School Again

Sorry folks. Since I began my online course, the first thing that has been neglected is my blog. The second thing...my laundry. Anyway, I've been taking lots of pictures and videos recently, and will update you soon.

Hunter's Birthday and Some Other Photos

Here are some older photos for you to enjoy:

I love reading with my boys.

For Hunter's 29th birthday, I gave him a one-day sushi class. He was ecstatic! He learned the proper way to prepare the sushi rice and choose the tuna, how to make miso soup, and he learned how to make all types of Nigiri and some sushi rolls. Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!
Look at all the sushi he made!

Then he came home and made this. Way to go, Hunter!

And this is Paulo pretending to be a sushi chef.

This boy has such an imagination. One night, I allowed Paulo to fill an urge to paint even though it was past his bedtime. Cute, eh?

Doesn't Lani have a childhood photo of herself that looks exactly like this?

And this is a photo from tonight:

Paulo's been pretending he's Speed Racer recently. He literally asks me to call him Speed. Here he's taking a ride with Racer X. Notice how both their helmets are decorated. My boys, my boys.

Moved Again

In nearly seven years of marriage, we've moved nine times. No, really! And each move, thankfully, has been a good one.

I am very pleased with our new apartment. I didn't realize how much more space we have now until we had moved our furniture in. It's not as unique as our little home on Pleasant St. but we've been a lot more comfortable here, and we love it.

My goal with this place is to really establish a "house of order." So far, so good! Now that we're able to store our things in our garage, our house is no longer packed with clutter, but only with the things we use. It's very functional. Here are some photos of the new place.

Bottom floor: living room, dining area, kitchen, half-bath, front patio and balcony in back.

View from the front door. Can see balcony/play area in back.

View from the stairs. Can see the front patio from here.

Kitchen is small, but has a dishwasher--yahoo!


Top floor: Full bathroom, 2 bedrooms.

You can see in the reflection one of my favorite features of this apartment--the washer/dryer! I actually enjoy doing laundry. It's outrageous.

Hunter thought we could turn the kids' room window into a little reading nook. I haven't sewn the cushion yet, but you get the picture. I like that Paulo has a nice place to retreat if he wants...

But lately, the boys have been more interested in the front patio, because Paulo got a new hand-me-down car, which Hunter has since turned into Speed Racer's Mach 7. Even Andre enjoys driving around.

We're very happy and grateful our friends (now neighbors) told us about the opening in this place. And just so you know, it should be much more accomodating for visitors!--hint,hint. :)

Andre's 1st Birthday Party

Since Andre's birthday is the 4th of July, we decided to have his party on the 3rd so that our friends would be able to come. We invited just two families and had a nice little party. It was a monkey party. WE LOVE YOU, ANDRE!

It was fun decorating for this party. I built this tree out of an old box, and figured out how to make the monkeys by looking up a tutorial online and experimenting with my own design. I like how it turned out.

I didn't make this brown monkey...but I did prepare all the yummy food. :)

This was a lift-the-flap poster we made with various monkeys and things underneath...and this one photo of Andre with his own monkey buddy.

Here Andre is showing everyone his photo album so they can study for his "How well do you know the birthday boy" quiz.

YUM!

Andre's first little puppy from Daddy. He loves this thing. It moves and barks.

Andre and Emily playing.

Meanwhile, Paulo played outside with his friend, Calvin.

What a memorable day!

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. :)