Christmas...

Merry Christmas to all of you wonderful humans!  And another Merry Christmas to your wonderful pets as well!  It's the day after Christmas here on Guam and I'm stuck at work, trying to recuperate from the past two days.

For the past few years we've had a tradition of celebrating Christmas by having a Christmas Eve Parade in Merizo.  It was something that Joey's parents came up with as a fun way to celebrate the season with everyone in the village.  Each year we get together and decorate our cars and trailers with lights, Christmas trees, ornaments, garland, and inflatables.  As everyone got older, it has sort of become a competition to see who can decorate the best float.

Once the floats are decorated, we load buckets full of candy and parade around the village, throwing candy and yelling "Merry Christmas" to everyone.  The kids in the village have really gotten used to our parade, because they're always ready with plastic bags in hand to catch all the sweets.

After the parade is over, we all follow each other back to Joey's parents' house where the kids not-so-patiently wait until it is time to open gifts.  The tradition is that they get to open all their gifts at midnight, when it is officially Christmas, but each year we've been letting them open their gifts earlier and earlier.  I think we all just get tired of waiting and hearing the little ones constantly ask: "Is it time yet?"

Christmas this year was a very blessed one for the kids.  They got so much more than they asked for and even double of some of their gifts.  Aniyah even said, "This is the best Christmas EVER!!!"  Which was a defining moment because as a pre-teen, she's pretty much too cool for anything.  And what's funny is that we didn't get her any high-tech, super-expensive, might-as-well-buy-a-brand-new-car type of gift.  (Nope, no iPads, laptops, or tablets here...)

Joey and I usually don't get each other gifts on Christmas - we wait until AFTER Christmas, when we know we won't have to worry about everyone else.  That's sort of our own little tradition.  We're just happy that our kids are happy.

I hope you all are having a wonderful Christmas this year!  I'm looking forward to reading up on how everyone else celebrated the holiday!

P.S. Because every Christmas post should have a funny little story, here's mine:  My 4-year-old son, Trace, had been asking/praying/wishing his heart out for the new Skylanders Swap Force game since it came out in October.  He even went so far as to buy one of the characters for the game before he got it just because he was REALLY sure he would get it for Christmas.  It was just about the only thing he asked for on his list.  

Anyway, when the time came to open his gifts from us, I told him that I bought him a box of underwear because he always likes to go without underwear.  Needless to say, he was VERY disappointed.  So disappointed that he didn't even unwrap the gift.  The unopened box of "underwear" was sitting at the top of his pile of opened gifts, so I handed it to him again and said, "Trace, why didn't you open this gift?" to which he replied (with a scrunched up face), "You said it was underwear.  I don't want to open underwear."  So, after we got a few giggles in about it, Aniyah said, "Trace, maybe Mommy's just kidding.  Just open it and check."  And sure enough, as soon as he saw it was his coveted Skylanders Swap Force game, he looked over at me, smirked and said, "Mommmm!  You just tricked me!"  We thought it was hilarious...until he stayed up until 4am playing that game. -_-

Ice Cream Party Time!

So last week Aniyah, our eldest child, turned 10!  I'm honestly still trying to cope with the fact that she's getting older - I woke up in the middle of the night because I had a dream where she told me she wanted to sell her clothes so she could buy new ones because she wanted a boyfriend.  Talk about a nightmare!

Anyway, the last time she had a real party for her birthday was when she was 4 - the year before she started school.  Since then we've just been having small celebrations (Chuck-E-Cheese's, family dinners, etc.) because I told her that her next "party" won't be until she turns 10, so she was really excited for her birthday this year.

As you may have seen in my last post, she chose to go with an Ice Cream theme.  It kinda took a while for her to make up her mind about it, but in the end it was a really great choice - so much more original than a character themed birthday.

I found some free Ice Cream party printables on Pinterest and customized them on Pixlr.

I also ordered some Ice Cream themed goodies from Oriental Trading Co. to use for party favors and decorations.

These pink and blue lollipops were from Oriental Trading Co. and I just printed the cupcake toppers from the printable pack on sticker paper to stick on the lollipops.

 Aniyah and some of her friends before all the fun and craziness started.  The weather had been horrible all week and places of the island were flooded due to heavy rains so she was very excited when some of her classmates were able to make it.

 I saw this image on Pinterest and decided to recreate it.  But instead of using real ice cream cones (which may have gone to waste), I used these cute polka dot paper cones that I got from Oriental Trading Co.

Simple pink and blue paper bags are so much easier and cheaper than using those favor boxes.  I just attached the customized printable treat topper and they looked awesome!

Our menu was simple, with our Mongolian grill station being the main food item.  Guests were able to pick out their own vegetables, meats, and seasonings and watch it while it was being cooked by our awesome family chefs!

