I'm BACK!

Hello all,

I know it's been a while since I've written anything here. What's my excuse? NOTHING!!! No, it's not that I haven't done anything since my last blog, quite the opposite, I've been crafting, going through TONS of pictures, that have been growing & growing for years now. I guess most of all, we've been finally finishing things round here, that have been put off for one reason or another. Oh & then there has been the usual, "oh, by the way mom, I've been invited to a birthday party & it's tomorrow, could you make a gift for my friend?"....oh, sure let me whip something up. (that something lately has been personalized tote bags, which have seemed to be a hit...)So now every little girl in the neighborhood has been inviting my daughters to their parties, in hopes to get a bag with their name on it.....YEA!!! :) So far 4 have been given & 2 others want one, (even though it 's not their birthday...) & other than that, hula is back in full swing ,we took a break for about a month, but we're back to normal ( kinda). Plus with my FAVORITE holiday that will take place on Friday, HALLOWEEN!!!! We're pretty much set for that as well. Oh yeah, & my youngest is now a girl scout, & the other 2 are flipping coins on whether or not they want to join ( my eldest has wanted to be a girl scout for YEARS, but now, she's not sure....AHHHHH) I guess she feels it's not as cool as it would have been a few years back....oh well, & my middle daughter is in the habit lately of doing & wanting the EXACT everything her eldest sister wants & does (why now???) So that's what has been going on over-by-here. I hope to add some pictures here soon ( gee, I seem to ALWAYS say that...) I'll get back into the swing of blogging again. Hope all is well on every body's end where ever that may be. A hui hou!!!

Now for something completely different...

Aloha All,

Well, I've decided to take a slight detour of the Orlando pictures today...why? well, just to give a break on the hula stuff (OK, really, because I forgot that I actually DID have a couple pictures of another recent event....)

I may have mentioned that we had some relatives come to visit us ( & if I failed to mention, then I'm saying it now....I can't remember who & when I said this stuff to half of the time...) :)

(Turner Field August 13, 2008)

Anycrap, we had some recent visitors. My brother-in-law & 2 of my husband's cousins came to town for a series of Cubs games that took place here in Atlanta 2 weeks ago..

(Uncles from L to R:Geico, Holly-Bear & Gus...some names MAY have been changed, not necessarily to protect ANYONE!) :)

(hubby has been DYING to see a Cubs game all season....) I guess last time we were up in Chicago the subject came up of how cool it would be for those guys to come down & see the Cubs play the Braves....well, who-da-thunk, it would actually come to fruition, but it did. Turns out hubby's work has season tickets to the Braves games, so somehow, he was granted them & we got to go to the whole series ( well, I got to go 2 cause there was a rain out & hubby had to work...Tues night game was now a Wed day game....), our ohana from up north went to all 3. The girlies got to go to the Wed night game as well...

(Da-Boo & Da-Maka-Bear)

( our youngest still chants "Fu-ku-do-me" & claps her hands while she see the games on TV cause that's what we were doing at the ballpark.....) Anywho, it was a blast, not only to see the Cubbies play, but to have family here & all go to the games together. I felt kinda bad, cause the guys really only got to see the games, time flew SO fast, we didn't have much time to go do anything else, & hubby was kinda bogged down at work, so they didn't really get to go out much, other than the games...oh & enjoy "Waffle House" after the games, cause that's about all that was open around here! ( I knew I should have taken a picture of that too...oh well, next time!) Anycrap, the guys flew in Tues, for the night game, it was delayed due to rain ( which we have finally been getting around here...) So the Tues game, turned into a Wednesday-DAY game, then they stayed 'til Friday ...actually Cousin "Gus" (...not his real name...LONG STORY!) :) had to leave Thursday, so he didn't go to the last game...the other 2 left Friday morning. So I guess there really wasn't much time for sight seeing, but I still felt kinda bad, that we weren't able to do much. But I believe they all had a good time, I know we had a BLAST!!! & Hopefully, they'll come to visit again sometime in the near future!

(Da Ohana)

Anycrap, hope you guys don't mind me posting the pics here on my blog (oops, kinda too late for that, huh?) :) Thank you nui loa, mahalo very much, for everything! Will be sending you a copy of these pics... ( hopefully they'll remember to e-mail some back too, I think my bro-in-law took a couple "good" ones) :)

so for today, "That's all folks"

Laters,

Tina

more pics.....

Aloha,

Well it's another rainy day in Georgia (sounds like a song...) :) which is a good thing, we can always use the rain here. But I did promise to post more pictures & since the girlies are in school, & I'm gopped on coffee & there's not much else to do around the house today (caught up on swaps, everything clean, no dishes...yet, no dirty clothes...) I decided to go on the computer. so here it goes:

This was Friday morning, our 1st meeting with the musicians. We hired them through an e-mail, given to me by the people running the festival. I had contacted them once I found out that our Ohana in Hawaii couldn't come because of a family function that was taking place that same weekend (first obstacle we ran into...) Not a problem, cause the people running the competition, told me, they had a "house" band for hire, so that's how we found out about "Ulumau"! & what a find they are!! Lopaka was the one who contacted me back & we either e-mailed or called back & forth to figure out what was needed. They even sent us an MP3 of them singing so we could "practice" getting use to them. & on Friday morning, we were all together for the 1st time. All in one state, on the same floor, hearing the band for the 1st time in person....it was really happening!!!

We got to practice with them roughly for an hour, we got to use the stage roughly for an hour (kept getting interrupted though, but won't go into that rant....) Found a somewhat empty hallway in the hotel to use to practice a little more....figured it was time to start making our adornments...

