april fools day 2017 & 2018

april fool's day is when of those days that makes parenting so much fun. before kids i never celebrated april first, in all honesty, i didn't think about it more than march thirty-first or april second. but now that i have a house full of silly boys i can't help but put a little effort in to making the day memorable.

2017

i have to say, april fool's 2017 was probably the height of my prank pulling days. it's going to be tough to beat it. things started off small, i used a marker to give the boys freckles while they were asleep. then i told them i was sorry & i got them donuts to make up for the stunt. and this is where the joke got good. check it out…

it was hilarious & heart breaking all at the same time. after a few tears & fists thrown my way i brought out the box of real donuts & all was forgiven. 

the boys were all about pulling pranks after that. we grabbed a few more boxes of donuts & went door to door tricking all our friends. then at tj's football game mylo had the idea to move todd's car while he was on the field. he had no idea & may have suffered a minor heart attack when his vehicle wasn't were he left it. it was hilarious. that mylo is already a little trickster.

2018

april fool's day 2018 fell on easter. my favorite holiday. i struggled for weeks to come up with a plan that would allow us to celebrate both without compromising the festivities of either. before the easter bunny made it to our house i set up a faux egg hunt & trick baskets. take a look…

the boys opened the door to find baskets full of baby items, cleaning supplies, & girl toys. they were ticked. then they went searching for eggs only to discover they were filled with empty candy wrappers & pretend money. i think the best tricks end in smiles so i made sure the easter bunny brought extra awesome baskets & filled their eggs with super special stuff when he stopped by later. i'm not sure how i'm going to surprise them this year, i'm just hoping they don't try to trick me!

easter 2015.

i love easter. it's easily my second favorite holiday. it's not quite Christmas & ranks slightly higher than cinco de mayo (yes, we celebrate mexico's independence. and kung hei fat choi, st. nick's day, kamehameha day, boy's day, girl's day, along with all the traditional holidays. coop is a festivity fanatic.) 

the best part of easter is cousins. with egg dying, egg hunts, & unlimited amounts of candy it's the perfect holiday for kids & definitely the more the merrier. for the past 12 years my easter has revolved around my nieces & nephews & then my own sons. before that easter was all about spending time with my cousins (yes, my auntie rosie is pretty rad & throws adult egg hunts with legit money rewards.) so although i miss my family every day of the year & more so during the holidays, no day pulls at my heart strings more than easter. that's why i'm extremely eternally grateful for our maui ohana. cooper has quality memories of his cousins but as far as mylo & tj are concerned these guys are just as much family as the distant relatives they only know through pictures & stories. in fact, while face timing family on easter i told mylo to come talk to his cousins. he took one look at the iPad screen & said, "dat not my tousins, mosiah & august my tousins." 

we began our easter celebrations with an egg hunt at kanaha. it was a full day of fun. there were classic kid games like tug-a-war, bunny hop races, & egg tosses while we waited for the whole crew to show up. then the moms took the kids on a beach walk to search for shells while the dads, ahem, the easter bunny hid the eggs. 

 after filling their baskets the kids died their shells, ate their candy lunch & spent the rest of the day in the ocean. it was perfect. that night we went upcountry to dye eggs with some friends & the boys spent the entire night running around their huge lot. it reminded me so much of my easter eves playing at my grandparents' with my cousins. 

we got home & had a little chat about the Savior, his resurrection, & the true meaning of easter. before bed we made sure to plant our jelly beans. sure enough the boys woke up to freshly sprouted lollipops & hidden dyed eggs around our backyard, & baskets full of goodies. i'm big on traditions. i love connecting the past with the future & i get excited over our routines. most of our traditions stem from my childhood but our easter brunch comes compliments of todd's nana. we have homemade bubble bread, bacon, eggs, & fruit salad. 

