This is Bruce when we first brought him home
he was the size of our baby duck "Quack Quack". Then, he just started to grow....
and grow...
and he kept on growing....
and as of right now...... he is not even half the size he will end up being. At four months, almost 60 pounds..... he is actually larger then our Golden now. Crazy!
We have been trying to grow an onion in a cup of water to prepare it for growth over the past couple of weeks. I think we may try and plant our onion this weekend. Hopefully the drought won't kill it off.
I also finished off a scarf for my dear big boy. He loves it! We are all wanting this heat to be over with, and are ready to take on the cold. Both me and Jordan are excited about dressing for the cold weather.
So with welcoming the new onion plant we hope will make lots of future onions for us, and the new scarf with the hope of some new weather, we also welcome a piece of history. A few weeks ago, my birth mother died of cancer, and she left me this golden cross behind. This cross had been in the family for generations, and it is now my turn to carry it and pass it down a few more generations. My daughter has already grown a love for it, and keeps trying to sneak it out of my jewelry box so she can wear it.
nothing much else besides my sweet boy has entered a new grade this year! I still can't believe my son is in the third grade!!!! And is now a bike rider!! No more walking to school, this boys got wheels now!
Have a blessed day everyone!
A few candid bw photos from our sweet neighbors Copacabana
Will update tomorow with story to go along with photos. In short - Great people, wonderful time!
BOYS WILL BE BOYS
Then, they went to the bath......
We have finally settled into our new little home in our new little town of Kingwood Texas. Wow, what an adventure it has been up until now! We are finally starting to merge into the texan lifestyle (NOT!). I have to say, I don't think to many people will want to have breakfast over at our house here with me serving up loco moco, and spam and eggs. Apparently the food here is Mexican, not sushi or poke'. I still manage to make our california rolls, Kahlua pork, yakisoba, lumpia, and all the "yum yums" that we are used to.
We have been very blessed here by having such wonderful neighbors, an amazing school district, and the greenest surroundings. So If all I am missing is the beach, the food, the weather, and my parents..... its not a bad change! haha. Seriously though, we are doing great, and enjoying the wonders that Texas has to share. The flowers here are just amazing! The friendliness of almost every single person I have met has been remarkable. I do miss my good friends and family back in Hawaii, and still have a constant yearning to be with them, but I am also developing strong relationships here as well.
We have the greenest trails that lead to everywhere in this town called "Green Belts". We enjoy our daily strolls down these lush trails.
The houses here are just amazing! So much history to them! We love our home. A funny story about our home...
Apparently the previous owners had a daughter that would sneak out of the home. Because of this, our home is built like Fort Knox! A key to every door, including the pantry. To lock/unlock the doors from the inside of the home you also need to use a key. Needless to say, we feel pretty darn safe in our home.
The interior of our home is just amazing as well!!! The construction of the house has so much personality.
We even took on the care of a baby Mallard named "Quack Quack".
So stay tuned to read about the craziness that could only happen within our family!
Welcome to the Hughes Home!
p.s. The Cherry Dr. Pepper at Sonic is "DA BOMB!"
and a couple more...
Good Night.
What's new?
Oh where do I begin?!?
For starters, I can finally confirm that we are moving! We board our plane, and fly to our new home on the 21st of next month! Texas - Here we come! So, mixed in with all the bustle of Christmas, we have had to add packing to the craziness. And if Christmas and packing for our move in thirty days or so wasn't enough, we have all managed to be SICK! In all honesty, I have never been a huge fan of Christmas hoopla, but this year, it hasn't been so bad considering we have been way to busy to even notice it much. In the midst of purging, packing, and looking for a home, Christmas has kinda taken a back seat this year. Never fear, my little children of mine, I promise you will have surprises under the tree!! I have recently took up crocheting, so as gifts to all my little humans, I have made a hat and scarf set for each. I am pretty proud of my first works, and pray they like them as well. After all, moving from Hawaii to Texas in the dead of winter - they will be much appreciated (even if they don't think there cool once they open them).
Jordan, is finished with his semester, and is now out of school. He will start his home school full speed ahead during the week now right after Christmas. I have to admit - I am a little nervous. I pray I won't fail him!
So many big changes in such a little time...
"Your word is a lamp to my feet
and a light for my path."
