50th STATE FAIR

Marc went to a retirement party for one of his co-workers on Saturday.  It happened to be at the Perry & Price (local radio personalities) show at Jimmy Buffet's.  He won one of the prize drawings for a trip to Vegas!!!!

How fabulous is that?  Only thing-- leaves on Tuesday.  Perfect for Marc since he's a School Counselor and on Summer Break right now (so jealous).  Although we got married in Vegas-- it's not my most favorite place to visit, and I have to work...so he's taking his Dad.  You know that if it was someplace like, say... San Francisco-- I'd be THERE!

Since Marc's leaving this week-- we decided to do a family day today.  We surprised Em Jay by taking her to the fair.  Or as she calls it, "the carvinal".  She was so HAPPY. 

Marc seems to be a winner this week, doesn't he?

POTATO MAN?

Em was busy drawing all morning.  When I went to see what she was drawing, I found these.  I asked her what they were and she said, "It's a Potato Man!"  My favorite part are the "shoes".

30 Day Photography Challenge

Going to try this. Operative word... try.  I do need to make use of my camera, as it is now functioning as a dust collector.  Found the challenge here, and here.

Day 1: Self Portrait

Day 2: What I wore today

• Dress from Target
• Cardigan from Target
• Calvin Klein Shoes from Gilt
• Personalized Hand-Stamped Necklace from Simag that I won from Small for Big

YUM! FISH DINNER!

Marc caught an Ono (Wahoo) this past weekend, and my Dad cooked it last night for dinner.  It's his specialty-- shoyu, black bean sauce, ginger, green onions... flash fried in peanut oil.  Delicious-- just had to share!

ADVENTURES IN POTTY TRAINING

We've been potty training Em for a couple of months now.  She starts preschool in August.  For the first month or so it was frustrating.  There were many accidents, hours of time on the potty with nothing happening, and days when I'd be thinking..."I'll be perfectly alright with changing her diaper for her whole life."  Then about three weeks ago, something clicked.  I guess she was just ready at her own time.  So far so good.

This totally worked-- she loved getting "stars":

The next obstacle was the public restroom, which we conquered this past weekend with this:

Em Jay is terrified of the public restroom.  The first time she tried, it flushed while she was sitting and she almost flew off.  She grabbed my legs for dear life.  I had to normalize it by telling her to say "bye noisy toilet, see you next time!".  I've learned my lesson, and now cover the sensor with toilet paper. 

Any mommies out there have any tips or suggestions for public restroom anxiety?  Everytime we go to one, the poor girl looks so stressed out.  What about the loud hand-dryer-- she won't even stand near one?  Help!  (And to the non-mommies-- sorry for TMI.) 

OOBI, ANYONE???

Emily Jay has reccently discovered what has to be the strangest television program...

Oobi...

Marc can't stand it.  Me, I can tolerate it... but Em Jay-- she LOVES it!  So I was excited when I came across  a bunch of eyes I bought a few years ago from Hey Yo Yo.  I had no idea what to use them for-- but thought they were cute.  Now, it's becoming clear that they were meant to be Oobis.  Perfect.

I LOVE...

Dysfunctional families, that love each other in their own way... RAISING HOPE is such a great program!

San Francisco -- Did I tell you that we're going there again???  We are.  Marc and I wanted to do a family trip with just the three of us in January.  It was between San Diego, and San Francisco.  The cost of airfare, and our LOVE for San Francisco won out.  I truly do leave a part of my heart there every time.  And have very often entertained the thought of moving there.  Anyway, after booking the flight we realized that January is the worst time of year for the weather.  Anyone living in San Francisco that can make us feel better about this?  Is it really that bad?

My workplace.  Because I am continually inspired by the amazing work we do, and wonderfully compassionate team we have.  And after 6 and 1/2 years, with some bumpy patches along the way (like a few weeks ago)- I can honestly say that I am happy.  Happy that we provide quality care, and happy that our agency values our staff, is truly accountable for actions, and is loving and supporting.  This make providing the best possible care to our patients and families so easy. Go Team.

J Brand low-rise capris.  For a short person like me it's the perfect length--no hemming required!

Halloween!!  Here's Em Jay in her costume last year (photo taken by my friend Dari)...  and a picture of the costume I bought for her this year...

• Got a busy weekend ahead... Pumpkin picking tomorrow, along with an eye doctor appointment.  And bowling with friends on Sunday to celebrate a birthday.  My intent tonight was to study for my LCSW exam, but I fell asleep and woke up at 10:30p.  Now I'm blogging.  There's always tomorrow night.

RANDOM UPDATES

• two weekends ago we celebrated my yakudoshi birthday singing karaoke at toma. the play list included...what's up (4 non-blondes), ice ice baby (vanilla ice), right stuff (new kids on the block) -- complete with the dance moves, and regulate (warren g) -- sung by marc!! I don't think he'll be too thrilled when he reads this and sees his photo of the performance below:

• this past weekend we flew to maui to visit marc's family (mom, dad, brother, sister in law, niece, and nephews) and friends, and go to the maui county fair.  it was a really good fair!  I was very impressed.  em jay rode the ferris wheel (she calls it ferry wheel) and big slide for the very first time and loved it.

