Last year a friend told me about the community breakfast for the homeless, and since then I thought it would be a great thing start out Christmas with. We arrived at the breakfast and happened upon our friends Kelsey and Kia as well. The place was packed with people from all over the island--about 400 or so. And plenty of volunteers. While we were waiting to be able to serve, the girls got some balloon creations. Then we got to work, Ivy and Nate collecting trash and Kezia and I helping with the serving line. Nate said Ivy picked up all sorts of trash, not just from the tables, but also off the ground.
Kezia and my job was to put the utensils and soy sauce package on the plate and pass it down the line to be piled upon with food. Kezia was amazing. She worked so quickly, plopping the soy sauce packages on the plates and replenishing the utensil pile when it got low. I wish you could have seen her. She worked with joy in her little heart until the very end. I was so proud of her.
The Crowd
Giving out the presents
We went home and opened Christmas. The girls loved everything.
They're like young lions ready to pounce on their prey of presents
This rainbow wrapped the sky Christmas morning. Just as a rainbow is a sign of God's blessings on the earth, we felt richly blessed this Christmas.
Tight on time and money, we found ourselves with just 2 days to prepare. Eeeks! But we felt really blessed-- so many things fell right into place.
There was a garage sale around the corner of our house where I picked up some books for the girls, and I happened to spy a climbing gym for Elysse through the car window among large item pick-up pile at a building.
Can you beat those smiles?!?
On Tuesday our kind friends watched Kezia and Ivy while Nate worked and I hurriedly got things prepared for a clubhouse for the girls. This club house consisted of our beach tent, their chairs, table, and easel, and pieces of wood for the floor painted white, and a 2X4 between 2 cinderblocks for a balance beam, all painted white. The best thing of all: We had all of it already.
The one thing we did not have were decorations. I had stopped by Walmart late Monday night and wandered in a daze into the craft section with hazy thoughts of creating some sort of door hangie-doo for the tent. I ran into a girl from the condos where we used to live, who confessed to me she was a craft-lover, gave me some ideas, and showed me the discount table where I found door hangers, hearts strung on fishline, and crocheted hem lining. That plus some pink netting and some ribbon and we had a decorated clubhouse that looked pretty cool...except one thing: Color.
Can you beat those smiles?!?And that was on purpose. Actually, it kind of grew out of the realization that we did not have time to paint it ourselves, but we thought it would give the girls a sense of ownership if they painted it on their own.
All this time I was looking on the internet to see if I could score some Veggietales movies. And guess what -- 2 days before Christmas Eve someone posts some that were perfect for our girls!
We also gave our girls plenty of family activities to do during break, such as movie night, feeding koi fish, camping, paddling, crab hunting, Hawaiian sledding, pool, and making cookies.
That plus princessy toothpaste, toothbrushes, and bubble bath, and a make-your-own-tent thingie-do from a friend and we had a full Christmas.
Gifts: $45.
Looks on faces: Priceless.
Eric, Nate's dad, came over after the girls thought everything was over with to load them up on more gifts, giving them both the gift they say was their favorite: Ivy received a pony and Kezia received a princess dress. As soon as they were open, they both shared their toys with each other, quoting a song and saying, "sharing is caring". I had to pinch myself to see if it was really happening. They also loved getting a puppet show and puppets from Aunt Cheri and Uncle Braden.
My favorite gift was a well-needed nap in the afternoon, and a beautiful poem from Cheri and Braden. Nate's was a free day to surf however long he wants to.
Omigosh! Raspberrry Jam?!? How did you know?!? That night we had a delicious meal at the home of our great friends, the Skafs.
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