Papa-Dapa-Lous

-We turned 21!
-Attended my very first concert, Siua had gone to one before.
-Found out that I had gall stones.
-Siua and I actually saved and bought a car with ONLY our money.
-Went in and out of the emergency room 27 times because of Gall Bladder pains.
-I had an emergency Gall Bladder removal surgery which was my very first surgery.
-My brother Rich left for his mission.
-My cousins Ginger and Harold returned from theirs.
-Siua lost his father. (10/19/03 R.I.P. Kineleti Nisa)

Yup, ALL of these major events occurred between the time I found out I was pregnant with Papa and the time he was born. Needless to say, my pregnancy was a stressful and difficult one. Most especially after the loss of Siua's dad. After having emergency surgery at just 4 months pregnant and suffering through my entire first tri-mester because of gall bladder pains, the sudden passing of the head of Siua's family made me feel as if all of my past months troubles were a breeze. Kineleti had a major stroke and passed away suddenly on the morning of October 13th, just 6 days before Siuas 21st birthday. I was 7 months pregnant.

Two months later, my sweet baby boy was born. Siua's Auntie Meta was in town because of Leti's funeral and she was due to leave at the end of that week. Our Papa came 2 weeks early on December 13th. EXACTLY two months to the day that Siua's dad passed. He was due Christmas Eve and Siua's auntie was convinced that he was born on that day for a reason. She named him Kineleti Mt. Eden Nisa, after his grandfather and his final resting place. He got his nickname "Papa" after Isabel (Gos and Isa's daughter who was the only grandchild before Papa) asked Siua what the babies name was. Siua replied with "Kineleti" and Isabel said "That's Papa!" meaning her Grandpa's name. Her innocent 2 year old response stuck. :-) Papa must have known that his parents were tired and drained because after 9 long hard months, he made his grand entrance into this world after a short 52 minutes of labor. We couldn't have been more in love and he couldn't have come at a more perfect time. It was the hardest most trying time for his dad and he couldn't possibly know it, but we needed him more than he needed us. I'm convinced that my short and sweet labor was a small indication of what a sweet tempered, mild mannered boy we were blessed with. He was such a mild tempered, easy baby and he has proven to be just as easy through his childhood so far. He never hesitates to help and he's always anxious to learn new things. He and I happen to share a love of baking and cooking which is so exciting for me. My Papa man couldn't be any more perfectly built to be the oldest of my children and I can't believe he turned 8 this week. It's crazy how time flies!

Happy Birthday Papadapalous. I love you more than you know Papa man! Endlessly and Unconditionally. <3

Bloggers Block

Geez it's been a while! I promise I'm not intentionally staying away! Those who are FB friends or twitter followers know that I haven't been keeping up with that much either. It's just been CRAZY busy for some reason! A lot has been going on and I hope to play bloggers catch up real soon. We all know we're fast approaching my favorite time of the year so hopefully I'll have some fun things to share real soon. I wish I could commit to doing a "Thankful" list which has become popular this month. Maybe I'll do one long blog soon to list all of the many things I am so grateful for. It just wouldn't be right to let November pass without giving (and documenting) the many things I am so truly thankful for. So stay tuned...I know I'm dropping the ball but I promise I'll start juggling again real soon. ;-)

Pillow Talk...

Gone are the days when EVERYTHING was lovey dovey and super sweet. While Siua and I still do small things to show love and affection, it's definitely a different spin on what we started out with when we got married almost 10 years ago.

Last night, after a long (and sometimes frustrating) day I finally laid down and told Siua "you were annoying today". We're often brutally honest that way. He didn't do anything particularly irritating but I was so caught up in my own frustration that any little random thing could translate into something big. Imagine my surprise when his response was "really? For the WHOLE day? You're never THAT annoying to me". I felt bad. In his own little sweet ways, Siua continues to make me feel so special. YES I realize that all he said was that I'm "not THAT annoying" but after 3 kids and so many years, that's a big deal! Especially because I know how truly annoying I can be. LOL

I've been lucky enough to be blessed with the most amazing husband. He allows me to be my (annoying) self and embraces me anyway. I couldn't do half of what I enjoy doing without his support. Often times it calls for me to be away from him and the kids during week long trips to girls camp or youth conference and he still continues to remain positive. I'm completely against PDA because I think it can be super cheeeeeezzzyyy but I have to give credit where it's due and he deserves ALL of the credit. <3

My Very Own Miracle

Because he's grown so tall and surpassed his big brother in weight, height, clothes AND shoe size, I often forget how my sweet Joshy made his entrance into this world.

