I will get to it later when I have time . . .

Unfortunately this has been my excuse for every journal I have ever started (and there have been many). I don't know why I feel the need to catch up on everything (this blog) and then it gets worse and worse and then I become paralyzed by the mere idea. Thus I have not written a blog since April. Isn't it ridiculous. All the things I missed because I kept wanting to catch up. It is just silly.

So anyway here I am. I may catch up on a few things but not too many because I might stop typing. The good news is I am writing through contractions. Yes today is the due day. I have learned that "due date" really doesn't mean anything for me (usually late) so it is kinda fun to have a few "ouch" contractions on the actual day. Hooray! We have no name for our new boy though and I really don't have any ideas -- suggestions anyone? We are so excited to have a brother for Helaman - who got a haircut on Monday. It is short and I will have to put up pictures later.

So here are a few things that have been fun and exciting at our home lately:

Building - Mom and Dad are going to build downstairs and we are going to fix the upstairs. We are so excited to have a place to call our own. The top half is in desperate need of repairs but it is really nice to feel like we have something to invest in and to call our own. I got a little crazy and bought a dishwasher. Only to find out that means we need a new sink, countertop and disposal. So it was fun to go to Home Depot and look at colors and get some pricing done. At least we have a start. We are also trying to get rid of our week stay in Maui and use that money for wood floors so that is exciting too.

Hawaii Tech Academy - I am sure most of you know that I quit Kahuku Elem. in the middle of the school year (Jan) and moved to HTA. It was the best thing for me. It has helped me have the time to put my priorities back in line and remind myself what matters most to me. This year we moved Nalia to HTA with me. It is an online school and I have to be there to monitor and teach the curriculum so only one at a time. This has been the best and hardest thing I have ever done but so worth every moment and Nalia is so much happier.

There is so much more but I must get shut eye.

thank goodness for the DVR!

Well I was looking forward to conference for so many reasons. BUT it did not work out for me so well because of the football game going on Sat. and Helaman being very sick today.  So share with me  your favorite talks so I can go back and listen to them.  I am soooooo grateful for the DVR so I can go back and listen to the talks.  OK and I will just say that I am also grateful for 6 am conference because I was able to listen to some of the talks in the morning session because the keiki were still sleeping.  Tell me your favorites . . . thanks.

Announcing . . .

Happiness everywhere! We are so excited! Gotta love Nalia!

Anela

Today Namu took Pomai and Nalia to Haleiwa Surf Center for a day of fun with Parks and Recs and Helaman magically slept for four hours. That allowed me to spend some quality time with Anela.  FUN! She grows everyday and is getting so smart.  Preschool has been such a blessing for her (and us). She has grown leaps and bounds in such a short time. It was so much fun just to hang out with her and watch her trace her hand, color,  glue, and pretend cook.  After that decided to "write words" and started asking how to spell different family members names. 

"Mom how do you spell your name?" 

"M-O-M" As she is writing it out -  

"Pomai has a M." "How do you spell Grandma?" Again as she is writing G-R-A- . . . "I have an A. No, two A's and Pomai has and A and Nalia has an A . . . " 

It is just so fun to see how smart she is becoming and I loved being able to spend time with just her (for more than a 3 minute stretch).  Thanks for playing with me today Anela - I LOVE YOU!

Grateful for. . .

After many months of not blogging I realized I have been avoiding blogging (my journal) just because I felt there was too much to catch up on and where would I start.  So I resigned that I will just catch up later. But for now I want to talk about the things my family and I are grateful for.  We have again resumed our weekly family council.  I have missed it desperately and realized that we slowly got off track as a family without it.  But anyway one of the components is what each of us is grateful for so here is the list - Anela - Mommy - why?  because I love you.  Nalia - my family why? because I love them.  Pomai - my cousins and playing with them at the family reunion.  Mom - all the support I got during the family reunion especially from Namu who took care of the children and cooked while I took care of business.  Dad - being able to be a missionary.  Kena (a volunteer from his work) will be taking the discussions next week.  There are so many things everyday to be grateful for . . . seek and ye shall find.

Recycle, Repurpose, Renew, Repair

What do you get with an old tire, an old table, and a free umbrella . . .

Namu took all this stuff (that I was ready to take to the dump) and made a lovely backyard oasis for the kids and I. Before this we rarely used the backyard but not anymore! It makes me SMILE everyday and somehow that it didn't cost a thing makes it even better. My favorite thing- that Namu drilled a bigger hole in the table so the umbrella could fit. He also fixed the bikes that were also headed to the trash as well as the two strollers that were broken. So here's to saving money and using what you have. Good job Namu!

Halloween Pictures

HOLY SMOKES BATMAN how did you get that LOLLIPOP?

GLAMOUR GIRL and CINDERELLA

Check out HANNAH MONTANA!

(more pictures later)

My LOVE/HATE relationship with costumes

(this is the long version) Every year I resolve to make Halloween fun. Honestly, I dread it but don't want my kids to dread it so I put on a brave face and do my best. I try so hard to do anything to make it fun including hosting the annual "get together" and buying decorations to fill both the outside and inside BUT I always get stuck on the costumes. Sadly, this year was extra crazy so I let someone else host the party and never got around to doing decorations (so sad) but the cosume dilema was still hanging over my head. Pomai wanted to be Hannah Montana (all I could think of is YES! I don't have to buy a wig) but then Nalia wanted to be Hannah too. I tried to convince her to be Miley but she didn't like that because she is all about the GLITTER. Anela wanted to be a princess but I had a BYU cheerleading costume so I worked at convincing her that a cheerleader would be more fun.
So last Saturday we hit Saver's to find something, I kept telling myself I could make the costumes myself instead of buying them (the last two years I have left the costume shopping to Hanu and my girls did ask what they were going to get from Aunty Hanu this year). We quickly found a princess costume that Anela had to have - so much for cheerleading. We searched for all things sequined for Pomai's outfit but not much luck in her size. We did find a cute jeans jacket, a purple and black short skirt, fish net stockings, a glitter microphone and a bedazzled cap - ok that might work for Pomai. I could not find shoes for her but thought maybe we could figure something out later. Meanwhile Nalia was still whining that she couldn't be Hannah. But then she found a "dog house purse" (see pic) and I had found a pink sequin vest that matched the house and thought Paris Hilton (not the role model I want for my child) which led me to MOVIE STAR/GLAMOUR GIRL. Nalia LOVED the idea!
I was still uneasy about Pomai's costume (always listen to your gut) so I showed Mike and Kahi the pieces via the video phone. Mike hit the nail on the head when he said "Man if you just add leggings, Pomai could be Debbie Gibson" AAAAAHHHHH it was true that was the costume I had. I desperately tried to figure out how to get to town with everything else goin on. Luckily, Mari came to the rescue! She was going to town and found a pair of black boots, bracelets and makeup . They worked perfectly.
I was so happy with all the finishing touches I was able to make despite being costume challenged. I cut Pomai bangs (Yep - thanks to You tube) and took apart a pair of earrings to make her a pair of clip-ons, cut up a old onsie to cover Anela's pink headband and make it blue, and bent my earrings so they clipped on Nalia's ears. I got great satisfaction creating costumes this year instead of buying them all so surprisingly I hope I get to do it again next year.