Happy Birthday Auntie Rachel

Today is my littlest sister's birthday! She is loved by her nieces and (not pictured) nephew, as you can tell by the picture:) She is such a good auntie! She came to our house to babysit while Kelly, Bronson and I went to Hawaii and we love it when she comes to visit! We hope she comes to our house again soon!

I was 12 when Rachel was born, so I feel like I got some good practice in babysitting:) I don't feel too bad when she babysits for us! Payback. I always thought it was pretty cool to have a little kid hanging around when I was in high school. She always had something embarrassing to say in front of boyfriends, friends, coaches. You name it, she said something to embarrass me in front of it! Now my kids are doing the same thing to her. Again, payback. We have a good and weird relationship...I'm jealous of her tiny(ness) and beautiful green eyes! No fair!! She's jealous of my toes. Go figure. She has a picture of my toes on her phone so that when I call she knows it's me:)

We love you Auntie Rach! Have a wonderful 20th birthday!

Keepin' it Real Tag

I was tagged by my friend Darilyn. This tag is all about keepin' it real! The rules are to take pictures of the things listed below, but no straightening, primping or prepping. Leave everything just as they look at the moment you take the picture! Then tag five people.

1. Fridge. After our camping trip, I came home and threw out all our slimy produce, that's why the drawers are empty. 2. Closet. This picture made me realize we need to do a little spring cleaning, or at least organizing! 3. Kitchen Sink. Not too bad yet, but the day has just started. 4. Toilet. This was a scary one! You never know when Nalani will leave a present for you. I would hate to have to post a picture of that! 5. Favorite Shoes. I love my Steve Madden red high heels! I don't wear them a ton, but I love 'em!
6. Favorite Room. Nalani is still asleep in my bed, can you see her head poking out of the covers? Many loads of laundry have been folded here, many books have been read here, many afternoon naps have been taken here. The rest you don't need to know about! 7. What kids are doing right now. (Logan is at school, so this isn't what she's doing right now) The other three are being couch potatoes, watching Sponge Bob and eating left-over popcorn. Nalani woke up after I took the picture of my bedroom.

8. Laundry Pile. It's not so bad right now, because I've been doing laundry for the last 48 hours straight, after our camping trip. (This could also double for my favorite room, I love my washer and dryer and having a room for them where I can shut the door.)9. Self Portrait. Scary! It's amazing how hard it is to take a picture of yourself. 10. ITALY! I wanna go so bad! Not only could I get a feel for where some of my ancestors came from, I could eat the yummy food I read about in "Eat, Pray, Love". Every time I see a show about Italy it captures my imagination with it's beauty, language, and food.

Now, I tag Autumn, Marci, Paige, Jenny N., and Nicole. Have fun! Remember...No cheating!!

talented friends!

I know we are all blessed with talents. I think my talent is to make friends with people who are talented! My friend Autumn, created my new blog layout. Isn't it cute? Thank you so much Autumn! I love it!!

camping trip

We had a great time this weekend on a three day camping trip. The only thing that could have made it better? Lots more sunshine! Some of my favorite moments were:

• When a bird pooped on Logan's foot.
• When Kelly was chopping fire wood, Maika exclaimed, "Wow Dad, you have one humongous axe!"
• Nalani still wasn't feeling the best and one night as I laid her down in her bed she said, "Mom, there are shoes in my ears and they're marching!" I can only assume she had a little earache, poor thing! She was such a trooper.
• Bronson following the "big" kids around like he was one of them. He has the bumps, bruises, and scratches to prove it!
• Spending time with great friends!
• Listening to Kelly and Jer talk "Navajo" over the walkie-talkies.
• Eating delicious food!
• Sitting around and visiting.

The campfire/s'mores chronicles:

Fun on the boat: The camping life:
Oh yeah! Thanks, Rochelle, for being the OCP (Official Camp Photographer)!

All Before 9 AM

Lately, Bronson comes to find me, and he's naked from the waist down. He comes to tell me he needs to go pee and take my hand and leads me into the bathroom where I find a puddle of pee. Well, today I went with him and I set him on the toilet and he actually went pee in the toilet! I've heard horror stories about potty-training little boys, but I think mine is actually potty-training himself! I know, I know, it's too soon to tell, but a girl can hope can't she?

The other major event that happened this morning, besides mountains of laundry, was that Bronson (again!) pushed the panic button on my key chain to our alarm system. Usually when this happens the company calls over the system and asks for our password and checks to make sure everything is okay. Today they didn't call, so I thought, "Oh, good! It didn't go through and I won't have to be embarrassed to admit that my toddler, once again, found my keys and pushed the button!"

So, I happily go about catching up on my blogs and email. I can hear my kids screaming in the kitchen over who took the banana from whom, when I hear a knock at the door. I look out the window to find a man at the door and upon further inspection, see in fact, two men at my door. Two men dressed in uniforms. Two POLICEMEN! "Oh crap," I think to myself.

