End of the Year

It is almost the end of 2012! It is so crazy how fast this year went. The kids have grown so much. Mommy can look at their faces and see the changes. They seem like they have matured so much.

Today Mommy and Daddy took the kids fishing. It has been awhile. The weather was great, and Mommy had a chance to snap a few pictures.

Christmas 2012

Christmas Eve, Daddy took the family to go see Rise of the Guardians. Then we had dinner at a Singaporean restaurant that served Hawker food. The kids just could not get enough roti and curry! At home, they each got to open one gift before bedtime.

We also had a nice Christmas. The kids got up early but were nice enough not to wake Mommy and Daddy up. Around 7:30 am, everyone was up and about. After 1 quick family photo, it was time to open presents. The girls got My Little Pony, Polly Pockets, Barbies, and Littlest Pet Shop toys. Joseph got Legos, bey blades, and an alarm clock. Daddy got a new rifle scope which he won't be able to see or use until next summer. Mommy got a 50 mm lens for her camera which she just loves!

In the afternoon, we headed to a friend's house for Christmas dinner. We had roast beef and lamb along with lots of yummy sides and desserts. It was a fun dinner. Christmas Day itself was quite rainy. The kids kept begging to go swimming. Finally around 7 pm or so the rain lightened up and there was no more thunder and lightning so the kids went swimming for about an hour or so. There was not much traffic even with the rain so it did not take forever to get home. Three sleepy kids were out for the night after a fun and busy day.



Not the best picture, but no one is screaming for once.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mommy tried out her new lens on Audrey...so fun!

Gymnastics

 

The kids took gymnastics this last semester.  This last Monday they participated in an in-house exhibition for the parents.  Normally, parents are not allowed to observe the classes except when it is their turn in the rotation.  Mommy’s turns to observe the class were all early on in the semester so Mommy was excited to see the kids perform.

Joseph and Audrey have both said that they love gymnastics! They are excited to start again next semester. The exhibition was fun to watch the the kids were so proud of their medals of participation this semester.

Christmas Card 2012

 

Mommy finally got around to making a digital Christmas photo card.  We wish we could mail everyone cards, but that just isn’t something that is easy to do from here.  We want to wish all our friends and family and very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

2012 seemed like it went very quickly.  We are now going on 2 years in Indonesia.  It does not seem possible that we have been here this long.  This was an exciting year.  In March, we met up with Mommy’s parents in Taiwan for a 2-week visit.  In April, Daddy took the family to Singapore.  The kids got to see the mission office and the apartments where Daddy used to live when he was a missionary. We also went to the Night Safari and Botanical Gardens.   In May, we took a trip to Malaysia to visit more of Daddy’s old mission stomping grounds.  In Kuala Lumpur, we met up with 2 of the converts that Daddy taught on his mission.  Then we took a train to Ipoh and met up with the Church members there.  They were so kind and showed us around and took great care of us.  In June, as soon as school let out, Mommy and the kids flew to Texas for the summer.  It was a great 8 weeks!  Daddy joined us for the last 2 weeks.  The kids started school in early August. Uncle M got married in October so Mommy and the kids flew back to Texas for the wedding.  That was a fast and furious trip, but as always, it was so nice to see family and friends.  The kids are now off for Christmas break, but Mommy and Daddy are looking forward to just staying home.  Besides, Daddy is still trying to make up vacation days from earlier in the year.  This last fall semester has also been a busy one…gymnastics, soccer, Tae Kwon Do, Golf, Cello, etc.  Mommy needs these next few weeks to recharge for the next year!  We do not know what 2013 will bring, but we are looking forward to new adventures!

More Art

Joseph and Audrey have an art class Thursday afternoons. Their teacher is a super nice Indonesian man. He's a good teacher and the kids like art class.

Today's lesson was about gradients of color. The kids made a colored background with a gradient of different colors using acrylic paints. Then they sketched out and painted a subject on the top of the background.

The teacher suggested that a tree might be a nice subject. The kids must have agreed. Mommy and Daddy thought the kids did an amazing job.

Mommy is also taking an art class but she has only been to class 4 times the entire semester. Sadly, she is still working on the same picture. Hopefully one of these days , Mommy will actually finish her painting.
The teacher said that it is starting to look good, but Mommy needs to keep working on those pumpkins...sigh.

Mommy's art teacher is a well-known Indonesian artist. Many of her students have gone on to be well-known artists themselves. Her standards are pretty high and she makes you learn by doing. It is a hard class to take if you don't like being criticized every step of the way, but still, Mommy enjoys it and wishes she could go more often. She also wishes she had more time to paint...maybe over Christmas break.

Here is the work in progress...

 

Joseph's painting...love the tree!

 

 

Audrey's painting...it's an apple tree.

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.