I went to go and play volleyball this morning. Afterwards, I took the kids to get McDonald's and a footlong sub for Lela and myself. We came home and ate them outside because it is such a beautiful day.
I stuck Lavea'i in his exersaucer and this is what happened about 10 minutes later.
I guess he was tired. Man, why didn't he tell me he was? Or did he and I just didnt listen?
Once again I can't take credit for the idea. Except we called it the Dave and Buster's FHE because we didn't have pizza to call it "just like Chucky Cheese." Thanks Kim, once again. It worked wonders!
I dropped Lela off for her driver's range course and then headed to the dollar store. I ended up spending 12.oo on prizes. But, the catch was that I didn't give them all the prizes. I only let them pick 2. Now, I have prizes for later on down the road. I just might start a program for rewarding the kids when they listen and give them a ticket. For instant rewarding, they can each night pick a prize according to how many tickets they have. Haven't got it all figured out just yet, but I will let you know how it goes once I begin.
Anyway, the kids were so excited for our activity night for our Family Home Evening. They saw me getting all the toys out and setting up. All the questioning began, "Mom, what is that for?" I was sooooo tired that I was getting impatient, but it all panned out. I was going to have Lela play as well, but she wanted to be the ticket lady. I gave her a prize for it as well.
First, Daddy did a miniature gold shot into a fruit snacks box to show them how it was done. Maika won that one with 3 strokes getting 10 tickets and the others 5 for trying.
What a pro!!
Next was dropping the pennies into a bowl. Tula'i won that one getting 8 out of ten pennies in the bowl. Maika with 7 and Kalena with 6. They each got one ticket for each penny made.
Cheating version.
Not Cheating...and he STILL won!
Then we shot some hoops. Maika one that one with 2 in a row. They kept trying to just get up there and lay it in. If I would have let them do that, it would have gone on for a very long time.
Last, we had them throw a ball into a bowl that was put at an angle. They had five chances and Kalena took that with no problem. Tula'i kept chucking it and making me laugh so I didn't even get a picture of him performing that one.
Kalena kicking bootie!
But, man, it is truly amazing at what makes kids go. They all had fun and Dad and Mom had fun watching them, mostly try to cheat without knowing they are cheating. Lavea'i had a fun time too chillin' with Dad and making noises.
And here they are getting their tickets and prizes. Oh, happy night! \"/
First, I need to to say thanks to my friend Kim for the idea. If you ever need a creative idea on what to do with your kids go to her blog.
I had the lesson for family home evening again...not surprising. So, I decided to do a quick scripture story for the kids to act out with Mom as the narrator and Dad as the camera man.
This is how it turned out:
Sorry, I am working on getting the movie clip to work. So, you will have to just enjoy the couple of still photos.
This is the Angel Gabriel, Joseph, and Mary.
Joseph and Mary with the baby Jesus.
Angel Gabriel with not much of an attention span to do this, so I gave him the shortest part.
Kalena loved Lavea'i's manger so much, she had to put her babies in it and get in with them.
Tula'i chiming in on the craft...his didn't last long though.
Maika's second time painting ever.
Kalena returns to the painting board for the nth time. Now she knows to paint in the lines.
I always need some quiet time from the kiddos for a little bit during the day because not all of them go down to nap every day. Plus, it allows me to get some things done while they are developing their creative side of the brain.
I forgot how much Kalena loved to paint when we were in our townhome. So, when I went grocery shopping this last time, I bought each of them some paint and a huge Diego coloring book. Of course the paints are watercolor because it easily washes out of the clothes and off of their skin. So, I let them get it all over if they want and enjoy themselves.
But yesterday I busted them out for the first time after shopping and they were busy with it ALL day long. They would paint and take a break to eat, play a little and then come right back to painting. Needless to say, my kitchen table is now the art shop.
The Result: Happy kids=Happy Mom!
The kids were eating popcicles as I was cleaning up from lunch and putting the dishes away. I really wasn't paying attention to them as they were eating them, but when I looked up I saw something hilarious. Kalena had no idea I was watching, but Lavea'i was in his exersaucer licking her popcicle she was giving him. As I watched, it was quite funny to hear Lavea'i whince every time she would take a turn to eat it herself. I decided to take some pictures of it and by this time, she knew I was watching and thought she was going to get into trouble so she stopped until I told her she better give him some more to make him stop freaking out.
