New Moon

Okay, so I have to say that last night I went to the movie New Moon at 6:00pm for the preview showing. I had purchased the tickets a few weeks ago with some friends of mine, keeping with our Twilight tradition of last year. I cannot say that I was thrilled about going- I hated last years movie and nearly vomited with all the sappiness between Bella and Edward- I mean come on...who really says that kind of stuff?! Being a Jacob fan, (I've only read the series once, it was a good read, entertaining, and better than some books I've read, although still too sappy for me and too much of PERFECT Edward...barf...barf...) I was glad that Jacob would get a lot of screen time- and boy was it worth it. Those wolf boys put those vampire bodies to shame. I think I am still having nightmares from Edward (UGLY - can I stress it more-U.G.L.Y. you ain't got no alibi, UGLY-Robert Pattinson) exposing his soooo non muscular, skinny, with a trail of nasty hair, chest. The chills are running down my spine just thinking of it. Anyway...thank goodness this movie had Jacob and his boys with their sense of humor and nice bodies, and Jessica threw in a few good lines, because if it were just Edward and Bella again I think I may have walked out. But it was good for a laugh and a great time with friends. What cracks me up the most is all the LADIES that were whooping and cheering before the title even came on! I am not making fun, it's just plain amusing. So for all you Edward fans out there-hope I have not offended you- Hot, dark meat (and I've got some of my own) is ALWAYS better!!

Better Late than Never Right?

This little insert for my blog is a "bit" late, but I just wanted to blog them so I remember the good times. I am one of those people that keeps no journal. This is it for me.
So, in October, my sister Nezhone and her son Jakai came to visit (I LOVE it when my sisters come to visit, they are truly my best friends). We never seem to plan anything, we just "go with the flow". Well, one day as I was driving somewhere I had heard on the radio that they were having a haunted corn maze right up the road and I thought to myself that it would be a great idea. So Saturday night as we are all lazing about, I remember the corn maze and asks who's in. Thinking that my younger kids would NOT want to go, I proposed this question to all. John was out-he hates that kind of stuff (of course I had to rub it in that I thought he was chicken) but ALL of the other kids said they wanted to go. I warned them that it would be scary. They wouldn't listen. I tried to warn them again that it would be REALLY scary. They still would not listen...so off we went. It was COLD and pretty crowded not to mention a little pricey. So we waited in line...and waited... and finally we were in. We walked for a couple minutes with nothing scary happening to us when all of a sudden someone pops out. The kids jump, I laugh and we keep going. By this time Nyah is in my arms, Israel is clinging to me and Nezhone is holding Jakai with Tealani clinging to her. The two girls in front of us took off running and screaming. Needless to say, we kept getting "popped out" at by people in scary masks and chain saws. Israel started screaming and crying, my face was hurting so bad from all my laughter (not at Israel, okay some, maybe, I mean if you saw this kid you would think that he would be the toughest of them all), Nyah was wide-eyed and scared, Wyatt was enjoying every minute, and unfortunately I had no idea what was going on with Tealani and Nezhone. I just remember thinking to myself that this single event would take away my "mother-of-the year" award...but I WARNED THEM!! The blame does not lie with me people! Those pretzels in an afore mentioned blog listing would never make up for this terrifying event. BUT...I enjoyed every minute of it. The kids were glad when it was over and tried to put on a brave face. I was sure nightmares of said event would make my night miserable, but luckily for me it was all forgotten...hopefully. We ended the night with the hay pyramid and a little hay maze. Did I say it was a COLD night?

Wyatt is now taller than me. I keep reminding him that I can "take him down" at any time.

I call these two the twinners and they HATE it. But I can't help it. I always wanted a set of twins and since thse two are the same height and so close in age...

The Funny Things They Say...

Nyah..."Daddy will you make me some eggs?"
Daddy..."I'll make you eggs if you sweep the floor."
Nyah..."That's not my deal."
Daddy..."Well, that's my deal."

Needless to say, she didn't sweep the floor 'cause that wasn't her deal, she just came upstairs to me and told on daddy.

Halloween

Another year of Halloween has come and thankfully gone. I told myself that we would carve pumpkins and we did. Good job mom a little pat on the back for myself. Thank goodness grandma planted pumpkins in our garden this year so we wouldn't have to buy any. Being the cheapskate mom that I am I was happy. And Nyah got to carve her pumpkin from the patch. Happy day.

I also told myself this year that I would not be a slacker mom, that I would get all the costumes ready at least 3 days before Halloween. Well, once again it did not happen. Last minute costumes here we come...AGAIN. I try and talk my kids into doing the scary Halloween stuff every year, but they will not go for it. One day maybe. Instead, Nyah decided to be a fairy (luckily I had made the skirt months and months before and bought the wings a week before), poor Israel had to do the Ninja thing again, and I did talk Tealani into being a flapper girl from the roaring 20's for the church trunk-or-treat. That was the costume I used in High school a few times. It was a tad bit big on her but she looked so darling.

