Welcome Home Mom and Dad!!!

My parents return home from their mission to Brazil tomorrow. We are so excited for them to return. We will be seeing them very soon in Utah for our Smith family reunion. While serving on their mission they missed four grandchildren being born. So we look forward to introducing Joseph. They have had a wonderful missionary experience and loved serving the many missionaries in the MTC in Sao Paulo. We loved praying for Mom and Dad every day and feel blessed for their service. This picture will be one of many on their front door when they arrive home, thanks to Emily.

Five kids under the age of six?!

My sister-in-law, Abi went back to work recently and I have volunteered to watch her two youngest boys Robby (3) and Alii (5) for the next two months (Mon-Fri). Her mom comes in mid-June and will take over at that point. So far Eryn is really enjoying their company. She loves waking up to find them already here and ready for action. I am also enjoying them, but trying to exercise a lot of patience and trying to take in as much rest as I can. Life is busy with five kids under the age of six. But so far things are going well. I'm a lot more motivated to organize my time and to get the kids out doors. We also bought a little pool and have been setting that up regularly for some added activities. Joel is also very helpful when he can.

Living close to cousins

We are really enjoying living close to Joel's brother, Rob and his family. They are stationed here through the Air Force and live a short 15 min. drive from our house. We know we won't live close forever so we try to get together as often as possible. Here they are taking a musubi break at the zoo. Joel and Rob are pictured below with Robbie and Joseph on their backs.

Easter 2008

Here are a few pictures from Easter Sunday. The girls are looking pretty cute in their dresses from Grandma Ruth.

Unscrambling My Brain

I finally started teaching voice lessons again about a month ago. It feels great to be back into it. Sometimes I forget that whole part of me exists when I am so wrapped up in mothering. I have been teaching voice lessons since I graduated from college in 2001 and I have loved the experience. I enjoy teaching and feel very fulfilled when I am doing it. With the addition of each child I usually take a break until I feel ready to start again. For whatever reason during that break, I lose a little confidence in myself. On top of that it is such a transition to welcome a new member into the family, for me that it takes me a while to unscramble my brain from it all. Does anyone else relate??? This is probably why it took me almost a year to start again.

Anyway, I am teaching one group voice class in Laie to 5 teenage girls. Heather Murdock and my voice teacher from college, Vicki, both encouraged me to give group lessons a try. So instead of working one on one with the girls as I have done in the past, I put them all together in a group class. It has been great so far. Although I find that I must be even more sensitive to their tender self-esteem and more prepared with a lot of positive energy.

Our family is enjoying the weekly visits to Grandma Ruth and Grandpa Isi's as well as opportunities for Temple attendance and general fun in Laie. So, over all it is working well. I am thinking about starting another class in August on this side of the island. We will see how everything goes.

Happy Easter 2008

While cruising the Pearl Ridge Mall (i.e. food court) with Dad, the kiddo's spotted the Easter Bunny. Immediately, Anna said, "Dad, remember the time we wanted to take a picture with Santa Clause at the other mall?" After guaranteeing Dad that they were not scared of the oversized thumper, they excitedly climbed aboard and looked surprisingly thrilled for the snap. Later on in the week, Anna wrote and posted on the dining room wall a little note that read (verbatim: her exclamation marks), "Easter is great! The easter bunny is great! You are great! too!!! We are great! but mostly Jesus is great!" Happy Easter everyone. joel

Joseph is One Year Old

My how time flies.

Joseph James 'Aholelei Kongaika was born on St. Patrick's Day one year ago! He was so small and precious. Now at one year old we love him so much more.

Trying

Eryn and I have joined a little Joy School group through some friends. It has been such a positive experience so far. I really enjoy taking my turn teaching. This month the kids have been learning about Trust and the Confidence to Try. On my week I got to read Green Eggs and Ham and then allow them to try actually eating some themselves. It was a fun experience for all. You should have seen their faces when I brought out the green eggs and ham. They were all pumped up during the book and so proud of the character for finally just trying the green eggs and ham. Then when I brought it to the table and said, "look, we get to try some too!" they all looked a little surprised and nervous. The emphasis in the lesson was just for the kids to try. So we celebrated each child's efforts at trying the new food. Surprisingly two of them ate it all up like champs.

So, Eryn has really caught on to the idea of just trying to do things. Over the past few weeks she has pointed out opportunities for her to try something new around the house, like pouring the milk at breakfast, putting her own shoes on, or rolling out her own play dough. It has been a very good lesson for her. It even came in handy when she was struggling at gymnastics. The coach was flipping the children (safely) in his hands as part of an exercise and she started crying uncontrollably. She was scared. So I had her come to me and drink a little water and was able to talk to her about giving it a try and how good she is at trying new things. It was so nice to have that language and experience to back both of us up in that moment. She went back and did the whole thing (crying, but still trying). Afterward I was able to praise her for being so brave and for trying something new. Joy school is really blessing us in multiple ways.

With all of this as a background, Eryn said the cutest thing to me on Sunday. She wanted to wear a dress to church that needed three buttons sewn on the back. So out of love for her I decided to attempt the task (I know. For some of you this would be so easy! Where are all of you people when I need you???). So I worked and worked on those little buttons. When I was just about done I realized that they were each out of line. I was complaining to Joel about the bad job I was doing and Eryn jumped right in and said, "It's okay mom. You are still trying." I just loved that. She wore the dress proudly and no one knew how crooked those buttons really were.

Joseph Walks

Caps for Sale

I took the opportunity to be a volunteer reader in Anna's class on Monday. In celebration of Dr. Seuss' Bday the entire school had volunteers come in and read for the first few hours. I was very excited for the chance to participate, so I called Amy and got lots of ideas and encouragement.

Anna was very excited that morning. She woke up early, got herself dressed immediately and set the table for breakfast.

I read an old favorite to her class, Caps for Sale. After reading we did a game. One boy and one girl came up the the front and one by one the children took turns piling hats up on top of their heads trying to see who could balance the most. They giggled and laughed and had a fun time.

That night after scripture reading, Anna said the prayer. She specifically thanked Heavenly Father for her mom coming to read to her class. What a sweet moment. As a side note she finished the prayer asking that her brother get well. Then she asked when the prayer was done if he was still sick. We told her that he's been better for a while now. So then she just rolled her eyes up to heaven and said, "never mind!". Joel and I just cracked up. What a funny girl. She has definitely become more thoughtful and specific in her prayers for which I am grateful.