Two "kid-isms"

So we have been swimming A LOT this summer. This picture is taken at a local Japanese pool that we love. Their only rule is that kids have to wear swim caps. I don't understand it, but my kids happen to really love the "pirate hats" that they now get to wear. Anyway, on with the story. Joshy is feeling big and brave as he will now stand at the edge of the pool and jump into my waiting arms. Each time I catch him he breathlessly says to me in a most dramatic tone, "Mommy, you safed me my wife!" which translates into "you saved my life." I love it!

Also, at the pool today (this is obviously NOT the pool but just a cute shot of ocean exploring boys) Joshy tripped and fell thus scraping up his foot, knee and ankle a bit. I think this is the first time he has actually seen blood on his body (that is an acomplishment for an almost 3 year old boy). Anyway, he was whimpering and upset at the blood to which Andrew's consoling reply was "don't worry Josh, the platelets will fix it!" At this point Dana bursts out laughing while being very proud of his son that knows more about anatomy than any 8 year old should.

Andrew is 8!

My first born is 8 years old. I can't believe that both he and I are that old! Here are a few pictures of him when he was younger and then on the beach at his beach party.

We didn't have a digital camera yet, so this is when he was two years old. I REALLY need to scan all of his other pics into the computer.

So sweet. How do you resist such a face of love? He still has this same face.

Bringing in the "volcano" cake. Andrew was really excited about this cake!

It was a perfect night on Torii Beach. All that Andrew wanted was to have a campfire on the beach party, so we did! We had several families come and enjoy our picnic on the beach with a campfire party.



Some things I love about Andrew...
*He is always affectionate and loving.
*He is the most obedient child I know, even when he doesn't want to obey, he still does.
*He loves his younger brothers.
*He is his father and mother all over again. His father for his love of science, fast cars and astronomy and his mother for just about everything else (for better or worse).
*He LOVES peanut butter!
*He has the memory of 10 elephants, which scares me!
*He has great faith.
*He is "innocent" and doesn't try to tease or manipulate for gain.
*He has "chocolate" eyes just like his mom, and he loves that we have that in common.
*He is the best first born son I could have ever asked for!

Happy Birthday Andrew! I hope this year is full of happiness, health and new discoveries for you!
Love,
Mom

The Habu Trail and Hell...a comparison.

Wow, just wow. Where do I even begin? Let me see if I can find adequate adjectives to describe this workout.

Hmm, lets see. Both places would be very hot, one with fire and one with humidity. Both places take some work to get too, one physically and one with bad deeds. Both places you would rather be somewhere else. Hell vs. Heaven and the trail Vs. the jungle where I could just be eaten alive. Both places I would not like to see for a very long time. Hell, well I hope to never see it and the Habu Trail at least not until the memory of the pain fades. :)

Ok, so it was rough. Intense. Hot. An hour later, I am still sweating. The Habu Trail is a service road that runs along the back of Kadena. It is a series of long steep hills. We walked to our starting point (I was already out of breath) carrying our gallon jugs of water; this water was to not leave our hands for the majority of the workout. They kept our workout between two hills, both long and quite steep (as in if your child ran down the hill they would fall forward on their face). I was relieved in the fact that it was not going to be an all out run for an hour. It was a circuit which I normally like. Circuits are fun, fast paced and such a mix-up of activity that the time flies. Well, I think we were in some kind of a time-warp on the trail because I am sure time stood still.

We were to jog down the hill, sprint up the hill and do 25 squats, down and up the hill 25 mountail climbers, down and up 25 jumping squats. Down and up 15 push-ups, down and up 25 sit-ups, down and up and I can't remember as I was then starting to halucinate pools of cold water to throw myself into. Oh yes, I remember. We had to walk down the hill doing ice-skater squats and then up the hill doing lunges (see, I blocked that out for good reason). We then had to just jog down and up three times without any additional circuit. Once down the third time we walked back up using our jug of water for bicept curls and then over the head tricept curls. At the top of the hill we then did 50 jumping jacks, some other jumping thing that I can't recall the name of, 25 mountain climbers and then we were done. I do think that those at the front of the pack did one more lap than I did as I saw some doing more sit-ups and then dips on the railing at the top of the hill. I was happy to crawl into the fetal position at this point and try and think happy thoughts.