it only took them 20 minutes to recover all 100 eggs that bunny hid (minus the three some lady snagged while the kids were making their way down to the beach). they are quicker than i thought. mylo is easily excited but the beach egg hunt brought his excitement to a whole new level. it was so fun watching the boys happy faces & their joy with each discovered egg. we spent the rest of the day devouring massive amounts of candy & enjoying a little quality family time. i miss my nieces & nephews more than words can say but i am so grateful for my boys & the love we have from our hanai ohana. but mostly, i am grateful for a savior that gave the greatest sacrifice to prepare a way for me to live with my biological & hanai families forever. 

christmas 2014

the holidays came & went in a bit of a blur this year. and i'll be honest, i was absolutely horrible at visually documenting all of it. i totally neglected to take any pictures on halloween or thanksgiving. and although, i did remember to take my camera out on Christmas i did not remember to actually use it. so i have a handful of low quality iphone 4 pictures & that is it. pathetic, i know. so i'll do my best to put in to words what i forgot to put on film. 

i opted to keep christmas low key this year. mostly, due to the fact that my energy was totally burned out after our trip to california, tj's birthday, school projects, & being a temporarily single mom while todd crammed for finals. tj & mylo didn't seem to mind one bit. coop, on the other hand, was constantly reminding me of all the forgotten festivities. i did make sure to fulfill his every holiday wish & squeeze in our annual traditions. we made gingerbread houses, scoped out the local christmas lights, watched santa paddle in on a double-hull canoe, visited the lahaina banyan tree in all its lit up wonder, devoured plenty frozen hot chocolate, wrote letters to & made cookies for santa, tracked santa on his trek to maui (which, did you know hawai'i is his last stop according to norad. personally, i think the guy in red gets a little exhausted from all the holiday hustle & bustle ends on hawai'i so he can stick around for a little rest & relaxation. we searched for him around island but we decided he was most likely on moloka'i to avoid all the paparazzi.), grilled christmas dinner on the beach, made sandmen & sand angels, & we baked, a lot, this year we added toffee & peppermint bark to our holiday treat list. every year we do an advent calendar. i've switched it up, sometimes, the boys open little doors to retrieve pieces of chocolate, sometimes they get a new book each day of december, one year they opened little bags with treats & toys. this year, as christmas approached, i noticed there was a little too me-me-me & not enough awareness of others. so our advent calendar involved reading a story about Jesus each day & checking off a list. and for the 12 days of Christmas we did a 12 days of service. this was definitely the most time consuming of our holiday activities & the most rewarding.  early in the month coop & i made a list of 12 acts of service we would do for others as Christmas approached. some days the boys were not at all in to it & i was literally dragging them along. other times they were thoughtfully involved & so happy to serve. i don't know how effective this was for the boys but it was definitely the approach i needed to get my heart in the right place. this is a permanent addition to our Christmas traditions.

i guess all my attempts to keep them grounded through Christmas were totally foiled when i went a little overboard on the presents (due to my lack of planning & delayed shipping times). but i did remind them, multiple times, that they were spoiled this year & they shouldn't expect that many gifts ever again. this was the first year that all three of my boys were really in to Christmas. and i mean really. every thing was new to mylo. it was like he had never seen any of it & every thing was the coolest thing he had every seen. like Christmas lights. he couldn't get enough. and he was obsessed with santa. in fact, mylo has decided that he wants to be santa when he grows up. we made countless visits to the mall to spy the fat guy. but, despite all his amazement, mylo would not come in to contact with his hero. he regressed in to his shy shell every time santa looked his way. i kept most of their presents wrapped at the top of my closet until Christmas morning because i doubted mylo's self-control. but as packages for the boys started rolling in i opted to test putting a few presents under the tree. total mistake. twice i caught mylo curled up under a blanket right in front of the tree quietly opening presents. trouble-maker, i tell you. mylo & tj were very pleased with the constant flow of fresh goodies. they got very good at sneaking sweets whenever my back was turned. tj was really in to the elf on the shelf. he was the first one to spot hoku each morning. and this was the first year he picked out & paid for gifts for his brothers. he was very excited to share in the gift giving. cooper loves it all. from putting up the christmas tree to taking it down he is completely in to the all Christmas has to offer. although, like every seven year old, opening presents is the highlight of his holidays. he's been gift giving for years but every year his favorite gift to give is mine. he always makes me something full of love & thought that just makes my heart melt. this year it was a hand drawn calendar that hangs proudly above my desk.

