Eternal sunshine of my spotless mind

Went to San Diego and Disneyland for vacation. Here's a few pictures...

Legoland was great fun for the little ones. It's not as crowded as Disneyland, but has lots of rides that are appropriate for little kids. Here's one of the cutest rides in the park.

One of the coolest things about Legoland is the great Lego sculptures that are all over the park. Some of them are pretty impressive. This is one of my favorite areas.

This dragon is at least 15 feet tall, maybe more!

Just outside of Legoland is a strawberry farm. You can pay for a little bucket and go out into the field to pick your own strawberries. It was fun and they were yummy!

We went to Balboa Park and visited a bunch of museums. Little One's favorite... the Model Railway Museum (of course)!

We also visited the Museum of Man, Fleet Science Center, the Museum of Natural History, the Museum of Art and a couple other places. Here's a mummy from the Museum of Man.

And of course, there was Disneyland. It was hot and crowded, but not too bad. I think it helped that we went early in the season before all the schools were out for the year. This year his favorite rides were Star Tours, Big Mountain Thunder Railway (duh), the Silly Symphony Swings and Toy Story Mania.

Didn't get to pose w/the Mouse, but got in a few other cool characters.

Here's our Disneyland rug rats.

Lots of promoting of the new Disney/Pixar Toy Story 3.

My mood: still recovering & unpacking & stressing unnecessarily about a variety of things.

Posted by Cora at 07:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I realize that my child is growing every day. He's almost out of Kindergarten and on to 1st grade. I am awfully impressed with his math skills (of course, I have no one else his age to compare him to), but this weekend, grandpa gave him a pocketful of change and told him he could keep it if he could count it. And except for a little help adding up the quarters, he did great. He managed to count out $1.50 in coins! Woohoo!

In addition (no pun intended) to adding quite brilliantly for his young age, he's been quite creative in his expressions. Last week he said "Mom I love you more than bean burritos." and this morning when I tried to wake him up for school, he rolled over and said "sock monkey." I often wonder if it's because he's a guy or if it's because he's a kid, that I just don't get what he's talking about. Or maybe, I'm just not a young and hip mom and "sock monkey" is some slang? Hmmm.

Oh, and we're so proud of him because he's got his new belt!

Here he is with T, his partner in crime (they're in the same class and played soccer together too!)

My mood: proud and amused and have a weird cramp

Posted by Cora at 11:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Uh-oh

Our little monkeys managed to make it up the tree...

Love to watch them play, but they'll climb anything!

Posted by Cora at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We went camping in the beginning of spring break. I posted the pics to my facebook and realized that I didn't include anything here...

shame on me

Thankfully, the weather turned out great. Can you believe it was cloudy, windy and raining the whole week?

These poor sand crabs must be caught and released every weekend. Some of them were slow & easy to catch.

Another beautiful day beginning.

Enjoying the waves. This is a miracle, considering when the life guards came, they put out the portuguese man-o-war flags!

No gold yet, but I might see China if I go another couple of feet down... just one of the many holes they dug.

Musson girl's new obsession is archery. They made up a game where they shot up the "arrow" and used the buckets as helmets. What a bunch of goofballs!

My mood: feeling old

Posted by Cora at 11:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The End...

Well, the time has come to end my caterpillar farming. I released my last butterfly yesterday in between downpours. Little One and I sent them all off. Him with a wish to carry up to heaven and me with a wish that they live a happy life making caterpillar babies. I sent off 53 butterflies in all. May they live long and prosper (sorry, still thinking about how much I loved that Star Trek movie).

This is not my final butterfly, but this is the location from where they came.

I have several pots with cuttings from the crown flower bushes. We'll see if I do it again next year...

My mood: sad, but relieved too

Posted by Cora at 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A brief update on all things buggy...

As of tonite:
Released: 19 Butterflies
Chrysalis: 20 more
"J" Form (ready to change): 4
Caterpillars: 7
Deaths: 2

Fortunately, I haven't brought home any babies! Woohoo! I hope to be out of the caterpillar business by Spring Break. If not, then they'll have to come camping with us.

My mood: wanting to kick myself in the butt for doing a REALLY stupid computer thing. What else is new?

Posted by Cora at 01:09 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Graduation day for Little One. He took his test today for the next belt. Now he's a white-orange belt. I'm pretty impressed with his interest in martial arts. He knows the names of the moves that he does and is very good at it. He tends to be less sure of himself in class because he's watching the other kids and then copies them, but they're usually doing the wrong thing! I'm one proud momma.

Will have a cat/butterfly update tomorrow...

My mood: going to bed

Posted by Cora at 12:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

More miscellaneous pictures from today's batch of butterflies...

Setting them down on some plants. Hoping they'll take flight soon.

Not quite ready to go yet.

Needs some coaxing.

Needs more coaxing, only made it to blankie.

Checking out the basil plant.

Checking out the bushes in the front.

My mood: better, but a little dizzy

Posted by Cora at 11:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aha! Finally a boy butterfly:

You can tell it's a boy because of the two spots on the bottom wings (scent glands). It is our one and only boy so far.

Butterflies 7 & 8 have come out this morning. We'll let them go later on today. Here's Little One enjoying his new friends:

They really can't fly until their wings are dry. We tried putting him back on the branch and he lost his grip, fell off, and was like a turtle overturned. She couldn't get herself back upright without help. Here she is drying off with butterfly 8 (not sure if its a he or she yet).

My mood: sick and at home.

Posted by Cora at 02:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

No, this is not an entry about butterflies, but I was inspired by them. For Little One's 100 day project we folded 100 paper boats and then set them afloat on a blue river of ribbon. I was thinking of the Mariposa hanging at Nieman Marcus. We finished pretty early. Mostly because I folded the last 45 boats by myself (it was way faster).

My mood: good, but have a cold.

Posted by Cora at 10:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Arrival of Don (or Dawn)

This morning I went for a walk (trying to prepare for the Great Aloha Run) and when I came home I cleaned out the caterpillar poop. When I glanced at the chrysalis container, I found Don emerging! I missed it, but I managed to get my battery back into my camera just in time to catch a picture of him just after he popped out.

Newly "hatched" Don

Don w/his wings spreading out (he might be a DAWN and not a DON, I don't see the spots on his/her wings)

Now comes the hard part, convincing Little One that we need to let Don/Dawn go after his/her wings dry off. That, and figuring out what to make for Superbowl party today!

My mood: happy!

Posted by Cora at 08:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Caterpillars 9 & 10 decided to chrysalize themselves today. I was able to see it! Hooray! I spent 2 hours peering in on them every few minutes to make sure I didn't miss it again. It was pretty amazing. I couldn't get any good shots of it because 9 decided to adhere to the side of the container and 10 was on a branch, but my camera was being screwy (I messed with the settings) and then I couldn't get a clean shot of it. Crap.

Cat 9 decided to stick himself to the side of the container so I couldn't get a clear shot of him changing.

The next set of images are of Cat 10 and his transformation. I did make a movie recording, but it's super long and probably not worth posting, although it was pretty cool watching it happen.

My mood: tired and going to bed

Posted by Cora at 10:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The only update I have is that I think one of the chrysalis is dead. How do I know? On Tuesday, they took a field trip to school. 2 chrysalis, 2 caterpillars in the "J" formation, and 2 little hungry guys. Little One forgot to bring them home, so when I dropped him off at school on Wednesday, I brought them home so I could clean out the container and give them fresh leaves. As I was done cleaning the container, I glanced inside and noticed a silvery thread hanging from the littlest chrysalis. Dangling from the end, was this whitish blobby thing. When I examined it closer, it looked like it was moving (or pulsating). Then from the top of the chrysalis, there was another pulsing blobby thing coming out of the chrysalis and then I realized that it was alive! GROSS!!! I jumped on the internet and discovered that they were actually maggots from the Tachinid fly (do they even live here?). Apparently, the fly lays eggs on the caterpillar when it is alive and then when it becomes a chrysalis the eggs hatch and they feed on the caterpillar. Then they come out of the chrysalis. UGH! It was not something I ever want to watch again. But look, I took a picture! The chrysalis look pretty cool when they're blue (reflection from the flash?).

Chrysalis count: 7 good chrysalis, 1 dead? chrysalis. Our first chrysalis, Don, is 9 days old now. Hopefully he'll emerge from his chrysalis this weekend and we'll get to see it.

Caterpillar count: ??? who knows, I just inspect each leaf thoroughly before I toss it out. I have 2 more that will probably change into a chrysalis tomorrow.

