What are you waiting for? That was the title of this past Sunday school class. It's shameful to me that I always say how much I want to do missions, and yet can't even find the time to help out with things we do here. Always with the "I have the babies" excuse. This month's Homelife magazine talks about spending your family vacation doing a mission as a family. How cool would that be?! Definitely high on my list for next year. Also, need to make changes to my priorities here and now, no more excuses. Simple, little things, can make all the difference. Poor neglected child from up the street-- Came to our house tonight to say that he was being punished for playing out too late and would now have to spend the night sleeping on the table outside and had no food. My son asked me to please give him dinner. Noa is always asking me to feed people! Shame on me, I usually get annoyed because we can barely afford to feed our own family, but this poor child wanted food. I felt bad for him and told him anytime he doesn't have food he can come here to eat. (Hopefully we'll have something to eat!)  ¶ 10:22 PM 0Mana'o

  16 years to give blood! Yes, it has been SIXTEEN YEARS since I have been trying to give blood and finally, FINALLY, today it happened! The first time, they came to my high school, and I was under the minimum weight. (Don't have to worry about THAT anymore...)Then the next time, I had traveled to Tahiti and gotten a tattoo within the past year--Strike two! They kept turning me away, another time for having been in Thailand, another time I passed the questionnaire stage and the preliminary blood test said I was anemic!! Sheez! I keep trying to do the right thing! It wasn't even as bad as I thought it would be, being as needle-phobic as they get<> Go give blood, everyone! You'll be glad you did.

  ¶ 8:39 AM 0Mana'o

 
My little Bu's   ¶ 10:20 AM 0Mana'o

  Oahu Open Tournament Yesterday was the big day for Noa, we went to Oahu for his Taekwondo torunament and he won a gold medal! It was such a great day. Though we had to sit for 6 hours before it was his time to spar. The first boy he sparred was a good match, he could do spinning back kicks and everything, but Noa landed his kicks when it mattered and got the win. Then his winning match was against a boy who ended up getting hurt in the second round and quit, he wouldn't spar Noa anymore. Noa was ahead in points so he won either way. Noa was so happy the rest of the day. He kept singing and smiling. I love it when Noa is so happy. My mother asked why he looked so sad in his picture, that one was taken at the end of the day as we were at the airport waiting to board the flight. I think he looks reflective.
It was a nice, relaxing break from real life. My friend had the babies.
Today was a really productive day too, I did a billion loads of laundry, our team Powerpoint presentation, and my questionnaire. Now I am going to cook dinner. Ravioli anyone? mmmmmm...  ¶ 12:19 PM 0Mana'o

 
Noa TKD gold medal!!!   ¶ 9:40 AM 0Mana'o

 
cuddle bears   ¶ 8:46 AM 0Mana'o

  Window in I'm loving this! I am so glad this class requires a webcam, I finally installed it and today I got to interact live with my mother in Las Vegas and my father and stepmother in North Carolina! They got to see the babies, not in still pics, but laughing and smiling and grabbing at the camera. I got to see how old the folks are getting...tee hee. They look great though! I got teary-eyed up when I saw my Dad, I miss him so much...it's hard that they are all the way on the East Coast. This webcam is GREAT! Though I think it adds more than ten pounds....ack!!  ¶ 7:13 PM 0Mana'o

 
trampoline fun   ¶ 11:37 AM 0Mana'o

 
Happy Valentines Day to my loves   ¶ 11:03 AM 0Mana'o

  Shlemiel, Shlimazel, Hasenpfeffer Incorporated... Surely you remember Laverne and Shirley's theme song...though I was never really sure what it was they were saying. but guess what? They were REAL words! Thanks to Real Simple magazine, I learned the meaning of quite a few words I thought were just made up. The Shlemiel is a fool; the Shlimazel is an unlucky person, they are yiddish words. Also Yiddish (and real) are the words Shlep (to drag, carry with difficulty), shmooze (to talk casually, network) , and get this- MENSCH, yiddish for a person of honor and integrity. Isn't this hilarious? I had always read that word thinking it was a putdown, "he was a real mensch." doesn't it sound bad?
Another surprise was the latin saying "persona non grata", meaning unnacceptable or unwelcome. I had always thought it meant the person went missing, now wanting to show their face for what they did. Isn't it funny, all these years of reading words I am not sure of, I would just insert my own definition for the context of the sentence and story. It was always under bad circumstances that I would see this phrase so I thought the person was hiding in shame! But really, Billy was persona non grata at the house after punching out Bob--not MISSING, but UNWELCOME.
So cheers to Real Simple, thanks for the lesson and may we always have joie de vivre--a hearty enjoyment of life : )
ohhhhh so cheesyy
  ¶ 10:16 AM 0Mana'o

