Pauly Wally

Oh man! he is already a week into being 6! where does the time go? i love this kid. he brings a smile to our faces very easily. his attitude is pretty laid back with a big influence of sports. seems every ball, skateboard, bat, paper, board he touches...he can make it do what he wants it to. it's amazing to watch his little body be so agile and cordinated. once when we were at a play place that has a trampoline, he jumped once in the middle and landed upsidedown on the safty netting of the trampoline! at the same time that it was scary...it was amazing that he did it with ease and know how...but how?!!!
he soaks in peoples expressions and words even when he looks like he isn't. he gets a little smirk with his eyes and tight lip that shows he knows...he cares deeply. he plays so hard he sweats most of the time. he sweats when he gets tired and a lot while he sleeps.
he is an includer and wants to bring people in to his circle and seems to even encourage at this young age...to his peers and those who are older. he puts his arm around those who are taller or give a good high 5 and lets his friends know that he is there for them. when he gets hurt...he will not make a big show of it. he will hold it in until he gets to a safe place and then the big tears will come. he will want someone to make it all better and give him the facts. he wants to know how it's really going to be. he doesn't want made up fluff to just band-aid the moment. he asks the hard questions and says the funny lines. he is realist. sees life as it is. sometimes that is negative. some days are just hard and pesimistic thoughts come out. "i never get any candy" "i always have to feed the dog, the fish, the hamsters, the turtle" "why do i have to clean up and no one else does?"
other days are bright and easy...he is on top of the world with a skip in his step. "this is the best day EVER!" "yes! i love this food! thanks mom!" "when do we get to go _____ i'm so excited i just can't stand it!''
his little brother loves to see him coming...but ian braces himself because he knows the impact is going to be a bit abrasive as paul likes to almost tackle him with tickles. but ian has grown to love that attention from paul and screams with glee for it. gavin and paul are best friends. they have their own little conversations in their own little world. the two of them can play for hours with no problem...until the older one gets bored and starts picking or mr paul gets energized and starts doing flips and such to cause gavin to be annoyed. hazel and paul are best buddies as well. (i shouldn't write that paul likes to have tea parties with her, or play barbies, and do his hair in the mirror) he wouldn't like that but i think it's cute. he has a shoe fetish in which he has a particular shoe for a particular event. one shoe for sitting in class. another for recess...another for p.e. (cuz they play different things in p.e.) and another for riding the bike or razor or skitter. another for soccer. he also knows what he likes as far as clothing. he won't be caught dead in some clothes and some just "feel funny" and others are cozy. he loves cozy. he likes to feel safe and doesn't want to be in harms way and may even be shy in a group of people he doesn't know. up on stage...where i thought he would shine...he becomes shy and even timid. but if he knows you, better watch out! he runs and he gives giant bone squeezing hugs and makes us feel very worthwhile and playful. thanks paul for being in our family and having another birthday so we could have a good excuse to have a wild party with 32 kids, a big cake, a pinata and lots of screams of joy! we love you more than you know!

the rat catchers

rats are a common pest here but we rarely deal with them. i think we have a good dog :D
but we had a rat the other night and the kids were way excited about getting rid of it. hazel had come into the kitchen and witnessed it on the counter top and went "flying" back to the rest of us to tell her scary story! so the brothers got all brave and they got their boots and soccer gloves on and grabbed their broom sticks to go looking for the little guy. they set up a blockade. it took some time to find where he was hiding...but when they did...the video concludes...but you might hear paul say in the background "i'm scared!" and you might notice the angle from which this was filmed...yes...i martha...was on top of our counter :D not that i'm terribly scared...i just wanted good footage :D

ha...but later when they were going to bed, paul says, "man...i really wanted to catch that rat. can we do it again?"

Kid adventure day

I recently took 6 kids out on an adventure day. i think i needed it more than they did! we had a great time and enjoyed a few different spots in our area. this one is called the LOVE HILL :D there is a story that goes with it...but it's kind of long...but a boy turned into this very large,
long lizard and he now lives here in the swamp

there was a museum of all the fish in the swamp, and this little swing set...basically the kids thought they were at disneyland!

they even posed for a picture for me :D on top of the hill...
and then we saw boats!