My mood: needing to do more walking if I don't wanna hurt after the Great Aloha Run

Posted by Cora at 07:22 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have officially lost count of how many caterpillars I have. I do have 6 chrysalis and 2 more caterpillars in the "J" formation, ready to change when I'm NOT looking. I have missed every single one changing, so sorry, no pictures yet. I even missed one yesterday when I was home watching a recorded episode of the Mentalist. When it started, he was still a caterpillar, when the show was over, he was a chrysalis. Aargh, these caterpillars are camera shy.

Here's one of the cats in pre-"J" formation. He was eating like crazy and then pooped it all out. Here he is between poop cleaning.

Picked some more food for the hungry little guys and guess who was stowed away on the back of a leaf? I have 4 eggs now (that I know of)

My mood: have that headachy feeling right before I get sick (AGAIN)

Posted by Cora at 10:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

So I managed to miss it again. Shiny and Tiny decided to chrysalis on me when I was at work. I asked Grandpa to keep an eye on them and sure enough, they're shy about changing their outfits. He missed both of them. One while he was downstairs and the other when he went to pick up Little One from school. Oh, well, I have about a dozen more tries, so we'll see if I can catch one on film.

I am still debating whether I should try to relocate Don to a branch. I've checked several Monarch websites and forums and I should either leave him on his side on the bottom of the container with a branch for him to crawl onto after he comes out of his chrysalis OR I can try to relocate him to a branch and attach him with a hot glue gun (cooled of course and then only attached with the tip which is spun silk). Yikes, too many things that can go wrong. I'm tempted to see if he can hold onto the leaf for a while longer while I decide what to do with him. The good thing is that his chrysalis should be nice and hard by now. So if/when I decide to move him, I shouldn't squish him accidentally.

Shiny or Tiny from the branch. I couldn't get a good shot of the other one hanging on the top of the container. Oh, Little One took this picture (what a great shot!).

Don with his golden flecks. They really do look like little jade jewels.

The next set of buggers getting nice and fat. I'm assuming one of them is Buddy, but don't ask me which one.

My mood: TGIF (tomorrow)

Posted by Cora at 10:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Well, Shiny & Tiny took no time in catching up with Don. They had all but stopped eating and pooping by this afternoon and were crawling around like crazy searching for a place to hang. Unlike lazy Don, they actually found a spot to hang from. As I was watching them, I was wondering how they were able to hang from the side of the container, seeing as they seemed to need to grip onto something in order to climb. Upon closer examination, I discovered that they were bobbing, not because they were dancing, but they were spinning a thin silky trail to grip onto. Very cool.

A view of the silk trail. The flash was necessary to catch the light on the silk. And I have a fairly crappy camera, so the resolution is not that great for close up shots.

Shiny or Tiny doin' it right...

Shiny or Tiny picked the very top of the container. Don't ask me how I'm going to deal with them when they decide to come out of their chrysalis.

I have the feeling that I'm going to miss them transforming into the chrysalis state. By morning they may be encased in their green shell???

Last caterpillar count: 1 chrysalis + 2 caterpillars ready to change, + 9 various sized caterpillars (hopefully) hiding somewhere in the leaves = 12

My mood: anxious and exhausted

Posted by Cora at 11:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

OH, happy day... this morning I thought I was going to write about the death of Don. I found him all curled up at the bottom of the container on a leaf. He wasn't clinging to it, just on his side and heaving and looking kind of sick. The internet sites say that the most humane way to kill a sick caterpillar is to freeze it, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. GOOD thing I'm such a wuss, cause when I came home from dropping off Little One at school, I went to check on Don to see if he was dead yet, and guess what I found...

Yeah! I'm not the killer of cute caterpillars, but a butterfly whisperer! Hahaha. Since it's my first time doing this, I was surprised that it took only an hour (or less) for him to transform. And more surprisingly, I thought he was dead because he wasn't hanging from up high (like all the sites said!), he was curled up on a leaf at the bottom of the container.

And if you look closely under Don on the right side, there's a new caterpillar crawling about. I don't even know how many I have now...

My mood: soaring on butterfly wings (in about 2 weeks?)

Posted by Cora at 08:35 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Our 5 caterpillars are now 10 caterpillars. How did this happen??? We apparently had 7 caterpillars the whole weekend and we didn't even know it. I went to the crown flower bush today to get some more grub for the hungry little buggers and I found 2 more! When I got home I found out that I had 3, not 2. I might have even more tomorrow, who knows? I'm not looking for them, but they stow away on the leaves and end up at home. I have the need to protect them from the birds, so I keep them (plus I have no where to dump them in the yard, we have nothing they'll eat).

There are now too many and I can't keep track of who the smaller ones are. Don, Shiny & Tiny are still the biggest, so we have no problem identifying them (except we still can't tell Shiny & Tiny apart). The little ones keep getting in the way of the monsters so we needed to relocate the 3 bigger caterpillars to their own container. I guess it's like older dogs and puppies. The puppies wanna make trouble and the older ones just want to be left alone.

I have made 5 observations over the last few days:

1. I have come to find watching caterpillars eat just fascinating. People might think it's about as exciting as watching paint dry, but I am just mesmerized by it. I find myself stopping by the containers (to make sure no one's escaped) and I end up staring at them for quite a bit of time.

2. Caterpillars poop A LOT! I have to empty out the poop 3-5 times a day. They're worse than panda bears. Fortunately caterpillar poop is much smaller and less smelly (I assume).

3. Caterpillars eat a lot (which would account for the excessive poopage).

4. Caterpillars move around a lot. Tiny Mrs. Pteranodon tried to escape the other day, I found her lurking around the top of the container. I think I need to keep them outside during the day so that I make sure that if someone escapes they won't be inside the house and possibly squished.

5. Being a caterpillar rancher is hard work.

This is the picture of the original Fab 5 (before it doubled to 10)

We bought a terrarium this weekend, but needed to add a separate cottage for the "seniors." I put in a stick just in case anyone felt like crysalissing.

My mood: headachy, I think I might be getting sick again (oh, no!)

Posted by Cora at 10:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It was inevitable that the Little One would want to play soccer. He was too young to play this past season, so we signed up for the U5 (under 5) soccer clinic. It's basically a bunch of drills to teach kids how to play soccer so that they can then feel more confident when the soccer season starts in the fall. I also think it's a shorter session so that parents can figure out if their kids like soccer and want to play in the regular season. He, of course, loves it. Great, that combined with martial arts will complicate life in the fall, especially since I work until 5 and most practices and classes start before I get off work. I hate to think that he can't participate in both because of my schedule. Guess we'll just have to see if Grandpa is willing to chauffeur him around for a few extra afternoons (thanks Grandpa!!!). He'll probably have to drop one of them when his school schedule gets tougher. It's hard to decide which I prefer, especially since he looks cute in both uniforms!

My mood: not really looking forward to being a "soccer mom"

Posted by Cora at 10:28 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

New members acquired. We now have Buddy (a.k.a. Shemp) and Mrs. Pteranodon (a.k.a. Teeny-Tiny). I discovered that the caterpillars are named after characters from the PBS show Dinosaur Train. A-ha! I have a few cuttings from the crown flower tree outside so we have a fresh supply of leaves. Don apparently molted during school on Friday. I found a fresh molted skin piece where Don used to be. He's now eating voraciously and Shiny & Tiny are now taking their turn to molt off their old skins.

Buddy is the 4th member of the group.

Introducing Mrs. Pteranodon, she really is teeny-tiny!

Don decided to check out the new leaf that was in the tank. He's a hungry little caterpillar!

My mood: feeling like a caterpillar

Posted by Cora at 11:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

At work, there's a crown flower plant behind the library. I have a friend who goes there to pick caterpillars and then "raises" them into butterflies. Sounds easy enough, so today I went outside and proceeded to locate 3 lovely specimens. Tomorrow Little One will be taking them on a field trip to school for show-n-tell. I thought about having them live at school (if the teacher does a unit on butterflies), but with our luck, they'll emerge as butterflies with no kids around. We'll see how it goes...

The bigger of the 3, he's about an inch long and not very active. I think he might molt soon.

The 2 babies are about 1/2 inch long. They're hungry little buggers.

Don't ask me what he's doing...

My mood: happy I have something to write about...

Posted by Cora at 10:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Thanks for the Lego people. They're his new favorite toys. We decided to recreate the cover of the box just for you...

