This week has already been very busy - but then when is it not? I hate that most of the time all I have to say is "we're really busy". I think everyone is, but sometimes I feel overwhelmed by it all...anyone with me?

The past few days have been running around trying to get an appointment for Raymond to get his Eagle Book reviewed - very frustrating! We have so many people 'helping' that at times it leads to a break down in communication. So after 3 weeks and literally 10 + attempts, Raymond finally got his 1st review done on his book. This Sat. he has his final book review - once that is passed off then he goes before the board. Problem is his board review is on June 19th and his Court of Honor is on June 22nd. Call me crazy but I HATE planning things unless I know something is for sure. There is very little room for error here. His Scout somebody (friend's Mom who has really worked with the boys in getting to Eagle - wonderful woman!) has been organizing the Court of Honor and events leading up to it. It's been good and she & her family have been wonderful taking Raymond here and there, getting his book in order but it's still frustrating. She has pushed that all the Eagles (there are 4) have a shared Court of Honor. I disagreed. I wanted Raymond to have his own, especially after all this aggravation and stress in trying to get everything shoved in to a few days before the Court of Honor. But Blair told me to leave it - she's worked hard to get them this far. So he thinks if we should respect it and it doesn't matter as long as Raymond gets his Eagle. Yeah .. I guess.

I finally told her we need to ALL plan it as I want a say in what happens. She was very accommodating and we are meeting quickly after Church to discuss. She basically has it in her head how she wants it but I may have different ideas. I'm sure this meeting will be interesting.

Oh yeah - so as I'm reading up on Eagle CoH and what you need to do, it says the parents are to request congratulatory letters from dignitaries and the such to present to the Eagle Scout during the ceremony. So I write the letters and send them off only to find out she's already done it! Pissed me off she didn't tell me she did it. I called her tonight about it and she said "Oh now, we do that" I said - 'actually the PARENTS are supposed to do that'. She quickly agreed and I played nice and thanked her for all her effort. His letters have already started coming in so he may have duplicates as most that I wrote to she already had. But I did write to his Principle, Superintendent and to Gov. Schwazenegger and she didn't. So hopefully those will come through and be added.

Work has been extremely hectic as we have hired a new marketing consultant. I didn't like him at first - usually I'm a good judge right off the bat but it seems I missed the boat on him. Totally didn't think he liked me or wanted to work with me - he's extremely cool/hip/trendy and completely networked up in action sports. LOL we are extreme opposites. But I have found him to be very real, down to earth, has great perspectives and fantastic connections. I'm really looking forward to working with him. :-)

Ugh - today was Corina's Achievement Day and I forgot to call someone to pick her up. I was so bummed but she said she was ok. Bad Auntie :-(

We had a little scare with Savanah on Monday. Sunday morning she had woken up and her pinky and ring finger were swollen. The area in between was red so I thought she had been bit. She complained a few times and nothing else. Monday when I dropped her off at school she had never said anything about her hand hurting. The nurse called later that day because her fingers were so swollen. Blair picked her up and called in sick to be with her. By the time I got home, she had just woken up from her nap and her entire hand was swollen and red streaks appeared. Off to ER it was for me and her. We got in pretty quick and while the Dr. was not happy it was so swollen he was ok that it wasn't super bad. So he drew his little line around the redness and sent us home with a prescription of anit-biotics and instructions that if the redness goes beyond the line to start her on the meds. Thankfully it didn't and as of today (Wed.) her had is better.

What bit her you ask? Well my daughter likes to chase bees on the playground and was stung last Thurs. the Dr. thinks it's a reaction to that as neither of us could find a new bug bite... weird huh?

Chad is running at a feverish pace to pull up his grades. He was doing so well for a while but after we got back from UT they all went down again. I think we caught it in time for him to get B's and C's but if he had kept up the good work before we would be looking at A's and B's. He was so close! So alas, I think his dream of getting Rock Band will have to remain a dream. Blair made the deal with him that if he can bring home at least 4 A's, he can have Rock Band. Awww.. the other kids are bummed out as well since they were really looking forward to getting it too. Lesson learned.

