A new beginning...

Friday, October 4, 2013

My little girl always

Uncle Charlie, A Hui Hou (Until we meet again)

Dear Uncle Charlie,

I have been thinking about you for some time and meaning to pen these words to you to express my gratitude and appreciation for your presence in my life. I just hope this letter does not arrive too late for you to hear them.

My first memories of you are from after the hurricane on Kauai. I remember your vibrant, funny spirit at our family dinners. You were so fun to have around. Thank you for helping our family during that hard time and throughout my lifetime. You have always been a pillar, confidant and supportive friend to my father. I know he loves you beyond words and his life would not have been the same without you. He will miss you greatly but we trust this is part of your journey.

There are not too many days that pass that I don’t think about you. You have always been so generous and willing to help us. From the time Lyon was born early and you lent us your car (sorry about the Chinese boy on his phone who ran the red light and smashed it) to helping us buy our own house. The reason is that we own our home today partly because of YOU giving us the opportunity to invest with you for our down payment. Every time I look at this home that we are so grateful for, I think of you and I am grateful for all that you have done. You have made this happen for us and words cannot express our thanks to you.

I don’t believe in goodbye but “A Hui Hou”. Until we meet again, Uncle Charlie. You will always be with us in our hearts and minds. Your impact on others will always be remembered. We love you.

With Fondest Love and Aloha,

Marie, Ariki, Lyon and Kiri

The Kiri Rating System

I wish I had a camera always attached to my head so you, the reader, could completely understand the hilarity of the daily situations with these kids. This one is about as good as they get.

The other evening Ariki was using a commercial cleaner to clean our house. Since we have one big great room encompassing the kitchen, dining room and living room, it was really noisy. I had made the kids BBQ chicken sandwiches with sliced cucumber and parked them at the kitchen table to eat. From the kitchen across the noisy room, I did hand signals asking them how the food was. You know, when you pretend like you are eating an invisible sandwich. I gave them the "thumbs up" question to see if they liked it. Lyon cheerfully gave me a double thumbs up and with a big smile ate his sandwich (and just for cross-reference, lyon is like your happy family dog while Kiri is like the moody family cat). Kiri, on the other hand, had her poker face on. Its her face that shows lack of enthusiasm and would win her the final round in Vegas poker tournaments. She stares me straight in the eyes and without breaking her lock on my eyes, picks up a peace of chicken from the sandwich and give me a "thumbs up". Then, again without breaking her hold on my eyes or loosing that world-class poker face, she puts down the chicken and proceeds to pick up the cucumber and give me...a thumbs down. Leave it to Kiri to tell us exactly what she thinks, with or without words.

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

Don't Do That

This morning as I was getting Kiri ready for Kindergarten, she looked at my stomach and said,
" mom, are you having another baby?" (FYI- it was just the dress I was wearing)
"No, do you want me to?" I replied.
"No, no hagas eso" she answered. ("no, don't do that" in Spanish)