Just some more yard pics...

and pics of our silly dogs.

Why not try?

So I filled out an application for a chance to win a small business grant for my painting/artwork. It seems like a long shot, but there are no risks involved in trying!

To even be considered for the grant, I must have 250 votes.... so please go here and vote! I think you have to login and then search for Emily Carder, in the State of Hawaii. When you find Inspired Art by Emily Carder click on the Vote button beside my business info.

Thank you!

Little Bird

Yesterday, we found a little dead bird in our driveway. It had flown into and collided with our friend Kaye's car and then ended up dying in our driveway. It's a Japanese white-eyed and oh so lovely. I let the kids hold it and look at it up close, and before I knew it they had named "him" and were picking flowers for him. They acknowledged before I did that this little creature had a soul and is one of Jesus' precious creations.

²⁹ Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. Matthew 10:29


Isn't he beautiful?

Lilikoi flowers

....which means lilikoi(or Passion Fruit) will soon follow!

The other bloom Ella found and wanted to share.

Discovery: Rock climb in the front yard

This afternoon St. John discovered a perfect little rocky/grassy wall for the kids to climb. Everyone got completely worn out and even the dogs joined in! We've lived here 6 months and are still discovering new aspects of the property.

Fundraising question

Lately, I've been pondering the question of fundraising.

Mark and I would absolutely love to adopt. Since we married, we've talked about how great it would be if we could afford to adopt not just one, but many children. So what if we can never "afford" it. Does that mean God doesn't want us to adopt or does it mean He just wants us to work harder to make more money so we can adopt, or does it mean we should try some more creative ways to raise money specifically for adoption(as I've seen many other people do)?

I've had some ideas for fundraising, but not sure if it should be pursued or not. Ideas from others welcome!

And just because...a pic of Lucy, July 2010.

The many uses of Aloe Vera

Upon moving to our present house 6 months ago I found a rather large aloe plant growing. I didn't think much about it, only familiar with it's usefulness after a sunburn. But after a little research on the internet I discovered it has many other wonderful, practical uses!

I've been using it on the kids bug bites, to soften the skin of my ever growing belly, to smooth the skin of my face, on my hair, and on Ella's eczema.
I haven't been brave enough to actually ingest it yet, but many claim you can add it to smoothies and it's supposed to be good for digestion.

So, thank you to whoever planted this wonderful aloe vera many years ago!

Contentment

I found this picture of Lucy and I which was taken a few days after we moved to the Big Island, May 2010. So many changes since then! Not only has Lucy changed, but all of the other kids, too.

You know how some people comment about how "sad" it is that their kids are growing up? I've never quite understood that. I mean would they really rather them stay babies forever? I believe there is a rare genetic disorder for that. I enjoy watching our children grow and change and learn. I think it's the heart trying to hold on to this life, trying to ignore the fact that we are all here for only a short while. Thank you Jesus that we aren't here forever!

My current struggle of the mind is contentment. Contentment is a confusing subject for me as a Christian. We are called to yearn for heaven, not to treasure up things here on earth, and YET we are called to be content and thankful while here. Finding that balance has been and probably always will be a difficult object to find.

Em and Lucy 2010

Living in Hawaii

Depending on the day, my response to "How do you like living in Hawaii?" would vary greatly. There are things I love about it, such as the mild, nice weather most of the time, except for the rainy season. I also love being able to leave our windows open year round, and feeling the cool breeze blow through our house. On the other hand, I miss the seasons, and being able to enjoy a nice warm fire. We chose to live in a more rural area so that we could have a decent sized yard, so we drive a lot, and with gas being $4.75/gal it hard on our budget.
It's not paradise, it's still life here in Hawaii. The area where we live has the lowest socio-eco level in the state, and we see the evidence of that everyday in the hitchhikers, the many unemployed, the homeless, and the dilapidated homes. I think many people move here with a dream of an easy life where all you need to do to eat is pick coconuts and mangos, and live in your tent on the beach...think LOST without all of the pretty clean people.
I am thankful that we have been able to live here and will most likely stay for another year or so. I think living here will make me appreciate all of the things that I miss most about living on the mainland.

Let's get real

For the past couple of years, since moving to the Big Island, I've used this blog to post pics and updates of what is happening with our family as we live and grow. I've not included much of what is REALLY going on though if you know what I mean. Yes, we have lots of fun going here and there, but we also have many daily struggles that I do not mention here.
I follow a few blogs myself. I've discovered that I benefit from other bloggers that openly speak about what they are dealing with in this crazy life where we find ourselves. So, I've decided to try and "get real" and not be afraid of sharing on my blog.

So where to begin? I'll begin with today.

Today I had an appt. with my mid-wife at 24 weeks. Everything looks great, baby is growing normally and I'm not gaining too much weight, even though I feel like a fatty.

I'm working nights at the hospital, and I must say it's been a challenge. I'm not a night person, and I love to sleep. Thankfully Mark has been taking the kids on excursions when I need to sleep, so it's been manageable so far. I certainly do not want to do this long term, but for now I'm just thankful I have a job on an OB unit and work with plenty of super nice nurses.

I'm homeschooling St. John for the remainder of the school year. We have good days where he is excited about his assignments and bad days where he complains constantly and drives me mad. Right now his favorite subject is math, probably because I'm not his teacher- www.khanacademy.org is.

Friday's adventure!

