The Well Rounded Mama

One Last Hurdle...

I think that we may finally be nearing the end of this long stretch of hurdles.  We bought a car last week, our shipment arrived on Friday, and our house is slowly getting settled and starting to resemble us.

However, we still have one last major hurdle to overcome -- our internet situation. I think that I could handle slow.  I wouldn't like it, but I could do it.  What I cannot handle is unreliable and unuseable.  Our connection has gone from bad to worse.  It takes me at least 20 minutes just to get signed into email and then if I have to check another account (I have to gmail accounts), it takes another 20 minutes.  That is, if it works at all.  It hasn't been lately.  We started off with a not great, but liveable, situation but all of that is gone.  I can't write emails (it cuts me off before I get it sent), I can't blog, and I surely can't do anything like download. Every once in a while I get a decent connection but it is short lived and usually cuts me off right in the middle of something.

The crazy thing is -- this is totally avoidable!  Where we live there is actually a fairly decent internet service provider.  The problem?  Our landlord.  In order to get this other service we have to have a landline.  Our landlord will not allow us to have a landline.  No landline, no phone, no internet.  We cannot have the line activated without the landlord's approval (it has to be in her name for some reason). We have tried talking with her...with no luck.  I am having someone from the school contact her and see what can be done. There is only a one year lease on this place and while I cringe at the thought of moving this summer, we shouldn't have to have a situation like this.  I feel so bad when I can't return emails, can't answer friend's questions, can't check in with people.  The only thing I seem to be able to do is get into Facebook.  It's nice to know what all of you are up to, but I would rather be doing something else :)

So, anyway, sorry to complain.  It is just with the loss of internet I lose a lot of who I am -- not the interent itself of course, but the friendships and relationships I have built through the scrapping community, through my blog, and through my experiences around the world.

Happier times are on their way, I'm sure.  I am loving getting the house set up, being able to cook for my family (now that all my kitchen stuff is here), getting crafty with the kids.  I love where we are and what we are doing so I just have to suck it up and keep waiting.

And because I want to think happy thoughts, here is a picture for you. Just my sweet little Levi.

He's got a little lady...

So, my sweet little two-year-old Levi has found himself a little lady.  Her name is Anna and they are in love.

From the moment he wakes up he starts saying, "I play with Anna?"  "I play with Anna?" Every time I see Anna she says to me, "I go to Levi's house?" They get to see each other almost every day and yet it still doesn't seem to be enough. 

They are just too sweet for words.  They are both 2 years old,  #3 in their families and have the same personality -- sweet, silly, fun-loving, and quite mischievous.  Every time the two of them get together they run off somewhere with just the two of them. 

The other day Anna came to play and I tried to snap a few pictures.  However, they were more into playing with each other than dealing with a camera in their face :) After a few attempts they were done and decided to roll cars off each others head!

Then they decided to move to Katie's head

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In other news -- we finally have a car!  This has been one of the hardest things I have ever had to do.  We can't afford a new car and buying a used car in Indonesia is not something I would recommend to anyone.  The best thing to do is buy directly from someone you know.  However, we tried that and after two months of finding nothing, we weren't willing to wait anymore.  Looking at used cars is an interesting experience.  The stuff that actual car places will try to sell you is truly unbelievable.  We looked at one car that looked really good on the outside and on the inside.  We were pretty excited because it was in such good shape.  Then we turned the engine on...sounds okay.  Jason told me to rev the engine -- out comes TONS of oil shooting out the back.  They tried some lame excuses but you can't really explain oil shooting out the back of the car.  The next car we looked at didn't shoot oil -- because you can't shoot oil when you don't have any oil!   Jason pulled the dip stick out to check the cleanliness of the oil and there wasn't any! They tried to say the car was just driven and so the oil was all up in the engine.  Not quite...it was DRY as a bone!  And understand, these aren't $500 cars....we are talking cars they are asking 8-12K for!

So anyway, we finally found one that would work for our family. We found ONE in our price range and that was in decent condition.  We like it though, and we are thrilled with being able to finally not depend on others, the bus, taxis, etc to get us where we need to go. Living outside the city basically means a family our size HAS to have a car.  I'll try to take some pictures this weekend.  But I may not have time because....

