fyi

mars bar is back. just thought you wanted to know.

his kids

nani was singing fragments to a song unfamiliar to me and as hard as i tried to understand what she was saying, i just couldn't. so i asked mese.

me: mese. what's nani singing?
mese: she's singing..."and away goes trouble down the drain!"
me: what? where'd she get that from?
mese: you know mom...it's that song from dad's "funk generation" cd!

they are SO mason's kids.

christmas on the brain

i absolutely LOVE this time of year! everyone is a little nicer, kinder, happier, friendlier. we've been trying to do a better job of teaching our children the true meaning of christmas. every night we've been reading stories of jesus out of the scriptures and we sing many christmas songs/hymns. it's been quite nice. but you never know if they really understand. so went our conversation yesterday.
mese: mom, can we buy some carrots? a BIG bag?
mom: uh yeah. i need to get some anyway for the cake i'm baking. why?
mese: i was just thinking...the reindeers work hard too and they might like a snack.
mom: i think you're right! that is a good idea mese:)

sila must have been concerned about santa's beverage and asked if we could put some soda out for the big guy. why not? it's christmas!

kid conversations

george michael's "last christmas" is playing in the background and the kids are singing along to it..."last christmas, i gave you my heart. but the very next day, you gave it away. this year to stop me from tears, i'll give it to someone special."

mese: i guess that means he's giving it to santa.
sila:NO!
mese: uh huh! santa is special.
sila:NO MESE! a boy can't marry a boy!
mese: well...santa IS special.

alive & kickin

WE'RE BACK! and we're so glad. we had a fantastic thanksgiving week with mason's parents & family in st. george. we had a potentially major setback on the way there, but we're well and so is our van...YAY! we laughed, we cried(mostly me), we ate(boy, did we...and it was so good), we enjoyed spending time with loved ones and reflecting on our many blessings. thanks to mason's parents for always being so kind and super generous to our family. they are very gracious hosts and we always find it hard to leave them. the kids had a fun time with their cousins and grandma & grandpa. they too find it hard to leave them:) sila cried...i'm afraid she takes after me in that dept. we're thankful for the good time we had and looking forward to this next holiday when we celebrate christ's birth-i just love it! don't you?

on your mark...get set...GO!

today mese & sila participated in their school's turkey trot-a running race. each grade level runs a measured distance. for example, kindergarten ran 50 yards, 1st grade ran 100 yards and so forth. each grade level was grouped according to gender. so sila ran against all other kinder girls and mese ran against all 2nd grade boys. it started with kindergarten girls so sila was the first group to run. she was SO excited and could hardly contain herself-too cute;) but when they gave the signal to start running, running was exactly what she did. nia & i were yelling,"GO SILA!" and mason was cheering her on as well. we watched and cheered and before we knew it, there was sila off in the forefront ahead of all the girls! we kept cheering and screaming her name, she even turned once to look at us-oops. but we kept yelling at her to keep going to the end. there was one girl just behind her so we weren't real sure if sila had won, so we waited for the announcement. then it came,"in first place for kindergarten girls...SILA PATTERSON!". mason & i looked at each other and we were ecstatic! and yes, even a little teary eyed(me):) i was so proud of her. she came home with her trophy...a 20 lb. turkey. that's our sila girl.
mese's race was fun. he started out behind a large group of boys, then he even stopped a moment, so as not to fall onto the boys in front of him. he then proceeded to make his way around the outside and tried ever so hard to catch up with the boys ahead of him. he ran his heart out and made 6th place. we cheered him on all the way to the end and he was pretty happy with his outcome...what a good boy:) we are so proud of our children and glad that they had fun running the turkey trot. when i went to pick the kids up from school, mese was helping(basically all by himself)sila carry her 20lb. turkey-what a strong boy he is! he even asked me,"how much does that turkey weigh mom?" he gave a quite "satisfied & impressed" look as i answered "20lbs.". too funny. we celebrated with waffles for dinner & ice cream for dessert-what a way to end our fun day with the kids. GO PATTERSONS!!!

oh no!

mese & sila in school...luana in bed asleep...i asked nani, "hey, what do you want to do? you have my full attention nani, so what it is? what do YOU want to do?" i said it with much enthusiasm. she replied, with just as much enthusiasm, "EAT!".

what have i taught my daughter?

merci, danke, fa'afetai, gracias...

today i'm feeling especially grateful for so much in my life. looking at my wordly posessions, one would easily conclude that i'm lacking a lot. heck, according to the government, i'm down right poor! but as i sit here typing this post, i'm in my beautiful comfy home. i'm staring at the food on our dining room table. my girls are sleeping in their beds. they are warm. mese & sila are in school getting an education and developing their love for learning. i made them lunch that they took with them. they'll eat it and be satisfied. i woke up this morning and had a shower, a warm shower. i got in my van this morning and took the kids to school. mason took his car to work this morning. he went to work like he does every morning because he is our provider. he takes care of us. now, i'm thinking about what i should make for dinner...i love the fact that i even have that option. the sun is shining through the blinds from my window and i can feel its warmth. it feels good. and i am thankful. i remember the first time i wore glasses. it was 6th grade. i put the glasses on and something happened. i could SEE! i remember looking at a leaf on a tree and noticing all the lines on the leaf. i had never noticed before or even knew leaves had lines. but now i knew and i was grateful. here's what i'm thankful for:
friends,family,mason(he deserves a post all his own:), my 4 joys:mese,sila,nani, & luana, gospel,nature,food/water, health, 2 working vehicles, vaccum, dishwasher,stove,fridge, phone, house, music, reading, good books, mason's job, my kids' teachers, veterans and so much much much more. so, what are you epecially thankful for?

