Just Rambling again

I've been thinking about resolutions since this is a new year and all. Seems like that is the thing to do, the new year comes and everyone is writing up a new resolution. So I thought about writing up one for myself on here but then I got to thinking....

Does anyone actually accomplish any of the items they listed on their resolution? It seems I never seem to accomplish or even touch half of what I listed on my resolution. Seriously, I get so excited about the new year and I start imagining all the new things I'd like to do, for example, new talents I want to develop, or a bad habit I want to get rid of or new good habit I want to work on, blah blah blah.

See, every year, I put on my list, read my scriptures more faithfully, get at least thirty minutes of some sort of exercise workout into my daily routine, lay off the caffeine, again, blah blah blah...then come at the end of the year, I usually notice I've only done part of my list.

The first of this month, our family got together and toasted our last bottle cider to everything each of wish for the new year and then we gathered around in a circle and knelt in prayer. Usually when we do a prayer in circle like that, it means that someone would start the prayer, say something, then squeezed the hand of the person on their right and that person added something to the prayer and then squeezed the hand of the person next to them, so on and on til we get to the last person and that person say what she/he wants to say and then close out the prayer. The kids were very thoughtful in their part of the prayer, they each pray for each other, extended family member, parents and friends.

When it came for my turn...know what I prayed for? Only thought that stuck in my mind...P.A.T.I.E.N.C.E., yep, I prayed for Patience. So I've decided that will be my number one goal for this year. I will learn to have more patience. I have noticed that the older I get, the less patient I become. You would think that someone who has kids and are constantly around kids would be the most patient person in the world, but no, not me. I get impatient with my kids, my hubby, friends, even strangers. I seem to have little patience any little thing, even traffic light especially when I'm dropping my kids off to school, or when my kids are not moving fast enough in the morning to get ready for school...or if I tell one of the kids to do something and they seem to be moving too slow for my taste.

So yeah, Patience is definitely my resolution for this year. I figure if I focus on this one aspect of my life and actually master it, I just might be able to accomplish some of the other things I've been trying to accomplish for years, who knows. Maybe, just maybe, if I've become more patience, I might be able to get some of my mental list of things to accomplish for this year crossed off too...I think.

What about you? Do you write a resolution each year and do you actually accomplish what you listed? I would love to read what you have.

Anyways, today is Cub Scout Den meeting. I will be having at least four nine-year old over at my house this afternoon and I'm going to try my hand at some simple wood working activity. This should be interesting. Did I ever mention that I am actually loving being a den mom?(well, they don't call it that anymore...it's Den Leader, now). I do..it's actually more fun than I thought it would be. These nine-year olds are such fun to work with, no whining, complaining and they are so NOT picky when it comes to activities.

♥ always,

Birthday Wishes and Other Stuff

Aloha all....yeah, I've totally fallen off the blogging scale...who would've thought kids can actually take over anyone's life like that..hm.

Today is my son Danny's birthday, he turns seven so I just want to give a little shout out to him on his special day. He has made a request that every member of the family has to give him seven items each for his birthday which will add up to fifty six items..instead of asking for a party or one special gift like he normally does, he asked that the whole family come up with seven item each member to give him. I can only say I'm glad that he took mercy on us and told us, that each item has to cost only a buck..lol..the sneaky little brat. I can't wait to see what the other kids are going to do about his request. For his special dinner tonight, he asked for meat loaf and mashed potato with gravy. So Happy Birthday, Danny !! ♥ ya bunches sweetie!!

On some updates...kids are back to school again and I've finally gotten full control of my computer again so life of blogging will be back in session again. Not that I didn't enjoy my blog break because I did. I was able to catch up on some much needed love affairs...not that kind of love affairs, silly. I think I've mentioned before about how much I love to read. With the blog break, not by choice mind ya, I was able to catch up on a lot of reading. I finally read Heidi's book, Miss Delacourt Speaks her Mind...now that is a book to read if any of haven't read it yet. I joined a women's book club. The first book assigned was called the Peacegiver (another good-must-read book) and we're having our first meet tonight. There were also other books that I started around the time I started blogging and never got around to finishing so I was able to read them all.

And sleep..omg, SLEEP....that was another love affair that I was reaquainted with again..lol. That was I think the best part of the summer for me...I got to sleep in every day. No matter how late or early I went to sleep the night before, I was sleeping in the next morning. I had to take advantage of the kids not going anywhere in the morning like school and I even made sure that if there were any appointments needed to be seen to, it was set up for late afternoon. And I have to tell ya, it was good thing because since school has started, I've been getting up very early to drive to seminary and getting kids ready for school.

Speaking of which...my son, Chris is a freshman in high school this year so early-morning seminary is a total must attend class. Coolest thing is that one my friends who's also in my card group is the seminary teacher for his class. She's absolutely the best. She's already gotten the kids so excited about seminary, they don't even care that they have to go so early in the morning.

And my daughter Jen had her sweet sixteenth birthday the end up July and got a job working at PCC. For some reason, she's decided to take on some full load this year. Early morning seminary, work, online courses plus her regular classes. She's doing good so far and I'm crossing my fingers that she doesn't wear herself out before the school year is over. I don't know what's gotten into her but it seems like whatever it is has changed her into this very responsible person so I am not going to complain at all.

