No Rain

It didn't rain today during soccer practice! This is the first time this season that the kids have been able to practice for the whole time on the field.

On a different note, Joseph read 50 books and got on the library wall of fame. Audrey read 100 books and got to pick out a free book. She is already on the library wall of fame.

Joseph: #58/365

I read 50 books!

Julia: #58/365

It was a beautiful afternoon for soccer practice.

Headache

I have had a really bad headache for a week now. I went to the clinic yesterday and the doctor gave me some heavy duty headache meds. They worked for a day but my head has been really hurting again. I hope it goes away soon. I guess spending all morning sitting in heavy traffic didn't help.

Oops

I realized this morning that I forgot to post pictures from yesterday.

Joseph: #56/365

Bridge for people to cross the street.

Julia: #56/365

I know all my picture can't be about traffic, but the traffic here really does wear on a person.  I feel like I spend half my life just sitting in traffic.

Celebration

Our apartment complex hosted a Chinese New Year celebration this evening. It was a lot of fun. There was food and entertainment.


Joseph: #55/365

Chinese New Year party at our apartment.

 

 

Julia: #55/365

 

Katelyn had a fun time at the celebration. Isn't she just beautiful?

 



Two Years!

Two years ago today we arrived in Jakarta.  Time sure flies.  Joseph had a 7:30am soccer game this morning.  The game was at the British International School.  Sadly, it started pouring down rain after we got there.  It cleared up some, but the game was cancelled.  It took an hour to get there and an hour to get back plus we waited to see if the kids were going to play so the soccer thing pretty much took up our morning.

For lunch, Doss took us out to Paradise Dynasty for Chinese Food.  The kids really enjoyed it.  In the evening, we went to a friend’s house and had Indian food.  After dinner we played a dance game and a karaoke game on their X-box.  It was a fun day.

 

Joseph: #54/365

Spicy beef noodle soup.

 

Julia: #54/365

The kids from the British International School didn’t seem to mind the fact that it was pouring down rain.

Dentist

The kids and I had our teeth cleaned today. Joseph had a cavity which was filled. Everyone else was cavity free. I sadly, have some more serious issues related to my bridge that will have to be taken care of in the near future. After the visit to the dentist, we went with some friends to North Jakarta to have lunch at a Taiwanese restaurant. The food was good, but it took 3 hours round trip which is quite an ordeal just to get food.


Joseph: #53/365

Katelyn is getting her teeth cleaned.

 

 

Julia: #53/365

 

Joseph enjoying one of his favorite Taiwanese dishes, beef noodle soup!

Vet

The vet came to the apartment and took a look at Nibbles. She said Nibbles must have hit her eye and that there was bleeding inside her eye. She gave me an anti-biotic ointment for her eye that I need to apply once a day for the next few weeks. She said Nibbles will be blind in her right eye. Poor hamster.


Joseph: #52/365

Self-portrait

Julia: #52/365

Joseph and I were messing around with the camera on the iPad. He took a picture of himself and I took one of us.

Rain

It has rained every Wednesday during soccer practice. Today was no exception. Coach decided the boys would practice in the rain on the field. The boys were muddy and soaking wet by the end of practice but I think they had a great time.


Joseph: #51/365

Family on a motorcycle.

Julia: #51/365

Red flag is on the field when it rains. It means stay off the field. The flag was there before practice but "conveniently" disappeared as practice started.

Day 50

We have been posting a picture a day for 50 days! I am actually surprised that Joseph is still interested. Today was a normal day. I took Katelyn to preschool in the morning. While I was waiting for her, I did my grocery shopping at Hero. This afternoon I taught an English lesson. Then the art teacher was supposed to come but he never showed. It was just as well. I don't think the kids were too excited about it anyways. Later we took the kids to the playroom on the second floor.

Joseph: #50/365

We like to play ping pong.

Julia: #50/365

My bubby!  We were playing hide and seek and he was hiding under this plastic gym/slide.

Strings Bash

Joseph played the cello at the Jakarta International School's annual Strings Bash. It is a performance put on by the elementary, middle school, and high school kids. I took the girls to see the concert. Audrey has been asking to play violin. She can start in the fall so maybe we will see her participate in Strings Bash next year.

Joseph:#49/365

This is my cello. I played in the Strings Bash today.

 

 

Julia: #49/365

 

 

Joseph and his cello buddy at the Strings Bash.

 



Grilled Ribs

I bought some pork ribs the other day. They are expensive so I have never bought any in the almost 2 years we have lived in Jakarta. Doss grilled them today and they were delicious! I should have taken pictures of the food. The kids loved them. I only bought 1 rack and the ribs went quickly. We also had mashed potatoes and gravy, steamed broccoli, and onion rings!

Joseph: #48/365

Picture of our apartment.

 

 

Julia: #48/365

 

I had fun playing with my camera settings to see if I could get the starburst effect on the lights. 

