♥Live, Laugh, Dream and Love♥

So Many Costume Changes!

2009-11-01T22:58:00.001-08:00

We had a busy Halloween. On Friday October 30th, we had a Primary Halloween Party and since I'm serving as the Primary President, I guess that put me in charge of the festivities. We kept it simple. Dinner, A Game of Fear Factor which seemed to be a hit, a costume parade and trick or treating. It was a fun night. I wish I had pictures from our fear factor. It was funny. I made them do some pretty gross things. Kenji said it was disgusting but it was my secret revenge on the kids! Hahahaha.

For Halloween, Karly was a fairy. Technically, she was Tinkerbell--as a fairy--before she changed into her green costume.

Originally, Kaelyn was supposed to be Cinderella. A step up from last year's costume as Gus Gus! She wore her costume to the party, but complained of it being itchy...

So on Halloween night, we threw on an previous costume of Karly's. She became Minnie Mouse...

Kasen was set to be an elephant. It was the same costume that Karly and Kaelyn wore for their 1st Halloween. I figured since both the girls wore it, he would too! But we had 1 problem...

He absolutely HATED it! :(

So for Halloween, with no costume for him, we just changed our baby into a old man...we put mascara on his eyebrows and drew on a mustache.

Hope you all had a wonderful Halloween...and now it's on to Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years!!! Yay!!

Cousins Re-United!

2009-10-21T16:52:00.000-07:00

It's always fun when the Tanji cousins come to visit. Now that Rylan has started kindergarten, their visits are more confined. But during October, they had fall break and so they came up to visit us! It was a very busy but fun week. They were here from October 5-10. It was a fun week filled with laughs, smiles and priceless memories...Also, we had 5 kids 5 years and younger so you can only imagine what the house was like...CHAOS! :)

Here are some fun thing we did:

Swim and catch fish at Old Airport

Have a Halloween Party with food, fun, games and dessert

Place the mouth on the Jack-O-Lantern...Kaelyn won!

The kids playing in the slime. They each had to take turns looking for eyeballs.

Pinata

We spent 2 days at the Keauhou Sheraton! Thanks to my mom and dad, we stayed at the Keauhou Sheraton because the kids LOVE swimming there. They spent all day Thursday and Friday swimming and playing and eating by the pool! They thought they were in HEAVEN!

We also took the kids night fishing...
And to the Higashihara Park...

Because we were so busy everyday, their time with us went by so fast. We miss them lots! The girls LOVE their cousins a lot. They are the best of friends and even though we live on separate islands, when the COUSINS get together, it's like not a second went by that they weren;t together...they always pick up right where they last left off!

We ♥ Oahu!!

2009-09-01T23:57:00.000-07:00

Although Kona is where I reside, Kaneohe will always be "home" and when I visit there, I am reminded just how much I love it there! But Kona is not so bad either!

Here are some pictures from our trip August 14-23:

Rylan's 5th Birthday Party

Feeding the baby koi fish

Swimming, playing bubbles and luch at Aunty Summer and Uncle Shane's house

Dinner with my family at Pagoda

Fun lunch at Chuck-E-Cheese

Leaving back to Kona

We had a fun time there. My parents treated us to lots of yummy food...and we ate so much there! We tried to eat all the foods we can't find in Kona. I also got to meet up and catch up with so many friends...like Angela and Ashley! I miss my friends there! I love and miss my family so much but I'm glad they take the time to visit and I always find the time to visit them! Next trip: 10 days in November! Can't wait!!

Finally, Baby Food...

2009-08-11T14:05:00.001-07:00

You think he likes his baby food??!!

Okay...maybe NOT! I was looking forward to starting Kasen on baby food so that when we go out, I wouldn't have to nurse him. Instead, I could pop open a jar of baby food and feed him without feeling like 10 billion people are watching me.

I didn't think I would have any problems with him eating food since I had no problems with the girls and especially because he's my FAT BOY that LOVES to eat. Well, one taste of his food and then he started crying as if I were torturing him. Since then, he's gotten better at eating solids, but he is by far my pickiest eater! He shivers if the food is sweet, like sweet potatoes and cries if it tastes gross...like green beans. I'm also trying to wean him off nursing because I can feel teeth coming in and let's just say, I've never ever nursed a baby with teeth and don't plan to start now. But he doesn't like a bottle and doesn't care for food! What is a mom to do with such a picky eater? And I thought he was going to be a breeze! :(

Last Minute Surprise!

