Invested.in

A little side note from mom:

In May of 2011, my husband was rear ended by a drunk driver. Since then, he has been out of work and to date, the doctors will not release him for work due to his current condition. As a result of his car accident, my husband experiences more than whiplash pains. His arms and legs randomly go numb, he has dizzy spells, he has difficulty driving far distances, and he falls asleep all the time throughout the day doing random activities (he has even fallen asleep standing in Walmart and at meals while eating). Since the accident he is constantly in pain, mostly due to his severe migraines. We see several different doctors on a regular basis and they are working hard to pinpoint the cause of his condition. Since this car accident, my husband has not been the same.


Before the accident my husband was an athlete and a workaholic. I have been fortunate enough to stay home and raise my children because of how hard he works. My husband was in top shape and even won a 2010 Hawaii Strongman Contest. It has been very difficult for my family in so many ways since this car accident.


I currently work 12 hour days doing home childcare but with only my income, it has been a challenge to make ends meet. When this pageant came about, my husband and I told Rylee that we could not afford it and she would have to wait until we were back on our feet. This did not crush Rylee's spirits or her hope to go. She spent a few weeks talking to us about "earning" the privilege to go like how she earns rewards for her good behavior and school work. She even suggested that we search for coupons so that the trip costs would be cheaper and we could afford to send her. She started to save any money she came across to give to us so that we could "pay our mortgage and maybe be able to go."


When your child is so driven to do something that she is offering to pay your mortgage with coins she digs out of the couch it is heartbreaking. My husband and I had a long discussion about our circumstances and decided that if she was motivated and hopeful about going, we should be too. I think the car accident has done enough damage to our family and fundraising for her is about more than just sending her to some beauty pageant. For us, getting her there is about not letting our hardship affect our children.
 
What we need to pay for:
                              
Roundtrip airfare to travel from Hawaii to Florida and back
Transportation 
Pageant entry fee, Program Page, T-Shirt ($385)
Pageant Outfits
 
 
About Royal Galaxy Pageants:

Royal Galaxy is a natural pageant which means our tiny princess will be herself when she is up on stage. Rylee originally entered the Hawaii Royal Galaxy Pageant which was scheduled in March, but due to low enrollments, the pageant was cancelled and no cash prizes to move on to internationals were given. The pageant director gave us the opportunity to enter Rylee Brooke into the pageant anyway as a contestant "at large." My husband and I didn't jump at that chance quickly, instead we spent time to think everything over and to research the pageant and all of its directors to make sure that everything is legit. After much consideration, we decided that this pageant would be a great opportunity for Rylee. 


You can read all about Royal Galaxy Pageants at http://royalgalaxypageants.com/ or on their Facebook page.
 
 
 
About Rylee Brooke:


Rylee Brooke is an incredible, bright, confident, assertive, joyful, beautiful 4 year old girl. She has been amazing us since she was a baby and has always been very strong willed, determined, and quick at everything she does. From the moment she was first born she was able to lift her little head and look around, by two months old she was rolling over, and by three months old she was scooting herself to be near her big brother and was able to pull herself up from laying down into a sitting position. She completely skipped crawling and did this Mowgli from The Jungle Book type of walking with her hands on the ground for support instead. By the time she was six months old she started to take her first steps. By eight months old she was running around. Her speech and language developed quickly as well. Rylee Brooke not only started to speak clearly and in elaborate sentences, the things that she would say blew us away. Her strong personality shined through from a very young age and her free spirit and determination to do exactly what she wanted was a trait that put life into our family and definitely kept us on our toes constantly as her parents. She has a huge heart and is overwhelmingly loving. Our baby girl is gifted and has always been someone extra special.

Rylee Brooke attends preschool and is a leader in her class. In school she is extremely bright and outspoken. She loves going to school and she loves her friends.

