a joyful nest

art gallery

2012-02-28T21:43:00.000-10:00

guess what?! i actually manged to complete a project idea from pintrest. yes, there a a million more to go, but i am excited to share this one with you. i used a bunch (7 to be exact) of cheap-o frames from walmart to create a little art gallery for rotating out wall worthy art projects. i wanted to fill in some space in the dinning room, but since the wall-o-t's is also there, i felt like i needed to keep the frames pretty simple and classic. IF i wasn't competing with the wall-o-t's, i would have loved to add a splash of color by painting some old frames. but i scored with $3 and $5 frames at walmart!

first i laid them all out on the floor to get the layout right. then i removed the backing and glass, so that i was just left with the frame. this was super easy, they pretty much fall apart. good for this project, not good if you want to really hang pictures in these frames.

then i carefully hung them on the wall. they were pretty wobbly, so after they were all hung i used a level and some mounting tape to get them good and straight.

then i used mounting tape to attach little wooden clothespins to each frame space.

add art work and voila! a classy and simple way to display and rotate all the masterpieces. i have not filled all my frames yet, and might put some photographs in a couple. really, the possibilities are endless.

lily dog

2012-02-28T21:18:00.001-10:00

we love our lily girl. she is such a loyal and patient friend.

someone is certainly getting bigger!

three, two, one...or almost.

2012-02-28T19:56:00.002-10:00

last week coen had a couple friends over to play. these three boys are so cute! liko will be 2 in march, coen 3 in march, and robert is cruising at 1! they enjoyed a snack on the lanai, and even let me snap a couple pictures. thanks so much for playing liko and robert!

l-o-v-e

2012-02-24T15:34:00.000-10:00

just before valentine's day the photographer that we use was going to be on our side of the island and asked if she could come out to our house to shoot some "couples photography." of course we were into it, but it felt so weird to not have coen around (he was napping). we really love kahuku photography and think that if you are visiting us, or on the island (but that would be rude to not visit us while you were on the island) you should have them take some pictures of you (or your family, or your kids). you can check her out at, kahukuphotography.com

we tried really hard to be seriously romantic. but i just couldn't hold it together. i guess that is just who we are. full of funny. my favorite thing is that these were taken on our property, so cool. i love having these pictures, i am sure our grand-kids will think we were big dorks, but for sure they will know that we were in love...sweet love.

laundry

2012-02-21T22:05:00.002-10:00

yesterday was a big big day in our house. i actually sorted, washed, dried, put away & re-made all the laundry and bedding. did you hear me? i did it all in one day. that's right folks, for the next week we won't be sorting through a massive pile of clothes looking for that one item that may or may not be clean. i won't run down to the laundry room and have to re-start the washer of spoiled clothes...again. coen will have underwear to cover his biscuits for an entire week. and and and, our beds are supper snugly soft and clean. yea me!

i know i am so tooting my own horn. but wes was so impressed he said, "you should blog about this." you see this is not my normal. i always intend to do it all , but is just never happens. and once the pile starts to gain elevation...i loose motivation. (thanks pinterest for these pics!)

sometimes i think i would enjoy laundry more if i had a beautiful laundry room like this. but then i can think of a million other places in our house i would rather have fancy, places i actually like to be.

and even though it is a chore, i realized yesterday that folding laundry is good therapy. if you have lots of laundry, then you have lots of time to slow down and think about things.

so yea, me! let it be known that february 20, 2012 was a good day in our house!

jeffrey is two!

2012-02-19T21:54:00.000-10:00

yesterday we got to celebrate jeffrey's jump into his second year of life. that's right, he's 2! jeffrey is our neighbor and it has been so fun to watch the boys grow up over the past {almost} year that we have lived next door. we opened up our house for the party and coen was such a great friend to share all his toys. i let him pick one thing to put away, that he didn't have to share. of course he picked his airplanes and he put them in the pantry. at one point i was looking for coen, and found him sitting in the pantry playing with his planes. that kid. he needs lots of encouragement to play with other kids. which is crazy to me, but we are working on it. anyway, the party was lovely. we ate lots of good food and lauren (jj's mom) made the most beautiful rainbow cake. can't wait to see what the next year holds for these little blonde boys.

happy birthday sweet jeffrey!

it can't be that bad

2012-02-19T21:37:00.003-10:00

on thursday when i picked up coen from preschool i was able to sneak into the room and observe before he noticed me. my first thought was that he must actually be having fun since he was wearing a heart head band with heart antennas and reading a book with aunty tina. he may scream on drop off, but he is all smiles and eager to show me what he did once i return. we are working on a few tricks to make the mornings easier, i will share them once they are tested out a bit longer.

this morning he climbed into our bed and preformed all his class songs. that right there made all the awful drop offs a little less, awful.

be mine, valentine.

