Drew and Cameron

Our House is Done!...well almost...

2008-11-11T09:05:00.000-08:00

Our house is done!! Isnt it great?!

Just joking, this is the house i have been working on for the past five years and is just about done! The following is some pics of our house, little or should i say a lot less auspicious than the above house, but we love it and the kids seem to as well! I did a before and after series so you could see the great work Julie did.

Before: Kids Room

After: Kids room

Before: Master Bath

After: Master Bath. Off to the right out of view is the shower area. Its big enough to not need a shower door which is nice cuz julie can plop the monkeys in the bath and shower in peace while they play... I use the term "in peace" loosely! haha
Before: Living Room facing Makai

After: Living Room looking into Dining Room (please excuse the ugly portable ac unit)

After: Living Room facing Makai while standing in the kitchen

5 YEARS AND COUNTING!

2008-09-06T17:40:00.000-07:00

This past August 23rd we had our 5th wedding anniversary! We decided to celebrate by taking the famly out to the Ihilani for a mini vacation!

The view from our room!

We got Drew a goggle and snorkel from the shop and he loved being able to see under water!
We took advantage of the boys being asleep and had an early dinner at the Roy's!
Nite nite time.

Early in the morning the hotel has a fish feeding event where guests can throw fish food in the cove and the fish come right up to your feet to eat! Cameron thought that was pretty cool!
Some pretty big O'io! It was a really nice weekend for the family and thanks to Julie for putting up with me fo 5 years!

While She Was Out

2008-08-25T18:53:00.000-07:00

While Julie was home visiting, I tried to fill the days with lots to do so they would not miss Mama. As much as possible anyway. Luckily enough, the Nakamoto's were headed down to Aunty Deanne and Uncle Barney's beachouse for the weekend! I took the boys Friday and Saturday from lunchtime until bedtime and we had a great time! Above is Drew holding the Tako (Octopus) Uncle Pat caught diving! Drew has not stopped talking about the Octopus, or Uncle Pat since!
Drew with Uncle Pat
The cousins! (Pictured from top left) John (Meagan's boyfriend), Sean, Cameron, Meagan, (bot left) Paul, Cheynne, Julia, Drew and Dani.
The older cousins are having fun seeing what they can talk Drew into doing to Cameron! Thanks Uncle B & Aunty D and the rest of the Nakamoto's for a fun weekend!

Drew Starts Pre School!

2008-08-20T15:10:00.000-07:00

Can you believe we have a little preschooler amongst us? Yes, it is true, Drew started attending preschool at Kailua Baptist 3 1/2 weeks ago and is loving it! He has 11 little 3 year olds in his class with 2 teachers. Cameron and I take him to school in the morning at around 8:15 and play on the playground with him until the bell rings at 8:40 at which time he waves bye-bye to us and sends us on our way. I then usually run errands, check on the house construction, feed Cam and then it is back to school to pick him up. The teachers always give us his art projects from the day and they also have a web-site to keep us active on the weekly activities. We are very happy with Kailua Baptist and we are so proud of Drew!

GG's Birthday

2008-08-17T09:01:00.000-07:00

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GG!!!! I LOVE YOU!!!!!
Voochie-Bob The Great Grandkids
Sebastian

Auntie Dee and GGNana and Alyssa
DD and Ry-Ry

The surprise visitors

Beautiful Halle

August 20th, my GG turns 80 years old. I flew in Thursday night for the big birthday celebration that occurred yesterday. My cousin Josh (from LA) and I surprised my grandma with our visit and made her quite weak in the knees.....all her grandkids were there! The birthday party was fantastic! Kim and Harry did a wonderful job hosting and catering the event. Kim prepared all the food herself and it was so delicious. Harry had the yard and house looking fantastic and was head of the grill. Jessi came down from Canada with her two little munchkins and brought a beautiful cake, cupcakes, and made the very creative birthday crown. Denise, Troy, and Delores all made it for the event along with my Grandmas half sister and son. And then, of course, my parents, my sister and family, and Brian with little Jasmin. Kirsten even made a small appearance before she had to leave for work.

Thank you to everyone who put effort into making this party a big success. It was so great to see you all and I look forward to seeing you again in a couple months when we come back for Christmas. Thank you also to Grant for taking time off from his busy work schedule and watching the boys!

