Pictures for Dad

Since Kulani has not seen the kids in 24 hours due to his heavy work load, I thought I would post some pictures of the kids for him. We miss you, Kat!

Nohea swinging at Ben's house in April.

Lissy swinging.

Lilia swinging.

Early mornings

This post is more for my kids when they get older and start complaining about work, and for my dad, Norvel the Magnificent.

Growing up, our family had a side business of cleaning local establishments. We cleaned a bank and a government building every weekday evening, with the exception of Friday nights; but then we also cleaned on Saturdays. Half of the time we did the cleaning in the evenings, but the other half of the time we did the cleaning in the early morning because we were busy doing other activities in the evening. It usually took us one to two hours depending on how many kids came and how fast we worked.

When we were very young, we were payed an allowance of $5 a week for contributing to the family. That grew to I think about $40 a month for me. It was a sliding payscale, with the oldest child getting the most (I was in the middle). By the time I was about 13, however, I never saw any money from my working efforts. It was the early 90s and the height of the recession. We needed the money to support the coffers required in having a large family. If we complained about not getting any money, my parents were masterful at helping us keep things in perspective: "You like to eat, don't you? You like your shoes, don't you? We're a family, we support one another." Being a part of the family cleaning business was probably the single-best lesson on life our parents taught us. My dad especially liked to use the hours cleaning together as forums for his wisdom. Common sermons my dad liked to infuse in us included:

• Work builds character.
• Life isn't fair.
• Give yourself a goal and aim for it.
• Go to college. You don't want to be doing this the rest of your life.
• Think of others.
• Don't complain.
• Take it in stride.
• Like river rocks, be smoothed by adversity.
• Don't quit. Hoe to the end of the roe.

At the time, I didn't much appreciate it. But now I am grateful beyond words. At my job currently, we see people start and within a week they are complaining about minutia of the job. I honestly don't think I've complained about a job I've had since graduating from college. "You mean I don't have to get up at 5 a.m. and complete boring, manual labor?"

However, I did need to get up this morning to work. I like my work, so it really isn't that big of a deal. Maybe it is different when you are the parent helping to support a family and not the child. When Dad would get us up early in the morning to work, it was like scratching sandpaper acrossed a sun-burnt back. It was excruciating to be awoken so early to do work. I don't know if it's just getting older or what, but it doesn't seem so bad to me now. I don't mind waking up early to do work. Of course, I also have the luxury of taking a nap in the afternoon. Ah, the simple things. I'm contemplating now what evil-work device I can institute for my children. Perhaps we'll start with clearing the back yard of rocks.

Nursery Musings

I think every Sunday I'll post funny things said or done at nursery by the kids. They all crack me up.

• For some unknown reason, Julia ran head-on into a closed door. We think she may have been trying to catch a bubble during the bubble-blowing portion of nursery.


• Brooklyn decided to dance to all the songs today during singing time. So we just turned it into dance time for everyone.


• Bennett sang "HOORAY" for every verse of "If You're Happy and You Know It." It usually starts with clap hands, stomp feet, then shout "HOORAY." Bennett got right to the good part. Bennett also wanted to go potty like Kylie did, so he sat on the toilet with his pants and diaper still on, then he washed his hands. Way to go, Bennett!


• Addie was the leader during follow the leader, but we were walking in a circle, and she kept getting frustrated that everyone was in front of her.


• Someone made a spider out of claydough, so I asked the kids what sound do spiders make? Kylie and Bennett started a "roaring" contest, where one would try to out-roar the other one. Meanwhile, Sarah leans over to Kulani and whispers, "Spiders talk like this."

