Happy L-O-V-E Day!

I woke up on Valentines Day with my two babies to find this on the kitchen counter. Cameron had already left for work.

Most nights I fall asleep while putting the kids to sleep. I then wake up 1 or 2 hours later to finish whatever needs to be done like putting food away or putting on the kid's pajamas. I usually find Cameron on the computer and make it a point tell him to "go to sleep already" before I head back into the room. Cam knew this so on Valentines Eve, he waited for me to wake up one last time before he set up my V-day surprise. Sneaky Cam :).

Daddy was soooo kind to get Na'u a little (BIG) chocolate bar too. Can you tell that she was SUPER excited?


This is what her message was. I thought it was so cute.
My pediatrition advises no nuts til age 3 because so many people are allergic. We've been telling and practically drilling into her (since she's been eating regular food) that she can't eat nuts. She has sneaked a few candies with nuts here and there. We know she isn't allergic so my doc says that its ok to eat it but it's too late. She doesn't like them because of us. Now she spits them out and says, "No nuts!"
Our bad.

Day after valentines, we ate dinner at a Korean Yakiniku Restaurant with our friends Aho and Gabby.

Among the meats on the grill was tongue....cow tongue. I wasn't going to try it but did. It tasted like regular beef. Plus too, it blended in on the "cooked" meat plate and we were all just grabbing and eating.

Thanks for the date night!

Having kids definitely makes things a little bit more complicated. I wanted to make a pretty cake for Cam and some chocolate dipped strawberries but that didn't happen the day of.

On Valentines Day, I baked the cake and frosted it but ran out of frosting to finish decorating it. By the time Cameron came home from work, he had a lovely white plain cake. I didn't get to finish it that day but I DID finish.

I'm taking a cake decorating class and I thought it was fitting to show off some of the things that I learned. I like the flowers the best.


I just got around to doing the strawberries. I had planned to get the strawberries on Valentines Eve but that didn't happen. Both my kiddies were tired and crying. There are just some things in life that have to wait :). Today is Friday and I surprised Cam when he got home from work. I guess you can look at it as celebrating Valentines Day the WHOLE week.

Milk Chocolate drizzeled with White


White Chocolate drizzeled with regular chocolate


I tried to do the bow tie version.

They were ALL so yummy!
Happy Valentines Day babe! Can you believe that this was our 8th Valentines together? I LOVE you MORE everyday! Can't imagine my life without you.

Valentines Day is also my mom's birthday and Cameron's grandpa's birthday. Happy Birthday! We LOVE you!

More DADDY Time, Please!

Since Cameron has started working at the Kalihi Police Station, his shift was from 2:00pm to 11:00pm. Everyday I would let him "sleep-in" til about 9 or 9:30am (I would be up with Na'u already) and he would get ready for work around 1pm and be gone @ 1:30pm. This schedule left us, his WONDERFUL family, with only 4-5 hours of daddy time. This was NOT ENOUGH.

Just recently, 2 weeks now, he switched over to the day shift from 6am to 3pm. I can already see a big difference. I LOVE it! When he comes home, there's enough daylight for all of us to do family stuff. Here are some of the things that we did.

We went to the park and fed some birds. They were pretty nasty and dirty but we only fed them. We didn't touch them.


This is a close up of #3. She threw bird feed in her hair sooo many times without even knowing it. She cracks me up!




We also went to Ala Moana to watch the pretty fish. We actually went to the mall because Cameron had to cut his hair. Watching the fish was a way that I could keep my kiddies entertained without working too much :). At one point, Na'u reached in the water to try and touch them. If she could, I bet she would be swimming with them.

Notice her "smile" in the upper left picture? This is the smile I get when she has been trying to smile for TOOOO long. I just COULDN'T get the picture I wanted with the "nice" smile but I do love this one.

With Cam's new scedule, he's there to play with us, help with bath time, eat dinner, and sleep with us. Did I mention that I LOVE IT :)? Na'u is still getting used to it. Before, when daddy was gone she knew he was at work. Now, she's not used to him being gone in the mornings and asks,"Where's daddy?" I'm looking forward to more family time with daddy.

Did you ever....

...sit on your breakfast?



I did!
I sat on my butter and cinnamon sugar toast after being distracted by my son who needed his diaper changed. Ah...the joys of motherhood!

2010, The New Year!..a whole month later :)

When we got home from Moloka'i, we had lots of cousins waiting for us. The Maui Tuitele's stayed with us and the Kaneohe Tuitele's came over quite a bit. It was so nice for Na'u to wake up and have playmates 24/7.

While the cousins were here, we HAD to go to the waterpark. Although it was a bit overcast and the water was cold, we had sooo much fun. Luckily we had some babysitters (thank you Aunty Sonya, Lia, & Nickoma) to watch Iwi boy. I remember those pre-kid days when we could go and do anything whenever we wanted. Now, we are limited to water as deep as our waist (the deepest parts) and kiddie slides.

