Look what I made!!

 One of my best mates had a shower this weekend and so I made her this.
It's a baby car seat cover.
I love it.

 My sisters in law {I'm not sure which one} gave us one when Masaru was born {I think} and we've loved it for transferring the kids from car to wherever and for when they're asleep in their seat and we're out.
You can just peek inside to see how they're doing and then have it totally covered.

 It's elastic all the way around so there's no way it can fly up or off.
It's secure and fitted and warm and cozy.
Love it.
I wouldn't know what we'd do without ours.

 They also gave me a blanket kinda like this one.
It's also for the car seat and you pull all the straps through and then have a fitted blanket in your car seat for always.
I love it.

I had to makeshift the middle cause this fluffy material isn't the most secure to try and edge and so just made the middle part the giraffe material.
I loved how it turned out as well.

I hope Natalie likes it and enjoyed her baby shower today.
I don't like putting on baby showers and also aren't a believer in same sex baby showers, but I didn't get to celebrate with her first boy and wanted to celebrate with her second boy and knew I needed to take the bull by the horns and plan something for her.
It was suppose to be a surprise but some LAMO person let the cat outta the bag.  Don't get me started.
But it was fun and between me and her mother and mother in law as well as my mate Chels helping out, it was a huge success if I do say so myself.
I never think I'll sign up for these things again after I've done one, but always seem to.
So maybe I should just never say never right?

Gross

So we had a 'special' lunch as a family today with Masaru at his school.
Gross is the word I'm going to use to sum it up.
We paid $11 and some cents for some of the grossest food I've had in a while.
No wonder kids are fat.
Talk about processed and just..............well gross.
I almost threw up.
I got the *ahem* baked potato that was burnt and covered in some cheese whiz stuff and some *ahem* salad with warm dressing with chocolate milk.
We had a choice of a hotdog (gross) a PB&J or a potato.  Then you could accessorize with some of the other stuff at the *ahem* healthy bar, that's what Masaru called it.
Honestly, it was disgusting to say the least.
So I guess I'll be looking at the school menu and making Masaru TAKE lunch to school most days if this is any indication.
I mean wouldn't that be semi child abuse to expect him to eat that?

Journal Entry Thirtytwo

What was/is your mother like?

Click HERE to read mine.

So the winner of the redbox?
Leslie with 65!
The number I had in mind was my fathers age this year, and he turned {or would've turned} 64 in March.
Good job Les and thanks for playing everyone.
Truth be told I feel a little bad that I might of guilt tripped  {unintentionally} some people into commenting on my blog when they might not want to.
So I figured I'd hand out a prize to say thanks for all the comments and love that people give to me.
You all honestly make me feel great about myself and feel supported and loved.
I'm not sure what I'd do without it.
I might seem 'tougher' on the outside to a lot of people but those who know me well know that I'm quite soft in the middle and getting support when needed, no matter how 'tough' you think you are, is always appreciated.
So...............thanks.
Happy journalling.

Free red box anyone?

Basically cause I'm pretty cool I thought I'd give away a free redbox to one of my mates in the blogging world.
So anyone want a free movie?
It's good for any ONE night rental.
I've got codes and so would just email them to you and you could use them at the box or online.

How to play
I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 100.
If you get it {or the closest to it} you win.
Simple.
Let the guessing begin...............

VERY Random

 I've got a bunch of pictures that need to get into the journal.  So bare with me while I document them for posterity.

First of all we've got my cheeky monkey aka Takeshi Nakaya.  I mean you point out one face that isn't thinking or acting out mischief? 
He's just so cute man, I know it's just me, for the most part, but I think he's pretty good lookn' and don't know who he really looks like to tell you the truth.  He's dark like Dru but does he look like him?
Who knows.
I give up.

Then WAAAAAAAAAAAAAY back over the spring break when we headed down to Utah, Kristin {sister in law} and I and the kids and some of her in laws all headed down to the History Museum.
Masaru had been asking to go there since his Grandma is a missionary there.
So we did.
I must say I'm quite impressed with the whole thing.
The kids had tons of fun for a long amount of time, which is quite the feat with kids these ages.

Here they are wanting to dance but that video with the instructions was broken that day.  Bummer man cause these guys were ready to go.
Here's Kate hanging out with Nephi.

I wonder where these two are escaping to?
I don't ask.

Then here's Masaru new soccer team.
I'm proud of Masaru for how well he's done this season.  I've seen a bunch of improvement in his ball handling skills.  He can also block, steal and he's fast.
I'm also, bias, proud and his mother.
So take that for what it's worth.
Last game on Saturday.
He's way taller than the rest of the kids in his team.  It's like he's the giant.
I wish they played rugby over here.

Then my niece is down in Christchurch with my Auntie and Uncle.
Here she is with her cousins....................well kinda cousins, they're actually MY cousins, so what does that make them to her?  Second cousins?  Who the hell knows.............let's just say cousins for simplicity's sake.
Doesn't that look so relaxing?
Wish I was there.

Then here she is infront of a sign post that my Uncle and Auntie just put up.
My Uncle worked hours on getting the distances correct.
I emailed my Auntie to see what the sign post pointing out the front says.
I'm hoping it might say USA, but I'm not holding my breath.
I think the sign post is just her immediate families and where they're living.
Isn't it awesome?
I think I might do this when Dru and I settle down somewhere.  Maybe I'll do it on our house in Bountiful!!
What do you think Kristin? LOL

So there's my random round up post for the month.
Now I can rest easy knowing these pic's will be in the journal.

Legos

Whenever you can't find Masaru and his bedroom door happens to be closed you can, pretty much, guarantee that he's playing with his legos.
He closes to door to get some peace,  if the other kids are there they'll ruin his stuff and throw things around.
He'll then emerge and tell us about his creation.
This is a 'jeep' {sorry Dad} with a trailer for sleeping on in the back.
Later on he made the trailer with walls and steps going up to it.
I'm sad I didn't get a picture of the 'upgrades'
My brothers liked legos, Dru loved legos, and now Masaru loves legos and I do too.
We've got to cultivate the creativity somehow right, and I'm a tad lazy and so legos work out great for me.................I just have to keep the younger ones at bay for the time being.

