back. again.

I forget.

Technology has changed soo much since my last blogging attempt that I'm just now Realizing I can do this on the go ON MY PHONE. DUH! So here I go again. Making a resolve to keep this current. This is- after all- my only form of record keeping. Here's to more successful blogging days! Yay! (Check out my cute ha little munchkin. He likes to play peek-a-boo at 5 a.m. lucky mommy!)

and soon we'll be SEVEN...

Yep. You've seen right.
Our family is GROWING, and early next year we will be 7. YAY!!!
All my life I've dreamt of what I wanted to be when I grow up. A few months ago, I quietly thought to myself, the kids will be in school now, FINALLY I'll be able to do it. LUCKY for me, I was quickly reminded of my true dream. To hold a newborn baby in my arms. To care for it. Love it. Nuture it. Protect it. To be a mother. It is what I've been soooo blessed to be for the last 12 years. What a amazing opportunity to try my hand at again. It almost feels brand new. lol!

We feel pretty blessed!!!!!

calculating a whole lotta.....

i'm still up. staring at these numbers. wishing they were GREEEEEN (like the refund i wished i was getting) instead of bright red. blah! argh!...

whatever. taxes SUCK. super SUPER suuuper bigtime.

today i walked. a good brisk [4.2 treadmill speed] walk. well... if it were up to me i'd be snailin' it, but i had to keep up with ms. d and her two babies. she walks just about as fast as she talks. fast. i love it. but today i was feeling reallllllly slow. and beads of sweat dripped down my face as i paced my breath with each step, while also pushing the ds playing 4 yr old, who was dragging his toes on the concrete then stroller wheel breaking my stride (why must they always wanna drag their feet?? no fail??). came home and was totally pooped. i don't get it. i ran a good 5 miles the other morning and felt ready to conquer the world, but today.... completely flopped on my bed, turned on dora and knocked out. it was pathetic.

it's when i feel pathetic to my own expectations that my kids kindly remind me of my purpose. i woke to my little man's arms around my neck whispering..."mom. i have a secret." too sweetened to get upset with the r.e.m interruption i responded, "what is it, baby??". "mommy. i love you so much." followed with kisses all over the face. cheeks. nose. forehead. lips. 2 x's over. Ahhhh!!.... like butter i melted. MEL- ted. my self loathing quickly dissipated and i grabbed his small frame and squeezed him til he giggled and squealed to escape my tightened hold. i love these babies of mine. so much so... it sounds grossly mushing and gooey and almost too much to handle. but it's the honest truth.

i grabbed the older kids from the bus and waited for j to get home from work. i decided then that we were gonna have a great day. all of us (momma's can do that ya know. lol!). we went out as a family for dinner, then played in the backyard with the kiddos.



j got in on the fun too...



i love seeing his "playdough" (a name so kindly gifted his dreads by a friend of Moe's) locks in action.

i thought to myself:

who the heck cares about anything else??

RUNNING vs. WALKING... does it really matter?? as long as you're moving. right??

TAXES. pft! i imagined simba, "hah hah hah! i laugh in the face of danger!" (replacing it with TAXES). lol. ok- it's late. i'm amused.

nothing else seems to matter.



happy weekend!!!!

back to black.

i have taken a loooong hiatus from this site... i even forgot my password and name. lol! life has definitely been crazy on this end. but, gladly, i see a light at the end of the tunnel.

yesterday i rattled off to a good friend my 'to-do' list for today. wake. scriptures. breakfast. school drop off. preschool drop off. run. home cleaning. dinner prep and cook. preschool pick up. home cleaning. office organizing. hubby home/ serve dinner. bus pick up. serve dinner (again). piano. scout drop off. scout pick up.... by the time this is done it is 8:45... that's if I wasn't stopped in the hallway to chit chat about this and that and who and where.

THIS had been my life since my last post. I am beat. red. but just like a good run on a hot sunny day... the reward is realizing you made it. the run is over. your time is better. and you feel stronger. (although some days do drag on... just like a good run.) but you feel better. like you can handle it all.

anywho, the light at the end of the tunnel is leaving me with mixed emotions.



my BABY (the little monkey, front and CENTER) will be going to school this august. i'm feeling a bit anxious. not for him... because he's been ready to be out, doing his own thing. the anxiety is for moi. WHAT in the heck am I gonna do at home while ALL the kids are away?? THIS has been my life for the last 11+ years. along side my photography... all i've surrounded my life with has been pregnancy, nursing and rearing these babies. it's been amazing. it's been HARD. it's been sooo much fun... but i'm not quite sure what's next.

in the next few months my plan is to chronicle my experience of approaching this next phase.

new baby?... new project?... new job?...

who knows.... all i know is i wanna take it all back. back to black.

I heard him come...

