i {heart} faces: week 12 "pouting"

thanks to everyone who helped me decide which picture to enter. it was pretty much unanimous.

 

normally, i would have just gone with the picture that i wanted to enter, but when mitch heard about the week's theme he knew the exact photo that he thought i should enter.

 

of course, they were not the same photo.

 

so, i could have done one of three things:

a. just enter the one i wanted to enter and had mitch say, "just do what you want to do because you always do!" something i hear quite frequently when i ask his opinion,

 

b. enter the one mitch wanted me to enter, even though it wasn't the one i wanted,

 

or

 

c. let you guys decide so that mitch and i could feel happy and all warm and fuzzy towards each other!

 

obviously, i went for option "c"! thanks for your help, i feel so warm and fuzzy!

 

the winner was this cute little pouty wouty:

 

and for those who are curious, the above picture was mitch's choice! *sigh*

 

which one is the best "pouty"?

 

next weeks entry at i {heart} faces is "pouting". which one says, "pouting" more??

 

a.

 

 

b.

 

i can't decide which one to enter. will you decide for me?

i {heart} faces

well, amanda d (thanks amanda!) left me a comment on my princess post telling me about a blog that hosts weekly photo contests. it is called i heart faces. i had never heard of it so i went on over to the blog to check it out. i spent a lot of time on the blog perusing the photos. it was very fun and inspiring!

 

amanda suggested that i enter some of my shots in their contests. so, i guess i’m going to do it!

 

this week (week 11), the theme is NO FLASH. so, i am entering this photo of kale’a (i originally was going to enter this in last weeks GREEN contest, but apparently i missed the deadline by a few minutes!):

 

  

what i saw....

last night i kissed our seven year old goodnight for the last time...

and this morning i hugged our eight year old for the first time!

 

our nani is 8 today!  that is just crazy! i can't believe that she has grown up so much, so fast! it seems like just yesterday that she looked like this:

age 2

 

last night, i went through the pictures that we have of her on our computer and it was a wonderful walk down memory lane! i'd like to share some of what i saw.

 

i saw, that even at the young age of 2 you were a wonderful big sister. you were never jealous or upset that this little sister of yours took some of our attention from you. you were excited and very willing to share your mommie/daddy time with her.

 

at 3, i saw that you were still very much in love with your sister. you were kind and gentle! you loved to wear matching clothes (and still do) with your sister.

 

i saw that you still didn't have very much hair! it was pretty funny to see you next to lia who was only 3 days younger than you! you definitely were hair challenged at three! i just laugh when i look at this picture because of how much hair lia has and how little hair you have!

 

at 4, i saw what a happy girl you are and always wanting to pose for the camera.

 

i saw that you developed a love for the water at a very young age:

 

at 5, i saw that you showed how brave and tough you are when your first loose tooth was knocked out by your sister when you were pushing her on the swing. you wanted to cry but instead you smiled:

 

i saw how much i love your beautiful, dark brown eyes:

 

and your playful smile:

 

at 6, i saw how silly you are with your sisters. i love how much you make them laugh and how you love their sense of humor and laugh with them. you laugh easily, which is a wonderful quality to posses:

 

i saw your laughter:

 

i saw how much color you bring into our life and family with your sweet spirit and thoughtful ways:

 

at 7, i saw that dimple that i love every time you smile. i love it because you got it from your daddy. i was reminded of how your smile can brighten up a room:

 

i saw how you let your light shine. i saw your zeal and excitement for life. you have a way of seeing people through the eyes of the Savior. you have a kind heart and a loving tenderness for others as seen, especially, in the way you watch out for and take care of your sisters:

 

i saw that you are a leader amongst your friends and family, someone that people look up to:

 

i saw how much you love your dad:

 

i saw your sweetness in the patience and love you have for your sisters. you are full of such goodness:

 

nani, you are a blessing from our Heavenly Father and i thank Him everyday for sending you to our family!

 

happy 8th birthday, sweet nani! thank you for your example and for showing me how to be a better person!

 

i love you!

(*thanks malia for the last four photos! they are beautiful!)

 

happy green day from our 4 little leprechauns

 

 

 

 

 

 

they are busy trying to catch a leprechaun:

 

 

 

 

 

 

who are you today?

we have a princess in our home on any given day of the week, but which princess is it? that’s the big question.

 

you see the answer can change from hour to hour, even, from minute to minute!

