Wren's Favorite Things That I Say

Tonight, after I had just said "island view" (code for "I love you") to Bear, she said, "Guess what my favorite thing is that you say?" 

"Island view," I guessed.

"Yes," she said. "I also like 'wing na.' And 'egregious and Kathie Lee.'"

"Wing na" means "why not" and was originally inspired by the actress Ming-Na. I've been saying it for decades.

"Egregious and Kathie Lee" means "agreed." "Agree" became "egregious," which suggested [Live with] Regis and Kathie Lee. 

After I wrote this, Jim said he invented the whole "Egregious and Kathie Lee" thing, so maybe I don't get all the credit for the quirky sayings being passed down to our offspring. But I love it.

Slumber Party - November 2024

Jim was gone on his surf trip Thursday, November 7 to Tuesday, November 12. Ever had her last regular-season soccer game Saturday morning; the Littles had had theirs the week before. The Littles had two free Menchie's yogurts coming to them via these things they'd gotten at school for reading a bunch, and we could only redeem them at certain locations - including San Marcos but not including our Carlsbad location. So after Ever's game, we got sandwiches at a nearby Jersey Mike's and then went to Menchie's. That afternoon, the girls did their weekly jobs (vacuuming upstairs, vacuuming the car, and cleaning a bathroom). Ever wanted to play pickleball or soccer at the courts, but Ella was gone. So I invited all the Henie Hills kids in the ward. The Pete and Meagan Bunnell kids went, along with Maggie and Norah Gustafson and Alina Karner. Wren didn't want to go but ended up joining after I told her Norah was there. Tiny was playing with Nathan Cikanek at "The Tribe," but after he had to go home, I ran her up to the courts for the last little bit. Things didn't go super smoothly, largely because I couldn't find our courts key. (Ever thinks Jim put it on his key chain, so it was in Mexico.) Ever can reach through the fence and open the gate at the upper courts, but she can't get into the lower courts without the key. But it was lovely to see a bunch of neighborhood kids playing together up there, being sporty and being outside. I want to take advantage of our amazing neighborhood and do that more often. 

Because of the impromptu gathering, the girls and I started our planned slumber party festivities late. I made pork chops and cheesy potatoes for dinner (between running people up to the courts). Ever really likes pork chops, and Jim hates them; it seemed as if we should eat them while he was gone. Then we watched the movie Eight Below while eating popcorn and muddy buddies. Traditionally, our living room slumber parties conclude with my reading to the girls while we're all in our beds. I thought maybe we should skip that part since it was so late, but when all else was done, Tiny said, "Now, reading time!" So I read On Fortune's Wheel (one of our current "family reads") until we discovered that Ever had fallen asleep, about 11:00 P.M. 

Sunday afternoon, I asked the Gustafsons and Nearents if they could take my kids home so they didn't have to hang out during my Relief Society presidency meeting. The Nearents took Tiny; Gustafsons took the other two. (Too many extra kids for one car.) The Nearents didn't want to leave Tiny home alone (she arrived before the other two), so they took her to their house. Then Gustafsons picked her up and took all three girls to their house until I got home. They fed them and everything. It's so amazing to have nice friends in the neighborhood. 

Ever wanted to nap when we got home and asked me to read her to sleep. I loved so much that my nearly 13-year-old wanted me to read to her. We went up to the guest room, where she has been sleeping (with sisters) a lot of the time lately. Ever got in bed, and I lay down next to her and read to her until she was asleep or nearly so. I read the part she'd slept through the night before, plus a few extra pages, which I then had to read to Wren and Tiny separately to catch them up. I've been sad that we haven't been doing much family reading lately, and it's something I never want to end. So my heart was warmed by the whole thing. 

Tiny's Sleepwalking: A Snapshot

4/9/23, 10:15 P.M.

Jim got up from the couch and went to the downstairs bathroom before heading up to bed. He found Tiny in the dark bathroom asleep on the mat in front of the toilet. 