2009-08-07T17:06:00.000-07:00

Last month, our family got a last minute surprise! My sister called me asking if it would be okay if she and her family came up to visit us for a few days! Of course, I was so excited and happy! 2 weeks after that phone call, they were here with us! It was very busy with 5 kids in the house 4 years and younger, but it was so much fun at the same time! And being away from my family, I'm just happy to spend any time I can with them!!

We took the kids to the beach, went shopping around Kailua, went to the Higashihara park, ate at Big Island Grill and most excitingly, went on an overnight stay at the Sheraton Keauhou Resort and Spa. There we relaxed all day by the pool, ordered food that is delivered straight to your cabana, swam and rode the slide over and over again. No lines!! It was so much fun! Karly said, "This is the best house I ever had!" We spent 4 hours in the pool the first day and 4 hours in the pool the second day. Even Kasen loved the pool and just cruised the whole time. When it was nap time, we just laid him down on the sofa chairs by the pool and he knocked out and woke up ready to go back swimming.

Karly and Kaelyn eating breakfast on the patio:

Kasen knocked out after "swimming":

Pool time with the kids:

Karly getting ready to go down the slide:

Cousins make the best of friends:

Despite the cost, we will definitely be making more memories here in the years to come. After all, memories like these are priceless, right?!

4th of July Weekend

2009-07-05T18:07:00.000-07:00

Kenji's sisters, Summer and Tina came up for the 4th of July weekend. Because they came, we decided to take a mini "vacation" to Hilo to hit up Big Island Candies and J & R Lollipops. I was worried about the drive because driving to Hilo can be a LONG ride when you have a 3 year old, 2 year old and 4 month old. Luckily, we have a DVD system in our van, so between DVDs and snacks they were happy...and when they weren't eating and watching DVDs, this is what they did...

Sweet! I worried for nothing! They all did great on the ride over. Kasen basically slept the whole ride over and the whole ride home! In Hilo, we were able to do some shopping and lots of eating! Kenji spoiled the girls with toys and clothes...we spent some big $$ on them but it's only once in a great while that they get spoiled the way we did this past weekend. I also went on a shopping spree, and Kenji even surprised me with a itouch ipod! Besides shopping and eating yummy food, the girls got to enjoy some pool time at the hotel and loved to play in the hotel rooms.

In the hotel room...

We had a nice time with the family...and we were all spoiled by Kenji's parents who funded the whole trip...hotel and meals etc. :)

Reunited...

2009-06-17T16:43:00.000-07:00

On Wednesday June 10, Kasen and I made a last minute trip home to Oahu. It was his first plane ride and he did pretty good. This trip was only supposed to be Kasen and I but after 1 night away from my husband and girls, I gave in and asked them to fly down to be with me! Me and my fickle ways! But Kenji is such a trooper and was willing to support me in whatever I decided. He quickly packed up the girls luggage and flew down to be with us.

We were able to enjoy a fun-filled and jam-packed weekend. It was fun despite the whole fact that this trip was planned as a last minute thing. We ate at Orange Tree 2x, Menchie's 1x, met up with Kenji's sisters for dinner, cruised Windward Mall, ate at Ferrells, went to tour the Visitor's Center, meet up with my aunties to introduce Kasen to them, and went to a "luau" where we got to see Angela Nikora be the "star" of the show as the only girl performing with 4 guys as her back-up, haha...

But the best part of being home is to see my children and my sister's children together. They love and miss each other so much and when they get together, it's like they were never separated to begin with. They get along so well and it always makes me smile to see them together and makes me sad when they have to say good-bye to each other. We didn't get any pics of the things we did, but we made sure to get pics of the cousins...reunited!

Memorial Day Fun!

2009-05-27T13:18:00.001-07:00

We had a fun Memorial Day Weekend. My parents, along with Kenji's sisters all flew in from Oahu to spend the holiday weekend with us. We are grateful for the time we got to spend with them...

Karly is my DRAMA QUEEN. She LOVES to pose for the camera. Here she would strike a pose and then she had Aunty Summer and Aunty Tina copy her....DQ!

Kasen boy meeting Uncle Shane for the first time...(Aunty Summer came up twice earlier to meet him but Uncle Shane had to work then)

Grandma and Grandpa Kawakami and the Andrade grandkids...thank you for the yummy food that you treated us to, treats and presents!!

