An Inskeep Birthday

Well, it isn't quite birthday time for our family -- but we did get a chance to celebrate a birthday at our friends' house. Everyone wanted to help the poor two year old open his presents.

The kids had a blast playing with their friends, and it was fun for the adults too!

Haircut (long overdue)

Today, before the birthday party, we managed to get to a haircut for the elder two. There is a great place where they can get the full treatment, all while watching videos while sitting in fancy chairs.

And -- as a bonus -- their hair looks lots better!

Playground Fun

It is neat to see that our kids still are having fun on the playground. They've found some neighbors who they enjoy playing with. Having so much fun right outside our back door is a great blessing!

From the slide to tag to attacking space aliens who have landed in our midst, there is plenty to do!

Lost Tooth

It is wild having two kids in the family with loose teeth. Reeve has lost both of his bottom teeth. And now he has lost one on top. Gabi has her 2nd loose tooth on the bottom. So the tooth fair has been busy!

International Week

Last week was international week at ISKL. In addition to some tasty food being sold at lunch, we went into Gabi's class and talked about our home country.


We told a nice story about baseball, McDonalds, and apple pie. We also sang "God Bless America," after which the teacher told Gabi, "Your dad has a nice voice."

(You can stop laughing now!)

An Italian Dinner Out

Or. . . "The Longest Dinner Ever."

As we have finished our Bible Study on Galatians, our group is waiting to begin the next study. As a result, we had a night of celebration and fellowship -- a night at the Italian Restaurant.

Overlooking the KDE golf course, it was a beautiful setting on a wet, rainy night. Unfortunately, the evening turned a bit hilarious when our waiter kept saying "10 more minutes. We arrived at 7 pm and finally got our dinner a bit before 9 pm (well, most of us, anyway; they forgot Doug's dad's meal.) Apparently, the cook was on leave, and the kitchen was vastly understaffed.

At least there was some fun fellowship and good conversation.

Life in the Pool

It sure is fun having friends with a super-cool pool!

The Youngest Grows Up. . .

It is so fun to watch your kids grow up, though the fun is certainly full of a twinge of regret as you realize they will never again be this age. Ever.

With the youngest one, it is especially meaningful.

Just today we were watching little videos from a year ago. It is crazy how much they have grown up. Last month, Rania finally got potty trained!! HORRAY! HORRAY! HORRAY!

Almost seven years of diapers is now a thing of the past. We are absolutely ecstatic! She is still in pull-ups during the night -- after one accident, but most mornings even her pull-up is dry.

Rania's vocabulary continues to expand and explode. She loves playing horses -- I'm sure that is some of her older sister's influence; and Rania is an absolute puzzle fanatic. She can sit by herself for long periods of times putting together puzzles. She also likes looking through books or playing with her toys -- mostly animals. She enjoys playing cards with daddy or mommy -- "Go Fish" is one favorite, but other matching games are lots of fun -- like "Duck, Duck, Bruce" a fun card game from Auntie Tasha.

This past weekend, the kids watched Bambi 2 -- on DVD. Talk about Bambi 2 has been the dominant conversation in our family! All three kids love laughing and giggling about the funny parts of Bambi 2.

Check out the video to see what is so funny!



Rania's eating habits are quite finicky. Due to rashes that have appeared on her skin, we are cutting out dairy in the hopes of clearing up her rashes. Getting her to eat vegetables can be a challenge, and we are fighting a never-ending battle to get her to stay in her chair during dinner. Now that cheese is out of the diet, snacks are slightly more of a challenge, but it appears to be working.

What an adorable two year old who is getting ready for her next birthday in a couple of weeks.

Bubbles

Isn't it wonderful how we can be captivated by bubbles. Like many things we pursue, they are glorious, beautiful, captivating. . . .and fleeting.

Tae-kwon-do

Two days a week, Reeve stays after school for his new activity this semester, Tae-kwon-do. He is doing very well and really enjoying it. He is already practicing to advance to the next belt: the yellow-tip belt. Occasionally, one of us will get home early enough to see Reeve get off the bus in his uniform. My, how cute! That's a snapshot you hope you remember for many years -- they sure do grow up, no?

Climbing Birthday at Camp 5

Reeve sure had a fun birthday party on Sunday!

On Sunday, after church, we had another adventure, making our way to the other side of town to the massive 1 Utama shopping mall. As it was our first time to visit there, we were pretty proud of ourselves (the adults anyway) for finding it. Due to the immensity of the mall, we realized that finding places in the mall is the bigger challenge.

The reason for our visit was a birthday party for a classmate of Reeve at a climbing center there.

My, oh my, what an incredible climbing paradise. I could think of a number of friends who would be quite jealous at the climbing facility.

While Reeve enjoyed an hour of climbing with his friends (he made it all the way up one wall), the other four of us enjoyed an amazing Vietnamese meal. Yum! Yum! (The irony being when Rania and Gabi grabbed the Chili's "Ask about kids eat free" balloons and then carried them into the Vietnamese restaurant. Silly us.

It was fun to watch Reeve having so much fun with his friends. And somehow we found our way back to the parking lot, and then home.