Calling all U of I law school students

I think there might be more U of I law student WIVES who read my posts, so I guess this is to ALL OF YOU.

It's NO SHAVE NOVEMBER and the growing is over.
The prize is $100 and Dru should TOTALLY WIN.
I'm not bias.
So if you love me and Dru and value our friendship in ANY WAY SHAPE OR FORM you'll go HERE and vote for him.
It's on FB so if you have an account you can view it but if you're a LAW STUDENT you can VOTE.
So you have to comment underneath saying "I VOTE FOR DRU"

Dru, Dru, he's our man, if he can't do it NOBODY CAN.

Go babe, you're the best looking BY FAR oh yeah, and your beard is the best BY FAR.
I'm not bias................remember?

Thanksgiving week

 These are all the pictures I took for the whole week.
Utah had lots of snow and so the kids played outside almost everyday they were here.
Here's Yuki in all her gears.
They loved it.
They also loved playing with their cuzzies all week.
I'm so glad they're all such good friends, NOISY as anything, but good friends, none the less.

I had a blast with mates.
It was a lot of fun hanging out with friends and catching up, eating ice cream, getting my hair done, talking and laughing together.
I have some pretty awesome mates.

Dru had a relaxing week as well doing nothing much.
It was nice.

 Thanksgiving dinner was FANTASTIC.
I did NOTHING.
I asked what my assignment was and I wasn't given an answer.  I even volunteered but still nothing, so I did nothing.
So I went from last year doing SO MUCH and this year doing......................nothing.
Fine by me man, I'm not gonna volunteer thrice.
The picture, above, is my brother in law's candied yams.
His wife told us he has 'broiler' issues.
It caught on fire and there was smoke everywhere.  I wish I caught it on tape, we could've won thousands on America's Funniest Home Video's.
I can mock him as he's an AMAZING cook, so it's nice to know he's not perfect, it gives me hope.

Here's the kids playing out in the snow across the road. I'm not sure why they wanted to play there. Maybe it's cause the pile of snow from the snow plow was there.
These two are such good friends man.  It's really nice.
We saw 'Tangled' at the movies.............LOVED IT..............EVERYONE SHOULD GO.
I started 'The Host'.
I'm up to chapter 4.  So far it's making ZERO sense.  So I guess I need to stick at it.
I forgot my knitting bag so did ZERO crafting.
I always think I'm gonna get so much done and then..............WHOOOOOOOOSH.............the week is gone.
Maybe over Christmas.

Anyway I was watching the weather channel on Friday and the weather guy said 'If you have a choice to travel either Sat or Sun, choose Sat as Sunday's weather isn't going to be good'.
I was thinking 'Whatever man, you TOTALLY said there was gonna be this MASSIVE BLIZZARD and it was a puny little snow fall for TWO HOURS"

So while Dru was wondering whether or not we should go I was like "Come on man it's not gonna be that bad, let's just go"
So we packed up this morning and headed out a little after 1pm.
We saw about 10 accidents on the way to Boise.
I said 'Why do you think there's all these accidents babe?' and he goes 'It's probably because people aren't paying enough attention'
Then he proceeded to take his eyes off of the road and look at a couple of cars which had slid off the road only to find himself swearing while he swerved into the snow on the side of the road and pulled himself back onto the main section of the freeway"
I was cracking up for ages, AFTER I HAD A HEART ATTACK.
It was like perfect timing.
EYES ON THE ROAD NAKAYA!!!

Dru, the perfect driver................LOL
We made it back safe and sound at around 8pm with two stops, one of them dinner.
We had to go the Pocatello route as the other road was closed.

It's actually times like this I'm truly grateful for our awesome car.  I always feel safe in it and know if there's an accident, as long as the other car isn't a SEMI TRUCK we'll come out of it just fine.
I didn't see ONE SUV stuck in the snow, it was all sedans and minivans.

Great week, with great peeps.
Now it's back to washing, chores, and reality.
But it's nice to be back home in our own beds.
As Masaru put it when he walked into the house tonight....................'Ah Home Sweet Home'
So cute.

Journal Entry Ten

Tell a funny story that happened to you.

Click HERE  to read mine.

