Turkey Trot

For those of you who live in LAie, you know what a huge deal the turkey trot can be, so I've heard.  Well this year due to furloughs and such they have decided to hold it after school, and have made the kindergarteners run optional.  I was asking Tevita if he was interested in running and this is what he says, "Well, what do I have to do mom?  Do I have to ride the turkeys or eat the most turkey?".  I laughed so hard.

To My Daughter-

Dear Malia-

You brighten my day every single morning with that fro of yours and a squeaky "It's a beautiful sunny day today" while you grin from ear to ear.  And your laugh.  I love your laugh, especially the one with your eyes closed and your mouth wide open.  Your laugh is contagious.  It is impossible to not join in when you are laughing.

I want you to know how much I love you and how I adore watching you learn.  You love books and I hope the passion you have for reading stays with you forever.  You know all your colors, shapes, most of your letters and even some spanish and chinese.  You have soaked so much into that little brain of yours and just impress me with the things that you understand at your age.  When you see a letter you always identify it with something like an S for Sharon or Shalye.  And you love to sing, but hate when anyone joins in.  But you dont just sing, you let it all out at the top of your lungs and I crack up every time.

I love when we play hide and seek and you will say something like this, "Mom I am over here, under your bed, behind the blanket.  You will never find me." 

I love that you  care so deeply for your brothers and sisters.  You always feed Shalye and you are Tevita's number one cheerleader.  You watch Tevita intently and you learn from him. You get so excited when we look at pictures of Kalisi, Late, Elia, Tame and Sheila.  When I told you Elia was going to Alaska on his mission you asked me if that is where the polar bears live.  When I said yes your eyes lit up as you exclaimed "I LOVE polar bears, Elia do you love polar bears?"

I love watching you practice your ballet moves, with so much pride and thought.  And I think my favorite part is that you will not practice your ballet moves unless you are wearing the blue ballerina dress that Grandma brought back from Greece.

I love the way that you line up your stuffed animals so meticulously, the same way I used to do.  You tuck them into bed, kiss them, prop them up so they can see the computer, and change their diapers.

You are so stubborn and sometimes I call Grandma and vent.  She laughs and tells me that I used to do the exact same things that you are doing now.  You are stubborn and determined and will not back down.  You insist I tickle your back when you fall asleep, yet I have to do it in the exact right way with your foot in the palm of my hand and me rubbing the top of your foot.  Lately you have wanted me to go from rubbing to tickling back to rubbing, then from your foot to your chin to your back to your stomach until you fall asleep.  And I swear once you fall asleep you will wake back up if I even slightly stop moving my hand.  You will thrust your body into the air and grunt/mumble "tickle".  Nothing gets under my skin more than this and that scream of yours.

I am sure in years to come that we will butt heads many more times to come, but I hope that you know that I love you very much and only want the best for you.  I hope that you will forever be laughing and smiling, which will make all those around you do the same.  And I hope that you will never, ever forget that I think you are special and beautiful and unique just the way that you are and pray that we may forever be best friends.

I love you,

Mom

All I want for Christmas..........

Today I went on a date... with Tevita... to the dentist... to get fillings for the first time.  I was so scared for him because I know he HATES shots, so I had the doc prescribe meds to calm his nerves.  He was so scared to take the medication, reluctantly took a few gulps and refused the rest. (Note to self -Bad idea to schedule the dentist appointment on the same day he watched hundreds of kids line up to get jabbed by a needle while screaming their heads off for flu shots at school.  I say watched because he REFUSED to get his! Terrible planning.)  So he decided he was going to be brave and do it without the prescribed medicine.  Now don't get me wrong, I really like the kids dentist, but he has this policy that parents wait in the waiting room while the kids get their teeth worked on.  So there I was, wanting desperately to hold Tevita's hand, wipe the tears that snuck out while he was trying to put his brave face on, and tell him everything would be ok.  Instead I was kicked into the waiting room by the older latina lady hygenist. And instead of me holding his hand, he sucked on nitrous.  Little did I know when he went in to get a few cavities filled that he would come out with this........

I know it is hard to see in the picture, but he came back with not only a silver tooth, but also one less tooth!  That's right.  The doctor pulled his bottom front tooth right out from his mouth.  Not at all the way I had expected the first tooth to go, but after choking back the 'my son is growing up TOO fast' tears, I gave him a big huge hug and kiss.  And then spoiled him at Target with a new Transformer toy.  He has not stopped playing with it since he picked it out.  And now that he has a new Transformer toy he is happy again!  And ready for the tooth fairy to come.

