Happy Birthday Dallen!

Dallen turned 9 years old on January 26th. Wow! It's hard to believe that he was born that many years ago but at the same time, it doesn't. To his disappointment, he had school, piano lessons, AND baseball practice on his birthday...so he was a little bummed by the non-festivities of the day. But, he planned a birthday party for himself with a few friends. He planned it on a Furlough Friday, which means no public school, so we thought to make use of the day since the weekends are so busy for everyone.

His idea of a birthday party? Playing Wii at home with his friends. Easy for me, I guess. Dallen had Zack, Marques and Jet over for his party and I overheard some really odd conversations while they were playing Super Mario Brothers on the Wii. You never quite know what's going on in four 8-10 year old minds, do you?

I offered to get them out of the house to a movie too. We saw the Jackie Chan (Dallen loves Jackie Chan) movie, The Spy Next Door. Not going to win any Oscar's for that one! But, the boys enjoyed it and laughed at the most peculiar things.

That night, we had an ice cream cake as a family which was enjoyed by everyone!



On Saturday night, Grandma and Grandpa took Dallen (and the rest of us) to the Plaza Hotel where Dallen enjoyed multiple bowls of steamed clams and plates upon plates of crab. I think he enjoyed his birthday WEEK!

Inside

Just a couple of day to day pictures that I found amusing of Chyler. Our family is a corn family and Chyler is no different. She loves it! So much so that she found some corn still in the can and helped herself. Here she is in action! The other 2 pictures, I thought resemble some of those sponsor this child ads you see on TV. Not that I find those ads funny, but I thought my daughter had a very forlorn look...especially with her runny nose.



Austen is my best helper. He loves to help out whenever he can. He is also affectionate and compassionate. He'll probably make a great husband and Daddy one day. When he cleans, he's pretty thorough and meticulous so tonight, he surprised me by cleaning their toy room without being asked! All by himself!! He's done this before and I never got a picture but he was so proud and I was so happy...I had to take a picture! If you'll notice the small details of his cleaning:

1) Hello Kitty is neatly sitting in the chair.
2) All the toys too big for the baskets are neatly lined up along the wall.
3) Chyler's shoes and a little stuffed animal are neatly placed next to the TV.

He even draped this blanket on the couch futon. He got a big, long hug so much so that he had to request to be released. Thank you Austen! You made my day!

Outside

The plan for the 1st tier of our backyard is to concrete one side, then grass up the other. But, it had to be even with the existing sidewalk...which means that they needed to build the wall up a little bit more to achieve that. So, more wall! Hey, but look at our grass!



Just a quick update on Pepper. We put a "special" bed box out there for him and he loves his new cave! Sugar and Pepper spend their days on opposite sides of the screen door. The life of our cats. I think Pepper has nice coloring and markings. I can't quite get over his yellow eyes though!

Serious kiddie discussion

Mommy (talking to Chyler): Whose cute??
Chyler: ... (no comment, too busy climbing on the chair)
Brennen: Chyler is cute.
Mommy: Yes, Chyler is cute. You're cute too!
Brennen: I not cute.
Mommy: Yes, you're cute!
Brennen: No.
Mommy: Who's cute then?
Brennen: Chyler is cute. And Mommy. And Grandma.
Mommy: But you're cute too!
Brennen: No, I not a girl. I a boy!!
Mommy: Oh, so only girls are cute?
Brennen: Yes.
Mommy: So what are boys?
Brennen: I dunno.
Mommy: Boys are handsome!
Brennen: Boys handsome.
Mommy: Are you handsome?
Brennen: Yes.

A funny thing happened to me on the way to...

Sometimes my kids crack me up. Two things today...

Austen saw a donut box (Love's Old Fashioned Chocolate Donuts) on the kitchen table and asked if he could have one. I think he was thinking that it was the powdered ones we usually get so when he got the OK and hurled himself across the room towards the box only to find something different, he said:

"What is this?!! It looks like doo-doo!"

And you know what? They really do! I think that's the last time for old fashioned chocolate donuts for our house!