HAPPY FACE:)
MAD FACE!
RIGHT BACK TO HAPPY:)
This is a good video from the church about Father's. The guy who does the videos for the church, his daughter is in our ward and so all of the clips of the father's with their kids are from our ward. It is inspiring and a great message by D. Todd Christopherson. Tell me what you think. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BQIQA6s2_Hw
Man, this is just Cliff Jr. Maybe that is what we should have named him...nah! We went to a baby blessing this morning and Cliff's mom had sent up a formal lava lava for both him and Cliff. So, we decided to put it on Maika today to wear. It is a little long, but he didn't want to take it off after he saw Dad in his. Talk about a handsome boy. I am going to have problems when he gets older beating off the girls.
After the blessing, it was time for some grub. AND good grub at that! It was also good company. I was able to meet some new people and also see some old friends from BYU-Hawaii that I haven't seen for a very long time. All their kids are grown and cute. After all the socializing and eating for about 4 hours, it was finally time to head home because not only was I tired and needed a nap, but so were my children. It was a day of relaxation, except the time when Maika decided to wait last minute to tell us he needed to go to the potty. That is when he came crying already have gone kaka in his pants. Thanks to a WONDERFUL and AMAZING husband, he went and cleaned it up.
I was taking Kalena to tuck her into bed. As she finished her prayers and hopped up into bed, she pulled out her Dora doodle pro. On it she had drawn a picture of her baby brother, Lavea'i, so she could sleep with him. Got to love the talent that she has in coloring, drawing, writing.
Notice the lovely curly cue for his hair.
Of course this is Lavea'i in both pictures...smiling and not smiling so you can compare better.
So, we all wonder who Lavea'i looks like. Why don't you guys decide. I can't believe he is already 6 months old in a few days. I am enjoying the time I have with him. He is such a happy baby even when he is teething!
How often do we take the time to just chill and hang out with friends and family? Not very often or not often enough. About 3 weekends ago, my sis-in-law, Maria, called everyone up and said we are going to hang out at the park since the kids' cousin, Keola, was in town for the weekend. Both Cliff and I had tons of things we were going to do that Saturday, but we ended up just heading to the park. Thinking it would be a couple of hours, it actually turned into 6 hours of relaxation and fun. I wish we would do it more often because those are the moments that the kids will remember. We were going to take off because Lavea'i was getting cranky due to being tired and hungry (I didn't take formula because we weren't supposed to be there that long). Instead of leaving, Traci, let me use some of her formula and a bottle so we could stay. Ke'ala and Morris, friends of the family, bought pizza for everyone. What a great day it was!!!
Lela is 16! I can't believe how time has flown by. It hasn't been all peaches n' cream, but a lot of whipping has gone on. She has been a big help to Cliff and I with the kids...sometimes a little too much that I have had to remind her that she isn't their mother. But, I know that the kids love having her around and that she loves the kids. She is always willing to watch them.
My how she has grown. She came up here not knowing that she would be staying (which led to many problems that we have had), but has adjusted quite well. A lot too well actually. When she first arrived, she was SO dependent on me to do EVERYTHING for or with her, even go to the bathroom with her at resturaunts. But, she has learned if she wants something than she needs to be proactive in asking and being able to do things all on her own. She loves to hang out though and watch movies.
One thing that I really love about her is that she is always willing to serve and help other people. She is an AMAZING babysitter as well (hence why the kids love her so much)!
Uncle Jethro came over for cake and icecream. The cake wasn't anything fancy... she said chocolate and so that is what she got. But, boy was it yummy, she ate about half of it :)
For her birthday we really didn't do much. She wanted to go to a party in the neighborhood at 7 p.m. so we had to get everything done before she left. Cliff and I played like we forgot her gift (she believed us too), but of course we didn't forget. She wanted an iPod touch, but no thanks for Cliff and I. So, we thought it best to send her up Washington to she Cliff's sisters for a week, one of them which is Lela's real sister. We know she will have fun with them and enjoy that time making memories.
Lela opening her card...she looks excited and happy about the ticket.
I am amazed at how beautiful this day turned out! Tunoa has not been excited to be baptized at all until he had his interview with the Bisho...