2012-02-14T22:14:00.001-10:00

this year for valentines day i asked wes to skip out on buying flowers & chocolates. all i wanted was his company in dropping coen off at preschool. drop off is awful. a.w.f.u.l. and i just wanted someone to share it with. romantic? our morning got comical real quick, when i realized that in the chaos of loading a kicking, screaming child into the car against his will, i had forgotten to put shoes on myself. we pulled up to preschool and i jumped out barefoot, carried my still kicking and screaming child into his classroom and left him...yes, against his will. we headed out to find me some shoes, and took advantage of a very beautiful day in hilo.

we grabbed breakfast from short & sweet bakery and headed out to honoli'i beach park for a morning picnic. it was so delightful. the surf was great, and there were about a million people surfing. but also we could see whales jumping out on the horizon. always cool.

after our peaceful picnic we headed back to get the child. to our delight we found him sitting with his friends eating lunch. i desperately tried to get him to wear a valentine shirt to school today, but he picked up his china town shirt and said, "i just love china town, so i will wear this one." pick your battles.

since our mornings are pretty rough, i saved our valentine for after preschool. our "love bug" was waiting in coen's car seat stuffed with news airplanes and holding a green {his fav color this week} shirt and the movie, cloudy with a chance of meatballs {a fav book, always}. i love "bugging" coen.

okay, don't judge. our mornings are rough. preschool is rough. thankfully, coen seems to be adapting once i leave, but man oh man does he put on a show. incentive never hurts, so IF coen is good at preschool {no escaping, hitting teachers, talking naughty} we get to walk over to the worlds cutest candy shop and pick out three {cause he is almost three} pieces of candy. the best part is i get out of there for less than a dollar, and he only eats one piece, and then says he wants to save it for later.

one highlight of my day was when coen gave me the valentine he made for me in school. having a teaching background, i really have a passion for the classroom. i loved so much that he go to go school today and have a valentine party. the best part of this card is that the picture was taken last week, and he isn't crying. this tells me that he really is calming down after i leave. i heart him.

we came home for a nap, and then woke up and went through all his valentines from school. i am not sure who had more fun with this. coen also got to bring some art projects home, including his sad face from last week.

to top off our fantastic family day, we headed up the the military camp at the volcano for some bowling and dinner. little bowling shoes are so adorable.

i am blessed, loved and very tired.

love & bananas

2012-02-13T21:39:00.000-10:00

so blessed to have two special valentines in my life. one who makes me laugh and works hard so that i can stay home raising my other valentine, who by the way, is driving me bananas.

happy, just because i love you, day!

a glowing adventure

2012-02-12T17:24:00.001-10:00

last night we took our very grumpy {almost} three year old up to the volcano to meet up with some friends of ours from vancouver. the pasa's are staying in kona for a couple weeks, but made the trip our way to check out the glow. we walked through the lava tube, ate at our fav thai restaurant and wes gave them the behind the scene tour of the observatory. the glow was extraordinary last night. i think the best i have seen in the {almost} one year that we have lived here.

thanks for taking the time to visit with us pasa's! oh, and for lending your big kids to entertain grumpy pants.

coen loves

2012-02-12T17:16:00.003-10:00

preschool

2012-02-07T21:07:00.003-10:00

today was a milestone event as we sent coen off for his first day of preschool. even as i type this i am wondering how we ended up here. two weeks ago i would have told you that we decided to wait on preschool. i would have explained that once you start this school thing, you are in it for a good FIFTEEN years. i would have told you that i thought coen deserved another year at home, lounging in his pj's and doing things at his pace. honestly, i still agree with all of those things.

but as we settled back into our routine at home and started attending our parent/child preschool class that meets once a week, the child development specialist began to encourage me to get coen engaged with kids his age. our sweet boy looooves him some older kids, is very withdrawn from playing with kids his own age, and still has some separation from mama anxiety. and now that he is just about 3, i feel like it is my job as his mama to help him out. i found a preschool that was willing to be flexible with us. most all preschools in hawaii are full time, with no exceptions. none of us were ready for full time, but 2 days a week from 9-noon seems like a good place to start. and let's face it, as much as i love him, i drag coen to every appointment and errand...and it is exhausting. maybe we can both enjoy our preschool time?

so here we are. we visited once last week, and again on monday and today was our first drop off. it went just as i expected, lots of crying. but i was strong and confident and didn't cry till i got to the car. here are a few facts about coen's first day of preschool, we will laugh at this someday, right?!

1. he tried to escape by attempting to climb the wooden baby gate in the doorway and scraped up his ankle. he has told me at least 10 times since then that, "i don't like climbing gates anymore."

2. in the car i asked him what he did at preschool today. his response, "i just hit the aunties and i hit some of my friends. and i got a time out." (on the island, instead of miss, everyone is an auntie).

3. they talked about feelings today and then each child got to make a feeling face that described how they felt. when i walked into the room coen pointed to his and said, "i made a very sad face" (see below). i almost lost it right then and there.

i will be honest, when i picked him up and learned about his day i wanted to scoop him up in my arms and run far far away and never ever go back. i imagine that is exactly how he felt too.

being a mama is hard.

surfers beach

2012-02-07T16:05:00.000-10:00

on sunday we set out for a sun filled day at honoli'i beach park. this spot is known for it's great surf, and it just so happens that the last storm brought in a little sand too! the rumor is that the next storm could take it away, so we wanted to get some play time in while it lasted. nature is crazy.

coen found an actual shark's tooth. scary.

this man was surfing with his dog. no joke. they would paddle out, then catch a wave.

coen worked some ladies with his charm and they let him try out their boogie board and surf board. their dog, maka, wanted to surf with him too! maybe we need to teach lily a new trick!?

reasons i love this kid

2012-02-05T22:21:00.000-10:00

we are just about to welcome coen to the wonderful world of three, craziness! he is so full of imagination and pretend play. i will say right now that three is going to be more challenging than two. let's not jump the gun yet, we still have a month and a half left of being two and we are going to enjoy every minute. and who knows, maybe three will surprise me.

