Wuz da nite befo' Christmas

This classic was written several years ago by Margaret Steele

Wuz da nite befo' Christmas an' from hea to Wailuku,
No creetcha wuz stirrin' not even one uku.
Da Keikis wen snuggle down safe in da beds,
Big dreams of tofuti wen dance roun' da heads.
An' me wid my Primo an' Ma wid her poi,
We jus' settle down fo' one rap, - when oh Boy!
One awful big clatter come from da lanai,
I tink maybe coconuts wen fall from da sky.
I wen jump up so fas' I knock ova da chaia
I wen run to da windo to see what stay dea.
All ova da beach da kine silva moonlight
On da sand an' da sea it shinin' so bright,
I can see all da tings on da sho' plenty clea,
An' I see sumting out dea dat stay mo' plenty quea!
One tiny surfboard lyin' der on da groun'
An' eight tiny sea horses jus' swimmin' aroun'
An' one little ol surfer so lively, so quick, -
I wen tink to myself, "Ey, brah! Dat Saint Nick!"
He wuz chubby an' jolly, da kine roly poly,
An' dressed all in fur fro da chin to okole.
He had one white beard an' one little roun' belly
Dat went shake when he laugh like Tutu's guava jelly.
He wastin' no time, brah, he wen put down da sack
Dat wuz big as one mountain slung up on his back.
He got plenty good tings for all da keiki
An' he wen pile dem unda da coconut tree.
He work an' he work an' he neva pau hana
Til he put someting der fo' all da Ohana.
He wen give me one wink an' one shaka, an' - pau!
Da seahorses dey know it come time to go now!
He wen pick up da board an' he run to da ocean,
He wen harness da team an' he settem in motion.
Mo fasta dan jet planes da seahorses swum
He wen whistle an' shout an' he call 'em each one:
"Go Kimo, Go Noni! Gettum Kipo an' Lani!
Go Kona, go Pua! Geevum Kiki an' Nani"
To da cres of da wave, tru da foam an' da spray,
Dey swimmin' like crazy, dey flyin' away!

Til all I wen see on da wata out fa,
Wuz one twinkle of light like one dyin' out star.

But I hea ol Nick holla
Across da dark sea,
"Merry Christmas, da kine,
Aloha Hawai`i!"

So much for paradise.

About a day after the last post the family got sick. Not just regular sick. We've got it coming from everywhere. And when I say everywhere i mean everywhere. Upstairs, Downstairs, outside, car rides, church, scouts.

It all started with the VOG. Volcanic ash in the fog brought by the wind from the main island. The more sunlight it receives the more toxic it is to your lungs (so I'm told). It's just little tiny lava rocks. So you can imagine how that'll agitate your lungs, throat, nose, and eyes. We started with allergy type symptoms and then the nights got good. So with all my great intentions to do all these wonderful Christmas things they've been sidelined due to twice maybe thrice weekly Dr. or ER trips. Bronsen wasn't breathing well and choking on it a lot and dropping weight. So we were in a lot for that. Beckett couldn't keep anything in him long enough to know he had food in there. Brenner out of school and myself too. Phew. Just writing about it makes me tired again.

But I have to tell you this story. My sweet husband is doing his best and at a very hard time. We're just new to the three kids thing and I leave for shopping (after Thanks Giving) early in the morning. He goes to get Beckett out of bed and finds vomit all over the bed and it smells like death. Poor little guy tells him, "poo poo poo poo" pointing to his favorite glow in the dark dinosaur feet pajamas. Now this is where I remember him calling me.

"Hey while your out pick up some pajamas for Beckett."
"Uhm okay. "
"We had a situation this morning. He had bad diarrhea and I threw them out."
"You what?!"
"Threw them away."
"You don't throw them away. Rinse them out in the tub. "
"NO. They were covered in diarrhea."
"Yeah. Rinse them out."
"No you don't understand. They were pooling in the bottom."
"I know I've done that twice a day for the past 5 days. RINSE them out."
"I can't they're already in the dumpster."
"What? Honey you don't make enough money for us to just throw away his pajamas when he poops them."
"I do today. Buy him some PJ's."
"Roger that roger."

