Another Franco

Most of you have already heard this news, but for those who haven't, we are expecting our fourth little Franco. I am due June 25th, 2011. I have just finished my first trimester, and have been feeling okay. I definitely have my sick moments, but they seem to be less than with other pregnancies. We won't know what it is for another couple months, but I am just thinking a boy because of past history (ha, ha). I know that I have once again been silent for months, but that is all I have time for now, sorry.

A moment (or a few months) of Silence

So I just checked the blog and realized that the last time I posted was over two months ago! I have no good reason for this, except for life. As an example of this, as I type this Hinckley has just yanked the mouse to the floor! So if there is even anyone left to read this, I will attempt to update you qiuckly on our life of late.

Herbie started Kindergarten, and that has been exciting/challenging in its own way. He is doing well and enjoying it. Part of the challenge has been not napping. He doesn't fall asleep during their 20-30 min nap time, so if he sleeps when he comes home, then he is up all night. It has been a battle trying to figure out a new schedule. His writing has greatly improved and he enjoys inventing all kinds of projects to do that involve wiritng his letters and numbers. He also has several sight words he can read, and started to sound out words as well. So hopefully reading will be next.

Hinckley will be turning one in a few weeks as well (Oct 14th)! He is very busy, as the "mouse" comment shows. He is getting all over by crawling, cursing along the furniture, and even taking a few steps here and there. I am sure the will be walking soon! He is also very verbal little boy. He love to yell, and is very good at it (that is code for, he can be really loud!) He also can wave and say "hi" and "bye" and his newest one is "gook" for book. He definitely keeps me on my toes.

Kahana is also growing up quickly, He is talking much more clearly, and prefaces most words with "a". Like "a ball", or "a guy". He also likes to look for a snack or movie or toy, and while looking repeating over and over, "I pick..., I pick...." Then will insert whatever he picks at the end. He loves to dance right now, and danced to the same christmas song about 20 times today. He also really enjoys playing anything with a ball, and jumping on the couch.

Hapaki is busy working, he was just in Seattle for convention the 10th-15th, and he is also gearing up for our annual Christmas devotional. Practices start this Sunday and he writing the theme song again. I have such a talented husband.

I am surviving. I spend most days just trying to get the food bought, put away, cooked, eaten/fed, and then cleaned up. That along with laundry, doing school pick up/ drop off and getting some warts on my feet frozen, I have kept pretty busy. I wil try to blog again soon and this time with pictures and maybe some video soon too. I am sure you are all thinking, "maybe we'll see something by the new year!" I will try hard to make it before then! So if anyone is left out there to read this, left me know!

Herbie's Aloha Day Performances

These are a couple of videos from Herbie's Aloha Day Ceremony. This first one is of him when they introduced each student. We have no idea where the pose came from, but it was really cute. The second video is of him singing and you will see the little girl stepping in front of him. These videos come to you courtesy of my personal blog guru--Thanks Eli! My family history will be technologically advanced because of you.

Herbie's Aloha Day Ceremony

Continuing on with the month of May...Herbie finished his year with Kamehameha Preschools with an Aloha Day Ceremony on May 20th. They performed a whole program of songs, mostly in Hawaiian, with actions and everything! The pictures are of us at the ceremony, including his two brothers there to cheer him on, and one of him singing. It was about a 40 minute program with at least 20 minutes of singing from the children. Herbie did excellent! Now I realize that I may have a slight bias, but I think that Herbie was one of the most attentive children. He sang every song and did the actions without getting distracted or tired. Plus he doesn't need the teacher in front of him to remind him of all that either, because he constantly sings them at home. Some of the other kids would just sing, or stare out the window etc--it must be something he really enjoys because he did so well. The little girl next to him kept stepping in front of him, and it took all of my control not to yell at her--she wasn't even singing half of the time. I wanted to yell out "That's MY baby!" But I held it in. He also got a speaking part, and I will post that video next. Of course he did so well. Okay, enough of the irritating and gushing mother praise. You'll just have to see for your self.

May

Terry Lee Kahanamaika'i celebrated his 2nd birthday on May 1st! We went to Chuck E. Cheese, where he spent most of his time on (I mean literally on) the skeeball game. He loves balls, so this was heaven to him. We could hardly get him to eat, and when he did, he yelled for "BA, BA" (ball). He got a new bike for his birthday. He loves his bike and would probably sleep on it if I let him. We have had some adventures on this bike, including flying down the hill at our complex, past the mail box and off the curb into the parking lot. I was running with the baby on my hip and yelling "Kahana stop!", and Hinckley was screaming because he was bouncing all around. I finally caught up with him in the parking lot and stopped him. I thought he would have been scared, but instead he threw a tantrum because I stopped him! We still ride that route on his bike almost everyday, but Mommy waits at the end to stop him. Being 2, he wants to be very independent, and tells me "Self!" a lot. He also loves his shoes and wants to wear them all time. This is a problem because in Hawaii you always take off your shoes before you go in the house. His talking has gotten more clear and he is using 4-5 word phrases. He loves his brothers and always wants to play with them. He is very cute (as you can see in the last picture) and overall a very active and happy boy. Love you Kahana!

Grandma Jeri and Papa Terry's visit

The other big event in April was the long awaited visit from Mom and Dad. We had fun being together and visiting the blow hole, Pali lookout, the Zoo (Herbie's request), the beach and more. You will notice jackets in many of the pictures, because Mom and Dad brought the cooler weather with them! We did finally get to the beach a day or so before they left. The boys had a wonderful time getting to know their grandparents better, and I was happy to show them what I do each day and where we go etc. It was a really good visit and we miss them a lot. The boys still talk about them and ask about them. Love you mom and dad!

More graduation pictures

The rest of the photos!

April (I know it's June, but this is my attempt to catch up!)

