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Aloha Friday April Blog Hop Welcome To Spring!

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Welcome to WEEK 50 of the Aloha Friday Blog Hop!
Can you believe this hop has been open for 50 weeks?

Last weeks Aloha Friday Blog Hop had over 400 participants!! Thank you! Link up, invite your friends, share this on your blog!! The more people that link up, the more followers everyone who links up will get! Each hop participant gets on average 8-15 clicks followers, some as many as 50. This is a super quick, super easy way to help get followers to your lovely blog.

If you're interested in co-hosting future month's Aloha Friday Blog Hop, please email jean@whatjeanlikes.com for more info.

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Here's the extra special addition to our lovely hop. It's an oh-so-easy opportunity for you lovely participants of the Aloha Friday Blog hop to get some exposure to your blogs!! What do you have to do to enter? Just link up to the Aloha Friday Blog Hop Below!! It's that easy!! No extra forms or hassle, just link up! Each week we will pick a linker to featured at random and invite you all to say ...

Grab a button if you were featured this week!

Aloha Hoapili translates as Hello Close Friend. So, without further ado let me introduce you to this week's featured friend ...

Avalon Cat Cartoons.

This blog is all about their beloved cat and other pet - related things. Check out their blog description:

"A blog entirely for you, my cat. Because I love you so much."

Want a little taste of the blog? Check out these posts to find out what you've been missing:

Happy Birthday Avalon

Ultimate Kitty Drink

Wishing on a Star

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Link up to this week's hop.

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life

Wordless Wednesday: A Single Mother's Lament

Sometimes it's the simple capture that has evokes the greatest emotion. Sometimes it's what you don't say that has the greatest impact. On this Wordless Wednesday I give you a simple capture of the rocky coast at the end of the highway on the North Shore of O'ahu near Mokule'ia. It's one of my favorite places to photograph.

Today I'm struggling to adequately describe the emotion and reason for this photo because my mind is so wrapped up in my day job. I wish I had done things right when I was younger and gotten married before I had children. Then again, had I waited, I would not have my Alaka'i who is my favorite person in the world.

Those of you mamas who waited, got married and had kids, I applaud you. At 31 years of age with an 11 year old, I really now realize how important it is to wait for the right guy and get married first. All families are different and wonderful in their own ways but man, being a single mom is tough. I wish I had a husband to help me through the rough days or to take some of the slack when I'm swamped with work. I wish I had a good man to be a strong example for my son and to love, nurture and protect him.

Though I'm thankful to have a good job with an actual future, I wish I didn't have to do it. It's a high stress, time consuming job and I want so badly to be able to take Alaka'i to do fun things, to go on vacation, to have some easygoing quality time on a more frequent basis. I wish I could do all the work that a stay at home mom does because those are things I actually enjoy doing. Cleaning house gives me a sense of gratification because when everything's neat and organized, I feel like I can focus and function with more ease. Then again, I actually do that work plus my day job... because being a single mom means you have to do it all. Being a stay at home mom is hard work, my mom was a wonderful SAH mom and she was constantly working with no vacation, but at least you get to see the wonderful fruit of your labor in the child(ren) you love so much.

But I digress. I am truly thankful to God for all I do have, I just have been reflecting a lot today as I pensively sit in my office doing paperwork and wondering what it would have been like had I waited and done things differently. The "what ifs" and "if onlys" are a waste of time though because you can't undo what is done and I wouldn't undo having Alaka'i even though I was only 19 and alone because he was by far, the greatest gift from God I've ever gotten.

It's just days like today... when I'm super stressed out and swamped at work, that I really feel bad about it all. Days where I take a break and read blogs I love and see so many happy families and wish I could give that to my son, a family with a mom and dad... I feel like he's missing out on so much and that it's my fault for not having a good dad for him. It's hard and lonely doing it all on your own, the day job and mom...

When I was younger I wasn't a good judge of character. I rushed into things and my life has been forever altered. Sheesh, it's hard doing everything alone... I'd love to get married and give Alaka'i a dad and siblings. Maybe someday I'll get married.. if I ever get a chance to go on a date... which I have no time for...

maybe....someday....maybe...

Then I realize my son will be 18 in 7 short years and time flies by so quickly... that maybe seems even more unlikely as I realize how fast he's growing up.

But until then, I have the best son in the world and that's more than I deserve.

Have a happy Wednesday and hug those you love tight. Don't take a second for granted...

