Five Minute Friday: Together

Today was birthday party day at our house.  We're not used to celebrating birthdays in the fall, but it's just as well because on this side of the equator, October lands us square in the middle of spring.

Stacey turned fifteen yesterday and today fourteen of her classmates joined her to celebrate.  The party started off kind of slow; Stacey had requested a scavenger hunt, and we didn't want everyone to leave the house before the last few had arrived.  So, the kids sat around, talked, and took turns playing Wii.  Virtual balls were bowled and hit, virtual cars were raced around virtual tracks, and real food was consumed.

Lots of it.

The schedule was changed (because so-and-so was late, and then because these four had to leave early for a band practice), and we ended up lighting the candles on the cake before the hunt instead of after.  These kids, several of whom are in my high school choir, sang what amounted to an impromptu dirge followed by a rather pathetic set of "hip-hip-hoorays," and then sugar was consumed.

Lots of it.

Finally, after ingesting the required energy, I sent them off on their merry way to gather random items, take random photos, and record random videos.

One hour and fifteen minutes later they returned, laughing and smiling, soaking wet from running around in the rain, with grass and mud covering their bare feet, and with items, pictures, and videos.

Lots of them.

While I downloaded them to the computer for playback, the kids gathered around the kitchen table to watch the birthday girl open her gifts.

"I love it that the bar is set so low," commented my husband with a smile.

He meant it, too.  I kid you not ...

A notepad and a set of rub-on tattoos.

A package of candy.

Fifteen kina (approximately $6.43).

A Smiggle eraser and another notepad.


A K10 (approx $4.28) pre-paid cell phone card.

A can of cherry coke.

And handmade cards.

Lots of them.



It wouldn't be out of the question for more than one of these gifts to have been re-gifted from a previous birthday party, either.

Awesome.


But, these kids don't care, which only makes it that much more awesome.  


So, what do these kids care about?

They spent the day together.

Written in conjunction with a community of writers who meet together weekly to write for five minutes on a prompt provided by Lisa Jo Baker.  Click the button above to learn more, read more entries, or join in the fun.  

Week in Review Supplement: 26 May ("Evan's Birthday")

"You know you're getting old when you get that one candle on the cake. It's like, 'See if you can blow this out.'" ~ Jerry Seinfeld

"Let them eat cake."  ~Marie Antoinette


Because I didn't want Evan's birthday to get lost in the normal week in review, I chose to keep today separate.  Though he had a party a few weeks ago, on Friday evening, Evan had three of his friends over to celebrate his actual birthday weekend.  They ate hamburgers together and watched "The Hobbit."

An hour into the nearly-three hour movie, they took a break for cake.

Such as it was.


After using one for his skating birthday party, I am now down to three candles.  As there's no Wal-Mart on the corner, he got one again. It had nothing to do with him getting old.

Of course, he'd like it to mean that he's gonna get nine more chocolate celebrations.


This is the same cake recipe that I had used for Andie's birthday, and while the difficulties I had were different this time (I attended to the oven with much more religiosity, and so managed to maintain within it a relatively consistent temperature), other troubles ensued.

Here is the final product, as I pulled it from the refrigerator:

Oh, alas.  Now, this cake recipe is absolutely delicious, and though, at least under my chefery, it has been fraught with complications, it'll still eat.

And eat it they did.
 

Happy eleventh birthday to my baby!  (and to my brother, too, who shares the day!)

Week in Review: 20-25 May ("Sports Day")

“Just play.  Have fun.  Enjoy the game.”  ~Michael Jordan

“If winning isn’t everything, why do they keep score?”  ~Vince Lombardi

“God made me fast.  And when I run, I feel his pleasure.”  ~Eric Liddell

“Everyone who competes in the games goes into strict training. They do it to get a crown that will not last, but we do it to get a crown that will last forever. Therefore I do not run like someone running aimlessly …” ~1 Corinthians 9:25-26a

Much like last week was consumed with the grade 8 play, this week was consumed with anticipation of and participation in our school's annual Sports Day.  When students enter the secondary campus, they are assigned to one of two sports “houses,” either the red team (“Alpha”) or the blue team (“Beta.”)  Siblings are always assigned to the same house, so typically families are united in their loyalties.

When Stacey moved in with us, we became a house divided.  Her team, Beta, had a five year winning streak before Andie’s team, Alpha, broke that streak three years ago and then maintained a three year streak of their own.  Who would take the honours this year?

So I managed to find two outfits (one for Friday and one for Saturday) that broadcast support of both red and blue, and we headed for the campus.  Until mid-morning on Saturday when they decided to let the tension mount, a computer monitor displayed the running point tally, and more often than not it was neck-and-neck. 

Out on the “sports oval” (basically an all-purpose playing field enclosed by a 400m track), various events were taking place.  Back in the stands area, entrepreneurial people were selling various foodstuffs including barbeque chicken sandwiches, ham and cheese rollups, homemade doughnuts, iced coffee, sodas, ice cream cones (which is significant because we haven’t had ice cream in our store in months - this family must have trucked this in on their own!) … even sushi rolls made by some of our Japanese friends.  Yes, we came to cheer, but we also came to eat.

