Mavala Stop - Day 1

All three of our children have enjoyed sucking on something. A couple years ago we convinced Joseph to give up the habit and to our surprise, he did. However, our girls have so far thwarted all of our attempts to break their sucking habits.

Today, we got a product called Mavala Stop to take it to the next level. Simply apply it on their finger nails and let it dry. When the kids taste the bad taste, they are supposed to be deterred.

Audrey naturally instantly tasted her thumb and laughed, "it tasted like medicine!" We'll see how it goes and I'll try to remember to update the blog.

20 December update:

So far so good.  The girls have not sucked their fingers since the treatment as best I can figure.   I even had to trim Katelyn's fingernails.  She had previously told me her nails don't grow.  :)

Doss

Strings Recital

Yesterday was the PEL Strings Recital.  All the Strings students performed in groups except for Joseph because he was the only cellist.  Mommy didn’t realize that until the day before the concert.  Joseph said he was playing a solo.  Apparently there was only one other student who was taking cello, but he quit.  After the recital, the principal asked for more students to sign up to play the cello next term.  He said, “Joseph Barker needs friends!” 

Poor Joseph was so nervous.  He had to play in front of all the parents and the entire school came too!  He did really well and Mommy was very proud of him for performing.

Group guitar


Group Violins (there were 2 beginner groups and one intermediate group)


Joseph and his cello teacher




The Performance:

 

 

 

Post update:  Mommy was finally able to compress the performance video and upload it without the computer crashing.  So...Mommy and Daddy decided to let Joseph decide if he would like to continute with the cello after trying it out this term. Joseph said that he wanted to keep playing.  Joseph's cello teacher said that he is a quick learner and has made a lot of progress in a short amount of time.  Also, it looks as if the Principal's plea for more kids to play cello has paid off.  There is at least one other student that has signed up for cello next term. He is a good friend of Joseph's so that should be fun for both of them to be in the same class.  

 

  

 

Budding Artist

Audrey says she wants to be an artist when she grows up. She is always creating things. Mommy is not sure what to do with all of Audrey's art.

There is a tree branch with yarn hanging from it. There is a box with pieces of scrap fabric and painted macaroni glued to it. Mommy has drawings and mosaics all over the walls. The creative juices just keep flowing!

Audrey's latest interest is painting. She asked Mommy to buy her paints and a canvas. Last night she made a sketch and then proceeded to paint. It turned out pretty well for her first painting.

Audrey's Yeh-Yeh (grandfather) is an artist. He would be proud to know there is a budding artist in the family.

UN Day

The kids had UN Day celebrations at school recently. Mommy loves how the International School celebrates diversity. In the weeks leading up to UN Day, the kids learn about many of the countries that their classmates are from.

In the school cafeteria, the parents set up country booths that the kids visit. They get souvenirs or food. Mommy helped make chocolate chip cookies for the American booth.

There was also a concert and parade. My kids represented the U.S. although Joseph said he wanted to walk with the Taiwan flag. Audrey insisted that she is half Indonesian. I guess there is some confusion in her mind about her ethnicity...lol.

Mommy enjoyed UN Day very much. The kids wore Patriotic clothes, and it was so sweet to hear the kids singing "Light a candle for peace." If only world peace were as simple as lighting a candle. It was a lovely song and brought tears to Mommy's eyes.

Time has passed so quickly. Mommy can't believe that a whole year has passed since last UN Day.

 

 

 

4th Birthday

 

Katelyn turned 4 the day we headed back to Jakarta.  She was just the sweetest baby ever.  Mommy is sad that she is growing up so quickly.  Katelyn can be super stubborn and feisty, but she is also very sweet and cuddly too.  We all adore our little Nu nu.

 

 

 

 

We had a joint birthday party for Katelyn and her friend the second weekend in November.  It was a little on the late side, but still lots of fun.

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.