Preschool Photo

Yesterday we got Lole's preschool pictures, taken by one of her teachers, Aunty Jojo. 

 Isn't this the cutest? Never in my life did I EVER have a school flick as nice as this.
Times are changing I tell ya.

Musn't forget the classic CLASS PICTURE:

Atop a Mountain in Manoa 3/7/10

 A few weeks ago we attended a birthday party @ the TREETOP RESTAURANT in Manoa. It was quite a drive, but once up there, the scenery was beautiful because we were surrounded by a variety of trees and greenery. The air was so clean and aside from the noise of the birthday party, it was so peaceful. The restaurant was pretty old—and thankfully going through some renovations—but it was breathtaking to be so far from my familiar ocean, and yet still feel the serenity that comes from living in the lushness of Hawaii.

Keanu, the birthday boy, is the son of one of Bo’s co-workers, and when we first arrived he was dressed in traditional Korean attire (as his father is half Korean). There was a display of candies and dumplings made especially for traditional Korean 1^st birthdays. The candy display was beautiful but it was not for eating, and the dumplings were similar to mochi, only more bland.  My Laila couldn’t get enough of the Korean pears though! 

The restaurant food was awesome. I can’t even remember what was all there besides the ono ribs and fish. My kids had a blast making balloon toys galore, and eating cotton candy, and shave ice, and enjoying the magician show. The icing at the top for me was literally the icing from the yummy red velvet bday cake they served. It was soooo good and I took a big plate home with me. Seriously, to die for!

Oh, and there was also a photographer at the party, taking family photos on the balcony. What's great about this picture is that the backdrop isn't a canvas...it's the real thing.

Ali Campbell Concert 3.21

Former UB40 lead singer Ali Campbell graced us with his presence at a concert last night at Aloha Tower in Honolulu. Opening for him were Manao Co., Siaosi, and NZ's Three Houses Down. Island sensation "Fiji" was supposed to perform too but didn't....and with no explanation might I add...how's that? I shoulda got a partial refund because tickets were $35 a piece. Plus, Bo invited a couple who didn't pay for theirs, so we ended up losing money on that...(I could've went to my nieces Tahitian competition the day before with that money...GRRR~!)

Anyway, aside from the concert being on Sunday, so far away, expensive, and crowded with people, majority of them drunk, Ali Campbell more than made up for it. We got there when Siaosi was singing his last number (bummer) and then 3HD performed just before Ali. Hearing all the UB40 songs we grew up with was classic, even if I had to stand/dance for hours in heels. After the concert we were gonna kick it with Siaosi at the hotel 3HD was staying at, but it was already 3 am and Bo needed to go home and catch at least an hour or 2 of sleep for work.. Always a next time, I say.

Cruise Day

      It's the last day of Spring Break before the weekend rings in. We started the day by taking my father in law to his doc appt in Kailua, and then were pleasantly surprised when Bo called to say they had to stop work and was gonna meet us there. So, in essence, a day of chauffeuring around the in-laws (who knows where) turned into a day with Daddy (which we always love!)

Daddy always makes the girls' day...I mean, look at those smiling faces!!!

     The downside is that he has to work tomorrow (Saturday), so we only had today to really do anything as a family. We ate a huge lunch at KFC and then headed to the mall to change our oil. We ran into the my friend Harmony and her family, who just arrived from Utah for her brother-in-law's homecoming. (Lucky Delta-weekend-travelers!) Lole and I found some nice pink shoes from Pay-less, which I was able to get a 20% discount on through those sales texts they send out. She actually slept with the shoes on her pillow tonight!

       While we waited for the oil change, Lole, Tina and Bo played games while I went looking for movie snacks *heavy fat sigh* We watched "Our Family Wedding" which I heard great reviews via FB. Personally, I thought it was junk. There were a few funny parts, but the acting from ALL characters left me feeling robbed of real entertainment.  Anyway, that was pretty much our day. We came home, did a little grocery shopping, ate an early dinner and now I am thinking about making a Caramel Frappe run since our Laie McDs FINALLY has 'em.

