Doing nothing.

So I've been pretty busy with my Young Women carnival fundraiser and haven't had time for my normal life. The carnival is officially 9 days away and I'm freakin nervous...to say the least. My young women, all 30 of them, came over to my house last night for mutual to finish up their booths. I was so excited about the turnout because I can feel and see the support from our girls. They are very dedicated to this fundraiser and I need it to go smooth for them. They've put a lot of time and effort into this and I just don't want to disappoint them. I have been working out daily, because it's what wakes me up in the morning. I've eaten pretty good, because I don't really have an appetite. Our family has started reading our scriptures nightly, because I seriously need the Lord right now. And I've broken out really bad all over my face! What the crap is that all about?! I know I'm stressing, but when I was eating chocolate everyday and stressing, I had the clearest skin. Now I'm going through the opposite. I don't care what all the "professionals" say about chocolate, it's good for ME!! lol Anywayz, that's my life in a nutshell. I miss doing nothing. I mean I did mom stuff, but this is craziness! I miss couponing also. The last time I had a major coupon trip was last month. It really gets me on a high that takes me a couple of days to come down from. And that is why I can't do it right now with all the madness. Wow I needed to release some of my feelings. Enjoy doing nothing...ahhaha!

Do you get nervous when you're in charge of something?

Is your life crazy right now?

What do you think about chocolate?

Sushi Yah!

On Saturday we went out for my friend/cousin Mele Tausinga's 31st birthday to Zushi Yah. Me, Mele, Lyni, and Isa along with Mele's sister Fane and cousin ( I forgot her name, but i'll write it in later). Lyni and Isa had been to Zushi Yah before, but the rest of us hadn't. It's an all you can eat sushi restaurant. I have never really eaten sushi before. I just tasted it about 2 months ago and liked it, but since eating at this restaurant I LOVE Sushi! Our first roll was a crispy roll with shrimp, cream cheese and something else. It was fried and delicious. We also had a tuna roll, nigiri sushi with eel, salmon and octopus (which we didn't order) and some other rolls. I tried every type of sushi that was ordered, besides the octopus, and it was sooooooo good! We stayed there for about 3 hours trying to finish just our first order. The deal at Zushi Yah is that it is an all you can eat restaurant and if you have any food left on your plate, you have to pay for it. So we kind of had to visit the restroom a couple of times to get rid of the evidence. We were so loud at our table, and I swear everyone thought we were a bunch of lesbians who were drunk...LOL! We had so much fun and our conversation was hilarious!! Mele is such a sweet and very honest person. She is very blunt and sometimes doesn't know how blunt she is. She is so funny without trying to be. She is such an incredible mother. She has so much patience with her children and with life itself. She married to a great man who spoils her unconditionally. I love this girl and her cute lil/big familia!! Happy Birthday Mary!

Worn out!

I have finally "allowed" myself to realize that I am literally worn out. I have been on such an emotional roller coaster this week. Today I was able to sit and be still in my thoughts and I couldn't even stay awake. My body wanted, well needed to rest, but my mind was still running at a hundred miles an hour. I didn't listen to my body, so now I have a headache. Even while writing this post! I'm relaxed and ready for bed, but my mind is still running. I need to listen to my body for once and just breath. I'm on an anxiety high with my carnival, my daughters 5th grade graduation (hello it's only elementary LOL) and just life period. I'm going to "allow" myself right now, to not do a dang thing for the rest of the evening. I will be doing a 5k tomorrow with our stake, called the Cannonball Run, so I need to be well rested. Til next time...listen to your body, it knows best!

Tonight made it all real...

Tonight our Young Women along with the help of our Young Men went out and began pre-selling our Carnival fundraiser tickets. OMGoodnes, I have been waiting for this day since February, and it finally has arrived. We need to raise at least $1300 for our 30 girls to get to girls camp. All of our girls showed up to go out and raise their money. They were all motivated and put their game faces on. It was such a thrill. I brought along Jasmine and Serena to help. We separated the girls into 12 groups. We combine our activities with the 9th ward, so we had to cover 600 houses. My group consisted of Serena, Jas, me and Vida. It was so much fun. Vida is our stake Young Women's counselor and Solomons aunt. So we were told to go to 50 houses and we ended up going to all the homes of Vida's friends and about 10 of our assigned houses. We raised $187 after 2 hours of selling. Jasmine was my little sales lady. She was so confident in her sales pitch. Serena was the ticket holder and had a shy confidence, but she did her part. It was fun. So after 2 hours of selling, we all came back together at the ward and counted the money. We made an awesome $897.00. Isn't that crazy? All the groups were not able to get to every home in 2 hours, but could you imagine if we did. We would've made our goal in one night. I am soooooo excited now. Tonight made everything I've been working for for the past 4 months, REAL! I'm so proud of my Young Women and especially proud of my lil group. If you want information about our carnival let me know. I will be posting more information later!!