(Here's a pic of Puamaeole, making her haku....one of the IL girls...) obstacle # 2... well, due to some miscommunication ( I totally take the blame for this one, just couldn't get a hold of the right ohana at the right time....even though I DID let them know ahead of time....) anywho, long story short, we were unable to get fauna from Hawaii, so figured we could use whatever we could find. Since most of the ladies were flying in, I tried to depend mostly on those of us who were driving down to Florida, but Kiakahi (MO girl) has a WHOLE PLETHORA of ivy & greens in her back yard ( she does outdoor photography...well, not that she takes pictures of the outdoors, she does most of her pictures outdoors....) so I begged (more so demanded...) :) her to bring whatever she could. Polinahe (one of my haumana here....or should I say, one of the GA girls...) :) also has ivy in her yard, so had her ( & hubby too...) bring whatever they could. GA girl Kalani & myself, ended up bringing bamboo leaves ( there's practically a wild forest of them near Kalani's house...) since I have nothing worthy of lei making in my yard & Kalani's maple leaves (yes, I said maple leaves...see how desperate we were getting....ever heard of using maple leaves to make leis?...It could happen....they do work rather well!) were too high to reach, we ended up bringing bag loads of bamboo leaves. Well, along with some (gasp, that I even admit this...) store bought flowers (& by-the-who, Lokelani, what were those flowers?...some kind of lily??...) anywho, we made due with what we had

our room looked like a forest threw up in it!!

I really felt bad about the staff at the hotel, I mean after all, we weren't the only halau doing this...I mean whatever floor you went on, there were others doing the same thing, making leis in lobbies, in hallways, it was too funny...I mean, we tried our best to clean up, I did put down paper first before we even started, but there were leaves EVERYWHERE!! & raffia & newspaper & floss & threads, you name it, we used it! Then as the night moved on, we wondered what to do for kupe'e, leis, etc ( we mostly used ivy & some leather leaf, that we got from another halau from Florida...) for our lei po'o (head leis) but we were quickly running out of time & of usable leaves for neck leis...Luckily we brought Kukui nut leis for our neck, Kiakahi brought enough kukui nui leis to breakdown for our kupe'e (wristlets & anklets) That covered it for kahiko (ancient) but what of our auana (modern, dance..)? Well earlier, Loke & I went on a search for flowers, which we ended up finding the lilies (at a Publix of all places...) & I had also brought white shell leis that we were going to use for our auana anyways...but we still needed something....That's when Loke decided to try to mess around with the bamboo leaves...what can we do with those? Well I suggested to try to haku them like our lei po'o...nah that didn't work, how about wili (braid...) them....nah didn't like how that was turning out....Loke : what about sewing them? ( ku'i), well....now that seemed to work...

so here's Loke ku'i-ing away....they really did turn out rather nice! & If there was a will, we'd find a way! & we certainly did! & this was just our first night!.....

I don't know for sure what time I finally went to bed ( roughly it had to been after 2am....) but little-by-little, whoever was done, we told them to try to go to bed...so as 1 would finish a lei, "ok, now go to bed..." was the next demand! Turns out none of us really got any sleep & for our 1st number we did kahiko ( & with no makeup on, which I'm sure the ladies STILL don't forgive me for that one.....long story....) :) we really did look like a bunch of pissed off volcano goddesses ready to BLOW! :) but it got better.....it really did!

'nuff for today, will continue the saga tomorrow....

a hui hou,

Tina

got some pictures...yea!!!!

Mahalo nui loa to my haumana Kiakahi (the MO in GA-IL-MO.....) :) for sending me some pictures from our competition in Orlando this past July....I knew I could count on you...I hope to get some more from my other haumana as soon as possible....

...but so far, here's a couple of groups shots:

This was our Kahiko costume. We did a mele called "Aia La O Pele" it roughly describes a ranting & destruction rampage that Pele (the Fire, or Volcano Goddess...) had...

This was our auana costume. The ladies did a mele called "Poliahu" (Poliahu is the Snow Goddess...) It's a beautiful song that was written by Frank Hewett a very wonderful Kumu hula & composer. Anywho, we covered the "Big Island" of Hawaii by dancing about 2 of the most powerful entities on that Island (not to mention that my Ohana is from the Big Island, so that really had the most to do with my mele choices...)

These were the VERY talented gentlemen who played the music for our halau (they also played for other groups there too....the "house" band so to speak...) Their names are Lopaka (on the left) & Kaleo (on the right) collectively they are known in Orlando as Ulumau. These guys really were FANTASTIC I mean the harmony & sounds from these 2 guys, sounds like an entire choir of singers. The version of "Poliahu" we chose was from a group called Ho'okena ( there are 5 singers in Ho'okena...) & these 2 sounded like 5 ( I hope that made sense...) We were so impressed on how well they played for us, I mean, no matter how much we thanked them, it really wasn't enough. They really made the girls WANT to dance, they were THAT great!!!

& this is Kiakahi (also known as Debbie...) :) she is my haumana from Missouri. (please ignore the odd tan marks on the chick next to Kiakahi...I'll explain that in one of the next rants...)

As I have stated in past posts, I had haumana (students) there from 3 different states, Illinois, Georgia & Missouri & these ladies really worked their buns off to get to Orlando & compete! (In fact that Friday before the competition was the FIRST time we all were together in the same state!!!!) It was rough to practice & get everyone on the same sheet of music, but we did it! & any obstacle that got in our way, we overcame it & I am so PROUD of these wonderful students of mine!!

Kiakahi actually sent an entire disc of pictures, but I'm having a heck of a time downloading them onto blogger for some reason (this was my 3rd try...) so I will post some more tomorrow...(I know, I give up too easy...) but I'll babble some more of our adventure then too (besides, my little ones are back from school already & demanding some snacks....) :) again, I give in too easy there as well! Mahalo nui loa, Kiakahi, I can't wait to see what else the others took....

Hope you all have a wonderful day!

A hui hou,

Tina

...and by the who!

Hau'oli la hanau o 'oe...

hau'oli la hanau o 'oe...

hau'oli la hanau o ko'u makuahine!

HAU'OLI LA HANAU O 'OE!!!!

Happy 74th Mama!!!

Love your ohana down in Georgia!!!

Hey, that's my Brother!!!

well, can't remember if I had made mention in this blog about my brother Pat being in a film, or not, so, figured, I could talk about him today!

