ALL in a FRIDAY

Guess how I started off Friday morning?

in a CAR ACCIDENT

I'm waiting behind two/three other cars at a red light, just past Dole Plantation heading to Wahiawa (at the fork in the road)...you know, enjoying the 7:45a.m. sunshine, listening to Lina Girl & Auggie on KCCN FM 100.....glanced at the rearview mirror and saw a car coming around the bend, still waiting for the light, glanced back again and saw the car getting nearer, listening to more music...looked back one more time and saw the lady driver mouthing words while trying to slam on her breaks..........AND THATS WHEN I REALIZED WHAT WAS ABOUT TO HAPPEN.....and then kaboom, seriously!

I don't know how the lady rear ended me because she had a lot of time to break, maybe she was on her phone texting or something. Anyways, her crash pushed me into the opposite lane of the on coming traffic, which after a half-second registration that she HIT me...I realized OMG I'm in the other lane, so I quickly drove off the road, good thing no cars were passing. 

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Ok, so I've never been in a car accident or even had a speeding ticket before....so I was YES, clueless at first. After I composed myself (my fingers were still shaking) I tried calling James & my Dad non-stop a million times. Of all times, they didn't pick up. I left a few voicemails which totally didn't sound like myself, explaining another car had hit me from behind. Well the other lady crossed over & I was the one who asked if she was ok. (eh) I knew she was mad at herself & I explained that I've never been in a car accident at first. Which I shouldve kept to myself. So she said that we should just exchange car information & that she'd call Geico. (Sneaky lady)  BUT, that's when my Dad called back & told me to make a police report & not to listen to the lady.

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I hesitated at first before dialing 9-1-1, I mean c'mon. From Kindergarten you learn that it's like the most FORBIDDEN number to dial, unless its an emergency. (OH YA, THIS IS AN EMERGENCY, lol) And let me tell you, those dispatcher's are sooooo NOT like the ones you hear on the movies or on cops. Well, I guess ONLY IN HAWAII can you have a "pidgin" speaking operator. Lol, I was like for real??? Anyways they sent over a police officer.....which when I got back out of the car & told the lady they were on their way, she was like, "ohh? you called the police? ohh, ok".....and the police man was the nicest officer I've ever met. I was able to calm down & he wrote out the report. He even let me know that I may not feel pain now but probably in the morning (hope not), and he stopped traffic (yes everyone was looking, so embarrassing) so that I could get back on the road. 

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Thank goodness James & I had family prayer that morning before heading to my dentist appointment alone in Wahiawa. Also, I was about to take Mahie with me but decided that it was going to be a quick THERE & BACK again (Yah Right)....I'm so grateful I left her at my Parent's. As we waited, I took a couple silent pictures to show James later. A second police officer even showed up, weird. The crazy thing is, this is all that happened to our car:

 Just paint scratches, our safety sticker got ruined and a little semi-circle piece missing at the very bottom. I wasn't able to get a shot of the lady's subaru....but dang, her car got it bad. Her front left got smashed in, light ruined, bumper damaged......well, it was her fault.

Anyways, I got to my dentist appointment late, they were surprised I still showed up after I told them.

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My fingers were still a little shaky at the dentist. They left me for a long while so I decided to document my surroundings:

Look, my wisdom tooth needs to be removed! Lol and old fillings :)

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I made a stop at Walmart to use up the last of my 9/30 Huggies coupons. But I ran into two little indians, hahaha (It's fuzzy because the Walmart lady "doesn't like technology")

Eva (in the middle) and I met at BYU-Provo when we both danced in the Native American section of Living Legends. She is the Head Lady for the Hawaii Pow Wow that will be held tomorrow and Sunday in Honolulu.
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And then I had lunch at Kahuku Grill on my way home with none other than JESSIE COOK

She is another one onf my best & crazy friends I met at Provo. So, so much fun memories. She seriously taught me how to make the most of and enjoy college life. And introduced me to "Dance Parties", lol. Our favorite place to eat was Arby's, haha. (Or like James says, "Ahhhh-Bee's) I learned how to survive living on the mainland from her, especially during winter. Can you believe she's half Hawaiian???? She returned from serving in the Philippines a year ago, visited me when I was only a few months pregnant...graduated from BYU-Provo....and got engaged! And now she and her Mom (because of Airline hook-ups) have been in Hawaii on vacation & to collect things for her wedding in December. It was so nice catching up with her the entire day:
We drove around, hung out at my Parent's house, walked around PCC

