Crafty Tuesday ~ The Hawaiian Way

Obviously we have not had many crafty things going on the past two weeks, unless you count learning how to tie a sarong over a bathing suit.

We did however partake in a lot of lei-making while we were in Hawaii.

The girls and I made leis and bracelets at the luau -

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And made these cool wreaths on the boat after we went whale watching -

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Addie wasn’t crazy about the leis, I think because they are a little “itchy” after awhile.

And, of course, since they are made from fresh orchids, we were not able to bring them back with us. But, Em and I can whip one up for you, if you ever need one. And we also have lots of photographic proof of our craft, like these – two of my favorites of Em from the past week.

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Man, the lighting on that boat was really great.

Do you have any craftiness to share today?

Whole Family ~ Best Shot Monday

If I wasn’t so lazy I would go find the photo that J. and I had taken on Waimea Bay ten years ago when we first visited Hawaii. I really wanted to “re-create” the photo, with the sun setting, in the same spot with our “whole family”  – as Em calls us.

So I’m clearly not taking these photos today, my bro-in-law, Jeff took them (thanks, Jeff!).

This is the typical shot of the four of us…

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But Jeff managed to get a good one for me and today’s Best Shot Monday.

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That first photo from ten years ago was fun – but I am so in love with this one and our “whole” little family.

I’m working on the other vacation photos and stories. I promise, they are on their way.

But make sure to stop over to Mother May I for other great photos this fine President’s Day.

Here we go, Here we go, Here we go again…

I can’t believe I am even about to write this because, well…I am tempting fate here. But, while we were on vacation our “baby” decided that she is “a big girl.” Seriously, if you even just call her “baby” affectionately she will stop dead in her tracks and screech “I’m not a baby, Mama! I’m a big girl!”

So, she slept in “big” beds the entire time we were on vacation. These photos were shot after our exhausting first day of travel to Hawaii and a luau. She fell asleep in my arms at the luau, (Sigh. That was so arm-breakingly lovely. It has been a long time since she has done that.) she remained crashed through the entire bus ride back to the hotel where I deposited her on the bed and changed her into her pjs. And then she continued to sleep through until morning. It was crazy…

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…but I loved getting a lot of opportunities to watch both of the girls sleep this past week. So peaceful. Sweet, little, angelic sleeping faces.

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Fast forward to our first night back. Last night.

“I dohwanna sleep in my crib, Mama. I will sleep with Emma? I will sleep with you?”

So I promised her last night that we would make her crib into a big girl bed today, if she slept in the crib last night. It sorta worked. She was up early and ended up sleeping with me, anyhow. But we did move her to the big girl bed tonight.

Again.

But, didn’t we just go through this a few month’s ago? And didn’t it fail miserably?

Yes. And yes.

All day Addie kept saying, “I am so exciting for my kitties and my new bed, Mama.” (I found a really sweet “kitty” quilt a few weeks ago for her big girl bed.) And she kept saying we were “breaking” her crib. “Thank you for breaking my crib, Daddy!”

So how did bedtime go you ask?

All right…again, I know I’m tempting fate…but it went really, really well. It is only 11pm, so we’ll see how the rest of the night goes, but she climbed into bed and was very insistent that I keep the door open and the closet light on (ala what Emma always asks for) and was also adamant that I NOT put the gate up in her doorway. So I told her that if she stayed in bed and went to sleep, I would not put the gate up. I went in to put some clothes away and she was already asleep when I started downstairs.

It is such a bittersweet milestone. But I think this time we are ready.

Fingers crossed.

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Edited for update:

It is 8:10am -  she is still in there sound asleep. Didn’t make a peep all night. This is really too good to be true, right??

Aloha!

Sunset at Paradise Cove, Oahu

We have returned. I fully intended to write once or twice while we were away, but, well…I didn’t. I barely checked my email, and it felt amazingly good.

We had a great vacation but now we have to re-acclimate back into the real world.

Addie is putting up a good fight for not sleeping tonight, I have a pile of laundry the size of a small mountain waiting for me, a few thousand photos to edit, stories to compose, and a pile of email and bills to address this weekend. Not to mention catching up on all my blog reading!

So I shall return, soon…but give me a  few days to get everyone and everything sorted back out. Mahalo, makamakas!