Last soccer practice.

Dru was gone so it was me with the kids.
It was cold, windy and misrable.
Masaru showed up with just a T-shirt on so started crying cause he was so cold.  {Yes I DID tell him to get a jacket}
So I proceeded to take off my jacket and put it on him.
Now I'm a popsicle.
Yuki showed up with a wind breaker jacket on, you know the type you wear when it's a LITTLE cold in the summer?
So she cried for the next 45 minutes people straight and that's NOT embellished.
I had two blankets, I took one, and then wrapped Yuki and Takeshi in the other.
Takeshi sat still and quiet, probably because he was a popsicle as well like his mother and we just listened to Yuki scream.
Then it started raining.
Yuki decided to get up and out of the blanket and stand there and cry and scream.
I convinced her to get back into the chair and just put the blanket over herself.
She stayed under the blanket for the remainder of the 45 minute cry session.
Takeshi decided to come and sit with me and get under my blanket.
I had him layered and layered so he was probably the warmest out of all of us.
I think Masaru was having the best time out of all of us.  I'm glad someone was having fun.
Cause I sure as hell wasn't.
Then I decided to sing to Takeshi, you know the usual songs......popcorn, book of mormon stories, once there was a snowman and guess who joined in?
That's right.............Yuki.
Guess who'd stopped crying................Yuki.
It had stopped raining, the sun was shining and I was almost in a better mood.
We packed up and went home and I told Dru he was on bed duty.

Ask me if I'm a fan of soccer today................I  double dare ya.

Stats

 So we went to the Dr yesterday for Masaru's 6 year old check up and Takeshi's 18 month check up.  He's actually about 21 months but you know............all good.  I also wanted to see him for my shoulder.
Yuki just came along for the ride.  I assured her she wasn't getting any shots and so she was relaxed.
I guess Masaru did need a shot but because he was sick they didn't do it.  Takeshi needed some shots as well but he was sick so he got none.
So it was actually quite a pleasant Dr visit to tell you the truth.  Just long.  We left at 1pm and got back at 4pm.  I don't think I've been gone from the house with the kids by myself for that long in a while.
Masaru's stats
Weight 92%tile
Height 92%tile

Yep still my big boy.  From about the age of 9 months onwards he's been in this category.  I love it.  His body shape and size is more like a WRIGHT which is great if you're a boy.  Big, strapping, good for rugby or whatever else he'd like to do with himself.
He also said he had an allergy/cold and gave me some tips to get him feeling better.
I feel bad for Masaru because he has allergies just like his mum and dad.  Poor kid.

Takeshi's stats
Weight 41%tile
Height 75%tile

So he's basically the same too.  Taller and thinner.  Sounds more like a Nakaya to me.  Who knows though.  To me Takeshi doesn't seem taller than he is skinnier.  I think he looks pretty average.  Here's the kicker though when Masaru and Takeshi were both one Takeshi was an inch taller!!  How's that for weird.  Yet he's in the 75th?
I wonder if the stats have changed between Takeshi and Masaru?  Who knows.
The Dr gave me some tips to help Takeshi with his 'green' nose and stuff.  He told me to squirt saline up his nose.
Well guess what...................Takeshi LOVES it.  He giggles and laughs whenever I squirt it up there.
Who knew?
So at least it's not a fight right?

My shoulder got some x-rays and my bones are looking great.  So I might have to go to a couple of sessions of physical therapy.  And for now I have to work the muscles around my shoulder and stay off of doing exercises that hurt it for the next 3 to 4 weeks.
I think I can do that.
Hopefully I'll get this sorted and have a healthy shoulder again.
I think this is just the beginning signs of my age.  Here I thought I was invincible!!!  What the crap?

Clarification

I think what I was trying to say and what people read came out wrong.
I don't expect a comment on every single one of my posts.  That would be quite the commitment since I post daily, but thanks to those who do ;)
I don't judge people's love for me based on this or their friendship either so those of you who read it like this can stop stressing.
I realize commenting is it's own pressure and personal which I why I wrote that I've changed my perspective on things.
I'm sorry some didn't read it like how I meant it.
A comment every now and then means a lot to me so I know you care and are reading, but I certainly don't judge as much anymore or let the whole commenting saga dictate my feelings as much since having my focus changed.
Now are we all on the same page?

Blog world pressure

So I was hanging out with some mates at the park the other day and we had a discussion about the blogging world.
One of the girls was talking about how she hadn't blogged in a month and it was so refreshing for her.  She didn't miss it and enjoyed the break.
I asked her why and she proceeded to tell me that sometimes she gets trapped in a downward spiral of comparing herself to the other bloggers out there and getting slightly down on herself that she doesn't measure up to these other blogs.
Whether it be not being 'funny' enough or not getting enough comments or not being crafty or interesting enough or a good enough mother is all worries that this girl was feeling.
The thing is is she's actually very talented, funny, beautiful, and as far as I can tell, a great mother.

I know she's not the only one who has these feelings though.
I've had a few other women confess that the blogging world is too much pressure to either start a blog, or keep it up plus it slightly hurts their feelings when they don't get many comments.
I think this is sad and I feel bad you know.
I've had similar feelings over my 4 years of blogging.


