With a grateful heart

We are blessed.  Blessed beyond measure.  God has been so good to me and my family. We have our health, we have jobs, we have a home, transportation, food, clothes, but most of all, we have each other.  I can’t ask for better. 

This year has been a roller coaster ride for us.  In all honesty though, I can say that the good far outweighs the bad.  All of my children are a year older and more wonderful than the year before.  My hubby and I celebrated 15 years of marriage, and we are closer than we’ve ever been.  My mom and dad are still very much a part of our lives even though they are not a part of each other’s.  My friends are awesome. They are a very eclectic group of caring, kind, generous, and loving people God has placed in my life for this season.  I hope they will be with me for many more.  My job is the best place I’ve worked in my whole life. I’ve been busy with crafting and reading and loved every second of it.   As a family, we’ve spent a lot of time together, enjoying the kids while they are still small. We have four seasons here and every one of them is as beautiful as the next. 

So much to be thankful for.

For this Thanksgiving, I’ll be sharing with you the qualities I am thankful for in each person in my family.  Today I start with the kids. Tomorrow, I will share about DH and my parents, and so on and so forth. 

This is for posterity and for family who do not really know much about us and would like to know more. So, here we go:

I’m thankful for Tyler because:
-He is a self-proclaimed Mama’s boy
-He is in all AP (advanced placement) classes and does not struggle with his work (he has never asked for my help, nor taken any if offered)
-He has not yet had a girlfriend while in high school (he swears)
-He tries very hard to be the best big brother.
-He cooks, cleans, folds laundry, vacuums, and anything else I need help with.
-He loves art just like me.
-He still hugs and kisses me when i need it.
-He hardly complains about anything
-He doesn’t ask for things and when he does it’s something he really needs.
-He has a great sense of humor and loves my jokes.
-He and I share the same taste in music. 
-He’s sensitive and caring
-He has a beautiful smile and a beautiful face.
-He’s a home-body and does not ask to go to parties.
-He has great taste in clothes and dresses really well.
-He’s multi-talented and very smart but very humble all the same.
-He is the spitting image of his Daddy.
-He can laugh at himself.

Bubba:
-He’s affectionate and is not embarassed to hug and kiss me and his Dad.
-He’s a great dancer
-He loves music and is fascinated with the piano
-He loves to sing and has a very nice singing voice.
-He loves my cooking
-He laughs a lot, even at himself.
-He loves to talk and will talk your ears off about anything and everything.
-He’s very good with computers and electronics.
-He does well in school and has been on the honor roll every year.
-He has a great memory and can recall details Hubby and I forget (sometimes this is a bad thing)
-He has always had a very healthy appetite. I never have to worry about him not eating or not finishing his food.
-He is muscular and built like his daddy.  He is also strong and fast.
-He loves to dress up in ties and long sleeve shirts
- He tries to be a good big brother too.
-He’s considerate and kind.
-He can stay up longer than any other kid I know and still be up the next day before me. 
-He’s a night owl.

Nacho:
-He loves to draw.
-He’s funny and adorable.
-He has a beautiful dimple that will melt your heart.
-He loves his big brothers and little sister.
-He loves to dance.
-He loves to sing.
-He loves school and doesn’t like having to miss any days.
-He loves to dress up in fancy clothes (ties and long sleeved shirts)
-He’s witty and quick to say something funny.
-He loves to play in dirt, sand, mud, puddles and every thing else that can get him dirty and wet.
-He loves to cuddle
-He has the best pout.
-He is the spitting image of me.
-He’s a morning person and is usually the first one up.
-He protects his little sister.
-He loves books.
-He has a way with girls.

Alai:
-She loves to draw and write.
-She loves to eat.
-She’s a night owl like her twinkie Bubba
-She’s affectionate.
-She knows the power of flattery.
-She loves everything girly.
-She loves shoes.
-She loves to sing.
-She entertains herself for hours with make-believe.
-She loves tea parties.
-She uses words like “Fantastic”, “wonderful”, “awesome”, “unbelievable” (thanks to Grandma)
-She is charming and beautiful.
-She’s kind and shares everything she has if you ask her nicely.
-She is not stingy with food like her brothers.
-She loves dolls and stuffed animals.
-She loves to receive presents and really expresses gratitude like she won the lottery. (I love giving presents to people like this!)
-She’s very independent and sassy.
-She has her Grandpa wrapped around her little finger.

Tune in for the rest of the gang!

