they’re still living! He has a lot of nice plants that are still living so after we build those shelves, we will repot them all.

So yesterday was cleanup and idea day, and today was building day. My mom had the morning off again, so we worked on building the tables this morning. It was a comedy of errors and it had me laughing throughout the day. It’s amazing how slow things go when you’re just starting. We had so much energy to just start doing and not thinking about what we need, etc. My dad made a big speech yesterday about having a plan so that we know what we need. So he drew it up yesterday and we were ready.

Oh, but where are the hammers? Where is the safety goggles. Ok, start hammering. Wait, what size nails? Too long! This one? Ok. Where is that drill? Where did that tape measure go? Things of that nature. The first table was painstakingly slow to start. We had to do all the cutting first. I measured the line and my dad cut. He complained about my line not being straight, but you should’ve seen his cut. But whatever, it’s just for a plant table. I had to chuckle though. We assembled the legs and started on making the frame when we realize that it needed to be 3 inches narrower. Argh! We basically had to take it all apart and start from the beginning. We also realized that we needed to buy more wood and more nails. I asked him “what happened to the plan?” and he said “it’s in the house”. He totally cracked me up.

So, my dad went back to the hardware store and I went in to put the boys to bed. Now that we have an idea of what we’re doing and we have all the tools at our disposal, everything should be quick right? right? Well, we assembled the legs pretty darn quickly. We narrowed it by the 3″ that it needed and made all 4 leg assemblies (1 assembly has 2 legs) for the 2 tables. We got that part down pretty good. Then as we were putting the frame on, we realized that we put the 7′ piece where the 12′ piece was supposed to go. Argh! So off it came. After that, I think it went pretty smoothly, we did run out of the long nails at one point.

I could only help build one table, then the boys woke up from their nap and I had to watch them. But my dad continued and made the other table by himself. At the end of the day, we were so proud of what we accomplished and can’t wait to put them in place and start repotting the plants. We didn’t have enough wood to put slats on the bottom part, but that can always be added later. It looks really good and he has so much room now to plant whatever he wants.

It has been really fun to work on a project. Unfortunately, the boys suffered since they had to stay in most of the day. It has been rainy though, so it’s not like we could’ve done anything outside anyway. They have been watching an awful lot of TV, which I feel so guilty for. I try to turn it off and read them a story but they immediately say “la la, la la!!!” and then ignore me when I don’t turn it on. They are talking a lot though, which is really good. They’re new phrase they say is “Kalea NOOOOOOOOOUUUUU!” Kalea is the dog, btw. It’s so cute, everytime we leave, they say bye to Kalea. I think that is the only “person” who they call by name. Elijah and I have a game that he buckles himself in the car seat and then we both exclaim “WOW!” And Rowan holds his arms out really wide to give anyone a big hug, but he actually doesn’t hug, he just keeps his arms out. Today we played a game of “can you do this?” And they copied almost everything that I did. It was really fun.

I’m trying to teach them to call me Mommy. So I ignore their whines and grunts to get my attention and mention “mommy” without looking at them, and when they do say “mommy”, I give them my full attention and ask what they would like. I think it’s working.

I forgot to mention that my cousin Lori came down from Maui and we got to see her last Saturday. I saw her about a year and a half ago when she was visiting her sister and brother in Seattle, so it hasn’t been too long. But for my dad and other cousins, it’s been a long time. It was a nice visit and she brought some old videos from 1987, when we had our reunion and we watched it. I was a sophomore in High School and boy was I a character! Every shot I’m doing something silly or I’m being loud. And I actually used to do my hair. One scene was really funny because the camera was on a tripod pointing to a group of people kind of far away - super boring, and then without warning, I pass by really quickly right in front like I’m on wheels with a big grin and shaka (I think). Ah, I crack myself up.

Elijah getting a handful of snappers

Geez, it seems like we’ve been going to a million parties. We had 2 for Christmas and 2 for New Years! New Year’s Eve, we went to my cousin Sheryl’s house in Mililani. We weren’t planning to stay too late, but you know how it is. The boys were really good and they even stayed up until 12:30 with not too much fuss. They loved going up and down the stairs and playing with all of Kalen’s toys. I thought they would be too scared for the fireworks, but once they got used to it, there was no stopping them. They really enjoyed those noisemaker things where you throw it on the ground. I had to show Elijah how to do it and he didn’t want to at first, but a few minutes later he started throwing them by the handfuls. He didn’t throw them hard enough that all of them popped, but enough to keep him entertained. Then Rowan got into it so they were littering the driveway really fast. Since there was a lot of unpopped “kernels”, I made them stomp on it and they liked that too. They weren’t too thrilled with the sparklers, old school or new school (morning glories). But by the end of the night, they would get close enough to hold it.

I can’t believe it’s January and it’s so dang hot!!!

Simple Stripes completed!

I finally finished my Simple Stripes socks. I didn’t weave in the ends because I don’t have a crochet hook, so I’m saving that for later. The 2nd sock came out better than the 1st sock, I guess because of experience. Overall, I really enjoyed the fair isle part of it, but I didn’t like the heel turn part of the pattern. I think I like the gusset way better. Tonight I think I am going to do Pomatomus in Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock Jeans colorway. It looks like a really challenging and interesting pattern. I am really excited!

Since I’m getting so carried away with my stash and have-the-yarn-but-haven’t-started-knitting-projects, Michael bought me a knitting journal. I am really excited to use it - the first project was the Simple Stripes socks. I like it because it has a place to store notes as well as the knitting labels and a picture. I know I will enjoy looking through it years from now. I think it is also motivating to me so that I start and finish projects and not just think about them. I also ordered a bunch of Knit Picks circulars and dpns so that I have a complete set. Can’t wait to get them!

Today we went to Costco to buy another suitcase bag, sonicare heads, and some other things. It was fun strolling through Costco, I really know how Marco (our exchange student) feels. So much stuff to look at! Oooohhh, aaaaahhh. We also went to Best Buy to get my iPod serviced, but I ended up not leaving it. When we bought the thing, the guy said “if there’s anything wrong, we’re just going to switch it out with a new one”. Of course they’re not, they have to service it first and even then if they can’t repro the problem, they’ll charge you $25! Since my problem cannot be reproduced on command (it goes days in between), I would probably get charged! Ugh, I hate those things. I also bought a wireless router for my dad so that I can have the computer in the living room. I went to go set it up and what do you know, he already had one! He didn’t even know he had wireless! I was in total shock! All this time! So I had to set it up for him and show him how to add people to the network and all that beeswax.

Now that all the parties are over, we are just relaxing and hopefully I can meet up with some of my old friends.