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.

Just Pictures

Here are some pictures of me dressing up and playing with my jewelry. Not much more to say about that.

O Christmas Tree

Mommy, daddy and I put up our Christmas tree this past weekend. We were able to buy lights and some ornaments for it in the capital, so they have provided a nice touch to it. Last year it was a little barer, but it is really styling now. There are even a couple of presents under it already and I know one is for me!

A New Pet

Mommy and daddy have decided not to get me a pet dog or cat while we are here in West Africa. But I am working on persuading them to buy me some other type of pet. People here in West Africa have many different types of pets. I have considered a pet goose, but they tend to be too aggressive. I thought about ducks, but they walk funny. We have had pet lizards in our house, but they tend not to stay around. Then the idea came to me this past week while we were out in the village. One of our friends had one on a leash and was taking it for a walk. It was shorter than me, but looked like it would be lots of fun to play with. So, I figured, why not? I will ask mommy and daddy for a pet calf! I haven’t got an answer back from them yet, but I am still hoping. I will let you know if they actually say yes.

Jacket Weather?!?!

While the fall season has been around for almost two months in the States, we are just now entering our fall season. The leaves on the trees are falling, the rains have stopped coming and the temperatures are cooler. We even have some snow! Okay, so it is not really snow. This time of year everyone burns their fields off, making a gray haze in the sky and there is an almost constant fall of ash from the sky. At a glance you would think it was snow, but you wouldn’t want to catch these flakes on your tongue.

This past week my mommy broke out a jacket for me. While the temperatures during the day can still hit 100 degrees in the shade, in the evening hours and through the night it is dropping down into the 70’s. For me and the rest of the people here that is really really cold!!! About 9 o’clock at night they all head to their rooms and don’t come out until the sun is out and starting to warm things up. Over the next couple of months the temperatures will continue to get cooler and I will continue to get to wear my jacket during the evening and morning hours!

New Outfits

Mommy and I got some new outfits made, so I wanted to share them with you. When mommy buys material to have outfits made she often has material leftover so I can have an outfit made also. All three outfits are skirts with elastic waists and separate tops. While the little girls here wear wrap-around skirts with ties, mommy opted to go with the elastic to make it easier on me. The blue outfits mommy and I have are made from indigo material which they make in our area of West Africa. The indigo materials have many different designs and are very popular here.

Nightly Devotions

Each night around 8:45 mommy, daddy and I have our night family devotions. This is a time when we read from God’s Word, sing songs of praises to Him, and say our prayers. I pick the songs we sing; some of my favorites are “Ezekiel Saw the Wheel”, “He’s Got the Whole World in His Hands”, “My God is so Big”, and a new favorite is “Rocka My Soul (in the Bosom of Abraham)”. Following singing is our nightly prayers. Right now my prayers basically consist of me thanking God. I thank God for mommy, daddy, my grandmas and grandpa, my friends in the village, and I thank Him for many of the things in my room. Here is a picture of some of the things I thank God for. “Thank you for my Dora. Thank you for my Elmo. Thank you for my ferris wheel. Thank you for ladybugs. Thank you for my dog. Thank you for my cow. Moooo! Thank you for my duck. Quack quack! Thank you for my pigs. Snort snort! Thank you for my E-I-E-I-O.” I don’t know the name of the farmer yet!

Ocean Fun

Mommy, Daddy and I just returned from a week long vacation. We had a wonderful trip and a fun time just relaxing and playing. Our trip took us to another country and we vacationed a short distance from the ocean. On two separate days we went down to the ocean. The first time I didn’t have my swimsuit. I was scared of the ocean at first because I thought the tide was going to get me. But slowly I was able to inch closer and closer. Finally I realized that it was just water and was fun to play in, so I stripped down and got right in.

The next day mommy and daddy took me back and I had my swimsuit this time. We had fun playing in the ocean. My favorite part was either when daddy was holding me or I was standing up holding on to mommy and daddy when big waves would come. They would pick us up and moves us a few feet. I even got use to the salt water and it didn’t burn my eyes. Now one of my favorite words is “ocean”.

