Terina's First Day of School!

School has started for Kasala and Jake and luck for me Kim had to cancel her class on Wednesday because we had no sitter for Terina. But after I got home from work Terina and I walked over to her new "school". It's actually a day care but she's the only one that is 2. The other kids are 3 and part of an early head start program. The owner of the center and I just decided that Terina could be part of the early head start program instead of having to design a different program just for her. So when we got home from the center, Terina and I got her Dora backpack out and started to pack it. We put in 2 extra sets of clothing, some diapers and wipes, all her forms and paperwork and the payment. I didn't sleep well last night. Just thinking about having to drop her off with someone else made me really sad but with Kasala in school I have to work to support our family... even if it is only part time. Anyways.. Terina went to bed about 6:30pm and didn't wake up until this morning. We tried waking her up to get her ready for school but that was kind of a struggle. She surprisingly got up in a decent mood and we got her dressed. Kasala kept talking to her about her first day of school and asking if she was excited. She didn't really say much but when I told her to grab her bag and lets go to school she was jumping up and down. It was just a short ride to the center and when we got there she jumped right out, grabbed her bag and walked up the front steps. She went right inside, put her bag down and started to play. I didn't stay long but when I left I heard her crying and it broke my heart. I guess it didn't last very long though. Terina was playing and running around when I arrived to pick her up and she didn't really want to leave. She left her mark though... on the wall with marker. She is the first one to deface the center's walls. I felt really bad. She's learning so much and she's learning so fast. I so proud of her and that she was able to stay at "school" for half the day without any problems. We'll see how she does on Tuesday when she goes back.

SURPRISE!!

So we got the biggest surprise today. While I was washing the dishes after work in walks.... MY DAD! It was the biggest surprise. Especially since I talked to him about 20 minutes earlier and he said he was eating lunch. So I hung up and started "cleaning up" our little house. Terina was a little confused but she ran right to him and hasn't left his side since. She'll be sleeping next to Grandpa for the next couple of days. I'm really excited that he is here and that Terina recoginized him right away. She then started asking for Grandma, Emma, Tabitha, Phebe and Sydney.... maybe if she keeps asking for people they will magically appear. Anyways... tomorrow is Kasala's 26th birthday and we are excited to go out with Dad, Jake and Kim. I'll make sure to take lots of pictures and post them in the slide show when we go out and do things.

Our PCC Trip

Today Terina and I went to the Polynesian Culture Center to visit with some friends from our ward back home. We walked from our apartment to the front gate in the middle afternoon, in the blistering heat, to the front gate. I think by the time we got there I was starting to get a little burned. But we got there, we went and saw Kasala who was working backstage and then met up with the Shipley's. We had lunch, went to a couple of villages and then found a spot in the Hawaiian village to watch the canoe show. That's when the afternoon got exciting. I let Terina out of her stroller and she went straight to the lagoon. She was really good around it until she wanted to go sit by the Shipley's. She had to get past a tourist first and in the process somehow ended up in the lagoon. She was fine and I was right there to pull her out. She went on like it was nothing though. It was kind of funny.... I had just gotten off the phone with Kasala and he said, "Make sure she doesn't fall into the lagoon" and LO AND BEHOLD... she falls into the lagoon. We left shortly after so that I could shower her and get her ready to go to the airport and pick up Kim but Terina's first PCC trip ended with her in the lagoon. A trip I'll never forget.

The Olympics!!

Don't you just love the Olympics?! We have been staying up super late watching everything on TV. Terina loved watching the gymnastics. She would do here little somersaults and then take a bow when she got back up. It's quite a site to see. But the Olympics are super special this year because I actually know some of the athletes! An old team mate from Washington State, Diana Pickler, is competing in the Heptathlon and then Jill Camarena, who went to Stanford, is throwing shot put. I saw them during the opening ceremonies and it brought tears to my eyes. It's just so crazy and amazing to see people I know out there walking in the Olympics. I am going to be rooting for them and I hope they do well. So I have been working now for 2 weeks and I am having so much fun with my little 4th graders. They are so different than the high school and middle school kids I have worked with in the past. They are excited to see me and they give me hugs... never before has that happened! And it's so cute.. they call me either Mrs. Marie or Auntie Marie. Oh! And they come to school without shoes! Yeah... some of the kids walk to school without shoes or they take them off outside their classroom and that's where their shoes stay all day. Things are just so different here than they were back in Washington. I really like working with the kids and I really like only working half of the day. I guess I'll see how much I like it when I get my first paycheck. Anyways... Terina is doing well. She's growing like a weed. Back in July we started to make marks inside the kitchen door of her height. She has grown about an inch and a half since we have been here. We had to go get her new shoes because her feet are growing. I have been trying to put shoes on her when we go out so that she doesn't end up with super wide feet. Her hair is growing longer too. I think she might need a hair cut but the last time we tried that it didn't go so well so I'm a little hesitant to take her somewhere. We are getting ready for Kim and Jake to get here too. Kim will be coming in on Friday and Jake on Sunday. I have been working on organizing Terina's room and cleaning all the color crayon marks off the floors and walls. Hopefully I'll be able to get our little apartment in order before I have to go pick Kim up at the airport. I'm excited that Jake will be here with us for a while. He's a good babysitter and Terina likes him. I will be taking full advantage of having Jake around. Maybe I'll actually get a little time to myself!! I know Jake, Kim and Kasala are all getting ready for school to start. Jake and Kasala have pretty heavy class loads and the school has asked Kim to teach 1 beginning weight lifting class along with her soccer duties so everyone will be pretty busy once classes start. I'm really looking forward to it though. It will be a fun semester. Anyways... the three of us are doing well. We are working hard and trying our best to make it out here in Hawaii.