PS. He requested the tooth fairy to bring him fifty five cents so he can get another transformer.

But wait, there's more

I am telling you, October just kicked my butt.  Seriously, just flew by me.  A few more accomplishments that I cannot let pass by.  My little Malia officially says "Its underwear butt time", or "It's Ariel butt time"  all the time.  Not just in the morning, but all the time.  Way to go Malia! 

Soccer season ended for Tevita.  He loved soccer and will miss it I am sure, but is looking forward to basketball.  We would have the same conversation every Saturday when I would wake him up for his games.  It went something like this.

Me: "Tevita, It is time to wake up for your soccer game."

Tevita:  "is it on the big one or the little one?"

Me:  "The big one honey"

Tevita:  "The one with all the colors"

Me: "Yes honey, the one with all the colors"

Tevita:  (eyes perking now)  "Yeah, lets go mom"

This boy lives for competition, and did not much care for practice, but come game day on the big field with all the colored jerseys, he would rock that field.  By the end of the season he completely understood the game and loved it.  I believe he scored every game too.  I really loved watching him.

Malia was so proud of her big brother and kept asking him if he was her best friend!  And the picture below brought a tear to my eye -seriously- cause he poured a bowl of cereal all by himself.  He is growing up way too fast.

 

And my poorest Shalye had the first real casualty of the family (aside from Vitas car accident of course).  She fell off the swing (I was not the one who put her on there peeps) and got a HUGE lip with a deep gash inside.  I was really scared cause I did not get stitches and thought maybe I should have, but the lip healed really quite perfectly.  I am so glad.  And she was such a doll the entire time.

Malia is beckoning me to scratch her back, so goodnight!

Writers Block

Why is it that my life is passing me by, and so many things are happening, and everytime I sit down to blog I have writers block.  I mean severe writers block.  Like it is late at night and my mind is jello and I just want to look at facebook so I dont have to think.  But then I realize almost a month has gone by, so many little moments are happening, and I must write about them!

It has been a hard month with Tevita.  Tame and I have been pondering, thinking, analyzing, fasting and praying about this little man of ours.  He has been extrememly defiant lately, and cannot focus on anything.  We have talked a bit about getting him tested for ADHD, but I really am not a fan of this considering he is a boy and he is five, and I think they all just might have ADHD to a degree.  But we do both feel the need to really focus on him, and his way of learning, and his way of listening.  We are struggling to find just whats going on in his little mind.  At times he is the sweetest boy, but we have noticed a REAL problem if things are not the way HE wants them. 

First was the primary program practices that he refused to participate in.  I was so angry at him, but really inside was feeling half guilty that he probably got the fear of public speaking from me.  I mean REFUSING to even go near the stage during practice.  He had no problem standing on his head near the sacrament table or juming across the benches or kicking and screaming his way out of the building, but forget even the thought of going near the stage.  Imagine how dissapointed I was when he woke sick that Sunday morning and had to stay home.....not at all!  Malia and I went, and she was so excited for her nursery class to participate in the program.  I gotta say, I was shocked that she was not a bit shy at all, and was in fact a bit upset when she did not get to say her entire line cause she forgot a word.  She did say "I love my dad and mom and baby sister Shalye".   So cute!!

Then there was the Halloween parade at school.  I love Halloween and thought my kids would too, you know with the candy and all.  But this year, like the last Tevita has refused to put on a costume.  Nothing, no coaxing, no bribing, no punishing, NOTHING was gonna get this guy to participate in the parade!  Instead he did this.......

while the other kids did this.......

It was not worth the fight so there he screamed and cried and flailed his little arms in the air while Malia and I watched the parade.  I really did think that maybe, just maybe, he would get a costume on that evening to actually trick-or-treat considering that there is handfuls of candy at stake, but to no avail.  Instead he was excited to be the one passing out the candy.

Malia LOVES dressing up though ans she insisted on being a green butterfly.  Thank goodness for Captain America for making that butterfly sparkle, or she would have been a bit dull.  But isnt she gorgeous.  She had no problem walking up and down Moana street collecting her small fortune, and corrected anyone who called her anything other than a green butterfly.

And Shalye was a chicken for about five minutes before deciding her bed was so much more cozy than her costume.