Tattooed Mahie, which her Grandma disapproved of

And today was EXTREMELY HOT, so we played in the sprinklers at the Hawaii village

Love My Jessie Girl <3
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We've just ended work, but...the Haunted Lagoon made its grand opening today. Here's a shot I got of my co-workers on my way out :)

Pirates, Arrghhhhh!!!!
Good Night Mr. Friday, I'm pooped :)
don't forget to say your prayers

6:00 Session

We both didn't have to work tonight so we cleaned our home, cleared out a lot of built up trash, chased the ants away, packed the diaper bag....DUSTED our recommends off and to the temple we went.

We haven't been back together since, hmmm? Ya since when? So sad right? I mean I've been back for friend's endowments or sealings, but with our crazy schedules, it's never been a couple's night until today. We could've stayed home lounging on our couch, but out of nowhere I shouted, "LETS GO TO THE TEMPLE!" And I'm glad we did because, well, we entered at 6pm and didn't exit until 8:30pm. We were asked to be in the "hot seats" tonight, if you know what I mean. Which we've both have never experienced before and which made me kind of nervous. But it went smoothly. We're all there to learn, right? haha. It was weird though, because usually during sessions I feel something. Not that I NEED to in order to leave the temple satisfied, but it was just different. Later, although we had plans that needed to be taken cared of, I followed the promptings to stay a little longer and do sealings....and THATS where all those wonderful feelings were waiting for me, for James & I. Listening to the names of all those sweet little children waiting to become eternal families. 

That's why we were needed in the temple tonight :)

Prayer in your Heart

My Sunday morning started with my visiting teachers Kekai, Aushra and their daughters Nanea and Kiley. It was just me home since James had already left for work and Mahie was whisked off to her Grandparent's house. 

I couldn't have asked for a better way to start my Sunday and the beginning of a new week, with the heartfelt message shared by my relief society sisters. I look forward to Kekai and Aushra because they come to visit ME and not to just fulfill their visiting teaching report for the month. Do you know what I mean? Plus I like that they are both young mothers (with DAUGHTERS) and struggling students like James and I. We always share our chaotic stories of the week, but this visit seemed different. Through their words and lesson, I knew that Heavenly Father was recognizing the struggles I had overcome. It was nice to hear that they had similar "take-baby-to-class-days"...."no-chance-to-nap-days"....."leave-the-house-messy-days"...."fall-asleep-during-prayer-days"....and "too-tired-to-read-an-entire-BOM-chapter-days"......we are what we are, FULL time Mothers as FULL time Students, with OVERLY FULL Schedules revolving around beautiFUL daughters who want our FULLEST attention :)

We talked about how different it is to feel the spirit now as opposed to our single days. During our Single-Lady Days, we were able to lay on our beds and thoroughly search the scriptures, ponder and consistently pray morning & night. The spirit was obviously present during firesides, conference, before we left to classes, and late at night as we prepared for bed. And then fast forward to now where a planner/calendar is a must, time is valuable, money needs budgeting, most of conference is spent tending to baby and "going out" would rather be "staying in". 

I told them that sometimes I lay in bed at night and think, how did I make it through the day?? But then I realize the strength, comfort, guidance and encouragement Heavenly Father has blessed me with as I'm constantly AND UNKNOWINGLY saying a million prayers in my heart throughout the day. And we each realized how blessed we are with opportunities to use faith. That we should always have a prayer in our hearts, for ourselves, our little ones and for others. 

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Since Mahie was already at her Grandparent's, I decided to attend church with them. It's always nice visiting my old family ward here and there. A lot of faces have changed, but the ward is still Laie 4th. There was this funny & cute little boy who was coloring in front of us. When I held Mahie up behind his chair, he became so fascinated with her, seriously. At first he didn't like that she was touching his chair, so he picked up his coloring book and moved to the next chair. Mahie would laugh when he'd look at her. 

Slowly he made his way back, taking breaks from his coloring to peek through the chair at her. I think he didn't know what to make of Mahie and her giggles at first, but then he warmed up to her. LOL, he then climbed onto his chair & kept turning around to look at her. Aaron took this sneaky picture.