favorite

mese: dad? when are we going to grandma's house?
mason: uhhh...either sunday after church or monday.
mese: can we go sunday after church? then i can have 6 days of pancakes at grandma's!

this kid(and the girls)love them some grandma:) and her pancakes are supreme!

bon appetite

today i was super busy with getting things ready for our stake primary meeting tonight. i had to type up lists, print out pages off internet, make lots of copies, and to top it all off, make bread for refreshments. i got everything done in time but i neglected to make some grub for my family. so...they had bread for dinner...and they were THRILLED! i felt badly because i thought, "just bread?" so i told them to put some jam & peanut butter on it and call it good. they didn't complain. i'll do better tomorrow.

p.s. i was also dealing with a super baby(she hardly even cried) after getting 3 immunization shots, 1 oral immunization, 1 flu shot, & 1 H1N1 shot...she was such a trooper my luana girl:)

monday

mese:sila, do you know what stars are made of?
sila:no.
mese: they're made of gas...i think it's the gas you put in your car.
sila: no, i think it's the gas that comes out of your bottom.

birthday surprise!

tuesday was mason's birthday and we've been planning it for the last several months...we got the kids ready for school and the 2 youngest ready for nia(thanks nia). we dropped nani & luana off at nia's then mason & i took sila & mese to their "dr. appt. for te 2nd dose of swinr flu vaccination" ...in anaheim...to the happiest place on earth...yes...we surprised them and took them to DISNEYLAND! oh it was so fun to see their faces when they realized we weren't joking with them and we were really going to disneyland:) the first thing sila said was,"awwww...i wish nani was here". i felt sad for a second-but just a second. don't worry, the kids picked out the biggest lollipop with princesses on it for nani and a snow white w/7 dwarfs play set(which she absolutely loved). we went on every ride we could get on. we had so much fun and the kids had a blast just seeing everything and all the disney characters. i'm so glad we took them. and yes, i'm glad we went there to celebrate mason's 33rd birthday. we love you mason and happy happy happy birthday honey!

*sidenote: this was our first trip together to disneyland(mason & i) since 1994, yes 15 years ago when we went together on a date with mese&jenny,tiare & zeth. that was a most dreadful day! and i'm glad to say that this time was much more pleasant:) 15 years ago on that trip mason bought me a pair of mickey mouse earrings. tuesday i wore them and that's the first thing sila noticed:) i hoped she wouldn't figure out anything...so glad she didn't;)

9:18 a.m.

that's when i woke up this morning!!!!! i was a very happy & grateful woman-thanks to my super husband for taking all the kids out of the house this morning while i slept in. what a way to start my saturday-woooohooooo!!!

a picture says a thousand words...

and unfortunately, we have no pictures to show!(just in case you were wondering what happened to the pics. on this blog) our daughter, (won't mention which one, but i think you can guess:) in retrieving the camera from the van, returned with it b-r-o-k-e-n. that's right, BROKEN! she had opened it up then shoved the lens back in-mason & daniel tried to fix it but sadly, it was finished. so until we can get enough money to buy another one, there will be no pictures on this blog, sad i know. just use your imagination!

grapes, kool-aid, barney

today...
me:nani, let me see your eyes. what color are they?
nani:uuhhhh...i don't know.
me:they're brown!
nani:i don't WANT brown eyes! i want PURPLE!!!

she's quite pationate about that color.

no. 3

nani yuvonne patterson, age 3...TODAY!!! she woke up to the smell of yummy blueberry pancakes, courtesy of dad. nia & daniel left a present for her to open this morning-a princess camera(a necessity of course). other gifts included: drawing of spongebob from mese, drawing of sorts from sila, and a snow white hair wig from mese,sila & luana. she was pretty excited about all the gifts. she did ask mese & sila,"how old am i now?" i think she has a hard time saying 3 because she keeps telling everyone she's 4. so... who is nani girl?
LOVES to talk(she really can talk your ear off if you let her)
the most polite child i've ever known(i think she enjoys saying "please" & "thank you")
likes the color purple, sometimes pink
prefers twinkies(with strawberry cream) over chocolate cupcake
likes gum
enjoys watching movies with her bro. & sister
doesn't like to wear hair pretties
loves to wear dresses & skirts(her clothing of choice)
very independent when it comes to getting herself dressed & putting shoes on, and putting on her seatbelt
loves to sing
we love you nani and we're so thankful you're part of our family! happy birthday big girl:)

if only...

i dropped the kids off at school yesterday then headed to post office to mail a bill. nani asked me where we were going and the following conversation took place.
me: we're going to the post office to mail a bill.
nani: i can do it mom! i'm a big girl!
me:i know you're a big girl but we're just going to drive up to the mailbox and put it in.
nani:but mom, i'm a big girl and if somebody tries to take me, i can flick my hair pretty at them and they're gonna be dead!

if only...or maybe she has lots of faith.

oooh october! pumpkins, candy corn, swine flu?

yes, we are waiting for the now popular swine flu shots. our children have had the seasonal flu shots and now with all the hoop-la(and scare on my part) we're having the kids get the swine flu shots. not to mention, we know people who have gotten it, a little scary. thankfully, everyone's doing better and recovering well. i'm trying not to be freaked out about it all, however, that's easier said than done, especially with 4 young children including 2 who go to school where germs of all kinds are in abundance:) but mason assures me that it'll be ok. he'd better be right...this time for sure.

amour

every morning we(nani,luana,and i) drop mese & sila off at school. we send them off with the usual, "i love you" & "have a good day". we dropped them off yesterday morning and as we drove off, nani says to me, "i love those kids!" my thoughts? i love them too.

it's here!

