surfing safari...

sweet friends...

baby boy, wishing he could surf...

my snuggle bug.  

nora out surfing...

and again...

some more...

uncle d playing with the kids.  

sweet baby feet...

burying the kiddos...

uncle s taking jamey out for a swim!!

furthest out in the water that j has EVER been.  loving it!!

enjoying the waves in hale'iwa...

sweet boy... still not asleep.  still not surfing.  

riding the waves in...

body boarding...

sweet girl...

lovely girls...

riding the beach...

hale'iwa...

might be a new fav beach... except i TORE up my feet on those volcanic rocks...

sweet boy was just sailing his boat all along the rocks...

love him!!

sweet thing...

nora and jamey's swim teacher also surfs and took nora surfing today.  he brought a friend, who was a pro surfer.  he was impressed by nora.  at her total fearlessness.  and i was again, inspired to take her surfing more.  sweet baby girl.  

uncle s kept trying to take james out.  he was having none of it.  but, he did go out, very willingly, to swim with uncle s.  

all told... a great day at the beach with some friends and surfing.  

what i wore this week... wednesday!

i made that skirt for nora.  

a hand me down shirt from my sissy...  billabong

and the gap pants i wore on our first date.  

my lilly dress... that once was lost and now is found!  (i left it at home, thought it got thrifted, it really got lifted by another sister, and is now back in my home!  phew... it was a sale, and i LOVE that dress!)

i made the rosies for nora's birthday party... they were party favors!!!

i got this bracelet at a little shop at the royal hawaiian!  

new shirt for $8 at the gap outlet.  

shorts for $8 at old navy last week!

not sure why i didn't buy four pairs!

another new gap shirt.  

gap shirt was $10.  and same shorts...

so there you have it.  the other days, i wore workout clothes.  and a bathing suit.  

i was reading a blog today.  he talks about current events and i was struck by two things.  you would think it would have been his discussion of the un meetings, etc.  but it wasn't.  (well, that's what caught my attention first...)  it was the post after that, about yom kippur.  after that, he said, "may we all hunger more for God's word this year". 

i have been teaching my kids catechism.  they can tell you that the chief end of man is to glorify God and love Him forever.  it's so easy to say, but so much harder to put in to practice.  as discussed yesterday, i want what i want when i want it.  it's hard to look to the interests of others (another verse my kids have learned recently is phil. 2:4, "let each of you look not only to his own interests, but also to the interests of others".)  and i am working to remember that this earth is not my home.  just passing through.  and it's easy to get caught up in the day to day things and forget about the endgame!  

the second thing that caught my eye was at the bottom of the blog.  it was a link that asked if you were saved, and what would happen if you died tonight.  i loved the boldness of that.  so, there's a link.  again, as always when i talk about God, feel free to ask questions!  

but, i find i so often don't have boldness in my life.  or time.  or remember that that is the most important thing!  and it's been nice recently to just be at home.  (sorta switching topics here, but on the same lines...)  i like to be busy.  i like to be doing things.  and with so many visitors in town all summer, we just went.  we enjoyed the island and all it had to offer.  beaches... restaurants...  

so, recently, it's been nice to just play outside more.  or take cookies over to new neighbors.  let chris nap a good nap in the afternoon.  and the kids just play.  i like our new normal.  and finding stuff to do, just us!  it's nice to not always be rushing off to something!  and some people have asked what activities my kids are in.  currently, they do swimming lessons.  it's nice to just be.  

marriage...

view the other day...  just cause.  it's pretty!

a present arrived in the mail.  

sweet kiddos in the bath.  

hawaii five-0 premiere on the beach...

such a gorgeous sunset!

loving it!!!

that's a shot fromt he tv.  we were sitting right above the H in hawaii five-0.  you can't see us.  but that's where we were!!!

getting a haircut the other day.  he asked me to spike it and it was like four feet tall... so he got it cut!

sweet boy, hanging from the counter, to brush his teeth!

kids in the bath!!!

working so hard on her homework!!!  i love how she concentrates!!

nora and james were in the play room celebrating "unbirthdays".  they had gone in the playroom to "shop" for presents for each other.  and i hear nora saying, "no, that's not what i wanted.  that's not what i would like".  i kept thinking... "oh girl, give it a few years... he's a boy!  you have to spell it out and draw a picture and it will STILL be wrong!"  and then i was a little convicted!

maybe because i am reading this book, "the meaning of marriage" by tim keller.  (i just finished "bringing up boys"... also a great read!!)  and the chapter i am on is talking about how others-centered we should be.  that when we remove ourselves, it's so much easier to be married!!!  we should be thinking about how to serve the other.  and when begging for the things that satisfy "ME", we all lose!  hello, so true for me!  i get so much joy in serving david.  

anyway... thought it was cute!  i don't know if my rambling about this makes sense, but i hope to give her a better example than, "boys will NEVER get our presents right!"  truth is, david does a great job.  and i love that he DOES get me things.  (my love language is gifts.  and touch.  and time.)  

second... i was trying to encourage the kids to hurry up and put on their seatbelts.  so, i told them that the first one would get a treat.  so, nora jumps up into her seat and starts cheering on james, saying she wouldn't put on her seatbelt until he did, so that they could both get the treat.  she didn't want to get it without him!  how stinking sweet!!!

third...  i lost my train of thought... so there you go for today!

some fun...

my big boy... 

a happy day in the haile house!  loving cutting out a bunch of new projects!!!

nora got ahold of the camera...  james and caroline...

just james.   

just caroline.

our girls' night last night...  nora got a special drink in a special glass!!!  (don't worry, it's raspberry lemonade for her!)

doing her toes...

such a big girl!!!

it was so much fun to have a special time with her.  we haven't done a lot of just girl time this summer...  james has taken advantage of time alone with me when visitors were here, but nora didn't.  so it was fun to have time with just her!  love it!