The Ohana Mama

Life lessons from a drive along the highway

On my way to TEDxMaui this past weekend (which was amazing and you can catch the replay here), I got stuck in a bit of slow traffic due to a marathon that was taking place along our two-lane highway. As I watched the people running I took note of what I could learn from them.

Here are three life lessons you can take from a marathoner.

1. Go at your own pace

While observing the runners, I saw distinct personalities and different ways that each person was accomplishing the same goal…to finish the marathon.

Some marathon goers were walking (and talking with friends), others were running at a slow pace and at a fast pace. Some had robotic walking moves and some were even stopping to take pictures along the way. But all were pointed in the same direction…the finish line.

Sure, not all would finish, but many would. Those that jogged, ran or walked like a robot. They would finish…at their own pace. They weren’t running anyone else’s marathon. It was just them, with their feet carrying them.

Life isn’t a race…and it all ends the same way, for all of us. Live your life, take part in the marathon, do it your way.

2. Have support, give support

Fill that life with people that support you, like the many people that lined the streets to give water to the runners. Or the spouses or friends that were following on bikes or cars and hooting and hollering.

Surround yourself with those that will be your water people, your support, your cheerleaders…no matter if you walk, run, or skip. And surround yourself with those that YOU can root on too and support and love.

The marathon of life is easier, and more fun, if you have support.

3. Curves, hills, and roadblocks…they happen

The Maui Oceanfront Marathon has hills and curves and cars all along the way. However, the marathoners persevered.

I thought to myself, “wow, they must be hot, choking on car fumes and exhausted on the Pali” (the curving uphill part of the marathon). But, they all kept going, one foot in front of the other, moving…towards that finish line…

Life has hills, and curves and unknown traffic that may stall you from time to time. But you’ve got to keep going and moving forward and actually find excitement in those things…the challenges!

So there you have it! Go forward, with support and do it your way! And enjoy…the marathon of life!

{hallelujah!}

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I think I’ll go for a walk outside

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Happy Aloha Friday! I hope you had an amazing week!

It’s whale season here! That means as you drive along the highway, travel to the beach or go for a hike you’ll see whales spouting, flapping and breaching. It’s amazing and I love to squeal and holler when I see them. So if you are here and you hear a mad woman squealing at the site of a whale, that’s me.

The other day we went for a walk after school and found a super secret location to watch the beautiful whales do their thing. It was magnificent. We were tucked into a cliff covered in giant rocks, the deep blue BIG ocean out in front of us and whales traveling by as if it was a whale freeway.

I’ll take whales over cars any day!

Here are some pics! Have a wonderful wonderful weekend! I’m off to TEDxMAUI tomorrow…woohoo!

We love to giggle on walks…can ya guess why we’re laughing so hard.

Do you see it? It’s a baby whale! So so amazing!

walks in paradise…you can’t go wrong!

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get crafty! homemade playdoh

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Today we made homemade playdoh. I’m a bit ashamed to reveal that it was indeed my first time making it. I know that breaks some sort of mommy rule. But I also suspect that there are others out there just like me who have yet to make playdoh with their kids. Or you have but not in a long time. This tutorial is for all of you.

To save you a little time, here are a few things I’m realizing as this new crafty me comes out…

1. Buy a couple of not so great pots and pans and baking sheets to do crafty things. Yes, some crafty things need heating up. And stirring…more on that below.

2. When you make playdoh, you will have to stir. And stir. And stir. This will leave you thinking, “when will a ball form?!” And “what did I get myself into?” See my tip below on how to get that ball forming. It will form, I promise you :)

3. Take your rings off before doing crafty things. Especially when doing those that include food coloring.

4. Buy latex gloves. Use them.

5. You will feel like a rock star when your kids are making pretend hamburgers and ice cream cones out of your homemade playdoh. And you’ll be happy that it’s made with safe products for the kiddos when one of them should get carried away and take a bite out of that pretend ice cream cone. And you will laugh at the face they’ll make when they realize how yucky it really tastes.

And you will forget all about how you stirred. And stirred. And stirred….

Let’s get crafty and make homemade playdoh!

Grab these ingredients:

1 tbs cream of tartar (this is a powder found in the seasoning section at your grocery store. Not to be confused with tartar sauce.)
2 cups of flour
1 cup of salt
2 cups of water
2 tbs of canola oil
food coloring

(you could add in some vanilla scent too and even sparkles when coloring them)

Have your little one help you pour all of the ingredients into a sauce pan.

Move to the stove

Heat on low, stirring constantly until it starts to form a ball. I started the heat on low but it took forever to start to ball up. So I turned it up a little and soon enough it was coming together. Then I brought it back down to low as I stirred and it all started to ball up.

Once the ball of doh isn’t tacky or doesn’t come off on your fingers, it’s ready to come off the heat.

Knead the ball on your counter or covered table to get it really mixed all together and smooth.

Once smooth, divide into balls to color the doh

Put on gloves. (I didn’t’ have gloves so we improvised and used plastic bags, which were later re-used to store the doh.)

Color the doh

Drop 3 drops of food color into a flattened ball, then knead the doh until the color is all mixed. Have fun with this and make it a teaching moment by mixing two colors to make a new color.

Once all of your doh is colored you are ready to have fun and create! The kids used cookie cutters and then a melon baller and zester to create their hamburgers and ice cream cones.

And there you have it! Work out your arms, create cool color creations and make fun crafty memories with your little one when you make homemade playdoh!

Let me know if you do this craft and pin it!

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An app that finds that cup of joe when on vacation!

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Traveling can be tough on the mind and body. There you are up way too early due to the time change and all you want is a good cup of coffee. OR you’ve been driving cross-country and the gas light goes on. You are in a whole new town with not a clue of your surroundings. What to do?

Well, my friends over at Digitwirl have found THE app for you traveling folks! Watch the video below to learn how you can travel and know where to find that much-needed cup of joe or where to find the closest Wholefoods that carries your gluten-free spaghetti.

Have you ever been on vacation and totally lost for your favorite anything? After you’ve watched the video, leave a comment on how you would probably use the app Around Me below!

Know what’s around you, wherever you are.

The best way to know what’s immediately around you is to use Around Me. It’s a free app for IOS and Android devices and it is the must-have app for people on the go.

Around Me is a hyper-localized search that uses geotracking to help find things from the closest pizza place to nearby parking lots and then map them for you. And you can easily share that information through email, Facebook, Twitter and texting.

Digitwirl is the weekly web show that offers simple solutions to modern day problems. In 3 minutes, Digitwirl brings busy women the very best time, money, and sanity-saving technology, and then teaches them how to use it, step-by-step. Digitwirl was created by technology lifestyle expert Carley Knobloch, who uses lots of technology to manage her busy life as mom of two and entrepreneur. Become a subscriber to get weekly show alerts and exclusive deals at Digitwirl.com, or follow Digitwirl on Twitter at @digitwirl.

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