Posted by Cora at 09:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

We took a walk up Makapuu to see if the whales were out, but they weren't. I heard that the other weekend, there were lots of whales. Today there were none to be seen. A clear view of Maui and a very cool hike were the highlights of our trip.

Here's some shots:

The past few times we've been up here the weather has been cloudy, so the pictures are a little dreary. I still love the view.

We decided to hike up to the bunkers, ususally we stop at the end of the paved road.

A view of the Waimanalo side of Makapuu

My mood: exhausted

Posted by Cora at 09:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Beautiful night in Hawaii nei. Notice the full moon in the background.

Small kine fireworks at Mussonville.

We almost made it to the new year! Only 20 minutes to go...

Oh, I hear firetrucks in the distance... although, I sort of wish for a ban on fireworks, I just can't image new year's eve without them. Wonder what the Obama's think of the firework show? I keep missing them. Trini called me from the mall to tell me that they were there watching Avatar. Shucks, missed them again...

Wishing everyone a safe, healthy and joyous new year!

My mood: on the verge of an asthma attack from all the smoke

Posted by Cora at 12:04 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For Little One's reading log, he is required to now read 20 books and then do a drawing with a description of something that happened in the book (I get to write out that part for him). He read See Pip Point by David Milgrim. I was quite impressed with his artwork:

Milgrim's book:

Little One's homework:

My mood: happy that most of the Christmas stuff is put away

Posted by Cora at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

On Friday, I got to have lunch w/some very cool librarians. They gave us these cool little bowls as a souvenir. When I got to hear the reason why I should be the Librarian of the Year, the only line that I remember is that I "punish people who deserve to be punished." !!!!! Damn straight! Hahaha. I was nominated by a 5th grader at the school. Kids are soooo cute. I did thank him for my free lunch at the Oahu Country Club. Yum! I am certain I will not win, but it was very nice to have lunch w/some really nice ladies.

My mood: slightly insomniacked! Have had a hard time getting to bed before 1:00 am.

Posted by Cora at 11:51 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been trying for years to get a good picture of the Kolea that comes to the library parking lot every winter. Every time I try, he/she either runs away or I can't get my camera out fast enough. I finally got this shot through my rolled up car window. At least my window was pretty clean. Here it is!

My mood: tired, lots to do today...

Posted by Cora at 09:46 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The view of sunset from my garage as I closed the gate. Helps to wash away the annoyances of the workday.

My mood: tired and hungry

Posted by Cora at 06:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Meet my son, the happy new graduate.

He went from a white belt to a white-yellow belt (yes, there is a difference between a yellow belt and a white-yellow belt as in he's just a tiny squirt). Either way, he's darn proud of himself (I'm proud too)! The graduation ceremony was very cute, but hard to see him and I couldn't get any pictures because he was on the opposite end of the class from where I was sitting (no, I'm not one of those embarrassing parents who run into the middle of the field just so that I can "capture" the moment.

After the graduation test and ceremony, there was a demo by the black belts and that sucked me in. I was definitely interested in letting him continue with the classes, but as of today, he's a tiger cub and I'm $$$$ poorer.

My mood: proud mamma and not suffering from buyers remorse

Posted by Cora at 07:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of the prices you pay as a parent is the joy of fundraising for education. Fundraising can come in various forms from selling cookies, chicken, or gift wrap to doing activities like fun run/walks or attending luaus. Plus there's the dreaded Scholastic book fair (they do it 3 times a year, and we spent $50 for the first one)! Yesterday I had the joy of Fun Fair. The kindergarten class does bake & popcorn sales. So, I spent a fair amount of time and money on butter mochi and brownies. Then I went to the fair and spent more on $20 worth of scrips, $7 at the cafeteria on food, and $10 on snack pacs fundraiser for the preschool class. And they say public education is free... HA!

Overall he had a good time. The cafeteria food was actually ono. The only issue I had was with the obstacle course, which I didn't realize was a competition. So when we went to do it, the guy at the booth had his kid (a 3rd grader) race against mine. Talk about unfair. Needless to say, I knew it would end badly and it did. There was some crying, although he's getting much better at stopping quickly.

My mood: good

Posted by Cora at 08:37 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ugh. Halloween over! I love Halloween, but it's a really busy time of the year for me. Between work and my home life, I'm exhausted. This weekend was no exception. Yesterday was spent cleaning and doing housework, followed by our annual trek to the Musson side of the town for trick or treating. This year seemed less busy. Normally her neighborhood is just full of kids, but this year it seemed like less traffic. There was more space on the sidewalks. Last year, we were walking partly on the road because the sidewalks were too crowded. At our house, grandpa was also not as busy giving out treats. Of course, it could be because of the large truck that parked in front of our gate. Hmmm.

Today we woke up early for the literacy walk at WCC. Then it was off to our new session of swimming at the Y w/Miss Shannon (we had Miss Shannon the first time we ever took swimming lessons). Then it was back home to get ready for C's birthday party w/our friends.

Keiki before the hunt for sweets.

Birthday cake for this year.

The pumpkin kings.

My mood: exhausted and going to bed

Posted by Cora at 10:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This year we finally made it to the pumpkin patch. I almost missed it since I was dead-sick on Friday w/some flu like symptoms (not swiney, thank you). It really wiped me out for most of the day, with a razor-sharp sore throat, chills, major body aches and just being so exhausted. I was wrapped in long sleeved clothes and a fleece blanket for most of the day. By the next morning, it was mostly gone except for the super sore throat-- the kind that feels like you're swallowing pieces of glass. Yuck. Tonite I have a cough so I am constantly sucking on cough drops and my throat still hurts a lot.

Back to the pumpkin patch, here's our finds for the day...

My Pumpkin...

His Pumpkin...

The babies that he couldn't leave behind...

If you plan on going to the patch and take the hay ride, don't sit in the cart right by the large tractor wheels unless you want to be bathed in dust and dirt.

Ah, well. Furlough vote tomorrow.

My mood: annoyed that I am still sick, but not sick enough to miss work.

Posted by Cora at 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spent the weekend camping at Bellows. It was tiring, but fun. Trini & I realized that it was much more fun when we were the kids and the grownups did all the packing and unpacking and setting up and breaking down. It was the first time for our kiddos. They really had a blast! Would have been better in the summer without the heavy shower and lightning in the middle of the nite! Couldn't see the harvest moon, cause of all the clouds, but we did catch some of it.

Tunnel in progress

Breakthrough!

Funny face

Ballerina boy?

Practicing the sand balls

Imitation Sand Crab

Sunrise after a dark & stormy nite

Posted by Cora at 07:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Friday was Little One's first day of kindergarten. He woke up in the morning crying and asking to go to Aunty Margie's house (former sitter that we went to visit last week). We had a good discussion about school and then off he went.

After school, I asked him how his day was and he said it was "terrific." Yippee! I thought I was going to have problems, but I think he was just nervous.

My mood: need sleep

*********************************************************************************************************************

Backward Chronology of our Summer 2009

We're excited about school!

No hurricanes in sight, it was a good day for the beach

Things you find lying around on the beach

Do they ever get tired of bouncing?

Making good use of those water park passes

Little Monsters

Still into trains...

Anxious train riders

Do they look guilty or what?

Posted by Cora at 11:07 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Saturday was beach day w/Chris who's visiting from Las Vegas.

Posted by Cora at 10:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am determined to get my child swimming. At least enough to get across a pool and back. Maybe enough so that he will learn to love going to the beach to swim (not just to play in the sand). So, I signed him up for swimming lessons at the Y. Not really intense, but he gets some basics. He seems to enjoy it so far. Now if I can only remember to go on Sunday mornings, that would be helpful (I almost forgot last weekend!!).

My mood: good (but tired)

Posted by Cora at 11:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

One of our annual activities includes a hike up Makapuu

Posted by Cora at 06:41 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Today we had the KE Taiko Ensemble at the library (yes, LOUD drums at the library-- I love loud and noisy). Very cool program. Got lots of positive feedback from the crowd. At the end of their performance, they let people from the audience play the drums. So, Little C got to learn Taiko from the master himself.

Okay, here's my American Idol commentary (without saying too much for those who are behind in the "Tivo"ing). Love everyone (sorta) in the top 5. Was too bad that most of the girls got eliminated, but the boys are definitely better singers. Sorry sis, but Lambert is one of my faves, and of course, Danny. But, dang, that Kris is growing on me too. Wonder if the heavy testosterone levels in the top is due to major female crushes or based stricly on talent? Maybe a little of both?

