update for Daddy

Quote of the day:
At breakfast (Saturday special breakfast, Cinnamon toast, the GOOD kind):
Sophia: I am five, I am half of ten, in five more years I will be ten
Me: yes, and in five years, you, Bella will be 8, and you, Tobin, will be 6, and I will be 40 years old.
Sophia: (her eyes get SO big, and her jaw drops): Wow, 40?! That is SO many years. What a wonderful blessing from God!!
(I laughed so hard at her dramatic reaction and words that I almost fell out of my chair, and she was SO serious too).

Event of the day:
Preparing for their bedtime, I got my work out clothes on. It was only about 6:45 or so. I was going to try to do my 10 minute warm up with them awake and then put them down and do my 12-minute workout. Instead, they wanted to join me. I decided we could all warm up together, then Tobin would go down and I would do the actual kettle bell swings with the girls doing their 'work out' too. The warm-up consists of squats, kettle bell rotations around the head, and then a type of push up that I forget the name of, but it is WAY easier than a push up. You do these three things, 10 reps each and just keep going for 10 minutes. The girls got right next to me on the wall and did squats, which made me laugh. They got a ball each as their Kettle bell and did circles around their head, and did whatever they wanted for the push up thing. By set two of all this Tobin was completely into it. I kid you not, the boy did 8 squats in a row without falling and smiling and concentrating the whole time. Granted, he has a lot shorter distance to go, but this was so funny to watch. The girls did do great during my swings too, doing their own thing. After it was time to get in bed, Sophia said: 'whew, that was a good work out'.

Pics of what we are up to:

 The new little school area. Sophia does some handwriting (though it looks like she is doing math). Yes I know you are not supposed to do handwriting up on your knees, but oh well. Bella does some pattern blocks.

 Tobin, who is walking everywhere and into everything, loves to climb up on the couch. And he loves to stand on it to, which we are training him not to do! I think he is getting it. Really he just likes to climb up there, crawl back and forth, and just sit back. Then the girls join him.

 Tobin says: enough sitting still. move over girls!

Tea party prep:

 Sophia chose a black spinny dress and a headscarf. Bella chose to wear a headscarf as a skirt underneath a long Vietnamese outfit.

 I promised the girls that if it was rainy and cool we would have hot chocolate. No shocker, it was rainy and cool. Of all of our 'tea parties' to date, we have not yet had real tea to drink.

The tea parties always involve, dress up, invite a stuffed animal, put on a little make up, drink, eat, tell a story or read something, and then a major craft. Today we were making birthday cards for two friends. They loved this!

I let the girls get Tobin up from his nap. This is what I found. Which Coker kid is really sucking their thumb? You should guess Bella, since she would if I let her, but if you guessed Tobin you are right. The girls were pretending. Silly kids. Tobin sleeps with 'bear bear' and 'baa baa', but prefers 'baa baa'. Here as he grins you can actually see he has some cheek bones behind his plumpness.

 I let the girls play in the front yard in the rain for a little bit. This is not very culturally appropriate. But there are not really many people out and about in the rain to tell me how horrible this is. This pic is through our laundry room screen door. This is one of my favorite features of this new apartment. David came up with this design/idea on his own.

 We do have a bit of yard clean up to do. That is what the girls were helping with.

 They got out their new umbrellas and then I came up with the tent idea, but I forgot that because this was a play tent, there are actually holes in the top. Bella was done pretty quick, and Sophia didn't want to stay out alone. When I went out to collect stuff, a lady that works in the office that we see everyday said: 'its raining'. What she meant was: 'what are you thinking letting your kids stay out in the rain like that.'.

We made pizza in the afternoon and the girls watched 'The sword in the Stone' in Chinese.
Tomorrow we will help celebrate a few friends' birthdays and if the sun comes out, we may swim! We do miss you daddy!

you know Daddy is away when...

1. Kids do not sleep through the night OR wake really early. A nightmare one night, Tobin's early cries two mornings now, have left me quite eager for my morning coffee.
2. Kids are a little needier, and that is okay. Bella just called and wants me to sleep with her. 'I will check on you again soon' I said.
3. They think up new things to fight about. Last night Bella was outraged that Sophia was flicking boogers on her bed (which is now below Sophia's slightly as a trundle), tonight Sophia conveniently forgetting the previous night, was equally outraged that Bella was wiping her boogers on her bedside. I mean! Don't these kids' parents teach them that this is just plain gross? So feminine and refined, these Coker gals.
4. Our washing machine water drainage pipe breaks.
5. their seems to be a gas smell lingering in the kitchen.
6. The weather just does not cooperate (of course, the non-stop rain is now the norm)
7. Bigger spiders start lurking.
8. we have a tea party.

up next, pics and anecdotes. We are really missing you Daddy!