Sorry for getting deep with this post. It's just my single mother's lament...

Aloha,

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beauty

Beauty Inspiration: Pixiwoo's Scarlett Johansson Makeup

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alakai

Late Night Fun With The Kiddos & Shirley Temple

I have the distinct pleasure of babysitting my nieces on Friday nights while my brother and my sister-in-law are working. Well, my littlest niece Alohilani woke up from her late nap and I drew a nice, warm, bubbly bath for her and Kaliko. They washed and played and played for what seemed like forever. These girls and their bubbles, how they love them so. The sparkle, the fluff, the utter fun of blowing bubbles in each other's faces and the never ending imagining that those bubbles somehow transform them into different people. These creative nieces of mine love to use their bubble bath time not only to play, but to explore and pretend. They literally were washed and played for at least an hour which included a bath water warm up halfway through the playtime.

After bath time was over, precocious Alohilani told me she wanted her hair done like "Shuurly Peempoo" (Shirley Temple), so we put her hair up in the soft rag curls and Kaliko opted for a mixture of the snake curlers & traditional sponge curlers. I gingerly curled up Alohi's hair ever so carefully though it slipped out of the rag curls. I was trying to avoid using hair spray since it was near bedtime, alas it ended up taking loner than expected, hence Alohi's perturbed expression.

So my darling nieces sat there ever so patiently waiting for me to put their hair in curls as they watched Shirley Temple's Curly Top. These adorable girls love Shirley Temple movies, like love them with a passion. I think it's because they spend so much time hanging out with my mom who is a Shirley Temple lover as well.

Curly Top is about a talented little girl in an orphanage who enchants one of the orphanage's benefactor's, a young millionaire who adopts her and takes care of her and her older sister (whom he later falls in love with).

It's a wonderful movie, Shirley is an expert at playing an adorable orphan. My nieces absolutely love her. Her talent, dancing, singing and vibrant presence onscreen is truly a wonder to behold.

My favorite Shirley Temple movie is Captain January. I just love that story and the actors and dancing. I think it's the way Shirley's character so affectionately yells "Cap'n" when calling for the man who saved and raised her when they're torn apart (typical of the Shirley Temple orphan storyline).

One of the best things about movies like these by Shirley Temple is that they're kid appropriate and timeless classics. I love that I can sit down with my nieces (and sometimes even Alaka'i) and watch these without worrying about anything inappropriate. I can't believe that it's been 80 or so years since most of Shirley's greatest hits were made.

They're still wonderful movies, even now in these modern times, the classics remain classic. My nieces love her so much, they want to be just like her, hence the curls.

Alaka'i came to join us in watching Curly Top, well... for a little while at least. He likes Shirley Temple movies but not with the same kind of life and death seriousness as the girls. He will sit there for a little bit and gets bored and does something else on his own. Such a boy's boy... He doesn't share that passion for Shirley that my nieces have, that utter enjoyment that prompts the girls to sit through getting their hair put up in rag curls and nagging at Auntie Jean for tap shoes. These nieces of mine are a passionate pair, and when they love something, boy do they love it.

Did I mention my littlest niece Alohilani was a wild one? Well that wild darling ripped the rag curls out of her hair about five minutes after she posed for a picture with her cousin Alaka'i. It was short lived and she was rather irritated about it all. The girl is dramatic... dare I say she lives for drama. When things are good....drama. When things irritate her... d r a m a. When things are bad D R A M A! She does her drama like any other girl but just the slightest bit more dramatically. Looking forward to her teens, I cringe just thinking of what type of drama she may have in store for my brother... Perhaps she'll outgrow it...but then again, she is like her grandma who is rather dramatic herself. Time will tell.

Well lovely Alohi failed to fall asleep during the end of the film like her sister Kaliko did... Dangit! So I had to find something to work as a diversion to keep her occupied while I edited photos and bored her to death. She sat there like such a big girl and drew in her notepad and enlisted me to sit there and doodle with her. My night owl niece... I think she could stay up all night if she were given the opportunity. Thankfully she conked out not long after drawing with me. Sigh of relief.

Kind of felt bad for Alaka'i because I don't think the night was all that fun for him since he's not the hugest Shirley Temple fan but he and I made time to camp out in the living room for a bit before his bedtime while we watched Free Willy together. I love sharing my favorite movies growing up with my boy. More on that another time.

What are some of your favorite activities to do with your littles and loved ones? I'm always open for ideas!

Aloha,