Kaira was a very excited princess when the big day finally arrived.  We were were joined by Lady Beverly, Sir Richard, the Bowman James, Lady Lorelle, the beautiful princess Kaitlyn, and the delightful jester Sirhc!  The games were underway when the Royal executioner showed up, escorting a servant girl he had found fleeing the Manor of Lord S and Lady K. 

The servant girl threw herself to the ground and begged the princess for mercy, and the executioner inquired what should be done with the servant, who was no doubt an accomplice in helping the Lord and Lady escape.  Kaira looked upon the groveling servant girl in mercy and answered the executioner emphatically, "Let her have fun!" 

And so, have fun we did.  The games included a quest for the grail, tests of archery, musical chairs, and tiara and shield making.  James the Bowman provided a demonstration of his skill, putting arrows through our bales with such force that we found broken shafts the next day!  The Lady Lorelle even brought along her pet draglet, whom Kaira took to immediately. 

Kaira's cousins attempted to present her with her very own prince, (who had journeyed all the way from Prague) but alas, her mischievous cousin, the wee jester Sirhc had enchanted the poor fellow and turned the Prague Prince into a Frog Prince.  The counter enchantment required she recite "Prairie Frog Fairy Prince" seven times in succession before kissing him three times.  (Seven plus three adding up to ten--her age, of course!)  Poor Kaira failed to recite it properly each time, and he remained amphibious.  Fortunately the fellow seems content to remain a pet.  (She's too young for a real prince anyway, so I'm secretly relieved.)

"Kenneth O'Laughlan" read the Fools Prayer, and the wee jester Sirhc did a Sirhcus act for us!  We feasted on shish kabob and raspberry cream filled cake. 

I should have required a few guests stand still for a quick photo op.  I didn't manage to capture my niece and nephew's beautiful costumes as fully as I'd like, and somehow the Lady Beverly managed to avoid the camera lens.  I also neglected to capture my own wee knights, Sir Keegan and Sir Kieran before they shed their armor.  (And, I was behind the camera instead of in front of it.  Which is all very good and well.)

A good time was had by all!  Huzzah!

After mailing out the invitations, Kaira was delighted to see her courtiers respond.  Here are a couple of the more interesting replies:

To the Attention of Princess Kaira,

It is my grievous duty to bring a matter of utmost importance to your attention. Reliable sources have informed me that the party invitees of (Lastname) Manor are planning to be late for the festivities. Such blatant disrespect for the royal Princess needs to be dealt with quickly and harshly to keep order in the kindgdom.  Therefore, on the appointed date, I will personally apprehend the culprits and bring them in haste for you to make a ruling on their punishment. I pray this will not cause too much disruption in the roayl festivities.

Signed in my own hand

X

His Majesty's Royal Executioner

And a little later, from her Aunt:

She sent invitations: sealed in wax, and delivered by national courior:



Most PrairieFrog birthdays are quiet affairs, with just our own little family.  Every ten years, however, for the entire duration of their childhood, we'll treat each child to a party with other guests! 

This year, as Kaira celebrated the completion of her first decade,  we hosted our first such event! 

I'll confess that the date gave me pause.  Although we do give a nod to Reformation day, the 31st of October is typically just another day for us.  We don't recognize the event our neighbors celebrate, or do any "alternatives".  But, with Kaira's birthday falling on Sunday, the day prior became a perfect choice.  (I think we've celebrated Ken's birthday on that date as well--He was born on October 29th--but it was a quiet family affair.)  Hosting a costume party on the 31st was new for me!

Stay tuned, for the courtiers' responses!

My blogging has been sporadic lately.  Last week consisted of beautiful snow storms that kept my sweetie home by my side.  We were delightfully derailed by family time, and I was blissfully kept from the computer by snug, homey delights!

This week another phenomenon has kept me busy.  Although we are typically home-bodies, it seems we've had more going on lately.  When extreme weather shut down the city, last week became rescheduled to this week.  This week, however insisted on continuing a forward march of its own, and the two are rather superimposed atop each other!

Busy as the week may be, an important update is in order!  After pressing "post" on this blog entry, I will make a subtle but important change to my blog sidebar.  Kaira's age requires updating!  She refused to remain a nine year old, and has now accomplished a decade!  She had lovely medieval-themed party which shall be blogged as soon as I finish sorting through pictures. 

I have no real title for this entry, once again I have let months slide by without keeping up on this wonderful blog. Please do take the time to read through old entries if you are here visiting. You may have found me through my book with The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, LLC ("Dreams and Designs") or through my daughter's book "The Risen, the Chosen, and the Dark: The Dawn of It All" --either way, I hope you will take the time to get to know me a bit.

I am looking for thoughts on reaching young people about purity. I've begun work on a possible article about purity and the call to fathers in giving away their daughters. We have survived the wedding of our oldest, and it was a glorious day. She was simply beautiful and their love for each other really did radiate from them and encompassed the entire ceremony. We could not be happier.

I am thankful for her innocence and their excitement in looking toward their honeymoon--it is sadly so rare today. In this society it is almost expected that young women would be promiscuous. It is as if it is "a given" that virgins no longer exist, that it is too difficult to stay pure until marriage, and that it really isn't worth it to do so. Isn't that just sad? And it is so terribly wrong.

My savior, Jesus Christ, is truly amazing and a miracle worker. My God can forgive all things, but this does not mean that we can afford to teach our children impurity is acceptable on any level, or that they can err in this area and then simply seek repentance. So how do we keep them on the straight and narrow? Our 2G18 is another young woman I am praying desperately will make the right decisions and remain pure until her wedding night. And then our next three children are all boys. I want to know there will be young women out there for them, who find it valuable to retain their virginity and sense of innocence until married.

I would love to hear your thoughts on purity. How can fathers teach their daughters to remain pure until the moment they give them to their groom? What should we be doing as mothers to be an example to our daughters and other young women of purity and modesty? How do we teach our sons and daughters to seek innocence in others when seeking a partner for life? And what influence can we have on the friends of our children to help them stay focused on keeping themselves until marriage?

I'd love to hear from you!

Copyright 2009 Donna Campos

I don't have much to say today, but I will post a couple of pics.  I already had these up on photobucket and since it takes about 20 min to upload photos, I might as well use them.

We made maple leaf cut out cookies.  I think it was on recipezaar.com.  The kids always enjoy making cut out cookies and I don't, but I let them do it once or twice a year because I remember how much fun it was as a kid.  Now that I am the grown up, I have to deal with rolling the dough - which is my least favorite part - and of course, the clean up.  Lots of little sprinkles all over...  yuck. 

B was walking around with a bandana, so I turned him into a pirate.  He was a pirate with a sullen attitude.  He likes drama.    But isn't he adorable?

My next post will be a little more exciting.  Or creepy....