A Visit to The House of The Lord

I finally got to pay a visit to the temple last Saturday with a 

cousin of mine. [Her dad and my dad are cousins.] We got 

together at work during lunch to walk and talked about 

how she's always going to the temple on the weekends, 

and I thought about how it's been a year or so, that I haven't

gone. So I asked her if I could come along too. 

I've always wanted to get away for an hour to pray and 

meditate on the things that I'm currently struggling with 

and ask for God's blessings in everything I do. Since I've

gone with my cousin, things have been starting to fall in 

place for me, I'm more at peace with where I'm at in 

life and striving to keep moving forward. 

Lani and I are sort of in the same situation right now. 

We're both married mothers, solo parents and so we 

understand each other. Her dh is in the islands and I'm 

still separated with my dh, yet he's in Portland and I'm

here in Salt Lake with the kids. 

She's so strong and has taught me many things about 

being more patient, forgiving and understanding. I'm 

glad that she's in my life right now and hope that some

day I can help her like she's helped me. 

I haven't had many friends like her that are honest and 

strive to live a Christ like life. I wish her the best in all 

that she does and that things may go her way soon. 

We've talked about getting together to get our children's

72 hour kits/backpacks ready for any upcoming emerg

encies and maybe introducing the kids to each other. 

Nesi's got a birthday coming up so I'm planning on

 inviting her and her children to stop by and have

some fun with my kids. While we get some mommy 

time to talk with the other mothers. 

I hope that you may cherish the friendships you have, 

It really helps when you have a network of friends that

are positive and non judgmental to help you get through

the good and bad times in your life. 

Seeing Ami off to Hawaii

My two oldest ones pictured above before my son, Ami heads

off to Hawaii to work with my uncle. I'm so proud that Ami 

has chosen to put in his papers to serve his mission this December. 

A couple of weeks ago he received his Melchizedek priesthood 

along with his bestie, Braxton Tuiono and it was a joyous time 

for both our families. 

My dad thought that it would be great for Ami to meet his 

cousins in Hawaii and work with his uncle to save up for his 

mission. Ami was kinda sad to leave, so am I. But, I believe

this will build his character. I told him it won't be that long. 

His little brother told me last night that his big brother must

be homesick and that we should send him back home. I 

agree, but we'll give him two weeks. If he doesn't like it there 

we can always send him back. I miss him already and hope 

he's making wise choices, helping out at the house and cleaning

up after himself. 

Taxes, To Do Lists and More....

The past 3 days I've been working on our taxes and was 

glad to put it through and hear back to see if it got accepted. 

It did and now I'm preparing my list of bills that need to get

paid and rent to be paid. 

Yesterday as I picked up the kids from school they asked if

they could stay up late since they have no school today and 

Monday. I was wondering why I hadn't seen it in any forms

they brought from school and then realized that I had been 

so caught up in doing taxes, couponing, working on book

reviews and the list goes on. Thank goodness, I checked 

online and they were right! 

I stepped away from the computer for a bit to cook some 

breakfast for the kids and throw a load into the washer. 

Since the kids are out of school right now, I asked them to

put their warm clothes on so we could go and check out 

the mail room for more inserts, then come back and do 

some fun activities with them. I'm looking forward to the 

tax to purchase a camcorder. I miss recording the kids 

and fun stuff. How's your Friday? 

Saturday Visit to Chucky Cheese

We haven't been to Chucky Cheese for

a while now. So I thought that a visit 

there would be good for the younger ones

since the older siblings are still having fun

in Hawaii, Laie of course. 

They've been down that they couldn't go

to another Lowes Build and Grow class, 

and everyone is still out there on their little

vacays. Except for Ami. He's been busy

at football camps for college. I hope he 

gets lucky because he really deserves it. 

He still lives with my first cousin Eddie

and wife, Lily. Eddie's a football coach 

at the high school in Lehi. So he thought 

it would be better to just let Ami stay 

with him so could try to get him trained

and ready for college football. 

Anyways, moving on to fun and games

at Chuck E Cheese! So as soon as we 

got in these two went nuts and were 

pulling me all over. Loni couldn't stay 

away from the bowling ball  and

the basketball hoop games. Nesi liked

riding on the merry go round, if that's 

what you call it. and playing the bumble

bee game where you catch the bees and

put them back in the beehive. 

