One Day, Two Haircuts

The other day, following my bath, my mommy gave me a haircut. She has to cut my hair every so often because it gets tangled lots! I have my mommy's fine hair and my daddy's curly hair. While cute, it is a tough combination. Anyway, so mommy cut my hair. Later that night, having watched mommy cut my hair and figuring it seemed simple enough, I decided to get a second haircut. I grabbed my ladybug scissors my grandma had given me and took a snip of hair. I then graciously carried the hair clipping plus the scissors to daddy. While a little shocked, daddy was thankful to discover the clipping was from a fairly inconspicuous location. Daddy explained to me that I should not cut my hair. So, next time I will leave the job to mommy...maybe! :)

Brrrrrrrr, Baby!

It may be hard to believe, but yes it actually gets cold here in West Africa. Mommy and daddy would say it is "cool," but to me and the West Africans here it is "Brrrrrrrrrrrrrr Cold!!!!" Okay, I will give you a little geography lesson:

We live in Sub-Sahara Africa, which means we are not in the desert, but on the fringe of it. Therefore, where we live is not like it is in the desert where it gets really really cold at night. We have trees that help contain some (most) of the heat from the day so it does not cool down significantly at night. However, there are a couple of factors that help it become "Brrrrrrrrrrrrrrr Cold!!!!" at this time of year. First, it is our "winter" season, so the temperatures drop during this time of year. Second, because it is the end of harvest lots of people are burning off their fields, so there is a haze in the sky from that which blocks some of the sun. And finally, this time of year is what they call Harmattan. This is the annual event where the eastern winds blow in sand from the Sahara. In addition to the sandy grit we get in our teeth, we also have a brown haze in the sky that helps block the sun.

Sooooooo, all of these things lead to a "Brrrrrrrrrrrrr Cold!!!!" time of year. There is your lesson for today :)

Anyway, so when I wake up in the morning I am very cold. Usually some of the first words out of my mouth are, "I'm cold. I need a coke (coat)." Then I bundle up in pants and either a jacket or sweatshirt and begin my day.

Here are some pictures of me bundled up in sweats and a sweatshirt complete with hood. In case you are wondering, I have two spoons in my hand because often when I have cereal for breakfast I have two types of cereal. Therefore, I obviously need two spoons; one for each hand, one for each type of cereal. It helps I am ambidextrous.

Sand Castles

Last week our family went on a short vacation. Since we were on the coast I got to go to the beach. Mommy bought me some stuff so I could make sand castles while we were there. Every day I was ready to go to the beach and make sand castles. Finally on Wednesday we made it!!!! I had lots of fun building sand castles and making animals like elephants, bunnies and giraffes. My favorite part of making the sand castles was when I got to step on them and destroy them after making them :)

Sorry, there are no pics...mommy and daddy forgot to bring the camera.

More Singing

A friend of ours sent us the full video of me singing at VBS back in July. As you will recall from the entry below, I got up and sang with the 3 year olds. However, I was not done. So when the 4 year olds got up to sing, I ran up on stage to sing with them. If you watch, you will see my head pass in front of the camera on my way to the stage.
Enjoy!

Preschool

A couple of days each week I have preschool here in our home. I am working through the alphabet learning how to write the letters. Also, I have been learning words that begin with the letters I learn. Below are some of the crafts I have done during my preschool time.

A is for Aquarium














B is for Baker



















D is for Dinosaurs














D is for Duck and Donkey

Hide & Go Seek

One of my favorite games right now is Hide & Go Seek, it trails only "Chase the chickens in my backyard" and any game involving Dora. There are lots of good hiding places in our house, but I have my favorites. The picture below is me hiding in one of my favorite places, my toy basket.

When I play Hide & Go Seek I like for everyone to be successful. So when I am hiding I call out, "Here I am!" to make sure whoever is looking for me can find me. Plus, the quicker they find me, the less time I have to spend sitting in obscure places like my toy basket!

VBS Music

Last week our family was at a meeting. While mommy and daddy were in meetings I got to go to VBS. At the end of the week we got to get up in front of everyone and sing songs that we learned. First up were the 3 year olds. We sang a song and had lots of fun. I was not at all afraid of being up on stage in front of everyone.
After we finished singing our song I went back to sit with mommy and daddy. But I decided that since it was so much fun singing I would run back up on stage and join the 4 and 5 year olds. Once I took care of my hat and sunglasses I stole the show, again! Enjoy the video!

Princess Abigail

Today in our worship time I learned about Queen Esther. It was an exciting story to hear and learn about "for such a time as this". After the story time I colored a picture of Queen Esther and then I made a crown just like queens wear. Here are some pictures of me modeling my crown, complete with stickers of hearts, stars and Dora!

Up, Up and Away

Hope you had a great 4^th of July. Did you know that the 4^th of July is my half-birthday! That’s right; on the 4^th of July I turned 3 ½ years old. So I thought I would give you an update on where I am at. Mommy and daddy think I am entering a growth spurt because I am eating lots more. Like today for lunch I had a bowl of macaroni and cheese and followed that up with a cheese quesadilla! Good stuff. Here is the update as of my 3 ½ year birthday:

Height: 40 inches
Weight: 29 lbs

My New Favorite Room

Well, I recently made the decision to make the bathroom my new favorite room in my house. It is a fun room where I get to take showers and baths, unless the water is coffee brown. I also get to brush my teeth using my Dora toothbrush. I decided that I like the bathroom so much that the other day I locked myself in it. After going potty, I pushed daddy out the door. A few minutes later mommy and daddy came to the bathroom in response to my cries for help as I had locked the door and was now stuck in the bathroom!

