Four years of Keira

Keira with Reveille IX

On October 2nd, it was the Jewish holiday Rosh Hashanah.  It also happened to be the first day of the Arabic calendar (or so I understood), so the kids got a holiday from school.

They didn't particularly care which holiday it was, they were just glad to know they could sleep in on a Sunday.

I'm still not used to a school/work week being Sunday through Thursday, but something about it does make it seem to go a lot faster than a Monday through Friday schedule.

We also have a new Hump Day - Tuesday.  Those GEICO camel commercials would have to be re-done over here.

Anyway, we wish the holiday had been a few days later, on October 5th, because this was the first time the kids missed getting to celebrate a sibling's birthday.

We all reminisced about that morning in Nairobi, Kenya, when she was born,

and her three birthdays since.










 

We got up early to eat chocolate chip pancakes (Keira's request) and open her presents.

There was no way I was going to make her wait all day :)

She had seen these plastic shoes with a plastic make-up kit at the grocery store, and she just HAD to have them for her birthday.

Can you see how only two of her toes fit into these tiny shoes?  Yet somehow, she manages to click around in them quite often.

Doug and I took her to the food court in the mall to meet some little friends for lunch, then we played in the mall "jungle gym" (which Keira calls Alakazoo) and rode the horse around for 15 minutes.

Our sweet language helper remembered that today was Keira's birthday, and he and his wife brought over a banana cake.

Kylie made two cookie cakes after school and decorated them with Keira's favorite color.

We invited 3 little American girls and their mommy, plus another mother and daughter that we have known since way back in Africa.  Through the little girls, word got out to our neighbor that we were having a "party," so I went over and gave her mother, Jasmine, a proper invite.

I'm so glad that that turn of events happened the way they did.  Keira had really wanted a party where we only spoke "English," but she had a great time with the little girls.  The 3 spoke English to her, and if she needed to know something from the other, they translated.

The older people (teens and up) had a good time laughing and practicing language, and sweet Doug sat there as the only man, taking it all in.

Keira loves Pringle's "spicy chips," so when a friend brought her these goodies, she declared to everyone that the whole can was hers.

She took it out in just a few days.

We had so much cake left, we felt it was the perfect opportunity to return our neighbor's dishes this week full of sweet stuff for their whole family.

Keira in her new footie-pajamas.

And taking her baby for a ride in a taxi.

She's a pretty sweet girl that I'm blessed to spend my days with now that the big ones are in school. 

I made a list for her birthday of over 50 things that she likes or enjoys and it is long and varied. 

She really does enjoy life...and selfies.

Happy birthday, Keira!