 
sick?! Who, me?!??!??   ¶ 7:14 PM 0Mana'o

 
drug this imaginative child??   ¶ 5:32 PM 0Mana'o

  It's 2pm and all is not well... anything that CAN go wrong, has been lately, it seems. Sometimes life gets so overwhelming that I stop everything and just want to sleep all the time. Like now I feel I have all this speech stuff to do and my mind just blocks it, tells me to forget it, do it later.
Both babies are sick, super high fevers, nasty coughs, runny noses, you name it. They won't eat and it's stressing me out. I even let them have some french fries today just so they'll get some calories, but they didn't want it anyway.
I was late in a few bills, and we have more bills than money this month, making me choose what is more important? A hospital bill or our property tax?
and after a REALLY rough start this week, Noa has been having really fantastic days so I feel so badly that the doc appointment was yesterday and we got Concerta, a type of Ritalin. The battle in my heart and mind goes on whether I should try it or not. Doc says at least we can always stop it if we want. I was supposed to start it this morning but didn't...help!

  ¶ 1:46 PM 0Mana'o

 
good morning!   ¶ 3:01 PM 1Mana'o

  My Royal Fatness Caroline is here and we are going to go to War Memorial and RUN RUN RUN until we barf.
It's part of the training for Noa's TKD class, they will all be there but some parents run too.
Today will be my first. I hope I can at least go two laps.
Happy Thought for the day: I am finally committed to losing this waist! : )
  ¶ 2:56 PM 0Mana'o

 
first day home from the hospital   ¶ 9:37 PM 0Mana'o

  The Mundane This is my schedule, pretty much every single day
6 am, wake up, help kids get ready for school
babies wake up, change diapers, feed them breakfast
clean up
playtime, snack
laundry/dishes/etc
lunch
naptime
playtime
snack
in between all this, change diapers ten more times, wipe noses, clean up spills, change clothing
pick up big boys from bus stop
take to after school things, like Taekwondo
homework help
dinner
bath
bottle
plop into bed where the babies vie all night for prime real estate on my chest, loser gets my armpit. The real loser (me) spends the night with forty pounds of babies cutting off my circulation and causing impaired breathing.
start another day!
isn't that the most intriguing schedule? yeah, I know
And naptime was cut into by a school teacher calling to say my son got an infraction and was inconsolable and wouldn't attend to any more classes. He ended up going to the Principal's office.
Tonight, he asked me to pray that he would have a better day tomorrow.
Motherhood is heartbreaking
One day I will look back and relish this time....right?

  ¶ 9:20 PM 0Mana'o

 
my 4 sons   ¶ 6:44 PM 0Mana'o

 
listen...I know a way we can break outta here...   ¶ 6:42 PM 0Mana'o

 
spiderboys   ¶ 6:41 PM 0Mana'o

  Schmuper Bowl I slept through most of it, one of the babies is sick and kept waking up crying, needing me to lay down with him. I usually watch the super bowl just for the commercials anyhow.
My folks sent a box with a valentine a day for all of February for our two older sons, each one has a single dollar bill in it. My boys are loving it! The first thing they do in the morning is go to get a card to open.
The baby shower on Saturday went really well, one of the ladies who helped decorate made Nemo out of COCONUTS! (unhusked) She painted it and added the fins, It looked just like Nemo. They had fish net and shells and had wooden fish magnets all over the table. They also had little sand buckets filled with goldfish crackers. Very creative.
I am so lost without my digital camera. The battery died a while ago, the new battery should be coming in around Tuesday. Till then, I can only post old photos here. Bummer, cuz I missed many a Kodak moment lately.
Isaiah is hilarious, he saw us playing Junkenpo and he does it now, with both fists, and of course, he is always rocks, hahahaha!
Happy thought today, I love my family!

