Top Ten Reasons I Am Ready For Matt Hoffman to Be Home

I got to have a nice long Skype session with Matt today and found out he only has three more days in Iraq! Problem is, the closer we get to his homecoming, the longer the days seem to drag out. Meanwhile, I have come up with my top ten reasons why I am ready for Matt Hoffman to come home.

10-I want to be able to sleep past 5:30am at least once per month.
9- I want to be able to work on my own work (grading, lesson planning, research, etc) without feeling like I am neglecting my children.
8- I want to be able to close the door when using the bathroom.
7- I want to have a glass of wine (or 2) with my husband so I don't feel like a pathetic loser for having a glass by myself.
6- I want to be cook a meal for someone whose tastebuds extend beyond chicken nuggets and peas (well, at least I should be happy my kids eat peas).
5- I want someone to regard my chest for more than its nutritional value
4- Can't wait to pass off some of my role of exterminator and handyman- I will gladly resume my chef and maid roles as long as I don't have to deal with bugs or nails anymore.
3- So I can say "Tag- you're it" when Mia has a particularly foul diaper :-S
2- To resume date nights on the couch with brownie sundaes watching "Grey's"
1- So my girls can give their dad real kisses without a computer screen and 11,000 miles getting in the way.

Can't wait Matt!!

Uncle Mikey- Superhero

Makaela had a field trip today to the Kapolei Fire Station and I guess the teachers were prepping the students for the trip because this morning before going to school, she was telling me she didn't want to "stop, dop and roll" and kept repeating it over and over. She was also repeating, "Uncle Mikey- firefighter-superhero!!" It was so cute that I texted my brother, dad and mom this. Dad replied, "Did you video it?" At 6:30am, that was not going to happen, but I made it a point to videotape our conversation about the field trip when she got home.

Picnic Dinner at Ko'olina

Now that I'm officially done with my dissertation, I feel like I can actually do things again, so we met up with Katie and the kids for a picnic dinner at Ko'olina. We were a bit worried it was going to rain, but luckily, the rain stayed away so we could enjoy our night. It was kind of hard to wrangle the kids to eat an entire meal, but they had lots of fun running around (or in Mia's case, crawling around) which made the moms quite happy because that made bedtime that much more easy.

Zack was adorable with his sunglasses at dusk.

As we were leaving we got a glimpse at the new Disney hotel all lit up, but it was nothing compared to how beautiful the lagoon was. Made me think about how lucky I am to live here and how sad I am to be leaving.

Making the Most of Season Passes

Headed to the waterpark once again- I am determined to get my money's worth. Needless to say Makaela had a great time and Mia is getting a bit too brave. She kept crawling deeper and deeper and then looking all shocked when she was choking on water. Of course she looks adorable doing it though.
And of course, we got to hang out with our friends who always help make the day brighter.

My spiteful dog

While my mom sends packages to spoil the girls (and occasionally me), she always includes goodies for my canine children. This time, however, she forgot to send treats for the dogs. Apparently Bailey was so irritated that he took matters into his own hands...or paws.
I caught him trying to eat Makaela's Halloween lollipop- plastic and all. And look at that smug face he was giving me when I was scolding him (with camera in hand of course).

Katie's Turn

Steph and I headed down to support Katie in her defense today. We got there a bit early and headed over to the bookstore to purchase our gowns, caps and HOODS!!! It was so nice to buy our graduation supplies...expensive, but good.

Katie did wonderfully in the defense. I kept jotting down notes to ask her about later because I found the theory so interesting and so applicable to teacher education. Time flew by and before we knew it, we were outside waiting for the deliberation. Once again, "Congrats Dr" was uttered and we had three Drs standing there. It was such a proud moment. We had been through so much together and here we were...all finished (or in Katie's phrase- phinished :-)

Then it was off to celebrate at Indigos once more. Guess this is our research celebration spot. Great food, great company and great martinis.

After a few martinis, we were planning our consulting firm and all the grandeur and money it would bring in...with three innovative, intelligent and influential women, who wouldn't want to hire us? Tentative name of our consulting firm: "Charlie's Angels", with Matt Martin starring as Charlie. LOL

Olivia's party at the Waterpark

We have season passes to the Waterpark, so when Olivia was having her bday party there, we were all about it. It was so nice to be able to let Makaela run around with her friends and splash around. It was also wonderful to be there with many adults; it gave me a chance to leave Mia there with friends so Makaela and I could go on some rides. It was so much fun- I was never able to go on slides with her because I was either pregnant or had Mia and couldn't take her up. It was honestly the most fun I have had with Makaela in a while. I also got to go on rides with both my girls and get someone to take pictures of us (thanks Weidas).