Na'ulei really LOVES the water. It was hard to get her out.


We went outside for some pizza (yum). Here we have from left to right Na'u, Myla, Ka'ehu, Sarai, Kailea, Sina and Kayla (standing in the back).

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To welcome in the New Year, we had lots of family over for a nice dinner. After dinner, we enjoyed some fireworks, pop pops, and sparklers.

Iwi is not in any of our pictures because as usual, he was fast asleep. I didn't notice until this post that he had a stand in :). Na'u was carrying her baby around all night.

The biggest kids of all included Cameron, Anthony, and Jose...the adults who did most of the "popping". Here's Cameron helping light our big firework display that we have every year.


Na'ulei lasted for most of the night. Her little eyes finally closed at 11:30pm. I think that's pretty good for a 2 year old. Maybe next year.

I cannot believe that we are in 2010. I just got used to writing and saying 2009 :).
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Before the Maui Tuitele's went home, we had to get some Waiola shave ice. They have the BEST shave ice ever! It's the best because the ice is finely shaved and melts in your mouth, theres tons of flavors to choose from, and you can add different things like ice cream, condensed milk, li hing, azuki beans, custard or even chocolate. I'd recommend the ice cream and condensed milk but if you're adventurous, the azuki beans are ONO too.

Here are our Maui cousins enjoying their treat.




We had so much fun doing all these things. We (especially Na'u) can't wait til our cousins come and visit again. Maybe when we're all together again, Iwi will be big enough to play.

Happy Holidays from the Tuiteles!

We hope that you all had a wonderful holiday season full of family, friends, fun, and ono food.



This year (2009) we went to Moloka'i for Christmas. Na'ulei got to open all of her AND her brother's presents. She was the best helper.



Na'u even showed him what he got.

Thank you for all of our presents mama and papa.

This visit we got to go into the forest with the Keanini's to ride 4-wheelers.
Here we are stopping midway up waiting for the 2 quads to catch-up.


I LOVE Moloka'i. It's so beautiful. This view from the lookout shows one of the valleys behind Moloka'i that is beside Kalaupapa. We had to bundle the kids up because it was COLD.




I have the best family ever!


Going to the beach is a MUST whenever we go home. Our normal beach, Make Horse, is on the west side of the island and this time of year, the waves are ginormous. They were way to big for a nice swim so we went to a beach on the south side. It's called Hale O Lono. I've lived on Moloka'i my whole life and have never been to this beach...how lame :). It's a beautiful place although, the part that we went to was full of rocks. We still had lots of fun!

Iwi loves the sand between his toes. He didn't make it in the water since he was taking his nap as soon as we got to the beach. Next time babe.





Another MUST for us is eating pizza at Moloka'i Pizza Cafe. Not to be biased or anything but they really do have the BEST pizza ever!


We need to go back...soon!

A Carnival Birthday Fair Extravaganza

We celebrated Na'ulei's 2nd birthday on November 26, Thanksgiving Day. Na'u was actually due on November 22 which was Thanksgiving back in 2007. She came 4 days late which made her birthday this year land on turkey day.



We wanted to do something fun for everyone...especially the kids. Na'u had her very own Carnival Birthday Fair Extravaganza. It came equipped with...

...Na'ulei Dollars. The kids were given packs of $2,000 dollars to play any game they wished.

With money in one hand and...


...a sack in the other,...


...the kids were ready for the games.


The kids were having a blast because our "carnival employees", Uncle Anthony, Aunty Nickoma, Aunty Monica, Aunty Leila, and Uncle David were VERY enthusiastic. To make the carnival a bit more interesting for the "employees", we offered them a little insentive. The "employee" who had the most Na'u dollars at the end of the night would get a prize. They tried everything to lure the children in.









The birthday girl LOVED all of her "pitty" prizes.


The one with the most Na'u dollars came down to brother and sister, Uncle Anthony and Aunty Monica.

And the winner was...Uncle Anthony. He won a $25 gift card to Ruby Tuesday. Aunty Monica did a really good job and got a $5 gift card to Jamba Juice. Thank you to everyone else. The kids really did have a great time!

After the games, the kids had a go at this cute ice cream cone pinata.


"....Happy Birthday Na'ulei! Happy Birthday to you!"



We LOVE you soooo much!

Great Grandma Julia


Grandma & Grandpa Tuitele & cousin Sina


Mama & Papa Albino, Uncle Ohu & Uncle Kana


Uncle Kana sporting the party hats and crooked teeth.


As you can see, Iwi boy was NOT in ANY of these pictures because he was sleeping the ENTIRE time. He really is an angel!

A Daddy-Daughter Moment

Sunday, November 15, 2009
"We need a song...what shall we sing?"


Play a little tune.




...."pock-corn poppin on the apricot tee!"


I'm all ready for church.
"Like my pitty (pretty) dress?"


"...and my pitty hair?"