We also got to celebrate Kaelyn's 2nd birthday. Her birthday is really on May 7th, but since we knew so many family members were flying in for the holiday weekend, we waited to celebrate her birthday. Thank you for all the toys, clothes and money!!

...and Memorial Day Weekend wouldn't be much fun without the park and beach!

It was so nice to spend time with my family and Kenji's family at the same time.

Beware: Kids Will Repeat What You Teach!

2009-05-20T16:15:00.000-07:00

About a month ago, I took Karly and Kaelyn to the dentist. It was there that they learned that juice is bad for their teeth. So, on the way home from the dentist, I made up a "cheer" to help them remember this principle. It says, "Juice is bad! Juice makes cavities...oowwwee!! Drink water...or milk!"

Well, today at the park, Karly, my little Miss Aloha, went around making friends with every kid there. She and her new friend Jenna were playing. Then Jenna went and got a cup from her mom. Here is the conversation that went on...right in front of Jenna's mom!

Karly: Hey, what are you drinking?
Jenna: Orange Juice
Karly: Juice?
Jenna: Yeah.
Karly: You know, juice is bad. Juice makes cavities. I drink water or milk. You need go dentist. You have cavities.

Luckily, Jenna's mom was nice and only chuckled....probably thinking, "Bratty Kid!" That's what I was thinking of Karly! Be careful what you teach your kids cause one day they will repeat what you taught them and it might embarrass you!!

4 Years Ago...

2009-05-14T12:15:00.000-07:00

It was 4 years ago today that I married my best friend, and the love of my life, Kenji Allen Andrade. I can't believe how fast time flies and I've enjoyed every minute of this journey with him, the up, the down, the good, the bad, and the ugly...that would be me first thing in the morning haha. He has promised me a life of love and happiness and he has kept true to his promises. I cannot imagine what I would do without him and his support. He truly helps me out and encourages me in all my endeavors and never lets me quit.

He is an amazing husband and I'm blessed. But beyond that, he is an even better father. He loves the children and they love him....so much so that when he leaves they cry for him. When I leave, they blow kisses and tell me bye! Hmm...does that mean I'm a bad mom? I hope not, I just take it as he is a great dad...and he is. I don't blame the kids, I cry too when he leaves..."Don't leave me here alone with the 3 rascal kids!"...I'm joking! Anyway, Happy Anniversay Kenji! I'm looking forward to eternity and all that it entails along the way!

So to celebrate my 4 year anniversary today, do you know what I'm going to do? I'm going to the dentist for a check-up/cleaning! How...fun?! Yeah right...Yuck!!! Boo for dentists!! (Sorry Ruth and Ammon)! haha.

Funny Faces!

2009-05-12T12:22:00.000-07:00

The other day I heard the girls laughing hysterically together. Remember I mentioned that some of their laughing is good...and sometimes not so good like when they are pouring apple juice on each other! Well, I was with Kasen but this laughing went on so long that I thought I better check on this suspicious laughter. I walked into the room and saw the girls huddling over the bookshelf behind the bed. I thought to myself, "Oh great, they're probably torturing ants or something." I walked right up behind them and they were laughing at their faces in the reflection of the lamp! Oh kids....and the things they discover! Luckily for me, this time it was a "good" laughter...not their "apple juice war" laughter!

Kaelyn:

Karly:

My two rascal girls...

Happy Boys Day Kasen!

2009-05-08T12:54:00.000-07:00

Yay! We finally had a reason to celebrate Boy's Day this year...Kasen! We love this little guy and we are soooo happy he joined our family!! Now, if we could just get him to eliminate that 4 am feeding...hehe.

I am so NOT a Blogger!

2009-04-23T16:09:00.000-07:00

So, almost 7 months have passed since I last posted...like the title says, I am SO NOT a blogger. I don't know how you mommy's find the time! Props to you girls. Maybe I just have bad, rascal children that keep me super busy and you guys all have angelic children that let you guys do whatever you want!! Hmmm, I'm getting jealous...my children seem so....active and rascal!! Why can't I have angelic children that sit and listen to my every command?! Haha.

So, while my 2 girls are running circles around each other...I hear them laughing...which may or may not be a good thing...sometimes when they laugh that means they are pouring their apple juice on each others head or something rascal like that. ANYWAY...I'm literally talking bubbles as my "mommy thoughts" pop up in my head...while the girls are occupying each other and my son is (finally) sleeping...this boy NEVER sleeps...only cat naps 10 minutes here and there...grr...I thought newborns SLEPT ALL DAY...lol...I decided to make a post....which is turning into mush and mixed "mommy thoughts." SORRY!

