breakfast

Yay! It's Friday!!

february randoms

Need to update the blog, so just recording some random moments from February. I realize if you are not me or the grandparents of my children you will probably find this post very boring. Please feel free to skip this entry and tune back in a few days for a more interesting one. he he

• Kina is sloooowly learning to talk. She can say most two syllable words and is starting to make more sounds. Wayne and I point at ourselves and tell her to "Say Mama" or "Say Dada" so often that Malia has started pointing to herself to tell Kina to "Say Malia" too. A few days ago, we were all sitting on the couch and Wayne told Malia she needs to teach Kina how to talk. Malia instantly started saying words over and over again for Kina to repeat. The first words she tried to teach her to say were "Mickey Mouse", "Bug" and "Cereal". Hmm. Interesting to see which were the MOST important words Malia could think of for Kina to learn.

• The other day I was reading to Kina in the bedroom when I heard Malia putting on her Velcro shoes at the front door. I'd just seen her walking around the house in one of Wayne's hats putting books into a bag. I called out, "Malia? Where are you going?" She called back, "Oh, I'm just going back to work."

• We babysat a friends baby the other day. Since the baby is still pretty young, I was worried Malia and Kina might be a little jealous of the attention I would have to give her and resent her a little bit. I think it was right to be worried, but it was for all the wrong reasons. I should've been worried they would SMOTHER her. As soon as the little girl was in the door they were kissing her and hugging her nonstop - like, constantly in her face. Poor little thing. I think she was relieved when her mom finally came and picked her up. Malia made quite the little mommy though!

• Kina's new thing is to put up her hands with her fingers outstretched and roar in a scary voice. I think she's trying to be a monster. Oh, and she loves to kiss. She kisses everyone and everything. Sometimes she'll hit something just so she can kiss it. Go figure.
  

• Sometimes when I call the girls I'll say "kiddies" or "kiddos". Yesterday, we were rushing out the door and I called out, "Okay, let's go kiddies!" Malia instantly dropped to her hands and knees and started meow-ing. It took me a second to understand why. lol

I love my little girls!!

viva las vegas!

Last weekend, Wayne and I went to Vegas for the Las Vegas Rugby Invitational and the USA Sevens Tournament . . . me and Wayne and half of Provo and Laie ha ha. This trip was our very first time leaving our girls - and it was a BIG deal for us. I debated till the end whether to go or stay, but having my mother-in-law here, with whom the girls are totally comfortable and happy with, helped me decide to go. . . and I am SO glad we went! It was such a fun, little vacation - we left Utah Thursday morning and arrived back early Sunday morning. Honestly, I've never really liked Vegas much, but this trip was awesome. First, we stayed OFF the strip (a MUST for future trips) and second, we were busy and entertained the whole time with the rugby going on - so we didn't have to spend money! ha ha I loved it!


Me, Toree, Elsie and Kina a.k.a. the best fans in the world. The Invitational involved teams from all over the country. Our first game was against a team from Ohio and we won!

Wayne played for the Provo Steelers. I took this pic right after he made his first try. Gooo Wayne!! . . . and Gooo rugby shorts!! ha ha

The Bellagio fountains - my favorite.

The Steelers played a couple times a day plus there were teams from Laie and BYU that we watched so, needless to say, by days end we were pretty tired. I think this pic was taken right before I fell asleep at one of them.

The Provo Steelers - finished UNDEFEATED! Woohoo!

Wayne said not to post this one cause I look like a homeless woman. Hey, it got really cold at night, okay? ha ha

On Saturday, the Invitational was over and the USA Sevens Tournament began. There were professional teams from all over the world. I loved it! - it's only seven players and two 7 minute halves for each game so they are super quick and fast moving. After watching it I've decided I'm never watching regular rugby again!! ha ha

Toree, Elsie, Fui, me, Wayne and Kina

The weather was GORGEOUS! My favorite teams to watch were New Zealand, Samoa, Fiji and South Africa - they were so good! And the winner for the most fans? DEFINITELY FIJI! The crowd was a sea of light blue.

