Young Women

In January of this year I was called to work as an advisor with the Young Women in our ward, Pen 2nd. It sounds silly but I didn't realize my calling would be the source of so much inspiration and eye opening, life changing experiences. It seems like a lot I know. But in order to try and understand, you should know that in the same month I was called to work with the YW, Siua and I also decided that THIS year was the year we would put serious effort into making decisions about church. I'm using the word "decisions" loosely because in all honesty I didn't have to decide. More than anything, I had to convince Siua to give "my" church a try. He grew up Methodist and his dad was a pastor. His mom is completely against any of her children being baptized into the Mormon church. Pretty hard stuff to conquer. But thankfully, he was willing to attend.

He didn't want to meet with Elders, he wasn't going to entertain the idea of being baptized. It was for him, simply going to church with his family. I was fine with that. I still am. I decided I wasn't going to push anything and I would let the spirit do all the work. So when I was asked about working with the youth, I had to approach him with the information before I could make a real decision. After a discussion about what it would entail, he agreed that it would be good for me and more importantly it would work for our little family.

Needless to say, I LOVE IT! It's a lot of work to try and keep a bunch of teenage girls focused on something that they sometimes find little interest in. It's even harder to try and find a balance between being too nice and too mean. LOL Luckily for me, we have an AMAZING group of girls. They are all so willing to learn and grow. Each one of them holds a desire to be GOOD women. They have helped me and my family in ways that they probably can't even imagine yet. I know in some way it's all meant to be, but I want to put my THANK YOU out there for everyone to see.

Here are a few snapshots from the Halloween dance that Luvie and I attended with the "pink ladies" on Friday. They were all so cute!!!

Miss Dorothy and I before heading out-

Now with Tangi (YW Pres.) and Peau (Counselor)

Now the lovely ladies

PINAKAMAKAPANGYARIHAN!!!

It's my first official "new word" in Tagalog and it means "Almighty". Crazy right? Why Tagalog? Cause Marky Bo is being sent to the Philippines!!!!! He's leaving on February 9Th, 2011 and he's excited. He did end up going out of the states AND it was one of the places I guessed. He opened his letter last night at the house with family including Gma, Aunty Nia, Osi (Sione) and Isi. Mo skyped in and Nia Si'i was on speaker phone. LOVED IT! I couldn't be more excited, proud, or happy for him!!!!

Any guesses???

Woohoo!!! My little brother Marky Bo got his mission calling in the mail today. He's really hoping to go to Europe and at the very least he wants to leave the country. My guess is that he's going to be sent to either South America or Phillipines. I'm crossing my fingers that he gets his way though cause Europe would be AMAZING and I'd have a tour guide for when we make our way out of this continent! Let the guessing game begin!

Wordless Wednesday - "Kiddie Kandids"

Elder Tuihalangingie

FINALLY heard from my cousin Elder Tuihalangingie yesterday. He sounds like he's doing pretty good! I'm super proud of him for making the choice to go on his mission AND it's even sweeter because this year (thanks to his great example) a total of THREE elders in my family have completed their papers. One of those three happens to include my little brother and super closest sibling - Marky Bo. But more about him later. ;-)

So Elder Tui (I'm not typing that last name over and over again, would you? Lol) is doing good in Hawaii!! He says he's SUPER TIRED and has never been so "mentally drained" in his entire life. Sounds pretty rough! But with all of that, he still sounded so committed and eager to do the work. Gotta love HARD WORKING missionaries!

In his letter he also mentioned some sweet goodies he'd like to get his hands on. Now if you haven't heard, I'm the BEST at care packages. ;-) So of course we had to hook that hard worker up! I got the kiddies together and took a few snapshots to send along with our yummy treats. I think it ALWAYS "hits home" when they can actually SEE the items they've been given in the hands of their loved ones before sending them.

The boys had a good time helping and it was hilarious to watch them try to work together on one project while still keeping everything fair. Here are a few of the shots I printed to send off with our goodies.

Noooo not yet!!!!

It's about that time! Well, it's actually the week of Halloween. I got a move on things a little late this year because for some reason October 2010 has been EXTRA busy. I usually try to get costumes taken care of during the first week of the month. This year they got picked out just a week before trick or treating. Not cool! Would you like to know what I think is even less cool? My Joshy doesn't want to dress up! There was no spooky character he longed to portray, he had no super hero in mind that he imagined mimicking for just one day, and he even mentioned the fact that he didn't care for the candy either. Not yet Joshy!!! You're not old enough to want to give up on one of the biggest KIDS holidays of the year. It made me sad to think that he could no longer find excitement in something that he used to LOVE.

I started doing what I find myself doing WAY too often, over-analyzing. The thoughts started to pour in. Is my Joshy lacking one of the biggest childlike characteristics - an active imagination? Did one super scary haunted house traumatize him last year? Maybe we shouldn't have taken the kids to the "Halloween Haunt" at Great America (BTW I really didn't realize how SCARY that was going to be!). I just kept trying to think of reasons why he would lose interest so soon.

Then, out of no where, he changed his mind! He asked about pumpkin carving (something we haven't done this year YET yikes!) and then decided he'd be a ninja. What? That was it? Pumpkin carving? WHEW! Looks like someones mama has enough imagination for ALL three of her babies!

This reminds me of how easy it was when I could just pick cute coordinating costumes for them without any worrying or fussing! Don't grow up yet boys!

Daddys Girl

I know that Luvie is a daddies girl. I think she's actually the BIGGEST daddys girl that I know and I am perfectly fine with that.





BUT does she have to make it so COMPLETELY obvious in pictures? I mean GEEZ! Crack a smile with mommy once in a while will ya? ;-)

Working mom....hmmmmm

I'm blogging from home for the very first time. I know it sounds a little strange. Most mommies blogs that I've come across belong to lucky ladies who have the luxury of being a stay at home mom. Sounds AMAZING right? Being able to spend almost every waking moment with the people you love most, catering to every one of your family members needs, not having to worry about taking the right days off of work so that you are free for special things like field trips and doctors appointments. Doing all of the things that make every mommy feel like a GOOD mommy.

I struggled with this MAJORLY during my "new mommy" years. Not so much because I COULDN'T be home with my kids but because I didn't WANT to. That should be what every GOOD mommy wants right? That's what I thought. Why was it that after a good month on maternity leave I was longing for some adult interaction? I needed a challenge, not that being a stay at home mommy wasn't a challenge. It was the BIGGEST challenge! It was way more work and a lot less money! Lol but for some reason instead of feeling the warm fuzzies from being with my babies 24/7, I was irritable, bored and unfulfilled. To make matters worse, I HATED the fact that I hated it! Weird right? I wanted so bad to be THAT mom. The one that can balance different schedules, personalities, and rotations all day long with a smile, simple hug and tender discipline. It just wasn't me.

I've come to learn (the hard way) that we are ALL different. Mommies that is. We have different styles and strategies for keeping our most valued and treasured spirits happy, healthy and in line. What works for one may not work for another. Staying at home just did not work for me. I know now that that's ok. I'm the best mom that I can be ONLY if I'm the best ME that I can be. I have to stay true to myself if I want to set an example for my babies.

So I blog tonight at home. Away from my work desk that I've grown used to typing at. At this moment I am especially amazed with all of you stay at home mommies, how in the heck is it possible for you to articulate your feelings regularly with so many interruptions, so much noise and a desk cluttered with crayons!? You are a talented group of women! Kudos!