A little rendition by cousins beautiful little girls living in Hawaii, singing this for their Grandma (my Aunty) and Aunty Nau....

SOOOOO adorably cute and talented, just like their Mommy and Aunt, talented vocalist.



You have to hear it!!!- go ahead, push play!!!

Hey people!!!

What's UPPPPPP???

It's been FOREVER since I last posted on this blog, because... well, I've been in the process of creating my own for my photography- and I am FINALLLY up and running (still figuring a few quirks)...but YEAH-WHOOOOOOO!!!!!

Anywho- Come by and take a look! I'd love to see you there.

maelephotoblog.com

or click HERE!!!!

Remembered...

No one else in the industry had the influence to gather together such amazing musical greats into ONE room. Ever. I remember watching this on our huge console in the early eighties and having my mom record it on VHS so we could watch it over and over and sing. What an great memory that was. We felt so empowered. So moved to make a change... and were just little kids then.



For my great-grandmothers 80th birthday in '83 my brother busted the move onstage with "Billy Jean". It was brand spankin' new. And Will was so hip and hop at the young age of nine. He had the get-up, sequins gloves, penny loafers w/ gym socks, red leather jacket. Moon walk. It was awesome. I was screaming like a fan when I saw my bro perform. I can't imagine what it must've been like to see Michael on stage for real. But it doesn't really matter, I felt his music. I LOVED his music. Regardless of the controversy surrounding him in the latter part of his life, no one can contest the fact that he made a difference for good.

Don't care what anyone else says. His music inspiring. His life interesting. His passion, evident. He will be remembered here.

(gotta turn off Na Drua to hear this musical great!)

Just spreadin' the W. O. R. D!

W- we're gonna HEAR
O- Original, Outstanding (yeah... it's the new word! lo!)
R- REGGAE
D- 'Dis weeeeeekend! (yeah- this JULY 4th Weekend.. lol! I know this acronym is not rollin'!)

But it doesn't matter... because we're so excited to see Na Drua/ Sons of Manasseh and Maxi Priest in CONCERT. LIVE. at the HOUSE OF BLUES!!! .

SO ultra excited to have Jared hear them live!!!

If island reggae is your jam, come and join us!!!!

HAPPY 4th!!!!

Cherry Plum HUNGRY...

I guess my kids thought that my silly "I was SO hungry" story during my latest wedding shoot was pretty sad. So they excitedly came into my office today to share with me their latest find.

"MOM! Look what we got!", handing me a bag of deep purple cherry plums. "We got these just for you... so that next time you're taking pictures you won't be hungry!"

I had to laugh and thank and hug them each for their sweet gift. And, as they anxiously watched, I took a bite. Wasn't bad... a little sweet, a little sour. But they were satisfied that it would curb my rumbling belly during a shoot. Bless their hearts!

"Thanks you guys!" I hollered as they headed back outside to find more treasure.



I love summer days. I love my thoughtful kids and think they are pretty outstanding. And I think Cherry Plums will always have a sweet and satisfying memory in my mind... and belly!

R U Listening?... It could all work out!

Today I had a conversation with my daughter Lu. I was sitting at my desk, where I've literally been for the past few days, when she crawled underneath, kicked up her feet and began to talk:

'Mom, I need to get my shoes from Aunty Sarah's"

"Uh, huh!"

"Uhm. Mom. Can I bring boardgames to school?"

"Uh. sure."

"Cause all the 4th graders are coming to our class and we're playing games"

silence

"Mom."

"MOM!"

"Are you listening?"

"Yes, Lu!"

"Tomorrow. My class is gonna have a party. And it might be a donut party, a popcorn party or an ice cream party. Cause if... if we have 10 balloons for everybody that's here for ten days then we can have a party"

"But Mrs. 'O' is gonna surprise us. And we're gonna know it."

"Know what Lu?!"

"Know what party we're gonna have"

"Oh."

"Mom, can we go tomorrow and watch ALL DOGS GO TO HEAVEN 2?"

"All Dogs Go To Heaven is stup*d!" pipes Emi from the other room.

"Emi... we don't say that!"

Emi: "I don't care."

Shaking my head. But still not moving.

"Mom, can you please... PLEEEZE come with us to the baseball game tomorrow?"

"Pleease!"

"How Jocey?!. Who's going to stay with Moe and Emi?"

" 'Cause you could take Moe to Aunty Des and Emi over to Aunty Sarah's. Let's do it mom...... it could ALL work out !!! Com'on!!!"

By then the guilt of being GLUED to my desk has hit me. I resolve to spend more QT when they are home with me, and hope that my NINE year old daughter doesn't have to kick up her feet under my desk to get my attention. My work will be here when they're sleeping... and it WILL all work out!!!

At the HOP!

