Appointment for Santa?

Dear Santa,
Get new helpers!
Love, me

Ok, can anyone tell me that they have heard of this. I think it is so ridiculous! We, my mom and I, decided to surprise the kids by taking them to go see Santa yesterday. It was the first time I had been to this mall since we moved here and I thought it would be great...See Santa, get the rest of the shopping done and be home by 6. NO, what happened was, we got to the mall, found where Santa was and got turned away because we didn't have an appointment to see him?!! WHAT! Does anyone do that? Apparantly this was the first year for this mall to do this and hopefully the last. All those poor little kids who just want to go and see Santa but can't because the stinkin' elves can't fit them into his schedual. What takes so long that you have to make an appointment? My kids weren't really affected by this since they didn't really know that that was the big suprise. So, we left the mall, ran our errands and went to another one which took about an hour to get to because the traffic was horrible, and there saw a great Santa. He looked like the real deal. We didn't get home until almost 11! But, All in all it turned out to be fine and the girls were happy to see him and I was happy because they were happy. (The pictures will be up as soon as I get them onto the computer.)

I love putting up conversations that I have with Krisalyn because they are just so funny to me, so here's another one.
On the way home from seeing Santa I had asked her what she told him she wanted for Christmas. I had no idea she wanted these things. Here's part of the conversation.
She said "I told Santa that I wanted an Ariel that didn't swim."
"Really," I said, "Well, what if Santa can't bring you an Ariel?"
Kr: "Why?"
me: "What if he runs out?"
Kr: "He can't run out because he makes his own toys!"
me: "OH!"
She just cracks me up!

What am I going to do with her!

So last night we were sitting down for dinner and this was the conversation I had with Krisalyn.
Kr: Mom, when I get bigger and married can I have babies.
Me:Yea, when you get old like me you can have babies.
Kr:But I don't want to be older, older, older like Grandma and Grandpa!

OH, the disrespect! My dad and I just busted out laughing!

"Poor Poophers" A Dedication to the dog

In Memory of Pooph

Disclaimer: I have always been an animal love but never really understood why people go to the extreme for their pet...clothes, diamond callers, taking them everywhere you go, leaving them millions of dollars in your will. It just doesn't make sense. But with that said, Pooph was part of the family...the part of pet!


Pooph was my parents dog that they had for about a year and a half. My brother and sister in law found him on the side of the road and took him in, later giving him to my parents. The kids loved him and he loved them. He was their protector. Kyra loved to lay down next to him and pet him. On Monday, he did not want to eat or drink anything. We all thought he just didn't feel good. Tuesday morning came and Krisalyn came in looking for him. Later my dad informed me that he had died sometime early that morning. This is my kids first encounter with death but certainly not their last. When we told Krisalyn, her response was "Poor Poophers, he's dead" and ran falling onto her bed crying. I later asked her if she knew what being dead means. She just shook her head and being the articulate mother that I am I told her, "It means he's not coming back." Yea, probably not the best thing to say! "Then whose going to bark at the door when people knock?" "Well," I said, "I guess you would have too." "No, mommy, I'm not a dog!" was all she said. All throughout the day, Kyra would go looking for him carrying food to feed him. Krisalyn would just keep repeating "Poor Poophers, he's not coming back." When my mom got home from work Krisalyn told her the bad news (She fortunately knew already). Here's the conversation she had with grandma
gm: quoting the movie she told Krisalyn, "Yea, He went to live with Heavenly Father and Jesus in Heaven because after all, all dogs go to heaven."
K: "Well, when is he coming back to see us?"
gm: "He's not coming back to see us, he is going to wait for us to go see him"
K: "OK"
She seemed so content with that answer. Oh, the innocence of youth. I wish I still had that innocence!

We Gotta Walker!

William has been walking for a couple weeks now and I just thought I would tell everyone the wonderful news! I say wonderful because now I don't have to carry him around while I'm chasing after the girls! He is such a cute little walker. (I say that now). When he has something he knows he shouldn't have he starts running...or rather walking faster than his little wobble...giggling along the way! He is getting to be a very big little man, and very handsome (No, I'm not bias) So there you have it, news on my little walker.

Better late than never!

I finally got my camera emptied onto the computer and can now put up pictures from Halloween and the festivities. October was a bitter sweet month for me. We were just settling, in a sense, in Texas, made some great friends and caught up with the old, then we moved. So to all our wonderful friends in Texas, we miss you! Here are some pictures taken the last two weeks of October.

The kids at a great Pumpkin Patch in Flower Mound. I had always wanted to take the kids to one. They had a lot of fun.

I think the wagon was for the huge pumpkins but this was a great way to push the kids around.

ALOHA! They love doing the Shaka!

