October in Review

October was a crazy busy month! Dad was gone every other week to various meetings, visiting Korea, Thailand, Taiwan, Kuala Lumpur in Malaysia.  And in between he was more often than not out of commission in exhaustion recovery and/or sick... with the cold that we just could not get rid of, passing it 'round and 'round.  Hopefully we are truly clear of it now though.

Other little things kept happening that just made the going a bit tougher... like Aiden managing to get 10 seconds alone with Dad's Padfone and smashing the screen to the point it was useless - right before one of those trips away.

 Or Jasmin sliding super fast down a playground pole, complaining off and on all week about her foot hurting, and so getting the adventure of foot x-rays (noting fractured, just bruised and sprained).  She got to keep the film and is pretty proud of it :)



So, by the time the final meeting at the end of the month, we were all really glad to be all going to Bangkok together!

We went up by train a few days early, and got to spend some time together as a family, visiting old haunts and reconnecting with friends.















Other October things...
Grace sang in a children's choir for a school chapel service (unfortunately I can't get the video to upload in this post)
Jasmin got invited to join a violin-cello ensemble for a Christmas preformance
Aiden discovered that Dad's wallet is more fun than Mom's... even to being an insistent pocket picker
We took a long overdue family picture update

Phew! Ready for the promised rest of November...

Outside between the rain and the colds

We've had a month of colds!  This cold seems particularly stubborn, hanging on for much longer than usual, giving ear aches, and the need for much sleep.  And we must be on the 3rd round by now... Thankfully Mommy seems to have super immunity and has only gotten it once and a much milder form.
That, and the copious amounts of rain we've been having, has kept us in at home more than usual.  All the same, we managed to see and identify a new local bird...

...a white-throated kingfisher.  And, below him in the rain-filled stream, we saw a monitor lizard too!

Five Minute Friday

Ordinary

Our ordinary Friday
Morning school
Leftover lunch
After lunch nap
Bike to the doctor
On to the beach
Hammok and shells
Sand and surf
Girls' laughter loud on the wind
Blue sky and green leaves
Warm salty breeze
Roti supper take out on the sand
Packing up by the red light of sunset
Biking home in the near dark
Unpacking and bedtime routines
Additional shower to be just about sand-free
Kids asleep by the time parents come to say goodnight
If this is ordinary...
What blessing!

Just Today

So. Daddy's away this week.  Both girls are under the weather with colds/sore throats/ear aches. Aiden has a runny tummy.  We think perhaps he isn't doing well with cow's milk...
   


So school today? We didn't even try this morning. Mommy read aloud until her voice sounded like Grace's.  And then we attempted our drawing time.  This month we're working our way through Drawing with Children doing the Monart method.  It is interesting and engaging so far. This is what we've done today.







We started out copying designs (and then getting carried away with making our own)

And then moving on to copying actual pictures 

And then to following directions to create our own bird pictures.

Grace's

Jasmin's