The kids' school had another FABULOUS end of the year performance!!! I am so impressed with the efforts from the musical staff, the involved parents willing to create such great costumes!!! and the KIDS for putting forth 100% for their performance.











It was 50's themed and they also had a little 'back to the future' production. The little numbers kept all the audience giggling and laughing.

Thank you again RS for such an awesome night!!!!



And having your best girlfriends there, performing right beside you, makes it all the better!!!

a DECADE of....

TEN years have come and gone... SO...FAST!!!





And I love him even MORE today than I did in the beginning.
Happy Anniversary Jared!!! I love and adore you to the MOON and back!!!

Utah or BUST!!!

So this past weekend I had a grip load of photo shoots lined up in Utah with my cousin and fellow photographer, Seini . I was SO excited to finally have some time to concentrate on my work. Uninterrupted. But I felt like all the odds were against me. I woke at 4 am Friday to drive down the hill, pick up the sitter in time to make it to the airport to board my 7am flight. Out of JOHN WAYNE... or so I thought. I was SO prepared, map quested the directions, had EVERYTHING packed and ready to go. Not until I arrived at the airport and circled and circled then stopped and asked Skycap "Do you know which terminal JETBLUE is in". He looks confused then says "Oh... you're looking for LONGBEACH international". I was SO dying. It was 6:15 and I had 15 mins to book it to LONGBEACH without killing anyone in the process. I'm embarrassed to say that I arrived at 6:30, then took, I swear, ONE minute to drag my bags to the check-in counter just to have the Rep say "Sorry Ma'am, you've missed your flight by FIVE minutes." . "O. "OH. MY. GOosH!!... you're kidding?!" I beg, almost thinking in my head I could offer a free shoot if she'd PLEEEEEZE S T O P the P L A N E!!! I'm so sure I looked that ugly... I didn't really care, I just wanted to GET there. Thankfully the counter agent could see my desperation and plight and agreed to reroute my ticket to leave out of San Diego and arrive in Salt Lake at 4:30, just in time for our scheduled 5pm LADY STEELERS shoot. So I agreed and my adventure to UTAH began:

Board the Metro to the Am Trak station in Anaheim my two duffle's and studio equipment bags in tow.

Sit at the AmTrak station trying to kill 1 1/2 hours.

Pull out my cam and take pics of the station, only to have 3 security guards ask me to NOT take pictures because of the security risk on the other passengers. "You're kidding, right?!" I say "Nope. We're NOT kidding" they tell me sternly... and yet a whole bunch of tourists are taking pics of the gorgeous Spanish architecturally influenced station with their POINT and SHOOTS. Whatever?! I think... then head outside to discretely take shots only to have FIVE guards come out and ask me to stop taking pictures, that I'll need to speak to their manager OR pay a FEE. What the freak?! Didn't you just say it was a security risk??? AND Isn't this public property?! I think this to myself then realize that they are serious and I didn't wanna get arrested. Whatever... I couldn't pretend I was only amateur with the humongerous cam body in my hand. So I obliged and tucked away my treasured cam. I've learned the bigger your cam, the more stickler people become about you taking images on their property. Totally stinks when you're just playin' around. I did catch a few though. lol!:



Board the Am Trak for the two hour train ride along the coast. First time I'd ever been on a train.

Really anxious for arrival. I had dreams the whole time that I missed my stop and FLIGHT from SAN-SLC.
Luckily it did NOT happen.

Unloaded the Train then haul everything to the bus stop to go to the airport.

checked in at the counter. Go through security then get body searched (happens EVERY time- it's this darn Hawaiian bracelet that slipped on my hand in my slimmer days and now can't come off. ANOTHER hold-uplol!)

Almost miss my flight waiting on Jamba Juice to Pleeeze mix a quick smoothie then book it down the terminal.

FINALLY get on the flight and arrive in SLC!!!!

Meet up with my peeps. Get AMAZING images from the photo sessions.

Go to my cousin's graduation party where I hear the tiiiiightest reggae/island jam band since Fiji, Na Drua . Listen to "BE YOUR MAN", sooo my kinda jam! (Just had to throw that in there. lol!)

Then returned back home. Safe and sound.


Total images captured: 3,578
Total hours of sleep over the weekend: 7

I was SOO POOPED! Still am. One day I'll catch up. But I am SO glad I made it. It was SO completely worth all the hassle to get some AMAZING images... a lot even SOOC! Hooray.... and thanks Sein for making it all possible!!!

I dun eed it

Moe's headed off to the father/son camp this weekend and can't wait.
So I told him to get ready and pack his stuff.
This is what he came up with:

1 spiderman undie
1 sock (w/o it's match)
pack of leftover crackers from two sunday's ago
and these shades.

"But Moe, whatta 'bout your pajamas, and shoes and goodies for the game."

