first game...is a win!

Anna's first game of the season was great!

 We aren't used to seeing her team win, so we were THRILLED!

And...not to sound to boastful, but Anna scored TWO goals! 

She was super happy....mostly because Mitch started a tradition that we all get to go eat ice cream to celebrate soccer goals.

 Personally, I don't think Anna could care less if her team won or lost...so long as she scored a goal and got to eat some ice cream in the end. Which, frankly, isn't a bad philosophy.  

We always tell our kids to do their best...win or lose...that so long as they tried their best, that's all that matters, right?  

 And...when we get to celebrate with ice cream (or frozen yogurt, in this case) we ALL get to reap the benefits.  :)

Way to go, Anna!

let the soccer season begin!

So, the new year has begun and we are in full swing.  

And by "full swing" I am talking about school, homework, and soccer.

The new soccer season has started and with it, a new team for Anna.

We were a bit nervous (since her last team was kind of a disaster!) but this year seems to be off to a most excellent start.  For starters, her team is actually pretty good!

Of course, winning isn't everything...but it does help the girls (not to mention us parents) enjoy the games.  

So, Anna has a new team and she is thrilled...because though we have a new coach, we also have 4 of the same team member as last season!! 

 Spring season for soccer is always nice because the weather tends to be a bit cooler than the Fall season...but the downside is that it also means more rain. 

This day proved no exception.

It started out beautiful and sunny...with a double rainbow to sweeten the view!

 And then half way through practice, it proceeded to DOWN POUR!

Thank goodness I brought my umbrella!

Thankfully, the kids didn't seem to mind all that much.

Rain or shine...GO ANNA!

baby nixon's blessing

January 6th, Elika's baby Nixon was blessed.

Her church started SUPER early (8AM) and with her living an hour away, we had to leave super duper early in the morning to make it on time.  Whew!  Not an easy task!

But, we got there just in time and the blessing was beautiful, as was the weather!  

And simply being there to help celebrate this beautiful new baby into our family made it all worth it.

What a big group! And this wasn't even everyone since many of the little kids ran off to their primary classes without us knowing!

 My Mom and baby Nixon.

After church, we headed to Elika's for some yummy lunch.

Here's Seina and Kela...two small butts fitting snugly in one chair.

And the rest of the gang.  

Or, at least most of them.  So many kids!!

 And then, it being the day after Kaden's birthday, I made cupcakes to also celebrate my son's turning TWO years old!!  Where did the time go?!?  

By this time, he was SO pooped out from running around and playing with his cousins that minutes after finishing his cupcake, he was OUT COLD!

All of us.  

We sure do like these group pictures!!  Ha! 

So many of us!!

happy birthday to kaden!

I cannot believe my baby boy is TWO!

It seems like just yesterday he (quite literally) jumped into our lives!

Our family wouldn't be complete without him for sure!

Here he is...just hours old!

Ahhh...thinking back to the day he was born always makes me laugh and smile...and feel grateful it's ALL over!

If you need a refresher, take a look at my blog post here.

Needless to say, he shocked the nurses and myself in how fast he came!  He came so fast, Mitch wasn't even in the room yet because he had to re-park our car from the ER entrance!  :(

But, alls' well that ends well, and he arrived safely and healthy.  

The girls have all loved him from day one...and that continues to this day!

He's rambunctious and mischievous and definitely a force to be reckoned with.

He loves his Daddy, his Mommy, his sisters, cars, airplanes, and the ipad.  In that order.  

I'm guilty of babying him and have openly acknowledged the fact that I am trying my darnedest to raise a little "Mama's Boy."  

Luckily for everyone else, I haven't succeeded.  No, he's definitely a Daddy's Boy through and through.

♥

Happy New Years!!

I can't believe 2012 is over!!  Where did the time go?!

So, continuing on with the Holiday festivities, we all got together once again for New Year's at my sister Airi's house.  On the menu for this special night was SUSHI!

 Here I am helping to roll out the spicy ahi and california roll sushi...while Seina helped with cutting them up.  I probably got the easier job...have you ever tried to cup up a sushi roll?  

Not so easy!  I know this because after Seina gave up, I cut up the rest of the rolls as well.  

My plate of food.  SO good!

And per tradition...as we got closer to ringing in the new year, we made some Okinawa Soba and inari sushi to munch on while we waited for the clock to strike midnight.

Okinawa Soba is a favorite amongst ALL the kids.

 

Happy New Year 2013!!

Can you see the fireworks in the back??  Probably not very clearly since this was taken with my camera phone...but the view from Airi's lanai is quite spectacular!  What a fun and relaxing way to watch the Waikiki fireworks!

Here's one of my favorite Holiday treats: Zenzai.  Sweet red bean soup with mochi balls.  Mmmm!

 Atau holding baby Nixon in the football hold...the Heisman trophy pose?

 Here we ALL are! 

And to end the night...we celebrated Jonas' 16th birthday!

I cannot believe my nephew is SIXTEEN Years old!!  

Happy Birthday Jonas, and a Happy New Years to all!

Let's hope that 2013 brings many happy blessings and adventures to blog about!

december...through christmas

December is upon us, and so is the feeling of Christmas in the air!

