Almost Addicted

My boys have both started their adventures in outrigger canoe paddling. I'm certain I'm more excited than they are. 

The moment my older son got out of the canoe after his first practice, the grin that spread across his face, said it all. "This is awesome! My mom was right, I'm so happy she insisted I give paddling a try. She is the best mom in the whole world!" Okay, maybe he wasn't thinking all those thoughts, but a mom can dream. ;-)

I am thrilled that they actually like it. The first time I got into a canoe, it truly took me by surprise at how much fun it was. Of course, this is a team activity and good attitudes and a shared love of a wonderful sport you can do on the water together, makes a difference. Actually that is true in anything. 

Always look to the positive. It wastes your time to dwell on negative thoughts. Help others and live a life of compassion. That is the heart of any team player. 

If you wish for everyone to be better than you, and you help them achieve their best effort, your team does even better, and ultimately you benefit also. It's not about being better than anyone else, but about being the best you! 

There is no "I" in team! We all know this, yet, people create drama out of jealousy or poor thoughts. Give yourself and everyone else peace. And just help everyone! That does not mean telling anyone what to do, but showing them how. You create a giving legacy of paying it forward each time you share your knowledge and your gifts with others.

Hawaii Legacy Builder's, is founded on helping others achieve success by being a network of knowledgable and gifted individuals in many diverse fields of expertise. We help you find solutions and connect you to other people and networks, ultimately creating beneficial relationships with greater networks. 

We charge nothing, and if you need help, we are more than happy to offer our resources to helping you achieve success. Wishing you many blessings in every area of your life.

Love and Aloha,

Maile Mitchell-Akita

@mailemmm

HawaiiLegacyBuilders.com

Live Your Life!

As a parent, you always want to put your children first. I did that for many years. As they grew older, I realized forcing them into sports or other activities wasn't fair if I wasn't doing it to.

A few years back, my boys and I started learning jujitsu. After doing that for a while, we were kind of burnt out. I still miss it tho, and hope to return later, but my boys needed to be outdoors and not in the dojo.

We started biking and hiking at the beginning of their summer vacation, and I really wanted to be active on the water. Thought I would get them into surfing, they weren't as excited about that as I was, and I begged them to sign up and try outrigger canoe paddling.

They said no, but I signed myself up anyway. I said, if I hate it, you don't have to do it, but if I like it, you have to at least give it a try also. They did agree! I'm holding them to it, as I have become addicted to paddling. My next new toy has to be an OC1, problem is, there are so many out there and I would need 3.

My older son has promised to try paddling with his classmates for his high school in just a few weeks. I'm planning on signing up my younger son in a kids winter program.

The best part of canoe paddling is that its a team sport and you make so many friends. People are always happy at the beach and practice usually finished around sunset. Watching sunsets on the beach after a great workout with all my friends is my favorite memory of my summer. Now, I'm looking forward to spending my beach days with my boys.

Life is truly sweet. Each day is a gift. Enjoy every moment and live your life.

Wishing you many blessings.
Love and Aloha,
Maile Mitchell-Akita
@mailemmm
HawaiiLegacyBuilders.com

Friday!

I am actually excited to wake up at 5:30am! The weekend is so close I can taste it! Looking forward to seeing my family <3 Bike riding and long walks with my boys and celebrating my brother's birthday.
Happy Aloha Friday wishes to you.
Love Always,
Maile
@mailemmm
@hilegacybuilder
http://www.hawaiilegacybuilders.com/foreveryoungandfithawaii.html
http://www.hawaiilegacybuilders.com/mailemitchellakita.html

Its been a long twelve years

Life wouldn't be such a challenge without my boys, but they certainly make me laugh as much as they probably have made me crazy. I do love and appreciate them.

Children truly are a blessing. They teach me as much as I teach them. We are all growing up together it seems.

Hoping for many decades of fabulous birthday celebrations ahead!

Love and Aloha,
Maile
@mailemmm
@hilegacybuilder
http://www.hawaiilegacybuilders.com/foreveryoungandfithawaii.html
http://www.hawaiilegacybuilders.com/mailemitchellakita.html

Birthdays

My youngest turning twelve feels like a milestone. No longer little kids, we are graduating elementary school and moving on to middle school this fall.

I'm reminded how precious time is and although I miss my boys younger ages, I am so proud of the young men they are becoming.

I won't ever forget their birthdays! I lovingly labored to bring them into this world, and I wouldn't have it any other way.

It really does take a village to raise a child and I send my sincerest gratitude to all my family and every wonderful teacher and all friends who help shape my children lives and guided them to be such great people.

Love and Aloha,
Maile
@mailemmm
@hilegacybuilder
http://www.hawaiilegacybuilders.com/foreveryoungandfithawaii.html
http://www.hawaiilegacybuilders.com/mailemitchellakita.html

Nothing to do?

First day into Spring Break and guess what? There is nothing to do and everything is boring.

I have a fabulous list of things to do, unfortunately, my boys have decided my list sounds like work and not at all fun.

How can cleaning your room, putting away your laundry, helping mom dig up the yard and plant things, not be fun? Maybe its the way I said it.

For some reason when I mentioned mowing the grass, their dad disapeared from the room, and pretended he never heard me say that.

Ugh, selective hearing! Alright, I will see what they want to do, and it better be fun and not boring! I don't know if I can do nothing all day.

Happy weekend.
Aloha,
Maile
@mailemmm
@hilegacybuilder
http://www.hawaiilegacybuilders.com/foreveryoungandfithawaii.html
http://www.hawaiilegacybuilders.com/mailemitchellakita.html

Time to dry out, it's another Monday.

Saturday was a beautiful and sunny memory and a rainy Sunday was wonderfully lazy.

