School registration day

Today was it. The official 'school registration' day. We waited in line, signed her up, and let the girls play. Sophia is very excited to be going back to school.


we took a three wheel moto to the school.




this thing has been over-towering the school yard for months. It scares me. Yes, children are playing right underneath. They are building houses...


the line for sign up and paying of money. We did not pay because they need to decide if they will give us a special rate since we will be gone for two months. (doubtful).


the fun playground




the non-stop question is: 'three kids? you are not fined for this?' I heard this a lot when I was pregnant with Bella, now it is just more emphatic. 'how many kids do you want?' 'your country doesn't care how many children you have?'

The fines here for more than one child can be astronomical, unless you know someone. Then we ran into someone who had two kids, we asked her if she was fined. 'no, because we are farmers.' This means she is of a local minority and her 'family' lives far enough out of the city to allow her two kids. They have to be four years apart. Rules and regulations. They are enforced, at least in this area of the law. Not traffic laws, of course.


This is the construction right outside of Sophia's classroom


Her classroom window


A shot through the bars...literally less than ten feet from her classroom.

We walked around and through some shops. Stopped at a bakery for a small snack, and meandered around and stopped for an early lunch at one of our favorite 'dives.'

This is beef and onion, stir fried pumpkin leaves (our fave), and potato with green onion:

Saturday outing

2.26.2011
Finally a Saturday where we were all (almost) well. Bella did throw up a lot the night before, but she was up for an outing.
We played and played. Ran into some friends, made some others. This is the only place (a nearby school), where we have found a swing.





then we went across town to our favorite noodle and egg pancake shop.


The girls love this place. (Yes, Aunt Beth we ate noodles today, just like you asked ;))

Didi's room

This is what baby brother's room looks like right now:




Yes, I know. We leave in 26 days. It is all supposed to come together this week. We have ordered furniture, and I finally found some curtains (to block from David's office). Curtains were hard because I wanted coffee brown or something like it. Plain, simple. Nothing that you find around here. But I did. I also surprisingly found some bedding that will go with the whole classic blue/brown look. We have no theme, just need it 'manly'. We are still liking the blue.
Hopefully everything will arrive by the end of this week and I can put stuff away and put open suitcases on the bed....

Incidentally I had a long list of 'projects to do before baby arrives,' only one of which was this room. I made my list per room, plus a miscellaneous list, the whole thing totaled over thirty five things. Some of them were simply ' declutter/organize under bathroom sink' and 'menu plan thru March 25'. Since then I have added a few items and crossed a ton off. Here is the updated:

1. Oven vent fixed
   
2. Kitchen shelf??? taobao
3. Stroller fixed?
4. Caulk kitchen sink
5. Bathroom tub fixed, new TP dispenser
6. Exercise equipment stored better/organized
7. Bella's album, do more pages, print pics
8. Canvas wall hangings
9. Newsletter by March 4
   
10. Girls names on wall? Find O, paint and hang
11. Rug for didi's room????
12. Hang things on wall in didi's room??? Wait?
13. Plant for our bedroom (wait)
14. Menu plan for bkk

Most of these things are not musts at all, and some I actually do prefer to wait on. Bella's scrapbook for her first year is something I thought I would never finish. But I am remotivated and on the homestretch. After this book, I may be done with scrapping altogether. I love Shutterfly. I will get Didi a baby book, which is a little like scrapping but way less involved.
Hope to have some pics by the end of this week!

Spoiled Rotten

We received THREE packages in the mail this week. Two from Poppy and CC (one was math curriculum), and one from some women from TCC! Poppy and CC's packages came in the midst of my illness, so no pics were taken. But I can tell you when I pulled out the chocolate, Sophia's face lit up! And the necklaces for them as well as the little cute purse (that i do have to document somewhere, soon), all of these just blessed them so much. And of course we had fun going through our 2010 family photo album, made on Shutterfly, So much fun to go over these memories again, Sophia loved it all, but really lingered on the page with 'Big Caleb' (yes, that infatuation is far from over???!!!). THANK YOU Poppy and CC!!!

Just to be clear, we know it costs well over 10 USD a pound to ship stuff. We know this is a sacrificial thing to do. And also, there is nothing we really "need" just great stuff to have. So, believe you me, we know how spoiled and blessed we are.


