All about M and B

So this blog has a generally Rosie-absorbed gaze (being her doting mither, afterall). But through an odd confluence, this week we have a whole bunch of pictures of... Matt and Becca!
So, here I am, all 35 weeks of me, at N's b-day party. ROCK ON. All the photo credits of yours truly go to Candle and Julie. Mwa, Mwa!

FuREEZING at salt pond beach.
Julie's famous Gwai Gwai! (Notice my UV phobic getup. I look awesome at the beach, guys.)
At the baby shower! Thanks guys!
The swinging bridge in Hanapepe
The debut performance of The Mariposa Trio! In honor of Matt's and Robbie Burn's b-days, we played Ye Banks and Braes. Children chimed in on harmonica and rainbow xylophone.
What's this? Oh, just a trifle. :)
Happy Birthday, love!

Rosie has been very sweet to babies, saying, "awwwww" and giving kisses. (I am much encouraged.)

And Gymnastics! How odd is it that Rosie's coach was Liz' coach in Maryland 20 years ago?? All the Dominic Dawes paraphenalia tipped me off, and sure enough when we compared notes-- we remembered the Vietnamese restaurant kitty corner from their gym.
In contrast to Kate's monster egg, we got this adorable little mini egg last week. When we cracked it open it was... YOKELESS! What a cool freak of nature.
Our scrawny nasty little black kitten has blossomed into an affectionate and glossy CAT who I adore more than I thought I ever would.
We have an astounding orange tree--thin-skinned and explosively sweet and juicy fruit all year round. We made a pitcher of orange juice that defied description.
Rosie making towers out of Matt's forage planters

Winter is spider season-- they're everywhere, all sorts. These X shaped garden spiders start out microscopic and grow into huge green and black and blue jeweled mothers. And the little bitey crab spiders build ungraceful webs between every branch and leaf of ever tree and lurk like clumps of dirt.
Our pakalana vine
Little Red!
Two of our chickens were escape artists until Matt fixed the coop-- they loved hanging out with the cats in the garage and always came running to meet us whenever we came home, and had a very glossy and sexy rooster boyfriend.
Hawaiian princess
Rosie needed a rest at a birthday party, apparently.
Blue frosting!
Puppet show!
Splashing!
Raaaaaar.

Happy New Years!

In keeping with long-standing Davis family tradition, we smashed our graham-cracker gingerbread house to smithereens to welcome in the new year. We did it at noon rather than midnight, and it was just a gingerbread shack compared to the architectural wonders we've seen in the past-- Falling Waters, the Taj Mahal, a 4 storey pagoda, and the Mormon Tabernacle come to mind. But Rosie and her dear friends M and M had a great time with wooden spoons and rakes, and the chickens had a great time tidying up afterwards.
A sad face for the destroyed gingerbread house.
The real party was later at Uncle Bobo's-- mountains and mountains of food. Every kind of local-style-Japanese food: sushi rolls and the colorful pressed fish cakes, cut like sculpey into lovely rounds, sweetened mochi with peanut butter or an (the sweet adzuki bean paste)-- then gingery steamed fish with chinese vegetables, fried chicken, and our haole contribution of homemade bread. The best part of New Years in Hawaii is the fireworks-- Rosie did not appreciate. Last year she was so disturbed by the noise she fell into an instant and deep coma any time one went off. It was hilarious and alarming: BOOM! And she was limp, breathing deeply, eyes closed. This year she stayed conscious but did not enjoy it at all. All the next day she wanted to hear the story of how Auntie Katie used to be scared of fire crackers in Holland.

And here's our family tradition-- Hatsu-hi-no-de-- the first sunrise of the new year. Not too photogenic for the people, but really lovely for the scenery...

Rosie drew her own sun in the sand. "He's sliding up, just like the real one!"



Happy New Year! I saw this on a church marquee today: May your troubles last as long as your New Year's Resolutions!

P.S.
Art can be shocking. Really.