Merry Christmas to you from me...

I just want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. For my post today I want to share some of my most favorite Christmas songs. Hope you all have a great Christmas.

































♥♥♥ Always,

Wordless Wednesday

Love,

It's Aloha Friday, no work til Monday...

Oh wait, I'm a stay at home mom so I guess that doesn't apply to me since basically Saturday is my busiest working day..LOL.

~~~~~~sighs~~~~~~

Yesterday was the last day of school for the kids. As of today, they are officially on their Christmas vacation. Does anyone know what that means? Besides the noise and the constant refereeing that I have to do?! My favorite of all things when the kids are on school break.....I get to sleep in. No more getting up at five or five thirty-ish to drive kids to seminary and then hauling more kids off to school an hour or so later. I love me some sleep and haven't been able to enjoy some serious slumbering because of the early morning schedule my high school kids keep.

So today, I actually slept til ten thirty without anyone knocking on my door, jumping on my bed or calling my name to wake me up. I tell ya, it's heaven. And of course the kids were so happy to get a break from school, they practically laze around all morning doing, practically nothing, ok cross that, they were doing whatever their little hearts desire. And I get to sit around too after I woke up and just enjoy the slow and laziness of the day...no appointment to rush off to, no commitment to keep, Nada, zip, zilch.

I took my final yesterday so you could say I'm officially on a school break too...although since there was only one class I was taking, it didn't feel like much. And last night, our ward had a Christmas party. It was called a night in Bethlehem..we had to dress up in Biblical times and started off the evening with the Primary kids doing a skid of the Savior's birth. We were told in advance to bring canned goods to give to the Bishop, in turn, he and his helpers give us a bag of coins(those fake candy coins) that we can use in the market place to buy food and other merchandise. I tell ya, the activities committee did such a beautiful, it actually felt like you were in Jerusalem peddling goods or bargaining for goods. They even had a live nativity scene set up in the Primary room for anyone to go and have their pictures taken. (Kaitlin fell asleep and my boys each took off on different directions to enjoy the night, we didn't have our pictures taken. And I also forgot to take my camera with me...bummer!) I actually like the set up...there was no Santa in sight, which I think it's very fitting since this party was taken place in a place of worship. I'm glad that someone actually thought to plan a Christmas party where the main focus is on the Savior...not that I have anything against Santa, mind you.

Oh yeah, my daughter Jenn went to Sadie Hawkins and it was so cute she asked this cute boy to be her date. She actually put time, money and effort into this dance. You wanna know how she asked the guy to be her date? She got a shirt, wrote on the front "wash me" and on the back she wrote "Sadie's?". And then she wrote a bunch of girls' name with washable markers and she wrote her name with a permanent marker. And then she had some random person gave the shirt to the boy she wanted to be her date. You see how that worked right? When the boy washed the shirt...all the washable ink disappeared except for her name. He responded by texting one of Jenn's friend that "yes" he will go to Sadie's with her.

Jenn then went out and bought two red t-shirts(red is the boy's favorite color) and have their names written in blue(blue's Jenn's favorite color) on the shirts. So they went to the dance in matching t-shirts in their favorite colors combined. Now, you wanna see what her date looks like?

Don't they look cute together? Yeah, I think so too and I'm not just saying that cuz she's my daughter...LOL. Yep, while we were traveling the road to Bethlehem last night and bargaining for goods in Jerusalem, my daughter was hanging out and dancing her little feet off with some cutie..ahahah. Makes me all the more excited to see how her prom would pan out.

Now, I'm off to plan out a fun night with my hub. It's our date night and Steph's taken all the three little kids with her so I am free to go out and enjoy being with my hub. Hope you are all enjoying the season. Have a great weekend!! ☺

Love,

Post-It-Note Tuesday

"Of Things that Matter Most"

Today I just want to share the talk given at General Conference, October 2010, by Pres. Uchtdorf..he's actually one of my favorite Speaker. I think his talk is very fitting for this season. The message delivered in his talk is one I thought most of us parents can benefit from, especially the mothers with Christmas right around the corner.

We tend to take on a lot on our plate and we can justify that we rightfully do so since it is our duty. We tend to be so caught up with our daily lives that sometimes we overlook those things that matter most. I am quilty of that so that's why I like this talk. I hope you enjoy it as much I as I do/did.




Hopefully this is something you all can take into consideration. While you are preparing for Christmas, shopping, cleaning, decorating, baking or cooking, or even preparing for visitors to your home, take a little time out to sit down and ponder Pres. Uchtdorf's message.

