living with grace

fast year

2011-06-07T21:39:00.000-07:00

ok.
this year flew by.
here is the review.
started training for lava man
learned to swim.
detweilers moved.
stopped training for lava man.
started homeschooling.
mom & sissy came for Christmas.
stopped homeschooling.
coxs moved.
still know how to swim.
speakmans moved.
thats it.
do you see a trend??

A Day of Firsts!

2010-04-08T00:17:00.000-07:00

Today was the first day of training.
Today was the first day I swam in the ocean.......without being able to touch the bottom.
This is great.
Stay tuned.

2009-10-11T18:21:00.000-07:00

she's in love with the boy....

2009-09-20T03:39:00.000-07:00

candid camera

2009-09-20T03:20:00.000-07:00

wordless weekend

2009-09-20T03:16:00.000-07:00

Lovin' Grandma Blackard

2009-09-08T23:41:00.000-07:00

Gracie is a girly girl. That is why she loves her Grandma Blackard SO MUCH. Today i walked into the living room to find her on her "computer" with a picture of grayson flipped over to draw on, and the glamor shot of grandma. Oh Boy. For her birthday, she got this little set of nails, with stickers, so we tried them on. they looked so funny. grandma would have been proud. they lasted all of 5 minutes. good times.

Beach Birthday

2009-09-08T23:32:00.000-07:00

Here are pictures from the last minute, "i really am a good mom" guilt ridden birthday party. Lucky we live Hawaii. The beach is the perfect location for the unprepared. kids ALWAYS have fun at the beach. and the sunset was beautiful! Thank you to all our friends who got a call at the last minute, and showed up. You are all amazing. If i was famous, i would make you my inner circle. Happy #4 gracie!!!!

a special treat.....

2009-09-08T20:46:00.000-07:00

The gallery i work at was having a show for artist james coleman. he worked for disney a number of years.....(little mermaid, beauty and the beast, to name a few) so after the birthday dinner, we stopped in so grace could meet ariel's good friend. he is an awsome painter, but an even nicer person. WE LOVE HIM!!!!!

james coleman was in the

Family Birthday Dinner

2009-09-08T20:38:00.000-07:00

We celebrated grace's 4th birthday with a nice family dinner at Macaroni Grill. Little did we know that an opera singer would be singing "happy birthday" to her. you should have seen her face. it was like she was in the presence of a princess!!

birthday twins

2009-06-28T15:04:00.000-07:00

grace and abby are about 15 minutes apart. abby was first, in kona, and then grace later in honolulu. they may not always live close together, but they will forever be birthday twins.

aloha friend!

jack of all trades

2009-06-03T04:01:00.000-07:00

ric and grace go to lowe's every other saturday for their grow and learn program, and each week make a project. grace just loves loves loves it. i think partly because of the "outfit" she gets to wear. she has her own apron and goggles.

Kitchen Songs to live by....

2009-05-11T13:59:00.000-07:00

mustache mania

2009-04-24T02:27:00.000-07:00

this was my answer to grace's begging me to let her wear make-up!

bye bye bunny

2009-04-24T01:59:00.000-07:00

happy easter

2009-04-22T03:07:00.000-07:00

wordless wednesday

2009-04-22T02:37:00.000-07:00

2009-04-04T16:33:00.000-07:00

2009-04-04T16:15:00.000-07:00

2009-04-04T15:39:00.000-07:00

2009-04-04T15:22:00.000-07:00

fun with auntie nessa

2009-04-04T15:17:00.000-07:00

Meeting Auntie Nessa

2009-03-30T04:21:00.000-07:00

auntie nessa

2009-03-28T03:49:00.000-07:00

FUN FUN FUN

2009-03-28T03:42:00.000-07:00

with vanessa's visit, i felt like i was on vacation too! we rode horses, snorkeled, camped, and had some great beach days. we had more fun than i ever even thought we could! she is the best cousin in the world.