Here is Summer and I at the Church trunk-or-treat/chili cook-off.

Funny thing about this...Summer had no idea who Jane Fonda was. Seriously?! Am I THAT old!?!?

For the ward trunk-or-treat the activities committee decided to have a chili cook-off. Well, I told them I would make some chili and so did my friend Becky. However, her back had gone out and she just could not do anything. I told her to give me her ingredients and that I would make the chili for her. So about 2 hours before the party is supposed to start I begin making the chili dumoping things in here and there. No recipe just dumping. I had to fill two crockpots full of this stuff. Well, Becky's crockpot wasn't quite full so I had to dump a little extra stuff in hers. It tasted slightly different but not too much. So I took those two little crockpots to the party, set them down, told Rebecca that I had made them both but one was for Becky. She placed numbers on them and the taste off shortly began. The members of the bishopric were the taste testers. John, being one of those members, had absolutely no idea that I had even made any chili. After it was over and everyone was dishing up their bowls, Rebecca starts laughing and says that the bishopric couldn't decide which one tasted better- #15 or #16- yes, as you may have guessed- my numbers! When John found out they were mine, he felt he had to tell the bishop because he didn't want everyone to think it was rigged. Yep, that's John for ya. Anyway...I won, and there was not a drop left in either crock pot to take home for leftovers.

So back to Halloween and off my glory ride. The night came and went with a lot of candy and hopefully no cavities.

Wyatt and his buddies. We love Laughing with Samoans and so I thought an appropriate costume for my imitating son would be Tofinga although he kind of looks like Bu'laie (not sure if I am spelling either of those names right). By the end of the night one of his "chubby" pillows had fallen down to his butt.

So glad Halloween is over...

The Pumpkin Patch

I am sad to say that Nyah is now in Kindy. Sad because I am no longer at home with my baby...Sad that we don't get a full day together with crazy 5 year old conversations...Sad because we don't get to craft together... Yet Happy because we at least get half days together...Happy because now I can help out at school in her class or any of the other kids' classes (I SO threatened Wyatt that if he didn't start turning assignments in on time I would happily attend class with him...because now I have the time!)...Happy because she's happy to be in school.
Anyway, I decided that I would help chaperone these little kindies to the Pumpkin Patch on an unfortunately COLD yet fabulously SUNNY day. I showed up a little late and found my Nyah in the overflowing sea of children. There she was bright and happy.


She and her partner Sam were climbing around on the pyramid of hay bales. Soon it was time to go on the hayride and off we went. Teacher told them to hold hands and I about choked...too young I thought...surely Nyah would refuse...but as an obedient student and because it was all innocent, off she trotted with Sam. I had to get the picture so I could show daddy. What would he think? Ohhh...I could see it now...the surprise, the brow furrowing like it does, and then the aha! moment when he realizes she must be obeying teachers orders. But me, being the sly little devil of a wife that I am chiding him saying "No, they just took off that way" with a little smirk on my face. Devilish I say, Just devilish!! I would then tell him he was right before he starts in on Nyah with his half hour lecture on dating etc... etc...I couldn't bear it, I just couldn't!


So here we are getting ready for the ride. Me and my baby. It was a short ride to the patch where she would wander through looking for the perfect pumpkin.

And finally finding it.

Finally, it was time for snacks, getting back to the school,

and eating lunch. Of course mom had forgotten to pack her lunch like she said she would so she had to go into the mercantile and buy something to take back. It was delicious though and Nyah loved every bite! What a GREAT morning! Now that makes me HAPPY!

My "new" Obsession

So, my latest obsession-I have so many and unfortunately cleaning my house is NEVER one of them-is my mom's old photos of "Way Back When". I absolutely love photos of my mom and dad "back in the day". Since I discovered Picasa I've been trying to fix them up a little-the scratches and tears and just the plain old wear that they get. Some pictures though are better left as they are...

Like this one of my mom. I was going to take out some of the scratches, but it looked worse. I absolutely LOVE this picture of her painting the trellis. I don't think I was ever as skinny as my mom. Oh...maybe fifth grade...

This is dad in the Army. I think he was stationed in Germany at the time.

This is their wedding photo at Fern Grotto on Kauai-the best photo they had of that night. I guess all the pictures turned out really dark and unfortunately this one was stuck to the frame's glass. I had to really fix this one up.

My dad really did teach us karate, however, not at this age. My mom said that Keola and I really wanted to be like dad and have the same outfit (It's too bad she didn't keep those outfits instead of some of our bell bottoms etc...)


