Back to Blogging

I have been MIA in the blogging world for a while and I know that I need to make it back. We went on vacation, got sick on vacation, returned sick from vacation and then passed it amongst ourselves for weeks, had a million appointments that we needed to catch up on and we are finally getting back into the swing of things.

I will be back within the next couple of days to tell stories and post pictures but in the meantime, you'll just have to wait.

Still Delicious

 

Today I made my very first batch of vegan chocolate chip cookies and I have to tell you that they were just as delicious as the other ones that I used to make. 

Perhaps the consistency wasn't the same but the goodness of the cookies was pretty amazing. The boys even like them and I think that is saying something. Kekoa kept asking for more and Makaio savored the cookie right down to it's last crumb. I am glad that something I love so much has been converted to a vegan variety!

Mother's Day Treats

For Mother's Day this year I decided to treat myself to some fabric and make my two little guys cuter than they already are. Here they are in all their glory on Mother's Day.

At Least They are Grateful

A few weeks ago I made a trip down to the store to buy a swimming pool. The swimming pool that I purchased last year (very late in the season) was pink, girly and I had to blow it up. So this year I headed out as soon as the weather turned nice and picked up a green durable plastic pool with a built in slide.

It all sounds fun and delightful until I tell you that the trip to the store took about 2 hours when it was only supposed to take 15 minutes. As we strutted out of the door with our receipt in hand, ready to claim our newly purchased pool our spirits were high! I loaded the boys up, pulled the suburban around to an ideal loading spot, opened the back doors, grabbed the pool and this is where the 15 minute trip turns into a lengthy ordeal.

As I tried to pick the pool up and get it into the suburban it was immediately obvious that it wasn't going to fit. However I wasn't completely discouraged (yet) and so I attempted to bend the durable plastic pool in half and give it a shove. Much to my dismay, the pool didn't bend in half as easily as my childhood memories suggested. I quickly ran back into the store (not a recommended "good mothering" technique), because the boys were in the truck already. I asked what I could do to get a refund for the pool that I was clearly not going to take home and I was informed that I needed to go to Customer Service to handle that. 

So I re-parked the car, called my mother and headed back into the store to take care of business. My mother suggested that I get some tie-downs and strap that thing to the top of the suburban because the boys needed a swimming pool! I was obedient and purchased the tie-downs and asked for assistance from a store employee because I don't necessarily have a skill-set that includes strapping things safely onto the top of our vehicle. After waiting for about 30 minutes I was informed that a store employee could not assist me and that I was going to have to do it on my own.

Fortunately, or at least so I thought, it was windy on this particular day and therefore I thought four bungee cords would do the job. I wrapped those cords around and around the rack on top of the suburban and upon inspection it seemed great. Note: The inspection was from an unlearned tie-downer...ME!

As I drove out of the parking lot, the wind seemed to pick up. Perhaps it was my skewed perception because I was so nervous but I am pretty sure that we had wind gusts of 50 mph from the SW direction. The slower I drove, the gustier the wind got and within 200 yards of the store, the pool was flapping in the breeze while the bungee cords did their best to hang on to that wretched pool. Mind you, during my safety inspection, I didn't bother to think about what might happen if the cords shifted a little bit, oops! I of course had to pull over for the safety of all other drivers on the road and re-think my efforts. Luckily I bought two different sets of tie-downs and so I brought out the big guns, the ratchet type tie-downs that are made for things much larger than a plastic swimming pool.

I was getting nervous that I would have to abandon our swimming pool on the side of the road and then suddenly visions of my father tying down the canoe popped into my head and I knew that I could do it. I opened the back doors of the suburban, hooked the ratchet end of the tie-down securely onto the rack and threw the other end to the front of the vehicle. I jumped down and with a little pep in my step I jogged to the driver's side of the suburban, climbed onto the front seat, secured the other end of the tie-down and instantly felt a rush of excitement that I could and would be successful. I hurried to the back of the suburban once again and began to tighten the tie-down and ultimately secure the pool to the top of the vehicle. I must admit that I was pretty darn proud of my accomplishment. I was so proud of myself that I totally forgot to shut the back doors and drove half-way down the road again with them open before I noticed.

The point of this very long pool purchase story is so that I could show off a few pictures of the cute little guys and our beloved pool. After all the hard work and stress that I endured to get this pool to our actual residence, I must say that at least they are grateful!

A Mind of His Own

Makaio is the child that only does what he wants to do x 10. We have been trying to work really hard to get him walking before his second birthday and in return he has worked really hard to show us that we can't make him do anything he doesn't want to do. He can actually walk a distance of 30 feet if he feels like it and if he doesn't he will walk to the nearest support and stop. He here he is doing just that.