FALL! which means...cooler weather:) case in point, i woke up this morning, looked at the thermostat in the hall:68 degrees!!! without the a/c...oh i'm so happy:)

not just a tablecloth

went to pick up mese & sila from school today and imagine my alarm when i took luana out of her carseat to find...you guessed it-POOP! it was all over her front and back, lucky me. i had no time to change her and i didn't have an extra onesie so nani helped me look for something, anything that i could wrap around her til we got home. and then we spotted the only thing we could use...my tablecloth. i was relieved to find it. of course, it too had poop smeared on it by the time i got home, but who cares. it served its purpose,right?

down to one...YES!

that's right! luana is the only one in this household wearing diapers...nani girl is potty trained! the day after i gave up on the whole thing-she decided she wanted to do it on her own and...SHE DID! i'm sooooooooooo thrilled. now, if i can only get nani to stop talking back and telling me what she thinks-all the time!:) i know...too much to ask for.

it's official...

WE HAVE THE FLU! well, nani has the flu so, as much as we LOVE to have friends and family over, on this particular occasion...PLEASE STAY AWAY!:) i mean it with all the love in my heart:) don't want anyone else getting sick. we'll certainly let you know when the coast is clear-i just hope luana doesn't get it-yikes.

please hurry!

i wish fall was here. i just love the weather in the fall and the colors...even though i know they're way prettier on the east coast-but oh well. i can't wait much longer...and of course, stagecoach days is just around the corner! woooohoooo!:)

disbelief...kinda

imagine my shock(sorta) when mason sat down with this(see picture to left of post). and the following conversation took place.
me:what is that?
mason:(without any hesitation) my cereal bowl!
me: mason! that's my mixing bowl! you can't eat cereal in my mixing bowl!
mason: this is a "man's bowl" and i'm eating my cereal in it!

the second picture to the left was taken to compare a "regular bowl" with a "man's bowl". i know...there's something definately wrong with that picture. someone please explain it to my husband.

no more water!

we've been going back and forth on getting a new fridge. we've been looking at the one we want at our local best buy, but i can't seem to let go of that money...for a fridge. i know we need one because i'm tired of almost slipping on water that comes out the bottom-it's a huge hassle, not to mention dangerous. and the bottom drawers broke so our fridge is falling apart. anyway, mason saw "our fridge" on line for a much better price and where did he find it you may ask? best buy.com of course! so it looks like my kitchen floor may be water free afterall(from the fridge anyway:).

pt progress report

nani's potty training(pt) progress report:
day 1: 1/4 she pee'd once in toilet...not so good.
day 2: 8/8!!! she pee'd in the toilet from morning til night...and yes, she even pooped, TWICE:)
day 3: so far, 3/3 including one poop-she's doing so well!

we're so proud of nani...i got her some big girl panties today at wal-mart. she can't wait to wear them. she even waited til we were almost done shopping to tell me she had to go potty. what a pro.

why didn't i think of that?

this morning nani was asked to say the prayer. of course, she asked in her prayer that "tau" come for her birthday. and then the following conversation took place.

sila: nani! tau can't come to your birthday party!
nani: yes he can.
sila: no he can't. he's up in heaven.
nani: well jesus can walk him down to me!

duuhhh! why didn't i think of that? if only it were that easy, right.

birthday wish

nani's birthday isn't for another 2 months but she let me know in advance what she wants. the conversation in the car yesterday went like this:

nani: mom, dad said he's going to get me "tau" for my birthday."
mom: dad said WHAT?
nani: he said, he's going to get me "tau" for my birthday because i asked him if i could have "tau" for my birthday and he said yes.
mom: oh nani. i don't think that's possible. how about something else?
nani: ok dad said i can have 4.

as i've mentioned in previous posts, "tau" is our baby boy that the kids are waiting for:) nani's just going to have to wait a little bit longer for that wish. and as for 4...don't know what that means but does it matter? 4 will be easier to get than "tau".

first day

today was the first day of kindergarten for sila and the first day of second grade for mese. here are some highlights.