Above are just a few of the pictures that I took yesterday. Enjoy......I have to go board the plane now (can't wait to go see my boys)!

2008-08-07T17:43:00.000-07:00

the view from our backyard. koolau's to the right and kailua beach is more to the left (out of the photo view).

2008-08-02T01:14:00.000-07:00

Hey Family! Here are some progress pix of our house under construction! There's lots of work left to be done and we have been hustling and bustling trying to juggle work, kids, preschool and this at the same time. Julie has been our snoop doggie dog going out to the jobsite everyday making sure the guys are workin! the kitchen cabs are ordered, appliances should be getting here in a couple weeks and stone, wood and carpet are all ready to go in! Hopefully (actually more like we better be) we will be in the house in the beginning of september to start the next new chapter of our lives! Please dont mind the colors you see in the photos, our interior designer and master planner (also known as wife and mama) has all the new finishes planned and ready to go!

2008-07-20T22:15:00.000-07:00

Part 2 of our trip was to Universal Studios to see cousin Josh then off on a 3 night cruise to Mexico!

Josh was nice enough to hook all of us up with tickets to Universal Studios where he works and edits/produces movie trailors for big time movies!
We got to see all the stars! (like Curious George)

and scooby doo!
Josh has a window in this building that the tour drove by.
Julie was excited to see the Desperate Housewives set!

Waiting for the show pet skit to start...
Always time to wrestle in the room!

Thanks Josh for the great day at Universal!

And away we go! We goton the ship at long beach and met up with 50 others from the pfeifer family where we went on a three night tour to San Diego, Catalina and finally Encenada Mexico!

We kicked it of with a bang as Drew tried to test his luck wrestling some bigger opponents! Lissy was nice enough not to completely pummel him every time he tried!
Our 2 boys in the porthole ledge in our quarters.

Shopping in San Diego.

A little bike tour.
The Midway Aircraft carrier was pretty cool!

Dressin up for Dinner. This is taken early in the dinner... while thy were still in their chairs... and their clothes were still clean...
Papa and Nana
What a view (Catalina Island).

We rented a golf cart and drove around the island with the boys.

Catalina was a beautiful quaint little town... save for the bees and epishots!
We didnt get much more than 100 feet away from the trolley drop off in Mexico as Julie was hungry. She loves Mexican food... just not in Mexico particularly! :) Hence, not many pix at this stop! I think cousins Randy and Travis experienced enough of Mexico for all of us!... remember I made up for it on the boat boys!

Well, thats it for the trip, I think we promised some progress pix of the house which will be coming soon... Take care all!

2008-07-20T11:35:00.000-07:00

hey family and friends, we just came back from a trip to...

DISNEYLAND!

We arrived in LAX in the afternoon and met Papa, Nana and the Taylor's at the hotel in Anaheim in the early evening. Julie was so excited to be near Disney that we had to go that very night! We are in line for a ride watching the fireworks show. The next morning we were off to California Adventure Land! Drew and Alyssa had a blast getting each other wet!

Drew even drove a car for the first time!

The cousins had a blast everywhere we went! Little Cameron couldn't go on too many rides,

but he loved the merry go round!

And he did brave some some pretty scary ones! That ferris wheel went up super high and it had a double action slide that sent the cart back and forth as well!

Papa was also nice enough to give him some fun rides of his own!

Julie liked the screamer so much she went for a third spin on her own! That ride was awesome! (btw, not me behind her, another frowning Asian! :))

Our little animal lover Drew's favorite ride of em all? Jungle Cruise of course! He must have rode it five or so times!

part 2 of our trip was a visit to cousin Josh at Universal Studios and then to a 3 night cruise to Mexico with the Pfeifer Family reunion. to be continued... soon... we promise!

Moving Day

2008-05-23T16:52:00.000-07:00

Sorry, first of all, for not making a post in such a long time. For all of you that are not aware, we sold our house, bought a new house, and are moving into a rental property while we do some remodeling on the new place. Needless to say, a lot of things have been going on for us, but all are good things.

