October

October was a busy month.  Mommy decided pretty much last minute that she would take the kids back to Texas to attend Uncle M’s wedding.  The kids are super travelers and did really well as usual.  We arrived in Houston mid October and made the most of our roughly 10.5 days in Texas.  It turned out that Daddy had to spend 2 weeks in Sumatra around the same time as our Texas trip so the timing worked out well.  Also, the kids had a little over a week off for fall break so they only missed 4 days of school.  It was a fast and furious trip, but we are glad that we went.

 

Spent lots of time waiting in airports

 

The connecting flight in Singapore leaves at 2:30am…not the best time for sleepy kids.

 

Finally…at the Houston airport.

 

Took a quick but fun trip to the ranch

 

Had fun with cousins

 

Attended the wedding

 

Headed home…at the Singapore airport waiting for the flight to Jakarta

 

Finally back in Jakarta…3 tired kids on the way back to the apartment.

Preschool

Mommy was asked to join in teaching a home preschool with a couple of other moms from Church.  The kids go 4 days a week from 9:30am to 12:30pm.  Considering the traffic in Jakarta, it is quite an ordeal to get Katelyn to her preschool class on the days that Mommy is not teaching.  Mondays and Thursdays we have to travel to Kemang which is between half an hour to an hour away from our home depending on traffic.  Tuesdays we travel to Pondok Indah which is even further away and also takes at least an hour on the return trip.  Each morning we leave by around 8:30 am and we arrive home around 1:30pm. 

Katelyn is really loving her preschool class. She is with 3 other girls from her Sunbeam class at Church.  All the girls really seem to be enjoying going to preschool and spending time with each other.  In general, Katelyn is a home-body and really is not very social.  Mommy thought it would be good for her to get used to a little more structured learning environment and more importantly, to socialize with some other kids her age.  All the girls really get along well, and Katelyn seems to enjoy being with the other girls. 

Traffic was pretty bad this morning.  There was a line of cars just to get out of our apartment building.

 

 

Sweet little Katelyn spends lots of time in her carseat.

Soccer

So Mommy did not realize that Joseph’s weekly soccer practice is 2.5 hours long!  Mommy is going to have to figure out the logistics on this one.  Between Joseph and Audrey having practice on the same day of the week, they would literally be up at school for 12 hours!  That is just way too long of a day for young children.  Mommy is not sure how we are going to work this out.

In the mean time, here is a picture of Joseph in his soccer uniform. He is on Team Netherlands. Joseph loves playing soccer!  He was so excited to go to his first practice this last Wednesday and to get his uniform!

Chicken Pox

Audrey and Joseph started soccer last Saturday.  This is Audrey’s first time to play soccer.  She is the only girl on her team of eleven.  She is on Team Brazil and they played Team England.  The other team totally dominated the game and pretty much stomped all over Audrey’s team.  She also got clipped on the ear at her first game and decided to sit out for the rest of the first half.  She played again in the last quarter. 

Joseph is on Team Netherlands.  His coach sent out the email about the first game at 11:00pm the night before so Joseph and the coach’s son were the only kids from the team to show up for the game.  They jumped in with Team Germany and played a couple of games.  Joseph did pretty well…according to Daddy.  Mommy was over watching Audrey play.  They play at different times on different school campuses so that makes things a little complicated for everyone. 

Today was the first soccer practice for Joseph and Audrey.  Audrey was so excited.  She put on her uniform and shin guards and was ready to go!  In the car she complained about having some itchy spots on her side so Mommy suggested stoping by to see the school nurse before practice.  Nurse Lydia said she thought Audrey had Chicken Pox.  Mommy was skeptical since Audrey had not run a fever at all and the spots were tiny.  There also didn’t seem to be that many of them, and they didn’t really look much like blisters.  The nurse said Mommy had to take Audrey to the clinic and have her cleared by a doctor before she could return to school.

Joseph was upset about having to miss his practice and go to the clinic with Mommy, Audrey, and Katelyn.  Mommy decided to ask if our part-time helper would be willing to work overtime and go with Joseph to soccer practice.  She agreed to do that so Joseph was able to attend practice.

At the clinic, the doctor took one look at Audrey’s spots and said she definitely had Chicken Pox…sigh.  The doctor said Joseph should not go to school the next few days either.  If he is symptom-free after Friday, he can return to school on Monday.  Joseph is really praying hard that he will not get Chicken Pox.  He really wants to play in Saturday’s soccer game.  Mommy saw Audrey’s coach at school and already told him that Audrey would most likely not be there for the game on Saturday.