i feel so blessed to have these boys in my life. every day i am grateful to our Lord & Heavenly Father for trusting me with such sweet spirits. being their mother is the second most incredible gift i have ever been given (first, being the atonement). and i strive every day to fulfill my responsibility to lead, guide, comfort, love, nurture, nourish, strengthen, & cherish my beautiful sons. i am also so tremendously grateful for my dear friends & family. like the beautiful & extremely talented alta bills that sketched our family picture featured on the front of our Christmas cards this year. mahalo to you, all. i hope this holiday season was full of happiness, peace, & aloha.

mele kalikimaka 2013

and this is exactly why you do not put off blogging. i've totally forgotten everything that happened over christmas. and isn't that the pointing of blogging, to remember those itty bitty precious details? and to make matters worst, i'm finding a total lack of holiday pictures as i'm scrolling through our archive. total mom fail. i'll give a record my best effort.

this holiday season went by faster than probably any other i've experienced. it started early when my cousins visited for thanksgiving (such an amazing week. i keep trying to convice them to relocate permanently), then we went straight into t.j.'s birthday, followed immediately by my mother-in-law visiting (finally! so good to have her around), & before we knew it christmas had come & gone. i tried to cram as much holiday festivities in as i could but i just didn't seem to have enough time or energy for every thing. we enjoyed holiday parties & play dates,  crafting, decorating, & baking, gingerbread houses, presents, snow men made out of sand, & a book advent calendar. it was hard keeping up with everything but so so worth it. cooper is very in to holidays, celebrations, & traditions. every time i tried to let something slide he was right there begging to bring it back i.e. homemade cinnamon rolls for christmas eve breakfast-i so wasnt't up for that but who can turn down his cherubic face? we are so grateful for the family we were able to see during the holidays & the dear friends who helped fill the void.

this was the first christmas eve were cooper was too overwhelmed with excitement to fall asleep & eagerly up before the sun. his brothers weren't quite sure what to expect but the quickly copied his enthusiasm. christmas day was absolutely perfect. normally i bulk up on presents. this year i went with the mantra, less is more. and it totally was. i limited the presents to seven quality gifts for the bigger boys & five for mylo. i put so much time & thought in to each gift. i wanted it to be something the would really enjoy & that wouldn't break before the week was up. they loved everything they got. cooper's favorite gifts were an ipod touch & a giant amythest from grama & papa. tj loves his car duplo set. mylo cannot get enough of his new basketball hoop & golf set. i planned to stop by the beach early in the afternoon so we could get back in time for our christmas dinner. but the boys were having too much fun to break it up. i decided to let them play with their toys until all day, move our christmas dinner to a late lunch, & stop by the beach for a sunset, instead. it was absolutely perfect. 

halloween 2013

after years of denial & attempts to overcome it i've finally realized that halloween just isn't my thing. it's nothing personal. i mean, i get why people like it. it just doesn't do anything for me. i would much rather skip all the spider webs & jack-o-lanterns & move right into stockings & advent calendars (yes, i wouldn't mind skipping thanksgiving. let's be honest, the spirit of thanks was destroyed long ago. the holiday only serves as an excuse for a glutenous feast & greedy shopping. but that's a topic for another day.) so i count halloween as one of my obligatory motherly duties since my boys (mainly, cooper) love the holiday. we do all the halloween things, we decorate our home, create the crafts, make the foods, go to the parties, trick-or-treat, etc., etc. but my heart just isn't in it. 