Rylee spends her free time doing activities with her family. We believe in learning through fun experiences and spend a lot of our time outdoors. Although she loves all things girly, Rylee is very rugged and not afraid to get dirty. She loves going to the beach where she is learning to snorkel, catching fish for our aquarium in tide pools, exploring fresh water streams, going to her tutu's (grandparent's) farm, skateboarding, playing at the park, raising different animals, insects, and other critters to learn about them, and doing arts and crafts. Rylee is quite the artist! She can sit and spend hours on end cutting, gluing, painting, and coloring little masterpieces. She also enjoys story time at home and playing with her dollhouse. Her favorite book is Llama Llama Mad at Mama. Right now her favorite song is Rolling in the Deep by Adele. She listens to it all the time and she's been working hard at learning all the lyrics so that she can sing it correctly.

Rylee loves animals and is always trying to convince us to let her get another pet. Currently she has 4 pets. Rylee has a dog named Sophie, two bunnies, Snow White and Rapunzel, and a duck, Pocahontas. Pocahontas was originally suppose to stay with us for a few weeks while the kids learned about ducks in school, but when Rylee learned that some people eat ducks, she refused to return Poca to the farm and insisted we keep her until we find somewhere for her to live that was safe. We will soon be releasing Pocahontas to her permanent home on Mililani Golf Course where she can enjoy the large open area and several fresh water ponds.

Rylee has a few little talents of her own. She is an expert finger snapper and she's been a master tummy roller since she was two years old (one day she just lifted up her shirt and showed us what she could make her tummy do!).  Rylee is very athletic like her daddy. She is able to do most physical activities with ease. She is a great climber and her latest feat was climbing to the top of our refrigerator all by herself so that she could hide from us (amazing, but also terrifying for mom!).  Rylee would like to join gymnastics one day and she would also like to be a cheerleader.

One of Rylee's role models is her big brother. She and her older brother, Rylan, are very close and supportive of each other. It is an incredible feeling when your children are each other's biggest fans and cheer each other on.

Those of you who know me (her mom) on a personal level, you know that this is definitely not my idea at all. In fact, talk of pageants and cheerleading send shivers down my spine and I have tried to coax her into taking up something a little more my style, like kickboxing. Those of you who know Rylee on a personal level know that when she sets her mind to something, there is no stopping her.

Why we support her in this endeavor:

Rylee Brooke is a typical 4 year old and if you ask her why she wants to be in a pageant she will tell you its because its fun and she loves the pretty dresses and crowns. I can't sit here and write about how much of a perfect little selfless child she is like some other pageant moms do or say that she's in it to change the world. Rylee still has fits and tantrums and sometimes little diva moments and, in all honesty, although I think she is absolutely perfect, she's 4 and we are simply doing our very best to shape her into a good person. She's still a little girl and she doesn't quite understand much about community service or platforms like older girls in pageants. She understands little things, like being kind to others, giving things away as donations to help others when we can, and helping animals, but there is so much that we want to teach her.
 
We choose to use this endeavor to support our daughter in following her heart and accomplishing a goal that she set for herself.  We look at this pageant as a great learning experience for our baby girl and an opportunity to instill good values and teach her important life lessons. Rylee is still coming into her own and discovering herself, so when she shows an interest in something it is important to us that we help her learn her strengths and teach her to pursue her dreams.
 
 
Ways to support Rylee Brooke:
 
·         Make a donation on this webpage towards her cause
·         Send us an email at tinyprincessrbk@gmail.com
·         Mail a donation to P.O. Box 893338 Mililani, Hi 96789
·         Follow her on Facebook. Search Rylee Brooke Kamahele
 
 
If you live on the island Oahu:
 
·         We will be fundraising by selling assorted snack packs, bracelets that Rylee is making, and t-shirts. We plan on attending craft fairs and would like to do a few other projects as well. Follow us on Facebook, we will be sure to post everything on her page.

·         We are asking for donations of old t-shirts that you may be throwing out for Rylee to make the bracelets she plans to sell. She will be using her braiding skills and love for arts and crafts to help us make t-shirt bracelets.

·         Rylee Brooke will also be working for a portion of her expenses by collecting donated recyclables. If you are interested in donating recyclables for her to redeem, please send us an email and we can schedule a pick up. We love that this will teach her to work towards her goals and earn money for herself.

·         If you would like Rylee Brooke to help out at any event, we would love to help in any way possible. We would like her to learn that having a title like Miss Tiny Princess Hawaii holds some responsibility. We are teaching her that she is blessed to represent Hawaii and that she should have the heart of a princess and help others.