Hope it was a HaPpY Father's Day for all

The kids are always excited for these SPECIAL

days to honor someone that they LOVE so much!

They spent lots of time making books and cards

for Quinn. Of course it wouldn't be Father's Day

if we didn't serve breakfast in bed.

Nalu didn't get what was going on,

but he still was cute as ever...

(With the help of Jamie and her incredible talent)

I made this sign for Quinn to hang in his office

(which I still need to get hung).

I thought it was fitting...

I was sad to NOT be with my own dad this year, but

the kids and I made ecards and email videos

to express our LOVE and appreciation to him.

And we did get to spend the evening with most of Quinn's

family, to celebrate and appreciate Kimo.

All in all it was a simple, but hopefully HaPpY Day

for our special DAD's!!

the Beginning of Summer

We started a new behavior incentive at our house.

The kids can earn GOTCHA tickets, for good behavior

(listening the first time, not complaining, doing extra helpful things, etc)

After ALL 3 OF THEM earned 10 I said we could

sleep on the tramp, since they have been begging to do it.

Well they earned it more quickly than I anticipated,

in just one week, and so I was bound to

join them on the tramp for a night of restful sleeping...

NOT REALLY. After about an hour Ash went inside

because he wanted to sleep in his own bed.

That made it a little better, but we woke up

several times with blankets all over the place and

the other two continuously rolling on top of me!

FINALLY at about 4:30 Ame and Kaipo

agreed we should go inside and get a few hours

of good sleep. Thank goodness!

Now that they have done it, hopefully they won't

be asking to do it again for a LONG time:?!

But it was a fun memory made!

The beautiful WARM weather has finally made it

so we headed to the pool.

We traded Kaipo for Ella,

for a few days. In addition to swimming,

late nights, movies, makeup, and lots of GIRL fun

the girls also planned a LIMEade stand.
Of course it is never as $$ producing as they would

have hoped, but that is just one of the many

summer fun MUST dos...

and so summer has REALLY begun and we are lovin' it!

Father AND Sons

Quinn decided about 8:00 Friday night that he was

going to take the boys to the Father AND Sons campout.

He has taken Kaipo once before I think.

Quinn isn't much of a camper. I'm not sure why

(I think his snoring might have something to do with it).

Our kids would LOVE to go REAL camping if we

ever took them. But we don't have any camping gear,

so that is the first set back.

Anyways, of course when Quinn announced

they were going athough they didn't do any

REAL camping, Kaipo and Ash were

excited as can be to go!

They loaded the futon mattress into the back

of the Armada, some blankets, pillows,

and they were good to go... a little early morning snacking-

chips and soda
while watching a movie
(like I said, no REAL camping experience)

then it was time for the REAL campfire breakfast.
They did get to sit around the campfire,
roast marshmallows and make smores the night before.
Kaipo had lots of stories about burning plates and sticks
(pretty much anything to do with the FIRE was exciting)

the only real negative that came from this trip was,

despite me specifically telling Quinn there was

bug spray in their bag, Kaipo and Ash were eatin'

alive. He thought it would be nice to sleep with

the windows of the car OPEN...hhmmm

(like I said, not really camping smart in this family).

As long as they haven't contracted west nile virus,

they should be OK once the itchy bites disappear!??!

I am glad they ended up going and having some BOY fun.

Ame and I put Nalu down and had some of our own

GIRL fun. All it took was a movie and TREATS,

and us girls were happy as can be!!

cRaFtY

Ame bought a box of iron on's a while back,

and finally got to make a cRaFtY design

on her very own shirt she is quite proud of the results,

as she should be!!
the start of MANY summer crafts!

Celebrate

Today our same neighbors who did the Easter Egg

Hunt for the neighborhood planned a

Schools Out Carnival...

complete with face painting, games,

cotton candy, shave ice, water slide, bounce house, prizes and more.
Ame and some of the young ladies got to help with the games
AND do most of the face painting. They were LOVING
being IN CHARGE!

Nalu was content most of the time IN the

stroller, as long I kept the cups holders stocked with popcorn

(oh yeah, something else this fun carnival provided).

We just seem REALLY lucky and GRATEFUL

to live in such an AWESOME neighborhood!

The only negative about this carnival

was the weather didn't cooperate to well.

It was WINDY and cloudy.

Thank goodness only a few sprinkles

and the temps were still pretty warm,

so it wasn't too bad.

We all still had a BLAST!!

Dirty Dash 2011

Saturday 8 of my friends and I did the Dirty Dash.

It was a 5K obstacle course through the mud, up in Midway.

Ame decided she wanted to come watch her mom

get REALLY muddy, cheer me on and be the photographer.

A couple of the girls families came, so Ame got

to help babysit as well.

The weather was perfect! Slightly overcast,

but sunny at times and in the mid 70's.

Here we all are: (left to right)
Nancy, Shannon, Jessica, Amy H,

Me, Lindsey, Amy S, Katie, and Amber.

The arches behind us is the the starting line.

Here's how the course was from the get go...muddy to our ankles.
I thought if THIS is how the whole thing is I don't know if
I am going to enjoy this much. PLus I felt like my shoes were
going to come off if I ran too fast?!

None of us knew quite what to expect, since we hadn't done it before.

It was a lot of UP hill, with obstacle along the way, such

as stacked haybails or walls to climb over, each with big amounts of

mud before and after, tires to run through, and a few others

I can't quite remember. SPrinklers of course to spray us

and to keep the course wet. The WHOLE trail wasn't muddy, but LOTS

of it was. My feet felt soo gross, and by the end they were just filled with

rocks and felt like 50 lbs.