Then there's my son, Jonathan...he started middle school this year. He's totally enjoying the fact that he now attends the same school as his older siblings instead of going to a little kid school..that's what he calls elementary now..lol. To him, middle school is way cooler than elementary and everything is an adventure there, especially riding the bus to and from school. He no longer has to wait around on the playground for mom to go pick him up...awww, my little boy is all grown up.

Now, moving on to more fun stuff..not that talking about my kids isn't fun. The infamous Crash dummy is moving away. Can you believe it? She's trading in her sexy hot golden surfer dude boyfriend, Hawaii, for some uptight pale looking boooring dude named, Utah. She really must be a dummy to do that, eh? ahahahah...but don't tell her I said that. I'm meeting with her today along with my best bud Swirl and Martha for lunch today and sing our Aloha Oi to her. I think instead of singing to her and sweating our eyes out for her leaving, we should really set her pants on fire for abandoning us like that. Hmmmm, that's not such a bad idea...I'm getting more excited now to see her just thinking about all the abuse I can inflict upon her as a memory to take to Utah with her to show to all her Utards friends...lol. Naaah, just kidding, Crash. I lub you loads, ya know that right? I am sooo going to miss having the advantage of rubbing it into the mainlander's faces that we have our famous people magnet dummy living just down the road from me...Oh well. I guess I need to be nice and share, uh?

It really is good to be back to the blogasphere!! Hope all is well with you all. Happy blogging and God bless!!

I'm kind of in a bind....

I'm kind of in a fickle situation lately. I've got so much things to do, to get to, projects to finish but yet I just can't seem to bring myself to do anything. The same goes with my blogging. I can't seem to think of anything worthwhile to blog about yet I have so many thoughts going through my head.

I'm mentioned once before that part of the reason I started blogging was because my head is constantly filled with thoughts. Some of the thoughts are good ones like dreams or goals of things I would like to accomplish in my lifetime and other thoughts are the non-helpful kinds...you know those kinds, the ones that sometimes hold you captive because they feed on your insecurities about your worth as a person and if you are actually worthy of any kind of love from anyone.

So today, I woke up feeling totally boggled down with thoughts....thoughts, thoughts and thoughts!!! And I am having both kinds of thoughts, they're warring with each other right now that's why I can't seem to make up my mind about anything today. Like I said, I have loads of things/projects I'd like to get to or finish but I just can't seem to make myself get to any of it.

Since I can't do that, I might as well come on today and just ramble on today. After all that is the name of this blog, no? I hope you don't mind me rambling on today...you will get probably confused and frustrated because there is no set pattern to my post today so if that happens to you, my deepest and most humble apology.

I feel frustrated a little with my hubby and my oldest child today yet at the same time, I am also excited for my oldest child. She will be graduating from High School next week (I will be dedicating a whole post to her next week) so I'm excited for her. But at the same time, lately she's been such a pain in my butt...she's usually the least demanding of my kids but lately she's been such a snob...a really bossy sort, to ME of all people. And my hubby, well, since he got his new job close to our home, he's been in such good mood and an over-all pleasant person to be around but at the same time it's driving me nuts because he's constantly doing things around the house and I feel like I'm not doing enough...now isn't that the craziest thing you've ever heard? Do you think maybe I need to get my head examined because I may be feeling jealous of my hubby because he actually found a job he enjoys, a boss he adores and co-workers who are wonderfully good to him? ME?! I can't even make up my own mind what I want to do with the measly few projects I should be working on? And no...if you're thinking that I'm feeling jealous because he might not be paying more attention to me...well it's the opposite, he pays too close attention to me...LOL. Maybe that's my problem. I think I'm just being paranoid that if he's this close and he actually scrutinize me, he'll find that I'm lacking in so may things.

See? Those ugly (insecure) thoughts are showing their faces...they're actually close to popping out of my head now.

Anyways, last Friday, I promised in this post that this week I will dazzle you all with my incredibly amazing mommy skill if you took pity on me and not tell on me for neglectful parenting skill. I will make good on my promise as soon as I organize all the wild thoughts in my head, how's that? I promise I will dazzle you with some of my most creative artful skillz dedicated to my kids as soon as I get all those in an organized bin..lol...and create a photographic evidence so you all can carry me around on your shoulders and shouting "hip hip hooray!!", deal? But for today, you'll just have to settle for this pathetic attempt of this would-pass-for-a-post nonsence of mine.

Did I ever tell you all how much I appreciate you all for reading this blog? Even though I don't get a gazillion comments in my comment box (being a vain human being, I also love to get comments), I know you guys are reading me and it means a great deal to this little islander! So for that, thank you.

Again, I apologize for this pathetic post but if you're up to something really dirty and nitty gritty, you can check me out again on this blog, I'm today's poster or contributor. If you are a member of my extended family, in-laws, to be specific, I would advice that you not read that post on that blog for today. But if you do decide to check out my post, I apologize in advance. That's all I can say for now.

As a parting thought....I LY all and hope you are all having a splendid week!!

A Mother's Day I can actually call the BEST!!