Life Lesson Number One

2009-03-09T22:25:00.000-07:00

RIP bubbles the convict

bubbles the convict

2009-02-23T20:42:00.000-08:00

with christmas money from aunt patsy, grace got her very first fish. we went to the newly opened petco, and let her pick one out. she choose a convict, which has black and white stripes. i told her it better be the only convict she ever chooses.

on our way home, we told her she gets to pick a name for her convict. so when we got home, i told her "ok, we are home, so you need to pick a name.....", and she said "HOME!" i told her let's try again. we sat down to dinner, and we asked her again to pick a name. "DINNER!" i told her we would think again. so after dinner, we set up the tank, put the fish inside, and plugged it in. with bubbles flowing all around.....guess what she names her fish????

beach day

2009-01-27T02:45:00.000-08:00

this is one of our favorite beaches, up the coast from kona. grace and her BFF played for about four hours that day. and i don't know why everything is underlined.

inauguration day

2009-01-24T03:34:00.000-08:00

2009-01-24T03:29:00.000-08:00

I am always curious what ric and grace do while i am at work. well.......i found these on my camera. good times.

2009-01-20T00:37:00.000-08:00

Happy New Year!!! once again, i worked and dashed home with party hats in hand to ring in the new year with ric, grace, and lehua. grace enjoyed the sparklers the most, and i enjoyed blowing everything up! as for 2008........ADIOS! see ya. wouldn't wanna be ya. we are ready for a great year in 2009!

2009-01-17T01:58:00.000-08:00

2009-01-17T01:32:00.000-08:00

opening presents

2009-01-17T01:06:00.000-08:00

grandma and papa got gracie a doll that moves when there is motion near it. it kept moving inside the paper for weeks. grace was a little afraid of it. it was finally the last one to open. she was trying to get ric to do it for her!

Christmas Caroling

2009-01-17T00:09:00.000-08:00

the first annual academia/borg caroling event!

santa is roaring into town

2008-12-19T14:19:00.001-08:00

santa came by our little party on monday. he read a story and gave out some sweet treats. grace wasn't as friendly with santa as last year, but warmed up a little towards the end of his visit. nice to see santa is color coordinating his bike and suit!

santa's helper/barber

2008-12-16T19:06:00.000-08:00

it is that time of year again. nothing like forcing your children to sit in a strangers lap. but dogs shouldn't mind. right?

well, our sweet little lehua left quite the impression on the santa clause at petco. i took grace and lehua down to get their picture taken with santa for christmas. for the first time ever, grace was a little scared of santa. last year she ran to him. this year she hid from him. and when i tried to set her in his lap, she squirmed out, whining the whole time. fine. i will just put lehua in santa's lap, and grace can stand beside. wrong song ding dong. when i put lehua in santa's lap, santa leaned forward and his beard went on top of lehua's head, which freaked her out. she grabbed the beard in her mouth and did the old "break the ememy's neck" shake and growl. this left santa with his entire outfit in disarray. when i got lehua free from the beard, the photographer took santa to the side to help him get his suit back on straight, and beard back on. this is why grace got the chair, with lehua on one side, and santa on the other. good times.

2008-11-26T02:22:00.000-08:00

SURPRISE!!!!!!!

2008-11-26T01:49:00.000-08:00

i must have voted for pedro, because all of my wildest dreams have come true. i have always wanted to have a surprise birthday party. and on many occasions i was convinced that one was being arranged, just ask ric. i had given up that dream. and then my sweet dear friend vicky deceived me.
on my birthday she came over with a crazy yummy birthday cookie her family made for me. see picture.
a card and gift sealed the deal. we had just celebrated my birthday.
well, a week before she asked me to come to her house to stay with the girls while she went to a meeting thing. was i suspicious? no. why you may ask? because vicky doesn't have one sneaky bone in her body. she is so "honest abe" it isn't even funny. and she has a busy busy schedule. plus her friend who usually stays with the girls was out of town. little did i know i would be ambushed.
so the saturday after my birthday, i jump in the shower, grab some comfy/not cute clothes, and head over to vicky's with a wet head of hair. ric and grace came too, so we could all hang out. ric drove, and i was so busy on the phone, that i didn't notice all of the cars in front of the house!
then i saw more kids in the yard than i should have, and i got a feeling something was going on.
SURPRISE!!!
well, vicky, my kona sister, you got me good.
and you know me.
this isn't over.
not by a long shot.
the party was great. kids running around laughing and playing. the best. and i even had a game created in honor of my birthday. pin the water drop on the cake on fire. you can see the picture of me and the girls with the water drops, pretending they are tears, because i am so old.
thank you vicky and family for making this birthday so special. you guys rock!!! and i love you all. i am so glad God blessed me with such great friends. cccooooouuuuuu!

