Some Kala Fun

Kala boy is such a fun little guy.

When playing basketball he all of a sudden decided to shoot it backwards. He's so creative!

He and Kaulana had so much fun sitting at In N Out while I fed Benson in the car. Daddy son time... priceless.

He decided our little shoe rack by the door would actually be a nice seat while he put on his slippers. haha what can I say he's a thinker. 

 We don't have cement for our back porch so we decided to use the wall as a nice canvas for chalk time. Kala is sooo thrilled it's finally cooling down!

music in the park!!

I decided to surprise Kaulana with an evening at the park after a busy week of tests about a week ago. We had such a blast! I invited our friends and we had pizza, then fed the ducks, while the babies slept, we had planned on playing frisbee but then there just happened to be a free concert in the park! Jackpot! The kids had sooo much fun dancing and playing!

proof that Benson and Christian were actually with us... haha

he was too distracted to give me a real smile. funny boy

break dancing in the grass haha

Patience

This past week I have learned quite a few lessons on patience.

We'll start with Benson's lesson to me.
He loves to unlatch while eating. over and over and over. He'll eat for about four minutes before he unlatches. Then he just wants you to talk to him and play with him. and talk to him and smile. and talk to him. and talk to him. He LOVES the face to face connection. Well, anyone who knows me, or knows any mother in general knows that you don't have spare moments so I think he's just messing around so I put him down and continue making dinner or cleaning up or... whatever task needs to be done next! But sure enough five minutes later, he is SCREAMING. He thinks he's starving. He'll do this all day. I realized I need to practice a little PATIENCE! If I talk to him for a minute then guide him back to latch on HE'LL DO IT! Who would have thought if I would just relax and BE STILL he would eat. and on both sides! Then he is such a happy little boy and i can get soooo much more done!

Then there's Kala's lesson to me.
Since Benson was born and we moved and had all sorts of change... Kala has seemed to not listen anymore. very frustrating. I started trying to pay attention to all the little details. Trying to figure out how the heck i could help him. Well things got a little better when I just spent all my time playing with him. That worked but, I can't sit with him all day every day. That's just not possible. Then I figured out... IT WAS ME! The thing that had changed was the tight "leash" I put on Kala once Benson was born. I have been so uptight with trying to make sure everything still gets done and that Kala is anything but the crazy little boy that likes to make his own decisions. Well I've stopped being the helicopter parent that I seemed to turn into and have been practicing a little PATIENCE. I have been trying to wait to see how Kala is going to act in situations (unless they're dangerous of course). He has done sooo awesome. The other day we were having family prayer and Kala started getting up. Instead of stopping him, I just waited to see what he would do. Sure enough he got up and came to kneel right next to me. He really is such a sweet heart with the purest of intentions if I only give him to opportunity. He is one happy little boy now and is listening soo much better!!

my sweet boy was so tired! He hasn't done this since he was a baby!

Patience... something I'm not very good at but something I am definitely working on for both of my boys. I just need to take time to breathe in my days and the boys respond so much better. And yet, everything still gets done! Who would have thought!

5 questions

So I saw this very interesting blog post today on pinterest and decided Kaulana and I might really benefit from this as he gets into the thick of schools and is just so crazy busy. I want to keep falling in love with this man even more every day just like we have for the past, almost four years! We started today with implementing number one which is five questions that she and her husband have asked each other over the past few years. I can't wait to see how it benefits Mr. Akina and I. and I can't wait to implement the others as well!! I love him.

"cousins"

These are Kala's Shirley cousins. He LOVES them. He always asks to see Cooper which he calls "Pooper" and Tyson which he calls "Syson". We were so excited to get to have these sweet boys over this week and have some time with them! We love this sweet family and just can't get enough of these cute boys!

Shootin hoops in the living room!

Blessed Day

Benson's blessing day was so perfect. I couldn't have asked for a better day! He slept during the whole blessing. I am so grateful for the priesthood Kaulana holds. He gave Benson such a beautiful blessing. I know that Benson is loved by so many. He has so many amazing priesthood holders to teach him, and to lead him on the right path. I am so grateful for all the family and friends that were able to come and support our sweet little boy. My mom is incredible to top it all off. She pretty much made ALL of the food and made sure it was all ready while I fed and changed Benson. She is such an incredible woman. Benson is one lucky boy! (and as a side note Kala was DEVASTATED when all of his cousins left... that boy loves to play)

my sister and her family came up from tuscon and my brother and his wife (who is prego!) came all the way from logan, utah!

my dad made it from Oklahoma!

My mom and step dad were a huge help and came down from flagstaff!

I'm so grateful for my siblings and their families and the support they give to me. Family pictures with kids add adventure and provide for the BEST pictures! haha

the priesthood holders that came to support us and help bless our sweet Benson

All the fam that made it out! Kaulana's dad also came ALL THE WAY FROM HAWAII!  We got a picture with just him as well but I guess our camera got missed! We were so excited to have him here and get to spend time with him! The boys had such a blast and Kaulana was so glad to get to spend a bit of time with him!

My best came down for her weekend at her ranch to make it just in time for the blessing. I'm so lucky to have such a beautiful supportive girl for my best friend! I love you Miss Mary Sherwood!

My mom got Benson's cute outfit. he was such a stud! Kala's outfit had to be pinned up all over because it was too small. Benson's on he other hand fit him PERFECTLY! He was just so sweet!