Love,

Where's the Line to See Jesus?

Newest Christmas song that came out this year. I literally had goosebumps from listening to it the first time so I thought I'd share with you all. Actually, my hub brought this to my attention and he thought is was such a cool thing that the singer's name is the same as his mom's maiden name..Becky Kelley.



True uh? Christmas is afterall Jesus' birthday and yet we don't see people lining up to see him. A couple years ago, our family went to downtown Honolulu to see the Christmas display at the City Council or Honolulu Hale and we saw all kinds of Christmas decorations and out of all those decorations, we only find one small nativity scene made out of fake candy cane at the back of the building. I think it's sad that the real reason Christmas was created was to celebrate the birth of our Savior and yet more and more people and entities are trying to take HIM and His name out of the picture completely.

Anyways, I didn't mean to go on and on, I just thought I'd share this song with everyone....It truly is a beautiful song. Hope you enjoy listening to it as much as I do.

Love,

Sisterly Love

I came across this video my girls made and posted it on their FB. I thought it's kinda cute how they actually coordinate themselves on this video.

In Honor of HER

Aloha all,

Hope y'all have a great weekend. My weekend was pretty relaxing. I was going to post yesterday about the beautiful lesson in Relief Society but the computer was tied up by the kids all afternoon...well, that is what was left of the afternoon, after 3 hour of church and a few more hours at the Laie Temple Visitor's Center battling with the kids to pose into the camera and smile plus a few thread about Christmas presents this here being mysteriously disappearing if no one is cooperating with mom..LOL. So I will post that beautiful lesson next Sunday...I think everyone will benefit from it, (well, there are two of them actually) they are very fitting for the season.

So today, I am going to talk about something else. If you look over there on the side bar-------->
you'll see a voting button from my friend. I've mentioned her on here a lot because she is one of those bloggers who has a way of making a person laugh every time you set foot(in this case, your eyes) on her blog. Yes, my funniest dummy(she's actually one of the smartest person I know but she like to make people think she's a dummy) who is so full of wit is trying to get a job as a Good Mood Blogger. In order for her to get the job, she has to jump through hoops to round up people to vote for her. She's up against a whole lotta other bloggers so it's a very sizzling race...there seem to be a lot of pushing and shoving(LOL). This is the final week and the judges will pick the winner in a couple of weeks so I'm asking any of you to go vote for her. If you haven't read her stuff, go here. I assure you, you will not be disappointed. And while you're there reading her, you can hop vote for her.

Anyways, this week, she's having a video contest for her readers and she's giving away money on her blog too for whoever leave the most convincing comment for why she should be the next Good Mood Blogger. I was going to make a video for her to help rally up some vote for her but I ran out of time. Plus a friend of mine just entered a video her kids made and I happen to be in it too and because that kinda create a conflict, I'm not going to make a video so I can support my friend's video(that's how I roll, people..**wink wink** But I wrote a lyrics to what I would've put on the video so I'm just going to post it on here. You all can be creative with it and rap or sing to it. So here goes....

Deb, this is for you.

Debbie has a little pup,
Whose hair was spun from straw.
And every time that Debbie blogs,
Her pup was sure to pop up.

Debbie also has four kids
Who really are superstars.
And her hub is one hunk-a-jock
Whose getup comes with a Stet.

Now she wants to win the Good Mood Blog Job
We're here to root for her.
So go and vote for her,
She'll knock your socks off with her wit.

Go Debbie!!!

I know, kinda suck, doesn't really rhyme but it kinda sums her up. I was going to have kids rap to this using the Mary had a little lamb song as a guide only in rapping form. If you don't like this one, you can always watch her video she made.


Here's the video she made to help her get the job, enjoy.

Doesn't that just make you want to go vote for her? So get your gears on, head over her place and vote for her.

Mahalo,

Forgive me Miss Blogger

My Dearest Blog,

If I can compose songs ♫♪ in your honor or even spew some Shakespearean love tragedy story for you, I would, to express how deeply sorry I am for neglecting you for so long. But alas, I can't make anything rhyme nor can I sing in the right tune. All I can say is I'm sorry, so sorry..

If it would help may I just say that life caught up with me and have been dragging me through all kinds of traffic?LOL Would you even permit me to tell you what's been happening to me these last few months? You would? Oh thank you...you are the BEST!! ☺