So the first exciting thing that happened in April was Hapaki's graduation from BYU-H! He got his associates degree on April 11, 2010 in business, and we are so proud of him. Here are some shots from that, he even got to shake Elder Cook's hand. I thought many of you might like to see all the leis he got, this is standard for an occasion like this--they were all they way up to his ears.

Hi everyone-

Just wanted to post this recent picture of the Franco boys! As you can see they are all getting bigger. Herbie will be finishing Pre-school shortly and is getting smarter by the minute. Kahana is our growing "little man" and Hinckley, well, he's just our little cutie.

Our family is doing well and we hope to see everyone one day soon!

With love,
The Franco's

Favorite Things

Now that we seem to be back on track, I wanted to do a post about my boys favorite things!















HERBIE

Herbie loves animals! One of his favorite things to do is to play with his extensive stuffed animal collection. He loves books, shows, games etc all about animals! At 4 1/2 he is quickly draining me of my limited knowledge of animals! Thanks goodness we have Go-Diego-Go to educate us.










KAHANA

Kahana loves balls! Anything he can throw he will. He also really enjoys playing with cars and trains. When we see a basketball game on TV he will actually watch it and will yell BA (ball) if we change the channel. He continues to yell it until we turn it back. He is not dressed in these pictures because anytime I tried to dress him after Church he yelled NO (another favorite). Hopefully running around almost naked is not going to become a new favorite. At almost 2 (may 1st), I figure he is probably asserting his Independence.












HINCKLEY

As you can see by these pictures Hinckley loves to eat. He is over 16 pounds at almost 5 months. When he is not doing that he loves and, I mean loves, to smile. He has an infectious smile that can light up a room. While he has started to be interested in toys, his favorite thing is always to look at people's faces and smile at them. He is my people person. He is very patient and generally be talked out of crying with smiles. He has started teething already, but he smiles through most of it.









HAPAKI

Yes it can be said for both of us--our favorite things is sleep, or I should we would like to sleep more. This is Hapaki have a very rare and well deserved nap. He is still going full steam at BYU=H, commute and all. I love you, hun!









CODEE

As you can see, my favorite things are my boys--all four of them (Hapaki is not in picture because he was sleeping). I also like to slip in an occasional good book and of course reading all of your blogs. I love to see pictures of my niece, nephews, and cousins kids etc. I do like to watch the cooking channel as well.

So now you know a few of our favorite things (not just rain drops on roses and whiskers on kittens).

SICK!

This is the 4th week that someone, and sometimes all of us have been sick. More details to follow when I can get everyone well.

Internet down

Sorry there hasn't been any new posts, we haven't had internet consistantly and we are still getting everything figured out. So when we got it all arranged, I will update you!

Dad

This post is dedicated to my father, Terry Lee Cope on his 59th birthday. Happy birthday, dad! I was hoping to get to this sooner, but at least it is still your birthday in Hawaii for a few more hours...

Here are few things that my Dad taught me:
-The right way to clean a toilet (and if I didn't do it right the first time, I had to come back and do it until it was right)
-That yard work can be fun when the whole family helps
-That passing out fliers for TLC window fashions can be fun because you get to ride on the running boards or in the bed of the truck, and at the end you get to have a slurpee at 7-11
-How to be a good sport and play any game or jump on the trampoline as activity for family home eveing
-How to waterski (he always believed in me but never pushed me too hard)
-That a car should be clean (he washes his every week, even if the ice is forming before he can dry it!)
-That there is no man's work or woman's work, just work and we all need to help so it can get done
-That you gotta do what you gotta do to support your family (at one point he had four jobs so mom could stay home; Pace, the Paint Store, cleaning grease vents and acting)
-Most of all he taught me that where you come from and the mistakes that you may have made, don't define who you are; we all can change and become better with the Savior's help.

As you can see most of what my dad taught me surrounds that fact that you have to work, but that you can have fun doing it. And when you are done doing it, you can have more fun! I love you very much dad! I hope that my little Terry Lee will grow up to be as good a man as you are--he has large shoes to fill.

P.S. The comments are working now, thanks for the help Eli!

My first post!

The long awaited day has arrived! I am finally posting on my christmas present blog--which I love! I have to admit that now that I am finally posting on my very own blog, I am nervous. Once i put this up, it will be out there for all of you to read! What if I miss spel somthing (ha, ha) or if I have forgotten all proper grammar? At least I know that you all love me and will be kind.

So this blessed moment has arrived because all three boys are actually alseep at the same time! (Insert round of applause here.) And no, mom, I am not sleeping because I had do the dishes, eat, fold laundry, and by that time I was sure Hinckley would be up to eat. But he gave me a few extra minutes to start this. I say start this, because now he has woken up and I am feedind him and typing with the other hand--definately increases my chance for error, sorry.

So our life has been full of the usual excitement that comes with three small kids: dirty diapers, feeding everyone and somehow feeding myself, washing buckets full of laundry (which we hang dry to save on electricity--its Hawaii 80ish every day, we can do that!), dishes, cleaning up toys, dishes and did I mention cleaning up toys? All the while breaking up fights and usually with a child clinging to my leg or in my arms or the baby carrier. Now that you know what I do everyday, you can stop reading--its all the same. Oddly enough, I love it. Being a mom is what I always wanted to do. I just try to find the good spots like laughing and playing with my kids.

Hapaki has started school at BYU-H about one week ago. If he completes his 18 credits on campus plus 2 independent study courses this semester, he will be all set to take full loads for the 3 summer terms and the fall and then he can graduate in december! It will be a big push and hard (the 1 hour and 10 min. drive one way), but we want to do it so we can just finally be done! Go Hun, you can do it!

Well, now I have two crying and so ends my first post, with hopefully lote more to come! Love you all!