My mood: proud mamma

Posted by Cora at 10:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For lack of anything interesting in my life (or yet another entry about American Idol), I opted to post some pictures from the busy life of my offspring instead... enjoy.

Hanging out w/the pups.

Our annual EGG man.

Hanging out w/friends.

CP & his Peeps.

Taken today at his field trip.

My mood: tired

Posted by Cora at 11:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The other nite, I was eating dinner and I heard a clucking sound. I thought it was coming from the television (although I was watching the news) so I muted it, but the sound continued. I went downstairs to investigate and found a large black hen outside our fence. It was noisy, Grandpa suggested I send out the dogs. When I looked for them, Kima & Sas were already outside at the fence staring intently at the very large bird outside the fence. There was no barking. I was impressed. I went to get my camera and when I went outside someone asked me if it was my chicken. I said no, but I wanted to take a picture. The chicken then ran across the road to the neighbor's house. So, the answer to the question is: Because she was camera shy.

My mood: good

Happy Easter!

Posted by Cora at 02:00 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spent 10 days traveling w/Mussons & KK. This time we went to LA, Vegas, and San Diego. Was fun, but exhausting. Got sick right when we left and am still sick...

Fun at Knott's Berry Farm, we went there on our first day.

Burning off energy.

Hail, hail, the gang's all here... Hanging out w/Chris & family in Vegas.

Hoover Dam. Cutie Pie loved this place. He recognized it from the Transformer movie AND he got to say the word DAM(N) without me scolding him.

View looking straight down. It's a long way down.

View of the bypass highway. Supposedly to help speed up traffic along the dam which (on a good day) can be backed up for miles.

Sea World (Sesame Street Bay of Play)

One of the many amazing statues at Legoland

A shot of the hotel, Lego style

Fun at the San Diego Zoo

Hanging out with the Polar Bears

Did you know that Pandas poop 30-40 times a day? And it looks like yellow bananas (see near his butt)

Sloth Bears. Cute!

Okay, that's it for now. Maybe more later? I just realized that I have no pictures of the strip because we didn't even go on the strip.

My mood: tired!

Posted by Cora at 10:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Twice so far, we've experienced the wonders of bounce house heaven at the mall. What genius thought of renting a space and filling it with giant inflatable bounce houses for people to pay to jump? I tell ya, my child loves it. The proof is in the photos:

Catching Air

Twister fun

Da gang

Wipeout!

House full of Tiggers

I tell ya, all I did was sit and watch and take pictures and had a few minor heart attacks as they bounced a little too close to the edge or played a little too roughly. Overall, Cutie Pies would have to agree that it was money well spent...

My mood: tired

Posted by Cora at 12:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Woohoo. Happy New Year!

The last day of last year (earlier today) was very busy and yet not. Took Cutie Pie's 4-year pictures. I know, I'm a few months late, but give me some credit for at least doing it in 2008! Afterwards he asked to go someplace fun, so we ended up at the bounce houses. Not bad, $7 for an all-day bracelet. Who's gonna stay all day anyway? Picked up some lunch and sat around talking story w/Trini for a few hours while the kiddies bounced merrily away the remainder of the year. Left the mall and stopped by Longs & Foodland for some new year's day necessities. Big mistake because half of Kaneohe was in that shopping center and in line at Foodland. Good thing I didn't need any fresh fish! Of course, they didn't have what I needed anyway so now I have to go to Daiei tomorrow morning. Great. Since we ended up staying at the mall way later than intended, I didn't have time to go back home. So we went straight to Trini's house for some New Year's fun and fireworks. Her neighbor's brother just got out of prison and bought $1500 worth of fireworks (illegal ones) and they sure got their money's worth. We only had a few fountains, pop-pops, and sparklers. That's prettty much all we needed because between her 2 neighbors it was like our own personal professional show. Cool. Left after 10 p.m. to ensure that we could make it home (the smoke isn't as thick so I can still see the road...). Calmed 3 freaked out puppies, bathed one tired child and waited for the new year.

I am just amazed at how easy it must be to buy illegal fireworks. The sky was choke full of professional looking displays. It was pretty cool, but loud. Right now it's thunder and lightning and major rain, which is good I guess. It will help get rid of the smoke (don't ask me how) and put out any live flames or burning embers of fireworks. Even though the fireworks were pretty loud and impressive, Mother Nature still kicked it's a**. Wow, that was a really quick thunderstorm. It's stopped raining and it's quiet. Strange. Oh, wait... the fireworks are starting up again.

Happy New Year...

My mood: tired and wanting total silence

Posted by Cora at 12:53 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1 pkg brownie mix (19.5oz)
1/2 c butter, melted, plus 3 Tbsp butter, melted
3 eggs
1 c dk brown sugar
1 c dk corn syrup (I used light)
2 c chopped pecans
1 c mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray bottom of 9x13 pan w/nonstick cooking spray.
In med bowl, mix brownie mix, butter and 1 egg. Press into prepared pan.
Bake 15 min. Remove from oven (leave oven on).
While crust bakes, in med bowl whisk 2 eggs, brown sugar, corn syrup, and 3 Tbsp butter. Stir in pecans and mini chocolate chips; pour over hot crust.
Bake 35-40 min longer, until just set and topping is golden brown. Cool. Cut into bars.

Makes 24-36 bars.

Posted by Cora at 12:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am extremely lazy and tired and not ready to write about Christmas. We had an enjoyable day (mostly, except for the no-nap antics) with family (miss my Sis!). He was quite thrilled with his loot. He got a LOT of toys and games and very few clothes, except Transformer shirts, so that counts as cool. Surprisingly he got 7 (yes 7) Transformer t-shirts and not one duplicate.

Christmas w/the family was at Natsunoya. It was planned by the O clan. Next year is the S's turn. Woohoo, I don't have to do anything! Not sure when it's our turn again...

Here are some shots from Christmas this year -- not from today. I'm too lazy to upload the shots, maybe this weekend???

A shot by the tree...

His first Gingerbread House, which he decorated by himself. It has a milk carton frame covered w/goodies.

The usual ride on the Christmas Train. Will be sad when he's too tall for it. Maybe we'll get to ride it for one more year???

My mood: jolly and exhausted.

Posted by Cora at 11:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Decided to dress up dessert last nite. Idea was from Carleen...

We put the reindeer in snow (ice cream).

Stupid computer won't let me reinsert memory card once I eject it unless I turn computer off and then on again. And my darn cough still won't go away. It's been 3 weeks.

Raining again. That storm forced me to close my library because the power was out for 3 hours and then my A/C died (then restarted). Not like anyone would come there in the storm. Our parking lot was a lake and the preschool on campus got flooded. I felt bad because all I kept thinking was "I hope my library books are safe and dry." [yikes]

My mood: ready for the weekend

Posted by Cora at 07:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

In an attempt to get my Christmas pics out on time, I completed my Christmas photo cards which I order from Snapfish. Thinking that I could pick them up at Walgreens (but the fr()*cking website never gave me the option). So my cards will probably be late. Last year they arrived on the last day of the year. One would think that it would inspire me to get the cards ordered earlier. But I never learn from my mistakes. That would just be brilliant.

So I took these snapshots of the pups (they're not really pups). C-Man always wants to know why Sassy isn't on our card. I have to explain to him that she's not really our dog. And her name won't fit on the card. I know it's a lame excuse. What can I say? I'm a bad doggy mamma. Here are my cutie puperitos.

My mood: better, but still Sicko

Posted by Cora at 09:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Jabon Jello

1 Jabon (Pomelo), peeled, segmented, and separated
1 large can mandarin oranges (or 2 small cans)-- drained, save juice
1 small can crushed pineapple-- drained, save juice
2 cups of juice (combination of juices from can and the rest from water)
4 packs of Knox gelatin
3/4 cup sugar

Place fruit in mold or pan. Heat liquid, sugar and Knox. Cool liquid slightly. Pour into fruit. Chill until firm.

Took a picture of C-Man's lunch from the other day

Spent the morning at WCC doing a Run & Read for Literacy. We walked a mile, ate bananas and bought a few paperback books.