So where do I even begin....oh gosh. Well, first off, I am really excited that Christmas is upon us. I just ♥ Christmas, not the gift getting or the hectic shopping part, more of the feeling that I love about it. I love what Christmas represent and it seems people are a bit more sweeter and kinder this time of year. I love the feeling in the air that Christmas season brings, the beautiful music that comes with it. I could sit and listen to Christmas music all day long. I especially love that my kids would sit at night with all the regular lights off and only the lights on the Christmas tree is on, they would even forgo watching TV or playing on the computer just to sit in front of the tree and talk story. And of course, don't forget the baking smell pastries. (OK, so I haven't been baking anything yet nor has my daughter but still, just the thought of it...*****sighs*****.) And oh another favorite, me making Christmas cards to send to families and friends. I've got loads of fun card ideas and I'm thinking I will be showcasing them as the days draw close to Christmas. (I think even you, Miss Blogger will forgive me of my trespass once you've seen my creation..right? *wink, wink*)

Our Thanksgiving this years was great as always. We spent it with friends at a potluck, OMG, the food. There were so much food and in so many variety, I can honestly say that everyone stuffed themselves like a turkey. And as customary, there were dancing too. That was supposedly a means to work off some of those food we stuffed our face with. So there were lots of eating, visiting, dancing then eating visiting and dancing again. And to close the day off, we had karaoke in the evening. Talk about a bunch of stuff turkeys gobbling into the mics, that was a sight for sore eyes...LOL. (I guess I should count myself lucky that none of those at the party reads my blog, even my family or I would've gotten an earful from that last line...don't tell OK? LOL)

Oh and I forgot...we celebrated a very important birthday this year...a milestone. My son Daniel turned 8 in August so he was baptised.
(He's the one with the candy leis...I think he's more excited to delve into all those candies, lucky kid. LOL) It was a very special occasion for him. I couldn't be prouder of him for making such a mature decision. Since the beginning of the year, he's been reminding me that he's turning eight this year, to make sure I mark on my calendar for a baptism date for him. (Aww, my little baby boy is all grown up and making adult decision...proud of you son.) Talk about birthdays....my Stephanie celebrated her 19Th birthday this year. OMG, I have a practically adult child in my home. What the heck happen?..it seems like it was only yesterday that I came home from the hospital with a pink bundle in my arms and look now she's all grown up. That was practically how old I was when I got married....I am definitely getting old. (Father Time, you need to slow down, my kids are growing bigger and bigger every time I blinked.)

Speaking of which...just before the summer ended, my hub and I went on a camping trip. A scout camping trip, just the two of us along with a bunch of other old people like myself, up on the mountain for two weekends without any kids to speak up and played boy scout for two weekends in a row. I tell ya, it was the absolute best. Just us the old folks, a bunch of trees and tents in our oh so cute boy scout uniforms...no kids in sight. No peeps from any little voices and oh the peace and quiet. Traffic noise was completely unheard of too. And I've learned a ton of useful things mostly on how to be an effective, fun and oh so wonderful scout leader. A greatest tool I picked up which I try using each day since then is the evaluation of self called Stop, Start, and Continue. Basically, every night before I go to sleep, I have to evaluate myself, check what I've done or have been doing throughout the day, month or year, whichever you prefer, but I stick with day(less stressful if it's on a small scale) and decide what I need to stop doing (in this case, stop procrastinating on just about anything, for example), what I need to start doing (I need to start blogging more...you get the picture) and what I need to continue doing if I am already doing good at it (continue smiling, just to make it easy, but you get the picture right?). We did this as a group tool at camp so I just adopt it to use it on myself...my hub who is always thinking on a larger scale is involving the rest of the family. It's a working progress.


And oh...did I mention? I am taking a class @BYUH. It's a Religion slash Relationship class and I am taking it with my hub. It's been a very eye opening and full of very useful information class. It's not a hard class. I am planning on going to school once my little Katie's started Kindergarten so I thought I'd get myself reacquainted with the classroom. I have been having a lot of fun and the professor totally ROCKS!! I think I'm going to stick with one class at a time til Kaitlin starts Kindergarten next school year. I gotta tell ya, it feels absolutely weird sitting in a classroom with kids my daughter Steph's age and it's been interesting.

Anyways, I know dear Miss Blogger I've practically bored you to tears with my attempt at this apology but I just thought I should at least explain a bit of why this lack of blogging all this time. I will definitely START blogging more and seriously STOP abandoning you like this again. DEAL? Will that be enough for you to forgive me? Please pretty please? ☺

Mahalo Plenty,