Dayton's Magic Shirt

This is Dayton proudly wearing his "magic" shirt and demonstrating its super powers. When you go out into the sun the picture turns from black/white to color. For some strange reason it only works when he holds his arms in the air...

A Year Ago Today...

We arrived in Honolulu...a tired two year old, a newborn, two stinky dogs, 8 suitcases of luggage, one stroller, two car seats, one mother-in-law, and no belongings. But hey, who cares, we just moved to Hawaii. I would have pinched myself but my hands were too busy. Due to our extensive amount of luggage, we were fortunate enough to catch a limo straight out of the 70's! Velvet interior, plastic crystal champagne glasses, a non-english speaking driver with no teeth...but I'm getting a little off topic here. We survived many weeks with no toys, no furniture except some horribly distasteful rented stuff (2 beds, 4 chairs, a table and a TV) and living out of suitcases...oh, and adjusting to life without A/C I might add. I hear some snickers in my audience...what?..no sympathy for us? Anyhow, since I'm so reminiscent, I thought I would share some house pictures...somehow those have not made their way into blogging life.
Our House from the backyard.
Our recently renovated lower back lanai (patio for those who don't know the term lanai)
Our open concept dining/living area.
Alternate view of dining area.
Lower lanai looking out of breakfast room.
Breakfast room with view of Koko Crater.
Alternate view of breakfast area.
View from Dayton's Room.
View from dining room.
Our nightly view from almost any room in the house.
View of house from Makapu'u lighthouse trail. If you click the picture to enlarge it, our house is the one on the ridge farthest to the left with the reddish roof.

My Little Fish

We've been doing swim lessons with both Dayton and Saige for 10 weeks and they both graduated last month! We had a 1 month break and we just started back this past weekend. This time we decided that instead of going every Sunday with both of them we would alternate kids/parents each Sunday. So, this past Sunday was my turn to take Dayton. He had a horrible morning right from the time he stepped out of bed. Fussing about this and that, being mean to his sister, not listening (yes YaYa, your precious angel was being BAD)...so I really wasn't looking forward to it. Well, he was fabulous. For the first time he wore the swim belt (it helps kids learn to swim) and he stuck his face in the water more than he normally would AND used his legs and arms most of the time! He really did great - I was so proud of him. After, we went to the mall to hang out at the toy store for a bit and shared a Jamba Juice together. It was nice to have some mommy son time. Of course, once we got home he turned into a little monster again. This picture was taken on our last day from the previous swim semester.

A Problem With Pillows

Scott would say that I have an obsession with pillows and tell you that I buy 25 pillows over the course of a year. I think he exaggerates. I do buy pillows quite frequently, but that is because they never last. I need to find something that lasts. Something that doesn't lose its shape. Something that you don't have to flip over during the night because it becomes uncomfortable. Something that doesn't cause my ear to cramp up. And something that Scott isn't allergic to. He swears he is allergic to down...and I love down pillows. That synthetic down stuff just doesn't cut it. Well, recently I purchased one of those Tempurpedic memory foam pillows and I love it...it really is comfortable, but I find it a little small. It is smaller than your standard sized pillow and I like King sized ones. I'm also a side sleeper and find that it doesn't accommodate my jaw (of course, that could be related to my recent surgery). So we went back to the store so I could look at the side sleeper Tempurpedic pillows. First off, it is gross to "try out" pillows - no explanation needed. They were comfy, but too small. The lady suggested I try a Latex pillow. They came in King Size...I was so excited. There are only two types too, that made "trying" a little easier. Soft and Firm. I liked both but felt a little bit like my head was on a rubber ball with the firm one. I opted for Soft. It was 100$....Scott rolled his eyes and told the lady I've got a pillow problem. I've slept on it two nights now...both nights I've still had jaw pain. I'm hoping once my mouth heals up I will fall in love with my pillow. Until then, I'm sleeping on my back with my Tempurpedic pillow. The jury is still out on Latex. Hugs and kisses to my husband who has been and remains supportive during my search for the perfect pillow.