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We celebrated my oldest brother, Isaac's birthday with a little BBQ cook out. Mahie cracks me up because now she KNOWS what a bottle is and gets so excited when she sees someone prepare it. She'll also start to get mad if she doesn't get it quick enough. And...now she'll reach out for the bottle, grab onto it and pull it in all by herself. She's still a little shaky so I'll put a pillow underneath now and then.

They say not to prop bottles, but it wasn't like I left her alone. She can get silly too, where if she's eaten enough, she'll pull her bottle in & out and get formula everywhere. Ugh. 

Fasten those Super Mom capes....time to face another week!

Feliz Cumpleaños

Weekend time for some birthday fun in the sun

MEXICAN STYLE

Mahie and I attended Kaily's outdoor bbq & water birthday party. It was EXTREMELY HOT, but there were outside canopies for everyone to lounge around under. The breeze was wonderful. The food was even better, yummy, yummy!
Plus you can't beat an ice cream cake

hanging out with Darlie and Baby Craig...who should be the face for Baby Gap, seriously, what a little charmer. I use to Visit Teach Darlie. Her family was sealed this past month :)

The breeze made Mahie knock out :)

Happy 1st Birthday Princess Kaily & mahalo to our ward members the Ledesma's

By the time Mahie woke up, we were already at her Grandparent's house, since the party was just up the road next to the Temple. 

Here's our little cutie (still in her swimsuit) having a blast on her Grandpa's tummy :)

time to cuddle with my little rollie-pollie

good night blogging world

Aloha Friday

i've shared enough crazy student-mom experiences, so i'll save you from another vent session. The busy bee parents that we are......presentations, tests, classes, work......kept us from seeing our little bumblebee the entire day. During the middle of my shift I received this picture on my iphone:

i think this moment of cuteness sums it up

Aloha Friday Everyone

Moped Trouble?

My little brother, the "Future RM" has found his niche

niche (n.) A situation or activity specially suited to a person's interests, abilities, or nature

At 19, he's got his own little business running

With what you may ask?

Well, you may have seen a couple of these hanging around TVA & Laie:

He came over to my house a while back for help with getting them printed & up around TVA. My Mom and I thought it was so cute when we read, "Reasonable Rates". 

Aaron attended Honolulu Community College this past year, and while he was there, he got a job at a motorcycle shop right next to the Iwilei Costco (by Kmart), where he learned all about bike repairs & so forth. I think he originally was hired to just clean, but in the end he was given the opportunity to discover, learn and develop a new talent. He was even the youngest employee they had there, helping out with those very impressive bikes. He showed me around the shop when I was about 8months pregnant, it was pretty cool. When he later (& sadly) decided to quit, to prepare for his mission & to find a job nearer home....he brought all that hands-on learning back to Laie. 
He then was hired by those guys at Turtle Bay who operate their own moped rental business, to help with maintenance...which he later realized he could do on his own.

At first we all thought he had a cool little hobby that he was good at...but...this guy has been making some serious bucks with quite a busy flow of "customers" :)
Making way more than his turtle bay job!!

Here's his work area

(My Parent's front yard)

He didn't know I was taking these

I was asking him what he was doing, the names and uses of several tools, whose moped he had, how much money he made so far (lol). That day he had finished 2 or 3 mopeds & was spending the rest of his day working on an old moped someone had as yard junk, but had given to him. He's rebuilt and fixed two broken mopeds so far & resold them for $700ea. Yup, he's ballin'! 

He's found a great business because his main customers are TVA & college students, whose only source of transportation are mopeds. One TVA couple was VERY grateful for Aaron's services. (He'll even come pick up your moped) Which, let me tell you, are exactly what his flyer says, "REASONABLE"...I've told him several times to CHARGE MORE, lol. Yes, I'm a money monster, lol. But my sweet brother always declines. I know he enjoys what he does because he loves it, not for the money. And we all know that he MUST love working on his mopeds because he hasn't gone surfing for a while, which he's never missed a day of surfing until now. 

Save up for that mission boy!