During one of the breaks we went down to the Fan Festival and learned how to throw a rugby ball. We also shopped a little at the booths. There was one with a Samoan lady selling jewelry. We bought some earrings from her and she gave us a discount because she said Wayne was the cutest husband she'd ever seen - everything I tried on he was like, "Yes! Get it! I love it!" ha ha

Toree, Elsie, Tupu, Kina and me

We stayed at the stadium till the last game. It was freezing, but so much fun (that's a USA we're making. . . in case you couldn't tell)

I'm so glad I went. It was fun and honestly, a nice little break from the daily grind of being a mom. It was so weird to not have to worry about strollers, diapers or naptime the whole time there, but I think we drove our family crazy talking about Malia and Kina and how they would've reacted to every situation we were in. I missed them so much that when we saw them again on Sunday I cried. ha ha

Oh, and highlight of the trip? Definitely the Jack in a Box next door to our hotel. I counted it up and between the two of us, Wayne and I enjoyed 16 sourdough Jacks in 2 and a half days. LOL! So shame!! Hey, I had to take advantage and get my fix. I think I'm good till we go again next year. I'm already looking forward to it!!

Oh, and SAMOA won!! CHEEE-HOO!!

a playdate for valentines day

Earlier this week, we met at Tina's house for a Valentines Day playdate. EVEN though I got lost on the way (. . . like, way lost. . . several different times. . . ), we had a blast once we got there. Tina made a yummy red and pink themed menu complete with heart-shaped cookies to decorate and everyone brought a side to add on. The kids had a blast messing up Tina's brand new house and Malia had a blast stuffing her face with cookies. Thanks for the fun time ladies!

Happy Valentine's Day!

amen!

Last night I tried to capture a Latu family prayer. I had to sneak out the camera really fast because usually when the girls see a camera they try to jump behind it instead of staying in front of it.


Now, to actually get a photo of Kina folding her arms and closing her eyes I would've had to be REALLY fast . . . and have a really, really fast shutter lens -
(She only does it for a split second - we're working on it! ha ha)

thank you kika!!

. . . for a WONDERFUL Saturday!

1 spa pedicure
+ 1 mall shopping spree
+ 1 lunch at Tucano's
+ spending the day with awesome Mata
(+ it all being a COMPLETE surprise!)
=
1 shocked, excited and grateful Mary

This Saturday my SIL, Kika surprised Mata and me with the pampering of a lifetime. No, it's not my birthday and no, it's not Christmas (though it really felt like it, for reals). We were both so surprised when she showed up with pedicure passes . . . and then the surprises just kept coming! Kika is a young college student with her own expenses and bills and to make a sacrifice like this for me is . . . is truly touching. I'll never forget it.

THANK YOU KIKA!! You seriously MADE MY DAY!!

today's gonna be a good good day!

I LOVE LOVE LOVE this video!!

Now doesn't that just make you smile?

bsa

Hi, my name is Mary. (Hi Mary)
I'm a blogslackerolic.

Ha ha. Okay, but for reals. I'm RECOVERING!! I slacked off last month but am READY and WILLING to get in gear and keep my blog UPDATED!! woohoo! As you may have noticed, I've already cheated and gone back to update December and January and thus, hiding any traces of my laziness.

(By the way, BSA stands for "Blog Slackers Anonymous". If you need to join (and you know who you are) it's open for members. Remember - we're here to support each other! ha ha)

malia's new obsession

When I was little, I read a lot of books. One of my FAVORITE books was the Angelina Ballerina series. It's a bunch of stories about a little white mouse that dances ballet. The stories are very cute and the illustrations are awesome.

A while ago, my mom bought us the set but since Malia was so young we didn't ever take it off the shelf. That all changed last month - Malia LOVES them! We read them EVERY night and EVERY day AND we use Angelina as an example for Malia to do good things (ie "Malia, Angelina always eats her carrots"). She runs to her room during the day to grab and hug one of her books and chants "AngeLEEna" before bedtime. Seriously, it's an obsession!. . . and I LOVE it!