Isaac's 6th Birthday Party (23 September 2006--Better Late Than Never!)

The balloon man. He showed up a few hours before the party and blew up 200 or so balloons FAST with no special tools but his own mouth and CO2. Russell was mesmerized and then the two became great friends.
The balloon man stayed and did balloon sculptures. This is Hiroya (from Japan) and Yeryeon (from Korea) who are both in Isaac's KG class.
Mariam, Isaac's best friend in his ECEC4 class last year.Janya, one of Isaac's newest friends in his KG class this year.
Tom, his oldest and best friend. He's from Australia, but more recently from China, so Isaac often tells people his best friend is Chinese!
Russell hugging his best friend Ellie Joyce (Tom's sister).
Isaac the Birthday Boy wearing a crown he made for himself during "choices time" at school.What was supposed to be a rocket party (a repeat from last year, since, as Isaac said, "I don't have any of the same friends this year, so they won't mind!") evolved into a balloon party when Rich threw down the "rocket" balloons from the roof, filled with a bit of dal (lentils).
The view from the roof of the party as it was warming up . . .Margaret, our housekeeper, and her daughter who helps her Poojah helped to make all of this happen.Margaret and Poojah quietly cleaned up most of the party as we were socializing with lingering guests. We could definitely get used to some of these perks of living in a third-world country!
Playing musical chairs using foam squares.
Russell covered in cocoa after helping make the frosting for the birthday cake!
Graham getting spoiled again by Margaret while Mommy was in the midst of decorating the cake ("Don't worry Mommy," said Isaac, "I'm sure it will look exactly like the one Grandma did!" A tall order . . .)
After much stress, the cake didn't turn out all that bad. As requested, it did look pretty much like last year's cake.Isaac, on the other hand, seems like a completely different boy from last year. So much bigger and wiser and more confident. I love this photo because you can see on his face how very special he felt, but he was trying to maintain a "cool" look on his face despite the urge to grin. So grown up!

The birthday boy and his proud parents (with a dad who is the birthday dad extraordinaire!)
Graham-bam loves to pose for the camera!!
Playing with the spoils from the party afterwards . . . a Hot Wheels set from Tom!

No News is Good News

Hello World! Time marches on and we blog less and less. Life feels more and more normal and pedestrian here in Delhi. Most of the time anyway. This morning while bathing Graham a friend called and while I was chatting with her for a bit I started hearing this sizzling, then popping, then a big pop, then some smoke out of the outlet the water heater was plugged into. I paused in my conversation for a bit and said casually, "We're having some electrical problems here," and then the conversation went on. Weird.
I've been busily setting things up to do some Musikgarten classes again. It's been lots of work to set things up, but people are really excited about it around here because there's not really anything like it around in this city of a gazillion people. I have now taught four demo classes and after I teach I am exhausted but almost giddy with excitement. I love to teach, I love to teach music this way, and I'm so energized by the kids. It's fun also to be doing it with Russell and Isaac and see the concepts sink in so quickly and to bring more music into our home. I even set up a website so people can get information easily. The egghead in me was so happy doing that little bit of web programming. Check it out at www.merindacutler.com.

We finally got a Young Women's president, so our Young Women program at church is finally starting to thrive. On the left is our president Tamanna Bhati, in the middle a new beehive Dolphin Verma who just took communion at a Catholic church so isn't really interested in ours, and on the right the 1st counselor in the YW, Dolly.

We have a (semi-)prepared lesson most weeks and last week we had five girls come! We have been meeting as a presidency on Saturdays for 3 hours or so to visit girls and we normally visit one per hour because it's so hard to find places and brave the traffic. It takes forever, but it's completely worth it to meet these girls in their homes and begin to understand what they're all about.

This picture is Ekta Rajoria who had such a peaceful, happy face and was so excited to meet us. She didn't speak any English, but through some translation I learned that she doesn't come because her parents don't like her to and it's difficult for her to get there without someone to take her. I told her to call me and I could give her a ride. But she has no phone, and when she calls, what would she say? Still working on that one.

We visited another girl who isn't coming because she can't pass her exams to move up a grade and so she feels like all day Sunday she needs to study.

The third picture is Sara Jordan and her mom. Sara is just barely twelve and is an accomplished ballerina, swimmer, and gymnast. Her mom thinks we might see her in the Olympics someday. They don't come to church because Sis. Jordan has back problems and just has trouble getting out of bed in the morning. She says in the winter they will start coming again when it's not so hot. Endless opportunities for service here.