Even if some people played with their food.

I think, like the play, the rest of this story is best told in pictures …  

Opening in prayer to the God who gave them the ability to run and throw and jump ...

Everyone did what they could to display team spirit.

Team tug-of-war - a win for Beta!

Andie participating in the Obstacle Course

Andie crossed the finish line first in her heat of the 200m - way to go, Andie!

Andie displays her form in the long jump.

The finish of the senior guys' 1500m was picture-perfect.

Stacey's dad (center) happened to be in town for some training and got to come out and watch.  You can bet he was proud!

Stacey had unique - and consistent - form in her long jump ...

... and this woman runs her heart out!  Way to go, Stacey!

The Cyclone involved sub-teams of four running around cones while holding on to a cardboard pole (yes, they eventually broke, which is why Stacey's pole is half the size of Andie's pole in these pictures), and then running back and the entire team jumping over said cardboard pole (which. even though they broke, were better and caused less impact injuries than the bamboo poles they'd used in the past), then carrying the cardboard pole over the top of the crouched team back to the front where the next group of four took it and ran for the cones.  *whew!*  A win for Beta!

Girls against girls and guys against guys, the Chariot rider wore a Velcro flag and tried to protect his or her own while attempting to steal those from the other teams.  Three people carried the rider and tried to keep him or her out of harm's way.  Girls and guys won for Alpha!

After all of the regular sports day events were over, they had a 4x100m relay and a 800m race for the community.  My favourite moment was when these high school guys (bottom right) jumped in and ran with one of our older community members as he slowly but surely completed the 800m.

And the winner is ... BETA!
Final score, Alpha = 1253 and Beta = 1308.

Week in Review – May 13-19 ("The Grade 8 Play")

“I’m mortified to be on the stage, but then again it’s the only place where I’m happy.”  ~ Bob Dylan

“As soon as I step on that stage, nothing matters.  I don’t think of it as work. It’s just so much fun.” ~ Miley Cyrus

" ... whatever you do, do it all for the glory of God."  ~ 1 Corinthians 10:31b

We have been consumed with preparation for the grade 8 play.  I’m having a hard time even remembering anything else that happened last week, to be honest, so here goes.

After the loss of a cast member the Friday before, dress rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday were extra critical in making sure the kids were not only ready with what they had already been preparing for five weeks, but that they also adapted well to the new stage dynamics.  Two students, including Andie, graciously and enthusiastically assumed the parts vacated by the loss.

The play, loosely based on several fairy tales including Cinderella, The Three Little Pigs, and Sleeping Beauty, was written by my friend Cathy several years ago.  She now lives here in PNG and it was she who directed the play.  It was billed as “A retelling of the classics – fairies not included.”  Clever and witty, and in many places unexpected, the play charmed and entertained our community at 2pm on Thursday (mostly elementary kids as it was a pupil-free day at the Primary Campus) and 7pm on Friday.  The students did a pretty good job on Thursday, but Friday night they smashed it out of the park!

I was so proud of this class!  It was such an honour to work with this group who I came to love when I taught them two years ago, and I was so grateful that Cathy granted me the opportunity to participate even though my attention ended up being more divided (with work responsibilities and putting out fires) than I initially expected when I volunteered.  I look forward to more chances to help with drama in this very talented community.  :)

 Andie (top right) and some classmates patiently enduring hair and makeup under the guidance of a talented backstage team.  :)

 Cinderella watches from the background as her evil stepmother (Stacey, right) trains the two stepsisters in anticipation of the castle ball.

 The stepfamily arrives at the ball and is greeted by the castle servant (Isn't she cute?!).

 Cinderella accepts a dance invitation from the prince.

 After Cinderella makes a fool of herself, the stepmother persuades the prince to give her eldest daughter a spin.

 He chose me!  Cha-ching!

 Once entrenched in the castle, the step-ladies discover that not only is the prince is not as charming as he seemed, he's too cheap to hire house help!

 Goldilocks evicts the three bears from the cottage.

 Little Red (Riding in the Hood) discovers that a wolf is impersonating his granny.  He ain't down wid' that!

 The middle pig (isn't she cute!?) begins to build her house of sticks.

 The two younger pigs take refuge in the moments before the wolf blows down her house.  I guess she can't say it "sticks" after all.

 The new queen and her new baby (stylishly swaddled in our dog's blankie - no lie!), with the doting new grandmother.

 Nearly sixteen years later, the "baby" (isn't she cute!?) proves she is not yet ready for the throne.

Grateful that Cinderella has agreed to help her despite the harsh way she was treated, and in light of the threat on her daughter's life, the queen accepts Cinderella's forgiveness and entrusts her with her daughter's care.

 

The princess returns to the castle a different person.  Isn't she cute?!  :) 

What an awesome cast!

(Thank you to our co-worker, Amy, for taking these pictures!)