"Can You Please Repeat The Word?"

True story:

Once upon a time, there was a little girl who loved to read. Her parents did not keep a television in their home, which meant the little girl had LOTS of time to spend with her nose in books, and, indeed, she did. As she read, her vocabulary grew, and she was often teased for using large words, and speaking them in perfect english. :p Sometimes that bothered the little girl, but she carried on, because you cannot stop greatness. :p :p :p

One day, the little girl participated in a classroom spelling bee, and won. This led to the school spelling bee, which she also won. The details beyond this are a little foggy in that little girl's head right now, because she sort of had no idea what was going on at the time; but she DOES recall spending MONTHS in Mrs. Giffin's portable in the woods, studying for the district spelling bee. The little girl only recalls going to districts once, but maybe she went twice, since she did win the school's bee 2 years in a row...??? Anyway, that little girl bombed out at districts, and spelled herself out on the 3rd round with "pallor." (The little girl just had to google it, to make sure it IS spelled with two "l"s, and not the one "l" she spelled it with that fateful night.) Oh, well.

That little girl went on to become a published writer in high school, with her poetry, essays, and stories found in various books throughout Hawaii. In college, she also earned her spending money by writing a column for the university's newspaper--what fun!!! (She thinks she got the job in the first place because the editor had a crush on her roommate, but she DID eventually go on to prove her worth, so there!)

Fast-forward about 10 years. The aforementioned little girl grew up to be a mommy, and her little girls seemed to be fond of reading as well. This made the mommy very glad. One day, the little girls were watching TV. How ironic. :P Anyway, on this TV was a spot reminding viewers that the national spelling bee was being televised next week. The mommy's oldest daughter came and told her about it, and so was regaled with this story of her mommy's glory days as a champion speller. :p Daughter showed her (undue) admiration for her mother's accomplishments, and then purposed on the spot that she, too, would become a spelling bee champion. The mommy thought that was cute, and had visions of her daughter actually winning nationals, but did not realize the seriousness of it all until she came upon this:

Yes, said little girl went out that very day, and spent almost 2 week's worth of allowance on--TA-DA --a DICTIONARY!!! (Yes, we DO own dictionaries in this house, but she wanted one of her own.) In the last picture, you are looking at the sweet daughter who is trying to understand the humor her mother finds in this whole scene, and WHY she would want to take a picture of her reading a dictionary--"What's so funny about that?" Oh, Kiana....

So, I believe that we have, in effect, spawned the next generation of nerds. (Daniel's demanding a paternity test. WHAT-EVER.) Don't worry; I won't let them buy pocket-protectors. But won't they look cute in the latest eyewear fashions? :D

"Bye-bye, love/bye-bye one-sided deafness/hello, noisiness/I think I'm going to try-y"

Good morning, gang...

I wonder if this isn't too public a forum to post on a matter as sensitive as this--ha! Now I've got your attention, eh? :D

No, really, in all seriousness, I just wanted to let the interested and concerned know--and there seem to be more of you out there than I realized--that my ear surgery is scheduled for June 11th. If you don't know what I'm talking about, but would like to, feel free to e-mail me; I'm going to spare the faint-of-heart the details here. :p

Anyway, I hope you're having a great weekend; I'll check in later, and let you know how I feel about laser light shows...(oh, the suspense!)

A hui hou!

Armed Forces Day Parade

It was a big day here in Bremerton. As many of you know, Kitsap county has a huge military population, being home to a naval shipyard, a trident submarine maintenance facility, and a naval underwater weapons center (obviously, my husband is sitting here with me, feeding me this information. :p And he says I should not fail to mention all of the other military installations found throughout the Puget Sound. :)). So it should come as little surprise that it is also home to the oldest, and purportedly largest, Armed Forces Day parade in the nation. Armed Forces Day is celebrated every third Saturday in May, to honor those in all branches of the military. Apparently, it's a bigger deal than I realized; we saw the likes of local TV personalities, Congressman Norm Dicks, and even Adm. Gary Roughead, the Navy's top officer, flew in from D.C. to be part of the festivities. (You learn something new every day...as his vehicle--with security detail--went by, I asked Daniel, "Who's that guy?" He could only look at me in disappointment and shake his head. :p)

It's been a while since I'd been to this parade, so when Uncle Josh--known around B-Town as "The Man"-- told us he was helping build a float for it this year, we just knew we had to brave the crowds and go cheer him on. Here are a few pictures from the chaos--I mean, the fun:

Local Royalty

Military Vehicles (Seabees, Uncle Terry!):

Various car clubs

And some pretty cool floats:

Of course, our favorite happened to be PSNS's Apprentice float:

Heyyyyy....wait a minute! I recognize some of those kids!

Yep, the girls also got to be in the parade this year! Like I said, Uncle Josh is "The Man." Here they are with the float, post-parade:

Needless to say, they had a blast. In fact, Malia wants to go back tomorrow and do it again. :) She'll be kind of lonely! :)

"Fruit-O, O Fruiti-O, Where Art Thou, Fruiti-O?"

Okay, so this may be the oddest post ever, BUT....

The girls and I were having a deep, intellectual discussion about--ta da!--fruit snacks. (Yes, this is my life. And I would not trade it for anything.) We were comparing the merits of various brands, considering what makes a fruit snack worthy of falling upon our lips. (Believe me, we're not that picky. Some of us less so than others. "Ha-choo-malia-ha-choo!").

In any case, this brought to remembrance an old favorite--Brach's Fruiti-Os! Do you remember those? I'll be honest--when my sister whipped out my inaugural packet, I was not impressed. But, over time, they kind of grew on me. I don't know if it was the simplicity of their plain O-shape, or the perfect consistency of these little treats, but they did become a matter of habit for me. Fortunately, I had a child with which I could justify this kid-ly indulgence. I hear real grown-ups don't eat fruit snacks.

In any case, I scoured the internet--okay, not really--but could find no sign of them.

Does anyone know what ever happened to the Great and Wondrous Fruiti-O?

By the way, if you're still reading this, I applaud you. You either have a high tolerance for the mundane ramblings of a chaotic mind; or you're a great friend who loves me more than I know; or maybe now, you were once a great friend who has lost all respect for me after reading this post. :p

Kiana's 8?

So, Kiana Re' turned 8 years old yesterday.

I meant to post on her actual birthday, but I was a tiny bit busy trying to put together the mini birthday party I said we weren't having. I kind of burned out on birthday-party planning, just in time for them to become important to my children--go figure!

Here's the birthday girl, on her way to school.

Her birthday cake. She originally requested a purse cake from Baskin-Robbins, but then changed her mind after she sampled some "Sin" at Aunty Jen's house. We made a chocolate-peanut butter version of it.

(It was her idea to sprinkle her name into it. :) )

The birthday girl, post-present-opening. Her "theme" this year is American Girl, and everyone kindly indulged that. Thanks, Uncle and the DeGroots!

Josh, hassling Anya; Anya, pretending she doesn't notice

Earlier in the day, we did the cupcake thing with her classmates. I was going to take pictures of that, but, as usual, I forgot my camera. Oh, well. It was fun, she was smiley, spent a good amount of time on the phone with various ones who called with birthday wishes. I should end this post before I start getting all sentimental; I just can't believe how quickly time flies!

A hui hou!

A Message From The Girls