Buddy needs a sibling....

Buddy has been out of school for two weeks already and isn't allowed to play on the computer.......

 I think he may be losing it....

Thankfully, we are going camping on Tuesday for the rest of the week with a bunch of friends to save us from our tedium. So all in all a super fantastic, wishing for a little brother (or sister, we're not picky), day!

Christmas is coming....

We've been a little busy this Winter break. The morning after Kevin and Emily left, we took off with a small group of our favorite friends and hiked into Waimanu Valley for 3 days and 2 nights.

 It was pretty awesome.....even if one of us packed 20 pounds of extra gear just to carry his new Glock BB gun/bullets and CO2 cartridges. Thankfully, I wasn't aware of the plan until we were already in Waimanu....which is definitely too late to turn around and leave them at home!!! Buddy was more than excited, and since there was only one other couple at our destination, Buddy and company had quite the shoot out!!!!! 

Sunday we went to church and then Buddy showed me his mistletoe resistance powers!

 I was highly unimpressed. Then I took the kids to do some more elf pranking......

The kids may have loved it.....and we may have gotten busted at one point!!! Oh well, the kids had fun! We just got home from a Christmas Eve party at Tyler's house, the kids attempted to put on a nativity play......it was pretty awesome. Tomorrow I'm looking forward to our turkey, presents and some water in the form of a beach! So all in all a super fantastic, Merry Christmas, day!

The Birds....

 Shane wanted his kids to be together with him for Christmas.....to say the gathering went to the birds is a bit of an understatement!!!

 So all in all a super fantastic, there is a lot more where that came from, day!

Buddy the Elf

Buddy has always loved the Elf on the Shelf. A creepy elf that moves around playing pranks but doesn't get in trouble???? Yes please!  Buddy has loved the elf so much that a few years ago he wanted to started elfing other people's homes. He hit up this home between finals yesterday!

 Definitely worth the headaches we suffered from blowing up more than 100 balloons in 30 minutes! Sadly he wished I had a larger lung capacity to blow up the 300 balloons we brought, but one of us was on a work break and didn't want to get in too much trouble. I think our victim might have liked it!!!

We left him a picture of the elf, and rumor has it that he slept with the picture of the elf that night.....pretty awesome job on Buddy's part if I do say so myself!!!

So all in all a super fantastic, now we have to find our next victims, day!

No Gatorade Sponsorship....

The boy has been sleeping a lot for the last month. For the last month, he'd go to a class or two at school and then he would come into the infirmary to promptly fall asleep! Then, he'd come home and go to sleep again. I'm a smart mom....it only took a month for me to finally take him to the doctor's office. Turns out you need potassium in your body to make it function, otherwise  you get really tired and sleep all the time (or go into Cardiac Arrest). Thankfully Buddy opted for the sleeping route, I very much appreciate his thoughtfulness!!!! Now that we've given him a Potassium Kick in the rear, he's back to making up words in order to dominate Scrabble.... 

Thank goodness he's not broken anymore.....

 So all in all a super fantastic, we went to the beach for the first time in over a month, day!!!!

The slow boat....

I forced Buddy to go to school today. He's been complaining of feeling sick since Sunday. He slept all day yesterday, then I forced him out of bed this morning so I could torture him with school. Afterall, he didn't have a fever and other than feeling tired he didn't have any complaints......Turns out my mothering could use some work, I took him to the urgent care so they could reinforce to him that he is fine and should be going to school full time.....Turns out the boy has Strep throat! Mother and Nurse of the Year, yep that's me. At least to cheer him up, his birthday present finally arrived..... 

If you're asking, is that chainmail made of real metal, the answer is yes, yes it is chain mail!!!!

Buddy was super excited and it only took all 3 of us to dress him in that heavy thing! In other news, I went Manta Ray night diving for my birthday and Buddy made me a video for my birthday!

So all in all a super fantastic, brushing up on my nursing and medieval skills, day!

Where did all the time go?

My pooterpot turned 15 today! It was the most anticlimactic day ever! Going to school for 9 hours is kinda lame! There I said it! This has to have been the lamest birthday ever for the boy. He woke up, went to school, came home, ate (actually, he did that in the car), then went to bed. Not really how I pictured his 15th year of life. Well, at least I didn't totally suck at the whole life celebration thing! When I asked him what he wanted to do for his birthday, he said he wanted to sword fight. 

I figured most normal parents wouldn't be keen on sending their kids over for a sword fight, but a medieval knight party....Yep, parents are totally down with that! So last Saturday was the best Medieval Knight party Waikoloa has ever seen!  I even made Buddy a boar's head cake because......well, why wouldn't you....

The kids did actually sword fight, I think they were too afraid to actually hit each other (the swords were blunt tipped, I'm not that horrible of a parent), so the sword fight turned more into a shoving match. We also had jousting....

an archery tournament and a melee.....on horses of course (well, at least horses I can afford)...

The kids decided to not fight each other and instead gang up on Tyler....

I think Tyler still won!!!

