Pauloisms 2

[last week]

Paulo: Mama, where's Heavenly Father?
Me: He's in heaven.
Paulo: I love Him, Mama.
Me: Me, too, son.
Paulo: Mama, where's Jesus?
Me: Jesus is with Heavenly Father.
Paulo: I want to go with Heavenly Father, too.
Me: You can, son. One day we can go to Heavenly Father again.


[yesterday morning]

Paulo began complaining that his ears were bothering him. The discomfort quickly developed into pain. He's very sensitive when it comes to his ears, and the pain was in the ear that still has the tube in it. We got a flashlight and could actually see the tube inside. We wondered if it was beginning to fall out and was giving him discomfort. Well, Paulo kept crying badly from the pain. We gave him some medicine for the pain and Hunter promptly gave him a priesthood blessing.

Hunter: Paulo, do you believe in Jesus?
Paulo: Uh huh.
Hunter: Do you believe that Jesus can help your ear to feel better?
Paulo: Uh huh.

This is the first time Paulo has ever actually wanted a blessing (in the past he didn't understand it, and he didn't like having Hunter's hands on his head). Hunter gave Paulo a picture of Jesus to look at during the blessing. He blessed Paulo that the tubes would fall out naturally and soon, and that he would be comforted.

After the blessing Paulo was completely fine. Not a single complaint until later on that afternoon before taking him to the doctor to check it, (turns out the tubes are still in place, but he has an infection in that ear). I was impressed by the pure and simple faith that children have. Paulo is a remarkable child. He really observes and learns from things around him and remembers things. This is the type of experience he will remember. I am grateful that Heavenly Father rewarded the faith of my boy so that even this young, he can begin to know for himself that the power of the Priesthood is real and that Heavenly Father answers our prayers.


[tonight]

Paulo: Mama, you keep doing dishes and dishes and dishes and dishes and dishes and dishes and dishes and dishes and dishes and dishes.
Me: (laughing) I know. That's because we keep eating and eating and eating and eating and eating and eating.
Paulo: You have to do dishes again! I don't like that. That's too much!

Naturally I gave him a hug after that. It's so nice to be acknowledged by my children for the things I do...I also decided to take a break from the dishes. :)

My Husband Is So Cool

When people meet Hunter and find out that he's in the Media Design program at Art Center, they usually say, "So, media design, is that like websites?" Well, I don't blame you. It is still difficult for me to explain what he's studying, but you can go to his website, creativityhunter, and see for yourself what he's been doing so far. The "Student Site" has his most recent work. I swear I have the coolest husband in the world.

Mother's Day

Well, folks, I'm very happy and grateful to be a mom on Mother's Day. I feel like I have the coolest, sweetest boys in the world. Paulo and Andre went shopping on Friday to buy me a gift and came home with beautiful yellow flowers for me and this awesome card that has a wheel and an actual spinner on it with activities I can do with my kids. Paulo couldn't wait, so I opened those early. Then on Sunday, Hunter made me pancakes with hearts cookie-cut into the center, and gave me a gift to open--sunglasses. It was a great day. Here are some fun pictures:

Look! He does look like me. Don't you think?

In the Philippines, younger people greet older people with this gesture called "mano," or "amin" in our family. I remember paying respect to my own lola many times, and she would always say,"salamat." I still remember how her voice sounded saying it. Now Andre has learned this little piece of Filipino culture. Mabait ang bunso ko!

Meanwhile, my little "kuya" was pretending to eat his McQueen. I just love my handsome boys.

And most importantly, I want to express my love and appreciation to my own mother. Ma, you're the BEST MOTHER in the world! I always say I'll be a good mom if I can just follow your example. :)

And to my mother-in-law, I love you, too. What great examples I have around me.


My sweet boys, and all my happiness wouldn't exist if it weren't for you! HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

Cool T-Shirts

Check out these cute t-shirts the boys got from Auntie Lani. Thanks, Auntie! Paulo's says, "Dude, your girlfriend keeps checking me out." And Andre's says, "Potty like a rock star". Heh heh.

Sewing Experiments

Thought I'd post my recent sewing success stories.

This one is my first attempt at a t-shirt. Some of you may remember the light yellow t-shirt that had butterfly designs on it that Lani gave me a long time ago. Well, it was pretty beat up after wearing it about once a week for the past two years. I even wore it through my pregnancy. Inevitably, I ended up getting a big huge ketchup stain in that one spot on the tummy that all pregnant women get stains, and so I decided to take it apart and use the pieces to make another t-shirt because I liked the cut. Well here it is.


I actually skimped on the fabric a little bit (which I will never do again) and I need to work on the sleeves a little bit (I pinned them the way they're supposed to look for this photo). It should be a couple inches looser and an inch longer, but I think it turned out quite well for my first article of clothing.

Next, I took one of my old, non-flattering work shirts (should have taken a "before" picture) and I cut the sleeves short and gathered them slightly and added a cuff. Then I sewed two stripes on each side four inches down from the top of the shoulder, and gathered the material here so that the collar laid more open and feminine...and voila!


Last of all (for now) I finally made crib bumpers out of the same fabric as the curtains I posted earlier. Yay!!!! I no longer have to go searching on all fours for Andre's pacifiers (they're round and rubber--perfect for bouncing on our wood floors and rolling to the most obscure spots you could imagine. Here's the outside...

...and inside. Turned out pretty well, I think. I used those bumper inserts you can buy and just followed the pattern that came with it.

Only problem is when your child does this...

...the bumpers begin to lose their form a little bit. Not bad, though.

Pretty cool, eh? Now I can say I'm keeping up with my new years resolution to try sewing some cool stuff this year.

St. George's Snow Canyon

After spring term got out, we took a well deserved vacation in St. George with my parents. We hiked a small part of Snow Canyon. It was very fun and rewarding to see the beautiful red rocks against the sage and green colored bushes and a clear blue sky. It makes sense that the Master Creator would choose such a perfect color pallet for this place. Once again, the pictures don't do justice. I was so proud of Paulo. He hiked over a mile all by himself--and he enjoyed it!

Now to the sand dunes. This sand appears orange, but it is actually a mix of white and red. And it's cleaner and finer than the sand at Zuma beach in Malibu.

Of all the things Paulo could have found in this vast stretch of sand, he found a tiny metal bullet from a BB-gun. Haha

Lola and Opa are now regular hikers. Cool, dude!

What!? Dost my eyes deceive me?

And now back home to Lola's. What a fun day.

The Getty Museum

Mom and Maren came to visit us in April for Mom's birthday. One of the funnest things we did was visit the Getty Museum in downtown L.A. The pictures don't do it justice. The artwork was awesome. We saw some VanGogh, Monet, and Rembrandt, to name a few. My favorite was Portrait of a Rabbi by Rembrandt (can't find the same one on google, sorry folks, so you'll just have to come visit us and see the real thing). The views from the Getty were breathtaking. All together, a very uplifting day.

Beautiful architecture and beautiful gardens.


This tree had bell flowers hanging from it. We just couldn't resist.


Paulo loved the gardens and running/falling down the hill (above). He also spent a lot of time in the children's room (below).

Hunter and Maren tested out their own artistic skills in this drawing room. Now we can say that Hunter has a piece of art hanging in the Getty :)

Andre's favorite part...the mirror in the bathroom. Eeee.