this year i embraced my feelings while still trying to provide the halloween my kids deserve. they picked out their costumes at costco back in august (score for me! they were just about as easy & well-priced as i could have hoped for). tj fell in love with the captain america costume the instint he laid eyes on it (in fact, he's worn it all over the island over the past few months). mylo was thor by default (he didn't care & the older boys wanted the hammer to play with). cooper was originally going as hulk but the day of he changed his mind & went with a backup we luckily had lying around, black spiderman. they were the cutest bunch of super heroes i ever have seen. it's amazing how much of a confidence boost it was once they put on those muscle-clad suits. and mylo was just plain awesome with his shoulders as broad & he is tall. he was absolutely fearless about all the halloween festivites. he went right up to the creepiest of creepy things without hesitation. at first he wasn't so sure about trick-or-treating, but once he realized there was candy at the end of those walkways he was all about it. we went trick-or-treating with a group of friends. coop felt like such a big kid roaming the streets with his friends (little did he know i was stalking him the whole way & never more then a good leap away). tj was more than happy to chase after cooper & follow his big brother's lead. he kept saying, "you not be afraid. you be brave." if ever i pretended to be scared of the spooky decor. my favorite part was when they were handed popsicles. yes, trick-or-treating on maui is a whole different experience. i'm used to knocking on doors to retrieve candy from homeowners tucked away in the warmth of their homes. it is not like that on maui. everyone is outside. most homes have an outdoor party going on. you just walk up, get some candy, & if you're lucky a little kau kau, too! such aloha even on the creepiest night of the year.  so yes, even though halloween really isn't for me, i think we had a pretty pleasant holiday.

may day

 may day is sort of a big deal on the islands. all the schools on all the islands put on a may day ho'olaulea. there is hula, music, crowning of the royal court representing each island,  plenty of lei & flowers, & of course, plate lunch. the crowds are enormous. everyone comes to celebrate. coop was very excited & a little nervous about his first hula. his dancing was darling. the junior kindergartners performed ka'aahi kahului. the whole experience was incredible. i'm excited to join this to our annual celebrations.

(this is cooper's crush. one of the two haole girls in his class. go figure.)

hau`oli pakoa 2013

i know i say this every year but, easter really is my favorite holiday. and what better way to spend my favorite day than in my favorite place with my favorite people (although, i really do with i could have flown my sisters, parents,  nieces, & nephews over). we celebrated the holiday with 3 egg hunts (one with our favorite maui mama's play group at kamaole III, one with our dear friends in orinda forest, & one with just our ohana at charlie young beach). we painted eggs, made & devoured many tastey easter inspired treats, & discussed the role our Savior plays in this very special day. i decided to tone down the easter presents this year since we have a much smaller living space & we really don't need all that crud cluttering up our home. the boys didn't mind at all. we barbequed teri beef at the cove for lunch then we headed to my auntie & uncle's hotel for more swimming. it was unlike any easter i've had before. 

unforgotten holidays (unfortunately)

i've never cared much for valentine's day or st. patty's. in fact, in my perfect world i would hack most holidays off my calendar & leave the festivities to Christmas, 4th of july, & Easter. my dear 5 year old has a different opinion. he keeps me in check when it comes to each & every possible reason for a celebration. so celebrate we do. (the lack of pictures from these days testify of my lack of interest. next year, i vow to do better.)

