Mowing the lawn

One of Nalani's chores is to mow the lawn. She loves this chore so she keeps it even though we change our chores weekly. This is very fortunate for me since I'm pregnant & can't push the lawn mower. Jason and Anuhea also lucked out.

7 Months (31 weeks)!

April 24, 2008

I'm 7 months pregnant, and this week makes 31 weeks. There are only 9 weeks to go, and it's getting more uncomfortable to walk around or stand for an extended period of time. This baby is sitting low just like when I was pregnant with Hokulani, so there's a lot of pressure down below. Our little girl moves a lot, and her sisters--especially Hokulani--love feeling the movements.

Learning to read

April 22, 2008

Over the year Hokulani has improved so much in her reading abilities. She also gets a turn while we read the Book of Mormon as a family. She amazes us when she reads words like "Lamanites", and "groweth". Hokulani also makes us laugh when she doesn't read carefully or tries to guess the word instead of sounding it out. She often reads "God" as "good".

For her homework (once a week), Hokulani used to have to do a book report that required writing the title, author, and illustrator, and drawing a picture of her favorite part of the story. Soon she excelled past that level, and moved on to doing book reports requiring the title, author, illustator, main characters, and writing about her favorite part of the story. We're so proud of her!

Hokulani also loves borrowing books from the library. She is allowed to borrow as many books as she wants, but I have limited her to as many as she can carry in the box we take to the library. Hokulani likes it when we read to her, but she is also eager to read on her own.

Science Project

April 18, 2008

Anuhea had to come up with a topic for a science project that she needs to work on for a month. She decided to freeze different liquids and see which one melts the fastest. In preparation for the students' projects and displays, Anuhea's class did an experiment with bubble gum. Here are pictures of the board Anuhea's group made. I think Anuhea will do a great job for her own board because she did a lot of the work on this one.

Drive-in Movie

April 12, 2008

Our ward (The Oviedo Ward) had a fun activity this evening. It was a drive-in activity. We made box cars, had a race (Flinstone-style, they called it), ate hot dogs for dinner, and "drove" in to the gym to watch the Disney movie "Cars". Since we watched the movie "Cars", many of us modeled our box cars after those in the movie. It was so much fun to see what people came up with. We chose to create Luigi, the little yellow Fiat who sold tires in the movie.

The cars lined up on display

Nalani gets ready to race

A Lightning McQueen look-alike has made its appearance

The Dimmick family (of 9) created Fillmore, the peace bus

The Hopkins family did a great job making Mater

Bishop Roberts and his family made Frank, and it was huge!

The Howard family's box car

The Caldwell family's cars

Hokulani & Nalani sit in our car, Luigi, during the movie

Car Wash

April 12, 2008

Anuhea's in 5th grade this year. At the end of the school year the 5th graders have some big celebration in honor of finishing elementary school. Today the 5th graders had a car wash at the school to raise money for the event. Anuhea stayed there for the morning, and we finally got our minivan washed after 8 months! We hadn't washed our car since we bought it in August last year. It was exciting to see our van shine again. Anuhea had a great time. Fortunately, it was good weather for getting wet. We also donated some money.

School picnic

April 11, 2008

Stenstrom Elementary School had a family picnic at school for lunch. I went to the school to have lunch with our 3 daughters. It was nice that parents, grandparents, etc. were allowed to enjoy lunch with the children. We sat on the playground area. Tents were set up for each class or grade. I took our camp chair to sit on. We were able to choose between hamburgers or hot dogs. We also got chips and a drink. We had a nice time, but it sure was a HOT day to be outside.

Gardening

April 2008

In Hokulani's Kindergarten class they talked about plants. Hokulani was so excited to bring home a lima bean that she was supposed to plant. We found a spot in the front of the house and Hokulani planted the bean herself. She diligently waters her lima bean, and here we have pictures of her plant as it has grown. It's nice to see Hokulani so excited about growing something herself.

Inspiration

April 6, 2008

This weekend was the General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. We didn't get to attend the sessions on Saturday, and I was very disappointed because it was Saturday when Thomas S. Monson was sustained as the new President of the church. I would have liked to sustain him also.

I most enjoyed the talk by Elder M. Russell Ballard. He spoke about how young mothers can better handle family life and how other people can help mothers. Elder Ballard gavea lot of good instruction that it was good to learn or be reminded of.

1. Remove pressure and enjoy your family. Pray for guidance. Enjoy the moments you have with your family. DON'T OVERSCHEDULE! (That's not really a problem I have, but I know some people do.)
2. Husbands can support wives and children. Show appreciation. Spend time together. Give your wife time away--alone. Come home from work and take an active role in the family.
3. Children can help too. Help with chores without being asked. Express thanks. Hug your mom often and tell her you love her.
4. The church can also help. Auxiliary leaders should be considerate of the time and demands puts on mothers when scheduling or in callings.

I hope all of you who attended General Conference also enjoyed it!

Ducks

April 2, 2008

What a surprise Jason got when he looked out our back door and saw 2 ducks! They were just wandering along the forest edge across the ditch in our back yard.

Matching PJs

March 20, 2008

Nalani and Hokulani were excited when we got some clothes from a friend, because now they have matching pajamas. Here they are: