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.

Lasagna and Garlic Bread

After getting married, Lasagna was a dish that I made at home regularly. It was one of the first dishes I ever learned to make AND it happens to be Siuas favorite. He's such a pasta lover. Over time, I changed the recipe to better suit my family and their super picky taste buds. It's so easy to make homemade lasagna and it's a shame that the frozen store bought "take and bake" pans don't taste good at all. I told you the taste buds around here were super picky. ;-)

So I made this recently and actually remembered to take pictures for my blog. Thank goodness! So here is the recipe along with pictures and directions for super yummy lasagna and yet another kind of garlic bread. Did I forget to mention we're yummy bread lovers? Try it out, it's deelish!

This is what you need to make a big old pan. This recipe can be reduced by half to feed a smaller family.

2 big jars of spaghetti sauce (I usually buy whatever is on sale). If you use the "regular" sized jars, I'd get about 4.
4 pounds of ground beef or turkey
About 6-8 sausages (whatever kind you like, I use Farmer Johns cause they were on sale)
1 tub of ricotta cheese
1 big bag of Monterey Jack cheese
2 boxes of uncooked lasagna noodles

I always start off by boiling water and getting the noodles going. I usually do what everyone else does and season the water with a little salt (I hear it makes it boil faster too) and some vegetable oil to keep the noodles from sticking together. Just boil until they're "al dente" or cooked through with a little "bite" to them.
While the noodles are cooking I start to brown the meat. I just cook it until it's mostly brown and then drain the fat. I also rinse it with hot water. I know it sounds weird, but I hate the flavor of grease! So I leave the meat in the strainer and run a little hot water over it.
I also add some cooked sausage to my lasagna. It adds something to the flavor and makes it a lot heartier. I just chop whatever sausage happens to be on sale and brown it in a big pan.
After the sausage is nice and brown I throw the cooked meat into the same pan I cooked the sausage in along with the spaghetti sauce, ricotta cheese and garlic.
Once the meat mixture is all combined with the ricotta and seasonings I begin to put my lasagna layers together. I always start off with the sauce/meat mix on the bottom of the pan.
After that's spread all around the bottom I add a layer of noodles before adding more meat and then cheese. I continue in that order until all of the meat, cheese and noodles are gone.
The last layer should be cheese. You'll notice that the top layer has some cheddar cheese too. I ran out of Monterey Jack at the end.
Bake at 350 for about 45 mins to an hour. The cheese will be browned and gooey.
Before cutting into the lasagna you should let it sit and cool for at least 20 minutes to make sure your pieces don't slide all over once you cut into it. Once it's set, you should be able to get a good clean piece.
Both Papa and Madre kept me company while cooking and thought it looked super yummy. LOL

Now for the super yummy garlic bread. It's so easy that you can't NOT try it! Here is what you need -
Yup, that's IT along with a little yummy cheese for the top.

Mix the butter and garlic together and spread over the top of the texas toast. I usually just put a single layer on a cookie sheet and then sprinkle the cheese on top.
Throw the whole pan in the broiler (yes broiler!) for about 2 mins (be very careful because when broiling things can burn very quickly). Once you take it out it should be melted and toasty brown.
Now doesn't this look like a yummy plate of food!?
And the best part about cooking? Having a super sweet someone to wash dishes for you! Thanks a million Cha-Cha!!!!

It's Official

Today is my last official day with Meyers Nave. I've worked at the firm for over 4 years and loved (almost) every minute of it. I hate goodbyes and long drawn out farewells so I'm sending a simple message and then going my own way. It's bittersweet and I'm so excited for what's to come! Wish me luck!

Mothers, Sisters, Friends

Oh how I've missed my cyber journal! I'm happy to say that my laptop should be fixed next week so that I don't have to deal with withdrawals again! Whew!!

This past weekend was mothers day and instead of going the hard/expensive route my sisters and I decided it would be cute to take sister fliccs for mi madre. We've never done it before AND it was cost efficient so why not? They turned out really cute! She got the framed pictures along with an edible arrangement. Fekita got her flowers and chocolate. She was one happy mama! Big thank you to STAR for helping with the group poses.


I was lucky to be treated to an impromptu brunch with Lani, Jigz, Bruh Bruh and the Nemani's. :-) Lani invited everyone out to eat and then Leka paid! Such a "Leka" thing to do. Thanks again Nemani's!!!

I'm so blessed to be surrounded by so many amazing women and lovely mothers. Even my younger sisters who don't have children play such a huge role in my kids lives. Each one of my sisters helps to lighten the load a little. I have called on them so many times and I know that if I need them they'll gladly watch my babies, do school pickups, practice drop offs, baths or meals when I am unable to. I've managed to go through hospital stays, long days at work, church events and even date nights with a sense of calm because I know my kids are in good hands with someone who loves them just as much as I do. ;-)

A huge THANK YOU to my sisters who step in and fill my shoes when I fall short. I am forever grateful for you and the love that you have for my babies.

