Caught up at last! April '10

Here I am on an adventurous outing with my 4 little ones! We are at the Minority Park in Kunming (or as Monty calls it, "The People Zoo"). Monty had business to take care of but I begged to tag along on the trip and promised that we would not get in the way - if he would only let us ride the bus with him to Kunming and sleep in his hotel room. It felt like a good time for a "spring break" from school. I think the teacher needed it more than the students:). We did lots of fun, touristy things - just the children and I. I love the minority park and think it is a worth-while experience.

The photo was taken outside the Dai minority village so the girls naturally reverted back to their Thai culture as they saw people looking, dancing and acting very Thai.

Ezra striking a pose!

April Fools! Manon is very aware of the calendar and every holiday. As April Fool's Day was approaching she asked me about the meaning. I explained a bit about the day and her eyes grew bright as her 7 year-old mind began scheming! I must say she got me good that morning when I got the milk out to make French Toast - she had replaced it with water! I screamed wondering why our milk was so clear! And then we all had a good laugh even if our French Toast was a little soggy that breakfast.
I am so proud of our cleaver girls - they can write their names in Chinese! When I enrolled them in dance class I needed to fill out a form with their Chinese names on it but I had not taken the time to memorize how to write it. I felt a little embarrassed as I had to just explain the meaning of their names and one of the other mothers helped me fill in the form. After that day I decided the girls are big enough to fill in forms so they can learn their names. So, here they are showing off their Chinese handwriting. Just in case you're interested, Henna's name is "Li Na" which means "soft plum blossom" (okay, okay, just trust me that it sounds much better in Chinese), and Manon's name is "Mei Lan" which means "beautiful fragrant flower/orchid" (once again, sounds better in Chinese). :-)
Manon is now up to 55 Characters that she can read! She is beginning to be helpful as we are out and I am looking for a sign. If it happens to be one of the characters she knows, she is like a little hound dog trying to sniff it out!
Can you guess who Judah is????? I will give you hint - "he is clothed with leaves and the juice that oozes from trees". Do you now know? He designed this costume himself and you can see he uses one of my kitchen spatulas as his knife. Okay, for your second clue: in Chinese he is called "Xiao Fei Xia". Do you know yet??? He runs through the house jumping off any piece of furniture I let him climb on yelling, "I can fly, I can fly!" Okay..., Peter Pan is the answer to this riddle! Most days he is Peter Pan, although this past week he did come down as batman twice, the Easter Bunny once and a mongoose a few times. He also makes Ezra dress up as "Spider Baby." Very cute, but I will save that one for another post:)

Many Thanks!!!!

By the way, thank you all so much for your encouraging comments about the pregnancy! I felt so loved and supported! I must say that it can sometimes be frustrating living in a country where the government controls family size and has re-educated everyone to believe a small family is best. I get so many comments when I am out with all my children, "Wow! They can't ALL be yours??? Too many children, why would you want that?? It is because you are rich and can hire others to raise them, right? That many children is TOO MUCH TROUBLE" And on and on. I usually just smile and tell them that I believe children are a blessing from the Lord and no, I do not hire others to raise my children - because they are mine, and I prefer to raise them myself (although I do hire someone to clean my bathroom and wash my dishes so I have more time for my children:). I've also received the occasional well-intentioned (I'm assuming) yet high-browed comment from a very small number of ex-pat women, who insinuate that having so many children keeps us from being "culturally relevant" to the people here. To that I simply think, hmmm, I guess Jesus, Paul, and many others weren't very culturally relevant either. It didn't seem to hinder them very much. So, it was a breath of fresh air to hear from you all and remember that there are still others out there who see children as a blessing as well! Thank you!!!