stupid.

The other day, I over heard Ezra yelling at one of his toys. It was faint but I heard the words "Stupid" and "Blockhead". Both of which he learned from Charlie Brown!

(Ezra absolutely LOVES to watch "Charlie Brown and the Great Big Pumpkin". Ezra calls it "Charlie and the Pumpkin Patch". I've tried to hide the movie from him knowing that it has bad words, but the DVD case is in a bright orange label that he seems to spot even if it so happens to be hidden on top of our refrigorator!!)

So, getting back to my story, I heard him use those words and I called for him. He innocently came out and I told him sternly, "'Stupid' and 'blockhead' are NOT nice words. They make people very upset and sad." Of course his reply was, "Why?" (that's his answer to everything!). So, I explained to him that those words mean that a person is not smart and doesn't think with his or her brain. And he asked again, "Why?" I grabbed his shoulders and loudly said, "How would you like to be called 'stupid' and 'blockhead'?" I was hoping my intensity would show how negative the words are, but it kind of scared him because then, I saw worry in his eyes. He finally said, "No Mom. I don't like it." He looked so sad and I began to hug him and tell him that he's not stupid or a blockhead and neither is anyone else in this world! I told him that Heavenly Father would NEVER consider anyone 'stupid' and that was that.

[Okay, as I'm writing this and reflecting on the experience, I'm realizing how bi-polar I am! One minute, everything's cool and Ezra's playing with his toys. The next, I'm yelling at him! Then, immediately after that, I'm hugging and praising him!! ...Gosh, what's wrong with me?!]

Continuing on.... today, as I'm driving out of Kapolei, I see that the traffic heading towards Wai'anae is crazy! So, I mumble, "Stupid!", and all of a sudden I hear Ezra say, "Mom!! That-is- NOT-a-nice-word! It makes people very sad and you should never, never EVER say that!" He looked genuinely upset and he even pointed his little pointer finger at me! I felt so.. so... STUPID! I seriously thought I was going to cry! I apologized, but even that didn't stop him from chastising me! He scolded me for a couple minutes until he finally accepted my apology and said, "Okay."!!

Today, my little boy taught me yet another one of life's great lessons. It wasn't the lesson of speaking kind words, but to PRACTICE WHAT I PREACH! Talk about a stupid blockhead on my part??!!

FHE

Yo!

Last night we had Family Home Evening and our lesson was on what we are thankful for. There was a cute article in the May issue of the friend about counting your blessings. It was perfect because I've been trying to teach Ezra that when he prays, to be reverent.. close your eyes.. bow your head (of course!), but most importantly-THANK Heavenly Father for our blessings. It's probably from my example of rushing through a prayer that Ezra skips the gratitude process and goes straight to... "Please bless so and so.."! Anyways, I wanted to post our pictures/lists of the things we're grateful for. The only drawing I didn't get was Elias'. We can't get that little boy to stay still!! Everytime I tried to guide him with the crayon, he grunted, pulled the crayon away and tried to eat it! I guess he's grateful from crayons! ;)

Ezra was grateful for slides, his friends, and (as random as he can be...) his cousin, Kiana!!

James was so proud of his picture! You might not be able to see this, but Rowdy (our dog) is standing in our kitchen doorway! So cute! I also like my fluffy, puffy dress!

I am grateful for a lot of things, but I'd like to point out that my list is in no particular order! Our Prophet, The Gospel, Heavenly Father and Jesus are far from being the last on my gratitude list!!

The Best You Challenge

Hey all!

This is my "first in FOREVER" blog! What has inspired me to come, you might ask?! Well, I started a 3-month long "Best You Challenge" today . It's a cool diet that has 10 guidelines to live by every day and if you succesfully complete a guideline, then you get a point. Aside from the usual 'no eating junks, drink lots of water, eat fruits and vegetables, yada yada (!)... the three guidelines that i'm most interested in working on are:

1. 15 minutes a day of spiritual study or reading uplifting material,
2. Keep a daily journal or blog (hence this attempt to get back on the blogger!) and...
3. Set a goal for the day or week.

These are things that I NEED to work on! Although I'm a crazy facebook fanatic(!!), I think keeping this blog is better for me and my family. I'm not really expecting anyone to read my blogs (as opposed to Facebook where everyone can see what I'm doing and posting!). So, this blog is intended for me to be more personal with my blogs and entries. And if you ARE reading this, then know that you are that much closer to me than any other facebook groupie (like myself)!!

So, here ends my first, official "blog/journal entry" of the challenge! It's been a long day of me trying not to finish off my left over ice cream and drinking water like the dickens! I'm about to stuff my face with two servings of vegetables and fruits to get it over with and I can already see myself giving up in a week... Or maybe even tomorrow! (sigh..) We'll see!

Snuggle Pup

Here's a clip from early December of Ezra singing one of his favorite books...

