First Dance Class

After our trip to New Zealand (which I will post about later) Kiri got the dance bug. She loves her traditional dances of Tahiti and Hawaii! Today I took her to her first dance class. She was the youngest in the class and the little girls were really sweet to her. She really liked it!

Song and Baby Names

Last night after work, both the kids were still awake. I got them in bed all snuggled up in the dark and Lyon started singing in the most angelic, childlike 4 year old voice: "If yoooouuuu go to Jaaaail....you get to ride in your own cop-car....yea yea...." HUH?! I had to chuckle.

And then he told me "hey mom, when I get big, I'm going to move out of here"
"ok, where are you going" I asked.
"I'm getting my own house."
"Can I come visit?" I asked.
"Sure. I'll come pick you up in my Jeep" Lyon answered.
"Well are you going to have a wife and kids at your new house?" I asked.
"Yeah...her name is going to be Joya." He answered. "That's a good wife name, don't you think, Mom?"
"Yep, good name" I answered. "What about your kids?"
"Trainer and Conner" He chimed in.
At that point Kiri piped in "I want a wife toooo!
"How about a husband, Kiri?" I suggested. This got her mad. She didn't like the idea of having something different than Lyon so she started to cry. "Nooooo....I want a wife like Lyon!"
"Do you just want to stay here with Mommy when you get big" I asked.
"Yeaaaa....." she said through tears. And then she thought about it for a moment and added "but I want babies like Lyon" sniff sniff
"Monica and Makayla" sniff sniff
"And maybe Jayden" sniff sniff

And that's how we ended Sunday night. Thoughts of babies, future, and a thoughtful song on what perks their are if you go to jail (private cop car ride).
The End

How Old Are You?

I just had to re-post this story from my dear friends Kim and Jared. Judah is their 5 year old son. Too funny!

Judah was admiring his light up Skechers he got for Christmas. He asked me, "Hey mom, did you have Skechers when you were a kid?" When I told him no, he said, "So, what, did you just wear shoes made out of bearskins like Indians?" He was serious. Evidently I have reached the status of being old...really, really old.

Lyon's Snail Friend

This afternoon I was out tending to my little garden while the kids played in the yard around me. All of a sudden I hear Lyon exclaim "HEY look! It's Shaggy!" as if an old friend just arrived. I looked around perplexed. "Lyon, who are you talking to?" I asked. He pointed to a snail in the dirt. "Mom, that's Shaggy!" Apparently they had met before. Lyon and Kiri got to work digging out a pool for Shaggy in the dirt surrounding the banana trees. They added a water slide with the banana leaves. Shaggy is one lucky snail so we decided to let him live near our ti-leaf plants.

Realizing Identity

We have been going to the beach a lot lately. What can you say- it's beautiful weather and there's not much else to do on Kauai with preschoolers. Anyways, on the way home from the beach the other day, Lyon pipes up "Mom, I'm brown. Kiri is brown, Dad is brown. But you're white. Look at you."

Little does he know that I'm actually off-white or caramel-ish depending on what light he sees me. Either way, it's time for a trip off-island to see real white people.

The following day he had another realization in the car ride home: "I'm brown like chocolate"

Yes, my little man, you are brown like chocolate.

Kiriana's First Day of School

Sept 7th was Kiri's first day of Preschool. For most moms, they have one little one go off to preschool and a baby still in the arms to hold for another 2 years before the whole preschool cycle starts again. Not me. One month after Lyon started preschool, I barely had time to regroup before it was Kiri's turn to start. While Lyon looked out the preschool window when we left, big brown eyes full of tears as if we were leaving forever, Kiri specifically told me "Mommy, I'm not going to cry." And that she didn't. If I could sum up her first day of school, it would be something like:

Hey guys. Great job raising me. Because you had me so close to Lyon, I've learned to be independent since it was kinda hectic. I've got this whole preschool thing down. Thanks for raising me from scratch for three years. I'll see you at 3pm sharp.

And with that, she went up the stairs to the door, waived goodbye and was gone. Be still my aching heart...my babies are growing up.

Gap-Tooth Smile on the way...

Well looks like Kiri is going to have her front tooth pulled out (it's dead). That means for the next 5 years she will have every picture with a gap smile. When Kiri came home from the dentist, Lyon asked me "what happened to Kiri?"
I said she is going to lose her tooth.
"I have a loser tooth" he replied.
That's going to go well driving his garbage truck.