Dry Pack canning day...

A few saturdays ago we were able to drive to the LDS Dry Pack cannery in Slidell, Louisiana to can food storage for the upcoming hurricane season.

Lisa and I helped 8 other women from our Ward pack over 700 cans of beans, rice, flour, sugar, wheat, potato pearls, apple slices, hot cocoa, and tang. We were hot, tired, and sore after a long day but what a fun experience!

Even Jessica got into the assembly line and did her part! Don't they look cute in those hair nets?
Kenny was the smart one. He made friends with Elder Groll who was serving at the cannery with his wife and he found out where the rest station was!

Mean Moms....

If you looked through the few boxes of belongings I have from my childhood you would find a variety of red, white, and blue ribbons. The kind of ribbons that are won at state fairs and school competitions. Mine mostly came from speech contests that my mom would enter me in while growing up in Hawaii.

We would find a story or poem that fit the theme of the contest and practice for weeks. Memorizing the words and getting the tonation of them just write in order to impress my peers and captivate the judges. One particular contest I remember well required us to recite something about mothers. I'm not sure where my mom found this particular story, but I have never forgotten its words nor the lesson it taught me at such a young age.

I received it in a random email the other day and it brought back many memories. I had to post it. Oh and by the way....Happy Mother's day.

I had the meanest mother in the whole world. While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast. When others had cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich. As you can guess, my supper was different than the other kids' also. But at least, I wasn't alone in my sufferings. My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.

My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times. You'd think we were on a chain gang. She had to know who our friends were and where we were going. She insisted if we said we'd be gone an hour, that we be gone one hour or less--not one hour and one minute. I am nearly ashamed to admit it, but she actually struck us. Not once, but each time we had a mind of our own and did as we pleased. That poor belt was used more on our seats than it was to hold up Daddy's pants. Can you imagine someone actualy hitting a child just because he disobeyed? Now you can begin to see how mean she really was.

We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath. The other kids always wore their clothes for days. We reached the height of insults because she made our clothes herself, just to save money. Why, oh why, did we have to have a mother who made us feel different from our friends? The worst is yet to come. We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning. We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends. So while they slept-my mother actually had the nerve to break the child-labor law. She made us work. We had to wash dishes, make beds, learn to cook and all sorts of cruel things. I believe she laid awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.

She always insisted upon us telling the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, even if it killed us- and it nearly did. By the time we were teen-agers, she was much wiser, and our life became even more unbearable. None of this tooting the horn of a car for us to come running. She embarrassed us to no end by making our dates and friends come to the door to get us. If I spent the night with a girlfriend, can you imagine she checked on me to see if I were really there. I never had the chance to elope to Mexico. That is if I'd had a boyfriend to elope with. I forgot to mention, while my friends were dating at the mature age of 12 and 13, my old fashioned mother refused to let me date until the age of 15 and 16. Fifteen, that is, if you dated only to go to a school function. And that was maybe twice a year.

Through the years, things didn't improve a bit. We could not lie in bed, "sick" like our friends did, and miss school. If our friends had a toe ache, a hang nail or serious ailment, they could stay home from school. Our marks in school had to be up to par. Our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing. My mother being as different as she was, would settle for nothing less than ugly black marks.

As the years rolled by, first one and then the other of us was put to shame. We were graduated from high school. With our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure of being a drop-out.

My mother was a complete failure as a mother. Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education. None of us have ever been arrested, divorced or beaten his mate. Each of my brothers served his time in the service of this country. And whom do we have to blame for the terrible way we turned out? You're right, our mean mother. Look at the things we missed. We never got to march in a protest parade, nor to take part in a riot, burn draft cards, and a million and one other things that our friends did.

She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults. Using this as a background, I am trying to raise my three children. I stand a little taller and I am filled with pride when my children call me mean.

Because, you see, I thank God, He gave me the meanest mother in the whole world.

written by Bobbie Pingaro (1967)

Mummies or Mommies?

The Egyptian Mummy exhibit was being featured at the Exploreum during the field trip, but I think Jessica had bigger things in mind! Who knew she was such a competitor? Jessica's favorite part of the day was being able to create a rollercoaster by computer and then sit in a makeshift car while 'riding' the rollercoaster she had just developed! What fun!

The students learned about nature, electricity, cause and effect, and even got to host their own tv newscast! Jessica loved doing the weather forcast. She predicted NO hurricanes in the near future! Thank goodness!

Finding out what our minds can do...

This week I was able to accompany Jessica's Kindergarten class to the Exploreum in downtown Mobile.

What a fun day of adventure and learning!

So what's the big deal?