Dinner Lessons with Lose!

For years I've been wanting to do a cooking lesson with the one and only Pahulu Mama and a few weeks back we FINALLY got a chance! Ever since making lumpias as teens I knew Lose was a wiz in the kitchen and thank goodness we finally have her on this side of the bay so that she can come over and share some of her secrets with us.

We decided to do "lessons" every once in a while so that we can swap ideas on meals that we might all make already but we can share our own spin. For our first lesson, Lose taught us (my sisters, Hannah and I) how to make her famous Thai Curry and I taught her how to make one her faves - oreo cheesecake cupcakes. It was a blast! We might've crossed boundaries with our "baby oil" and garage stories but it was all in good fun! Now if only we could get the dang cat and dog to stay far enough away for Miss Nane to get comfy! ;-)

Here are a few pictures of us making Lose's yummy dish along with the recipe for her yummy curry. Keep in mind that this was a meal fit for about 20 so you can scale down a bit if you don't need as much. Enjoy cause we sure did!!

Thai Curry Ingredients -
4 packs (or what seemed like 10 pounds) Chicken thighs skinned, boned and cut into bite sized pieces
1 huge can of coconut milk
2 jars of "Thai" brand red curry paste
2 packs of sliced mushrooms
20 bell peppers in all different colors
1 bunch of fresh basil
Good ole steamed rice.

We started by cooking the chicken in a little bit of oil with garlic, salt and pepper just until it was lightly browned.
Then after slicing all of the bell peepers and mushrooms they got thrown in with the chicken.
While the chicken and veggies were getting all tender, Lose heated the coconut milk in a separate pot and then added 1 and 1/2 jars of the red curry paste.
Once the coconut milk and curry was warm and bubbly we drained the fat from the chicken mixture and added the coconut milk mixture to the pot of chicken and veggies.
The final step was the break the fresh basil and add it into the mix. That was my FAVORITE part! Fresh herbs are so yummy!
And there you have it! Easy right?!?! Lose's super yummy Thai curry.
We ate it with steamed rice and it was deelish! Thanks Lose! Now whens the next lesson forreal man!?! LOL

Celebrating and Recuperating

Gosh it seems like forever since I've blogged. I hate not having a working laptop! I hope things get back to normal soon. I had my procedure done to determine what condition is causing all of the swelling and joint pain. Thankfully they ruled out lymphoma and I'm waiting to get the full diagnosis any day now. This has all be such a learning experience! We are so much more fragile than we realize.

Although I haven't been in the best of health, I had to pull it together and do something sweet for my Luvie's 2nd birthday on March 26th. I've given up on the idea of having huge elaborate parties for my children. I would be doing them an injustice because the truth is we can't afford it. Not every year for 3 kids. It's just not realistic. So for Luvie's first birthday we had a simple bash here at home with close friends and family. All of the children were given a chance to decorate their very own cupcake and we forfeited the regular birthday cake for Luvie's cupcake creation. This year we did the same thing.

We were lucky and tons of Luvie's family and friends came by to show a little birthday love. A owe a huge THANK YOU to each and every person who came to make sure that she felt extra special. What are birthdays without tons of good people around? She had a blast!!! I opted out of ordering a ton of food and just made a simple home cooked meal. For the kids we had a few pizzas and a pinata. That was it! Except of course for the cupcakes. We all had a good time and Luvie was so excited after opening all of her cute gifts. Girls toys are soooooo much more fun than boys! Our space is now filled with tea party sets, dolls, dress up clothes and play tents. THANK YOU familia for always coming through for us!

Now I'm glued to my bed in hopes of recovering from the operation ASAP so I can get back to my regular routine. This is starting to get the best of me!!!!

Lisiate Takavaha Tupou'ata

On Friday April 1st I woke up to a text from my older cousin Ginger. While still not completely awake, I read her text and felt an overwhelming need to cry. She announced that my grandfather had passed away the night before.

My gpa Vaha moved to Tonga about 7 years ago after living here in the bay for over 20 years. While he wasn't physically here, we all knew that he was "back home" and during times when cousins would visit Tonga they would come back with hilarious stories about gpa.

I wished so bad that I could go back and attend his funeral but because of the annoying condition I'm dealing with (and the lack of money that comes with being put on disability!) it just wasn't possible for me to go. In a strange way I'm glad that my last memory of him is when he was still alive and well. Luckily, Rich got to fly to Tonga and attend the services for my gpa. I can't wait until everyone comes home from Tonga so that we can hear all about it. If I know my aunties like I think I do, I'm sure his funeral was beautiful.

Rest in Peach Gpa. Til we meet again.