Have a Happy (and safe) Thanksgiving family and friends!

~L

Animation short

Weekend pics

Bubs had 2 Bowl games on Saturday.  We won both. YAY!

This kid and his masks!

Saturday night was Lloyda’s birthday party at Maria’s.

I had to work Sunday,  but went to see this last night:

I liked it.

How was your weekend?

 

Thank you

Hi.

With Thanksgiving around the corner and a grateful heart, I wanted to say THANK YOU to everyone.  We have received texts, emails, messages on various sites expressing sympathy and condolences to my sister and the rest of the family here. We were overwhelmed by the all the love and prayers poured out to us, for us.  It has definitely helped. 

My best friend from high school who works for Samoa News, also did a memorial ad in the Friday November 13th issue.  You can see the issue online HERE.  (The ad is on the right).  Thank you Carly, you so rock!

There were also people who donated to help with the burial costs.  Thank you. 

We have felt all the answers to your prayers as I watch Lloyda heal.  It’s amazing how powerful prayer truly is.  God is so good.

I pray you all are well, and that God blesses you ten-fold for all the love you have given us.

THANK YOU

~L & Family

I love you more today…

Exhausted. Physically and emotionally. It’s been a rough week.  I’m trying to get back into my schedule, but it’s not going well.  I’m going to try and get to bed early tonight and hopefully more than 3 hours of sleep would help.  Ya think? 

Anyway, here are some pics of the kiddos.  They are getting so big so fast.  And everyday, my heart gets bigger right along with them =)

I LOVE MY BABIES!

How’s your week going?

~L

Moving on…

As you may or may not know, my nephew Francisco Kitiona (Baby Kit) passed away last Monday November 9th.  We are devastated.  Funeral services were held on Saturday and we are now trying to pick up the pieces and handle what remains with hope and the support of loved ones.

He was 16 days old and fought a good fight.  We, his WHOLE family, are so proud of him. 

As I type this, fresh tears fall, as if it happened yesterday.  I can’t imagine the pain my little sister is going through.  But she is strong.  Stronger than I apparently.  She mustered up the courage to speak at the memorial service for her son and managed to tell her baby’s story with pride and pain, joy and sorrow.  She had to tell everyone how awesome her son was.  She HAD to. 

My heart is broken for my sister and for my nephew, whom we’ll never see grow up, who’s dreams and hopes faded away with him.  All we can do now is pray.  Pray for the comfort that one day we’ll see him again. The hope that he is right now, in the arms of our loving God and with our Lola and Lloyda’s dad, Tofa.   We are comforted by that thought.  Comforted to know that he is no longer in pain, that he is happy.  For all ETERNITY. 

Baby Kit, you are my guy. 
With all my love, Aunty Lette.

Happy Birthday Lloyda!

Today my sister is 24.  She makes me proud.  Proud to be her big sister, and proud to be her friend.

I pray for joy and comfort this year for my sister.  She’s so blessed having so much love in her life.  I hope she knows that. 

Happy Birthday little sis.  I love you.

Donations for Baby Kit

In light of recent events, my brother Gordon has temporarily converted his blogsite into a donation site to raise funds to help pay for the burial of my nephew Francisco Kitiona Marcelo (Little Kit, as we like to call him).

For more details, please click HERE.

Thanks to everyone for their love, kindness, and support during this time.

~L

Rest in peace little angel.

Friday!

Thank you, Jesus!

I had conference Wednesday and Thursday for work. 

I came by today to share some new pics.  And some knitting.

Lai and Mom rode the train home with me last week.  They loved it.

He’s such a HAM!

The Mr. sportin the hat I knitted him (to match the floppy hat I made a couple of posts back)

Nacho’s holding an itty-bitty preemie hat for little Kit.  The ends have since been sewn in (thanks Mom!) and will be on his itty-bitty head soon.  I’ll post pics of that!

This weekend starts the play0ffs for Ty.  They’re playing Oakland tonight.  Bubba’s team is in the second round and will be playing Antioch tomorrow afternoon. 

The rest of the weekend is open for lots of playtime and family time.

What are you doing?

~L

Lip-licking montage of Kristen Stewart

Just stopping by to share a little something with you all.  Esp. the TWILIGHT fans!

Hilarious! I hear she does it even more on “Adventureland”…  This is gonna bug me when I see the new one later this month

I’ll be back soon with some new knitting!

~L

Weekend Report

Happy Monday Family and Friends!

This past weekend was a blast!