Everything is getting moved to a storage unit this weekend and then we are off to spend a week in Waikiki (thanks to Grandma and Grandpa Sumile) before moving into our rental. The first half of the week will be me, Grant, and the boys (w/grandma and grandpa next door) and then the second half of the week Grant will be off island on his muchly deserved annual golf trip with his boys. It sure will be nice to have Ray and Hazel right next door to help me while he is gone.

Above are just a couple pictures I've taken during our packing. Grant and Drew took apart our jungle gym last weekend and Drew reconfigured the pieces in our yard to make an obstacle course. The next day water had accumulated in the slide and the boys made it into a make-shift pool. It was so cute.....I bet they played for over an hour in there.

The boys have really enjoyed packing boxes with me as we have turned it into a game and Drew is sooooo excited to move to our new place.

I want to conclude by thanking Ray and Hazel for all of their help with the boys while we packed. We couldn't have done it without you!

He Walks!... okay, He steps!!

2008-05-09T00:18:00.000-07:00

Just a quick message to let you all know Cameron took his first unsupported steps tonight! Unfortunately, Julie went to Dream Dinners to put together some dinners for the family so she missed it! The little guy has been able to stand unsupported for awhile now and tonite he was playing and kept standing on the couch and laughing when he did it. So I put him on the rug and he got up and stood for a little while smiling then took three steps to me before dropping to the ground! He did it two more times before getting tired of it. Hooray for the little chumster! Grant

The Zoo

2008-04-28T09:51:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't already know, I recently led a Baby Hui group of 6 moms and babies. I participated in a group when Drew was a baby and had such a great experience and met so many new friends, that I decided I wanted to do it again with Cameron. Here are some pictures of my Hui group at the Honolulu Zoo this past Friday.

one green dollar!

2008-04-27T12:14:00.000-07:00

Hi all, this is Grant writing for the first time. This morning we started Drew on chores and an allowance! He has been helping us with little things for awhile and always wants to help out when we are cleaning or groceries and stuff. I was thinking he was ready for chores to start learning to be responsible and after we read up on some literature from the Baby Hui, Julie and I agreed that he was ready to start! We are starting by giving him small tasks (like picking up leaves this morning) and making it fun and giving him a quick correlation from work to reward by paying him after he completes the tasks. As time goes by we will work him back to a daily then weekly allowance. He knows the concept of money already since we have him give the money when we get him something at the store. Now he can learn the concept of saving up to get something he wants! We will start the chores with little things daily that Julie needs assistance with and eventually get him some set things he can be responsible for. Main thing for us is to make it positive and fun for him so he thinks positively about being responsible and helpful. I talked with him about it this morning and he was excited about the idea! The pictures are him with his very FIRST earned dollar after he finished picking up the leaves outside! The second picture is his money box. I helped him some, but he did most and we made sure he did a good, complete job then he got his mula! Good job to little Drew-Drew!

Boob Guy

2008-04-22T15:24:00.001-07:00

Today has been a very tough day on Cameron. I have decided to wean him. Actually, I've been trying to wean him for the last couple of weeks, but he is quite the boob guy and also quite the manupulator knowing how to break down mommy everytime. Because my plan of gradually reducing the amount of feedings isn't working, I'm going to try to go cold turkey during the day and see if I can get him to forget about the boob. So it is now 12:30pm and I haven't nursed him since 5am. He was fine up until it was time for his nap at 10 and then he started yanking at my shirt like a crazed child. I didn't give in and was able to divert his attention with a pasta picnic outside. At 11 though he had a complete melt down. I pumped and tried to give him a bottle (fyi...he hasn't taken the bottle whether it be my milk or formula since he was maybe 3 weeks old). He was fooled at first and sucked about an ounce of milk before he realized what I was doing. He then started crying even harder and pushing the bottle away. I just kept cuddling him and tell him that it was night-night time, trying the bottle here and there with no luck, until he finally gave up and fell asleep in my arms. Oh ya, I left out the fact that I had myself wrapped up like a sardeen and then a robe on top of that so he couldn't feel my skin or smell the milk. Please say some prayers for us that this transition goes smoothly and that I have the strength to stay with it. And if anyone has any helpfull hints, I would love to hear them.

Mom, Dad, and Deanna..... I sure wish you were here to help me!

