Photo Bomb

With nothing significant to report, except for impending flights, our week in photos.

 Friends of the zoo, or at least its splash pad.

Puzzles.

Church sleep is the best sleep.

Abe.

Attending a ward party and I turned to find Moses trying to cool off.

Sisters.

Face paint.

Like fish.

A perfect week comes with the good, the bad and the ugly.

Our lives speed up as we prepare to put things on hold to travel this summer. School commitments, final field trips, moving friends and goodbyes have all peaked this week. 

I've thought about consulting a sleep specialist in the states because Moses has decided he doesn't need more than a few REM cycles a night- which is reeking havoc on my emotional stability. It's like having a 4 month old who you can't sleep train!

I heard of an old friend that needed a visit and packed the children to go play. It has been several months since I have been in a home with so much physical need. Singapore doesn't accept refugees or immigrants on a permanent basis, but that doesn't mean that everyone earns a steady or sufficient income. Her home looks like any other from the outside but there are stark differences after entering. It is a one bedroom apartment for a family of 4 with two very small children. The floor is unfinished cement, rougher than the path we walk to school on. There is no air conditioning and the shower shares the same space as the toilet- upside, you can clean the bathroom every time someone takes a bath! I was so inspired by this woman, a happy mom caring for a 5 month old baby and a 3 year old under very difficult circumstances. We visited and played for 3 hours and over the course of our conversation she said, "It's so nice to have food in the kitchen, Sean makes enough money that I can go grocery shopping!" I wondered about her past and how uncomfortable her circumstances have been.

As I left, I thought about happiness, and misery. I don't think I purposefully choose misery, but I definitely don't always choose happiness.  Through the fall we are "made partakers of misery.." for "the [devil] seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."  and yet, "Adam fell that ... [we] might have joy." God intends for me to find joy in all my tasks and responsibilities, to find the good and the uplifting. Life goals and baby steps. Applied to the lack of sleep we're getting or the parenting fails- we're learning patience, apathy, and we'll be darn good experts by the end!

On Friday night, we checked out the race track next to where we live. Like golf, it uses an incredible amount of space and attracts old people. Dan remarked that it would make the perfect place to run. 

Today's highlight, Mary lost a tooth, and was just as excited about it as if it was her first.

An icecream trolly sits outside the back gate of our school. The sales man could probably could probably teach a class on strategic planning.

And it was my birthday. It really couldn't have been improved upon, except to have spent some of it with you guys. 

Beaches and Race Day

I love a lot of things about Dan's lifestyle. It's relatively healthy, he eats a lot of protein. Now that I think about it, he eats a lot of carbs too, but he pushes protein.

He is very active. The children aren't showing any potential as professional athletes, but they do like to be outside. Living in a very hot climate is usually a deterrent to outdoor activities, so we've learned to be out early in the morning and hit the pool in the afternoon. 

Dan is disciplined and sets goals, frequently. Often in the form of a race. This weekend he had a short race in Bintan and we all decided to go watch. This is probably one of my favorite parts about Dan's hobby. We spent the day on the beach, watched him start and swim in the ocean and transition to the bike. As he biked we hit the pool and then cheered as he made two laps on the run. It was a great weekend finished off with rifle shooting, archery and the children's FIRST game of bowling!

As we took the ferry back to Singapore my mind began to reel again, vacation mode is such a breath of fresh air! 

Feeling so thankful for family.

Tired

Sometimes I feel exhausted, sometimes the next day is even worse. This is a common symptom of school-itus, it is highly contagious during the months of April and May preceding summer break.

Things that require waning energy:

Waking with Moses before 5 am. The whole household could use an extra two hours of sleep every morning.

The daily grind, getting everyone to brush their teeth and wear clean clothes to school is a chore!

Returning library books on time... I'll bet our school fines at the end of the year are triple any other student's.

Striving to do things happily, it seems the level of contention in our home has increased 3 fold. I've become a full time moderator, or less glamorous- a participant. Yeesh.

Putting Moses back again and again and again.

Yes, life sounds a bit off at the moment. Honestly it is. Having uncles pop into town, good friends and great food help to keep us afloat. We feel very thankful for the friends our children have made and hope that next year they are just as lucky- that each will find one good friend. Our community is very transient and at this time of year many friends are preparing to move on to their next assignment. Sometimes, not often, I feel their loss heavily and know they will be dearly missed.

Nothing out of the ordinary.

We had the Missionaries and a new family over for dinner tonight. The family has a daughter just a few days older than Mary! We can’t wait for them to settle in.

The box of animals I’m trying to donate. 

Moses never sleeps past 6 anymore. He rises before our alarms go off. It’s the worst.

Mary mastering the kitchen. 

Another trip to the zoo.

Lots of art. Painting and chalk poolside is easier to clean than the dining room table. In hindsight, setting up next to the pool was a poor choice, tomorrow we fish everything from the bottom of the pool. 

Rugby 7, our effort to attract the children to any sports program is failing.

Playing catch in a flooded field after a rainstorm.

Bath time.