First, we had a dance for Bubba’s football league on Friday night.  Bubba and Nacho dressed up in their costumes and had a ball dancing the night away.

Bubba was MJ and Nacho was BATMAN….

Saturday, Bubba’s team played Spring Hill.  It was an exciting game!  It was the first game of the play-offs.  We won 27-21.  It was almost an upset.  Our boys pulled out a win in the last 2 minutes!  Maria and Lloyda came out to watch and we were yelling our heads off!  It was INTENSE!

Saturday night we all drove to Chris’ house for a party.  I took the kids trick-r-treating in her neighborhood. (It’s a nice subdivision in Mount Juliet).  The kids had fun walking around and knocking on people’s doors.  LaiLai kept saying “Tank yew, Mommy, fo tayting me tit-oh-teet!” Adorable.  And she wasn’t shy in the least bit to say “Titt-OH-Teeet” to Chris’ neighbors, and she even yelled “Tant Yew!” after they handed her candy.  Nacho was the shy one, speaking softly and standing behind his little sister.  Ty helped me with the little ones, he held Nacho’s hand and I held Lai’s as we walked down the streets.  DH stayed at Chris’ while I was with the kids. 

DH took Lai to Mom’s after a couple of hours.  She didn’t have anyone her age to play with, and she was a bit afraid of Chris’ doggies.  We spent the rest of the evening enjoying good food and good company.  We played dominoes, while the kids played Wii.  We laughed and laughed and laughed.  I wish you all could’ve been there too…..

Now on to the pics:

I was a “knocked-up GHETTO Toof-Fairy”, with my Baby Toof-Fairy, and Big Daddy Toof!

Chris the GLADIATOR!

Kris and Annie (Gypsy Vamp and Medusa!)

Doug and Denise (WoW characters, I forget the names)

Kris and Ty (Oh look! It’s Bella and Jacob!) hahahaha

Kelly was Mother Nature.

It was a long fun night for everyone.  THANKS CHRIS!

How was your weekend?

~L

I love Fall

Fall means turning leaves from green to orange, brown, dark green, and yellow.  Fall means cool crisp mornings, hot cocoa, and pumpkins. Fall means scarves, hats, boots, tights, and light coats.  For me, fall means knitting and wearing knitwear.  I’ve been knitting like a FIEND!  I’ve knitted FIVE hats in the last month. I’ve also managed to squeeze out a scarf! 

Wanna see?

Top view:

I love big floppy hats!

I whipped this up with no pattern in mind. I used size 9 circs, and cast on 96 stitches, k1p1 ribbing for 1 inch and striped my gray and black wool blend yarn and carried the yarn up on the inside:

Here’s another hat I knit:

This one is SOOOO SOFT.  I used the discontinued yarn: Berroco Jasper in “Maroon Brown”.  I bought the last 2 skeins from my LYS at a 40% discount.  SCORE!

I made DH a beanie to match my gray and black one.  Except his is fitted.  I’ll take a pic when I get home. 

We have plans to hang out with some friends this weekend (Saturday).  We’re also taking the kids out to get some candy!  I’ll post pics of that a.s.a.p.

Have a wonderful weekend friends!

~L

=)

hihihihiHI!

Here’s a great video I found today.  It’s a music video for the Japanese band Sour’s song called ‘Hibi no Neiro’ (Tone of everyday). Sour says that “the cast were selected from the actual Sour fan base from many countries around the world. Each person and scene was filmed purely via webcam.” Imagine the work that went into this.  So creative and super fun!

Happy Thursday!

~L

Feeling creative…

Hi.

Tonight’s a “free” night for us.  Bubba doesn’t have any practice and Ty should be done with his practice by 6.  I look forward to Wednesdays because it’s the only weeknight we have together.  So tonight I will be spending time with the kiddos drawing.  I love to draw, and I love the fact that my kids love it too.  Looking through the archives, I never did share with you the artwork I’ve been doodling. 

Here it is:

It’s not finished, but it’s just doodles.  Really.  I’d love to get my hands on some paint.  I have some ideas I want to experiment with.

Oh.

Tonight is also knit-night at Dunkin Donuts.  This is the new group formed by my friend Chris after some drama with the old knitting group.  Long story.  I won’t get into it. Besides, it’s really not that bad. Nor dramatic.  Promise.  Anyway, I might go knit with the girls tonight.  Either way, I’ll probably take my kids with me.  I miss them during the week.  And they won’t mind coming with me because there’s a Baskin Robbins there too  

Update on baby:

He’s breathing on his own.  They took off the CPAP yesterday and started feeding him on a regular basis.  Lloyda’s milk is slowly coming in and she’s been pumping some for his feedings.  I’m so proud of little man.  From what I hear, he’s quite the ladies’ man.  All the nurses love him!  Of course.