All in all, it was a perfect day of fun, 

laughter and games that ended with 

a trip to Wal-mart for some new packs 

of socks and undies for the kids and 

then home to hit the sack and get 

ready for Sunday. How did your weekend

go?

Getting Settled In...

It's been two days since we've been here in Salt Lake. I flew down
on Sunday evening on the last flight at 5:40 pm and admit I cried the
whole hour and twenty five minutes of flight time. It was hard, still is
but there is a sense of peace and a load off my shoulders.

The kids are having fun here and there. Once in a while they'll stop
and tell me that they miss dad and ask why we have to be here in
SLC and not there with him..I wasn't able to get on since their
computer was getting fixed and just returned today. I soo miss my
computer..but left mostly everything behind to start fresh here.

I really missed blogging and felt withdrawals not being able to
catch up on all the latest happenings with my mom blog friends.

The kids enjoyed spending time with their new cousin Sione..Nesi 

wouldn't leave him alone and just loved being with him. I'm currently 

applying for jobs and hoping I'll land a job soon. 

My little brother is getting married on the 29th and just approached 

me this evening about decorating since the one they had chosen..just

flaked out on them last minute. I think I just landed my first job here.

decorating my brother's wedding.. I'm so tired..just want to get some

sleep and I should be back in the morning to explain more..

No Prize and 2 days of Accidents

Yesterday, I walked with Nesi to the bus stop

to pick up Loni. When the kids came out running

I usually see Loni is happy and running too. 

This time he didn't want to talk to us and just

started running away. I called after him to wait

for his sister as she's running after him. He 

didn't listen and even ignored his friends who 

were trying to talk to him. 

Loni on his happy days...

So I figured he probably had a bad day at 

school. Nesi couldn't catch up with him and 

ended falling face first on the sidewalk. She 

got up crying and I told her, "walking feet, 

no running feet, ok?' So she nodded her head

and just walked with me. 

Mel was at home and asked him, what's the

matter as he comes in and he doesn't say a 

word to his father and just starts crying on 

the couch. 

I asked him what happened at school and 

he said that he couldn't tell me. 

me: You can tell me anything..

Loni: You don't understand.

me: Yes, I will..go ahead.

Loni: I didn't get a prize from my teacher. 

Everyone else got one except for me. 

me: How do you earn a prize? Do you think

you earned one? 

Loni: Yes, I think I earned one. I've been

respectable and considerate this week and 

didn't get a yellow or red light. 

me: I'm sorry things didn't go good for you

at school. I know that you respect people

and their things and are considerate as well.

Loni: I'm so sad about it. 

me: Please just try to think happy thoughts

and ask teacher why you didn't get one. 

Maybe she forgot to give you one. 

Loni: It's not her. It's another lady at the 

school who passes out the tickets, if you're 

good.

Last week, it was 2 days in a row where
he had to come home because he would
just wet his pants and that's not the Loni
I know. He goes when he has to here at
home and we've never dealt with that
problem here at home ever. The first day
he didn't want to explain it.
Second day I demanded (nicely) an
explanation as to why this is happening.
He finally broke down and cried, explaining
that the teacher won't let him go to the
bathroom and he couldn't hold it anymore.

That really ticked me off and I was ready
to call someone ih the office and give them
a piece of my mind. But somehow I calmly
asked Loni when does this happen and he
said, after recess is over and they're back
in class. Well, I could understand that. but
if the kid has to go..let him go.

So I tell Loni..when the recess bell goes
off, instead of running outside, head over
to the lavatory first to handle your business
before you go outside. So by the time you
come back in you've already gone to the
bathroom. He was happy and agreed to do
what I would tell him. Mel just looked at
me and sighed.."hope it works tomorrow"

I told him, don't worry, Loni has this
down, I know he'll do it. Next day, he
comes back and say, look no wet pants
today! Thank heavens for that..

Friday: Family Night Out...