I wanted to continue on from where I left off last time about Mother's Day. It was actually the best Mother's day ever. After my last post on Saturday, our family went to a Mother's day barbecue that some of my friends and I planned. The hubbies were the cooks for this barbecue. There were so many different kinds of food, omg, I was literally stuffed like a turkey..lol. We even had live music at the party. And because the party was all about us moms, we were totally the center of attention. One of my favorite part of the party was the dancing..we, moms, were learning all kinds of different Tahitian dances and had such fun entertaining our men..lol. It was definitely a great party.

Mother's day, I was awaken with breakfast in bed...my daughter Jen and son Danny made me pancakes and omelette(my favorite kinda breakfast). How sweet is that? Then in Sacrament, Joey gave a talk. He was reluctant to do it at first so his dad offered to go up with him and his talk was full of all the reasons he loves me...awwww. Cool thing about his talk is that he wrote it all by himself, he was just a little too nervous to be in front of everyone. After his talk, the Primary sang a song, "My Mother Dear" and then the Bishop gave out a little surprise for the moms. Unfortunately I still had to teach my Beehive class but they were such great girls I didn't mind. I even had them make a card for their moms.

All day my son Chris kept offering to do something for me. It was really sweet. The kids totally came through for me....Jon didn't complain once, there was no fighting or bickering from any of them. They were actually cooperative with each other. I had my long awaited nap without any fuss and ohhh, I got my coupon's worth and got me a foot rub..can you say Heaven? LOL

Then my daughter, Steph made the best dinner ever. She made shrimp and ribs. She went online and found some recipe on spare ribs and totally dazzled us with her incredibly amazing cooking skill. Don't tell her this but she literally put my cooking to shame. Everyone was sooo impressed with her cooking, we've all voted to make her a chief chef in this house. It was the BEST mother's day ever.

I know this sound like such a brag post but I can't help myself. I just love it when the kids do something sweet. But I think what even made it a great mother's day is the fact that I was actually able to give something for Mother's Day. I made this post about sending a card to my special people, the ones who follow my post that I would send each of them a hand-made card, for them to send me their mailing address...there were seven people who responded, so I was able to send out six cards to six people. One of the people who responded, her email came a little late so I wasn't able to send her a card to make it to her for Mother's Day so I'm going to be sending her a different card, hope she doesn't mind. Anyways, that was actually an highlight for me, I love getting hand made gifts so giving hand made stuff is even double the fun. Those of you who are on my follower list that I've missed this time, there are still special days coming up, you can still email me your mailing address and I will send you a card for any occasion you want. The topper, I get to play Santa for Mother's day and stop by Crash and Swirl's houses to surprise them each with a card.

It truly was the best day ever. I was really impressed with how my family pulled together to make sure I enjoyed my day to the fullest.

I've fallen(off the mommy bandwagon) and I can't get up!!

Last week my Elementary school kids were going on a field trip..all three of them so instead of my usual stop at the store to get them lunch, I decided to make their lunch for them. They requested musubi (if you wanna know what that is you can check it out on this blog). That was easy, I can do that...so I got up the next morning at six to start the cooking. While I was in there making their lunch, my daughter Steph poked her head in the kitchen and eyes wide opened she said, "you're making breakfast?" She made it sound like that was something unheard of, me making breakfast. In fact she even pointed out that is something I never do so for me to be making breakfast so early in the morning is shocking to her.

That totally stunned me there for a minute. Have I never really made breakfast for the kids that my daughter seeing me in the kitchen cooking so early in the morning is surprising for her? I had to do quick rewind into the last seventeen years and tried to remember when was the last time I stood in my kitchen to make breakfast for them. And you know something, she was absolutely right. I hardly make breakfast.

I am not a morning person, have always been that way so breakfast was never that important to me. I would rather sleep than getting up to eat breakfast. It was so much more important to me to catch the last few minutes of the early morning sleep than to bother with the morning rituals of breakfast. And so I guess I just carried it over onto my marriage and parenthood. Yes! I know!! Breakfast is the most important meal of the day but who cares? I certainly don't or didn't.

Why are you looking at me that way? I do feed my kids breakfast. I made sure we have cereal for them to eat. On the week days, I had them eat at school. Hey the food is a lot more nutritional and way cheaper. On the weekends, I feed them cold cereal...ok so on special occasion I made breakfast but it's more like brunch. And on those days where there are no school, Steph is usually the one who takes over the kitchen, the cooking part at least.

See how far I've fallen off that mommy bandwagon? I have been neglecting my kids. Just last week, my eight grader had a field trip and again, since I usually go to the store to get my kids sack lunch, so I decided I was going to do the same thing, buy his lunch at the store but when we got to the there to get my son his lunch, poke which is raw tuna fish seasoned really good with rice, I came to find out that the place does not take personal checks. And that was all I had with me, a checkbook and a dollar bill so what did I do? I gave my son the dollar bill that probably could only buy candy bar and sent him on his way.

On that same day, the elementary school had a super citizen assembly and my son who is in sixth grade was chosen as super citizen for the month. They were also going on a field trip that day so sixth graders were to be first to get their recognition so they can make it to their field trip. My husband called me to let me know that but I thought I, in my prideful and all knowing attitude thought he was just trying to get me to go early so I just brushed aside what he said as a joke and went about doing some other stuff before I went to the assembly. Well, when I finally showed up at the school, the sixth graders were all lined up to go on their field trip and my son had already gotten his recognition and I missed the whole thing. See, what I mean? And those weren't the only times I've done that, there were countless others but I am too ashamed to name them all....I sincerely hope they don't end up going to therapy for the rest of their lives. So there, my confession for the weeks for my NPSA.