Nursery

Kulani and I have been the nursery workers in our ward since January. It has been ... interesting. When we were first called, it almost crumbled us. Kulani is the youngest in his family and he is just not around little children very much. I think our first week he got after a girl for choking a little boy, and then the little girl started crying because Kulani spoke to her sternly. Then I made things worse for Kulani by giving him the stink eye. I think we had a spat after church every week for two months. Kulani always ended our spats with, "I'm just going to go to the bishop and tell him to release me," which he never did. But lately, Kulani has really been letting his little light shine. Last week the nursery song leader was out of town, so Kulani led the kids in music. We have this CD with nursery songs on it. Kulani says, "Let's have a good spiritual and sing, 'This Little Light of Mine.'" It's a great song that sounds straight out of New Orleans with a banjo and horns and everything. At the end of the song, I like to sing the high notes as if I'm Michael Scott on The Office when he sings "Happy Birthday." It always cracks us up, and the kids have no clue why we're laughing. This week, Kulani took the lead in watching all the kids. One girl just clung to him. Other kids wanted him to read them books. It was the sweetest thing I'd ever seen and it made my heart melt. Kulani even commented that he was starting to enjoy nursery.

I am in awe of Kulani sometimes. It reminds me of when he first started learning to swim a few years ago. To say he looked like a duck out of water is to be putting it lightly. He saw me doing triathlons, and he just decided he'd do them too. Now he swims smoother and faster than me (not that I swim that fast, but you should've seen him in those early days). When Kulani did the half-Ironman in Hawaii, we thought he may have been hit by a car or something, because he came in much later than he planned. Turned out he got a flat tire and a penalty for throwing out a banana peel. But he didn't quit. As he told his dad later, "My parents didn't raise a quitter." And I'm grateful for that. Marriage isn't for quitters, and neither is nursery.

Television Randomness

As I work from home on my laptop, I have the fortune (misfortune?) of watching a lot of television. TV helps me stay awake when I work early in the morning, and the girls watch a good chunk of it during the day if I have any pressing deadlines, as I've had these past two weeks. I'd like to provide for you a few highlights from the programming I've been watching.

• Dang that High School Musical! The songs are actually pretty catchy. I'm fond of the Ryan Evans character (Sharpe's brother). The best is watching the girls watch it. They dance to every song, even Nohea. Lilia's favorite part is at the very end when the drama teacher dances with the Wildcats mascot. For some reason, she thinks that's hilarious.
• Kids' cartoons can be pretty witty and smart. The other day we were watching Arthur. Binky had a bad dream about being chased by a giant purple orange (try to find words that rhyme with purple or orange). He somehow wound up in jail with William Carlos William and a red wheelbarrow (google it if you don't know). He escapes from jail yelling, "Free Verse!"
• I found myself laughing out loud to My Friends Tigger and Pooh this morning. Tigger had a nasty fall and Pooh asked him if he was all right. Tigger says, "I think so. How many fingers am I holding up" and then he holds up his paw. It took me a second to get how funny that was. The next time I bump my head and somebody asks me if I'm okay, I'm totally using that line.
• I haven't been able to see The Simpsons movie yet, but we own it and the girls watch it while we're driving around in the BMW (big mormon wagon, er, mini-van). When you hear a movie rather than watch it, it can be much funnier, especially with regards to animated movies. A favorite line from that movie is when Marge and Lisa are jumping out of or onto something (I'm not sure what, since I've only heard the movie). Marge yells, "Geronimo" and Lisa yells, "Sacajawea!" Brother Bear and Happily N'Ever After are also funnier when listening rather than watching.
• I generally like the teacher movies. You know the genre: a teacher inspires a bunch of misfit teenagers to be better, do better, and smell better. I recently watched Sidney Poitier's To Sir, With Love, with theme song by Lulu. Oh my goodness it was not the best teacher movie. Maybe it had more resonance in its time, but it was just creepy to me. A student of his falls for him, and he doesn't act on it, but during the final dance of the year, he dances with her. He was swinging some pretty smashing moves, baby: proof that white people can't dance, nor can black people whilst in London. For more proof, watch A Hard Day's Night. The English are just not dancers.

