Foster Botanical Gardens-Flowers

Some of the flowers and trees we saw at the botanical gardens. I have some info on some of the plants.

Birds of Paradise is native to South Africa. It is such a beautiful flower!!

The Pineapple. It is not native to the Hawaiian islands. It is actually native to South America and was brought to Hawaii by Captain James Cook in 1770. In 1903, James Drummond Dole began canning pineapple, making it easily accessible worldwide. Hawaii produces 10% of the world's pineapple crop.

This interesting tree was called the "Sausage Tree". It is named for its unusual, long and woody fruits. It is from tropical Africa. Pendulous scarlet flowers bloom at night and in it's native habitat are pollinated by bats. Many animals such as baboons and giraffes rely on the "sausages" for food.

A flower from the "Cannonball Tree".

The Cannonball Tree is from South America. It sprouts flowers and fruit right from the trunk. The cannonballs are filled with a foul smelling blue pulp that attracts peccaries, pigs and chickens.

A Little Spicy

Silly guy is learning in history about why the Europeans wanted to travel to the Far East. His assignment was to choose spices we had in the house. Then we went to the store to see how much they cost and figure out how much they were per pound. I will say we went to Costco so the prices were much lower than they would've been in the grocery store. Wow, were we surprised at how much they cost.

If you can't read the picture:

Cinnamon-$4.64/lb

Basil-$15.68/lb

Salt- $0.21/lb

Pepper-$21.28/lb

Vanilla-$6.28/16 fl oz

Parsley-$21.52/lb

Paprika-$21.52/lb

Oregano-$22.32/lb

Rosemary-$16.87/lb

Volunteering

We started volunteering at the Oahu SPCA last week. They were recently involved in the rescue of over 400 animals. This number includes 133 dogs and their puppies, and 115 cats and their kittens. Their goal is to have all dogs in foster homes or to be adopted in the next few weeks. However with so many animals so fast, they are in need of volunteers! We saw the flyer at the pet store and immediately called and got on the volunteer list. We have been there twice and are trying to make an effort to get over there once a week.

The kids have made me so proud!! They have been working so hard caring for the animals and cleaning up at the shelter. They have swept, did laundry, washed bowls, cleaned cat boxes, and fed the animals. They never stop when we are there. They go to Ms. J and ask,”What can I do next?”

Ever since we have started volunteering their attitudes have changed. They are working so hard on their school work, completing their chores, and just seem to be in better spirits. So us volunteering not only has helped the Oahu SPCA it has blessed our family as well.

http://www.oahuspca.org/

I just love flowers!!

I love flowers and the great thing about Hawaii...they are everywhere!! Beautiful!!

Saying Goodbye

Being a military family you find yourself saying goodbye often. It doesn't get easier to say goodbye to dear friends. I just hope that my children will keep an open heart and not be

afraid to make new friends knowing that they will one

day have to say goodbye. I pray that they will enjoy

the time that they have with their friends while

they are around.

To not take for granted the time we have with the

special people who enter our lives.

And to feel blessed with the gift of friendship.

This breaks my heart...

We had to get some milk but on the way we got a little side tracked

We went out to get some milk last week and were a little side tracked. We decided we would go and take a walk on the beach. Here is a picture of my three cuties.Little Man was happy he found this big stick!

Not so happy that mom kept taking his picture!

"Mom, take a picture of my beautiful hair blowing in the wind."-Silly boy

Finally, after many years I was able to get a picture of Silly boy without some silly face!

It was really windy! My sweet girly!

She was laughing because I kept taking her picture.

Sandy tootsies!

Little Man found this teeny tiny rock and thought it was very special.

Brothers and Sister- I just love to watch them grow closer everyday!

Free E-Cookbooks

Here is a link I found on another blog to download free e-cookbooks. There are about 14 free e-cookbooks and also books to purchase. I know I am always looking for new recipes and inspiration in the kitchen!

http://www.e-cookbooks.net/

It's the Final Countdown

We have two more weeks until our summer break is over. We have really enjoyed our break. I think everyone is ready and looking forward to getting back into routine. My daughter said to me yesterday,"TWO MORE WEEKS! I am ready to start now." Well isn't that what every homeschooling mother wants to hear. I think taking this time off has really made them appreciate our learning time(let's just hope that last).
I have come up with our schedule for the new school year.

7:00 wake up, morning chores
7:30-8:00 breakfast and clean up
8:00-8:30 dress and mom shower
8:30-9:00 Bible
9:00-9:45 Language Arts
9:45-10:10 Recess/Snack
10:10-10:55 Mathematics
10:55-11:40 Science
11:40-12:30 Lunch
12:30-1:15 History/Geography
1:15-1:45 Oral reports, speeches, and presentations
1:45-2:15 Reading
2:15-3:00 P.E

I am getting ready and excited! I am praying for a successful school year!

Playing with photos

I bought Adobe Photoshop to edit my photos. It seems to be very complicated to me. I found this photo editing website on a blog I visit www.picnik.com . It is very user friendly and I am really enjoying how the photos turn out. For free you are able to upload five photos at a time and use some of thier options. You can also join for $24.95 per year and have many more options with 100 uploads at a time. Here are my results....

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A Shaved Ice Kind of Day

Today was a hot one! We had to get cool, so we went up to the local seed company for some shaved ice. Hit the spot!

Children's Discovery Center

Last week we went to the Children's Discovery Center. What a great find! The kids had so much fun exploring and pretending. They had numerous exhibits; the human body, my town, Hawaiian and World Culture, toddler area, etc.
B is blowing a giant bubble in the giant bubble maker

M is dressed up in China. "Anyone for tea?"

Here E was dressed up like a jellyfish. He told me he was a scary jellyfish

This is E in the sports room...future ballplayer

In this photo is Justice M
They had all of these rooms set up like parts of a town; the post office, fire dept, police station, grocery store, bank, theater, etc. It was really neat.

Firefighter B