I just had to post these photos! Kenny is anxiously awaiting the beginning of his piano recital this past weekend.
There were 14 students in all at the piano recital and Kenny just so happened to get put in between two very talkative girls! I thought he was going to just die!
I kind of have a feeling he will grow out of this phase! I just hope its a few years down the road!

Ivory keys....

One of the biggest hurdles we faced when moving to Mobile was finding new contacts for everything from mechanics to pediatricians to piano teachers. Well after several months we decided we were out of luck. Wouldn't you know that just on the other side of the lake from us lived one of the best piano teachers in the county!
And she just so happened to have two openings for Kenny and Lisa in January! So after only four months of lessons they had their first piano recital this weekend!
Both Kenny and Lisa did a wonderful job going even so far as to memorize their pieces! Jessica even had a special part to play for the evening! She presented Ms. Nelson with a bouquet of long stem red roses at the end of the recital!

Take me out to the ballgame...

Chevron hosted their annual summer picnic at the Hank Aaron stadium in Mobile this weekend. The day included burgers, cracker jack and fun rides for the kids. We met up with Kenny's friend Ryan and a bunch of other Chevron families.
During the game it seemed the entertainment was more on our row than on the field!

Sink or swim....

Kenny couldn't contain his excitement as we approached the crisp clear blue water and white fine grain sand at Navarre Beach! I think for the entire time we were there he had a smile that went from ear to ear!

I took some video while we were there of a wind surfer and all you can hear in the background when it was replayed was Kenny laughing and screaming and having the time of his life!

Even after a full day at the beach and the deep red sunburn on his back Kenny wasn't ready to leave the beach! I almost had to call in the lifeguards! Luckily we live close enough that I could promise him we'd be back again real soon!

Surf, sand, and a whole lot of sun...

Jessica visited Hawaii for the first time when she was almost eleven months old. It was for Lisa's baptism and I'll never forget the look on Jessica's face when she took her first taste of a handful of sand! She couldn't quite figure out what it was!

Some six years later...she has certainly found several different ways to enjoy a day at the beach!

She especially liked being burried in the sand and posing for this picture. Notice her eyes closed and her tongue hanging out? What a ham!

Just another day at the beach....

Spring break proved to be a pretty fun week! We managed to squeeze in time at the mall for Easter clothes shopping, a day at Navarre Beach in Florida, and a night out on the town for dinner at Lambert's where the waiter throws rolls at you and the waitresses offer you a side order of muskrat and possum. Only in the South I guess!!!

We managed to get pretty sunburned at the beach, but I've decided that being here on the gulf coast is the next best thing to living back in Hawaii where I grew up! The kids love sandboarding, making sand castles, and feeding the birds. It has been fun seeing them enjoy the ocean especially in the middle of April!

Even Lisa decided to try her hand at a little boogie boarding!

Arnold...

My hero....
My love...
My life...

Last but not least...

And of course, no day would be quite complete without the chance to handle a real live albino corn snake. Great. Just what I needed. Someone to encourage Kenny to start collecting snakes again! Yikes!

Hands on...noses plugged!

One of the exhibits at the Estuarium on Dauphin Island was the touch lab. Specimens of all types of sea life were laid out on a table for the kids to touch, squeeze, examine, and yes...smell!


Kenny's favorite part of the touch lab was being able to feel and handle the hammerhead shark. Jessica liked the starfish and Lisa seemed to be grossed out by just about everything else! Typical teenager! She did, however, manage to find all the tan handsome sea lab assistants to be quite engaging. It was when I noticed they were paying her just as much attention that I thought we needed to quickly head to the Home Depot tent where we were able to make cute little birdhouses!

Coast guard recruits!

Today we spent the day on Dauphin Island. A beautiful secluded island about 4o minutes south of Mobile known for its small town atmosphere and beautiful beaches. We couldn't get Kenny to leave the captain's post to take a picture. So the girls posed without him! He really didn't seem to care!
The Estuarium was having a Discovery day for kids and we took the opportunity to spend the morning learning about the coral reefs, marine habitat, and the people who protect the waters. Lisa couldn't believe we were at the beach in April and that she actually got a tan while we were there! We thought for sure she would "thaw" by now, but I guess she still has "Utah" on her mind!

Spring has definitely sprung...

While the rest of the world seems to be fighting cold, blizzards, and storms...here in the South we are experiencing spring like never before! We are amazed at the vibrant colors found all along the roadsides and on every corner! We are learning that AZALEAS bloom in the Spring and provide a beautiful backdrop for the beginning of a new season!
I don't know what kind of flower these are in the picture, but the builder of our home had them planted all around the perimeter of the house. They resemble BABY's BREATH which is used most often with long stem roses. I guess when we moved here last year we came just after all the flowers bloomed. I know we would've remembered had we seen this last March!