*sila described the first day as, "so FUN!".
*mese said his teacher was nice...but also strict. i asked him what strict meant and he said,"it means she's very serious."
*sila told us all about "jack" and how he talked back to the yard duty.
*mese was excited to get some cheez-its from his friend michael.
*sila went out for recess today and saw mese two times.
*mese said there were monkey bars only for 2nd graders.
*sila said she was the only one in her class that listened to the teacher...yeah, that sounds right:)
and lastly,
sila: mom! every single boy in class followed me today.
mom: oh yeah. why?
sila:uuhhhh, cause of my dress mom!

silly me. they had a great first day of school. as for nani, just one hour after dropping mese & sila off at school, she asked"can we go pick up mese & sila?" i take it she was bored with her mom. now let's see if the second day is just as great.

we did it...

i never thought it would be me but yes, we did it. mason loaded the kids in the van while i was doing my usual locking up the house, grabbing this and that while on my way out the door. before i got in the van i told mason i was getting the mail. after getting the mail i got in the van and opened the much anticipated letter from sila's school, informing us of who her teacher would be. i read the letter aloud and waited for a response from sila...no response(meanwhile mason's driving away from the mailbox & house)i turn around to look back at sila and...no sila. "where's sila?!" i shout. and mese looks at me and says, "she's not here!" then i glare at mason and ask,"where's sila?! YOU LEFT HER?" because of course, it was his fault:) so we put the van in reverse,open the garage door and i race in the house to find sila sound asleep in her bed. i know what you're thinking...but at least she was safe,right? i still can't believe we did that.

and...

WE'RE BACK!!! we've been gone for the last week and a half to idaho/utah for a family reunion/vacation and it was FABULOUS! we had so much fun with all the cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents, friends, etc. and we'll be posting pics. soon. but just wanted to let you know we're here, and it's good to be here:) have a super monday everyone!

L.L.P. age 7

he's had a week long birthday celebration so now i think it's time to post about our number 1 son: lamese luis patterson, aka mese. mese was and still is a mild child. he's mellow(except when he doesn't get a mid-week nap). he's kind, helpful, likes to help his sisters(poor boy, he has 3). in a lot of ways he reminds me so much of mason...which in this case is a good thing:) he likes to go on rides in his dad's car, especially if they're going to get donuts-lemon filled is his favorite. he doesn't like to drink milk(like his mom). he's an avid reader-just finished tom sawyer and is reading black beauty. he wanted me to buy anne of green gables but i told him to finish black beauty first. he gives way too many details when talking(gets it from his mom). he's a good friend. he's a good brother. and he's our #1 son and we love him. mason and i are so thankful to have mese in our family. happy birthday mese! we love you.

3 hours

yesterday i woke up and was determined to potty train nani...yesterday after 3 hours i gave up.
there's always next month, right?

mother of all mondays

here are the happenings of yesterday in a nutshell:

*woke up to a cracking/dropping sound of the jar of whipped honey on my tile floor(kids didn't want cheerios for breakfast-instead, honey sandwiches was the breakfast of choice) nice start to my day, i know.
*loaded the kids up in the van to head to costco and realized the van had been "broken" into. we left it unlocked-cd's, dvd, change was stolen and the dvd player would've been taken as well if the culprit didn't hear someone/something: he left the knife in the van. fun.
*got the above said taken care of and headed to costco and drove right past a blazing fire on the 60 fwy-hot.
*got all the way to costco and realized i had forgotten my purse at home. nice.
*mason calls me and tells me how he was almost a witness to a potential shoot-out on the way to work that morning. can it get any better?
* and to top it all off-it was mese's 7th birthday-that was the best part of my day:)

needless to say, it was an interesting start to my week. and i really did wake up thinking...it's going to be a good day.

treasures club

today sila officially joined the treasures club;otherwise known as the "things you shouldn't find at the park" club. it's founder: erica's cute daughter ella. she was fortunate enough to find a "treasure" at the park a little while ago...what was it called? oh yes, it was a contraceptive of some sort. and today sila was playing with a "treasure"- a used pregnancy test. i wanted to bleach her but opted to smother hand sanitizer all over her hands til we got home then scrubbed her down with soap & water. and here is where i'd like to thank those wonderful citizens of the community who leave their "treasures" at the park for our children to find. thank you...for making me sick. at least find a trash can will you. i can do without my kids finding those "treasures". from here on out, it's strictly treasures from the earth for my kids, thank you very much!

today was, tomorrow is

potty training. today was supposed to be the day, but i wasn't prepared and misplaced nani's big girl underwear. so, tomorrow is the day. wish us luck! and yes, i found the underwear...guess i'm getting a dollar:)

yesterday

we went to a wedding yesterday. mason was outside with nani because she couldn't keep quiet inside(i know, you're surprised). i left to feed the baby and upon returning to the ceremony, nani stops me and says,"mom? can i have some gum? my breath is kickin'!" she is so her father's daughter.

3rd times a charm

today is my 3rd attempt at making one of the most delicious chocolate cakes i've ever had and...it's gluten free! not that i'm against gluten but mese introduced me to it. one bite and i was hooked. only thing is, it comes in a box. can you believe it!? with frosting too. and the price is costly-a whopping $3.99. but i can indulge once in a while, right? here's to the bachelorette and chocolate cake!

Got to get out of the heat

From Mason

Today as I was looking out of my office window I realized we needed to get out of the heat. So Iwent and bought an adventure pass, Melina bought some steak and off we went to Forest Falls. It was a great little trip, the Grovers came along, I yelled alot at the kids to keep them safe.

maidenform madness

i've been in search for a good sports bra ever since i started courtney's fitness class. so i was determined to find one yesterday. off i went with my 4 kids to the outlet stores in cabazon. we hit addidas, then reebok, then puma and finally ended up in maidenform. i found a bra that i could potentially buy but of course, i had to try it on. so there i was with my 4 children and i needed to try on this sports bra. the sales lady was so kind and gave us the biggest fitting room they had and in we went-and yes, mese went in too. i had the baby in the carrier and the other 3 children i had standing in the corners, with their eyes closed. i had to move fast. while i was doing this i kept thinking"is this worth it?" and in the end, it was. the bra fit wonderfully. i got it for way less then i expected and my kids did just fine in the store/fitting room. and no-i don't think i've scarred them for life:) although i was pretty sure mason would think so.

