Spring is in the air!

Normally I hate winter. Seriously, I'm not into skiing, skating, hockey, being cold... I just hate it. However, this winter has been AWESOME! I don't think it was colder that -15 C and that lasted maybe a day. It hardly even snowed this year, and today the temperature is 22 C!! It would be amazing if every winter could be like this. I hope I'm not jinxing this wonderful weather.

Any way, March break was last week and it was very relaxing. It's so nice to have Rosie home from school and have Dave take time off seminary. There were days where we'd all sleep in until 9 and stay in our pajamas until lunch time. March break, unlike other holidays, was actually a break!

Here's a little update on the kids.

Rosie

She's been so curious about everything. She's been super chatty and is constantly asking questions. One of her recent questions was "Mommy, how does the Daddy put the baby seed into a mommy's tummy? How does it get in there?" I told her we'd talk about it when she was older. The she said "why when I'm older?" Like I said, she asks a lot of questions. She LOVES wearing dresses and insists that she only looks beautiful when she's in a dress. We recently bought her the flower girl dress she'll be wearing to April's wedding and she feels like a princess in it. She twirls around and dances in it with the biggest smile on her face. It's adorable, really! Another funny thing she recently said was "Daddy, you're a crazy daddy and I am a beautiful woman." She also loves saying "no way Dad-A, no way Mom-A, no way, Jose-A, no way Mike-A." Rosie really wants a baby sister and talks about her all the time. She tells me that her baby sister will have hazel eyes and light brown/blonde hair. She even drew a picture of her baby sister the other day. We'll have to wait and see if she's right.

Joseph

Joseph is learning to pronounce words really clearly and is expressing himself more and more. He has such a cute sounding voice! His favorite movie is Toy Story and he's constantly walking around with an arm full (or backpack full, or rain boot full) of Toy Story figurines and saying "to infinity and beyond... Buzz Light Year to the rescue.... there's a snake in my boot.... we're eternally grateful." Joseph absolutely adores Michael and loves to hold his hand. I think sometimes Michael gets annoyed with Joseph's constant hand holding, but I think it's adorable. Joseph loves being read to. Right now his favorite books are Green Eggs and Ham, Are you my Mother, and The Best Nest. He loves helping out in the kitchen ( I hope that lasts forever haa haa). He's always so excited to help load and unload the dishwasher and to put the soap in the dishwasher and push the start button. He also enjoys helping me make pesto. Joseph loves getting snuggles especially before bedtime. He transforms from a real boys boy, into a teddy bear when I lay down beside him before bed and sing him a song. Again, I hope that lasts forever.

Michael

So many things are going on in Michael's life. He's at the age where he's learning to do new things all the time. He can army crawl, sit on his own, and he even managed to crawl up a few stairs the other day. Last week I discovered a little blister on the toe he uses to push off with when he army crawls. He learned to pull himself to standing while holding on to some furniture, which he was very happy and excited about. He can also say "I did it" when we hold his hands and pull him to standing. He's learning about faces, and when asked, can point to a nose, mouth, and eyes. He was sick for 2 weeks recently which was really hard on the family. He spent those 2 weeks in my arms and wanted to breastfeed A LOT! Last week I took him to the doctor for his immunizations and he was soooooo good! He didn't fuss at all when the doctor was checking his eyes, ears, and listening to his heart. And, he didn't flinch, jump, whimper, or cry when he got his immunization! He's one tough cookie that's for sure. At the moment, he's teething (poor little guy) and going through a bit of separation anxiety, but can you blame him? Dave and I are pretty awesome, I bet most people cry when we leave the room haa haa. He still has blue eyes, I think they're here to stay :)

Well, that's a little update! I think I'm going to head out and enjoy the sunshine.

Me Ka Aloha (with love)

- Elisabeth

Cracker

Everyone comments on how fair Michael is. It's true, he looks nothing like me. He's, as Dave would put it, "a white bread cracker." That made what happened the other day way funnier.

Michael and Joseph were sitting in the kitchen and Dave asked "who wants a cracker?" Then we heard in an adorable 8 month old voice "cracker". It was as clear as a bell. Michael said cracker!

In other news, Joseph and Dave went to the store the other day to pick up some Montreal style bagels (if you've never tried them you are missing out!). They took a little longer than expected, but when they came home, Dave sent Joseph in first. I didn't see him, but I heard his little feet running excitedly towards the kitchen where I was. As he came around the corner, I saw him holding a bouquet of flowers almost the size of him. He had a huge grin on his face as he handed them to me. They were beautiful Hawaiian gingers and birds of paradise! I threw my arms around Joseph and thanked him for the flowers, then made my way over to Dave and planted some appreciative kisses on his lips! (the kids are going to read this one day and gag LOL). I love how Dave is teaching him early how to treat his wife!

It certainly brightened up my day since I had been caring for three sick children all week (and they're still not better yet). I sure hope they get better soon.

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth

When I Grow Up...

A had a little conversation with Rosie today.

Rosie - "I'm going to be a mommy when I grow up and you'll be a grandma."

Me - "How many kids are you going to have?"

Rosie - "Maybe five. I'm going to buy a car with enough seats for five kids."

Me - "What are you going to name them?"

Rosie - "A girl named Seelissa and another girl named Kenina, and Anakita for the last girl."

Me- "and what about the boys?"

Rosie - "Snonot and Cahnye."