1. he makes me sandwiches and delivers them too.

2. he bakes cookies regularly.

3. he has his own mail delivery service (and picks out his own clothes).

4. a sticker chart and prizes, and suddenly he is on his best behavior.

5. he is working very hard at being a good friend.

6. he makes sure our lily girl is healthy.

coffee and beach

2012-02-05T22:03:00.002-10:00

last weekend we headed out to punalu'u for the day. on our way we stopped by the ka'u coffee farm for a fresh cup of joe and some fresh cracked mac nuts. i love this place. it is pretty amazing to look around and think, we get to live here.

coffee and beaches. i am so getting used to this.

pillow pit!

2012-02-05T21:48:00.004-10:00

our newest favorite stay home activity is to make a pillow pit in the middle of our sectional couch. i threw this together last week when i was exhausted of hearing myself say, "we don't jump on the couch!" it took him all of 3 minutes to discover that he could jump FROM the couch to the pillow pit. i think i am buying a mini-trampoline this week. boys.

whole wheat oatmeal and banana pancakes

2012-01-24T07:18:00.003-10:00

on sunday morning wes requested banana pancakes. hawaii has the best bananas in the whole universe and we eat a million more bananas than we ever did before we moved to the island. (just a quick shout out to my friend, banana.) anyway, i am on a health kick since coming home from our five week eating frenzy so i quickly searched for a super healthy banana pancake that i could feel good about eating. this is defiantly a keeper, and i recommend you try them too. and if you care at all, 2/3 cup of batter or 2 of the pancakes pictured are only 7 weight watcher points.

Ingredients

1 cup uncooked rolled oats
1 3/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
2 cups milk
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 banana, mashed

Directions

Place the rolled oats into the jar of a blender and blend until the texture resembles coarse flour. Whisk together the blended oats, whole wheat flour, brown sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt in a bowl; set aside.
In blender, blend together the egg, milk, vegetable oil, vanilla and banana. Pour the egg mixture into the flour mixture and stir just until moistened. Let the batter stand for 5 minutes.
Heat a lightly oiled griddle over medium-high heat. Drop 1/3 of a cup of batter onto the griddle, and cook until bubbles form and the edges are dry, about 2 minutes. Flip, and cook until browned on the other side. Repeat with remaining batter.

family date!

2012-01-22T22:25:00.001-10:00

this last week has been the hardest week of parenting i have experienced since coen was a newborn. at first it appeared that coen was going to just jump back in to our normal routine after a five week hiatus. i think he was just running on adrenaline. by mid week we were all exhausted, grumpy, and wes and i were wondering what happened to our precious boy. he has put up a down right refusal to sleep, just wants to "play and play and play." with all that said, we decided that today needed to be 100% focused on the three of us. no chores, errands, catching up...just us. we made a pledge that we would not fight him for a nap today (although his glassy eyes are so beyond tired, it is scary), and that we would "play and play and play." after breakfast (post coming soon!), we headed out to coconut island with his new trike. we spent the whole day on this darling little island in hilo bay. coen got to ride his trike as far as he wanted, a big improvement from our dining room! turns out trike riding is a lot work, so we pushed the trike a lot too. after the island we headed downtown for some super ono shave ice. were there meltdowns? yes. did we have a blast? absolutely. can coen stay up for 14.5 hours straight? sure thing.

100 years!

2012-01-21T22:13:00.000-10:00

today was the 100th anniversary celebration of the hawaii volcano observatory. 100 years is a long time. the observatory held an open house and the public was invited to come out and explore some cool hands on volcano stuff. yes, it was pretty cool. but also i may have been a little bitter that wes had to work on a saturday. weekends are precious people!

go lily, it's your birthday!

2012-01-21T22:02:00.001-10:00

today our first child turned six. i can not believe how fast these past six years have gone. haha, i know. but really from newlyweds to now, lily has been a great side kick to have around. we celebrated with birthday cheesy eggs and coen helped her blow out her candle.

happy birthday sweet lily dog, we love you!

we heart the ledfords!

2012-01-21T21:39:00.001-10:00

right when coen and i returned from the mainland, wes' cousin and her family were on vacation in kona. we were so blessed to have them come over to our side of the island for a night and enjoyed every minute of their company.

we headed up to the volcano at night to walk through the lava tube and see the glow. it is always breath taking no matter how many times i have seen it. after the viewing we ate at out favorite thai restaurant and i want to go back and eat there again, right now.

jack brought coen a set of very cool fisher price tools and we love them so much, thanks jack!

jack really insists that no one takes his picture, ever. so i made it a point to get some good pictures of him. i did the best i could while we were at rainbow falls. the boys had so much fun together, and we can't wait to see everyone again...hopefully soon!

dr doctor give me the news...

2012-01-21T21:02:00.001-10:00

not feeling well? let dr doctor have a look at ya.

getting back to aloha

2012-01-12T22:46:00.000-10:00

after over five weeks away coen and i returned to the island this week. i will be honest, back in december when we left i was itching to get off the island, but after all this time away i could not have been happier to come back. as much as i love the chilly northwest, feeling the sunshine on my face actually felt like home. wes welcomed us with beautiful leis and we headed straight to the kona brewing company for lunch. as an added treat wes' cousin andrea and her family are visiting kona and met up with us for lunch. after lunch everyone headed to the beach and i hit up costco for a whirlwind shopping trip. once we officially got on the road to hilo both coen and i passed out. we had such a wonderful time on our tour across the west coast, but we are so so glad to be home.

coen: mama is this my home?

me: yes, it is.

coen: let's stay here for a while.

cousin date!