absolutely the LAST time

if you look over to the left of this post, you'll see a sad, sad picture of my son. yes, this is what he walked out the door looking like today, at church. there's a word for this-oh yes, that's right, it's called child neglect! how could mason and i be so cruel? high waters AND white socks?! this is a formal apology to our only son-hopefully he can put this behind him and all will be well again. tomorrow's agenda: shopping for church pants AND black socks.

thanksgiving in june?

i was exercising monday morning with several of the moms in our ward and as i was doing my lunges, i had a VERY random thought: a thanksgiving dinner would be nice right now! after my exercise session, a few of us were talking, including amber westbrook. she mentioned how she had a 20lb. turkey at home that she NEEDED to cook that night. of course i shared my random, yet very important thought with her and the rest is history. our family went over to westbrooks to enjoy a most delicious thanksgiving meal complete with homemade rolls, mashed potatoes & gravy, vegetables, sweet potatoes, and of course, the turkey. it was soooooo generous of amber to invite us over and i must say-turkey in june is not a bad idea. thanks to amber & ryan for making a hungry girl's wish come true.

sianara

we are on the look out for some furniture, namely a sectional. i was ready 6 months ago to throw out our couches however, we have nothing to replace them with. i walked into the local furniture store last week and the saleswoman asked me if i needed help. i said no, but then changed my mind and told her-"well, yeah. i need a sectional-a LARGE one made of upholstery-no microfiber, no pillows but attached, no chaise, and can hold very large people." she looked at me in confusion, smiled and went to help someone else. was i too specific? so, if you know of anyone looking to get rid of a decent sectional, send them my way or give me a call. our deadline is june 20 aka bulky trash day and these eyesores are leaving my living room that morning with or without a sectional. so if you plan on coming to my house after that date...be prepared to sit on the floor.

4:30 A.M.

what were you doing at 4:30 am.? i can tell you what nani was doing. she was first, at mason's bedside asking him to get her some cereal, then she gave up(maybe because he wasn't trying to hear that). so she moved on over to my bedside, of course i was not entirely asleep(i have a newborn) so i opened my eyes after she said"mom", looked over at her and she said, in a sweeter than sweet voice that only nani can do, "mom...can you get me some cereal please?" how could i reject such a plea? so i said "yes", turned over to mason and told him, "nani wants some cereal honey." to which he responded, "come on nani girl. let's get you some cereal." 3 bowls of cheerios later, the child was content and all was good in the world.

* nani doesn't normally wake up this early and ask for cereal. however, last night at dinner she wasn't feeling well and didn't eat-actually, she did but it all came back up. that explains the hour of her request and the 3 bowls of cheerios.

life is good again

whew! late last night as mason was going through EVERYTHING in our room, he found his wallet in a bag of clothes! needless to say, we are relieved and thankful for this great blessing. it's such a stress when something like this happens, at least it was for us. now we can breathe again. thanks to all of you who sent good thoughts and wishes(and prayers:) our way.

where, oh where, has mason's...

WALLET GONE??? yes, that's right. mason's wallet has gone missing-and i'm not happy about it in the least. and neither is he. so i had the fun task of calling the bank and credit card companies this morning to cancel his cards, lucky me. i just hope we find it somewhere in our house-yeah, that would be nice. on a happier note, he did find his cell phone that went missing for almost 2 months. let's hope his wallet doesn't follow suit.

i don't know

i just can't seem to figure out this whole blog/picture/post thing. i can't fit the blog title & description and the family pic. on the same page in a decent size. and by the way...if you're wondering where our newest addition to the family is in the picture-she's in my belly. this was an easter pic. yeah, i know- get with the program already melina! current pics. of luana will be up shortly on the blog...keep checking in!

now i know!

i was nursing luana and nani happened to come in the room. the following conversation took place.

nani: mom-what's that called?(pointing to my milk producing body part)
mom: uuhhhhh...
nani: oh-it's a himbo! it's a himbo, mom!
mom: oh...yeah-a himbo!
nani: (lifting up her shirt) i have a himbo...oh wait-i have 2 himbos mom!

and now you know.

of course you didn't

i noticed it was quiet and i didn't see nani anywhere so i called for her.

mom: nani? nani come here!
nani: what?
mom: where were you?
nani: i was not trying to get your gum mom. i was not in your room.

she's so honest...even when she's not trying to be.

hooray for sun and parks!

it's been soooooo nice this week...there's been plenty of sunshine and trips to the park with friends and family. the kids are happy to lay down for naps later and i'm happy to have a nap too...what a nice luxury:)

out of the ordinary

the last 2 nights i've made dinner for my lovely family...i know, what's gotten into me? you may be thinking, oh she's getting back to normal...but i say, it's still the after effects of childbirth-you know, shock and what not.

oh yeah...

we were at a friends b-day party last night and it was time to go. we packed up chairs, diaper bag, kids and headed for the van. then mason looked at me and said,"hello?! you have to get nani because i have the baby and the chairs." wait a minute...mason has baby...mese and sila are up ahead...oh yeah...we have FOUR kids! it's going to take some getting used to i guess.