For about 20 minutes, mommy and daddy tried to talk me through unlocking the door, but the lock was too hard to turn for me to unlock it. (It was much easier to lock). There are no locksmiths where we live, so it was going to be up to mommy and daddy to get me out. They tried a few different things, but none of them worked. Finally, since the door is metal, daddy chiseled away at one of the parts that was welded on the door. It created enough of an opening so mommy could get her arm through and unlock the door from the inside. I was free at last!!!!

Daddy has now taken the lock out of the door; therefore, if you look closely at the picture you can maybe see toilet paper where the lock used to be. Also, I have decided to begin a search for a new favorite room!

Not Much To Report

Hi! Thanks for checking out my blog. Here is a new picture of me being cute. I continue to grow and people often comment on how tall I am for my age. :)

Mommy, daddy and I just got back from a short trip. We had fun spending time away as a family. While on our trip I got to go swimming in a big pool that a restaurant had. The restaurant also had some little machines you can ride on, like you see outside of stores in the States. I really liked the one which was teeter-tottering with Mickey Mouse. It was lots of fun and once I was done, I went over and gave Mickey a big hug and kiss. Then I told him, "Mickey, I love you so much. You so sweet!"

While on our trip I also got a special treat. Mommy and daddy bought my some Fruit Roll-ups Fruit by the foot. They are very good! On the trip back home mommy gave me one. The next time mommy and daddy looked back at me it was gone! They couldn't believe I at an entire foot of fruit roll-up that fast...but what can I say, I liked it!

A Happy Birthday Wish

My daddy's birthday was a few weeks ago. So for his birthday, I made him a video. He was so proud of it and enjoyed it so much that he asked me to put it on my blog. So, here is my birthday wish to my daddy!

Flashback

Here is a little flashback video from almost 4 years ago! Hard to believe I used to be so small. Hope you enjoy it!

Sliding in West Africa

So from our time in the States, mommy and daddy discovered how much I enjoy sliding. When we got back to West Africa we went shopping for a slide for me. We found one in the capital for the low low price of $360. It was just a plastic one about four feet long. Mommy and daddy decided that was too expensive. Instead, daddy made me a slide using plywood and linoleum. It works well other than it gets really hot sitting in the West African sun. But we keep it covered when I am not using it.
Enjoy the video!

Worship

Each Sunday our family has our day of worship. It is definitely one of my favorite times of the week. We sing songs, daddy reads a story teaching about God, I get to color, and we often do crafts. Since today is Easter, a very special day of worship, I thought I would put a picture on my blog of some of my recent colorings and crafts. The crafts are sitting on the floor, while the pictures are hung on the wall in my bedroom.

Trip to the States

Hi Everyone!

Sorry it has been so long since I last put an entry on my blog. Life has been busy ever since I turned three. Back in February Mommy, Daddy and I got to go back to the States for almost a month. We had a great trip and I got to do lots of exciting things. Some of the highlights were: seeing my grandmas and grandpa, seeing my uncle Philip, getting to play with my friend Paige, racing in a go-cart, ice skating, and exploring an 8 foot eye ball.

I spent lots of time at places like Chick-fil-a and Incredible Pizza Company, both of which have slides and other things I can climb around in. I got lots of presents from my grandpa and grandmas, that is always good! And I found out it is lots of fun to pull the tails of my grandma's dogs.

It was very cold while we were back there. I am not use to below freezing temperatures. When we got off the plane in Atlanta, we had to walk outside. I looked at daddy and said, "It's c-c-c-cold!" Now we are back in West Africa where it is hot-hot-hot! Quite the change.

Well, enjoy the pictures!

I'm Treeeeeeee!!!!

Yes, that’s right. Just a couple of days ago I celebrated my birthday. If you ask me how old I am, I will gladly tell you, “I’m treeeeee!” I am still working on getting the hang of holding three fingers up. It is hard to keep two of them down.

Mommy, daddy and I had a celebration for my birthday. We all gathered in the kitchen and made muffins. I put the puck-cake (that’s how I say cupcake) liners in and stirred the batter. I also put the edible Tom and Jerry stickers on the top after they were done. After dinner, which included some of my favorite foods, I got to open more presents. First Christmas, and now my birthday; I can really get use to receiving all of these presents. What holiday is next? :)

For my birthday I got a LeapFrog Word Whammer, two blue bouncy balls (just like the one Boots plays with in Dora the Explorer), some finger paints, and bubbles. I also got lots of e-cards and birthday wishes from my friends all over the world. Oh, and guess what? Daddy found out I share my birthday with people like Sir Isaac Newton and Louis Braille. Pretty good company, huh?

Celebrations

Happy New Year! Hard to believe that it is already 2007 and in just a couple of days I will be turning 3 ! ! ! ! We have had a week and a half full of celebrations. On Christmas Eve our family went around and gave out cookies and gifts to our neighbors. Christmas Day we had a wonderful time together as a family. I now have a new favorite word, “PRESENT”! Everything thing that is in a box I now refer to as a present. I enjoy getting and giving them, so it is fun.

Yesterday we were out in the village for their celebration of Tabaski. They slaughter sheep, prepare big meals and everyone gets dressed up. Here is a picture of me and a friend of mine all dressed up for the day. I thought about putting a picture of the sheep on my blog, but I was not sure if everyone would like to see four slaughtered sheep. It was a busy and eventful day, so at the end of the day daddy and I decided it was time to lay back for a little rest.