Happy Fall Y'all!

It is hard to believe that last fall we found out we were pregnant- with twins, and this fall we are picking out Halloween costumes for three adorable little boys! 

I am loving making these seasonal checklist. To my surprise, the whole family gets into it and likes to check things off our list. It's fun to look back at what we've done. We are even okay with not checking off some items because we see what we have done. Here's the one we made this fall...

On our side of the island is a great farm.  They do pumpkin patches in the fall and nativity plays in the winter. They go all out... yummy food, hayrides, fun photo opps and sunflower field.  It has become one of our favorite seasonal places to go. (If only they did strawberries in the spring!) Abram loved walking around picking out his favorite pumpkins and he felt so big getting Jack and Luke's for them. He kept telling them, "Next year, babies, you can get your own pumpkin." 

I thought this sign was perfect for me... a little bit of Southern and a little bit of Hawaiian. :)

I know I probably won't be able to get away with matching costumes for too much longer, so I had fun while I could. It's a good thing Abe is a huge Cat in the Hat fan! I thought the boys looked adorable! Maybe next year I'll let Abe pick out his own costume, but still match the twins. ;)

Cat in the Hat with his Thing One and Thing Two

Another fun thing on our list was "Halloween Cookies." These cookies were perfect for Abe to make, and I loved the bright colors. He kept laughing while he was putting the googly eyes in place.

This was one of our most challenging items to check off... the pumpkin hand prints. It is near impossible to put paint on and make a good hand print of a six month old.  Seriously, I have put all hand print activities on hold for awhile. I thought this turned out pretty cute, though! Clean up was a good time! 

And of course it's not Halloween without pumpkin carving. However, for the third year in a row Abram has let us know this is not his favorite. He can't stand the stringy seeds and the smell. He is a trooper and posses for all the pictures and he does love to sit and watch his Papa dig out the seeds and carve a cool design. This year we went for the upside down bat and superman logo. Good job, honey!

Our Thanksgiving was low key this year and the five of us just spent the day together. But, we did manage to get our all time favorite pictures of the boys just hanging out on the couch being brothers. So sweet! 

We have so much to be thankful for. We are constantly amazed how much God has done for us, taken care of us and provided way more than we could ever ask for.  These boys are the highlight of our lives and we love them to pieces.  

Maybe I won't be so late with posting our winter checklist and activities... I'll shoot for June! ;)

Abrams 4th Birthday

This year we celebrated Abram's fourth birthday.  We make a big deal out of birthdays in our home, as a matter of fact, it lasts a whole week. :) We decorate the week before and we try to do something special each day which might include a gift, ice cream after dinner or going some where fun.  

This year we had Abram's party at a Lego Store. Chris and Abe love this place so it was an easy decision when we heard they do parties. Not only do they host the party, but they do the decorations,  party favors and entertainment. Perfect! All we had to do was bring whatever food we wanted to serve.  Abram's friends from school came and a few from church. We had a great morning of playing with legos, playing games and celebrating Abram. 

He loved seeing his name out of Legos and I love this picture!

Lego cupcakes and I had to make Lego soap. :) It might have been my favorite thing at the party. 

Food table... Abram's favorite snacks: Pirate's booty and jello!

Building with Legos before his friends arrived

Doing his best to hold the lego under his chin

Playing Lego bingo

The boy loves cupcakes, candles and being sung to!

Love this Lego cake they made for him!

Finally his official birthday had arrived! He was thrilled. We had been counting down the days with a paper chain and he couldn't hardly wait! When he woke up his room was filled with balloons. He is still asking where the balloons came from. So cute!

We have a birthday binder where we can collect his party invitations and birthday cards. Every year we "interview" Abram and ask him a series of questions, Chris and I each write our top five favorite things about Abram from that year and he fills out a birthday menu.  This is what Abram chose to eat on his day:

Breakfast: Green eggs, ham, waffles and smoothie

Lunch: Old Spaghetti Factory and sit in the train

Dinner: Captain America soup

Snacks: Fruit Chews

Drinks: Yellow Juice (what Abram calls orange juice)

Dessert: Cupcakes

Birthday breakfast

Birthday Lunch, inside the train!