Over the years I thought that I've blogged some great posts if I do say so myself, yet sometimes I get next to no comments for them.  I never understood it.  I have great and close friends who are in the blogging world and yet THEY didn't comment on my heartfelt or funny post?
Why not?
Don't they think it was funny?
They can't be bothered?
They're upset with me?
We're not as close as I thought we were?
They disagree?
They think I'm lame?
They're jealous I'm so awesome?  {ok that's a bit of a stretch I know}
They don't think I wanna hear from them {wrong by the way}
But I comment on THEIR blogs all the time, what's up with that?  AND they often confess how much they LOVE getting comments from me and how much it means to them.
So why dont' they return the love?
It baffles me, I mean honestly I'll never understand it.
How hard is it to comment?
It takes me 3.4 seconds and I've made someone's day.
I took the time to read it...............so why not comment?
 I consider myself a FANTASTIC commenter.  I USED to comment on EVERY.SINGLE.PERSONS blogs.
Then I gave up.  It was too upsetting to me to consistently comment on someone's blog who never returned the favour, and I haboured ill feelings towards these bloggers and so just stopped.
I also considered completely getting rid of the comment box altogether since it effected me so much.
But that's not fair to a mate who truly wants to comment............and let's be honest.........some people's comments make me laugh, cry, feel loved and understood, supported, nurtured and a bit pissed off.
Why cut that off?

Then I changed my whole perspective about blogging and the blogging world.
And this is what I talked to my friend about the other day at the park.

If we're not blogging because of the blogging pressure then we need to change our perspective on the blogging world.
If looking at other people's blogs gets us down then we need to consider doing a 'Blogging Spring Cleaning' and getting rid of the blogs that get us down.
I truly hope that you {yes all of you reading this} don't consider my blog upsetting or as one of the ones that gets you down.
For the life of me I can't think of why it would, I've never professed to be that good at much, I'm honest, well too honest and I know for a fact that I'm not getting mother of the year award this year, damn it, and why the hell not.......................hmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
We also need to really look inside and ask ourselves WHY ARE WE BLOGGING?

Now some posts are for different reasons I know like cooking, helping, instruction, information, hairstyles, which I love but deep down at the foundation of it all.........why do YOU blog?
I confess that sometimes when I do a post I think 'Man people are going think this is pretty funny, or this should move some people. BUT that's just a cherry on the top.
For me it's a journal and a way for my family to keep close to my immediate goings on.
Each of my family members look at my blog.  They don't comment though.............well Haydn does.......thanks bro....you're the best.
And this is what helped me to change and not get so emotional about the whole blogging world.
I talked to my friend about making her blog into a book for her children.
This will help in the REAL perspective we need about blogging.


NO ONE ELSE CAN JOURNAL ABOUT YOUR LIFE.
NO ONE ELSE KNOWS YOUR KIDS AND YOUR FEELINGS AND LIFE, LIKE YOU DO.
Therefore YOU'RE blogging is important, even though you might feel like no one else cares...............YOUR KIDS WILL care and THIS is why we should be blogging DISPITE how many comments we get or how we feel about ourselves compared to other blogs.
I don't care how talented some women are Masaru, Yuki and Takeshi won't be interested in how they made a cushion.
They'll be interested in how their mother loved them, tried her best, laughed with them and cared for them.
They're not going to get this from ANY OTHER BLOG or ANY OTHER BLOGGER.
Just you.
Doesn't that make it worth it?
Doesn't that make you think a little differently about the blogging world?
I hope so cause your children, family and/or future children/family are counting on you to document their lives for them as they're too small.
Now blogging shouldn't take over, it should 'fit' inbetween the more important things such as the everyday life mother things we need to get done.  But we can fit it in somewhere can't we?
A post doesn't take me too long especially since I blog so much ;)
It's therapeutic for me as well, maybe it is for you or will be if you get started.
If your scared or don't want everyone reading your innermost thoughts..................make it private.

I really hope that my mate starts blogging again.  I think her children will thank her for it one day.
I wish my mother did a blog...........then I might understand myself and her a little bit more.
Plus you get so busy you forget the little things.
Well if we blog them we won't, cause they'll be there in our books and it's the little things that make us who we are.

Now I understand that not everyone is like me or feels the same way about blogging.
Some women really are THAT good....................so good for them.
Some women are getting paid to blog.....................so good for them {not my goal}
Some women only put forward their BEST selves which is great, but this should put in perspective that we should NEVER judge ourselves against someone elses blog.
I actually know for a fact that some women who post their best selves for the blogging world actually struggle at home to maintain order and deal with chaos quite often, yet if I was to just go by their blog I'd think differently.
This is their choice to post their best selves and who knows, maybe they have a private blog where they write their woes and worries and confessions, maybe they don't want us to know...............and that's fine with me.
I'm very positive these women struggle with just as much as we all do, they just choose not to be  *ahem* so honest and public as some of us are in our every day lives.

Now I appreciate comments, and I still get slightly down when I think I've done an awesome post and no one comments on it, especially when I've got such good mates in the blogging world who I think care for me.
But when I get feelings like this I say to myself "Melissa............why are you blogging?  For my family and kids.  Why did you do this post, for the comments or for the journal?  Both...........alright, alright, for my kids and family..................so pull your socks up and try not to worry about it, and if you happen to get 1 or 20 comments BE GRATEFUL and move on.

I hope if you have some of these feelings you can work though it, I hope my mate can.
We're all important and what we have to say is important to someone, we HAVE to know this and we have to try.
I hope the blogging pressure can ease up on my friend and anyone else out there struggling with these dilemmas.
Blogging should be fun and make us feel good, not be a high school popularity contest..................am I right women?

Easter 'Nakaya' style

On Good Friday we headed out to the chapel for our ward/church Easter party.  It was really good.
The kids had an Easter Egg Hunt followed by the potluck dinner and then some games.
It was well organized and a lot of fun.
Dru won the 'Dad' race and only just out raced the bishop for first place.
Masaru also won a game the kids played as well.  So it was a good night for the Nakaya family.
Masaru then bugged me until he went to bed about the Easter egg hunt the next morning and to make sure not to forget.
I thought about telling him that it's not me who does the hunt but the Easter bunny, then just thought 'whatever' and left it.
If he doesn't believe in the Easter bunny why force it.  I don't think I ever believed in it come to think of it and I'm pretty normal....................right?