we will survive

it's been one week since we brought luana home from the hospital and so far...so good! we've had a few sleepless nights but due to the help of my awesome and super in every way mother in law, i think it's safe to say that mason and i are going to make it:) it was so wonderful to have dixie here to help keep the other 3 children happy, not to mention the housework she did so that we didn't get buried in piles of clothes, toys, and dirty dishes. she was a lifesaver and we're so grateful for her help and support-thanks mom and we love you.
i've said this before and i'll say it again, mason and i have always been fortunate to have good people around us who are kind and willing to give help and support to our family. our family here and friends were so kind to bring meals over while i was recovering and they also offered to take my kids and keep they happy-how did we become so blessed?! the meals were divine and the gesture itself, remarkable-because it showed us how much you care and how lucky we are to have you in our lives. for all of you(you know who you are) we are grateful and we love you. thank you for showing us you care.

s*i*l*a*

upon leaving the dr.'s office this morning, sila asks mason whether or not we're on our way home.

mason:yes, we're going home to have lunch. i'm going to make pbj(peanut butter & jelly) for nani and turkey sandwich for sila.

sila: yes! that's how i live-only the best chocolate...and some meat!

we've taught her well.

she's here!

luana marie patterson was born on monday, april 27, 2009-just one week shy of her duedate. she was 6 lbs. 13.5 oz. and 20 in. long with black...HAIR!:) most people say she looks like sila-i agree. mason will post pics. soon. welcome lulu!!!

my new addiction

mcdonald's freshly brewed hot chocolate with whipped cream and chocolate syrup on top-mmm...mmm...good! i've had 3 cups this week:)

not yet...darnit

i'm only 50% effaced which means i'm halfway there...but not close enough to be induced-yuck. i don't think i'll last til the planned induction next tuesday-but we'll see. i guess luana will come when she wants to, right. or maybe i should start running.

quand? wann? quando? when?

i'm really hoping to be awakened in the middle of the night by some strong contractions...it would be nice. don't know if i can hold out til wednesday...i can but i'd prefer not to and just go on my own, so as to avoid the whole epidural-but whatever, i'll take what i can get as long as all goes well and the baby is fine. but wouldn't it be nice to know when?

good news just got better

original due date: may 4
moved it up to april 28
now...due date has been moved up to april 22...can you say YAY!!! reason???
dr. doesn't want the baby to get too big...say what? come again? are you talking about MY baby? getting too big? i had to laugh:) but i'm still grateful.

one of my favorite holidays

i love easter. i love the feel and hope of it and the good feelings along with much gratitude that i have when i think of the many blessings i have in my life-all made possible because of jesus christ. he is the center of our lives and we are so happy because of it. everything good we have or experience is because of him and we are thankful.

8

today marks 8 years of marriage for mason and i. so...here are 8 reasons(of many) why i'm thankful to be married to the love of my life.
1. he's honest in every way-a big plus in my book.
2. he loves me unconditionally and shows it.
3. he helps me wholeheartedly and with great love, raise our beautiful children.
4. he gives all of himself to me, the kids, and others.
5. he's strong and makes me feel safe when i'm with him.
6. he loves the lord and his actions show it.
7. he loves his fellowmen and tries to help as best he can, when he can.
8. he's given me so much to be thankful for simply because he loves me.

8 years ago i made a choice...and it was the best one yet! happy anniversary honey and i love you always:)

good news

saw my dr. today and he's penciling me in for april 28th-yes, if i don't go in before then, i'm going to be induced! i'm so glad-i was just telling someone the other day i didn't know if i could last another 4 weeks...and frankly, i was silently wishing i could have her a week early-i guess wishes do come true:)

when will it end?

i don't know how many more times i can take strangers telling me what a cute little boy i have! yes, they're talking about my nani girl. i mean, i know she has very little hair but come on-when she's wearing green polka dots with bows and dora shoes, can you really mistake her for a boy, or are they just not paying attention? or maybe it's because i'm a mother, i take the time to examine all details: color of clothing, blankets, shoes, socks, etc., BEFORE i open my mouth and determine the gender-and if i'm not sure, i just ask. that's ok to do also. maybe this next baby will have tons of hair...but then i'll dress her in pink and ribbons from head to toe and some non-attentive stranger will probably still tell me what a cute little guy i have.

what's in a name?

6 more weeks to go and baby #4 will be here! we're told it's definately a girl and many people have been asking what her name will be. we've had our children's names picked out before they were born(we like to be prepared:). if it was a boy, his name would be tautagi levi (named after my dad's grandfather, and mason's middle name). and for a girl...luana marie-pronounced loo-ah-nah...just a name i've always liked, and marie is glenna's middle name. i think it flows well, don't you. happy monday everyone!!! and congratulations to shawn and darcy and orin for their new little one...brody shawn!:)

b-ball

march(actually january thru march) madness is over for us at the patterson household. mese played community b-ball this season and did rather well. they won 8 games and lost 1. mese has improved his mad b-ball skills since inheriting westbrooks hoop(thanks guys:). even his coach commented,"he's been praticing, hasn't he?" he loves to play even though we had a rough start, but i don't think it'll be a struggle getting him to play again next year...and by then, sila will have joined the wide world of community sports. it was a lot of fun-i'll post a couple of pics. of our star later...GO MESE!!!

