Cheerfest and STUFF

The last couple of weeks were spirit week for Kahuku High & Inter. School. Kids have spent these last few days doing all kinds fun things at school and of course they have a home game this Friday...Kahuku vs Kaimuki. So, last night was the cheerfest....a tradition that has been carried down for a long time at Kahuku. The High School spent a couple of weeks in the evenings to come up with a cheer for each grade and practice will the night of Cheerfest and then got together to show off who has the best cheer. I don't know if there are other schools who does this.

My son, Chris, is a Freshman this year and decided that he wanted to attend the cheerfest. Jen decided to attend it this year too, she has missed out two years before and I guess this year she finally decided to get out of her comfort zone and do something different. I was a little surprised that both Jen and Chris wanted to do cheerfest this year only because the last two years I've been trying to get Jen to do it (the cheerfest is only for the high school kids) and she never showed any interest. Usually my daughter Steph was the one who took interest in any school events (hmmmm, I wonder if Jen was a little intimidated being in the shadow of her older sister....since she started attending Kahuku, the upperclassmen and staff only recognize her as "Stephanie's little sister"). And of course Chris, my son who never really cared for outdoor or big crowd kinda deal so I was really surprised that they both wanted to give this cheerfest thing a go this year.

Anyways, the Cannon Activities Center at BYUH was packed with all the parents, friends, siblings, aunties & uncles, and grandparents who went to show their support. It was crazy with all the noise. Chris didn't want me to miss it or not get good seat, he called me around six thirty (the thing didn't start til eight) to tell me I need to get there already if I want to get good seating because there are already people lining up to go in. Of course, I didn't want to end up sitting in the bleeding section, I had to listen to him so I got there around seven with Steph and Jon and got ourselves some really good seats.

The kids looked sooooo cute and adorable in their uniform. Each grade has a different shirt design and I gotta say those were really cool designs they have on their shirts. Exactly at eight, the Freshmen got up to do their cheer...judges were introduced before the performance and the kids were told that the judging of the cheer would cover creativity, unity, most fun and least put-down cheer. I know I am being biased when I say this, but the Freshmen did beautifully...their voices were in totally harmony and I could hear what was in their cheer and the moves...wowser!! Next was the Sophmore..there weren't very many participants with this group...they too did a great job. After them was the Juniors...my daughter Jen was with the Juniors...again another beautifully done cheer. They had some really funny stuff in their cheer and kept people laughing almost through the whole cheer. The Seniors were last, they also did a great job, too.

After the Seniors number...the Principal and her staff did a number. Ok, I forgot to tell you that the theme for school's spirit week was Remember The Good Times..and in light of the theme, coordinators decided to do a little memory for Michael Jackson, they played a medley of some his greatest hits. So the Principal and her staff got up and sang "We Are the World"...it was beautiful. They have some vocally talented teachers in that group. The kids were soooo proud of their Principal and teachers they got up and held hands while they swayed to the song..it was kind of an emotional moment. (I'm not a big fan of Michael Jackson but that song is one of my favorite....I guess it's a good thing he wasn't the only one singing that song.)

Finally the moment everyone was waiting for...the award time. While the MC waited for the judges to finalize their decision (did I mention that Elvis was in attendance and was actually the MC for the event? Yep, he did..LOL.) there were some side awards that needed to be given out. They had four awards they gave out...one of them was on the best poster/sign design and that went to the Juniors. The other award was on the t-shirt design and that one went to the Sophmore, then best attendance award that went to the Seniors. The Freshmen were give the best sportsmanship award. To tell you the truth though, the Freshmen had the best t-shirt design and the Seniors had the best poster design. But oh well...they want to be fair so every grade gets something. Then the moment came, there were drumrolls from all around the house....the fourth place went to the Seniors and that was because they broke one of the rules so they were disqualified. Third place went to the Juniors, it took a while to register for them that they came in third because they honestly believe that they would've won either second or first place and I agree with them. I think second place should be theirs. Second place went to the Sophmore and yep....the Freshmen won first place. They were soooo surprised (this is the first time in the history of Kahuku Cheerfest that Freshmen come in first) that they went wild in their cheering. It was really fun watching the look on their faces when they realized they actually won first place. It was absolutely crazy fun and I was very happy for them...they totally deserve to win first place, they actually put in more practice time than any of the other grades. They would literally skip their lunch period to practice and my son later told me that their leader worked them hard and was not that hopeful they would come anywhere close to second or even third. So, can you imagine how euphoric they all must have felt to come in first? My son was so giddy he rubbed it in his sister's face..LOL..rascal. Jen was not too happy that her grade didn't even make second place, she actually had her heart set on it. So brother and sister were bantering in the car on the way home, all in good fun though...she was a good sport in that she was happy she lost to her brother, she just wasn't happy that they lost to the Sophmores...ahahah...little competive wench..lol.

