ScrappyHawaiian

I lost my Gale King....

2011-06-05T21:33:00.002-10:00

Yikes, it looks like this blog is becoming a yearly post. Oh well, it'll have to be my outlet for a little bit.

I lost my Gale King. Her name was Yvonne and she worked with me. She moved to the UK. I miss her dearly. She was the one I would call everyday to talk about my day. She was my release before I got home. She's the only one that could ever understand and although I'm happy for her and proud of what she's doing, I miss her.

As she would say... Miss you love.

I look 'new'

2010-03-11T15:32:00.002-10:00

As we were lying in bed one night Kala'i looks at me and said "Mom, you don't look old, you still look new to me" Love that kid!

I think I'm still annoyed....

2009-12-07T11:34:00.003-10:00

I just realized that I'm still annoyed about sugar cookies. One of my girls at work was thoughtful enough to bring cookies to work. They were your oridinary, run of the mill sugar cookies topped with red and green icing shaped as christmas trees. I saw them, and thought, gee that was nice of her, and didn't eat one. They've been in my store packed away and everytime I look at them I'm annoyed that they weren't chocolate cookies. I mean really why bother making a cookie if there's no chocolate in them, what a waste.

I'm sitting here wanting something sweet to eat and I'm thinking of those sugar cookies that are at work, I'm at home, and it's annoying me. Oh well, I guess I'll have to settle for Frozen Hot Chocolate. I'm telling telling you those cookies are so going into the trash when I get to work.

I inspire myself....

2009-08-07T04:56:00.002-10:00

Wow, I can't believe I haven't posted since March. Anyway.....

Last week when I went to Hilo to pick up the boys from their summer vacation with Grandma and Papa my MIL had a scrapbook out that I had made for her. I must say, I was surprised at how cute it was. Who knew I was so talented.... LOL. At first glance I thought that it was made by someone else.

It was a little 6x6 album half the album was about kazu and the other half was about kala'i. It was a little book about their favorite things. The list included their favorite foods, toys, tv shows, games, people, animals, books and so on. It inspired me to make a current book. So since it's the start of a new school year. I think I'll try to make one every year. Granted, I've only made oh, 3 pages this year, this is a tall task.

I think I've forgotten how important scrapbooking is to me. I recently took my scrapbooks to work to share with a new employee who also scrapbooks. I forgot how much information, quotes and memories that I've missed recording. It really struck me when my co-worker pointed out how much we paid to quarantine the dogs when we moved back to Hawaii. I could honestly say I wouldn't of had remembered otherwise.

So here's to me inspiring me. And all the soon to be future scrapbooks. Cheers!

Back to work....

2009-03-27T19:27:00.010-10:00

Sigh, I've been off this week since Tuesday. It's been so nice spending time with the boys and getting to do things around the house that I just haven't had the energy to do.

Target

The first Target in Hawaii opened about a month ago. Since I don't like crowds I waited til the excitement wore down. I forgot about how much more I like Target than Walmart. The picture of Target is mostly for Morgan.... see how much it's changed out there. We also hit the new and peeked in Petco.

Kites:
Kazu made a list of things that he wanted to do during Spring Break. Flying a kite was on the list. It was a nice windy day when we went out. The boys had so much fun.

Zoo:
Not on the list but mom forgot that the Children's Museum closes early, 1pm. So we hit the zoo. It was a great way to get the boys tired. Funny thing is Kala'i said he didn't remember his experience of going to the zoo. It was a nice day. Kala'i said he could swing on the money bars like the monkey's, yes he can. The tiger cubs were out playing. They were cute. Kazu took all the pictures of the animals. He took the picture of the cactus for school. He's writing a paper and wanted to take the photo to school as a part of his project.

Whole Foods:

I want to say they opened their first store in Hawaii about a year ago. I could be wrong. We finally made it out there and love it. It's a far drive but worth it for Duke and I, we love all the fresh produce.

Crafting:

I've also had a little time to make a craft or two. I made something for my desk at work. I'll have to post it when I'm done.

Next Week:

Continue cleaning

Ice Palace

Children's Museum

Leap 'n Lizards

Chuck E Cheese

Beach

Haunama Bay

A doctors appt

Sears maintance on the appliances.... Yikes I need another week vacation.

Bribery... works every time....

2009-03-20T17:21:00.002-10:00

Bribery: is an act implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient.

So since we moved into the house almost 2 years ago, Kazu always ends up in bed with me. I've tried the let him cry, threat, take things away and finally gave up. Came to the conclusion, that he'll try and sneak in bed no matter what. At one point, he would just come into the room and sleep on the ground. I got the usual, I'm scared, I think someone's going to get me lines.

Well, why didn't I think to bribe him. Last weekend we were at the mall. We stopped into his all time favorite store, Game Stop. He wanted a game I said no. He asked dad, and dad had the brillant idea: I buy you this game you need to stay in your own bed at night. Voila, no problems since.

Geez, why didn't I think of it sooner?

Lego...

2009-03-14T22:44:00.002-10:00

My boys LOVE lego. Kazu in particular is really into lego. I, on the other hand, have a love hate relationship with Lego. I love the fact that it allows the boys to use their imagination to build anything they can think of from a simple airplane to the most complicated space stations. I love all the new cool lego pieces. I love it when they make lego in cool colors. I love that a new set will keep the boys busy for HOURS trying to put it together. Yes, that's my list of loves, I haven't decided if it out weigh's the list of hates.

I hate stepping on lego especially since we have wood and tile floor... OUCH! I hate that a new set costs so much. I also hate when they clog the shower drain. That being said found this cool website called Lego a day. This photo, however, seems too close to home.

Down Memory Lane

2009-03-14T21:26:00.002-10:00

Since we've gotten our stuff out of storage it's been a trip down memory lane. This photo was taken in our senior year of high school. Crazy! Yes, it was the 90's. I was a size 0, I had puffy hair, floral print clothes and my waistline was actually at my neck. It is fun though.

We have pictures of friends who we no longer get to see because we have moved. Like this picture of TJ, Blaine and Benji =) friends of ours from Houston.

And as we go through these photot's we're reminded of all the things we did prechildren. Here's a picture of me on Duke's Harley. Don't fear though, I'll spare you of the HOT pictures of me in my swimsuit. Yes, times have changed now I only swim with a full body wet suit... LOL

As I go through these photo's I'm reminded of how much I haven't scrapped. I'm excited to see the photo's that I have to scrap. But most importantly, I'm reminded to keep taking pictures to preserve the memories.

Wow...

2009-02-24T21:25:00.006-10:00

I didn't realize it had been so long since I posted. Here's a picture of Kazu blowing out his candles for his birthday last month. Of course, he got help from Kala'i

Here's a picture of kazu feeding the Chinese Lion some money for Chinese New Year. It came into our store, probably because of all the money kazu was giving it... hehehe

Kazu and Kalai on Valentines day, very early of course, since I worked that day. Kazu got a couple of wii games and Kala'i got a walle toy.

Hmmm

2009-02-24T21:12:00.007-10:00

It's always interesting to pick up the camera and find photo's on there that the kids took. It's fun to see the world through their eyes. There was a day when there was pictures of the dog's butt, like 15 pictures.

One day we stopped at Ala Moana beach park before an appt. We took these pictures.

Laie point....

2009-02-02T18:51:00.002-10:00

During Christmas break the boys went to Hilo with grandma and papa. It was the first time that Duke and I were without kids, since Kazu was born, for an extended amount of time. We missed them terribly and after a few days didn't know what to do with ourselves. One day we drove around the island and hit our favorite spots. Duke also took me to Laie point, I hadn't been there before. We took this picture ....

It reminds me of the ole days when all our pictures were quite boring and didn't include any huge mishaps like Balmex in the hair or chocolate all over the kitchen or toothpaste on the floor.

Tooth Fairy the thief....

2008-12-08T20:26:00.002-10:00

Kazu is convinced that since he can't find some of his toys the tooth fairy is coming into our home and stealing his toys. It never dawned on him that he may have misplaced it.

Wanted

Tooth Fairy carrying around some lego, trucks and pens

Kazu....

2008-12-04T19:41:00.002-10:00

He's lost quite a few teeth. Poor guy seems like he's missing more teeth than he has. He lost two more since this picture was taken 2 weeks ago

Made these today....

2008-12-04T19:34:00.003-10:00

I was off today and went into my scrapbook room for the first time since Aug. I made these little tablets for kazu and kalai. Kazu has been interested in drawing and kalai is learning to write his name. I was inspired from Leah Fung's website. They took literally five minutes to make.