My mood: tired

Posted by Cora at 08:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Gross and Mini-Gross

My little Optimus

Da Gang before they went in search of treasures

My mood: sugar rush

Posted by Cora at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Was very disappointed today that we were not able to make it to the pumpkin patch. We've been there 2 years in a row, but 2 days of downpour have resulted in our decision not to go and face the mud that awaits. Too bad, at least C-Man was able to get there with his preschool class. His original pumpkin was too big for him to carry, so Miss Gloria told him to find one he could carry. They should check the pumpkins before they let them take them home. His was starting to rot, but we made the best of it. Our friend, Jack, lasted the nite, but we tossed him out the next morning cause he was stinky and starting to look slimy (he's missing half his backside).

Proud papa

Ooops. Apparently there's a soft (really soft) spot in our pumpkin

The Pumpkin Kings

My mood: enjoying my relaxing day (though I should be doing laundry and cleaning)

Posted by Cora at 05:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aah, another year done! I can't believe how much I stress over a little gathering of friends. I kept going over and over in my mind what things I was going to make and do. My ideas are grand, but as the date draws near, my plans always dwindle into "hmmm, what do I have time for?" Overall, it was a great evening. Here's the proof...

The spread: smokies, hot dogs, Milton's vege lasagna, sausage & mushrooms, fish sticks, meatloaf, pasta salad, musubis

Close-up of the musubis (cute, yeah?)

Decided to do an activity, so they all made their own masks

The cake (actually it's a brownie). Took me about 1.5 hours. Not bad, huh?

At least I know they enjoyed it

Time for presents! He's been waiting all nite for this part

Have you guessed the theme yet? Notice he still chose to wear Thomas for his birthday!

My mood: exhausted

Posted by Cora at 11:27 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

4 years ago, tomorrow...

1 month down. The Grouchypotamus

1 year - happy as can be

2 year - artist at work

3 year - playing at the gym

4 year - at Disneyland

My mood: happy, but tired and still sore

Posted by Cora at 08:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ugh, I have that feeling like the weekend was shortened by a full day of work. I didn't have a full day of work, but I did put in a great, many hours of nothing. I'm just so tired on the weekends, that I don't want to do anything. Even shopping. Now you know that's tired. I wonder if I should take more vitamins.

I did manage to get the Halloween decorations out (not up, just out). Need to look for an extension cord for my boo lights. This week will fly by because I have tons of things to do including:
1. Wrap gifts for C-Man's birthday.
2. Figure out what to do for his birthday.
3. Clean my room.
4. Make goodie bags (preschool b-day & halloween).

I also managed to get to eat dinner w/Greg tonite. We had a last minute child-free dinner at Assagio's (again, but this time the one a few blocks from home) with just the gals & Greg. It was nice seeing him. Hopefully we'll see him again before he leaves on Thursday.

Ooh, and I was in first place this week for my football league (the last time i checked).

Thanks to Trini & Aunty J for these pics:

Hail, hail the gangs all here... the first picture of all 5 kids where no one is running away

Me in my beauty pageant days (I kid you not, I was in the healthy baby contest -- or something like that)

My mood: jovial

Posted by Cora at 11:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I am digging my way into the recesses of my closet to get out the Halloween decorations. I feel like an archeologist or a psychologist as I dig through the first layer and am stalled by a box full of photographs. Oh-oh. Yes, I have been stuck on this box for an hour now and have made a mess all over my floor. Trying to dwindle down my pile of CRAP, but so far the only thing I have thrown away is newspaper clippings of pilot ex-boyfriend and a few stray Christmas envelopes. [sigh] And now the room is a mess. I got stuck on latest ex-boy's Christmas card & pictures. Do I keep 'em or chuck 'em? Leaning towards the chuck, but may store them for another cycle (hey, look at how long it took me to chuck pilot boy's newspaper clipping-- they're dated 1994!!!)? Also starting to look at the pics of ex-hub. Do I keep them for C-Man and let him toss them out or should they get the heave-ho? Dunno, can't make up my mind, so here I am...

Was digging through the old photos and ran across my pics from my last trip to visit Sis & Bill. It was before C-Man was born. He was there, although he was not his own person -- 4 months from being born. Can I say he's been to Florida? Hmmm, I guess it depends on who you ask. I would say no, because he has no experiences there, except for digesting gator nuggets (he eats, what I eat right?). I can't wait to go back. Yes I am already formulating my next several vacations in my mind. Airfare is still high, but on the decline, as is gas prices for my car -- Chevron was $3.69! Far better price than $4.39 (the highest I paid during that insane period).

I have also been wanting to scan some of the photos. I feel like a lazy bum, because Chris managed to scan in a bunch of old pics that make me just laugh. We look so young.

See? Clutter in my mind and on my floor. Managed to get some out of my head, now back to the floor. Most of those pics will probably end up back in the box. So much for getting rid of stuff. Wish me luck...

My mood: nostalgic

Posted by Cora at 06:29 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

1. It's not the happiest place on earth.
2. A soda cost $2.69, a milk cost $2.69, and a bottle of water also cost $2.69.
3. For a place with thousands of people running through every day, it's amazingly clean.
4. C-Man's favorite rides: Matterhorn Bobsled, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean
5. My favorite rides: Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Toy Story Mania (sorry Buzz)
6. 5 days is longer than necessary
7. There are lots of Hawaii people there during the break (I saw 4 different people that I knew there)
8. We love fast pass!
9. Next time we need to remember to bring mat, microwave popcorn, & peanut butter
10. Best cookies in the park: gingerbread mice (men?) with chocolate dipped ears
11. C-Man is not the ruler of England
12. Best parade: Pixar in California Adventure (bring a towel)
13. We can't wait to go back again when C-Man has passed the 40" minimum height requirement for lots of the rides

I took 250 photos, here's 3 of them:

Everyone has to take this photo right?

Some of the wonderful fall decorations

Captain Jack & Captain C

My mood: tired

Posted by Cora at 11:54 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Watching more election drama, inspired me to write a list. Woohoo!

Top 12 Celebrity Eye Candy (Okay, I tried to narrow it down to 10, but I can't)

12. Josh Duhamel

11. Vin Diesel

10. Johnny Depp

9. Michael Weatherly

8. Duane Johnson

7. Anderson Cooper

6. Jet Li

5. Robert Downey Jr

4. Brendon Fraser

3. David Boreanaz

2. John Cusack

1. Barack Obama

My mood: tired, can't believe how much time this took...

Posted by Cora at 11:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Last week everyone was sick, I did ANOTHER story time.

Theme: Counting & Numbers

Books:
One hungry monster by Susan Heyboer O'Keefe

Little Quack's hide and seek by Lauren Thompson

If mom had three arms by Karen Kaufman Orloff

One duck stuck by Phyllis Root

Craft: Five fish in a bowl

A sure sign of success is when all of your story time books get checked out after story time. Yeah! Survived another story time...

*******************************************************************************************
Happy Birthday My divine Miss M!

My mood: tired

Posted by Cora at 09:48 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

C-Man: How I spent my summer of 2008...

In the sun:

In the shade:

Making cookies:

Making snowmen:

Lounging:

Standing in the pool on my own (finally tall enough!):

Celebrating the 4th (Bad Mommy, why don't I have my shoes on?!):

Hanging out with family:

Body surfing like a future president:

Enjoying my cousin:

Posted by Cora at 06:31 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Okay, no cooking required, but looks ono yeah? It was.

I did bake some chocolate chip cookies yesterday. I didn't take a picture because they're just boring toll house (from the bag of chocolate chips) cookies. That's okay, still taste yummy. Will take some to work and save the rest for home.

After nap, C-Man and I went for a walk (he rode his bike) down the road to the library.

My mood: better

Posted by Cora at 09:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have come to realize that my son's outgoing personality is not from me. He is a constant flirt and always finding someone to talk to when we go places. For example: we went into Sephora and he finds a cute Japanese girl to talk to who works there. She ends up giving him a strand of "mardi gras" type beads. I ask him if he said thank you. He runs up to her and gives her a hug. She says "Aaaw, that's the best thing that's happened to me all day." Then when we get to the register, he gets a balloon from the lady at the counter. She cuts one down from the register (they were not giving out balloons, they were just on display) and hands it to him. At Old Navy, he managed to get some worker bee to fetch his shoe out from underneath the stroller. He throws a ball and someone fetches it. This happens at almost every store we go to. The register people are always entralled by him. His head is easily inflated by hearing people ask me (over and over again) "He's sooo cute. How old is he?"

He is also the little manipulator. For example: when I'm mad at him he says things like "Mom, you're so cute. Why don't I give you a kiss?" and "Your're so pretty mommy." and "Mom, I love you."'

