Holidays!!

I realize it's not even Halloween yet, but I count it as a holiday. It's like the introduction to the official "Holidays". Here's what I'm excited about:

Halloween is almost here and the temptation to watch a scary movie is almost too much to resist. I do not do well with scary movies, but once a year I succumb... and regret it.

I always look forward to Thanksgiving, but can't quite put my finger on the reason. It's probably the fact that family comes in town but there's something else about it that's just... comforting. The meal isn't my favorite, but the people are good. Yes, that must be it.

I'm still in charge of Secret Santa for my school. It's a large task, and one I look forward to from the first day of school. I had to be told the other day that it's too early to have everyone draw names.

The Frisky Holiday sweatshop is officially open for business. I love making stuff. I love giving gifts. It's perfect.

(on a side note) In order to open the sweatshop, I had to finish a project I've been kinda (not) working on. A friend of mine had a baby girl and asked for some paintings for her nursery. Here they are finally done and in the nursery:Elsie Tate is 5 months old now, but better late than never, right Laura?

So, needless to say, I'm really looking forward to the holidays this year. I think it has a lot to do with the fact that the kids are getting more and more into stuff. Seeing these times through their eyes has sort of rejuvenated my childhood excitement for all things festive.

Sprechen Sie Kawika?

Last week Kawika was sick with a crazy high fever. We took him to the pediatrician and then to the urgent care center. The urgent care center was down the road from Best Buy, and Nani being who she is came by with snacks after she got off work. Not only did she bring snacks, but she brought Kawika the movie Monsters Vs. Aliens. He was thrilled.



We NEVER let the kids watch DVD's in the car unless we're on a road trip... and apparently unless they've had a 105 fever. Sick kids get special treatment. Anyway, we let him watch the movie on the way home from urgent care. (it was just a wicked sinus infection, by the way, he's fine now)



It was late at night and Iwa was at Grandma Ann's. Before I went in to get her, we hid the movie and all traces of it so that she wouldn't want to watch it before she went to bed. I don't mind saying no, but I'll avoid a conflict if I can.



So, with the Monsters paraphenalia well hidden, Iwa gets in the car and greets everyone. Immediately, Kawika starts spouting his regular jibberish excitedly at Iwa. She's listening intently to what John and I can only interpret as, "blah, be dada me la... " Jibberish. There's a pause and Iwa says:



"What's this about a monster movie?"

Party like a rock star

To commemorate Leilea's first birthday we had a "small" gathering of some family. Yeah... small with John's family automatically includes 25-30 people. It was fun and I thought I'd share some pictures of the merriment.

Grandma Lorna strikes again. Another beautiful birthday cake.

My boys.

Leilea's wondering why her tray is empty.

She had no confusion what so ever about what to do with that cake. She picked up the plate and began to try to pour it directly into her mouth.

So, the weeks before the party, I wasn't feeling the party mood and I joked about staging pictures to make it look like we had a party so Leilea wouldn't feel like she was shorted. This picture is to prove that there were people at our house. I realized the other pictures I posted on here didn't include other people. I also love this one because Auntie Kaylani is in the background being ...well... Auntie Kaylani.

Happy Birthday Leilea

John says, "You know, this is the one we'll be bailing out of jail someday," and if you know Leilea, you know what he means.

This girl was a surprise from day one. Today, the only surprise is how we ever lived without her in our family. She's hilarious, and vivacious. Tenacious and determined. I can very easily see her being our comic relief, as well as our dramatic entertainment. Everything Leilea does, she does it with gusto.

When I was pregnant with her, Iwa was just turning three and Kawika was about 7 months old. Understandably, I didn't have much time to focus on me, on her.. put my feet up, anything. I would forget I was pregnant until someone would ask me about it. It was an easy pregnancy, and the easiest birth ever. This girl was determined to come into our family and has not let anyone forget her since.

She added a little more chaos to our crazy family but that is definitely overshadowed by the amount of laughter, cuddles, and love she's added to us all.

Happy birthday, girl. We'll post bail for you anytime.

Oh my gosh

I'm looking at that last post a few days after and I want to say that her hairdo is proof that God has a sense of humor. He gave me two girls- and three kids with heads full of hair at birth. Most normal moms long for hair on their little ones and would do better than these Sha-nay-nay-esque pigtails.