it's my birthday, it's my birthday

2008-11-26T01:40:00.000-08:00

we had a great couple of days in waikoloa. mom got us a room at the marriot, and we partied like rock stars. we spent more time in the pool than in the room! they have 3 or 4 different pools, 3 different hot tubs (aahhhh), and a water slide. yes, i went down the water slide. i'm not THAT old. we had a great time!

forty presents

2008-11-26T01:36:00.000-08:00

here i am covered in my "40 presents" from my fabulous sister. hopefully one of the gifts is double chin cream.

big tub = big bubbles

2008-11-26T01:33:00.000-08:00

we almost lost grace in a pile of bubbles. when we turned on the jets........the bubbles got higher and higher and higher. i was so jealous.

play day

2008-11-26T01:29:00.000-08:00

gracie had some friends come over for the day and play. here we are in the kitchen making cookies. a great way to bribe them to be good. ahh ha ha.

2008-11-24T13:31:00.000-08:00

O Christmas Tree

2008-11-20T20:24:00.000-08:00

last saturday we went to the koloko tree farm and picked out our tree for christmas. it was just like a wedding dress. we picked one out, then changed our minds and picked out another, then another, etc. moving our orange tag all over the place. in the end......back to our first pick.

my favorite number......EIGHT!

2008-11-20T20:21:00.000-08:00

ric and i celebrated out 8th anniversary. miss regina from church kept grace for us, so we had a hot date!!!

2008-11-06T01:33:00.000-08:00

grace the performer

2008-11-04T16:38:00.000-08:00

happy honu's

2008-10-11T15:45:00.000-07:00

this is the exhibit of the honu's that local artists painted. grace loved them. she wanted to pose with all of them.

2008-10-08T01:17:00.000-07:00

camping trip of fun!! the dad's took the kids on a hike, then came back for a water fight. grace was right in the middle of the action.

2008-10-08T00:41:00.000-07:00

camping fun!!!

tuckered out

2008-10-02T04:08:00.000-07:00

being a ballerina is hard work. makes a girl tired.

the princess party

2008-10-02T02:33:00.000-07:00

for her 3rd birthday, grace wanted to have a princess party. she was tinkerbell. we also had belle, ariel, aurora (sleeping beauty), and more!!! and don't forget jacob!

grace turns three!

2008-10-02T01:54:00.000-07:00

grace turned three a month ago.....and i am just now getting the pictures together. the 3 of us spent the day together and then had dinner on the lanai, followed by present and cupcakes. her favorite thing was the card that seth sent. the song "who let the dog's out" plays when you open it. she kept opening it over and over and over again. even when i put her cupcakes with lit candles in front of her.....she still couldn't keep her eyes off of it. later that night, when i put her to bed, i went into the living room. 10 minutes later.............i hear "who let the dog's out". her room was dark, she was in bed, but still loving that card.

wordless wednesday

2008-10-02T01:47:00.000-07:00

eh, we stay on hawaiian time.

wordless wednesday

2008-09-24T21:02:00.000-07:00

CUBBIES!!!

2008-09-23T02:44:00.000-07:00

it's time for cubbies!!!!! grace is finally old enough to go to awana's. she loves it!!!!! miss christine plays a game with them where she says "all my babies are sleeping", and they all lay down and pretend they are sleeping, and then she names an animal, and they wake up and run around acting like that animal.

more dancerella.....

2008-09-23T02:27:00.000-07:00

bella dancerella

2008-09-23T02:13:00.000-07:00

guess who had the best day of her life today??

three is a big number

2008-09-04T01:50:00.000-07:00

and she's 3
we have had a big weekend.
lost our camera during the move, so missed all birthday photo opps. or shall i say oops. have some nice ones with the big camera, but still don't know how to download with it.
sorry.
and yes, it is sideways. aaron took this picture at rainbow falls. so can i blame him that i don't know how to rotate?
stay tuned........

girl power

2008-08-28T01:39:00.000-07:00

this was just too cute to not take a picture of. here we are leaving the beach with some friends, and ALL the girls had to hold hands. no one was left out. sweet girls.

wordless wednesday

2008-08-28T01:36:00.001-07:00

shopping lessons from aunty lori

2008-08-25T01:13:00.000-07:00

yyyyiiipppppeeeee!!! here are pictures from our trip to oahu in july. we met aunty lori at ala moana one day, and she treated us to lunch at nordie's, then showed grace how to shop in style.......a balloon from the kids shoe department. maybe this is why cousin aaron says grace is spoiled??

no diets here!!

