Recently...

There has been a lot happening recently around here. So here goes one of my marathon catch up posts.  

 Hema has been at Wood Badge Scout Training. This goes without saying but, 6 days without him are no fun at all! He is having a great time and learning a lot though!

 Hema was pleased to find his first ever dollar from the tooth fairy for that tooth he lost.

 Hema and his friend Luke at the TGP Gardens. We sure do spend a LOT of time over there.

 Cora with some tulips. 

 The kids with tulips. These pictures were taken after the tulip festival ended. Seems like the flowers are always prettiest after the festival. 

 More tulips in the Secret Garden. 

This is what I saw when I got Cora  out of the car last week. Vela decided to share her chocolate chip cookie with her sister. Cora could not have been more pleased!

 This week they celebrated Hema's birthday at school. Since he has a summer birthday they just pick a random day. He decided on full sized candy bars for his classmates for the treats. 

 Hema with the pretty roses he picked out for me for Mothers Day. 

Beautiful Mothers Day flowers from Krychele!

 Hema needed to make a car out of a box for his Drive Inn movie tomorrow at school. Here is what he and his dad came up with.

 He loves it!

And finally, here are the newest additions to our household. Kim bought these awesome caterpillars for us and soon the will form a chrysalis and then become painted lady butterflies. IT is pretty amazing. They were really tiny caterpillars just a few days ago and now they are huge! The kids love them and can't get enough of them! So fun! Thanks Kim!

If you made it this far you deserve a treat! 

A Big Day for Hema!!

Today has been such an exciting day for my sweet Hema. He has had a wiggly tooth since Sunday and it was so loose this morning when he showed it to me, I pulled it right out! He was thrilled to have lost his first tooth. 

 Showing the tooth he lost!

And to top it off, the tooth next to it is loose now too! This little boy is getting big way to fast!

Then later today Hema learned to ride his bike with no training wheels. He tried it out last week and did pretty good, but then didn't ride for a week so today he got a little refresher course and was off and riding   and loving it! Here is a little video of him today! 

It seems like just yesterday that Katie placed this handsome brown eyed baby in my arms, now he is growing up so very fast. Hema has a zest for life that is contagious. He is so much fun to have in our family and is such a great older brother. We couldn't ask for a better boy!  

Oh and last thing, check out this adorable furry little bundle of joy! My newest nephew Pita was born on Monday night. Congrats to Pete and Fatai! He is perfect! Have you ever seen so much hair? 

Mother's Day!

Mother's Day is such an emotional holiday for me. I longed for so many years to be a mother and I am so very grateful for a day to celebrate motherhood. But at the same time I am aware of how difficult it is for so many others around me. I know it can be a hard day for people in so many different situations. I have friends and family who are hoping to adopt, trying to get pregnant, have recently miscarried, who have not had the chance to get married, and those who have placed their babies for adoption. I know what it is like to cry and wish for a different situation on Mother's Day. To all those sweet women that I know who are hurting today my prayers go out that you will be comforted and at peace! 

The greatest mother I know is my own mom. She is amazing in every way. She raised 8 children who tested and tried her emotionally, physically, spiritually and mentally. I have always wanted to be a mother because of the kind of mother I have. She is an example to me in every way and if I can be half the mother she is, I will have been successful! Mom, I am so sorry that I was such a pain in my teenage years. I had to learn a lot of things the hard way. Thanks for always believing in me and seeing me for who I could be! You really are the best! 

The next wonderful mother in my life is my other mom, Hema's mother. She has loved me as one of her own since the beginning. Never have I felt like and "in-law" with her. I have heard a lot of  jokes and complaints about mother-in-laws through the years, but I can honestly say I don't understand that. I love my Katoa mom as my own! She is so talented and such a sweet grandmother. Not to mentioned she raised the most amazing son ever. I am so very blessed to have her as my mother too!

This weekend we got to see these three amazing mothers. The first mothers of our sweet children. I love to see my children interact with their birth mothers. Their courageous decisions are the reason I am celebrating today. I love you ladies so very much!! Words cannot express how grateful I am for you! 

***Grrrr! I can't get this picture to rotate!!!!***

And of course I am so grateful that I get to be a mother! These 3 little ones have brought me more joy and happiness than anything else could. I love them so much! 

Happy Mother's Day!!!!!

3 of the Most Amazing Women I Know...

...made an incredibly selfless and difficult decision out of love for their precious babies, and chose adoption. Words can not express my gratitude and love to these 3 women. I think of you every single day. I pray for you every single day. Your names are honored in our home. I love you! Your children love you! Today and everyday we celebrate your choice of adoption! Thanks you for choosing our family. Thank you for making me a mother too! It is my greatest joy!

 Katie and Hema in April

 Chelise and Vela in February

Krychele and Cora last week

Words are insufficient to express my feelings! Love you women sooo very much! And lots of love to all my other sweet birth mother friends! You women amaze me! Have a great Birth Mothers Day and a Happy Mother's Day! 

Katie and Planet Play

I have a lot of pictures that I am behind on blogging from the last month, but was surprised that somehow I hadn't blogged our last visit with Katie. Hema was thrilled as always to see his sweet birth mother. She is such a beautiful and amazing woman and we all love her so much. Hema chose to go to Planet Play, which is the new name for Incredible Pizza. 

 We had a great time eating pizza and playing games!

 Hema loved crashing into Katie and making her laugh! 

 Cora loved this little carousel. 

 So did Vela. 

 The kids having a a little friendly competition. 

 Vela always wants to go on this but isn't quite tall enough. At the end the worker let her on and she was so happy to ride the big kid ride! 

We had a great time with Katie! We all love her so much, especially Little Hema. I adore this picture.  Just look at how very loved Hema is. You can see in his face that he knows Katie loves him and he is happy! I've probably said it a million times, but I'll say it again....so very grateful for open adoption!!!

Teacher Appreciation Week

This week is teacher appreciation week at Hema's Elementary school. His teacher has been fabulous this year. Hema has loved kindergarten! Since I am the room mom I was in charge of decorating his classroom door and a few other things throughout the week. I went in last week and we did the handprint owls for each of the kids. It didn't turn out exactly how I had envisioned it in my mind, but overall I think it was still cute! 

 I LOVE any handprint art that kids make!

I can't get enough of these cute owls. If you have a birthday or other special occasion coming up, you might just be getting a little owl of your own from my kiddos! 

Cora's New Trick

I don't really remember Little Hema or Vela ever putting all their food in their hair, but Cora loves it! Sometimes I wonder if between what gets in her hair and on the floor, anything even makes it into her mouth. But she is in the fun stage where she wants to do it all by herself, so for now she is just getting lots of baths! 

 The face of an angel!

She thinks she's pretty funny! Good thing we love her so much!