So Big and Yet So Little

The two eldest head out with Daddy and Grandpa to Denali for caribou hunting tomorrow.  It's positively electric around here with all the exciting expectations for the upcoming week....but only for some.

Three-year-old Keiki Honu is quite glum that he won't be going.  Nearly the first thing he did this morning was pack up his little backpack with his hunting supplies:

• around 15 pairs of underwear
• toothbrush
• blankie
• stuffed rabbit toy
• water bottle

It broke my heart to tell him, "Not this year, Buddy."  He kept trying to ignore me, and so we just played around about it for the remainder of the day.  He pointed out his t-shirt and said it was his "huntin' chirt."  Then he pointed out his shorts he was wearing, because those were his "huntin' chorts."  He kept talking about how he was "allllll packed up for huntin' with Daddy and Grampa" as we packed up the other three who really ARE leaving.  We had all the gear lined up in the living room as we sorted, and then put the finalized bags on the couch.  At that point, Keiki silently came in and added his little pack to the other bags.  

It's hard for him to understand why he can't go, when we're always telling him what a big boy he is.  Someday I'll be helping him pack up for such adventures, too.  But for now, I'm happy to keep him home with me....after all, they're only little for a little while.

Seeking His Wisdom

Typically, around mid-to-late January, I feel a little off my game--

• a little crowded (too much time with 4 walls and a roof, however thankful I am for those!!)

• a little claustrophobic (tons of layers of cold-weather gear, covered from head-to-toe)

• a little "down" (having gone months with very little sunshine)

• a little discouraged (wondering am I enough and am I doing enough for these precious people I'm so blessed to live with)
  

This is how I FEEL, but I have learned through the years that living by how I FEEL is not the best way to live. I can easily become held captive by these feelings, but I will choose not to. I am above self-pity. There's good work to be done, and by God's grace, I will continue in it! I cannot do this by myself, and indeed would not even want to.

Basking once again in this realization, I recently asked Him for a Word over each of our little treasures. I needed Him to give me a word of truth to hold on to, because at that particular moment my mind was just filled with all the problems I could see: "This one doesn't _____. This one needs to learn to _____. I need to do a better job with ____ with this one." You get the ugly picture! I asked Him to replace those thoughts with an affirmation over each of our little ones, along with a Word of Wisdom for me in mothering them. He is ever faithful and good.

"If any of you lacks wisdom, let him ask God, who gives to all men generously without reproaching, and it will be given to him." James 1:5


Word over Baby: "Contentedness"

Word to Mama: Cheerfulness + Healthy Scheduling



"Lovingkindness"

Cheerfulness + Firmness




"Curiosity"

Cheerfulness + Guidance




"Obedience"

Cheerfulness + Encouragement




"Justice"

Cheerfulness + Encouragement

Interesting how the Word of Wisdom to me, "cheerfulness," was part of my instruction x 5!

Summer's Swan Song

It's been raining for 9 days straight, temps are dipping into the 40's, our heat has kicked in several times, and yellow hues are just beginning to show through. Summer is quickly coming to a close. It's been a good one for us--the highlight, of course, being that I went from this:

to this:

...the most obvious difference being that the baby is now on the outside! Zachary's birth and the welcoming of him into our family has been our most beautiful summer highlight. Our little Chunky Monkey is 8 weeks old today.

As the nickname suggests, he's been putting on plenty of rolls, which means, that my rolls are decreasing. It's a good arrangement! So the summer has been filled with LOTS of newborn-cuddling time...



One of the cuddlers was my Grandma Dorothy! She came to visit for 3 weeks, and we had some really sweet "Grandma time".

We appreciate her countenance and life experience so much. Love hearing stories about the extended family we've never known and accounts from the Great Depression. One of my favorite stories from this visit was about how she used to love to dance. This story was prompted by the classical music playing from Zachy's baby swing. She grabbed hold of Keiki's hands and tried to dance with him. Toddler-style, he just giggled and fell down onto the floor! Grandma then told of how one of her brothers and his friends would have barn dances...and she would waltz and waltz and have such fun. Her eyes sort of drifted off as she smiled...and then she said to nobody in particular, "I've had a good life."