So on the way home, Jen was all just ranting on and on...she still couldn't believe they came in third and then out of the blue she goes: "hey guys, do I have a dumb face?"
I was like "what you mean by that? what does a dumb face look like?"
"Oh, I don't know, I feel like my face look dumb."

That brought a memory I had a teenager. I was invited by my friend and her family to spend the weekend with them. We had to go to the country side for some family get-together, some kind of reunion or something, big feast, lots of people. We had to stay at my friend's grandparents' house and they happen to have a woman from the Peace Corps living with them. One of the things my friends and I liked to do in those high school days is to try to learn as much English as we could so whenever we come across a foreigner, we'd strike up conversations with them. So my friend and I were standing around chatting up a storm with this this lady when I noticed that my friend's uncle was talking to my friend's mom and the whole time he kept looking at me. I later found out that they were actually talking about me. The uncle was asking my friend's mom if I actually understand what that haole lady was saying and if I actually know how to speak her language. My friend's mom quickly responded that not only did I know how to speak English but that I was actually the smartest kid in the whole high school (I'm blushing right now because my friend's mom was totally exaggerating) and you wanna know what the uncle said after that?

"Oh really, I didn't know that" he said. "She looks like she might be retarded or something."
How embarrassing. So when Jen asked us about her dumb face, I told them about this incident and she was really mad about that...she thought that man was very rude but since it's been sooo long ago, I thought it was actually funny.

So what does a dumb face look like? A better question would be, did I actually look like a retard, and if so, do I still look like one? Or maybe I just look more like an idiot and if that's the case, I could totally use it to my advantage. Can you imagine how many secrets and things I shouldn't have heard or learned because people would just pass me off as an idiot so they can say whatever they want to say in front of me thinking I wouldn't understand...seriously, I can actually work for the government and be a spy or even work for a company and be spy to that company to find out all their secrets.

{insert mad scientist laugh}

Our FHE and A little Pick Me-Upper

Our family has our FHE last night...that's Family Home Evening, for those of you who don't know what that is, something the LDS families are recommended to do every week on a Monday night {can be any other night if Monday night is not a good night, as long as it's one night set aside for the family}. Usually, I am a little organized on our FHE, everyone has an assignment but when I didn't plan, assignments are neglected and I either pull something out my magic bag, {lessons I have ahead of time, either from a class like Primary or Young Woman I know the kids weren't in attendance for or I assigned one of the older kids to do it}. Kids and I almost always make sure that the hubby doesn't do a spur of the moment lesson cuz he usually drag it out for a whole hour and then before you know it, we're all grunting our teeth and counting down the seconds on the clock for FHE to be over with.

Anyways, last night was such a night. I've been totally slagging on my FHE preparation because we did not have anything assigned and I was kinda hoping we'll just skip it altogether and try for another night but that wasn't in my hubby's plan. He sauntered in the house with a lesson all printed up in his hand and declared we do our FHE. Two of our kids were missing, at a school function, that's why I was hoping we'll forgo FHE last night but like I said, nothing is detering my hubby from getting our FHE. I was so dreading the long drawn out lesson but as it turned out, he was actually precise and finished in the alotted time permitted him for his lesson.

So I appointed myself the treat person. But instead of waiting til the end of FHE to pass out the treat...this time I decided to tie it in with my hub's lesson. Because he had such a great lesson, I suggested that at the end of his lesson, he would ask the kids question to test them and I'll give them candy whenever they answer the question right. It was really fun to see what my kids would do for candies. Even Kaitlin was raising her hands to answer questions. Like I said, with this non preparation on my part, there was no planned treat, usually I have something made or my daughter made or we got at the store. Luckily I had some chocolate candy on hand so that was great save for me cuz the kids weren't complaining at all...they were only too happy to be participating in something and getting something in their mouths..lol. It was great turn-out, everyone concerned was happy and it was a successful and fun night for all.

Anyways...our candy treat turned out to be a lot more insightful than I thought, who'd have thought. Here's a little something we got from the candy wraps I thought I'd share with y'all. Enjoy!!

• Patience is a virtue.
• Life is about making memories.
• Believe the best in yourself.
• Forget the pothholes in the road and celebrate the journey instead!
• Smile when you want to, cry when you need to, laugh whenever possible!
• Count your blessings and not your worries.
• Kick a bad habit for today.
• Remind yourself that it's ok no to be perfect.

♥ to all and God bless!

My Latest Creation

I have been following this blog for a while and I absolutely love all the stuff she has on there. There were a lot of really neat, fun and easy crafts that kids can do to keep them busy during any season and of course a great place for moms like me who wants to take a whack at any creativity they have. Here are a couple of the ones that I love and are very easy for an amateur like me. I made these for my daughter Kaitlin for her 3rd birthday this past Tuesday and she just loves them.

Here's the first one I made: This is a crayon roll. Instead of carrying around a box of crayon, this roll stores the crayons nicely and keeps them padded really good so they don't break easily.