      Days like this that are so CRUISE and everything seems to go smoothly are typically followed by days that do the exact opposite. I am hoping tomorrow will not be chaotic, full of drama, or the like, because every time I get comfy, something happens to shake everything up again. Tonight I re-watched (and was glued to) Tyler Perry's "Diary of a Mad Black Woman" on TV. So many wonderful messages, quotes, and one-liners if you will, were SCREAMING to me. It's kind of sad how much I can relate to a variety of broken hearts portrayed in the movie. I'll have to dedicate a post to my favorite movie quotes alone, because I'm just too tired right now. I have a feeling I'm gonna need my energy...soon.

On Seta...pushing 40.

(She's gonna kill me for that title!) haha! 

 Today, my oldest sister (she's the one in the middle, pictured here with 3 of her 5 girls) turned *ahem* 37. Yes, 37!! Ugh, that means I am soon to turn 32 and NOT looking forward to it! Anyway, she is the first of the 4 girls in our family, and she is currently expecting baby #8 (a boy to join 2 older brothers). I really don't know how she does it. When I was on *insert another AHEM here* "vacation" towards the end of last year, I stayed with her family of 9. Immediately I was humbled at the amount of work it takes to raise 7 children, esp with the 4 youngest ones so close in age. I only have 2 children and I don't have half the energy it takes to care for them with the consistency she does. I learned a lot from her about patience and the divine role of mother. Despite all the chaos that having a large family can bring, my sister never loses her cool, never complains, still has time to serve others, and most definitely never asks for "me" time. It just seemed like motherhood was her thing and it made me feel like it was NOT mine, because I do such a horrible job in comparison. Even with the demands that her children, her husband, and her church calling has on her, she still took the time to care for the needs of mine and my children. I never missed home when I was in hers, and Lole just had the time of her life being around all her cousins everyday. I miss her dearly but I am grateful we can still talk on the phone. She is always there for me when I need her. I love you sis! HAPPY BIRTHDAY...and MUCH MUCH MORE!

I "borrowed" this picture from her FB, because obviuosly, I wasn't there.

St. Patrick's Day

I remembered nothing about the history of this day, except it had something to do with an Irishman, shamrocks, and the color green. I also envision a leprechaun and a pot of gold, but maybe that's just because the Lucky Charms guy is Irish. So, that morning we all wore green to a little get together @ Steph J's LOVELY home for some painting, playtime, snacks, and good company. Not that it's a bad thing, but I was the only polynesian lady there. Lol! That hasn't happened since my days in the Laie 2nd "Haole Ward" living amongst all the BYUH faculty kids on Moana st. The girls had fun running wild on the wonderfully green grass, jumping on the trampoline and soaking up some much needed sun. Spring Break thus far has been a bit of a drag with all this windy, rainy, beach UNfriendly weather so it was nice to get out, even just for a little while.

I turned around from where I was sitting to find Lole chillin' out on the bench eating that popcorn off the grass with about 4 or 5 other girls. It was so cute, but so wrong. The girl in the tutu is photographer Mark Lee's daughter, who Lole went to Na Kamalei preschool with 2 years ago.

 And here's Laila's sign of approval...or maybe she's just eating a grape. Either way, still no HAIR! AHHHH!

THE BIG 5

Yup, my candy girl turned 5!! Geesh! Lole has been anxiously waiting to turn 5 since Laila turned 1 in January. She's also been asking for a party since her sister's, but we're gonna have to wait on that for a little while. The Friday before her birthday, we took red velvet/funfetti cupcakes (thanks Fia) and ice cream for her preschool class and sang "Happy Birthday" there. The next day we hit up a birthday party in town and completely forgot to get Lole's gifts on our way home...so like true procrastinators, we had to buy her b-day things from Foodland. (Fired, I know!) Sunday morning, she woke up to balloons, a few toys, her favorite reeses candies, a dress for church, and a pillow-blanket she's been asking for. For me it was hard to really get into the spirit of her bday since it was Sunday and I usually wait until Sunday to get my things ready for primary. Daddy brought her Sunday school class some yummy yellow cupcakes with princess rings on top and we ate her favorite Dominoes pizza after church. (She originally wanted L&L's but it was closed, so pizza was the next best thing.) Later that night we sang "Happy Birthday" again and celebrated with some more ice cream and rainbow cake and cupcakes. Aunties Tati and Mei made her a special Activity/coloring book for church, which she loves. And she later received an outfit and more candy from her cousins in Utah, and then her favorite cousin Juju brought her a princess crown, a wand, birthday sash, Princess and the frog outfit and journal, cute little hair extensions, and a new pen. I know she still wants a birthday party, so stay tuned to find out if we can make her wish come true.  

