Project 365: 50-56

Day 50

Mimi sent Asher a new pair of jeans so he could look just like Daddy. Since our church nursery is the coldest place in Bangkok I thought Sunday morning would be a good time to wear them.

Day 51

Some friends were in town for a few days and we met up at McDonald's after school to catch up. Buying Asher that ice cream cone bought us an extra 20 minutes of chat time.

Day 52

I sort of forgot to take a picture during the day, so I used the flash to go in and catch a picture of my big 3 year old all cuddled up with his blankie.

Day 53

The after school taxi ride home was somewhat enjoyable once everyone got settled into their favorite spots. Asher has to sit on my left knee next to the window and Jack basically just needs to not touch Asher.

Day 54

Asher and his "amazin' terrible traffic" are a common sight on the couch. He spends a lot of time driving his cars into giant traffic jams and telling them that the light will change soon and they will all be able to go home.

Day 55

Baby Jack was ready for another nap. Roger is out of town most of this week, so of course Jack decided to get sick again. He spent most of the day throwing up what little he ate and the rest of the day wanting to sleep. I promise this kid only gets sick anytime Roger is more than 10 miles from our house.

Day 56

Asher desperately needed a hair cut. The back had gone from a little long to mullet in the past few days and something needed to be done. I loaded sick Jack up in the stroller and Asher and I walked up to the mall to get a haircut. It was 93 degrees when we made the 1.5 kilometer trek back home with Jack strapped to my chest, Asher in the stroller and a bag of Krispy Kreme in hand. I think we deserved those doughnuts.

The Big 3-0

Happy Birthday Roger!

We celebrated Roger turning 30 on Saturday. It's been a long time since we have had a chance to go somewhere without our kids, so we arranged for some babysitting and took off for a wild night in the city.

Originally we had big plans to go to this super fancy restaurant on the roof of a tall tower. If you have seen The Hangover 2, then you have seen the place and the amazing view. But, then we thought more and more about it and decided to go a little more low key and save some money so that we could really enjoy Roger's big 30th birthday present: This summer we are going to Hanoi for 4 days.

ALL. BY. OURSELVES.

Last summer Air Asia had one of those amazing deals where you buy tickets a year in advance and get a great price. So, I secretly bought us two tickets and made my mother promise that she would come to Bangkok next summer and watch the boys for four days. I have been so excited about this for the past 8 months and I finally got to let Roger in my little secret. I think he was pretty excited.

Anyway, after scrapping our fancy restaurant plans we decided to just enjoy a nice dinner without our kids.

We went to a fun restaurant and had some great food.

He's not looking too old...yet.

Afterwards we headed off for a nice long massage. I mean, we do live in Bangkok, we have to take advantage of the cheap massages.

It was the perfect way to celebrate.

For now our celebration is put on hold with plans to continue the birthday party this summer in Vietnam!

Project 365: 43-49

Day 43

We spent Sunday morning at the doctor's office finding out that Jack has another ear infection and a nasty cough. After the nebulizer treatment Jack immediately passed out in the baby carrier and slept all the way back to our house.

Day 44

Obviously Jack was feeling much better and he seemed to be back to his mischievous ways.

Day 45

Happy Valentine's Day! Asher took some chocolates to his teachers and got a lot of Valentine's stickers from his friends at school.

Day 46

I managed to catch a few relaxing minutes with Asher on the couch. His new afternoon routine is to eat two apples and watch a little television before moving on to more food and other more active activities.

Day 47

We finally got our new stove delivered and the gas installed. It was so nice to finally cook something that didn't involve the griddle or the microwave. My first project was to make us a healthy afternoon snack: garlic broccoli.

Day 48

While washing dishes I briefly lost Jack. I could hear him, but I just couldn't see him. He was playing in the kitchen and decided to just crawl right inside the cabinet.

Day 49

Happy Birthday Roger! We celebrated Roger turning 30 with a chocolate chip pound cake and a night out in the city.

A Day of School with Asher

Recently Asher's school has started posting pictures on Facebook so that we can see a little more of what goes on there during the day.

In the mornings the whole school lines up in the garden to sing the national anthem. They usually sing some other songs and learn some new words in English or Chinese and one of the older students will read a Bible verse. This is Asher with his teachers and his class.

Here's Asher's class having a little circle time. I don't think they actually have chairs in his room. Now that I think about it, I actually have never seen a chair at his school.

Asher and the boys are coloring while the girls do some little Montessori activity thing. His school is Montessori and no, I don't really know what that means.

