Eliza Turned 3!

Eliza turned 3 last week. It was quite a week. We gave her a gift from us on Monday.


A new baby doll, stroller, bassinet, bottles etc. She was very excited to say the least.

And she got a little table and chair set from her Grandpa.

Then on Saturday we had a massive fish themed party. We made the hats, the decorations and the cake.

We played a fishing game.

There was an octopus craft for the bigger kids.

And the orange fish cake, which Eliza talked about for weeks. I think she tolerated her party. She just wanted to eat cake and ice cream.

This is when she had waited long enough and was standing by the oven where the cake was resting saying: "Come on Mom, come on Dad, fishy cake."


Ahh finally the cake.

And she is covered in all her birthday gifts. It was a good day. I don't know the final kid count, I stopped counting at 17. It was pretty peaceful considering it rained and the kids had to stay inside.

My Dream Stroller

This is the stroller I hope we can get. We have had some really bad luck with strollers. I think it is half buying strollers from stores here, half just circumstances. Anyway we are trying to save our pennies to buy this one. It has a bench seat for the squirmy older sibling in the back or they can stand up on the platform. And an infant car seat (something else we need to buy) pops in the front. Since Eliza is still pretty small, we can get a lot of use out of this thing. She still sits in a stroller all the time too, so I am not ready to dethrone her when the next baby comes.

Eliza Went to the Movies (and we did too)

We took Eliza to see Horton Hears A Who. She loved it! She is holding up the ticket stubs to prove it. I wanted to take a picture at the theater, but they frown on bringing cameras there, so what do you do.

She then stashed the tickets in a the trunk of her tricycle, where she keeps only the coolest things.

And she's off. She loves her, "red bike."


Sometimes I have to ride my, "black bike," with her around the driveway. Its actually Micah's bike. I have a pink cruiser bike, but it has a flat tire. Bummer.

These days the pink wings are becoming mandatory wardrobe requirement rather than just a dress up accessory.


She actually took them to the movies, but we made her leave them in the car.

Then she had to take a picture of me. She usually demands this when I have snapped quite a few.


And the first picture of the very small bump. I think it could still be mistaken for a "food baby," at this point.

People Need Rice

I try to keep this blog pretty light, but this has been on my heart and mind a lot lately and we are definitely feeling the crunch here from the global food crisis. Many staples here: rice, cooking oil, and butter to name a few, have drastically increased in price. It is hard for our family, but there are many families here that are unable to buy as much food as before. It is very unsettling to see what is happening around the world with money, food and fuel right now. Read this article if you have a minute, and you may just be more grateful for your leftovers: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/7340214.stm

A Little Picture of Our Place

This is our little bench/toy boxish thing. Its actually not little its over 2 meters long. Its right next to our front door. It manages to hold most of Eliza's toys and gives some extra seating. We had the bench made, so it was a miracle that we were able to find pillows the perfect size for the seat part and baskets the perfect size for the toys. Of course I had to to a lot of hunting, but that is normal fare if you want to furnish your home. Some of the throw pillows I bought and some I made.

Easter Goodies

We had a fun and HOT easter. Eliza hunted for eggs out in the yard before 9 o'clock so none of the candy would melt.

I had to help her a little bit. We have been protecting these plastic eggs for years now. They do not sell them here, but a team brought them one year and we guard them with our lives.



After some church we went to a hotel buffet and they had an indoor egg hunt for all the kids. I was really missing easter candy this year for some reason, but we managed with some M&M's and kisses. Next year jelly beans, next year.




I made Eliza a few little stuffed goodies for her basket; a massive stuffed carrot, and a flannel baby duck. I saw ducks like this on the target website and I thought they were so cute so I tried to make one myself. Eliza loves it.

It even made it in the family picture!

Our First Papaya

When we moved into this house we didn't realize almost all of the trees are fruit trees! We have three fruit bearing trees (besides the papaya tree) but they are all fruits that are native to Thailand they don't have them back home. I will send pictures of those fruits as they get ripe. We also have some Jasmine bushes and some great flowers. So the papaya tree is like this little wimpy twig almost. We have to support it with a stick, and as I speak there are 5 more papayas ripening on it. Its so funny because the tree looks pretty sad. So here is the papaya with Micah's hand to show a size comparison.