Now I'm laughing and shocked that he did it and feel bad that I've left him with the kids and then remembered. He's the father and a great one at that. He'll be fine. It's the old adage. Be happy the towels are folded. It doesn't have to be the way you fold them. They're done. So I picked up 4 pairs of pjs for the boy and with out feet. However, Beckett has been asking for his 'dinotoar' pajamas. And I can't find any anywhere. If anyone out there finds some please let me know.

So with that I'll update once everyone gets better. But Christmas is going to be so late. This has been the first day in three that we haven't been to the ER. So I'm hoping to get to the post office to mail everything out. I had all of it started before thanks giving and now it looks like I just did it. Oh well ... all is fair in love, war, poop, & midnight ER trips.

Mele Kalikimaka to you and yours.

P.S. I refrained from submitting any photos of the illnesses. I'm sure we all get enough without wanting/having to see some other kids business.

Day 3 of CCC

The boys are starting to get the hang of this and to be honest I'm really liking it too.

Brenner served me this morning by being ready for school before I got up. I actually slept in until 0730-ish. okay okay it was more like 0745. But he was coming up the stairs to tell me goodbye before he hopped on his bike to ride to school with his friend Raven. Thanks Brenner.

Got Bronsen up and fed a little and back to sleep he went. Thanks New-B.

Went to rescue Beckett and he was clean. No extra fluids to report and a happy Kemper to boot. Didn't even argue that I took the pj's off to put clothing on him. Thanks Little-B.

What good service we have here.
I served Brenner by doing his chore of the recyclables. I started pulling out all the stuff and then decided that our donate pile was too big. Beckett supervised while I loaded it into the back of the car.I also let someone serve me. I was going to serve Kemper by taking a coin to the trophy shop for him. When my friend needed some help. I served her by printing off her flyers for scouts/school and then asked her to help me by dropping it off. She said yes so quickly and was so happy to help. I felt weird asking but when I saw how she was happy to help it made it easier and less guilt ridden for me to request and receive help. Thank you Monika. Oh and she also threatened to call Kemper to find other things for her to help me with because she knows I won't ask again. ( really only asked because I knew the copy shop is next door to the trophy shop at the PX)

We loaded everyone up in the car after school & homework was done and went to drop off things.
A good friend of ours has two little boys that are right in between my first two. We had gone through all kinds of books and games and kid magazines and took them over to the Harshman's household. They were great sitting in the car and not yelling. You can see them even helping the New-B with singing and binkie location and replacement. Thanks Big-B.We first took a bag of toys to the Kalakaua Community Center. We noticed last time we were there that they didn't have toys for little people while parents talked to the housing people and so we thought we'd help. Brenner was great! He held the bag and gave it to the lady. (I had to talk them into taking them. I just couldn't have them tell me no. I whispered please help me teach them of giving.) All of us left there happy to have helped and Beckett held Brenners hand all the way to the parking lot and didn't scream or try to run. Miracle starting to work.
Then we stopped at the local Base Thrift shop and donated the rest of our extras. This gives jobs and purpose to peoples lives who work there. It also helps everyone with cheap and still good items. I love shopping there and my mom and I have always found great items. It save me from a lot of my post-partum with Beckett. I would just go the two days a week it was open and walk around. I was out of the house and had to see people and it helped give me a purpose for a day.

I also had the forethought to ask friends of ours if we could help serve them this season. Think of things we could come and do for them. So we'll see some more people from around here to serve. If you have something you might need us to do please let us know.

I also decided that I didn't want to be the one yelling all the time to get away from the tree. (I have a huge department store tree with huge 10 yards of ribbon bows and ginormous flowers) and didn't want Beckett pulling it apart or the extra work of taking ALL of the toys out of the toy area to put it up. So I got this great idea to make our own. If I had my own house I think I'd do it straight on the wall but this way I can take it down easy. I thought I'd just throw it out but I think it'll become the cover to a Christmas album or at least a background page. I love that it's all truly a part of us. Brian is the Star on top. I'm the snow. Brenner and Beckett's hands are the green boughs. And Little Bronsens feet are the red ornaments. I have flower tea leis to add as soon as I find the hot glue gun. But they loved it. I'm going to send this into my parents and wonder years magazines. It's a great idea.

The videos are just funny. Real life right? Beckett wouldn't stop screaming and then actually loved his consequence.