This Sat. Blair and Corina are going to our Stake's Daddy/Daughter dinner and Powder Puff Derby. Corina's excited and thankfully Blair got the day off. So they've been working on and off since Sat. on her car. They worked on the design together, had the car cut out and now are in the sanding phase. She really liked learning to sand was quite proud to show me :-) Tomorrow and Friday will be painting and final decorations. It sounds like a fun event.

Long time eh?

Well it certainly has been a long time since I've blogged. Well probably not all 'that' long but I used to check every one's blogs daily and I haven't for over a week.

Or two.

I have discovered the 'new' thing called Facebook (lol). Yes my friends and family - I am on Facebook. But oh - I do not spend hours looking for people - nope. I play Pack Rat. A silly card game in which you have to collect cards in order to complete sets. It sounds ridiculous, I know. I thought that too when my sister told me that's how she's spending *her* nights. So when I do have spare time, I haven't looked at blogs but have been Pack Ratting and building my collections! Very fun!! :-)

So a little update -

We have been quite busy over here. Lots going on with the kids and work. I can't really remember last week, as it's all a blur, but I do remember this past weekend. Our weeks are usually busy - Monday's FHE, Tuesday is Scouts for Raymond & Chad, Wed. errands or Corina has achievement days, Thursday, Church meetings and basketball for Blair & Raymond and Friday - ahhh... Friday. Friday's are my end of the week collapse on the couch and sleep early days. So sad huh? We usually pop in a movie for the kids and have Movie Night. They'll pick a movie and we have dinner and watch it. It's been Blair's time to sit and play with them, tickle them or just chat with them. I'm usually asleep half way thru the movie. Ugh.

This past Friday we watched National Treasure. It was fun. Raymond left 1/2 through but the rest of the kids liked it. Sat. was errand day and spending time with Daddy. Blair taught us about boxing - he has in the past but it's been a while since we've had a lesson. I love it when he does that and so do the kids. It's amazing when he talks about boxing (or really any sport he's played) - I can literally see the transformation from my husband into an athlete. As you know Savanah had some issues with some boys in her class so Blair was teaching her again how to box. The right position for her hands, protecting her face, doing the old '1 - 2' punches. She loved it until she dropped her hand and left her face open. Smack! She was quite surprised!! Daddy don't mess around!! LOL.. after one more smack (these are soft smacks!) she decided she was done boxing. So it was my turn.

I've never been very athletic. Truth be told I'm very comfortable being inside - thank you very much. But Blair loves it when I practice punch him as I have a heavy hand and solid punch - sheesh! Who knew? So we practiced for a while and I actually liked it. Then Chad wanted to get in and so it was Father/Son time. So they practiced for a while and Blair liked that too. It was a good bonding time for all of us. He's very sporty and loves being outside but Savanah & I are inside girls and Chad is not a traditional sport type of kid. He loves skateboarding and surfing - not fun for Blair. So my poor husband does what we love and I love him for that. So it's good to do things for him too. Chad told me he wanted Blair to start training him and he wants to go to the gym with Raymond .. wow. I'm excited to hear that and I think Blair will be too :) Finally - something they can bond over!

Sat. evening we drove up to Northridge. We were late (waiting for Malama to get home from work) but came in time to eat so it was all good :-) Chad & Savanah swam, Aubrey and Corina hung out and Raymond texted at the pool :-) I was able to hold sweet Reagan for almost 2 hours! I miss having a baby to hold so it was wonderful.

We had a great time with Gerald, Lana and the kids. It's always so great to see them and Lana & I are trying to work into spending more time together.