AND THEN,
A little baby shower came in the mail. That is really what it felt like.
It was overwhelming. Boy clothes, burp clothes, sheets, more boy clothes, etc., chocolate (David says I need to stop blogging about chocolate so that we will stop getting it), silly bands for the girls, and BUBBLEGUM from Heather. We were just reminiscing with Sophia about the first time she ate gum, and she laughs about the story (she swallowed it within seconds). Now she is a chewing gum champ. She asked if she could keep the box of gum in her room, and I said: 'remember what you and Fischer did with all the chewing gum?' 'yes.' 'what did you do with it?' 'we ate it ALL.' 'yes, indeed, you ate a gazillion gumballs in two hours, so no, the gumballs will stay with me.'

Anyway, TCC, via the Chilton's group and women's retreat went out and had fun shopping for us and baby Coker 3, Spoiled Rotten, we are. Thank you, thank you, thank you. We feel so loved and blessed by you guys!



(love Bella's face)


play dough and pencils too!


the gumballs, Sophia is giving us each the color we want.


Look at all those clothes!



At first we were not quite sure who the package was from because all the cards were on the very bottom, then we found some wood working magazines for David, who promptly said, these are Tim Chilton all the way. Thanks for always thinking of my hubby, Tim!


Bella hugs the bag of Reeses PB hearts, though she doesn't know what they are.

Thanks again for all the goodies! we love and miss you guys!

fun play

Bella continues to enjoy the kitchen, she loves to 'wash' her hands, and cut up vegetables.






Though it started late , our 'R' week kicked off by playing with rice:

Clinging

These days have been a little rough. Illness still is rocking our family, and that just goes with the territory. I have been so thankful for the following reasons (among many others): David has not gotten sick yet and was able to take care of us, I got sick on a Fri night so it did not mess up David's work week, the girls have been troopers when they have been sick, I did not need to go get IV fluids (Gatorade!), the baby has been steady moving and not caused me to worry, Father has been near, even in the midst of my fears through this, and God gave us the energy and means to help our best friends in their deepest time of need.

Also, David has been superman, and I know it is our Father's sustaining him.

It also just so happened that last week's memory verse was this, and it was to these truths that I clung and still cling, for I know the onslaught is not over:

Ps 62:5-8:
Yes, my soul, find rest in God;
my hope comes from him.
⁶ Truly he is my rock and my salvation;
he is my fortress, I will not be shaken.
⁷ My salvation and my honor depend on God;
he is my mighty rock, my refuge.
⁸ Trust in him at all times, you people;
pour out your hearts to him,
for God is our refuge.

Oh yeah, language

My language classes have been hit or miss, but very helpful. My teacher has been very busy during his school break, he has one more week before he goes back to his school to teach. I have had five classes and we have moved on to picture books and story telling. It is harder, of course, but fun. There is a distinct difference in my abilities when I have class in the afternoon (with a little caffeine) versus having class at 7:30 p.m. when my brain and body begin to go into 'sleep mode' or at least: 'please let me rest' mode. I have been recording so I will be able to review these consistently along with all my old classes until I have another season where I can have class again...

Sophia is hilarious when talking about language, she always says: 'this is how you say this in ____ language (the language I am learning)' and she makes up some words that sound like they would be a word in some language, it is not just jibberish. I sometimes say, do you mean that is how you say it in Chinese? and she says 'no in ___'.

Today she told me she could teach me and that 'Uncle' (my teacher) did not need to come over for class, he could just come over to play with her (if you remember my teacher is David's old teacher, and a very close friend of our family).

Sophia's first princess party

A good friend of ours, who has two girls, invited Sophia to her oldest girl's birthday party. She said she asked her daughter if she wanted to invite anyone else and she said Sophia. This is incredibly sweet for many reasons, but mainly because this girl is turning six, and would be the youngest at the party. So why invite a three year old? These girls are just sweet like that, every girl that was there really takes care of Sophia and plays with her and includes her when we see them weekly, so this party was no different. It was such a precious time. Sophia was more subdued and quieter than she is when playing with kids her own age, which was great, she was watching and learning and engaging, but not aggressive (like she seems to be sometimes).


she was so excited about going to the party that she did not sleep during her nap time.


the spread of gifts and cake.




sweet precious girls, birthday girl is sitting left of Sophia in this pic


musical chairs: Sophia surprisingly did not get 'out' until the third round. You can tell she is a little nervous.



giving her gift: lots of hair accessories and heart shaped sugar cookies that Sophia helped me make for Valentines day.



thank yous and a hug.


cake with a monstrous icing flower for each girl. Sophia eventually did not want much icing, and did not eat all of her piece either.


checking out the Bday girl's Leapster.