lost & thankfully found

a couple of days ago i was cleaning(mildly) and realized my wedding ring was not on my finger-what? i was sure i put it on that morning. (i don't really like wearing jewelry so i take my wedding ring off at night before i go to bed, then put it on in the morning) and besides some studs, occasionally, i usually just wear my wedding ring. anyway, it was lost for a few days until i thought, i should check my dresser drawer-i don't remember putting it on in the first place. sure enough, it wasn't in its usual place(jewelry box mason gave me when he proposed), rather it was laying behind the box. so, now it's on my finger and i'm soooooooo happy:) the queston is...do it blame it on the pregnancy or age?

what's for dinner?

last night i couldn't decide what to make for dinner so, off we went in search of the night's meal. we bought everything we needed to make pizza so that's what we had. the kids helped, of course and it was a lot of fun. and...the pizza was good-sausage. the kids were sure to save some for mason(he was at school). i wonder what the kids want to make tonight?:)

rapunzel is no friend of mine

monday was the day...sila got her second haricut to date. she got a hair pretty stuck in it and there was no turning back-i had made up my mind to cut it, or to have someone who knows what they're doing to cut it. so sila called her dad at work and begged him to let her get a haircut...her exact words were,"please dad, i want my hair cut like johanna's!". and so monday evening we made our way to salon strut in yucaipa where we met melissa who did such a wonderful job on sila's hair-we couldn't be happier. and the best part...people tell her that her haircut looks like johanna's. thanks melissa for making a little girl's dream come true:) i'll post pics. later.

the verdict is in...

we're having a GIRL!!! mese was a little disappointed:) but we're all so excited to be having another girl join our family. mason didn't get his wish either...he was hoping for a balance of powers, or in other/his words, "less dealings with feelings and more dealings with sense". he's such a boy:) and congratulations to mese & anna on their beautiful little girl gwen, she arrived this morning!!!

sila bethany patterson, age 5

today,(actually the 29th but this is not a leap year)is sila's birthday. my baby turned 5 and will be starting school in august...too soon, i know. there's so many things i can say about sila...here are just a few.
she's strong willed(makes for a good leader, right)
she's always the first to help me with almost anything
she's bright, funny, clever
she memorizes songs like no one else
she's a good singer and dancer
her whole face lights up when she smiles-i love it.
mason and i are so thankful and happy to have her as part of our beautiful family.
happy birthday sila girl-WE LOVE YOU LOTS!!!

never too young

in an effort to "take it easy" due to my little/big mishap and emergency trip to the hospital on tuesday night(long story short-i overdid it and started having contractions), i've been trying to rethink my way of doing things around the house and getting the kids to do more, to help me of course:) so tonight, i thought-it's thursday, i really should cook dinner. so i got everything out to make meatloaf and decided that mese would help me. he did a wonderful job and had lots of fun doing it. he asked many questions about the ingredients and was quite interested in the whole process-yay! and when it was time to eat, we were all quite satisfied with the outcome. not bad for his first meatloaf, and he's only 6. who knows, today meatloaf-tomorrow creme brulee. i can dream can't i.

have miracles ceased?

after several, ok maybe 4 long, very long weeks, lots of headaches, and finageling(don't know the exact spelling) with work/school/church/other stuff on one vehicle, and $1000 later...
MASON'S CAR PASSED SMOG!!!
so my answer is: NO, miracles have not ceased! and i'm sooooo glad:)

monday, monday

is it really, so good to me? monday really has a bad rap for being bad, what do you think? it hasn't been all that bad, yet.
i mailed off a bunch of things i needed to send out today-easy.
i went to find out why i was billed for electricity when i just paid a week ago-not too hard.
i'm trying not to eat too much before my dr.'s appt. for fear of having gained too much weight-i guess it's a lost cause at this point, right.
the kids are all taking a nap-yay:)
i wish i was:( but got to go to see dr.
i did have some yummy chocolate macadamia nut biscotti-that made me happy.
and maybe, just maybe we'll get mason's car fixed by the end of this week(that's a whole nother post guys).
hope your monday is fabulous!

and...

we did have a delicious sushi lunch yesterday and we enjoyed every minute of it-thanks to our good friend johanna, who watched our children. really...can it get any better than that?! chocolate and sushi in one day?

a weekend full of love

what a weekend! grandma & grandpa came to visit from st. george on friday and they stayed til monday. we love it when they come!:) we have so much fun and the kids can't get enough of them(we can't either:). we spent the weekend doing all the things we like to do-play, eat, shop, eat, relax, eat, talk, eat and enjoy one another's company. it's a very good thing.
what did my honey woo me with this year?
*ritter sport-german chocolate which i absolutley love
*carpenters gold cd-i think karen carpenter has one of the most beautiful voices, ever
*peter & the wolf dvd-i've never seen this so it should be good
thanks honey-i love you always.
and what did i do for my one and only?
*the kids and i made sugar cookies-he loves them, and i'm so glad because that's about all i do for him on heart day:)
*and of course, he received 2 reeses' peanut butter hearts and a card-the reeses' are a sure gift to mason for every holiday that involves gift giving.
and thanks to mese & anna for ending our lovely weekend last night with a most delectable molten chocolate cake-ohhhh it was sooooo good. you can come over anytime and make that for me:)
thanks to all our family & friends who helped us celebrate our weekend of love-we love you and wish you an awesome week!

