scatterbrained/systemless/sporadic stuff

Yes. I just googled "What's another word for 'random'?" to write my post title. 

I apologize for the unmethodical wandering of my pictures, I just have to share them with SOMEBODY or they will be lost forever in the depths of the folders of my external hard drive. And I know I do posts like this a lot. . . the ones with erratic, unintentional and irregular pictures from my iphone . . . but, hey, at least I'm trying to change up my vocabulary a bit, right?

Malia's new favorite things to draw - herself, our family and flowers.

All three kids had dentist appointments this month and good news! No CAVITIES! Woohoo!  By the way, I LOVE my dentist - if you're looking for a good kids dentist I definitely recommend Dr. Gifford in Provo.

Spring to us means SPRING FOOTBALL! We got to go watch Michael doing his thing on the field at football practice.  Gooo Cougars!

I know where Tali got her lips from

Friday night = movie night!  This night we watched The Wizard of Oz (well, most of it - we skipped over the scary parts).

One morning Kina got herself dressed and was so proud because she "looked just like Mommy!" I asked her why and she lifted her shirt to show me her white undershirt.  Hmm. . .  looks like someone's been paying attention!:)

Thank you for reading this nonmethodical, arbitrary and aimless post.

Aren't you proud of me? I didn't use RANDOM once on this whoooole pa. . . . DOH!

why does folding laundry take me so long?

Answer - Because I have three little girls who couldn't care less about a PILE of clean clothes, but think FOLDED clothes are cooler than any toy we have in the house.

But it's hard to get made when they look THIS cute playing peekaboo with a pair of panties.

happy st. patricks day!

St. Patrick's day is usually one of those holidays I don't celebrate. I think the most I've ever done is wear green for the day.  This year, I decided to have a play date to celebrate. It was extremely last minute - but it was a blast. We potlucked lunch, had a few Irishy games and decorated cookies. Seriously, it showed me how easy it is for kids to have FUN. And because it was such a succes with so little effort, I've now decided I will celebrate every holiday (no matter how insignificant to me) with a playdate (it sounds a lot less intimidating than a "party").

Here are my tips of a successful playdate - 

Potluck lunch - no one has to break the bank and the kids end up with a feast full of a variety of foods.

Have a few SIMPLE activities planned - of course, cookie decorating works for ANY holiday and the kids LOVE it.

When possible, have the kids come color coordinated or in costume - they totally sense the difference and it makes for great pictures.

And lastly, do it with awesome moms who are fun, beautiful, talented and don't mind last minute kine stuff.

Hope everyone had a Happy St. Patricks Day!

a real piece of art

Bob Marshall is a BYU art professor and an incredible muralist with work in some LDS temples.  He is one of my dad's dear artist friends that I feel I've known for all my life.  I love him and his family so much.  They have very witty senses of humor and great personalities.  Seriously, I LOVE them! 

And THAT is why I was so happy to hear of the art show Bob was holding in Springville with two of his friends.  I got to catch up with Bob and his wife and his sweet family.  PLUS, I gotta see some pretty sweet art.

My favorite piece of the whole show. Isn't it incredible what he can create with paint?

Us with Bob

things that make me smile

The way Tali looks after she eats tomato soup

How Malia and Kina kept these homemade masks (cut out by Tali, painted by Malia and Kina) on for hours before finally taking them off to go to bed.

That Malia LOVES to vacuum and help clean the house.

Amalani's impression of the Olsen twins

These four happy kids

Brave Kina holding the big hairy spider at the Bean Museum (she was the only child brave enough to do so).

Kina and her ice cream cone

These three laying on their stomachs watching Puss in Boots, our new favorite movie.

Saturday morning (a.k.a. Waffle Day)

Naptime.  Need I say more?

And finally, seeing those three cuties all clean and jammied and excited for movie night.

What can I say? I smile a lot living with these three kiddos.

kinas first haircut

Last night Kina found some scissors and cut one of her pigtails off.  (Awesome!)  Today, Wayne's cousin (and recent beauty school graduate), Mata came over to fix it giving Kina her very FIRST haircut.  She did an awesome job.  It's really short, but thankfully it's curly and has a totally cute shape. Thank you Mata! 

happy birthday michael

February 25 was my little brother Michael's 22nd birthday.  To celebrate we went bowling at the Provo Beach Resort as a family on Saturday then we had a potluck with cake and ice cream on Sunday.  It was a wonderful weekend partay to celebrate our favorite little baby brother.  

Maddox and Malia - I love kids in bowling shoes!

My broooothers

Michael tbowing after he got a strike.

The whole group. The winner of the night? That'd be David.

Of course, we decorated the house for Michael's little bday party.  Malia helped me color this banner.

It was an awesome party - complete with pony rides for the kids.

Happy Birthday little brother!

i love that my dad has an iPhone

Yesterday Malia wanted to write a letter to her Papa in Hawaii.  She told me what she wanted to say and I wrote it down then she wrote it on her paper.

This is her letter.

This is my dad's letter I got in return

. . .with these pictures

Avocado tree

Mango tree

Malia asked me to read it and looked at the picture over and over again.  After she asked me, "Mommy? Why does Papa love me so much?

pics from my iphone from january and february

The title of this post is proof, unfortunately, that when I'm tired I'm extremely uncreative.

The merry-go-round at Provo Towne Center. Kina's shoes remind me of Bruce Lee.

The other day, Auntie Isa texted me because she saw this book at Costco with my Dad in it.  I went that day to pick it up.  I loved reading it - got a little teary at times reading of my Grandma Kuka in Samoa.  My dad isn't a man of many words and I'm SO thankful we have this record of his testimony and family history.  It's a treasure.

Tali's new favorite hobby is putting on clothes. This is the fun ensemble she came up wiith this week.

Konner and the Kinas

Tali was so proud of herself for making this little brick chair.

Found these on my phone. I love that Kina loves taking pictures of herself.

Uncle Michael brought his little pet turtle, Crush, over to meet the girls. The girls were SO excited.

We finally finished coloring the little cardboard house that Grammy gave the girls for Christmas.  It's a hit. We love it!

I finally joined a little dance group.  Mary and Lala Ah Mu organized a bunch of ex-PCC dancers and it's been a blast getting together and dancing again.  I love these people!

st-st-stuttering

For as long as I can remember, Kina has had a stutter.  It's just always been there.  She stutters with every sentance and any sound. At the beginning of this year, Kina started going to speech therapy.  We meet once a week for an hour and have homework and exercises we do at home.  Kina loves going to her "school" and her teacher is wonderful. Already I can see an improvement, and the goal of the therapy is to completely cure it.  I'm excited and very optimistic!

happy heart day

Like I've said before, I'm not a huge lover or hater of Valentine's Day. To me it's just another day that I have to worry about my husband spending too much money (money that we don't have) on a gift haha.  Having said that, I have to give Wayne a big A PLUS on Valentine's Day.  I believe his goal was to make me feel special and loved and he did both those things.  He left for work early in the morning, but I woke up to a decorated house and this candy bar poster . . .

Then, I found this little sign with a ribbon that led me to. . . .

. . . this little set-up downstairs.  It was roses and Cheat Day cupcakes (my favorite!)

At night Wayne took me on a fun group date with some friends. Thank you Wayne! It was perfect!  Hope everyone had a very happy Valentines Day!