William didn't really know what to think about all the pumpkins but he had as much fun as the girls!

The girls are at the age where they know what Halloween is and were really excited when they finally got to go Trick or Treating. It was so cute! Krisalyn was a princess and Kyra was Snow White one night and Cinderella the next night. Gotta love garage sale costumes!

Trick or Treat at the Trunk or Treat!

Ioelu's never got into Halloween until this year. He had more fun then he'd like to admit!

I helped get him dressed. I guess he won't be letting me help him anymore! I love being a nerd for Halloween because I can act like myself and people think it's part of the costume! I was told by a friend that I shouldn't be a nerd...don't really know why, maybe because it's not very original so instead of dressing myself up as one, I got Ioelu too! Gotta keep up with tradition! He makes a great nerd.

Here's our family photo! We went trick or treating with some great friends, the Churchwells, and have a picture of their beautiful daughters with us. Thanks for sharing your night with us! We had a great time!

Busy, Busy, Busy!

Well, tons have happened and more is yet to come but just wanted to update now that we have a computer we can use! Let's see...we moved...again! We had only lived in Texas for about 8 months and now moved to Georgia. Let me just say...as much as we miss Texas and the friends that we have there, Georgia is beautiful! We unfortunately lost a bunch of the kids clothes coming up here somehow! Not sure what happened to them but they are gone...their warm clothes, which totally sucks! Other than that we are just trying to get settled in. The kids are coping with the change well, and seem to be happy, although they really miss their friends. Little Will is not so little anymore. He is starting to walk slowly around the house. I think it's so cute when little ones start to walk...it's like they are sneaking up on you! Well, like I said earlier...more is yet to come, I have to find my camera to post the cute pictures from Halloween and what not.

BUBBLES!!!

So has anyone seen those stackable bubbles? My sister got some for Krisalyn's birthday and they are so cool! The kids love them! What makes them great is that tons of bubbles come out when you blow and they don't pop the instant that they hit something. When they do pop they are easy to wipe off, unless they get in your hair, as you can see with Kyra...then there is always the bath! If you don't mind a little mess, seriously it's not much, then these bubbles are great!! Here are some pictures of the kids having fun with them.

Four Years and Counting...

Krisalyn turned 4 on Monday. I can't believe how fast these years have gone by. It seems like yesterday that we brought her home from the hospital and now she FOUR! Man, what am I going to say when she's 10 or 16 and dating...or 20! Holy cow, I need to try not to think about it.
So, we celebrated her birthday the Friday before her birthday and had a little party at the park...nothing big, just some pizza, cake and ice cream. And let me tell ya, I loved it...not a whole lot of planning needed to be done. All the kids wanted to do was go to the playground. Oh, the simple pleasures in life! I am so glad that we have friends here to share the celebration of her life! My mom was here in Dallas for a business trip, so on Monday she stopped by and we had a little family party...lucky Krisalyn. Ioelu asked if it was a good idea because she would probably think that every day was her birthday. So, what did I do? I decorated the house and had us celebrate for family home evening because my little sister and my mom were here visiting from out of town. What can you do!hahaha
Here are a few pictures of her day and some of the fun things she received.

WHAT TO DO!

Ok, what is the world coming to when you can't live without a computer!? Ok, so maybe I can but it's nice to have one...right!?! Our computer is in the process of being fixed by my wonderful brother, who, thank goodness, wasn't hit too bad by Hurricane Ike. He just got it last week but it's been in the shop a couple weeks before that...long story. What can you do right!? Well, right now I can take full advantage of my cute little sister visiting us for the next couple weeks, and her computer!...hahaha.
So much going on these days. Krisalyn is turning 4! HOLY COW! It's been 4 years already! Kyra is getting so big and talking so much! She also has such a temper! Must be the Samoan gene! hahaha, just kidding...don't hate! And, Little William is ready to take his first step any day! He looks like he wants to but not quite there! He's also getting his cute little teeth and biting!
Somedays, like today, I can't believe that we have three! Hopefully, I will do a good job raising them!

WAY TOO FAST!!