(check out mighty's jammies. i bought those 5.5 years ago for coop. each of my boys wore them on valentine's. i wish i had the pictures to prove, unfortunately they are on my imac sitting in storage in california. the second picture is of the valentine's coop & i threw together.)

to be honest, i was pretty stoked for the opportunity to volunteer at Coop's valentine's day party at school. i just adore those kids & i love watching my sweet boy in every setting he encounters. prior to the big shin-dig i snuck that little boo out of school for our traditional valentine's date. every year i take my mini boyfriends to the lunch of their choosing. i also set up a scavenger hunt for my dears to discover their valentines. and every year my dear husband valentine treats me to flowers & my favorite homemade meal: steak, potatoes, bread, & frozen hot chocolate. who could ask for more.

coop insisted on celebrating dr. suess day thanks to all the commotion going on at his school. i really had no clue what to do, especially since he diceded the night prior that we needed to celebrate. fortunately for me, he is easy to please. our breakfast, lunch, snacks, & dessert were black, red, & white. we read a lot of books. and made a little craft. and he adored it all.

st. patty's, i was so looking forward to skipping st. patty's. i planned to dress my eldest two boys in green to avoid the possibility of a pinch & end the celebration there. (my dear mother always prepared corned beef & cabbage on st. patty's. mmmmm-mmmmm, mmmmmmm. i would gladly carry on this tradition, if my picky husband wasn't completely anti-corned beef (sad, i know)). so all my plans were squashed when at bed time st. patty's eve coop announced that he doesn't like st. patrick's day because it's boring. boring!? our life is anything but boring. so i took that as a challange to make the day memorable. out of bed we jumped & headed to the kitchen to whip up a (very sad looking) leprechaun trap. then as he slept i put together a scavengar hunt. with little to no supplies & even less energy i barely pulled it together with no help from pinterest. basically, i wrote a note from the leprachauns instructing my babes to take their rainbows & follow the clues (yes, another scavengar hunt). taped to each clue was a crayon. once they found all the clues & all the crayons their rainbow & their hunt was complete. the last clue directed them to their potted treasure (starburst jelly beans & plenty quarters). they loved it. coop is always down for a hunt.

*living near krispy kreme has resulted in donuts for breakfast for any possible reason. or no reason at all.

a local holiday

this past week has been an honest-to-goodness dream come true. i love christmas & i love summer. so combine the two & i am in heaven. we definitely took full advantage of the 85 degree weather & pristine beaches. we enjoyed some of our pre-established traditions while adding new ones to the mix. our favorite new costumes included checking out the banyan tree lights, devouring doghnuts on a stick, making seashell ornaments, & Christmas dinner beach barbeque. Since we didn't bring any holiday decor with us & there wasn't much to chose from on the island so i opted for a handmade holiday. that's right, with the exception of a few items, coop & i made our Christmas decor from scratch. in fact, i whipped up our stockings in 35 minutes flat. it wasn't the best looking but we did have a lot of fun. our favorite part was an advent calendar filled with treats & small toys.

as usual, i totally over did it on the presents. but i excused it since the kids have been so good about leaving almost every thing they own in california. plus it was totally worth it to see their little faces light up with each gift. they were so excited & unbelievably grateful. they were just as excited for each others' gifts as they were for their own. tj kept squeeling over all of mylo's presents. and anytime someone would say, "merry Christmas" he would shout, "happy cooper-mylo!" coop said it was his favorite day ever. he got everything on his gift list (lego ships, fish tank, surf board, nurf guns, surf posters & books, a microphone, & so much more). he named his first fish Swim Around 5 & Sir Eats-A-Lot. tj was received a new ride on toy & about a milllion wee-wees (cars) & he was overwhelmingly excited each time he opened a new vehicle. mylo was given some new baby toys but his favorite presents were the yummy treats from his cousin maddie-waffle flavored wagon wheels! my favorite present was a card cooper made for me all by himself. it was simple he wrote i love(a heart) u. i tear up just thinking about it. that sweet little man knows just what his mommy loves. todd & i got a new sup board, an underwater camera, & all types of new gear for enjoying the island.

as soon as we finished our traditional christmas brunch, breakfast bagel sandwiches, we took off to the beach for a white sand Christmas. we loved trying out our new presents. this was definitely a Christmas for the books.

(i didn't bring my camera the next time we took the boards out but just for the record coop is already able to ride the waves standing with just a little push start.)

mele kalikimaka

mahalo 2012

i love how thanksgiving brings so many positive thoughts of gratitude. and i, for one, have much to be grateful for. this year has been full of blessings. here are some of the things i am more grateful for.

