Elysse was trying to walk on a bumper in a parking lot and fell on her nose on the pavement. It was real minor and just gave her a few scratches, but it left a nice scab on the tip of her nose for a few days. I had to take a picture because she was so cute -- I called her Rudolph for a few days. Something that is funny about Elysse is that she succombs to mind tricks very easily. She is very good (too good) at saying "no", and hardly ever says yes. Sometimes she says "no" when she means "yes", and sometimes you can change her mind anyway. Here's a video to show what I mean. She is happy in this video, and maybe sometime I can post a video of when she is upset. When she is really upset and I ask her if she wants something, she screams, "NOOOOOOO!!!" and so I say, "say 'yes'", and she quiets down right away, stops her crying, and coos, "yesh", and then accepts what I had offered her.
Most moms have to cut the crust off their childrens' bread and beg and bribe them to stick a veggie in their mouths. They think, "What's wrong with my child?" Our children are the exact opposite, and it still makes me think, "What's wrong with my child?"
Like how Ivy begs for the crust of the loaf of bread, and Kezia's comment the other night. She was putting her salad in the fridge that she had picked out at the store and said -- and I'm not kidding here -- "I like salad because it is healthy for you and because it helps me run faster and hang on the monkey bars longer." Nate and I just looked at each other and I whispered, "I don't think she needs a mom anymore."
And then the next day she confirmed my thought when it was time to clean the bathroom and she reprimanded Ivy for playing in the livingroom instead -- "C'mon, Ivy! It's time to stop playing and finish cleaning the bathroom!"
And then just today when she got a candy from primary and came to ask if she could eat it. I said she could, but she still doubted and asked, "Really? Or should I just have half?"
Okay, so maybe this isn't that funny written out, but I thought it was funny when she said it. Today Ivy and I were making bread. Here's what she said:
"I haven't made bread like this in a long time. I haven't ever had babies before. I don't even know what a baby looks like."
I asked, "Ivy, what do babies have to do with bread?"
She looked a bit perplexed and replied, "I don't know."
I have been touched by human kindness today and want to share about it. Elysse was having one of her "scream for hours for no apparent reason" kind of days today and we were in the cashier line at the grocery store. A man came up behind us in line and talked to her to try to calm her down. Then he got out his harmonica and played a little song for her and she finally quieted down. He talked to Kezia and Ivy too about how they really should help their mom out more (I must have looked pretty frazzled!) I was so grateful for him that I paid for his groceries as well.
But almost as soon as we got in the car Elysse started up again. When we arrived home, I asked Nate to take over because I had had it. He suggested I leave and go for a surf, even though I had plenty of surf time this morning, and he will do the whole night routine and get the girls in bed. It was really nice of him and I came back feeling refreshed.
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
We had such a great Labor Day weekend. We had plans on camping at Ho'omaluhea again, but found out that we would have been #71 on the waitlist, so we crossed that one off the list, and ended up staying at a campsite with all amenities right across from the beach with no other campers -- aka, Kay's backyard. :) It was fantastic. We invited a friend and his daughter over for a barbeque and ended up keeping Marisa for another 24 hours.
On Monday morning hiked in Kahana Valley. We were afraid we may have gotten rained out, but it appeared we got there just after the rain, making a perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes and muddy bums, but the great times with family and the surrounding beauty made up for it.
I like this hike because it reminds me of the tangly forest in Snow White.
Ivy in particular wasn't fond of getting dirty until I mentioned whoever was dirtiest gets the M&Ms first. Then it was all out mud rolls! (We also had a contest for the most mosquito bites, but when your whole leg is one big puffy bite, who can count?)
Nate taking a snooze at our lunch break (I really just put this one on because Nate says the only pictures I have of him on our blog is him lying down somewhere. I told him because with how busy he is, that's newsworthy!)
Crossing Kahana Stream
A rope swing graced the end of the hike. Nate and I and Kay each had a turn. Kezia, our ever so catious one, made sure that when it was Grandma's turn that she had everything off her body and out of her pockets that shouldn't go in the water. She was saying, "Oh, Grandma! Do you have money in your pockets? What about your necklace, Grandma? Take it off, Grandma! etc." And then right before Kay was about to jump, Kezia yelled, "GRANDMA!! YOUR PONYTAIL!!" as though she was supposed to take that off as well. Hee hee!
Check this out! Good morning America contacted Nate to get information about stand up paddle surfing, and mentioned his magazine on their clip this morning!
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 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!)
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?
