Happy Birthday in Russian

Vic celebrated his 4th birthday at the preschool he attends a few days before his birthday.  We love that they do simple but special birthdays at school. 

Singing the Happy Birthday song equivalent

Blowing out his candle

The kids get to take a face-first bite from their cake

 

The immediate clean-up after the bite

It is a toasting culture, and the kids start learning this at school too.  They called on Seth as one of the kids to give the birthday toast.

Happy Thanksgiving

We had a wonderful American holiday with friends, 17 adults, 12 kiddos, and 8 different passport countries. 

Lovely bird and carver

Seth coloring leaf impressions for the "kid" table

Who really needs an SUV anyway?

In Costume

The embassy had a Halloween gathering for locals and Americans.  Since Craig was going to be the face painter for the evening, we decided at the last minute that he should be in costume too.  The hat and beard were constructed on the way to the embassy.  Max stayed home for the evening since it was going to be crowded and a bit too late for him. 

A gnome, a knight, a Ninja Turtle

My Gnome

Max

Max is a red-headed sweetie... These days he loves to play peek-a-boo, dig in the dirt, and follow his brothers around trying his best to do as they do.

Shovel in hand

Digging up the grass seed Dad just laid

 

 

Playing peek-a-boo with the frisbee

Another game of peek-a-boo

Uzbek Food

While Safiya was out for her wedding Zuli helped me a bit.  She wanted to cook a traditional meal for Paka and Bebe before they left.  It was an all day affair, and a very yummy supper.

Making Pumpkin Dumplings ("manti")

Vic wanted to help roll out the dough

Our First Uzbek Wedding

The gal that helps me (and also when we lived her two plus years ago) got married in October.  We know her very, very well and her fiance pretty well too.  (Truthfully, we see him pretty often, but he only speaks Uzbek and we only speak Russian and English.  So, we gesture with him lots and speak really, really basic greetings.  He plays with the boys, especially chase with Max, and they think he is great.  Safiya thinks he is great too.  They are non-traditional, even a bit scandalous here, different ethnicities and ages, plus they have dated two years.  That is much, much longer than most couples.)  The wedding was loud! but fun.  It was completely non-religious and an interesting mix of east and west.

 

 

   

School Plays

So these plays are really more like serious productions... backdrops, costumes, songs, dances, and memorized speaking lines.  My kids enjoy doing the plays and seeing themselves in the videos later, but they do not enjoy all the extra practice beforehand, which they say takes away from playtime.

The first play had Seth and Victor and was, the best I could tell with my very elementary Russian, about welcoming fall.

 

 

Seth dancing with "fall"

 

 

 

  The second play only had the smaller kiddos.  They were all fruits and vegetables and absolutely adorable.

The carrot and the peas

Mama and her Sweet Pea... I'm pretty sure the teachers made this costume.. impressive

Back "Home"

After the travels, Paka and Bebe came back here for more sight seeing, adventures, and bits of daily life.

Celebrating Bebe's birthday

Saturday morning soccer

A visit to a madrasa here in town

Keeping up with the boys

More Adventures

Paka, Bebe, Craig, Seth, and Vic took a van ride to a not-so-nearby yurt camp for the next day's adventures.  The boys loved being in the middle of nowhere and roaming freely.

Lake Aydar

Look closely and you can see the dung beetle that Vic played with for hours.

A camel ride with Dad

A camel ride with Paka

Kids love dirt

Not your everyday roadblock

They ended the evening with a full moon

Adventures

Paka and Bebe were just here to visit us and see our little corner of the world.  Within 48 hours of their arrival, they left for Bukhara with Craig and the "big" boys.  (Max and I stayed home.)

The Happy Travelers

Playing outside a madrassa

Puppets at the puppet museum

Not their first time in this spot... June 2011

Trying on fun hats

Playing with their shadows

Botanical Gardens

We've been to the Botanical Gardens twice in the last week because it is close and we are safe from the crazy drivers here... Have I mentioned that driving here is CRAZY.  Lanes are merely a suggestion for the weak.