mickey

a somber day for us today...we had to have mickey put down due to his failing health (he was on borrowed time according to a mastiff's life expectancy). he was a special member of our family and we will always remember his playfulness, his affection for us and all of his quirks that made mickey simply...mickey.

the night with the limo

here we are, at 2:45am friday night. i know, i know...we're lookin' pretty rough, but this is after a *seriously* entertaining night out and if you knew what we did, you'd understand why. =) we had a reason for celebrating so hard: luke's going away for 3 weeks (he's in the marine reserves). marcus, our limo driver was awesome...shared some knowledge to enhance the evening. the next day was recovery day for all of us. some of us prayed to the porcelain god or woke up with a major headache, while others got donuts or greasy whataburger breakfast burritos first thing in the morning to cope with the hangover. ahhh, what a night out will do to ya'! was it worth it? i think we'd all agree with an emphatic, "hell ya!!!"

the color purple

so i don't think i shared the motivational challenge that i extended to the students about passing the reading taks test. i told them that if everybody passed taks, we'd dye our hair pink (in the end, we had to go with purple because the store didn't have any pink left). it seemed to cause quite a reaction and the kids got really excited about it. as i've said in my previous posts, there were a few that we were concerned about...one in particular that i was thinking would have a slim chance of passing (was diagnosed with a learning disability). but, after the 2nd round, even that kid passed. talk about making my year!!! =) julie was such a sport to go along with my antics. (thanks, bud!) so here we are, proudly following through with our end of the deal...what an awesome way to end the school year!!!

ohana

my family rocks. i never in a million years thought i'd ever see a picture like this: my brother, my uncle, my cousin and i doing shots of tequila at a bar in las vegas. *nice* =)

(thanks for the picture chrysti, i will treasure it always!!!)

poopy in the potty!

i can't believe it...all the urging, rewarding, bargaining, discussions about going "poopy in the potty" has FINALLY paid off! tay went poopy in the potty for the first time last week friday! she also consistently went over the weekend and into the week. i am such a proud mommy!!! =) look out cotton panties, we might just own the same ones for more than a couple of weeks (no more poop accidents)!

more vegas pics

Jonathan in Caesar's Palace.

Taylor giving Uncle Stacy a lei after the graduation ceremony.

The siblings: me, Stac and Anna. Always there for one another...

vegas, baby!

Had a great weekend in Vegas! Went for my brother's graduation from UNLV and it was wonderful. Busy, but wonderful (I think we averaged 5 hours of sleep per night)! It was so awesome to see the family and spend time with them. Here's a couple of shots that capture different moments during the trip:

Grandma Pung, Aunty Pauline, my cousin Chrysti (holding Taylor) and Aunty Rocky waiting for our mega table (party of 17) at Tony Roma's in the Fremont Hotel & Casino.

My sister Anna and her boyfriend Kona with Taylor during Bellagio's water show.

Stacy killing time by playing with Taylor as we wait for Bellagio's water show.

Taylor screamed "waterfall!!!" as we stood across the street from the Monte Carlo. She ran excitedly toward the fountain as we crossed the street and posed to have her picture taken.

Anna, Kona (holding Taylor), Stacy and I walked the strip the day we arrived.
(Man, it was HOT!)

Stacy and Taylor at the M&M's store on the strip.
Taylor picked out the pink ones to fill her bag to buy.

Tay and me in the MGM Grand's casino. Taylor called the slot machines "games"!!!

3 words: ONLY IN VEGAS.

My sister Anna, Taylor and I sitting on the Coca-Cola Bear in the Coca-Cola store on the strip.

my akamai cousin

been working hard to create a series of lessons about hawaii to teach the last 2 weeks of school. got a box of goodies from my cousin kris this afternoon to help teach the unit. i was trying to think of food to share at the mini luau that i was going to do the last day of the unit...it's hard to do all the authentic foods because: 1) many ingredients are not available to me here in texas 2) the cost of buying the ingredients that are available to me would be too much to spend out of my own pocket 3) rules about bringing food to school (store bought items only-although i'll bend the rules by making and bringing the haupia!). as you can see, kris came up with some great alternatives to share that will be easy to serve and/or have little preparation! so akamai (for my haole friends, akamai means smart), you are kris!!! mahalo for helping out!!!