Family Night Out at 

Clackamas Mall

Mel called me from his cell and said that
he wants to go and watch movies tonight
with the kids. I'm suspecting he's getting
hooked on taking us out now..lol.
No complaints there..

The kids were excited when I gave them
the news and Nesi shouted, Diary of a
Wimpy Kid!! Loni said, No...it's going to
be, How to Train A Dragon in 3D!!

Mel laughed and let Loni choose and Nesi
got so frustrated and said that Loni got to
choose last time and we had to go and
watch Clash of The Titans..(which Loni
and I loved..lol) We assured Nesi that
for sure it's Diary of A Wimpy Kid on
Monday Night.



While we were eating there were two
guys sitting next to us at their table. They
weren't eating, just talking..when two
mall cops walked over to them and asked
to see their ID and asked them if they were
so and so..They were saying, no they said
that they had just moved from Reno and
the cop said he's lying and his records show
that he's been living in Oregon for 5 yrs. 

Then the cops proceeded to warn them
of people informing them that those two
are selling drugs to minors in the mens
bathroom. Yikes, I was hoping that no
fights were going to ensue from this. The
two young men were told if they're ever
caught they would be arrested and then
they left. I told dh to get the kids ready
and I went and emptied their trays so we
could leave to watch the movie..so that
was that...we had a fun time watching
the movie and can't wait to watch Karate
Kid with Jaden Smith and Jackie Chan
in June.

Sunny Day..Good Time to Walk..

Yay! It's a Sunny day..

It's mainly been raining here and the kids have

gotten over their runny noses and coughs..so I  

told them we would go walking because we all 

needed some fresh air, space to run and time for

me to burn some calories while having fun with 

the kids.

Nesi couldn't help but run all over the place while

Loni was just taking shots of her. 

Yesterday was finally sunny and we were able to 

get out and get some fresh air and enjoy a brisk walk.

We took this picture from the third floor, actually

Loni did. He insisted on holding and taking pictures

or he wouldn't go walking. So he got his turn.

He's the 6 yo..

Journal Entry for Wed, March 10th & Thursday, March 11th

Thursday, 3/11:

Last night I woke up in the middle of the night with a fever.
It carried over to today and you'd think I was lying in bed
getting some rest, nope. I forgot to mention that I ended up
purchasing the digital slr camera I've been wanting yesterday.

I chickened out and couldn't buy the pricier one and ended
up spending $500 at Walmart for a Canon Rebel EOS XS
instead of the $500 Nikon D3000 I was coveting at Target.
why? I got to Target and they didn't open until 8 am and it
was only 7:30am, DH kept calling because he needed the
car to go, so I ran like a madman down the street to good
ol' Walmart and was hoping they would carry it there.
They didn't and the only one they had in stock was the one
that I ended up buying along with the 2 year warranty.
yikes what did I get myself into? I hope that I'll get great
pictures with this one. If not, I could always return and
get the Nikon. So, got home and tried to read all the
instructions as fast as I could and practice on it. My 5yo
was getting irritated real quick and started screaming at me
to stop taking her pictures because she's tired of smiling
and posing..lol..bless her heart. I told her, "mommy's got
to practice on her new camera, ok?" so she held up her
teddy bear and said to practice taking pictures of her
bear..sheesh I swear.

Loni is in a school play this evening and so I called my
dh to get over here by 5:45 pm to pick him up so that
he could go to Loni's play, since Loni is the "baker".
dh has never been to any of Loni's school activities or
parent teacher conference, so I think this would be a
great time to bond with his son. They get back and
he's just raving about how good Loni did his part and
I'm just glad that he finally got to go and see how his
son is doing in school! Too bad, Nesi and I are sick
or we would've gone as well.


Wednesday, March 10th:

I decided to take Loni and Nesi to the mall to watch
Percy Jackson and The Lightening Thief, right after Loni
got off the school bus. We got there and took pictures of
them by a Spongebob Candy Machine that was the size
of a car. Then spent $14 bucks on two drinks and a pop
corn, yikes. I did a silent scream, thinking I should've
brought some cheap snacks from home.The kids were
excited and so did I, I pulled out my camera and started
taking my shots of them, until they said,"no more, mom!"
The movie was awesome, the kids loved watching it.
They asked if we could come back to watch Alice in
Wonderland on Friday. We'll see about that one.