Back in June, he spent the month filming a movie in Chicago called "Fancypants" it's roughly about a washed up pro wrestler who (with the help of his biggest fan, a little boy...)decides to end his career in a big bang ( & he helps the kid & his family out in the end as well...) I think it's supposed to be a comedy, but it's also kinda a drama/love story/comedy type of film ( my brother's words...)

Anywho, last Wednesday he had an article in the local Chicago Tribune about him so I figured I'd try to put a link up about it (hope this works...)here this was an interview at a local pub that we usually hold some of our "family meetings" at :) it's a place called Mugsy's in Forest Park, IL

Anycrap, they filmed it in a month ( that happened to be the time we last headed up to Chicago, we were also there to help take care of mom & pop so he wouldn't have to worry about his filming schedule & our parents at the same time...)

The funniest part was, he's NEVER acted before, so to get the lead role, even though he's never done ANY kind of acting before, was really a pleasant surprise to the whole family! It's supposed to come out sometime next year ( so will keep up on that here as well....) There were some other (real) pro wrestlers & actors in the film as well: Rowdy Roddy Piper, Hollywood Yates ( I believe he's called WOLF???) & another person known as Venom ( now please don't laugh at me, I really don't know who the "Wolf" & "Venom" people are, cause I'm not into wrestling....but I've heard they are well known...) But some of the people I HAVE heard of is Robert Carradine, Richard Kind & Roddy Piper& they are all in this movie as well. Anywho, we're all proud of the lunkhead!!! ( & yes, I can still call him a lunkhead, cause even if he does get all "famous" on us I'm still his little sister & always will be... ) :)

Anywho...check out the links & by all means keep the film somewhere in the back of your memory & check it out when it comes to your neighborhood! CONGRATULATIONS BRO!!! & hope this becomes a career for you!

Love Ya ! Your Sis-Tina

School's started...

Aloha to all,

Well, another school year has already started with my little ones. I still have mixed feelings about it all. Everyone ( & their mother...) :) has been telling me how GREAT & WONDERFUL it'll be when they start up ( cause now ALL 3 are in school...) well, I'm rather sad that my little shadow is gone! I know how selfish this all sounds, but I miss them terribly!! But the good news, they all LOVE their new schools!!! My eldest is now in middle school & already, she says she loves it more than grade school (which is very good news cause she was starting to get very discouraged with 5th grade, last year...) & My middle & youngest were excited to go to the "new" school (our borders were changed last year, so they are now in the brand new school that was just built last year....actually I think they JUST finished building it this year...) & the biggest change ( I sadly admit) is mine! My baby is in Kindergarten....WAHHHH! & it's ALL DAY kindergarten too, so no slow, gradual, change. Nope, it's a whole IN-YOUR-FACE change. I know I'll get over it ( I did with the first 2...but they were just in for half day up in Chicago...) but it'll take time, it always does.

I guess the worse part was how my hubby has been teasing me the closer it got to starting up again, on how the youngest isn't going to be here everyday. Last week he was pleasantly reminding me "oh, she won't be asking you what's for breakfast?" or "mommy can I watch Noggin?" or any of those things. But "HA-HA" to him, she still has asked every morning so far, what's for breakfast, but we just have it at 6:30 am instead of 9:00am, so that part hasn't changed :) & he now tells me every morning (so far..) how I can finally get some of my sewing done ( he hates when my projects start piling up around the house...) & how nice & quiet it'll be around the house & even went as far as to say "now you can go get a real job!" That last comment almost got him a black-eye, but I didn't give in to the stupidity! No, instead I have been catching up on some of the things I have been putting off lately (if at least to keep me busy to NOT remind me how quiet the house is...) so yes, some of the sewing is finally getting done. My swaps are getting packaged up & sent. (I actually have filled out some apps on-line for work...but don't tell the hubby that one...) :) so I am trying to stay busy.

Well that's all I have for today, I hope to start up an etsy shop online soon ( that's one of the things I have been putting off lately...) so maybe I CAN get some things done around here now.

Either way, I miss my little monkeys, but they have been coming home with some great stories everyday already. Man, how time flies!

Aloha Pumehana,
Tina

Aloha !

Well, again I apologize for not blogging sooner! We have been back from Orlando for a week now & I'm FINALLY getting around to posting something about it. I was actually hoping for a few pictures (did I bother to take ANY while we were there? Of course not! I knew I wasn't going to remember to take out the phone even ONCE to take a picture...) but all my haumana did & we even purchased some from the photographer who was there taking pictures of the whole event, but I don't think we'll be getting those any time soon...Anycrap, once I get some from my haumana (or anybody)I PROMISE I will share them here!

Anywho, how did we do, you may ask?....well, we placed 3rd for our auana (modern) portion of the competition. Not too shabby for our 1st time! I was EXTREMELY PROUD of my girls ( & in my heart I KNOW they did WAYYYY better than 3rd place...) Even our kahiko was fantastic ( & I'm not just saying that because I'm their teacher. I mean on Friday morning (the event was the next day...) as we took our turn to practice on the stage, no one was able to tell it was the first time all the ladies were in the SAME STATE to dance together!!! After practicing in Missouri, Illinois & Georgia, it actually took us to gather in yet a different state (Florida) to finally get it all together UNREAL!!!! Now I highly recommend that people DON'T do this when trying to enter a hula competition, cause the stress factor IS enough to turn your hair grey, but it was SO worth it!!! We got so many nice comments from people in the crowd, as well as one of the Judges, so I know my girls did fantastic & all I can say is we'll knock 'em DEAD next year ( yup, I said "next year"...what can I say, I LOVE the challenge!!!)

Anywho, we are now taking a month off to recoup, relax, & re-charge the batteries, so now I can catch up on some of the things I've been neglecting around here (mainly my family...) :) My girlies will be starting back to school (already!!) & my baby is starting kindergarten too, (my little shadow is going to be GONE!!!!AHHHHH!!!) It's more of a shock to me than it will be for her!