Sophia and another sweet friend play 'market,' this girl only speaks Chinese, it was great to hear them play.



Ms. C eventually got out this caterpillar tent thingy that Sophia loved crawling through.

She had a great time, and so did I! We are blessed to know such incredible people, adults and kids alike!

Our new family vehicle

I am loving 'my' new moto. It is really an 'electric' bike, and in the two days we have had it, I have used it a LOT! David loves driving it too, I think we will both use it and enjoy it. This is our family vehicle, like our mini-van, so to speak (okay, really that comparison just can't be made). It has room to haul groceries, and other things, space under my seat, a helmet compartment, a hook for bags in front of me, and enough space for a child in front and back. We may drive with two children on here, when they get big enough. Sophia would be clinging on the back, and Bella standing in the front (like Sophia is in the photo). And didi? maybe in a sling on me? Just kidding, though the Asian world does that aplenty...I am still getting comfortable with just Sophia!
Deep red too, just my color.
some brief specs:
-68V battery
-it tops out at 45 km/hour: 28 mph
-I need to recharge it about every 80-100 km (50-62 miles)

First Hair Cuts

Let me tell you about this girl...(love the organized shoes!)
I was having a good day. Sophia and I did preschool stuff, she was loving it. We spent most of the time spelling with a Melissa & Doug wooden toy, but she wanted to keep doing school so we did our little activities and went on with our day....

I had some errands to run, so I decided to let Ayi play with the girls for a bit. I needed to: go to the bank, buy bread, buy bananas, buy valentines stuff for the girls, and pay our cell phone bills (this is when I was dreaming about a moto).

When I returned things had gone well, no interruptions of daddy's work, Ayi was playing well with them, and they were constantly speaking Chinese. Of course I had some reservations when Sophia told me she asked Ayi for two 'pops' (rice cakes) and got two (something she never would have done were I home). I did scold her for this and chatted with her about 'using' Ayi, manipulation, etc. to get what she wants when she knows it is not what happens when mommy and daddy are home. Anyway...

Because they were playing so well, I heard no whining or disrespect of Ayi, and the Chinese was much needed (she is out of school for 6 weeks), I decided I would make banana bread for a friend without Sophia's help and let them keep enjoying each other.
My overconfidence in her obedience came tumbling down when Ayi came out of their room and Sophia was running after her yelling in a panicky voice: 'no, ayi, don't tell'
And then I saw the hair drop to the floor, and I shrieked, which brought David from his office, who promptly (and effectively) told me to calm down. I did calm down, took a deep breath, and took Sophia to her room, who by now was sobbing. I enacted discipline, and talked to her about her disobedience toward us, toward Ayi, toward God, and (which really had me distraught) her utter disrespect for Ayi as she yelled at her to not tell us. And we prayed. Then I asked another question: 'did you cut Bella's hair?' A shrug of the shoulders and a look away. More discipline, more prayer. 'yes, I cut her hair.' Dishonesty will get you no where fast in our house. More prayer. I told her that she cannot control Bella's movements, if Bella moved at all while she was cutting her hair, she could have poked her in the eye.. and so on. Sophia had an answer for this, and I reminded her that mommy and daddy are wiser than she is, she thinks she is wise in her own eyes...which is obviously not true!

And all was well. Repentance and forgiveness is an amazing thing.

I know Sophia is 'just being a kid' but her ability to take advantage of situations is quite keen, she wasn't actually sitting back contemplating the scenario, she was genuinely wanting to cut hair and see what it was like, and see if she could get away with it.

I collected the hair and 'bagged and tagged' it for a scrap book, for I know this is a common story...and one worth retelling. Though I hope not to relive it.


we never comb her bangs straight down, which is the only way you can tell that she got a hair cut.



Sophia cut a long piece off of her own, but it was from a disheveled pony tail, and since her hair is curly you cannot tell on her either.

Lessons learned:
-pride comes before a fall (especially in parenting)
-three year olds know how to 'try' to deceive (very well), and cover up sin.
-what we have here is a poor understanding or application of 'submission to authority' this is our fault, not Sophia's, so we reteach and retrain, and pray constantly.
-grace grace grace!
-this was really a 'minor' event. No big deal. As I told Sophia: 'I don't really care about your hair, it will grow back, it is your heart, your heart towards us and Ayi in your disobedience that we need to talk about and pray about.'