DIY Cardboard Box "Car" Race

For Na'u's class, they had a cardboard box "car" race. Parents needed to help their child make a wearable car or truck or any type of vehicle imaginable. We were looking at pictures from past races and some parents were VERY creative. We knew we wanted something out of the ordinary but didn't know what. We tried on 2 different boxed but they were too big...it didn't look right.  Next we tried on a skinny and long diaper box and it was PERFECT!  Just seeing it on her we knew that we were going to make....

...a CANOE!

It HAD to be her favorite colors purple and pink.  Of course we didn't start making it til the night before it was due and ended up staying up til 4:30am....CRAZY!  It kinda felt like college all over again.  We made it up as we went and it turned out PERFECT!  To complete her attire, we used a long bamboo spoon as her paddle.

Here are the other kids modeling there cars.  Pretty good!

These were some cool vehicles.

I didn't want my Iwi to feel left out so right before heading out, I grabbed the frosted flakes cereal box and added some straps.  He was a hit among the parents and teachers.  He marched around with the kids as if he was apart of the class.

Iwi fell down on more than one occasion and needed help getting up.

 Then they went out back where the race track was set up....around the playground.

The kiddos raced in separate heats with 4 kids in each.  Na'u was in heat #2.

 Notice the girl in front in the right picture?  She was in the lead but ended up falling down.  Na'u just so happen to get stuck behind her.  By the the time Na'u went AROUND, EVERYONE else had a nice lead.  The main thing is that they had FUN :).

Here are some of the other heats.

I LOVE the first picture of boys.  The had their "race" faces on.

After the races were done, they each got a medal.

We're so happy that we got to be apart of it.  We LOVE Na'u's school!!

ABANDON SHIP!

Back in January of 2007 (before having kids), we decided to take a big trip and go on a cruise. We've always wanted to try it out, and settled on a 11 night cruise around the Mediterranean. The cruise ship we chose to do our tour was the Costa Concordia (an Italian Cruise line where mostly Europeans were the guests). The trip was AMAZING! We stopped in Italy, Greece, Turkey, and Egypt. We saw some ancient Roman ruins, like the Colosseum, and we got to go to the Vatican.  We even saw the Parthenon in Athens, and the Ephesian Library in Ephesus.  But he best part was seeing the pyramids and the Sphinx in Cairo.  Egypt was THEE place that I wanted to visit in my lifetime and my FABULOUS husband made it happen :).

Our ship was HUGE! It's something like 12 stories or so.

Besides stopping and exploring at the different ports, on board they constantly had activities to do. There was room service, restaurants, a club, casino, formal dinners every night, and a night show every evening. We both loved having different things to do on board. But the best part was being able to wake up in a new country every morning, that we could explore and experience.

Last week on January 13, 2012, a Costa Cruise line ship went down off the coast of Italy. When we read the news, we found out that the ship that had gone down was the Costa Concordia (the SAME ship we were on board back in 2007). There were over 4,200 people including staff aboard. Eleven people are confirmed dead and there are still 21 people still missing. My heart goes out to those families.

The captain was 4 miles off course when the ship hit well marked rocks, which in turn made a huge 160-ft gash in the hull.

The ship took in water leading up to its current submerged state.

Passengers say that it was total chaos during those frightening hours. I can only imagine how scary it must have been. I mean, when we were on OUR cruise, we went through the basic life vest and emergency evacuation drill...but I'm sure during the "real thing" it went anything but smooth!

Its just like a modern day Titanic.

You would think that with all the modern day technology, something like this would NEVER happen.

Efforts in finding the rest of the missing people were suspended today because of the dangerous shifting that the boat posed on rescuers.

I remember climbing aboard the ship and being so excited to see new things. I just wanted to experience it all. Having any sort of emergency was the farthest thing from my mind.

