Joy School: The (Four) Bears

This is a little play Kezia and Ivy did at their little preschool, Joy School. I posted it mainly for the other classmates to view.

Kezia and Ivy

Here are some pictures of the "big sisters" we took at the beach last week.







I love Kezia's poser pictures. She has a friend who loves to pose and I guess she's been taking a few hints from her.


Little Mermaid and Snow White at a Dance show down:

A visit from family

My mom, dad, brother Shaun and nephew Nathan came out for an orthodontic convention on the island of Hawaii. They stopped over at our place afterward. We headed for the beach where Nate took Nathan out surfing, enjoyed some shave ice, and played games. They all got to see whales on a whale watching trip. The excitement of the week was way too much for me and I chose to stay home and crash. It was so great to have my dad and Shaun and Nathan out here. And we are so grateful for all the fix-up jobs Dad and Shaun did around the house. Thank you!!


A Tribute to my Mom

My mom stayed another week after everyone else. She was a lifesaver. She was like Cinderella--taking care of everything around the house (I just hope I wasn't like a wicked step-sister ;)) In the morning she would say, "Today I'm your servant. What do you want to get done?" She spent the day washing dishes, playing with the kids, showering them with gifts, caring for Elysse, doing the laundry, and cleaning the house. Then she would care for Elysse during the night. And this is her 5th "baby run" in the last 4 1/2 months! I thought she would arrive exhausted and shutter every time she heard a baby cry.
Funny thing is, when she arrived home, she said she felt like she didn't do anything!! I wonder what else she could have done to feel like she did do something!! Anyway, I am really really appreciative because it gave me the much-needed time to relax and heal.

We moved 2 weeks after Kezia was born. Ivy was born during a very stressful remodeling and sale of our first investment condo, and I feel like the rush of activity shortly after both births had an adverse affect, so I am so grateful to take such advantage of her help.

THANK YOU, MOM!!!

Super-Grandma

Getting Beautified by Grandma

Like with each baby, trepidation began to sink in a few days before she left (Can I do all this by myself? Am I going to go crazy?!? Will the piles of laundry grow to such heights that we won't be able to find the front door? How can I handle going anywhere with three children?) Well, it's been a week now, and although it hasn't been easy, I have survived (and so have my children) and my energy level continues to increase.

Elysse is here!

We are so excited to announce the arrival of Baby #3, and since she is #3, we apologize, but this is the closest thing to an announcement we are sending out. ;) (and sorry so late)

Here she is!!!

Introducing....

Elysse Wailanaonalani Burgoyne!

Elysse: (Eh lease) a greek name meaning “from the blessed isles”

Wailanaonalani: (why law naw o naw law knee) a Hawaiian name meaning “peaceful waters from the heavens”

Elysse was born Sunday, February 3^rd, 2008 at 9:00am, weighing in at 7lb 11oz with a length of 20 ¼ inches.

For anyone interested in "the story":
(Don't worry--there are no details)

At around 4:30am, I started having contractions, but didn’t pay much attention since they didn’t seem very regular. But at around 5:15am, I woke up Nate and told him I think I was in labor. The contractions were about 10 minutes apart, but as soon as I got out of bed, they were one right after another. We called Kay, Nate’s mom, to come watch the kids and got to the car. I told Nate to “Get me to the hospital!” We feel we were really blessed because since it was a Sunday, Kay was up in Haleiwa nearby instead of Honolulu, traffic was minimal, and parking was no problem. Nate dropped me off at the ER and met me later in the delivery room. Although Elysse was born 2 hours after we arrived, it seemed to me to be under an hour. The labor and delivery were, thankfully, uneventful. I didn’t even tear! I got to hold Elysse with her umbilical cord still attached. That was a surreal experience. I was holding something that was still a part of me, but would soon be an independent human being. Her chameleon-like skin changed from grey to white to pink and Nate got to cut the cord.

Nate, My Totally Cool Husband

As with all the births, I am so grateful for Nate’s support. We chose to do hypnobirthing this time, as recommended by several friends and family members. Nate really helped me relax and because I rely so much on him during delivery, I feel like the birth was an accomplishment for the both of us. He has continued to help with the baby despite his pressing business needs. He is quick to leave his office and come over whenever he hears multiple cries and screams from the home. He’s been doing night duty with me and taking care of the girls in the morning to I can sleep in. I have an awesome husband.

When the girls came to see their new sister on Sunday night, it was love at first sight. They have been great big sisters who are willing to help out (although sometimes Kezia says she "forgot we had a baby")

"We love our baby sister!!"