The pictures are from this last Sunday. Daddy didn't want to leave the house because there was an important game on TV so we emprovised to give mommy the sun and relaxation that she needed and activities outside to get the boys active. For the kids, we blew up the bouncy house and turned on the sprinkler. For Mommy, Daddy made her a margarita and we moved the lounge furniture from the enclosed lanai outside so she could get some sun while watching the kids. And for Daddy, he watched the game from the lounge chair outside at the same time he chased the kids around. Something for everyone.

Mommy and Daddy get a break!

2008-04-20T10:41:00.000-07:00

Yesterday was a long, but fantastically fun-filled day! It all started at 10:30am with Grant and I dropping Drew and little Cam off at cousins' Pat and Wendy Odo's house. They have been offering to watch the boys for quite some time and we finally got over the guilt of accepting help and took them up on the offer....and boy am I glad we did! I have been wanting to go to the job site of one of Grant's big projects for probably about a year now and haven't been able to go with the kids since it is a dangerous construction site. Can I just say, my husband is so incredibly gifted! The house is like nothing I've ever seen including in design magazines! Unfortunately, I forgot to take my camera, but I will be sure to post some pictures of it at a later date so you all can see. We then went for a quiet, peaceful, long (1 hour) lunch at Kona Brewery and then it was back to the Odo's house to pick up the boys with crossed fingers that they behaved themselves. They both had a fantastic time and really took to Wendy, Pat and Drew said after he wants to grow up big and strong like Sean!

The boys (Grant included) then passed out in the car for two hours while mommy shopped at the new Nordstroms at Ala Moana. When they woke up we went to Sean's last baseball game (he plays 2nd base for Iolani's jv team) where they won against Pac Five 3-2....congrats Sean! We ended the night at the Iolani school fair where Drew had fun playing games, going on carnival rides, and jumping in the bouncy houses. Cameron had fun people watching just like mommy likes to do.

We finally started back home at about 7:30pm with Drew begging from the back seat to go back to Aunty and Uncle's house. Thanks so much for giving us a much needed break Odo's!!!!

What was I thinking????

2008-04-16T17:22:00.001-07:00

This morning I needed to get out of the house and also had to go to the supermarket for milk so I thought I would get in the bath with the boys, get ready, and take us all on a little outing to the supermarket, bank, and toy store. This would not have been any big deal on a normal day, but I'm leaving out the fact that both the boys have been sick since last Tuesday. (Hence no blogs for the last week). They have been whiny, snotty, and needy. So.....off we go! WHAT WAS I THINKING? On our way to the toy store, Drew burst into tears saying that he is hungry and has to go pee pee. So we made a detour to McDonald's to fuel up and play on the jungle gym then off to the supermarket. Of course I only went for milk and ended up with a cart full of food. The boys were great the whole time I was loading the cart and then they decided to throw fits when it came time to check-out. Cameron had had it with sitting in the cart and Drew insisted on unloading everything saying "no helping mommy, i do it all by myself!" So, we finally get out of the store and Cameron is, by this time, crying his eyes out and refusing to go into his car seat. And Drew, of course, insists he needs to go pee pee and poo poo........oh my goodness!!!! I repeat, WHAT WAS I THINKING? Well, although it was not pretty, we survived. We got home, had a quick snack, story time and both boys are now asleep. Yeah for mommy!

Picture 1- Cameron loves Drew's new scooter that he got from Grandma and Grandpa.

Picture 2- Drew finally takes a nap after 2 sick and napless days. Lucky for you, you can't see the snotty nose in the picture. His mouth is open because he can't breath out of his nose, poor thing!

Picture 3- The boys in the bathtub this morning right after mommy got out. Yes, I fit in there with both of them. Can you believe that this is the most relaxing part of my day? :)