You can see that this was the exact same ship. (click on the picture for an up close look) Not only is the name on the ship, but look at the antennas, the shape, and everything is exactly the same. Crazy that WE were aboard this ship!

(I hope it wasn't the same captain!)

We feel greatly for those who have lost their lives, and are still missing. We can only imagine how difficult it must have been for some of the elderly to escape from a ship that was on its side. It probably was impossible for some to get out of their rooms, especially if their door was now suddenly above their heads, due to the tilted ship. Such a sad, tragic situation.

Well, now that 5 years have passed since we've had the opportunity to be aboard a cruise, we feel lucky to have been able to sail on the Concordia, which now lays capsized in the Mediterranean. As unfortunate as this current situation is, Cameron and I had a really good experience on board five years prior, and would LOVE to do another cruise. There's no better way to experience so many different countries, in such a short amount of time. We feel that the sinking of the Concordia was a rare incident, and is something that doesn't happen often AT ALL. So hopefully we'll be aboard another cruise sometime soon. The only difference is...this time, we'll take the evacuation drills more seriously, and probably plan our own safety exit. One can never be OVER PREPARED!

The Rest of Christmas-ey Festivities

 On December 10th, Na'u had a Christmas performance with her school.  Luckily, her class was the last one to go because we made it there just in time.  We jumped out of the car and headed to the gym and her class was already lined up.  All the kids were ready to go with their matching santa shirts made by Mrs. Cheryl and matching santa hats made by some of the parents. 

They performed "Up on the Housetop" by the Jackson Five and "Santa Claus is Coming to Town". 

 I kept on asking her before the performance to show me the dance and she wouldn't budge.  The only thing she told me was that they shake their bums and yep, they sure did some bum shakes.  We noticed that the more "active" ones were towards the middle of the line-up and guess who was smack dab in the middle :)?  The boy to the right of Na'u was SUPER cute too.

I LOVE her teachers!

L:  Ms. Kathy  R: Ms. Kelly & Ms. Cheryl

  Na'u right after her performance.  Singing and dancing sure takes a lot out of you :).

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On December 21, we went and spent some time with the Tuitele side because Cameron's cousin, Jr Boy, and his family from Colorado came to visit.

Here on the left is Grandma Jewell with some of her great-grand kids.  Next is Jr and his family.  I think it's so neat when great-grandparents are still around.  As of now, my kids have 2 greats left...one from Cameron's side and one from mine.

Us with Great-Grandma Jewell.

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For all of December, I'd been wanting to make a gingerbread house.  I got everything to make it (from the cardboard box to the graham crackers) but with everyone getting sick, we lost over a week to do Christmas-ey things.  The gingerbread house took the back burner with all the shopping that needed to be done.  I was SUPER happy when we got a gingerbread house kit from my cousins, the Filiaga's (THANK YOU), for Christmas.

The kids loved it especially the frosting.  I think Iwi contributed 2 candies on the house and just ate the frosting the rest of the time. Although it was fun, I think I was a little nuts and particular where everything went.  I think I need to work on that and just let loose :). 

I think it came out pretty cute!

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We went to check out "the big" santa at Honolulu Hale.  I love that Santa is shaka- ing with no boots on.

The Kung Fu Panda exhibit was Iwi's favorite and Na'u got to go on a ride.  Poor Iwi was so sad.

They both got their face painted.  Na'u LOVED her hello kitty face and was crushed when she had to wash it off.

There was this new giant postcard put-your-head-in-the-hole display.  It was really cute but I wish I knew I had Loli'i on a girl's body...ooops!

I'm glad we got to do most of the Christmas-ey things I wanted to do even if it was after Christmas.  I love the holidays!  There are so many fun things to do. 

I LOVE My Job!

I really REALLY do LOVE my job.  It's not a glamorous job nor do I get to meet all kinds of different people or travel the globe BUT I wouldn't change it for the world.

I get to work with these little faces every day.