True to Dassow style, we've kept things pretty low-key and free... We made sure to get in plenty of walks and bike rides

and we've spent a lot of time working and playing in the garden.



A simple but cool thing we added to the garden area this year is a little "knee-high garden for the tot! He is SO proud of his own little garden, which he can rake, sow, plant, water, and pick to his heart's content! LOVE this idea which I got from a Sharon Lovejoy book (more on those in another post!) Having their very own garden cultivates (pardon the pun) a love a gardening in a child's heart. It's so refreshing for little ones to have total control over their own little garden space.

Just look how proud he was of his first produce! He did this totally by himself. We're still amazed that anything grew in his little box, with all the prodding, plucking, and WATERING that went on!


We've also gotten in a little "tree fort" building...

...prompting this middle child to look for bargains on nails and screws at weekend garage sales!

We had a couple special events, including Little Brother's Infant Prayer Service at our church.

It was so special to us to have one of our elders and his wife, with our entire congregation, stop and take time to pray for us and our baby son.

We also celebrated Wise Bobcat's 11th birthday recently.




We're now proud parents of a middle-schooler.

what.
in.
the.
world.

Time just moves so fast. I'm enjoying all the sweet, fleeting moments...including this summer's swan song.

Emotional Overload

Last week was quite eventful in this family. We hit the ground full-speed after coming off the dreaded flu week(s). Lots of tears for this heart-filled mama: some due to milestones, some due to sadness, some due to joy. All were seasoned with a heavy dose of hormones.

MILESTONES:
Keiki had his first haircut. Pretty sure he was the first to love it... He had just watched all the big bubbies have theirs cut the day before, so he. was. ready. I always feel a little sad at cutting away those first little wispy curls.


Spunky Cub had his first visit from the Tooth Fairy. (She almost forgot...and had to do a quick maneuver at 1 a.m! Thank goodness he wasn't disappointed she left no note or fairy dust!) His little smile transformed instantly, of course. I just can't believe he's old enough to lose teeth. In his own words, "Mommy, do you realize that there are only five more winters until I'm a 10-year-old? SO. You better enjoy me being a 5-year-old." Well said, Son. I SURE DO enjoy this 5-soon-to-be-6-year-old.

LOSS

We had to say good-bye to our sweet Willow. I realize some of you are "dog people" and some of you aren't. Some of you will wonder why I'm about to post as many pictures of my dog as I posted of my kids, and that's ok...I guess. :) I LOVED this dog. She was my first "baby". In other words, I treated her like a baby before I had a real one!

Here we are together, in 1996. She was just a few days old, and as you can see, I am just a pup myself. . I loved her gray and white color (there was only one other gray and white in the litter.) Her official name was "Nakeena's Willow Shining Moon". Beautiful name for a beautiful, furry babe.

Tony and I took her home to Minneapolis when she was around 7 weeks old. I was still in college; Tony was just starting out in the work-force.

She and our dear Laska, who also has passed, took up all our time. We loved taking them for walks through the city along the Mississippi, twice a day, every day.


Sometimes on the weekends, we took them mushing in Wisconsin.
Eventually, we decided to move to Alaska. Here they are, along the Al-Can Highway, somewhere!

And here's my husband (LOOK! He's got a full head of hair!!) with Willow, soaking up some sun after a dip in Eklutna Lake. A sweet friend of mine mentioned that Willow had such a great life; she lived every Siberian Husky's dream: to move to Alaska. She really did thrive here, and I'm thankful for all the great years we had to enjoy her.

Losing Willow is very hard. I'm amazed at how God gives us such love for a pet. What is also hard, is that Willow was a part of our lives through so many ages and stages. We had her through college, beginning our careers, living in 3 states, and introducing her to our first, second, third, and fourth babies. Ten years later, that first-born was old enough to feed and care for her himself. Losing her is losing the last little piece of all that history. No more tangible reminder of all those times.

The boys keep asking about her...and wondering about where she is. The Bible doesn't tell us exactly what happens to beloved pets when they die, but we do know animals are important to God. I happen to believe out of love for us, He'll re-create these special friends for us when we go to live with Him someday. I asked Him to.

JOY!

We "met" our 5th child last week! Here we are, getting all snuggled in for the show.