 



Soccer Game

We left in plenty of time to make Joseph's 9:30 am game. Sadly, we missed our exit and found ourselves stuck in traffic on the toll road to Bogor. It took almost 45 minutes for us to loop around. Then we couldn't find the entrance to the school. We finally made it a little after 9:30am. The game had already started but Joseph still had lots of playing time. They played the Pondok Indah Elementary school team from the Jakarta International school so it was Dragons against Dragons. It was a close game but Joseph's team lost. The end score was 3-2.

Joseph: #47/365

This is a picture of my Lego Pirates of the Carribean poster.

 

 

Julia: #47/365

 

Joseph played well today even though the PEL team lost.  I like this picture because he looks happy playing soccer.



 



Full Friday

We have had a busy Friday. I realized I forgot to turn in a permission form for Joseph to play in a strings recital on Monday. I had to fill out the forms and take them to school. Traffic was horrible because there was a demonstration on Sudirman. After our trip to school, Katelyn and I went to Paradise Dynasty Chinese restaurant for lunch. We met up with some of the Taiwanese moms. It was fun but we had to rush back to meet Joseph and Audrey when they got off the bus. Audrey had a friend over for a playdate. The girls had fun. This evening I made fajitas for dinner. Doss helped me make tortillas because they are ridiculously expensive at the store. Dinner was yummy...makes me miss Texas!

Joseph: #46/365

This is a Chinese New Year decoration at school.

 

 

 

Julia: #46/365

 

 

Today we had lunch at the same restaurant that Doss took me to for Valentine's Day.  I think it is my new favorite restaurant in Jakarta. They have the best food.   Katelyn and I met up with some other Taiwanese moms to celebrate our friend Irene's birthday.  We ordered lots of pork dishes...lol.  Katelyn loved the pork dumplings and the pork wontons.  It was all delicious and really, quite reasonably priced.  We will have to take the whole family there sometime.

Paradise Dynasty

Doss took me out for dinner at a Chinese Restaurant called Paradise Dynasty. We got pork dumplings and noodles! The soup dumplings were delicious. There aren't too many places that serve pork so it was a fun treat for Valentine's Day. I made the kids pink heart-shaped pancakes for breakfast. We also got them some fun surprises.

Joseph: #45/365

This is my Valentine's Day surprise.  It is a Ninjago set.

 

 

Julia: #45/365

 

 

Doss with his super big bowl of dumplings and noodles!

Valentine's Day

Tomorrow is Valentine's Day. The kids have been busy writing out cards for their classmates.

Joseph: #44/365

My mom made rice crispie treats for my class for Valentine's Day.

 

 

Julia: #44/365

 

Joseph made me this cute Valentine's Day card.  Actually, he made me two of them.  This one has a cute drawing of a hamster on the front because my sweet boy knows how much I love hamsters...lol.

Immigration

The kids skipped school today since we had an appointment at the Immigration office to renew our Kitas. By the time we were finished with lunch, the kids would have had 1.5 hours of school left. I let them stay home with our helper. I took off and finally made it to the SOS clinic to see a doctor. He thinks I have a bacterial infection so I am on a 5 day antibiotic treatment. I really hope I start feeling better soon. It is only 7:30pm now and i am feeling totally exhausted again.

Joseph: #43/365

This is the immigration office.

 

 

 

Julia: #43/365

 

The kids were pretty well behaved while we were at the Immigration office.  Afterwards was a whole different story.  Here they are outside the office while we were waiting for the driver to pick us up. 

Asleep

Joseph and I took pictures yesterday. I still wasn't feeling well and ended up going to bed by 7pm. I spent part of the morning cooking spring rolls and dumplings. Then I spent most of the morning in Audrey's class helping with Chinese New Year celebrations. As usual, Monday afternoons I am up at school since the kids have after-school activities until 4pm. I was just really exhausted by the time we got home.

Joseph: #42/365

This is our electric keyboard.

 

Julia: #42/365

Last week, some of the Chinese moms from the school helped me make dumplings for Audrey's class party.  I just had to cook them all the morning of the class party.  I was hoping to have them done early so I could take Katelyn to school to see the Lion dance.  Since the Lion dance started around 7:30am, we didn't make it.  At least the kids enjoyed the dumplings and spring rolls that I brought.  One of the Japanese moms also brought in some sticky rice and candy. 

Happy Year of the Snake!

Today is the 1st day of the Lunar New Year.  We went to church this morning.  After church we had a short choir practice.  Then we ended up waiting for a long time for Doss to get out of ward council meeting.  Our friends met us at our apartment to celebrate Chinese New Year.  I guess I planned just enough food for the amount of people we had.  The menu was: roast duck (purchased from Rice Bowl); Char siu pork, chicken lo mein, dumplings, fried red snapper, spring rolls, stir-fry green beans, and steamed rice.  I also made fortune cookies and put out some oranges.  One of our friends brought some preserved plums. Another one of our friends made raspberry Tiramisu and blueberry crumble.  It was a pretty good meal. The kids had a good time playing together.  Doss and I also learned how to play mah jong.  I had never played before.  It was an interesting game.


Joseph: #41/365

My dad exploded the tire on my bike. He put too much air in it.