The kids are growing way, way, way too fast! As exciting as it is, it's also sad! My little ones are getting bigger and soon they will be teenagers and not want to be seen with me! Ok, not so soon but you know what I mean! Krisalyn gave the baby a new nickname. His name is now Chewy! Why? Well, it's because he likes to chew on everything...like all babies. One night Krisalyn started calling him that and it just stuck I guess. He especially likes to go to the feet, which is funny...and gross! He's also been crawling for about a month now and is getting his first two teeth. The first one broke through and I just noticed it yesterday! Boy, how time flies! The girls are getting so big as well! Krisalyn wants to be the mommy, wanting to help with the baby (most of the time) and Kyra, well, she is in the terrible twos and doesn't like to do anything we tell her. She's into hitting, pulling hair, and spitting but thank goodness, got over the biting! She definitely independent! When Krisalyn went through her "terrible twos" I thought to my self, 'Hey, this isn't too bad, she is actually pretty tame compared to others I have seen." And then....Kyra got to be two! Wow, total different experience. Not that I would trade it for anything but feel like I got both extremes! Ioelu always tells me that her stubbornness must come from me...maybe, but I think some of it came from his Samoan genes!!! I love those genes anyway! So I have some recent pictures that I finally uploaded from the camera.

Here's "Chewy" at a picnic for the 4th of July. Ioelu found some Samoan friends and we had an imu. Yea, he was really excited since he was, and still is, getting tired of my American food! I like this picture cause it looks as if he's asking me why I'm bothering him and his pork! No, we don't feed him like this on a regular basis. Jelu just wanted to give him some taste of 'real' food! All I have to say is that it is good there is an L&L here. And really good that it is better than the one in Laie!


Doesn't he have the cutest smile?! Yes, I'm biased but what mom wouldn't be right!? hahaha








I'm so glad the girls love each other most of the time! I'm glad I have sisters I am close to and I hope these two can be as close as I am with my sisters!

TAG team back again...

I couldn't resist the title since my friend Tia tagged me. It's been a while but I am finally getting around to posting...not ignoring!! Anyway, in this tag I need to tell 6 facts about me and let me tell you, there are some beans I don't want to spill since my parents will probably read this. Hahaha, just kidding, I don't think I did anything in my life that my parents don't know about, and if I did, I can't think of it! Well, I think the way this works is that I say 6 interesting things about me and tag 6 other people...so your names will be at the end of the post and since there are only 9 people that I know that look at this blog from time to time it's not hard to choose so beware I might just tag everyone! hahahaha
Ok, well, let start...hummm....

1. I love, love, love Chocolate. Although it's nothing uncommon, it's true. And my figure is paying, ugh! When the temptation is there...it's hard to control myself...good thing the temptation is not frequent. The two most tempting choc-o-late things are yummy Chocolate Chip Cookies and Chili's Chocolate Molten Cake (if you haven't had it...I totally recommend it!). Who can blame me right!



2. Random....I can wave with my second toe...without the others moving. Weird and random, I know, but it's actually pretty funny. My sisters always made fun of me when I did it...and it was usually after they requested it!





3. Not too interesting but I'm one of seven kids...smack dab in the middle...three older and three younger. And I married someone who is smack dab in the middle as well...six older and six younger. Crazy, I know, and when we first got married he talked about having that many kiddos!



4. I love to clean (except the dishes!). Honestly I do...it seems to be a stress reliever for me. When I was younger I would clean in the middle of the night because I didn't want anyone coming in and messing it up right after I had just cleaned it. What ever I was cleaning had to be perfectly clean and if someone would put anything in the sink or walk on the floor, I wouldn't be happy. A little extreme, I know, but I wanted it to stay clean. It's a little tough now with three kids and I'm so tired by the end of the day that I can't do it in the middle of the night. So kuddos to all of you who can keep the house beautiful with your little ones running around. It drives me insane sometimes when I can't get the house perfectly clean and my sweet hubby keeps telling me that it's ok cause I have kids...then I go to someone else's house who have kids...yea, you get the point. As much as I love my girls...they have definitely learned how to get things for themselves but not how to put them away.

5. I use to be one of those girls who was in love with the New Kids on the Block! Wow! I can't believe that they got back together and are on tour. It seems so weird. Needless to say, I don't think I will be one of those screaming girls in the front row! It's just so funny to me now! Yea, being a young girl, I thought they were so hot! Now I wonder what was wrong with me!




6. My new favorite drink is blackberry sprite. YUMMY! I have gotten tired of the regular sprite but Sonic has a blackberry syrup...or something...that they put into it and it is so refreshing. If I drink soda, it's the only kind I drink...so hopefully Sonic doesn't get rid of it any time soon!


Ok, now I'm going to tag...um...lets see...I know I'm supposed to give six names but I'm going to change my answer to anyone who wants to do this tag, since not many people come on here that I know of.

In my next life...

Ok, so I got this email from my friend Amanda and thought it was really funny! And, I just wanted to share.

Gonna Be a Bear

In this life I'm a woman. In my next life, I'd like to come back as a bear. When you're a bear, you get to hibernate. You do nothing but sleep for six months. I could deal with that.

Before you hibernate, you're supposed to eat yourself stupid. I could deal with that too.