So...if you ever need some moped maintenance or looking to buy one with exceptionally REASONABLE RATES, haha, call the number on the above flyer.

our navajo doll

During our break before fall semester, our friend & ward member LeeYen fell in love with Mahie's baby blessing outfit and wanted to snap some shots. We're so grateful she came and offered her talents because we had no photo's done of Mahie to capture this precious stage. Thank you LeeYen, we love all of them and will forever treasure these memories. Mahie's Grandma is already demanding printed & framed copies :)
Here are some shots to smile at.
Doesn't Mahie look like a little doll?

mahalo to loblee photography

Take-Baby-to-Class DAY

The morning started like any other Monday

EXCEPT

I realized I had classes until 5:30 (only on Mondays) and that I wouldn't be able to pick James up at 3:30 if I had the car, since I'd still be in class. This realization was around 6:30a.m., so James dropped Mahie off at her grandparent's on his way to Kahuku & I thought I'd catch a few more minutes of shut-eye before having to walk to my 7:30a.m. Samoan 201 class. Well next thing you know it, my phone is showing 7:45a.m, O well I guess no Samoan today. After a good rest, I get up to finish some hw, which I'm almost done when my Dad calls saying he has to bus to Kaneohe since their car wasn't working. He needed to go pick up a part & if I could watch Mahie since no one else could...BUT if he left at THAT moment, he'd be back before my 1:20pm class. I rushed through my last sentences, printed off my paper & headed down Naniloa Loop. After I arrived & Dad had been gone a few minutes, he returned pretty pissed off because the bus driver didn't stop & wasn't even paying attention. That pushed my Dad back a half hour, which meant he wasn't going to make it back before my class. He left again & I just told myself, if anything I'll just take Mahie with me to class. 

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At first, it seemed like such an easy thing...but as the hours & minutes got closer to 1:20pm, I started to get nervous. What if Mahie gets fussy, makes noises, gets hungry, cries...plus my teacher is very anal about attendance & therefore begins RIGHT on time with a short quiz. Which is very important to our grade & once you miss it, you miss it. So I started walking to campus with my stroller very early, arrived early, sweating & panicking, lol...there were no empty classrooms to chill in some a.c., so I opted for the Women's locker room next to the pool. I needed to cool Mahie off (& myself), but this one old haole lady kept talking to me from her shower stall. Her husband finally opened the front door & yelled for her to hurry up. I finally grabbed a seat to relax, changed Mahie's diaper & could tell she was getting hungry. As I'm going through her diaper bag, a few classmates of mine walk in & say hi, so I check my phone: OMG class starts in 10min...meanwhile Mahie begins to cry, then gets fussy, finally she's kicking & screaming to be fed. I'm rushing to open a new formula container, steadying the bottle on my lap, trying to work really quickly when (I DONT KNOW HOW THIS HAPPENS) but I slice my finger & blood starts to get EVERYWHERE. I try to put pressure against it with my jeans, but no, blood keeps coming. FRACK. I run to grab toilet paper as I'm shaking the bottle to mix, Mahie's screaming, I try to feed her but the blood isn't stopping and time is definitely ticking. I let go of the bottle to wrap my finger, Mahie starts crying again. I throw all of our stuff back into the bottom of the stroller & realize Mahie has gone quiet....poor thing was trying to hold her bottle to eat but she could only reach the tip. I apologize to her, but know I need to get us down the hall to class. I park the stroller outside hoping no one desperate steals it (you never know nowadays), scoop Mahie up, pop the bottle in her mouth, grab my school bag & race inside the classroom. 

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All the back row chairs fill up quickly, but thankfully I slid into an open one & dumped all my stuff in the seat next to me. Everyone's complimenting on how cute Mahie is, but all I'm focusing on is ripping a piece of paper from my bag & finding a pen to be ready for the quiz. As soon as I think Mahie is ok, the quiz starts, so I try to hold her on my left side, balancing the bottle also with my left hand. (I needed my right to do my quiz). BUT she wasn't liking that angle & started to cry. So...I had to buss out a Mommy Trick: Hold her on my left, prop the bottle against the bottom of my chin...and I raced through that quiz like nobody's business, lol. Total chicken scratch & a TON of stares at my Mommy-Multitasking-Amazingness = at least 2 wrong answers but a QUIET baby happily drinking her bottle. -----------------------------------------------------