Well, in the 7 months that has passed, a lot has happened. But I won't go through the past. Let's just say, I am now a mommy of 3 children...Karly is 3 years old, Kaelyn will be 2 in a few weeks and our newest addition, Kasen Akashi Andrade, was born on Feb. 23, 2009 at 1:21 pm weighing in at 6 lb 12 oz and he was 20 inches long. It was a quick labor, about 90 minutes. I was induced because of my quick labor in the car with Kaelyn. So today, he makes 2 months old!! Time went by fast...sort of! haha. But let's just say, having 3 kids...3 years and younger makes me a very busy and very tired mommy!! They keep me busy and there's never a dull moment! Sometimes, I wish for dull moments though....but they just don't come...not with 3 rascal kids! Sigh! What can I do? I'm not going to cry, so I might as well just smile! :)

Mommy SHOULD'VE Known Better...

2008-10-02T12:31:00.001-07:00

Yes, I'll take full blame for this mess. As a mother of a 2 1/2 year old and a 17 month year old, I SHOULD'VE known that yogurt was too much of a temptation to only eat...of course kids have to play with it too!

No Privacy!!

2008-09-23T01:12:00.001-07:00

So I've been potty training the girls for a couple of months. With them being only 14 months apart, I decided to focus the potty training during a time when I can try get two of them done at once. Karly, being older, she's been training a little longer but is now catching on faster. She's doing pretty good and that makes mommy happy! No more stinky diapers!

Kaelyn on the other hand has been training for the last month. But I guess because she sees Karly go all the time, she has caught on really fast! Faster than Karly did when I first started her. She'll say doo-doo when she has to go #1 or #2. If she makes 1 shi-shi in her diaper, she'll pull it off and throw it away...which kind of drives me crazy because technically, the diaper is still "good". hehe. I'm just amazed that she's catching on as fast as she is at 16 months. Yay! Maybe in a few more months I'll be done changing their stinky diapers!!

I asked Kaelyn if she made doo-doo and she said, no more.

So I told her, PUSH! and this is what she did...

Hungry? Got Fruit?

2008-09-09T12:20:00.000-07:00

While tending to laundry, and folding another load of clothes...between all that chaos, this is how I found Kaelyn! She got into the refrigerator and helped herself to some fruit. This is my daughter that will not die by starvation because she LOVES her food. If mommy is too busy to get her food, she'll find it herself!

At least she she was kind enough to give Karly a bite...

Sitcker Fun / Sooo Tired!

2008-09-03T13:26:00.000-07:00

Couple months ago we bought Karly those Disney Sticker Books so that she would have quiet activities to do during church. After she finished putting together her sticker book, we decided to keep it since you can peel off the stickers and re-do it again. A couple of nights ago she was looking through her sticker book and she started to peel them off and stick them on her head! Where do they get these weird ideas from? She was cracking up the whole time as if it was the funniest thing in the world...
Then she pulled them off and did this....daddy and I liked this much better! Finally, peace and quiet! Heehee. We knew those stickers would come in handy!

Karly HATES taking naps. Well, actually, Karly HATES anything to do with SLEEP, day or night. So one day Daddy decided to let her play and run her tired. Well, that's exactly what happened. Poor Karly fell asleep while eating her snack. Daddy let her sleep like that for 30 minutes and then woke her up so that she would fall asleep at a decent hour at night.

Oahu Trip August 5-17 2008

2008-08-18T15:39:00.000-07:00

The girls and I had a fun trip to Oahu to visit family--and Kenji joined us for the last weekend.

It was so good to be with family again and this time Kaelyn really got used to my family and Kenji's sisters, which was nice to see.
Here are some of the things we got to do:

Visit Chuck-E-Cheese...

Be with Rylan on his birthday A Dino Cake I made for Rylan

Go to a Primary Activity in Kaneohe

Play with Aunty Laurene's cat...Kaelyn's favorite thing to do!

Go to the Honolulu Zoo in hot humidity :)

Eat at Pagoda...

Feed the fish at Pagoda...

...get hugged or choked out by cousins :)

Play at Rylan's Party...

Dig for Dinosaurs at his party....

Sit on Dinosaur Eggs...

and sing Happy Birthday!

We also got to spend the night with Kenji's family out in Kapolei...unfortunately, we didn't get any pictures with them...probably because we were going crazy trying to keep our girls from yelling and scolding Summer's dog, Cooper. Poor Cooper. My girls are scared of dogs.