So Dru and I stayed up watching a movie together and I totally forgot about the Easter egg hunt and got up at 2am to pack and hide all the eggs.  I know, I know, I'm a great mother right!!
So the next morning the kids got up and went hunting and came into the room with the goods.
Dru and I didn't get up.  I just said 'Did you find the ones under the..............did you find the ones behind the...........' and then I took a picture of them, as you can see here, even with Dru sleeping in the background and all.

Then Dru got up and made us all crepes for breakfast.  What a man.

Then we made these 'rabbit' bread things that were in this months 'FRIEND' magazine.
I changed it around a little but the kids were bugging me ALL WEEK to make them.  So we finally made them on Saturday.  They ended up being really easy and really yummy.  So that's good.  Maybe we'll do it every year...........maybe not, I dunno.
I also got into my NZ Edmonds cook book and decided to make hot cross buns.
They were a little bit of a process and they don't look perfect but they TASTED wonderful.  I was so happy with how they ended up.
They don't really do hot cross buns here in the states but it's a MUST back home.  I dunno if it's a commonwealth thing or what but it's what I was brought up with, so I made it.
I'm gonna make them every year and put it on the list of traditions for the Nakaya's.

We then went to Masaru's soccer game and he played the best he's played in a year.  It was awesome to watch him do so well.
He scored two goals and was just dynamite out there.  We were really proud of him.

Then today we had Stake Conference.  It was a broadcast to Western Idaho and a couple of Apostles spoke.
It was two hours which is always tough for the kids.  They did ok but I started getting hungry about half an hour before it ended and became kinda a grump.
What I heard was good though.

Then I came back and made the easter eggs.
This is another tradition that I was brought up with.
I didn't really believe in the Easter bunny because we never had Easter eggs or a basket or a hunt or anything.  My friends all had them and I guess I knew that if the Easter bunny was really real, he would've visited us as well......and he didn't so therefore, he wasn't real.
But every year without fail my mother made these eggs.
I still can't make them like her.
Every year I fail, and pretty miserably at that.  This year was no exception.  Maybe next year I'll get it right.

We don't dye eggs either, cause I never did that, but Masaru still got an egg and decorated it.
I guess I need to consider dying eggs next year.............the mess though?  Is it worth it?

This is how much of my eggs the kids ate.
They were just too rich for them.
So I had a pity party for myself.
I cried on the couch to Dru about how I have this need to do these traditions.
It helps me feel like it's Easter.  Also our family didn't really have traditions and this is one of if not the only one we really had.
So I have this urge to do it and to pass it along to my children, as well as the hot cross buns.
Then neither Dru or the kids really liked them and I got my feelings hurt.
I guess in a way I felt like an outsider in my own family.
There was them.........americans and me.............. a kiwi and I felt slightly alone and sorry for myself.
I was the only one excited about it, I was the only one who really liked it and I guess I just missed home and missed being around my family who would've eaten these eggs and hot cross buns up like they were going out of style.
Dru assured me it was because they were 'dark' chocolate and he only does 'milk' chocolate, so next year to do milk and then he'll like them.
The hot cross buns though?  Maybe it's like vegemite..........you're just brought up with it.
It was just hard for me to not have the kinda 'support' I would've liked for a piece of home you know.
It's no ones fault, I just felt sorry for myself.
Then we had mates around for dinner and had a fun time.

All in all we had a great Easter, full of way too much food but a lot of fun with ward friends, gym friends, neighbour friends and soccer friends......it's the way Easter should be............especially if you don't have family living close.

Easter videos

Here's some videos that will get us in the 'right' mood for Easter.
Grab a tissue {if you're anything like me} and then press play.







I've seen the video that the church put out for this Easter but these were others I saw as well that I thought were really good.

Last night Chris and Julie came over and we hung out.
Julie started asking questions about our faith.
She said "So how are you different from us Christians? Don't you believe that Jesus was just a prophet?"
I had a feeling of sadness come over me at her question.
I know this is what people think, that we're not Christians and so explained to her why sometimes they think this.
I said "Well some faiths believe we're not Christians because we believe that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost are three separate beings, whereas most Christian religions don't believe this, they believe that they're one person.  We believe they're one in purpose, which is why Jesus says 'I and my father are one', we know that they're exactly that..........one in purpose, we don't believe they're one person, however and other faiths sometimes get upset or confused about that"
She said that her Pastor said that if they have any friends who are Mormon that they need to reach out to them and try to save them.  Julie jokingly asked us if we needed saved?
A talk from an apostle came to mind which said that sometimes when opportunities arise to bear testimony we might play it down, or excuse ourselves from bearing it {in our minds} or be too embarrassed or sense that people see us as slightly odd and not want to feed into that anymore by testifying of our beliefs.
I chose at that moment to not be ashamed.........I chose at that moment to bear bold and true testimony to both her and Chris that I know that the Lord Jesus Christ is my saviour and without him I'd be lost and nothing and would never be able to return to my Heavenly Father again.
I bore testimony that he will come again and that he established his true church on the earth and that he's done it again.
I bore testimony of the 'darkness' that occurred for centuries after the apostles were killed and then the 'light' that came in 1820.
I then bore testimony to them of the prophet Joseph Smith and how he saw what he saw and was persecuted for it and eventually died for this truth and how he's a true prophet.
Dru and I then testified of the Book of Mormon, it's background and how it is sacred scripture.
I told her Chris has one and I marked out passages for him to read {which he confessed he hadn't yet} and she was more than welcome to read them.
She was fascinated.
We told her the true church is on the earth again with prophets and apostles and direct revelation from God.