Don't let this faces fool you though.  They can make things challenging and some days are definitely better than others. They can turn my house upside down in record time, fight with each other non-stop all day long, refuse to listen and follow directions, sneak candy whenever they find it, talk back like it's 2nd nature, and cry and whine for days.  My job requires A LOT of patience and sometimes it's just plain ole HARD. 

With my NEVER ENDING to-do list, I love my form of payment.  I get paid in hugs and kisses, art work, smiles and giggles, "I love yous", naps (kids or my own :), cuddle time, massages (from Iwi and Na'u), and "thank yous".  All of which, melt my heart!

It really does take A LOT to be a mom.

I read this on facebook a few times and loved it.

"(insert your name)-Hates when you get the "You're JUST a Mom?" or "Do you ever work?" Uhhh yes, I am a Mom! That makes me an alarm clock, cook, maid, waitress, teacher, nurse, referee, handyman, security officer, photographer, counselor, chauffeur, event planner, body guard, hairdresser, personal assistant, ATM & I scare away the boogie man. I don't get holidays, sick pay or days off. I work through the DAY & NIGHT shift. I am on call 24/7 for the rest of my life & that's just with my first job... BEING A MOM! I may not be anything to you but I am everything to someone."

Sometimes I REALLY get overwhelmed with all my motherly duties but it's ALL worth it.  I've waited my whole life to be someones mom :). 

I am very blessed to be a MOTHER.  I have 3 BEAUTIFUL, HEALTHY children.  I feel so privileged that Heavenly Father sent them to me and Cameron.  I remember each of their births.  I remember what it took to bring them here.  I remember when I first held them in my arms. I remember how I felt in that moment and how I looked at them.  They are all special and unique in their own way.  I know that they are counting on me to take on my responsibilities head on.  I know the road won't be easy but I'm excited for what the future has in store for us.  I LOVE them so much!

"Happy Christmas...Tree!"

 The kids woke up Christmas morning to find our Christmas tree decorated (another story for another time) and full of presents.  They were so excited!  Na'u opened our door to wake us up and said, "Mom! Dad!  Santa came and brought us plenty presents!" 

It's a good thing that our kids were patient because they didn't get to open their presents til after church. Luckily church was at 9am only for one hour but then was even shorter when all that was planned was a few Christmas songs. There wasn't any program or narration...just songs performed by different auxiliaries. This was the FASTEST church that I've ever been too.

After church, the kids dug right into the presents. 

Na'u was VERY excited to pose with all her gifts.  Her funniest story was ripping the wrapping paper off a Hello Kitty Trouble game from her grandma.  She said, "Yay!!....I'm so happy I got this.  What is it?"  I think she was just happy to get something Hello Kitty.

Do you see the above picture furthest right? Yes, Na'u is posing with a package of nori. 

We weren't really keeping track of the gifts that we were getting and for some odd reason, I thought that we got tons of stuff for Na'u.  Every time we went shopping, I was buying for Iwi.  When we finally took everything out, Iwi had WAY MORE things than Na'u....OOOPS!  We were DAYS before Christmas and we had to get more things for my girl.  I started getting anything that I knew she loved.  I'm glad to report that she was SUPER happy when she opened the nori :).

She loved the gumball machined that she got from Mama and Papa.  Check out that excitement.  More than half the gum was gone by the next day.  Hopefully I don't find chewed gum all over the house.

Iwi wasn't in any rush to open gifts.  He looked in his stocking and Santa had left him some gold fish.  He sat there in the middle of the presents and wrapping paper, content with his fish :).

He did love this Toy Story tent equipped with a tunnel.

Loli'i's favorite was the wrapping paper.  Check out the intensity in the right picture. 

-How "HAPPY CHRISTMAS TREE" Evolved-

Part 1-My Iwi Boy LOVES Christmas.  He loves seeing all the Christmas lights and decorations that we've been seeing everywhere.  He'll spot something Christmasy, get SUPER excited, and say, "Mom, Christmas lights!" or "Christmas tree!".  I think the tree was his FAVORITE.  The word Christmas and the word tree automatically went hand in hand. 

