Photo Friday [141]

A lot of cell phone photos for you this week.  My spare time this week has been spent planning and prepping for  a certain someone's sixth birthday party coming up in just a few weeks.

What better way to spend a cold and dreary Saturday than taking a cozy nap curled up in front of the wood stove?

Some real American sweet corn that we planted in our garden was ready to harvest. 

Kate was a huge fan. 

 She is really good with those Duplos!

 We hung a second swing in the backyard so that the boys can swing together.  That has provided many hours of fun this week.

"Anything the boys can do, I can do better..."

 Well, hello, orchids in my tree!

Yesterday I drove a group of ladies into Kainantu to do some shopping.  This is our main department store - Papindo.  See the little sign on the left with the store name?

 Meanwhile, the AIDS prevention slogan on the building is much larger.  One time not too long ago Brian and I brought the kids with us to Papindo.  

Greg:  What is A-I-D-S, mom?

Me:  AIDS is the name of a disease

Greg:  This is a disease store?  They sell diseases here?

 And what kind of things can you buy at Papindo?

 How about some Curry Duck Balls?!!  Anyone....?

That's all for this week!  Thanks for stopping by.

Photo Friday [140]

The first week of school break has gone surprisingly well.  We had a wonderful three-day weekend as a family (Monday was the Queen's birthday, didn't you know?)

The boys learn about making sausage.  We made a big batch of breakfast links, but they turned out a bit dry.  We need to find some fat next time we're near a butcher.  The meat here is generally very lean, which doesn't make for juicy sausage.

Dry season is here!  Which means that some days are pretty rainy.  Dry season doesn't mean completely dry - just that the rain is less predictable and there is less overall.

It has also been COLD at night.  Like, in the 50's.  Which doesn't seem bad, until you remember that we are in non-insulated houses, so unless we fire up the trusty wood stove, it's 50 degrees inside our house too!  And so we make the rounds before we go to bed, making sure the kids all have blankets on.

It's "Cry Week" in Ukarumpa.  High School graduation was Tuesday, and this week most of the families of seniors are leaving PNG to take their kids back to their passport countries.  Lots of tears as these kids leave the place that's home to them, leave their friends and prepare to leave their families.

We said goodbye yesterday to these two seniors, who have been our neighbors since we bought our house eight years ago.  (They were like 10 then!)  Greg was really sad to see them go, because they have loved on our kids a lot and spent a lot of hours babysitting over the years.

Kate's still into jackets, but now she's moved on to wearing her brother's.

 Playing with sticks outside.  Doesn't get much better than that!  Kate always wants to be right in the middle of what her big brothers are doing.  (They tolerate it pretty well most of the time.)

 

Caleb was busy sweeping rain away.  See - he still gets to wear the jacket sometimes. ;)

'Till next week!

Photo Friday [139]

Today is the last day of school for this year, which means the last day of Kindergarten for Greg.  And I planned to get a photo of him before he went to school this morning, but.... I didn't.  Sorry.

We are busy with end-of-school-year things.  It's a hectic time in the community, with lots of events and lots of goodbyes as many families prepare to leave on furlough.  Things will seem very empty around here for a while, but in a month or so we'll start to see people returning before the new school year starts.

Caleb will be starting preschool at the end of July, and so we went to an open house this week so that he could see his classroom.  I had hoped it would be helpful, as he is pretty apprehensive about this new step, but it was a bit overwhelming, as the 20 students, their parents, and many younger siblings were crowded into the room at the same time.

That's him under the number 8.

To make him feel less nervous, I told him to bring along the point and shoot camera, which he loves, and to take photos of his new classroom.

So here are a few photos of what interested him:

 Sitting spots on the story time carpet.

 Mom taking a picture of him...

Taking a picture of me!

Caleb kept up the photography as I brought Kate and him along to a brunch celebrating the end of a women's Bible study group that I have been a part of for the past year, which has been very special to me.  I'll be sad that this will no longer be part of my weekly routine.

He missed all the heads, but you get the idea.

 A serious selfie.

That's all for this week!

Photo Friday [138]

This week:

When your kid has draped himself over the front  stairs because he just doesn't have the strength to climb up himself, and instead of getting annoyed you say, "Don't move!  Momma's gotta grab her camera, because your eyes in this light are just too gorgeous." 

This has been another week when I've hardly taken photos of my own life, but I've got a good excuse.  My camera has been busy this week!   About two and a half years ago I started with this photography hobby one evening when I decided randomly to sit down and actually read the camera manual that came with the DSLR that I'd owned for two whole years without taking off of the Auto setting.  If you know my family, you know that we have a bit of a reputation for throwing ourselves wholeheartedly into a new hobby for a time, and then dropping it suddenly to move on to the next hobby.  But sometimes those interests stick.  (Like my little brother, who has gone through lots of hobbies in the past few years, but who has kept up beekeeping!)  Photography seems to be a sticking one for me.  

I've been able to use it to bless others here on the mission field too, because us missionaries are always needing current photos for prayer cards and newsletters, and for family back in our home countries.  On average I'll do a photo shoot for a family here maybe once a month (and I'm not the only one - we have several talented photographers here in our little community.)  This week has been a bit busier.  In addition to taking family portraits for two families this week, I also got to do something I've never done before:  photograph a proposal!  One of the alumni from our school here came back to visit his family and brought his girlfriend along to see the place where he grew up.  He asked if I would photograph his proposal and take some engagement shots afterward.    

 Congrats Andrew and Anna!  It was fun being your paparazzi!

 Caleb and Greg have been making up for my lack of photography in the home though, as they have commandeered the point-and-shoot camera and have been documenting our household, with lots of blurry shots and fingers in the frame.

 Caleb wanted to take a shot of me during dinner prep, so I posed with the paprika.

We got this sign in a package from home, with a note that it was meant for Brian's office.  We decided in the end that while it might be funny 98% of the time, there would eventually come that one time when Brian hosted an ambassador or political figure in his office, and then it might seem a tad unprofessional.  But it would do just as nicely in my kitchen, don't you think?  Or am I the only mom who deals with complaints about the food sometimes?

 One of those parenting dilemmas.  I really hate having little rocks scattered around where they are not supposed to be, but I love how they are playing so nicely outside together.  What would you do?

That's all for this week!