Happy 4th!

After our child's four(!) hour nap, we made our way to Mililani to visit good friends and saw some memorable sights in their very nice neighborhood. Have you ever seen anyone cook out right next to their mailbox? Don't think I've recalled such.



Never seen a Lhasa Apso like this before either. He was a good dog that endured some "playing" by our child.






We then made our way back home to pick up some dinner and the dog to go watch the fireworks from a surprisingly quite pleasant spot. See the cars looking for parking and fighting the crowd? Wasn't us!




Here we go...People actually stopped in that parking lot and got out of their cars to watch the fireworks.





A helicopter kept flying around with its spotlight.








Part of the finale...Happy 4th!

I Must Not Be A Mother

Either MSO did not get the memo that it was Mother's Day yesterday or I must be that bad to not get a card or even a "Happy Mother's Day"...for the second time in my motherhood of a life. Lifehacker has a post about giving your mom the gift of self-care. Did I get any of that? Nope. No day off from any kind of responsibilities for me. Washed, hung, and threw in the dryer about four loads of laundry among other household things without having a chance to relax and take care of myself. What's the gift of time?! In MSO's eyes, moms must not do a lot of work and need any type of pampering to be recognized on even the second Sunday of May...But he can tell you what teams are leading their respective series in the NBA playoffs. I'm so lucky!

Sweet Treats

As usual I wanted to try and be creative (without realizing the total level of effort until I actually start the project), and this time it was for Easter. After cutting about 20 bunny heads and 20 chicks in addition to a lot of other cutting, this is the mediocre result. Wanted to add some pom pom tails and other things to their pasture, but as a mother of young'un that can be challenging.


And in spite of my level of effort to try and eat healthier, I tried this darn treat of goodness from Kamehameha Bakery. Not sure what it's called but it's like a taro malasada with a little too much glaze (and oil, fat, etc.)





Subsequent to some searching, found this information about the bakery. Look at those hours.

Kamehameha Bakery Inc
Telephone: 808.845.5831
1339 N School Street
Kalihi, HI 96817


Has anyone been there or tried their famous haupia doughnuts? Heard they can make "nasty" cakes too. But that's another topic altogether...

Goodie Bags Not So Good For You?

As a parent I often ponder what goes through the minds of other parents when they select items that they give away in the form of goodie bags to other students in their child's class or friends at day care. I've come across a lot of items in our child's goodie bags that aren't necessarily age appropriate or nutritional a lot of times. Of course being a parent it behooves you to monitor what you give your child and such but it does make you think.

Is it because it's cheap? Is it because it's easy? In my own experience as a boring and conservative parent, I rack my brains trying to figure out what would be age appropriate, useful, educational, and/or nutritional to put in goodie bags. I can just see it now, the child that opens such a bag, and then tosses it aside 'cause it's not filled with fun, bad treasures like noisemakers or candy.

So I ask you parents (and non-parents) out there, what have you seen in goodie bags (or not in goodie bags such as snacks, etc.) that you really thought were great things to give children in their toddler and older years?

An iPod Kind Of Holiday