When I saw that perfect, precious little baby...I just started to cry...and cry...and cry. The technician asked if I was ok. I managed to squeak out, "Yes....it's just....he's so precious...." Little Keiki kept bringing me tissues through the whole deal. For some reason, ever since we found out I was pregnant, it just hasn't seemed real. Hearing the heartbeat helped, but I still have just been trying to wrap my mind around the fact that this is truly happening! I've also been plagued with a feeling that something was wrong. Haven't been able to shake it, even though there was no apparent reason to worry. At the ultrasound, all of that just melted away. I just basked in the beauty of our healthy, new, baby SON.


A 5th little knight for the Kingdom. LOVE this baby. Now if we can just settle on a name... And that, Folks, is for another post.

Hazards of Markers

This seems to be a recurring problem in our household. Interestingly, both incidents were blue.

More Aloha 2010!

One more shot from Jessica's Beach:

That one will be going up on our wall. :)

You just can't beat Shark's Cove for taking little ones, particularly if the wind is blowing. It's clear, shallow, and protected.

Keiki loved the water, particularly playing with the boogie board in the water! He crawled right up onto it and then proceeded to stand on top of it. I'm sure he'd be a gifted surfer dude if given the chance!



Incidentally, Shark's Cove is also a great snorkeling spot, which suited me just fine. I could spend day after day in a mask and snorkel. Sort of creepy in some ways, but how amazing to see underwater creation!

There was a little "excitement" going on early in the week. The ocean and critters therein are to be respected:

Look at this amazing pineapple field! Isn't it beautiful?

I saw these little pineapples with a renewed fascination this time around. Betty mentioned to me how cool it is that in each plant there's the old and the hope of the renewal...

I took the pineapple pictures on the way down to Kailua. I love this little outdoor restaurant.

They have GREAT tropical smoothies!

I have a photo of my mom and I in front of this same fountain two years ago.

Here we are! How amazing to think--there was no Keiki Honu yet! I had NO idea I'd be in that same spot two years later with a precious baby son...

Kailua Beach was super-windy that day, but you can't win 'em all. We stayed just long enough to snack Keiki and then headed out. For him, beach = food + POG.

Felt a little slap-happy that day:



And I'm pretty sure it took me about....36? tries to achieve the desired effect of this photo of China Man's Hat Island:

I was totally intrigued by this Civil War-period sugar mill:

Reminds me of Scotland or something....not sure why...


From another morning walk....ahhhh... These Spider Lilies were amazing and smelled just like Lilacs:



Then on to Ka'ena Point for some 4-wheelin'. We are an adventurous sort. :) Actually this photo doesn't look real impressive, but I'm still feeling a little jostled from the foot-deep ruts.




We took Betty's Jeep out to Hidden Beach. We had the beach all to ourselves. Betty is a beach-combing extraordinaire; however, I found the mother-lode on this trip! I just happened upon a glass bottle cap from an1800-1900-period apothecary bottle. Apparently, the expensive medicines, perfumes, elixers, or poisons were kept in such bottles. The cheap ones had cork tops. Remarkably, a few glass tops remain intact. It was really amazing to hold that in my hand and think, "Who was the last person who held this?" It made for a great history lesson when I came home. The boys are CERTAIN it came from a pirate's ship. Who knows?

It took a couple of days, but Keiki and Millie made friends:

Ka'ena Point is an amazing place. You're on a relatively narrow strip of land with beach and sea on one side, and emerald mountains on the other. It's a beach-comber's paradise, and there are new discoveries to be made around every bend. Most of the beach is lined with lava rock, which creates tons of little coves and tide pools. There are critters EVERYWHERE--anemones, crabs, tropical fish. It's a super-fun place to spend a day....or several days...

On the way out I had to stop for a picture of this cool Yucca:

After the Yucca pic, we maneuvered our way past all the vehicles and equipment used to film Lost. My mom and I tried desperately to figure out HOW IN THE WORLD one could be lost on Oahu. Sigh. The magic of television (I guess anyway... I've never watched Lost.) Ok so once again I thought I could wrap things up in this post, but I'll need to let the sun set here and keep you guessing until tomorrow!