Ben's Busy Book

In one of my earlier posts, I talked about a book. "The Toddler's Busy Book" that every parent should have if they have a toddler. Well, Ben and I tried a few of them and they were epic fails.  For example: 1)poke a couple of holes in a 2L soda bottle and use in bath tub 2. roll marshmalows in crushed up graham crackers and 3. dry beans in a bowl w/spoon were just a few of the things we tried that Ben was not a fan of.  Actually, let me rephrase that one...Ben LOVED the beans in a bowl.  It was mama who was running around picking them up because he was eating them and throwing them everywhere and decided that was not going to happen EVER again! 

So, Ben and I decided to make our own "Busy Book for Toddlers."  Here are some of his ideas:

He likes to move the chair to the sink, roll up his sleeves and play with the cups and spoons in there.  I actually find this quite boring because I have to just stand there next to him making sure he doesn't fall. 


Fortunately, the time he spends up there on the chair has decreased considerably each time!

a straw, a solo cup and bubbles...he's a genius~

and bubble bath in the OUTSIDE pool is great fun!

painting and drawing on the patio with water

are we seeing a theme here with Benjamin? 

Water, Water, Water! (although he doesn't really like to swim at the moment...)



Top 10 Reasons Living in Hawaii is not Paradise to Me

10. The beauty in Hawaii lies in the head of the vacationers.  What you see as a vacationer is very different than what you see as an Army wife stationed on base.  Yes, of course there are gorgeous views of mountains, ocean and sunsets, but there is also trashy huts as houses, girls peeing on buildings in broad day light and negativity all around.

9. If you are not Hawaiian AND in the military...watch out!  You are looked at with hate.  You are treated as though you are here to do bad things to the island and the rules that are in place are only for non Hawaiians, military peeps!  They call white people "haole's" pronounced "howl-ees" which has been explained to me to mean "white person," but it seems to me and many others to mean "white trash."

Example:  If there is a sign at a beach that says, "No Alcohol, Pets or Food" then it really means, "if you are Hawaiian, please bring your dog, beer and BBQ, but if you are a haole, you will be ticketed!"

8. Their commercials are SOOOOO cheesy!  AND a tie for #8 is the Red Dirt here that stains everything.

7.  Their language makes them sound very ignorant.  "Ya, I like da kine." = "Yes, I like that kind" 

6.  Hawaiians have bumper stickers with machine guns on them that say, "protect against" (protect against what I ask?) and " Keep the Country Country," (which means, "stay out of our land non Hawaiian people!)

(one of the stickers says, "slow down, this aint the mainland)  Hawaiians drive about 10 MPH UNDER the speed limit.

5.  They let Hawaiian people ride in the back of pick up trucks, but they have a "strict" "click it or ticket" law...hmmm, figure that one out for me

4.  They have told me more than once that I am over qualified for a job and that they can hire a Hawaiian to do the same job and pay them less and that "Hawaiians have been on the island looking for a job longer than I have, so it wouldn't be fair to give it to me."  YUP!  that's great.  I will now make my resume false and say I only have a high school diploma and am Filipino.

3. The Shaka.  If you give this signal to someone (hold out your pinky and thumb) you can do whatever you want to a person: ie; Cut me off on the road, but give me the Shaka and everything is just peachy keen!  The think this is "driving aloha" and they frown very much on honking!  I have honked twice and I thought I was going to get shot at!  So basically, they want you to live aloha (be nice) to them, but they don't have to live aloha back.

2.  They don't stock anything!  On Thanksgiving Tom and I heard, "oh, we only got 4 cans of pumpkin pie this year."  Last week at the PX (the military version of a walmart) "oh, we only got one shipment of Christmas Tree stars and Christmas tree skirts and they all went the first week and we won't get anymore in."  Seriously?  There are more than 4 people in Hawaii!!  Get more shipments!! 

1.  It is the furthest state from MAINE and the East Coast where my family is...where ALL the love is! 



We are at our 12 month count down until we can PCS to the MAIN LAND again!!!!!