Sunday was good. We went down to San Diego to my great-nephew's baby blessing. My sweet little Matoa is 4 months. He is my sisters, daughter's son - so I'm a great Aunt. Tani is 20 and a good mom. But she is still very young and immature. I wonder if I was that way? I was 21 when I had Chad.

We got up at 4:30a and was on the road by 6:30a. We were all dressed for church so everyone slept while we drove. It was a quick ride and by 8:15a we were at the chapel. I was so happy to see my Mom there as I haven't seen her since Mother's Day. It was great for her to see my kids again as she hasn't seen them for 6 months. She was shocked at how deep Chad's voice was and *I* was shocked to see Chad was as tall as she was!! She was couldn't get over how tall Raymond & Corina had gotten - I think it has been almost a year since she's seen them too. Although my mom lives only a few hours away I only see her once or twice a year. It's sad and I hate it but that's a whole other post. But I do miss having my mother around and I'm sad that my kids don't know her that well.

The blessing went great and Blair was invited in the circle. I was so proud to see my husband exercise his Priesthood. As he works so many Sunday's it was a rare treat to sit together as a family in Sacrament.

After Sacrament it was picture time.

Matoa & his Uncle's & Cousins

Kawika (my nephew, Matoa's Uncle), my brother Noa, Matoa, Blair, Chad, Nicholas (my nephew), Toa (my brother-in-law), Raymond

The whole Family (too many to name!)

We went back to the house, cleaned up and started the BBQ. It was great being with my family again - my brother and sisters and nieces and nephews. Raymond and Chad were a big help to Blair and Toa setting up the tents, tables and chairs and Corina and my nieces helped us get the rest of the house in order. It was work but fun.

They had a good time too - See the 'Rock Band' performance below:



Before we knew it, it was 5pm and we had to rush! Raymond was getting recognized for his Eagle at our Stake's Youth Recognition Night at 7p!! So as I'm gathering the kids together, Raymond tells me as he's shooting the basketball - um, you know we don't have to go. We can stay here. LOL... whatever. I tell you there was a split second when I actually considered staying there. Everyone was having a great time but I had invited Gerald and Lana and of course Malama was going to go too so we left. The kids fell asleep on the way home and thankfully there was no traffic. It was a miracle! So we got to the Stake Center at 6:50p. So we all dashed in and I gave strict orders to all to wash their hands, faces, neck and pitts!! Especially Raymond & Chad. They were SSSTTTINNKY!!

We made it to our seats by 7:05p and thankfully it was late getting started. Blair was outside waiting for Malama and Gerald/Lana them. The girls and I got a good seat near the front. It was a great evening and was wonderful to see the accomplishments of the youth in our stake. I'm so glad we have these nights! They brought up each YW and YM and told a little bio about them while having their picture up on the big screen. Raymond looked so handsome in his suit in the picture and on the podium. He's quite the comedian of course and everyone had a good laugh while the YM Stk Pres (who is a friend of ours from our ward) ready the bio I wrote for Raymond. LOL.. I thought it was pretty good myself and Raymond really played it up. When I was 'interviewing' him I didn't tell him it was for this so I got some great answers. :-) Chad & Blair were in their ie fetogas (ok I know I so butchered that!) and Chad was quite the talk amongst the YW. He was very uncomfortable as he's never worn it to our ward, only to funerals or to other wards (like he did in San Diego). In fact I over heard one of the girls in our ward say: Did you Chad's wearing a skirt!?! Not in a mean way but just in amazement, puzzlement kind of way. So I took it as an opportunity educate these girls about our traditions. So I brought Blair over who very proudly told them all about the 'manskirts', their meaning and the tradition behind it. Pretty soon all the YM/YW were talking about it and thought it was cool!! Blair stayed near Chad for a little bit to make him feel more comfortable and once it was all 'cool' then Chad took off and hung out with his friends and it was business as usual. My husband's so good. :-)

Wheew! Ok that was way more than I intended to write but there is our weekend. :)

Until next time ...