We color inside the lines

I've always had the ability to disappear from the world in motion. Retreating into my own thoughts has been a life saver in crowded areas, bustling restaurants, noisy rooms. People say Peyton and I are the most alike. I've never given it much thought. I see myself in all my kids and I'm grateful that I've been given the honor to raise them. Catching glimpses of resemblances like this fill my spirit with such love. It's the greatest thing, being a mom. I wouldn't trade it for anything.

Bring it!

Hope and I made Graveyard Pudding for Peyton's and Nannie's class last night. Even though Peyton and Sommer are spending the weekend away we thought it would be nice to keep our Halloween traditions going. Hope says she will make chocolate stinky fafas and graveyard pudding with her kids one day.
It's not as fancy as we used to make it, but budget cuts and other restraints mean a bare bones graveyard, pardon the horrible pun. S'okay, we had an awesome time and it tastes much better than it looks.

Peyton and her friends after our school's Halloween Parade

Bring it on! I'm a fluent reading, sweet smilin', mommy hugging champion!
My little princess Sommer on her way to trick or treating.

Peyton's B-Day

What a totally great day! Peyton got her birthday wish, a brand new bike. And, just in case we forgot how good we have it, right when the festivities were over, as I was getting ready to do the loads of dishes, the power went out. At least they waited until all the guests left.

Happy Birthday Peyton Ha'ani

Peyton Ha'ani will be 8 years old tomorrow. I wasn't really sure if she was a girl or a boy and the ultrasound didn't confirm her gender until late in my pregnancy, hence the unisex name. There is no doubt in anyone's mind now that she is a true girly-girl. Wayne and I put together some treat bags for her class yesterday and I brought some healthy snacks over to surprise her. I wish I'd gotten a picture of her face when I walked in, it was priceless. Just like my Ha'ani girl.
I read Koala Lou to the kiddos. I love Mem Fox, and this story is just so cute I couldn't help it. It's a great story to teach personification. You could also integrate with other subject areas or use it as the anchor for a theme unit on Australia.
Peyton's B-day menu: 100% juice, raisin oatmeal cookie (one per student) and yogurt with optional granola topping. Yummy comes in all kinds of food!
You don't need lots of money to make a kid's day, just a little time, some creative financing and lots of love.

The WOW Factor

Peyton ran into my office beaming today. She got a certificate from Mr. Buniag for 14 (count 'em folks) "Wow!" slips. She earned them by demonstrating our Megaskill of being caring. So far she has not gotten one "oops!" slip. Mr. Buniag is a great teacher and I applaud his use of an intrinsic rewards and incentives program for his students. If you could give a wow/oops slip to anyone this week, who would it be and what would it be for?

Rocky (Road) is an ice cream not a state of mind

It started out as an ice-cream sundae and ended up as edible finger paint. Bobby's ran out of nuts and whipped cream, so they marked down the price and handed the goodies over to Sommer. I wish I knew what was going through that mind of hers. If I were to guess it would probably be something like, "This would look magnificent on that wall over there." Ai si' Sommer.

Peyton is a second grader now. So far, she's gotten 7 "wow" slips in Mr. Buniag's class and no "oops" slips. She's an overachiever with a sense of style and lots of attitude. If I could start all over again I'd be just like Peyton at 7 years old. Who says kids can't be their parents' heroes?
I love stress free nights. I love being able to make spontaneous decisions like forgetting the fact we just had dinner and that it's almost bedtime and we're really tired and just jumping in the car to grab some ice cream for the heck of it.

You What? What do you mean you ate your purse?

I'm doing it Brad and Kat! I'm going to start the Master Cleanse this Sunday. I'm a little apprehensive about it, after all, I've only really lasted about 4 days each time I've ever attempted it. This time I'm shooting for the full 10 days. I want to see if I can't clear the toxins out of my body, plus it'll be uber cool to refuse food and drink. I envision myself whispering behind my dark shades, "No man, can't, detox you know".

I'm not pigging out before the cleanse, but I am giving myself some flexibility in eating. I remember enough to know that even if I get all my favorite foods out of the way, any bit of food will "lead me into temptation". Hell, the leather on your purse starts to smell like prime rib after a while. Since I won't be eating anything for 10 days, food seems to have an alluring effect on me. I've been taking pictures of lunch, dinner, snacks.

Egg Corn Soup
warm and creamy, sweet and smooth
warms the belly, soothes

Ma Po Tofu Szechuan Style
Named after a pockmarked old lady who didn't have much to cook with,
but you make me happy enough.

SPAM, beautiful SPAM!
never looked and tasted so good!
This is dedicated to Ed.

I started to take my camera out of my purse to take the picture when I looked over at Wayne. Without skipping a beat he arranged the shot for me. I think it has superb balance, don't you? That's when you know someone's a keeper, when they actually think your goofy stuff is adorable.

Margarita

It has lemon and water in it. OK, and tequila. This is my pre-cleanse easing in drink.
The only difference is I'll be adding some maple syrup and cayenne. Hey, do you think I could do a margarita cleanse instead?

I walked in to the office one morning to find a brand new Starbucks travel mug and some See's candy! Someone knew I was starting the cleanse and made my day with the treats. I'm going to miss my morning coffee and Red Bull most of all I think.

Another addition to my Starbucks mug stash. Angelo brought me a collector's Hawaii City Mug. It's my first and I think I'm going to be starting a Starbucks sub-collection now. If you're visiting a city with a Starbucks, please remember me.