It was all very interesting.  I know she'll think about it and I feel good that I didn't back down, wasn't ashamed and was given the opportunity to bear witness of the truthfulness of this great gospel and it's teachings.
It breaks my heart when people don't think we're christian.  And even more that they think we only think of Jesus as a mere prophet.
After I tell them my feelings about the Saviour people will say 'Wow you guys really do believe in Christ like we do don't you?'
And that answer is a resounding YES, YES WE DO.


As the wonderful hymn  'I stand all amazed' says:  'Oh it is wonderful that he should care for me enough to die for me, oh it is wonderful, wonderful to me'
The beautiful words of the verses and this chorus of this hymn always hit home to me about my feelings of the Saviour.
I know that when we bear pure testimony of our love and devotion to the Saviour, people will feel that we love him like they do, that we believe in him and are connected to him in a special way and even wanna hear more about our testimonies.
People listen, but more importantly they feel and when we testify to them of the truth, they feel things, I know it, and that's how we make changes in lives, through that feeling they get when they hear truth, and the only way they can get those feelings is through the Holy Ghost bearing witness to their spirits that what they're hearing at this very second is truth and we get to be a part of that as we bear truth.
It's one of the best feelings.
This is why scripture study and nurturing our own testimonies are so important through faith, prayer and worship.
I've never had much missionary success in my life, I'm actually quite ashamed of the lack of success I've had.
I try though, and I hope when I get questioned by my Saviour about what I did to forward his work I can have those ashamed feelings eventually lifted as I work my hardest to be a representative of Him and His work hear on the earth.

Happy Easter  family, friends and blogging world, what a wonderful season to be a part of.

Journal Entry Thirtyone

Describe your Honeymoon.

Click HERE to read mine. 

Instead of doing a journal quote this week I'm gonna give another 'I'm bored' activity.

#2  TV RACE

Choose one of the following categories and make a list of examples {things seen or heard} within a certian time period - 30 mins or an hour, depending on the length of the program.  Winner is the one with the most examples

clothing                           colours

transportation                food

sports                              emotions

'I'm bored' activities

Even if your kid doesn't bug you with the 'I'm bored' line who doesn't need a good activity to do with them every now and then?
Masaru's teacher sent this paper home with all these cool activities to do with your kids.

So I thought I'd share some when I remember.

I've got 37.

It's suppose to be 50 but I'm not sure where the other paper is.  Knowing me, I threw it out, or maybe it's the teachers fault...................anyhoo the first ones are to do with TV.

 Since TV is often the place a child automatically turns to when there's nothing to do, make a game out of it.

#1 TV BINGO

Bingo cards usually contain 25 squares with the center square FREE.  Fill in the others with words to listen for during a program (such as under, please, rain, answer, mail) or things to watch for (car, cat, toy, plate, train, sofa),  Cut or punch out paper circles to place over each square as the item is spotted.  Winning card can be five squares in a row diagonally, vertically or horizontally-or every square filled.

We don't have TV, but we could do it with a movie.

I bet the kids would love it.

Don't you think this is a good idea?

If you do it, tell me how it worked out.

Bounce house

So a while ago we were told about this deal on some website for this bounce house.  So I took it.
Fast forward a while and I remembered I purchased it so looked at the coupon.  It expired at the end of this month.  Lucky I looked man.
So Dru scheduled his day so he was off by 3pm and we headed out to use our coupon at the Bounce House out in Meridian.
We left it as a surprise for the kids, so when we showed up their faces lit up and they ran in.
It was a lot of fun.
The Kangaroo Zoo in Nth Salt Lake is better with more options, but this was fun enough and hardly ANYONE was there, we basically could do what we wanted.
Gotta love that.

Takeshi did so well and was up and over and on everything he could.  He tries really hard to keep up with his siblings the best he can.  This was a HUGE bounce house, kinda like a maze, so I opted to go through with him, just in case.  *There's limits to my free ranging*
We didn't get a good picture of it but his hair would stick up at the end of the sliding cause of electricity.  It was pretty cute man.

We all had so much fun and since loosing weight it was really nice to be able to keep up with my kids.
I even bounced around and didn't pee my pants.  Some muscles must be working better than usual!!

So Dru decided to video him going down the slide but lost it at the end.  I think this is so funny cause he thinks he's awesome and then gets bummed out.
LOL
For some reason I can't stop laughing watching this video of him trying to slide.

Here's Masaru going down the slide.

Yuki and I going down the slide.  Even though I was wearing slidy pants it wasn't the best.  They ended up either right up my crotch or {if I went down on my tummy}almost down to my knees.  Not the most pleasant sight.  Lucky no one was really around to see my underwear.
I had fun though.

Takeshi insisted on wearing this helmet backwards.  I love how the kids are sliding down so fast they're a blur.  Our mates had our 'good' camera, so we were a little bummed.

Here's Yuki looking like an alien whilst sliding down.
Masaru was and is a huge help with the kids.
What would I do without him man?  Parent better maybe?



Just how enthusiastic Takeshi really is.




Masaru and Yuki sliding together.

I'm not sure how many people have worn these hats.
So if we break out in some kinda scalp weirdness in the next month we'll know why.
But it made for a cute photo.
I love how Masaru is using Takeshi as a prop for his arm in that shot.


Dru showing us how it's done!



Masaru being dragged.

Takeshi being dragged.
Yuki decided against it, which is probably smart. She's my more conservative one when it comes to adventure.

Afterwards we had dinner at the park and watched Masaru at his soccer practice.
It was a really fun time and I'm really glad we got to go.
The kids almost fell asleep in the car on the way home!!
They all slept in this morning.
I guess kids just need to be worked.  I need to start running them back and forth down the street 50 times a day.
That should do it.

Equals

So this morning, while I was in the shower, I gave Masaru a crash course on how to use the remote to change the TV to the right imput to watch a movie.
He did it.
It's official now, he knows as much as I do.
Everything else he wants to learn, he'll have to go to his father.
We're now equals when it comes to working the TV!

