Pictures from Meli

This is Lydia in her special birthday dress. Gracias Meli and her picture taking talents.

Here's Lydia trying to blow out her candles at her party. The matches kept going out before they could even reach the cake.

And here's Lydia and I singing a Hannah Montana song for everyone. Lydia knows all the words

from watching the show. Not that we watch it that much, but she just really really likes the song.

Anyway, I'll post more pictures of other stuff later. Usually Charlie does the picture postings, but hes been slacking lately, so I'll do my best despite my lack of camera. My webcam takes ok pictures, luckily.

Lydia the four year old

Well, my three year old is now four. Its crazy, she seems so big, and yet I still feel like she's my baby. Her birthday party was fun but insane. I have been delaying talking about it because I was hoping to have some pictures to post along with it. But I'll let Charlie do that.

OK, so they make kind of a big deal about kids birthdays here. Most of the birthdays we've been to had upwards of 15 kids, and at least twice that many adults. They hire a clown, who basically runs the party and entertains the kids for several hours, while the parents socialize among themselves. Lunch or brunch is always served. Maybe parties are like that in the states too, and I just didn't know about it. My parents tend to do things differently than most. But for me, that kind of party can be intensely overwhelming just to attend, let alone host. Besides that my kids are afraid of the clowns, so it would be in my hands alone.

We had originally planned to do it this coming Saturday, but then Charlie's Sister Melissa and my niece Julia were here longer than planned (Happy day! We love you guys Meli!), but were leaving this week, so at the last minute, we decided to move the party up. We tried to plan something a little smaller and simpler. But we quickly realized it would be impossible. Since "big" is just the way parties are done here, anything less than that seems stingy and unfriendly. So we ended up inviting about fifteen kids, which wasn't as bad as it could have been. Usually, those kids would bring their whole family too, so we planned for more. But it actually worked out that some of the kids didn't come, and so the few kids who brought siblings evened out. We had exactly fifteen kids, plus about the same amount of adults. Even though I had my sis in law, my husband, Charlie's cousin, and my mother-in-law all helping, there was just too much that they couldn't do for me. Well, the main problem was that I tend to get really ambitious when it comes to projects I want to do. I had decided to design and make Lydia's party dress, and I also had this idea of making cowboy hats for the kids to decorate (which were not that simple to put together, even with everybody helping), and balloon flowers made from the long skinny balloons. Finishing everything didn't happen until minutes before the party, and only after very little sleep. But Lydia and her friends all had fun, they loved the hats, and it kept them occupied for about an hour, so I think it was all worth it. Glad it's all over. I wish I could say next time I'll not be so overly ambitious, and I'll manage my time better. But I know myself too well. I'm always ambitious in my projects because I have lots of ideas and not a lot of money. And time management is always nice in theory, but I do not have the skills to execute such a thing. Oh well, it adds interest to my life anyway. Only one birthday each per year, right? Of course there are always holidays too. Luckily, planning events is kind of like giving birth for me. As time goes by, I remember the pain less and less. So by the time the next one comes a long, I'll hopefully be up to it. Anyway, Thanks to all who helped!

6 de Agosto

The sixth of August was the Bolivian independence day. We did lots of activities all weekend, including a military presentation that my brother in law Jason was in. He isn't really military yet, but all boys from age 17 are required to go to military school. They call it pre-military. But the presentation was for all branches, including peace corps, air force, etc. Anyway, we brought the kids, which was a mistake since it was mostly a lot of speeches and standing at attention, so by the time we got to the marching part at the end they didn't care anymore. Even Jason said it was boring. I think I would have really enjoyed it though, had it not been for the trying to keep my kids from screaming. It was cool to see all the different kinds of uniforms, and to yell and scream for Jason, even though we couldn't tell which one he was.

The other really fun thing we did was make kites. Mine was pretty cute, if I do say so myself, but it broke in half after only flying for 2 milliseconds. Charlie's was not cute, but flew really good for a long time. Making them with the whole family was the best part anyway. I'll post pictures as soon as I get some.

We sang the national anthem a lot, I think I've sung it at least 8 times over the past 3 days. well, I should say they have sung at least that many times, I didn't really sing since I don't know the words. I know the tune, so I did lots of la la la-ing. I'm glad I was here for all that. It was fun, and made me feel a part of things.

Brrr! Its cold in here!