By this time, our hour was up and we needed to walk back to the cars. Honestly, it was the bottle of propel I had in the car that motivated me to keep putting one foot in front of another. I love that stuff.

So, in the end I am glad it is over. I am still sweating and soaked through to the skin but I did the trail of Hell, err I mean the Habu Trail. It was tough. I am grateful for two fantastic trainers that are very aware of each persons fitness level and are supportive of where each is at; they are really great. Now, to go crawl into a cold shower. I wonder if I can just sit in there and eat my oatmeal. Hmm. :)

Bootcamp Update

I bet you thought I had bailed out of bootcamp, eh? Well, I am not that lucky. :) Missing bootcamp on Wednesday taught me a good lesson. Which was, it doesn't pay to stay in bed. I was so disappointed with myself for not going that I was just a grouch. I was grumpy with my sweet boys for no reason at all except that I was mad at myself. So, I got on my treadmill and did a couple of miles but it just wasn't the same as bootcamp. At least it was something.

Friday I made myself go, sleep or no sleep. It was a good (read:painful) circuit workout. I was the most muscle sore I have been yet, due to this workout. The time went by fast and I was exhausted, shaking and even a little nausiated but most importantly, I was happy. I had done what I needed to do.

This morning was grueling. We had to do running at a track doing intervals of jogging and sprinting that translates into jogging/walking and walking faster for me. It was a long 45 minutes on the track. Then we did some ab work. Tough, but mentally satisfying. I would rather get up and get the workout done than be grouchy and mad at myself all day.

Now, to look forward too or at least mentally gear up for Wednesday. It is supposed to be their "best" workout! It is called the Habu Trail (lets hope I don't actually see any habu as I will have a heart attack and die right there and then). It is an up the hillside trail that apparently we will be running...with our water...our gallon jugs of water. Yikes!

A perfect night and a shamisen

So, one evening Dana and I had a rare night out thanks to my dear friend Katie. She lives near Zampa Beach so we dropped off the kidos and had a fun ramen dinner at a local joint and then walked down to the white sandy beach. We were (we thought) the only ones out there. We walked along the beach and did some good heart and soul talking when much to my enjoyment I could quietly hear a sanshin in the distance!



We followed the sound of the music, took our shoes off to cross the reef and climbed up the side of the pier. This is what I found! A lone man playing his sanshin on a sunset lit evening. Can I just tell you that I was in heaven? I snuck up to him and took several pictures of him. When he discovered me, he was happy to pose for several more.


One of my favorite cultural experiences here on the island is the shamisen/sanshin. It is much like a cross between a banjo and a guitar. Why don't you turn off my music on the bottom of the screen (push the button to pause it) and then listen to this youtube video. The boys picked this one out, as they all loved the sanshin and the taiko drums! Have you ever heard the song, The Devil Went Down to Georgia? Well, this is the Japanese version of a "dual" with the sanshin and taiko. I love it! The sanshin here on the island look a little different. They are more of a round shape and are covered in either habu or python skin. Owning one is rapidly moving to the top of my "must-have-before-we-leave-the-island" list.

Bootcamp Day #5

Ok, so today didn't happen. I stayed up a bit late working on my quilt squares. I usually go to bed by 9:30 at the latest on the nights I have to get up. But, last night it was 10:30. I didn't want to stay up so late, I just was right at the tail end of getting one of the steps done to all of my squares. Anyway, I went to bed as tired as could be. I snuggled down deep in my covers, and....nothing. I couldn't sleep! Hours ticked away, with my blood pressure increasing as the approaching hour of 4am was getting ever closer. At 2am I gave up the fight and turned my alarm off. ACK! I am now discouraged that it didn't happen for me! I can't allow myself to slide at all or it turns into a fullblown avalanche of letting things (my health) go. So, today I need at the very least to do a couple miles on the treadmill.

Sad to post this, but just trying to keep it real (as PW would say).

Don't hate me!

Bootcamp Day #4

Ok, so I almost didn't post because I think the "newness" of this is wearing off and I don't want to bore. But, I will go ahead for today.

