Snow Day

Anjuli's preschool had a snow day! They brought in a truck load of "snow" (Freshly made on the island) and the kids had a great time.
Zeya sat on the side and liked holding the snow.
But he didn't like sitting in it...
Zion was in 7th heaven. He loved climbing up to the top and sliding down.

Anjuli preferred to stay on the ground and make snowmen.



And both of them loved throwing snowballs at me and Zeya!
A fun day, I'm glad they could experience snow a little bit. Hopefully within the next few years we'll be able to make it out to Oregon or Utah and experience the real thing :)

Anjuli's 4th Birthday!

Happy Birthday my sweet Anjuli! Today was such a fun day. Birthdays are so much more fun when you're reliving them through the eyes of a child :)
Anjuli wanted her favorite breakfast: Waffles. We had to rush since we have church early morning. We took cupcakes to her Sunbeam class.
In the afternoon we had a family party for her. Lucky for us, Zui's sister and kids happened to be in town from Maui, so it was a real treat. Anjuli thought they flew in just for her :)
Zion always wants to blow out the candles, no matter whose birthday it is. We had to relight them for him...
Anjuli loved all the attention she got. And especially opening the presents!
I went to several garage sales a few weeks prior and came back with a lot of things for Anjuli, some still new in the box. It was a great way to have lots of presents for her to open without spending a ton of money.
I found this princess dress for only $3! She LOVES it :)
Anjuli got a new outfit, Barbie, princess puzzle, princess makeup kit, coloring books, tea set, and the princess dress. She was one happy camper :)
She loved playing tea with her Uncle Alma--too cute!
Then we played "Pin the tail on the donkey." Everyone had a great time.
Here's Daisy discovering where she pinned the tail :)
Even Zeya got to play (minus the blindfold :)
Kim Ohana Cousins
Happy Birthday, Anjuli!!
At age 4, Anjuli has learned how to write her name, goes to preschool 3 days a week (half days), loves playing with her food toys and dressing up in princess outfits. She is a great help around the house, especially when I need someone to entertain Zeya for me. She is also learning how to be a big girl and stop sucking her fingers. She's made a big improvement, and we have high hopes of her completely stopping in the near future. Anjuli loves to read books with Mommy, and loves to go on dates. She especially loves her two brothers and is really hoping for a baby sister :) We love you Anjuli!!!

Christmas Parade

On December 11th we joined Anjuli's Preschool in riding bikes in the Mililani Christmas parade. It was really *fun*! Kinda stressful, kinda hard keeping the kids on track. They kept riding their bikes into people and things. They'd ride while looking behind them or at all the people along the side, or trying to get a glimpse of Santa behind them. Overall they were troopers, riding a whole mile in the heat of the day!

Afterwards they had free pictures with Santa and kiddie rides at the Mililani shopping center. It was a nice treat for them. Anjuli loves her best friends: Eliza and Hannah Hess.
Zeya on the merry go round.
A few days later I took Anjuli and Zion to ride the train at the mall. It was just me and the 3 kids, kinda crazy but fun. While I was standing in line this lady comes up to me and says, "We've been wondering who to give this Starbucks gift card to, and we decided on you since you are so brave to take your 3 kids to the mall!" I was so stunned I seriously almost started crying at her generosity. Then I told her I was pregnant with my 4th and she just about melted :) It was so nice to be the receiver of someone's thoughtfulness.

Turning 30

On November 21st I turned 30. It was a pretty fun weekend, aside from feeling like my young days are behind me :( Zui was kind enough to let me have the whole weekend as a birthday celebration.
Friday night we got a babysitter and went out to eat at the Cattle Company. They give you your birthday dinner and dessert for free. So nice to be able to eat dinner with two hands!Saturday Zui watched the kids so I could get together for 4 hours with my friend Teressa to do some cardmaking. I rarely have time to make cards nowadays, so it was really fun to do.
Sunday was my actual birthday. Zui made me my favorite breakfast: homemade waffles with sauteed cinnamon apples and fresh whipped cream. What a treat!
Believe it or not there was actually no church on my birthday! Instead was the Laie temple rededication. The Hess' watched our kids so we could attend. Again, a treat.

Sunday dinner, again my favorite: Roast beef, mashed potatoes and gravy.

We were so stuffed from Sunday's dinner that we decided against dessert. Instead on Monday after FHE we stuck a candle in some peanut butter cup icecream and called it good. With Thanksgiving just around the corner I didn't want to have a bunch of leftover dessert in the house. The kids loved it, and it was so easy--no mess! We didn't have a '0' candle, so Anjuli likes to tell me this picture is when I turned '3.'
Thanks to everyone who helped make my birthday so special!

p.s. This is the only picture I have of Thanksgiving Day so I thought I'd tag it on the end. We got together with the Hess' and had a really fun time. I cooked the turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, rolls, and chocolate cream cheese pie, while Micaela cooked the yams, cranberry jello, chocolate haupia pie and pumpkin pie. It was a feast for all of us. Unfortunately we never got a picture of it all happening! So Zui insisted he take a picture of the cooks :) Between the two of us we've got 6 children, so you can imagine how busy it was feeding everyone and changing diapers. Happy Thanksgiving!

Surprise Surprise

Guess who's pregnant yet again! Baby #4 is expected to arrive on May 17th.

Four carseats won't quite cut it in our Toyota Camry...time to start looking for a minivan...any suggestions?

Just Du-et!

On November 6th we had our winter recital entitled "Just Du-et." I love the name, it was Zui's idea :) The recital was ALL duets.

Most students played with a sibling, some played with a parent, and a handful played with me or Zui.
It was really a lot of fun. The students played really well. Recitals are always so rewarding for me as the teacher. It's finally my payoff for a semester of hard work :)

All 35 of my students! Phew! Congrats to the Linda Kim Studio, Linda would be proud of you!

Snowing in Hawaii

My visiting teacher asked if I could use a bunch of these popcorn mailers. I got a great idea and said yes.
We blew up the swimming pool and filled them inside. Then we all played in the snow in Hawaii.
We had this up for a week. The kids would spend hours in the pool. It was great entertainment for them.
Anjuli loves to pretend cook with them :)
After a week the house was covered with little bits of "snow" everywhere. It was a mess, and I was glad to see us throw it all away. But, I've come to learn that for kids, the funnest things in life are always the messiest. So go with the flow and get used to it :)