The next morning we had to wake up waaaay too early so Buddy could do this for the next 9 hours....

 Sorry, I was exaggerating, he only did that for 8 1/2 hours...the other 1/2 hour was spent moving things!!! What the boy will do to earn his Eagle!

To end the night we went to a trunk or treat where Buddy decided to NOT wear the costume I painstakingly made BY HAND and had coordinated with. Instead he decided to wear his knight costume for the 6 millionth night in a row....he also decided to take his real swords with him. Ugh, I'll just shake my head in a moment of mommy embarrassment when he decided to show everyone at the trunk or treat his weapons......I guess that's how you get out of buying treats for trunk or treaters, because no one wants you to come back! Oh well...maybe next year he'll wear his costume..... maybe this year I'll dress him in it while he sleeps!!!!! So all in all a super fantastic, 15 years came too fast, day!

Going out....

We've been trying to spend more time as a family since I am working ridiculous hours these days and basically only sleeping and acting like a vegetable (think couch potato) when I am home during the weekday. So we loaded up the grumbling teenagers and forced them into an excursion....

Then they grumbled no more.....just shuddered and shook from the freezing cold water, but that's always better than a grumble! So all in all a super fantastic, glad to get out, day!

Weekends....

Weekends have gotten a little more exciting since I started working full-time again....

So all in all a super fantastic, now if the excitement would just lead me towards a beach somewhere I'd be set, day!

Going Places....

Shane's family is in town....which means we actually leave the comfort of our home and go do something. Now, when I say go do something, I really mean go do something. The family motto is apparently go big or go home...

We're in the go home phase now! There may or may not have been waterfall swimming involved. So all in all a super fantastic, going places, day!

The Endless Summer Lessons.....

So I haven't blogged since the beginning of summer. It might be best to grab some popcorn, and a drink and sit on down. This may take a while. Buddy has been asking for years to go to Disney World. The fine parent that I am, keeps deferring that trip, because let's be honest, my mother tortured me with too many trips to Epcot Center in my youth! Seriously, who takes their kids on summer vacation and then tries to make them learn stuff?Apparently moms do!

Actually, I take that back, some moms do. However there was no learning whatsoever on this trip to Disney World....

Unless, we include learning that walking in high heel shoes for 20 miles will do some serious damage to your feet....but apparently not enough damage to keep you out of going to Universal Studios while you're at it!!!

Or learning that ET is still my BFF after all these years....

After WAAAAYYYYY too long in Florida (seriously, amusement parks in the summer are LAME), Shane ditched us and Buddy and I flew over to South Carolina to canoe through Congaree National Park.....

Where some of us may have learned, that one of us takes their canoeing skills and steerage power WAY too seriously! After Congaree, we decided that since we live on a small island, and we didn't want Buddy to feel disadvantaged from the kids living on the Mainland,  we did a road trip. The road trip included a pit stop in Charlotte to see a friend from my youth's band play a show. The total upside to the pit stop, other than a bathroom....free merchandise. Buddy walked away with two CD's a t-shirt and a drink koozy! I'm almost surprised he didn't ask for an autograph while he was at it!!!!!

Then we drove up to Danville, VA to go to a tank museum....where Buddy may have learned that his mom isn't going to spend $200 on a remote control tank, no matter how cool it looks!!!!

The next morning we woke up bright and early and skedaddled to I think my newest favorite place on earth....McAffee Knob....

I did all of my research before going,  so we knew that there has been an increase in bear sightings on this portion of the Appalachian trail. Thus, being the diligent mom, I made sure to buy us each bells for our packs and a can of bear spray each....which I may have learned is easily dispensed if you have it in a side pocket and slide something against the aforementioned pocket!!!!

The next day we hiked more of the Appalachian trail and conquered Dragon's Tooth...

and we may have possibly learned that when you have done the most spectacular hike in the world and then do a meh hike....it's a little bit of a let down!!!! 

The next day we were supposed to go to the Smoky Mountains, but somehow we decided to get our coon skin hats on...

 and go recreate this picture instead....

 Mission accomplished!!!!

We stayed with one of my aunt's in Kentucky and Buddy loved watching her backyard....

I think he may have loved me not forcing him to walk 20 miles a day too....but I'm not certain!!!

We hung out with the family for a bit...

I think Buddy really, really especially hated the driving in a 4 wheeler and going to my uncle Buford's hunting tree house and shooting.....huge disappointment I'm sure!!!!

Sadly, we had to come home, because this had to happen...

Thankfully, or not so thankfully (depending who you ask), I get to go to the same school as Buddy!!! It's a dream come true, I'm pretty certain Buddy may have learned that I can't get enough of him!  

In other news, last weekend, Buddy, his cousin Kiara, Shane's cousin-in-law Alyssa and I competed in a Spartan Super (8 mile course with 25 obstacles) which was on my bucket list....

 Where I may have learned that I could really use some upper body strengthening....and that Buddy and Kiara are AMAZING!!!!! So all in all a super fantastic, adding Burpees to my routine, day!