"Ditar"

Kavin has aspirations of being like Uncle Jeff & Uncle Leonard. For now, it doesn't matter what color, what size, or even if it makes a sound. As long as it's a "ditar".

Letoto `Ohana Family Christmas Party

Go to this link to view the invite commercial that Jeff produced:

http://s220.photobucket.com/albums/dd51/jeffo78/?action=view&current=LetotoXmas2007.flv

Look for your invite in the mail! A hui hou....

How do we rate Hawaii?

It seems that every week, over the last month, there's been a conference or training that I've been at. The topics vary from provider services to education to harm reduction. Aside from the provider training, most speakers are from the "continental US." How does Hawaii rate?

Puff it up folks. We are doing pretty well and can be proud. All of these in some way relate to my work, foster care or adoption, so I usually rate us in comparison to the other states and their child welfare system. Yesterday's conference was the HAPA (HI Adoption and Permanency Alliance) one in celebration of adoption month. The speaker was from the mainland, can't remember which state (I missed dinner with her the night before), and is adopted herself. Anyway, throughout the course of the day, she talked about various things that we (everyone nationwide) should be doing to work with adoptees, adoptive families, and birth families. Several things she mentioned, are already being done and quite successful. What are they? Well, `Ohana Conferencing for one. She had a chart that showed the child and the connections surrounding him/her. She called it something else, but we pointed it out to her that we call it OC. She talked about educating educators on the need for awareness when the foster/adoptive child is in their school system. Wow! Last week I spoke at an education conference, to educators, on the need for greater awareness and teamwork (see When I Foster). And it wasn't the first time. She talked about family connections with the birth family. Wow! Aren't we doing that already? And we're even talking about it and stressing the importance of it in training. Well, stand up and take a bow Hawaii. We are on track and way ahead of the game. Even for being natives that live on those islands!

Coffee?

Some things don't change. Kids like that. Consistency. At Aunty Lisa's house, Kavin knows there's always cool candy in my candy jar (li hing ume, plum sucker things, tamarind balls, etc.), the candy jar is always by the bed or under the coffee table, there's always snacks & seeds in the box under the tv desk, the cup is by the water cooler, George's carrots are in the right vegetable drawer, and ice cream or pops always in the freezer.

Kavin wanted dessert last night, and he was promised cake & ice cream if he ate his dinner first. Oh yeah, we don't always have to eat dinner first. Sometimes we can have dessert first (just to make sure we have enough room). After he "foun it" (the stool), he carried it from the bathroom to the kitchen to try to get in to the freezer. He insisted on "coffee." When I asked him, just to be sure, he told me no coffee, but he wanted "coffee." I told him to put the stool away, and I walked out. He followed me and insisted he wanted "coffee." I told him no coffee. Okay, I've got to admit, most of the time I get what he's saying. This was not one of those times. I think Uncle Jeff finally figured it out, or maybe it was his mom. Anyway, no coffee, but he wanted ice cream! And when it finally made it to the table, he wasn't going to wait for anyone to serve him.

Happy Halloween!

This is from Jeff's email....

What is the situation here?

A) The glowing necklace around his neck is too tight?
B) He fell face first into a porta-potty?
C) It’s getting kinda cold in Hawaii?
D) “I was eating a dark-blue ring pop that’s why!!!”

If you were Kason you would have answered “D”.

Courtesy of an event that FCF held (the teens watched the younger kids) on Saturday, Kason came back bouncing around with lots of candy. The candy didn't last very long. Whatever he didn't eat, Kavin did.

Happy Birthday Koen! (Oct. 30)

Happy 1st Birthday Koen! We did one of Koen's favorite things...EAT! But Koen's 1 now, so he wanted big people food, the kind you have to chew. Forget that baby stuff (I made squash).

Ooh, fire! Daddy's not here, so Kavin does the FFFFFFFFFFFF.

When I Foster...

This past week I spoke at four different events in three days. The third that I spoke at was the Native Indian Education Association Convention held at the Convention Center. There were over 5,000 people registered. I did an hour and a half session on the Challenges Faced by Native Hawaiian Foster Children & Families. I estimated about 45 people in attendance in a room that I had never spoken in, since it is usually used for keynotes or "high demand" speakers. Wow! Anyway, in trying to keep it humerous, my last slide was this....

Thanks Johnny, my audience had a really good laugh. Well, I had to explain it to the Indians who didn't quite get it at first.