Turning the big 3-0

On November 7th, I turned 30.  I was kind of dreading it.

Cory was very sweet in throwing me a surprise party at the Centre.  I thought I was showing up for a Disney themed Friday night party, but it turned out to be a "Kim's Birthday" theme.  The students had to decorate cakes and make me presents, while I was the judge.  Like I said it was nice of Cory to do, but as I was already missing home and wishing I could celebrate with family and friends, having a surprise party where I only knew a few of the 30+ people gathered, made me even more sad.

I decided to celebrate my birthday in my own way.  I wanted to give myself a mini-makeover, so I got my hair chopped.  I also asked a couple friends to come shopping with me and bought some new clothes and make-up.  I spent 5 hours at the mall that day, and felt much better about turning 30! (Now if I can just make it to 40 without any gray hairs!)

BEFORE

AFTER

Everybody's Got a Water Buffalo

One of the moms at the homeschool co-op we go to has decided to plan field trips for us this year.  The first one was a trip to the buffalo farm on October 9th.  The buffalo farm  is where you get to learn about growing rice and how water buffalo used to be used before modern day machinery.

This day was MESSY and so much fun!  We were able to push the plow behind the buffalo in the rice paddy, plant rice, and mount a buffalo.  (Check out the video, it's harder than it looks!)  The girls were too squeamish to get into the mud much, which is understandable considering it was up to my knees!  Here's a bunch of pictures, I'm not going to take the time to worry about layout.

                                       

Back on the Blog wagon

So some of you have been asking why I haven't posted anything in so long.  Sorry!  Here's my list of excuses:

We moved in November.  It was extremely easy compared to moving around the world a year ago, but it took us over a month to get internet hooked up and actually working.

Then in December, not only were we busy with Christmas, but I was sick.  Actually still sick.  I have been sick since December 8th!  No joke.  I've been through three rounds of antibiotics along with a mixture of about 6 other medications.  It seems like as soon as one problem is getting better, another one pops up.  This illness has really wiped me out and I've had to prioritize getting some rest because my immune system just doesn't seem able to kick it.

I finally feel up to writing, so I'm going to try to make a lot of posts in the next week or so.  Thanks for checking in with us!  

Tiger Kingdom, Take 2

So, we finally got Evie back out to Tiger Kingdom.  It was a birthday present from Aunt Jeni and Uncle Dwayne, but it's been over two months since her birthday!  Better late than never.

We bought the tickets for Evie and I, and were taken out to the cage.  The Tiger cubs Cory and Winnie played with back in July were much bigger now!  One look and I was scared!  There was no way Evie and I were going into that cage without Cory there to protect us!  So, we apologized and asked if we could go back to the desk and pay the extra money to play with the newborn tigers instead.  These little cubs were more what we had in mind.   

The look on Evie's face says it all. She was not convinced that this was a smart idea! We had fifteen minutes to be in the room, but Evie lasted about 5.  After that she stood outside the door while I stayed in with the tigers.   There were 6 tiger cubs in the room.  I liked the sleeping ones, not the playful ones that were nipping at clothes and hands.

I have to admit, I look calm and snuggly in this picture, but my heart was racing a bit!

Carnival

This week the Centre had a carnival for its Friday Night Party.  It was so much fun!  They had many booths to spend your tickets at.  One of the booths was the equivalent of a dunk tank, but was rigged to dump a bucket of water over the person's head.  The students had a chance to get the staff wet, including Cory!

Winnie at the "Frost Bite" booth.  You had to find marbles in a cooler of melting ice.  It was a lot harder than it looks, and poor Winnie didn't know if it was OK to quit before the time was up.  Her hands were so cold!   At the end of the carnival, they even had a magic show, where they shared about Jesus dying to take away our sins through different magic tricks.

Loosing Teeth

Evie's top two teeth have been growing in behind her baby teeth, and I have been anxiously nagging her to let someone pull the baby ones out.  Well, thanks to Winnie giving her a head-butt in the car last night, 2 of her 3 loose teeth fell out finally!  It was a little stressful trying to park the car and toss her something to stop the bleeding, but I am now very thankful they came out.  Her smile will look a little awkward for awhile, but we've all been through that stage, right?

Teddy Bear Day

On Monday, one of the International schools here invited any 4-6 year olds to join their Kindergarten class for a celebration of Teddy Bear day. They had snacks, songs, stories, rhymes, and even a man dressed up as a Teddy Bear! Winnie and Beary had a lot of fun!

Mr. Teddy stamping Winnie's hand.