Well, lazy for me, even with two loads of laundry, giving the dog a bath and a vaccuming-mopping-floor cleaning downstairs. Yes, it was a day of passing down those important life skills to my two boys.

Seriously, that was a short list, all mom's know that you could have easily added in bathroom cleaning upstairs, downstairs, two more loads of wash and bedrooms cleaned while multi-tasking an amazing dinner.

Dinner was great by the way, my mom, had my dad, BBQ steaks, asparagus, and peppers. Yum! I'm already thinking about leftovers for dinner.

My young padawans still have a lot to learn to survive their future suburban lives. I'm just grateful they hauled at least one bag of clean laundry upstairs. Will they hang it up and put it away? I doubt it. They keep trying to convince me, wrinkled and just rolled out of bed looks cool. At least they brushed their teeth.

Boys! I don't get them.

Happy Monday, I need to bail out my plants, and get my own day started.

Sending a smile for your day, I know it will be beautiful!
Aloha,
Maile

@mailemmm
@hilegacybuilder
http://foreveryoungandfithawaii.blogspot.com/
http://www.hawaiilegacybuilders.com/mailemitchellakita.html

Unexpected Party!

A very special Friday night dinner party occurred rather spontaneously tonight. I couldn't have even imagined how much I was going to laugh, and how much I was going to learn.

My small dinner party began at sunset sitting around the pool side table in the comfy chairs. My two boys and even the family dog enjoyed dinner and very intelligent conversation.

My boys are officially young men and I couldn't be prouder of the self thinking individuals they have become.

At what age did they grow up so much? I almost wonder if I missed some milestone event, but I've been here everyday. It took an unexpected
moment of being truly present and enjoy their company.

Our roles have evolved. I'm not an overprotective mom protecting her babies anymore. I truly am just their mentor and hoping to be a guiding force in their life.

They have their own journeys just like me, and I see how our interconnected lives make every life lesson important. We all learn from each other.

It really has been a perfect day, especially when I will look back on this moment and smile forever with the memory.

Wishing you joy and love always,
Maile

http://www.hawaiilegacybuilders.com/mailemitchellakita.html

Weekend Giggles...

Musical Bathrooms. We have 3 bathrooms in our house:

The master bathroom -which in my houseful of boys recognize as mom's bathroom.

The boys bathroom, which only the boys are brave enough to use. I have cleaned it, showed the boys how to clean it, and I still would not want to use it!

The guest bathroom, the one that is kept the cleanest as guest may visit unexpectedly and is why it is fought over by everyone in the house!

It really messes everyone up when there are four household members, three bathrooms, and when boys use the other two bathrooms and not theres...Ugh! Grrr! Chaos!

And we are now dangerously low on toilet paper. The drama of my world! At least its funny.

I'm grateful for my crazy family. Even if they dare use my bathroom, the toilet seat better be down! Or else! Thats a whole other story ;)

Happy weekend everyone! Have fun, and laugh everyday!

Aloha,
Maile

No sleeping until Sunday!

I am finally calling it the end of my day! I was dreaming of an easy Saturday, but having to get my boys up early for THEIR dentist appointment, make their breakfast, nag them to brush their teeth before we leave, beg them to wear something clean smelling and not wrinkled, and please just look nice and not like you woke up 10 minutes ago. Sigh!

A few minutes later we were cruising over the Pali, at least the drive was wonderful. It relaxes me when I can just zone out and drive. I love when there are barely any cars on the road and I have miles of black asphalt all to myself. Alright, I admit it, sometimes I don't want to share ;) ha ha.

Great news at the dentist, No Cavities! I am so grateful! Since we were so close to Ala Moana Shopping Center, I thought I could just stop bye and do a quick exchange. Everything was going miraculously well. I found nice shady parking immediately, we walked straight to the store and made my exchange, we were done in 10 minutes.

Then it started, those voices, "I'm hungry." I somehow didn't escape the mall fast enough and now my boys had me trapped with their cute faces guilting me with the news of perfect dental exams and apparently following all my instructions this morning, even though it was for their benefit. They had me trapped and I fell for it. So I bought us all a nice lunch.

On our way back to the car, which was now on the opposite side of Ala Moana shopping center, we just so happened to walk past a store my older son liked and before I knew it, they had guided me right to it, and even talked me into buying them a couple things.

My total for the day...
Dentist co-pay $44.50
Lunch $25.00
Their shopping for things they apparently needed for school, at least that was part of the story, anyway $38.00

Here it comes, tissue ready...a day with my boys, yummy lunch, shopping, laughing, talking, and hanging out at the mall PRICELESS - of course!

Back at home...An hour of sort of rest, then I was out the door again. This time it was just me. Invitation to a friends event in Waikiki. Thank goodness there are lots of leftovers for the family in the fridge. Now its late and I'm home and so happy to finally crawl back into my bed that I left a little too early this morning.

I think I would really like to just lock my door, turn off my phone and any other electronic device that might even dare to wake me and sleep until Monday.

Relaxing wishes for as many weekend hours as you have left to enjoy! Sweet dreams.

Aloha,
Maile

Life with boys...

Life with boys...
I have to be brief because I'm so tired, but I was just having the best conversation with my boys and they are so interesting to chat with at their age with their newly forming opinions and ideas, that we could have stayed up all night.

But then one farts and they laugh, which causes the other one to fart and now they are both busting out laughing and farting again.

I'm burying my head in a pillow and begging them to open windows, crank the fan to full speed and evict them from my room.

Annoyed they gassed me out, sad the conversation ended but I think after that, it was done. Grateful the air has finally cleared and I'm truly exhausted, so its sleep time for me. That makes me so happy that I'm going to send my rambling thoughts out to the world where they are always accepted, on facebook ;) lol.