Organizing at Home...

Yes, this totally is how I feel this week.
[pic: organizingsolutions.info]

One of the things that I wanted to do this
week is be more organized in all things and
have my family be on board with me. I find
that everyday I'm going through the same
routine of putting things away for my husband
and kids while trying to keep up with my
business, blogging and church callings.

Here's what I asked everyone to do, all the
way down to the youngest person in the house.

• kids will put back their own books on shelf after reading. 
• Mel [dh] place his work clothes in laundry hamper after work, instead of placing his clothes with concrete stains, etc. on cream colored carpet. 
• no more shoes on the rug, leave them on tile at doorway. I am working on placing something cute at the door for everyone's shoes. 
• No more eating in the rooms. I do not like finding dishes under the bed, shelves..ugghh..
• I've switched us to eating from paper plates, to save on our water bill and less time washing dishes (meaning no more dry hands for me!)
• Leave my office supplies alone and use their own supplies for school, etc. I don't know how many times I've had an important phone call and no pen in sight after filling up my cup of pens with new pens, markers & highlighters. See pic. below on how I want it to be..lol. Does anyone know where I can purchase this?
• Place the shoes on shoe racks in closet instead of floor and everywhere else.

 picture from apartment therapy.com

I'll post up the before and after pics. in a little bit. 

I just had to get on and vent before cleaning up! 

How did your day go? Please feel free to comment

as much as you want! I could use some tips right 

about now...

Girls Weekend Together

 

Girls having fun on Saturday shopping..

Hinalei, Nesi and Nataliana

This was a wonderful weekend for me and
my kids. My older kids came in from Salt
Lake. 

Well, just my daughters. My son had a
wrestling match today and wasn't able to
come. I miss him alot and told the girls
that they'll need to take back a care
package for him. Which is those big
plastic bins. 

My girls got here on Friday night 2/5th
at 11pm on standby. They told me as
soon as they got in the car that they're'
soo hungry and want to go and eat.
They were waiting for 8 hours at the 
airport in Salt Lake. My parents told
them to come back home and try to
come another day but they insisted on
waiting to make a flight to pdx

Portland. I'm really glad that they 
made it. 

We left the airport and headed straight for  
Jack in The Box and got them chicken sand
wiches with fries from the value menu. Then 
we got home and talked all night until they 
fell asleep. 

Saturday morning we woke up and headed 
out to go coupon shopping and hit up 3 different
stores. We had fun at Walgreens getting some 
free blood monitors and $10 cash back in Regi
ster Rewards.  

 

  

Leaving Fred Meyers, heading out to Safeway. pic. 2] Nataliana & Loni

We enjoyed our time together and went

to church today. The girls had fun at church

meeting up with their friends again. I don't

want them to go back but, I told them to 

come back again this upcoming Friday for

the Youth Valentines dance and this time

with their brother, Ami..

I'm worried about him, because my mom

told me that he's lost so much weight and

fears that he's not eating enough at the

house he's living at. I told her that I'm

making him a care package filled with cans

of chicken noodle soup, bottles of Powerade, 

2 boxes of popcorn, Ritz crackers, Quaker 

Granola bars, lots of cereal, a Derek Jeter 

Cologne Set, chapsticks, packs of apple sauce,

bag of Craisins, and more. I was hoping that we

wouldn't surpass the limit of 50 lbs per items

checked in. Yay for us, it was only 47 pounds. 

We cooked Teriyaki Chicken and Rice

for dinner before taking the girls back to 

the airport to catch the 5:45 flight back to SLC.

So the girls will be doing good and not be

starving at the airport. The ticket agent is

really sweet and let them go. Dropped them off 

and having a hard time saying bye. But we had

a group hug and I watched them disappear around 

the corner to run to their gates. Looking forward

to seeing them again next Friday. 

Stuck at Home for Days..