Pictures at the beach....

2008-11-09T12:55:00.013-10:00

I took the boys to the beach on Friday after school to take pictures. It was a spur of the moment thing. The only rule was that they could not go in the water.... you can probably guess how that turned out. Here are some pictures. I hope I didn't post the one we plan to use in our Christmas cards.

Baby shower....

2008-09-06T10:59:00.007-10:00

We had a little baby shower for Morgan and a little going away thing for Jill who moved to the big island. Here's a picture of us.

This is Jill

It was a cupcake theme of pink and brown. I made the invites, place cards, menu's, games, thank you notes.

This is the diaper cake Reyline made... so cute.

Wedding gifts....

2008-09-06T10:52:00.002-10:00

I'm in search of a wedding gift for one of the girls who work with me. She's getting married tomorrow and I do not have a gift. Duke and I would normally give money. However, everyone at work says giving money is bad. I don't know why especially when this girl returns EVERYTHING. She got some hot chocolate from a friend at Williams and Sonoma and returned it to the store when the girl was working. She has no shame. She has asked for money for her wedding and hasn't registered anywhere. Her husband is working in Iraq, private contract, for a year. She is living at home with her parents until he returns for good next year. She doesn't have much room for anything now. That's part of the reason that I was going to give money. Then how much money do you give? I know you're supposed to buy a gift that'll at least cover the amount of your meal at the reception. Duke says that no matter what I get she'll return it and if you give money it's never enough. I have been working with her on a VERY part time basis for the past 2 years and we chat occasionally when we are not at work but we do not hang out or anything. And since I tend to over do it on gifts I'm asking....

So in your experience what is your favorite gift to give at weddings?

Family fun

2008-08-11T19:44:00.006-10:00

We had a chance this weekend to go out as a family. We hit a couple of parks where the boys enjoyed playing on the jungle gym. We also made it over to Kaka'ako park where we ending up sliding down the hill with card board boxes. The boys had a blast and made a bunch of new friends. If you haven't ever tried it you should. Find a steep hill, flatten out a cardboard box and slide down the hill. It works best if it's just a little wet. I used to do it a lot as a kid.

Kazu also lost his front tooth. Mom messed up with the tooth fairy again. How was I supposed to know he was going to move beds in the middle of the night. The tooth fairy got the money under the right pillow but didn't take his tooth (she couldn't find it). I explained to kazu I left a note and asked that she leave it so that I could save it. Maybe I'll get it right by the time Kala'i starts to loose his teeth. Does everyone have a school picture where they are missing their front tooth?

We also saw a lot of weddings at the park.

Fruit, Vegetable or Ice Cream

2008-07-25T23:18:00.005-10:00

Kala'i loves fruits and vegetables. When we go grocery shopping the kid goes crazy. He picks his own snacks and his choices usually include a carrot, broccolli, apples, oranges, bananas, grapes, strawberries, tomatos, cucumber, watermelon, pineapple, mango (we fight over that one) and lettuce. Yep, believe it or not he always takes a second serving of salad, lettuce and all, at the dinner table. I LOVE IT. On most days he'd rather have a fruit or vegi instead of ice cream or a candy bar. I have no idea how it happened but I'll enjoy it while it lasts. And yes, there will be a scrapbook page about this one.

Kazu on the other hand is another story. He does love some vegi's but nothing like Kala'i.

Oink Oink Oink....

2008-07-25T23:04:00.005-10:00

and no I'm not referring to my previous post. Today after picking up Kalai from school we came across 6 wild pigs. They were on the median. I of course stopped to take a picture with my crappy camera phone and no good image. I then get out my digital camera and battery dead. I managed to get these two photo's. It was pretty cool. After watching them for a few minutes we were off to Costco to buy .... bacon of course.

It may be time.... the signs may be there

2008-07-15T09:51:00.003-10:00

Sign 1

I get asked at work at least once every other month if I'm pregnant

Sign 2

Talking to a co-worker about the wii and she brings up the wii fit and says "you may want to try it, it looks like good excersie for YOU"

Sign 3

Kala'i on a daily basis says "Mom I love your head, I love your smile and I love your BIG tummy. You are beautiful" I can never decide how to react to those comments, it's sweet but does he have to call it BIG

I guess I've been in denial for the past 3 years 10 months about my weight or more so the last 2 years. I've tried to come up with a witty come back when asked if I'm pregnant I've been calling it baby weight but now that Kala'i is almost 4 it really doesn't fly anymore. In fact at work I got so tired of being asked if I was pregnant when this gay guy asked if I was pregnant I just smiled. He came in a year later and asked how was the birth and asked what I had.

I don't eat large portions and I don't eat a lot of junk food. I know its the exercise that's killing me. The strange thing is that in my mind I'm a lot skinner than I am. I've never had any weight issues infact up until I had kids I was a size 3. Thankfully, I'm still in the single digits as far as clothing is concerned. And its usually when I'm not wearing my hooker height heels that I get asked so lack of a good posture is probably making a difference, hmm does that sound like an excuse?

So what do you ask am I going to do about this? I haven't decided. Finding the time to exercise is the issue. I wake at 5:30am to go to work and get home from work at 6:30p then there's the nightly routine. I'm in bed by 9p. We could do what our friend Stacy and Jake did, get a bow flex, or an exercise bike but at this point I'm not sure even that is going to cut it. I wonder if I could have it sucked out of my gut and put into my boobs... hmmm.

Crazy couple of weeks...

2008-07-07T21:47:00.003-10:00

We had a crazy week. My in-laws and Kazu were here the weekend before last. We had a blast with kazu and even managed to go to the water park. We decided to skip the beach due to the influx of jellyfish after the full moon. I wasn't in the mood to pee on my child after a sting. We miss kazu more than he misses us. I think he's heaven in an 8yo package.

Kalai, Duke and I had a nice 4th of July. We cruised around the beaches. Watched all the crazy people try to cram themselves on the littlest of beaches. Then we came home and had BBQ. We had an awesome meal. I think I'm still full.

We also attended my nieces baby shower. It was fun. It was at the beach. I don't get a chance to see them often so it was really nice visiting with them. I especially enjoyed being at the beach as we don't go nearly as often as we'd like to.

I'm working on some invites for a co-worker. It's turning out pretty darn cute! I'll have to post it when I'm done. The missionaries are also coming over for dinner this week. Sounds like BBQ again... LOL. You'd think that's all we ate. I'm actually trying to figure out what to do with all this pasta I bought back from Italy. We don't have any really good recipes except for a REALLY good spaghetti receipe.

Well, I'm off to bed. It's 10pm an hour and a half past my bedtime.

The price of paradise....

2008-06-18T23:26:00.002-10:00

I took this picture on the way home from work tonight. I just love paying so much for gas. Duke and I are up to $960 / month for gas for our cars. Hmmmm, wonder if it would be cheaper for me to quit and stay home. At least we aren't on the outer islands. They are paying much more than we are. How much do you pay for gas now?

Going green....

2008-06-17T08:07:00.003-10:00

I know it's the 'new' thing to do. Everywhere you go everyone is trying to be green. I appreciate that. I now have resuable shopping bags. Today while searching for Stacy's Y's blog I came across this...

Party Planning

Here's how it works. On June 21st, collect your urine in a handy dandy container of your choosing. Depending on how big your garden is you may want to enlist the help of family and friends. That's the party part. But it is optional for those with a shy bladder.Dilute it with water as per Sharon's instructions above (preferably some sort of grey water - perhaps using your saved shower warmup water) and apply to your garden. Voilà! Then check back here on June 22nd for a full report.

Now that's just nasty. Can you image a garden with the fragrant smell of diluted pee. If I wanted that I'd just let the boys go have at it in the back yard. It certainly would lower my water bill. I think I'll pass on this one. I sure home my neighbor doesn't pick up on this either.

My love of chocolate...

2008-06-15T10:38:00.004-10:00

So as some of you may know I seriously LOVE chocolate. I honestly cannot understand why anyone would make a cookie and not put chocolate in it. I mean really! So imagine my excitement when I ran across this....

have to try it. It looks so yummy. Here is the receipe if you are interested....

Chocolate Chip Cookie Pie

1 unbaked 9-inch (4-cup volume) deep-dish pie shell*

2 large eggs

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) butter, softened

1 cup (6 ounces) semi-sweet chocolate morsels

1 cup chopped pecansServe with ice cream (optional)
Preheat oven 325 degrees F.
Beat eggs in large mixer bowl on high until foamy.
Beat in flour, granulated sugar and brown sugar. Beat in butter.
Stir in morsels and nuts and spoon into pie shell.