  ¶ 6:18 PM 0Mana'o

  sweet freedom A friend is watching the babies and I have had almost all day to myself! Spent two hours writing my chapter review for Speech, then went S-H-O-P-P-I-N-G. And now doing laundry, email, cooking rice and preparing for the baby shower tonight : ) I feel so freeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
  ¶ 3:21 PM 0Mana'o

  Gold! Well, here's my happy thing for the day, Noa took first place in the mini-tournament. I hope he does as well on Oahu
  ¶ 7:05 PM 0Mana'o

  mini tournament Today at Taekwondo, they are going to have a mini tournament, like a mock tournament, to practice staying in the boundaries, and sparring to score, trying not to get scored on, just to get them prepared for the upcoming tournament on Oahu. I am nervous for Noa because he is a blue belt, and he's little, I'm afraid of who he will be matched with on Oahu. Good thing is, when he is hurt or angry, he fights even better so it will work to his advantage no matter what.
Elijah's physical therapist came early today without warning me. So the house was its usual mess and I was so embarrassed, I usually know she's coming and tidy up first. She always makes me feel bad about not keeping up with things, like I haven't been putting on his splint because he doesn't like it. So she put it on him today and said to him "I know you don't like it but we need to do what's good for you."
Noa went and drove down the driveway in the golf cart and was about to head into the street when I yelled for him to stop. I didn't even know it was working. Well, it doesn't TURN and it has a flat tire, so we couldn't get it back to it's parking spot in the corner. So it's sitting right there in the middle of the driveway, stuck. What in the world makes Noa think he can just drive off? That's part of his impulsivity, it drives me nutty.
Ha'aheo walked down to the beach today and met up with some friends, they played on the sand more than anything, I think it's too big and messy today. I certainly wouldn't go out today.
Now, Happy Thought for the Day...
hmmm...I can't think of one, but when I do I'll be back to write it!

  ¶ 12:44 PM 0Mana'o

 
practicing poomse, Ha'a is right, Noa is leaning against the mirror   ¶ 12:43 PM 0Mana'o

  just kidding! I didn't mean to just name the pic below Got Dinner?!
But it was sent by accident.
This is a chicken caught by Noa, he named him Chicken Roy.
They are ALL over our neighborhood.
It makes me smile everytime I pull into our street and a chicken runs for his life across the street. I always think of the joke.
I guess I have a simple mind, but it's still so funny!
Why did he cross the road? The save his sorry little butt from getting smushed!
  ¶ 11:02 PM 0Mana'o

 
Got dinner?   ¶ 10:00 PM 0Mana'o

  Ticket, please As we speak, my 7-year-old is scrubbing the toilet. A feat never before accomplished before "the ticket system." It's been AMAZING! I saw the idea work on a show called Nanny 911 (except they used marbles.) Went to Walmart the next day and bought jars with lids and implemented the program with the kids and it has been miraculous!
How it works is, the boys get tickets as rewards for good behavior. Scrubbing the toilet nets two tickets. Then they can save their tickets or use it for watching TV (2 tickets for 1/2 hour), playing video games, or having a soda. They have a whole list of things to redeem their tickets on, and my oldest has almost a hundred already, he's saving for a snowboarding trip (500 tickets.)
My 7-year-old would NEVER pitch in, and every Saturday, when I would ask him to help fold clothes, etc, he would throw major tantrums and take the whole morning to just do one half of a basket. Now he begs me for more things to do so he can get tickets. Once I had asked him to put the books back on the shelf that the babies had pulled off, he whined and pleaded and rolled around the bed complaining over and over that he just can't do it, and he didn't do it! Well, after the ticket system was in place, and the babies pulled all the books off the bottom shelf yet again, I told him he'd get 2 tickets and he did it in less than five minutes, and even remarked on how easy it was!
I looooovve this!
and my husband says reality tv is rubbish! It really helped us.
  ¶ 9:44 PM 1Mana'o

