Hina is about to walk, which is very very fun to watch.
We went to our favorite place, upcountry today.
We haven't been here for a long time.
We had a great time.
Martin's finger is getting better enough to hold two girls.
Hina is about to walk, which is very very fun to watch.
We went to our favorite place, upcountry today.
We haven't been here for a long time.
We had a great time.
Martin's finger is getting better enough to hold two girls.
Tomorrow we plan to clean up the Toyota and go for a drive.
We went to the zoo upcountry yesterday.
We had a good time there.
Hanna was a little afraid of everything, but Hina was very curious about
everything.
Both of them enjoyed touching and feeding animals, though.
We got a nice photo with a giraffe. We'll send it to you shortly.
It's getting a little cooler here in Kihei in the morning and evening.
Martin's little finger is getting better.
Hanna and Hina had a minor cold for a couple of days, but other than that everything is fine.
Hina is really walking. She is sooo happy to be able to walk. She wants to eat by herself, but she has only four and half teeth, so I started to prepare finger foods. Today, she ate tofu, smashed brown rice with sea weed. She loves fruits. At the sight of fruits, she goes crazy, and when she eats, she looks intoxicated? Hanna loves to play with Hina. They are always together. They laugh together, make loud noises together, cry together, and so on. They are very loud... They are a handful, but they are our angels.
Kai came back from Japan. They are so happy to play together again.
Hanna wants to get married to Kai. Actually, Hanna had a broken heart
recently.
She told me that sadly.
She wanted to get married to Papa,
but she understood that she can't so she chose Kai.
Hina is doing fine.
We are all doing fine.
We'll have a friend coming over from Japan soon, so we'll all have a great
fun together.
Hanna and Lizard
Hina and Saki playing together! (Kai's little sister)
Hanna and Hina love reading and dancing.
We started to see what type of child Hina is.
She is a typical one year old according to the child raising books.
It's much easier to understand her (so far) than her older sister.
It's so fun to see Hina copying everything that we do.
Happy Halloween!
We went out to do "trick or treating" with our friends tonight, and Hanna
and Hina got a lot of candies.
Hanna was a ballerina angel? and Hina was wearing the clothes that I was
wearing when
I was little. They were happy to have all the sweets.
Bubbles.
Hanna and Hina wearing paper clothes after grocery shopping.
Hanna and Hina reading together.
Hina is wearing mama's vest that mama's mother knitted for her.
Hina, the model!!!
It's Hanna's job to decorate, and it's Hina's job to take everything down.
I make Christmas ornaments, and Hina breaks them in a second.
This year again, our tree is patiently enjoying being naked and decorated
all the time.
We went to a friend's house yesterday.
Everybody had a nice time.
We are grateful that we have nice friends here.
Both Hanna and Hina are usually shy, but when they are at a friend's house
they usually make themselves too at home.
This is because they see lots of toys that we don't have at home and also TV.
We are grateful that we have nice friends here.
We had a friend's family over here yesterday for "Girls' Festival."
We had a dinner together, and all the girls played together.
You see the little Hina dolls behind us in the photo.
We met them at the park a few months ago.
They live a few months in CA, and mostly live on Maui.
Their daughters are 4 yrs and 1 yr old, so it's very nice for
Hanna and Hina. Hanna was soooo sad that this day was over
last night, which is very unusual for Hanna to carry the psychological
attachment for anything and anybody (she only lives in the moment).
We are so grateful that we met them.
Hanna made a telephone call to Grammy. We can guess that
she explained this lizard. Is it a pet? or a native?
It was such a beautiful day today for an Easter egg hunt as if a new life has really begun.
Hanna and Hina enjoyed an egg hunt today.
We made a lot of boiled eggs and painted them. While they were taking a
nap, an Easter bunny (Martin) came and hid all the eggs in our backyard.
Our backyard is full of green, so that we thought the colorful eggs weren't
so hard to find. However, it took longer to find them than we thought.
They enjoyed searching for the eggs, and they were so happy when they found
them. Later Hanna said that it was too easy for her to find the eggs so
that the bunny has to do a better job next year.
We had the Easter eggs for snack.
We'll be eating them for a next couple of days.
We went to our friend's daughter's birthday party yesterday. Hanna had been so excited to go to this party, and kept mentioning about it every day hundreds of times.
She has started to enjoy playing with girls her age these days. Hina likes
to just follow her big sister everywhere.
However, when Hanna saw her old friend who moved to Wailuku in February,
Kai, their time instantly went
back to their good very very old days, and they happily played together.
They almost occupied Rachel's (the
birthday girl) room all for themselves for a while, or maybe their
excitement made the other children stay away from
the room until it became somewhat normal.
Rachel received a big pink bicycle from her parents as a birthday gift, and
Hanna turned into a green eyed
monster (envious Hanna). Since Rachel is a very gentle girl, Hanna, Kai and
Hina could enjoy riding on it.
We received the book. (What's going on in there?)
Thank you very much. I love reading, and I do enjoy reading a book about
children in general, so it'll be fun.
