Suggestions for poop stain removal?

Just now while I'm blogging and neglecting my children (it's an evil habit, this blog is), I hear, "Mom, I have poo-poo." So I go to see Ame, grab the wipes and a diaper on my way, only to enter the front room and see her there naked with an empty diaper in hand--not a skid mark on it. "Where's the poo-poo?" I ask. "Right there," she responds, and points to the biggest tri-colored log I've ever seen. Sitting on the carpet. At least it was a log, right? But there are a few…what's the word…smudges (?) near by. I've tried with wipes and carpet cleaner, but they are still there. Help, please!

P.S. Notice there's not a photo for this post. You see, I'm a thinker. I hope you appreciate my thoughtfulness.

Learning to swim…

…is not for everyone, even if islander blood runs in your veins (weird--this is the 2nd posting day in a row talking about blood running through veins).

The picture above is of Makai's first swimming lesson. What? you ask. That's not Makai, that's Ame! Yes it is. That's because Makai wouldn't get near the water (I was actually dragging him), and we couldn't get our money back, so Ame took his place in the preschool class and swam like a champ. We have tried again two different days, but Makai still refuses, so Ame's getting a head start in the swimming department. I don't know if or when Makai will learn to swim, and right now I'm not too concerned about it.

I know some of you are thinking, "Why have you never put him in swimming lessons before?" To answer that, I would remind you that this is the first summer of my adult life that I have not been working full-time during the day (and swimming lessons is not part of the daycare's curriculum). This summer is my first opportunity to sign him up, and it appears I've done it too late.

How horrified would his Tongan grandparents be to know that their one and only grandson doesn't want to be in the water?

What?! Nobody told me…

…that I was totally justified in eating my favorite treat every day this month! Because after all, aren't I supposed to celebrate with the rest of the nation? July is National Ice Cream Month. According to the International Ice Cream Association, here are the fifteen most popular flavors (where's the mint choco-chip and cookie dough?):

1. Vanilla, 29% (wow!)
2. Chocolate, 8.9%
3. Butter pecan, 5.3%
4. Strawberry, 5.3%
5. Neapolitan, 4.2%
6. Chocolate chip, 3.9%
7. French vanilla, 3.8%
8. Cookies & cream, 3.6%
9. Fudge ripple, 2.6%
10. Praline pecan, 1.7%
11. Cherry, 1.6% (gross)
12. Chocolate almond, 1.6%
13. Coffee, 1.6%
14. Rocky road, 1.5%
15. Choco.marshmallow, 1.3%
All others, 23.7%

For any of you who know me, you know that ice cream is my downfall. I will never successfully be able to lose weight because of this addiction. And for those of you who served your mission with me in Little Mexico, or who are members of my family, you know that I LOVE horchata--I would drink a gallon of it if the hermanas would let me (nothing better on a blasting hot day than an ice-cold glass of homemade horchata). I'm talking the real stuff, not something made from a powdered mix.

What does this have to do with ice cream? Well, the Leatherby's here in Tooele has horchata ice cream (do all Leatherby's have it?). It is the best, especially if you like that flavor--even if you don't, you should try it. I promise…just google it and see what people think. Problem is, I want to drink it! Yummy to my tummy. If Aki is ever in the doghouse, he knows what to do.

Rain, rain, go away…

…don't come back for a few more days. Although I LOVE a summer rainstorm, we got a little too much of a good thing last night. There were flash flood warnings for Tooele County, and boy did it rain!!! I could not believe it—I was loving it. That is, until ward members starting calling asking for Aki's help because their homes were flooding. Uh-oh. Aki was still at work, so I made phone calls and we got help over to people in the older homes. And the power was out for several hours, so I just grilled hamburgers outside for us and the neighbors (good thing I had gone grocery shopping the night before!). Aki went straight from working to helping them and got home around 10:00 PM. He brought with him a couple of my young women to spend the night at our house since their basement bedroom was trashed.

We did enjoy the rain, though, as I'm sure the land did! Ame loved walking in the gutter because all the warm rain water just gushed around her feet. (These pictures are in between bursts of rain--I couldn't get the camera out there when it was just pouring). Again, Makai wouldn't walk out in the rain because he didn't want to get wet, even though every kid in the neighborhood was running up and down the streets (anyone else have a child who is so afraid of water he won't get in the rain?). He is missing out, I tell ya. We'll keep working with him.

And then here's our backyard after the rain had subsided. Yes, we live out in the country in semi-white-trash land, but it so reminds me of home. :) And we like it.

Blessed, Honored Pioneer!

