taking a break

my mom just arrived here in oregon for a long weekend! well, it's more like for 6 days! we are so excited to have her here, especially the girls!

i doubt i will take the time to blog much while she is here, so i am signing off until next week! hopefully, i will have some great pictures and posts of her visit! until then, ttfn!

a little MORE motivation

i am a true believer of the reward system! i think that if you really want to do something, you are more likely to do it if you know there will be a reward. common sense, right?

we have instituted this philosophy many times in our family:

• potty treats: anywhere from stickers to jelly beans, for our kids the sugary treats were always more successful!
• marble jars for good behavior: once it's been filled the girls could pick a fun family outing.
• staying dry every night for one week: nani got a trip to chuck e. cheese when she accomplished this one!
• chore charts: they have their weekly chores and will get paid if they do any extra chores.
• bedtime story: if they are ready for bed before bedtime they get a bedtime story.
• cuddle time: if lala is ready for preschool before bridget picks her up we cuddle on the couch until she arrives! we've been cuddling a lot lately!

as you can see, most of our rewards are for the girls and not so much for mitch and myself. every once in awhile we do give each other a little motivation for working out. in fact, a few years ago i earned enough money, from workout rewards, to buy my triathlon bike, which cost a pretty penny!

well, i am back in the money making business of exercise!! i started the tickers exactly 1 week ago and i haven't been this good for a very long time! 16 miles so far! it's working!

but talking with mitch this weekend about exercising, he offered me a little MORE motivation, in the form of $$! i have very little monetary income as a stay at home mom, especially since my postum business ended for a lack of postum (sad face). so, money talks!

this is how it works: for every week that i exercise 4 days i can reward myself with $10, this was my idea. however, mitch took it one step further. mitch l.o.v.e.s to lift weights. he also l.o.v.e.s when i lift weights! so, he added the extra motivation for weightlifting. if i lift weights at least 2 days each week my reward goes up to $20!

yipee! i have an expensive hobby that i need money to support! i feel success coming on!

200th

wow! i just realized that "phone conversation" was my 200th post! crazy! who would have thought that i had that much to say! even i surprise myself sometimes!

mitch just told me a funny story that i must share...

lala has become very inquisitive as of late. she asks all sorts of questions about all sorts of things. you know, the kind of questions where you have no idea how to answer it in a way that a 4 year old would understand!

well, tonight while mitch was tucking her in bed this is what she said,

"daddy, how did Heavenly Father and Jesus make the earth? because they can't stand in outer space!" oh how i love little, young minds!

family home evening lesson for tomorrow: the creation!

phone conversation

this is what i overheard tonight while nani was talking with her friend on the phone (she loves putting the phone on speaker, which i usually try to discourage her from doing because it's harder for the other person to hear. this time i am glad she didn't listen to me because this cracked me up!):

a: "nani, do you want me to spit in the phone and see if you get wet?"

nani: "what?"

a: "i'm going to spit on the phone and see if it comes out your phone! (spitting noises) do you feel anything?"

nani: "no!"

a (with disappointment in her voice): "awww, it didn't work!"

nani: "all you're doing is getting the phone dirty!"

a (big burping sound): "did you hear that? i burped in the phone!"

more burping noises

a: "i did 3 burps already! (some more sounds) i have four burps now! do you wanna hear a fart?"

nani: "what?!"

a: "i'm going to fart in the phone! (farting noise followed by a giggle) that was fake!"

my favorite was the spitting in the phone part! who would have thought to try something like that? i just wonder if she really did spit on her phone?! i feel sorry for the next person who used it after her!

phone conversations, just one more thing to add to the list of things that i do not look forward to in 10 years when all three of our daughters will be teenagers! do you think nani will still want to have it on speaker? uh, i think not!

i had better enjoy the phone while i still have access to it!