A House Full of Girls

Kulani took this picture of me and the girls today before church. He saw us all dressed up in spring colors, and he wanted to take a picture of us in front of the few daffodils I planted last fall, which are now blooming. I love this picture. Poor Kulani--he's surrounded by girls, and he's a guy who's not accustomed to being around a lot of girls. He didn't have a bunch of sisters; just the one, and she's much older than him. But he's a great sport. Recently, Lilia has started wanting privacy while dressing, and she closes her eyes if she sees me dressing. It reminded me of my mom and grandma. My family isn't exactly shy about being half nude around each other. Well, actually it's my mom's side that isn't shy about nudity. Don't get me wrong; around others we don't even expose our midriffs, but with family, we let it all hang out. Let me provide the following humorous examples.

When I was about 9 my mom took me and my two youngest siblings to visit Grandma McEuen in California. We went to the beach one day, and all of us got sunburned. I was sleeping on Grandma McEuen's living room floor later that night when I awoke to see my grandma completely nude from the bellybutton up. My mom was applying aloe vera to her shoulders. No attempt at covering up was made when they saw I was awake. Then my mom bared her chest, and Grandma applied aloe vera to her shoulders. It was no twisted dream; it was life-scarring real life.

My mom never bothered to put on a robe when she exited her bathroom, so it was natural for us to see her nude growing up. We never saw my dad nude past maybe age 2 or 3 (when mom would plop us in the shower with him to save water and time; I have a few memories of me, B.J., and Dad showering together). But mom: common place. Kulani, on the other hand, never saw his mom even in her underwear. So Kulani was on his first visit to my home in Idaho while we were dating. He awoke on Sunday morning to shower and get ready for church. He was shocked to see my mom ironing her dress in nothing but her underwear. He was very embarrassed, but my mother thought nothing of it. Later he told me about how different that was from how he grew up. Thankfully he still wanted to marry me, and I hoped he'd shake the image of seeing my mom in her underwear before we got married.

But now that Nohea is getting older and is so fun, we're thinking maybe we'll try one more time for that boy. (No, we are not pregnant, so please don't ask.) And if it turns out to be another girl, all the merrier. Hopefully the girls will marry nice guys like their dad, then maybe Kulani will have some sympathy around here.

April Whimsy

April is a busy time around our house. Mine and Kulani's birthdays are both in April, as is our wedding anniversary. I'm one year closer to my goal of hitting 100 years old. I just know that if I can hold on until 100, I may be invited to the White House to get my picture taken with all the other people born in 1976 for the country's tricentennial. If my mind is gone by then due to Alzheimer's, will someone please nominate me on my behalf?




I love having a birthday. I don't care if I get presents, but I just love getting older. Thank you to all who sent me a birthday greeting or called or sent a card. I am very much appreciated. My little Lilia made me a nice gift with the following inside:


She said it's a picture of me and her shopping for flour (notice the flower picture on the package). I really like that we're wearing matching outfits in the picture. She can't quite spell yet, but she likes to copy letters. She also included a family movie ticket she created for when it's time for family movie night. Thanks, Lilia! Lissy and Nohea gave me hugs and kisses. Kulani got me a great triathlon bag, and he said I'm also getting new clipless road shoes with daisy socks, but he's saving that for our anniversary. I can't wait! We celebrated my birthday by going to Outback Steakhouse with our best buddies Lani, Patrick, and Alika. Michelle and Vivian also showed up. It was a great night with family and friends.

My mom has started a tradition of giving us $2 bills for each year we've been alive. So this year, I got 32 $2 bills. She always includes a poem with the money, and each year so far, the poem has changed. The poem this year is as follows:

Eyes and ears and socks and gloves,
Lips and hands and turtle-doves,
Feet and shoulders, cheeks and shoes
All these things come grouped in two's.

Our birthday wishes come that way.
Two hearts that love you want to say
We think you're great! Just Super Dandy!
Better than gold or chocolate candy.
We hope this year's a special one,
Filled with joy and lots of fun.

Our gift to you won't come as news.
By now, you should expect the two's $
And with the bucks come love and kisses
From your Idaho Patriarch and his Mrs.


My affection for my parents grows every year. I pretty much think they're just about the most perfect parents ever. My mom is always so cheerful and positive, and my dad is just a great listener and just great. My one birthday wish is that I can provide the same love and care for my kids as they did for me.