Bake for 55-60 minutes. Cool on wire rack. Serve warm.Recipe from Nestle Classic Recipes, 2003* If using frozen pie shell, use deep dish style and thaw completely. Bake on baking sheet and increase baking time slightly.

An emotional week....

2008-06-13T20:44:00.010-10:00

Wow what a week. It started off by the homecoming of one of my coworkers husband. He is in the Navy and has been away for over 6 months. It was such a touching experience to be there. Duke and I have never experienced a homecoming. We were there to take pictures. It was fun.

Kazu left to go to Hilo to spend the summer with his grandparents like he does every summer. It has been hard not having him around. He is so helpful, fun and loving and we miss him so much. Those two experiences topped off with a crazy customer has made this an emotional week.

Kalai and I have been going to the park. Here are some photo's. He's so different from his brother who within a few minutes knows he names of every kid on the jungle gym, Kalai plays nicely but isn't as socialable as big brother. We also went to Waikele to ride the trolley. We had a fun day just the two of us.

Fun to find old friends....

2008-06-12T19:48:00.003-10:00

I often think of things and don't say them out loud. I often think if I had a ticker tape going across my forehead with my thoughts, how shocked everyone should be. I think I repent more for my thoughts than my actions. I guess that's a good thing.

I think I have some of the funniest smartest friends. Duke and I have met some pretty cool people. We've also moved a lot. Unfortunately, I don't get to keep in touch with friends like I'd like to especially since I went back to work. Today, however, was a good day. I stumbled upon a blog from a friend and I almost forgot how funny she was until I read her blog.

I stumbled across TJ's blog. We met when we were living in Texas. Her son and Kazu are the same age. It's nice to know I'm not the only one who thinks of certain things. I guess maybe now I can convince myself, I really am normal. At any rate, stop by her blog, I guarantee you'll have a laugh... click here

Cub scout recap......

2008-05-31T08:37:00.002-10:00

Duke took kazu along with him to his first cub scout meeting. Kazu had so much fun. They had a short meeting then headed over to the fire station. Kazu was so excited and asked so many questions. He was the only one paying attention. He has already been to a fire station and had a private tour by a fire chief, ate dinner with the fire fighers, and got to see their trucks, the police truck, and the media truck so this wasn't anything new. I guess being a little boy and being inside a fire station is exciting no matter how many times you go.

Duke was happy when he came home. He said about 9 boys showed up to their meeting but that none of them had uniforms because they couldn't afford it. There was talk among the troop of passing uniforms down that had been outgrown. It was so sad to hear that not one of those 9 boys parents could afford a uniform. We by no means live in an affulent ward. And this meeting really drove it home.

My wheels have been spinning on how to raise money to get these boys a uniform. Does anyone have any ideas? I want to call next week to see how much a complete uniform costs. I asked Duke if he could ask his company if they were willing to sponser some uniforms for these boys. Or if he could ask any of his former business clients if they could donate anything.

Feel free to email me if you have any ideas at the dukemelody account. I'd love to hear some of your ideas.

Aloha,
Melody

A new chapter....

2008-05-29T10:15:00.002-10:00

Duke was just called to be Cub Master for our Ward. We are so excited. The boys are excited. I am excited too but have no idea on what to expect. I'd guess that knot tying, fire making and rendering some type of service was in our future but I have no clue. So if any of you are / were mommies of a Cub Scout or Boy Scout or wife of a Cub Master feel free to email me. I would have already emailed you in a panic had I not lost your email address =(

So here's to a fun new chapter for our family.

Aloha,
Melody

Pictures....

2008-05-26T19:15:00.005-10:00

Capri
Capri

I had a nice long weekend off. We didn't do much. I was looking through the camera to print pictures to put up on the wall of the boys and came across more pictures from my trip. Not the best pictures but my pc crashed 2 weeks ago and I don't have any of my photo editing programs. I'll have to down load it soon.

Speaking of my email crashing can all of you email me your addresses and phone numbers. I lost all of that information. I need to send out thank you notes and don't know where to send it... =(

Well, sorry so scattered and short. I've got to get the kids to bed it's back to work tomorrow.

Aloha,
Melody

Another day at work....

2008-05-18T07:08:00.004-10:00

So Reyline had this woman come into the store picks up a journal and asks "What's this?"
Reyline replied "A journal."
"Oh" says the lady. She puts down the journal turns around and picks up the book Eat Pray Love and asks Reyline "Whats this?"
Obviously it's a book Reyline thought but replied "It's a book"
"Oh" says the lady, still confused she looks at Reyline and asks "What do you do with it?"
"Read it" says Reyline, all the while thinking I wonder what kind of drugs this lady is on
"Hmph" says the lady as she thumbs through the book. She puts it down and walks out of the store

Yep just another day at work. Its kind of like the people who don't enjoy coming into our store because ALL our cards say the same thing... "legends say that hummingbirds.... " And when you try to explain what IS actually in the card they look at you like you are the illiterate one.

So off I go to work a 10 hour shift, wish me luck. And when I got hired I thought, It can't be that hard to sell a greeting card. I guess the laugh is on me, huh?

May Day is Lei Day in Hawaii....

2008-05-09T11:46:00.022-10:00

Well, I'm about 8 days too late, but we celebrated today. It was Kazu's May Day program at school. The weather was perfect. His class danced to a song called "puka puka pants". Puka means hole in Hawaiian. He was fantastic. He especially did well at the part when he turned around and shook his okole (butt). (I now see what talent he got from me... =)) I was excited to record a video and post it here but he must have killed my battery yesterday when we opened mothers day gifts. At least I got some great photo's to scrap.

I have to say I was impressed with the program. It sure isn't may day like it used to be when I was little. There was the Royal Hawaiian band performing and even the offical Hawaiian Royal Court. It was fun. I also enjoyed the kindergarten performance. My friends little girl *J* is in the kindergarten and she was so cute!

Here are some pictures from my Mothers Day gift. The boys made it at school and I absolutely LOVE it. I really wanted to wait until Sunday to open it but they were so excited and proud of what they made they insisted I open it yesterday. Kazu made this card and a beautiful bead necklace. A necklace that I am supposed to wear whenever I'm with him =). He also made this card. I love the detail in it. He said he drew my hair like that because he loves it when I wear my hair down. He obviously loves my eyelashes... hehehe. He also drew in my favorite heart necklace that I like to wear to work and some flowers at the bottom.

Kala'i made me a dried flower sache. It's so funny he handed me the tissue wrapped gift and said "Here mom, it stinks" LOL Image my fear of opening the package. All night he kept picking up the sache and said "it stinks" LOL I love his little card and what he said.

So I'm a happy camper today. I have great new photos to scrap. And in the spirit of May Day here are some pictures of plumerias that are growing in my yard. Happy belated May Day!

My favorite picture from SF

2008-05-06T20:47:00.004-10:00

So this is my favorite picture from my trip to San Francisco in February. It is of my friend Yvonne and I at the airport. She is the crazy person who decided to help and fly out to Hawaii to train me a couple of weeks after I started. Poor thing thought she would be rid of me after that week. However, she has been having to put up with me and my brain farts for almost two years. She's been so kind even when I used to call her at midnight and ask the dumbest questions.

You see what she doesn't know is that I am secretly trying to pick up her accent. LOL. She's from Africa and has the coolest accent. I swear if I had that accent oh the custom printing I'd sell. Hehehe. At any rate I'm happy to have her as a friend. She is the one person who I know will be honest with me, even when I don't want to hear it. She also has the same love of dark chocolate and plumerias as I do. I'm mean really!

2008-05-06T20:47:00.001-10:00

National Scrapbooking Day...

2008-05-06T08:13:00.004-10:00

This past weekend was National Scrapbooking Day. Yep, a whole day dedicated to scrapbooking. Normally, I'd start the weekend out by getting up at 2am or something crazy like that and watch QVC to catch the latest deals. Then I'd rewatch it to see if there were any layouts that would inspire me, then I'd scrap. By the end of the weekend I'd come out with at least a few 'masterpieces' that would surely make our family scrapbooks.

Well, this year, I didn't do one scrapbook realated thing. I sat at my newly cleaned desk a couple of times, but mostly to clean out my purse. So now I'm determined to do something scrapbook related. So here's the plan:

1. Take lots and lots of photos
2. Print
3. Scrapbook
4. Share

Sounds easy enough. Looking back over the past few months except for my Italy/Greece/Rome photos I mostly have pictures of the store. Pictures taken for my boss who rarely gets to come down. I dread the day I'll have to tell my boys I was too busy working, and didn't have enough time for them.