During home school with Jordan, we keep coming across this verse, and it has just stuck with me and opened my eyes a little wider to the glory of God's word. Not only has it made an impact on me, it has also made an impact on all three of my children.
When I asked Jordan to tell me what this means, his reply was
"When it is very very dark out side, to dark for anyone to see anything, God will come and shine a night light very close to your feet so you can see where your going"
I asked him what kind of night light do you think he uses? He answered
"A very very bright one mommy. Remember, he also made the sun".
I told him that a flash light can make a bright light, so can a lantern or a fire. I asked him what the devise was that he used to make this bright light?
"His words, when he speaks, he shines a bright light. When he stops speaking, then the light goes off."
"I want to hear his words even more now. When I go to bed tonight, I will listen to him. I hope he talks to me. Mom, I don't think I need my night light tonight if I can hear God."
Using an old technique for making your images softer, I played around with saran wrap. Covering my lens with a bit of that plastic wrap I was able to apply a very soft touch to my photos.
Some photos I took
Let me know if you try it, and how it turned out for you!
Lately the weather has been leaning more on the side of a Hawaii winter. Here are a few photos of the twins enjoying some early morning chilly weather.
Good bye,
Have a blessed day
A little history I found on the glorious world wide web about Garden Gnomes:
(some cute gnomes that sit in my neighbors flower bed. Thinking that I should get a few of these little guys)
The international family of gardening gnomes dates back to the era when the form of the globe consolidated out of Chaos, and the forces responsible for precious and base metals and precious stones implanted them beneath the surface of the earth. Unlike men, gnomes learn from the past and they also have the ability to predict and learn from the future.
Their name derives from the Greek word gignosko, meaning 'to learn, understand' and the principal gnome characteristic is an acute understanding of every aspect of the Cosmos.
Garden gnomes are about 12 centimeters tall and formed in proportion. They resemble the original people of their host country, so that a Beijing garden gnome is Chinese in appearance, a Hairy Peruvian gnome resembles a native of Peru, and so on. Apart from their small size, a notable difference between gnomes and humans is their expression of ageless good humor. Garden gnomes lack the human facility for worrying, practice therapeutic festivity and consequently live for several hundred years.
The gnomes character is helpful and benign. Gignosko provides them with insight into the spirits of all animate and inanimate creatures and objects, so that they find it easy to influence and co-operate with trees, tools, animals, plants, and every other creation of the Cosmos and its inhabitants.
I have always loved these little guys. There is something about their pointy hats, and smallish size that awaken the feeling of childhood magic in me. For Halloween this year I decided to dress up my babies as boy/girl garden gnomes.
Jordan was not interested in going along with my little idea, so instead he decided on a scary "devilish" looking mask. (It has been interesting the last week or so with him running around the house scaring the babies with it. BTW - William DOES NOT like that mask one bit!)
While Jordan took the cool route and did his scavenger for sugary goodness with his friends, Chase, My mother, Punkin, and the babies walked from house to house as fast as Williams little feet would take him.
During the last two weeks, Charlotte has been learning about Halloween in her lessons, and was over joyed when "the day that it is okay to take candy from strangers" finally arrived. She would run up to every door announcing her presence gleefully shouting out "Trick or Treat" at every door. She was a PRO!
William followed in his brother and sisters footsteps all the while staying very close to us making sure that the "Scary ones" would not come anywhere near him.
They had so much fun going from home to home collecting all their sugary goodness.
At home, they have little scavenger bags that they carry around with them all the time. They are always collecting leaves, grass, flowers, toys, crackers and keeping it safely stored away in their satchel. They call these things their "treasures". So when we gave them their candy bags, and all these people started putting multiple candies in their bags, these candies became more then just candy. The candy became "treasures". They carried that bag as tight and as close to them as they could. Even mommy was not allowed to touch their bags. Even the neighbors giving them candy were not allowed to touch it to open it. They just would rather take the candy from their hands, say thank you, and place it in their bags them selves. It ended up to be a sort of long drawn out process, but they were happy with their system.
We even ran into a familiar friend. They were so excited to see him, and chatted him up like they were the best of friends for years. I honestly think that seeing Scooby Doo was one of their highlights of the night.
Of course Scooby was not the only loved pooch that night. Our Service dog Punkin was loved by all, young and old. He was in doggie heaven from all the attention that he was getting tonight.
I hope everyone had a very blessed and safe Halloween!