Ok, so people are always really worried with exposure to cold here. I'm a Utah girl, so what I would consider a nice cool breeze is freezing-cold for the people here. Of course my apartment gets freezing, but outside is usually mild to slightly chilly at worst. Regardless, Everywhere I go, people are always chastising me for not bundling up my kids more, saying we are going to get sick. Well, I don't believe in needlessly bundling, (and I believe that viruses cause colds, the weather does not). But I also don't really want to argue with every little old grandmother that I come across when I'm outside, so I do tend to bundle when we go out anyway. Still, I slip up occasionally. The other day, we went to a dance performance for my sis-in-law, Michelle. And for some reason, they took a really long time letting everyone in to the auditorium, so there were like 200 people all squished into this little foyer waiting. I was holding Owen around the armpits to keep him from escaping and getting lost in the crowd, and he was - in return - kicking me in the shins. A lady next to me reached over and tapped my shoulder, and said, "You're baby's shirt is coming up. He's going to catch a cold." I'm sure I must have given her a strange look. Because besides the fact that I was lucky I still had a hold of him at all (he can be pretty slippery when he wants to) it was hot in there. Hee hee. I have to admit, I am still laughing and confused about that exchange.

Sirenita

So my in-laws have a few of these cute little puzzle books, like the one pictured here. The kids like them, and I enjoy the stories, since they have the Spanish and English one on top of the other. And so, in order for you all to share in my enjoyment, here's one of the my favorites, "Serinita" or "Little Mermaid", retold in the beloved language of Spanglish. We all know the story well, so I think I'll skip to the end. Enjoy!

The little mermaid was the youngest captain fell the sea. Swam what he could to help until he was in his arms. The boy was unconscious, but he could mermaid swam up to take land. Deposited the body of the couple on the sand and was rubbing his hands trying to wake him. The young Captain looked to awaken the beauty of the little mermaid and was deeply in love. But seeing that she was not a normal woman, but a siren, is very distressed and felt they could not be happier. The little mermaid so sad to see him, told him that again become a normal woman. Saying this was introduced into the sea and asked his father that became a woman. therefore begged his father to the little mermaid who took pity and ordered to make a beautiful couple. The little mermaid to look like a normal women said goodbye to his father and returned to the land where I expected the love of a young captain, shortly after they got married and lived happily. END

Ah. Gets me every time.

Basic Boring News

So Charlie got home from his big long trip, and he is going to post some pictures and posts about it soon (right baby?). I am so so happy to have him back! Unfortunately, they both (Charlie and his Dad) had to go right to work, since they were gone so long some of the things needed their immediate attention. But seeing all the factories and the way things were done in China gave him a lot of ideas for a new plant here in Bolivia, so that's good. At the in-laws, I moved all the furniture around and the pictures and rugs and everything, because I had lots of time on my hands and lots of ideas in my head. I personally think it looks way better, but I'm not sure anyone else really noticed. Ha ha. I should have taken before and after pictures I guess. I am a little anal about picture placement, and the pictures were just kinda placed helter-skelter, so that's what I spent the most time on. At least the obsessive-compulsive person inside of me is way more at ease now, so that's good.

We are sleeping at our own place now again, though since my sis-in-law came from the states to visit (Welcome Meli!) we have still been coming over to Grandma's every day so far. We'll try to slowly ween ourselves off of grandmas house over the next few weeks I hope. Anyway, there's my boring news update for today.

Sure, I'm a stranger in a strange land. But stranger than what?

Strangers are always staring at me here. I'm not sure if its because I'm often looking a little scroungy, or because I don't wear a coat when its "cold" out, or maybe because I am just plain weird looking. My first real thought is that they are trying to decide whether I am a foreigner or not (sigh. ah, The Foreigner: great show). I am extremely white, but honestly the skin colors vary a lot here. And on first look, people tend to assume that I am Bolivian, or perhaps Argentinean. Which is nice, I don't like to stick out too much. So although its still pretty possible they are staring because I'm white, I have come up with an alternate theory:

This is a kissy country on a kissy continent. It is standard when you enter a get together to greet everybody there with a kiss. And then you kiss everyone again when you leave. I really kinda like it, its nice to acknowledge everyone, and it brings everyone close together. It takes forever (no wonder their parties take so long!) but its a neat practice that I wish I could integrate into my own culture in the states. But I've decided it is also the cause for the staring. Maybe they just do not greet long distance. if you are not greeting each other properly, why acknowledge each other all? In Utah, grownups generally avoid eye contact with strangers, and if they catch one another's' eye, they just smile in greeting or quickly look away. Not here. I haven't seen one person embarrassed to be staring at me. Its quite boggling for me to smile at people and have them just keep looking me up and down, strait-faced. But if I'm right, then its actually because there is a wall between us and until we break it with a proper greeting, we have no rules of etiquette toward to one another. What do you think? Sound reasonable? Or, you know, they could also be looking to see if that is where the smell is coming from. One or the other.