It's been so long since I've scrapped and I miss it. I miss sitting with the boys and sharing a particular memory. I miss the excitement in their face when they hear a story about themselves that they haven't heard in a long time. I miss having photos to document our life, good and bad. I miss doing 4 bad pages to get one good one. I miss being ok with even the bad pages because I knew even then I preserved a part of our family history. So I start this month out with my plan: take photos, print, scrap and share. My goal is by the end of the month I'll have at least 5 pages to share. Wish me luck!

Vacation...

2008-03-28T15:20:00.007-10:00

I just returned from a few weeks vacation. Went to Italy and Greece. Missed everyone especially the boys. We didn't have much time to do a lot of shopping but I did purchase a table and a murano glass chandelier. I can't wait til it comes in. Here are some pictures.

Will post pictures from Rome. Gotta run and pick up the baby monster from school.

Aloha,
Melody

More from my SF trip

2008-02-23T09:02:00.014-10:00

Wilnyes Baby Shower, 50's theme

Wilnye at 6 months

Wilnye and her husband

Melody and Wilnye

Melody and Becky Virginia's wife

L-R front Virginia and Melody
Back Shannon A from SF Center, shirley (?), Wilnye, Emily from fillmore, and Sherilynn from Montgomery.

Melody and Kat from SF Center

Phillip left and Raese(sp?) from the new stores... not sure which ones, btw found out raese has 7 kids.

Sonia from New Montgomery during the hula hoop contest.

Melody and Ceaser from Stonestown... I think

Melody and Shannon A from SF center and her husband

Melody and Jacquelyne from Embarcadero

Melody and Octavio from Laurel

Melody and Eric from Burlingame

Burlingame Paprus CP room.

Burlingame Papyus cash wrap

Burlingame Papyrus from the front door.

San Francisco...

2008-02-22T11:35:00.005-10:00

I went to San Francisco for a few days for work. It was fun. Here are some photos.

Lisa left and Virginia from Laurel Village

My friend Hsu-Lien and I at Embarcadero... We had dinner at OSHA.

Laurel Village Papyrus

Christine from Burlingame

Will post more photo's later

And finally the cake...

2008-02-03T15:25:00.001-10:00

A few days late due to the whole family having the flu. Here's one of two cakes we are enjoying.

Can't figure out why, but he loves this cloth. He'll carry it around for a couple of hours.

Wow, he's 7!

2008-02-01T09:02:00.000-10:00

And thankgoodness they are brothers. I don't know how I could ever come up with entertainment like they do....

potd

2008-01-30T07:13:00.000-10:00

Gordon B Hinckley

Tooth Fairy...

2008-01-25T06:03:00.000-10:00

Forgot to take the tooth... =(

2008-01-24T19:34:00.000-10:00

potd

2008-01-21T09:20:00.000-10:00

A few more pictures

POTD

2008-01-20T15:46:00.001-10:00

I wanted somewhere to post these pictures, I figured this would be a great spot.

My baby is home...

2007-04-01T22:42:00.000-10:00

Home feels like home again, Kazu is home. He spent the last week in Hilo. Although, it was strange at first when he left, it never really feels right when he's gone. And of course, we remember how easy it is with only one child but that we wouldn't trade it for the world.

Around the second day Kala'i started crying for Dukie. The mornings were especially hard. Our routine just didn't feel the same for him. Kala'i would ask us to go and pick up Dukie when he was missing him... so sweet.

Kazu came home, with what feels like, a few years older. We love it when he goes to tutu baby's house and comes home with new vocabulary. He's also come home with a bunch of goodies which he's lovin. He said how much he liked seeing aunty Dawn and uncle T'Jaye and of course cousin Deven is always a BIG hit.

Kala'i on the other hand has turned into a clothing monster. I think there should be some things in which he can make his own choices like what to wear. The problem that arose is that he wants to wear the same thing over and over again, without washing. I know we're potogee and all but geeez. I don't know if it's an age thing or if he is overly interested in what he's wearing for the day, I just know that Kazu never cared, infact, Kazu preferred to go without any clothes.

My sister is in town we got a chance to spend a little time with them yesterday. She's here to have invetro done. It's quite a journey and I can now understand all the ups and downs of the process. Tomorrow they implant the fertile eggs, there were three, and hope for the best.

Spring break is over and it's back to the good ole routine of fighting the traffic in the morning, waking up early, and getting the kids off t0 school. I can't believe Easter will be here next week. It seems like Christmas will be here in no time. I'm sure in the blink of an eye my birthday, summer, and Halloween. How fast time flies.

Yes, I'm alive...

2007-03-20T00:33:00.000-10:00

I know, I know I've been missing from action for awhile. It seems like I'm finally getting used to work. I know it's been 7 months but what can I say when I start right before the busiest retail time of the year.

Oddly enough I have this weird love hate thing about work. I like my job. I mean I can't believe they pay me what they do to do what I do. I have fun all day helping people celebrate special times in their lives like weddings, birth of a child, birthdays, and graduations. I always joke at how hard I work, because I know it isn't hard work at all. Oh well, I'll take the 4 raises they've given me and laugh all the way to the bank.

The boys are great. They are getting big and yes they are potogee. There's no doubt about that. Although if you ask them they'll totally deny it and claim to be nothing but Hawaiian. I was lucky enough to be blessed with two very curious and very talkative little boys. From the time I get into the car to the time they go to sleep it's non stop talking. I love it. It's so much fun to see how they view the world.

Dylan is doing well in school. He's finally talking, a lot, the teacher said. He comes home and talks about what he did in school and who he played with. He's learning his colors so there is a lot of talk about colors in our family. Yesterday he requested 10 Blue soccer ball shirts to wear to school.

Kazu is doing well. He comes home covered in dirt. Don't even ask how much clothes he goes through. His vocabulary is growing quickly. I can't believe what they do in Kindergarden now days. It's like what I learned in the 2nd grade. Speaking of which he isn't feeling well. Sounds like he's coming down with a cold. That's the only reason I'm up at 1am. Hopefully he'll be feeling better tomorrow, he's supposed to go to Sea Life Park.

Well, I'm supposed to wake up in 4 hours I suppose I better try to go to sleep. Only problem is I keep thinking about the Ben and Jerrys Double fudge brownie ice cream in the fridge. Til next time.... PS sorry about the grammer, it's way too late for me.

(Too tired to insert title)

2006-08-16T08:25:00.000-10:00

This is turning out to be pretty pathetic. I mean I haven't blogged in a week. I decided today that I HAVE TO sit down and say something. Btw, here is the picture of kazu on his first day of school.

First of all, I'd like to give all of you working mom's a big round of applause. I don't know how you do it. It's harder than I thought it would be juggling work and kids. I had this past weekend off, the first day(s) off since I started and I spent it sleeping and cleaning. I'm still trying to find the balance of work and family. I'm grateful that Duke has picked up ALL the slack. He's cleaned, cooked, takes care of the dog, he gives the kids a bath, feeds them, reads to them and has them in bed by 8:30. How impressive is that? I'm pretty impressed. I'm even more in awe of you single mom's out there. I really don't think that I could do it all by myself.

I'm hoping that things will settle down when I'm NOT working 60 hrs per week. I mean the OT is great but going from SAHM to working 60+hours per week is pretty traumatic for my system. My poor body is still craving my afternoon naps.

I miss my boys so much. Kazu made his own pb&j sandwich for the first time while he weas with my mom and I missed it. I was so sad. I know it's such a minor thing but I've been there for ALL of his firsts. I know it's just the beginning, and I'll miss a lot of Kala'i's firsts. I guess I'd better accept it.

Speaking of Kala'i he's doing wonderful in preschool. I spoke to his teacher and she said he's eating well (always did), and naps well, and is doing really good. He doesn't cry anymore when he gets dropped off at preschool and only cries when all the other kids cry. I can't blame him though. He's such a strong little boy for all that he's had to go through in his short little life.

Alright, I'm off to take a nap. I work at 12:30 today but I've been up since 5am. I had a 6am conference call for work.

Working 9-5...

2006-08-07T04:32:00.000-10:00

Or I wish it were 9-5. I got a job! After being a sahm for 5.5 years I've gone back to work. I'm a bit torn about going back. I miss my boys A LOT but the $ is awesome and I like the job. In fact, I got a raise after being on the job for two days.