Isaac talks non-stop these days about getting a television. The reasons we don't have one are complex--mostly having to do with technical issues, but some ideological. But periodically Isaac asks me with a grave face if we can sit down and talk about getting a TV. He very convincingly presents the pros and cons from cost to ease of use (over using the computer for movies) to how many adapters and transformers we'll need to buy. He's got it all figured out. I'm not sure if he wants it more so he can watch it, or so he can set it up! At first I thought we'd get him one for his birthday, but then we realized that if it is HIS TV we might get some flack when we tell him not to watch it. So then I decided we could get it for Rich's birthday as a (pseudo) surprise! So Isaac and Russell have been working like mad to earn the money to buy Daddy a TV. We have a chart taped to a plastic juice pitcher and we have nearly 200 rupees of the 6000 we'll need to buy a small TV! Now when I ask Isaac what he wants for his birthday he tells me money!
Russell is now officially 100% potty trained. Hooray! He goes to the potty by himself and narrates the whole thing for anyone in the house to hear ("I'm going to go potty now!" and "Did you hear that plop?") and wipes, washes hands, and gets all dressed again by himself. Miraculous. It warms my heart every time he does it. I think the trash boy is feeling pretty happy too that he now only has to deal with 1/2 the diapers he did before (yes, he's taking them now that we separate them, and we give him a little bribe every once in a while!).
Russell goes to the Busy Bees preschool now at the British High Commission and loves it. They have loads of great toys they bring out in waves and they just play and play all morning. The Brits are a bit stiff and stand-offish (Russell calls his teachers his "guard teachers" for some reason), so that's a fun cultural experience. He says his new best friend is Ellie--Tom's sister who also attends preschool at Busy Bees. He is thrilled to have his own friends now and a school to chat about at the dinner table. And chat he does. He is so full of joy and kindness. He and Graham are starting to really play together and it's fun to see.

"Garam Masala's" First Birthday

Graham had a fabulous first birthday. Isaac decorated a carrot cake for him with a blue star and Sarita brought over a fruity cake of sorts she'd spent all day making. We put him on the kitchen table with both of them in front of him. Despite Isaac's efforts to take charge of the situation, Graham quickly plunged into both cakes and had them smeared all over himself, the table, and everyone else in no time. He was more interested in playing in it that eating it, though! For his birthday he had a great runny nose and climbed out of his high chair onto the marble floor, falling on his four new top teeth and bleeding all over. We also took him to pick up Dolly and while I was inside her house sampling her South Indian cuisine, Dolly's neighbors made friends with Graham (Rich assures me he didn't let any of them touch our little Garam Masala).





So now we're trying a new model of posting photos that's much faster. Check out lots more photos of Graham's big day(s) here.

Russell's Cool 3rd Birthday Party

We had Russell's birthday party on the same day as the Holi Festival of Colors so we let Isaac and Russell splatter colored sprinkles and frosting all over it in honor of the holiday. We had to do lots of talking and restraining to keep Isaac and Tom away at this moment for Russell to blow out his candles all by himself. Same deal with the presents. It's tough being the little brother!

Perhaps the coolest thing about Russell's birthday party was the monkey man that happened to show up at our gate and offer his services for $4. We invited him in and enjoyed the show! I love India--no need to plan activities, just put out some balloons and see who shows up.

The other cool thing about the party were the fun friends that came. We kept it simple and invited only Tom and Ellie (from Australia, our first and best friends thus far) and Joshua from the ward.

I think to Russell the coolest part of the party was the fabulous gifts--an airport terminal from Tom and Ellie, an airplane from Isaac, a water gun (or as he calls it, a rocket that shoots wa-wa) from Mama-Dada, and a battery-powered train set that plays Indian music from Joshua.

Elephant Ride at a Birthday Party!!

Isaac, Russell, and Rich on the elephant with one of Isaac's classmates Jae Hyuk.

First Birthday Party Invitation

Isaac got invited to a birthday party for his classmate Zara Purdy. We were amazed when we pulled up to this gigantic house on the outskirts of Delhi (they call them "farmhouses") and saw an elephant, an ice cream cart, horse ride, and blow-up jumping house, carnival games, face painting, a wet bar, and a spread of gourmet and kid food. Rich talked the kids into an elephant ride, and they loved it. We also got to meet lots of Isaac's classmates and their families and draw upon their expat experiences. The Purdys are so sweet and genuine. It was so thoughtful of them to invite us and help us tap into the social network.

Graham's Birth Announcement I Never Sent

I think I'm too late to send this out via snail mail, so here it is for the Internet-savvy. Aunt Lizzy surprised us with the onesie listing all of his stats. I took this 17 September 2005.



Graham Clinton Cutler
Born 25 August 2005
2:28 a.m.
8 lbs. 10 oz.
21.5 inches

Isaac's 5th Birthday Party

Catching a rocket balloon at Isaac's 5th birthday party. Rich and Katie took charge of the games and the party in general and did a tremendous job. They launched rockets with Alka-Seltzer and film canisters, threw rocket balloons filled partly with lentils, and launched rocket balloons attached to drinking straws along long pink strings.

Thanks to Grandma Cutler who made the fabulous ROCKET cake with Isaac's help (and only one tantrum).

Russell was pretty glum at Isaac's party until he got to hold the empty pinata. He carried it around for days, blasting it off everywhere. I'm still cleaning up the orange and yellow streamers . . .