There ya go, my ramblings for the day. Now, if you haven't participated in my Pay it forward, please scroll down and check it out or read the top of this page on how to participate. I still need people to play. Aight, later all and God bless!!

Aloha!!

Aloha folks!! I know it has been a week since my last post. It's Spring break and kids are home for two weeks. That means with all seven kids at home, every form of entertainment equipment we have in the house has been monopolized by one kid or another. Even my own computer has been taken over by the kids, truly sad for a mom to wait her turn to get on her own computer...eheheh. And I guess I'm just being in a lazy mode.

Anyways, just a little update. Since my last post, there have been some little happenings here and there. I posted last Friday about my youngest son's class presentation. Well, that Friday morning after I've posted my post, my hubby called after dropping the kids off at school asking me if I know that my son Danny was super citizen that day. That was news to me since no one has told me about it. My son has told my hubby that he would be and there was a Super Citizen Assembly that morning. I went through all my emails (I usually get emails from Danny's teachers almost everyday) and even went through his backpack (he's forgotten to take it to school with him that morning) and did NOT find any notes or letter whatsoever that would inform me that my son was super citizen. Since my son insisted that he was, I had to call the school. And sure enough, he was chosen from his class for the month of February to be a Super Citizen. This was around eight in the morning and the assembly would be starting in half an hour. I was so mad at his teachers but anyways, I had to quickly got ready and ran out the door. I had to stop and bought him candy leis and spent way more money on the leis than I would normally spend if I had made leis myself. I made it to the assembly on time and able to see my son go up on stage and received him award.
Saturday morning, our whole family made it day out dropping my hubby off at the airport to leave for the mainland on a business trip and a little visit with his mom. We spent the better half of the morning hanging out at the airport. Sunday was pretty quiet around here. For some reason, the kids were a little more cooperative than I expected, didn't give me as much of a trouble as they usually do every Sunday. Guess they must have felt sorry for me or something...LOL.

Monday was spent mostly playing. I think I actually slept in that day. The kids were just content to just lay around the house, playing X-Box, watching TV and playing on the computer. I even heard my oldest daughter laughing and hooting when she was challenging her brothers to a game on the X-Box. It was nice having all the kids home especially having her home with the rest of the kids and playing with them. She was always the one who was constantly gone doing one thing or another either for school or sport.

Tuesday, we spent it doing most of the never ending piles of laundry we have spread out all over the house. And believe me, we still have long ways to go. I've never been so sick of a house chore as I do with laundry. There was always dirty laundry to clean and clean ones to fold. Seems like as soon as I thought I'm caught up, I find I have at least three loads waiting to be done. Sheesh!!!

Wednesday, we decided to make it a day at the beach. We went to Waimea. The weather kept changing, really sunny one minute and the next minute it was raining and windy. The little kids had fun playing in the sand and watching the big waves rolled up on the beach. I think we've gotten some of our stuff soaked from the rolling waves a couple of times. The older kids spent most of the time jumping off the rock into the water. They were having so much fun it was kinda hard prying them away from the beach. We had to make our beach day short because Jen and Joey had choir that afternoon. But Waimea hasn't seen the last of us yet...eheheh.


Here's our little princess enjoying the sand. She gets real kick out of rolling around in the sand to get sand all over her and then jumping onto the blanket I laid on the beach (and making sure I keep all the sand off) and spreading sand all over me and the blanket. The little rascal.






There's Danny checking in on Mom, LOL and Joey trying to keep warm. Everytime it started drizzling, he would run out the water to come wrap himself up in a towel to keep himself warm, the silly goose.

I didn't get a chance to take pictures of the older kids jumping off the rock. Because it kept raining and stopping and the wind blowing like crazy, I was afraid to leave my spot, the wind kept uprooting our beach umbrella so I had to sit there and kept from blowing away. As you can see, they looked like they had a really great time. We are definitely going back before the Spring break is over.

Yesterday, I took Stephanie to get her nails done. She's going to their prom tonight so she wanted her nail done. My friend Brandi will be doing her hair this afternoon. She's so excited about prom.

Last night, our Cub Scout had their Pinewood Derby. This is the first year for my son Joey and he was sooo excited about the Derby that was all he could talk about for the last two weeks. They had the race last night and he came in Second Place. He was so happy to have finally been able to go a Derby Race and have his own car race instead of watching his older brother's car race instead.

(Here's Joey at the race in his Scout uniform. Doesn't he look handsome?)

(Here are some of the cars at the race. The gray car right next to the yellow car is Joey's car. The yellow car was the first place winner and Joey's was the Second place. All the boys were so sweet, they were so happy for the first place winner, his parents are inactive so the boy came to the race with his inactive dad to the race and this boy has been in Primary for while but this is the first time he's ever been in the Derby. The kids had a blast.)