We are short handed and that's why I've been MIA. So if any of you know of anyone who needs a job. I'm hiring. I'm working at Papyrus and if any of you sb'ers haven't been into one you must check it out. They have some BEAUTIFUL handmade cards, sb's, and came out with a new line of sb products called Do-Jiggy's. The do-jiggy's are 3-d embellishments.

Other than being short staffed I have no complaints about the job. I love their product and the fact that the company stands behind it. They have an awesome return policy which is bad for me but great for our customers. And they also have stunning handmade wrapping paper sold by the sheet. Some of these papers are so pretty you could frame it and use it as art.

I started work on Aug 1 and Kala'i started school the same day. He's been having a hard time. I can't blame the little guy. So if anyone out there can give me some words on encouragement, and tell me it will get easier for him please do. It breaks my heart to hear him cry.

Kazu went to kindergarten last week. He goes for a half day tomorrow and Tuesday and starts a full day on Wednesday. He LOVED his first day of school. I think he'll be just fine. I took a picture of him on his first day and he looks so happy. I'll up load it later.

Since, I've started work I haven't even looked at my sb desk. I've gotten lots of ideas from the store but no time to do anything. I don't know how you working mom's do it. I don't know if it's just because I haven't worked in so long, and I'm on my feet ALL day but I'm beat by the time I get home. It's a good thing Duke has picked up the slack.

Well, it's 4:30am and I can't sleep so I thought I'd post a quick note. I'm still here and barely alive but I'm here.

What's going on (by Marvin Gaye)

2006-07-27T23:23:00.000-10:00

What's going on? That's what my baby will be wondering next week when I take him to school for the first time.

Today I took my baby to orientation at his new preschool. Although, the preschool isn't really all that NEW to him. My older son had attended the same school last year. So my baby is pretty used to the routine of getting in and out of the car, climbing down the stairs, playing with the bunny, then going into class.

He was a little apprehensive about going down when we first got there but as soon as he saw the Play-Doh, that was it, he was comfortable. He played with it for a while, walked around the class room, found some instruments (loves those), then he discovered the grassy play area with all the Little Tykes toys and the appx 30 balls (his favorite thing in the whole world... balls). He was sold on the school. We were there for an hour and a half and he didn't want to leave.

I know he'll have a hard time the first couple of weeks but I really feel he'll be ok there. His teachers have been at the school for a long time and they are really sweet. I'm so worried about him, my baby, venturing off into the world all by himself. The great thing about it is that his class is small. He'll get lots of attention. I know I'm going to cry leaving him like I know he'll cry for me.

Anyway, his teacher asked all the parents to make a collage of his family. I can't tell you how excited I am about this. I wonder how many other mom's are scrapbookers and were excited about the assignment. I started to look around the classroom to get an idea of colors, think of which pictures I wanted to use, and decide on what patterned paper I wanted. I'm hoping to be able to work on it tomorrow night at our monthly church crop. I know I'm such a dork. I hope I have pictures of our whole family. If not, then we'll be out taking some snap shots of us tomorrow. I'll post it when I'm done.

Say my name (by Destiny's Child)

2006-07-25T06:15:00.000-10:00

Well, last night I was wrapping a gift for our neighbors son who was having a first birhtday party. I of course made a card and attached it to the gift. After doing so, I thought, I'd better check to make sure I spelled his name correctly. Well, whadda ya know, we've been calling him the wrong name for the first year of his life. Ugh, not only did I waste a cute card, but geez. We were calling him Colby and his name is Cody.

So on to more important things, Big Brother is on tonight. Woohoo. I couldn't believe I've been watching this show since season one. I don't think of myself as a tv person or even a reality show junkie. But I do get excited when my shows are on. My favorites are Big Brother, Amazing Race, American Idol and Grey's Anatomy. Of course Grey's is my favorite. I've watched each episode about 7 or 8 times... LOL. I can't wait til this past season comes out on DVD.

I'm a bit sad summer is winding down. I've really enjoyed having the two boys home. They don't always play well together but they do have fun together. We've been really relaxing, hanging out at the beach or pool, and going to the park. Kazu loves it because he gets to choose what we do. The best part is, he likes to do all the free stuff. He's also been doing well studying for the kindergarden entrance exam next week. He knows his shapes, colors, numbers, phone number, address, his body parts, and our names. His writing is getting better everyday. In fact, I just did a scrapbook page with it. Poor guy, that's what happens when he gets stuck with me for a mom. I have this thing about being prepared. I hope I covered everything.

On to shoes. I'm really not a shoe girl but I do love a few good pairs of shoes. So, since I am in the market to buy a new pair, I did my usual research (ask dh to find the good stuff and show me when it's done), and wow. There are some great looking shoes. They are insanely priced and I could probably feed my family for a month with the amount that I'd spend, but oh well. (I've been trying to upload images and grr bloggers not working.)

Don't know why (by Norah Jones)

2006-07-21T22:58:00.000-10:00

This has to be one of my all time favorite songs.

Ok, I don't know why I have such a hard time with names. I can remember the strangest things but for some reason I have a hard time with names. Today I took Dylan to the preschool where he will be starting next month. I saw the list and knew that his teachers name was Stacy. When I met her in person I again asked her name and she clearly said Stacy but I still called her Sheryl for a good 2 hours. I was even corrected by one of the aides and still couldn't get it right. I promise I'm really not that ditzy. I can remember the break down for gold, the % for the ideal cut of a diamond, I still remember most airport codes but when it comes to peoples names I just have a hard time.

I've tried all the tricks like repeating their name when you are first introduced. I've trying associating the person with an object. I've even tried to make a jingle. Nothing has worked thus far. It's so bad that when I invited a friend to our monthly church crop I couldn't introduce her to anyone because I forgot everyone elses name. I just said this is my friend so and so. I know bad.

I think what is worse is that my husband is the same way. We make up names for everyone. It started in our Sophmore year of high school when we were in biology class together. Our biology teacher had a teachers aide. We called him Mr Francis for a whole semester. He was always quick to answer. The whole class was calling him Mr Francis. On the last day he asked why we were calling him Mr Francis. We were like why isn't that your name? He said nope, his name was Rick. LOL.

I don't know why I do it. So just in case, if I've been calling you the wrong name, please tell me. And if you know of anything else I can try please feel free to let me know.

On a side note, I came across Jennifer Woodbury's blog today. I didn't have a chance to actually read it but I LOVED her layouts and her photo's. I love the cleanness of her scrapping style. So pretty, if you have a chance check it out here.

I'm off to work on that recipe book. I'm still not sure what I'm going to do. Maybe I'll pop in at 2 peas to get some ideas.

Lonely (by Akon)

2006-07-21T07:20:00.000-10:00

Well, not really but a little. I feel like I'm missing out on some good reading (blogs). Everyone is in CHA, Chicago, and that means a lot of neglected blogs. I think I just could be jealous. Gosh, I would have loved to have gone to CHA and to Oprah with a trip like that I could scratch off two things off of my "things to do before I die" list.

Hmm, speaking of which I haven't scrapped that list list yet. Maybe I should do that this weekend. The problem about me scrapping stuff about me is that I don't have many pictures of myself that I like. Come to think of it, I've never done a lo with only my picture. Hmm, something else I have to work on, taking more pictures of myself.

We're up early to take the baby to sit in his new preschool class. This ought to be interesting. I hope he'll be ok. I'm so worried. Will blog more later... Aloha!

You're the inspiration (by Chicago)

2006-07-17T23:01:00.000-10:00

Yikes, remember that song. Wow, that was a long time ago. Hmm, that brings back some strange memories. Maybe I should do a sb based on the memories I get from hearing certain songs.

Here's a lo I made last night. I should have been working on some paper piecings to sell but I wasn't motivated. My creative juices really wasn't flowing so I scraplifted this layout from my all time favorite famous scrapbooker Leah Fung. You can view the original layout here It's nowhere nearly as nice as hers. I've probably killed it, and she'd probably cringe if she saw it. But hey, it was 2am and I was desperate to scrap. It's been awhile.

Lucky (by Britney Spears)

2006-07-16T22:24:00.000-10:00

My mil (mother in law) was here for a few days. We hit a few scrapbook stores. She saw and liked a sample lunch pail which was decorated with Hello Kitty at one of the sb stores. I tried it and it was MUCH easier than I thought. I figured it cost around $15. It would have been cheaper except that we got all the ribbon at the sb store. I didn't have a chance to take more pictures. I wish I did. But here's what I came up with. I think she's going to put it on her desk.