Sooo...do we do this boat ride?

On our little adventure, i noticed we could take a boat ride. we had just checked out all the fish that were in this swamp in a little museum of sorts so the kids were very excited to go and see them out in the water. but from the looks of the fish...i didn't want anyone getting too close...they looked like flesh eating fish to me! but we decided we would take a boat and have fun. i was nervous being the adult and all but was confident things would go fine. then we saw the boats....
THEN i told the boat driver..."i'm scared. maybe we shouldn't do this" and he said "no worries" and i asked what boat? because in my mind...i wouldn't get in any of them! but then he pointed to this one and began scopping all the water out of it! do you see him in the photo? ha! ha...ha.......ha...he was was serious.

even the kids are watching him in disbelief...are we really going in this boat?

but yes! we made it out on the water and it was a nice ride...nothing happened other than all the kids trying to see what was out on one side of the boat at the SAME time...so we had to have lessons in taking turns so the boat didn't flip! ha!

this is harvested from the swamp...then dried and turned into rattan furniture...and i am sure then exported to the world

The boat ride

Hazel and Bethanie

Pak Agung. He helps us get around Indonesia in a little "less stressed" state of mind :D

Our crew for the day...but josh is hiding...

So while on the boat Pak Agung helped all the kids to stand on the front of the boat. While this sounds bad...it was very much a highlight of their day....Titanic scenes

Hazel Bazel

Oh Hazel...where to start! we are enjoying our girl so much! she has gone from toddler to "girl" pretty fast and keeps up with all her kindergarten friends quite well. what a smart little cookie she is! we contemplate putting her in kinder a year early. but daily we go back and forth. pros and cons to both sides. her heart is sweet as she "sees" when others need help or a little extra smile or even just to stand beside them when someone is hurting. she loves to help her dad shave. she is in the kitchen a lot making whatever someone is cooking up. if it comes to cleaning...sometimes she is up for it...and sometimes not. we will catch her talking to herself as she is 'pretending' and the funny thing is, is that she pretends her name is sally...and that is one of the names i was when i was growing up! how does that happen? paul always says in a brotherly tone, 'YOU are talking to yourself AGAIN!' she often times is riding with me in the car and she will want to do something like 'go to damar'...the playplace here in town...and i will say 'no, not today' and she will say "it's ok mom"...and i think...WOW! we have come a long way from her days of throwing fits! hazel loves her family and can't wait for them to come home from school. but while she waits, she likes to carry ian around and laugh at his new actions for the day. she giggles at almost anything he does. we all do! ha! she really loves long hair at the moment. even though she doesn't like to keep it really nice yet, she likes to primp herself infront of the mirror and making sure there are no bumps when she does do her hair. she loves all the primping: nails, toes, chapstick (putting it on and eating it), perfume, powder, lipstick, the whole works...we remember she is young when we hear her say things like this story:

we went to our helper's house to visit them one day and they showed us how they were digging a well in their kitchen area. (by hand) and i would say it's PRETTY deep. we were all surprised to see a big deep hole in the kitchen (but the kitchen is really just a bamboo room in the back of the house with dirt floor) ok...so that was impressive to her i guess because the next day she was telling a couple of friends of mine "our helper has a 'whale' at her house. it's in the ground. i don't know how she knew it was down there!" and at the time i was thinking 'oh funny' and laughed but the more i think about it...the funnier it is to me! her thinking there is an actual whale down there...that will give water...ha! i still havent' told her "reality"...i like the idea too much!

hazel goes to pre-school two days a week for 2 hours. (this way i can go to my anti-human trafficking meetings) she likes that she gets to be big as well. there she plays with 2 american boys her age. this is really the only venue she has to play with her own age. it's good because she also learns indonesian. she also has ballet every wednesday afternoon. and enjoys it but i don't think any one of the girls in the class takes it too seriously...they are too social yet :D and then besides that, she has her own social life with friends coming to play and her going to play. her life is pretty good! we love her much and enjoy the presence of her in our family. i believe these days are going too fast! I am loving the idea of having her around for a long time...she is genuinely fun!

Happy Birthday Hazel! 4 Years OLD!