they got it right...

Ame was happy this year that her name was

pronounced correctly, as they called her up to

receive her reflections award.

She shared her skill with poi balls, as her diversity

talent for the reflections contest.

She has such an amazing talent and a year ago

SHE would never had thought she would be

as good as she is with those poi balls.

We are soo proud of you girl!

Your talents never seize to amaze all of us!!

What a girl!!!

Can't believe it!!

How did my baby boy grow up soo fast?

Where have those two precious years gone??

I was trying to savor the baby years,

but somehow he got older anyway!?

I can't believe it, but our precious

Nalu

turned 2 yesterday.

There was nothing super grand,

but what does one who doesn't really

GET IT, need anyway.

He got donuts and orange julius for

breakfast before mom left for work.

Then when the kids and mom

got home from school we opened presents.

He is very much into anything cars

right now, something his brothers

were never really into.

Even though he didn't get the

whole birthday thing, he did

LOVE opening presents...

don't know who liked his new toys

better, Nalu or his siblings??

gotta carry as many cars as he can,

just so NO ONE ELSE gets ahold of them!

great pick mom!!

After presents and play time we went out to eat

and then went to Ame's reflections awards

(next post) and then it was cake & ice cream.

Check out his reaction to the candles,

and the lingering smoke after they're blown out...

We love you soo much Nalu. You love to talk, your vocabulary is growing rapidly and are learning new words every single day. You copy everything we say (so we have to be careful). You have such a cute personality and quite a sense of humor too. You are definitely developing independence and want to everything and anything. But you are becoming more stranger weary as well. For example at your 2 year check up today, you didn't want anything to do with your friendly Dr. who you have seen since you were born. He couldn't even look inside your ears without you having a meltdown?! One lucky thing your Dr. reminded us of and that he has been amazed by, is he has never seen you for anything other than a well-checkup. We have definitely been blessed in that regard. You are one healthy, happy boy! You have overcome your fear of nursery and will FINALLY stay on your own there. Baby steps I guess, right? You LOVE to play with your brothers, and are becoming especially close to Ash, since you two get to spends lots of time playing together during the day. You ask for Ame all the time, and definitely LOVE your big sister! You are adventurous just like your older brother Kaipo. We recently had to take the ladder off your brothers bunkbeds because you are such a monkey and climbed that ladder as fast as can be. But getting down wasn't quite as easy (or safe). You love to be outside, exploring, playing ball, swimming and just being a curious BOY!! You are quite a picky eater, but definitely have your small variety of foods you enjoy. A nutri grain bar every morning for breakfast, Cheese, pepperoni, gogurt, many kinds of fruits, SNACKS-crackers or goldfish, raisins, and the one meal we can always depend on of course is PIZZZZAAA! You love to drink water and are starting to take a liking to milk again, but only if it is sweetened with some nesquik. You are a wonderful sleeper, 11-12 hours/night and thankfully still take a nap. Nalu we love you to pieces. You light up each of our lives with your kisses, love you's and absolute sweetness. Your smile just makes momma's day when she walks in the door, after a long day away. YOU definitely complete our family Nalu boy!! But just one request...STOP growing up soo fast...please!!!

found 'em

These characters couldn't be more personality

fitting for this TRIO...

Simon, Alvin and Theodore.

Can you see how their costumes, except

for Ash, would look a little strange solo?!

And here's the beauty in a little more light.

MORE holiday fun

We had our ward Trunk or Treat last week and I got some

great pictures of the kids in their costumes, but

since then we have lost the plug for THAT camera.

Unless you see all 3 boys together, their costumes

aren't as cute. Hopefully we can get some more

of them together tomorrow night.

Anyways, Ash had a halloween party and

trunk or treat on Friday at preschool.

Can you guess who HE is?

I kinda get sad when I don't get to be apart of these

things with him. But I just can't think

about it too much, and just have to be gratefu that at least

he has ONE parent that gets to be involved?!

