Anouk celebrated her 9th birthday in SPA style. After deciding on a theme for her party, Anouk and Mama got busy creating eye mask invitations and a relaxing spa setting for the celebration. The first step was: the relaxation zone which was full of pillows, blankets, and all the pre-tween magazines we could get our hands on.
Once that was all done, we organized a beauty zone so Mama and her two teacher buddies could make up each "client." Girls received two beauty treatments. They had an option of a dozen nail colors from which to get their manicure done. This was followed by a "facial" with eye make-up and lip glosses galore.
While girls waited for their spa treatments, they were asked to cut
small spa-themed icons and glue them on to a blank BINGO board. Once all
the boards were created, the girls played RELAX (as opposed to BINGO).
Mama's favorite event was hot nail polish. In this game,
all the girls sat on a blanket in the garden, each with their own nail
polish color in hand. While the music played, they were asked to pass
the nail polish to the next person. When the music stopped, they were
stuck with the color in their hand and had to paint one of their toes.
The game continued in this manner until all 10 toes were pained a
variety of colors. It's hilarious how unskilled these girls are at painting their own toenails.
Once everyone's nails dried, it was time to participate in Papa's annual Birthday Scavenger Hunt. This year's scavenger hunt took the girls upstairs, downstairs, outside, in the car, and ultimately, to the Master bedroom, where they found a basket full of terrific spa tools: nail polish, wash clothes, lip gloss, nail files, mints, nail stickers, and hair ties.
The party wrapped up with a heartwarming rendition of Happy Birthday that was sung with incredible enthusiasm! The girls devoured chocolate cupcakes or fruit and custard cake (though most girls tried BOTH!)
To see more pictures of this Spaaaaaaahhhh day, go to our Flickr page.
One of the worst things about living half a world away from home-- jet lag. Jet lag is a close second to other worst things... like: missing births, weddings, deaths (and all other familial and friend-centered events); not being present for joys and sorrows that permeate our loved one's daily lives; and the ever-important "hug-on-demand" that you can get when you live close to your nearest and dearest. That all said, the positives of our crazy lives still outweigh the negatives and so we continue exploring the world and teaching as we go. But jet lag is a nasty result of such an interesting lifestyle. And this year--jet lag is dreadful. Between the inevitable holiday blues, the 22+ hours of flying, and the 10 hour time change, I'm walking the halls of our summery still house at 1 am in Johannesburg reflecting on our Christmas in California.
Don't get me wrong, we've had some amazing Christmases not in California. But after the trips to Rob's family in Belgium, Jordan, Lombok, Thailand, and recruiting in Bangkok last Christmas, I was eager to go home. So... after 6 years of Christmas in California absences, I pushed and prodded, whined and weaseled my way into what is now being coined our Costly Christmas in California. But damn, it was worth it! We arrived home restless for cold weather, craving chaotic family events, and a yearning (by me) to relive the Christmas traditions of my youth through my kids' eyes. And we did just that!
We were most excited about the opportunities to play elves on
many occasions. Our first experience started on day 2 of our trip, when my dear friend
Tricia came down with stupidity and fell off a young man's loft bed
leaving her and her Spreading Christmas Cheer Projectin
a lurch! Who would be the delivery elves this year while she was bolted
to her couch with a broken wrist, smashed face, and a gloomy
disposition? Why? We would. Of course. So after some careful scheduling, loading, and Google mapping, Tricia's elves loaded vans and cars with over $6,000 of items that two very
wonderful (but struggling) families needed and wanted this holiday
season. The second such elf-like experience came just two
days after Christmas when Santa's [belated] helpers organized a living
room redecoration to accommodate a new TV and cabinet for the matriarch
of our family. Despite the white-lies and lunch cancellations, our Nama
was pretty excited about her new entertainment! Now she can watch 'Judge Judy' in HD! During this holiday, we enjoyed a girls-only trip to see the
Nutcracker,
BART-ed to San Francisco to see the Christmas displays in Union Square
(though extremely disappointing, dinner at the Ferry Building was quite
delightful), attended an adorable American/Russian Christmas program at
Katya's daycare, and made copious amounts of holiday treats with
my Nama while listening to my grandfather's old 45s crackling in the
background.
We enjoyed opening gifts on Christmas Eve at Dominic and
Anna's house, making retro Christmas ornaments from Styrofoam balls and
sequins, watching my dad finally show off his "frying bacon"
routine (what grandparents won't do for their grandchildren!), thanking
him by driving to Half Moon Bay at the start of crab season to score
some deliciousness, long and lovely dinners with cousins, as well as seeing to the health and well-being of
grandpa's chickens.
A
holiday highlight was enjoying a Christmas with little ones again! It
was great to see our niece and nephew mesmerized by the glitz and
excitement of Christmas. During a pre-departure sleepover, we even got
to take Katya and the kids to one of those outrageously decorated (and
synchronized-to-music) houses in the Bay Area. The kids got out and
danced on the lawn under the fake snow while my parents and grandmother
listened to the music from the comfort (read: warmth) of the car!
After caring for our dear friend, Tricia, Rob and I got to sneak off for a little date and caught The Secret Life of Walter Mitty while enjoying a dinner of popcorn and soda. We
even got to enjoy some alone-time with my godfather, Steve though this
time it wasn't over BINGO cards. Rob even organized an afternoon out with a former colleague who is now living in Pakistan! Whoa... reading over this list of
events makes me tired all over again!
But... one of the most enjoyable and unexpected events occurred just a few days
after Christmas when my mom (in her wonderful Annette way) concocted a
plan with an old friend and arranged a post-holiday soiree with some of
the former boys of the Golden Gate Boys Choir. Without knowing all the
ins and outs of the event, I called upon my Notre Dame girls and
included them in the mix--boy they didn't know what hit them when
they descended on our house with 30 people cramped in every corner of my
parent's house
devouring amazing Filipino food and catching up on old times. Seeing my
friend Dian pregnant made me giddy and meeting the newest addition to
Teresa's family was such a blessing.
But watching my brother sing after such a hiatus had to be one of my
personal highlights. Seeing my
brother pick up complicated sheet music and sing so beautifully took me
back to all those years of carting him to rehearsals, following him on
tour around the world, and doing my homework in many a church basement! I
was thrilled to see friends I hadn't seen in years and catch up
on the lives of people who were so vastly important in our old lives. I
know that my parents enjoyed the night tremendously--they stayed up and
gabbed until midnight! My mother, again, pulls off another one of her
crazy plans with great success!
Though our jaunt to the states was wonderful, it's
nice to be back "home" in our own beds, with our own things, and our
crazy dog in toe. Though we miss everyone desperately and long for the
next holiday, it is time to get back to reality in this new year!
Blessings for great adventures and happiness in 2014!
**to check out our picture gallery, click on the images below**
While girls waited for their spa treatments, they were asked to cut
small spa-themed icons and glue them on to a blank BINGO board. Once all
the boards were created, the girls played RELAX (as opposed to BINGO).
To see more pictures of this Spaaaaaaahhhh day, go to our Flickr page. 