Anywho, I have So many things I want to get started for next year (with hula & family & crafts & family...oops, I said that already...) That I feel kinda guilty taking a month off, but I also know if I don't take a break, I'll probably burn myself out ( & I know my ohana has been through enough already!) They need the break as much as I do, so do my haumana, they worked TOO HARD & need some time off from hula as well! TAKE A REST LADIES!!!! :)

Anycrap, we have some family that will be visiting soon. My Bro-in-law & hubby's cousins are coming to town to see a series of Cubs vs. Atlanta games (it'll be the 1st time we've ever gone to Turner field since we've been down here...) & I know we'll be getting ribbed cause we'll be attending in full Cubs garb (just asking for trouble...huh?) But it'll be nice to finally see the cubs play this year! My hubby has been besides himself cause he hasn't gone to a game this season & he'll finally be able to go! & as for me & the girlies, well, (don't tell my husband...) but I can take it or leave it, but it will be nice to take the girlies to a game. we haven't been to one in a LONG while so I know they're as excited as the hubby is.

Another first in a while, 2 of my haumana ( & one of the spouses...) treated us to a "date night" last Saturday! They took all 3 of our girlies to six flags ( another first for them since we've been down here...) & We got to go out sans girlies (first time in about 3 years now....kinda scary, huh?) I can't believe it's been 3 years since we went out just the 2 of us, but sadly it's true! Other than running to the store, even when family has come to visit here, we haven't gone out alone anywhere. I mean, when we're back up home in Chicago, especially this last time there, my sister in law helped out with watching the girlies, but that was mainly because my husband had to go back home for work & I was helping out at my parents, so it was helpful, but we didn't go anywhere. & usually I'm gone for the weekend, or Jeff is gone out of town so one of us was always home with the girls! So we went out to dinner (at Ruth's Chris...it was AWESOME...) & a movie (saw the X-Flies movie, was pretty good...) & then, well we went & did what any married couple would do, we went grocery shopping, sad huh? It was kinda nice not to have anyone complaining, but I DID miss them terribly. Jeff said I need to get out more....go fig! & how did the girls like Six Flags, well they're still bragging about it, even though they were too chicken to go on any of the rides! They did go on some, but not too many. It did rain, but I know they are rather chicken! :) well, maybe next time they'll ride more!

Anywho, that's what's been going on this past week! I will post pictures of Orlando once I get some & one of my haumana was trying to get our dances on "You Tube" so if that's successful I'll let everyone know. So until next time, Th-Th- That's all folks!!!

A hui hou,

Tina

Let the madness begin!

Aloha everybody!

I know it's been a (LONG) while since I've posted anything here. This competition has taken all my time now (which I figured it would..) but just getting all the little last minute details ironed out before I leave for Orlando. Finally got all our costumes done here's one of the dancers modeling part of our Kahiko ( ancient ) costume:

this is our Pa'u skirts for Kahiko & ( at least for me...) took the longest to make. There are 4 panels of the black & grey in between the larger panel of red. It's about 4-4.5 yards in length ( which was fun getting the cording in for the waistband..) & has 8 casings in the waist band (corded every other row...) so the skirt is tied on ( ladies have red bloomers that go under so nothing shows...) & a red top to match ( which of course I haven't taken a picture of yet...go fig...) Plus there is a yellow lining for the skirt too, so when the ladies make their turns a flash of yellow will show...my purpose for the colors was to match the colors of lava ( we are doing a song about Pele, the volcano Goddess...) It's a pretty common type of outfit for kahiko, just a little more sewing to do because of the panels...but I LOVE how they came out ( don't think the ladies LOVED putting in the cording though....) :)

Anywho, I hope to take more pictures in Orlando ( as long as I remember too...I am terrible at remembering to take pictures anymore...) & now I have no excuse, I have the friggin camera on the phone & that's usually with me all the time...so I will make it a point to take pictures ( then getting them on here is another challenge...) :) We didn't make our dresses for the auwana or mordern dance ( if you've read past posts, we cheated & ordered them from Hawaii...) & my kahiko costume is rather simple. I have a pa'u dress with the same grey/black panel as the ladies skirts & a red & yellow kikepa ( a sort of wrap...) to go around the shoulders ( also to match their skirts...) so my costume is different since I won't be dancing, but it's a typical type of costume for the chanter ( to at least look like we belong together...) & I do not have the dress (again I'm the teacher now, so I won't be dancing...) but now kinda wish I did get one made for me too so I looked liked them ...oh well, maybe next time...had a misunderstanding with ohana back in Hawaii as far as flowers go, but that's ok, we figured out something to use here for our adornments & if anything it should be UNIQUE :) (love using that word for hula...) :)

But all in all, we're VERY excited & if anything, we'll have a blast! We are so much on track ( which is unusual for me...) it's scary! So wish us luck everybody! It's going to be a BLAST!!!

Will try post more (if I have time...) before we go, otherwise, will have loads to share when we get back!

Malama Pono to all,

Tina

Aloha from Hotlanta!

Hello All,

ok, so it's not really THAT hot here, it's summer after all....just couldn't help myself I guess...


ANYCRAP! We're back from Chicago (actually got back Monday, but finally caught up enough to catch up on blogs & stuff...) Anywho, ohana is doing better, haumana is almost all caught up (still have to work with one in MO...but so far so good....) & am finally getting started on the costumes & all that rot! Already miss friends & family & students, but hope to see them all again soon!!! (in fact my eldest was begging to stay another week up there, but we had to come back & take care of stuff here...) otherwise...I WAS tempted....but , back to business ...

...anycrap, catching up on all the swaps & craft stuff today (also put off due to our extended stay...) I'm sure I've pissed off enough people out there on swap-bot, but am trying to make up for it!