“Keeping a journal gives you a chance to let some whisperings trickle through you from your own spirit, as well as from the Spirit of the Lord,”

M. Gawain Wells

Sooooooo

So Utah's been awesome.
I've taken some pic's of the kids in all this snow but forgot the cable.
So I guess there's no pic's this week.
But I've been having a good week with mates and family.
It's been brilliant.
I'm glad we're here and I'm thankful for people.

Dru: International Man of Mystery

The bearded wonder, who just took off his hat apparently.
I like to call this the 'hippie' look.

The bearded wonder with a nice head of hair.
That's a little more respectable than the hippie look.

Now we're starting to get into the trimmed biker look.

Now he could be on that show where they make the 'chopper' bikes.
Look at those crazy side burns?
He's a hoodlum.
At least he's got a nice smile.

 

This is what we like to call the 'Spanish' look.

"Hello, my name is Inigo Montoya, you killed my father, prepare to die"

Come on, everyone's GOTTA KNOW what movie that quote is from.

Dru's saving this portrait of himself for when he gets his very own concealed weapons permit.
Nice one Dru.

Here's we have the handlebar mustache/Asian beard thingiemajig.
Who the hell knows.

And this face about sums it up folks.
This is how he went to school today, and this is what he's going to keep for the next few days until I say ENOUGH!!

It's like I have to do a double take every time I look at him.
At least he's not boring.

Who said Asians couldn't grow a decent beard?
He DOES have his English side to thank for it I think.

Never a dull moment around here man.

And now we're off to Utah for a week.

Hi-Ho the Bingo

Yuki's running around the house singing

"Hi Ho the Farmers in the Dell, and Bingo is his name"

Crack up.

Journal Entry Nine

Have you ever met a prophet or general authority?
If so, tell your experience.

For those who are members of other faiths.
Have you ever met some one famous in your faith? 

Click HERE to read mine 

"As we use personal journals for places to think, feel, discover, expand, remember, and dream, I believe we will come to better understand President Ezra Taft Benson’s words: “The Lord works from the inside out” (A Witness and a Warning [1988], 64).

Brad Wilcox

Beach Buggy

Masaru's school sent home books for the year for him to read.  We're going through them every week.  One book is alright and the other is usless.  So I add from my own collection.
This is one of them.

 This is the last page of the book.
He then started talking to me about what a beach buggy was.
It's a NZ book, so often times we have a conversation about how us 'kiwis' call certain things a different name from USA.
I love it.
Beach buggy is one.

 So he got out his very few legos that he owns and proceeded to make his very own Beach Buggy.

 It has plenty of lights so he can see in the dark and get into mischief, is my guess.

 Then he wrote about it in his journal.
In the last 2 weeks, most of his writing has been about him building things.
So his new word he can spell is the word 'built'.  It's pretty awesome.
We sounded out legos and he got the word 'Beach Buggy' from the book he read.
What I LOVE the MOST about his journal though is the picture. 
I think it's so cute.
He even drew the mouse with a red mowhawk, although it's suppose to be a cap, right bub?!

 Then the next day he made some 'improvements on his Beach Buggy.
The first one is this HUGE antennae that you can see there.
I guess he needs to call USA when he's on the NZ beaches with his HAM radio.

 

And he also added a front windshield, which I think is smart considering he's driving in sand!!

NICE WORK MASARU.

Love it. 

Takeshi vs Yogurt

 "Don't make me eat it Dad, please don't make me eat it"

 "I'm just coming over to LOOK, that's it, I won't commit to anything else"

 "Alright I'll just have a LITTLE nibble of yogurt and THAT'S IT"

 

"This yogurt stuff isn't too bad, thanks Dad"

Thanks A LOT Dru

So Masaru went to the dentist this morning and he's got all the SAME PROBLEMS his FATHER HAD WITH HIS TEETH.
Grrrrrrrrrrrreeeeeeeeeeeeaaaaaaaaaaaaaat.
At least he doesn't have any cavities right?
That's something we can celebrate.

So turns out he has 'cramped teeth' syndrome which means his mouth isn't big enough for ALL HIS TEETH and he'll FOR SURE need braces.
Also he has a bit of an UNDER BITE.................yeah that's right, thanks for that one as well babe as they can be HEREDITARY!!

So he suggested that in 6 months he see an orthopedic dentist to space out his teeth BEFORE the new ones come in so they have a CHANCE at coming in with enough space to not be as bad as they could be.