The talks on Sunday shared accounts not only of those pioneers who made the trek west, but also of people who have the pioneering spirit and are blazing trails for others to follow. Stories were told of converts who were pioneers in the gospel for their family. We can all be pioneers - we all have challenges that require the faith, hope, and determination our ancestors showed. I love what's written below. . . I believe it strongly. I'm proud to have his pioneer blood!

A little background: my great-great-grandfather, David King Udall, who came across the plains as an infant, helped to settle the community of St. Johns, Arizona (where his descendants still reside 5 generations later). While serving as president of the Arizona Temple, he sat in his office there and wrote the following in June 1930:

My dear children and grandchildren,

You, my children, are living in a new age, but you, too, will have your frontiers to explore, your divides to cross, your own deserts to subdue. Most important of all, you will have home and state problems to solve that will challenge the pioneer blood that runs in your veins. Trust in the Lord, be true to yourselves and all will be well with you.

My love and blessings are yours always.
David K. Udall

Is this movie as good…

…as the critics are saying it is? Has anyone seen it? Please leave your thoughts—Aki and I want to take the kids to see it, but we want to make sure it's money well spent. Should we wait for the DVD or go to the theater?

It's Friday…

…and I want to post, but I'm sick and don't have the energy to think. So you get a "just for fun" Friday post: two interpretations of yours truly (you might recognize one as my profile photo). You can try both of these yourself—the abstract portrait here and the text-photo here. To truly appreciate the text photo, click on it to enlarge it so you can see what it's made up of.

Have you ever seen…

…such wild hair color on a child? Seriously, people would pay for hair that brilliant (click on the photo to see it enlarged--just beautiful!). This is Marcela, daughter of my good friend Daisy Reyes. Daisy loves photography and would love to add to her portfolio. If any of you SLC-area people would like a casual photo session of your kids and/or you, leave a comment on her blog and see what she can work out for you! She doesn't know I'm doing this, so Dais, I hope it's okay! I thought I would send some people your way to help you get the practice you're looking for.

Okay, just one more Ame post…

…and this is the last one today, I promise! I'll do some Makai posts soon. I've just been getting such a kick out of this little girl. Here she is showing me how to dance "Tongan." She and Makai do this all the time--they blast reggae music and jump around and say they're dancing Tongan. Not a great pre-bedtime activity, but they sure have fun!

[You might want to scroll down and pause my music player (bottom of right-hand column) so you can get the full effect.]

You haven't seen a bad hair day…

…until you've seen Ame right after she wakes up. One of these days, I will have the camera ready so I can get a whole head shot of her "fro," as we lovingly call it. Problem is, she's extremely grumpy when she first wakes up and would probably slap the camera right out of my hands. (See grumpy pics below--she does not like to be photographed if she's not in the mood.)

Anyway, back to the hair. We got her wild mane (covered above by her favorite blanket--a Grandma Udall homemade special) under control and pulled back into a "pig tail." It's so funny…my whole life I've called it a "pony tail," which is exactly what my hair looked like, but hers is definitely a pig tail! I took a picture to show her what it looks like, because she has never figured out why she can't see it in the mirror. :)

She's still grumpy…

…but a snack always helps (remember whose daughter we're talking about here). In no time she'll be fine. Do you love the evil eye she gives? She's very good at it; I mean, check out picture #2…you can barely see her eyeball, it's as low as she can go and still see you. She knows what she's doing. And then she relaxes a bit and realizes I'm not going away, so it's back to the pudding. I love the chocolate pudding snacks, by the way.

If you haven't already done this…

…answer the questions below on your own blog and leave a comment sending me there!

What was I doing ten years ago?
July 1997 - I had just graduated from Ricks College and was then living in Provo working at BYU's Marriott School of Management. I lived at Liberty Square with 5 other fun girls…we enjoyed the summer exercising, cooking, dancing, taking classes, and guy watching.

What was I doing one year ago?
Living in SLC and working at the UofU. According to my calendar, I got my hair cut that day, and we went to Aki's co-worker's house for a birthday dinner party.

Five snacks I enjoy?
Only five? I like eating all fresh fruit, roasted mixed nuts, and string cheese, but those are boring. My favorite junk-food snacks are: microwave popcorn, Extra gum, diet Coke, chocolate-covered cinnamon bears, Honey BBQ Fritos, Nutter Butter cookies, Thin Mints or Grasshopper cookies, licorice, and of course, ICE CREAM!