Anywho, it's only a month now till our competition ( man time is FLYING!!!) It seems like I just started babbling about all this competition stuff & now it's almost here AHHH!!! (sorry, had to get that out of my system....) I'm sure everyone is SICK of me talking about Orlando, this & Orlando that, but I can't help it, I'm easily excited! But, it IS exciting for us. It's also a first for me leading the pack ( & knock on wood...) everything is working out pretty well! (not trying to jinx us or anything like that...) I mean, we've been in competitions before, but I've never done the chanting & stuff like this, so I am very excited ! Plus I really do have some of the BEST haumana a kumu could ever ask for, so it's a combined effort that will truly get us through all this! Wish us luck everyone!!!

ok, enough of the babble...

that's all for today, hope all is well for everyone out there...will be keeping in touch one way or another....until then...
malama pono,
Tina

Hey Remember me???

Aloha Kakou,

Hey! Howzit goin'? Long time, no post! Anywho, just to quickly catch up...I've been out of town for a couple weeks (actually still up in Chicagoland.....) Anywho, had a BIGGGGGG ohana scare with my mom. & even though she's not doing all THAT great, she's doing better than we first had thought & she'll be hopfully starting a new treatment soon...(long story short, my mom has been battling Pancreatic & Liver cancer for 5 years now & just the fact that she's survived this long with a very nasty type of cancer, has been on experimental treatments, since she has been diagnosed, she's still with us & has just been taking it day by day....) So, our 1 week trip has turned into 2+ weeks (since we're still here...) It has by NO means been a vacation, but it has been nice to see all my brothers & TONS of family ( & I think that has helped my mom recover as well as she has been doing...) we're just all worried how things will go once we all head home & my brothers who are still here, try to get back into their normal lives (whatever that has been..) :) For those of you who have been keeping track with mom, if I haven't gotten back to you yet, I will fill in all the details when I see you, or talk to you, so sorry I haven't returned all the calls & e-mails yet, but she is doing ok, they might start a new treatment, she is home, they are now running some tests for other reasons, & they are NOT starting hospice with her (her Dr. doesn't think we've tried all that we can yet, so there are still options for her...)

Anycrap, while I've been up here, have met with haumana twice to practice for Orlando (time's tickin' & I'm starting to go into "crazy-lady" mode...not "baby-Hannah" yet...& honestly hope I DON'T go that far....) will practice one more time on Saturday & then will be heading to Kansas City to meet up with the last haumana that I haven't seen in a while to FINALLY get everyone on the same sheet of music. & (Knock on wood!!!) we'll be good to go!!!!

Still, with all the family stuff & hula stuff, I am trying to not go too insane (like I was ever sane to begin with...) but thank GOD all is better than it could be! (ok, if that even made sense...) Anywho, I promise to try to keep up with all this & that & the other the best I can....I think I'm going to go jump in my bro-in-law's pool now & have a beer! I need to just chill-lax for today!

A hui hou & Malama Pono to all (keep the prayers going for mom, for those of you who know what has been going on all along...) & for those who are just tuned in, well, heck, it never hurts to send a prayer anyone's way who might need a little more help every now & then...Mahalo nui loa! Aloha pumehana,
Tina

Happy Monday!...

Aloha y'all,

Well our garage sale was a success! We even made enough to pay off our musicians for Orlando! (& a wee bit extra...wish we made enough to pay for EVERYTHING in Orlando, but hey...it's a start!) It actually rained on the first day(Thursday), but we still opened up & kept everything IN the garage, but Friday & Saturday was nicer & had stuff in the garage & all down the driveway!! I have to really thank my hubby for putting up with all this, he was getting a little cranky with the takeover of all the crap that was accumulating in the garage, but it did pay off & he now can put his car back where it belongs!

& the best thing we did this time around was to list the sale on Craig's list....I'd say 99% of our customers found us on that & we will remember to list on it from now on...

Anywho, I have to keep the blogging short today, have a LOT of stuff to catch up on, but will be writing more tomorrow!

Have a wonderful day everybody!

A hui hou,

Tina

It's Been A While....

Aloha y'all,


Sorry, things have been rather busy around here lately. We've already been getting the girlies all ready for next fall with school (our borders have been changed) so our middle daughter & now my youngest will be attending a new school! So that's been fun going to all these meetings for school & now our baby will be in Kindergarten & our eldest is off to "Middle School" WOW time's FLYING for us! That alone has been keeping us nicely insane...



...but don't worry yet, haumana, I realize we now roughly have about 2 months before our competition....not panic-ing yet....ready to just go get the friggin "country classics" cotton from Jo-Anns, cause that seems to have all the right colors I'm looking for, for our pa'u sets & regular price is $2.99 a yd, so that's do-able....looking to be up in Chicago roughly the 2nd week of June, so will be e-mailing soon about all that...



...& here in blog-land, well, I think I last left off to go see Iron-Man (which was AWESOME!!!!) but sadly we left while the credits were rolling & then found out later that it continued to show a possible sequel for Iron-Man....(hubby found out this info & he forgot the name of the character that they showed at the end.....so I'm going NUTS to see who it is....) So until I know someone else who sees the movie, or just go see it again (which I'm fine with....) It's driving me CRAZY!!!!
Stay for after the credits...don't make the same mistake we made!...


...so the next day was "free comic-book day" (I believe that was May 3rd!!! I can't believe I haven't typed ANYTHING for almost 2 WEEKS!!!! AHHHHH....where are my manners?) :)


Anycrap we picked up these:









& bought these





hubby found the "Dr. Who" one for me & I found the Avengers (my all time favorite comic...) & almost picked up another Dr.Who one, but will go back for that on another visit...





Anycrap, the girlies LOVE reading comics, well, they love reading anything, but any excuse to go to a comic book store & they're all over it!





Anywho, on a different note, I'm totally hooked on Swap-Bot I've signed up for quite a few swaps there & now am hosting one....A Dr.Who one (what was I thinking???) but so far so good! & you'd think by now I would have taken pictures of some of the stuff I've sent out but NOOOO, well, first off I didn't have a digital camera, & still don't really, so I've been using the phone camera (which isn't the best, but I'm getting the hang of it...) but now I'm FINALLY starting to remember to snap a shot BEFORE I send out my swaps so here's a couple pics of some of the stuff I have going out...