OUR SHIPMENT IS SUPPOSED TO ARRIVE TODAY!  This has been the most grueling, time-consuming, frustrating, and EXPENSIVE process.  But, in theory, it should be all over today and we should finally be able to settle in.  I know I will be glad we sent a shipment when it is all done but all I can say right now is that I hope I NEVER have to do this again.  Nothing quite gets to me like corrupt, governmental red-tape.  For instance, we are getting charged A LOT for "not having proper documentation."  Meaning, they are charging us because we don't have the original packing list from our moving company.  You want to know why?  Because we didn't use a packing company! We packed ourselves and yet we have to pay because we can't produce a piece of paper they want. Ugh. Anyway, if all goes well, today will be the end of this nightmare.  Of course, just my luck, Jason will be gone all weekend for a soccer tournament.  Oh well, at least it will give me and the kids something to do!

688

Yes, yes, yes, I am still here.  Barely, but I do detect signs of life in here :)

I am sorry for not updating lately.  The last few weeks have been hard times of adjustment.  Not really just adjusting to a new culture, but adjusting to a LOT of things. The last TEN months have brought one thing after another and although I have handled it all fairly well, I finally broke on Sunday.  I feel like all the stress I should have felt over the last ten months (but for the most part didn't) ALL hit me on one day.  It was crazy and I have never really felt anything like it.

There is a life-stress scale that I remember seeing back in my college psychology days.  It shows you the major life stressors and assigns a value to them.  Here is what the introduction says:

This widely reprinted index lists 43 stressful life events and the value of each in “stress units.” Use the blank lines between items to add your own life-stress events, and assign each an appropriate stress unit value by comparing it to the events ranked in the chart.

To use the Life Stress Scale, check the events that have happened to you within the last year. Then add up your total number of stress units. Holmes and Rahe, who developed this scale, found that a score of 150 gives you a 50-50 chance of developing an illness. A score of more than 300 gives you a 90 percent chance.

You want to know my score (without even adding in anything of my own like cultural issues, not having transportation, learning a new language, major financial issues, no reliable internet etc)...

688

Yep.  688.  I don't think that can be good.

However comma (my mother has this weird habit of stating her punctuation in actual words...I am afraid I have picked it up) I am slowly recovering from the onslaught and am hoping that happier things (and calmer times) are on the way. I feel like we may finally be at the beginning of the end of what has turned out to be a crazy (and yet wonderful!) year. It's interesting how my little word for the year has mean BIG things.

Oh, and the picture?  What I wake up to every morning.  This was taken from the balcony of the master bedroom yesterday.  His mercies are truly new every morning.

Feeding on Ashes...

Over the last few weeks, I have been participating in a Beth Moore study with some of the women from the school.  Honestly, I joined more for the sake of trying to get plugged into the school even though I don't work there.  However, i am finding that the push to be back in the Word and to be examining my own heart was exactly what I needed.  We are taking the study slow -- only meeting every other week -- which makes it manageable for even the busiest of schedules. It  also allows time for letting the content soak its way into hearts...mine included.

This past week we looked removing obstacles in our life that keep us from experiencing true freedom.  On day three of this particular study, we looked at removing idols in our lives. The whole days study was very good, however, there was one particular verse that really struck me.  Isaiah 44:20 says,

"He feeds on ashes; a deceived heart has turned him aside. And he cannot deliver himself, nor say, 'Is there not a lie in my right hand?'"

He feeds on ashes. Wow.  What a powerful picture.  Trying to nourish your body with the leftover waste of things once good. A deceived heart that keeps telling him that the ashes are what he needs, that they will sustain him.  Wow.

Even more WOW because it is truly a picture of me.  In the midst of the move and the total change of life over the last year, I have been trying to feed my soul on ashes.  I am trying to find nourishment and sustenance from things once good, but now nothing more than leftover waste.  Ashes.  No wonder I feel like I am running on empty...I AM on empty.  You can't nourish your body with leftover, rotten food and your certainly cannot nourish your soul on leftover experiences.  I can't hope to keep running the Race if I am not giving my spiritual body what it needs.  I can't live my life off of what I have learned in the past, off of what I have heard, or off of what other people say.  If I do ANYTHING less than regularly feeding my soul on the Word and on prayer I have no hope of finding endurance. I cannot hope of finishing the race if I don't give my soul what it needs.