 

This picture describes what has happened to both

our cars, the only cars in our household. Last week

dh took my car and died out going to drink Kava  

with his buddies. [hmm, I think that was a sign]

So at the time, the problem was  

the battery. Ever since we had purchased it in 06'

we hadn't thought of buying a new battery until it  

just gave up last week. [idiots]

Then funny thing happened, dh's truck had the same

symptoms as well and died out yesterday on his way

up the hill to our house. So we looked up the best & 

most affordable batteries to purchase and stay within

our budget. [which isin't much]and not end up with a

lemon. 

Roger [our family friend] advised me that once we 

receive the new battery and install it to turn on the 

car and let it run, then unhook the left wire attached 

to the battery to see what happens. If the car dies a

fter the wire is removed then, it would be an alternat

or problem. It the wire is removed and the car keeps

running. Then we're good to go. 

We try it and guess what? Yup, you guessed right..

it died out on us..that was on our 97 Ford Expedition.

So next we decide to try it on my husband's truck, 

which is a 95 Dodge Ram..Yes, same thing happened.

Wow..both cars not working and I'm not able to run 

to the store to get any grocery shopping or catch up 

on the Quaker Deal at Albertsons..I'm already having   

Zumba withdrawals..missed 3 classes already & the kids

are crying because the soy milk is finished for their cereal.

What's a mom to do?

We called around to find out how much we'll be spend

ing to get two alternators and let's just say everything all

together is over a grand right now. I'd like to call a cab 

right now.. but we've got to scrape together everything  

we can to get these two cars going.

I found out I had extra Avon books sitting in the back

of my car that hadn't gotten passed out yet and are still

within the backorder time frame. So I went through ab

out 120 books and wrote my contact info. on each of

them, then walked across the street from our apartment

complex and started hanging them door to door. I'm so

glad because I wasn't being good on my diet today and 

needed to walk off the 2 pieces of caramel walnut 

brownies I consumed for lunch and half a single bag of

Ritz crackers..ouch.

Family Meeting

We actually had our first heart to heart, honest 

no holds barred family meeting tonight. It came 

about after my husband discovered my texts with

a couple of girlfriends who share the same prob

lem with me regarding their husbands. 

What is it? Well, all our husbands drink Kava.

[a cultural drink/polynesian] I won't go too much

into it, but you can google Kava Ceremonies. So

they usually will leave home at about 6 or 7 pm and 

return back home in the wee hours of the morning

say 4 or 5 am. maybe after 12 noon? 

Just last year, we had several problems where 

some of the Kava drinkers were having affairs 

with the girls serving the Kava drink at the 

ceremony and there were several visits to the 

bishop's offices and so forth. 

Well, the wives are secretly banding together to

do something about it and let our husbands know 

that enough is enough. Most of our hard earned

money is ending up going to the girls/ women

serving this muddy Kava drink, while the wives

are wondering where the paychecks are really 

going. Yes, this is pretty forward. But, I'm real

irritated about this whole thing and going to talk

about it anyway on here.

So he found out that we're writing letters that

to the prophet and voicing how much Kava is 

destroying our families. In Oregon right now 

they don't take away the temple recommends for

the men that drink Kava and that is what the 

letters are for. To plead with the prophet to 

set the rules they have in Tonga & SLC, to be 

the same here also. 

Yes, my dh is angry and shouldn't be after the  

problems we've been going through. But, these

wives need assurance that the right thing needs

to be done here. He's demanded that I not be 

involved in anything. From my point of view, 

I'm not going to say what I will do..mums the 

word here on out...lol.

My prayers are with my fellow sisters out there

who are struggling with this adversity in their 

families. I know God hears your prayers and 

they will be answered. 

God Bless....MPuanani

Wednesday Happenings

Here are the highlights for our Wednesday activites. 

My new goal for this is year is to post daily on 

our family activities. 

 Received a $25 Kroger gift card from MyBlogSpark to use

on an upcoming post. Stay tuned for that one!! That's

on my to do list for tomorrow morning:)

 

Got the rest of our AVON orders in and Nesi just couldn't

keep her hands off the Barbie Umbrella..hoi. So I told

her that she could hold it once and have a picture with it.

 

This is my Avon mess earlier today. Weeding out the old

brochures that didn't get out last month and getting

ready to bag up the orders for my customers. As you

notice, I have to have some music while organizing all

of this mess and then some. My kids couldn't help but

use my Avon boxes to help build their fort along with

my rice from our mini stockpile.lol.