...well, actually this one was part of a swap I already sent, it was for a May birthday swap I joined, the person I had, LOVES Halloween & witches, so I made my first dotee-doll

she also likes coffee & candles, so I got her a Kona Coffee scented candle & put it in a coffee mug with a cute image of a moon on the front...stupidly, I was just so happy that my doll came out kinda cute, that I forgot to snap a shot of the entire package...oh well, maybe next time... :)

this is for a Hula Dottee swap that isn't supposed to go out until July I think, but it's my 2nd doll & I can see how people can get hooked making them, it's about the size of an ornament, but it's also a good way to use up some scraps you might have lying around...

this is for a "my partner in a jar" swap, you're supposed to fill a mason-type jar of things your swap partner might like (getting the ideas from their profile on the site...) but I found out you could use any kind of container as long as it could fit the same amount of stuff that could fit in a mason jar, well, I've been sitting on this tin for a while & LOVE it, but have never really found a good use for it, so I thought it would be perfect for the swap! Inside there are more candles (which I ended up wrapping like the rest of the stuff here...) a little trinket box (already wrapped in the shot...) some yardage of ribbon (most are at least 2 yard cuts...) a couple small spools of ribbon (turns out my partner LOVES fabric ribbon & I have TONS!! thanks to all the ribbon leis...& have been making more of those too for Orlando....) so anywho, I hope the partners I have like these packages....anywho, I've gotten all kinds of stuff so far on swap-bot: Books, comic-books, craft supplies, cards, stickers, fabric pieces, embroidery floss, threads, a little stuffie, all kinds of Hello Kitty stickers & letter sheets, I mean ALL KINDS of stuff, some are way too cute, some I can tell was just passed on cause the person didn't want it or need it, but all in all, I've gotten some really neat things from all over the world & it's just ADDICTIVE!!! I keep telling myself I won't sign up for anything new, but sure enough, I keep lurking on it & well, just find something to sign up for ( I gotta just not look for a while right?....RIGHT!) ;)

well, still making stuff for our halau to sell, still haven't finished all the curtains yet (& I'm sure we'll probably change things around, so we'll end up changing the choice of fabrics for the curtains....) just a funny feeling about all that....have been tying up all the loose ends for our competition, enrolling our girlies for school for next fall, trying to get things situated enough here, so we can go up to CHICAGO to visit ohana & practice with haumana, oh yeah & we're having a garage sale this weekend too ( more fund raising for the halau....) still trying to catch up on some graduation presents & birthday presents & all that rot....WOW, I guess things have been busy around here lately!

Oh well, I guess that's why I haven't posted much stuff lately ( that's my story & I'm sticking to it!) I'll try to do better in the future!
Have a wonderful day everybody!
Malama pono & a hui hou!
Tina

Happy Friday...

Hello,



Well, we are off to go see IRON-MAN!!!! (woo-hoo!!!...ok, maybe I really DO need to get out more...) :) Anywho, we also have a little visitor for the weekend, My eldest asked to bring home the class guinea pig "oreo" for the weekend (which is AMAZING to us, cause the girl is afraid of her own shadow....) anywho, all the girlies have been begging for a family pet, so maybe this is a good way for them to see what it takes to care for an animal, even if it's only for the weekend....gotta start somewhere...



Anywho, will fill in on all the excitement & maybe even take a picture or 2 tomorrow...



just a reminder, for anyone who wants to "Pay it forward" read yesterdays post & hope to at least get 2 more people involved...it should be FUN!! so far Amanda wants in!Anywho, check out her blog if you get a chance too...

...well, see ya tomorrow in blog-land...laters & Have a MARVEL-ous night (ok, ok, bad pun, I know....)
A hui hou,
Tina

Happy Lei Day!

Aloha Kakou & HAPPY LEI DAY to all!! May 1st is lei day in Hawaii & it's a rather well celebrated day there. Schools pick out a court to represent different islands or different districts of the island they are on & put on a pageant. Usually involves hula & stuff like that! They even drape the Kamehameha statue in downtown Honolulu with HUGE leis that hang from his arms....it's too cool!

(couldn't find one of the statue in Honolulu, but this is the original statue
in Kohala on the big Island...they also decorate both for Kamehameha day on June 11th...)

Anywho, just wanted to wish y'all a happy lei day, or just even Happy May Day wherever you are!

also something else I totally forgot about...I signed up on Sher's website about "Pay It Forward" it sounded really neat at the time, but sadly, I forgot all about it ( that's what I get for lurking on people's blogs...) Anywho, Sher pleasantly reminded me that I said I would do this, so I am ready to play ( EVEN IF I am a couple months late with it....better late than never & it is a neat idea....) ANYCRAP, I copied the explanation from her site & the person who inspired her to try this as well ( which both of these ladies' blogs are REALLY beautiful & hope you get a chance to check them both out as well....)

Anywho, here it goes:(from Sher's site...)

PAY IT FORWARD -
Here's an idea I picked up from Deena: Someone will have a chance to get a surprise from me, on a surprise date, in the next 365 days.
Here are the rules:
1.~Leave a comment on my blog that says you want to play. First three folks to comment will get a gift from ME. (If I don't know it already, let me know how I can contact you, an e-mail is fine.)
2.~Do the same thing on your blog!The first three folks who leave a comment and commit to doing this on their blog, too, will get a surprise from YOU at a surprise time in the next 365 days!
If you've yet to meet her, treat yourself by visiting this extraordinary woman. Click here to read her story.

so the first 3 people to leave a comment on my blog today, will get a surprise package from me! (so please leave your e-mail in your response as well, so I can contact you & get an address to send your gift....which is what I FORGOT to do with Sher which is why I forgot all about it....so don't so what I did & please send me your e-mail ASAP if you want to play along...)

Then post this on your blog & get 3 people to play, etc, etc, etc...seems pretty simple & if you have any questions just holler!

Anycrap, that's all for Lei Day, things are going rather well today (not panic-ing about hula or anything like that...) I realize there's so much more that others have to struggle with EVERYDAY, that my worries seem rather minuscule compared to everyone else's, so with that in mind, I'll just keep on doing what I do & take baby steps & everything will work out fine in the end!