• we also ate at paia fish market for the first time.  I had a chicken quesadilla and marc had the fish and chips...

•  we hung out with friends...

•  and had a fabulous time...

•  see em's perfect little teeth in the above photo. take a good look because it's the last time you'll see them that way...

• today was quite possibly one of the worst in awhile.  it started off with some frustrations at work which I won't get into because I really don't want to say negative things or details about such a great organization. but basically I cried / had a meltdown. and what kept me from leaving-- was the fact that if I don't work, marc and I will not afford our mortgage. we'd lose our house. and we really would not like to ask my parents (or his) to help us...so there. a good reason to stick it out.  and of course on top of that, I teach accountability in the workplace. it's my responsibility to see what can be done before making any rash decisions like that.  and at a deeper level, I really do believe in our agency and what we do.  and frustrations happen at all workplaces no matter where you go...

• then this evening, em is running around and playing with family friends and falls flat on her face... on the tile.  she starts crying. I ran to pick her up and she said "my teeth!" I looked at her teeth and saw it.  a HUGE chip on her front tooth. and a small chip on the other.  I, who am usually a very calm person. freaked! partly because I have a thing about teeth.  I have nightmares about loose, or falling out teeth. partly because I had a particularly bad day, and partly because I couldn't stand to see her crying, and was sad that my perfect little girl, with a perfect little smile...has a HUGE chipped tooth!  after a little while she was completely fine.  except that she kept touching the tooth with her finger, or her tongue or lip because of the jagged edges.  after we saw she was okay, I stepped away to cry.  for em's accident, and for my rather trying day.  I just cried.  then pulled myself together because although work was stressful, and em's tooth is chipped-- in the scheme of things...it's not that bad-- it could have been worse and for that I am thankful.

• we're taking her in tomorrow to have it checked out for damage to the root, and  see what they can do about it.  I made the mistake of looking on the internet (don't do that) and freaking myself out even more after reading that they do x-rays to rule out permanent damage to the root and future permanent teeth.  hopefully everything is just fine and he can file down some of the jaggedy part. 

• there's a million possible bad things that can happen to a child.  I always have to rationalize them out of my head. or I drive myself crazy, and I know I have to let her live (and myself) without irrational fears and just be a child. will it be that way for life now that I'm a mommy??  will I always WORRY???  I suppose so.  I've really learned just how much being a mom also entails letting go... the very thing we instinctively don't want to do as mothers.  we want to hold, and protect, and keep them to ourselves forever.  but really we need to teach, and trust, and let them grow wings...and be their own person. teach them how to be in the world without us someday. I'm learning. I'm learning. I'm learning. I'm also learning that there is a reason why we tell kids not to run around on the tile--I take responsibility for not stopping her.  now to go enforce it is another story...

EM'S BIRTHDAY PARTY WEEKEND

first of all...my sister bought me the cutest dunny... DJ LANCE ROCK!! 

we spent saturday at my aunty's house celebrating em's birthday...

jen made these cupcake toppers...

on sunday, we spent time with em's aunty jen since she is on oahu for a visit... we went to the haleiwa farmer's market...

em's checkin' out the tomatoes--her favorite food!

we had lunch at kua'aina, here's em munching on carrots (they give them with your sandwich)

then we headed to matsumoto's for shave ice!!!

FUN!  hope your weekend was just as grand!

EM JAY IS TURNING TWO!

Emily Jay's Birthday is tomorrow (Wednesday).  Last year we threw her a big 1st Birthday Bash with 150 of our extended family and friends.  In Hawaii, it's customary to throw HUGE first birthdays.

Our theme was SUPER MARIO...

my sister painted these games... BOWSER BEAN BAG TOSS:

and a little bit of PIPE FISHING (notice the cheep cheeps):

we also had a photo sticker booth...

and a guest appearance by MARIO and LUIGI!!

On the menu... HAWAIIAN FOOD:

(clockwise left to right: squid luau, ahi poke and lomi salmon, haupia cake and okinawan sweet potato, poi, kalua pig, and chicken long rice.) YUMMY. YUMMY.

This year we're going for a smaller party with family, and close friends.  The theme... YO GABBA GABBA.  I'm excited about this one.  I wanted to share some FABULOUS yo gabba finds I stumbled across while planning Em's party.  Although we aren't incorporating them, they are fantastic inspiration!

brobee pretzels from delightful chocolates

oreo cookie favors by favors galore n more

ticket invitations by fine line stationery

dj lance amigurumi by crafty is cool

printable balloon embellishments by ry creations

dj lance pillow cover by tony and treet c

I will hopefully have lots of pictures to share from Em's YO GABBA party this weekend...including cute, and EASY d.i.y. cupcake toppers!