Friday evening I took the kids to a Halloween party

my school's PTA hosted. There were simple games,

treats, music and dancing.

Nalu (theodore) is not pictured in any.

Either he was strapped in the stroller

(as long as I could contain him that way, without

him screaming bloody murder),

or running around (often not to be found).
HE is definitely the hardest to take places these days!!

Ame being a GOOD BIG sister

to Simon and Alvin

Ame was feeling pretty confident

when several 5th grade girls, from

my school whom she didn't know,

kept coming up to her asking her

questions, like:

"Is that your real hair,"

(you can't really see it cuz the pictures

are dark, but she had her old dance hair piece

in her hair which was done up all cute on the

top of her head)

"Where do you go to school," or

"Are you Mrs. Hanamaikai's daughter?"

I just think they were jealous of her

beautiful costume...
MISS HAWAII

the SASH was definitely the most time

consuming part to put together.

The rest we found at savers or the $ store.

HER costume idea.

And if the OLDER girls talking

to her wasn't confidence builder enough,

she even won an award...
Other than nalu being a ROYAL pain,

we had a fun time and the kids LOVE

being able to wear their costumes

as many times as possible.

We carved A pumpkin for our FHE activity.

I usually let the kids paint their pumpkin,

but for some reason painting seemed like too big

of a mess and too much time, so we carved ONE

instead. The kids each had a part of the pumpkin

to draw and cut.

Mom got the fun job of taking the YUCK out of the inside

It's kinda sad looking, but I figure if we are going to

carve one that will just go bad in a few days, at least use

the UGLY one. The others can sit on the porch

for Thanskgiving decor.

Plus this little guy gave lots of seeds

for the kids to enjoy anyway.

I must admit I am not a huge Halloween fan,

but for the kids sake I am TRYING to keep

traditions alive and provide fun some memories.

Thankfully only one more day and then we

can move on to a MUCH BETTER holiday!

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to all!!!

Some FALL afternoon FUN

Today was such a beautiful afternoon, I decided

(even though I have lots to do on my DAY OFF)

we need to enjoy being outside. Especially because soon

it is going to be soo COLD we won't want to be outside much.

So the older 3 kids and I headed down the street

to a Horse Show fundraiser.

Ash had no interest in riding the pony

(and we got there too late for the petting zoo-

I guess the animals got tired of being pet,

is what they told us), so he just hung out

with mom while the other 2 had their turn.

Kaipo was pretty excited

Ame was a bit disappointed she

couldn't RIDE FREE, but was still

grateful and happy to be on a horse!

And here they are just posing SILLY...

This and Rainbow Floats, made our day

MUCH more ENJOYABLE!!

B-Ball Girl

Ame is playing her first year of Jr. Jazz Basketball.

This is the second week (I forgot my camera last week).

The first game was a bit overwhelming, being her first

REAL experience playing an actual game, but she

still did great. This week was quite an improvement!

The team is having their last minute pre-game huddle.

I know this picture is blurry, but I had to include it.

This was the first shot of the game...

and AME made it!!

She made 2 more baskets during the game.

The last one, just seconds before the end

of game buzzer. They didn't win, but played

AWESOME!

Of course, we are all there CHEERING her

on (but also running wild, screaming

because we don't want to sit still but instead

run on the court, and just

driving mom and dad crazy)

Ash has little lamb (their class pet)

visiting our family this weekend, so he

HAD to come to the game!

Ame is quite the hussler. She takes

the ball down the court well, gets right

under basket with no fear to shoot.

She is learning how to play offense
and make herself open to make a shot
or help out a teammate.

We couldn't be more proud of her.

This is her first TEAM sport, and

we are finding out that she is quite the athlete.

I think we are going to have some

ball players in this house????