Part 2-Since we had two other holidays before Christmas, Iwi was used to saying "HAPPY Halloween" and "HAPPY Thanksgiving".  When we started saying "MERRY Christmas", I think it didn't make sense to him.  

Result-Whenever someone would tell him Merry Christmas, he would reply

"Happy Christmas....tree!" (said very excitedly).  I love him!

We hope that you all had a wonderful, memorable Christmas!

Christmas Eve on Coyne Street

Since Cameron was a little boy, he celebrated Christmas with the Ing side (his mom's) on Christmas Eve here at our house, on Coyne St. Christmas Day was reserved for the Tuitele side. I guess the Christmas Eve tradition stuck cause we do it now with the new generation. All the Tuitele/Ing cousins come and get to open gifts the night before Christmas...something I've ALWAYS wanted to do but never got to :).

Here's all the presents under the Christmas tree. 

We all were waiting and waiting and waiting, trying to keep ourselves entertained.

We waited a LONG time to open presents.  I think some family members were still wrapping presents.  All of my three little ones didn't last.  Right before Na'u closed her eyes, she told me, "Mom, can you please wake me up when we open presents?"  What a little cutie!  She tried to hang on as long as she could but her eyes were TOO tired.  We tried to wake her but she was out like a log.

In our family, there are just too many bodies to buy presents for.   Each kid draws a cousin to buy a gift for.  This method is way friendlier on the funds :). For us, Na'u had Kailea, Iwi had Sina, and Loli'i had Kayla.  I hope the Maui Tui's loved their gifts.  We sure did miss them over here.
Here is one of Sina's gifts that was a hit among all the kids present....GUM.  At one point, it ended up ALL over the floor :)

Love this picture of Sina and her gum.

Thank you to Myla, Kayla, and Evan for the gifts that my kiddos received.  They LOVED it!

Welcome Back Potuck

Elder Blake Smithing is Cameron's cousin from Layton, Utah.  He returned on Dec 9th from serving 2 years in the Apia, Samoa Mission. He arranged his return home through Hawaii (on his way back to Utah)  so that we all had a chance to see him.

 Cameron's mom made this sign back when Chris and Cameron came home from their missions 9+ years ago and it was neat to use it for Blake who is the youngest and last missionary from their generation.  We just made some minor adjustments in personalizing it with his name. 

Me, Loli'i and Na'u were the only Tuiteles that were able to make it to the welcoming at the airport. Poor Cameron and Iwi Boy were stuck at home SICK. No fun! 

Blake was suppose to come in at 7am. I got a call at 6:30am saying that they were already in...so of course we were late.  Instead of us waiting for him, he was waiting for us.  It was really nice to see him.  It seemed like those 2 years flew by.

Blake's mom, Aunty Sonya, organized a potluck at the park the next day. Alot of the family came and it was so much fun. 

The kids LOVE Blake!  We calculated that in those two years that he was gone, 7 babies in the family were born...pretty cool!

 It was nice seeing all the cousins play together.

Love this kid!

 The boys, Koa and Iwi Boy, getting an early start on their sports careers :).

1st Generation

Cameron's mom's brothers and sister and their spouses.



Aunty Linda, Uncle David, Uncle Sterling, Cameron's parents -Timmy & Sandra, and (Blake's parents) Aunty Sonya & Uncle Larry.

 2nd Generation-The Cousins

3rd Generation-The Grandkids

These were the grandkids that came. This is probably not even half of the total grandchildren.

I think that this was the highlight of the day...all the kids trying to catch fish in the stream.  I'm not sure if anyone actually caught anything but it was sure fun to try.

There's nothing like family time--talking story, reminising, playing games, eating, and watching the kids run around. Welcome back Blake!