Hope everyone has a wonderful day!! A hui hou,

Tina

Daisy's Little Cottage: Banner Give-Away !!!

Daisy's Little Cottage: Banner Give-Away !!! here's a sweet giveaway for anyone interested ( & her blog looks really nice as well...) Check it out & good luck to all!

Hau'oli La Hanau...

Hau'oli La Hanau...

DUH!!! Forgot to shout out some "Happy Birthday "wishes out there...

Hau'oli La Hanau to :

My Niece Jessica (Friday April, 25th)

My OLDEST Brother John (Yesterday April 26th)

other April birthdays (in case I get senile again...)

My Nephew Adam, April 29th

One of my best friends Dawn (Kopstain) Bintz, also April 29th

My Eldest Jasmine turned 11 on the 4th of April so happy belated girlie (she had a blast on her birthday, my youngest & I made her a birthday cake made up of her favorite cookies, because she didn't want a birthday cake....she was spoiled & went out to lunch with daddy too...JUST daddy, she didn't want ANY of us to go....how SPOILED is that?)

Anywho, sorry about that ohana, but hope all your birthday wishes come true!!!

Aloha Pumehana & Malama Pono,
Tina

Sunday....

Aloha everybody,

well another weekend has come & gone. Not too much new over-by-here. Got some things done around the house (in fact, still doing stuff around the house...)

...but a commercial about the new Iron Man movie came on the telly & reminded me that the annual "Free Comic Book Day" should be right around the corner & sure enough, my memory finally has served me well. I know Marvel comics likes to come out with their new movies around this time of the year (heard it was because of Stan Lee's birthday, don't remember where I heard that, or if it's really true...) but anywho, ever since all the Spiderman & X-Men movies came out, it has started a new found love of comic books with my daughters ( & given me reasons to dig out my old ones over the years too...well, that & signing up for swaps at swap-bot pertaining to comic books...) Anycrap, once we found out about free comic book day, my daughters & I try to go to whatever store is celebrating it! Turns out there's a store not too far from home, so will be hitting that one on Saturday! (Saturday May 3rd is this year's date....I think it's the first Saturday of May every year....) Anywho just wanted to share that tidbit with whomever may be interested....

Again not much else new, finally getting my sewing corner back to normal (whatever normal was...) thanks to hubby's help. He made a shelf above my sewing table & a small bookcase for me to have a place to put some of my junk so it doesn't clutter up my table. (Poor guy will do anything to help me fix all my clutter! )

I'm also hoping to download some more pictures (hope to have some new ones up tomorrow...) to put on the blog...

Had Hula yesterday & we ended up playing ukulele for most of class time ( which the ladies did enjoy, so will be adding that into class every now & then...)

well that's all for now!! Hope everyone had a great weekend & hope your week is full of possibilities as well....

A hui hou,
Tina

Oh Those Hula Blues.....

....tell me have you ever heard those hula blues... oops sorry 'bout that, just had that song in my head for some odd reason!

(ok, not the same song here, but the sheet music cover was cool....)

...well, it's been a while since I've written anything here, I mean when I first started this blog, I was trying to write SOMETHING, ANYTHING everyday....man, seems now if I remember to write anything, I'm a happy puppy! :)

Anycrap, things are getting busy with our halau for the competition in Florida. It seemed not so long ago, we had PLENTY of time to work on things & now...heck, it's almost 3 months until the competition! AAAHHHHH!!!!! (no, don't worry ladies, I won't panic just yet....I'll let it brew a while longer.....) at least this time around ( & for the 1st time...) it's just OUR halau entering! It was way worse when we had combined groups together, then you had to deal with everyones methods of dancing, costume making, playing all "nicey-nice" in front of everyone, just to get your teeth knocked out when you turned your back, so already, there's NONE of that kind of CRAP to deal with, so it's a WAYYYY better feeling this time around....it is Pono!!

(an image of Pele,found on the internet.... the fire goddess, or Goddess of the volcano, she resides in Halema'uma'u crater near Mauna Loa....one of the Goddess' we are dancing about in Orlando....)

...I think it's just nerves & wanting everything to go just right, so that's the stage I am at right now....but things are going right, we got our music to practice with, when we found out ohana couldn't play music for us, well then we were able to hire the house band....when we had a hard time with the costumes, we worked all that out as well. It seems like everyone was getting the dances down great, even though we are physically in 3 different states, everyone is on the same sheet of music now, so it's all good! We are all in this together for the same reason, to finally do it RIGHT! To finally be a part of something like this, with our hula ohana who share the same love for hula that each of us have! IT'S ALL GOOD! It IS pono!!!!

(an image of Poliahu I found on the internet...the other goddess we are dancing about in Orlando...she is the Snow goddess of Mauna Kea....)

just needed to get that off my chest today! Sorry for the babble....

Anywho, will try to keep up with the blogging best I can...

a hui hou,

Tina

Spring break is OVER!

Aloha Y'all :)




Well, my eldest two are (finally) back in school & we are playing catch up on all the stuff we put off all week long! Ya know stuff like sewing, hula, yard work, all the things we THOUGHT we could still do while all the kiddies were home....yeah. RIGHT! But we did manage to get away for the weekend, so we went to Savannah! Let's rewind a week, shall we?




Well the last time I wrote, we were hitting some of our favorite thrift stores, stuff like that ( I really can't complain, cause the girlies DID let me shop a wee bit & I WAS able to add to my fabric stash, without going into debt, stuff like that...) & got in some library time,that was Mon & Tues. Wed I had hula, so we didn't go anywhere. Thurs took the girlies to Monkey Joes, I assume this is a chain-type of establishment, kinda like "where a kid can be a kid" place (you know what I'm talking about....) anywho, instead of coin operated-type rides, this place is FILLED with giant inflatable slides, at first my eldest said "this is a little baby place, I'm not going on ANY of these STUPID slides" so the other two, QUICKLY took off their shoes & couldn't get on a slide quick enough. My middle daughter,even told my eldest "sucks to be you" which I would have told her to watch her tongue, but sadly, she was right, my eldest was being downright pissy before she even gave it a chance....anycrap, she changed her tune & finally decided, ok, "I'll TRY one, but it won't be fun" Well, 3 hours later, lots of hooting & hollering & sweat, they ALL had a blast!