blessed saigon

last night mason made rolls for dinner and had a small amount of dough left for cinnamon rolls-can you say yummy?! he tried our new ground cinnamon we purchased from costco a little while ago and it has to be the best cinnamon i've ever put in my mouth! the label on the cinnamon bottle states this:

"cinnamon trees are nurtured for 20 years prior to harvest in the tropical highlands of vietnam, our ground saigon cinnamon rewards cooks with a sweet-hot flavor unmatched by any other cinnamon."

thank you saigon for making my taste buds do the happy dance:)

enough is enough

i often ask nani, "what's in my belly?", to which she responds, "a baby." then i ask her, "is it a boy or a girl?" and most of the time she tells me, " a boy." but this particular time she said, "a girl." mese happened to be listening...

mese: mom?
mom: yes?
mese: if that baby's a girl, i'm DONE!
mom: what?
mese: if that baby's a girl, then i'm DONE! that's 3 sisters!

poor mese, i guess he's feeling a little outnumbered these days.

happy almost weekend

can you say...WEEKEND?! i so can't wait. there have been some downs this week that weren't fun-but what doesn't kill us makes us stronger, right? and to celebrate our almost weekend, the kids and i will be making valentine cupcakes tonight-red velvet with buttercream frosting(i'll be trying out erica's recipe)...mmmmm. i'm sure that's going to make us all quite happy, don't you think?

who loves you?

every morning mason asks nani, "who loves you nani?", to which she responds,"daddy!". this morning was different.

mason: who loves you nani?
nani: daddy.
mason: and?
nani: mese.
mason: and?
nani: sila.
mason: and?
nani: johanna.

it's nice to know that my children feel loved not just by family, but by their friends too:)

but i was wondering...what about mom?

i'm curious...

do toll house cookie pie, ice cream sundae, banana split, and twix candy bar count as carbs?

come again?

monday i went to see the dr.-a regular checkup you know. the entire pregnancy my dr. was worried that i wasn't gaining enough weight. imagine my surprise when i stepped on the scale i realized i had gained 15 lbs.! yes, you read right-15 lbs. this was the conversation when the dr. came in the room.

dr: hi melina. how are you?
me: good.
dr: so i see you've gained some weight. what are you eating?
me: oh, you know-everything.
dr: you've gained 15 lbs. since your last appt.
me: yeah, i know.
dr: what about carbs? oh...you're samoan, right?
me: why, yes, i am samoan.
dr: yeah, you like to eat lots of carbs.

needless to say, looks like i'll have to cut back on the sweets. sorry, johanna-i was going to put forth a better effort with the oreos.

game night, take II

mason had class again tonight so it made for a very long day. we're without a vehicle til mason gets his car fixed, so that left us with nothing to do...so i thought. i was tired of watching movies and then i remembered christine sent us one of my favorite games-encore. how bad could it be playing a music game with a 6, 4, and 2 yr. old? i tried to explain it to the kids and surprisingly, they weren't too shabby. of course, most of the songs they came up with were primary songs(they are learning something on sundays:). and they did come up with some good christmas songs while trying desperately to make up some of their own. they were good sports, even when my voice got a little loud-i'm still working on the patience thing. i don't know...cable for $12.44 a month is sounding good to me right now.

johanna jr. in training?

most of you know of my extreme liking of anything sweet when i'm pregnant. yesterday i bought a package of oreos. not good. by the end of the night, i think i ate 2/3 of the cookies. and yes, my thoughts turned to my good friend johanna, and how she just loves oreo cookies. will i ever be as good as her and finish off a package all to myself? only time will tell, but i'll sure give it my best:)

finally:)

we are now back in the swing of things, meaning, part of the world wide web! i've been without internet for a week and it's been driving me crazy thinking of all the blogs i'm not reading and what's on the drudge report:) i'm sooooo happy to say we're in our new home and we are loving it. we know it's a blessing and we can't wait to share it with our family and friends...so here's an open invitation to anyone reading this-you are always welcome in our home, so stop by and see us, we'd love to have you! mason and i have always been so blessed to have good people around us to help us and show us love and we're so grateful for your love and friendship. have a fantastic weekend and remember...come and see us!

there's no place like...OUR HOUSE:)

YAY! we got the keys to the house today and we're sooooo excited:) with lots of help from shawn & darcy, and mese & anna, we got it sparkly clean, ready to move in tomorrow. thanks so much guys for your help-we really couldn't have done it without you. now, i'm back here at the apt. going thru things(mostly throwing things out) and cleaning what i can. carrie has also been a big help-we just have awesome family:) and we're grateful. tomorrow we'll be moving everything in and we can hardly wait. we'll have to post pics. after everything's done...but thanks again to our wonderful family who helped us get our new home looking fabulous! we love you.

My beautiful wonderful Melina

Today is my sweet wife's birthday and this is for her:

As a young man I remeber the sweetness of her voice
tobe with her forever would always be my choice
I thought of how perfectly her hand would fit in mine
and what a blessed man I'd be, to be with her all the time
Every man should be as lucky to live the life I lead
Because I have in her love, all I will ever need

Melina is my greatest blessing

2009

what will the new year bring for the pattersons? hopefully, in the very near future...a house! and of course, a new baby:). -mason getting his teaching credentials...and beginning his masters program-mese continuting with school-sila starting school:( and :) i look forward to the new year with a brightness of hope and to all of you...all that is good and many many many happy times.
HAPPY 2009!