It all started a few weeks ago when Alyssa was doing a class project where they used baby wipes and markers to make tie dyed designs. Now our girls are wanting to tie dye everything...even paper towels.
So my parents very nicely bought the girls a tie dye kit, and a couple of weekends ago we started in on making some t-shirts. It was so much fun, even though I ended up looking like I had some rare tie dyed skin condition on my hands {it took several days to wear off and was a little embarrassing, actually}. Of course, on our third of three t-shirts we figured out the trick for getting the ink to spread just right.
The following weekend, the girls proudly wore their shirts to the Block Kids Contest...
Alyssa, Emma, and their friends Anna, and Molly right after completing their lego construction project.
Emma with her little building project. The contest was hosted by a local association of builders who after noticing a shortage of workers in the industry want to encourage young kids to take interest in careers involving construction and architecture.
Alyssa showing me her bridge. The girls didn't win any awards, but they enjoyed the contest a lot. It was a neat opportunity for them to work on skills that they don't usually get too much practice with.
The first thing I thought of when I looked at this pic was "poor little Rebekah and her hand-me-down baggy jeans." She has absolutely no waist to keep them up. Maybe it's a blessing in disguise that she rarely agrees to wear anything other than dresses.
Tuesday, February 23, 2010
Scaring Away the Winter on a Beautiful White Day
Every year at this time, the girls' school has Fasching. It is a traditional German festival meant to scare the winter away. The kids parade around the school being as loud as they can be, dressed as all different kinds of animals. For the second year in a row, we have celebrated Fasching on a beautiful, white, winter day full of SNOW. Apparently the festival doesn't have much of a track record for success, but it's really exciting for the kids, and quite a thing to see!
Even the teachers get into the celebration, dressing up as lady bugs. The exterminator in the background is the school's engineer. It's funny because all throughout the assembly I heard the male teachers and staff joking around about how silly the celebration is and speculating as to how our school mascot ever became the lady bug. I think this festival alone may very well be the reason! And while it is really silly, it's pretty much become a right of passage for all the 5th grade classes {who are the "stars" of the show} to run through the school scaring away the snow and cold with all their animal masks on. Something I hope they continue for years to come.
Rebekah hiding in the Kindergarten coat rack. It can get a little loud for the little ones. When else are the students allowed to run through the halls yelling and ringing cow bells? That's of course the part that all the older kids LOVE!
A parade of lady bugs.
Little Froggie Emma coming around the corner.
Orange Kitty Alyssa excited to see us.
This might be the scariest face I saw all day :-)
Alyssa in the sea of kids assembled in the gym.
Kahiwa too, peeking through the masses as her friend Bella holds her up to see me.
The Winter Wonderland outside the doors of school during Fasching.
It was the beautiful kind of snow that stuck to all the tree branches and bushes in giant, sparkling clumps. Very pretty, so we won't complain that winter hasn't left us quite yet.
Even the teachers get into the celebration, dressing up as lady bugs. The exterminator in the background is the school's engineer. It's funny because all throughout the assembly I heard the male teachers and staff joking around about how silly the celebration is and speculating as to how our school mascot ever became the lady bug. I think this festival alone may very well be the reason! And while it is really silly, it's pretty much become a right of passage for all the 5th grade classes {who are the "stars" of the show} to run through the school scaring away the snow and cold with all their animal masks on. Something I hope they continue for years to come.
Rebekah hiding in the Kindergarten coat rack. It can get a little loud for the little ones. When else are the students allowed to run through the halls yelling and ringing cow bells? That's of course the part that all the older kids LOVE!
A parade of lady bugs.
Little Froggie Emma coming around the corner.
Orange Kitty Alyssa excited to see us.
This might be the scariest face I saw all day :-)
Alyssa in the sea of kids assembled in the gym.
Kahiwa too, peeking through the masses as her friend Bella holds her up to see me.
The Winter Wonderland outside the doors of school during Fasching.
It was the beautiful kind of snow that stuck to all the tree branches and bushes in giant, sparkling clumps. Very pretty, so we won't complain that winter hasn't left us quite yet.