I had so much fun making this and it didn't take me long to make this project. The stitches may be a little crooked but since it's my first time making this, I am actually proud of this little accomplishment.

Here's my next attempt at sewing: a reverible totebag.

Isn't this cute? When you get tired of one side color, you can turn it out and you got yourself a new color. Both the totebag and the crayon rolls were fun to make and I thought I'd use different bold colors, my daughter's favorite colors.

If any of you want to try making these two items, head on over here and check out their tutorial guide on the crayon roll and the reversible totebag. That blog has loads of fun and easy creative projects to make even those who think they don't have a creative bone in their body can do. Trust me, this is coming from a person who was never creative and can't sew except the occasion straight line {although the lines come out crooked} sewing.

The recipient of these two items just love them. She's carrying these two items around all over the place along with the rest of the gifts she got for her birthday. I made the totebag because she loves purses and of course she loves drawing so the crayon roll is just the perfect thing for her to take with her when we go to church or on any outing.

Anyways, just thought I'd share what I've made this week as far as the creativity thing goes. Our card swap is scheduled for next week Saturday so I will be posting some cards or Halloween treat ideas, so stay tuned!! In the meantime, enjoy this little creation of mine and feel free to drool over it if you want...LOL...{soo joking on the drooling part}. Have a great weekend.

Happy Sunday

Wanted to share this little tidbit with you all. This is actually one of my most favorite hymn/song and every word written in this song totally describe how I feel about my Heavenly Father. He really is GREAT and to think that He does care about me and listens to me whenever I go to him in supplication with all the billions of people who call on HIM and that He does find time to hear little ole insignificant me makes feel totally special.

So without further ado...here's Alan Jackson (another favorite singer of mine) singing "How Great Thou Art".

Sooo Not my Idea of a FUN Read!

This is the assigned book for our next book club meeting. I've mentioned before my love affair with reading, whenever I see a book, once I picked it up, I couldn't put it down til I finished it.

When one of the members of our Book Club suggested this book, I was so excited to be one of the first one to purchase the book so I can read it before the rest of the group. I can't really describe my first feeling about the book when I got it...it was absolutely not what I expect it to be.

To give the book some credit, lemme summarize what the book is about first. It actually has a nice history and plot to the book but I just don't like the way it was written. Basically, the book was about a book club {name of the title} that came to be due to the heroin's quick thinking to save her and friends from a very sticky {which could lead them to death} situation. The club was made up of a few people on an island in the English channel during the German Occupation. When the German landed on the island, called Guernsey, communications, food, any form of aide was cut off from mainland England so the German soldiers practically took full control of any livestock on the island. Every single farm animal was numbered and recorded in a book so if any islander is caught eating any of the farm animals, they are either sent to prison or they get punished. Well, one of the islander happened to have a pig that she was clever enough to hide from the German soldiers so she invited a few of her friends to have a roast dinner with her and they stayed out way past the curfew that when they were each returning to their homes, they got caught by the soldiers. They couldn't come out and confessed that the reason for being out late was because they were enjoying a fine roast pig dinner so one of the islander who got caught, who was actually an heroin, with quick thinking had to lie to the soldiers and told them they were out late due to their book club meeting...and that's how the book club started.

I know, you're thinking that this sound like a good book so what should I be complaining about the book. Well, lemme tell ya...the way the book was written was not my best idea of a good writing. The book was written in correspondent letters way...don't get me wrong, I love receiving letters and writing them but to read it in a book, a bunch of strangers' letters, that was different. I had a really hard time following the book because it was written that way.

For the first time in my life since I started reading, every time I picked up the book to read, I suddenly had the urge to put down and go scrub my kitchen floor or my bathroom floor, or do the dishes. Coming from a person who doesn't care for housekeeping, this is really bad. I had to keep reading the first sever pages over and over just to get into the book. I lost count of how many times I wanted to throw the book away and quit reading it altogether but I just had to keep reading it since I need to be able to participate in the discussion when our club meet again next week. Then one of my friends who read the book told me to hang in there, that once I get to the 50th page, the reading will get better. She was right of course but getting to the said page was actually easier said than done. It took me four days just to get to the 50th page, that seriously is how absolutely agonizingly boring those few pages were.

I finally finished reading the book last night and that frustrated me even more because just as I got over the hump in my reading and actually started enjoying the book, it had come to an end. It just feels like such a let down for me.....would I recommend this book? I don't know. Am I glad I stuck with the book and read it? In a way, yes. Would I read this book again like I usually do with any of the books I've read before? A big NO. I'll tell you one thing though, I am just glad I didn't pay big bucks for it.

I'm sure there are others out there who like the book, for example, the lady who recommended the book to us. I'd say good for you if you like it. If any of you are curious about it and want to take a snap at it, you are more than welcome to my copy...I would recommend you borrow the book first and then if you decide you like it, then go ahead and buy the book.

Aight, have a great weekend all!!