Friday's adventure began at the surf shop where Poppy rented a two-man kayak(notice the lovely car decal--which is typical Big Island). After strapping the kayak on top of the van, we headed to one of the many small beaches in the Hilo Bay. While Mimi and Poppy took the kayak out for the first trip, the kids has a blast playing in the sand. When Mimi and Poppy returned I took Ella and Lucy out for a spin in the kayak. Then it was St. John's turn with Poppy. It was so much fun, it made me wish we had a couple of kayaks of our own!

March of Dimes walk

Ella, St. John and I enjoyed the March of Dimes walk this morning in Hilo. We walked with a group from the OB unit at the hospital where I work. We had a great time exercising and meeting 

new friends!

Mimi and Poppy are here for a visit!

---and everyone is so excited.
Here's a few pics of Mimi and the girls at their cottage rental(which also happens to be located near Ella's school).

Tea Party with Lucy

One of Lucy's favorite things to do is have a tea party. It's hard to believe there will be another little girl around the house for her to have her tea parties with!

3 kids

On President's day, I had to work and so Mark took the kids to one of our favorite spots. He took some funny pics:

Rainbow

Ella spotted this rainbow this afternoon from our porch....

Ella counts to 20 in Hawaiian!

Lots going on here

Lucy started preschool twice a week-- she loves it!

I started my new job at Hilo Medical Center in the OB unit-- I love it so far!

Instead of adopting right now(which is what our plan was), God has blessed us with a healthy pregnancy-- and we are super excited!! The baby is due in early August, and we are pretty sure it's a boy since the pattern has been boy/girl/boy starting with David, ending with Lucy. Do we still want to adopt? Absolutely, just not before August.

Banana Flower

Have you ever seen a banana flower? Well, I had not until I moved to the tropics. One of our banana plants just popped out a flower and I wanted to share it. Isn't it cool! The petals of the flower are the baby bananas!
The other pic is of a wild flower that I saw on a walk around the neighborhood.

Also, it has been super windy lately. That means lots of palm fronds and coconuts have been falling. So, I have been collecting the young green coconuts and have gotten 2 pitcher fulls of delicious coconut water!

Lucy turns 3!

Click on the you tube link:

Lucy's Birthday Party

Sunshines and Sunrise

My little sunshines:

A beautiful sunrise seen from our upper deck:

Christmas in Hawaii-

Was lovely. We have been having an exceedingly rainy winter, but Christmas Day has been nice and sunny.
We took Lucy in her trailer for a bike ride around the hood.

Here's hoping everyone had a very Merry Christmas!

Oh My!

What a busy time of year this has been!
Can I tell you what's been going on here? Well, we moved into a new house, I am now employed at 3 different establishments, and we hosted a Christmas party last week.

We love our new home, it's more roomy, and seems to be more fun for the kids to play. We have a large paved area where the kids can skateboard or ride tricycles, which has been great, too.

I am working at 2 different home health agencies, trying to juggle the hours and not be away from home too much. I am also working at a Cancer Retreat center where I give infusions(this one is very part time, thankfully!).

We hosted a Christmas party last week. We had a blast, especially the kids. Ella said the morning after the party that she wished it could go on forever. During the party, St John decided to dress up like Spiderman, and was running around with the costume on, mask and all, when he ran through on of our sliding door screens. Thankfully he wasn't hurt(except maybe his pride) and the screen had simply popped out, which we fixed the next day.

We got a Christmas tree this year. I think Mark got it at Walmart, the same kind you can get on the mainland. Lucy loved taking the ornaments off, playing with them and putting them back on. Ella made our star for the top, see pic....

Let us not forget this holiday season, the Tree of Life.
My dear friend Steve Malone introduced me to this lovely hymn:


Jesus Christ the Apple Tree

The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The tree of life my soul hath seen
Laden with fruit and always green
The trees of nature fruitless be
Compared with Christ the applle tree

His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne'er can tell
His beauty doth all things excel
By faith I know but ne'er can tell
The glory which I now can see
In Jesus Christ the apple tree.

For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
For happiness I long have sought
And pleasure dearly I have bought
I missed of all but now I see
'Tis found in Christ the apple tree.

I'm weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
I'm weary with my former toil
Here I will sit and rest a while
Under the shadow I will be
Of Jesus Christ the apple tree.

This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
This fruit does make my soul to thrive
It keeps my dying faith alive
Which makes my soul in haste to be
With Jesus Christ the apple tree. 

Explain this:

A scene from the Target in Hilo, Hawaii.

The bunny at the Halloween Party

This past weekend, we went to a family Halloween Party and everyone had a blast(thanks Jenni!). The kids got to play games and win candy and prizes; Mark and I got to mingle and talk with some very interesting people.
But the highlight of the night, at least for Lucy, was a very friendly bunny. Lucy got to hold the bunny in her lap and she was absolutely thrilled!

Emily got a job!

Yes, I finally found a nursing job. I am working part time for a home health agency located in Hilo. As of now,  I am seeing one client in Hilo and one in Ka'u(southern part of island) on a regular basis. I am also completing client assessments(which a RN must do) for the agency on different parts of the island.
It's good being back at work, and it's good I'm starting back slowly because I think I would miss Mark and the kids too much if I had jumped in full time!

Playdate!

Lucy and I are part of a weekly Mommy and Me play group. We always have such a great time, and this past week was no exception. We went to one of the other mom's house to play and they have a new kitten. Lucy had never held a purring kitten and she was so curious and of course loved it. She also loved playing tea party with her friend Coen. She has such a growing imagination!