the gnome hat

I love string tricks. They are just about my favorite thing that I learn at school, except for Japanese. I really like Japanese. I make string tricks up on my own. This one on the video here is called "The Gnome Hat." My dance movement teacher Tante Rosa taught it to me. I didn't do it perfectly, but I think you get the picture, right?

love, selah

sleep overs

my sleep overs wer asom! & funny!.

Vintage Selah (2006, 2007)

My how time flies...

Every Saturday

Every Saturday we start the day by driving to Hilo town, and I go to ballet at the studio called Center Stage. We are learning the basics and practising for a recital in May called 'Night 'Night Gecko." I get to wear a yellow flower hat and a beautiful costume!

Next we go to the Farmer's Market and shop for our groceries. I always get fresh lemonade and carrot or banana cake. My favorites! This Saturday, they had baby goats for sale that were only a week old. I begged my mom, but she still said no. First, we're getting baby chicks. And she said we have to focus on those first. I still want the baby goats, and I already picked out names for them: misty and skip.

I love the Farmer's Market and Ballet and so now, I really like Saturdays A LOT!

Kulshan & Aina

Kulshan and Aina Sunshine-Frazier are two of Selah's friends from the Pacific Northwest. The Sunshine-Frazier family came to the Big Island for a "surprise" visit a few weeks ago. Selah is extremely fond of them both and says they were two of her favorite friends to play with.

Kulshan and Aina are excellent artists, and they had fun collaborating, and combining their ideas with perfect harmony, and even introduced Selah to one of her favorite new past times: Origami!

These two lovely children have appeared a few times in Selah's dreams since their departure to the mainland, and this in and of itself, is such a sweet and special connection. How special one must be to appear in the dream of a child.

Ballerina

Selah elected to start ballet classes this winter, instead of continuing with gymnastics.

She's quite confident and I must say, one of the best pupils in her class. This Spring, the class will perform a recital called Night-Night-Gecko.

Brave Girl

As mentioned in a previous post, Selah was the lead in her Solstice play at school. Her part was that of 'Brave Girl'. Aside from the fact that we were in tears watching her perform with such courage and sincerity, it was also quite humorous to us that she elected to wear the pictured bow tie. Earlier that week, we'd purchased that bow tie for our dog Mosu, who is quite the little English Gentlemen. When we saw her waltz onto stage donning the bow tie quite proudly, it was very difficult not to giggle - especially when she would adjust it gingerly and stretch her neck tall (just in case we couldn't see it).

Our little inventive liberal.

"They should make a dog toy that looks like George Bush. That way, the humans can throw it out onto the ground, then the dog chases it down and chews it all up."

Art & Flying Puppy

I love this picture of the puppy

flying in the snow. Bow-wow!

...And, a couple of art piececs I did on the computer.

The first art piece is called "Explanation." It is a transforming drawing, and can transform into lots of different animals - you can change the letters and numbers into different shapes, like triangles; lining up the legs.

The next art piece is called "Baby Owl." This is a baby owl in a tree that can go looking for food on its own. It's ready for that.

Angels on Both Shoulders

Before Winter break, Selah's teacher Miss Megan was explaining concepts of desire in decision making to the children in Selah's class. One of the students piped in, "it's kind of like having a devil on one shoulder and an angel on the other!"

Miss Megan said, "Yes, it is like that sometimes."

Miss Megan told me just after this comment, Selah hopped up out of her seat and stood tall, saying, "Well, I've got angels on both shoulders!" And with that, Miss Megan smiled, sighed, and said, "I believe you do, Selah." And that's when Miss Megan decided that Selah should have the part in the Winter play of the character named "Brave Girl," which is a story of Santa Lucia. We'll post more pictures of Selah in her play as soon as we can find the proper cord for the camera.

Happy New Year, everyone!

My First Digital Camera Pictures

Selah received a digital camera for her birthday, and she rocked fifty or so of the photos in its first trial run! Here are some of the super gems of the bunch. Aloha!!!

Have a Great Day Today!

"Here's what I want you to know today. My Papa is feeling a lot better. Look how handsome he is.

I finally learned how to ride my bike, and I can rock it on our dirt road. I rode two miles just last weekend with my mom and dad!