1. my men. all 4 of them. without whom my life would not be complete.

2. the opportunity to live on maui. dream come true.

3. my parents. their love & service has no bounds. they set the best examples for me & my posse.

4. the beach. it is my place of peace.

5. year around tempatures in the 80's. i loathe being cold.

6. bbq. it is my favorite food. delicious and so easy.

7. quality sunglasses & sunscreen. the sun can be brutal.

8. email, social media, & cell phones. keeping connected with loved ones made easy.

9. postal services. goods on a remote island can be scarce. shipping is a must.

10. more than anything. i am thankful for a loving Heavenly Father who constantly has my back. what more do i need to say? without Him i am nothing. because of Him i have everything. a few weeks ago coop & i were at some local shops. i was about 15' from him looking at a sales rack while he was watching fish in a pond. suddenly, a very thick & large branch snapped off a tree & fell approximately 12' to the ground. according to reports from others who watched the event cooper barely moved right before the branch fell so that the branch missed cooper's fragile head by a hair. had this branch have hit him the result would have been tragic. i asked cooper what happened. he told me that his brain told him to find mommy so he turned to look for me. and because he made that little movement his little body was spared. i know that the Lord planted that thought into cooper's head. He knew just what to say to inspire cooper to move just out of the way just in time. i know that He was watching us & He was protecting us. and for that, i am eternally grateful.

trick-ah-treat 2012

let me begin by saying, halloween is so not my thing. (to me it signifies the end of summer & i love summer.) but i celebrate it for my wee ones-the things a mother does to see a smile. maui takes halloween seriously. very seriously. just about every community center has some sort of halloween event, nearly every store hands out goodies, & just about every person, child & adult alike, dresses in full costume. all halloween week long. so we had a very full halloween celebration: pumpkin patch, 4 trick-or-treats, a family fun festival, keiki costume parade, pumpkin painting, pumpking carving, plenty decor making, themed meals, & endless amounts of candy. the kids loved every moment. cooper insisted on making every halloween food & craft his little mind could think of. he picked out his & his brothers costumes (i was all for the ease-you know, since i'm still on vacation). t.j. loved every ounce of candy. he was scared of the "spooky" houses & refused to go to the doors until he saw the homeowners come out with a bowl full of candy. then he would run as fast as his little legs would take him yelling, "trick-or-treat". once the candy was securely in his bag he would do a little happy feet dance shout "thank you" & run back to the safety of mommy's hand. it was to die for. mylo was a true trooper. he went along with all the fuss with very little fuss. this was the best halloween i've had in a long time. mainly, because i got to enjoy the whole thing in perfect weather, in shorts, & never far from the beach.

coop's 5th

cooper's birthday bootcamp

we had coop's birthday party a little early (3 weeks), again this year (due to another long distance move). i desperately tried to talk him out of a party this year since i've been a little busy this month with a brand new baby & upcoming move. but that stubborn little boy didn't budge & i am so grateful for his persistance. in the end, this party was the least labor intensive party i have ever thrown & he still had the time of his life. he wanted an army guy/american flag party (his words, not mine). he invited his favorite people, picked the events, & decorated the cupcakes. i made all the bits & pieces. todd set up the obstacle course & led the party. it was perfect teamwork. the kids received deployment letters with the party information. then showed up at "fort watkins" for training. there was a rescue mission (they searched out & saved wounded army men), an obstacle course, tug of war, & capture the flag. after completing their training they reported to the mess hall for snacks. each child received an army bandana, medal, camo bag, compass, toy hummer, america stickers, & of course, army men. coop was so excited for his party that he woke up at 6:00am (he normally never rises before 8:30). i am grateful that despite my slackfulness this party met his expectations.

(excuse the terrible lighting. damn pergalo.)