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!

a little of THIS and a little of THAT

Saturday Kaipo had his first tumbling class.

It is offered through the city, and is a great way

to TRY IT OUT for 5 weeks, to

see if he has an interest.

He is definitely a MONKEY,

which helps him climb the rope. Ame and the GIRLS in her primary class
got invited to be the servers for a wedding reception.

She was soo excited and look forward to this

FUN opportunity all week!!

In Ame's ENGLISH class, each student got
to have an opportunity to be THE TEACHER.
They each chose something they wanted to
teach the class in a mini lesson.
Ame loves writing in cursive and since
that is something not introduced in second grade
she thought it would be fun to teach THAT to
her class. Quinn and I came to watch her
and she is quite the little teacher! She practiced some of the
more difficult letters together with the class,
then taught them how to write a few HAWAIIAN
words in cursive.

giving some personal attention to her BFF Layla.

Ame and Mrs Smith

He's growin' up...

Tonight we had JOYSCHOOL graduation.

Our original plans were to have it outdoors,

but with the unpredictable weather

we opted to have it indoors at our house.

Good thing we had a change of plans,

because the evening

ended up being a rainy one.

We were crowded, but that didn't

stop the cuteness and fun!

the GREAT moms I did Joyschool with this year

(Jody, Jenny, Julie, Cathy, me, Diana and Lindsey).

I conducted and we had a cute,simple program.

The kids sang a few songs, they got report cards,

diplomas and hat. And even gave us moms

an award. One of the moms put together

an outstanding video with clips from

throughout the year. Such a fun memory to have on DVD.

I sure love my incredibly smart, sensitive, handsome Ash!!!

giving mom a kiss...

We have lots of yummy treats and fancy drinks.

A special night to celebrate OUR special boy!!

Pee Wee Sports

Ash has been sooo excited to start his

SPORTS class.

It is an intro class to soccer, football and baseball.

He definitely has some natural athletic ability.

helping his coach set things up

introductions

doing some stretching

practicing some dribbling & passing

(notice Nalu in the background-

I just couldn't keep him out of the game)

we are looking forward to lots more fun

with this class.

a VERY grateful Mother

What more can I say than

WOW I truly feel like the luckiest mother in the world!!

I mean look at these kids...they are the light of my life.my day started with the traditional breakfast in bed

(which the kids mostly ate of course)

and nothing is sweeter than homemade gifts

Ame's gift she made at school.
how simple, but soo creative and special!


Quinn invited his mom to our ward

where he shared his amazing talent and sang solo
"A Mother's Love"
He said the nerves were STRONG, but no one

could tell. He did am incredible job and sounded beautiful!


I just love these girls. They are soo thoughtful, generous

hilarious and just FUN!! And they are amazing MOMS.
(isn't little Amaya such a cutie)

Quinn's brother got a new 3D Tv so everyone had fun

watching a Movie with the cool glasses!

As a mom I just couldn't ask for more beautiful, intelligent,

loving, thoughtful children. Every single day they amaze

me with their wisdom and teach me so much!

I pray daily to be more patient and more loving,

so that I can show my appreciation more sincerely

for the blessing Heavenly Father has given me,

to be their mom!

I am also grateful beyond measure for

my own amazing mother.

She is a woman full of

charity, kindness, sincerity, compassion, and

wisdom. A true treasure and woman to be honored!
I love you MOM and miss you tremendously,

but love you even more for your sacrifice,

your love for the Lord and his church.

I KNOW you are blessing many, many lives!!

Happy Mother's Day to YOU.

****************

I honor ALL you amazing mom, who are my family & friends.

You are my examples of Christlike love for your own children

and teach me so much just by watching your gentleness.
thank you all!