 

the princesses real name is kawena, but, shhhhh….. you can’t tell her that! if you forget and call her “kawena” she will quickly inform you that, “me not kau-fena! me ariel!” with this look on her face:

 

and then she will let you know, “and i have mine fish!”

 

it all started back in december when my mom gave the girls the tinkerbell movie. after kawena watched it she was no longer “kawena”, she was “pinker-bowl”!

 

i was at my midwife appointment and the nurses would ask her name and she would say, “i’m pinker-bowl and i have mine wings! i can fly high in da sky!” and she truly believed she had wings and that she could fly! while at my appointment, i made the mistake of calling her “kawena” and you can bet that she corrected me, promptly!

 

then, “the princess” branched out. she would be sleeping beauty, then cinderelly, then snow white, then jasmine, then ariel.

 

then, she got princess panties. once this happened her princess status was determined by her panties!

 

when i tuck her in at night, i must sing several princess songs before saying goodnight! and when i leave the room i must call her by her “princess” name or i will get an earful! i have a hard enough keeping the names of our four girls straight! i don’t need to add several princesses to the mix!

 

you’d think that with four daughters, this is something that we had already experienced, but this is something new! however, by the looks of things it could be something we will experience again as observed here with “snow white” “educating” her younger sister on the importance of finding a good blush and coin purse:

 

so, just be warned that if you are around our house and you see this little one, you’d better know just who she is that day!

i love, love, L.O.V.E. this picture!

i blame uncle gavan for this….

my older brother, gavan, was always a big nail biter when we were kids. he would bite until there was no nail left to bite and then he would gnaw at the skin around it. my mom at one point tried getting him to stop by painting that yucky tasting nail “polish” on his fingers, but i don’t think it worked.

 

if that wasn’t bad enough, i think it is a disgusting habit, there were times when we were watching tv and i would hear these loud crunching noises, only to turn around and see him chomping on his toenails!!! YUCK! remembering the sound and seeing the image in my mind makes me gag!

 

so, you can imagine my horror when i turned around in the car and saw this:

 

okay, so i wasn’t horrified. actually, i laughed, finding it quite humerous and said, “nice!” and turned to mitch and said, “look at what YOUR daughter is doing!”

 

i want to know what the thought process is for a child who ends up with her toes in her mouth . i mean, really. is she just sitting there thinking, “hmmm, my toes look like little sausages. i wonder what they taste like?” and then decides to give them a taste?? i just don’t get it!

 

 

bon appétit my sweet child!

surprise!

as i mentioned in a previous post, we went to surprise, az to surprise my in-laws for their 40th anniversary. we decided on tuesday that we should drive out to see them (nani had parentsteacher conferences, therefore, no school thursday and friday). they had no idea we were coming and we just showed up at their motor home on friday morning. when we arrived, the door was open so we sent the three girls in without knocking. it was fun to see their reaction. grandma looked up and saw all three of their little heads coming up the stairs and said, “what are you doing here?” it was a wonderful reunion!

  

 

grandpa had stepped out before we arrived, so we gave mahealani to grandma to hold and the rest of us hid in the back. when grandpa walked in he saw grandma with the baby and asked, “where have you been?” he had no idea whose baby she was holding until the girls walked out. they were both so thrilled!! just look at the smiles on their faces!

  

 

they were so excited to have us there. grandma was able to show off her granddaughters, and her 1 month old granddaughter, whom she had just met, to all of her friends. she was telling everyone she could about the surprise visit and her new grandbaby!

 

i don’t think they could have had a better anniversary surprise!

 

the weather was so perfect and the girls had a blast zipping around in grandma’s golf cart and swimming at the pool with daddy and grandpa. and i had a fun time sitting on the pool deck taking pictures!

   

 

  

 

 

one of the things i was looking forward to was eating at in ‘n out. yummm! it had been over a year and i wasn’t going to miss the opportunity for an animal style cheeseburger and fries, and a chocolate shake! i think grandma and grandpa thought we were crazy for driving over 30 minutes just to get a cheeseburger!  ohhhh, but it was so worth it to us!

 

it would have been the perfect trip except for this!

 

the girls were amazingly great travelers and mahea slept the whole time we were driving! and even more amazing, our second night mahea slept 7 hours straight! i couldn’t believe it, but then our last night she slept over 9 hours without eating and i actually had to wake her up so we could go! i love when newborns are such great sleepers!

 

our  quick, last minute trip was fabulous and it is good to know that we can still be spontaneous, even with four kids!