2012-01-12T22:30:00.001-10:00

on our last day in seattle my brother and i took the kids to the museum of flight. all of the kids loooooved it. i was so glad my brother rallied us to go, i was pretty much spent after 5 weeks of travel. seeing the kids run around and play was totally worth the work to get there. i miss them already, and hope that they will be visiting us soon!

bella celebrates 5!

2012-01-12T22:11:00.000-10:00

my sweet niece bella turned five in december and she had her party while we were visiting. of course we loved getting to celebrate with her. she had an olivia themed party, and her mama did such a great job with everything.

pig ears and noses for the little guys.

rock climbing with uncle matt.

i just adore this sweet little lady. i simply can't wrap my mind around the fact that she is five already, but am so proud to be her aunt. we love you bella marie, you make 5 look good!

happy birthday beckett!

2012-01-12T21:57:00.003-10:00

i was so so so excited to be able to celebrate beckett's first birthday with him. i mean, i was there to welcome him into the world and it only seemed appropriate that i was there to welcome him to the wonderful-ness of one!

his party was a little old man theme and let me just say, cortney and i really pulled this one off. it was so fun to be back together planning a party, it is kind of our thing. anyway, my camera was being used for the photo booth so all the details of beckett's little man party can be found here.

first things first, i finally got to meet sweet baby maya. she is the third, (yes third!) child of the wonderful family i nannied for. she is 3 months old and so tiny and sweet and i loved every moment of her snuggles. you know what happened when i held their last newborn? um well, 9 months later i was having my own baby. uh, oh.

so here is a series of pictures from the photo booth. i am not putting them all up, cause you can find them on cortney's blog. however, these are some pretty hilarious ones of my nieces and such. why are old people so cute when they are really little childrens?

choo choo

2012-01-12T21:30:00.002-10:00

pretty much my whole visit with cortney revolved around planning beckett's first birthday party. although i wouldn't have wanted it any other way, i think both coen and b had other ideas for how we should be spending our time. we weren't total monsters though, we let them take a break from party prepping and ride this cool train...three times!

beckett kol

2012-01-12T21:20:00.000-10:00

during our week in seattle we got to spend some time with the pennebaker's. it is crazy hard to believe, but beckett actually turned one while we were there. he is getting to be quite the little guy and i loved hanging out with him and all of his cuteness. also he is just beginning to walk and was really trying to keep up with coen. we love you sweet baby b!

sigl love

2012-01-11T23:58:00.000-10:00

during our week in seattle coen and i got to have dinner with the sigl's. when coen was about 5 months old i started watching the sigl girls a few days a week. we have forever been bonded with this amazing family, and every time i am in their house i get very sentimental about it. coen literally learned to crawl on their floors. he always loved playing with the girls, and i just can NOT believe how fast he has grown up.

i just couldn't help myself and i had to do some flash back pictures from our days with the sigl girls.

at one point the girls begged me to dress baby coen up in a princess dress. now he is dressing up himself.

grace and the coasters.

gracie grace.

janesters.

coasters.

and my favorite of all, the group shot.

thank you sigl's for a wonderful evening. we love and miss you!

uncle matt

2012-01-11T23:34:00.002-10:00

uncle matt is pretty cool and always a lot of fun.

thanks for playing, building, tickling, teasing and for being a super awesome uncle!

cousins!

2012-01-11T23:28:00.005-10:00

on new years day we headed up to seattle for our fifth and final week of wintertour2011. my dad was so super kind to drive us, as a payment he got to hang out with all 3 of his favorite grandkids. lucky, papa!

i loooooove getting these kiddos together. i wish we could do it more often, but i love how much they appreciate the cousin time they do get.

also, coen is now calling me "aunt jenni" and he thinks it is so silly.

hello, 2012!

2012-01-11T23:20:00.003-10:00

to ring in 2012 we headed up to my aunts house so we could party in style. i think we had more enthusiasm at 9pm when we watched new york ring in the new year. coen did not make it till midnight, but he tried pretty darn hard. new years just so happened to also fall in my bad picture taking phase...so i have no pictures. but i promise it got better.

oh, and then i found twenty dollars!

meddy

2012-01-11T23:13:00.001-10:00

we spent most of our fourth week in medford and shamefully i took zero pictures. i don't know what happened. either i was just totally burned out from all the picture taking of the first three weeks, or i was busy chasing after coen since wes was back on the island. i imagine it was a little of both.

thankfully i stole some pictures from my cousin keely. and as you can see, we did a whole lot of hanging out. i am not sure if coen ever left the house and i tried to stay in my pj's all day.

coen was a big helper in the adults gifts exchange.

also, spencer was super fun and so kind to play with coen. they pretty much were besties.

apples to apples is so fun. i want to play it right now.

we had so much fun hanging out and seeing so many special people. we miss you all already!

the baracco's...are cool!

2012-01-11T22:47:00.001-10:00

the day after christmas we packed up and headed to sacramento so that wes could catch and early flight back to the island on tuesday morning. we were so very blessed to get to visit with the baraccos and eat an amazing dinner. emily is near and dear to our hearts (if you don't believe me just type her name into the search box at the bottom of the blog...see i told you) and we equally adore her wonderful parents. we had not seen linda and alan since our wedding (crazy!) but stay in touch through facebook and i hear they are avid blog followers.

we had so much fun catching up and can't wait till our paths cross again.

we heart us some baracco's!

we love truckee!

