the hawaii happs

my girls continue to amaze me.  they have grown and adapted so much these past two months.  it has been a roller coaster ride, but as I sit here reflecting on the past few weeks, they have slipped right into life here faster than I thought they would. 

one thing I love about kids is they are so accepting.  we have met people from all over the world here, and have been immersed in so many different cultures.  and my kids have been so accepting of everyone and everything.  dance class in Hawaii has dances from Maori, Tahiti, and Hawaii.  and mae has loved learning every one of them.  i'm so grateful that they have this opportunity to interact with kids from so many cultures. 

the park situation here is definitely not what we were used to in Texas or Virginia.  but, we have found a few cute little playgrounds to play on.  these two fight like crazy, but sometimes I catch moments like this.  I hope that they grow up with a great relationship.  i'm so grateful to be so close to my brothers.

whenever I work out at home, mae or izzy always join in.  last week I caught the girls and daddy doing some push ups together.  monkey see monkey do.  sometimes I really dislike working out while they are awake, but I think that its good for them to see me taking care of myself, and trying to better myself. that I do this because I love my body and am grateful for all its done.

our fridge has been having troubles.  luckily, byu had a spare for us to use until someone can come out to look at ours (i was told they only make trips up to us once a month for repairs).  this happened a couple weeks ago, and we thought it was fixed, but it started again.  so we have two full size refrigerators in our tiny house.  the first time nothing went bad.  but this time, it was over the weekend so we had to throw some stuff out.  and we made a trip into town to get a mini fridge to get us through the weekend. 

i am totally regretting that i didn't buy this hot dog costume for izzy when we were at target.  every time i look at it i laugh. 

this girl has been hell on wheels lately. tantrums, biting, hitting, kicking.  all the good stuff.  she is a strong willed, determined toddler.  and i'm sure one day i will be grateful for those qualities in her. but, its hard sometimes.

 i find myself getting so frustrated with her, often, and sometimes not even wanting to be around her.  I've struggled with feeling like a bad mom because of it.  today we went for a walk on the beach and she reached up and said "mama, hand", and i realized how important i am to this girl.  i realized how incredibly blessed i am that i get to be her mama.  that heavenly father blessed me with this strong, determined, crazy kid for a reason. 

my realization doesn't make this whole mom thing any less difficult.  but, its moments like those, that give me the strength to keep going.  i'm grateful that heavenly father blessed me with that sweet moment this morning.