MIA

2008-08-04T23:45:00.000-07:00

So yes, we've been Missing in Action for a while. Life just gets so busy sometimes with all sorts of things going on. But i'm excited cause tomorrow we are off to Oahu to spend a week and a half with my family and sisters-in-law. So that should be fun. As I was packing, the girls got excited and decided to do some packing of their own...good times.

Wii...

2008-06-27T23:39:00.000-07:00

My girls LOVE playing Wii...especially Karly. And even at 2, she understands the concepts of certain games, like bowling and baseball. I thought Kenji was going to be the addict, but our girls have proven this idea wrong. Karly even plays before church....hmmm.

Kaelyn Aiko Andrade

2008-06-25T15:17:00.000-07:00

Kaelyn WAS my calm baby...although she made a grand entrance into this world in less than 15 minutes. From first contraction til delivery was beyond FAST! So fast that we made it til Castle Medical Center's parking lot, and well, she was delivered by ER doctors in the front seat of the car. That wasn't so calm...but everything about her was.

She literally didn't cry for the first month of her life. I was kind of worried. Even when she woke to eat, which was only once a night, she would wake up and just suck her thumb until someone came to pick her up.
She would sit in her car seat and remain there content ALL DAY, until about 4 months...then she discovered moving and she wanted out.

Now that she is 13 months, with an older sister that is 2, there is NOTHING calm about her! She loves running around and loves fighting with Karly! She loves to headbutt things and people. She LOVES eating and making a lot of noise until she gets what she wants. And, with a an older sister, she picks up all the "naughty" things...like hitting and pointing her finger while saying, "No!" I can't believe my 1 year old is acting like a 2 year old and my 2 year old like a 16 year old. But on the other hand...she is all smiles, full of "big mouth" kisses and lots of love and laughter. She is always laughing at something even when nothing is funny. Like I said, with Karly and with Kaelyn all I see is a LONG road ahead...full of attitude and laughter!

Karly Akie Andrade

2008-06-24T18:17:00.000-07:00

On March 1, 2006, we were blessed with our first daughter, Karly! It is so hard to believe that today she is now 2! The time has gone by so fast! She was an easy baby. Of course, there were some adjustments I had to make on my part. It wasn't the easiest transition, but a blessed one. She was always smiling and laughing as a baby, not to mention rascal.

Today, she can be a tomboy to the max, wanting to look at bugs, and diggers, playing rough in dirt outside and yet at other times, a 100% girly girl, wanting to put on make-up, go shopping and wear any type of shoe or dress that reminds her of "Rella" (Cinderella)--to the point that she even walks around the house and twice in public, with a crown tiara on her head! She has a personality of her own and stands up for what she wants...aka STUBBORN! She has the attitude of a 16 year old telling us to "Go away!" or telling us that "I'm fine" when we want her to do something or NOT do something! Oh my goodness. I can see the long and hard road we have ahead of us with our tomboy-princess, Karly!

Kenji Allen Andrade & Kristin Akemi Kawakami

2008-06-24T17:06:00.000-07:00

So let's rewind time, back to 1999. I was a freshman at BYUH, and Kenji was a sophomore. We initially met through a friend, but soon discovered that we actually had Japanese 101 together. Well, this started off a 5 year long friendship of many ups and downs, before we actually started dating. Our friendship was exactly like a roller coaster--with all the ups, downs and loops in between. Let's just say that for him, it was love and first sight, and for me, well, we weren't on the same wave length. On top of that, 4 of the 5 year friendship was strictly through letters!! That's right...letters! In 2000 Kenji left to serve a mission in Japan for 2 years. Upon returning in 2002, I had received my mission call to serve in the same mission as him--Japan, Tokyo South. I came back and we were "re-united" in the Fall of 2004 at BYU-Hawaii, his very last semester there before graduating. We knew then that if ANYTHING was going to happen between us, this would be it because after this semester, Kenji would be gone...and so it happened. On October 21, 2004 we made it official. By December 4, 2004 we were engaged...fast, crazy...I know. But remember we were friends since 1999 and felt we knew each other very well--especially when you have to maintain a friendship strictly through letters for 4 years! We got married in the Laie Hawaii Temple on May 14, 2005.

Marrying Kenji was the greatest decision of my life. He has promised me a life of happiness, smiles, laughter and LOVE, and I can honestly say, he has never let me down once.