2012-01-11T22:35:00.003-10:00

we had such a great visit in truckee and can't wait to go back! a big special thanks to gami and pop pop for making it so special.

a very merry christmas

2011-12-30T19:45:00.002-10:00

i have so SO much blogging to catch up on. every time i think about sitting down to do it, i realize i will miss out on another adventure. then i start to feel guilty, like i shouldn't stop living my life just cause the blog isn't up to date. slowly but surely i will get it all on here. i promise.

we all had a wonderful christmas in truckee. coen was so fun and really had the christmas spirit. i just love this kid, and all of his precious cuteness. i also love that every year seems to exceed the last. i hope it just stays that way, always getting sweeter.

heading up to see what santa brought.

after all that gift opening we headed out to the frozen lake for some ice skating. coen really couldn't leave his new trike behind, so we took it with us. uncle bubs pulled him around on the ice and it was pretty much the most fun you could have on a frozen lake with a trike.

i think frozen lakes are scary, but also so cool. and a lot of fun.

the night before christmas

2011-12-29T21:13:00.000-10:00

i love christmas eve so much. after all the work is done we go to sleep knowing how magical it will be for coen when he wakes up. i love it.

before coen went to bed we set out some snacks for santa and his reindeer. he was very concerned that we didn't have any grass for the reindeer, but i assured him that celery would be a treat. he was skeptical. but he did think it was important to leave santa a reminder that he wanted a really big airplane.

good thing santa was on top of it.

once he was nestled all snug in his bed, preparations began...

um...clearly this is a to be continued.

merry birthday

2011-12-29T20:44:00.000-10:00

christmas eve is not just the eve of jesus' birth, but also my super cool cousin nikki's birthday. to celebrate i took her down to reno to test our luck on the slots. we actually did this on the eve of her birthday, and it was really pretty fun.

also, we both won big.

on her real birthday wes and i made bananas foster and it was pretty stinking delicious. and there may or may not have been some tequila shots going down. but you didn't hear it from me.

joy to the world!

2011-12-24T23:38:00.001-10:00

uncle bubs & aunty shelley

2011-12-23T13:36:00.000-10:00

we were so lucky to get to head out to the ranch and visit uncle bubs & aunty shelley. coen loved everything on the ranch; cows, dogs, horses, tractors and even a cat. but mostly he loved him some aunty shelley. we wish we lived closer so we could do this more often. coen is so blessed to have such cool people in his life.

ice sledding

2011-12-23T13:19:00.002-10:00

what happens when it is 12ish degrees at night, but not snowing? the lakes freeze over! fun, right? it really is super cool and a little scary...but mostly beautiful. this lake is just down the road from the house and we hopped over there a couple days ago for yet another frozen adventure.

we didn't think coen was quite ready for ice skates, but he loved being pulled around on this sled. pompa (wes' mom's dad) made this sled in his wood shop class in grade school. we are guessing it is at least 70 years old. it was the perfect ride for gliding around on the frozen lake.

the ice is 10-12 inches thick and constantly settling and cracking. i was a bit nervous at first, but quickly got over that because it was just so stinking cool. the sound of the cracking ice bouncing around the lake is so cool and totally impossible to describe. so i won't try.

pompa himself pulling the little adventurer around.

and the best for last, pop pop showed off his ice skating skills. the dogs helped.

a big adventure

2011-12-20T22:01:00.003-10:00

alright folks, this is a crazy long post. i will keep the writing to a minimum, there were just to many good pics from our big fun adventure in the snow today. yes, this is the edited version.

there may be a shortage of snow this year, but in no way a shortage of fun. gami and pop pop took us to the perfect place to sled, ski, and be merry.

well, have a look for yourself.

here begins the documentation of coen's first ski! such a big boy.

after walking around a bit he was ready to try out a small slope.

high fives all around. what a rock star!

time to get back on the sled for some real time sledding.

after we got back to the car, he walked up to pop pop and with no propt from wes or i he said, "that was a really fun adventure pop pop!"

yes it was sweet boy. and there i much more were that came from.

finn's quick visit to medford

2011-12-20T21:33:00.000-10:00

over the weekend we made a quick stop in medford on our way to truckee. finn has had no problem finding us, wherever we may be.

a little caroling with some of grandma's snowmen.

a fruity loopy surprise. i appreciate finn's festiveness to only use the red and green loops to spell coen's name.

we will return to medford next week, but finn will be back with santa by then. thank goodness he got to meet the family on this quick trip.

happy 30th birthday amanda!

2011-12-18T20:11:00.002-10:00

on our last night in portland we went out to benihana's to celebrate amanda's 30th birthday. amanda is actually a christmas baby, but her wonderful husband put together this surprise dinner and we were so lucky to get to attend.

shanny and i made her this funfetti cake. classy on the outside, party on the inside.

yes we laughed at ourselves for that one.

the birthday girl with sweet daphne.

family pictures never happen, thanks aunty shanny!

the three of us have been friends since elementary school. isn't that amazing? i think it is.

happy happy birthday amanda, we love you!

gingerbread houses are the best houses

2011-12-18T19:33:00.000-10:00

we had a wonderful dinner with the gilman's and coen & daphne had a blast building a gingerbread house together. even though we live so far away, i love that daphne and coen have gotten to grow up with each other. we always make a point to visit with them and they are always such wonderful hosts.

sprinkles, sprinkles, sprinkles.

daphne approves, it's looking good!

coen's not quite sure, yet.

candy canes are delicious, but you knew that.

oh trader joes, you add magic to every season.

elton needed to be in on the project too.

late night story time.

we love the gilman's and are really hoping that they come to visit us soon {hint hint}!

alex & coen reunite!