At almost 8 months pregnant I left for work in the city with Siua around 7:30AM. I didn't feel all that great, but that was the usual during ALL of my pregnancies. I just got used to feeling sick all the time. We parked 6 blocks from work because it was the cheapest lot we could find in the city and we began to walk. About half way there I started to feel REALLY sick. Not just nauseous but extreme discomfort started to kick in. I didn't think it was "time" but I knew work was out of the question. Since Siua had to drive, we both called in and made our way back home.

Stuck in early morning traffic on 101 south, I started to feel the pains that I knew meant it WAS time, and I was scared. Not just a little spooked but heart shattering, mind numbing fear. Why was I going into labor when I wasn't even full term yet? Why did we have to be stuck in rush hour traffic and why is getting to the hospital going to take at least 45 minutes? I called Kaiser and let them know I was on my way. Talked to the advice nurse for a few minutes while she tried to keep me calm and ended up climbing into the back seat of our car so that I could lay down and try to surpress the pain. It was bad and it didn't look like it was going to get any better.

We made our way to Kaiser and immediately got rushed into labor and delivery. After a quick checkup I was being put to sleep so that they could do an emergency C-section. Joshua was breach and trying to make his way out. After what felt like hours later, I came to and asked if he was okay. Siua said he was but the problem was that he was just okay. He was in the NICU (NeoNatal Intensive Care Unit) basically ICU for babies. His lungs weren't strong enough for him to breath on his own and they had to keep him connected in order for him to survive. He was a little over 4 pounds. It was the most tramatic thing I've ever been through.

After 2 weeks of countless trips back and forth from home to Kaiser, meds to help his lungs develop on their own, tons of babysitting arangements so that Papa was taken care of while we tended to Joshy and AMAZING nurses who helped make life easier in the NICU, Joshy was strong enough to come home.

Since then he's grown to be such an amazing blessing in our family. He single handedly caused me to search deeper than I've ever had to find the faith I wasn't sure existed. He is my very own little miracle and I couldn't be more grateful for his sweet spirit and boyish charm. HAPPY BIRTHDAY JOSHY! 7 years ago today, I was faced with the scariest most challenging obstacle of my life but I wouldn't trade the experience for anything in this world because it's the dramatic and tramatic way you entered into my life. I love you Jayjua!!

Sometimes...things DO run smoothly!

Everyone is up and ready to go, school is a breeze, dinner is good, things are clean and kids are bathed and happy. Don't ya just LOVE smooth days? When things just fall into place without too much effort. I LIVE for days like that!

Yesterday just happened to be one of those days and I took full advantage of the mellow mood and had a little kitchen fun with my kiddoes. They made a fruit "pizza" and we loved every minute of it!

I enjoy doing fun things with them when we get the chance but even more I LOVE the idea of creating these fun little memories with my babies.

Fruit Pizza Recipe
-Sugar Cookie Dough *I usually make it at home because it's cheaper but I've used one tube of Pillsbury cookie dough and it works just as well.
-Cream Cheese Frosting *I'll include the recipe for that as well, never tried it with store bought but it's probably good and easier!
-All of the fruit your heart desires! My kids love sliced kiwi, strawberries, mandarin oranges, pineapple, bananas and grapes.

With wet hands, press the cookie dough into the bottom of an ungreased sheet pan or cookie sheet until it's evenly spread out. It's going to look really thin, but it'll cook up to a thicker crust. Bake at 350 for about 10-15 minutes. I keep mine on the light side so that the crust doesn't get too crunchy. Just when the edges start to look brown. Take it out and let it cool completely for at least an hour. After it's cooled, spread the frosting on as thick as you like. I do just enough for the fruit to stick. After that it's completely up to you to decide how you want to layer the fruit. Once the fruit is layered it's ready to cut and enjoy! Have fun!!!