We usually keep her clothed, too. This was right before jammies came on.

Just felt like I should explain. Yeesh! It's a good thing she's cute on her own.

Leilea walking

okay, this is so 3rd kid syndrome but... when Kawika started walking I videoed one of his first attempts and put it on the blog. Leilea has been taking steps for a while, but she's just now mastered it and actually walks across rooms unprovoked. Of course, we wondered if Kawika would EVER walk, because doing so would be a feat over gravity. Either way, here's Leilea walking. in our messy house.

.... to catch you up a little, we've been a little under the weather at the Frisky house. First, Iwa got Strep. Then, of course, Kawika got strep almost the next day. Who would be third? Nurse Mommy, of course. I don't remember being that sick since I had chicken pox in the 5th grade and I had to take a nap on the floor on the 10 foot walk to the bathroom to take a shower.

A week later I was still feeling bad and Kawika starts with a fever and Leilea is acting not well. I take them in (with my mom, thank you) to find out that Leilea has a sinus infection and Kawika still has strep.

Of course, shortly after that, Iwalani starts getting feverish and she's still got it too. The next day, I go in myself because I'm still fatigued and feeling feverish and looking up my symptoms on webmd.com, seeing things like "Scarlett Fever" and "Mono". Nope, just still have strep. This time they gave me a different antibiotic and Prednesone.

.....which brings me back to my messy house. I have had two doses of that Prednesone and I am feeling better than I have in 3 weeks. All of a sudden, the house needs a total overhaul, toys need to be gone through, laundry needs to be done, and I'm just the girl for the job!

Good foward

I got this email from a friend a few days ago and I just can't get over the fact that I could have written it. I mean- some of these thoughts are word for word things I've wondered before. The actual email had a bunch more but here are a few of my favorites.

I totally take back all those times I didn't want to nap when I was younger.

There is a great need for sarcasm font.

Sometimes, I'll watch a movie that I watched when I was younger and suddenly realize I had no idea what was going on when I first saw it.

Was learning cursive really necessary?

How many times is it appropriate to say "What?" before you just nod and smile because you still didn't hear what they said?

MapQuest really needs to start their directions on #5. Pretty sure I know how to get out of my neighborhood.

I can't remember the last time I wasn't at least kind of tired.

Whenever I'm Facebook stalking someone and I find out that their profile is public I feel like a kid on Christmas morning who just got the Red Ryder BB gun that I always wanted. 546 pictures? Don't mind if I do!

If Carmen San Diego and Waldo ever got together, their offspring would probably just be completely invisible.

Why is it that during an ice-breaker, when the whole room has to go around and say their name and where they are from, I get so incredibly nervous? Like I know my name, I know where I'm from, this shouldn't be a problem.....

Can we all just agree to ignore whatever comes after DVDs? I don't want to have to restart my collection.

"Do not machine wash or tumble dry" means I will never wash this ever.

I hate being the one with the remote in a room full of people watching TV. There's so much pressure. 'I love this show, but will they judge me if I keep it on? I bet everyone is wishing we weren't watching this. It's only a matter of time before they all get up and leave the room.'

I hate when I just miss a call by the last ring (Hello? Hello? Damnit!), but when I immediately call back, it rings nine times and goes to voicemail. What'd you do after I didn't answer? Drop the phone and run away?

I hate leaving my house confident and looking good and then not seeing anyone of importance the entire day. What a waste.

Sometimes I'll look down at my watch 3 consecutive times and still not know what time it is.

Even if I knew your social security number, I wouldn't know what do to with it..

Even under ideal conditions people have trouble locating their car keys in a pocket, and Pinning the Tail on the Donkey - but I'd bet everyone can find and push the Snooze button from 3 feet away, in about 1.7 seconds, eyes closed, first time every time...

I wonder if cops ever get annoyed at the fact that everyone they drive behind obeys the speed limit.

I disagree with Kay Jewelers. I would bet on any given Friday or Saturday night more kisses begin with Miller Lites than Kay.

The other night I ordered takeout, and when I looked in the bag, saw they had included four sets of plastic silverware. In other words, someone at the restaurant packed my order, took a second to think about it, and then estimated that there must be at least four people eating to require such a large amount of food. Too bad I was eating by myself. There's nothing like being made to feel like a fat kid before dinner.