When you're a girl bear, you birth your children (who are the size of walnuts) while you're sleeping and wake up to partially grown cute, cuddly cubs. I could definitely deal with that.

If you're mama bear, everyone knows you mean business. You swat anyone who bothers your cubs. If your cubs get out of line, you swat them too. I could deal with that.

If your a bear, your mate EXPECTS you to wake up growling. He EXPECTS that you will have hairy legs and excess weight.
Yup, gonna be a bear!

Glad to call you mine!

Five years ago today I made one man happy!! And in return he has made me so happy! Saying yes was one of the best things I could have done and I am so glad to call him mine! He is such an amazing man. I can't believe it has already been five years! Sometimes it feels like yesterday! But now we have a love that is stronger than ever and it will continue to grow through the years. I am so glad that our love is forever, and I can't imagine what my life would be without him. Here's to you, Jelu! Here's to forever!

So, come back in time with me and share our day!

Let's hear it for the girl!

Three cheers for Kyra!! Yes! I am so ecstatic that we only have to buy diapers for one now!! With the cost of gas on the rise and diapers costing at least $60 a month, who wouldn't be excited to save that $60 for...I don't know...gas! Kyra is now potty trained! Hallelujah! How did I do it? Easy...tile floors and no money for diapers! With that, it only took her about two days to realize what she needed to do! She was definitely ready though since she always took off her diaper and ran around wild and free! (Yea, daddy didn't like that much!) I just wanted to share my total excitement with all of you who may read this!

Missing Samoa

Ok, so it's been almost a year since I went with my hubby and girls to meet his family in Samoa. Lately I have been thinking alot about it and have been missing it. Yea, it is different from what I am used to but I had such a great time while I was there. It was nice to meet Jelu's family and see where he grew up. One day we will be going back...not sure when but we will go. They definitely need to meet the new addition since I was at the end of my first trimester when we went. We were there for two and a half months and had so many pictures to choose from. These are from the first folder I looked in. What great memories. As I was trying to figure out what pictures to put on this little slide, I remembered all the great times.
To all of you back in Samoa...we miss you and love you and hope one day soon we will spend time together again! This little slide show is dedicated to you. It only has a few pictures of the time we spent, mostly of family. So I hope you all enjoy.

Day at the Zoo

Animal fun!

Well, a while ago we, meaning myself and the kids, and my sister went to the Fort Worth Zoo. It was sad that Ioelu wasn't able to go since he had to work but we tried to have fun without him. The zoo is pretty big and with Krisalyn and Kyra running around and my sister healing from a knee surgery, it was taking a while to get from one place to another. So we didn't get to see even half of what was there, but there is always next time. I promised Krisalyn that next time Daddy would be with us and we will see the Lions! What we did see were some elephants, gorillas, monkeys, giraffes, and some birds. Yea, those were all at the front of the Zoo. I had been there before a few years ago but I had no clue on how to get around, even with the map! Craziness!!

Meany

Ok, so lately Krisalyn has been so mean to Kyra. I don't really know why but she will lock her out of the room, she will hit her for no reason, or just make her cry. Kyra can stand her own ground but for some reason Krisalyn just gets to her. So, just now when I was telling Krisalyn to be nice to her sister, this was her reply. "I don't want to be nice...nice is boring!" Well, what can you say to that! hahaha Sometimes it is so funny what comes out of her mouth. The other day she found a bookmark in a book and was telling me to look at it. She said, "Mom, look, this is from China." I thought it was so funny and wanted to share.

Tea Anyone?

Krisalyn, Kyra and I had a tea party the other day. It was nice to have friends with us...the pink elephant, Mickey and Minnie, Lion, and others...we had a great time!

Trip to Houston

So, a couple weeks ago we, my sister, Renee, myself and the kids went to Houston to visit my brother, Tony, and his wife, Cathy. We only went down for a day, so we were only there for a few hours but it was really fun. On the way down, Krisalyn and Kyra were singing and dancing to some great 80's music...

Well, we got to my brothers house and the first thing I see is this huge dog!
At first the girls were scared but once they realized that it was such a great dog they kept wanting to play with it. It was pretty funny because he kept wanting to sit on them!
Anyways, Tony and Cathy took us to Chuck E Cheese. It was the first time for the girls to go and they had so much fun! It was nice for me too because Tony and Cathy ran around after the girls! It was a nice break...I didn't have to run after them but still got to be there to see how much fun they were having! It was great! Here are some pictures of their time at Chuck E Cheese.

The good ol' Carousel.

Chuck E Cheese...where a kid can be a kid...no matter how old!

Let's go for a ride Chuck!!!

She is riding "The Giant", a ride at Six Flags.

Thanks for the great time, Tony and Cathy. I hope we can do it again soon!