Service is...

Yesterday my sister Anna asked me to help her with her Primary activity that she was in charge of. If you don't already know, she has also been called as the new Primary president of her ward, but has not been officially called in her ward yet. Well just from yesterdays experience and watching her with the kids, I know that she will be an excellent president. She has such a fun personality that draws the kids in. At the activity she had 4 stations. A decorate a cookie station (my favorite because the cookies were sooooo delicious) a Fathers day origami making card station, a Fathers day decorate a frame station and a sock game station. Each of the old presidency were there manning their stations. The were very supportive. My mom, sister Eta, sis in law Klarah and myself were helping them with each of the stations. It was so cute. I hope she post pictures of what they did, if not I'll take pictures and try to post them. It was so much fun being able to serve my sister along with her primary. I will never forget the saying, "When you are in the service of your fellow being, you are only in the service of your God." My dad constantly taught us this principle. I love the feeling of service. I have taught my kids another saying that I learned in seminary, "Service is like peeing your pants, everyone sees it, but only you feel the warmth inside." LOL My kids don't really like that one, but hey it gets the meaning across. Good job Anna.

Part II

Like I said in my previous post, I'm going to write about the answer that came to me through my prayers. So as I was praying, really praying, I could see clearly what the Lord was wanting me to see. I was asking Him what it was that I could do better as a mother and what it was that has brought about this change in Serena. Then in my mind, I could see her walking into our home and feeling automatic tension. Sol and I have been going through some difficult times and I could see while I was praying that this is affecting Serena in a negative way. Obviously. The answer I got was that I needed to make my home a place of PEACE and REVERENCE! The truth hit me so hard that I began hysterically crying. I immediately asked for forgiveness for creating such an environment for my children. Another image came to me and that was of myself sitting on my laptop when the kids came home from school and Serena was sitting across from me trying to talk to me. It was the exact scene that if I had just paid more attention and given her more of my time, this whole thing could have been dealt with sooner. Again I asked for forgiveness. And then another scene of Serena came into my mind of her sleeping peacefully. What I got from this was that that was the only time in her day that she was able to experience PEACE. I immediately felt at peace. I felt that I was forgiven and that I needed to forgive her also. I know that her mistake was a cry for help and that I needed to answer with LOVE and give her PEACE! I ended my prayer with so much gratitude towards the Lord for helping me to see my life clearly and for communicating instantly with me. I have such a strong testimony of prayer and I'm grateful that the Lord trusts me to raise His heavenly children here on earth and also to be there for me when I myself make mistakes. This experience has taught me so much and from that day I have strived to become a better mother and daughter of God. I know that my trials don't end here, they are merely beginning, but I also know that the Lord will be there to help me every step of the way, if I just ask. I'm a whole new mommy now!!

Trials as a mother.

So yesterday I was looking through my purse to see how much money I had left so that I could grab some things from the store. Well I noticed that $5 was missing. I immediately thought that Sol took it for his lunch, but then a feeling came over me that it wasn't him, it was Serena. I knew why. She came into the living room and had a $5 bill in her hand. I asked her where she got it and she said from her friend. They made a bet and she won. I was too consumed with what I was doing and let it go. That's where I went wrong. I should've probed into it more, but I didn't. Well I confronted her in the kitchen that same day. First I asked Sol to make sure, and then I asked Serena. She flat out lied to my face. When I told her that I would call the school tomorrow and ask the girl if she gave her money, she still stood her ground. I said "Serena are you being honest with me?" She said, "yes mommy I promise." That nearly killed me. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she was lying. I then said, "don't make promises you can't keep." She broke down and said, "what is my punishment if I did take it?" Wow, she really wanted to know her punishment before she told the truth. Hello, does she not know that stealing and lying are wrong. I said there is no punishment if you didn't do it, but if you did, you will have to pay the money back. She then admitted that she took it. She said she took it because she couldn't find her money and just thought we shared. I said to her, "did you ask me where your money was, so that I could remind you that we moved it?" She just nodded her head no. I called my husband into the room and had all the kids go downstairs so that we could deal with this. I was shocked that she had no remorse in her eyes, or even tears. She just sat there cold and lost. I became worried that she didn't UNDERSTAND that what she did was wrong. I mean we teach our kids to Choose The Right, but are we really teaching them what that means. My husband said just slap her and she'll learn her lesson and that's when she started crying. I said no, that is too easy, I need her to understand and learn from her mistakes. In the end I told her that she was committing criminal acts and so her punishment will be that in a way. She will pay back restitution for what she did and she will not be able to go anywhere or talk to anyone before and after school. So she had to clean the windows and the blinds in the whole house and was grounded for a day. I needed her punishment to reflect her mistake in a way. I then became numb for the rest of the day. I am so worried about her. I prayed right after that ordeal and then basically cried myself to sleep as I was praying for her again. I can see now, why the Lord chose to put me into Young Women's. He is preparing me for what's yet to come. I pray that Serena learns from her mistakes now, rather than later. I love her so much and it just hurts to know that she is crying out for my attention in a negative way. I asked the Lord to help me be a better mother to her and the rest of my children. I need them to know that I LOVE them.

