Meanwhile...

Not sure how to put it any other way, as if I would want to, but I love my life. I am a spoiled little brat. I take too many things and people for granted. I need to show more appreciation and gratitude to those that are literally helping me every step of the way and each and every day. 

Mom and Dad. 

If I was ever given the opportunity to give to you two anything and everything you ever wanted, I would do so in a second. I can never repay you guys for all that you do for me and the kids. We truly do have everything we need and even many things that we want because you two are so loving to us and know how to make us happy even in our darkest parts of our lives. But it is because of you two that our lives are the way that it is. From the home the we live in and might I add [rent free] along with the not having to pay utilities that we use. I know that it gets hard for you guys and I never know when its hard cause you guys dont want us to worry. That's one thing I love about you Mom, you are always telling us kids to be happy but to be smart about how we go about obtaining our happiness. You tell us to be smart and always put your faith in the Lord. To pay a full tithe and never come across a month where things are left unpaid or past due. To live an honest life. Mom, you have always told us kids that; "Lies are like balloons trying to stay under water, they always make their way to the surface." And that will always stick with me for the rest of my life and will most definitely relay to Tamara and Henele. Mom and Dad, thank you so much for absolutely EVERYTHING. I know I'm a burden with the circumstances that I have brought into the family but you still show your love unconditionally. I love you two much more then I you can imagine. 

Kuuipo, Nai, Sunshine and Teta

I love you guys soo much! Kuuipo and Nai, you two are and will always be Tamara and Heneles "second" parents. I know that if anything ever happens to me that I have left them with a great family. I trust you guys a lot more then I trust myself sometimes. Thank you guys for always giving the kids that foundation they need if  ever I lack on parenting skills. I know I drive you guys crazy yet you guys still stand by my side. Thank you for everything! 

Willy

Now, you I definitely take for granted and am truly sorry for that. You are always my go to guy for any spur of the moment babysitting when I want to go gym, zumba and school. Thank you so much for always never saying no. I know you hate doing it cause you have other tasks to get done but you always do it anyways cause I know how much you love my little family. Thanks bro. You really are a big part of our lives and how we get by each day. And I know I will really understand how much I take you for granted as soon as you go out and serve. Thank You Willy! We love you more then you know.

Gratitude is something we end to bypass as the days go by. We all get caught up doing our daily tasks that we forget about the little things. And I'm sure there's no one person out there that can remember gratitude each and every day, well maybe the monks. But what I'm getting at is that today, I have been looking at myself and thinking of all the many blessing I have each and every day. I may not show it but it's something that I'm going to work on so that no one person feels that I am not grateful. 

Aside from my gratitude here are a few updated pics from the last couple events to keep my blog current. Enjoy!

Teta's baseball season has begun and he is an amazing Catcher!! I love going to his games!

Spring Saturdays we as a family go skating at Liberty Park and play baseball at a local Elementary School near home. This way we keep our family close and our accounts positive. lol

Les took me and Tamara to the Bruin bash and it was oh so fun! Tamara loved every second of it.

What they do in the car instead of say Cheese

Cousin Lasi Graduation from Slcc with her AA Degree. Super ups to her cause she hasn't even graduated from Hunter High yet. 

We are the dedicated cheer squad for the Monster Crew. With teta playing baseball and Christina, Jay and Sunshine playing soccer we do our best to make each game to show our support. =)

Went shopping with this bundle of joy and this is how long the line was. We are practically in one of the isles at Ross and havent even made it to the line by the registers. 

Viva La Juicy supporting our Soccer players one saturday morning. Love this chick!

My little Dancer training.

Mothers Day Dinner on Deck. An Annual Favorite for us all.

Peek a Boos and Eye Pokes are their specialty.

Took this big guy to get his Wisdoms taken out. lol tried to hide from the camera but only true big sisters know the right time to take the pic. =)

One of the recent books I read. Loved it. Diana Palmer is a Romance Novelist and I totally love her work!

That's a wrap! =)

My Growing Henele

Now that Henele is fully walking and turning that corner of baby to toddler. [teary eyed]. I honestly can't believe how fast the time has gone. He will be 2 this December and I am just in awe at how much progress he has made. Since his first birthday he has learned to walk, climb, run, and he is now beginning to pull out a few words. A few words he says is,

"ba ba" [bye bye]
"ta tu" [thank you]
"sasa' [sasa]

And a whole lot of baby giberish. His grunts are the most hilarious things ever. He will be sitting in his carseat and as we are driving he will grunt and then I'll say "Henele!" then he goes "uuhhh"... It really is funny. Everytime I walk towards him at my moms house he laughs and runs as fast as he can in the opposite direction. He always thinks I'm trying to take him back to the back house. He loves to stay with my mom.