I was multi-tasking last night, videotaping the race for my hubby since he couldn't be at the race, helping out with the Beehive in the kitchen with their activity (they were making home-made pizza and cinnamon rolls) and managing the snack table. And taking turns talking to my hubby on the phone to keep me updated on what's happening. The poor guy wanted to be there but since he was still on his trip, we tried to make it look like he was there in person by having him on the speaker phone so he would hear what was happening. It was interesting. I think because of that multi-tasking, I didn't take as many pictures as I would have liked and didn't really do a good job on the picture taking either. That is something I DO NOT, absolutely do not care to do again in the near future.

So there you have it folks. A little update on this week. I will be posting on Stephanie's new hair do later on tonight or tomorrow along with her all dolled up for prom. Now I need to get off and go see about what to make for lunch. Both girls are gone right now, Jen's babysitting for somebody today and Steph's gone with her friend to have her friend get her nail done today.

So have a great Friday folks and hopefully your weekend will be an easy one. Ta-da for now!!

A Little FYI!!!

I have been thinking about doing this post for a while and today after getting an email from my best friend and mentioning something that's been on my mind for a while, I've decided today is as good a day as any to post this. Now this post is not by any means to discourage or to be made to sound like a whine or complaint because in all honesty, I do love where I'm living right now.

Whenever a person who doesn't live here find out I live in Hawaii, one of the top things they usually say is..."oh wow, you're so lucky you live in Paradise". I am listed on the Mormon Mommy Bloggers list "Sweeter Life". What is that mean? Does it mean because I am living in Hawaii or what others dub as Paradise, I am living the sweeter life? What is a sweeter life? Does it mean that if a person live in the land of mostly summertime, that person does not have any other worries or problems that those who live elsewhere has?

Do you know that there is a price for living in Paradise? Do you know that there is a huge cost to having sun all year round...well majority of the time anyways?

A few years ago, I worked as driver for the airport shuttle for BYUH. I took the job because it was fun and easy job...the hours of the job was very flexible esp. for a mom with kids who are still at home. I love the hours, they have different shift so I could pick the time that worked best for me and of course, I loved little break time for me. I also love meeting the new students that were coming or leaving BYUH.

Because it's at least an hour drive, sometimes I would strike up conversations with the students just see what their plans are either when they return home or what they're plans were for college. I often notice that there is kind of a pattern with their responses. The students who were leaving, when I asked them how they liked BYUH, oh they would carry on and on about how wonderful the beach is, the sun and how laid back life is here. But all that fun must come to an end and it's time to go back to reality. {How rude!! See me here in the van...I live here, does it look like I'm living some dream life or a fantasy life?} But of course, I usually kept my mouth shut and just let them go on and on with their plans. The kids who were coming {usually these mainland kids would come for just a semester, and usually during spring and summer term}, you can tell their excitement. The uppmost on their things they wanted to do....that was after asking me where would be the place to go surfing or hiking. Excuse me but I thought they were coming to BYUH to go to school. But of course, I was gracious enough to suggest a few great surfing places and a few hiking places that I know....usually something close to the school. It was good to see them excited about this place and sometimes I couldn't help but be excited for them.

But like all good things, there's also a bad side too. Like I said, there is a prize for Paradise. There is a huge cost of the sun. Because Hawaii is a such a beautiful and sought after place, tourism is a huge industry here. From tourism, comes the extremely high cost of living. Costs of homes and everything else here cost either twice or trice the cost of mainland living...ok so most of the mainland states. A friend of mine just recently moved here from Tennessee and we were talking on the phone and while were catching up on each other's life, she gasp and exlaimed,

"What is up with the price of milk here? I have to ask...does the cows here eat a certain diet that's different from the mainland cows makes the milk here to cost more?"

I couldn't help but laugh at that. I knew what she was talking about because just a couple of days before our conversation, I was the grocery store and when I came upon the milk, there were some guys standing there, pointing at the price of the milk, shaking their heads in disbelief. Yeah, the price of the milk was eight bucks a gallon. I was laughing on the inside when I saw them, I'm sure it must've been quite a shock for them. The lowest cost of milk is about five bucks unless they go on sale then it's around three bucks or so. So when my friend was going on and on about the milk, I was laughing, not that I was trying to be rude or anything. And that's not the only thing that the price can choke a person. Everything, food, clothing, housing....the cost is higher than mainland cost.

And the sun....oh you mainlanders are always saying, that us island dwellers have no cause to be depressed about anything since we live in the land of sunshine and all year summer. But does anyone know that because of how expensive things are here, the surest way to get a free activity is going to the beach? And hanging out at the beach in the blazing sun brings on sunburn and even lead to skin cancer? {And I'm not saying that we're the only ones who worry about cancer because cancer does not discriminate.} Yes, it's a great place in that the weather is great but it's got it's drawback in that from the sun, and most activities revolve around the sun and beach, sunburn is unavoidable. Oh yeah, we do use sunscreen but eventually the thing wears out and if one doesn't reapply, you can bet there will be sunburn.

The last couple weeks it's been freezing over here. Yeah yeah yeah....you're laughing at me saying, I don't know what freezing is until I've lived in a Utah or Idaho winter. Yes, I know what Utah winter is like that is why I am really glad I am not living in a Utah winter but at least you can go in your house and turn on your heater. There are no heaters whatsoever in Hawaii. You can file on all the blankets you can find in your house to keep warm but then a person will never be able to get up and do any housechores without dragging those blankets around. To keep warm sometimes, we turn on our oven. And if you're like me, your oven would probably smell crappy because more often than not, I forget that I've spilled something in the oven two days or a day before when I was trying to roast chicken or bake our last minute unplanned dinner....LOL. So who would want to smell a stinky oven all day long just to keep warm?