We had mutual for the youth, choir practice and primary

all that the church tonight. So by the time we got home

the kids were starving and I just ended up nuking them

some chicken wings, baked fries and brownies as soon

as we got home. I know, it's a no no for my diet, but

rest assured I only had 3 of the chicken wings and I

steered clear of the brownies and fries.

 

Our dinner tonite after mutual and choir practice after

church at 8pm. Hot wings with Sargento Mozzarella

Shredded Cheese on top.It should've been with Salad

but I'll stock up on that in the morning.

Wordless Wednesday

This was taken in October, walking home

with Loni after picking him up from the school bus.  

Starting Up with The Gym

So I decided to go to 24 Hour Fitness to get in 
on the Zumba craze with the free 7 day pass I 
tried to print out yesterday. That wasn't succes
sful so I just went in with both the kids. It was 
a great experience.

One of the girls up front helped me sign in
the kids to the kids section and then she 
showed me around the whole place. I really
liked it alot and felt really excited as we
walked around. 

I want to come back as soon as possible to get 
started. When we got back after seeing every
thing, her manager told her that he's signing 
me up and I thanked her. I was hoping that she
would sign me up, because this guy wasn't even
listening to me. I told him I wanted to try it 
out for the first 7 days because I signed up for 
it online and he just kept trying to sign me up 
for some $50 monthly membership and told me
that they would need the money that day for 1st 
and last month up front with a credit/debit card.

I told this guy that I'll start with the $30 some
thing a month and that's it. I never got my 7 
day free pass to try things out and am debating
whether I should try out another place instead. 


But, I desperately want to get started with the
Zumba classes that I just went ahead and took
the lowest deal just to get in. So anyways, I 
picked up the kids from the kids club and they
didn't want to leave. They said it's so fun and 
they wanted to come back the next day. Looks 
like we'll be back on Monday morning for the
Zumba class at 10 am..yay:) 

Getting Educated about My Car...

After watching this video I was shocked at the info.

I found out about tires and how to know if the ones 

you have are safe or not. I made sure that will be 

one of my goals for this year is to be more educated

about making my car safer for my family. 

Most of the time I was always relying on my dh to

do everything on the car. Not no more, I now go

to the auto parts store and ask them to show me

how to fill the oil and how to know when I'm low

on it. How to change the wiper blades, etc. 

Next, I want to learn how to change a flat tire 

just in case.  

Daily Tasks for Today.

Tia, Baby Sione & Lei

Today was pretty kickback for us. I was
still trying to catch up on clipping my coupons
and finish up my posts on the new deals.
I was pretty excited to make buck eye desserts
after seeing the recipe on Go Graham Go!

Afterwards, I started finishing up on the agenda
for our Couponing group meeting tomorrow
night at the Stake Center from 6-8:30pm. This
one will be our first get together for the ladies
and it'll be really fun to get to know everyone
in the group. Yolanda will be doing a coupon
demonstration on what works for her and a little
on budgeting for your family. I thought that she
was a perfect candidate, since she's great with
her family's finances and has a BA in Accounting.

My camera batteries ran out on me, so I don't
have any pictures to post up with this. I'll update
it when I get the chance. We had family home
evening and the kids had their turn to speak
and they just expressed how much they love
everyone in the family, naming everyone from
grandpa to baby Sione..No activities as we were
running late on time and Loni had to be in bed
by 7pm. Tonite will be a first that they're all
asleep before 8pm. Nothing like peace and
quiet to help me think and speed up on my
work that needs to be done. Laundry, cleaning
the kitchen, finishing my coupon clipping and
organizing and what not..

Trip #2 to Dentist

Nesi excited to see the dentist.

Loni ready to see the dentist again.

Nesi all smiles while taking in the laughing gas.

Loni keeping cool with his laughing gas mask &

a pair of shades from the dentist.

Nesi just couldn't leave this assistant alone..He's

her favorite and is really cool to the kids:)

We got to see the dentist today after
leaving one of the job sites this morning.
These two just love going to the dentist
and enjoy the prizes they get to choose
out of the box.