24

my husband and i are big fans of 24, but because we don't have a tv, we must rent the dvd's several months after the season is over.

when we first got hooked on the series we had 3 seasons to catch up on. actually, we started watching the first season not knowing what we were getting ourselves into. after the first few hours of the show our evenings and early mornings were pretty much consumed with 24. we would put the kids to bed and by 8:00pm we were settled down for a long night of 24. some nights we were still up at 2:00am watching! i know, we're crazy, but this is the only show that we get so caught up in (and maybe american gladiators! haha! not really!)

so, knowing how much sleep we lose when watching 24, this time around we decided to wait until we really had the time to watch it!

we started watching season 6 about 2 weeks ago. in this particular season they are trying to locate a number of suitcase nukes before they are detonated. we watched about 2 dvd's worth, 8 episodes, this past friday night and didn't get to bed until after 1:00am.

i am embarrassed to admit that it is not uncommon, during these 24 marathons, that i have dreams about the show. this particular night, or should i say morning, i was dreaming about suitcase nukes and jack bauer when our power went out. not a big deal when you are sleeping, except when you have a house alarm. so, i am dreaming about suitcase nukes and jack bauer when our house alarm starts beeping, sounding a lot, i might add, like a bomb!!

i jolted upright, a bit disoriented, and frantically asked, "what is that?" mitch clamly says, "i don't know." then he slowly, well everything seems like slow motion when you are thinking, in your groggy sleep induced mind that it's a suitcase nuke about to explode in your home, goes to the alarm and stops the beeping.

i breathed a sigh of relief! mitch, my own personal jack bauer, saved our family from complete and utter destruction, not to mention the lives of our friends and neighbors, oh and pretty much all of the portland area!

but seriously, why do dreams seem so vivid and entirely real when you are in the middle of them? it was so real when it was happening, and now it's just silly, dumb, and absolutely ridiculous, not to mention embarrassing, to think that i thought it was real at the time!

president's day at the park

yesterday was unseasonably warm and sunny! so, naturally we took the kids to the park for a picnic. well, the adults ate while the kids grazed inbetween swinging and sliding and playing tag.

unfortuantely, the park that we picked was surrounded by huge trees resulting in a very chilly, sunny afternoon because we couldn't see the sun or benefit from its warmth! my little toesies were ice pops by the time we left.

the kids, however, were not phased by the chill in the air. they were just grateful to get outside and run around! i, of course, was armed with my camera to capture the action! although, i must say it is very difficult to get a good, clear shot of a swinging child!

though this photo is blurry, i still love it! you can just see the exhiliration on lala's face! she is having the time of her life on that swing! she was a bit of a swing hog yesterday!

doesn't she look thrilled!

this was the only photo that i was able to get of nani the whole time we were at the park. after i snapped this photo she was not to be found as she was engrossed in a serious game of tag!

and no park day would be complete without lala, our sand girl, playing in the sand! she excitedly told me, "mommie, i'm burying sticks!" wow, what fun!

i am trying to ignore the fact that my daughter is sucking on the railing, picking up every possible germ from every child that has ever touched it! instead, i am trying to focus on those beautiful brown eyes that i love so much! she will survive, she will survive! yuck, i'm cringing!

i don't know why, but i think this is a pretty cool shot from a bit of a different perspective!

a little motivation

i have been such a slacker when it comes to exercising! i have always been active! having completed a marathon and having competed in at least 8 triathlons since 2002 you would think that i would have this exercising thing down!

well, for some reason, since our third daughter was born i have been really hit or miss with my exercise routine. there is always some excuse why i don't make it to the gym; a sick baby, then a sick child, then a sick mommie, and then it cycles again through the family. then there is vacations and holidays and... and... and.. you get the picture! sometimes the gym is just so stiffling to me, i want to be out in the fresh air. but the fresh air here in oregon is wet and cold 9 months out of the year (okay, maybe that's an exaggeration, but not by much!). i know, it's just more excuses!

i went for a run this morning, thanks to elizabeth, and it felt so incredibly good to be outside in the dry, fresh air! i know it will not be dry for long, the 10 day forcast shows showers/rain 9 out of the next 10 days, but i decided that i need to take this exercising thing more seriously! plus, i still need to lose that last 5 pounds from baby #3.

so, this is what i've decided to do! on the right side of my blog i put 2 counters, one for miles run and another for lengths swam (is that the right tense for swim??), once i start biking again i will add another counter for that. i am hoping this will be the motivation for me to get my okole into gear! knowing that my progress, or lack thereof, is out for everyone to see might be just the thing to get me consistantly moving! even if you guys don't look at it, i'll never know, but in my mind you are all keeping tabs on me! just know that it may be slow starting because i haven't run or swam consistently since who knows when?! but once i'm back in shape those numbers will go up faster!

if the tickers disappear, it means that the motivation is not working and i don't want you to know how badly i am doing! lets hope it stays up there for a very, very long time!

what, am i a chicken?

this post has to do with "monthly female stuff", so if you (male readers) are woosie about that sort of thing, just stop reading. for those of you that aren't, you might get a good chuckle out of this.

i am one of those women that does temperature charting to know when i ovulate. it is something that i have done for the last 6 years. everyday i record my temperatures on an internet site that provides charts for people like myself. on this particular site they guesstimate the day of ovulation according to the temperatures i record. on the day of their "best guess" there is this cute little picture of a birds nest with an egg in it.

awhile ago, i was looking at one of my charts and nani was looking over my shoulder. i heard her counting quietly behind me and then she said, "it's been 5 days since you laid the egg!" to which i chuckled out loud and she said, "what?" oh, nothing dear! nothing at all....