So, if I am saying that I am freezing my buns off...I really am freezing my buns off...LOL. I am not writing this post to get some sympathy or to make it sound like a whining or complaint post, I'm merely trying to point out that even living in Paradise as most people see it has it's disavantages. Sometimes we don't have a choice in where we live. Don't get me wrong, I love living here but I would much prefer living someplace where I don't have to worry so much about how expensive even the basic needs are.

One more disadvantage of living here is that, I can't just get in the car and drive to my family's house or my in-law's house. If I actually want to see any of my family, the only way for me to do that is through air and of course that can be costly too. At least living on the mainland, you can just throw your stuff in the back of your car and cross the state line to go see grandma and granpa or mom and dad.

So if by chance any of us island dwellers or Paradise dwelling mommies ramble a little bit about how we might be bordering a little bit on the D word, as Crash would call it, be a little more understanding. Our fears, hopes and dreams are as real as those of you mainland dwellers.

With that said, I want to let you all know that I do love you all!!

This is my ramblings for the day, need to get 'em off my chest. If I ended up losing followers or offending readers...it is not my intention at all to be offensive. As I said earlier, this post is only meant to inform.

My Foot in My Mouth

I got a phone call this afternoon. It's not a call I dread, per say, but it's also not one I really am excited about either.

Yesterday I posted about my cleaning spree...Today I was just continuing on from where I left off. I spent most of my morning scrubbing, and I mean I got down on my hands and knees scrubbing, my kitchen floor. I've never seen my floor so sparkling white.

Anyways, in between scrubbing floors, doing dishes, wiping down cabinet doors and straighten up toys, I got a phone call. It was my Ward's Young Women President.

"I need to ask a favor of you," she said. Me, cheerfully, "Go ahead".

I thought it was going to be something like she needs me to sign some permission slips or lending her my daughter for the evening to help with something to do with Young Women. Nope, that is not even it.

Her: You don't have a calling yet, right? {I got released from both of my church callings last month.}

Me: Nope, not yet.

Her: I was wondering if you could teach the Laurels class this Sunday. {My 17 year old daughter is in Laurels.}

Me: Hummp...I guess I could. Do you have a manual I could use? And what is the topic?

Her: The topic is on Homemaking and you can find the lesson on the LDS web page under "Young Women".

Me: Hmmm, Homemaking uh? That is a hard one, not a very strong suit for me.

Her: Oh I figure you can do it since you have that many kids and you like to make all these cute artsy stuff and you being a stay at home mom and all...the girls will love to see some of your creative talents.

Me, totally doubting myself: Ok, I'll do my best.

Her: By the way, this week is our Ward Conference so there will probably be somebody from the Stake Young Women Presidency who will be visiting the class.

{Now she tells me...sheesh.}

I hung up the phone and blurted out to my 15 year old daughter..."Oh crap!! That was Sister SoSo and she wants me to teach the Laurels class this Sunday."

Her response: Well mom, you've always wanted to be in Young Women. Here's your wish come true. {What a smart aleck...I so wanted to smack that smart mouth of hers.}

She's right though. I have expressed that I would love to be in Young Women while she and her sister are still in there. I would love to be able to do things with them to keep up with what they're doing in there, and what better way to do it then to be right there with them.

I'm a little, no take that back, I am beyond nervous about teaching these 16 & 17 year-olds. Especially on the topic. HOMEMAKING...me? teaching about homemaking.

Honestly, my skills in homemaking are completely lacking. The way I manage my home is nothing to shout over the rooftop about. My idea of homemaking is to nag my kids to do their chores til they are practically in tears and then let my house go til we are practically buried in clutter and mess before I go on some cleaning freak mode to put my house back to something close to decent shape. I am the least organized person in the world, although I love the idea of organization and the way I manage my home... my goodness, I would be lucky if my kids don't end up seeking therapy for the rest of their lives.

But I guess since I've already said yes...I'll just have to suck it in and do my best to teach the lesson as best I know how. Hopefully whatever suggestions or examples I use, my daughter won't call me out on it.

Moral of this post? Never never ever wish for something unless you are absolutely sure you can handle it should the occasion calls for it. I have literally put my foot in my mouth this time. My daughter is right; although I will never in this lifetime admit that to her.... I wanted to be involved in Young Women. Now I have totally gotten my wish. A well deserved lesson for me...LOL.

It's Aloha Friday!!!

Yep, it's Alooooha Friday people. People usually get real pumped up about Fridays here in Hawaii. There's even a song made just for this day. For kids, it's a great day because it's the last day of school of the week then it's "Surf's up, dude" with the shaka sign til Monday. Adults are excited about Friday cuz some of them actually get off work early and then partaaay til Monday.

Well, it's not really like that they literally party, it's just there are a whole two days of not stepping into the workplace unless it's absolutely a must.

For me, Friday is just like any other day. I guess being a stay home mom and setting my own phase and schedule, any day of the week is just the same as the other.

But for some reason, today I'm a little excited about something. I can feel this excitement from the tip of my hair down to the tip of my toes. And the kids have no school today so you can I've got a full house.