Friday, February 19, 2010
French Immersion's Mardi Gras
Earlier this week, French Immersion School had a Mardi Gras celebration. Since many of the girls' teammates go to school at MFIS, their club did a little gymnastics exhibition as part of Mardi Gras. I didn't take that many photos, just because the lighting was making it difficult to get good shots. But the girls had a lot of fun...
This is right before their performance, when Alyssa turned around and saw that Dave had just arrived from work.
They are working on a brand new routine, and that's why they are looking towards their left in the pics, they are following the cues of one of the older girls.
Again, I didn't do that well with photos today, I think this is the landing of Emma's cartwheel?
This is right before their performance, when Alyssa turned around and saw that Dave had just arrived from work.
They are working on a brand new routine, and that's why they are looking towards their left in the pics, they are following the cues of one of the older girls.
Again, I didn't do that well with photos today, I think this is the landing of Emma's cartwheel?
Bird Watching
Alyssa brought home her most recent issue of Time For Kids, and was all excited about this "bird count." I know this little box is a link button you are supposed to put in your sidebar, but I was trying to make it bigger and put it here so you could see it better. Obviously, that worked out great, and I figured it out right away :-) Anyway, the flamingos are very cute, and just what we were hoping to see in our backyard {you know, the place that closely resembles Antartica lately}.
After looking at the website, it seemed like a really fun thing to do. They encourage you to count the birds and keep track of what types you are seeing, then return to their website and record all your info. Then at the end of the weekend you can look at the map and see what types of birds {and how many} people were seeing all over the U.S. and Canada. Sounded pretty cool to us, so we decided to give it a try...
Looking and looking with pencil and paper in mittened hands...not seeing too much of anything...
This was about as close to a bird siting as we had all weekend. We could hear some chirping, so we knew they were somewhere nearby, but they were all in a shy mood. My dad even filled their bird feeder, and all we saw was a tiny little brown bird who stopped by for a quick snack and was soon scared away by some greedy squirrels. Well, we are going to try again one weekend soon {maybe if the weather warms up a tad the birds will be a bit more cheerful}, and while our results won't count for the "Great Backyard Bird Count" hopefully we'll have better luck on our next go round.
Anyway, this is what bird watching turned into:
Running full speed ahead towards an icy, slippery slide.
Great intensity with her approach.
Reaching, reaching.
Hanging on for dear life as she starts to slip backwards.
A tiny smile as she realizes she just can't make it to the top.
Laughing harder now as resisting the backwards slide becomes futile, it was kind of like watching the Olympic event of Skeleton in reverse.
The agony {through her laughter} of defeat.
She tried a few more times, and finally did make it to the top.
The Winter Olympics are inspiring to us all.
After looking at the website, it seemed like a really fun thing to do. They encourage you to count the birds and keep track of what types you are seeing, then return to their website and record all your info. Then at the end of the weekend you can look at the map and see what types of birds {and how many} people were seeing all over the U.S. and Canada. Sounded pretty cool to us, so we decided to give it a try...
Looking and looking with pencil and paper in mittened hands...not seeing too much of anything...
This was about as close to a bird siting as we had all weekend. We could hear some chirping, so we knew they were somewhere nearby, but they were all in a shy mood. My dad even filled their bird feeder, and all we saw was a tiny little brown bird who stopped by for a quick snack and was soon scared away by some greedy squirrels. Well, we are going to try again one weekend soon {maybe if the weather warms up a tad the birds will be a bit more cheerful}, and while our results won't count for the "Great Backyard Bird Count" hopefully we'll have better luck on our next go round.
Anyway, this is what bird watching turned into:
Running full speed ahead towards an icy, slippery slide.
Great intensity with her approach.
Reaching, reaching.
Hanging on for dear life as she starts to slip backwards.
A tiny smile as she realizes she just can't make it to the top.
Laughing harder now as resisting the backwards slide becomes futile, it was kind of like watching the Olympic event of Skeleton in reverse.
The agony {through her laughter} of defeat.
She tried a few more times, and finally did make it to the top.
The Winter Olympics are inspiring to us all.
Monday, February 15, 2010
Belly Flops
Last Friday since the girls didn't have school, I took them to the Jelly Belly Factory tour so we could see how these yummy Jelly Beans are made. We had been there before, but it had been a while, so it was extra fun.