Feeding on ashes....yea, like that is going to work.
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Oh, the picture?  That is from the dedication at our school from this past weekend. Apparently breaking a clay jar is traditional at the celebration of a new event/building, etc.  Interesting, though. I had never seen it done and so I was surprised to see that when the jar was broken, there was water and flowers inside.  Ironic -- an Indonesian custom can have such a Biblical meaning.  "For we have this treasure in jars of clay..."  We truly MUST be broken to find the treasure within.  Thank you, Father, for breaking me.

Some more photos from the dedication in case you are interested (the school opening its new campus -- 45 minutes from town -- this August after 50 years at the old campus).  This was a day to celebrate new beginnings and to publicly thank all of those who had a hand in making it happen.

Happiness All Around Me...

The last few days have been a little tough.  Cultural adjustment, no matter how much expected, is still HARD.  Something just broke inside me on Friday I didn't feel like adjusting that day.  I just wanted things to get done, to have reliable internet, to have people who honor their word, and the ability to do simple things (like order pizza) without help and without total confusion.  Add in tiredness from being busy and I was a little out of sorts.  Nothing to worry about though... all part of the cultural adjustment process. At least I can say that nothing (major) has taken me by surprise.  Life is what I imagined it would be, only better because I didn't imagine living in a house/neighborhood/development that I love so much and I didn't expect to have good friends already. 

Anyway, since I was still a little down yesterday (feeling better today) I just walked around the house and found little reminders of why I am blessed, of why happiness surrounds me  And this is what I saw...

Three little kids who took down, folded, brought upstairs, and then put away laundry -- all without being asked.

Gorgeous flowers to remind me that at least it is fall somewhere...

Sweet little, messier-than-anything eater Katie with two new teeth trying to pop their way in

Homemade, from-scratch chicken enchiladas being made. Yummy.

Listening to the kids sing STEP BY STEP all day long (they had to sing it for our school dedication) and they like to practice...even after the fact

New scrapbook magazines in the mail.  Better late than never, right?

Watching Levi watch TV -- upside down

Seeing Alaina give Caleb violin lessons while Katie looks on

Bathtime....hearing Caleb say, "Mom, I LOVE my new bathtub!"  HA! Seriously, what kid wouldn't love their own private tub.  No more fighting over toys!

"Hey look, mom!  I'm a rooster!  COCK-A-DOODLE DOOOOOOOO!!!!!!"

Reading with Alaina before bed each night...watching her learn to love stories and to start picking out words she knows.

See?  My life is filled with so many good things.  So who cares if my shipment hasn't arrive.  Who cares if we still haven't found a way to buy a car. Who cares if a simple shopping trip for groceries takes a minimum of three hours. 

Well, I care.  But I shouldn't.

A whole lot of sweetness...

I was up early this morning (4 am) and I was just looking through some pictures from last week.  I sort-of played along with Ali Edwards' WEEK IN THE LIFE project and so I just had my camera out a bit more, trying to capture more of the every day, little but oh-so-special moments that happen every day.  As I looked at the photos I realized, once again, how blessed I am to have this family of mine.  This is what I dreamed of ever since I was young.  I wanted so much to have a husband, lots of kids, and a whole lot of sweetness and fun.  And that is exactly what I got. So, in the midst of days that are hard (I have been feeling pretty overwhelmed the last few days) I just need to step back from the daily schedule and enjoy what we have and just be who we are. So today, in the midst of a crazy schedule, I want to drink in the goodness that is all around me. 

Here are some of my favorite evidences of sweetness in my life from last week.

Levi sat on the floor and built Katie a tower.  Then he decided that she needed a hat.

I was trying to take pictures of Katelynn but sweet little KC was hogging the camera.  What a ham!

The three older kids as we waited for the bus on Saturday morning.  No, we STILL don't have a car.  I won't even go into how frustrating it is.  However, apparently I am getting a VERY good lesson in patience as we wait for a car and for our shipment to arrive (scheduled for next Thursday, by the way.  I won't be holding my breath).