July move

Crooked bulletin board, stuff everywhere. Chaos.
The move was crazy, as expected. And though we haven't gone to bed before midnight in weeks, we have moved, are unpacked, and half-way organized. And finally, finally the sun came out, we hadn't seen it in over a week.

 Tobin is walking. Finally. He started taking multiple steps in Thailand, and has been cruising here ever since. It is kind of rockin' my world right now. Trying to limit the number of times I say 'no' in a day, but it is hard, especially since we just moved in.

 Yes, can you believe I have to say no to this cuteness. We are still eating him up. I love all his boyish funny faces. Below is our old apartment, filled with boxes!!! We do have too much stuff.

 In our new place, a first floor apartment, I let the girls take their strollers over to the pond area, they have so much fun! I love how they hooked their purses on the side just like I do.

 And since it really was non-stop raining, I bought the girls some cheap rain boots, and let them play in the yard. Yes, this is our very own back yard. We are SO excited about it. I no longer have to worry about them playing in what I would describe as a 'wal-mart' parking lot type feel (in front of our old apt). It was raining this day, but I let them go for it! A little water never hurt anyone!

 A glimpse of our new abode, we moved in without a working kitchen and one bathroom sink missing, among many other various issues. But they are all getting worked out. Slowly.

 kids together....love it.

 Can you tell Tobin loves to get in things!

Already in our new place we have met lots of great people and there are plenty of kids to play with. We are so thankful for this. I even met a lady whose son will start school next year with Bella. They live in the next building over.
And David has made friends with all the guards, there are about ten of them all from the same village. They are super friendly. We leave for the U.S. in two weeks, so things are not slowing down. But we are excited!

July Thailand trip

 Our trip, as expected was incredibly encouraging, and tiring. Before leaving our helper taught me how to use this carrier. I used it 2x and in general I did not feel too comfortable with it. I think I will return to the Ergo.

 Even though we spent the whole long day traveling to arrive, I still wanted to make it to the Sunday night market which is so much fun. I recruited a friend to go with me (jetlagging from returning from the U.S. ) and we made our way. I was looking for these skirts which the girls loved and wore OUT.

 Our hotel overlooked a lake, which Sophia dubbed 'the lake of shining waters' this a reference to Anne of Green Gables, which she hasn't fully listened to yet, but she likes to name things like Anne, and stole this straight from my quotes of Anne.

 We braved the dentist, Bella's first time, she did pretty well. Sophia did great and sat there and received a fluoride treatment. She reminded Dr. Joy that if she stopped sucking her thumb she would get a gift, and Dr. Joy did remember.

 Tobin waited in the waiting room with Mommy.

 David did have to hold Bella while they looked in her mouth.

 The gift was a real Barbie. We thought this a little much. Sophia loved it. We are not so sure about Barbie yet, but she loves this one, her one and only.

 Thanks Dr. Joy for being a great children's dentist.

Below the girls show off their 'English' school stuff. Bella cried every day at drop off, but loved it by the end of every day. But every day was the same: 'I don't want to go to school'. Sophia, on the other hand, laughed and loved it every day. Then cried on the last day on our drive to the airport, leaving 'English School' and all her friends.

 This man is my hero. I can't say more. But just trust me. Amazing man of God.

 In the new airport, on the way back. We waited about thirty minutes for our bags, so we set up camp.

 She has retreated to being a full-fledged thumb-sucker again. School and sickness set us back. Our trip was great though. More July scenes coming soon. Maybe.

Sophia's 5th: the Finale

 After cake all the girls got to choose which dress they would wear and get a little 'dolled up'. Bella chose this white dress, she is quite picky about the texture of dresses, so it had to be comfortable.

 They got to wear real make up. Sophia chose a vintage dress that I loved and went back to the hat she fell in love with when we first arrived.

 Here she is, the lady of the hour. And below she walked the catwalk with her friend Anna, who had a wonderful feather in her hair and wings on her back. Too precious.

 Music was blaring, and the bubble machine turned on. We had no idea they would do this. It was way over the top, but so fitting for the day, and so fitting for Sophia who LOVES to dress up and dance (and show off a little, not a shy one). Among other things, they taught them to walk to the end, turn around, and point to their faces.

 

They were teaching them how to hold their dresses and bow at the end. Everyone loved the bubbles.

 Next they walked all up together for the grand finale. A real groovin' Chinese pop song was playing. The parents had returned by this time and were all enjoying the spectacle/fun.

 And there she is, our five-year-old. I am not sure if we will ever have a party like this again, but it was perfect for this year. What a blessing, the party, the friends, the girl.