End of the Year Achievements

Today the kids' school had an awards assembly. We were called and made aware that Micah would be getting an award, so Randy and I made sure we were present and ready with a lei.



Micah was awarded a Citizenship Award.

During the assembly, Tyler received an Academic Award. That was a pleasant surprise. Of course I quickly ran across the street to get him a lei as well.

The boys were surprised that we were there with lei's ready. Good job Micah and Tyler.

Shrek, Video Games, and Ice-Cream . . .

What do all these things have in common ------ Tyler's Birthday!
Last week was Tyler's birthday, but he wanted to see the new Shrek movie with his friends. So he patiently waited for opening day. I think his birthday was an overall success.
Dinner was a spread of some of Tyler's favorites: BBQ Teriyaki Chicken, Teri Burgers and all the fixings, chips, tater tots, veggies. It was good! Thanks dad for BBQing it all.

After dinner we headed out to the movies.

There were so many of us, we had to do two runs from our house to the theater.

Tyler and his friends, waiting for Shrek IV to start.

We let Micah bring along a friend (a brother of one of Tyler's friends). These two are hyper-goofballs.

After the movies, it was time for ice-cream. Tyler's not a big fan of birthday cake. He requested instead an ice-cream bar.

Mmmmmm. Yummy toppings.

The boys stayed up really, really late playing video games and then were up before 6am I think. One of the boys had to leave early, so they all had an early breakfast. I apologize now if they're grouchy later. Of course we all know that's what we sign up for when it comes to sleep overs.

More video gaming! The boys actually did a lot of other things as well. The rode around on their bikes, played legos, had a war with all the nerf guns in the house.

Here they are before disbanding this morning. They are all in our ward. We are thankful that Tyler has good friends!

Tyler for President

Tyler was approached by the advisor for Student Body Government and encouraged to run for President for the next school year. He thought about it, asked the advisor who else was running. She said only 3 other girls. He smiled and said yes he would. He came home and explained what happened and then explained that he had good odds, "The girl votes are going to be split while I get all the boy votes, so I think I have a good chance of winning." Hmmmm. Smart thinking.

So the campaign began. Rules at Kahuku elementary were that the children had to make their own posters from scratch. The only thing comptuerized could be their picture. So Tyler set to work, after a couple of tries, he came up with this big poster for the cafeteria and 5 mini ones to put in different classrooms. He asked kids to vote for him. He was getting excited.

Yesterday, was the big day. All the candidates had to give a speech in front of the entire 3rd, 4th, and 5th grades. He wrote his speech the night before and practiced and practiced until he had it memorized. He didn't want an ordinary speech. He wanted his to be different and a little more audience involved. Here's his speech:

Aloha Boys and Girls!

My name is Tyler Sasaki and I'm running for Student Body President.

Awesome assemblies, is that what we want?! (audience: YEAH!)

Fun student activities, is that we need? (audience: YEAH!)

I want to make it the best year ever for you all, but to do that I need you to vote for me!

So when I say "VOTE FOR" you say "TYLER!"

VOTE FOR (audience: TYLER!)

VOTE FOR (audience: TYLER!)

VOTE FOR (audience: TYLER!)

Vote me!

Tyler for president. Thank you!

I was able to watch him give his speech. I was sooooooo nervous for him, but he did it. He did it all from memory, and delivered it well. I think he was surprised that the kids actually responded with enthusiasm at all the right parts. That night he was glad that the speech part was done, but anxious to find out the results.

One of the girls had dropped out, leaving it to be two girls and Tyler. After watching the speeches, it was obvious that the competition was between Tyler and one of the girls. There was equal cheering when each took their turn to speak.

The results were posted this morning. Tyler was in such a hurry to get to school. We got over there as soon as we could. He looked at the list and saw that the other girl had won.

Seeing the look of disappointment and hurt in his eyes was one of those moments that go on my "hard-to-be-a-mom" list. I told my husband that sassy and disobedient kids, I can handle and get over, but when they hurt, that kills me. I really hurt that day for my son.

He was sad for the day. We still went out for ice-cream. We explained to Tyler that we were proud of him for being courageous and willing to do something like that. Even though he lost, I know he gained great experience from it all. He still has that desire to be involved with his school. We'll figure out something. We are proud of you Tyler!

**In case you were wondering, cause we were. The girl who won had about 140 votes and Tyler had about 110, the other girl had 20. He gave her good competition I thought.

Happy Birthday Tyler!

Today, Tyler turned 11 years old. I can't believe he is that old already. While today is his birthday, we are waiting till Shrek 4 comes out. He chose to celebrate his birthday by going to the movies with his friends. But I still wanted to post something about him.

He is a great kid. Very helpful, loves legos (he can build almost anything with them), and Star Wars, he is a smart boy, great Cub Scout, brother and son. He is hilarious! If you have ever heard him talk, you would start laughing at the things he says. He is thoughtful and tries to help others.

Happy Birthday Tyler!!!

Happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to you all! I just had to write down about what a wonderful mother's day I had. Again, no pictures ---- I know, it's driving me crazy. We are getting one this week. Anyhow, I still wanted to write down about it. It was more like a Mother's Day Weekend for me. Friday night, Randy took me over to PCC. They were having a Mother's Day special where you can eat at the Ambassador restaurant and then see the night show. We had never seen the new night show, so I was all for it. It was really nice!! The food was sooooooo good! We were definitely stuffed! We walked around PCC for a bit before the show started. We seated ourselves for the show and it began. It was really good! I was a little skeptical at first when I heard how much of a change it was, but I have to say I really enjoyed it! We'll probably take our kids during the summer to see it.

Saturday wasn't anything real special, but we did all the things I want to do on a Saturday. We were all up kind of early, had breakfast, read scriptures, had prayer, then went outside to do some way much needed yard work. We were all out there as a family pulling weeds, talking, cracking jokes, having fun. We took a break and headed inside and made sure the house was clean. Then we jumped in the car and headed out for the many errands we had to accomplish. We amazingly got everything done. But boy were we exhausted!!!!

Sunday morning, I was woken up by Tyler who pushed a bowl of eggs in front of me and said, "Careful mom, don't spill the appetizers." LOL! He is so funny. I sat up, had my eggs, then the rest of the kids brought in pancakes and fruit. It was delicious! A little later in the morning during all my business to get ready for church, the kids all gave me a card. It was sweet. We got ready for church, but prior to leaving, Randy took out a lei to give me! I love wearing lei's, not sure why. I guess it makes me feel special. It was a very pretty lei, purple and white. It matched what I was wearing. We went to church, where it was the usual busy day, a little more so for me. Between playing the organ, conducting the primary kids in their musical number and doing singing time in primary, the day definitely went fast. After church we headed for grandma's to drop off her gift. She's so sweet, she made us dinner. That was a great Mother's Day present for me!!! We always love visiting with them. We have fun every time. I also got to visit with Julie (Randy's sister). We had fun as well.

It was an awesome Mother's Day! I am truly blessed with the children and husband that I have!!

Updates down below

The Last Song

On my way home from SLC, I bought the book "The Last Song". I wanted something to read. I really enjoyed it. Of course because I really like the book, I was dying to go see the movie. So @ the last minute, Leigh and I jumped in the car and headed down to the theater to watch it. It was the last night that I could watch it before it was gone.
Leigh and I both loved it. I do have to say that I still love "A Walk to Remember" better. Still, the story was great and of course sad at the same time. I just love having a daughter that's old enough to go out and do things like this. We enjoyed our mother-daughter time together.