He said 'It's a cheaper option'
I'm like 'Like how cheap?  Like instead of 20k 18k?  I mean what are we talking about here?'
And he's like 'Well I don't know, I'm not an Orthopedic surgeon.'
I'm like 'Oh so you don't know how much that'd be?  Last time I checked they don't take medicaid peeps'
Then the lady helping him goes 'Actually my son goes to one as I'm on it'
And proceeded to give me his number.
So maybe I'll give him a call in 6 months and see what we're talking about here.

The Dentist goes 'The consult is free'
I'm thinking 'OF COURSE IT'S FREE CAUSE THEY'RE ABOUT TO HOSE YOU MATE'

So I'll have to get back to you in 6 months and see what Dru and I decide to do.
I mean he makes sense but what if his teeth come in alright?

The dentist today said THERE'S NO CHANCE THEY'LL COME IN STRAIGHT AND FOR SURE HE'LL NEED BRACES.

At least he has no cavities right?
I'm sticking with that one positive glimmer of hope.

HE'S GOT GOOD TEETH, THEY'RE JUST ALL MESSED UP.
LOL

I mean what chance did he really have?
He's part Japanese and English, last time I checked both those cultures generally have HORRIBLE teeth.
At least they're strong teeth, he gets THAT from ME!!

Come on Yuki...........................fingers crossed you've got mum's teeth.

Constitution Obsolete?

Why the Original Constitution with NEVER be Obsolete

"Anyone who says the American Constitution is obsolete just because social and economic conditions have changed does not understand the real genius of the constitution.
It was designed to control something which HAS NOT CHANGED AND WILL NOT CHANGE-
NAMELY, HUMAN NATURE."


13th Principal in 'The 5000 Year leap.

Love it.

On a roll

 

Here's the latest and the greatest of Yuki's new found love for drawing humans.

Now the fact that she drew all of us is no surprise.

I'm a little alarmed at how she drew me with just a head that looks as if it's yelling at her.  Is that my legs out the back of my head?

Anyway I'm doing good with my yelling so maybe next time my portrait won't be so bad.

But you might notice that Dad's just a head as well, but he's got a smile on his face.

My goal is to reach the same status as her father one day (sigh) lofty goal indeed, it's hard being married to a man who's better than you in so many ways.

I think it's funny she drew my mother and Dru's father.

Then, randomly, on the side, she drew her church nursery teacher!!

So cute man.

She definitely drew herself the best!  I'm not surprized.  Yuki knows where it's at.

Love you bub.

Begining ice skater

Here's Masaru's second time ice skating.
They're only half an hour sessions.

It'll be interesting to see how he's doing by the last session on Dec 18th.
I'll take footage then as well and we can all compare.

I think he's doing great, but I'm his mother and realize I'm clouded by love.
GOOD JOB BUB!!

Journal Entry Eight

Write a faith promoting experience.

Click HERE to see mine.

“It is the soldier, not the reporter, who has given us the freedom of the press. It is the soldier, not the poet, who has given us freedom of speech. It is the soldier, not the agitator, who has given us the freedom to protest. It is the soldier who salutes the flag, serves beneath the flag, whose coffin is draped by the flag, who gives that protester the freedom to abuse and burn that flag.”

 I'll forever be grateful for the freedoms I have to be able to believe what I believe, write freely what I believe, and hand that belief down to my children.

May we always have these freedoms.

Thankyou soldiers, it's because of you I can even have an open, public, journal to share with others.

Top Six

Remember my mate Dave who put in a video to Hoopes Vision to win FREE laser surgery?

WELL HE'S IN THE TOP SIX IN HIS CATEGORY!!

It doesn't surprise me really.  I mean his video is AWESOME.

So now he needs you JUST ONE MORE TIME.
You don't have to have a FB page either to vote for him.

It's waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay easier to see the videos as there's only 3 categories and 18 videos left.
I guess they're giving 3 people free surgery or maybe 2, I dunno.

ANYWAY if you could click HERE and vote for him (My Eyes: Serious category) I'd be grateful.
Man it'd be SO AWESOME if he won don't you think?

You can vote for him ONCE A DAY!!

I've found it..........