Story time!

Asher and his buddy.

Waiting for the bathroom. This must be from several months ago, Asher has short hair and he looks like a baby.

Before lunch they all wash their hands. Asher looks like he is fighting hard to get to that faucet.

Lunch is where Asher excels. Almost everyday someone at the school will make a comment about the amount of food the boy eats. I think his record is three plates of noodles.

There were a lot of pictures of Asher eating.

I think they eat noodles almost everyday. According to Asher they do occasionally have rice or sticky rice. They also get a piece of fruit for dessert.

All the boys lining up on the playground. They were giant red bibs all day long. This makes perfect sense when you think about what could happen to a room full of 3 year olds in white shirts.

Before nap time they all brush their teeth. Asher tells me that when they are thirsty they can go get their cup and get a drink. His cup is pink, of course.

After nap time they usually have a Thai dessert like beans in coconut milk. With ice. And jellies. Seriously.

Then it's back to the circle for some fun songs and games while they wait for the bell to ring. When the bell rings they all head out to the playground to play and wait for Mommy and Daddy to pick them up.

We are so proud of Asher. Less than a year ago we dropped him off at a new school, with new teachers and a new language. He didn't even flinch, he just walked right in and learned to understand and speak Thai. According to his teacher he can understand everything that goes on in the classroom and he can speak just like the other little boys. Last night he even sang a song for me in Thai. He told me that this is the song they sing before they have coffee or noodles. I was unaware of the coffee break, but I do think this is their prayer that they sing before they eat lunch.

Project 365: 36-42

Day 36

I try to spend a few minutes ironing all of Asher's school clothes on Sunday nights so that mornings are easier during the week. I love having an indoor laundry area so I can just lay out all of his uniforms and have them ready to go.

Day 37

How many men (and babies) does it take to hang curtains? Asher was hiding because the drill was loud, but Jack was right in the middle of it all helping our KY friends hang up our curtains.

Day 38

Some after school play time for Asher and his friends. We usually hang out on the playground for a while before we head back home.

Day 39

Our KY friends worked hard in Bangkok and have already headed back home. Asher and his new buddy had to say goodbye over some Mango and Sticky Rice. A pretty good way to say farewell.

Day 40

Jack and I were killing some time waiting for Asher to be finished at school. Nothing makes Jack smile more than seeing himself.

Day 41

To celebrate surviving another volunteer group we had an at home date night. Pizza, sweet tea and Cinnabon for dessert.

Day 42

Asher's buddy Emma is back from America and he was so excited to see her. He declared Saturday to be Emma Day. They had lots of fun running around and screaming while we said goodbye to some other friends heading back to the States.

Project 365: 29-35

Day 29

Asher wanted to help me with the dishes, so I let him wash the spoons. Just so you know how short our sink is: Asher is standing on the ground and he can reach the sink perfectly. My back may hurt from doing the dishes now, but I am dreaming of the day that Asher is old enough to wash them all by himself.

Day 30

Jack's favorite outdoor thing is Asher's new bike. This, of course, is the source of endless conflict. Luckily on this day Asher was running around kicking a ball and didn't care that Jack was going for a ride.

Day 31

We took a family picture (look closely in the upper right for Jack's head) on a tuk-tuk. We picked Asher up from school and went to drop off Roger at work. It was a super special day for Asher between the tuk-tuk ride and getting to eat dinner at Roger's office.

Day 32

Just a few of the goodies from our LOFBC friends. My new oven arrives tomorrow and I can't wait to start cooking.

Day 33

Asher was very proudly drawing pictures of cars.

Day 34

We took our volunteer group to visit our friend's coffee shop and learn more about what she does. Her coffee shop has amazing cupcakes and a big box of toys for kids to play with.

Day 35

Mimi got each of the boys a new toy, but being the brothers that they are they chose to fight over one toy and ignore the other one and then move to the other toy and fight over it. I do like that in this picture it appears that they are playing together.

It's Good to Have Friends

We have a few guys from back home with us in Bangkok this week and they brought us some great stuff.

Three full suitcases of great stuff.

There were new clothes for the boys.

They loved their new pajamas.

Lots of yummy food (and a yummy baby trying to steal my Velveeta).

A freezer full of chocolate chips.

And a refrigerator full of candy.

Mimi sent the boys some new toys (that they haven't seen yet) and most importantly, new vitamins for Asher.

Thanks everybody for blessing our family! Our pantry is full and so are our hearts!