Cuddle Time

2008-04-09T15:39:00.000-07:00

My normal weekly schedule usually consists of playdates, outings (ie. zoo, sea life park, beach, park), leading a Baby Hui Group, and errands......always going, going, going. For the last 3 weeks, however, I have been forced to stay at home to aid Drew in the potty training business, not wanting to leave the new puppy, and last week Cameron was sick. I think that being stuck at home has been a blessing in disguise. I think I got so caught up with keeping myself and the kids busy thinking that this is what we all needed (and also not being able to say "no") that I lost perception on what is really important. This really sank in yesterday after I lead my last Baby Hui group meeting and Cameron fell asleep during it. When everyone left, Cameron was still asleep and Drew and I just cuddled and watched 'Dumbo' for an hour. Cameron and I always get to cuddle as he is still nursing and sleeps with me, but Drew is now a full fledged 3 year old boy who is always busy and moving that I forget that he still needs cuddle time too. Oh he gets lots of cuddles in the form of long hugs and kisses and he also has the privilege of sleeping with Dad, but the times when we get a whole hour to lay together without having any interruptions from Cameron are few and far between. So today while Cameron took his morning nap, when I would normally play with Drew if home or be in the car on our way somewhere, I scooped him in my arms and told him that I wanted to cuddle with him. The smile on his face was enormous and his whole demeanor softened towards me and Cameron for the hours that followed. This is definitely something that I will be scheduling into my daily routine as I'm sure the day will come when he doesn't want to cuddle with mom anymore. But for now I will enjoy every minute of it.

Could the diapers be gone?????

2008-04-07T21:12:00.001-07:00

Ok, so last night I came out of the room from putting Cameron to sleep and Grant asks me "what do you think of putting Drew in underwear tonight"? I told him that although he woke up the last couple mornings dry, he has only been potty trained for 3 1/2 weeks and we shouldn't risk messing it up. Plus, I heard it can take up until 4 years old before kids can go thru the night.

Because my husband always listens to me :) he put Drew in underwear and guess what???? He woke up dry!!!! So I tried again at nap and again he woke up dry. It's amazing what gets me excited now a days. :) Woo-hoo Drew!!!!

Happy 3rd Birthday Drew!

2008-04-04T13:24:00.000-07:00

We celebrated Drew's birthday twice. On his actual birthday we went to Clay Cafe with all of his little pals. The kids had fun painting their clay object of choice and crawling under the tables.Yes, it was total chaos as the place was packed with people celebrating spring break.....mommy didn't give that much thought. Oops! Daddy was able to take a break and join us for a quick cupcake and then back to work for him.

The second party was for family and took place at our house over the weekend where Drew had two requests. He wanted the Madagascar Cake (second year in a row) and a pinata. And whatever our little king wants, he gets. Thanks to all the Sumile's, Krawsky's, and our terrific friends for the great gifts. Happy Birthday Drew!!!!!

Yeah for Drew-Drew

2008-04-03T18:33:00.001-07:00

I'm so proud of Drew! He pretty much potty trained himself in one day. His little pal Aaron was over at our house with his mom Jessica and we decided to let them run around the backyard naked as they jumped in the bouncy house and ran through the sprinkler. Aaron was working on potty training so I had the potty chair out for him to use. Well, Drew soon ran into the house with that bare naked little bottom of his, went pee in the chair, and then came back outside without saying a word to me. I looked curious at my friend and ran inside to see if my suspicions were true and, yep, they were. And that was the end of diapers for him. Well, he still uses them at night-night time, but that is it. The saying is so true that when they are ready, they are ready. I had tried once every couple of months since he was 2 with no luck. Little Cameron thinks the potty chair is pretty cool too so he likes to sit on one right next to brother. Aren't they the cutest!

Cameron's 1st Birthday

2008-04-02T12:56:00.000-07:00

Grant and I have decided to start a blog, after much persuasion from my friends and family, to keep everyone updated on the Sumile boys.

We have had an extremely busy month. Nana and Papa came for two weeks to help celebrate Cameron's 1st Birthday which took place March 1st. My cousins Kent and Pat and Tom and Sandi were also in town for the big event and it was so nice to have my side of the family represented.

Yes, Cameron is now one. He is such a happy-go-lucky little boy who always has a smile on his face. I was so excited to give Cameron his first cupcake at his party, but as you can see in the picture, he was less then pleased with this new found taste.

Drew also had a great time with the balloon guy and had fun shouting out that is was time to sing happy birthday (even though it wasn't) as he new what came after the singing.......cupcakes. We made an exception, sang happy birthday, and Drew felt pretty important.

Thank you to the Sumile's, Nakamoto's, Krawsky's and all of our friends for helping make his birthday celebration a big success. That's it for now. I will write more on our March events tomorrow.

Grandma and Cousin Trenty