Upon opening the door, they ask if everything is okay and I say yes and explain the whole panic button incident to them. They said the alarm company couldn't get through to us and so they called them. They also explained that they had been listening outside for awhile. Then I clued in that they didn't knock until they heard my kids fighting and screaming (over a banana, remember) and probably thought we were under attack! How embarrassing! I guess I can just be thankful to know that if, in fact, I did need help the whole system would work. Now I need to go and find a better hiding place for my keys.

P.S. I just went upstairs to switch laundry around and found a big pile of poop from Bronson. He tried to cover it up with dirty laundry...grrrr! At least he does this on tiled floors.

slump

I've been in a blogging slump this past week and I'm not sure why. So I'll just write down some of the highlights from last week.

Kelly and Bronson had their first experience with the Father's/Son's camp out. They had a really good time, and the highlight for Kelly was that he got to use our boat for the first time this season. He, along with two other boats, helped to shuttle people across the river so they could set up camp. Friday and Saturday were both in the 90's, so it was perfect boating weather!

The girls and I joined the boys the next afternoon and packed a picnic to play on the beach with some friends. We all had so much fun, finally able to enjoy the sun!! Sunday, we all paid the price with some pretty mean sunburns. We learned our lesson and have since stocked up on sunscreen!

We did have a scary moment on the beach...all the kids were splashing around in the water and all the sudden Logan comes running up and screams that Nalani is in the water. Kelly and I both ran out to the water and couldn't see her anywhere! When we finally spotted her, she was floating down the river, spinning from her back to her stomach and swallowing tons of water. Thankfully Kelly's lifeguard skills came back to him and he jumped in and got her. I'm so grateful for life jackets and will insist that my kids wear them at all times!

We were all pretty shaken up by the incident and hours later Kelly and I kept commenting on how scary it was and how frightened Nalani must've been, wondering when someone would come to save her. After church on Sunday, Bronson was chasing Nalani around the kitchen and she was laughing so hard. I made the comment of how grateful I was that we could hear Nalani's cute laugh and got teary. Logan and Kelly said they were just thinking the same thing:)

Our garden is growing! We can see the corn popping up through the ground and also radishes and beets. We are so excited to have some home-grown produce this summer. Logan takes her job of watering the garden every day very seriously and does a great job!

I enjoyed getting to spend time with friends from book club, but it was also a bummer because the stinkin' Jazz lost that night and now they are out of the playoffs! Since I can't cheer for the Jazz, I'm cheering for anyone but the Lakers! I hate that Kobe Bryant!! I think it would be pretty cool to have an old school rematch of the Lakers and the Celtics, as long as the Celtics win.

Well, those are pretty much the highlights. I'll try and be better this week about posting more. I also need to remember my camera when I go places...I've been horrible about that lately!

Logan's Poetry

I am From...

I am from a big, brown house,
with a maple table that seats six,
a new electric furnace,
and five big, soft beds.

I am from a moist yard filled with green,
and lush plants and beautiful flowers,
with a hard cement patio;
and a blue jay flying around all the time.

I am from a house that loves Hawaiian Hay Stacks,
homemade chocolate chip cookies too,
and Navajo sandwiches with ketchup,
and Dairy Queen Blizzards for dessert.

I am from a house that says,
"How was your day at school?"
or, "I missed you while you were gone,"
and "Can Hayden and Taylor play?"

I am from a family of six,
Kelly, who works hard at work
Aundrea, who's always watching over her kids
Logan, who's always playing outside
Maika, who's always causing trouble 24-7
Nalani, who's wanting to get everything she sees on TV
and Bronson, who's always making a mess in my mom's bathroom.

Cinquain Poem "Sun"

Bright, yellow,
Shining, blinding, warming
As bright as smiles
Star

Color Poem: "What is Green?"

Green is the color of lush trees.
Green is the color of the bubbling swamp.
Green is the color of yucky vomit.
Green is a five dollar bill waiting to be spent.
Green smells like a mint flavored toothpaste.
Green tastes like watermelon Dubble Bubble gum.
Green sounds like palm trees swaying in the cool Hawaiian breeze.
Green looks like a ripe Granny Smith apple.
Green feels like a sick feeling.
Green makes me want to eat cool minty mints.
Green is my mom's absolute most favorite color.

Acastic Poem

Loving
Outstanding
Good Citizen
Awesome
Noble

Simile Poem "Secrets About Logan"

I am as fast as a rocket.
I am as sweet as a lollipop.
I am as colorful as a rainbow.
I am as smart as an Einstein.
I am as energetic as a tiger.
I am as strong as a wrestler.
I am as tough as a boulder.
I am as brave as a lion.

Haiku Poem

Waves, crashing, tumbling
In the beautiful sea
Beautiful waves

Alliteration Poem "Dumb Ducks"

Dumb ducks drink dish soap,
detergent or disgusting trash,
imagine their droppings,
now don't tell dad!

There's a football duck.
their mascot is Donald Duck,
but, I call them dumb ducks,
all I'm saying is dumb ducks don't rock!

Personal Poem: Logan

Logan
Sweet, energetic, athletic.
Sibling of Bronson, Maika, and Nalani.
Lover of my whole family
Who feels great about everything
Who needs nothing but my family
Who gives love to my family
Who fears death
Who would like to see everybody happy