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY LOVE!

where did february go?

2/5 i went on another of lole's field trips to DOLE PLANTATION, a place i've never been in all my 20+ years here. the weather has been windy and cold lately, and it all started this day. we went on a cute little train ride, sampled pineapple, and went through the world's largest maze. the pineapple was scrumptious! did you know that a light rinsing before eating helps take away that acidic taste? i don't know how i never knew that! anyway, the maze was aMAZE-ing and it helped so much that it was overcast and windy instead of hot and bothery. yah, "bothery". haha! me and my niece jaz got through half of the mazes, but we couldn't finish the rest because we only had an hour in there. we all had a blast.

2/8 i fell in love with laie chop suey after this day. i have never been as big a fan as i am now because bo has a way of making me LOOVE foods that i usually don't. now, i will do cartwheels for their honey walnut shrimp and our must have roast duck, s&s pork, and hot buns. sometimes we'll order like 5 entrees just for the four of us (me bo and the kids) but we make sure to eat errrrrrrrryfing!

2/12 valentines day has never really been celebrated much in our home (something i hope to remedy in the future), so i'm glad that at least lole got to celebrate at school that friday. they had a special party, a jumper, treats and vday activities from their teachers and exchanged goodies with her friends. i don't know about you guys, but this day is way cooler now then when i was a kid. on the real vday, lole came home after church and mentioned what a great day she had. then she reached up to the sky and said "happy valentiMes day Jesus!"

2/15 a family friend invited us to come and watch EDDIE GRIFFIN live @ the waikiki shell. i thought it would be nice since i've never been to a comedy show aside from the local acts like augie t. plus, i sort of enjoyed eddie's first season of "Going for Broke". on the day of, we ran into our good friends (who are more like sisters) and bo thought to invite them so we could all cruise town. secretly i thought it was a bad idea, considering i wasn't sure what it would be like. we took his little sister with us too and that was another mistake because eddie's opening material ended up being just what i had feared...too explicit for 2 returned missionaries and 1 preparing to be one. the girls walked out and cruised waikiki instead. it was embarassing and bo and i should've left too, but stayed out of courtesy to our friends that invited us. aside from the nasty stuff, he was actually pretty dang funny.

2/27 bo and i planned weeks ahead to make it out to ROOTS ROCKAZ in haleiwa to support our laie peeps. details withheld, bo and i had a fight, and after a plethora (yes, plethora) of swear words, i took my husband with me anyway, and forgave him anyway, although not right away. i was still very angry at the club, UNTIL my cousin johnny sang the first lines of beres hammond's "they gonna talk". ♫ some things were meant to be, so why not let it be...and stop worryin' about it ♫ thanks to roots rockaz soothing reggae music, i built my bridge and GOT OVER IT.

2/28 so the night of the roots rockaz performance, we got news (while dancing) that there was a TSUNAMI alert and that it was to arrive around 11 the next morning. by the time we got home around 4am, the gas line was hella long and people were already waiting outside of foodland to buy supplies. i came home and packed my family's necessities and went to sleep. as soon as our things were in the car the next morning, we drove around looking for higher ground. rather than go to the very crowded mauka chapel, temple grounds, kahuku elem, and gunstock ranch, we went up kahuku farm roads to what seemed like the highest hill ever. i slept atop that rocky mountain, after watching the waters proved uneventful. still, i'm grateful that our tsunami ended up being a few meters (or maybe it was centimeters)...whatever the case, thank you God!

there's nothing like the threat of a natural disaster to make you stop complaining about your life, because in an instant everything that matters most to you could be taken away. february came and went as quickly as the tsunami threat did, but they both stayed long enough to remind me that life is too short to not constantly give, feel, and be loved.