4/24/23

I was hearing movement upstairs, probably in the ten o'clock hour. I went to see who was up and why. The light in the girls' bathroom was on and the door closed. When I tried to open the door, it was blocked by Tiny's body. Again, she was asleep on the bath mat in front of the toilet. I couldn't open the door to lift her up, but she awoke when I said her name. She got up quickly and said, all squinty-eyed and confused, "What's going on?" 

The next morning, I asked her if she remembered what happened. She didn't remember but had seen on the floor of the bathroom the red panda stuffy with which she'd been sleeping the night before and figured it out. 

Around 5/8/23

Tiny got out of bed and came downstairs while Jim and I were watching TV. My instinct is to hurry her to the bathroom because I assume that's why she wakes up. She said she didn't need to go. She came up onto my lap and hugged me, and then I took her back to bed. She just need a late-night snuggle, I guess. It was quite nice. She had no recollection of it in the morning.   

6/26/2023

Dawn came for the weekend to visit Grandpa. We got up at 4:00 A.M. to leave for the airport Monday morning. When she flipped on the kitchen/family room light, she discovered Tiny asleep on the couch. Nobody knows when Tiny relocated herself in the night. She, of course, did not remember going downstairs. 

9/12/24 (tacking this on way later because we just had another funny incident)

Jim and I were on the couch around 10:00 P.M., and I heard footsteps coming quickly. As I was getting up, I caught a glimpse of Tiny rushing around the corner by the bathroom. I called to her, but she just flung open the door to the garage and rushed out. I made it to the garage door right as she reentered the house. I asked her if she needed the bathroom and pointed her to it. After she used the restroom, she came out, waved to us when we said goodnight, and went back upstairs. The next morning, she said she had awakened with an extra t-shirt on. In her sleepwalking, she had put a tie-dyed t-shirt on over the one she was sleeping in. When she got up in the morning, she wondered why her shirt felt heavy and discovered an extra layer. 

Tiny Got Baptized, School Started, and the Rest of August 2024

The Olympics were still going after we got back from Hawai'i, so we continued our support of Simone Biles from home. 

Ever celebrated Ella Rondo's thirteenth birthday. 

The Homers stayed on the Big Island a week after we left, and then they took Tutu back to Virginia with them. They laid over in California for two nights, and we planned Tiny's baptism for when they were here. The girls got fried at the beach right before the baptism, so they are very tomato-reminiscent in the photos. But hooray for getting group shots this time! (And notice Tiny's super bling.) 

Sweet Tines with her beloved Daddy. 

The Cikaneks came, which made it really super extra special. We had invited them to baptisms (I think both Ever's and Wren's) before, and they hadn't made it. But they seemed excited to be there. Rebecca said she'd been wanting to baptize Nathan, so she was excited for him to see someone else's. (They have a new-age version idea of Christianity.)  

Tiny asked Coco to give the (only) talk, and it was absolutely perfect. She talked about names and the importance of names, and she even worked in a mention of "the tribe" - the fort thing behind our house headed up by the Cikanek boys. It was very thoughtful and I'm sure made the Cikaneks feel so much a part of it all. I wish I could remember more about the talk and Jim's blessing, but alas - my memory (and lack of contemporaneous record keeping). 

We set up a treat table outside near the church's kitchen and had a bunch of treats of Tiny's choosing afterward. Tiny had been SO looking forward to her baptism for a long time, but I think it was mostly the treats she was excited about. We had lots of chocolate chip cookies and snickerdoodles. (I won - Snickerdoodles were the last thing finished off, despite Jim's telling me that everyone loves them.) The girls also made cream puffs, but the recipe makes very few, and they were taken immediately. Tiny only got half of one. Cikaneks hung out a long time outside with everybody, and all the ward members were so nice to them. Cikaneks know a lot of ward friends at this point from the neighborhood, from sports, from prior ward parties they've attended, from Henie Hills pickleball headed up by Kristi, etc. It's lovely. They are honorary members of the congregation. 

