Just Simply Jen

My son is clearly growing up on me and there's nothing I can do to freeze the days and make them last longer. As with every growth, there are some growing pains. He's pulling more stunts and trying to push bigger boundaries. Tonight he tried giving me a really big guilt trip because he was punished and I wasn't giving in. He gave me big crocodile tears and told me I was breaking his heart. It was truly cute. I had a really hard time not laughing at first. After a while it got old and he was threatened with an even longer punishment if he didn't stop. I'm turning into a regular meanie.
The thing that is getting me most is that he is coming into his own as far as things he enjoys and expanding his creativity. He's always had a really creative mind as far as building things and acting things out. Now, thanks to High School Musical and Disney Channel, he's found a creativity for singing and dancing. Today he was writing his own songs. He would tell his dad the words and make him write them down then he would go to whatever instrument(made out of legos or a bucket) he was playing and make my husband sing the song back exactly the way he taught it to him. It was so cute and the songs were really not bad. They always had a really weird line thrown in the middle of it that would just make you laugh.
Not much else going on in my world. Hubby is busy with work world. I'm spending time with my sister, friend, or hanging out at home. My friend and I are supposed to start going to the gym tomorrow morning but I have somehow hurt my knee and I don't know how. It doesn't seem too bad, just hurts when I try to stand up. Once I'm up it's ok. Achy but ok. I'm thinking of taking tomorrow off, but I don't know. It totally sucks. I really really wanted to work out. I'm happy that I have someone to work out with.
Well I'm going to do one more thing then hopefully get some sleep.

Here are the pictures from Sunday. Let me know what you think.

TURTLES



KOLEKOLE PASS







KAENA STATE PARK

This weekend was a wonderful weekend. It started Friday with my husband getting off around noon and us getting to spend Friday night and Saturday morning in a hotel in Waikiki. The chapel that my husband works at some Sundays invited us to a family retreat they were doing. We had a room for the night and they served us dinner on Friday, continental breakfast, and lunch on Saturday. We're not talking little meals for lunch or dinner.

Friday
Dinner
Garden salad with grilled chicken in a light italian type dressing
Dinner rolls
Prime Rib served with herb crusted red potatoes and steamed vegetables(for adults)
Steak covered with a mushroom gravy served with mashed potatoes and steamed veggies(for kids)
Chocolate Cake

Saturday Lunch
Garden salad with a creamy sweet dressing
Dinner Rolls
Teriyaki Chicken with rice and steamed vegetables
Yellow cake with a butter cream type icing and almonds

They also had these wonderful cookies and brownies set out for our bible study time on Saturday. It was just so wonderful to have the time to relax in a hotel (with air conditioning!) and get to know these wonderful people. They are changing out a lot of their Chaplains that are more like what I'm used to so I think I'm going to enjoy it and we are planning on attending there for a while to get a feel for what it's going to be like. It was really great to walk in on Sunday morning and actually know people.

Sunday afternoon my parents came and picked us up and we headed out to do some sightseeing. I had heard about a place where you could go to see Sea turtles coming up on the beach so we went off in search for it. The beach is Laniakea Beach but is refered to as Turtle Beach. We were able to see a few turtles on land and some just off shore. There were so many people there. I hope to go during the week when there aren't as many people so we can enjoy it more. It was really crowded. After that we drove through Haleiwa so my stepmom could see it. I love that little town. After that we made to the base so we could drive through Kolekole Pass. It's a nice drive that gives you some awesome views and leads to the leeward side of the island. Once on the Leeward side we drove down to the Kaena State Park. It is so beautiful down there. We spent a little time there taking pictures (I'll post some later) and had a good time. From there we went back to Mililani for dinner and then went to walmart so my parents could pick up some things. My stepmom was telling my dad about her and my sister trying malasadas earlier that day so we went down and found Leonard's Bakery so we could get some. Leonard's is famous for their malasadas. We get the filled ones. My husband, son, and myself all had the ones filled with chocolate. My stepmom had the custard filling and my dad had the haupia filling. They were so so yummy. I only ate a third of mine because they are really sweet and I just am not used to that anymore.
My parents are leaving the island today and I'm super sad to see them going but it was so good to see them again. This visit went somewhat like I expected with us not getting to see them much but it was still really nice. We had great times together and hopefully we will see them more if we make it back to the mainland for our next duty station. Who knows where Uncle Sam will decide to send us next. I have almost a year before I even have to think about that.

Today I had something I don't think I've had since I moved away from my family 9 years ago. Today my father and I spent several hours together, just the two of us, no distractions at all. It was so nice. Don't get me wrong, I've enjoyed visiting with my stepmom and sister too, but this was something I have craved for years. It was nice. We drove around a little and then we went and sat at starbucks for at least an hour. After that I had to hit a bathroom so we went to Ross because they have the closest one and while there he bought my son some new shorts, which he needed thanks to a nice growth spurt. They love buying stuff for my son. I had never been in a Ross before and was asking about prices for boys clothing and that led to him buying the shorts. That place has some amazing prices. We found nike brand shorts for 4 dollars. That was something else! I will totally be shopping there for myself and my house in the future.
Anyway. My son is cracking me up today because for the first time in a long time my house is really clean. I'm not the neatest person. I've inherited that from my mom and am seriously trying to break it but it wasn't happening. We cleaned and cleaned and it looks nice and my son is in heaven. We're learning he functions more clearly in an organized environment. Guess what I will be doing over the next few weeks! I'm liking it for myself as well. I think I might be able to do some maintaining much easier than before. One thing we found out when we were getting organized is that we have a TON of books. I never knew we had so many. Most of them are mine but my husband has a lot from his college days. Religious studies sure brought out a bunch of books.