 Or should I say HER.
I've found HER.
Her name is Kris and I LOVE HER TO BITS.
Look at how handsome she made my kids OUT OF THE GOODNESS OF HER HEART!
FANTASTIC HAIRCUTS.
I think even Dru, the fussy one, might even like these.

 Look how cute Takeshi's cut is?
I mean how cute is that?

 He's a handsome little boy now.
No more 'long hair, you look like a girl' jokes aye bub!!

 LOL
I just put this in cause I thought it was cute.

 I can't believe how fast he's growing up.

 Now here's my handsome boy Masaru with his cut.
I LOVE it, just love it.

 I'm so usless with hair and either let it grow or buzz it.
I knew my boys both needed cuts and didn't know what to do.
Kris!!
That was my solution.
Thanks Kris.  I owe you man.

Yuki was feeling left out, so here's a photo of her WITHOUT a hair cut.  We're still trying for the Rapunzel look.  I don't see it happening in a while.  But she's cute, none the less.

Masaru

So this morning while doing chores, Masaru and I had the following conversation:

Mum: "How many times do I have to tell you to get dressed Masaru?  It's already been three times!"

Masaru "Four"

Sure enough I had to tell him one more time and then he got dressed.
I don't think he understands rhetorical yet.
Or the fact that repeating myself drives me nuts and he'd do better to do what he's told after the FIRST TIME.
The amounts of time we've talked about this................

Best Caption

 

Who can come up with the best caption for this picture?

YATTA!!

Or in English      I DID IT!!!

I pushed through the comfort zone baby and am a weight I haven't seen in like 6 years!!
I totally did it!
Now I'm a LOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOONG way from done, like 45 pounds, long way BUT the hard work has paid off and I'm on a new track baby.

I've lost 31 pounds since Takeshi was born.
I was the biggest I've been in my life, it's been a long and tiresome battle but my first battle is OVER WITH.

I beat it!!

Onto a NEW goal to achieve!!

I can't believe it.

I'm so pumped I can't even tell you.
I've been 'stuck' for years and so frustrated.
The difference.......................information and support!!  Thanks Chris.

As my friend Celeste put it, that had me cracking up visualizing it,..............................GOOOOO ME!!! (double pump finger shake)

(Hope it's ok that I snaked your saying Celeste)

Heros

 

So Dru and I just finished watching the series of HEROS.

It was really good, just like LOST, up until the END.

Is it REALLY THAT TOUGH to finish a TV series with a DECENT ENDING?

I mean COME ON.

The ending to this made me think there was another season!

Is there another season?

I don't think so man?

It was like SOOOOOOOO LAAAAAAAAAAME.

For starters I didn't like the character Clair AT ALL.

She was sooooooooooooo whiiiiineyyyyyyy and 'woe is me' and self centered.

I mean GET A GRIP!!

I liked everyone else though.

I thought it was great.  Enjoyable even, until that damn ending.

Stupid ending.

Oh well.

We're gonna start on finishing the series of Alias now.

Let's hope that has a better ending.

Seems like these peeps can START a show and have a MIDDLE but are totally weak with endings.

ANYONE OUT THERE GOOD AT ENDINGS?

CAUSE THE TV WORLD NEEDS YOU!!

Chill'n

 

I don't know if there's much to be said here.

I think a picture is worth 1000 words and will leave it at that.

Masaru's spotlight in primary

Masaru Nakaya has ancestors from New Zealand and Japan.
He has a little brother and a little sister.
When he was a baby he threw up all over his Dad.  It was so bad that both of them jumped in the shower with all their clothes still on!
Masaru is a strong boy that is really good at riding his bike.
His hobbies are baking, collecting, and playing outside.
His favourite book is 'Walter the Baker', and his favourite scripture story is the parable of the talents.

I think this was awesome.
So thought I'd share.

Yuki's first 'person' drawing

 

Her person looks kinda skeletonish but there it is, a person, none the less.

Those are mountains in the background.

Apparently this person is going mountain climbing.

Good job Yuki.

She loves to colour and draw while I'm teaching Masaru in the mornings.

Apparently it's paying off.

Journal Entry Seven

What are your dreams?

Have you reached any of them?

Click HERE to read mine.

"I renew that admonition. We may think there is little of interest or importance in what we personally say or do—but it is remarkable how many of our families, as we pass on down the line, are interested in all that we do and all that we say."

