Aloha!

This year for Abby's birthday we had a Hawaiian Luau. She was so excited! We invited nine of her little friends from school, playgroups and church.



Here she is waiting for all of her friends to arrive and practicing her hula dancing.









Most of the hula dancers posing with their grass skirts and waiting for their hula lessons. (Yes, there were even boys dancing!)

Sammy had a hard day watching Abby with all her friends and feeling a little left out. She also may have been annoyed because we had to pull her grass skirt up to her armpits so it wouldn't drag and it kept falling down.

This is still not everyone who came to the party. I couldn't get some of them to stop dancing and sit down for a picture. One boy refused the grass skirt all together and said he was having his "own" party by himself on the couch...

This is right after we finished making leis and they could assemble their hula outfits. We then had some hula lessons and they all practiced their moves to the sound of the Beach Boys. We also did the limbo but I didn't get any pictures of that.

Pizza break

playing outside in the backyard

Abby was so excited about her cake. We were originally going to have a Hawaiian cake with palm trees and a little girl wearing a grass skirt but she saw the Tinker Bell cake and had to have it. I gave in. One of these years, I really want to try decorating the cake myself but this year I could not be bothered. I will probably say that for the next ten years though...


Blowing out the candles!

As you can see, I avoided the pinata this year after last year's disaster. (For those of you who don't know, I bought a pinata and didn't find out you had to stuff it with candy until after the kids had practically bashed it open - oops!) Anyway, I think it was a good time had by all.

I decided to do a party at home after going to several extravagant parties of Abby's classmates. I am so blown away at how much parents spend on parties. One girl's party was held at the Enchanted Castle (which is like Chucky Cheese on steroids - an indoor theme park) with rides and games and prizes. The parents paid for each kid to go on four rides and get one hundred tickets toward games and prizes. Another girl in her class rented out a place called Airtastic (trampolines and bouncers etc). These parties are way over-the-top for a five-year old, if you ask me. That was my little soap box. I am done now.

Psycho Bird, Leave Us Alone!

Ever since last Sunday, April 19th, we have had a psychotic bird tapping at our windows. It is now Thursday and he is STILL tapping. He comes for several visits a day and taps his little beak at our office window, our front door and the window above our front door. It is the most bizarre thing. At first, I was amused and wanted our little friend to continue to visit because I found his tapping kind of endearing. Now things have changed...

Yesterday, I was doing a bit of yard work and noticed what a mess this bird is making as he incessantly taps at our windows and door. There is bird poop everywhere. It was all over our front step and completely made a mess of the ledge above the door (which you can't reach without a ladder). He also pecks at the window and leaves marks all over it.

"Why have you chosen to stalk and torture us? What did we ever do to you? Fly off and play with your friends or dig up some worms. What kind of a loser bird hangs out by itself and taps on people's windows?"

The bird only comes during the day and Charles is beginning to fear that the bird is out to replace him and that he will come home from work one day and find the locks changed and the bird in bed with me! Not likely. I hate the bird. Everytime I hear its little tap-tapping, I stomp into the front entrance or office (as loudly as possible). I have left long bats, sticks and batons by the door as weapons to pound on the windows with and scare the bird away. Many times I run out the front door yelling, stomping and flailing my arms to chase him away. Nothing has worked. Abby and Sammy look at me as if I am the psycho one. That bird doesn't give up. I have now come to recognize him quite well and could pick out "the tapper" from a line-up of other birds. Go away bird, or I may have to resort to drastic measures that the animal rights' people will NOT approve of....


Another shot of the dang tapper bird hunkering down and at it again...

There he is looking defiant. "You can't chase me away," he mocks. "Oh yeah," I say, "you don't know whose house you have chosen to tap, BIRD!"

Pesach (Passover)

Well it's that time again (actually it was a week or so ago but I am a bit late this year), time for Pesach or Passover; the oldest continuing tradition in human history. Last year, I was able to hold my first seder for Passover and this year I am doing it again! I get so excited about the tradition. I love studying up on the Exodus of the Israelites from Egypt and assembling my seder plate with all the various symbolic foods. I hope to get better and better at it as time passes. I love reading all the fascinating details about how the Jews prepare for Passover a month or so ahead of time and all the meaning behind the food on the seder plate and then recounting the story. I think it is so interesting that during the Seder, Jews relive the story of the Exodus as if they themselves are going from slavery to freedom. As I prepare for my Seder this year, I am definitely thinking of my Jewish neighbors in London. We became such good friends. In fact, I emailed her and told her I was putting on another Seder this year. In her response, I could practically see her beaming through the email. Anyway, if you don't know what a Seder is, I encourage you to google it and read up on it. It is good stuff.