Part two of this post will come later. I had an answer to my prayers and I'll write about it when I have more time.

Speechless.

When I was scrolling through some of the blogs that I follow. I came upon this picture followed by a poem about Mothers. I was speechless. This picture does not need words to describe it. I was almost drawn to tears. It reminds me of myself with my baby Gabby. I love this picture. I think I will print this picture and hang it in my home.
HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

My Mothers Day gifts.

Today my husband surprised me with an appointment to get my van detailed. I was so excited, but a little upset at the same time. Yes I know that at least he thought about doing something special for me, but he didn't consider what I had planned for the day. Oh and did I write that we only have one car. Well luckily for him, lol, I mean us my sister wasn't using her car so we were able to borrow hers for 5 hours. Yes that is how long it took this man to detail just the inside of our van...5 hours. At first he said to my husband over the phone, "oh it will only take about 2 hours." But after he seen it in person, it changed to 5. He called my husband and said, "your van is very, very dirty, I will need it for 4 to 5 hours!" LOL No, we are not filthy people, it's just after having our van for 6 years and having 5 children, and never professionally cleaning it, it obviously was DIRTY!!
When we went to pick it up, OMG, our van looked brand new!! I was totally shocked. From the filthy ceiling to the floor, from the door panels, to the ash tray, it was immaculately clean. I ABSOLUTELY love it. This definitely be on my top 10 greatest Mothers Day gifts. It's not a normal gift. It's one I've wanted for a while, but my husband always got me the same ol thing. I am grateful that he thought outside of the box and did something "thoughtful" for me. I would post pictures, but I didn't take any before ones, so it will just look like a clean car. But just imagine it...hahaha!
Another gift I got for myself was made by my sister in law, Tala. She has a blog called Motuliki Create. She sells her creative concoctions and you can purchase them from her etsy shop. Her button is on my page. But it is so cute. She lives in St. George, so her mom was coming up here this weekend and brought it to me. I love it. I'm going to surround it with pictures of my kids that Kayleen took. I will post the final product when I'm done.
If you know my family, we like to give our gifts early. I love the gifts I have received and just want to tell all you mothers out there. HAPPY MOTHERS DAY!!

Called to the principals office.