CLUCK, CLUCK!

baby locks

our sixteen month old sweetheart, is just that...a sweetheart! she is a very easy going, good-natured baby. she can entertain herself, yet she is perfectly happy to play with other kids and her sisters, as well. she is very aware of her surroundings and she knows what she wants and definitely knows what she doesn't want!

take this past saturday, for example. the poor girl was beginning to look like a ragamuffin!

her hair was constantly in her eyes and the ends were all uneven.

now, c'mon what girl would not be bothered by that?! well, okay, so it probably didn't even phase her, but it did bother me and i had to remedy the situation!

so, i brought her with me to get her first hair cut. the whole time i was thinking, "she is going to absolutely hate this!" elizabeth assured me that she would do just fine, as did kara. however, my mother instinct knew better. i just kept thinking about this and picturing this.

well, i'll let you decide who was right....

does she look mad to you? hmmm, i'm not sure, let's take a closer look:

let's distract her with a lollipop and see how she does:

"lollipop or not, i'm still not liking this at all!!"

such a sad face! at least we can see her angry eyes!

i guess a mother always knows!

my baby sister is 25!

don't you just love pictures of little, naked babies?

well, that little naked baby just turned 25 today! the baby of our family is not so much a baby anymore, actually she hasn't been a baby for quite some time, twenty-three years to be exact! she has grown up a lot in that time and has become a very beautiful woman, in every possible way!

growing up with a sister who is over eight years younger than you has been very different than the typical sister relationship. it was wonderful, but it evolved from one type of relationship to another over the years.

when she was born she was my "real live" baby doll! i was more than willing to help mom take care of her, what little girl doesn't love a cute baby?

it was always so much fun to set her outside in the warm sunshine, either in her diaper or in her bare nudies while the big kids ran through the sprinkler. she loved the water and was always so willing to help water the lawn!

when she was a little toddler, she wanted to be like her big brother and give baseball a try, well, actually she probably just got into his baseball stuff and wanted to try it on for size! she looks like a natural!

the best word that describes malia is sweet! if i had just half of the sweetness that she possesses i would be a much better person!

once i got into high school, malia was pretty much just my little sister. the eight plus year age gap was most noticeable at this age. we still had great fun together, but we were at such different stages in life that we did our own things.

When it started getting the most fun was once she entered college and i was married. we were both adults and out on our own. we were finally at the age where we could relate to each other. that is really when the best memories began, or maybe it's just that in my old age that's as far back as i can remember?!

here she is with lala when she was a wee little one! as you can see my kids always have loved their auntie malia! she's the best auntie ever!

when i was prego with nani i chopped off 19" of my hair and donated it to locks of love. malia, mom and i made the long drive out to valencia to the salon. we took some great before and after pictures (i can't find them at the moment) with malia as photographer, one of her many talents! a few years later malia did the same thing! she had the cutest cut ever! i wish i had been braver like her and gone shorter like she did. now we are both back to long hair.

when malia got married i was 7 months prego with kawena. however, i didn't tell her that i was expecting. when we arrived at the airport malia picked me and the girls up. it took her a few minutes before she realized that i had a big prego belly. i loved her reaction! she did a double take to my belly and pointed at it and said, "wait? what? you're pregnant?!" it was the best surprise ever!

during our sabbatical last summer we went to colorado to stay a week at mitch's grandma's cabin. malia and stuart were in albuquerque at the time. so, i drove down and brought them back up for a fun trip! we went to vallecito lake and rented a pontoon boat! this was our attempt at synchronized diving! not bad!

when we dropped them back off in albuquerque we played at malia's apartment pool. i was so sad when we had to leave them, but then again i'm always sad to leave malia!

you truly are the best sister i could ever have! thanks for being such a great example of cheerfulness and optimism. i love you more than you know! i hope this year is the best one yet!

happy birthday malia! we love you!