Dora

Okay, it is not a big mystery to many people that I am a big fan of Dora. I love my Dora dolls, my Dora videos, my Dora bed sheets, my Dora Memory Game, my Dora Dominoes, my Dora pajamas, my Dora…and the list goes on. I understand that many people back in the States are big fans of Dora too. But, I bet you did not know that Dora was big in West Africa!!! Sometimes when we are in the capital I can watch Dora on one of the cable stations they have there. But instead of speaking English and Spanish, here Dora speaks French and English!

Today when mommy was at the market she bought me a new outfit. Here I am modeling it, proving that Dora is popular the world over!

Bucket Bath

Out in the village there is no running water. So that means when it is time for me to take a bath, which is every day since it is hot and I sweat during my nap, I take a bucket bath. To take a bucket bath, first you have to get your water. This involves walking to the well and drawing the water. You then carry the water to the shower in a bucket, of course you have to carry the bucket on your head. Here I am carrying a bucket on my head!

After that, you take the bucket of water to the shower for the bath. Normally you just scoop the water out with your hand to get yourself wet, but for me, mommy or daddy throw water on me with a cup. It is fun, especially when you are hot and the water is cold! However, if you really want to have some fun you get a big bucket in which you can sit. That is what I am doing here!

All Dressed Up

Mommy, Daddy and I have our weekly time of worship here in our house. There are no communities nearby where we can go and worship with others, or at least there are none yet! Here I am all dressed up for our day of worship with jewelry and everything. We have a time of singing, a time of prayer, and a study time. Mommy and daddy typically use a lesson off of the internet for the study time and we have cd’s and books we use for our time of singing.

A Fun Game

Many things here in West Africa are dependent on how you look at them. For example: Where you might see the road as a place to drive, the people here see it as a good place to walk (even right down the middle of the road) and the animals see it as a good place to sleep at night (who cares about the risk of being hit by a car).

Well, yesterday I found a fun new game, or at least to me it is a game. We take something which I am told is called “corn” in English and we peel the outside of it off. We start off with a big pile of corn and within 5 or 6 hours we have done all of it! To me it was a fun game as I sat in mommy and daddy’s laps and peeled the outside of the corn off. But it is all a matter of perspective. For the women who were there with us it was a time to visit (i.e. gossip). For the men it was nothing more than work.

Here are pictures of me playing the game and a pile of about half of the corn we peeled yesterday.

Cool, even when it is Hot

Well, I am at home today. Normally our family would be out in the village today, but I was a little sick earlier this week so mommy and I have stayed home the past couple of days. I am feeling better now and we should be heading out to the village tomorrow.

It is October, typically the hottest month of the year here. While April, May and June are hotter temperature-wise (hitting around 115 in the shade), October is the hottest month when you factor in humidity. It is right at the end of rainy season, so the humidity is very high and during the day the temperatures are between 95 to 100 in the shade. As daddy says, you just sit and sweat! But that is okay, because as you can see from my picture today, I am still very cool!!!!

Things To Do For Fun

So, the question is, “What do I do for fun here in West Africa?” Well, obviously the list is endless because each day brings new adventures. Nonetheless, I will try and give you some of my favorite things:

• Swimming – As is evident from my previous blog entries, I enjoy swimming. Mommy and I love to swim and swim and swim. I am getting good at swimming and I can go underwater holding my breath.
• Playing with my friends – It took about a year, but I have finally figured out how to play with my friends in the village. Of course it took them the same amount of time to figure out how to play with me. Now we have lots of fun playing outside, inside, with toys, with nothing, dancing and anything else we can find to do.
• Swinging – I am a big fan of swings. At first the people here were not sure what to think about me swinging and going so high, but I love it and they have learned to love it also. Just yesterday there were a bunch of teenage girls playing on my swinging seeing how high they could go. Some of them were a little scared, but they were having fun.
• Watching TV – I enjoy watching television when we are back at our home that has electricity. Some of my favorite things to watch are Dora, VeggieTales, Disney movies (I really like Jungle Book right now), Punky Brewster, and Elmo.
• Reading – I am big into reading books right now. I especially like the books with flip tabs that you open up to reveal more pictures.
• Chasing Monkeys! – Okay, so I don’t really chase monkeys, but I just wanted to say that so I could put this picture of me and a monkey on my blog. Besides, my daddy says I am a monkey.