Here is what I wrote last year on the subject:

The other day Abby and Sammy were playing in the back garden pushing their strollers and I was lounging idly in a chair staring off in the distance when my Orthodox Jewish neighbor Estelle Golker poked her head over the fence wearing her bright red-haired wig. We began to chat and as we finished our little conversation she said, "just so you know, I have 'sold' you my cat for the week. We will feed him and everything but you own him for the week for Pesach." I wasn't sure what she was talking about but agreed to it anyway. Then I started thinking that she must be referring to a Jewish holiday. Then I remembered it is Passover. It begins this Sunday (April 20th) and continues until the following Saturday (the 26th).She has been busy for the past several weeks ridding her house of "chametz" or any trace of leavened bread. Contrary to popular belief, chametz is not the five grains of wheat, rye, barley, oats, and spelt. Rather, chametz is the leavened product that results when any of these five grains come into contact with water for more than a minimum of eighteen minutes. Thus all breads, pastas, cakes, cookies, and dry cereals are considered pure chametz. The goal for a Jewish housewife is to clean out, destroy, remove and renounce all chametz. Since a total elimination would constitute an economic hardship for most people, the Rabbis instituted the sale of title to the chametz in one's possession.

This is where the "sale" of her cat to me comes in.Parakeets, gerbils and the like, or rather their food and cages, present a problem at Passover time. These pets live on a grain diet. The law applies to all Jews of any age against deriving ANY pleasure or benefit from chametz. Therefore, cages of pets must be thoroughly cleaned out. The pet can be "sold" to a non-Jewish friend (that's me), who will care for it during the holiday. The other alternative is to alter the diet. Most large pet-food companies will send, on request, a pet Passover diet.Anyway, as you can see her little "sale" led me to do a lot of research.

I also talked to her again and got quite the low-down on all the cleaning that she does to get ready for Passover. She literally starts weeks in advance. She has to vacuum every corner, scrub every shelf and drawer. Every curtain gets washed and ironed, the rugs are shampooed. Furniture is moved, mattresses are overturned, pockets of garments are turned inside out and shaken clean looking for any possible hiding places of chametz. The kitchen is the biggest job. All kitchen items used all year long handling and absorbing chametz may not be used for Passover. That means they are either stowed away or thoroughly cleaned. This includes dishes, cutlery, utensils, pots and pans, serving pieces, trays, sink racks, drainboards, kitchen gadgets, storage areas, freezer, refrigerator, stove top, oven, dishwasher, blender, food processor, toaster, electric mixer, spice rack, in sum everything! And the housewife hasn't even begun to make all the meals and do the shopping and planning for the holiday, this is just preparation! So basically, I have decided I am too lazy to be a Jewish housewife....

Funny Stuff

Last night Abby and Sammy were having difficulties getting to sleep, so I told them to talk quietly to each other since they share a room. A few minutes later, I was walking by and heard Abby tell Sammy to repeat what she said. Abby then said, "Girls go to college to get more knowledge, boys go to Jupiter to get more stupider." Yes, my four-year old said this and even better, my two-year old repeated it. I have no idea where Abby learned that.

Fun with Markers

What happens when you cross a two and four year old with a six and eight year old? You get marker make-overs! This took several days to get off completely but it was pretty funny. Abby went to school with blue marker on her face and neck the next day. They also had smiley faces on their bellies and "necklaces."

Great Movie Recommendation

"GUESS WHO'S COMING TO DINNER"

This film came out in 1967 starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn. It was a groundbreaking story at the time dealing with the controversial subject of interracial marriage, which historically had been illegal in most of the United States, and was still illegal in seventeen southern American states up until June 12 of the year of the film's release. However, even after it was officially legalized, the topic was still taboo in many areas.

Many films today have great cinematography and amazing special effects etc., but they leave me simply entertained for two hours and I don't think much else about them. This film however, left a lasting impression and kept me pondering and thinking about it and the subject matter for the rest of the night. I especially LOVED the last speech by Spencer Tracy's character (Matt Drayton) about not losing the passion in marriage. It brought me to tears.

The film is also notable for being the last on-screen pairing of Tracy and Hepburn (Tracy died seventeen days after filming ended). In Tracy's final speech of the film, Hepburn's tears were real—they both knew that this would be the last line of his last film, that he had not much longer to live. Hepburn never saw the completed film; she said the memories of Tracy were too painful. The film was released in December 1967, six months after his death. I think this is definitely a film I would love to have in my collection and would highly recommend it to anyone. It is timeless.