Noooo, I'm not excited because my kids are home today...LOL. I mean I can be excited about them being home so I can slave drive them, LOL, but that is not it at all. I've got a couple of things going on today that I'm really excited about. Oh, I can't wait!!

NO....I am not telling ya. I'll just have to show you but you'll have to wait til Monday..ok?

Ok so, I've decided that Fridays is going to be my day to highlight a cute blog I come across or one that's doing a give away. So I saw one today....and get this...this person who's doing her give away lives here in Hawaii...isn't that neat? She's got a wonderful thing going at her site and a must-check-out give away if you want to win something tropically(is that even a word?).

She's calling her giveaway an ALOHA giveaway so if you want to win something, go here. While you're there, check out her blog, it's a really cute one. And, she has over a hundred followers...WOW..talk about a leader...eheheh. She's got two cute little girls, just adorable.

And then if you're still in the mood to keep surfing, drop in on Ter and say hello to her. Get to know her, she's a really neat lady. She's on top of my list of people I admire that I met here on the blogasphere.

Alright...enough rambling for the day. A big aloha to you all and have a great weekend!!

Random Thoughts

These last few days I've done nothing but surf the net blogging and reading other people's posts. It's fun but at the same time very time consuming and distracting. I find it very hard to tear myself away from the computer. I hung out mostly at Crash's site, reading her posts and comments on her comment box and of course commenting here and there.

Last week she announced her million dollar idea about jog/blogging across America like Tom Hanks did in the movie Forrest Gump. Well, that idea was so intriguing that all of her friends jumped on board with requests of songs to play on the trip {virtual trip, if you missed my earlier meaning} and other things they would love to do. Crash then posted about first kiss stories that the blog stalkers/lurkers of her site and even from other sites started coming out of the woodwork to tell of their first kiss moments. The comment box was so loaded of first kiss stories, some short, and some not so short, that she had to make a follow-up post about the first kiss stories with some highlighted bloggers with pictures of themselves and their first kiss. Turns out that some of her closest blog friends/followers didn't get a chance to comment about their first kiss stories because they were too long for the comment box and of course the comment box was always full of comments so these friends are posting about their first kiss stories.

I've had a chance to read those posts and I gotta say they are really good stories. These ladies really know how to tell a story. Did I tell my first kiss story, you ask? I did, but got chickened out and deleted it but not before Crash read it on her email but lucky for me, she didn't post it..lol.

So, is this going to be a post about my first kiss? Are you kidding me?

A couple of my kids read this blog. You want me to make them think that their dad wasn't the only man I ever kissed and that he wasn't actually the first man I kissed?

That's what I thought.

What is this post about? inquiring minds want to know. It is as the title said..random thoughts.

Back to my post if you would kindly let me finish and stop interrupting with your constant questions. So that jog/blog across America that Crash is heading..actually driving a tie-die yellow submarine with a couple of photographers and a few very athletic bloggers jogging alongside the van pointing out funny people and even stupid people that April is allergic to.

I am sorta sitting in the back of the van taking in all of this quietly, would open my mouth up once in a while to say something then closed it again like a fish out of water because it's really crazy in and out of the van with all these crazy, boring {and I say this in a very respectful and reverant way} Mormon mommies and some non-Mormon cool ladies, all speaking-laughing-pointing fingers-at once so of course when someone is sitting in the back of a submarine van, no one else can hear that person saying anything, right?

Oh did I mention that Crash's very apostate {her exact description} brother is cycling along the van also with some of the very healthy looking ladies? I think she even have her very cynical to romance Austrian student who is now addicted to blogging surfing on the roof of the van and another blogger dude somewhere in the van, can't really see him with all these buzz in the van. How cool is that eh?

This is such a fun trip with the van stopping all over the different states picking up bloggers and of course trash on the highway because Crash is all about good cause, mind you, and we ended up yesterday at the inauguration of the new President of the U.S. It was a momentous day in American History because yesterday, the first African American {ok, so he's half white} was sworn in as the new President. See, that's where the trip got a little sticky. There were mixed emotions about this particular moment because not every American voted for this new Pres., so those who were for him, it was a very happy go down in history day for them and those who did not vote for him, it was a very sad, emotional and probably bad day for them.

That got me thinking about this whole politics issue. Not that I'm a political person myself. The one subject I always avoid like a plague is politics...the different emotions that stirred up from this subject is just not worth the headache, as far I'm concerned. But back to my thoughts...
during that whole election time, I've heard different people with their different views on the canditates and their flatforms and of course one can always tell who a person will end up voting for by the way they talk about each canditate. I remembered when it was down to just the two canditates, McCain and Obama...those I've come in contact with would use this phrase "the lesser of the two evil" a lot, when making the decision on who to vote for.

Has U.S. fallen so badly that there are actually no really good man who can represent her that voters would chant to themselves that if they have to choose between two not so very good men, that they will have to choose the lesser of the two evils? What happen to this great nation that was once founded by such great man? Man with integrity, good morals? Do people vote for Obama and getting him win the election just for the sake of making history? And the ones who voted for McCain and wanted so badly for him to win, will he be actually able to save this country from its recent state?