Astroboy has been the largest reason for anger around here lately.  Thats right folks, Astroboy!  The little toy that comes in the McDonalds not-so-happy meal.  This has been a real obsession for Tevita and I mean an obsession that McDonalds cannot keep up with.  They are only updating their toys every week or so, but he wants the whole collection of Astroboy toys.  NOW.  So we stop by McDonalds daily to harrass the workers for the next shipment of toys.  (And he has not even seen the movie.) Here is my little Astroboy now.......

Oh wait, that is just Tevita and his other new obsession.  Trying to see how far that little naked body of his can slide across the floor.  And while he is busy sliding across the floor Shalye is eating Jell-O............Ummm, I mean wearing Jell-O

She is still keeping us on our toes and shocks us every day how much alike Vita she is, both in looks and personality. She will find a way to get what she wants.  In the picture above she opened the cupboard, climbed on the shelf, then onto the cupboard door then onto the counter.  As sweet as she still is most of the time, that strong-willed side is starting to shine.  Why is is that all my kids are SO strong-willed anyway?  ALL of em'.  Is it in their genes? 

And thank you Mom for the Halloween Box.  We love you!

Happy Halloween everyone!

This one is for Jing!

It is 5:30pm on Sunday night and I finally have time to blog since Tevita has been sent to his room for the rest of the night and the girls have crashed out on the floor.  I have a pounding headache and am about to watch Extreme Home Makeover and Desperate Housewives to unwind.  Weeks have gone by without writing so i figured i would take a minute to tell you all what happened the next day after Tevita gave the sweet little boy in the yellow shirt a bloody nose.

***He gave him a thank you letter for the cookies and a blue airhead candy.*** 

Isn't that so cute.  My heart sank as I looked at this sweet little letter, and the way he drew the cookie instead of wrote the word was just adorable.  It is amazing these little moments how they shape and mold the world that they live in.  They both learned about apologies and forgiveness that day, and friendship.

And when I am not running around chasing Tevita around the halls of church (the reason why he is in timeout the rest of the night) I am chasing this little one.  And if I am not quick enough she just might end up like this.....

Yes, that is frosting for breakfast just incase you were wondering.  (and an ICEE).  And if she is not eating frosting for breakfast then she just might be taking a bath......

in the toilet.  So if you wonder why I am not blogging, now you know....I am just tryin to survive!!!  But seriously I just adore that little face.  She is getting so fiesty but she loves to explore, if music is on she will dance, and she loves to stand on the coffee table and dive onto the couch over and over again.  And probably her favorite thing to do is to dump the rice and sugar on the floor by the handfuls.  However just before I can scold her she will give me that little dollface look, and I will just strip off all her clothes and throw her in the sink.

The dreaded call

"Um, Mrs. Uluave, this is Mrs. Lamone, school counselor at Laie Elementary."  My stomach hurts.  "Well I have Tevita here with me in the counselors office because he punched a kid in the nose and gave the guy a bloody nose."  My stomach really hurts.  "Well he is here with me and I have been trying to figure out why he punched the little boy in the nose and he just is not answering me.  He is just talking like nothing ever happened.  He does not seem mad.  I do not really understand what is happening here.  This is really a first for me.  Usually I can figure out why they would punch a guy in the face".  Umm, I am still frozen.  My stomach still hurts and I am still trying to comprehend what the school counselor is telling me.  Now believe me, I was not completely shocked to hear that he punched a guy in the face.  He is a sore loser.  If he gets embarrassed he gets angry.  But for no reason???  I had to get to the bottom of this.  So when I picked him up from school I asked him how his day was, and then how recess was.  He just spit it all out "Well, recess was fun, well not really, well I just punched the boy in the yellow shirt in the face.  Oh, no not the face.  It was the nose.  I just punched him in the nose and the red one went everywhere."  I was poking and prying hoping he would give me some reason, but really there was no reason.  He just was being BEN 10 and fighting all the bad guys and the poor little man in the yellow shirt happened to be the victim.  So the afternoon was spent making cookies and a card, and the evening was spent begging forgiveness from the poor boy in the yellow shirt.  Here is the card.  Tevita drew a transformer, two hearts and a butterfly on it.  Of course what any little boy would want a picture of, right?

And the two boys did make up, high fived and hugged.  But I hope many more afternoons are not spent making cookies and cards.  And for the record, Tevita is no longer friends with Cartoon Network or Disney XD.