The First of Many . . .

Tonight for family home evening, Kyle gave the boys a Father's blessing to start the school year out.  He also gave Ikaika and Sepa one, at their request.  It was neat to listen to the prayers. They fit each boy so well. We are so grateful for Daddy holding the priesthood, so he can bless us.

7 years

This year Kyle and I celebrated 7 years of marriage.  Thanks to my in-laws and sister, Kyle and I were able to sneak off to Park City for a night and have a little break.  We did take Ka'imi since she is not weaned.  It was fun to have dinner on main street, buy junk food and watch movies in the hotel.
This picture was actually take at a different time.

In all our running around, we didn't pull out the camera.  But this serves the purpose of seeing what we looked like at this phase of our marriage.  By the way, Kyle is on the phone with his boss, President Holland.  It was something important so he couldn't put the phone down for the picture.  Oh well, better than nothing.

Ummm. . . in honor of our anniversary I'll just write one thing about us.
Our relationship has turned the word "favorite" from an adjective to a noun.  When I want Kyle to know how much I love and appreciate him, I tell him, "You are my favorite."  It basically means he is my everything.
Seven years and going strong.  I love you, Kyle.  You are my favorite :  )

32

HAPPY BIRTHDAY KYLE!!!

Kyle's family was in town. We came back from Park City to celebrate with a dinner with his family.  Kyle, with his goodness, cooked the main part of the dinner, fish-n-chips.  What did I get him this year?  A Laker championship video, oh yeah.

A little scared . . .

With such beautiful weather and 9 sleeps (as the boys understand it) left before Kekoa starts kindergarten, we decided to go to a nearby park.  The boys spent most of the time playing the in grassy area near a dried up brook.  With just a little time before dinner, we went over to the playground for a minute.  Almost at the same time, there arrived two little girls.  Their parents sat away from the playground, out of ear shot.  What followed was one of the most interesting experiences I've had in a long time.  So just to give you an idea, here were some of the things that came out of these two little girls mouths (mind you that by my very best guess, I would have said they were probably the same age as Kekoa and Ikaika - 4 and 5 or 6).

"Hi, boys." (while having one hand on their hip and pushing that same hip to the side).

My boys, happily, didn't really give them any attention (I think Sepa said hi when we first got there).

A couple minutes later, a couple of other boys came.  Since my boys weren't acknowledging them, their focus shifted.

"Look, more boys. Let's go talk to them."

"We're bad girls."

"You're not my boyfriend."

"Do you want to know my name? My name is Sierra-is-a-pretty-girl."

"I know how to kiss a boy."

That did it, I collected my boys and left. 
Reading what they said isn't quite the same effect - think of the tone of voice that a 18 year old diva girl might have and just make it little.  It was seriously unreal.
At first, all I noticed was the way they flipped their hair and stood (way too sexy for their age) and I was sad thinking my little girl would grow up in that kind of world.  But I felt better knowing I could influence her, teach her and most of all, set the best example I could for her. 
But as I continued to listen to them, my real fears came.  I realized my little Kekoa is going to leave our bubble in 9 days.  I will not be with him to take him away from situations I don't really care for.  What on earth has this world come to that I am afraid of the 5 and 6 year old girls that will be trying to talk to my son about having a boyfriend and kissing!
So what did we do tonight?  We had a good family home evening.  We reminded him again of the inspirational story of Joseph of Egypt and the term "flee."

My Cutie Pies

This picture took some major Photoshop work.  Sepa was looking silly so I swapped his head out.  But it was worth the effort.  They are all so cute and looking at the camera!

Ka'imi - 5 months

Ka'imi at 5 months:

• has stolen everyone-in-the-family's heart

• now spends the majority of her playtime on her belly (After that first roll she no longer likes being on her back - she rolls right over to her belly.  Diaper changes are more of a challenge).

• is a great supported sitter

• will eat rice cereal though I don't make it for her all that often.

• is a drooling machine.

• loves putting things in her mouth.  Gets frustrated when she can't.

• getting better with car rides (hooray!)

• always looking for her brothers when she hears them making noise.

• still in her co-sleeper next to me : )

• still wakes up several times a night, but has decent naps during the day.

•  is almost ready for a nap when she gets super smiley and laughs easily.

• seems to already have a thing for clothes.  When I am changing her, I show her the outfit.  She usually smiles and tries to grab the outfit to touch it :) It's so cute.

• recognizes her name. When I call her she turns and looks (I guess I should test that with someone else's voice though . . . )

• lately, she likes to fall asleep on my chest when I am putting her down for a nap.  I love it, because I just lay on my bed with her and take a rest myself : )

• did I ever mention she likes polka dots?  One Sunday, she spotted a polka dotted bag in the row behind us and couldn't take her eyes off it :  )

• still mommy's number one fan  : )

(Ka'imi: seriously, mom, another picture?)