After being fed, she sat on my lap staring at everyone. When someone would catch her eye, she'd smile & kick. I was so scared that my teacher was gonna get mad that I brought a baby to class, but every time she'd look our way, Sis. Chen would just smile as she lectured. Mahie burped & then finally knocked out. Thank goodness there was a.c., because she always falls asleep faster when its cool. Even though my arm was pretty much dead from carrying her for a straight hour, I kept stroking her hair & realizing how much I loved her. After class I apologized & thanked Sis. Chen, but all she did was hold Mahie's hand & play with her. Phew! A lot of my classmates (who I don't even know) came over to see her, haha. Our school adventure ended with my Dad waiting outside, ready to push her to Mc Donald's& then home. I was relieved and also a little sad to see them leave, before going to my next class. 

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Oh Mahie, I never want to experience that again, hahaha, but after the stress died down, I guess it was fun after all. Thank you for being a good student in class. 

Was your Monday crazy too or am I just making a big deal? haha

btw, James had a non-stressful day, that's why I told him to make dinner tonight ;)

We Did It

After a great sunday school lesson

and a loving visit by our home teachers

we made the effort, yes a HUGE effort

to turn everything off (except the lights, of course)

and have scripture reading, followed by family prayer

maybe not a HUGE deal for others (good on you obedient families), but for us, it was a huge step that we've been putting off for quite a while, what with our crazy schedules & tired bodies.

and we plan to continue these two goals tomorrow morning & then on & on

hopefully soon our HUGE effort will become EFFORTLESS

{a family that prays together, stays together}

Nook & Cranny

Our home can breathe once again.

After a week of Fall transitioning with schedule changes, the weekend was more than welcomed. Especially since our little hale/fale/hogan has been neglected. SERIOUS neglect. It would be embarrassing to describe or for a picture to be posted, but hopefully things will stay somewhat tidy from now on. 

Today was everything WE ALL look for in a weekend.

Relaxation.

Mahie and I took our time getting out of bed, lounging around the house and taking naps whenever we wanted.

Fun.

We cuddled in our bed. Rolled around in the pillows and blankets. Sent 'i love you' text messages to James. Ate a million cookies. Became even more obsessed with Pinterest. Went for a walk to look at trees. Enjoyed a visit from Grandma.

Rewarding.

We CLEANED, high & low, every nook and cranny.

We ORGANIZED every book, paper, dish & clothing

I included Mahie in my morning scripture reading, it was nice to have a "free" day with her.

  We were blessed to have a day FULL of TIME. 

Time to enjoy each other's company and to turn our house back into our HOME. 

Exactly what James needed to come back to after a long day in the sun.

Our good friend LeeYen took the picture below. 

I love my little Mahiehie....we named her perfectly. Her personality, her demeanor is exactly what her name means. 

How wonderful it feels to know that you are loved by your child. To come home from work and see your little one light up, kick excitingly, wanting to be held...because they recognize your face and that's all they've been waiting for...is you.

"What I love most about my home, is who I share it with."

Elder Ka'ahanui

this little boy...

 

has been called to serve in the

Philippines, Angeles Mission

"And ye shall go forth in the power of my Spirit, preaching my gospel, two by two, in my name, lifting up your voices as with the sound of a trump, declaring my word like unto angels of God."
{D&C 42:6}

Cool Yo' Faucet

 Quick Story:

During my break at work today...

(this is ashlyn btw...duh)

I was washing my hands in the restroom, grabbed a paper towel, dried my hands on my way to the trash can outside, noticed the custodian girl giving me a weird look, ignored it, then continued to toss the crumpled ball into the trash. I went back into the restroom to fix my hair but saw the custodian girl sweeping the floor near the sink I had just left, so I took the first one nearest the door. As I got to my new sink, I looked up & saw the custodian girl glaring at me again in the mirror. 

Me (thinking to myself): umm...is she staring at me?

I continue to take down my hair, run my fingers through...STILL feeling a pair of eyes on my back

Me (again WTF-ing to myself): what the hell is her problem?

followed by GIVING her a "what-the-hell-is-your-problem" kind of look, hoping it would get rid of her

And it SURE did...

AFTER she gave me a final death stare & slammed down the faucet to turn the water off

Me: ...................OH, THATS why...