When someone attacks a bears cubs, mama bear reacts!! That is exactly what got me into the principals office today. Hilarious thinking back on my mama bear moment, but I don't regret defending my child.
Yesterday after school, my kids were all running to my van. Well Serena is on honor patrol, which are a group of students who patrol the halls and get the kids across the street safely, so she stays after until most of the kids are picked up. There were about 15 or so kids left just hanging out. Anyways, as my kids were running to my van I heard a boy yell, "Serena's a b*&$#!" I turned to where this lil boy was yelling from and I thought did I hear that right. And he looks at me and says, "Serena is a B*&^%!"
Mama bear came out instantly. The gospel left my mind at that moment and I went off on this lil boy. I leaned out my window and said something along the lines of "What did you just say to my daughter. I know you're not talking about my daughter. Do you even know what that word means. Don't you ever, ever, ever disrespect my daughter in your life. If I ever hear that you call her that disgusting name I will hunt you down and beat you! Did you hear me. I WILL HUNT YOU DOWN AND BEAT YOU! This lil boy at first looked at me in shock and then because I was freaking out for a while starts to become brave again. All of his friends as well as some other kids were standing there with mouths wide open, not believing that this is happening. If you know me, you know that this is not my normal. But the fact that he used that word on my child and so loosely, set me off.
He looked at me as if he were all cool and said, "So what you can't find me." I started shaking because I was so angry, but I wouldn't let myself get out of my van. I knew that if I got our I would've slapped this boy into tomorrow and then be locked up...lol . I said, "boy trust me. Do you know what hood you're in. This is Glendale and I own this. I can find you just like that and I will beat you down if you dare say that to my daughter again. Remember that "B" word BEAT because that's what I'll do to you if you disrespect my daughter again! And I drove off. As I did I could hear all the kids laughing hysterically at this boy. I knew immediately that that scenario could have been handled better, but it was too late. I called Gina (Larsen) Blake at the school and told her what had happened. She said she'll take care of it and call me later.
Well that brings me to the principals office moment. Gina called me today and asked to come and talk with the principal about what happened. I wasn't worried or afraid. I knew that since this happened on school grounds they needed to make a report. So I went and talked with the principal. She was very understanding and just asked me questions as if I were a child, because hello that's exactly how I acted...lol, but she was very professional about it. We continued our talk about how we as mothers act on impulse when someone hurts our child. I told her that this is a "I can't believe I did that moment for me." Her main concern which I appreciated was Serena. She didn't want her to internalize what had happened as okay or be embarrassed. But she was not being judgemental at all about any of it. She also apologized that there was no one out there to protect my child from any of this even happening. Usually there is a teacher out there, but not yesterday. She apologized over and over for that and said that from now til the end of the school year, all outside staff will be on patrol, no excuses. She as well as the vice principal shared stories with me about their "I can't believe I did that moments." All in all this was a lesson well learned on all sides. I didn't have to go to the principals office, but I wanted to let her know that I wasn't going to hunt this lil boy down or hurt him in any way. It was a mama bear reaction. I think the boy would have rather that had happened because he got suspended for a day, no recess for the rest of the year and he cannot leave the school until all students have left the school grounds. I told the principal, I think what I did was enough, but she informed me that as she was talking to the students, a lot of girls told her what a jerk he had been to them and all the mean and degrading things he was saying to them as well. So I hope he learns his lesson. Hey maybe it was meant to be. Maybe I needed to bring this lil boy down a couple notches. I'd like to think I changed his life for the better...lol.
I have to go repent now...seriously!

Let the games begin!!

I've joined a biggest loser competition and I AM GOING TO WIN!!! Look at my before picture, so not cute. It was taken in Hawaii last year. Well we're going to Hawaii again this year on July 4th. I will be at least 20+ pounds lighter. I am ready and it's time to get my act together.

Well the competition was put together by Inga Tukuafu. It was $25 to join and the pot is at $950.00. Wow huh? Well my sister Anna, my mom and I have all joined. We just might become secret enemies for the next 2 months..ahhaha. But I'll give them back their $25 when I win, I mean why not reward them for their effort...ahahaha! I'm so excited to become slim. I'll save the becoming trim part for after the competition. All I'm thinking about is losing pounds and winning mula! Two days down, 60 more to go!! I got this yaayyyyeahhh.

B-day party/ Best of EFY

I wasn't able to write yesterday due to it being Serena's birthday party, and it sure was a party! She wanted a music party and that's what she had. At the same time as the party, I had the missionaries over for dinner. Hey why not kill two birds with one stone. So the missionaries were able to be fed and we along with our b-day guests were able to be spiritually fed. After the missionaries shared their message and were sent off with food for a week...lol, we started the music party. We played name that tune, had a lip syncing contest, played name that animal sound, and to top off the party had a talent show and then a dance. The girls had soooo much fun. I loved watching them sing, dance and just be the little girls they are. Serena invited 11 girls: Family consisted of Cia Sii, Ilaise, Jasmine, Ariana, Ebony and Nessa. Friends were: Sose (Mele), Amelia, Jared, Marleni, Kaylee who also brought Leticia. One thing I learned from this birthday party was that I should never mix friends with family. Some of Serena's friends were feeling left out and began to complain, which was soooo irritating. So lesson learned, never again, unless it's Sose...she was so sweet. All in all the party was simple and so fun!

Today I was able to attend the Best of EFY with my Young Woman up at the U of U institute building. It literally was 3 hours of pure spiritual joy! There were 3 speakers, Bro. Robley,who spoke about Mapping your way on the straight and narrow path, Sis Shupe, she spoke about Which way your tent is facing and Bro. Hilton who is the co-author of the book WHY. He spoke on Why? Principles behind the practices. Each one of these speakers were soooo good. The youth of today are so blessed to have such great leaders who care so much for them. My favorite saying taught was, "When you break the rules, the rules break you!" It's so simple yet so strong. I challenged my girls to bear their testimonies about what they learned and how it made them feel. I'm so grateful for my calling and love my Young Woman!

What are your thoughts about b-day parties?

Have you attended EFY?

What are some sayings that you love?