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.

Highlights

We often talk about 'highlights' and 'lowlights' around the dinner table, each person sharing what in their day has brought them joy and the opposite. (Ju's are frequently very amusing!) In the rhythm of each of our days and seasons of life, we have our ups and downs.

This season, as with others, has been full- we've spent a summer adjusting to living in the BIG city (this is a seriously lively place!), as well as finding our rhythm with my Thai studies, the modern art class that Tim's taking at Chulalongkorn University (where he's deepening language skills and relationships in the art community), seeking to be faithful with old relationships and new ones as we work to lay the foundation for the church we pray God will establish here in the center city, and shepherding and loving our little ones through the freedom summer brings and the framework of structure necessitated by that freedom.

That being said, I thought I'd share a few of my favorite 'ups' in our family from recent summer days.

First, we made the most lovely discovery this summer...

We had heard of an English language library in downtown Bangkok, but had always lived at too great a distance for it to be of any consequence to us. But with our new location, we decided to find out more about it, and look what we found!

A gorgeous old building (built by a missionary doctor in 1921 in honor of his late wife, who had been a founding member of the Bangkok Ladies' Library Association) filled with glass front cabinets that house books of a lovely variety.  There is also a bona fide card catalog system in a beautiful wooden case, still fully in use. The librarian stamps the cards with a due date when you check them out.  I've never seen a computer in the building. I am not exaggerating when I say that I was rubbing my hands together in glee for days after we discovered this treasure and decided it was a very worthwhile investment to join and support this library. It has been a cool, quiet refuge as we've sat on beanbags in the children's corner weekly and devoured books.

We've endeavored to do a weekly 'tiaw' (fun outing) with the kids to explore the city and give some variety and life to these summer days. Last Saturday we decided to tackle Bangkok's Dusit Zoo. I will admit that our expectations weren't high; we had been there once before a number of years ago, but it was a stop at the end of a long day in which we had been several other places with friends, I had baby Asa strapped to me, it was quite hot, and we just wanted to go home. 

But this day exceeded our expectations! It was a lovely day and after the requisite two wrong turns that take 45 extra minutes to correct and loads of traffic that have built up while you've been driving about the wrong way, we got there without too much trouble. And there was much to see...

A World War II underground shelter just next to the bears, complete with descending bomb.

 

Although they were no doubt pining for hot sand beneath their feet, it was a treat to pet and feed these guys.

We ended up spending quite a bit of time in the reptile house (blissfully air conditioned) and were particularly struck with the Golden Thai Python, a sizeable reptile that happens to be my favorite color. Imagine our delight tinged with horror when we emerged and saw this big fella stretched out on a concrete step near the alligators... (the nice handler in the 90's rock band t-shirt assured me he was safe and poison free, so we thought, might as well...)

I love the way that Em's trying to get her courage up to touch him in this picture!

Please don't miss the shirt- very apropos!

And Ju is just not sure about the encroaching head and exploring tongue!

A bird on the head is worth two in the bush- isn't that right?

One more thing that really stands out to me this summer is that it has been such a time of friendship for our children. Em and Asa, especially, as Ju has napped in the afternoons, have been constant comrades, holing up together to play, read, listen to stories, create plays to perform.  Now, don't get me wrong, things may or may not disintegrate periodically into shouts and/or tears, but there is great love and enjoyment being built among these children, particularly these two at present...

The artists, after a showing of their artwork

 

Wizard GreenBeard and The Blue Warrior, after a production of 'The Secret of Mystic Wood'

When I am Three

When I am three, I throw myself headlong into life. I wake and burst upon the people I love, whether they're ready for me or not, needing a banana NOW. 

When I am three, my emotions turn on a dime. Mommy calls me "Sunshine Boy". But, to be fair, there's a good bit of thundercloud in there, too. 

When I am three, I remain the baby in my family. I am still the one they pick up, kiss and snuggle, and I retain exclusive rights to the stroller.

 When I am three, I am super cool.

When I am three, I am learning to be a brother. That takes me into many places I might otherwise not yet go, like sword battles and Lego creations.