"I dun eed it" he states in a low masculine/manly voice.

I'm laughing hoping I remember all the funny stuff that comes outta his mouth.

Ohhh boy!, what on earth am I gonna do with you???

All the way to SPACE!

I sat at my desk one night. After dinner was done, dishes washed, floors cleaned and kiddos tucked in bed.

I found that my son discovered the cool "PhotoBooth" feature on my mac. Then proceeded to view the crazy fun he was having as I was away doing all the things that mommies do (you know: cutting, prepping, saute-ing, cooking, cleaning... again, washing, folding, making, wiping, bathing, dressing, clearing, scolding, discussing, reading, prayers, tucking, kissing, closing... ahhh!). So after one of my average hectic days I came across this message:

(TURN OFF THE MUSIC AT THE BOTTOM TO HEAR SALO!)




and wanted to cry. But this kid makes me laugh more than cry. All the time.





















And that's a GOOD thing, 'cause this Momma is a cry baby. Especially around this time.

I feel so grateful to be enjoying this. Momma-hood. It's the best thing ever. It's hard. It's 24/7. It keeps me praying, hoping, dreaming, grateful. And I wouldn't change a thing. At all. I love being a Momma. And I am grateful for the children I have been blessed with. I am grateful too for your positive influence on my children's lives. For your time and service. Thank you!

Happy Momma's Day!!!!

THREE in THREE!

Can't believe my baby will be THREE in THREE months. Time sure does fly.

After my little Em, I thought that we were done. Seriously D O N E!

But I guess the Lord had other plans for us and we learned shortly in early 2006 that we would be expecting again. I was already 3 months by the time I found out. I was ELATED to find out I was carrying. Jared was excited to know I wasn't done. I knew this little man was special. And that our family needed him in our lives. He was such a wonderful bundle of sweetness and love bundled into one. He made us so happy. He still does. Even though homeboy decided to strip nakey on Sunday, roll around in the muddy/ grassy backyard, open the gate leading to the neighbors, open their slider and trail through their home and up the street STARK NAKEY! ALL in literally O N E minute. Seriously. Homeboy has NO shame. ever. He gives me a good run... everyday. He talks. Alot. and tries to boss his big sis's and bro around. Most of the time they just let him get his way. But other times he's up for a good fight.

We love him anyway. And are so SO happy to have him in our lives.

LOVE YOU MOE MOE! This year's party is at the beach...again. Join us if you can!!!!

Who is HOT?!

WHaHooooooo!!! is all I could hear as Jared flew in the door after work.

"Look L!, check this out!" he yells

I looked at him as he flips frantically through the pages of Sports Illustrated magazine.

"What? What's going on???" I asked

"Check it out!!!!!" he says as he points to Vikings player no. 38 (pictured) on the top of SI Who's Hot list.

"THAT is whaaaAAaAat I'm talkin' 'bout boooOOOOoooOOOooy!"

He carries on hootin' and hollerin'. By then I was laughing and hootin' and hollerin' tooo!!!

Fahu is Jared's little bro (technically first cuz but they were raised together) and we are so proud of all his HARD work this past season and wish him the BEEEESSSTTTT!!!!!!!

( All I kept thinking is, Dang, it must STINK to be on the Who's NOT list! lol!)

The winner is....

Congrats Tera on a pack of dipes and some undies. Send me the size(s) you want and your addy and I'll have those out in a jiffy!

Sarah expecting... take a peek!

ma'elePHOTO

I've GRADUATED!!!

Hoooray for meEEEEeeeeEEE!!!
No more stinkin' poopies, or filled to the brim dipes.
No more luggin' around huge-mongo bags of change, spit rags and sippies.
BECAUSE-
My little man Moe is POTTY-TRAINED. Officially.
And he says he's a BIG BOY!
He sits himself down for a potty.
And I couldn't be more elated!
Because I've spent the last NIIIIIIIIINE!!!! years of my existence cleaning up the stuff.
And I AM DONE!
Goodbye good 'ole Dipe Bag.
I am HAPPY to see you go.




In celebration I reeee-lax.
With my tall glass of Calli.
And vaguely remember the days of endless dipes and stinky change rooms.
I will enjoy this next diaper-less chapter.
YyeeeeeEEEEEeeeeSSSSSssss!!!!
So bring on the bedheads.
And messy faces... yes! wipies I will keep. Forever I'm sure.
But Dipes I bid a happy farewell!!!

Hip Hippeeee- HoooooraaaYYYYYyyy!!!!

In celebration I have three (3) packs of Spiderman undies (2t/ 3t/ 4t) to give away... PLUUUUS a BRAND NEW PACK OF dipes. You choose the size. Comment on whether you have/will celebrate or mourn the day YOUR baby graduates from dipes to undies.

Happy Sunday!!!!