A Light Hearted Commentary in the Face of Depressing Financial News

When it rains outside...well, you may as well jump in the pool since you are going to be wet anyway! It's been raining most afternoons the past week and the kids wanted to swim so we thought, "why not?" Usually there is lightening involved which keeps us out of the pool but today there were no thunder storms in sight:)



Speaking of thunder storms I got to do one of my most favorite things in the world yesterday afternoon...I got to sit and listen to a storm rolling in for about 30 minutes. That ranks right up there with sitting next to a rushing mountain stream with a good book, listening to the crash of waves on a beach, walking through leaves in the Fall, and watching a good snow fall from the warmth of my own home! Those things bring a delight to my soul that I could never explain!!



Some of you may remember that I tried making cut out cookies last Spring for Easter. I couldn't keep the dough cold enough to put onto the cookie sheet after cutting them out. I tried again only this time with pumpkins. The dough went into the freezer for 30 minutes prior to cutting them out and both air cons in the living room and the fan were turned on to cool the room down to the max. The family was complaining about the cold until I told them what I was up to! I used the kitchen table which is directly under one of those air cons and managed to turn out beautiful, perfect pumpkin sugar cookies that the twins will decorate when they get home from school tomorrow. Can you tell I'm excited? You have to learn to adjust to the heat and humidity here and that's one more case of "I CONQUERED!!"



After having been off the past week for Fall Break the twins head back to school tomorrow...for one day! They have Tuesday and Wednesday off for Parent/Teacher conferences with school on Thursday and a field trip on Friday. Some times I wonder what I'm paying for with all these days off/fun days?



A little Ethan update:



He's been keeping us completely entertained these days by repeating most of what we say. Sometimes it's hysterical to hear something you said come out of an almost two year old's mouth! And sometimes you say, "Oops!" He was running around today saying, "But!" I don't think that he was referring to his bum but one never knows!



He woke up from a nap yesterday and asked for a neighbor of ours who had been playing with him at the pool..."Where's...Gabby?" It MELTED her heart to hear him say her name!



We were getting ready to go out for supper tonight when he said, "But, raining!" I couldn't believe that he was able to process that it had been raining earlier and that we usually don't go out in the rain. In fact we usually tell him, "No, you can't go out and play because it's raining."



He says "Buck-ick" for bucket and "Blank-ing" for blanket. Tonight he told me "I stink-ing" for "I am stinky!" Time for potty training:) The other day in the pool he had his "buck-ick" and "shobel" (shovel) and was stirring water around saying, "I...cooking!" I think he has heard that one before from our helper when he bugs her for a glass of milk...



He's really good at saying "thank you" without any prompting. The twins could actually learn something from him...!



He also says, "Awe-some!" No idea where he picked that up from!

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One advantage to living half way across the world??? You don't have to hear or see the "distress" the media kicks up in times like these:)



HAVE A WONDERFUL WEEK and enjoy your FALL weather for me! Roast a marshmallow around a bonfire, too:)

16th Day of School Picture

I forgot to get a "First Day of First Grade" picture so I finally got one...on the 16th day of school! Oops!

Guilt and A Challenge

Have you taken time recently to just sit and watch your children playing? Have you taken time to sit and LISTEN to your spouse without talking about yourself? Have you thanked God for your health and the food, shelter, and clothes that you have? I mean REALLY thanked Him?

The past few days I have been reading of a journey that a woman about my age started on a little over a year ago and ended in late July. A woman who left behind a spouse and a little boy and who was very ill for the last 10 months or so of her life. A woman who would have given anything to have another day where she felt good enough to be a mom and a wife.

And it made me feel guilty.

Guilty that I haven't taken the time recently to sit and play games with the twins. Guilty that it annoys me when Ethan brings the same book to me over and over to be read. Guilty that while Ryan sits and tells me about his day I am thinking of all the things I want to tell him about MY day. Guilty that I spend so much time thinking about what's bad in life that I fail to notice all that is good.

If that were my lot in life, to die young, what type of legacy would I be leaving my three children and my husband? And why do I tend to take them for granted when none of us are guaranteed our next breath? Will I be able to glorify God even when the road gets steep and seems impossible to continue on?

I challenged myself today to play a game or two with the twins, to read Ethan a book as many times as he wants it read, to get into the pool and swim with them instead of watching from the side. I challenged myself to FEEL the sunshine and the breeze and the health surging through my body, to not take every breath for granted. And to praise God for the blessing to be able to do all this!