Elysse was blessed on Sunday February 10th.
We were grateful Grandpa Hicken could be out here to participate.

I like this picture. It says to me, even though things might seem topsy-turvy at times,
we're still together and smiling!

Sleeping on Daddy's chest...while Daddy sleeps as well.

Chillin' at the beach at only 5 days old

Nick Schield

I found out this week that a dear family friend had passed away.

Nick Schield is a boy I used to babysit. He was such a sweet boy with a kind heart. The type of boy that makes you long to be a child again. When he was four years old he was diagnosed with leukemia. The twelve years following, Nick quickly grew into a man, although in number of years he was still a child. He faced the disease with the valor of a lone knight facing a fiery dragon.

Nick proved the power of a single life. Even in a short life, his determination and kindness touched the lives of so many people, including, deeply, mine. He was quick with a smile. Once I visited him on a “not-so-good” day. He still sparked a smile. He and a friend came up with a "Kids Can" campaign, selling bracelets and such with the inspiring phrase "Kids Can" imprinted on them to raise money for Leukemia research. I wonder if it crossed his mind that the money he caused to be raised for research would bless the lives of those after him, and not his own.

His family included my family and so many others in his progressions in combating the disease as well as when he was not doing too well. They are examples of friendship, unselfishness and love. I celebrate Nick’s life and the blessing it has been in my life to know him and his family.

Lesson Learned the Hard Way

My appreciation is tainted with regret. I hope that my sloppiness can alert someone reading this to do what I didn’t do. Nick passed away in September. And I just now learned about it. Five months later. Five months after I should have purchased a plane ticket to be at his memorial. Five months after I should have put my arm around his sisters, mom and dad and let them know my love for their brother and son and offer them some sort of comfort when their wounds were still fresh. But I didn’t. I didn’t because I didn’t know. And in the meantime, I sent the Schields updates on our happy, relatively carefree life and they had the heart to send caring comments about them, although they probably wondered why I never mentioned anything about their son.

I didn’t know because I didn’t listen. You know when you feel you should do something and you don’t do it? Well, here’s the big lesson: if you don’t listen, it hurts. Since the beginning of fall last year I kept feeling like I should check his website where his family is so diligent in keeping people informed about his progress. Since he had been doing so well for quite a while, my viewing of the website had become less frequent—about twice a month. And then not at all. It wasn’t that I didn’t care. On the contrary, daily I thought of him, prayed for him, and sent positive vibes his way. But I continued to feel that I should check his website, and I didn’t. And I could give you a whole slew of excuses why not, but the truth is, I could have done it. I could have been less busy. I could have used a different computer when my computer crashed. I could have been quicker at obtaining the correct address instead of being lost on the internet trying to find it. Instead, now I have a sickening feeling inside for not doing something I knew I should have done.

So, do you have something you think you should do? DO IT NOW!!!

Pregnancy's Contageous

The girls have been putting stuffed animals under their clothes and saying, "I have a baby in my tummy!" We find Kezia's belly full even when we wake her in the night to use the potty. I asked Ivy once how the baby got there. She thought about it for a while and then said, " I put the baby on a stick and put it in my tummy." She couldn't quite explain how the baby transferred from the stick to her tummy, though. ;)

Ivy's Birthday

Ivy’s birthday was on Monday. She’s already 3!!! She brings so much joy to our lives. On Saturday, we had a few friends come over for cake, ice cream and gifts. Then on Monday we went to the zoo as a family.
Ivy enjoying her cake with Grandma Burgoyne

Ivy’s Grandma Burgoyne got her a fairy dress-up. When she opened it, she cried, “A fairy! I’m almost a fairy….”(and then after putting on the costume,) “I’m a fairy!” Then every subsequent gift after that seemed to her to be connected to that fairy gift: hair accessories, backpack, mirror, etc. Each one she would open and say, “More fairy things!! No, I’m almost a fairy (and the after applying the gift to her body,) “Now I’m a fairy!” She was surrounded by other toddlers (including her sisters who dotted on her like maidservants to a princess, decorating her hair with her new hairclips, showing her her reflection in the mirror, and brushing her hair. It was really cute.

She also received a Dora backpack full of Dora gifts. She has been wearing it everywhere, even to bed. And she loved the hard animals from Grandma Hicken, too. She has added them to her dollhouse, so now it looks like the house in Jumanji, with baboons and panda bears in the various rooms. She received a five dollar bill from her Uncle Shaun and Aunt Susan, and as she was carrying it to the house she sang, “Iiiii got my twooooo cents! Iiiii got my twoooo cents!”