Miss Katie pretending she is nothing but sweetness but what she is really doing is pretty much refusing to eat any solid foods other than cheerios. And maybe a green bean here and there. Don't let that yogurt on her face mislead you.  It got there as she turned her head away as fast as she could and her face swiped the side of the spoon I was left there holding.

All last week Alaina kept asking to go for a run. Since I am still using the excuse that there is no point in dieting and exercise because I won't lose the weight until I am done nursing, Jason got the honor of taking her out.

But then two little boys came running out of the house with their shoes half on yelling, "WAIT FOR ME!"  So they came back and started again.  All three kids declared themselves the winner of the "race."

I adore watching the older kids with Katelynn.  They love her so much and cheer her on at each new milestone.  Here, Alaina and the others were trying to help her sit up.

And they also catch her when she falls (which she does a lot)

Yep, I've got a whole lot of sweetness in my life.  I need to remember that.

Sorry I have been MIA

I know I don't check in here as often as I used to -- or even as often as I would like.  But life happens and I need to keep the proper perspective on my priorities and so a few things have had to take a back seat for a bit.  I have so much going on and all of it is GOOD.  I just can't seem to figure out how to fit it all in.  I don't waste time so it isn't like it is an easy fix to find time for everything. But all is good.  I am enjoying my family, enjoying life, and even managing to enjoy the challenges and the growth that it brings. This season of my life won't last forever -- language school will come to an end, Katelynn will be more self-sufficient, Jason won't have to be gone so much.  And then things in life can once again shift a bit as I find ways to pour my heart into ALL the things I love.

Anyway, only have a minute but I wanted to pop in and say hello.  I was really "peopled out" on Sunday and so I spent some time along.  And what better way to spend alone time than scrapping. It was a bit frustrating -- I tried to DL a new kit and it literally took ALL day.  Twelve hours.  Yep. My hard drive on my laptop is also acting up but I can't bring it in to the Apple people until my desktop shows up.  Oh well.  All that to say I didn't get much done for the time I spent doing it, but still, it was good to scrap. All of these are using templates from the October Grab Bags.

Thank you, thank you, thank you

I just really want to take a few minutes to say THANK YOU to everyone. Your comments and emails regarding my post about Caleb brought tears to my eyes -- more than once.  It is so good to feel loved and supported by friends all over the world. It is truly a blessing to me. So thank you!

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So, the Phillips family.  We are doing great! This week is a national holiday in Indonesia, so Jason has been off since Tuesday afternoon and is off until next Monday!  Yea!  Of course, it also means that our house helper is off so I "get" to spend lots of my time trying to keep up with the housework.

Yesterday we went out for the day with some friends.  We went back to the volcano that we visited a few weeks ago.  Other than it being SUPER crowded, it was a really great day out! They have three little blond-headed kids and it was fun to watch the reactions of all the Indonesians as they counted children!  Since I shared a lot of pictures the last time we went, I'll just share two of my favorites from yesterday.

This lady was the lady we stopped at to buy some noodles to eat for a snack. Something about her was so intriguing.  I wish I was able to capture on my camera what I feel in my heart. 

And here was the fruit stand next to her.  Rujak is a spicy tropical fruit salad popular in parts of Southeast Asia

A few other pictures from the past few days...

My little girl who hates ALL solid food EXCEPT Cheerios.  She is a master with those (both with getting them in her mouth and getting them all over herself and the house!)

Last weekend I got the urge to do something with my hands rather than my mouse. Unfortunately, our shipment *still* isn't here and I don't have any of my craft stuff.  So, we went out and I bought a few things so I could play.  I made a card for our helper for the holiday and then had so much fun with it that I made a ton more.  I ADORE this handmade paper and coconut shell buttons!

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And just a few shop-talk things...

First of all, the OCTOBER GRAB BAGS are up in the shop.  I haven't gotten a chance to play with them yet but am hoping to this weekend!

Also, in case you haven't heard, SCRAPBOOK GRAPHICS is turning FIVE YEARS OLD and is having a party!

And although I can't participate much (slow internet!) I AM having a sale