Today we got to sleep in! Yahoo(as Josh would say)! I didn't have to get up until 4:50 this morning. Did you know that there is actually life out on the road at 5am? Who knew?! Anyway, I am sure it is all mental, but to me 5:15 am is a whole lot better than 4:45.

We met at Marek track. This is a 1/2 mile winding path that has a bit of an incline in some parts of it. The trainers had 4 stations set up along the path. We were to go around the track 4 times and everytime we reached a "station" we had to do whatever instruction was listed. For instance, 25 push-ups, 25 crunches, jumping squats, planking etc. Also, between each station we had to do something different like sprint, lunge, high-knee skip, side step jog etc to the next station. It was tough. I made it around 3x I think or maybe just 2.5x, it is all a blur after that. I was gasping for air and trying not to fall on my face with my wobbly legs. Once we were done, we did 40 dips at the picnic tables.

I really love the support this bootcamp gives! I am the last one around the track, which I really dislike (we don't use the word "hate" in this house) but I am hanging in there. Maybe, the next bootcamp I will not be the last one. WAIT?! Did I just say that? The NEXT BOOTCAMP?!?! What am I thinking?!

Ok, off to drag myself to the shower. I think it is just big enough to lay down on the floor and sleep in there. Zzzzzzz.

Water Fountain Fun

We took the kids back the aquarium a few weeks ago and let them play on the HUGE net play structure. Logan has zero fear and was leaping off the tallest of the nets down below to the next net layer. He thinks he really IS a superhero!

Andrew was a bit more hesitant but of course had to do what his little brother had no fear of doing. Josh started to bail off the side of the net to follow in his brothers footsteps; at that point Dana and I had a heart attack (these nets are REALLY high) and Dana climbed up there to retrieve Josh.

The kids were so hot and worn out from the nets that the decorative fountains looked very appealing!

They were given lots of looks and laughs from the Japanese tourists that were at the aquarium that day.

They really enjoyed themselves.

And of course, they were soaked to the bone.

Bootcamp day #3

So last night I was totally exhausted! By 8 p.m. I was struggling to stay awake and for anyone that knows me, that is very rare. I am a night owl! So, off to bed I went. Dana tucked me in and left me to hibernate in my dark cave of a room. I slept soundly (with NO benedryl I might add). I was confused as to why my alarm was blaring this morning at 4:20 so I assume I was in some good deep sleep. Yay!

The workout was, and can I acually say this? Fun. They had 8 stations set up for us and we were in groups of 2-4. Each station had 6 exercises to do for 1 minute each. The trainers kept track of time and were there to urge us to push harder and keep going for our 1 minute of whatever we were doing. It was hard, painful and intense but it also went by really fast. I enjoy doing a "circuit" for that very reason. The time flies while you are kept so busy ping ponging from one exercise to another. We were able to socialize (in a gasping for breath to talk kind of a way) with the people in our group, so that made the time go by fast as well.

Is it even legal to say that I am getting past the crazy fear of having to get up so early? I have to admit, there is a bit of satisfaction to tip-toe down the hall and out the door so as not to wake my sleeping children and come back home an hour and a half later to tip-toe back up the hall so as to still not wake my brood. I have accomplished something for the day well before the day has even started. Crazy.

Oh, one last thing. I. Cannot. Do. A. Burpee. Yikes!

Bootcamp Day #2

Ok, so another bootcamp day is upon me in 8 hours from now. Yikes! I am not AS much of a nervous wreck, but still jumpy. Of course, we spent several hours wearing ourselves out at the beach so maybe that is why I feel less uptight, I am to tired too!

This bootcamp goes MWF for me. They also give us homework on our off days as well as needing to email them our food journal for the day, every day.

I promise I won't blog about every work-out or work-out eve, it is just consuming my mind right now!

See you in the morning...if I can stumble back to my computer to report. :)

Think of me in your dreams around 4 a.m.

:)

Ok, Home again! Who knew that I could actually do this twice in the same week? Miracles do happen.

