An Incredible Lady

Today was my DEAR FRIEND Jodi's birthday,

so we met for lunch (with our kids-hence the location)

and enjoyed some time to catch up on each others busy lives.

Jodi and I met when we first moved into

our old ward in Riverdale. We had an instant

connection for so many reasons. We have such

wonderful memories together, and have been a huge

support to one another through some difficult times

in each others lives. She fought through the greatest

challenge last year, and beat the odds of a

brain tumor. She has had a bumpy road of recovery

(of which she still faces incredible challenges, daily)

AND through it all SHE has inspired me and taught me

so much! I love and admire her beyond words!!

Jodi is one amazing lady

and I feel blessed & privileged to be her friend!

I miss not living a block away from her so we can see each other

every day & I miss our morning runs together.

But I am glad we still find time to get together, even

if it is with our CRAZY kids.

Our boys are very close in age, just within

months of each other.

Kaipo, Ash, Casen, Daven

* Happy Birthday Jodi*

MORE PLEASE

So I was feeling like a LAME mom,

since I didn't MAKE Ash a cake for his birthday,

only store bought one or his party.

So today I TRIED something new.

I made a funfetti cake, and then made it into

an ice cream cake by putting rainbow sherbet

on top and freezing it. OOOHHH yummy!

Everyone wanted MORE!!!
I am all about making it easy, and this one
is soo simple AND way delicious!

Competition

Ame joined the competition dance team this year.

And now after LOTS of practices

it is competition time!

They had their first of three on Saturday.

They have learned 2 dances.

In Saturdays comp. they got

1st place for their jazz routine and

2nd for hip-hop.

WAY TO GO!!

When we signed up I knew it was going

to be a BIG commitment (both financial & time),

but I think it was even more than I anticipated.

Quinn had class on the night of her practices,

which meant I had all of the kids to entertain

for an hour and a half while she was at practice

(as it was too far away to come home).

She has really enjoyed it, but I think we are

going to take a break from this dance

(still take hula) and try something new-

sports, music,...whatever Ame wants.

She's young and this is the time to explore, right?!

I am very proud of Ame for her hard work & dedication
even when we got to twice a week practices and she

was WAY oversheduled (also doing the play and hula),

and she had little time to just be a kid.

You are one very

cute & amazingly talented girl

Ame'lia!!

Its Hard to Believe...Ash is 3!!!

Friday was

Ashkiilani's

3rd birthday.

He started off the day with

DONUTS with his CRAZY sister

(Kaipo surprisingly woke up after the pictures)
That afternoon we met some of our cousins
at Boondock's (again) for a PARTY!!

Nalu being a patient sweetheart

(as usual)

waiting for everyone to arrive

Quite a funny expression!

He was very excited about his

BOWLING cake, since he is obsessed

wth 2 things:

bowling and golf
which was the reason I chose boondocks,

so we could do both.

But unfortunately we ran into a few disappointments.

#1-the Draper Boondocks doesn't have any

bowling, which was soo surprising since the

Kaysville one did when we went for

Kaipo's birthday (mini AND regular).

#2-we had COLD, RAINY weather,

which meant no outdoor mini-golf.

Such Bad Luck!

But we found some other great entertainment

The only thing they did outdoors was go-carts,

cuz they are quick, not like golf which would have

taken forever in the COLD!

looks like the birthday boy was happy anyway!

Quinn and I even tried out this CRAZY Ride.

It closes up and takes you on a simulated ride,

that spins upside down about 15 times and in ever

other direction, just like a REAL roller-coaster.

WAY FUN!!

I hope Ash knows how much we LOVE and ADORE

him. Despite all the tantrums, he is such a sweet boy

that has definitely figured a few things out.

Like how to handle his own with his brother

& sister; how to work the I-Phone and BEG to

play it all the time; how to hit a golf ball

(I really need to video him, because this kid

has some potential and determination already);

eat cocktail shrimp (w/the sauce) like no other;

drink & beg for milk 24/7; do puzzles and trio's

all day long (when he's not playing Wii or the

I-Phone that is). These is just a few things

about our Ashy Boy, at age 3.

A Date and A Party

I got to have a lunch date last week w/Ame.

Oh boy, school lunch is soo yummy!?

Ame was soo proud to have her mom there.

She held my hand and made ME feel special.

I know I won't get many more opportunities

like this one (at least where SHE is proud to have me there),

so I am enjoying them while they last!!

Ame has some crazy friends, just like herself!!

Saturday we got to go to our friend
Kade's 4th birthday party
(he is sitting next to Ash).

We had pizza, games, cake & ice cream

AND a pinata. What more can you ask for

at a party?! We always have fun when we

get together with our good friends the Jordyns

(and the Tongs)!

Happy St Patricks Day

Kaipo came home from preschool yesterday

with these crazy glasses and explained

that they were to help him find

the leprechaun. So what kind of mom

would I have been, if we didn't put

those glasses to good use.

So we made Ash some glasses too

and we headed outdoors on a hunt...

we didn't find a leprechaun, but we did

find a bag of goodies

Ash's favorite licorice...rainbow

Kaipo was SUPER excited to find

3 dollars, one for each of the (older) kids

The kids enjoyed lots of GREEN stuff throughout the day.

First-it started with Green Eggs and Ham, at the request

of Ame and Kaipo, who after like 2 bites said they were

FULL! Should have made it easy with good ol' lucky charms!
The boys also had green (lime) yogurt, green jello, green

apples & caramel dip, green juice...

and that is where it ended. Around lunch time

Kaipo had a stomach ache, which lasted the rest of the day.

Maybe mom went overboard with the GREEN food???

I am hoping that is all it was, and not really sick.

