Florida State Fair

We count down the days to this February Family Favorite.  Um...funnel cake, chicken gyro's, popcorn, skirt steak, warm doughnuts, sausage and peppers...all consumed within moments of being on the fair grounds.  How could you not LOVE that?!?!  {At least we haven't added the fried butter to our list of must haves.}

As tradition has held, we took our big ol' bellies full of sweets and treats and headed to the big yellow slide!  I stayed at the bottom with baby Kaia and sir dad headed up the long flight of stairs with Mekena, Kirra and Reef.  I looked as they made their way and there at the top of the stairs stood Mekena, clinging on to the pole refusing to go down what once seemed like the coolest slide ever - so down the stairs she came with a couple stranger moms as her chauffeur.  She's pumpin' herself up to go for it next year.  

Here's some photos from our fun day:

Sorry buddy!  Don't worry you'll reach that 42" mark in no time. 

Lovin' these!!  They flip up for clear glasses when the sun goes down. 

Promise we didn't let Kaia partake in the fried dough!

Reef throwing the "one more time" sign to the slide attendant.  This little guy seems to get whatever he wants.  Statistics show that when your name is Reef and you have blond curly hair and big blue eyes and a smile that makes everyone else smile you're determined to be spoiled! 

Above photo of complete stranger bringing Kirra down the slide, when you have so many kids you have to share them with others.  Thank goodness our little loves are all willing to "let" us share.  Oh if only you grew a new arm with each child you had.  Who cares what it looks like, it would sure come in hand (literally).

When asked, Mekena and Kirra will both tell you they plan to be Musketeers when they are older.  We've yet to tell them this is not an actual profession.  They promised us that these hats and swords were a must for their future success.

Mekena braved out the floating water balls.  I'm thinking I'd feel safer down the big yellow slide, but hey whatever she's good with works for us.

249 Days, 13 Hours, 56 Minutes, 36 Seconds Until the 2012 Florida State Fair!! 

{fo' real... I looked it up}

8 months of KAIA KAY

Kaia's favorite thing to do...

...suck her thumb entangled with moms hair, while the other hand grabs another handful of hair. 

And she does this in the most gentle way.  Really so sweet!  Our little bundle is loving all sorts of new food, rolling, sitting, army crawling and putting anything in site straight to her mouth.  That's where Super Mekena comes in... last week I set Kaia down and then I heard the "I'm really mad" cry.  I came into the room to find Mekena sitting by Kaia's side with a peanut in her hand.  "MOM, I got this out of Kaia's mouth, I had this feeling to go and check on her and saw her chewing on something,
so I reached inside her mouth and out came this peanut". 

Thanks Mekena for listening to "the feeling", you are a super hero!!  Kaia, we're sorry you don't recognize her heroic efforts yet and instead think your life savin' sis ruins all your fun.

{And a not so thankful thanks to Reef for eating all the chocolate off of his M&M
and throwing the peanut across the room.  :) }

Here's a couple pics of our growing gal...

Date - a - versary

Happy Date-a-versary to me and Rand!! 

Today is our 12 year Date-a-versary. 

Since I'm the blog author I get to tell the first date story {Rand's story recalls the story just a little bit differently}.  The setting, Roy's Restaurant, Hawai'i, 12 years ago and a few days...  It goes something like this:

"Hiiii most beautiful Tiffani" (rand)
"Hi Rand" (tiffani)
"Wow you are truly the most amazing girl I have ever seen and I really want to take you on a date, would you like to go and get some sushi?"  (rand)
"No thank you, I don't really like sushi."  (tiffani)
"Oh, well ok." (rand...feeling somewhat crushed)

Three days later:
"Hiii most brilliant Tiffani" (rand)
"Hello Rand" (tiffani)
"Really you are everything I've ever dreamt of and I really want to get to know you better, pleeeeeeeeeease go dancing with me." (rand)
"Um, not tonight" (tiffani)
"Ok, well thanks for considering the thought, if even for a second." (rand... feeling totally devastated)

Five days later - April 1, 1999:
"Most incredible female human ever created, how are you today?" (rand)
"I'm great." (tiffani)
"I was hoping if I gave you my phone number, you'd give me a call some time and we can get together" (rand)
"Sure, ok, go ahead and write down your number and I'll give you a call." (tiffani)

Actual photo of phone number from Rand:

I took home this little paper with phone number and finally figured "oh, what the heck, I'll call the guy, he's clearly never going to give up!"  And so I made the call and asked if this mystery man to my life wanted to get a bite to eat after work.  He screamed into the phone, "oh yes, oh yes, I would LOVE to.  Thank you, thank you for calling.  I can't wait!!!!"

{Truth disclaimer.... the above story has been dramatized a little.  :)}

So Rand and I met after work on April 1, 1999.  We went to Zippy's (a little Denny's style restaurant in Hawai'i) ate waffles and papaya.  And the rest is history.  He {and I} fell madly in love.  We had so much in common and found our differences intriguing.  Thank you for being persistent my Rand!  What an amazing 12 years we've had!!

Here's us back in 1999....

Love him.  Truly!!

Seven Months of KAIA...

Seven months... ALREADY!!  Someone HURRY, STOP the clock.  Keep the days from falling off of my calendar.  I'm addicted.  Seriously folks, A.D.D.I.C.T.E.D!  Rand was a smart man to go in for "the snip", he's right, I would've wanted another, because this little Kaia is SOOOOOOOOO (doing everything I can to not keep typing more O's) AMAZING!  She's a dream.come.true.  I hold her as much as I can and when I'm not holding her I feel jealous of who ever is holding her.  Hence the addiction.  Luckily I've convinced my other 53 children that this constant holding is necessary for her survival.  They seem to be okay with it - because they understand - because they are addicted too!