2008-08-21T23:48:00.000-07:00

according to my dad, there are no new diets in the house of academia. all diets have been deleted. almost forty and my dad is still telling me what to do. all protesters are urged to leave a comment. mahalo for your kokua.

mellow fellows

2008-08-19T00:19:00.000-07:00

eh-eh-run

2008-08-18T23:44:00.000-07:00

cousin aaron came for a visit from honolulu. he is the best teenager in the whole world. he is very patient with grace, and she loves him. he went with us to volcano for our church retreat. it was a great visit with him, and we hope he wasn't too bored with the slow pace over here. thanks for coming aaron!!!

dancing girly girls

2008-08-17T17:27:00.000-07:00

here is grace with her friends at our church retreat in volcano. we were on a hike and came across a hula stage.....and the girls were inspired.

eight eight o eight

2008-08-10T01:54:00.000-07:00

that is how memma blackard always said her birthday. eight eight o eight

i just read patti kaye's blog, and decided to share some memories too. click on to patti blog (link on the right side) and check out the groovy picture.

i was probably the luckiest grandchild, because we usually lived the closest. and out of my sisters, i was the only one who knew how to "fake a fever" on thursdays so i could go to quilting with memma. (ooh the food those ladies would make)

memma always made peanut brittle (in her microwave) for people. if someone came over to do something for her, she went into the kitchen and whipped up some peanut brittle. i make brownies or butter mochi.

she always drove fast. and so do i. we had a nickname for her......anyone remember??

she always made me blueberry pancakes for breakfast. thanks goodness. i don't like oatmeal, and she had it every day. EVERY DAY! i think i remember her making kevin chocolate gravy.

when i would argue with my sisters, she would always tell me i would be sorry one day. they would live far away and i would give anything to see them. she was right.

when i saw mom was cooking liver for dinner, i would secretly call and invite memma over. she didn't like liver, so mom would have to cook something else too. i still don't like liver.

she planted purple iris on the side of mom and dad's house, and they are still my favorite flower.

we would spend the night with memma on saturday nights. then we could watch the carol burnett show, but only after suffering through the lawrence welk show.

memma would always cut out dear abby articles from the paper and give them to people she thought needed them. i still have one about a rebellious teenager giving her parents a lot of grief. hhmmmm.

the first time i traveled abroad alone, i got a little freaked out. then i thought of memma and all of her stories from traveling. she did it and so can i!! my favorite travel story is one she didn't tell me. i met up with peggy (hardgrave) horne and brother larry when they were in hawaii about 10 years ago. she told me about her,aunt judy, uncle ben, maybe diane and memma all driving to spain from germany in a volkswagen bug ( i think ) and all the girls bought these really big spanish hats (something like a sombrero maybe?) and she will never forget them all trying to fit back into the bug. memma probably said something like "land sakes" or "well i'll be".

i remember going to wal-mart with memma to put together a care package for todd, sherry, and kevin and looking for red licorice. memma said they couldn't get it in germany. then she recorded us sending greetings to our cousins on a cassette tape.

i remember memma talking about visiting robin, and he had a little sports car that he drove memma around in, and zipped in and out of traffic. she said he could fit that little car anywhere. i was secretly hoping she would trade her big car in for a little sports car after the colorful stories.

on special sunday's, she would wear her mink to church. she would drape it over my and vanessa's lap. we would just pet it the whole service.

i could go on and on ......

the most important thing i learned from memma is how to love the Lord. it may have taken me a while to get my priorities straight, but it was always in my heart.

thanks memma. you rocked!!!!

beach day

2008-07-10T02:08:00.000-07:00

here are some snapshots of a beach day with our friends and their boys. grace was well taken care of this particular day, being the only girl of the group.