He is truly a Grandma's Boy. A lot of times when it's just me and Tamara leaving the house, we will come home and my mom will say how he started crying when he realized that we left. But now when me and Tamara are in the car just about to pull out and we are [trying] to get Hene in the car is turns away cause he wants to stay with Grandma.

Such a silly boy. Sometime I'll be on my laptop and I will turn and look at him, when he sees me looking at him he starts to laugh and run toward me. He is always trying to find a way to play with you.

He now understands the concept of sleeping. He will go grab a pillow when he is tired and pull it to the floor then lay down on it to sleep. [Tamara did the same thing] He is always tearing apart the garbage bin and throwing our garbage everywhere. He loves to pull down all the books from the shelf just to throw them on the floor. And he loves to take out all his toys from the bucket just cause he knows I will tell Tamara to pick them all up. [yes, he knows what he is doing].

He knows that when he is playing with Tamara and starts to cry, I am always screaming at Tamara with the blame. [so wrong] He loves to throw. I mean throw! Of all the toys in the toy box he will almost always grab a ball.

The one thing I absolutely adore about my little man, is his [smile]. His smile really makes me melt. I could be so mad at him for whatever and with his little smile, I don't care instantly.

There really is a [special] bond between a mom and her son. I totally get my moms position when my brothers do stupid things.

Well. Henele is my hero, my muscle, my everything. They both really complete me.

My Little Diva

Tamara is now pulling out full sentences. I'm actually surprised with how extensiver her vocab is for her age. I try and think back to when the older kids (teta, chrstina, jay and sunshine) were at her age and what they were doing at the time, but I can't recall. A few things I just adore about the newly evolving Tamara Leethee:

Example 1.
"Mom, what's your favorite color?" - "Purple" - "Thats weird" - "Tamara, what's your favorite color?" [puts her index finger to the corner of her mouth and gives me that look of "deep thinking"] - "Ummm PINK!"

Example 2
[As we are driving on the road] "Mom" "Mom" "Mom" 'Mom" "MOM" "MOM" "MOM!!!!!!!" - "Tamara!" - "What?" - "What it is?" - "I love you." [super guilty feeling insert here]

Example 3
[Combing her hair in the morning] "Mom! I'm so excited!" - "Ya, why?" - "I love THE CROODS" - "Oh ya?" - "Ya, and me and Sunshine go watch The Croods and have it all the Popcorn and it was so so FUN!" - "That is sooo awesome Tamara!" - "Ya, Fank you Mommy for taking me to The Croods." - "Youre Welcome."

Example 4
[Getting out of the Car] "Mom, I can't open the door." - "Tamara, you can do it." - [over exaggerated grunt and opens the door] - "See mom, I can open the door." - "I told you." - "Mom, I can't carry the diaper bag, its soo heffy." - "Yes you can." [carries the bag]

Example 5
"Mom, can I go ride my bike?" - "Did you pick up all your toys and put your books on the shelf?" - "No." - "Then no, you can't go ride your bike." - "But mom, I have to go ride my bike!" - "Do you want me to take your bike back to the store?" - "No." - "Then go pick up your Toys! Now!" - "Ok."

Example 6
[Getting in the car] "Tamara, buckle your seat belt." - "Mom, I cant do it." - "Yes you can." - [grunt] "Mom, its too heffy." - "Tamara, you can do it." - [click] "Mom, I buckle my seat belt." - "Good job Tamara"

I could go on and on about the little convos me and Tamara have. They are so special to me. Watching her make new changes in her growth and her understanding, I have to say that I am proud. I think right now, Tamara is doing such an incredible job. Yes, she has that diva attitude, but I love that diva attitude because that little Diva is MINE!

She has come a long way with me and for all that I have put her through, I am truly grateful. Lately, Leroy has been trying to mend things between us to try and fix our family. But for me, I am pretty set on not turning back. Just the thought of how my life was back then really puts a damper on my day. I hated it. I don't want it. This morning Tamara woke up crying her eyes out. I asked "Tamara, whats wrong?" She said, "I miss my Daddy." That right there really makes me hate him more. To see her go through feelings like this cause of him really hurts. I know she doesn't understand why we aren't together. But in time I hope she can understand my position and not hate me so much cause her Dad isn't around. I have asked myself if I do see us together again for our kids as a happy family. But I honestly do not see it. I see all the fighting, the screaming, it's just not the life I want. They say, "time heals all wounds" but I think by the time my wound could heal, I would have already moved on. Sucks right?

Well There's a Tamara 101 for you. I Love my Tamara!