(Kaipo starts next month)

Ashy Boy

Ash's preschool went on a fieldtrip this week
to Black Island Farms. They have all sorts of
activities, including a hay ride and each of the
kids got to choose a pumpkin. Dad and Nalu
joined Ash, for some fun. Notice Nalu...
barefoot. I think dad forgets he can walk and
that he actually needs shoes on his feet when
he leaves the house. He is actually pulling a sticker
out of his own foot, in the picture below.
Poor Kid! Hopefully as winter sets in Mr. Mom
will remember those shoes for Nalu :)
Ash is really growing and learning a lot this
year. I love to hear him say the Pledge of Allegience,
the Nursey Rhyme of the week, new songs
and all the fun things he shares with us after
school. He is quite the smarty pants!

oh what a boy!

A few weeks ago, in his Spanish Class,

Kaipo was the

Student of the Week.
He shared his poster, all in Spanish

and dad said he did an OUTSTANDING job!!

He is learning soo much and is even

reading on a 3rd grade level.

His intelligence amazes us all the time.

If we can just help him get that behavior

under control, then I know we will see even more

amazing things happening with this incredible boy!

Cousins and Moods

On Saturday, we decided to head up to Logan

to hang out with the Grover's.

The kids couldn't wait to get out and play

with Chase (all except Ash of course, who

is MAJORLY afraid of dogs, due to an incident

with our neighbors dog awhile back).

Then karli and I loaded up the kids and we

headed to the park. Unfortunately I have no

picture of all the kids together, only mine,

but I know Karli snapped a lot more pictures

than I did. And plus she just gets better pics anyway!

It was a great park, with trees to climb, regular swings

and a tire swing and all the other usual slides and tunnels,

etc. The kids ran around and had a blast!!

Little Nalu is at such a hard stage for

many reasons. At the park especially.

He THINKS he can do everything

and independently of course.

Makes me a bit crazy!

Needless to say there isn't a whole

lot of chatting time for kar and I

with 7 kids to chase around.

After everyone was tired and hungry,

we headed to this great all-you-can-eat

pasta, pizza and salad place.

The kids ate and ate, all they

wanted. Kar and I got to talk for a

few minutes at least amidst the kids

running wild, sticking their fingers

in the dessert pizza (as I was so kindly

informed by a lady who saw Kaipo

do it). But I enjoyed the time I got

to spend with my wonderful sister

and her beautiful girls.

The kids and I all thoroughly

enjoyed our "get-away".

We just wish we could do it

MORE often!?!

Love ya Kar. Thanks

for being such a tremendous

rock and support to me!

**************************************
Ame just got a package in the mail this

weekend. A belated gift from her

Grandpa Kimo and Sheri.

Ever since she read her first Judy Moody

book, she has been dying to have

a MOOD ring (this was news to me).

She was lucky enough to get one, with

a really cute flower jewelry holder.

They knew how to pick out the

PERFECT gift for this girl!

Kaipo has been following Ame around

all day trying to annoy her, scare her,

and whatever else he can think of

to CHANGE her mood ring color.

Typical brother, huh??

In addition to these fun things, we had a

somewhat peaceful day (as much as you can

with four kids), watching conference

and feeling the spirit from the amazing

talks and inspiration shared.

I feel renewed and a bit refreshed

(if only this headache would go away)

and ready to start a NEW week,

tackling all the challenges in my life!

Temple Trip

Last Sunday, the kids and I took a drive

to walk around the Bountiful Temple.

I got to thinking the only time they have

really been to a temple is Temple Square

and that is at Christmas time, when we

are mostly focused on the lights and

the Christmasness of it all.

So I want to start taking them to

various temples periodically, so they

can feel the spirit there.

Unfortunately, we made our trip on a

Sunday so they couldn't get too close,

but it was still worth it and we all felt the

spirit just being close to this Sacred Place.

They were in awe...

Ame took LOTS of pictures
It was a beautiful fall day and we just enjoyed our
walk and Ame did some sketching as well.

She is quite the little artist.

I look forward to many more outtings

like this one!