So, I pulled my comatose body out of bed in the pitch black of the night, err I mean early morning once again. Stumbled out the door while leaving behind me my soundly sleeping husband and children. Let me comment on my husband for a moment. He has been so supportive of me. He knows the monster I turn into when I am over-tired; think Sesame Street's Snuffelupagus on a rampage. He has been sleeping on our hide-a-bed couch the past few nights to be up with coughing children so that I can close my door and sleep without disruption. He truly loves me; I am blessed. Anyway, I left them in the quiet cocoon of our house and headed for the base. Reaching the track I saw that once again everyone was already started and being 2 minutes late really does make you behind. Here was our workout:
*Warm up lap around the track at our own pace
*Next lap, with 5lb weights in hand to do bicept curls and tricepts.
*Meet at the bleachers and run 3 laps up and down the stairs and across the back while doing leg lunges across the front.
*Run a half lap
*Planking with weights in hand and alternating picking up one hand at a time; x12 each arm.
*Do 60 step ups (about a 2 foot step)and one leg lifts; 30 on each leg
*30 squats
*Run a lap
*2 minutes of situps while holding a 5lb weight in front of you
*Planking for 1 minutes and then two seperate 30 second intervals
*Cool down

Most of the group were able to get two more laps in than I did, but I am slow! During one of my laps the sun started to rise. Well, who knew that a sunrise IS actually very beautiful and peaceful?! A friend was just telling me last night that she enjoyed a sunrise, I told her I like pictures of them but would rather just snuggle a little deeper into my covers. I guess I know what she was talking about now.

When I came home I found two very sweet emails from my brother David and his wife Heather; thank you so much for those! They made me cry and feel very loved. My hero brother Dave has just lost around 85 lbs! I am so proud of him. He looks absolutely incredible. My sister in law Heather just ran her first "mega-maraton" which is something like 32 miles. Woah..wow..and ouch. Here is a sweet quote from Dave's email (I hope you don't mind, Dave):If you miss a workout or have a bad eating day, put it behind you. Move on and don’t dwell on a setback. It is not a failure, only a setback. Who we are and who we become is determined by what we do most of the time, not by what we do some of the time.
Time is ticking away and I hear little bodies stirring in the room next to me. Time to go back on mom duty. Another day down and maybe just maybe another pound soon? A girl can wish right?

Peace Out...literally!

Ok, remember that sense of "peace" that I mentioned I was feeling about doing the bootcamp? Ya well, it's gone. I am a wreck. My stomach is sick, my heart is racing and I am pacing up and down my long hall. Why am I so nervous? I don't want to get up so early. Lame, I know. But good grief, why not have the bootcamp at 3am if you are settling on 4:45?! Heck, maybe 2:30am! It is all still the middle of the night to me. Whew, I guess I needed to get that off my chest.

The other reason I am nervous? I really, really REALLY hate being last. I am competative by nature; all of us Green's are that way (for better or worse). It kills me to try my best and still be at a snails pace. Tomorrow we are meeting on a track and are to bring a gallon jug of water with us...not to drink, but to use while running. I am having nightmares already; and that is a feat in and of itself since I highly doubt I will sleep tonight due to nerves. I need bath. And benedryl. A massage. A miracle would be nice.

YIKES!

Ok, I am back. Whew! That was exhausting; good, but wow. I took the "bene" and went to bed at 9:00. I slept! Benedryl is my new friend. I did wake up every two hours and finally got up at 3:30am with a coughing child but at least I was able to sleep.
The workout: INTENSE! We were put in teams and then did running up and down the stairs on the bleachers while alternating sit-ups and planking. Then out onto the track we again did relays back and forth with different running styles (ice-skating, backwards, side to side, high knees etc) WHILE carrying our gallon jug of water. While one of us was running the rest of us were doing jumping jacks, squats, planking, sit ups and the dreaded mountain climbers. O.M.Goodness. Back to the bleachers we went to do more squats and run up and down the stairs. Did I mention I was ready to "toss my cookies" somewhere during the track relays? Ya, well I was REAL ready by the time we made it back to the bleachers. I some how survived.

I am now home and sweating all over my computer (gross, I know but keepin' it real). I need to try and peel this sports bra off me and shower before Dana needs to leave for work.