I'm not into altering things. I think that I don't have much scrapping time and I'd rather spend the time making sb pages for my family. I guess I'm just cheap. I'd rather take the $15 I spent to make the tin and put it in a gift instead. I know the tin is a part of the gift. I do want to try to make a few small ones for Kazu's Kindergarten teacher.

I also hit my mom up for some old photos. I was looking for some of myself. Of course I realized that the 'good' ones I have, but they are in storage on another island. However, I did find a whole treasure trove of old photo's of my parents. Man, my mom was a hot mama. Geez, what I'd give to have her body, back in the day. Anyway, she agreed to help me sb them. I'm excited.

My mil also let me borrow a couple of recipe books from my husbands grand father. I hope in the next few weeks to take them and make a special receipe sb. My husband loved his grandathers Cream Tuna and we've tried for years to make it. Little did we know my mil had it in the same recipe book his grandfather used. I can't decide if I'm more excited to have the recipes or to make the sb. Either way, we are so lucky to have it. I'd love to find a copy of these books for my self.

Funny Face (by Ella Fitzgerald)

2006-07-12T15:06:00.000-10:00

I've been busy since I got back home. We've been enjoying summer. I miss posting photos so here's a couple from before we left. Here's Kazu, he's such a comedian. Love him to pieces. Will post more later.

Leaving on a jet plane.....

2006-07-08T23:48:00.000-10:00

We're going home today. I can't really say whether I'm happy or sad. I'll be happy to be home but sad to leave family. It was nice to relax in Hilo and just kick back. I didn't see any of my friends; we stayed at home most of the trip.

I did get to talk to my friend Amy. I wish we were able to meet up, I miss her. It's nice to have a friend with whom you can be yourself. When I talk to her I don't have to pretend, I don't have to worry about her judging me, or talking behind my back. I can just be me. We've done some crazy stuff. And it's nice that we have each other to confide in.

We met in the 9th grade that was 18 years ago. We were in Mr. Barnes English class and I remember her telling me she had a baby sister who was the same age as my niece. I was shocked to hear today that her sister, Sara, will be 20 years old. Where does the time go?

I feel blessed to have met Amy. I've always looked up to her and thought that she was so smart, beautiful, and talented. In fact, now that I think of it, Amy was the one who helped me to get me my first job at a jewelry store. It was in our senior year of high school. I worked for that company for 9 years. Of course when I got hired we were underpaid (if I remember correctly I was getting 25 cents under minimum plus commission), and for all the stuff we put up with when we left, we were still under paid (grrr to Mary S). Ahh those were the days.

So although I didn't get to meet up with her today. I know that no matter how long it's been since we've seen each other, we always pick up right where we left off, as friends.

Ps, I forgot to mention this Amy is THE Amy of KONA BEAD GIRL. Check it out!

Wannabe

2006-07-05T09:01:00.000-10:00

So tell me what you want, what you really really want, I want a, I want a ... uh, now I have that song stuck in my head. As you can see while on vacation in Hilo I've had a lot of time to work on my blog. I've added a few links, well more than a few. I still need to put them in the order that I enjoy reading them.

I've also had some time to work on some journaling for layouts that I've been wanting to work on. I don't think that journaling is hard for me, I just don't think that I'm good at writing. I wish I were a better writer but I'm not. The truth is I'm a numbers person. I am always in awe of those scrappers who are so good at putting their feelings down on paper. Their families are so lucky that they were able to not only get their thoughts and feelings down on paper but be able to do it so eloquently. I read some journaling and think, gee that's exactly how I feel, that's what I was thinking, why couldn't I come up with that. I'm still struggling with my subject verb agreement. Oi! My mil (mother in law) is an english teacher, she must cringe.

I woke up this morning thinking about goals. I started thinking about the goals that I have. I set goals for myself on a daily basis like doing laundry, finish a lo (layout), or spend more time playing/teaching the boys than cleaning the house. My thoughts on goals this morning were a little bigger. They were two goals in particular. I've always wanted to learn how to play the piano and the guitar.

How much time would it take to learn? Who would watch the boys? How would I get the money to buy the equipment? Who could teach me? How much work/energy would this involve?

Why do I have these goals?

My parents named me Melody and I think I'm the least musically talented person in my family. My parents were entertainers, they travelled the world putting on Hawaiian shows. So when I was born, in the middle of the height of their career, naturally they named me Melody. I love the name but I don't think I live up to it. I can't sing, I'm tone deaf, but it doesn't stop me from singing. I used to play the claranet in intermediate school. I was ok, but I really didn't like it.

I don't want to learn how to play the piano or guitar just so I can live up to my name. I want to learn to play because my favorite childhood memories revolves around when my parents would get out their instruments and sing happy, sad, or silly songs.

Music has always been a big part of my life. You know how some people can tell you what weight they were at what age or during a ocertain event. Well, I can tell you what song I liked. I won't always be able to remember who sang it but I can tell you all the words to the song.

I can also tell you what songs my parents sang at my grandfathers funeral, my cousins weddding, or at Aunty Mina's parties. I always thought that my parents were so talented. They could make someone laugh, cry, smile, sob, or dance while playing music. So even though I won't be albe to sing to my boys while playing the guitar, maybe I'll be able to join in the next time my mom or dad decides so sing. And maybe my boys will have happy memories of music, me and my guitar. I guess a long story short it just looks like fun to me.

I have to say, I will be starting to work on another big goal that I have come August. I'll be going back to college. I didn't finish the first time around and with sheer determination hopefully, I'll finish this time.

la da dee...

2006-07-04T22:22:00.000-10:00

I usually don't do these things but this one sounded fun...

In my fridge:
1. milk
2. eggs
3. cheese
4. Water
5. poke

In my closet:
1. Jeans
2. Bebe shirts
3. Roxy shirts
4. Hurley shirts
5. Louis Vuitton shoes

In my purse:
1. trains or trucks
2. ipod
3. palm
4. diapers
5. wipes

In my car:
1. phone book
2. food
3. Stroller
4. car seat
5. water

On my TIVO (my figurative TIVO-lol):
1. Grey's Anatomy
2. Oprah
3. Desperate Housewives
4. Big Brother
5. Amazing Race

Now, it's your turn. I tag... everyone reading this... all three of you... LOL. Reply in the comments area.

Happy Birthday....

2006-07-03T06:28:00.000-10:00

We are on vacation in Hilo and we are having fun. It's a big change for me in my routine. I go to bed early and wake up early. The pc I'm using isn't all that fast so I've been kinda steering clear of it. I haven't been sb'ing (sigh) and taking pictures. I decided to leave everything at home. The first couple of days I thought I'd die, but it's ok now.

I'm still thinking about sb'ing but now I'm gathering my thoughts on what to scrap. It seems that lately I find myself scraping the everyday things. I completely missed out on taking pictures on Easter, my birthday, and I have a feeling I'm going to miss out on 4th of July. That's ok though, the everyday things are just as important.

It appears that I've left everything at home. I don't even have my palm, so I can't call anyone. So if anyone is out there, call me. LOL.

We went to the movies twice this weekend. I haven't been to the movies in ages. The last movie I went to was Spiderman in 2001. We saw Superman which was... ok. We also saw The Devil Loves Prada. I loved it. My sil and I immediately thought of the Oprah show on finding your bliss. I loved all the clothes, shoes, handbags, and coats featured in the movie. I loved seeing Paris, I really want to go. I loved seeing New York, miss it.

And before I leave, today is Pop's birthday. He would have been 86, I think. He was my husbands grandfather and passed away two years ago. I was thinking about the ways that he changed my life. He was like a grandfather to me. I never knew my real grandfathers, one died before I was born and the other when I was little. Pops always thought of me, not only on the holidays or birthday but even at dinner time. He'd make a whole head of broccoli because he knew I liked broccoli, he taught me how to make Southern Fried Chicken, and was a great example on how to save money. I think of him often and hear his voice saying "it's all you can eat, but eat what you take" when we are at an all you can eat buffet. I hear his voice in mine when I call my boys Mr. Man or Little Man, or when I ask them "how do you do" while shaking their hand. I think of him when I cook and wish I knew how to make more of his meals, especially his creamed tuna, which Duke loved, and corn chowder which I loved. He was frugal, hardworking, and kind. All traits that I hope to instill in my boys. Happy Birthday Pops.

Alright, I'll try to get a couple of photos up soon. Have a safe 4th of July.