**************************************************************************************************

I've recently discovered ebay and all it's bidding glory is quite useful for a mom trying to update her child's toy tastes which can change as often as a woman's taste in shoes. I've been to chicken to bid on anything, but in the past, other people have bid on stuff for me. So my latest dive into the realm of online bidding is (of course) Transformer toys. I have sis bidding on a few things for me. But I am just amazed at what people sell. For example: one can by transformers Vintage starscream fists. They're currently going for $3.75 with $1.50 shipping. Who would buy fists? I dunno, but apparently there are a lot of body parts for sale. They even have lots that are comprised of various parts. Very strange, although as a recent buyer of such toys, they do come apart quite easily and I can see how one can lose fists. Our Brawl currently is missing his right arm and one of the missles of someone else blasted off into the atmosphere of Hurricane C-Man and his domain and has never been seen again. Maybe I can find one on ebay? Or maybe someone can learn not to break off limbs of his toys when he gets frustrated transforming them... [sigh] Or maybe mom could get a clue and stop buying the ones that are so hard that even she needs to use the instructions to figure out how to turn them back into a vehicle... [more sighs]

Of course, I'll never learn that lesson. Our most recent Transformer buy is a Transformer crossover w/Marvel. It's a Spider-Man Transformer. It is so complicated, that I can't figure out how to change him one way or another without looking at the damn instructions.

But he's cool. I couldn't help myself... I'm such a sucker.

Here he is converted to motorcycle.

My mood: hot (been traveling upstairs and downstairs trying to find ingredients for some dessert to make)

Posted by Cora at 06:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

About a year ago, I bought a top on one of our girl's day outtings. It was from this boutique and had boutique pricing, so I hemmed and hawed about it and decided that it was worth the $45 price tag. I am a sale rack shopper, so a $45 regular-price top is something to hem and haw about (not that I don't buy expensive things, but they need to be on "sale" for me to have that ooh-I-found-a-treasure-feeling similar to that of druggies and other damaging addictions).

I know, it doesn't look like much, but I love the top..... Anyway, last night we went to Ross to putz around while Uncle N went to get his phone fixed. As I was browsing around the store, what should I see? A chocolate print on a t-shirt that cost $8.99 -- what a deal. I was thinking that it looked familiar and digging through my pile of tops, I find my expensive top, same front print but different rhinestones and the back is solid on the t-shirt. My I-got-a-great-bargain high was quickly deflated.

It can be quickly remedied with a trip to the mall.

Am I sad or what?

My mood: happy that I'm getting a long weekend!!!!! Thanks sis!!!!!

Posted by Cora at 06:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

It's been three fabulous years. Thank you Aunty Margie!

My mood: tired

Posted by Cora at 10:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Aah, to be young and carefree.

My mood: exhausted

Posted by Cora at 12:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I've been having way too much fun this summer. Yeah.

Attended my HS "reunion" this weekend (Nice pics Mr. Phil-- ha, ha). Was worth attending to see some old friends. Afterwards, we went to visit Kathy and we talked until 2:00 am. Guess there's a lot of catching up when you haven't seen each other in many years.

Also went to the zoo this weekend and the animals were out and about:

Now I have this semi-cold that I'm hoping will go away by the time my sister arrives. Woohoo.

Ooh, double Woohoo for Colt Brennan and his NFL deal! Let's hope he can make a career out of football.

My mood: itchy

Posted by Cora at 04:39 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Finally bought that refrigerator for upstairs (Sis coming is a great incentive). It was delivered today.

The first thing to go in was, of course, the most important (milk doesn't count because I didn't put it there)!

Then I find out that I have a slow leak in my tire. Turns out I need to replace all 4 because the treads are too low to pass my next safety inspection. Sheesh. Between the new fridge and tires, I spent almost $1500 in a week. Yesterday I got the bill for my car insurance. Yikes. Guess I know where the stimulus cash is going...

My mood: broke

Posted by Cora at 11:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

This morning C-Man and I WALKED to the top of Mokapuu. Yes, I said that he walked. The entire way up and down. He was tired and we took many breaks. And it took twice as long to get down the mountain as it took to get up. We had an early start and the weather was beautiful.

Tonight we went to a surprise retirement party thrown by Grandpa's "almost former" company at Tsukiji Fish Market and Restaurant in Ala Moana. You would not believe the arguments I had to put up with just to keep the whole thing a secret and get him to go out to dinner at a crowded mall in town. The food there was actually quite tasty. My favorite was the butterfish and the tempura. C-Man only ate the ramen.

My mood: still full

Posted by Cora at 11:59 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

In an attempt to get my head out of the clouds, this is what greeted me on the stairs:

This picture alone is enough to wash away the residual negativity from that last vent-fest. Happy day ahead.

Posted by Cora at 06:44 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Pearls of summer sun
one bite can stop time and brings
me back to childhood...

My earliest memory of this "fruit of the gods" is that I was allergic to the sap. I'd have a reaction similar to eating crab. Two of my favorite foods in the world and I would break out in rash after eating them.

It was worth the pain.

This season I have been blessed by a plethora of the succulent spheres of sappy sweetness. Yum.

My mood: exhausted

Posted by Cora at 09:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

For Sis...

Regular:

With cocoa powder in the mochi:

Original Recipe
3/4 cup sugar
1-1/2 cup mochiko
1-1/2 cup water
potato starch
peanut butter

Combine sugar, mochiko and water in pyrex bowl. Mix well. Cover bowl with plastic wrap. Microwave on high for 4 minutes. Stir and cover. Microwave for 5 minutes longer (or until cooked). Dump mochi by spoonful onto surface covered with potato starch. Flatten and fill each piece with a little peanut butter, seal and smooth into round shape.
Makes 12-20 depending on size.

I cannot make this without chocolate, so here is directions for chocolate lovers:
Additional ingredients:
Cocoa powder (about 2 Tbsp)?-- this goes into mochiko mixture and gets microwaved.
Chocolate chips (handful)? depending on how chocolatey you want it.--this gets mixed with peanut butter and microwaved for a few seconds until it starts to melt (20-30 seconds?)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MUSSON!

My mood: exhausted

Posted by Cora at 10:24 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spent the day with my mommy (yes, my mommy). Drove 42 miles (which is much cheaper than a plane ticket) and we went to the beach where some family was camping. Here's a few pics from the day. The first pic is by me, the rest were taken by C-Man, a.k.a. Peter Parker (Budding photographer). I was rather impressed by his pics. I selected a few to share....

Grandma & C-Man

Miles & Cousin Halen

Lunch

Bucket

Bike

Can

Kids

Tree

Toe

Star

Beach

My mood: good

Posted by Cora at 06:03 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)

I am happy to see that the nation has a CLUE. Sort of...

We'll see what happens come November. I hope the future of the nation rests on optimism and an eagerness to move forward, rather than narrow-mindedness and fear of change.

My mood: optimistic

Posted by Cora at 07:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Ingredients:
1-3/4 c flour, sifted
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 c white sugar
1/4 c melted butter
1/2 c milk
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla
1 c chopped strawberries
1 c dried cranberries
Cinnamon sugar

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Line muffin tin with paper (12-15)
2. Put dry ingredients in large bowl. Add butter, milk, egg and vanilla. Mix. Add strawberries and cranberries.
3. Fill muffin cups. Sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Bake for 25 minutes.

Sort of experimental. Next time will try adding some brown sugar and orange zest in the mix and putting cinnamon into the batter. Enjoy.

Posted by Cora at 08:55 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Taken when they were pups, they're still puppies to me, but they are now 8 years old.

Posted by Cora at 11:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Even in art, he dreams of robotic adventures...

This is Optimus Prime (yellow) and some other red Transformer climbing up the hill. It's raining. Clouds provided by EMusson. Sun painted by me.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILLY!

Posted by Cora at 10:29 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This is the view from my lanai looking at the Koolaus on a normal day:

This is the view from my lanai looking at the Koolaus on a voggy day (no, it is not raining on the Pali):

Today was the worst day I've ever experienced on this island with vog. At work, it was much worse. The air seemed to smell and the vog sat low enough that I could almost feel it. Everything was hazy and humid. Tonight my throat hurts and I have an awful headache. I hope it goes away soon... pray for trades.

Posted by Cora at 11:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Me, 20 years ago...