My dad LOVED the outdoors and so we learned from an early age to enjoy the GREAT OUTDOORS as well. I only got to go fishing with my dad and never hunting, but posing by the antlers is good enough isn't it??

I sure do miss the "Good 'ol days" when life a was a bit more simple...yet... hopefully my kids will one day look back and say they had a great time growing up too.

Family...

In our process of adoption we have to submit recent photos of our family. That's really easy to do if they just want pictures of the kids and John, but I often REFUSE to get in front of the camera (I swear it adds 20 not 10 pounds extra). We originally wanted to get professional pictures done but with all the other coasts that come with adoption it just wasn't in the budget. The next best thing was using Nezhone's camera (unfortunately mine just broke) when she came to visit. I don't covet too many things, but one thing I DO covet is a great camera with fabulous lenses. Unfortunately, by the time John got home from church meetings and we finally had dinner, the great light had gone away. These were the best we could get, so with a little photoshopping from Picasa, here they are. Boy was it COLD outside.

Beautiful

I can never get enough pictures of these four. They were the dedicated foursome that danced all summer. Summer is just REALLY busy for everyone, but somehow, even with all our travels, we were able to make 98% of the shows. This was a performance for a ward luau down at the Columbia River. It was absolutely BEAUTIFUL!

Nyah's First Day of School

My baby is growing up. I can't believe that she is finally in Kindy. I feel a sense of sadness as my little Nyah bird leaves the nest. Of course this was weeks ago...but somedays, when all is quiet and I have nothing to do, the sadness returns. It seems as if it was just yesterday that I held that small little miracle in my arms-we were never supposed to have her because of my medical "stuff". But John and I knew in our hearts and by the spirit that there was one more to come to us biologically. Thank goodness we listened to that because our lives have been sooooo BLESSED because of her.

Anyway...I decided to kill two birds with one stone and walk my darlings to school that first week (then I would get in my exercise as well). Immediately after stepping foot on school grounds she turns and says "Bye mom". I was thinking to myself, "No, this can't be it." Then I remembered I had the camera and I was going to take pictures of my Nyah. She couldn't get rid of me that quickly. Sneaky little thing. So we took pictures at the door;

On the side of the school;

Waiting in line for the teacher to open the door;

Walking in the classroom;

And she still thought she could get rid of me! But alas, I FOLLOWED her into the classroom! I am wise little one. Every second of your precious FIRST DAY will be documented...or at least until the teacher tells me to go home. So inside we took pictures at her desk;

After she hung up her bag and got her name tag; ( think this is where I actually started to choke back the tears realizing that I only had a few brief moments with her...) And then I left...

only to return again to take one last picture...with her first teacher. There will Never be another one of these days Nyah. Oh how much I love you!

This was taken a few days later. She and the kids started riding their bikes to school. She loved that too. My, how fast they grow!!

Some first week conversations with Nyah...

Grandma: "What did you do in school today"
Nyah: "We hung up our backpacks and then we went to the pit."
Grandma and mom: "What's the pit? and what did you do there?"
Nyah: "Mrs. Aldrich read us a book."
Mom and grandma (we're pretty in sync): "What book?"
Nyah: (Sassy-like) "You wouldn't know what book it is."
Mom: "Yes we would! Just tell us."
Nyah: "The Kissing Hand book"
Grandma and mom: "Oh"

Guess she was right. We didn't know.

Dad: "Nyah what did you do in school today?"
Nyah: "We hung up our backpacks and went to the pit."
dad: "What did you do at the pit?"
Nyah: "We read a book."
Dad: "Did you get sent to the principal's office?"
Nyah: (all knowledgable-like and quite put out) "Dad, we don't have a principal's office."

FYI-John's an assistant principal at the HS here.

Playing catch up

I was so excited for the first day of school. It was Nyah's first day and the kids had really started to get bored at home (we didn't allow the TV on and no computer time and we own zero video game consoles). The pool water ad turned green and mom refused to clean it for another 3 weeks of swimming, and the trampoline...well...that thing was just OLD news if you know what I mean. So off to school the three went, happy as larks, with Wyatt enjoying one more free day at home with mom (he started the following day), laughing at those who were off to McGee Elementary.

The first day went off without a hitch (except mom trying to choke back a few tears ). I was walking them to school for the week, getting in my exercise. Then the second day, tears broke out from Israel's eyes...and the next day...and the next day. Threats started spewing forth from this mothers lips to no avail, then Thursday came and a lightbulb went on; stop walking him to school! The second week I stopped walking them and guess what...no tears! He is definitely a momma's boy. Guess I'd better stop threatening things...I don't think it works.


Wyatt's first day went off without a hitch. He is now top of the school in 8th grade. So far he likes it.