SNUGGLE PUPPY!!

TWILIGHT the MOVIE!!

Well, Twilight FINALLY hit the theaters and swept us off our feet! In some ways-good... in others-not so good and just plain AWKWARD! But it was definitely an experience to remember!



Here's Shari, Kelli, and I waiting patiently before the movie! My shirt says, "Edward Cullen ruined ALL motals for me."! Kelli almost made a shirt that said, "Harry Potter for LIFE!" She should have because there was even a preview for the newest Harry Potter coming out this year! Can't wait for that...but not as much to make another event for!!

Eve, Mernette, and Maile... our official seat savers! Thank you girls so much for your punctuality!

Look how packed the theater is!! If just ONE showing was this crowded, then we're on the right track to making enough money for the next movie... New Moon!

Thanks Keana'aina family for coming out. I'm glad you guys enjoyed the movie! REAL men watch AND read Twilight!
And thanks baby boy Keana'aina for waiting till mommy saw Twilight before YOU came out! Hmm... what do you think of the name "Edward"?! Or Jacob?! hehehe!

You can't really see the writing on Chan's shirt, but it says, "My heart belongs to my husband, but Edward can have my neck."!!! TOO FUNNY! And the back of Man's shirt say's, "Screw Self-Control" which is hilarious considering that she's pregnant!

We literally built Twilight up to be the "Movie of the Century"! And unfortunately, it was not! I'm not saying that it was bad. I'm just saying that it wasn't perfect and because we had such high expectations, we wallowed in our dissapointment! (can you tell that I'm trying to look like Jasper? He didn't look as constipated as I do (I was trying not to laugh!), but the movie did make him look comically miserable! Which were one of the things that dissapointed me.)

There was lots to discuss at our "after the movie" review at Zippy's. The average rating was about 6.5-7. Those that didn't have high expectations really liked the movie! Shari (who hadn't read the book) absolutely LOVED it (she gave it the highest rating, in fact)! I guess it still holds true that books are better than their movies. Even Maile said that she would have enjoyed it better if she didn't read the book! The movie had quite a few cheesy parts and at times, it seemed that the actors "over-acted" to the point where I was embarrassed for them! Over all, I was happy to have the visual (or more like I was happy to finally stare at Edward!!) and I can't say that I wouldn't watch it again or add it to my DVD collection!

Love the shirts, ladies!!

This is the back of Maile's shirt! It's all of the Twilight "Flare"!! FABULOUS!! Thank you to everyone who had the Twilight spirit and even made shirts! As Mernette said, "The best part about the Twilight movie were all the events that led up to it!" It's true!! The anticipation of it all... going to the Borders movie event... making the shirts... wasting money on the Twilight Movie Companion and the magazines that featured Rob Pattinson (!)... going to the after movie hang out at Zippy's... and bonding with friends like we were all 13 again... PRICELESS!

Everyone went home that night with an apple for their thoughts and a nice little picture of Edward and I!! (hmm.. maybe this is why James REFUSES to support Twilight in any and every way?!!) Thank you again for those of you who came! It was an OUTRAGEOUS night!

I'd also like to thank our sponsor, Sariah Mossman (Eve's daughter!!), for putting together these aDoRabLe bracelets. Everyone at the movie premiere looked stunning in them!
If anyone is interested in purchasing more of these creative bracelets, please contact me and I'll notify Sariah Mossman Designs! Each bracelet is retailed at $.25 and 100% of the profits are donated to the homeless.

TWILIGHT at BORDERS!!

Tonight, Channy and I checked out the Windward Mall Borders Twilight Party. As awkward as we felt standing amongst a bunch of teeny boppers and wearing our silly Twilight shirts, we had fun! In fact, it was a little comforting to know that there are other psycho twilighters (even worse than us!) that would stand in the middle of a bookstore playing twilight charades and answering trivia questions! Unfortunately, we didn't win the movie tickets that were raffled, but Channy won a nifty little bookmark from showing off her twilight expertise!! All in all, it was a great night and we couldn't have survived the craziness of it all if we didn't have eachother!

Channy's totally going to kill me for putting this picture up, but here she is... acting out Renee, Bella's mom, in our SUPER COOL game of Charades! Can you tell that she's typing on the computer (to show that Renee mostly kept in touch via email)? Judging by the intensity of Channy's face, a teeny bopper guessed that she was "Edward playing Bella's lullaby"! Seriously, how could they NOT recognize the cUtEsT Renee impression ever?!

Mandy missed the events, but she made it just in time to show off her shirt and take some pictures for all of our blogs!!

*And where are all of our children while we're obsessing over vampires??!! Thank you Aunty Wendy and Uncle Steve (Chan's parents) for watching the 6 babies (who are ALL under 4 years old!). It probably didn't make it easier for them that Ezra was scared of Uncle Steve and WAILED everytime he was in sight!! Everyone survived, though!