The kids have all been vaccinated for Chicken Pox.  Sadly, it looks as though Katelyn is also developing spots on her back.  Mommy is pretty sure she will have lots of spots come tomorrow morning.  Joseph is still in the clear thus far.  The doctor said hopefully the kids will just have a mild case of Chicken Pox.  She said maybe Audrey could go back to school in as as little as 3 to 4 days.  Mommy is hoping the blisters scab over by Monday so Audrey can go back to school by Tuesday.  Sadly, both Joseph and Audrey are missing picture day on Friday.  They will have to make those up another time.

Daddy is still in Sumatra so he keeps missing out on all the fun that we are having here.  The kids miss him when he is gone.  Unfortunately, he still has to go out of town a few more times in the near future.

Here is a picture of sweet Audrey in her soccer uniform. It’s a little big on her.  Someone asked her today if her name was Brazil since it says Brazil in the upper right hand part of her shirt…lol.  Joseph just got his uniform today so I will post a picture of him in his uniform another time.

 

New Addition

So Audrey had been begging to have a hamster since we moved to Indonesia.  Mommy and Daddy read the apartment policy which said no pets so we assumed that in addition to cats and dogs, rodents were probably out as well.  One day, Mommy went to a friend’s apartment who lives in the same complex and guess who had a hamster!  Mommy’s friend said the apartment only banned cats and dogs.  Small pets like hamsters were on the ok list. 

The very next day, Mommy went to the store to pick up a hamster.  At Carrefour, a shop similar to a Super Walmart in the U.S., Mommy found the cutest hamster.  The helper put the hamster in a clear takeout container which made Mommy laugh. The hamster rode around in the shopping cart while Mommy did a little grocery shopping too.  People gave Mommy lots of smiles as they looked into the cart and saw the little critter.

Mommy did not buy a cage at Carrefour as they seemed a bit overpriced.   Mommy ended up buying a large cage off the streets.  It came with a house, 2 running wheels, water bottle, 2 food bowls, and a long tunnel, and it cost $10.00 less than the price of a smaller, simpler cage at Carrefour. The mini dwarf hamster Mommy bought looks tiny in the huge cage.

Joseph, Audrey, and Katelyn love the hamster.  They argued back and forth about the name until they finally agreed upon Nibbles.  Audrey came up with the winning name.  Daddy suggested we call the hamster Nibbles Onfingers.  The kids said no, the name is Nibbles Barker.  So, below are some pictures of the newest member of the Barker clan, Nibbles.

Mother’s Day

Mommy had a nice day hanging out with her 3 babies!  Being a mom is hard, but definitely worth it.  Mommy just melts when Katelyn says in her sweet little voice, “I love you Mommy!” Unfortunately, Joseph has already reached the age where he says it is “yucky” to tell your mom that you love her.  That’s okay though because Mommy knows that he does love her.  Silly Audrey is just fun to be around.  She’s so playful and cute making her a favorite with teachers and just about everyone she comes in contact with.  These guys can be incredibly infuriating at times, but Mommy loves them!  Aren’t they just so cute?

Sports Day

The kids both had sports days last week.  The preschool age kids had their Sports Day on Thursday.  Grades Kg thru 5th grade had their Sports Day on Friday.  Sports Day is just for fun!  The kids get to participate in a variety of activities.  At the end, each kid gets a popsicle and the principle grills hot dogs for everyone. The younger kids also got medals.  Mommy and Katelyn went up to school both mornings to watch Joseph and Audrey. 

Thursday morning, Mommy and Daddy both went up to school to participate in the 1st grade Transportation celebration. The kids had been working on transportation projects that they got to share with the parents and the rest of the kids at the school.  Joseph’s transportation project was called the “Amphibious Jet,”  It was a vehicle that he said could go underwater like a submarine, on land like a car, and in the air, like a plane.  He put a propeller on it and a fish-like tail plus “jet” engines.  There were all sorts of ideas that the kids came up with. 

Joseph was upset that Mommy and Daddy couldn’t stay very long.  Daddy had to run off to work, and Mommy wanted to go watch Audrey participate in Sports Day.  Audrey looked like she was having a great time.  One of the dads that was helping out commented that Audrey was very athletic.  She did look like she was really enjoying the activities.  Some of the other kids were starting to look tired and worn out before all the activities had been completed. Daddy and Mommy joke how our kids are like the Energizer Bunny…they just keep on going!

Friday morning was busy for Mommy too.  The driver said he couldn’t come in so Mommy and Katelyn had to quickly find someone to get a ride with since the activities started at 7:45am.  Mommy was also asked to help out in the preschool class with their cooking activity so it was a busy morning.  Mommy and Katelyn watched Joseph do a few activities before we had to go do the cooking class at 8:30am.  Mommy helped the kids make rice crispie treats.  At around 9:30am, Mommy and Katelyn went back to watch Joseph participate in a few more activities. 

The last couple of days have been busy but fun!

 

The "Amphibious Jet”

 

Telling someone all about his transportation project.

 

“I love Sports Day!”

 

Getting her well-deserved medal!