Journal Entry Thirty

Describe your wedding day.

Click HERE to read mine.

I know that I should write in my journal, and I’d like to. But I’m too busy. I just can’t find the time.” How many times have we heard—or said—those words? But no matter how busy our schedule seems, we can make time for writing in a journal if we really want to. Maybe one of these ideas will work for you:

1. 1. Keep a pen clipped to the cover of your journal so that it will always be there when you need it.
   
2. 2. Get up half an hour earlier than you have been waking up. Spend fifteen minutes studying the scriptures and fifteen minutes writing in your journal.
   
3. 3. Keep your journal under your pillow. Take a few minutes before or after your evening prayer to record your thoughts about the day.
   
4. 4. Write while you wait. Take your journal with you to the dentist’s office, the launderette, or soccer practices.
   
5. 5. Write while you commute on the bus or train to work.
   
6. 6. Pack your journal in your lunchbox. Write while you eat.
   
7. 7. Write while the baby takes a nap.
   
8. 8. After the children leave for school, take a few minutes to make an entry in your journal before you start your day’s work.
   
9. 9. Write while your children do their homework.
   
10. 10. Set aside half an hour each Sunday for “family journal time.” Small children can draw pictures to illustrate the things they have done that week; school-age children and adults can write in their journals.
    
11. 11. Make “family journal time” a regular part of family home evening. Have a special lesson on keeping journals to inaugurate the practice. (See Family Home Evening Resource Book, pp. 199–200, for lesson ideas.)
    
12. 12. Arrange with your spouse to read to the children while you write, or offer to play a game with them while your spouse writes.
    
13. 13. Jot a few ideas or key phrases on the calendar each day. At least once a week, use the calendar to bring your journal up to date.
    
14. 14. If you use a card filing system to help schedule your housework, add a card with “Write in Journal” to your file.
    
15. 15. Use a cassette tape recorder to keep an oral journal. Make sure to have your tapes transcribed, since audio tape will deteriorate with time.
    
16. 16. Use a word processor or home computer to keep your journal on tape or disk. Be sure to keep a back-up file or print out a hard copy occasionally; when magnetic tapes and disks deteriorate, important files can be lost.
    
17. 17. Write while the bread rises, the soup simmers, or the cake bakes.
    
18. 18. Keep carbon copies of the letters you write to family and friends in a looseleaf binder. Add an occasional page to tell about things you don’t include in the letters.
    
19. 19. Turn off the television and use the time to write in your journal.
    
20. 20. Keep a list of ideas inside the front cover of your journal for those days when you feel that you “really don’t have anything to say.”
    
21. 21. Post a reminder on your refrigerator door or on the bathroom mirror: “Have you written in your journal yet today?”
    
22. 22. Use the time you would otherwise spend in meal preparation and eating on Fast Sunday to write. Even monthly entries are a good start.
    
23. 23. Begin writing your personal history. Once you have chronicled your past, you will find it easier to keep up future installments.
    
24. 24. Persevere. Behavioral psychologists tell us that it takes about three weeks of daily effort to acquire a new habit.
    

You can make time to write, no matter how busy you are. If you try one of these suggestions and it doesn’t work, try another. Above all, don’t give up! Your posterity will thank you, and you will learn a great deal about yourself by writing about both your failures and your triumphs. Mary Lynn Hutchison, Fairfax, Virginia

Not the Zoo again.......

 Yeah it's the zoo again so just humour me.
Yuki put this dress on this morning and asked me to take her picture.
So, like the good mother I am, I did.
I forgot to do her hair first though.  Oh well.

 My friend was in town so she asked us to meet her at the Zoo.  So we did.  Thursday is half off day, so bonus for us.
Here's Yuki stalking the Giraffes.

 Playing on the Elephant, just if you couldn't tell you know.

 Takeshi proving that with a little endurance he CAN be the king of the jungle.

 My little turtles.

Some pretty cute kids.  I barely saw Masaru the whole time.
He races off without a care in the world and I'm constantly trying to pull the reigns back with him.
I have this fear of loosing him completely one day..........let's hope that's just to his wife and not a kidnapper.

Masaru wrote about the Komodo Dragon in his journal this morning so we HAD to see it.
My mate left and so I took the kids around the back to see it.  It didn't look very happy.  I won't get started about my political feelings about Zoo's.
I let them play on the slide a bit then we headed out to leave and couldn't.
WE WERE LOCKED IN.
Now if they announced that they were locking the Zoo up then I totally missed that announcement.
I was having a slight panic attack and Masaru started crying.
I went up and down and told the kids to stay PUT and looked for another exit.
Of course there isn't one.
I knocked on shop windows and doors and no one answered.
I didn't have a watch OR a cell phone so we were REALLY STUCK.
I told Masaru to not worry and that we'd be alright.
Fortunately Yuki and Takeshi didn't really know what was going on and just kept eating their goldfish while mum frantically looked around for a way out.
There was a shop that served food and it said 'EMPLOYEES ONLY' so I knocked hard then tried the door...........it was open............I yelled 'HELLO' a few times.............no answer.............then I saw a door that said 'NEVER OPEN THIS DOOR'.............for a split second I thought to myself 'what if this sets off a huge alarm but realized I didn't care so I tried it and it went OUTSIDE woooooohooooooooo!
So I quickly raced back to the kids, by this time Masaru had numerous tears streaming out of his eyes as he envisioned having to sleep at the Zoo the night.............and told them to follow me.
I went back through the shop and yelled again, incase we were busted, but still no answer, so I quickly shuffled the kids through the 'NO ONE ALLOWED' door and we stepped through to our freedom.
Masaru and I were both happy and started breathing again.
Yuki and Takeshi kept eating their goldfish.........oblivious.
Masaru said "You saved us Mum, we're free" LOL poor kid.