The day Tutu and the Homers flew out (Thursday, August 15) was the day Ever started seventh grade at MLK. This was the year she switched from JCS to our regular district middle school, MLK (aka "King" according to the cool people, but I never call it that). I don't know if I ever wrote about our decision to switch. The middle school at JCS struggles a bit; a lot of kids leave for or during middle school. Ever had kind of been wanting to go to a big school for a while, where they have after-school sports and more options. Jim and I called Mel Karner once from the car when we were stuck in Saturday morning traffic coming back from the Newport Beach temple. Mel told us about her kids' experiences at MLK and mentioned the accelerated math class that is available to seventh and eighth graders, and by the end of that car ride, we had decided Ever should move. It took some getting used to, but within probably a month or so, Ever didn't regret the switch. I'm writing this in May 2026, so with that perspective - I think it's been good for her overall. 

Musical beds. Tiny on the window seat and Berry in Tiny's bed. (And the room a mess, as always). These girls move around every night. 

Berry got out the old foam blocks, which I loved. 

She and Tiny worked on some magic tricks and performed them for me. The white gloves really take it over the top. 

Monday, August 19, was the first day of school at JCS. Tiny started third grade with Mrs. Shimizu, and Wrenzy started fourth grade with Miss Scher.

Happy reunion with besties Maya Phillips and Kaia Johnson.

Sweet snuggles at home. Tiny is the best snuggler in all the land. And look at those bleached-out little hairs around her cute face. 

Tiny had a homeschool project where she wrote about events from her summer on these three flowers - the event in the center and then the details on the petals. 

Berry is super into acai bowls as afternoon snacks. Judy Blume hasn't been read that much around here, I don't think, so I was happy to see her reading a Judy book while eating. 

It's hard to see in this picture, but Tiny came home from soccer practice soooo dirty. 

I took this picture of Tiny on the way into school one morning just because I thought she looked so cool. Like a skater chick. 

Wrenzy (far right) had a beach practice with her soccer team. (A lot of this soccer stuff probably happened before August, but this is when I saved the photos.)

Another photo from a different day. 

Tiny's team took this cute photo at a tournament. She's the cutest little goalkeeper in town. 

Tiny's team had a pool party. 

Lastly, Tiny finally learned to ride a bike! She was old, and no one had ever taught her. She got fed up and initiated bike riding practice. Jim helped her a bit. This first video was her maiden voyage.  

Hawai'i With the Homers - Anna Ranch, Mud Lane, Puako, Kawaihae (August 2024)

 Saturday, August 3 we hiked Anna Ranch. 

Dustin managed to get all the little Homers down into The Place. Pod stayed up top and watched from above. 

Dustin and Coco loved up by the (trickling) waterfall. 

I got in and posed like a big dork. 

We jumped off the rocks. I don't remember why we didn't use the rope swing. Possibly the giant stick that's needed to grab it wasn't there? 

It was not a hot day. Eleanor borrowed by new sweatshirt on the way out and got it covered in dirt, but it came out of the wash totally clean. 

I took a lot of pictures of green grass because I love it. 

Tiny ran. 

Dustin and Pod walked and talked, way on the far side.

It was quite dry at the bottom, but at least there was a decent amount of green higher up. 

Next was the Ahualoa lava tube. 

And Mud Lane. Always bringing it with those trees. 

Sunday, Ever left me a lovely screenshot to find on my phone. 

She is very cute, and I don't know how she knows how to do these things with phones. 

Toots played with the keiki.

We went to Puako and saw all the turtles and the sunset. 

The girls had to take turns trying to climb the palm tree. 

Ever relaxed in a tree. 

Tiny did, too. 

Daddy gave Bear a piggyback ride.

All I have from Monday is shaved ice (we appear to have hit a beach first - probably Mauna Kea early) and then Kawaihae Harbor, where some jumping happened. 

That concludes another wonderful, although less eventful and more COVID-hampered, trip to the motherland. It was fun to have the Homers there at the same time.