 Another Pinterest idea was put to use in our 10-foot ice cream sundae.  The original pin was a 10-foot banana split which used a carpet tube and some handmade stands for it to be lifted off the ground but we put our own twist on it.

Instead of a carpet tube, I just cut, folded, and taped the cardboard box from our Oriental Trading Co. order and created a trough which I then covered in tinfoil.  Instead of lifting it off of the ground, we put it on a tarp and had an ice cream eating contest!

 They all had to kneel down with their hands behind their backs and finish all the ice cream in their section as quickly as possible.  The winner got to choose a prize from the prize box.

It was so much fun for the kids and their families because we were all cheering them on and everyone got a kick out of it.  And thankfully the rainy weather was on our side because it helped to wash away all the stickiness!

 After the ice cream eating contest and the ice cream war, the kids rinsed off and sang happy birthday to Aniyah.  She not really a cake person - she prefers cookie cake instead.

Afterwards we continued with the rest of the games and I'm so glad that the kids weren't "too cool" to participate because they all had a blast.

They played musical chairs, had an egg toss, water balloon relay roll, and a water balloon toss as well.  It was really so fun just to watch them all enjoy themselves.  Some of the adults even got involved by throwing water balloons with the kids.

In the end, it was a very messy, very sticky, but very AWESOME 10th birthday party!  I'm so glad that the stormy weather didn't put such a damper on everyone's spirits and that they were able to celebrate Aniyah's birthday with us.

Thank you to everyone for all your birthday wishes in comments and shout-outs!  She was really surprised to find out how much love and support she has from all of you!

And I know I've been absent from the blog world for most of the month but October starts tomorrow and I'm really excited to share some of my DIY costume ideas with you again this year.  Last year's costume posts were such a hit that I figured I'd try to put together some requested costumes this month - so comment below with a request!

A-L-O-H-A

Everyone needs a little bit of the aloha spirit in their life.  While the word "aloha" is known mostly as a greeting ("hello" and "goodbye"), it also means affection and compassion.  When locals say to "spread aloha", they mean to spread love.  And the aloha spirit is the spirit of love, compassion, peace, and mercy - four things that we often forget in our day-to-day lives.

But in order to spread love and joy to others, you have to feel it in yourself.  Most days we go about our daily routines (work, school, kids, chores, etc.) trying to make everyone else happy and not taking time to make ourselves happy first.  That time you have for yourself is important.  You can't "live aloha" if you don't feel it.

I know it can seem like it's such a big burden to set aside time to make yourself happy when you're always busy and on-the-go, but just doing a tiny thing for yourself everyday will do wonders for your life.  Treat yourself to a cupcake, paint your nails, meditate, dance around your house in the morning, sing a ballad at the top of your lungs in traffic...all these little things can make your day seem a whole lot brighter because you're making yourself (and nobody else) happy.  And if all else fails, put on something bright and fun so you can't help but smile while you're wearing it.

Top:  Papaya [$21]  //  Shorts:  Handmade by me  //  Necklace:  Charlotte Russe [$5]  //  Sandals:  Payless Shoes [$15]  //  Bathing Suit Top:  Target [$17.99]

I handmade these shorts after being inspired by the wonderfully talented Sharon Lei of Elisharon.  Her style is AMAZING and her sketches are crazy awesome!  And if you need a second opinion, H&M chose her to be the Hawaii ambassador for their 50 States of Fashion campaign!  Anyone still questioning her awesomeness?  No?  I thought so.

Now go and get your happy on, feel the aloha, and then hop on over to Elisharon and spread some aloha by congratulating her on such an amazing accomplishment!

Guam's 69th Liberation Day

Here on Guam, one of the biggest local holidays is Liberation Day, which we celebrate every year on July 21st.  It was on this date in 1944 that the U.S. armed forces arrived on Guam to liberate the local people from the control of the Japanese during World War II.

We celebrate and remember this day in our history with a parade, carnival, and fiestas (or parties) with family.  The Liberation Day Parade is the main highlight of the day.  Villages throughout the island create and showcase floats to represent their village and to pay tribute to the people who lived through and lost their lives during the war.

It is our family tradition to reserve a spot along the parade route and watch the parade live.  We set up a canopy, bring food and a barbecue grill, rent a portable toilet, and spend our whole day down on Marine Corps Drive.  The parade really is a wonderful cultural experience for tourists and locals alike.

 The Guam Liberation Day Parade is something that I think everyone should experience at least once in their lives.  Despite the heat and humidity, it is truly an event worth seeing.  The sense of community and family is strongest on this day and should you be in town around July 21st, I invite you to join my family and I as we celebrate this proud day in Guam's history.

Chambray Top:  Ross Stores  //  Stars & Stripes contrasted shorts: DIY by me  //  Shoes:  Airwalk from Payless Shoes  //  Accessories:  H&M

Thanks for reading, and stay tuned for a DIY tutorial on how I made those shorts!