I was so impressed with Kezia the week before. Kezia devoted about an hour every day to making gifts for her sister. Kezia loves cutting paper, so on Ivy’s birthday, she proudly presented her with a pile of cut papers, collages, party hats, and a paper fan. I was grateful that Ivy thanked her graciously, despite all the more exciting gifts she received.

Nate and I got her a fishbowl, and Tuesday night we went to the pet store where both Ivy and Kezia chose a fish. Ivy chose a goldfish named “Marcy” and Kezia chose a yellow (“because that’s my favorite color”) guppy named “Rosemary”. We tried to explain to her that hers was a male guppy, and he might feel self-conscious with a name like that, but the name stuck anyway.

Thank you so much for the phone calls and cards!! It made her feel so cool.

Here's a video of Ivy blowing out her candles. (Check out the classic toddler moves--the blowing helper and the many hands grabbing the candles at the end)

Beach Morning

Nate surfing


Here are some pics from the beach this morning, including a video of Hawaiian sea turtles coming out of the water. They are beautiful, peaceful animals who feed at night and then come out on the shores to rest. I hope the shakiness of the video doesn't make you sick! Oh, yes, and here is one of Ivy burying herself in the sand.

Camping on New Year's Eve

On New Years we packed the car so full of stuff you would have thought we were moving and headed up the hills to a campsite. Our goal of leaving at 3:00 seemed to make God laugh, and we didn't get going until 5:30. We stopped at the grocery store for tinfoil for our tinfoil dinners and marshmallows for s'mores. A HALF HOUR later, Nate emerged from the store...it was PACKED with partiers. When we arrived at the campsite, it was already dark, but our headlights revealed a whole group of 4 year olds chasing kitties around (which seemed to multiply by the hour...the cats, I mean). Way cool. The girls jumped out of the car and into the fun. Then one of the moms let our kids play with her kids in their tent (and eat their food) while Nate and I set up the tent. What a luxury that was!! One of the great things about Hawaii is how friendly the people are. It is really common for people to watch over other peoples' kids. I guess that's why everyone is called "auntie" or "uncle".

By 8:00 we had the fire going, and you would have thought the smoke was a pheromone for cats. But after we had our tinfoil dinners, they disappeared. And then with much anticipation, Nate reached for the grocery bag with the marshmallows in it. They were gone! He looked around, but then noticed the grocery bag had holes all over it. Apparently, the thieving cats found the goods and took off!! Luckily, our new-found friends had brought a load of marshmallows and it was the least we could do to help lighten their bag.

After the fire we headed for the tent. I didn't realize it was 11:30 already!!! (Our kids are usually down by 7:00. ) Needless to say, as soon as their heads hit the pillow, they were out. The coolest thing about the campsite, which we had not expected, was the view. On one side it looked over the ocean. On the other, it looked over the southern-central part of the island all the way to Diamond Head in Honolulu. So Nate and I crept out of our tents and enjoyed a bird's eye view of fireworks lighting up the sky from all directions, including a fancy show from a hotel nearby.

We thought we were all having a good time, but were corrected when Ivy woke up in the morning and asked, "Why are we still here?" We are hoping it is because often we drop the girls off at Grandma's or a babysitter when Nate and I go on a date, and then pick them up after they had fallen asleep. Which means they go to sleep in one place and wake up in another. So Ivy woke up confused and asked, "Why are we still here?"

Nate taking the girls' new friends for a wagon ride. (Over 200lbs, perhaps?)


In the morning we had fun with our wagon going sledding Hawaiian style down the hill. Nate had forgotten about the 200lb limit, so let's just say the wagon's physical appearance now has some character.







We also went on a short hike in the woods. Ivy pretended there were lions hiding in the woods, and introduced us to some of the nice ones, (which suspiciously looked a lot like tree trunks)




We hope you have a WONDERFUL new year filled with good times.

Christmas Morning

Christmas was nice this year. We loved the simplicity of it this year, especially the fact that we (almost) didn't do any Christmas shopping this year. We received some really nice gifts from family and friends, and we are so grateful. Here are just some pics from Christmas morning:
With Nate's reminder, the girls leave cookies and a drink for Santa Christmas Eve.


"While visions of, er, reindeer, danced in her wee little head..."

The girls with the ponies we gave them for Christmas. These were mine when I was young.
YEAH!! A wagon!!!!
The dollhouse (and evidence on Nate's arm of him being a good dad)