Cream Cheese Frosting -
1 part Cream Cheese
1/2 part butter
2 parts powdered sugar
splash of vanilla

I do the recipe in parts because depending on how much you want to make, measurments are going to change. :-)

Hello Dr. Parker!

This past week I had the pleasure of taking all three of my kids to appointments with their new doc. We recently switched over to Foster City Pediatrics and so far I.LOVE.IT. It may not seem like a big deal to most of you, but finding a good doctor is a huge deal to me. Being a Kaiser baby myself, I always stuck to that with my kids. Imagine my surprise when I found a place that I love more!

Three separate appointments scheduled on 3 separate days, 12 shots (total)and one finger prick test later, we're all settled in with our new doc! He's already memorized the kids names, nick names and ages. To my surprise, he somehow managed to get Luvie to say a few words to him. Either that girl is really coming out of her shell or he's a true pro. Whatever the case, Dr. Parker is a perfect fit for this family and I'm excited to continue down the path to happy HEALTHY kiddoes!

Wordless Wednesday - Boys Will Be Boys!

Easiest Cookies Ever!

This recipe is so easy and since it's "semi" homemade, you don't have to have a lot on hand at home to make it. You can made the dough as a base and add whatever you like to make them perfect for you. I've added white chocolate chips, regular chocolate chips, peanut butter chips, mint chips...you get the point. The possibilities are endless and trying different things is yummy and fun.

It's your basic "cake box" cookie but I LOVE what vanilla does to get rid of the typical cake box cake flavor. Call me crazy, but I can tell the difference. LOL So here are pictures and the recipe. This time I used pecans and caramel chips to make "Turtle" chocolate cookies and white chocolate chips to make "black and white" cookies. The Turtle cookies turned out to be one of my favorite combinations.

Recipe
1 Devils Food Chocolate Cake Mix
1 Stick of butter (not margarine, good 'ole butter)
2 Eggs
1 Teaspoon of vanilla
Whatever toppings you like
Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees

This is basically all you need.

Throw it all in one bowl together. No "wet" or "dry" mixing necessary.

Blend really well and then add your desired goodies

Scoop just like any other cookies into little balls and bake for 8-12 minutes depending on how big you made them.


Let cool and then you're done! I forgot to take a picture after they were already baked. Probably because they didn't sit around for too long. ;-)

Closet FOB

Yes, it's true, my mom is white. Hard to believe right? LOL Okay not really but something most people don't know (and a few of you do know. LOL) is that I'm a closet FOB. There's nothing bad about it right? LMBO I'm posing the question because I think a lot of us (myself included) think of the word FOB as a bad thing. I often think about how we negatively talk about people from our homeland and the way they talk or dress and yet we can't speak our own language and know little about traditional heritage. But that's beside the point on this post. What I'm really getting at is that I learned a few things by kickin' it with my gma this summer and I'm LOVIN it!

I've always loved crafty things, but making kafa's and kahoa's is a whole new level of craft. You can do whatever your heart desires and you have to broaden your creativity in order to turn something that you ordinariy find at your neighborhood Michaels into something that looks traditionally familiar to Tongans.

I learned how to weave the base and now I'm working with my gma to start decorating and dressing it up a little. I made 2 sets so far, one for a friends babyshower and the other for my sis Jigz who had to speak at church last Sunday. I'm diggin' it. Mine are no where near what my gmas look like but it's still fun to keep trying. The best part? Spending time with my gma and soaking up all the knowledge that I used to think I was too cool for. LOL

Gma showin' me the "ropes"

I thought it was hilarious that she had a "ring watch" on. Especially because the numbers are so small that she can't read them. LOL
The "set" I made for Jigz

Our gift at MonaLisa's Baby Shower

Update

Oh how quickly time flies! I say it all the time and yet it becomes increasingly difficult to really savor each passing moment. My babies started 2nd grade this year and we've made huge changes already. They're no longer at the age where I have to walk them into and out of class. It might sound like a small accomplishment, but after 3 years of parking and fighting through the crowds to get to their classrooms in time it feels so much easier.