I can also blow bubbles now if I have a big enough piece of gum. I'm an expert knitter in knitting class, and my yoga poses are very strong. I'm the only one in my class who can do Full Lotus. If you're having any breathing trouble or a scratchy throat, just bend at the waste and go 'head-to-knee' -- it's great for coughs. Have a good day! Love, Selah Rain."

Belated Halloween

Due to Paul's unfortunate accident (broken ribs, lacerated liver) on October 30, the photos we took of Selah for Halloween didn't make it into the computer for errrr... a couple months... Selah was NOT happy about that.

"What about my BLOG?" She emplored. "You must post these photos at once!"

This year she had a myriad of ideas about her halloween costume. It had to be home-made. Not "Store-Made" as she calls the plastic ones you can get from any local drug store. "Store-made is for not-creative people," she explained. I asked her if she expected me to make her costume, she replied with a look I could only describe as "Duh, Mom."

For months prior the costume ideas ranged from Ewok-Princess-With-Wolf-Jacket-Cape to Frog-Goddess-With-Feather-Helmet. I wish so much I could have peered into her brain to see what her image of these costumes were. I wish even more I had the sewing skills to pull them off.

We took Selah to see the new animated Star Wars film "Clone Wars" and it was in the theatre that day that Selah found her ultimate costume idea: Ahsoka Tano, the new young girl initiate to join the Jedi's on their fight to preserve the good of the universe.

I made her costume and we're all proud to report that she WON her costume contest at school for "best home-made costume" and I must say, it was the best one there, hands down! (Hooray!) I've never seen quite a pleased, proud, confident, surprised look on Selah's face, all at once. I broke into tears for her posture as a Winner. It feels pretty good to see your child so fulfilled during what has been a very difficult and challenging period for us.

Love!

(P.S. Paul is doing much better, and recovering quite well !! )

Classic Selah Rain.

The Eight Year Old Yogi

We are driving along the coast of the island, and Selah is looking contemplatively out the window. She turns to me and says she knows what a "psyche" is.

"A psyche is the part of you that already knows what all the answers are."

"what answers do you mean?" I ask.

"All the answers you ever need to know. They're already inside you."

Familial hierarchy

"I'd appreciate it if you moved out of my way," says Selah to the dog.

The dog turns and looks at her and moves out of her way, she smiles and laughs, surprised. "Did you see that? He obeyed me! Now, go make my bed and put away my legos!"

a few recent photos of our the family

Kids Say The Darndest Things...

I was walking hand-in-hand with Selah exiting our local grocery store. A small group of people were standing near the entrance, talking with a very old woman. The old woman was smiling and nodding, and leaning desperately onto a carved cane. She looked sweet and wise.

I overheard someone say, "Tell 'em how old you are now, Mom!"

And the old woman said she was 103 years old.

"It is AMAZING she is still alive, huh, Mama?!!!" Says Selah as we're in perfect earshot.

Plume

Hope: Wow. Look at that beautiful plume.

Selah: I don't know what a "plume" is. What I see is a galloping bunch of horses, wrestling up over each other, into the sky. They're taking Pele's message to the Sun.

Anteia Samara DeLaney

Selah proudly, proudly, proudly introduces her older sister, Anteia Samara DeLaney!

"What do you want to say about Anteia on your blog?"

"Well, I want to say everything. I want to say that Anteia is not my half-sister, to me, she's my WHOLE sister. And she's my best friend, too. She's all of that together, like the ingredients of love. [Pantomimes stirring something yummy in a big bowl] Teia loves me and cares for me. She's Papa's daughter. She's amazing! And very smart! She's a soccer player and a great singer. she can reallllly sing 'Amazing Grace' can't she? I love Teia. That's everything. Type it in."

Anteia lives with her mama and grandmother in Seattle, Washington. She's indeed a soccer star, a natural-born performer (like both of her parents) and very, very dear to all of us.

Simple Pleasures

Overheard conversation between Selah and friend at gymnastics class:

"I wanted my bangs cut. So, you know, I could have some hairs cut off the front. Now I can see better, and they help me balance for my head stands. I'm adorable!!"

When I Grow Up...

"When I grow up, I want to move to Alaska and take care of hurt animals from the wild that need rescuing."



"When I grow up I want to ride on a big dog sled pulled by Huskies."





"When I grow up I want a hawk to land on my shoulder."




"When I grow up I want to live with you forever."




"When I grow up I'm going to have seven children, and they'll all live with me in Alaska."


"Mom, can we get a Husky?"