So that was a bit of excitement for the night.
Dru ended up home before us and was wondering where we were.  But the kids told him the minute they stepped in the door.
He just looked at me.
I said 'Would've you come looking for us babe?' and he said he didn't even know we were there!!
I SWORE I told him.
I was thinking 'Great, so we really WOULD'VE been locked in FOREVER'
I guess next time I should bring a watch, cellphone and a listening ear to whatever the announcements are over the mic's cause they could be saying..............."WE'RE CLOSING RIGHT NOW AND YOU'LL BE LOCKED IN FOR THE NIGHT, SO GET OUT"

Copy Cat

 This is how I go to the gym most mornings.
My hair like this.

 When I was doing Yuki's hair this morning she asked me to do her hair just like mine.
So I did.
Hers looks way better and so much cuter...............my days are over I guess, time to pass the beauty torch over to Yuki ;)
I just needed to show 'for the record' that Yuki wants to be just like her mother since I know it might not last forever, which is a good thing, since I'm hoping she'll turn out much better than her mother!!

Waiting it out

I have a temper.
Some of you have been the recipient of that temper.
I get over most things pretty quickly though, which is good.
If I was to describe my temper it would be 1 to a 10 in no time flat then promptly back to a 1.
Takeshi's showing signs of it.
Whereas Masaru is like Dru.......it takes a while to see the temper, but after some prodding and pushing and a bit of emotion involved it comes out, but hardly ever.
Yuki is her own thing.  She's pretty constant with  just moaning.  She doesn't throw fits really she's just moaning about something or pretty happy.

So the best thing for me to do, if I get mad is to wait it out a while.  IF and only IF I can do this.............then I realize that I don't care, it's not a big deal, or I need to do something rationally about it.
But NEVER does it do me good to figure things out and ACT while I'm in this 10 stage.
So for me, it's about NOT DOING ANYTHING until I've truly calmed down.
Why is that so hard?
I get so upset about things that I NEED to do something about it RIGHT THEN.  It's like a compulsion almost.
'They have to know what they did to me'
"I can't let this slide"
"If I don't do anything now then I'll miss out"
Things like this go surging through me and sometimes I act and sometimes I calm down.

I'd say that 90% of the time ONCE I've calmed down I realize that I actually don't care.
It's so amazing that my feelings can change so drastically in such a small amount of time.
And all it took was a little time.
If I still care, I do something about it which is more rational and calm and not as offensive.

Something like this happened to me the other day.  I was SUPER mad and rightly so (sometimes you really ARE right) so I wrote this person an email and talked to my brother and Dru about it.
My brother listened and said 'Yeah you have a right to be mad, just let Dru look over the email first'
Dru said 'Write the email, get it all out, but DON'T send it till I get home ok?"
'Alright' I said and wrote the email.
I ALMOST sent it.  I was THIS close man...............this close.
But I didn't.
I even read it to my brother who thought it was ok, but to still wait.
By the time Dru came home and I'd fixed dinner sat down with the kids and ate it played with them and then put them down, Dru got around to asking me about the email.
I thought about it and said to him 'Yeah don't worry about it,  I've decided I"m not gonna send it, cause I actually don't care'.  And I REALLY didn't.
It was amazing.
Plus it turned out to be a good thing that these people did this to us cause the outcome is going to be better for us in the long run, which when I calmed down, I realized.

I need to work on calming down before doing anything.
If I can master that?
Man I'd be more awesome than I already am ;)
Maybe  a little more humble as well.

Yuki

 Notice anything in this top picture?

 How about now?

Yep, that would be Yuki falling asleep whilst peeking out at her father and mother watching a movie.
This isn't the first time she's done this either.
We'll go and check on the kids before we go to bed and every now and then we won't be able to open Yuki's door because of this.
For whatever reason I guess she can't get to sleep.  I'm sure she finds comfort in the company.  She'll also read books and fall asleep infront of the book shelf.
Around one night a week I'll hear her 'playing' till 10pm.
Then she sleeps in till around 9am. 
I try to catch her and tell her to close the door at least, but if she's in her room and wants to read stories that's fine with me.  It just means she's tired the next day.
She HAS to have a hug and kiss IN BED from both Dru and I before she'll consider going to sleep.
It doesn't matter if you kissed and hugged her 100 times BEFORE she hits the bed, she still needs her BED hug and kiss, which is fine.
If one of us are gone when she goes to bed she'll wait up until we get back and get her hug and kiss in bed.
She's still very much scared of the dark.
I only think she came into our room once last week though.  So that's good.
It's on Dru's side anyway so I've got nothing to complain about really.

Love you bub.

Report Card

I know I will keep Masaru's end of the year report card but let's be honest, will I be able to find it in 20 years when he moves out?  Maybe, if I organize properly and keep things in check, but do I trust myself THAT much?
I'm not sure yet.
So there's two reasons I'm posting his report card.
#1 So it's in a hard copy for always {blog book}
#2 Cause both his grandparents read this blog and I think they'd be interested and I won't bring it up on the phone, I know it, I get too carried away with other stuff. 

Despite popular reasoning it's not to boast or be a show off, even though I've been known to do both!!

What his teacher said this term
Masaru loves his friends.  Recess and PE are his favourite times.  Masaru loves everything about school.  He is a good friend and an influence for good in the classroom.  Masaru is careful and accurate on assignments.  He continues excellent academic progress.  He names all letters and knows all letter sounds.  Masaru got a 3 on the Winter IRI.  To get a 3 on the Spring IRI he will need to be able to say 30 letter sounds in a minute.  Masaru is consistently that fast lately and should be able to reach that goal.  Masaru is beginning to read and knows 13/15 assessed sight words.  He can name and extend complicated patterns.  I love our long conversations.