  1-I kept hearing the water run

2-the custodian girl kept giving me dirty looks & glares

Hello, this whole time I thought the faucet was an automatic, well a broken automatic faucet that wasn't turning off by ITSELF. I really didn't realize I was the one who flipped it on. I'm so used to hand & "butt" sensors in every public restroom...which in ALL the OTHER PCC restrooms they're automatic, eh...

bahahaha, so shame. the custodian girl probably thought i was a total SNOB, "what can't turn off your own faucet & waste all the water"...guarantee she thought that and more!

So that was my embarrassing story of the day. Which was a big (embarrassing) laugh that I needed after my 1st day of school. I'm exhausted & still have to do my Samoan hw. It's James day off tomorrow, so he's waiting to stay up as long as possible to help me get this stuff. I still can't believe I've made it to the 3rd semester of Samoan...it's my only class I fear this Fall, aaaaahhh....

btw james & i took a cute little ride by ourselves to get pizza tonight.

it's that yummy California one from Domino's, with like chicken, tomato, some kind of white cheese

we stayed in our car, ate a few slices, plugged in James' iphone, watched some rugby highlights of yesterday's Samoa game, laughed at some stand-up comedy by jamie fox, chugged some coke & raced back to pick up our daughter...who welcomed us with a LOADED diaper

i love my little trio

goodnight from the faucet girl

Painful Wisdom & Baby Cereal

So...we discovered what could have caused the fever & headaches...

tender gums right above my lower right 

WISDOM TOOTH

omg, can my body give me a break from pain...its been non-stop since I gave birth with at least SOMETHING coming along causing me discomfort. 

Anyways....I decided to introduce baby rice cereal to Mahie

she LOVED it

Although as you can see by the pictures, she's quite a messy eater. Her mouth and tongue are still trying to work together with swallowing, haha. As soon as she saw the spoon approaching for the first time, she started kicking and out of nowhere grabbed the spoon, leaning forward with a wide open mouth. She definitely knew what she was doing, lol. After a while she began to get frustrated with me having to take the spoon away to scoop up more cereal from the bowl. She would scream thinking I was done feeding her. She ate a whole serving & was still hungry for a bottle. 

I was so proud of her...but now that it's the end of the day, we've realized she hasn't "poo"-ed for a while....oh no, I forgot what introducing solids mean...potential CONSTIPATION. So for now, we're thinking of holding off a little longer on the baby rice cereal & banana's we've bought for her.

Tomorrow, oh tomorrow, begins another round of BACK-TO-SCHOOL crazy scheduling:

M-Sun drop james off at work

drop baby off with my dad

M-TH 7:30am Samoan 201

watch Mahie, do hw, errands

M,W,F 1:20-2:20 Comm 280

T, TH Anthro 322
M-Sat Pick up James from 1st job & we head to his 2nd job where we both work

What a JOY to know that at the end of this crazy semester is CHRISTMAS in SAMOA. Which reminds me, I have to start working on Mahie's passport asap. Oh & I got my 1st Term Grades back. I can't believe I got an A- in Physical Science, I thought I was failing it. Yay!

Its a little pass 9:30pm and this Momma is pooped out

Goals:
Family Prayer
Tithing
Temple whenever James gets a day off
Take more advantage of our Ensign subscription
ZERO shopping sprees until Black Friday :)
Home Teaching/Visiting Teaching
Limit internet usage on laptop & iphones
cleaner home
spend more time with Mahie outdoors
get hw & studying BEFORE Sundays
Go to Sleep Early
*Look Forward to General Conference

Feverish Monday

Today was a blur.

I had many things planned for today, an entire checklist I hoped to accomplish before Fall Semester starts Wednesday...and for me, a 7:30a.m. class (blah!)

 

James gave us our morning kisses & left to work

I fed Mahie...but after an hour of just lying on my bed, I realized she wasn't falling back into her usual morning slumber because of a runny/stuffy nose.

Oh Boy.

I could tell she was tired and wanted to be soothed by her pacifier, but she kept spitting it out in order to breath. I spent the entire morning sucking her little nose holes, Mahie screamed & kicked...then as it started to show that she was getting better, I started feeling VERY tired.

Tiredness turned into a headache & nauseousness.

Out of nowhere I threw up my morning snack, and started to get the chills. Which then erupted into body aches and a fever? I was so confused, lol, where did this fever come from?

