Kezia's party

We had a great party -- mostly due to a very timely call from my "angel sister" Janae, who happened to call 1 1/2 hours before the party was to begin and answered a last minute question: "so what should I do for the party?" With the rush of life lately, I knew I wanted to do a water balloon toss, but I couldn't think of much after that. She had great ideas, including "Dribble, dribble, dunk", which is the same as "Duck duck goose", except that you flick water from a cup on the childrens' heads while you say, "dribble". Then for the "goose", you say "Dunk!" and pour the water from the cuo on that child's head. They LOVED it!

We bounced the waterballoons on a parachute and did a water balloon toss. We also did a relay with cups with holes in it to see which team could fill a pitcher the fastest.

Nate left to get the birthday cake,but when he arrived at home he noticed the wax paper was stuck on, so we ended up waiting a good 20 minutes for him to come back! By that time my brain was so fried from party-game-thinking, that I could not think up a sensible game to play. We ended up playing some lame relay games while we waited and then in desparation I taught the kids to rant "We want birthday cake!" Oh well, sorry, parents. It was worth the wait, though.

Nate and the girls had made a FANTASTIC ice cream cake that rivaled the one he made for my birthday. Isn't it beautiful? And it tasted even better than it looked!

Instead of bringing gifts, I asked that everyone bring a used toy to trade. I got the idea from a friend of mine and I thought it was so great -- everyone got a gift and no one had to go shopping and we wouldn't end up with a Barbie doll -- or would we?!?!?

I am very against Barbie dolls-- too disproportionate, dainty, and immodest in most cases. I view it as a young girl's introduction to a society that expects a certain perfect stereotype of women. So I swore we would never have a Barbie doll in the house. Well, when we were in the car to go home, I saw what Ivy had chosen from the used toy pile: a barbie doll. And one friend chose to give Kezia a gift. You guessed it: it was a barbie doll! Was it inevitable?!? What am I to do?

That morning she ripped into our gifts to her: a skateboard and stickers to decorate it, and a human body activity kit that we played with for most of the birthday morning.

Kezia's 6th Birthday!!

Kezia turns 6 on Friday!! This post will be updated as her birthday festivities continue, but here are a few:

Kezia got a new bike from Grandma Burgoyne!! It is a 20" bike, much larger than her little 12" bike. She is doing so well on it and has ridden it to school a few times already!

Today I brought treats to her class. Being one who is not a fan of 20+ cupcakes a year for classmates, I opted for a healthier treat that the kids loved -- a muffin & fruit todempole with an umbrella toothpick holding it all together (I guess I'll hear tomorrow if anyone poked their eyes out with it!)

Blessed.

A friend told me about a *FREE* Ziggy Marley concert going on on Saturday at the Discovery Center. Free?!? Free?!? Yup, free. For the first 200 people. Somehow we got in! (And many thanks to Kay for letting us drop her off at the airport HOURS early!) It was spectacular!! Nate and I are die-hard Bob Marley fans, so this was expecially cool for us. Plus it was a very intimate setting -- just a bunch of families sitting in a small area, and here he is just a few yards away! What I didn't understand is why weren't there more people in line? And why were we some of the only ones dancing? That made it all seem like a strange dream. But it was real and it was cool. It was a concert for families, and the girls have been singing Ziggy Marley songs since. That man has a lot of heart. That's his daughter Judah on the stage.

We were lucky to have found a spot on the grass. And then even more lucky when the camera man nex to us left and gave us dancing room! Elysse danced the whole time with a smile on her face! While I was jamming to his music, I had this sense of gratitude fill me. Here I am, listening to Ziggy Marley in a small free concert underneath a blue sky. I live in Hawaii, I have a family that I love, I have a business that I enjoy and is going well. I felt really blessed.

Kezia in full groove

Nate and Ivy enjoying the vibes.

And then afterward he signed our CD! I was impressed by his genuine smile and eye contact. Very humble. Remind me again why I didn't shake his hand?

Ivy's funny

The other day Ivy was singing a song about itches to Kezia and interrupted herself to point something out. Here is what I heard:

" I have an itch on my forehead,

I have an itch on my shoulder,

I have an itch on my arm,

I have an itch in my bum -- and that's for real life!

I have an itch on my ....."

Why our girls don't need a tv

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We have had a TV in the middle of our livingroom since the end of June. It was left behind by tenants who had moved out and we thought we'd take advantage of a bigger movie screen for a while. It was actually a lot of fun, considering we had been watching movies on a 4X6 portable DVD player screen (can you spot it in the picture?). But as I took it out of the house last Saturday, instead of hearing a complaint, I heard Ivy exclaim, "Oh, look, Kezia, at the pattern the TV left on the carpet!! That's so cool!"

Who needs a TV if you're that easily entertained?

My girls need a touch of fashion sense

Perhaps it's the generous amount of hand-me-downs we receive. Or my insistence to wear out their clothes til they're holey. But I discovered on our latest shopping trip that my girls definitely lack a sense of fashion. My first clue was when Kezia begged to buy a skirt she held up to me that was half denim and half a yellow polyester fray that curled on each end. I had no other excuse to give her except that it was dang ugly. Then as I perused the shirts, I asked the girls to find one they thought would look good. Ivy said, "Oh, Mommy, I got it! I found just the one!" I laughed outloud when I saw it: a black t-shirt with a lacey red heart in the middle encircling the words, "My heart was stolen by a cowboy". I asked, "What would Daddy think?" Kezia said, "He'll be sad." I don't know what would make him more sad, that my heart was stolen by someone else, or that it was a cowboy who did it.

Happy Fourth of July!!

We celebrated by going to a fair at the military barracks. Ivy and Kezia were in line to go on a ride, but the attendant said Ivy was too short, so at the last minute I got pulled into the barf ride. But I figured if I was going to get sick anyway, let's go for it!! Needless to say, the rest of the fair I was holding my stomach.

The next "must have" was face painting...




...followed by a petting farm.
And what's a fair without a cheesy board photo? (May our skin never be so white)


Then we headed home because I had a lesson. It was one I don't think I'd soon forget. It was 3 siblings. One of them had brain cancer and was told by his doctor that it was progressing so quickly that he ought to go enjoy life. He's my age. It was a very emotional thing to take this man out on an activity and to a place that he would never do, and never see again.

We then had dinner at Kay's with our friend Mara and her daughter Nicole and set off fireworks.
The girls' reaction to the fireworks
May God continue to bless our nation

Kezia and Ivy pics

A friend gave us dresses her daughter had grown out of. The girls looked so pretty in their foofy "princess" dresses I had to do a little photo shoot.

Happy Father's Day!

(Well, Kerri, looks like you're not the only one post-dating your blog ;)

I just wanted to share some shots of Nate's Father's Day. He took advantage of a relaxing day. Although I'm not one for blogging love notes, I do want to give a shout out to our girls' daddy: YOU TOTALLY ROCK, NATE!!!

Morning nap:



Afternoon spent on couch:


Late afternoon watching a movie with the girls:


Evening spent eating good food at Nate's mom's house...and brownies:

Thank you, Erica!

Erica made Ivy a new blankie to replace her well-loved one that she had made for her before she was born. Thank you!