We also went swimming at the Hale Koa hotel-- His absolute favorite place to go.  I think he had a great day. We had such a fun day celebrating him!

Then on Monday, his class celebrated at school. I brought chocolate chip M&M cookies (I remember what a mess cupcakes were when I taught, so I thought I would make it easy. Plus little kids only lick the icing off anyway). Abe loved his crown and his little friends loved singing to him!

Every Friday his school has chapel and when they sing to the kids who had a birthday that week.  He loved that, but my favorite part was the Bible story.  This week his school was studying King David and how God chose David because "he was a man after God's own heart." Because it was Abe's birthday, they chose Abe to be King David.  I was in tears while watching him act this story out.  From the beginning, that has been our exact prayer for Abram. While I was watching him,  it was as if God was saying to me, "trust Me, I've got him." 

What a great ending to a super fun birthday week!

Our Summer

This was our first summer in Hawaii and our first summer with all three boys.  Craziness, but fun! We are so glad that Abram loves the water... we spend a lot of time at the beach and in pools. He is so happy when he is swimming. 

Most of you know I am a list maker and keeper... it is a lot of work to pack up our family of five but oh my, the rewards are great. We are all happier when we are out and about and not stuck inside our house.  I knew if I made a list of what I wanted to do this summer, I would try my hardest to get everything checked off. I hate to see unchecked boxes. This helped our summer to have a purpose and it reminded me what I wanted to do. We had a fun time checking things off! Even Chris got excited when a box was completed. 

We posted our list right in our kitchen so we could see it all the time! 

Not on our list, but the water table provides tons of entertainment for Abram when we need to be at home.  Its a fun activity when the babies are napping. This is one of my favorite pictures from the summer!

There are so many places to hike in Hawaii and easy hikes for Abe, but not many are stroller friendly. Our first hike was up Makapuu. It was fun and a lot of hard work pushing that stroller up hill and even harder going down.  Abe amazed us by doing the whole thing on his own.  We need to wait until the boys are big enough to fit in a carrier to do more hikes as a family.

 Painting with pudding... an easy, fun and yummy activity.

 We did lots with ice this summer... it's easy and it cools you off. We froze animals inside and Abe had to "dig" them out, I made colored ice and Abe would watch it melt and all the colors would mix and we also painted ice cubes with water colors. So fun! There is always some sort of ice activity freezing in our freezer!

This summer the Bishop Museum had a special dinosaur exhibit. It is super cool. The dinosaurs are huge and so life like!

 And one special event that wasn't on our list... we got our first pet.  It is a parakeet and Abram named  him Chilly.  One of Abram's favorite shows is "Doc McStuffins" and his favorite character is Chilly, the snowman. Chilly is white and blue (icy looking) and has black and white stripes (Chilly wears a black and white scarf) so we thought this name was appropriate. Abe loves it when he flies around the house and sings when the water is running. He is a great first pet!

We had a great summer and now I need to make our fall checklist... it will be more of a challenge since we don't have fall weather. 

Good-bye Monterey, Hello Kailua!

I figured I need to get this blog posted before we have to move again. 

It is always sad to leave a place you have called home for 2 1/2 years, but Monterey was extra sad for us. This was where we brought all three kids home.  How many military families can say that? Our life changed so much while we were there and it will always hold a special place in our heart. We made such wonderful friends that truly loved and cared for us. 

We learned so much about God this summer... He truly is wonderful. He took care of the smallest details, He provides, and He has perfect timing.  But the best part is that He loves us through it all! 

Before we left we had to take these pictures...We passed this sign all the time. Abram loved to point out the "teeny tiny boat" and he would say it in such a cute voice, we had to take a picture with it. He loved that I let him sit up on the sign and touch the "teeny tiny boat." I love these pictures.

I had to take pictures of our three boys in front of their first home. It is the home we became a family in. So special. We loved this house! It was perfect for our family.