Well, not really considering the temperatures are still hovering in the 70's but with the Holidays comes all the festive decorations and music.  

 We visited the Honolulu City Lights at Honolulu Hale with my sister Elika and her family.

Here's the kiddos.

It may not feel like Christmas, but once you see all the Christmas lights and decorations, it's hard not to get in the spirit of the season!

 Once school let out for Christmas break, I knew I'd be hard-pressed to find some activities for the kids to do to keep them occupied and away from the computer or the iPad.

I found this giant coloring page on the internet and decided it was worth a shot.

I think the kids enjoyed coloring it!  It took a few days and the girls all played quite nicely together while each took a different corner and started coloring.  

Yay for cheap and easy indoor activities!

 And, with the Holiday season comes the Christmas train at the mall.  We let the kids ride this every year and they all love it!  Although truthfully, I think Kela's getting a wee bit too old for it!

(Though between you and me, she loves it just as much as the younger ones.)

It was my first time allowing Kaden to ride it.  While I was a tad nervous for him, I worried for nothing because he absolutely LOVED it!  The only time he fussed was when they were waiting to start.  Some other little kids were fussing and taking too long so they had to wait an extra few minutes to start moving.  He got antsy and wanted to move around...but as soon as the train started forward, he sat still and enjoyed every minute of it!  Yay!

Oh, and he also fussed when I had to pull him out at the end of the ride.  :(

He did NOT want it to end!

To get a bit more in the Holiday mood, Mrs. Neil (their preschool teacher) brought a shave ice maker to class one day.  She wanted the kids to make their own SNOW!

How fun is this?

Jojo with her snowball.  

 Kaden took a bit longer warming up to the idea of playing with a snowball...but once he discovered it, he kept going back for more and more!  

 Hopefully he'll get to experience REAL snow in the next few months when we visit the mainland... Hopefully!

Oh, and how cute are these?  A mom in the class made these cute little gingerbread men for each child!

Unfortunately, my kids aren't big on gingerbread cookies so they didn't get eaten...but still.  

How cute are these??

And then...onto Christmas Day.

My parents were trying to fly here to spend Christmas with all of us in Hawaii this year.

We booked them some buddy passes and crossed our fingers.  

Unfortunately, with the flight loads being SO full, they were unable to make it out on the 23rd.  So, Mitch being the super guy that he is, decided to fly out to Seattle to meet up with them in hopes of raising their chances of flying out on the 24th.  They still didn't make it!  :(

Which meant that we spent Christmas Eve with my siblings...but not my parents and NOT Mitch.

The girls were pretty sad, but truthfully, I was even sadder.

Here we are on Christmas Eve, Skyping with my parents and Mitch...hoping and praying that they can fly to Hawaii on Christmas Day at least!

And, thankfully, our prayers were answered!!

Christmas Day, my parents and Mitch arrived safely to spend Christmas at home with us in Hawaii!

Here are my parents with the girls just after arriving.

My girls even waited until Daddy came home to open their presents...they were so patient!  

I was super proud of them.  

And they were super happy with all of their Christmas presents. :)

After opening up their gifts, the girls wanted to make some of the "poppin' kitchen" candy food that Mitch had gotten them from Japan. 

My Mom helped the girls make the food and assemble the "candy sushi."

My girls LOVE this stuff!! 

Seriously..this is made out of CANDY!!  And they made it themselves!!!

I'm convinced that Japan has the best candy and food EVER!  :)

After my parents relaxed for a bit, it was off to meet up with the rest of the Sakumas.

The reason why my parents came in the first place...was to meet their newest grandchild, Nixon.

Elika's baby arrived a week early so they didn't get to see his birth, but I think it all worked out okay in the end!  Baby Nixon looks so tiny in Ojichan's arms!

This is grandchild number 23 for my parents.  

Look how alert Nixon is after only a week!

My kids (and I'm sure most of the other kids as well) were most looking forward to the new pajamas that Obachan always makes for them.  Well, some got pillowcases instead, but most of the kids got brand new PJ's...which is SO much work when you think of how many little grandkids there are!  

Thank you Obachan!

And as a thank you...I decided to put together a quilt for my parents this year.

I passed out a quilt square to each grandchild and had them decorate them however they wanted.
And then painstakingly assembled the quilt with ALL the grandkids personalized squares.
It was my first attempt at such a quilt...and I'm sure there could have been many improvements in the colors and sewing and such...but all in all, I thought it turned out pretty good!
Hopefully, my parents were happy and can have a tangible reminder of all their posterity.

Well...most of them.  
Baby Nixon wasn't included and there appears to be one more Sakuma baby on the way later this year, so I suppose in a couple of years I may need to make another one with ALL the kids!

Christmas Dinner was sushi.  And some left over BBQ from Christmas Eve (which, I did NOT take any noteworthy pictures of.  Sorry...but with Mitch and my parents stranded in Seattle, I wasn't really in the festive picture-taking mood)

Justus and Jojo.  

These two are like two peas in a pod whenever we get together!

After dinner it was time for some friendly white elephant gift exchanging...

...followed by some Wii Just Dance.  

It was a Very Merry Christmas for all of us!!