hmmm

2008-07-08T23:50:00.000-07:00

serenading lehua

2008-07-08T22:54:00.000-07:00

today i heard ric's ukulele, turned around and this is what i saw. i missed the first part of the song she was singing, something about "going potty in the yard". good times.

july 8, 2007

2008-07-08T22:18:00.000-07:00

this is exactly one year ago. we were at the zoo on oahu. this friday we will be going to oahu, and hopefully can include a trip to the zoo. i am practicing using our new flash drive. aaron has talked me through moving our pictures from our computer to this handy little thing. hopefully our computer will appreciate this.

june........already......and almost over

2008-06-22T23:44:00.000-07:00

aloha everyone. i can't believe that june is almost over. i keep thinking it is may. we have enjoyed some down time, going to the beach, organizing stuff, and will go camping next weekend. i am still in a fog about getting pictures to download properly, so i will just have to put words up for now.

imagine this.......waking up to a smiling face with your new lipstick all over it. and you hear "good morning.....get up! juice please!"

i'll think of more......they just get better and better.

april showers??

2008-04-30T21:04:00.000-07:00

well, today is our last chance to have a post in april. so here goes.
april brought a few showers, but ALOT of vog.
hazy hazy hazy
yesterday we were at the beach with some friends and someone looked up and said "wow, look, you can see the mountain!" and we could also see the horizon. something that has been looking like a big blur from ocean to sky.
g is doing fine. we have some friends that we have been playing with on a regular basis. 3 and the other is 4. it is so fun to watch them together. more stories to come......and pics too. promise.

happy easter everyone

2008-03-26T20:34:00.000-07:00

yes, some are sideways, but it has been a long day. we will just have to leave it like that.

grace had a fun easter with all her candy from grandma and pawpaw. she also enjoyed wearing her mommy's latest project. i think i've been watching too much project runway. is this little dress fierce or what?!?!?!

the dog whisperer

2008-03-16T16:50:00.000-07:00

wedding weekend

2008-03-16T16:43:00.000-07:00

wedding weekend finally arrived, along with good friends. fun fun fun. now tired tired tired.

jumping skunk!!!

2008-03-11T22:17:00.000-07:00

the reading fairy

2008-03-11T02:32:00.000-07:00

twinkle twinkle little star....

2008-03-06T20:19:00.000-08:00

gracie put starts on her ceiling this week!!

2008-03-06T20:12:00.000-08:00

2008-03-06T19:07:00.000-08:00

hi to grandma, but not papa!!

2008-02-29T13:00:00.000-08:00

2008-02-29T12:48:00.000-08:00

first time to try this.....

2008-02-29T12:27:00.000-08:00

we are just fooling around, trying to learn how to do this. nothing earth shattering, just jumping around.

keiki fun day

2008-02-29T12:17:00.000-08:00

ric took grace to keiki fun day last saturday. they had a great time. with all those barnyard animals around, good thing grace insisted on wearing her boots!!

sweet treats

2008-02-28T18:23:00.000-08:00

grandma b, this is for you!!!

wordless wednesday

2008-01-23T02:17:00.001-08:00

meeting the sanders ohana

2008-01-23T02:11:00.000-08:00

grace loved watching the boys "gaming", before aunty sheila took over one of the games.

here are the sanders grandkids and grace at lanikai beach. gorgeous but chilly day.

2008-01-23T02:02:00.000-08:00

grace got to me the sanders boyz. she was totally loving them. the doted on her like she was a princess. they are the best cousins a girls could ever have!!!!

tj time

2008-01-21T21:02:00.000-08:00

here are the kiddos!! tj and grace played more "together" than ever before......they played leap frog (their own version) and leaped around following each other, so cute!!! we also got to me little j. he is the most beautiful baby in the world. he could seriously do commercials. maybe his mommy and daddy should quit their jobs and just hire him out! yes, he is really that cute. we didn't get to spend enough time with our friends, but treasure the "quick visit" for sure.

for auntie ash........

