Five Minute Friday Trial Run

  

In Between

In Between

The most comfortable place

Mom on one side, Dad on the other

Sister on the left, brother on the right

Best friend one swing over, new one shyly joining

Rest in security

Knowing I’m loved, liked, cared for.

In Between

The most difficult place

Leaving on this side, arriving on the other

Knowing we’re going, but not knowing where or when

Packing and leaving; wondering and dreaming

Cut loose from what was known; not yet arrived at the next

Living out of boxes and suitcases…

It’s a good thing that In Between can be both at the same time.

Grace and Aiden

 

A short composition of Grace. It is difficult to get her to write anything, let alone legible, so Mommy told her if it was neat enough she'd post it here ;) So here it is, even though it is not to complimentary of Aiden!

Jasmin and Dragon Fruit

When it was white, niether girl would eat it. Now we get the purple kind, Jasmin loves it!  She would eat it for every snack and meal, I think... and most often eats a whole one at a time!  Thankfully, that lovely purple is not staining.

Birthday Goats and Icecream

Last Friday three homeschooing families here decided to visit this goat farm.  "Out past the Butterfly Farm" was the directions we based our decision on. It was past the Butterfly Farm. About half an hour of twisty mountain roads to reach the other side of the island, the last little bit nothing but a one-way narrow beaten track through the bushy undergrowth of wild land.  Mommy was EXTREMELY glad that Daddy made the effort to get his work done and drive us!

The farm is small, about 100 goats of two different breeds.  We got a small tour of the barn where the goats are kept, the kids got to pet a kid or two, and the grownups had awkwardly translated to and from Malay Q&A snippets of information about the goats... until it was discovered that our tour guide actually spoke Mandarin.  Then things got going, as one of our families just spent 12 years in Beijing...  The most surprizing fact we learned was that their goats eat 300 lbs of grass a day - that is hand cut from the farm land, not brought in or processed elsewhere!  The bonus of living tropical, where the grass grows back fast enough.

 

We also got to eat goat milk icecream, and drink fresh goat's milk.  Both were delicious!  The farm will actually deliver to your house, but it is very expensive - double the expensive UHT cow's milk we can get in the stores.  I think Daddy would have bought some icecream to take home if we'd had a way of getting it there still frozen.  As you can see, even Aiden thought it was excellent stuff! He went begging for a spoonful from anyone who would give him one - after he'd already had more than enough! 

The next day we celebrated Jasmin's 6th birthday. A week early, because Daddy has to be in Singapore the week of her birthday.  She didn't mind not having to wait the extra week!

This year she decided she wanted to attempt the princess castle cake.  It looked nothing like the model she wanted, but we do think it is one of the best we've done.  Of course, the decorating was a messy and seriously fun affair...

 Then we had the pool party bit...
Mommy very thankful Aiden has dunked himself enough times that he voluntarily stays in the shallow area now!

 And an at-home candles-cake-presents...

 At this point the cake was still more or less frozen - there hadn't been room for it in the fridge, only the freezer, so she didn't actually cut the cake without help!

After they were all full of cake sugar and excitement of new presents, they presented the grownups with a ballet/dance/dressup show... Jasmin had prepared all sorts of ideas, complete with payment for extra dancers, lessons, and memberships (!), but in the end, it was just a few friends having fun together.

And Jasmin's summation of the day? "Perfect!"

Progress

The satisfaction of progress:

Jasmin trying to read and write on her own.
Math 1 finished, Math 2 begun.
Long awaited violin lessons begun.
Grace and Jasmin playing fetch with Aiden instead of trying to lock him out.
Plans for a day out with friends past the "we should" stage.
Seeds for a herb garden planted.



And unplanted.
The clean up took all afternoon as Aiden was not happy to give up the new fun!  He only got that covered because Jasmin decided to get in on the fun.  Could still call this progress, I guess, since they never get to play in the dirt on the ground and have never really wanted to.  Guess they just needed a little brother!

Faces of a Long Awaited First

Aiden is 1

Friday was Aiden's first birthday! We started it with a candle-cake-present celebration with the grandmas on skype.  Cake for breakfast - all the kids liked that idea.  Unfortunately, Aiden was full of cold, so rather subdued.

 He was unsure about it all, except the hat - he was sure he didn't want to wear it!

His one present was a communal affair: the girls had made bubble printed wrapping paper, someone gave the idea and mommy bought it, and Daddy helped Aiden unwrap it.

 It was alphabet magnets.  He does love them - we knew he would because he constantly wanted to play with the too small for little kid magnets we had.  Thing is, he likes to post them all sorts of places, not just the fridge... the computer, the garbage can, dresser drawers, shoes...!

 

The rest of the day was pretty celebratory too.  For lunch we were out with colleagues for a handover ceremony, and in the evening we went to a small group meeting from church. Rather a full day for a 1 year old with a cold, but he did extremely well.

May: What's been Happening after Bangkok

The week we got back from Bangkok (and Australia), Mommy succumbed to a bad cold. Then Jasmin, then Grace, and now Aiden.  Hopefully it stops there and doesn't go around again!

VBS at our church was the next week (while the girls still had colds, but well enough to go).  They thoroughly enjoyed it, and Mommy enjoyed the "free" mornings but Aiden sorely missed his playmates!   The girls rode the church van, meaning that they left the house about 8 am and got home about 1:15.  The first thing the girls said when they got out of the van Friday was: " Will we be here next year to go to VBS? Can we go?"

 That same week, Aiden sliced three of his finger tips by falling while holding a can...  It was a struggle to keep those fingers clean and dry while they healed!  But healed they have, and it looks like the scarring will be pretty minimal, even though at least one finger looked like it might have needed a stitch or two (if the finger was bigger!).

In other Aiden news, as he approaches his first birthday, he has become fascinated with phones (his first word is "Hello").  Anything becomes a phone, and he comes running calling his hello every time skype or a telephone rings, or even any music that he recognizes as a ringtone.  He's even taken over one of Daddy's work skype calls when Daddy went for a bathroom break!

He is loving the opportunities he gets to try feed himself, and can do a passable job drinking from a cup on his own, but the proper use of bowls and spoons still elude him.

Of course, there is always time for plenty of water play at our pool area, pattern designing, and all sorts of other spin off from school playing.

 

Sadly, there was also a goodbye (with a swim party of course!) to their first Penang friend, who left as soon as school was finished and won't be returning to Asia in the Fall - he's off to Africa instead. It was a sad weekend for all of us left behind, and an unusual mix of feelings for our family, as we have so rarely said goodbye and not been the ones doing the leaving!

Now we are on countdowns for Aiden's birthday this weekend and then Jasmin's the weekend after. After that, we'll have to come up with something else to count down to, since we've gotten so used to having an imminent happening to look towards!