We shall see how the night goes and how Kaipo

feels in the morning?!

But I think they had a Happy St Patricks Day anyway?
*************
And here is Kaipo's leprechaun picture

he drew before our hunt.

Quite a scary guy WITH his pot of gold!

MORE fun!

While Ame was at school and Ash was taking a nap,

Kaipo and I had some FUN with Nalu.

We put him in the bouncer swing for the first time.

He had so much fun, just bouncing and spinning

around and around and around!

I really forgot how exciting this age is,

with the introduction of soo many

NEW things and just more & more fun!

Another BIG Step

I picked up some rice cereal the last time we were at the store

and thought one of these days we'd introduce it to Nalu.

The other kids have been asking everyday

if we could feed it to him, so today we did.

And he was LOVIN' it!!

I think he's going to be a BIG eater...

It is funny how with your first child
every NEW thing is so exciting and you
as the parent just can't wait for each new step.
But with each additional child, I hate to admit
(and hope I am not the only one who feels this way,
or else I will feel REALLY bad), but it just feels like
ONE MORE THING that takes time.
And that is definitely how it feels with starting to feed
the baby REAL food. But I have to say with Nalu
it feels exciting all over again. Maybe because
this is probably our last, I am just appreciating
everything so much more!!

4 month news

Nalu was actually 4 months old last week,

but we didn't go to the Dr. until yesterday,

so I waited to find out all of his stats.

His height: 26.5 inches (95th %)

His weight: 15.4 lbs (70th %)

Those are the same percentile numbers as

his older brother Kaipo. We will find out Ash's

in a few weeks when he has his 3 yr. checkup.

Nalu had a rough night, ran a pretty high fever

(I am guessing a side effect from the immunizations)

but this morning he is all smiles

once again!

And he decided to ROLL OVER

for the first time, from his back to his stomach.

I just can't get enough of this sweet, precious
boy. He is constantly just melting my heart!!

new addition update

Our Nephew, and the kids OLDEST cousin,

Kekoa

is living with us now.

The good news I shared in Relief Society

today was about him and the fact

that he is so great with my kids

(hurray...a live-in babysitter) and it is

soo great to have adult conversation

throughout the day!

He is such a polite, good mannered,

helpful, friendly kid. We are

all enjoying having him around!!

our very own...

We have our very own STAR in the family!

Ame's school put on the musical

WILLY WONKA.

The week prior to the performance

they had a drawing contest

and Ame's picture of the Bucket's Shack

WON, which meant it was the picture

displayed on the overhead during the show.

Ame was also part of the musical,

as one of the Oompa Loompa's...
They had A LOT of before & after school practices,

but all their hard work payed off

and they did an outstanding job!

her brother was soo proud of her.

He really wished HE could have been part

of the the show as well

(next year buddy)!

I was very impressed at how well this

production was put together, and the

incredible amount of time and PATIENCE

the coordinators had to make it such a success.

Way to go Ame. You continue to be a STAR

in our family and we are soo proud of YOU!!

new addition...

We have a new addition to our family.

More to come...

Bumbo

After all the RAVE about these Bumbo seats,

I broke down and bought one.

I actually found it on KSL for a great deal,

so I thought it would be worth a try.

He seems to like it...

we shall see if it is REALLY as good as everyone says,

as we try it more and more!

He's 5

Saturday was Kaipo's birthday and he is FINALLY 5.

He has been anticipating this BIG day for a long time!

Thanks to my family for buying him this

awesome BIG KID bike.

He has been riding it around the house (with

the training wheels on) NON-STOP, because his dad told him

he had to learn to ride it really good and fast,

then he can take the training wheels off.

He is determined to be a BIG BOY!!

He has a Kindergarten checkup tomorrow

and I am curious to see how he ranks

on the growth charts. I already know he is one tall kid!

We also have Kindergarten Registration this week.

A funny thought about that-

one day on our way to preschool, he said

pretty soon I won't be going to preschool, and I

agreed and said you're right, in my mind thinking

he meant when summer comes & this school year is over.

But Kaipo thought that when he turned 5

automatically he stopped preschool and

started going to Kindergarten. He definitely could

pass for a Kindergartener or even first grader!

Besides his bike he got lots of other fun stuff.

Here are some of the things 5yr old Kaipo is into:

*Legos and Trio's-he LOVES to

build and create things

* Anything superhero
*He has taken a recent interest in sports,

particularly basketball-hurray!

He can put that height to good use :)

*He is quite the artist and has an

amazing imagination

*He loves to play games on the computer

*He feels soo grown up now that he is

learning to read

We had a family party for him at Boondocks.
They rode cars, played lazertag, bowling,
arcade games, climbed around and just had a blast!!
He chose to have a
TRANSFORMERS cake
this year
I wish I could say I was ambitious enough
to make this one, but no I was not!
Thanks goodness for a
cupcake cake. It eliminates the mess
of cutting & serving.
Everyone came away with black teeth and
messy faces, but I think they enjoyed the treat.

I got LOTS of pictures of Ash, because

dad was off with the BIG kids, while mom

was with the little boys. But I really did

not do a good job of picture taking
(I only hope that Karli or LeAnne got

more pics than I did. I am sure they

did of their OWN kids, cuz they

are much better than I at that)

Ash was in HEAVEN with the mini-bowling,

and got several games in, with whoever would play!

I sure hope Kaipo had a great birthday!

We are so proud of him and think he is one amazing boy.

He is so full of energy, curiosity, imagination, and love!

Despite all the frustration & stress he may cause us,

its like the saying Quinn found, by Mark Twain,

that we put on the wall in his room...

My mother has a great deal of trouble with me,

but I think she enjoys it.

We Love you Kaipo,

and wouldn't want YOU any other way!!