Joshua is in Mr. Torres' class and he thinks he got the short end of the stick because apparently Mr. Torres doesn't have a hard time raising his voice. LOL Papa is in Ms. Yee's class and he's so excited about being in the 2nd grade. Joshy, though 9 months younger is a full 2 inches taller than Papa at this point. He uses it against his big brother all the time and I can only imagine how much worse it's going to get over the years. LOL He's so excited about soccer and has always been really good at sports. While they are both super helpful I've noticed that Papa has acquired the skill that most "oldests" have in that he looks out for his siblings and helps out without being asked. It's so funny to watch their personalities grow and change. I just have to be sure to "stop and smell the roses" so that I don't miss out on special moments that are sure to fade once they're "big boys".

"Oh My Goodness"

It's so funny how quickly kids catch on. Sometimes it's not so funny when you find them repeating something that you wish their sweet innocent ears never heard. I was lucky enough to catch my Luvie in a candid moment when she was singing what I've learned is her favorite song. If you know Mackenzie or have been around her enough, you know she's pretty timid and shy. I had to pretend I wasn't recording and you'll notice she asks at one point "What's that mom? A picture?" before going right back to Spawnbreezie lala land. Thanks Lomes for clarifying cause I'm so cool that I thought it was Josh White who sang this! LMBO

Please excuse the poor recording and angle. I could have edited it but didn't want to miss a single second of it. ;-)

Oh how I wish I had more TIME!!!

But don't we all? This new school adventure is really hard to get used to. I'm enjoying it all so far but the balancing act is a little difficult and I've found that I have to forfeit many of the fun, dorky hobbies I used to occupy my time with. Maybe taking a month break after work and before school wasn't the best idea. I got spoiled with all the free time!!!

It's something to get used to but I'm sure things will fall into place. I picked up a part time job to help "lighten the load" at home. Most especially because the holidays are coming up and we all know how crazy that can be. But I'll also just come right out and admit that I couldn't be more excited about working at Torrid. I'm a shopping JUNKY as it is so having a discount at one of my fave stores is icing on the cake. :-)

I'm just getting into the swing of things but for most hours during the week, my view looks a lot like this. ;-)

A sweet throwback...

Uh huh...we all know it when we see it. I'm sure we're all familiar with the bite and blow combination that comes with trying to eat them too soon after they've been taken out of the pot. No matter how old I get, eating keke isite always brings back fond childhood memories. My aunty Tala made the BEST. I'm sure we all feel that way about the "baker aunty" in our families. I'd like to continue those cultural traditions and the warm fuzzy feelings associated with them while raising my children as well. For that reason, jam pies for breakfast on the first day back after a break from school is a staple at home. Every once in a while, I'll replace brownies or cookies with keke isite or topai as a sweet treat. Yup, I'm steppin' up my Tongan cooking game and it's been a fun trial and error ride thus far. Gotta LOVE the joys of being raised Tongan. Even if I am mixed with a little somethin' extra, fai fai lelei na'a laka ange a'e kau palangi 'I he haka keke. LOL

Breakfast for dinner!

If your family is anything like mine, you don't get to have a good "full" breakfast spread too often. Mornings are just too busy and when you do have the time to make a nice morning meal, you'd rather just use it to catch up on sleep instead.

Because of the lack of good yummy breakfasts, I thought it would be a fun idea to have breakfast for dinner every once in a while. It's a HIT! It might not be the best idea to get the kids fully loaded on syrup before bed time, but every once in a while doesn't hurt too bad.

Tonight was a breakfast for dinner night and I promised my boys that if they went to bed early enough, I'd make sure they could have dinner leftovers for breakfast before school. Needless to say, they're snoozing away dreaming of sweet syrup and fluffy scrambled eggs. LOL Oh how I love my food critic chubsters.