Then, later on after we picked up Brennen...I overheard their backseat conversation.

Austen: I want to go play in the snow! (As he was looking out the car window at the fabulous sunny day...) I want to ice skate!

Brennen: I don't want to ice skate. I'll get hurt! You going get hurt too Austen!

Austen: Do you want to make a snowman?

Brennen: ...

Austen: I can make a big ball but I can't carry it. You want to help me Brennen?

Brennen: We can have a snowball fight!

Austen: I want to throw snowballs at the snowman!

Brennen: But, you can't throw it in my face...okay?!

At this point, at this weird conversation...I started cracking up. But, they were oblivious because we passed a McDonald's and then they completely forgot about their snow plans to ask for french fries and a root beer.

On a side note: Remember, Pepper our outside stray cat? I have finally succeeded in petting him - for about 2 weeks now. He loves to brush up against my legs when I go out to feed him. He purrs and loves to get scratched behind his ears. He is actually more interested in being pet and scratched than he is in eating. Ahh, I feel success!

And I do believe he is a he - I think his manhood is showing now. I think with cats it takes awhile because remember, they thought Sugar was a girl at first too!

The price of grass...

otherwise known as "the reason why we had so many kids"!



It's weed-picking time! This happened tonight and we have a little bit more grass everyday. The last lawn picture I took was back on the 4th and I think our grass has filled in even more since then! Yay!

Baseball...again!

Austen is playing tee-ball for the second time but with a new coach, his Daddy! Yes, Lad is sacrificing his time (and patience) with 15 five & six year olds who all have the same attention span Austen's has. HA! Lucky it's not me! Lad says Austen has improved - he has a good swing, knows where to run after a hit, and can field grounders most of the time. Is his heart in it? It may be, but all that grass and dirt to dig up and roll around on can be so distracting! But, he's a cutie in his uniform and resembles a bobble-head when he has his batting helmet on.



Dallen has now moved up in division and is playing in the Minors now. He is on the Aiea A's with Coach Derek. For the most part, he has been playing 3rd base. He has to get used to being pitched to by his peers rather than the coach but his bat is coming around. He really wants to make solid contact but it takes some getting used to and he gets frustrated at times. He has talent and we are trying to encourage him to continue with it but it is still not his favorite thing to do. Sports is good for him because he has couch potato tendencies. I have to say though - as you get into the higher divisions in baseball, the game is SO much more interesting! I mean, tee-ball is cute and all but it can be painful and even scary to watch at times!

My baby girl is TWO!

Chyler celebrated her 2nd birthday today! She now has to officially pay full pop for airline travel! LOL!

She celebrated simply - with just her brothers, grandparents, a cake and some presents. She was in heaven! We splurged on a beautiful cake from Cold Stone - red velvet cake with cake batter ice cream! I took Brennen and Chyler with me when buying the cake and was trying to veer towards the individual cupcakes - they were pink and cute and a lot cheaper! But, Brennen insisted his baby sister needed a pretty cake. So, we got the confetti birthday cake. I think Brennen insisted on that one because it was covered with sprinkles! He originally said that she needed a Princess cake but hey, you don't need a princess if you have sprinkles! Doesn't she look like she's thoroughly enjoying her cake??


One funny note: Dallen was appalled that I would take Chyler to buy her own cake...he thought it should be a surprise. I told him Chyler doesn't know the difference but I was touched that he was thinking of her happiness. I didn't even give it a second thought...hmmm, bad Mommy! Note to self: Surprise him when his birthday comes up, which is around the corner!

Since we're still recovering from Christmas, I thought presents? Bah Humbug! But, thank goodness for Aunty Dorothy, Uncle Masaya and Uncle Eric for saving the day - lots of presents for Chyler! She loved opening her gifts and completely fell in love with her Hello Kitty doll. She'll be carrying it around everyday - plus, it came with a purse so what could be better??