The summary? It was hard but good. This is just what I need. The start time is insane but the good news is that next week we go to 5:15am! The trainers are supportive, positive and down to earth; I like them! This is totally going to kick my butt, but if it will reduce the size of it while kicking it then that is a good thing right? :)

Bootcamp Day#1

So, I finally joined one of the many bootcamps here on the island. I am scared. Not only am I extremely out of shape, but I also enjoy sleeping at normal hours of the night and this bootcamp is at 4:45 am!

This morning was an assessment of where we are physically, well you can all guess where I ranked in that department. We had to do a 1 1/2 mile run and then timed sit-ups and push-ups. After dragging my very tired body out of bed this morning (and I mean very tired, I couldn't sleep!) I noticed that it was lightly raining outside; hmm, not good. By the time I get to the track it is raining a bit more steady. Well, for most of the women there running this morning, the rain wasn't too much of an issue. But I am slow...really, really slow. By the time I had my last lap to do (with most of the others waiting for me under the pavillion) it was a complete downpour and well beyond breezy. I looked like a drowned rat out there. The last quarter of the lap a nice fit girl braved the downpour and ran (can I even call it a run?) along side of me to help me get to the end (thank you). Afterwards we had push-ups and sit-ups to do, yay! :)

It was hard. But a first step right? I bet you can only guess how excited I am to get up at 4:20am Monday morning to do it all over again, but at the same time I feel a sense of peace. Why? Because I am finally doing "something." Several of the women were so great to stay after and cheer me on while doing my (minimal) sit-ups and push-ups, so nice! The bootcamp is run by two women trainers that seem extremely supportive and 100% committed to helping me and everyone else there.

I am excited, scared and hopeful that this is finally my opportunity to get back in control and find out who I am again. Cathryn=who is that? So welcome to my journey of trying to shed that outer layer to find out what is hidden inside.

Logan is 5!

My sweet Logan is 5 years old today! He has grown up on me way to fast for my heart to accept. He is such a joy to have in our family! He has the funniest sense of humor, a Jensen to be sure. He is smart and witty. He is also very obedient and kind. He loves animals and music. He also loves to wear costumes and does on a daily basis.

Logan had a great birthday party a few nights ago. He wanted to go bowling and have a bowling cake. The poor little man was sick on his birthday, but still had lots of fun. Here are a bunch of pictures of sweet Logan growing up as well as his fun party.

2 days old and looking just exactly like a little Jensen.

Big brother Andrew helping Logan take some first steps.

Logan loved to play outside in his car.

This was taken at Aunt Candice's wedding.

Dressed and ready for church!

Having a great time bowling!

The "kid crowd!"

The bowling pins and ball that Dana and I made out of marshmallow fondant. Logan loved it!

Sweet Logan with his cake. Yes, he was as sick as his pale face looks.

Protecting the candles from a curious little brother.

"Oh Yeah, I did it!"

Mia, so cute!

Bowling lesson.

Max trying to fly away.

Caden bugged that he didn't get that strike!

Suzy-Q! Can I just take her home? So cute!

Josh...Mr. Pro-bowler.

Sabrina: sweetheart!

Butterflies

Andrew was loving all of the butterflies being attracted to the hat. I love the look he has on his face; it is one I see often when he is happy and sweet.

Logan was a bit nervous at first, but once he realized that the butterflies didn't have any teeth and just a long tongue he was fine.

They had artificial bouquets that had been sprayed with something that REALLY attracted the butterflies. The kids loved these! You could just slide your fingers up under the butterflies legs and lift them off the flowers.

Clearly, they had no fear and were just happy to land anywhere. I snapped this picture with one hand while trying to not startle this one.

They also had a bunch of large hermit crabs to look at which was good, because Joshy had had enough of the monster butterflies swarming him.

See? I told he he was done!

We did get one of him wearing the hat, though Dana had to steady him because he was ready to bolt.

I love love love this picture. Andrew caught one in his hands and was being so careful to be gentle with it. For some reason, this picture touches my heart. It reminds me of the love Heavenly Father has for all his children; strong, comforting and protective love that is there to shield you when you need it.

This bold one tried with all his might to lick my shirt to death only to be disappointed to many times. The butterflies were so attracted to my bright pink shirt. It is good that I don't have my mother's phobia of wings or I would have been a goner. :)