Tonight I'm having some rocky road ice cream, just a bit, for taste. For some reason, I really want some Korean barbecue too. Wayne? Did you hear that? P.S. Wayne's going to be my partner on the cleanse. Wish us luck!
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Reasons to start the cleanse
- to dissolve and eliminate toxins and congestion in the body
- to cleanse the kidneys and digestive system
- to purify the glands and cells in the entire body
- to eliminate all unusable waste and hardened material in the joints and muscles
- to relieve pressure and irritation in the nerves, arteries and blood vessels
- to build a healthy blood stream
- to keep youth and elasticity regardless of age

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Peyton started missing school the very day it ended. When she didn't have homework, she used to make some up herself. She started the first grade reading 6.5 words per minute and ended it with an astonishing 136 WPM! She can't wait for 2nd grade, the buzz of the playground and surprisingly enough, reading and writing. She's been antsy ever since. So, she went to Summer Camp at Fiesta, after weeks of begging. See that smile? Camp ended today. I was reminded how many friends she made and how lovely it was. What to do with the next four weeks is going to be a challenge. Anyone got any ideas?

Better your mom than some fat hairy guy in a tutu

Peyton, did the tooth fairy show up last night?

I got some coins next to me when I woke up, but he didn't take my tooth under the pillow.
Maybe he got confused and wasn't sure if it was really you.
Mom...I think you're the tooth fairy.


Wild pineapples grow in Papago
This one wasn't too sweet, but it gets points for fragrance and style

P.S. See what can be done with old candle holders from CUC power outages? A beautiful vase for our lovely flowers care of load shedding. Who says having no power is all bad????

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This pissed me off today. It's a comment on Ed's blog. I've known less than a handful of people who are so blatant about their discrimination of locals and it always surprises me to run into more racists.

"Locals need to stop their seditentary lifestyle and get active. Shooting darts and drinking beer while smoking cigarette and chewing pugua is not exercise"

Because being a Christmas tree in the program is never that simple

Peyton announced she would be a Christmas tree in this year's school program. She had her heart set on being a microphone, but her teacher, Ms. Nikki, in her great wisdom, assigned the fidgety first graders their costumes. I would have done the same thing just to avoid the myriad voices echoing, "why can't I be the candle... but Ms. Nikki, I wanted to be the saxophone, Johnny always gets what he wants...my daddy said I'm not allowed to be a candy cane, and he's a police officer, he can arrest you!"

My response? Great. Where's the Benadryl because I can already feel the cardboard rash coming. I mean, "oh, how exciting my baby, you're going to be the best Christmas tree ever!" Now the truth: I should have put in a protest too, because being a Christmas tree, I know, I've done this for years, is never simple! A microphone needs maybe two colors and does not require sophisticated glitter detail. A Christmas tree, whew, that's an entirely different story.

Peyton, thankfully, is not the type of child to eat her crackers blissfully while mommy frantically designs, cuts, glues and manufactures a masterpiece in the wee hours of the night. She has always been the "roll up my sleeves and get dirty with you" kinda gal. My kinda little girlfriend, for sure. From beginning to end, with the added challenge of Sommer, the Christmas-time Mischief Maker, Peyton and I were a team. Here folks, is our Christmas tree story.

The template for a happy child and glue for binding memories

No full mommy shot, wouldn't want to disclose how disheveled I looked throughout the production phase. Notice the green t-shirt? Recycle, reduce, reuse!

Hope trying on the topper. She was technical help and created the ornaments that adorned the tree. Tony was at band practice most of the time, but he agonizingly cut out all the strips you see on the topper and tree while studying for his English Pre-Honors exam. Sommer did nothing. We don't hold it against her.

Don't let this smile fool you, underneath the twinkling eyes

hides Kung Fu Kalani!

Peace on earth

Peyton gets some creative consultation from the man himself
during his visit to GES. Santa says the less glitter, the better Pey.

Quality control: Peyton takes the topper to practice.
There's still work to be done securing it for danceability.

Viola! Success and jubilation. The tree is done, the rash is gone
and mommy and Peyton can rest ...until the next school function.

Rockin' around the Christmas Tree 2007!

You're Beautiful: A Reflection of Pride

It was the week of Cultural Day and I was taking Peyton home from school. She said they were making beaded necklaces in class and then she asked, "Mommy, teacher wants to know what I am so that I can share something with my class. What am I?" It dawned on me that we had never really put much thought into explaining to our children "what" they were. Why should we? Culture is something they should experience and absorb, not something delegated. Tony and Hope were never told their heritage and yet they know that they are Caucasian and Mexican and Chamorro. It is important to us that they know this, but not that we teach it to them. They are exposed to their heritage and the cultures all around our islands. This is enough, no? But, what will Peyton say when she goes to school? "Mommy, what am I?" I turned to my daughter, "When teacher asks you what you are, say you are Peyton Ha'ani Reyes Gomez. You are beautiful."

A build-a-bear! A build-a-bear!

Anna and Brandon: Thanks to you, Peyton's wonderful fairy godparents, Hope can stop worrying that her build-a-bear will get bearnapped while she sleeps. I always wondered what kind random note a six year old would leave, but I guess I'll never find out since Peyton is in build-a-bear heaven now. You know, with the gas prices and CUC rates nowadays, we probably wouldn't have been be able to pay that ransom, so we are forever indebted to you.
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I've been thinking about this weight loss thing a lot lately. 25 pounds. 25 pounds. Sommer weighs about 25 pounds. The sack of rice is 25 pounds. I wonder if Billy Bob weighs 25 pounds. I'd have to lose the equivalent of Billy Bob? I have to actually shed the equivalent of a small human being! I guess this is what it means to really lose yourself...