Not-quite the Winter Olympics
Nothing like an Indonesian Mall
Balcony of Mishap for Kitty #1
Hannah and two pets that are still alive this week
Kitty #1 and Kitty #2....they don't get names until we know they are going to surviveI'm going to try and do better at this blog stuff. One of my hangups is that I like to include pictures on the things I write about but then I forget to take the camera or I take it and the pictures turn out lousy or the battery or something... And then I don't feel like writing if I don't have good pictures. Who wants to read anything without pictures?
Speaking of reading. Kayla is the new reader in our family. (Wish I had taken some pictures this morning of Rebecca teaching her to read!) She's using the exact same "teaching" book that she used with Rebekah Joy, Ben, and Hannah. It's fun to watch and listen as Kayla sounds out very slowly the letters and makes them into words. The amazing part of it is remembering the other kids learning on and stumbling over the very same words. There's something wonderfully encompassing? full circle? magical? nostagic?...not sure what the right word is but it's easy to close my eyes and picture any of the other kids sitting there doing the same thing 10 or 15 years ago.
Usually we go to church on Sunday morning. I think I mentioned that we've started attending in Jakarta. I'll definitely (maybe) remember to take the camera to church next week. On the last Sunday of the month, though, they have several areas of Jakarta that are "car free" so driving to church is a nightmare. The good news is that we can go on Saturday night which we did last night. That leaves all day Sunday for different activities. This morning, that meant Kayla and Rebecca going ice skating. If the download button works right, photos should be attached.
They can skate for two hours and I think it is only about $4.00 each. I just walk around the mall while they skate. Hannah stayed home to take care of her new pets (again, if the download stuff is working you should see a couple of rabbits). Our pets more or less rotate in and out of our family. The list of casualties and burials so far this year include a couple of hamsters, a couple of guinie pigs, a bird, and a rabbit. Several fish, too, but do they really count as pets? The new family members (future cusualties) include two more rabbits, a couple of cats, turtle, and maybe a few others.
One of the cats almost took his own life a few weeks ago. A peaceful Sunday morning coffee in the downstairs sofa was rudely interrupted by a cat falling from the upstairs hallway (photos included, I hope). Contrary to folk lore, cats do not always land on their feet. This one smacked on his back and head and lay motionless for several minutes. While I looked for the shovel Rebecca said, "Hey, I think it might still be alive." I began picturing expensive vet bills and a paralyzed cat we'd need to take care for the next several years. I hoped she was wrong.
Wonder of wonders, though, the cat did begin moving. Then it began crawling and making an awful noise. My nightmare was unfolding. But miracle of miracles the thing recovered over the next several hours and within a couple days it was running around again...only to fall from the balcony once again. It needed less time to recover from its second fall and to my knowledge that's been it. Lesson learned.
And speaking of lessons learned...Ben has been hating the IB studying but he has been working harder than I have ever seen him work in my life. And it's finally paying off. He received a couple of perfect papers recently and is definitely getting the hang of this thing. Three tests last Friday went OK and I'm sure he'll do well on the two he has tomorrow. He is speaking three times more (by far!) Indonesian now then he did after two years of Spanish.
I speak less Indonesian now then when I came. Besided being able to say "good morning" when I came, I could also count to ten. I don't even remember what "one" is now...but I can still say good morning.
Speaking of reading. Kayla is the new reader in our family. (Wish I had taken some pictures this morning of Rebecca teaching her to read!) She's using the exact same "teaching" book that she used with Rebekah Joy, Ben, and Hannah. It's fun to watch and listen as Kayla sounds out very slowly the letters and makes them into words. The amazing part of it is remembering the other kids learning on and stumbling over the very same words. There's something wonderfully encompassing? full circle? magical? nostagic?...not sure what the right word is but it's easy to close my eyes and picture any of the other kids sitting there doing the same thing 10 or 15 years ago.
Usually we go to church on Sunday morning. I think I mentioned that we've started attending in Jakarta. I'll definitely (maybe) remember to take the camera to church next week. On the last Sunday of the month, though, they have several areas of Jakarta that are "car free" so driving to church is a nightmare. The good news is that we can go on Saturday night which we did last night. That leaves all day Sunday for different activities. This morning, that meant Kayla and Rebecca going ice skating. If the download button works right, photos should be attached.
They can skate for two hours and I think it is only about $4.00 each. I just walk around the mall while they skate. Hannah stayed home to take care of her new pets (again, if the download stuff is working you should see a couple of rabbits). Our pets more or less rotate in and out of our family. The list of casualties and burials so far this year include a couple of hamsters, a couple of guinie pigs, a bird, and a rabbit. Several fish, too, but do they really count as pets? The new family members (future cusualties) include two more rabbits, a couple of cats, turtle, and maybe a few others.
One of the cats almost took his own life a few weeks ago. A peaceful Sunday morning coffee in the downstairs sofa was rudely interrupted by a cat falling from the upstairs hallway (photos included, I hope). Contrary to folk lore, cats do not always land on their feet. This one smacked on his back and head and lay motionless for several minutes. While I looked for the shovel Rebecca said, "Hey, I think it might still be alive." I began picturing expensive vet bills and a paralyzed cat we'd need to take care for the next several years. I hoped she was wrong.
Wonder of wonders, though, the cat did begin moving. Then it began crawling and making an awful noise. My nightmare was unfolding. But miracle of miracles the thing recovered over the next several hours and within a couple days it was running around again...only to fall from the balcony once again. It needed less time to recover from its second fall and to my knowledge that's been it. Lesson learned.
And speaking of lessons learned...Ben has been hating the IB studying but he has been working harder than I have ever seen him work in my life. And it's finally paying off. He received a couple of perfect papers recently and is definitely getting the hang of this thing. Three tests last Friday went OK and I'm sure he'll do well on the two he has tomorrow. He is speaking three times more (by far!) Indonesian now then he did after two years of Spanish.
I speak less Indonesian now then when I came. Besided being able to say "good morning" when I came, I could also count to ten. I don't even remember what "one" is now...but I can still say good morning.