Yummy Fingers

 Ka'imi's thing lately is to pull anything she can into her mouth.  Whatever she gets her hands on.  And she gets frustrated when it doesn't fit in her mouth.  She has this toy ball that she screams at all the time for that reason.
 
Here is a darling picture of her with her fingers in her mouth:

My favorite is when I hold her standing on my lap facing me and she looks at me, tries to grab my face, opens her mouth and leans forward as if she wants to eat me.  I giggle and tell her I fell the same way.  She is so stinkin' cute, I could just eat her : )

Home Sweet Home

Today, I was looking over a few things to get Kekoa ready for kindergarten.  I realized I've talked to him about memorizing his home address, but never got around to it.  So, I sent him on an Address Hunt.  First I sent him to the front of our house with a paper and pen to write down the numbers he saw on the front of our house.  I initally sent him because I was busy feeding Ka'imi, but then it became more of a hunt as he was excited to come back with a "clue" of what he found.  I was amazed that when I asked him to recite the numbers he just wrote, he did it without any trouble (there are 5 numbers in our address, so that was impressive to me).  Then, we took a little feild trip (it really seemed like a trip with all four kids!).  First, I showed him the numbers on the curb by our house. It was funny to sew how amazed he was that it was the same numbers he had just memorized. After that we went down the street until we found the green street sign that had the name of the street we lived on.  I had Kekoa write it all down on his own.  Then, we went back home and I had him write the city and state.  Here's what he got:

Kekoa learned his address.  It was a fun little activity that we all enjoyed.  For a split second I thought maybe I could do home schooling.  It didn't last longer than that split second though.
One moment I thought was funny was after I explained to Kekoa why he needed to memorize his address (if he got lost), he asked if he could just keep the paper he wrote on in his pocket all the time.  It was cute, funny and in a way sad that he was so worried.  But over all I think he had fun learning where his home is.

Koa wanted a picture with Sepa.  Oooo . .. don't they look like trouble waiting to happen : )

New Logo

I spent the last few weeks working on a new look for my photography business.  Here is my new logo.  If you haven't seen my blog or website for a while, go take a look : )
Remember the song, my sister sang for me last Fall?  Now you can hear it on my website : ) I love it. Let me know what you think about it all : )

Roll over

The words of the nursery song are going through my head, Four bears in the bed and the little one said, "I'm crowded, roll over . . ." as I do this post. 

Ka' imi is usually ok hanging out as long as I am right near her as she can watch me.  So, today when I needed to change Sepa's diaper, I laid her down on her back right near me. As I changed her brother, she reached over toward the wipes I had laying right by her.  I was glad it was entertaining her.  When I turned back to grab another wipe she was on her tummy.  I only saw the last part of her rotation, but hooray, a new milestone!  I grabbed the camera to take a picture of her : ) I love remembering little milestones . . .

coming soon . . .

It is really happening.  My wonderful husband and twin brother, Uwe, have teamed together to get a room done in the basement for my studio.  I am so excited for it and so thankful for all they are doing.  It is long hours and hard work.  It will be so fun to finally have a space to really settle in : )

Entering the Wonderful World of Food

For the past few days I feel like I have been wrestling with Ka'imi when it comes to nursing.  Maybe she is going through a growth spurt.  I hope it isn't me losing my milk.  I thought maybe it was a sign that she is ready to start solid foods.  So we tried out some rice cereal tonight.  She did okay.  Most of it was just pushed out. We'll keep trying : ) And these are the pictures you get when your kids are behind the camera : )

 (I wish I had put a flower in her hair or gotten her a pink bib. She looks so much like her brothers!)

Oh, and I have to confess that this was not really her first taste of food.  I was eating some chocolate pudding one day and just couldn't help myself.  Somehow a little ended up on her lips : ) She didn't really eat it though.  Just thought I'd take a cute picture with her chocolate lipstick.  If she is anything like her mother (and grandmother) one day chocolate will be one of her best friends :  )

 

 

My little doll . . . I could just eat her : )

going private

I just need to do this - it'll make me feel better.  Like my life isn't exposed to the world.
Email me reyesohana@gmail.com or leave a comment if you'd like an invite.
~michele

Getting Back

I am so far behind on my posts.  I am going to work on getting caught up.  Just for the record, Kyle's mom is doing great.  I talked to the boys when Kyle was gone about grandma's being sick.  They still pray for her - that she will never get sick again.  It is so cute.  We look forward to a visit from her and papa at the end of the month.   Okay.  Time to get caught up . . .