hunger games

The war with food is raging full force once again in the Cole household! First, it was Eva. If I remember right, it wasn't all that bad with her. This is because we are blessed with a little girl who loves to eat, and really, I have to work hard to think of foods she's not all that into. She gulps, she's messy, she's lightning speed, she'll eat anything. Next, it was Elijah. Now there was a battle. You might remember when I posted a picture of Elijah sitting at the table trying to finish his food, and how he ending up falling asleep causing him to fall off his chair. Just so everyone knows, I did feel terrible about the whole thing. But he did get the point, and shortly after, he began to finish his plate. He was stubborn, but I am more stubborn, and now he is a pretty good eater. Not good like Eva, that's for sure, but pretty good. The thing about Elijah is that he's just the opposite of Eva. Elijah eats in slow motion, even with a chocolate chip cookie. He nibbles, he's clean, he's slow, he doesn't eat all that much. And then there's Zach. He is just plain picky. He'll stuff it down fast if it's food he likes (reminding me of Eva). He'll sit there forever with a bite in his mouth if he doesn't like it (reminding me of Elijah). But by now, I'm worn out. I'm pretty tired of these food battles. Or maybe I should call them hunger games with Zach, because I keep giving him the same meal over and over again until his hunger triumphs over his dislike, and he eats it all down. It's not like it's gross food. It's great food actually. Over here, it's all fresh, made from scratch, takes mom hours to make. It's not like I'm going to make a new run to the market, buy new fresh produce, spend another couple hours, and make a new special dish. It's just not that easy over here with the open air markets and all. So Zachers, bless your little heart, it hurts right now, but later on, you're going to triumph over the food games. You're going to eat it all and love most of it.  Hopefully. You're going to travel with us to the states, to Thailand, to Laos, and whatever other globe hopping you do one day, and you'll have conquered the food battle. At least that's what I tell myself. No pain, no gain, right? I love you, Zach! And your cute dimples. You don't know it yet, but if you smile at me with those cute dimples, you might just get your way and get a new meal. You'll be catching onto that one pretty soon, so let's get moving and conquer these hunger games, ok? Okay, mom.

hot kids & yummy muffins

My disclaimer- the kids don't usually run around w/ half their clothes on. They only do this when it's hot, which it is. In fact, it's the hottest it's been all year. It's not just the heat, it's the humidity. Their little bodies are so sticky, I struggle to get a shirt pulled over their skin without it sticking in place. And so I just can't bear to put a shirt on the boys. Zach's also dealing w/ fevers this week, so he's hotter still, thus his lack of pants. I've been quite busy doling out Tylenol, giving cool baths, and filling the kids up with rehydration drinks.

The kids are lucky though, they don't even realize it's hot, and that it's not this hot everywhere in the world. They have touched snow once, but it's a distant memory, and more like something they read about in books. For the most part, this little section of the world is all they know. On this particular day, we decided to make cupcakes for a special dessert and then load them up with sprinkles. See how happy they are? They really are. These are 3 happy kids, despite the heat, despite the humidity. Soon, they get to eat a cupcake. And then they might go outside to play with the hose. And then I'll probably give them another bath. And then another rehydration drink. And then they'll go to bed happy, and I'll go to bed happy too, because they're happy. Which means Nathan will go to bed happy too, because I'm happy. And so the whole family will be happy, and it all goes back to these happy cupcake sprinkles. Oh yes, and because we voted. We're happy because we cast our ballots for the coming November election. Hooray for absentee ballots! That is, hooray if they're counted. I'm going to assume that they get counted. We figured out the system, cast our votes, and sent them back across the world to be counted. I want to be counted, yes I do, yes I do, I want to be counted, don't you? don't you? This might be a sign that I've been reading too many Dr. Seuss books. I may also not be getting enough rehydration drinks for myself. I think I'll go get one now.

what 3 years can do

This is the street where we live and what our road looked like 3 years ago when we moved in. Our house is at the bottom of the hill.

The same street, 3 years later! The road has been paved, huge buildings built, new street lights and electricity lines put in. 

 It's time for a move! Same town, but new location. Our place has been perfect for our family these last 3 years, but change is in the air, and we're excited to be moving to our new place in the next couple of months. It puts us back on a dirt street again, but for me, this is a nice thing because it puts us a little further away from all the new development. I never thought I'd be saying those words, but I must have developed my rural side a little bit.

Eva's school these days

 Eva's school just built a new building!! Exciting! See how cute and clean it is?

 This is the common area when we walk in. In this picture, it's being set up for kids' lunch on the floor mats.

Down the hall. Notice the colored pictures posted on the right hand wall! 

A class of younger kids, probably the 3-4 year olds.

Eva's class is on the 2nd floor. This new building is awesome... so open, so much light, no dark scary places.

Eva's classroom is through the door on the right. This is Eva's class, and if you look closely, you can see her on the left side at the very back. It's lunch time! A very small bowl of noodle soup. :)

Which of course, like all other foods, Eva just loves. 

Another new change, school uniforms! Yee haw! I love it. And so does Eva. Slowly but surely, her Lao is growing, and so are her friendships with the other Lao kids.

Flashback again- 4 yrs old, back at school after a long break

Elijah and Zach waving goodbye.

Eva prepared for her first day back, arm bracelets and all. :)

Elijah waving the broom handle to say goodbye!

Flashback- Eva 3 yrs old, first day of Lao school

She is such a brave girl... the only westerner in the whole school. She was also only there 2 hours each morning.

 Her classroom is the stone building to the left.

This was a holiday so many kids were gone. A normal class is 25-30 kids. And they all shared the same 2 cups for drinking. :) Notice Eva is the little girl in the blue shirt, lying down half on the mat and half off. I think she's working on writing Lao.

The backpacks are piled along the wall. 

And of course no shoes, so they're usually in a neat little line outside.

School kitchen

Playground. The swings are way too low, so when Eva showed me how she learned how to swing on her own, she showed me how she pumps her legs at an angle under the swing so she doesn't hit the ground. ha! Elijah always comes along to pick Eva up and spends a couple minutes on the swing. I think these are the only swings in town.

Sunday adventure!

we don't live on a farm, so I'm not sure what's happening

in his own world

 

hanging out under the downspout

eva and two great friends