2011-12-18T18:25:00.000-10:00

coen had a very special date with alex last week. it was so fun to see the boys all grown up and to meet alex's new baby sister sierra. we were so busy playing and chatting that i totally forgot to take any pictures. sad. i stole this picture from alex's blog alexanderarmstrongsjourney.

we had such a great time visiting, and can't wait for our next visit.

finn finnegan

2011-12-18T18:09:00.000-10:00

finn gets a little crazy with the toilet paper.

finn tucks himself in next to his buddy.

finn leaves a note for coen.

i read coen his note, and he looked at me with big eyes and yelled, "I GOT A NOTE! I LOVE THIS NOTE!" he carried it around all morning and didn't care one bit about what it said. oh well, i tried.

we heart the birchard's!

2011-12-18T17:55:00.000-10:00

while we were visiting portland we were blessed to have dinner with the birchards! this was a milestone event for us, as it was the first time coen ran around and played while we ate and caught up. no joke, we didn't play with him, watch him, or have to be sitting right next to him. i think this is because aiden in SUCH a good friend and has SUCH cool toys. wes and i are still talking about it.

i took only this one picture, which is a shame because they also have an adorable daughter and a beautiful new home.

thank you birchard's, it was so so good to see you!

coffee with caryn!

2011-12-14T13:40:00.001-10:00

we were so so so lucky to get to have coffee with our sweet friend caryn today. it was way too short of a date, but i am thankful for every minute of it!

caryn, you are just wonderful. thanks for hanging out with us!

also, why is coen's head the same size as yours?!

auntie doctor shanny

2011-12-14T13:34:00.000-10:00

auntie shanny has taken coen's game of doctor fireman to a whole new level. after hearing lots of giggling from the back bedroom, i walked in to find coen bandaged up from head to toe.

we LOVE you auntie shanny!

finn's latest tricks

2011-12-14T13:29:00.000-10:00

here is a look at what our elf, finn has been up to the past few days.

playing the guitar.

swinging from the chandelier.

also known as, "i am heading to bed and forgot to place finn, i will just throw him up in this light."

coen thought this was just too silly...perhaps i over think our elf's shenanigans.

or maybe this is also super fun for me.

snow ball fight!

i'm baaaaack

2011-12-13T12:57:00.000-10:00

okay, i guess i only threatened to leave the blogging world but didn't actually go anywhere. i also said that i was cancelling anything fun if i didn't have a camera to document it, and that clearly was a big fat lie. we have been doing nothing but fun lately. i am thankful that my iphone could document this past week. however, i did pick myself up an early christmas present while i was at target today and i am way more thankful about that.

hello, cannon! i think you need a name of your own.

we {heart} trader joes

2011-12-13T08:04:00.001-10:00

sometimes it's nice to reunite with stores that you never realized how much you loved till you move to the middle of the pacific and do not have them any more.

did i say sometimes? um, i mean always.

also, does this make coen look like a wino?

finn cleans up his act

2011-12-13T07:52:00.000-10:00

thankfully finn found his way to auntie shanny's house, but was apparently in need of a bubble bath after a week in the city.

coen gets his wings

2011-12-13T07:29:00.000-10:00

as sad as we all were to leave the city, we were very excited to go to portland to see auntie shanny and uncle mike. of course our future pilot was most excited that he got to fly on a plane again. the flight attendants fell in love with coen and his joy of flying. within minutes of being up in the air they were letting him call and talk to the pilots. he was in heaven. they pinned him with real wings, and as soon as the plane landed they took him up to meet the pilots. best. day. ever.

finn leaves his heart in san francisco

2011-12-13T06:44:00.002-10:00

our sweet little finn was quite sad to leave the city.

i feel you finn.

tear.

cruising the bay

2011-12-11T13:55:00.001-10:00

on our last day in san fran coen and i took an hour cruise of the bay. about 10 minutes in i remembered that i get sea sick. i actually did okay while on the boat, but here we are 2 days later and i still feel like i am floating.

coen did pretty good on the boat, and loved seeing the golden gate bridge.

of course he was ridiculous and cute and everyone loved him. of course.

finn takes the train

2011-12-11T13:38:00.001-10:00

san francisco zoo

2011-12-09T12:44:00.001-10:00

yesterday coen and i headed out for a day at the zoo. this week has been SO beautiful. blue sky, not a cloud to be seen and pretty much NO fog. i think we have had more sun this week than hilo has seen in awhile, it's just a little chiller. about 20 degrees chillier. i am loving it!

we had to take the muni train out to the zoo, and the whole experience was pretty smooth. it is always stressful to jump on a train and not be 100% sure what to do next. but we did it, and i feel victorious about it.

this is a beautiful zoo. very spread out and park like. we could have stayed for 4 more hours, but nap time was calling and my feet hurt. the reindeer where visiting, getting all fattened up to pull the jolly man's sleigh. coen was mostly excited to play on all the bronze statues of animals, and of course the steam train ride was his most favorite part. just in case you care, i was all about the giraffes. the giraffe exhibit is top notch.