1. Where did you graduate from and what year? KHS, class of 1988
2. Who was your significant other? None until Jr. year, dated PW for less than a year (Dad called him beanpole)
3. Was your Prom a night to remember? Ugh, not really, more like one to forget (no offense to MO, my date (different MO, not the MO)
4. What was your fav song you danced to the night of PROM? Don’t even think I danced at the prom. I think we just ate, took pictures and took off
5. Do you own all 4 Yearbooks? Yes, they’re somewhere in this mess
6. Who was your best friend? Musson & Trini
7. What was your fav movie in high school? Breakfast club
8. What was your fav song in high school? R.E.M.- Radio Free Europe; Modern English- I melt with you; Ozzy- Crazy train; U2- Sunday, bloody Sunday
9. What was your number 1 choice of College in high school? NYU, I wanted to make films
10. What radio stations did you jam out to in high school? Can’t remember, mostly just bought albums and tapes (no CDs yet)
11. Were you involved in any organizations or clubs? German Club (President), NHS, Cinematography, Yearbook
12. What was ur fav class in high school? Yearbook, Cinematography, Zoology
13. Who was your big crush in high school? MO (not prom MO)
14. Would you say you've changed a lot since high school? YES
15. What do you miss the most about it? Friends
16. Your worst memory of high school? Prom, for no other reason than it was not really what we thought it was going to be (don't ask me what I thought it was going to be like)
17. Did you have a car? No
18. What were your school colors? Blue & Orange
19. Who was your fav teacher? Noguchi, Chase (of course), Muronaka
20. Did you own a cell phone in high school? I’m ancient. No one owned a cell phone when I was in high school
21. Did you leave campus for lunch? No
22. Were you always late to class? Yes
23. Did you ever have to stay for Sat. School? No
24. Did you ever ditch? My senior year, yes
25. What sports did you play? None
26. It's Friday night, where were you? Hanging out with my friends
27. Were you a party animal? No
28. Were you in the "In Crowd"? I was in A crowd
29. Ever smoke? Smoke what???
30. Were you a nerd? No
31. Did you have a job your senior year? Yes, library student helper (who knew???)
32. Can you sing the alma mater? Did my school have one? I think so
33. School mascot? Mustangs
34. What do you remember most about graduation? Trini’s car getting stuck on the Pali, her dad rescuing us, & RH in the car smoking his cigarettes all calm and unconcerned by the amount of alcohol we were trying to hide. Oh, and we almost missed graduation.
35. If you could go back and do it over, would you? Hell, NO
36. Have you gained weight since then? Yes
37. When it comes time for the reunion will you be there? Was there for 10th, 20th coming this summer

Posted by Cora at 12:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

C-Man has taken to the phrase “I’m bored. I have nothing to do.”

I brought home this skunk craft from story time for him to do tonight. The craft is to color and cut out the skunk and glue it to a Popsicle stick and make a puppet with it. So he starts to color the skunk. He makes it orange, pink and brown. Very cute. Then he asks me where the butt is, so I point it out and he starts to draw brown scribbles at the feet of the skunk, along with a green and brown line. I ask him what he’s doing. he tells me that he’s drawing the grass and dirt and that the skunk is making doo-doo. Lovely. I then cut out the skunk and make the puppet. He was so proud of his skunk he wanted to show it to Grandpa. Later on, he finds 2 monkey pod seeds (from his pocket earlier in the day) and proceeds to give me a show of the skunk taking a walk and then the skunk says “I have to make doo-doo” and drops the seeds on the ground.

I just have one question… is this going to get him into Stanford?

Oh, before I forget: Happy Birthday Baby Bro. OMG-- THIRTY!!!!!

My mood: amused

Posted by Cora at 10:52 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Every morning when I give my C-Man a peck on the cheek before waking, he always leans towards me for a hug or snuggles.

C-Man (5 mos) & Zin (5 yrs)

My mood: awake

Posted by Cora at 07:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spent the Kuhio Holiday with C-Man...

I pushed him in the stroller up to the top. According to Backyard Oahu it is a 1.4-mile long hike up a 560 ft. high hill, the other hill (we didn't do) is 647 ft. high.

When we got there HE says to me "Mom, I'm tired."

Here are more shots of our beautiful day...

Political note to ruin my entry: I'm hoping they do NOT develop the coast area. It has always been a beautiful place. I love to look over the beach as I trudge my way up the hillside. I have fond memories from my childhood of camping in the area. There are cool ponds we used to swim in and it was a good fishing spot (many eons ago).

Posted by Cora at 07:30 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Text and Pictures by Aunty Jean:

Greatgrandma gives C-Man some chocolate Easter eggs that she got at daycare on Friday.

C-Man decides that the way to eat chocolate is to squish it all up...

But then he's left w/ the job of cleaning up the mess...

Oh well, might as well enjoy what's left of the chocolate...

Happy Easter!

***************************************************************************
Final notes on Easter 2008:
C-Man's likes licorice flavored jelly beans...

Dying eggs is a dangerous job. Must wear protective head gear...

My mood: great

Posted by Cora at 11:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Becoming a mom has taught me several things.

I have learned the meaning of unconditional love. You love your child no matter how many times he's peed on his bed, accidently spilled entire cups of liquid onto the floor, and managed to turn your living room into a tornado swept area. It doesn't matter. You clean it up. You count to 100. You give him a hug and kiss. You look into those big eyes and everything bad disappears. No matter how frustrated or angry you are, your heart just melts and the slate is clean. Life is good again.

I have learned patience (sort of). If you've known me forever, you know that I come from a long line of people who have little patience for most things in life. I am slowly learning that patience is, indeed, a virtue. One that I lack, but am constantly working on. I am getting better.

I have learned that I could possibly body slam another 3-year old child who is attacking my own cub. Let me explain. The other day I was at McDonald's with the Mussons. The babes were playing in the playground and there were 2 boys who were horrid little monsters. They were tossing everyone's shoes, whacking other kids at random, and causing a lot of havoc. C-Man was sitting in one of the tubes with Musson-girl, when one of the little monsters crawled into the tube and took a chunk of skin off of C-Man's face. I saw him move away and then I heard C-Man crying. I ran to the playground in time to see the monster start to edge toward's C-Man again. I slammed my fist into the stupid netting and shouted at the kid to leave him alone. I then crawled into the stupid structure so that I could rescue my son. The monster crawled high up into the structure and other mom's were calling their kids to come out. Everyone vacated the area except the monster who was high in the structure. His mom who was just as monstrous, grabbed a broom and was poking at the structure, yelling that she was going to leave him there. Eventually he came down and she left with the 2 beasts. My son, was crying still. He has a huge piece of skin missing from his face. In the aftermath, I realized, that I was lucky that there was a stupid net separating me from this kid. I think I would have yanked him away so hard, he might have been slammed into the shoe rack behind us. That's a scary thought. My first instinct was to protect, regardless the cost.

My mood: tired

Posted by Cora at 09:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have started to read Buffy, season 8. Ex-hub was right in that the Whedon wit that I love does not translate well to pen and paper. The one-liners are there, but not as effective. Not sure what's going on, it's sort of like watching Buffy with lots of interruptions. I'm already lost and on part 4, not sure what's going on w/Buf & Xander or why his head fell off, did I miss something? The whole Amy thing is weird too. And what's his face w/o the skin. Hmmm, Am confused. Only on the first volume. Am not a graphic novel person, so we'll see how far we get.

Going to rewatch the entire Buffy and Angel series. That should take me a few months. The problem is that C-Man is so niele that I can't watch it when he's awake. So it's good for those nights and mornings that sleep escapes me.

This morning, I'm watched What dreams may come.

Yesterday, C-Man and I went to the beach. It was a beautiful day.

My mood: itchy

Posted by Cora at 06:19 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Have been back home for a few hours now. Just relaxing, reading, napping, and cleaning up a bit. Think I will fetch the C-Man after his nap. Debated going to work for a few hours, but decided not to (big surprise there).

Vegas was fun. We did much of our usual -- shopping and eating. Then more shopping and eating. We did get in some gambling time and we went to watch a band play at the bar for Chris' little pre-wedding party. It did remind me of college, we haven't all hung out for a really long time (at a bar). Chris says we need to move our girl's day out to Vegas, now that she & Rob are living there. The wedding ceremony was lovely. Very simple. Dinner at Le Cirque at the Bellagio. Very good. Here's my dinner:

Hot Appetizer: Foie Gras de Canard Poêlé aux Fruits de Saison
Sautéed Foie Gras with Seasonal Fruits, Dried Cherries, Cranberries and Apricots

Dinner: Magret de Canard au Miel et Noisettes, Figue, Navet Long et Cassis
Honey Duck Magret and Hazelnuts, Fig, Daikon Radish and Blackcurrant

For dessert, the chef created a bunch of different dishes and we just passed them around. All of them were very yummy. My dessert was a nest of spun sugar topped with a dish of strawberry gelee covered with strawberry foam with chocolate crunchie things and raspberries, with a scoop of raspberry sorbet a squiggle of dark chocolate and covered w/a sliver of gold. Very nice.