If I haven't said it lately I'm thankful for my family and all my friends! I'm thankful that I have been given another day to show my family how much I love them! I'm thankful for the food on my table, the shelter over my head, and the clothes on my back! And most of all I'm thankful that Jesus died for me that I can have a hope of life beyond this world!

Bintan, Indonesia

I guess I should update you on Ethan -he's better. His fever broke Sunday evening so he and I were able to join Ryan and the twins for our little vacation. We weren't going to be able to get our money back so if his fever would have continued Ethan and I would have stayed home.

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Eating lunch poolside
Kaitlyn was not happy at Ryan - can you tell? :)

Ethan was literally rolling around in the sand! He would also take handfuls of sand and dump it on top of his head...so different than the twins at that same age! We have pictures of them trying to AVOID the sand. He also really liked the waves once he got used to them.

On Monday we had been at the beach for about 15 minutes when it started pouring rain. Ryan and I were relatively dry under our little shelter so we decided to try to ride it out. Here is a view looking down the beach while it was raining...
And here is the same view when it's not raining!
The kids didn't mind being all wet and sandy so we let them play in the rain. It beat being cooped up in the hotel room, anyway! I love sitting and listening to the rain:)
Our room
There are all kinds of activities to do if you get tired of the beach and pools. One of them is taking an ATV tour. Ethan had fun sitting on top of the ATV and pretending that he was actually moving! Besides this there was kayaking, jet skiing, skiing, wake boarding, ping pong, pool, board games, a kid's club, and bike riding. Since we were there for such a short time we didn't do much except the pool and the beach. The twins on Monday while it was raining went to the kids club for a few activities.

I'm In Love...

With a strip of white sandy beach, water so clear you can see the bottom, a refreshing breeze, Rest and Relaxation!

A place where you can relax on your balcony while the baby naps,
Or where you can enjoy a sea side massage!
Or you can spend your R & R time lounging in the sand listening to the waves crashing on the shore!
And for the more adventuresome, there's always face painting at the Kid's Club!

I have been finding Ethan in (yes, I said IN) the sink in the downstairs bathroom! He likes to climb in there and mess around with toothbrushes...GROSS, I know!!


Family Photo taken by our company last weekend.
My three boys:)

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Today was UN day at school. Each student was to come dressed in a costume that represents either their home country or the country where they have spent the most amount of time. It was fun to see all the different costumes when I went to pick up the twins from school. Since we didn't have anything and don't own a sewing machine the twins were stuck with wearing what they wore for Fourth of July - red, white, and blue shirts. They put on a Primary school concert which I unfortunately had to miss since Ethan is still sick.

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Speaking of Ethan he is still sick. Hopefully he will be feeling better soon as we leave on Sunday for a short two night trip to Bintan, Indonesia for Fall Break. I took him into the doctor so that we could get a prescription for suppository fever relievers. He's refusing anything by mouth and what is available over the counter back home is only available by RX here. The prescription was written on a pad of paper that is usually supplied by drug reps! So different than the prescription pads doctors back home use!

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The twins are off of school for the next week so we are taking a mini vacation to Indonesia leaving on Sunday after church. Ryan needs to be back at work on Wednesday so it will be short but we are looking forward to our time off! We'll take a ferry (about 1 hour ride, I think) to Indonesia and than take a transfer ride from the dock straight to our beachside resort. Stay tuned for pictures middle to end of next week!

I was finally able to post a few pictures from last week when Judy and Elaine were here. Enjoy:)

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After we spent an hour in the revolving restaurant Elaine discovered that the views were just as good out the bathroom windows...
We found a snowman in Singapore! Didn't do much to make us feel cooler but of course we had to have our picture taken.

This is by FAR my most favorite place in Singapore - the Orchid Garden at the Botanical Gardens. I may try taking the kids back there to ATTEMPT at a Christmas card picture. It is so pretty there and it's away from the noise of the city.


This is a view of the shipping yards from Prima revolving restaurant. It's amazing to watch the huge cranes at work moving containers off of the ships.


I am hoping to go back to this place sometime. We saw it from the window of our cab and than walked by it the next day. It's an old church called Chijmes that has now been turned into shops and restaurants.
We found the neatest little shop on Arab street. This lady makes slippers of the tiniest beads you have ever seen. I don't remember for sure but I believe that one pair of slippers takes around 30 days to make. She said that it's an ancient Chinese art that she learned to keep it alive. One pair of slippers cost around S$900.

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I have a few more pictures to post but I was having trouble with them...hope that everyone is having a great week! Ours has gone by unbelievably fast!!