i love having a kid to justify all these fun outings. total perk to being a parent, you get to be a kid again.

jolly old saint nick

2011-12-08T22:10:00.001-10:00

what is better than a picture with santa? a FREE picture with santa. we happened upon a very high tech santa at the mall in downtown san fran. microsoft is sponsoring these free pictures in cities all over the country, so check to see if there is one in your area. they take a few pictures, then send you to a fancy computer station where a friendly microsoft elf helps you email the pictures to yourself and prints out one free picture.

annnnd our santa was SO super nice and jolly and coen loved him. LOVED him.

oh, and he gave out full size candy canes.

and, i got one too.

there was a small misunderstanding. coen really in his heart thought that santa would give him what he asked for right then and there. i didn't realize this till we were walking away and coen was yelling to santa, "where is my new really big airplane?!"

he was crushed all night. poor guy.

anyway, the older i get the more strange it seems to visit santa at the mall. but you know, to coen it is perfectly normal and he really really loved it. so, there you go.

oh, and santa please bring that really big airplane. but you can go ahead and pass on the weed-eater he keeps asking for.

i love this face!

2011-12-08T21:54:00.001-10:00

i am so lucky to get to spend my days with this sweet face. we headed out to the children's creativity museum, to um get creative! for some reason coen was in rare form and honestly was a train wreck.

nothing a little ride on the carousel can't fix.

this is the result of me trying to get a picture of the horse he was riding. i am not allowed to let go of him for even a second.

making me sand pancakes on the playground. he is quite the chef.

and the best part of our day, lunch with daddy!

these are the lame shots i got at the creativity museum. it really was a very cool place, coen was just not feeling the large crowd. i am admitting that this outing was a total disaster. you know what? it happens and i started to let it ruin my day, but decided to shake it off.

and that is actually really hard for me to do.

we all know there are gonna be days like this.

finn hosts movie night

2011-12-08T21:45:00.001-10:00

finn + buddy = beff's (best elf friends forever)

the lovvy

2011-12-08T21:28:00.001-10:00

each morning before we start our daily adventures we head down to the lobby of the hotel, grab a starbucks and have a date next to the christmas tree.

there are only a few words that coen mispronounces. actually, i can only think of one. to him the lobby, is the lovvy. and when i call it the lobby, he corrects me. so i guess he just really wants it to be called that. i don't blame him, v's are fun to say.

the other day i let him take some photos. he was very professional. this same day that camera was stolen. saddest day ever. i have threatened to stop blogging, and cancel all things fun...unless i get a new camera. what is the point in all this if i can't properly document it?! for all your sake, i hope a new camera is in my near future, or i may have to cancel um well... life.

so the real secret to the lovvy is that there is a this super cool toy train set up, and you stick your room key in to start it. coen runs it about 15 times every morning, and has derailed it twice. yes, he loves that train.

i have decided that i will leave san francisco without a fight. but only if a starbucks opens up on the first floor of my house, and wes installs and elevator. and huge christmas tree, and a cool train, and why we are at it, hires a maid that goes up and makes the bed while we are down enjoying our lovvy.

deal.

finn goes fishing

2011-12-07T13:39:00.001-10:00

with a candy cane fishing pole!

side note: our camera was stolen last night while walking around the city, so until we get a replacement iphone photos are all i got. sadness.

this has nothing to do with elfing, but this morning we munched on this adorable loaf of sourdough bread.

yes, we like to munch on loaves of bread. don't you?

finn says, "brrrr!"

2011-12-06T14:29:00.001-10:00

well it looks like finn is well aware that we aren't in hawaii any more. when coen woke up this morning finn was wearing a scarf and big fuzzy bear slippers.

what a thoughtful elf. i mean, had he not brought these slippers, coen's feet may have frozen.

thanks, finn!

socks and the city.

pier 39

2011-12-06T08:03:00.001-10:00

yesterday coen and i set out on a big adventure to pier 39. i would have documented our travels, but i was so incredibly overwhelmed by the busy city i thought picture taking would be dangerous. the good news is that i got us from our hotel to the wharf flawlessly. and the even better news is that i was not at all overwhelmed by the city today. i got this down.

pier 39 is such a wonderful place.

our first order of business was the aquarium of the bay.

to say coen loved it would be an understatement.

every time he would see a fish, (about 1,000 times per minute) coen would point and say, "ohhhhh mama!" he didn't yell it, he said it very very slow and soft.

he was totally in awe of all those fishy friends.

the touching pools were a big hit for the 2 year old that always hear, "ah ah ah, look with your eyes."

i let him pick anything he wanted from the gift shop. he picked this giant shark. i wonder how much longer i can get away with this, before he starts picking the expensive stuff?

to my surprise he is totally loving the carousels. our last experience left him terrified, but now he just can't get enough. it is a little fun cause i still "have" to ride with him.

the sea lions where a real disappointment. they must have been out to lunch or something. coen was so bored with them that he put on a show for all the other bored people.

a quick shot of the street car we rode home. we might do nothing but ride street cars tomorrow, since that was coen most favorite part of the day.

i am already feeling sad that we can't stay here forever. i mean come on, i leave the room a mess and come back to fresh towels and a well made bed every day. starbucks is an elevator ride away, and the christmas spirit is flowing through the city streets.

don't make me leave. i beg you.

finn spreads holiday cheer

2011-12-05T17:52:00.001-10:00

sneaky pants finn used my lipstick to write a cheery message on the window of our 14th floor hotel room.

geesh, as if a 2 year old isn't enough...this elf is a handful.

sock number five!

the countdown continues.

good morning, city!