So here goes the craziness. Get ready...

March 24- pack out and keep all necessary items for a family of five to survive for 2 months.  I can't tell you how many lists I had going on.  Thankfully our suitcases could each weigh 70 pounds (not the usual 50) and each person (including Jack and Luke) could have 4 suitcases. Praise the Lord for military orders! 

April 7- Babies arrive

April 19- Babies come home from the hospital

April 28- Chris leaves for Hawaii

May 1- Gram, Abram, Jack, Luke and I fly to Hawaii.

May 29- Move into our house in Kailua.  From May 1-May 29 we were in a furnished condo.  

The Lord works out all the details. He took care of everything! We were in an empty home from March 24- April 29 and our church family provided us with EVERYTHING we needed. Amazing! It was so good to stay in our home and keep as much routine as we could for Abram.  Then they provided us with meals everyday from April 13-29. Again, AMAZING.  I am a firm believer in bringing meals. Never underestimate their importance. Even if its take out... I didn't have to make a grocery list, shop for groceries, cook or clean up for the entire month.  Such an amazing blessing. From their blessing, I have realized this is how I can help other families. Any time someone is going through a change or crisis, a meal is always needed! I will try to always do this for others.

AND... on March 24 we packed up our washer and dryer. Without being asked my wonderful friend, Heather, did our laundry for us until we left on May 1.  Do you know how much laundry newborn twins make?? Not to mention 3 adults and a preschooler! Sometimes she was doing a load every day for us. She would come pick it up, fold it, and most the times deliver it back to us.  HUGE! I will never forget that wonderful way she met our need. Just like the meals, she taught me to find someone's need and meet it.  She didn't wait for me to ask. She knew we would need clean clothes and she met that need. 

So on May 1 we headed out.  We had 10 checked bags, three car seats, a stroller and a pack and play. Not to mention carry ons, two adults, a preschooler, and two newborns. Once again my friend Heather and her husband, Bill, came to our rescue. Heather drove us in her suburban and Bill took our luggage in another friend's suburban. The logistics for this trip made me exhausted! But God provided for all of our needs! Thankfully it was only a five hour flight and no layovers. When we arrived in Hawaii our friend Matt loaded up all our luggage in his car (he said it was like playing Tetris) and Chris drove us in the van that came with our rented condo (see, God handled the details). 

We made it! Everyone was accounted for and ALL our luggage arrived! My mom and I felt extremely proud of ourselves!

Finally, after living out of suitcases for two months we moved into our house in Kailua. When we lived in Hawaii five years ago I taught in Kailua. I always told Chris if we ever move back thats where I want to live. It is such a fun and cute beach town.  Hawaii has tons of traffic, so if we don't want to leave, we don't have to. It has everything we need! We were thrilled to find our home here! It is perfect for us. God definitely provides. It has the most unique layout that is perfect for our family.  Tons of windows that we leave open all day (and night), a great backyard for Abram, and the homeowners are kind, Christian people.  Here's a few pictures...

Our house. The front windows are our dining room and the french doors on the left go into our guest room/office. I love the fanning tree behind our house. 

As soon as you open our door you see everything. We love the open floor plan.  This is our kitchen and dining room.

The first thing you see when you open our door. The room to the left is Abe's room and the door to the left of the bookshelf goes into the master bath, our room and twin's room. There are no hallways in our home. So interesting...

To the left when you open our door you see our living room.

Another view of our living room

Abram in his room... He loves his big boy bed.  He calls it his up and down bed.  I love it because we can hang his art work on his bed and big toys can be stored under it.

Another view of his room... he chose to decorate it with maps. He loves maps!

Luke and Jack's tiny room. It is perfect for them. It is just off of our master bedroom. 

So we are finally settled and getting used to our new routine and being a family of 5! If you ever want to come love on some babies or play with Abram, we love visitors! No really, we love company and you are welcome any time! And you don't have to hold babies all the time! :) Thank you for your prayers during this big transition! We definitely felt them.