  Will Will is such a great father! He has more patience than me, for sure. The babies favorite word now is "Daddy!"I have no idea how he does all that he does. He's my hero! And he's so tolerant of my un-organized and messy ways. I think for Valentine's day I am going to get him kiteboarding lessons. He's been wanting to try that. He deserves it.
  ¶ 6:23 PM 0Mana'o

 
Will changing Elijah's itty bitty diaper   ¶ 6:23 PM 0Mana'o

 
biggest four joys   ¶ 8:58 AM 0Mana'o

 
Will's oio catch   ¶ 8:32 AM 0Mana'o

  Happy blog In my commitment to be more appreciative, I am going to list at least one thing I am happy about everyday.
Today's happy thoughts...
My husband is home today. and he's spent most of the morning cleaning house.
I am almost totally ready for the baby shower on Saturday, and not stressing about it
My icebox is full : )
that's about it! In writing that list, I thought of ten times more things i was UNhappy about!
But I will not complain, nope! Except to say the babies are especially bratty lately
tee hee hee. Oops, I slipped up. Had to mention that!
  ¶ 8:18 AM 0Mana'o

  girls wear pink sometimes I wonder why I often feel pink. My whole world is blue, filled with rough and tumble boys. I think I need to wear pink to make me feel feminine. People who know we have four boys say "that's okay, that makes you queen of the house!"
Oh, but little do they know I long for a princess! All my life I imagined myself with a little girl to play dolls with, to dress up in frilly little dresses, to braid her hair, to paint toenails with. Instead I find myself running around silly with a football, basketball, or jumping on the trampoline. No one to enjoy shopping with. They all hate it.
We tell people we are done having children. But sometimes I am filled with such profound sadness because I never had my little girl. And there is no other chance, no other life to live this dream! As the bumper sticker I saw today said --"this is your life." I will be old one day, in my rocking chair, and regret never having a little sweetheart darling baby girl. This is the life I will live, a girl-less one.
So sad. But I need to remind myself that I have been so blessed with my boys, and I think maybe that is why God made the twins' pregnancy so difficult and unpredictable, to get me to truly appreciate them, that they were even born alive at all, so I won't be disappointed in adding yet more boys to our brood. No no no, I am NOT disappointed in the boys, I am disappointed in the lack of girls! I ask my hubby, please give me a girl, he don't know how! : )
ah, such is life.

  ¶ 11:59 PM 0Mana'o

 
the twins celebrated turning one with a big luau and lots of presents!!    ¶ 11:21 PM 0Mana'o

 
that's my Ha'a 303, running like I wanted to from my speech   ¶ 2:08 PM 0Mana'o

 
beautiful Hinano and flower   ¶ 2:07 PM 0Mana'o

  Run, Forrest, Run!!! Oh yeah, my speech was bad! It was really bad!
  ¶ 2:05 PM 0Mana'o

  oh no!! I just wanna die! I have to give my Bad Speech tomorrow! I know it's supposed to be bad, but I still hate going up there in front of people to talk. WHY did I take this class? WHY is is required? Oh! I think I am going to vomit
  ¶ 9:35 PM 0Mana'o

 
Kawika (friend) and Ha'a holding silly Noa in our pool   ¶ 8:54 AM 0Mana'o

 
Beep Beep. Outta my way!!!   ¶ 8:53 AM 0Mana'o

  Medical Missions Gosh, for as long as I can remember, I have imagined myself going to third world countries and helping people there. My goal was to go as a doctor, but now I plan on going as a nurse. And here we are, I am a brand new licensed RN, and this Sunday my pastor had mentioned that our missions board is needing medical teams to go to Sri Lanka to help with the tsunami victims. They have committed to staying there and sending people for a year. Immediately I said to myself I'm there. Here I am, send me. My heart is wholly committed, but my life can't be rearranged to go. How is that? How is it that after years of hard work and study, I am ready to do my calling, but I have such young children at home that I can't leave behind. I'm soooooo disappointed. My mother is Thai, the tsunami was more of an impact because it was "my people." and here I have a chance to help them, or at least their neighboring countries, and I can't. My challenge is to be content with what I can do now...
  ¶ 8:42 AM 0Mana'o