While we were there we learned that any Jelly Belly that isn't the perfect shape and size won't be given the Jelly Belly seal of approval. It will be marked a "Belly Flop," and it will be set aside. Let's just say most of our pictures from today are Belly Flops! A little cute, but belly flops for sure.
Rebekah walking out of the first of many photos.
No one except Ka'iulani looking quite the right way.
The tour mandates that because they are a facility where candy is produced, everyone who goes on the tour must have their hair covered. True to form, Kamele would not leave her hat on. But she'll climb on the train engine any day!
Funny faces as the tour is about to begin.
A quick exit out of another photo.
But we did get a few good ones...
A fun day, even if they weren't up for all the pictures. A sweet place to take my sweeties!!
While we were there we learned that any Jelly Belly that isn't the perfect shape and size won't be given the Jelly Belly seal of approval. It will be marked a "Belly Flop," and it will be set aside. Let's just say most of our pictures from today are Belly Flops! A little cute, but belly flops for sure.
Rebekah walking out of the first of many photos.
No one except Ka'iulani looking quite the right way.
The tour mandates that because they are a facility where candy is produced, everyone who goes on the tour must have their hair covered. True to form, Kamele would not leave her hat on. But she'll climb on the train engine any day!
Funny faces as the tour is about to begin.
A quick exit out of another photo.
But we did get a few good ones...
A fun day, even if they weren't up for all the pictures. A sweet place to take my sweeties!!
Sunday, February 14, 2010
We {Heart} Valentines Day
For the last several weeks as all the stores have been wall to wall hearts and flowers, I have felt like buying up all the cutesy Valentine decor! I love all the cute heart, stripes, and polka dot prints in every shade of pink, red, and chocolate. Cute little hand towels and oven mitts decorated with coffee cups whose steam billows up in the shape of hearts. Everything I see is really pretty, and I find myself wanting it all :-)
The funny thing is that I'm not usually all that caught up in Valentines. In fact, as the countdown to Valentines parties begins at school, Ka'eo is always the one who buys the girls their valentines. Yes, he really picks them out himself! And he always does a great job! I think my favorite thing about Valentines Day when I was growing up was that my dad would always buy me some candies and a card. So I am thankful that Ka'eo indulges our girls in the same way.
The shopping was certainly in order this year. Each of the girls needed about 25 for both school and church (with Kamele needing fewer, however not including their "besties" who required more than one valentine!), so we had well over 100 Valentines to make. Making the valentines was fun, and almost all of them were handmade which added to the work, but the girls loved it.
I had the best intentions this year of getting the girls all dressed up in pink and red and trying to get some really girly pics, but poor little Rebekah was feeling sick with a runny nose and cough. For her sake, we had to postpone the photos, but who knows, maybe I'll still get it done?
Alyssa during her class V Party.
Emma and her friend, Bella showing me their cute tie-dyed valentines. Emma said hers was a Hawkeye Valentine.
Grandpa giving heart shaped marshmallow lollipops to the girls. YUM!
From our little valentines...
The funny thing is that I'm not usually all that caught up in Valentines. In fact, as the countdown to Valentines parties begins at school, Ka'eo is always the one who buys the girls their valentines. Yes, he really picks them out himself! And he always does a great job! I think my favorite thing about Valentines Day when I was growing up was that my dad would always buy me some candies and a card. So I am thankful that Ka'eo indulges our girls in the same way.
The shopping was certainly in order this year. Each of the girls needed about 25 for both school and church (with Kamele needing fewer, however not including their "besties" who required more than one valentine!), so we had well over 100 Valentines to make. Making the valentines was fun, and almost all of them were handmade which added to the work, but the girls loved it.
I had the best intentions this year of getting the girls all dressed up in pink and red and trying to get some really girly pics, but poor little Rebekah was feeling sick with a runny nose and cough. For her sake, we had to postpone the photos, but who knows, maybe I'll still get it done?
Alyssa during her class V Party.
Emma and her friend, Bella showing me their cute tie-dyed valentines. Emma said hers was a Hawkeye Valentine.
Grandpa giving heart shaped marshmallow lollipops to the girls. YUM!
From our little valentines...
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