2008-01-21T03:41:00.000-08:00

How long have you been together? married 7, and dated/engaged for 3 (i think)
How old is he? 38
Who eats more? meat--ric sweets --sheila apples--grace cat poop--lehua
Who said I love you first? ric, i am sure of it. i am a chicken.
Who is taller? ric
Who sings better? ric if it is a dennis pavae song, me in the shower, but karaoke......we tie.
Who is smarter? i am a smarty pants, does that count? lehua is the smartest
Who does the laundry? i do me and grace, ric does ric and grace
Who does the dishes? ric
Who sleeps on the right side of the bed? me
Who pays the bills? me, but ric is taking over, relief
Who mows the lawn? ric
Who cooks dinner? depends. i cook, and it is an event. ric cooks so we don't starve.
Who drives when you are together? ric until he pulls over and says "drive already!"
Who is more stubborn? me for sure.
Who kissed who first? ric. took him a while, but it was worth the wait.
Who asked who out? ric.
Who proposed? ric did, but didn't realize it.
Who is more sensitive? debateable. i cry at commercials
Who has more friends? ummm, hard to say. my friends/his friends/all the same now!
Who has more siblings? same, we both have two sisters. and they are so alike. ruth/stephanie, and gina/patti kaye
Who wears the pants in the family? lehua. for sure.

2008-01-07T00:32:00.000-08:00

after petroglyph park, we went over to the hilton and saw the dolphins, rode the boat around and bought some new hats!!! happy birthday ric!! hope you had fun!!

Petroglyph Park

2008-01-07T00:21:00.000-08:00

today, to celebrate ric's birthday......we had adventure day! we went to the petroglyph park by mauna lani. it was a pretty short "hike", if you even call it that. grace walked pretty much the whole way, falling a few times getting some lava rock scratches on her legs. she is tough as nails. all she said was "hurt", pointed to it, and kept going. yes, some were bleeding. she doesn't get that from me, that for sure.

welcome 2008

2008-01-01T02:36:00.000-08:00

happy new year everyone!! i dashed home from work and convinced ric we needed to wake grace up and ring in the new year. we woke her up at about 11:15. it was hard, but after she saw our neighbors across the street blowing their fireworks, her eyes got really big, and there was no returning to bed. grace and i made cocoa for the 3 of us and we each has some of ric's famous mochi. i brought home some party hats, balloons, and noise makers from work.......so we had quite the celebration. now it is almost one.........and time for bed.....just waiting for the sugar to wear off.
anyone have any inspiring resolutions???

new wheels

2007-12-29T00:09:00.001-08:00

grace got some new wheels!!! good thing we don't have a chimney, i don't know how he would have fit the jeep in there! she is on the verge of figuring out the tricycle. it is perfect for our back lanai. and the jeep, well, that is a gracie-daddy thing. ric picked it out (and told santa), decorated it with the stickers, and thank goodness grace always asks him to go out side to drive. she still needs to work on using the steering wheel.

christmas morning

2007-12-29T00:01:00.000-08:00

what a morning. grace finally got to open up her dollhouse from grandma and papa blackard. i can't believe it stayed wrapped by the tree without her peeking. she had a fun morning running around playing with all her new toys.

growing up fast!!!

2007-12-23T01:46:00.000-08:00

our little girl is turning into a little lady. just look at all the changes. even santa has changed a little!!

Santa Hawaiian Style

2007-12-18T19:06:00.000-08:00

we went to hilo yesterday to see santa and go to the mall. before leaving, i talked to grace about seeing santa and talking to him and telling him about what toy she would like for christmas. 2 weeks ago we saw a santa at wal-mart and had to beg her to get near him. she refused to smile.

so we weren't expecting too much . when we got to santa, we sat on a bench and watched him for a while. then when we got in line to see him (only a guy and girl in front of us) she just bypassed them and walked right up to santa and got in his lap like it was no big deal!! he was a great santa, talked to her and she told him "doll". then we took some pictures and he gave her a piece of candy. and we all left happy and not scarred for life.

have you seen ric's picture with santa......now that is being scarred for life.

O Christmas Tree

2007-12-09T22:42:00.000-08:00

last weekend we went to a tree farm and picked out our Christmas tree. we went back this past friday and cut it down. i think we have a new family tradition!!! the tree farm is at the very top of koloko, (above kona). since it is a high elevation, it was pretty chilly up there. ric busted out the flannel for the occasion, and grace wore her favorite jean jacket from grandma. ric did the actual cutting, as gracie looked on. then we loaded onto a 4-wheeler, and off it went to our truck!! the only way our day could have been better is if we had some hot cocoa to drink....but there is always next year. ;)