We laughed A LOT! Mostly at some particular runners and their

outfits, especially the girl doing it solo in her thong swimsuit.

Yes there were all kinds of costumes!
We were spread out throughout the race, going at different paces.

I mostly ran with 2 other girls, but we waited for the rest of our group

to slide down the blow up slide at the end and then go through this...

to the finish line.

You could pretty much get as dirty as you wanted.

We were dirty, but not real bad and decided at the

end we needed to be MUCH more MUddy, so

we made some slides and dives

and turned out like this...

Afterwards we had 2 choices for trying to clean off-

(both outside community showers)

FREEZING cold fire hydrant water

OR pay $3 for a warm, trickle of a shower.

Some of us chose to pay for warmth, which

consisted of getting a warm/cold powerwash first,

then stand in another LONG line, and shiver

for what felt like FOREVER to then TRY to get

the majority of the mud off, while crowds of

people gawked and wondered why we were

all shivering like crazy, because

NOT wet it was really quite pleasant outside.

The we got to change our clothes in a big tent with

tons of other naked ladies. Ame was my towel holder,

as I tried to be somewhat modest.

Even knowing the end result of fingers turning

purple and having mud caked everywhere,

we are already making plans for next year!!

We know our group is going to get much

bigger next time, as many others

who were reluctant about the idea, now

see and hear stories about what a blast

we had and want to join us next time.

Gettin' dirty sure is fun!!

a COLD field day

Thursday was Field Day for the kids

and out of the whole week of semi-warmth

this was the only day it was down right COLD

(don't let the picture fool you-after I took it

I was sent back to the classroom to grab LOTS

of sweatshirts that they thought they didn't need).Ash came with mom to help out and join in on the fun.
Kaipo showing Ash how to Pass the Water

Kaipo and his fun little Kinder friends

and a cute little girl in his class, Marina

(she is the sister to Ame's best friend Layla).

Despite the cold the kids LOVED their shaved Ice.

SOOO grateful for these opportunities,

especially since I know I won't be able to

be apart of many next year :(

Afterwards, Daddy brought the kids lunch and

joined them in a COLD picnic with the class.

Grateful we BOTH have the flexibility right now

to enjoy these simple and fun days with the kids.

Thankfully Ame and Kaipo are still at the age that they

BEG us to come and join in on their adventures.

I know their enthusiasm for our involvement

and having us around isn't going to last much longer,

so for now we will CHERISH these moments!!

Kindergarten Program

In class, doing some last minute practicing. Miss Shelley

the MOST patient, firm but loving teacher.

She has been just what Kaipo needed this year!

let the show begin...

Oh how I LOVE my Kaipo.

He does NOT fit the mold, instead he is unique and creative!

He is soo intelligent and has grown so much as a reader

this year, now reading chapter books

and is soo excited about it!

(he is into the Magic Tree House series)

Just like the quote on his wall says...

My mother has a great deal of trouble with me,

but I think she enjoys it.

Yes I do!!

FRIENDS program

The second graders had a program today about friends.

It was really cute and Ame did great!


Don't mind the horrible video...we REALLY need an

actual video camera that gives us NON-blurry video!

You can still sort of see which one is Ame???

It is really fun for me to go to things at the school since I have subbed for these kids soo many times. They all know me and I can actually remember most of their names.

independence

I LOVE that Nalu is gaining some independence

and can entertain himself now.
A few updates:
Nalu is talking more and more every day.
Today all day he kept saying...
Ame, Ame, Ame.
Oh how I LOVE this boy!!
He is quite the funny one-
he likes to make funny noises, play silly games
with the kids and he laughs a lot.
Unfortunately he has become such a picky eater.
A few things that I CAN always count on are:
cheese, yogurt (thank goodness since he doesn't drink milk)
crackers and peanut butter, applesauce, grapes,
cereal bars, bananas (pretty much his everyday breakfast)...
everything else is unpredictable. One day he likes something
(like mac-n-cheese) and the next he won't touch it.
Oh and of course many kinds of sweets-ice cream, cookies, etc.
He LOVES them too!
Hopefully this stage passes soon, but not too likely
since his siblings are much the same way?!

changes...

This is going to be a place I spend A LOT of time,

starting in August (much before then really).

Luckily it is only about 5 minutes away.

I just got hired on as a 4th grade teacher.

They have totally rearranged and adjusted their 4th grade.

I am going to be the veteran teacher with just 5 years experience.

Not having taught for 5 years, makes me feel very inadequate to take on

such a responsibility! But I know the principal well,

since he is in our ward, and he will be AWESOME to work for.

So at least have that going for me?!

There's going to be CHANGES all around for our family,

to adjust to MOM working full time and DAD

continuing to work from home while trying to be MR. Mom!

Good thing we have the summer to prepare.

graduation

Tonight we went to Ikaika's graduation

from Timpview High School in Provo.

Here he is pictured with his older brother Koa

(who lived with us last year for a few months)

and his mom, Kuulei (Quinn's older sister).

Our family.

Not the best picture,

but you take what you can get, right?!

Grandpa Kimo with his oldest grandson's

Kaika with his Dad and Mom.
They are not still married, but have great boys, and
each are such neat individuals who have done
great things with their lives.

the graduation ceremony was LONG of course

but the kids did very well

(WITH LOTS OF TREATS)

and playing with their cousins.

It was a fun night with family and

a definite reason to celebrate.

Ikaika is an amazingly talented kid,

who I just know is going to do GREAT things!