A few pictures of the happy day:

Waiting for the bride

Bride & Groom

My mood: exhausted, but glad to be home.

Posted by Cora at 11:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Events of note since our Vegas return:

On Friday, I went to a reception for the new big boss. It was a nice event catered by Elmer Guzman. His kalua pig toasty thing with tomato lomi (don't have a clue what it was called) was excellent. Main library was all nice and pretty. Our new big boss is a great guy. We chatted a bit about work stuff, legislature, web page, 60+ hour work week, family, etc. Got to see all my old buddies.

Saturday, it was our semi-annual girls’ day out. We started out a little later than usual. Lunch at Mariposa and retail therapy were on the agenda. Lunch was very nice. It’s great to be able to order whatever you want to eat without worrying about other people. Bought a beautiful Sue Wong dress from Neiman Marcus on sale. The sales woman was fabulous, if you ever get a chance to shop there ask for Char. Looked for a wedding dress for Chris' wedding. She got a gorgeous Marilyn 7-year itch dress from Macy's. Maybe we can get Rob to wear an Elvis costume? Not likely. It was a nice and relaxing day. Thanks to Grandpa for keeping C-Man occupied.

On Sunday, C-Man, a very fine-looking English teacher, and myself had fish-themed festivities planned. Fish invitation, fish sticks, fish crackers, fish game, fish feeding, fancy Fishy tricks, and followed by a fun-filled forage to the fish house in Waikiki, a.k.a. the Aquarium. The facility has many fish, cool jellyfish, not enough seals, and no honu. C-Man really enjoyed himself, although we started out late so it collided with naptime. Bad planning on my part. We rested afterwards. It was a nice, relaxing day.

The rest of my days have been filled with work. Nothing exciting. Lots of the usual stuff, statistics, orders, budget, lots of people out sick, no guard, graffiti in the bathroom, couple of students mooning a patron and then setting off the emergency exit door, etc.

Today we extended our Sunday outing by going to see the monk seal, Chester, on the beach near our home. C-Man was not too impressed with him, as he was snoozing and not active like his cousins at the Aquarium. He was more interested in playing in the sand. When I dropped C-Man off at Auntie M's house, she told me that Kekama lives in the house that's right by him. They watch him every day. Wow. I wish I could live at one of those houses. She says their property tax is something like $30,000 a year. They're thinking of selling off half the property. I say no, keep it big.

Our good friend Chester.

A beautiful day.

Oh, and a special plea to my good friend Phil: send me that limerick! Your bachi will counter my bachi. The world will be in balance again.

Hot links: Chef Elmer Guzman
Sue Wong
The Seven Year Itch
KGMB news story about Chester thanks to Aunty Jean for the link-- he was more impressive on television, but at least we can say that we got to see him.

My mood: tired

Posted by Cora at 11:02 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Hau‘oli Makahiki Hou!

Have been busy, so that's my excuse for not having time to reflect on the most recent year gone by. 2008 looks like a promising year of growth, adventure, and discovery. I have given up on making pointless resolutions except my one which I know I can keep which is to tell C-Man that I love him every day. I will make efforts to be healthy, exercise more, and to hold on to the good things in life.

Here are a few photos taken today:

Coconut Apricot Cupcakes...

Beautiful New Year's Eve flowers, which I may have killed because I passed out before I could put them in water when I came home...

Items C-Man picked in the yard. He brought me the flower first because he saw the roses upstairs and thought I'd like more flowers...

As always, I feel blessed. Hope everyone has a wonderful new year. May peace, joy and good health follow you on your journey.

Go Warriors!

My mood: H A P P Y

Posted by Cora at 01:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wishing you all peace, hope and happiness within.

My little one slumbers, blissfully unaware of the chaos that reigns in the adjoining room. Better get my butt in gear. Still wrapping gifts. Still no Christmas cards. Aaah, well, so goes life... Maybe we'll get them out in time for New Years?

My mood: happy

Posted by Cora at 05:08 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I did not bake these, but they had an awful lot of fun decorating. Thanks Auntie Chris!

My mood: fabulous

Posted by Cora at 04:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

These took forever to make, but was worth the effort...

In the process of cleaning, but I need a break.

My mood: tired

Posted by Cora at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Been busy. Still need to make cookies this weekend sometime. Wanted to get to Macy's for the one-day sale, but looks like I might have to go after work if they're still open. Finally got my new Macy's card, so the fraud alert on my name was not necessary, oh well, better safe than sorry. Still waiting for those fr#$%&^%g Christmas cards. They better come soon or everyone will have to wait until after Christmas. Off I go...

My mood: tired

Posted by Cora at 09:26 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Cranberry & Blueberry
Rocky Road (Macadamia Nuts)

My mood: tired

Posted by Cora at 10:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A favorite treat for the gang. Easy and kid friendly.

1 c semisweet chocolate chips
1/2 c peanut butter
1/4 c butter (or margarine)
1 tsp vanilla
9 cups Chex cereal
1-1/2 c powdered sugar

In 1-quart microwavable bowl, mix chocolate, peanut butter, & butter. Microwave for 1 minute. Stir. Microwave for 30 seconds and stir until smooth. Add vanilla. In 9x13" pan, place cereal. Pour chocolate mixture over and stir until evenly coated. Put powdered sugar into 2-gallon ziplock bag. Add cereal. Seal bag, shake until well coated. Spread on wax paper to cool. Store in airtight container in refrigerator or eat 'em.

Posted by Cora at 09:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I know I've thanked Sis before, but thanks again for forcing me onto MySpace. It's nice to hear from people I haven't seen since high school and it's amazing that even though many years have passed, I still feel connected to them. We have a common history, share similar memories and experienced the same angst of our times.

So tonite I get home, open my messages and find these gems from Kathy:

The gang: Dionne, Gayle, Tish, Buzz, Mel, Barbara, Kathy, Kori, Me, & Urs.
Most of my buddies at a sleepover for D's b-day. Musson's hair was funky.

A graduation picture. Oh, my god, that perm is hideous- YIKES!

My mood: cold, waterlogged, & proud of our CB- Heisman finalist

Posted by Cora at 10:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Spent a better part of the morning at the beach with the love of my life. We managed to miss the morning rain. I love it there before the deluge of wind surfers and non-locals taint its golden shores.

There is nothing in the world like sitting on the beach with your child playing nearby while you bathe in the sun's harmful, yet soothing rays. It's even better with a good book at hand. I am always reminded of the countless days spent lounging in the sun with Musson, Trini or Gayle. They were good times; when life was full of potential and wine coolers were aplenty. Well, life is still full of potential, I still feel like a teenager (with responsibilities and a child) with the rest of my life ahead of me, but I wouldn't be caught dead with a wine cooler.

Well, C-Man is happily bonding with Grandpa outside, so I best get back to my book.

My mood: peaceful and lazy, as all Sundays should be...

Posted by Cora at 01:08 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

sticker applicator; pumpkin decorator

trouble maker; picture taker

wild Jacks post-axe (and not)

i am dead; time for bed

My mood: swell belle

Posted by Cora at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Happy, Happy Birthday Little One, Little One!

My mood: exhausted, but happy

Posted by Cora at 06:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Repost of recipe from Sep 21, 2007

2 large egg whites
1/2 c sugar
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 tbsp unsweetened cocoa
1/2 c mini chocolate chips

Preheat oven to 250 degreees. Line 2 baking sheets w/parchment paper or foil. In glass bowl beat egg whites w/electric mixer on high until soft peaks form. Add sugar a little at a time and continue to beat until they're stiff peaks. Mix in vanilla and cocoa powder on low speed. Fold in chocolate chips by hand. Drop small mounds onto parchment paper at least 1" apart. Bake for 45 minutes. Turn off oven, DO NOT OPEN. Leave in oven for at least 2 hours or until center is not too moist. Remove from pan. Eat 'em. If you can't eat 'em all, store in airtight container.

Posted by Cora at 06:23 AM | Permalink | Comments (3)