 

 

 

 

Julia: #41/365

 

The red snapper I bought wouldn't fit in any of my frying pans.  I ended up frying it on the griddle. 

 

 



Getting Ready

Today I have been pretty much been cooking all day since everyone is coming for lunch right after Church tomorrow. I think it is all ready except that I haven't had a chance to clean. I am going to finish this post and pick up some. I also had to finish prepping for singing time tomorrow so that took some time too. I am super tired and we have to be to Church by 7:30 am for choir practice. I haven't had much of an opportunity to practice the piano but I guess it is what it is.


Joseph: #40/365

This is my basketball I got with my Chinese New Year's money.

 

 

 

Julia: #40/365

 

Good thing I have good help around here.  Katelyn is turning the crank on the noodle machine.  We were making Lo Mein noodles.

Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year falls on Feb.10th this year. My friend hosted a dinner tonight. There was tons of good food. Sadly Joseph wasn't feeling well. We took the kids home and put them to bed. I went back to the party until it wrapped up. It has been really fun to have some Taiwanese and Chinese friends. I feel like my language skills have improved quite a bit.


Joseph: #39/365

I got a snake cake pop at school at my class Chinese New Year party.  It didn't taste very good.

Delicious food at the Chinese New Year party.

Busy

We have been so busy lately. I had a friend come over to visit this afternoon. That was nice since we rarely have the chance to catch up much less hang out. Joseph also had a strings rehearsal for a concert Monday night. It was at the main campus so the school bused him down for the rehearsal but Doss had to pick him up. Tomorrow night we have a Chinese New Year dinner. Saturday Joseph has a soccer game. Sunday I am hosting a Chinese New Year dinner. Monday I am helping out with Chinese New Year activities for Audrey's class. I forgot to mention that Joseph's class has their celebration tomorrow. Whew! I will be glad after all these activities are over and done with. Oh...I started a new painting today in art class. I am excited to be working on something new.


Joseph: #38/365

This is a decoration at my school. It is a mossy frog.

Julia: #38/365

Katelyn and I decorated for Chinese New Year this morning. We hung red packets on an "art project" that Audrey brought home last year.  In case anyone was wondering, the art project was a tree branch with different yarns and strings tied onto the branches. We bought the cherry blossom branches at the local grocery store.

Rainstorm

I had to grab a few groceries at the store so I left Joseph at soccer practice. One of the moms said she would keep an eye on him. When Audrey and I left the store, it was in the middle of a big thunderstorm. Practice finished early and a friend picked up Joseph for me. It was easier to get him from her house than to try to fight traffic to get back to the school. The storm was fierce and sudden. It even knocked down a huge tree so that the normal exit from the grocery store was blocked. We picked up Doss on the way home.


Joseph: #37/365

This is my bean plant at school. It's bigger than the other kids' plants.

Julia: #37/365

I was up again before sunrise since my stomach has still been bothering me. I thought the sunrise was much more interesting than the last one I posted. I really liked the look of the sky.  I played around with one of my iPhone camera apps and applied a filter that darkened the buildings and made the sky stand out a little more.

Dumplings

I went to a friend's house to learn how she makes dumplings. Joseph loves her dumplings! I think the secret ingredient is msg, but I still learned quite a bit. I learned a different way to prepare the skins as well as a different way to cook the dumplings. I also learned about how to make noodles from scratch without a noodle maker. It was quite an informative morning. I have to make tons of dumplings for all the upcoming Chinese New Year activities we have going on so this was a good time to learn more about the art of making dumplings.


Joseph: #36/365

This is a new game I made up called Army Cast.  It is a simple game for 2-4 people.  You have different color blocks and each person builds a castle with their color.  The colors are red, blue, yellow, and green.  You get 5 army men to hide in your castle.  Each person has 6 shots with a Nerf gun.  The person with the most army men left wins.

 

 

Julia: #35/365

 

My friend is cutting up home-made noodles with a cleaver.  The dough is folded on itself several times.

Switcheroo

I went up to school today to participate in the Kindergarten switcheroo. That is where the kids get to choose what they would like to do from a variety of activities. Audrey wanted to do board games and puzzles. Next time I may volunteer to do an activity with the kids. Katelyn even partcipated.


Joseph: #35/365

This is a decoration at the apartment for Chinese New Year.

Julia: #35/365

Katelyn participated in switcheroo with Audrey. She even interacted with the other kids and with the teacher. She actually wanted to stay in the classroom with the teacher when I left for a few minutes to do a different activity with Audrey. Maybe Katelyn will be ready to go to pre-K in the fall.

Stomach ache

I haven't been feeling good since yesterday. I made it through Church, but I have been feeling worse. I hope I will feel better in the morning.


Joseph:#34/365

I saw these colored tents on the side of the road.

Julia: #34/365

KFC was sponsoring some event at the stadium. Today it was extra difficult to make it out of the stadium to try and get to Church.  Luckily we left early enough that we made it to Church on time. We never know what to expect each Sunday.