Every Morning

2006-06-28T06:40:00.000-10:00

Every morning I wake up at 7:30am which is REALLY early for me. Well this morning I was up at 6am. The baby woke me up and I couldn't go back to sleep. But my days of 7:30am sleep in's are numbered. In two weeks when we come back from our vacation in Hilo, I'll start waking up at 6am every morning. I'll be trying to get the boys used to their new school routine.

Every morning I'll wake at 6am, shower get dressed, wake the boys, bathe them, dress them, make breakfeast, eat, feed the boys, check email, feed the dog, walk the dog, say a family prayer take kazu to kingergarten, and the baby to preschool and be in class by 9sm. I'm tired just thinking about it. I think the days of bacon, eggs, sausage, and pancakes for breakfeast are numbered around here. In fact, I'm starting to wonder if 6am is early enough.

On another note, we're heading off to Hilo today. Kazu is so excited he can hardly stand it. He's packed his toys, psp, and swim shorts. He's all set. Kala'i has no idea what's happening. He was really happy when we picked up his papa from Hilo at the airport. Kala'i kept saying "Papa, papa, papa" because he was just so excited to see papa.

The house is clean and except for a few things to pack we're ready to go. I often wonder why I clean the house when I leave my husband behind, when we go on vacation. I guess the thought of coming home to a clean house is a nice idea.

Speaking of packing, I'm debating on packing my sb supplies. I can't decide. I'll miss my Quickutz (die cut system) dearly. I think this may be the longest amount of time we'll be seperated. I'll miss my textured cardstock, and genesis trimmer. Not to mention, I didn't even get to play with the new paper and ribbon that my mom bought back for me from Vegas. Sigh, I can't even decide on whether or not to take the 'good' camera, and which lens do I take? They are way to heavy to take them all. Oh well, I guess I may have a lot more packing than I thought.

On yet another note, on Sunday morning, my sister Marcelle got married in Las Vegas. It was a surprise to everyone, I think even she was a little surprised. This is her first marriage and she seems happy. Here is a picture of kazu and her husband. Kazu really liked him, in fact, Kazu remembered his name and couldn't remember my sisters name. We hardly ever see each other. I'm happy for her, although, I still can't believe it. I guess I'll just have to watch the video and see the pictures to believe it.

...

2006-06-24T15:07:00.000-10:00

It's been a busy week. We're at my mom's house house sitting until Monday. We're enjoying the perks of having a home. All the things that we used to do and can't do anymore like playing in the sprinklers, water gun fights, and water balloon battles. The dog is enjoying himself too. Although, I think I'm in trouble, he's crushed a few of my mom's plants.

Other than that, nothing new to report. We had our monthly crop at church last night, it was fun. One of Kazu's preschool teachers came with a friend. She's so sweet. Kazu is lucky to have had her this year. Hopefully, she'll come again next month. It's so much fun to meet people who are just getting into scrapbooking. The excitement of learning a new technique or shopping at a new sb store is so thrilling. It's nice to know that I'm not the only sb freak out there.

I told Kazu's teacher about the Christmas Kazu was about to turn three. We went a little overboard on the xmas gifts that year. Unfortunately, he got sick on xmas and only wanted to open one gift. I was so sad I went out and bought special xmas pajamas just for the occasion. Well, the next day he wanted to open another present. And the sb'er in me kicked in. I couldn't have xmas pictures on a xmas sb page and he wasn't wearing his xmas pajamas. So for the next month as he opened his xmas presents I made him change into his xmas pajamas every time. I'm happy to report the xmas page came out great and the pictures all look great, you'd never know.

One last thing before I go, we finally took kazu's training wheels off of his bike. He's catching on quickly. Hopefully, by the time we go to Hilo he'll be able to ride his bike well to show Grandma Bebe and Papa. He hasn't fallen yet. Well, we're off to enjoy the yard for a few more days, have a nice weekend.

ps... get well soon Dawn

Say Somethin'

2006-06-19T08:06:00.000-10:00

The boys got this puppet house a long time ago from their Grandma and Papa in Hilo. it had been sitting in a box because we had no where to put it. I finally rearraged some things and assembled it. The boys love it. The funny part is that Kazu really doesn't get the idea of a puppet show. It's more like a chat with the audience / comedy session. And yes, it's all knock knock jokes, said in the most high pitch voice you could imagine.

We had another busy weekend helping my parents. They cut back their roof line and redid their patio on the side of the house. It's a little sad to see my parents get old. It was the three of us who built a house all by ourselves and now my dad cannot even lift a sheet of ply wood. I'm thankful that we are back in Hawaii and are able to help out.

I took this picture the other day fo Kala'i and Bluey. I couldn't figure out what they were looking at. But, it's typical for the two of them to hang out and drive each other crazy. They are the best of friends and when we are out running around for a long time, Kala'i will ask to come home to play with Bluey.

We went over to my sisters house to celebrate Fathers Day. My parents were there too. It was nice and relaxing. The boys love it there. They ran around the house non stop for 5 hours. Duke also got his first Fathers Day gift from Kazu. it was the cutest picture. On one side it said "My favorite thing to do with my daddy is to go skateboarding" And on the other side there was a picture of kazu and Duke skateboarding in front of one of Duke's stations. We thought that it was hilarious because we expected the large building in the picture to be a school or park, which is where they usually ride.

This week will be a very busy week. Dylan has physical therapy today, tomorrow he has occupational therapy, and Thursday is speech therapy. Tuesday, my sister arrives from Hilo, her boyfriend and her are going to Vegas with my parents. I drop them all off at the airport on Wednesday. I have a doctors appt on Thursday, just a yearly check up and need to make sure I catch up on my shots so that I can start school. And finally, Friday, we have our once a month scrapbook crop at church. I'm really looking forward to that.

I Wanna Talk About Me....

2006-06-16T18:21:00.000-10:00

I read this on another blog and thought that I'd try it. It's a fun little writing exercise

Finish these sentences...

I WANT: a house and a yard.
I HAVE: my health
I WISH: I didn't have to worry about money.
I HATE: that there are not more hours in the day, roaches and snakes.
I MISS: the restaurants and shopping in the mainland.
I HEAR: the Grey's Anatomy score in my mind far too often.
I WONDER: what my children will be like when they grow up.
I REGRET: that I didn't finish school.
I AM NOT: thin but in my mind I am!
I DANCE: often and embarrass my son.
I SING: horribly but I know the words to almost every song I hear!
I CRY: at the drop of a hat.
I AM NOT ALWAYS: on top of the laundry.
I MAKE WITH MY HANDS: some dang good chocolate chip cookies, chocolate drinks, and scrapbooks.
I WRITE: emails.
I CONFUSE: which day of the week it is too often.
I NEED: a new swimsuit, more SCRAPBOOK SUPPLIES, and chocolate.
I SHOULD: exercise more.
I START: organizing and can't stop until I'm done.
I FINISH: eating a piece of candy every time I open it.

Now it's your turn! Reply in the comments area below.

Bling Bling...

2006-06-16T00:23:00.000-10:00

I'm so happy. One of my best friends is starting a new website selling her bead jewelry. I'm so happy for her. Her jewelry is amazing. I've received several pieces from her and LOVE, LOVE, LOVE them. I wear them almost every day. Stop by often as she's adding new pieces daily. Check out Kona Bead Girl and refer a friend.

Be Happy!

2006-06-15T23:40:00.000-10:00

Inspired by other blogs, here is my list of what made me happy today...

* chocolate
* Kazu's huge smile when I picked him up from school today
* Kazu's picture of me and him, we were potatos
* Kala'i had his yearly review today with his care coordinator and he's doing well
* Kit Kat
* Talking with my sis-in-law yesterday
* Sharing my sb with Kazu's teacher
* Updating my ipod before the dog ate my cable
* Godiva

What's your happiness today?

A happy helper....

2006-06-14T07:24:00.000-10:00

I've added a subscription to my blog. Just sign up to the right and it'll email you whenever I add something new to my blog. That way you won't have to keep checking back for new posts.

Sitting, Waiting, Wishing

2006-06-13T16:23:00.000-10:00

Sitting, waiting, wishing that I was done with school. LOL, I haven't even started yet, I start on Aug 21. I have no idea what college will be like this time around. The first time it was filled with so many trials, which is why I never finished. Hopefully, this time it'll be a much better experience. Why am I talking about this? I registered for my classes EARLY this morning on the internet. Wow, what a huge change from having to get up early and stand in line just so I could get the 'good' classes. It was a blessing that I got everything I wanted and when I wanted them. In three classes I got the last seat, hooray.