When I am three, I am a big boy, and I love babies (especially this one!)

 When I am three, I'm into fitness.

When I am three, I live in Bangkok and like to ride the train.

 When I am three, my fashion sense is quirky.

 When I am three, my hair is blond and my eyes are blue. I am bursting with serious conversation and "funny questions", and my intelligence shines (especially in Mommy's smart glasses).

When I am three, I am beloved.

Make New Friends, But Keep the Old...

Summertime in our corner of the world has been full to bursting with activity. As Em's school days ended, I took up the role of student and have spent the last month with these spunky new friends who hail from Korea and Japan (and the teacher, of course, from Thailand...) in a common pursuit of the Thai language. I've been thrilled to have the opportunity to study Thai again! One may wonder, with good reason, why Thai study after six years here? Our growing family during our first term disallowed my language study to progress as far as was needed, so this 'starting over' time in our work, in which our colleagues are also studying Thai, is the perfect opportunity to get to work on language again. I do enjoy an academic setting, have enjoyed getting to know my comrades above, and am deeply aware of my need to deepen my skills in speaking, reading and writing Thai, so it's been intense but very enjoyable.

But it's not been all nose to the grindstone around here, as we just had the privilege of spending almost a week with these dear people...

What could be better than a nice, long visit from the dearest cousin/friends a family could ask for? The grown-ups among us have been friends for more than 20 years now (Tim and Colleen much longer, being related by blood), and we have a depth of friendship and love for each other that makes me truly thankful.

One of the most delightful aspects of our visits that happen periodically in different locations around the world is that our children are building cousin bonds with one another, and boy did they have a grand time! They did everything from exploring the city and eating Thai food to enjoying ice cream from a familiar bastion of American fast food...

Em in the beautiful Indian outfit brought to her by her cousins

The parents had a grand time, as well, drinking much coffee and indulging in good conversation. We even had a night out together; many thanks again to our dear friend Lisa who manned the fort with six children!

Come again soon, precious cousin friends!

We also recently had the joy of reuniting with our friends and colleagues the Henrys, who are preparing to return to Thailand and work in the southern part of the country. One of the sweetest parts of that visit was the reunion of these two...

...who haven't seen each other in over 3 years but were dearest friends back when they looked like this!...

We paid a visit last week to our friends who work hard selling satay and other food at a market stall. Besides enjoying a feast (I don't know how many sticks of satay Ju consumed, but it was an astonishing amount), I found myself behind the counter making a dish all on my own, chopping the catfish into tiny pieces, mixing it with bread crumbs, deep frying it, and sprinkling it with peanuts, to be served with a spicy mango sauce. Quite delicious, and I felt oh so accomplished.

And time continues in its ever-flowing stream. We watch our children grow and laugh and cry and love, and we love them with all our hearts. We watched this precious girl turn another page in the story of her life recently, and we give thanks for this gift of God so lavishly given. We couldn't be more thankful for the person she has been, is and is becoming. We love you, our beautiful Jewell.

The Cutest Commuter

In honor of the last day of school, a glimpse of what our adventurous little girl has undertaken over the last month...

First, into the elevator... (it's about 6:40 am)

...down to the street...

...mindful of the traffic...

 

...up into the train station...

...she carefully keeps her sky train card...

 ...up the escalator to the platform... 

...and here comes the train!

12 minutes on the train...

...then into a taxi...

...and we arrive!

That little jaunt takes about 35 minutes, and she has embraced it. This has been a big year for our girl; she began third grade as a home schooler in Atlanta, transitioned back to school mid-year across the world, and now has made another leap to a new set of circumstances as we've moved. So thankful for her contentment and ability to see the good in the many different contexts she's experienced. So thankful for God's grace so evident in her life. So very thankful for a nurturing and excellent school, and for sweet friends...

Her class award on the last day was the 'Jane Austen Award', for her 'ability to express herself clearly'. She has really grown into her love of reading, writing and poetry this year, so this is fitting. Happy last day of school to the hippest, sweetest, loveliest, funniest, most intelligent, most beloved, all around crazy best 3rd grader (no, make that 4th grader- wow!)