I was driving my kids to school on the morning of the inauguration, listening to the radio when some lady called into the station said some things. I have to agree with her questions, want to point that out before I write what she said.

She was at the doctor's office when she overheard two other ladies saying some really mean things about the new President and the fact that he messed up on the first part of his pledge....I didn't know that part, we only watch the very last part of the speech before I had to leave the house....those ladies must have heard it because that was their irritation at the moment.

Even the guy at the radio station didn't know about it, he kept asking "He what? He messed up on his pledge? I didn't hear that, lemme go back and see it again."

Anyways, the lady who called in the radio station was upset about the whole thing she heard and said....her exact words,

"I don't think they should be talking crap at all about our new President. So they didn't vote for him and they don't like him, he's elected, he's the new President of our country. We should all pull together and give him the support he needs to run this country. We should set aside our differences and difference in opinions about our President and show him that we support him and in so doing will show the rest of the world that we stand behind our President and that our Country is still the best country in the world. The rest of the other countries don't need to see contention among ourselves. He is in office, we should give him the chance to show us what he can do. I have a son and I will show my support for our new President to help make this country an even better place to live for my son."

That was really sweet. I have to agree with her. The majority have voted and America, you have your new President now. It wouldn't do any good for this country if you don't give him all the support he needs to run this country. That saying "United, we stand, divided, we fall," totally applied at this moment. I love this country, America, I am proud to be a part of such a great nation, a great place where my children have the freedom to live a free life, to voice their opinion without fear of being shot and the freedom that women have here. I've studied countries of the world as a little girl growing up on a small island, and learning about women's worth in such countries and I did not like that one bit....I love that America has a constitution that protects people's right TO BE, to worship whenever and however they like {and blog one's brains out whenever one feels like it..LOL}. I love everything that is this great nation.

I will end there because if I go further, I might end up making it sound like a testimony and I refuse to bear my testimony on this blogasphere unless I am attending Crash's RS testimony meeting along the highway in the U.S. of A.

There....my rambling thoughts of the day. Sorry I don't have any give-aways, first kiss stories or even a stand up comedian act to give ya.

These are just thoughts going through my head these last couple of days.

P.S. If you want to win some cool prizes, go here. My friend Laura is giving away some cool prizes in honor of her Mother of the Month feature in the Family Fun magazine.

Unbelievable!!

I just came back from the Doctor's Office with my baby. We spent over three hours just waiting for the doctor to have a look at her. Provided it was a squeezed in appointment but usually the longest we ever had to wait before was an hour.

I guess it must've been because of the day of the week or something. Heck we waited two hours in the reception area and when we finally got called into the doctor's office, we had a whole hour to wait before my daughter was finally seen by the doctor. And then the doctor showed with peanut butter on his fingers and between his teeth..ewww, so gross.

Honestly, doesn't the guy ever heard of mouth rinse? I mean he had us waiting for an hour for him because he was eating his peanut butter sandwich? Why didn't he rinse his mouth out first then?

So what did my baby need to see the doctor for, you ask? I'll tell ya. She stuck a couple of plastic earring backing in BOTH of her ears, not just one but BOTH!! Sheeesh!!! I have no idea how long those things have been in her ears.

She was sticking her finger in her ears last night and saying, "itchy, mommy, itchy."

When I shone a flashlight in her ear, I could see the stuff in there. We happen to have one of those ear thingies they have at the doctor's office so when I checked her ear with that, I could see the stuff in there, lodged so deeply into her ears.

So that's why we ended up at the doctor's office on a Saturday morning of all days.

{Half the day was practically gone.}

Honestly, seven kids and this one is the first one who ever stuck something in her ears. Just when I thought I just might be lucky and not experience such a dramatic thing, it happened.

{I don't know how she manage to get into my stuff. I swear I am totally running out of high places to put my stuff.}

The nurse had to spray some solution in her ears to wash the thing out. It didn't take very long the stuff to come out of the left ear but the right ear, she had to keep flushing that little object out at least five times, I lost count. But I'm glad that both objects are out. There was a lot of ear-splitting scream from my daughter but once the thing was out and the nurse gave her stickers, she was all happy again.

So now we're home and she's playing with the brothers. I doubt she'll want to try putting anything in her ear again.

Which reminds me, today is Saturday, major deep cleaning for my family and half my day is gone already. I can't believe I'm actually sitting here on the computer blogging and the sun is shining brightly outside.

Oh yeah, the so called storm that got everyone running around Thursday getting prepared for, that supposed to hit yesterday, that school was canceled for never happen. I gotta say, that has got to be the best storm ever, the sun was shining, not even a breath of storm in sight. It rained last night but not enough to cause worry. And now the sun is out today, hotter than ever.

{Hmmmmm, I wonder why I am not outside enjoying the sun or at the beach? Good question, I will definitely go gather up my kids and go to the beach, screw the deep cleaning...LOL.}

Yep, I can't believe I am sitting here blogging when the sun is beckoning me to go play with him today. I wonder if there's a cure for this blog addiction of mine. Well, more like blog stalking. I could literally spend hours not just reading other people's posts but all the comments in their comment boxes. How sick is that? I need a doctor.

Wonder if there's a place where blog addicts meet once a week like AA meeting, where bloggers take turn standing up and say,

"Hi, I'm a mormon mommy and I'm addicted to blogging."?