The best news is that I got a tuition waiver and a $200 Pell Grant. The grant isn't much but after looking at the bookstore on line yesterday, it'll cover 2 books. Hey, I'll take what I can get. Money was an issue the first time I went to college, and this time I've decided that it won't be. I'm determined to do what I have to do just to get through it.

One reason that I've decided to go back to school is that I want to be a good example to my boys. I often tell Kazu how important it is to be well educated, and I want to be that example. I truly believe that after I get my degree so many more doors will open for our family.

I have always dreamed of being a sahm (stay at home mom). I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to stay at home for the last five years. But, after much prayer it's time for me to go back. Who knows maybe when I'm done, maybe our circumstances will be different and I'll be able to continue to be a Sahm.

Here's one of my favorite quotes that I've been thinking a lot about lately....

"Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending." -Maria Robinson

Smooth Criminal

2006-06-12T02:45:00.000-10:00

It's been a really busy weekend and it's not over yet. On Saturday we took Kazu to the zoo. We met up with 13 of his classmates and his teachers. He had so much fun seeing his friends out of schoolThe high light of the zoo trip was when a zoo keeper asked him to help clean the goats water bucket. He quickly stepped up and got busy. After he was done the zoo keeper gave him some bananas to feed the goats. He was so excited, that he later said that when he grew up he wanted to be a zoo keeper.

Today, we went over to my Mom and Dad's house. Duke helped them build a new patio roof while Kala`i and I cleaned my car. My car was in need of a good cleaning. Late in the afternoon, my Mom's neighbor called the cops on us. She claimed that she had asked us to move a saw. It was a bold face lie. Earlier she came out of her house swearing at Duke and showed him the 'bird'. I was floored at how much lies she had told the police officer, who really wasn't all that interested in the call. I could then understand why my mom was so upset by this neighbor. I felt bad for my Mom and thanked her for raising me with morals. It'll be interesting to see how she acts while my parents are on vacation and we are house sitting.

On a much sweeter note, have you tried the Godiva Chocolixir? It is so yummy. I like the dark chocolate, although, the milk chocolate is delicious too. I crave these all the time, and hopefully, I'll be able to get one tomorrow. I got a coupon for a free drink on Friday, and it's all I've been thinking about ever since. We're in Godiva so much that when they started a frequent buyer program, the sales associate hands me the card and says "I know this will be filled in no time" LOL If you love chocolate like I do, try a chocolixir, you'll love it too.

Can I get a woof woof....

2006-06-07T22:41:00.000-10:00

So here's my dog who has been driving me absolutely crazy today. It could be because I'm just not feeling well. He's not so little anymore. I think he's over 30lbs and 7 months old. He was born on my wedding anniversary.

I've been going through some of the pictures that I have saved so don't be surprised if you see another post tonight. Enjoy!

Get Busy...

2006-06-07T17:57:00.000-10:00

Well, how do you like the new banner? I figured out how to do it in less than 5 minutes. Then it took me three hours to figure out how to get it bigger. And it's still not big enough. Oh well. I give up. I have a feeling it's going to look like that for awhile. I took the picture from the Hilton Hawaiian in April.

It seems that since making those cards I lost my mojo. I was doing so well. I had been on a roll making a few paper piecings a night and a lo a day. Hopefully, my mojo will come back to me soon.

I haven't been feeling all that well for the past couple of weeks. I finally got to the doctors office today. After a 2 hour wait I got some medicine.

I just realized yesterday that I register for school next week. I'm excited but dreading it at the same time. I'm not looking forward to being in class with kids that are oh, 14 years younger than I am. I'm an old hag compared to them. I think the part that I'm really dreading is loosing my afternoon naps. You know us older people we really need to rest.

Baseball season will be starting shortly. I love watching Kazu play but boy they do have a lot of practices and games. Here's a picture of him getting his trophy last year.

We're going to Hilo at the end of the month. I'm excited that I'll be able to get to spend some time with my sister-in-law Dawn. I love our long talks. I am truely blessed to have her as a sister-in-law. I really got lucky, I got a good dh and a great sis too.

You're Beautiful....

2006-06-05T15:04:00.000-10:00

It was such a long weekend. I can't believe it's over. There was so much to do. The biggest thing was that my baby graduated from preschool. I still can't believe he's going to kindergarten. I remember saying that I couldn't wait until he started elementary school. Now I'm a little sad. The little baby who made me a mom is growing up. I think I'm going to be a total mess come the first day of kindergarten. I'll have to add an extra box of tissue to his school supply list just for me.

Kazu and his classmates performed in a little ceremony in school. I cried of course. It was the cutest thing ever. He was so attentive and didn't miss a beat. I had to just laugh because although he knew the correct moves, I knew that he didn't really know all the words. He had been practicing for a month and each time he sang he'd miss a few words. It was the first time I've ever seen him perform in a school performance, his Aunty Dawn, got to see his first, and he was so adorable. He made me proud.

My niece also graduated from high school. We weren't able to go because we were at Kazu's graduation. I can't wait to see the pictures. I forgot what a big deal graduation is in Hawaii. The lei's, cards, balloons, and now the printed t-shirts with the grad's picture. CONGRATULATIONS DEZ!

Lucky for me Duke hung more shelves for my scrap area. It looks so pretty. Now if only I could buy a ton more scrap stuff to fill it up. LOL.

Finally, I was listening to the Grey's Anatomy podcast and the writers said that they name every episode after a song. I thought that it was a clever idea. I'm gonna try it and see how long it lasts. The title here is You're Beautiful from James Blunt. Love the song, but more importantly everything this weekend was just BEAUTIFUL.

It all looks the same....

2006-06-02T15:26:00.000-10:00

I try to go over to my friends house once a week to scrap. Here is the layout that I made this week. I know that I have a scrapbook style. I like to think of it as clean and simple. But I'm starting to wonder if every layout I make looks the same. What do you think?

I made a few cards

2006-05-31T01:20:00.000-10:00

A friend of mine, Amy, asked me if I was going to put cards up on my website. I had always intended to but never really got around to it. I don't think I'm very creative when it comes to making cards. And I'm too lazy to look through magazines to get ideas. So here are a few of the cards (11) that I made. They are all pretty much the same. I hope you like them Amy.

When it rains it pours....

2006-05-30T23:26:00.000-10:00

Lets see two weeks ago I was notified by the mechanic on a routine tune up for my Land Rover that I need to change the back brakes $650. Last week fridge broke, Sears guy came out $223. Today kitchen faucet leaked all over counter appx $100+ Thank goodness this month is almost over.

Had a wonderful day with my friend Sheryl. We got to go to the scrapbook store and stock up on some paper and other things. It's funny, you really don't think about friendship until someone asks about it. Sheryl and I have been friends for over 3 years now and I'm lucky to have met her. She's sweet and kind and knows just where to find any scrapbook product that one could be looking for. Now come on, that's a friend made in heaven.

Up til the break of dawn....

2006-05-29T22:44:00.000-10:00

Yesterday I had a mild heart attack. I went to turn on my pc and everything was in quadrants. I trid a few things and nothing seemed to work. So I have the husband try and no luck. After calling DELL customer service and hearing that it's over $3/minute we hung up. I think we could do a better job than some guy in timbuktoo who can barely speak English. Four hours go by and I'm beginning to feel sad. So after the husband and I really think about it, ahh it must be the monitor. Sure enough we unplug it and plug it back in, voila, it works.

I can't tell you how happy I was. I was worried about on line banking, bill pay, scanning pictures for the website, monitoring auctions, maintaining my website, printing photos, and everything else that revolves around my pc. I've come to realize my pc feels like another body part, something I need to survive.

After the pc woes, I get the kids to bed and start scrapping. I plug in the iPod and am in scrapbook heaven. I finished two layouts and was so proud of myself that I even got one of them scanned. I look down and it's almost 5am. Boy does time fly when you're having fun. Here's the layout...

I had my husband drive me out to the new scrapbook store in Kailua, "A place in time" I liked it. They had a little of everything. I got really good customer service AND they had a restroom for customers to use. I hate when you go into a store that doesn't have a restroom. For some reason my son always seems to have to go while at the scrapbook store.

2006-05-28T22:27:00.000-10:00

I got an iPod. I love it. I have something to keep me company as I scrap til the wee hours of the morning. I'm always afraid that I'm playing the radio too loud at night. Now I don't have to worry about it. However, I'm addicted to downloading stuff. Anyone know of any good sites for downloads other than iTunes?