Absent days 4
Late days 4
Total Absent for the year 9  (it's been more than this)
Total late days for the year 14

For language he got a mastery level for everything except his attitude towards literacy.  To get a mastery level you have to 'choose reading and writing independently'.
Well if there's cars or blocks or the computer I don't think Masaru is going to choose that independently.  He's a boy.  Oh well.
His Mastery is in 'Speaking with well develped vocab. and sentences' and 'Can separate sound segments' and 'Recognizes lower case letters' and 'Invents spelling of words, uses phonetic clues' and 'Uses reading strategies independently (context clues, phonics)'.
So that's good.

Mathematics he went up to an almost mastery level this term which is great and one more than last term.
Almost Mastery level 'Creates patterns (ABCABC) using a variety of materials and/or symbols' and 'Understands conservation of number (#remains same, group/shape changes)

Learning Behaviours he gained a mastery level for each area which is fantastic.
Mastery in 'Follows complex directions maintains focus' and 'Uses previous knowledge to solve tasks independently' and 'Uses resources to find answers' and 'Works competently on complex, creative, imaginative, self-initiated tasks'

He received mastery level for his Social Skills as well.
'Demonstrates leadership skills in work and play' and 'Is sensitive to and articulate about needs of others'

PE he got the same as he has the whole year and the teacher gave him the same comment as last time.
I wonder what this woman does and if she even changes anyone's report cards?
Anyway moving on...............

Personal Knowledge he now knows his age and first and last name as well as his birthday.
He still needs to know his phone number including area code and address including city and state to receive a mastery level.  So Dru and I need to work on that.

And that's about it.
If you take report cards seriously he's doing fantastic.
If you don't then it doesn't matter I guess.
But good report cards always make you feel a little better and breathe slightly easier I think, but I also know Masaru's a good kid and that he'd do great in school this year no matter what.

Journal Entry Twentynine

How long was your engagement? Tell of any trials you had during this time.

Click HERE to read mine.

A journal can also be a tool for self-evaluation and self-improvement. “We examine our lives as we come to know ourselves through our journals,” says Sister Bell. “Even if you take your journal and go back a year, you learn things about yourself you didn’t know at the time. You understand things about yourself. In knowledge begins real freedom of the soul and the spirit, and a real chance to be all that we can be and all that we should be.”

Hat hair

Need I say more?

I'm done

So I finished my 12 week challenge.
It's done.
How can 12 weeks go by so quick?
Who knows.
But I did it and feel really good about it.
The big announcement is on my birthday, May 10th, and I won't be in town.  I'll be hanging out with my brother {who comes into town the day before}and my niece {who shares the same birthday as me}.
I think I'd rather be with them.
I told Chris to go in my stead.  I think he said he will. 
Imagine if I win?
Man that'd be awesome.

So here's the low downs:

WEIGHT: 1st 181lbs       2nd 173lbs       3rd 165lbs     DIFFERENCE: 16lbs
BODY FAT:  1st 31%     2nd  30%        3rd  28%        DIFFERENCE: 3%
In my defense Chris measured my body fat that same day and got 23% so if it's ok with the blogging world I'm gonna go with Chris.
THIGH:   1st 27.5 inches   2nd  26.25 inches    3rd 24.5 inches  DIFFERENCE: 3 inches
WAIST:  1st  39.5 inches   2nd 36 inches      3rd  33 inches  DIFFERENCE:  6.5 inches
HIP:   1st  44.5 inches      2nd  42.5 inches    3rd  40 inches   DIFFERENCE:  4.5 inches

Overall body inch difference:  14 inches

I really enjoyed doing it.
It was fun, exciting and empowering.
Now onto my next goal.............

Sight Words

 So Masaru's school sent home these sight words and told him to practice them throughout the summer  because when he's in first grade they need to know these words I guess.
So we've been working on them.
He finally got them all right yesterday.
You can kind've see my little 'scoring' on the side of how many he got wrong and his improvements.
He was pretty excited and I'm really proud of him.

The other two kids couldn't go without getting their pictures taken. 

Castle Rock

 So Masaru asked us this morning if we could hike up Castle Rock. 
I should've talked to Dru about it before I answered him but I said "Sure that sounds like it'd be great" and I planned on going in between General Conference sessions.
Dru wasn't feeling the best, allergies, but I asked him REALLY nicely to come and, like the good man he is, he said 'yes'.
So we packed up a lunch and headed out to hike.
Masaru was thrilled.

 Takeshi, as you can see, was thrilled as well and thought riding on Dad's back was the best thing ever!!
He was a little cold though.
Poor thing.
It was a little windy.  Luckily we all had hats on.

 Yuki's hat was trying to cover her eyes all the time.  I think it forgot it's purpose was just to cover her ears and NOT her eyes.
So she was struggling with that the whole hike cause I wouldn't let her take it off.

 This photo would've been even cuter had she not been fighting with her hat.

 Here's Masaru having a great time climbing over all the rocks. 
It's tough cause Yuki and Takeshi wanna follow suit but they're just not as good as Masaru around the rocks so we have to tell them to not follow him.

 Alright $10 to the person who can guess what the hell Masaru is doing here?
LOL
It reminds me of my father actually.  He used to do weird poses for photo's all the time and we'd say 'Come on Dad what the hell are you doing?'
Can weird posing be hereditary and skip a generation?
I mean it's a salute and I'm not sure what the rest is.
I need to ask him.

 I wonder if Skull Candy would pay me for this picture of Takeshi wearing their stuff?

 And here's the happy couple.
Dru told me he was eating in this shot.  It looks more like he's boycotting the 'happy couple' shot if you ask me.
So I took another {below}
I told him to 'smile dammit and pretend we're the happy couple'
So he did.
;)

I'm really glad we went.
Yuki needed a shoulder ride all the way down.
And since Dru was taking Takeshi that left me with the backpack AND Yuki on my shoulders.
Luckily I'm a lean, mean, muscle machine and did it with ease ;)
Fun times.
We got back in time to unpack, put Takeshi down for a nap and get the TV set up for the afternoon session of conference.
The perfect lunch with my favourite people.