2011-12-04T22:03:00.001-10:00

it was so fun to wake up in the city this morning. our plane got in late last night, and we went to bed super late (i blame hawaii). i was ecstatic that coen actually slept in. hotels seem like a guarantee for a bad nights sleep. thankfully coen slept great, and so did wes. me, not so much. but waking up in the bustling city was a perk.

however, the highlight of the day was that gami and pop pop drove over to spend the day with us. we walked and walked and walked around the city. coen was pretty bummed that they had to leave, but lucky for him we will be spending lots of time with them soon.

if was a beautiful sunny day in the bay!

right now coen's goal in life is to not smile nicely at the camera. so i have to get him when he isn't paying attention, or settle for silly pants pictures. he leaves me no choice.

after all that fun we headed up to the room for a nice nap. my sweet little baby has officially outgrown the pack n play and is sleeping great on this new toddler aerobed. i don't know how this happened...really, where does time go?

it's christmas time...

2011-12-04T15:32:00.001-10:00

in the city!

and we are having a great time soaking it all up, lots of updates to come!

finn arrives in san francisco

2011-12-04T15:26:00.001-10:00

whew. good thing he knew we woke up somewhere different this morning.

finn helps with the luggage

2011-12-04T15:17:00.001-10:00

turns out elves are also quite helpful.

finn sets the table

2011-12-02T16:16:00.001-10:00

last night was finn's first night at our house and oh boy was he up to some silly elf business.

having an elf around is kind of a lot fun.

as soon as mr sassy pants woke up, he was on the hunt to find, "ummm...what is his name again? shelf?"

oh, and the elf pj's were part of the gift from his cousins. they have good taste.

okay, i will let pictures tell the story from here.

side note: according to coen, elves eat candy canes for breakfast. i let it slide this time.

and for fun, sock number two from our advent calender! yea pez!

do you elf?

2011-12-02T08:33:00.001-10:00

on the shelf that is. this quirky little elf has become quite the item this year, even a mini-made-for-tv-movie. i met my nieces elf, jaxon, last year but still wasn't totally sure what the whole fuss was about.

just in case you don't know what i am talking about i will catch you up. the main idea is that the elf is sent to your family from the north pole and his sole purpose is to report back to santa each night...naughty or nice? then, before you awake the elf returns back to your home and waits for you in a new location every morning.

if you aren't doing the whole "santa thing" with your family, then you probably should stop reading here, or maybe this is already too much. sorry.

we believe in santa. i am not talking about the jolly fat man that lives at the north pole. that is just a silly story that for whatever reason lights up the eyes of my child. but the spirit, the magic, the love, the giving, the joy, the believing in something bigger than yourself, something you can't see...we believe in that. for whatever reason, i have yet to struggle with the issue of santa or the easter bunny. the party is for Jesus, the rest of the hoopla are the party favors.

after all, i am santa and i am real.

and my heart behind creating this magical world for my child is pure and focused on Him.

okay, so back to the elf. the cute little guy comes with a beautiful book that explains the elf's very important job. the first thing you must do is name your elf, so that he can get his magic to travel back to santa each night. it sounds a little creepy, i agree. but in the innocent eyes of a child it is not creepy or scary at all. believe me, i know.

this takes me to the real reason for this post. last night we received our elf (sent to us by my adorable nieces). again, i was not 100% sure what the whole thing was about before he arrived. it took no time at all for coen to grab onto the magic of the elf, and before we knew it we were full fledged elfing.

meet finn, our newest family tradition.

i can't wait to share all the shenanigans our little finn will be up to this season!

traditions

2011-12-01T11:13:00.001-10:00

last year i made coen this adorable mismatched sock advent calender and it was such a hit that i have been excitedly waiting to pull it out again. i love starting new traditions with my own family. i love how they develop and design themselves year after year and i also love that we get a few years to work out the kinks before the little ones actually start remembering.

well today is december 1st. this morning when i announced that to coen he yelled super loud, "it's time to go on a really big airplane!" almost son, 2 more days.

i went on to explain that Christmas was Jesus' birthday, and that we spend the month remembering and celebrating Him. coen thought about it and said, "Jesus will be really sad if we don't eat m&m's, he told me that." so we aren't quite there yet, but i love his sweet innocence.

no matter how you choose to celebrate this season, i wish you a heart full of joy as you create and celebrate your own traditions.

christmas - island style

2011-11-28T16:17:00.001-10:00

to ring in the christmas season we headed down to hilo to watch the holiday parade annnnd so that i could have my first gingerbread latte of the season. (yes, i know the red cups and holiday drinks have been out for a month, but i refuse to drink them till after thanksgiving.)

please excuse the iphone pictures. thanks.

this first picture cracks me up...is this a 4th of july parade?

heck no, he's eating a candy cane for goodness sake!

proof, sticky sticky, proof.

america, america...okay i will stop. i'm the only one laughing.

alright, so maybe hawaii lacks some festive-ness around the holidays, but holy heck the sunset skies are just totally breath taking.

my first of many festive holiday drinks this season...also i am sure this candy cane face will make several more appearances as well.

rain or shine...i loooooove these guys!