To describe Chyler, I'm taking an excerpt from our Christmas letter:

Chyler is now almost 2 and Lad calls her a TIGER! Whatever I imagined having a daughter would be like, I’m not sure I thought it would be like this! She has a very strong personality - is that a nice way of saying she’s bossy? She loves to ‘discipline’ her brothers often telling them “No!”, “Stop it!”, or “Wake up!” – always with an exclamation mark in tone and volume. She loves animals, loves dolls, loves pretty things like hearts & flowers. She loves the word ‘pretty’ but looks pretty disheveled, albeit cute, most of her days no matter what I do. Chyler is fearless – she gives nothing a second thought, just jumps right in. Her favorite pastime is piling up pillows on the floor, climbing up on the couch then jumping off onto the pillows. She is super friendly and EXTREMELY talkative. She speaks well for her young age - the boys were never like that - but I think girls are just naturally wired to state their opinion! She loves to eat and if you don’t share, you’ll probably get an indignant, “HEY!!”. She is feisty and tough and can usually give as good as she gets while still being the sweet, cuddly, and sensitive little girl that she is. Everyone tells me that she needs to be tough what with her 3 older brothers but, I think she got a double serving of attitude and independence. We’re looking forward to watching her grow up with much anticipation, as she gets older and even more determined because she’s been a hoot to have around!

Things she loves at this moment: Finding Nemo (she calls it Nemo Daddy - "I want to watch Nemo Daddy" - her first request of the day, everyday); milk; Hello Kitty (she calls it pretty kitty), and animals - real or stuffed.

Impressions I'd like to remember of her now: She always asks with hope in her heart, "candy?" and when the answer is no, she replies..."aawwww!"...but is never upset. She always has to leave the house or car with something - a bag, a stuffed animal, a bottle - something. She's rarely empty-handed when leaving somewhere. Which usually means that I end up carrying it because she isn't that intent on keeping it with her once we are out and about. She loves dirt. I have 3 boys who never dug in dirt but I have 1 girl who loves it!

My message to her: Chyler, we love you so much! Heavenly Father knew that you were needed to complete our family! What a blessing you are to your Daddy, your brothers and especially to me.

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

It seems that with the anticipation of Christmas, it will never come. Then it just flies by and you can't believe it's over already! That pretty much sums up our Christmas but it was so much fun!

This year, we had our family dinner on evening of Christmas day rather than on the eve so our eve was pretty mild. The kids woke up and guess what? Santa came! (Amazing!!)

The kids tore through their stockings and their gifts from Santa. Played for a bit then headed to Grandma's for more presents! We are truly blessed for having such a wonderful family who make it so exciting and special for our kids. It was funny though - after all the presents, Dallen still wanted to play his video games, Austen went to play with his trains, and Chyler was having fun with boxes and gift wrap. The only one who truly loved his gift was Brennen who was just dying for a Buzz and Woody from the time he saw it on TV and in the Toys R Us Wish Book. So, he didn't let them go at all.



That night, we had a wonderful dinner with family and friends (in our newly renovated, almost completed kitchen, no less!) and SO MUCH FOOD!! It was yummy and everyone had a great time together. I was busy eating, I guess, because no pictures were taken...at all! Take it from me, Sis. Tateyama's shrimp and Aunty Bea's layered Jell-o were my favorites and were delicious!

No sooner than Christmas came and went - we saw the end of 2009 and the beginning of 2010! We had a great eve with friends and fireworks. My kids are pyros, I think. I only got pictures of Austen, Bren, and Chyler because Dallen was off making some "superwork" by stringing several fireworks together. Again, great food and great company! Chyler made it until about 9:30pm and passed out. By the time 12:00am came around, I was snuggled up in bed reading. The boys brought in the new year by popping everything they could!



This afternoon, we lounged for most of the day then headed to my Aunty Sue's house for our traditional family get-together. She always makes 2 kinds of soup - Portuguese Bean Soup and Pig's Feet Soup - both are super yummy! Again, there was so much good food! Can't move good food! You know what I mean!

Happy New Year! May 2010 bring happiness and joy, not to mention a better economy! Hope you have a great one!