Five songs I know all the words to?
Mostly lullabies and kids songs; let's see, other than that, Amy Connolly and I learned the words to "Pour Some Sugar on Me" in fifth grade and made up our own dance to it--killer (my mom would have died had she known). I know all the words to lots of Beatles, James Taylor, and Garth Brooks songs.

Five things I would do if I were a millionaire?
This is mine and Aki's favorite game--we rule out charity/investment just for the game's sake. What selfish and worldly things would I buy with the $$? 1: our dream house (not mansion), 2: a nice truck for Aki and nice van/SUV for myself, 3: travel, travel, travel--a trip to Fiji and Tonga would be in there, 4: go to a fat camp (Biggest Loser type) and be forced to lose some weight with someone else cooking/shopping for me, and 5: buy a whole new wardrobe and get a makeover after I lose the weight. Here's wishful thinking!

Five of my bad habits?
Chewing fingernails, cracking knuckles and neck, complaining, getting distracted or procrastinating, nitpicking, oh that's five, I'd better stop.

Five things I like doing?
Reading a great story, taking walks in nice weather, eating excellent food, watching my TV shows, and hanging out with my kids for a bit when they first wake up.

Five things I will never wear again?
Acid-washed jeans (and "pegged," for that matter)--although acid wash is coming back into fashion, it's only in "skinny jeans" and I'll absolutely never wear those, shoulder pads, a swimsuit (most likely, seeing as how I haven't worn one in the last decade), regular shorts, and a miniskirt, because you know I used to wear those all the time.

Five of my favorite toys?
My Mac, my iPod, DVR, my KitchenAid, and my digital camera.

Ame doesn't quite get it…

…but I enjoy when she tries.

Yesterday, she spontaneously shouted out, "I'm so happy!" Surprised, I said, "Oh yeah? What makes you happy?" After contemplating it for just a minute, she said, "MAH-ahm (like a teenager, somewhat annoyed), my MOUTH makes me happy. See, Mom?" and cheesily smiled as big as she could. I never did figure out why she was happy in that moment, but I got a good laugh. Kids think so literally.

On Monday night for FHE, we were learning about families. I had pictures (basically mugshot cutouts of everyone's head) of all our extended family that the kids could match up and group into families. You know, to help them know/remember who all their cousins and aunts/uncles are. I was really impressed that Ame actually knew who was married to who, etc., until she asked, "Mama? Who is Dada's wife?"

[the pic is of her on the windshield of our car]

This month is such a special one…

…It's birthday time for you.
We'd really like to celebrate
Your happy day with you!
Zippadee-ay and heigh-dee-ho,
Here's something we can do—
We'll sing a song that we all know…
Happy Birthday to you!

(click here to listen to the song)

Birthdays I'm celebrating this month (other than the U.S. of A):



July 8 - niece Lily, age 6
July 10 - bro-in-law Matt, age 39 (? I'm guessing)
July 14 - nephew Cole, age 9
July 24 - grandma "Mimi" Jeanne Hatch, age 85
July 28 - brother Keegan, age 24 (seen here with Mimi)

and last, but not least (try not to be disturbed by this image):

July 28 - brother Cord, age 36 (?)


Happy birthday to all of you! I love you guys (even Cord).

God Bless America…

…land that I love! I had to remember that as a very annoying lady almost ruined the parade for us with her "freedom of speech." America came through in the end, when a perfect stranger approached us, offering her umbrella to shade the kids from the sun, since she didn't need it. How thoughtful of her—it was a life saver!

After a long, hot, fun-filled day, I woke up this morning to the Funaki family's 4th festivities LEFT-OVERS: a trashed kitchen, some texas sheet cake (yum), a sunburn, a driveway dotted with black burn marks and tissue paper, and for some odd reason, about 6 pair of wet whitey-tighties dropped at various places throughout the house (neighbor boys after the kiddie pool perhaps?). Guess I should get busy with my housewife duties…after blogging, of course.

One year down…

…just two more to go. Mom and Dad Funaki, congratulations on making it one year in PNG—we can't believe it's gone by so fast! Thanks for the letters and photos you've sent—we need to do better with that. We pray for your safety and comfort, and wish you great success with the people you love so much. We're taking care of things here; we pick up Tema tomorrow to come stay. Ofa atu. Aki & Lindy

Here are those Girls Camp pics…

…I promised a couple weeks ago (I didn't have my camera at camp, so I had to wait to get prints from another leader). The theme was "Daughters of a King," so all the wards had princess paraphernalia (the Shrek/Princess Fiona camp was way cute). I had a good time with these girls! We saw 2 moose (meese?), a mama and baby. The last photo is me with the other leaders.