One of the ultimate faves in our house are chocolate chip pancakes. That probably doesn't come as a surprise since our house is known for being full of chocolate lovers. I thought I'd share that recipe here. Again, not the healthiest but all is well with a little moderation. ;-) Enjoy because we sure do!

3 cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons + 1 teaspoon baking powder
2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon white sugar
1 1/4 cups milk
1 1/4 cups buttermilk (you can just use more milk if you don't have buttermilk)
2 eggs
6 tablespoons oil
2 cups chocolate chips

Mix all of your "dry" ingredients before incorporating the "wet" with a wisk. Beat until combined then add chocolate chips. I usually cook them on the griddle using medium heat for a couple minutes on each side and then you're done!
My boys diggin' in. PJ's and Pancakes...that's the life!
Gotta complete the sweet with a little meat. ;-)
Our breakfast spread. French toast, Chocolate chip pancakes, scrambled eggs, biscuits and sausage gravy.

Oh how lucky am I?!?!

I turned 29 this year. YES my very last year in my twenties. I'll admit it, I'm an old soul and I spent my birthday with my gma and Aunty Tala running little errands that they wanted. I actually enjoyed it. I also got to hang out with Nola, Ginger, Laura and Kris while doing some crazy girl things. LOL I had a blast.

I didn't get home until super late and felt really bad because I hadn't seen all of my siblings, hubby or kids all day. I had fun, but my birthday didn't feel complete without celebrating with everyone.

I felt even worse when I walked in to this.


My sweet sisters tried to wait for me to get home and surprise me but I got back so late that they just placed it on me bed. I can't imagine life without with big old loving family! I can't say how greatful I am for them because there aren't words to express that. Birthday 2011 was amazing and I can't wait to spend many more with those who I love dearly.

Mommy Tough Times

I just had one of the moments I dread. We've all heard the expression "spare the rod, spoil the child". But I like to make sure it's the absolute last resort and that we talk more than "bark". I'm not the disciplinarian with our kids. Well, not with the boys anyway. I'm forced to be hard on Luvie because she has her dad wrapped around her finger. But my boys are MY boys and their dad is usually the one who keeps them in line. Unfortunately for us all, they are starting to catch wind of the fact that when daddy is gone they get away with more. So I have to force myself to be harder on them just to keep them in line. That's especially hard because of Siua's graveyard shift.

Tonight was a tough night. It's the third day of school and my boys haven't really caught on to the whole "bed time" thing. It's after midnight and they're still up. Not just up but WIDE awake and playing. After several attempts at trying to get them to bed and major talking back I had to lay it down on them the hard way. I remember getting hard core discipline. My dad DID NOT play. But why am I so sad now? :-(

Time to get off of the sippy cup Luvie...FUN times!

If you have a baby and you haven't ever had the pleasure of weening a toddler off of a bottle or sippy cup, you're in for a treat! Mackenzie enjoyed her passie and really liked her bottle but she LOVES her sippy cup. Imagine how much fun it was to start the process of getting her off of it for good this weekend. That task, along with a SUPER uncomfortable stomach bug for me made for an extra "fun" few days for the both of us.

I could go on and on about Luvies first day without her "baba", but I think this video just about sums it up. I can't tell you how excited I am about having day one under the belt. Now I just have to get all of the other days out of the way (withgout giving in to her cries) and then it's on to getting her out of that diaper she's grown too comfy with! Oh the joys of motherhood! Gotta love it. ;-)

Summer Time!!!

It's been a long time since I got to have a real summer break and this year summer is off to a great (suppper busy, but still great) start. I love having my boys at home during the day and we've managed to squeeze in a few fun activities here and there. Next week we're off to girls camp and they don't have a clue! I can't tell them ahead of time because then I'll be dealing with a million questions until we leave. LOL It's been YEARS since I've been to girls camp and while I'm not the outdoorsy type I'm still excited to do something fun.