Both Hanna and Hina got colds again. Everytime we have a party, kids share the germs. The friends' children are sick as well now.
Hanna and Hina found new friends who moved here a month ago.
I definitely see a big change that Hanna wants to spend more time with her
friends at her age, not with Hina or with us any more. I'm glad that she is
going to the kindergarten soon.
Hanna and Hina wearing pajamas.
They got them from my cousin.
Hanna had her five year old birthday party at the park yesterday with a lot
of friends, including a girl she met yesterday. Hanna even invited the
girl, and played with her with her other favorite friends, which was very
nice of Hanna and made me feel very happy to learn that she enjoys sharing.
All children had a great time running around, playing together, and eating.
The parents enjoyed it as well.
It was a very wonderful day for everybody.
Hanna is going to kindergarten from August, and she started to become very sociable and open with her age children these days.(she still doesn't like to say anything to adults, though) I used to chase after Hanna at this park all the time, but I no longer need to do that. She takes off and comes back like an airplane, and I'm like an airport always being there waiting for her.
The current crop of mangos has pretty much run out by now,
but in a few months there should be several hundred more.
I don't know if there will be any when you are here or not.
We have been eating four or five a day for the past several weeks,
and have not gotten sick of them yet, as in some previous years.
From Martin:
We had a nice day today sitting in the shade behind our apartment.
We went to the bon dance.
Both Hanna and Hina were so happy to wear the yukatas and to dance.
There were a lot of Japanese speaking people, and caucasians who wore
yukatas and danced well.
Hanna didn't hesitate to dance with strangers without us, and was very happy
to dance even though
she has never tried bon dancing before. One nice old lady helped her to
dance, and Hanna seemed to have
listened to her and copied her very well.
We went to Keanae yesterday, which is one of the few places left where
Hawaiians live.
We visited some families living there.
It was a very different and beautiful place.
All of us really enjoyed being there.
Everything was very beautiful,
and people there looked very peaceful.
The foods they provided were all delicious.
I felt that the time was much slower there than here.
Hanna and Hina enjoyed looking at the ducks swimming in the taro patch,
picking up all sorts of seeds and fruits, and playing with the little girl's
toys and with her.
We all had a great time celebrating Hina's two year old birthday.
Hina knew it was her day,
and showed us special smile.
We videotaped the birthday party,
so we'll send it to you later.
This time I send some photos taken at the Maui County Fair.
Hanna was very excited to ride on the Merry-go-around and also to eat cotton candy.
Hina tried cotton candy for the first time,
and was very surprised to realize there is food sweeter than fruits.
Happy Halloween!!! Hanna the butterfly. Hina is behind her...
We went to the lantern walk at Hanna's school a week ago.
Each family brought some vegetables to the school one day before the
lantern walk, and the children and the teachers cooked "stone soup"
for the parents for the lantern walk. They even baked corn bread.
All of us gathered at 5:00pm at the school and had the soup and
bread. It had a lot of vegetables and love. After the dinner, we
were supposed to have a lantern walk outside, but it was raining, so
we did the walk inside. Each child had their own lantern that they
made at school, and they walked in a circle with the lantern singing.
Hina joined the walk and was proudly holding the teacher's lantern.
The rain stopped, so we went outside and had some songs and cookies
watching a bonfire. It was cold outside, but so warm inside. All the
children looked so beautiful.
We went to Hanna's school for the Advent Spiral. I hope you won't feel too uncomfortable for this religious event. All of us are enjoying all the events that the school provide.
The Advent Garden - The seasons and their festivals have been sources of inspiration and hope for human beings from the earliest times. Advent is a time of inner searching; introspection, anticipation, and hope are woven into the tapestry of our souls during Advent. At this, the darkest time of the year, we await the birth of a new inner light to warm our hearts and enoble our thoughts and deeds.Every year during Advent, a unique festival is celebrated by the children in Waldorf schools around the world. This is the Advent Garden. The Garden is a long spiral path of evergreen branches, moss, and holly and is decorated with crystals, precious stones, and seashells. At the center of the spiral is one large, steadily-burning candle. The darkened room, the spiral pathway, and the gentle sounds of music create a certain mood of reverence and quiet expectation.
Each child walks the spiral with an unlit candle and lights their candle with the "light at the center". The apples, which serve as candle holders for the children's candles, may be seen as a symbol of the human being. After the children light their candle they walk out of the spiral, each placing his/her light somewhere along the path.
It is a powerful moment for both the parents and the children. As parents we are filled with the profundity of watching our child's walking of the spiral pathway. It brings up all those emotions of our involvement and love, plus thought about our children's special talents, gifts, and qualities that we hope will unfold in the years to come. We hope that a selfhood will blossom, one comprised of an inner richness. This selfhood, this inwardness, is the Light, the flame at the center of the Advent Garden.
Watching each child walk in and out one by one along the spiral made with evergreens, stones, seashells, and crystals. I couldn't help crying. Each child was so different in the way they walked, lit a candle, turned around, and went back to their seat. Some walked so slowly and proudly, and some went so fast. It was very comical, but at the same time sentimental for the parents to watch all the children light their candles.