Poor Mahie wasn't getting enough attention from me the entire day. All I did was feed & change her when she needed to be, then I'd place her in her crib while I curled up under all the blankets in my bed, counting down the hours, minutes & seconds until James got off of work. 

Today definitely sucked. 

James was able to call-in to his second job to take care of me, play with Mahie, clean the house, do the laundry & cook dinner. 

My fever wasn't even a bad case, just annoying chills & aches that left me too weak to do or eat anything. 

Luckily we found some medicine & James gave me a blessing, covered me in the thinnest sheet (which i hated), and after a ton of tossing & turning, I guess I knocked out shivering like crazy.

Finally around 8pm, I woke up in a sweat and knew it was gone. 

Soooo weird.

FAMILY 9/11

I'm sorry to say that we didn't do anything to honor 9/11.
We didn't wave flags on the side of the road like some, nor did we watch a million documentaries/re-caps of the attacks....or give a moment of silence?
However, we did spend "Family Day" together, and I guess by being thankful for having those that mean the most to us WITH US every day...spending time together, showing our love, making the most of our time...is an expression of how much we respect the love & struggles of a family...and for families everywhere.
And this weekend has definitely been a celebration of FAMILY love.

Yesterday (Saturday), we were invited to attend Javhan Smith's 1st Birthday Party. The theme was a "Safari Pool Party". Tons of water sprinklers, different sized pools, blowups, and water slides...scattered the lawn of the party.

My Mom & Hill came along with Mahie and I. I was surprised that Mahie REALLY enjoyed the cold pool water. Usually I fill her own little pool up & let the sun warm it up or Grandma spoils her with some warm water from inside the house....but not this time, as soon as she touched the surface, her legs went crazy, kicking water everywhere. Her arms splashed it all over her face, which would shock her & then make her smile.

Here's Mahie with the rascal birthday boy. You would never tell this boy is ONLY one, he was all over the place & even wrestling with the older kids. Lol, I was pretty overprotective of my baby & made sure she held her distance from the rough UN-supervised kids.

Here's another shot of the birthday boy trying to impress Mahie, haha jk.
I'm proud to say that I experienced my first "scolding". Well thinking about, I'm not really proud you could say since I'm still a little irritated, even though it wasn't something huge. Here it is:
So after I took the above shot, all the little kids vanished to other pools & activities. So we placed Mahie on the slide by herself for a quick photo. Then out of nowhere some little bratty kid, who is that boy in the background on Hill's shoulder, comes charging the slide (which freaks me out), and yells to the back of BABY Mahie's head, "Hey MOVE! GET OUT OF THE WAY"...and I swear was about to PUSH her, if Hill didn't wedge herself in between them...and YES YOU GUESSED IT...I SNAPPED at him, gave him a dirty "i don't give a rats how old you are/who's kid you are" look & we walked off with Mahie. So I was officially done with the water after that & we just hung out under the tent eating, laughing, talking with other friends.
Ugh, I'm getting irritated all over again....but, I know there will be many more encounters with bratty bullies....they BETTER WATCH IT!
 (lol & Mahie you better not be the bully either, or else, haha)

Animal Print Goodie Bag Surprises

I seriously LOVE my friend Chelly.
I met her through my SIL Crystal & she's known James and his siblings for a while, then I got engaged & sat next to her pregnant self in a Poli Sci Class and we just naturally clicked. We even got to be hotel roomies when we were selected to attend a school sponsored week long trip to Washington D.C. She hosted games at my Bridal Shower, did my hair for my Wedding & then I moved in across from her apartment in TVA. Shopping, Gossip, Babies...we hit it off & I have enjoyed every memory we've made & future ones to come. She is definitely one of my greatest examples of a WONDERFUL MOTHER. (oh, & my parents love her too)

For Today (Sunday), James has finally reached the last stages of his eye infection. He stayed home from work the other day, since it was giving him headaches. He rested, we played with our baby & went for a long drive to destination: "wherever".

love, the aspinalls

Go All Blacks!!

Our Thursday Night.....

You Already Know Who We're Going For!

(Thumbs up if you're the wife of a Kiwi...and your husband has stocked up on food/snacks for the game in a couple seconds!)