Tons of things have happened over the past couple of weeks and unfortunately I haven't been taking as many pictures as I would have liked. Joshua lost his very first tooth just last week. He's a late bloomer but he was so STOKED about it and woke up in the middle of the night checking for the toothfairy before crying REAL tears when he thought he lost the tooth under his pillow. LOL Oh how FUN is life when you're 6?

Papa is getting more and more excited about getting baptized soon. He is constantly reminding me that he's turning 8 this year. His vocabulary is a bit much for my liking at his age. LOL That kid and talking back! Gotta love the fact that he's vocal and opinionated though. Wonder where he gets that from? ;-)

My Luvie is really starting to speak full sentences and her baby talk is something I know I'll miss one day. Every once in a while I ask her what her name is because I love the way she responds with "Tenzie" instead of "Kenzie". My baby is a little bossy one too!

Here are a few summer snapshots from June '11. There are going to be TONS of more fun things to come! Stay cool everyone!!!!

Fathers day cards for her FAVE such a Daddies girl.
Joshy being a good big brother and pushing Luvie
Homemade playdough and cookie cutters=hours of fun!
My Papaman posing with his playdough creation.
Luvie getting her face painted at Carmine's circus bash
Papa after the jello eating contest.
Joshy smiling after a freshly pulled tooth.
All you need is the sun and a hose. LOL
Sugar cookie decorating. It's not Christmas regardless of what color the sprinkles are. LOL
Visiting Gpa on Fathers day.

Kids!

Isn't it funny how kids get into the most random things? You leave them alone for 2 minutes and they manage to do more than you think they're capable of.

This isn't the first time Luvie got her hands into the tub of gel and I'm sure it won't be the last. Kids! Gotta love em.

I'm lovin' it!

I'm officially a stay at home mom and believe it or not...I'm LOVIN' it! I really enjoy the extra time I have with my kids and hubby. We've been able to do things that I didn't have the time to do before and I'm so happy that these special moments will make amazing memories for my babies.

One of the first things that I was able to do was chaperon a field trip with my Joshy's class. We went to the Academy of Science which was perfect because I absolutely LOVE museums and nerdy stuff like that. :-)

My baby so was excited that I was going to attend and after a minor snafu (his teacher Ms. Salomeh mixed up dates and we got all ready for the field trip arriving at school early Tuesday morning only to find out that the field trip was actually on Thursday) we were on our way. There were 21 kids total and I got to meet all of my Joshy's 1st grade buddies.

After a 30 minute bus ride were there and ready to have fun! I felt like I was more excited than the students. There were so many amazing exhibits and interactive displays.

Here is Joshy's whole class in front of the Academy of Science
He and his "cousins" you know all Tongans are family at school. :-)
Joshy was amazed while we went through all three layers of the ocean in the underwater exhibit. Here is the tour guide giving us a quick explanation before we took our "dive" underwater.
The group on the "bottom layer" of the ocean.
They got to touch real living starfish.
My Joshy posing with the big old fish.
After our quick "dive" we made the trek up into the rain forest. It was hot and muggy just like the real thing. The bottom layer had all the plant life and as you traveled up you got to see how the different animals live and survive. The top was my favorite as you walked around gorgeous jumbo butterflies were everywhere. It was so pretty.

Here is Ms. Salomeh and the class making their way up.
Here am I with Joshy. I had to pull my mommy card and take at least one picture with him there. This is just before the butterflies.
Joshua in the rain forest
After the "rain forest" the kids started to say they were hungry so we made our way outdoors so that they could have lunch. Once all of the kids ate, Ms. Salomeh played a few games to tire them out. It was so cute to see Joshua interact with his classmates.
Game Time!
The last exhibit we went to was Joshua's favorite. It was the reptile exhibit and he was so excited to see the snakes and lizards up close. I'm a typical girly girl, I coulda done without the creepy crawlers but watching his face was priceless and I'd do it all over again just for him. :-)

Joshua with a big old fat python. He was amazed at how big it was!
An albino lizard. The tongue on this thing was crazy long!
Of course in all of the amazing wildlife and the cool interactive exhibits, Joshy and his friends would find the closest thing to a video game.