She certainly like original names. She named one of her Barbies "Aka". We'll see what she REALLY names her babies when the time comes :)

In other news, Dave promised to let me name the next baby. I'm not currently pregnant, but I'm excited to have full license to name baby #4 what ever I want :) This will be fun!

Me Ka Aloha

- Elisabeth

Modest is Hottest!

I've been meaning to write about this a long time ago but just keep on forgetting. A while back when Rosie was 2 or 3 years old, she had a dress that was sleeveless. I bought her a cute sweater to go over it so that she could be modest, yes, even at the age of 2. At first, Rosie wanted to take the sweater off. In fact, it was a bit of a struggle to get her to wear it. After explaining to her that it is important to dress modestly to show respect for our bodies, respect for those around us, and most importantly to show respect for God, she's never fought me when it comes to modesty. As a matter of fact, she's obsessed with modesty now. Here's a few examples...

Sometimes she'll wander into the bathroom while Dave or I are in the shower. We'll poke our head out from the curtain to see who the intruder is. The second Rosie gets a glimpse of a bare shoulder she exclaims "Hey, you're not modest!"

Whenever baby Michael is in just a diaper, weather it be because he's about to eat a messy meal, or if he's about to be changed into something new, Rosie will always point out how immodest he is.

One day we were at the YMCA and a girl was wearing a tube top sun dress. Rosie ran over to me and said "Mommy she doesn't have sleeves on her dress!"

She has also taken her Barbies and put Ken's suit jacket over their outfits to make them more modest.

When we were shopping for her aunts wedding gown, Rosie got very upset and let everyone know that she did NOT like the strapless dress. When April put on a dress with sleeves, Rosie started to jump up and down and say "I love it! It's so modest!"

My favorite example of how much Rosie loves modestly is when she was coloring a picture of the Princess and the Frog. If you've seen that movie, or just seen posters or toys, you'd know that the princess is in a strapless dress. Rosie decided to fix it. She took her crayons and drew sleeves on the dress! What a cleaver girl!!

I've explained to her that sometimes people don't dress modestly because they don't know about Heavenly Father and they don't know that it is important to be modest. Some people don't go to church and learn about modesty and maybe their parents haven't talked about modesty to them. The other reason is, some people don't care. However, Heavenly Father cares and is sad when we don't respect our bodies and treat our bodies like temples. We've also discussed with her that there are other things to worry about besides just modesty. We need to be kind to others, use good manners, and share, among other things.

I'm so very glad that I taught her the principle of modesty at such a young age and ever more thankful that she understands. I often see parents dressing their kids in all kinds of immodest clothing because they think it doesn't matter when they are young and that it's cute. I'v never had that philosophy. When are they suddenly old enough to have to dress modestly? When they hit puberty? When they're 18? When they're about to be sealed in the temple? How do you suddenly shift their focus to modesty? I believe that we should dress modestly ALWAYS.

Hopefully Rosie will always understand the importance of modesty and, as she gets older, she'll understand even more why. She'll learn that it helps others around us have clean thoughts. She'll learn that they way we dress can dictate how we behave. If we're in pjs we'll want to lounge around or sleep. If we're in a soccer outfit we might feel like running around. If we're in formal attire, we're more apt to sit proper and act proper. If we're in a sexy outfit we'll more likely draw the wrong kind of attention, plus we're more likely to act sexy and flirtatious, which leads to immorality and other sin. I want her to understand her infinite worth in God's eyes and in our eyes. I want her to understand that Heavenly Father loves her so much and that she doesn't need to conform to the world's standard or dress. She needs to seek first the approval of God as he knows what will make us the happiest. I pray that her friends will be good influences on her and that she in turn, will be good influences on them. I want her to always know she is a daughter of God and that modest truly is hottest!

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth

Is He Yours?

The other day I was shopping at Bath and Body Works getting my fix of antibacterial soaps when a lady came over to ooh and ah over Michael. "Oh he's so cute! Look at those blue eyes!" Then she took a glance at me, noticed my Asian-ness and asked "is he YOURS?" I knew this day would come, when someone would mistaken me as the Filipino nanny.

I love how different all my kids look. I wonder what the next one will look like?

Me Ka Aloha

- Elisabeth

Amazing Day!

Yesterday was great! Lately Michael hasn't been the best napper, and Joseph is going through the usual terrible twos, and Rosie's been sick, so you can see how not-fun it's been around here. Then a miracle happened. They ALL took a NAP at THE SAME TIME!!!!! It gave me some much needed peace and quiet, something I haven't had in a while. Thank you kids!

On another note, last night Dave and I cleaned up the toy room. Most days there's a million toys scattered all over the floor and when night time comes, I'm too exhausted to do anything about it, so it stays. Any way, this morning it was clean! Joseph came down to the playroom, and in a very concerned voice said "there's no more toys!". Haa haa I had to show him that he still had toys, they were just in their toy buckets.

Well, Michael just woke up from him cat nap.... I'm off!

Me Ka Aloha
- Elisabeth

Look Who's Talking

My cutie baby boy, Michael, is starting to talk! He's only 7 months, but last week he said "dada" and today he said "mama". I know he knows what he's saying because when he was tired and wanted to nurse, he looked right at me and said "mama!" I just LOVE hearing my babies talk :)

Me Ka Aloha

- Elisabeth

P.S. He also started army crawling a few weeks ago!!