What are you doing tonight? 

~L

Update on the little guy

Little Kit(ten) is doing great.  According to mommy, he is breathing at 21% (a very good thing!)  On Sunday night, the nurse said that he was really fussy, moving around and whimpering/crying.  So much so, that he had taken his oxygen mask off, pulled his line out and wiggled out of his little blue cuff (in the picture above).  Poor little man was hungry.  They decided to start feeding him formula (since mommy’s milk hasn’t come yet) through his line.  And lo and behold, he stopped fussing.  This news has made me so happy, you have no idea.  “Eating” formula (or breastmilk) is an awesome sign!  I have a feeling this boy will be coming home sooner than expected.  At this rate, anyway. 

They also did a spinal tap to check for signs of infection in his nervous system and spine.  It’s all clear. HALLELUJAH! 

Lloyda was even able to change his diaper twice.  You should see the size of those things by the way.  Tineee-TINY. 

This is him under the light to prevent jaundice.  See his little hairy back?  So adorable.  He’s even sportin some snazzy eye protection “shades”. squeee!

AND OUR FIRST PICTURE TOGETHER:

Thanks Chris and Regan for your comments.  You two are so awfully sweet, sometimes I wonder how I could be so lucky to have friends like you.

I’ll keep you posted on any new developments.

~L

 

Welcome to the new addition to our family!

My baby sister Lloyda gave birth to a baby boy this past Saturday.

We had originally thought she was 16 weeks along, but according to the nurses at the hospital, she was more like 26 weeks.  We will never really know for sure.

It was a scary experience for everyone involved.  Baby came quickly and is now in the NICU at Centennial Hospital (the best in the region for preemies). 

I got a call from a nurse at Southern Hills Hospital early Saturday morning (6:30am).  She told me that my sister is having her baby and to come to the hospital RIGHT NOW!  I hurried out the door, calling my mom and brother to come over and stay with my kids (Danny was at work).  The drive over was torture.  All I kept thinking was “It’s too early, it’s too early, it’s too early”…  I was minutes away from the hospital when the nurse called back.  She told me to just head over to Centennial Hospital (about 15 miles away) where they are transporting her via ambulance (both calls, I heard Lloyda in the background screaming in pain!)  I took the quickest route I knew and arrived at Centennial the same time as the ambulance.  I saw them wheel her in on the guerney as I was running from the parking lot.  I asked a couple of people where they wouldv’e taken her and took the elevator to the fifth floor.  As soon as the door opened, I could hear Lloyda yelling down the hall and the nurse at the front desk told me that I could not go in.  I stood at the door and the room got quiet.  I was so nervous.  When they finally let me in, I walked into the room to see 5-6 other people in there and my poor little sister in her bed.  She started crying uncontrollably.  A nurse was at her side consoling her.  That same nurse said that babies born 26 to 28 weeks have a 95-98% chance of survival.  Amazing.  The baby was in the small bed for the newborns while two nurses hovered over him.  I couldn’t see him at first, but when they wheeled in another bed with a plexiglass enclosure, the two nurses moved aside so that baby can be moved into that bed.  HE WAS TINY!  At first glance I saw Lloyda’s face.  He was dark-complected and quite normal-looking.  They had him wrapped in plastic and a nurse held a oxygen pump to his little face.  And off he went into the NICU.

We didn’t get to see him for another 2 hours.  When we finally did, Lloyda and I got to touch him and really see him.  He’s a miracle. 

Let me introduce you to Francisco Kitiona:

This little guy will be in the NICU for about 10 weeks.  They will not release him until he can breathe on his own.  Lloyda was kept in the hospital for 2 nights (she gets out today). 

It’ll be a long road, but he will not be alone.  We’re looking forward to holding him and watching him grow into a strong, healthy man. 

Congratulations, Lloyda!  Welcome to mommy-hood.

Birth measurements:
2 lbs. 10 oz.
14.5 inches long

Happy Birthday, little Kit!

We love you.

~Aunty Lette

cute overload

=)

Spending some time looking at awesome photography on Flickr.  Found this little cutie and thought I’d share.

Be back soon, my lovelies!

~L