Spencer W. Kimball, “President Kimball Speaks Out on Personal Journals,” New Era, Dec 1980, 26

The 'otherside'

So today was my first 'otherside' experience with parent/teacher interviews.

The kids did a great job of playing with the legos while Masaru's teacher and I talked business.
She seems really nice and had nothing but good things to say about Masaru.

So that's nice.

She told me Masaru is in the top 1/4 of the 46 kids.
Nice to know.

I guess they don't teach kindergarteners to read.  They just kinda give the foundation and some of them end up reading and others don't.
The official teaching of reading comes in the first grade.

I thought that was a little weird and slightly disappointing.

But what am I gonna do?  Demand she do reading with Masaru?
Nope, just keep teaching him myself I guess, here I was thinking I could 'slack off'
Not so.

It's the only conference we have in his year in kindergarten (first year of school).
She told me her goals with Masaru.
Sounds good.

So I guess we'll see how his year goes.
To me, it doesn't look like much is expected out of them.

So it should be an easy year for him at school, not so easy at home with mum I guess.  Poor Masaru.
He's such a good boy man, hard working, positive, responsible.

She said he's not a 'show off' like some other boys.
I had to laugh at that cause Masaru's a little shy when it comes to the 'crowd' so I didn't think he'd do much to draw attention to himself.

That's alright, we only need one show off in this house...........right Yuki?   Or is it....................right Melissa?
Maybe a bit of both.

2010 Halloween

 So Masaru had a Halloween party at school.
I've never been to one before (as my school never did them) and so we went.
It was alright, nothing to report really.
But I was there the whole time, was wrapped up in toilet paper for a game the kids did, and Yuki and Takeshi came with.
He seemed to have fun, and that's awesome.
Here he is with one of his mates.
Masaru is a ninja and loved every minute of it.

 If you're wondering what Yuki is doing?
She's his dog.
I sware this girl goes through the whole zoo in a day.

 Hence the tongue with Yuki.
Look at Masaru's awesome ninja moves!!
Haaaaaa Yaaaa!!
Iron Man doesn't stand a chance.

 So now we've got the cutest boy pumpkin I've seen in a long time.
He did well in this costume.

 And the hat doesn't come off cause it's tied!
Love that little feature.

 Then there's Yuki the clown.
Seems most girls have princess themes.
Not my Yuki.
I love it.

 

She loved being a clown and loved all the candy/lollies she got.

We went to a church party on Friday.

We attempted trick or treating on Saturday and were the only ones on the street and most people weren't ready and one person just closed the door on them.

Pretty sad.

So in our neighbourhood Boise is a trick or treat on Halloween kinda neighbourhood.

The kids didn't do too shabby though and had fun.

They didn't even care.

The first house we went to was our neighbours house and we picked up Masaru's mate and took her trick or treating with us as well.

So we didn't get candy from them but we did get an addition to our group.

Strength in numbers.

Then Sunday we went out to a party with our soccer families.

They did a spooky dinner and we ended up doing a little trick or treating with them for a few minutes.

They were gonna do it before dinner but changed last minute so we just went out with them.

We didn't have bags or anything so used shopping bags.

It was a fun time and they were really glad we showed up.

I don't think they thought we would.

So I'm glad we did.

So that's what we did.

Grandma was here for the weekend too.

So that was fun to have her with us.

Complex

Should I be getting a complex?

I play games with Yuki most afternoons.
I'd say about 99% of the time she wins.
She doesn't cheat.
I don't go easy on her.
But she wins all the time.
Even when we're playing as a family she usually wins, much to the disgust of Masaru I might add.

I need her to get herself a lottery ticket.

Good helping

 

So the other day the kids were playing outside.

I went out to check on them and this is what I found.

Masaru and Yuki were raking and sweeping the front of the house.

I was floored and started feeling guilty for not helping them.

So we all went out and worked hard to make groups of pine needles.

What good little renters we are!!

On a side note PINE TREES ARE FOR FORRESTS PEOPLE NOT FOR HOUSES!!!!

Needles, pinecones, sap, and pollen pretty much take up a whole YEARS WORTH OF CLEANING.

Note to ANYONE building a house.

These trees are tough work, oh yeah and they KILL YOUR GRASS.

Back to the topic at hand, however.

My kids are awesome.

And I love them.