Here SHE is... a few pictures from her last 7 months.  {And proof that I've set her down a few times...grudgingly}  Click on photo if you would like to see it larger.

How could I be anything but totally smitten by this little love??

A Photo of Reef, by Reef

Reef thinks he's a photographer and takes photos with my camera or cell phone any chance he gets.  I'm not great at the word no when the kids think they're super good at something.  He's learned how to do it all his self and I crack up when I download photos and see some of his recent "work".  Thought I'd share:

Last but not least, the photo of Reef... by Reef.

M.E.K.E.N.A - Happy 7th Birthday!!

Dad says there are three peas in a pod - 

 and you are the third right behind me and your noni. 

I love sharing the pea pod with you! 

You are sweet and loving, protective, wise and genuine. 

Your sisters and brother love you and think you are the smartest girl in the
whole world. 

I'm excited for SEVEN - I can see a little lady forming and I love what I see!

Here's seven little memories that come to mind as I think of YOU:

1. You were at the park with Grandpa Cervenka when you were about two and a half and you were asking a little boy in a spider man costume, if spider man flies.  The boy said "what are you stupid".  Grandpa Cervenka was ready to give the boy a knuckle sandwich until he realized you had no idea what stupid meant and that you were content as could be and just kept on asking spider man trivia to this young "hero". 

2. Since you could sit you would arrange all of your "little people" toys facing the same direction.  You would hand me cards but if they were not the same direction you would put them the right way.  Sorry about this... I think you got the "insane detail" gene from both mom and dad - double dose.  Uh oh!

3. You made a big mess in mom and dad's room, you were four years old.  I came in and said "wow, this looks like a party in here, but you'll need to clean it up".  You said, "no mom, this is no party, this is an event and as you know events take a long time to clean up!". 

4. You woke up every morning from the time you could talk and stood up in your crib and hollered "bise bispies".  So out of bed we would take you to get your bowl of rice krispies.  To this day before both your eyes open you are ready for breakfast. 

5. You indeed were meant to be the first born, time after time you have protected your siblings.  From shouting at the top of your lungs "choking hazards everywhere" when Kirra was a baby to saving Reef from a million death defying stunts.  And watch out when someone says something mean about one of your siblings, you've definitely held nothing back.

6.  Prior to having children, I could imagine all of the adorable outfits my little girls would be wearing.  Perfectly matching, each hair in place... uhh, until I gained a true love for your individual style.  How could I possibly tell my adorable Mekena to change her clothes when she walked down the hall sporting an outfit above and beyond anything I could imagine...

7.  All of your wonderful illustrated stories, what keepsakes they have become.  You are an incredible writer and have amazed us with your creativity.  I can't wait to share them with you over and over again as you get older.

We love you Kena!  xoxo ~ Mom

the GREAT escape...

Had to do it or I might have FREAKED OUT!  Ok so there's no denying that my "plate of life" is full, very full, like 5 servings full... but I can't complain because each little helping was put on there by me and everything on the plate is delicious and like I was taught when I was young if you put it on your plate you have to eat it!  But when we found out there was a leak in a kitchen pipe, when the back room where we practically live all day was draped off from the rest of the house with a big "DON'T GO IN THERE" warning because of water damage, found out that there was water up the walls, that kitchen cupboards were history and soon to be demoed, carpet was torn out, that we would have no use of sink, dishwasher or laundry machine for at least a week...I hung in there....but who forgot to mention the DRYING EQUIPMENT??  As the fabulous equipment was plugged in, the Packer home instantly became an airport hanger with four Boeing 747's running full blast!!  REALLY??  Has technology not advanced enough in this field to offer a quiet option... clearly not!  So I asked "um, how long will this equipment be running"... and the answer, well that's what led to the great escape... "mam, you'll need to leave this running for a few days, we'll call you." 

Ok... "Rand, when you get home from work be prepared for an adventure, we're outta here, there is no way I'm staying in this house!"  So the kids and I did some dishes in buckets in the driveway (I know ghetto) and prepared for the GREAT ESCAPE.  Rand got home and just before we left Mekena asked daddy to put her pants in the dryer (wet from the dish duty).  I had a full load of baby clothes, practically her entire collection, in the dryer and when Rand went to pull out Mekena's pants the warm smell of chocolate filled the laundry room... And then Rand's voice "MEKENAAAAAA, Who gave you permission to have a handful of chocolate chips in each of your pockets??"  I came in to see (and smell) chocolate all over the walls of the dryer and now all of Kai's clothes had brown polka dots... my only option was to laugh.  Oh and re-washing them, not an option.  Just more ammo to hit the road... and OFF we went.  The Packers loaded up the truck (minus a few of Kaia's clothes) and headed to Amelia Island.  We found a great little resort that was ready to pamper the Packers, an ocean front room that we could hear the waves crash and a breakfast buffet that was delicious!  Be gone worries of the world, hello relaxation!  We had a great time swimming and building a sea shell mountain, an amazing pillow fight, bellies full of everything healthy including blue and red superman ice cream, mud pie, rocky road fudge, 2:00am room service of garlic knots and pizza - so yummy!! A fabulous time together!  And it was quiet {well as quiet as it can be with four little munchkins!}  And I was able to build up some strength to head back to the airport hanger and my full plate of life.  BRING IT ON!!!