& my middle daughter figured out the HARD way, that it's not a wise choice to wear a dress to a place like this...























but that didn't stop them & they had a BLAST!!!











Then, my hubby had some work to do Friday morning & we left for Savannah...





we headed to Tybee Island first...





Now, the kids & I have never been in this part of Georgia before (hubby had gone there a couple times for work...) So we didn't know what to expect, I figured we'd go to the beach, but I wasn't completely sure how "the beach" would be here in the South ( I know that sounds stupid, but I'm use to beaches in Hawaii, so I didn't know if the Atlantic coast would be the same...I've seen some beaches in Florida & vowed I'd never swim in them, cause you couldn't see through the water....) Anycrap, the girlies asked how come we didn't bring bathing suits, I said cause I didn't know what to expect (thinking in the back of my mind, we wouldn't be swimming there...) Boy was I wrong, it was BEAUTIFUL! The weather was beautiful, the beach was beautiful, & even though we didn't bring suits, that didn't stop us from jumping on in & enjoying the beach!































spent a couple hours there, found LOTS of shells, girlies got to make their sand castles, swim, all the good stuff you do at the beach...




hubby, doesn't really care for the beach, so he decided to guard our junk...

















but all in all, it was good!







Then we checked into our room ( stayed overnight there, cause we got in kinda late, but we were planning on staying a night anyways..) washed off all the sand & went down to River street for dinner & despite the fact that I had the camera on me the WHOLE time, I didn't take any pictures that night ( which I could just KICK myself for doing...) saw a couple HUGE ships going underneath this HUGE bridge...all the time thinking to myself, there's NO WAY that's going under, but DUH of course it can otherwise it wouldn't be going that way now would it? Didn't really know where we were going, but ended up in a pub-type place for dinner & it was pretty good (do I remember the name of the place? of course not, can't even remember my name sometimes & ya expect me to remember the name of an establishment???) anycrap, went thought a couple stores down there too, ended up going through a candy place & this guy was making taffy & tossing out little wrapped pieces to people passing by ( which of course would make anyone in my family just LOVE Savannah even more! I mean Free candy, can we live here? You can even walk around with drinks outside as long as they are in plastic cups, now add a slim Jim & a twinkie & a bathroom, my ENTIRE family would move there in a heartbeat!) Anycrap, we were just walking through little shops ,of course ended up buying some more taffy...it was excellent! & a few chocolates....the little ones were thrilled to have their little glass coke bottles ( it always did taste better in glass bottles if ya ask me...I know you didn't, but pretend ya did!) Anycrap, it was getting late & we were all tired from driving & going to the beach & all so we went back to the room to get some shut eye.







The next morning we decided ( with the advice of a co-worker of hubby's..) to take a trolley tour of Savannah. Now I'm not usually one to do touristy type stuff like that, but I didn't really know the area, & there was so much to see so we didn't really know where to start, so a tour sounded pretty good! & we were glad we did, we learned quite a bit about the area in a short period of time, were able to get off & back on for some of the places that we decided to spend a little more time ( & actually look inside some of the homes instead of just the outer parts...) My eldest daughter wanted to go to the Juliette Gordon Low birthplace ( she was the founder of the Girls Scouts of America) & it was pretty awesome, I never knew much about the woman, but she was a truly talented artist besides just what she was known for... there were all kinds of portraits, busts, & woodwork things she had made throughout the house that really should be in an art museum somewhere ( which is why they probably show then there at the house...)& her parents were envolved with founding Chicago, which I never knew that...anywho, learned quite a bit there!
They don't allow picture taking inside the house, but there was a beautiful garden outside, that ( & I DID ask first..) I took some pictures of...






everyone was kinda camera shy, but I wish someone stood in front of this plant, IT WAS HUGE!!! I mean I'm roughly 5'5" & this thing was taller than me! It looked like a huge aloe vera plant, but not sure, since I've never seen one get THAT big! It was definitely a cactus if some sort but it DID look like an aloe vera plant to me...














& this was a close up of a potted plant out in the front, kinda blurry, but it was what the Hawaiians call "Kika" flowers (cigar flowers, I don't know the REAL name, but that's what we call them....) they were beautiful, but not nearly enough of them to make a lei....not that I was going to :) the flowers are very tiny, but they were pretty...





Anywho, by then we were all getting a little hungry & thirsty so we hopped back on the next trolley & went to a shopping area that had some restaurants & went to an open cafe type place had a slice of pizza (sadly, New York style....MAN do we miss Pizza.....) It was ok, though, walked around to a few shops, saw some carriage tours go by...






it was starting to get a little grey out & the wind was starting to kick up. so we hopped back on the trolley, just rode the rest of the tour out (the girlies were getting a little tired anyways...) so we marked off a few more places to visit next time & just enjoyed the ride...



after the tour was over, we decided to head for home, but before we left the area we wanted to see Fort Pulaski...






sadly we got there kinda late (about 20 minutes before they were closing the gate..) so we didn't get to go inside, but we will next time...

by now it was starting to drizzle , so it was a good time to go.

So for a day & a half ( we got there roughly Friday afternoon & left early Saturday evening..) we got to see quite a bit of Savannah & one thing is for sure, we'll be going back again soon!!!

Everyone had a blast & wants to go back so all in all, it was a great weekend adventure!

So quite a good spring break was had by all, even if it wasn't really planned out, we had a nice mini vacation & the girls didn't end up staying home & saying "WE'RE BORED" everyday!
Sometimes things work out better if you don't plan them!

But now, back to life, back to work,etc, etc, etc...

Malama pono & a hui hou to all!