A Big Girl, Brothers, a Bird and Birthdays

Our big girl is a month into 4th grade. 4th grade! She heads off to school every day with a spring in her step, and she's having good days. Math can be her nemesis, but she doesn't let it sink her ship, she's reveling in the fun of her very first male teacher and enjoying new friends as well as old. Life as a 9 year old is pretty good.

She and her daddy generally do the early morning train ride together, as he is more skilled at pre-dawn wakings than I, and they have sweet time together. We're thankful for where our girl is in her journey and seeing more each day how God is weaving her story.

 

 sleeping on a raft

Meanwhile, it's brother time at home. One of our hopes in giving our September birthday boy another year at home was that this might be a time for his relationship with his brother to deepen. We're seeing good glimpses of that, imaginative play and camaraderie, along with the occasional fists and raised voices that seem to go hand-in-hand with the story of brothers. One of the great joys of my life is feeling two little boys climb into bed with me early in the morning for a 'suggle', as Ju so sweetly says. 

stringing beads

Decisions, at our new favorite restaurant right across the street. Everything on the menu is 35 baht ($1.12), so you can see why it's our favorite!

these things are tricky!

Ah, the laid-back nature of home school! This experienced kindergarten student is reading, writing and arithmetic-ing his way through the mornings, with plenty of lego breaks. He's doing beautifully. And meanwhile little brother is having his own adventures...

Not to be outdone, our little man is donning a uniform of sorts and trotting off to his very own preschool co-op one morning a week! The parents are taking turns teaching, and while Mommy is still studying Thai in the mornings, Daddy is taking his rotation as Thai and Language Arts teacher! They have matching t-shirts and bags for their weekly letter show-and-tell item, and it's all very adorable.

B is for Bird: This is Beaker, named in honor of this fellow, and he is a delightful squawking seed scatterer who has added to the life (and noise and messiness) of our home. He inhabits the Beak Boutique, so christened by our long-haired bird enthusiast. Since the onset of The Great Cat Allergy Tragedy, which dashed so many dreams, we have been entertaining the possibility of an avian pet. And really, we needed something else to sweep up after.

Em has spent much time diligently working toward training Beaker. It's our hope that he'll be finger trained at some point soon, and we have visions of going about our business at home with him perched on a shoulder, evoking the lore of Pop Brown (Tim's great-grandfather) and his beloved bird. After he's finger trained, we might even be able to teach him to say a word or two. We're open to suggestions of what those words might be...

We've had a little birthday season around here. Asa was due on my birthday six years ago, and although he declined to make his appearance on that auspicious occasion, our birthdays are just one week apart. Tim and I were able to get out for a night on the town...

...and then we celebrated with lunch after church at our favorite Lebanese restaurant the next day. Sweet friends, dear family, and beautiful cake made from scratch by the love of my life.

And now for a cuter birthday celebration...we had the joy last weekend of marking 6 years of Asa's life. He is unique and precious and wonderful, and we reveled in the chance to honor and celebrate him. There was much anticipation on his part and a paper chain to mark the days until the big day finally arrived.

traditional birthday cake in bed

We spent part of the day at a local water park, per the birthday boy's request. We had a big time tumbling down the water slides in a heap with all of the Thai teenagers. Alas, no nifty red and green light regulating water slide traffic!

We had dinner at Asa's favorite fish and chips spot...

the birthday boy and his best buddy

our little man and HIS best buddy!

Finally, home for cake and presents. Now, isn't this at least in the running for coolest cake ever? Asa requested lego ninjago, and poor Tim, who was just recovering from a horrible sickness (as was I- we had a rough week last week), was left in the kitchen at 9 pm the night before with a chocolate cake, a bowl of white frosting, red food coloring, and some forgotten Twizzlers we found on top of the refrigerator. And just look what he came up with! Delight abounded.