I have so much going on I have no idea where to start.  Mostly cause it is nothing big, just a bunch of little moments passing me by that I HAVE to write about or I will forget......and that would totally suck!  April has seriously kicked my butt.  We started the month camping for the easter weekend at Malaekahana.  (I still crack up that in Hawaii we camp only a mile from our house, but whatever!)  It was so fun.  I am mad that I did not take a single picture to prove how much fun we had.  The weather was beautiful and the kids were really good actually.  Tevita spent the majority of the time digging in the sand or body boarding.  He would wait at the beach until I was down there before getting in the water.  We walked the beach in the mornings while the sun was rising.  The crabs were everywhere and the tide was so low.  The afternoons were spent at the beach of course.  And the evenings were spent roasting hotdogs and marshmallows with the cousins.  On Saturday night we decided to do an easter egg hunt for the kids since easter was the next day.  Jerome and Berenice and Sai and Ipo and the kids hung out for the evening.  Once it was dark we hid all the eggs and had the kids do the easter egg hunt with their flashlights.  It was so much fun except that there was a quick rain pour just before we started so some of the candy in the eggs got a little soggy.  I doubt the kids noticed.  They probably ate it all anyways.  And after the egg hunt, more smores of course!  Sunday morning we woke up, enjoyed the sunrise and went home and enjoyed General Conference.  What a wonderful weekend!
After camping I spent the majority of my time thinking about filing my taxes.  It took me til the 15th to actually get them done.  I have never procrastinated so bad in my life, but I also never have had to pay $7000.00 either, hence the procrastination!
The rest of the month has been full of birthday parties, work, planning Tevita sn Shalyes birthday bash, running to town over and over again.......and baseball! 

The Boss

The only real boss around our house right now is our one year old.  She is SO demanding and so bossy.  Every morning she will wake up and make her way to my bed (if she is not in it already), pull my blanket off while grunting, grab my hand and pull with all her might while screaming "Oclate Ilk".  And then when I get out of bed to get her chocolate milk she insists that I put her on the counter so that she can open the cupboard door all by herself and pick the cup that SHE wants.  Then I have to carry her to the fridge so that she can be the one to take the milk out of the fridge by herself.  Then she will get a chair, push it over to the island and 'help' me pour the milk.  If I happen to pick the wrong color straw, or pour too much milk or if I missed step one and picked out the cup by myself then she will pick up that cup and throw it across the kitchen with all her might while yelling at me.  She is into EVERYTHING, climbing on EVERYTHING.  She will pull that cheezy grin when she knows you are getting mad.

After breakfast she looks like this!  You cannot feed this boss.  Absolutely no way!

 

Three minutes of unsupervision she looks like this!  Yes that is a Jell-o packet she is covered in.  You know the kind kids used to dye their hair with in junior high??

After making cookies she looks like this.  Yep, thats butter.  Try bathing THAT off.

The girl is always naked and will fall asleep anywhere.

After a hard days work! 

Today was the laziest day EVER!  I only left the house to go to church and go visiting teaching.  It was kind-of wonderful.  Sharon was up all day.  Yay!  I enjoy her.  And my kids fight over her.  The other night they were sharing a chair at the computer, playing a game, when I yelled from the other room for them to go to bed cause they were going to Sharons house the next day.  Then I hear Malia say that she is excited cause she gets to go visit her best friend Sharon.  Thats when the battle began between Vita and Malia over who is best friends with Sharon,

 "Shes my best friend" 

"NO, she is my best friend"

"Nope, Sharon is my best friend"

"Well Tevita, she can be both of our best friends"

"No she can't.  Well OK fine"

What can we say?  We like her....

A LOT!

And as I am writing this Tevita says, "I love you Sharon.  I am sorry we did not have a pillow fight or play other games or play outside.  So I thought we could play outside when you come again.  And we can play bubbles, and Sorry!, and thats all." 

Malia Puppy Curly

That is the name she gave herself 

---WHEN SHE DECIDED TO TURN INTO A DOG----

First off, totally un-unique name! 

But seriously she has decided that she wants to be a dog.  She has been insisting on playing fetch in the house with the tennis ball (which of course she will bring back in her teeth), but she also sniffs all her food before eating it, barks at you when you ask her a question, and drinks her "pink chocolate milk" out of a bowl on the kitchen floor.

I thought that was enough! 

I was wrong!

She insisted on peeing like a dog too....

in the front yard, one leg up.

And she had to lean down to hold her balance.  Do you know what that means?

Pee dripping all down her stomach and legs!

( I tried to hose her off and she kept barking at me)

Happy Hearts Day

      

I just love the holidays.  I love to make them special.  My husband laughs, in awe, because he says this is a whole new world to him.  I stayed up late cutting and hanging up hearts in all different colors and sizes.  Then I woke up early to make the pancakes, hot pink ones of course.  I cut out a bunch of hearts and put the kids initials on one side and a coupon on the other side then hid them around the house.  They went on a scavenger hunt to look for the ones with their initials.  I was excited to wake the kids up for their valentines suprise, but when I woke them up it was more like a valentines nightmare.  Since church is already at 8:00 am, I had to wake them pretty early.  Once Malia and Shalye got what was going on they were pretty excited, but from Tevita all I got was a "DESTROY VALENTINES DAY" in a deep, loud growl. Then I just about destroyed him til he made my lei into a heart shape and told me how much he loved me. 

much ado about nothing....

Today started out with a 4:30 a.m. phone call from my dear friend Holli-Aynn to tell me to prepare because Hawaii is under a tsumani warning.  I hung up, eyes barely open, and turned on the TV.  There was Joe Moore telling us that this would not be like the other tsunamis, but that they expected BIG, and that everyone needed to heed the warning and

GET TO HIGHER GROUND.

So we packed our car with pillows and blankets, packed the coolers with whatever we could find in the fridge, packed the suitcases with diapers and clothes.  Threw the tent, coolers, rugs (thats how we roll in Hawaii), cots and chainsaw in the truck.  We waited for half an hour for gas, hit up the ATM and headed for the hill.  Luckily Tame's nephew and his family live on a beautiful hill in Hauula and were more than generous to let half of the town run up there to hide. 

So from 6 a.m. til one we camped.   Cards were played, books were read, oreos were eaten and smashed all over camp, and naps were taken (by one man in particular-- see the evidence).  We waited, and waited, and WAITED!

For nothing.

Thanks Heavens.

 I have an entire day with nothing to do and no where to go since everything is closed.  So today I will catch up on the blog.   

Dear Dad,

I think I am pretty lucky to have you for a dad.  You have been my rock, my core, and my example in so many ways.  I do not know another with as much integrity as you.  You have taught with love and understanding.

 I appreciate that you knew us and admired us kids as individuals, allowing us to discover for ourselves our interests, talents, and joys.

I love that in our family we all had a voice and were listened to and respected-- even if you did not agree.  You still listened.

I am sure it freaks mom out at times, but I love that you are following your dreams.  You have a gift that I hope one day the world can share what we as your children have been enjoying every day of our lives.

I miss waking up on Sunday morning to you pounding the keys on the piano.  tear.  What a peaceful way it was to wake up.  If I think for a second I can still hear the music playing in my head.

And I miss skipping Sunday School with you as we journeyed across town to the gas station that had the best mix of Diet Coke, to fill up your 44 oz cup.  I love how you are friends with every worker at every gas station in town.  And I love how it is important to you to become their friend because they are people too.

You are my hero.  Happy belated birthday!

I love you,

 Kari