Birthdays & Boats

April is a birthday month around here...pictures from Reeve's 12th Birthday:
For Reeve's Birthday we had a potluck at Poho'iki Beach Park. The weather was cloudy/rainy all day, but the kids had a great time. It didn't phase them. We set up our tent by the picnic table that has a view of the ocean in the front and the playground in the back.

 Stella brought here bike...

 That's all the pictures I have from Reeve's party :(. Last weekend we watched a friend's bought be lowered into the water. He's been remodeling it for nearly 3 years. It has an electric motor and the batteries for the boat can be powered by a generator on the sail and by a couple of solar panels that they will set up as an awning on the deck.

 Stella...pensive...

 She really, really wanted to ride on the pink boat!!!

 You can barely see it, but hovering over the grass is a remote control helicopter that has a camera for taking video/pictures from up high. It was very cool!

 Yesterday we went to a friend's potluck beach birthday party for their two boys (Reeve and Kyle's age). It was a perfect day!

 In the picture below, right in the center, you can see Reeve (black swim shirt).

 Below...I was busy keeping up with Stella...

Um, yeah, I can totally handle beach birthday parties! Life is good :)

Duck Eggs, New Truck, & Night Market Dancing

Our duckies are now 6 months old and in the past couple of weeks they've laid a grand total of 2 eggs!
I was hoping for more by now, but recently we've been told not to expect eggs before 8 months.

Above is a picture of Reeve with the second duck egg. The shells and good and hard and they are pretty darn tasty, if I do say so myself!

When we sold the minivan the hope was to replace it with a truck. We searched and waited and searched and then bought a 95 Mazda extended cab truck...there are seatbelts for 6!

Stella loves the truck and she's convinced Papa bought it for her because it is blue. Now to put it to work by getting some cinder and cinder soil! Maybe even some trees as there is a huge plant sale happening soon at a local nursery. Actually they only sell to the public once or twice a year. It's happening on the same day as Reeve's birthday party, but maybe we can squeeze it in before the party.

A picture of our amazing banana tree that, when it rains, stands in a little pond known by the Rayes as "Banana Lake".

See that purple flower? That means a new bunch of bananas is forming.

Last Wednesday we went to the Kalapana Night Market for the first time. Fun!

(Above: Reeve with his juggling sticks, aka jolly sticks, flower sticks, and devil sticks)
We met up with some friends there and had a great time listening to the live music, eating pizza baked in a stone fireplace right in front of our eyes, and watching Stella and her friend dance the night away.

 Stella started the night out in an outfit she picked out with a jacket. By the end of the night she was only wearing the skirt on the dance floor!

Stella really really wants to hold her pets. She's constantly chasing the ducks around the yard hoping beyond hope that she will be able to just "hold and love" them. Well, she outsmarted them! She put some food in their duck house and then crawled in after them and shut the door!

They could not escape and she was able to "hold and love" them. Alice was the only smart one and did not get trapped in the house with Stella. She stayed in there for a good 30 minutes holding and loving those duckies.

Good News Updates: We sold our house to a wonderful family that I know we love and cherish it as much, if not better!, than we did. Tom passed his Contractor Law Exam and Contractor Electrical exam...inching ever closer to getting that Electrical Contractor certification. He has one more exam to take on the 20th for his Ventilating and Air Conditioning Contractor License.
Aloha!!

Crafts, Goats & Good News

My cross-stitch project that took me 2 years to complete...mainly because of Stella, boredom with cross-stitch that is 18 count vs 14 count, and moving to Hawaii. 18 count is tiresome because that means there are 18 "squares" in one inch vs. 14 squares. This pattern was also difficult for me to follow because of all the "background" color. I couldn't just make a mistake and fudge it like I do with all of my other projects. A mistake on this meant ripping it out and starting over, and with all the other distractions going on in my life I made A LOT of mistakes.

I was optimistic when I stitched my initials and date...I intended this to be a Christmas gift, but it worked out as a birthday gift.

My other recently finished "birthday" project.

 A doll for Stella's 3rd Birthday....I know, I know...her Birthday is over a month away, but I couldn't wait to give it to her!!!

 Stella named her Maya. I hand sewed her in no time flat...I even hand sewed every single strand of hair on her head which took all of 30 minutes. I just finished hand sewing her dress, in the pics here she's sporting a silk scarf.

 I made her small (almost "cringe" barbie size), so that Stella could easily carry her around with her. Stella is very loving and sweet to her baby Maya.

On Thursday we went over to a friends house and played with their two 2 week old goats named "Thelma & Louise." Stella was in heaven...she LOVES those goats.

They were very tolerant of her as well. Poor kids were picked up and forced to sit on her lap.

They were oh so soft and super tolerant and friendly.

The girls (Stella and her friend) are about 3 months apart and recently when we were out together we were asked if they were twins.

Forgive me I did not "rotate" this last picture and I'm too lazy to rotate it now. It was very sweet how her friend was hugging her as they fed the baby goat.

And now for the good news! This week we are positively expectant! We hope to be closing on the sale of our Wisconsin home to an awesome family that we met through a serendipitous Winter Soltice chance encounter...still gives me goose bumps at how beautifully it has all worked out!
Last week Tom took his contractor exam and he feels confident about his score and we should find out the results this week or next.
Tom is at our weekly market gig now, and the kids and I will join him in a bit. He talks solar and has met some good customers at market and I give Laundry demonstrations. Yes, I bring some of our laundry to market and I show folks how easy it is to wash by hand using a breathing mobile washer and a hand wringer. Reeve and Kyle also have plans of selling something at market...more on that (hopefully) next week. Aloha!!