March Little Things

 It hasn't even been a month since we left Jakarta but it already feels so distant as I look at these pictures. All the days spent wandering around this outdoor area with the kids so that we could get some energy out are long gone now.

 Shae saw a kid climb up this slide and wanted to do it so badly. He kept trying, but just couldn't do it. He kept ALMOST giving up and begging for my help to get up, but I just kept telling him that if he wanted to get up there, he had to find a way to do it, and he did! I loved seeing how proud he was of himself when he finally got up, and then to see him continue going up and down, up and down after gaining that confidence in himself.

 The kids found these waffle ice cream bars at the little kiosk by our apartment and thought they were the coolest thing. Basically a waffle folded over and stuffed with ice cream. Shae kept trying to convince me to let him take it home and put syrup all over it, but I thought that might be a little much.

 New batik! They were so so excited to wear the new batik church clothes that they picked out with dad to church pretty much every Sunday until we left (which was quite a few b/c they were purchased in February).

 Found this easy project that consisted of putting milk on a plate then adding a few drops of food coloring, then dipping a q-tip in dish soap and placing it on the plate. The food coloring swirled and swiveled all over and made some really cool designs. Then the kids decided to use their milk as paint. 

 A few weeks before we left Belen made friends with a college student from Sulawesi. She was often at the pool when we were and just loved swimming with Belen, which Belen absolutely loved as well.

 Shae discovered this brown fuzzy blanket at our friend's house and attached himself right to it. That boy and fuzzy blankets. Extra points if they are brown.

  Last time swimming in the secondary pool that we only swam in a handful of times because it just wasn't as great (mostly because it was either baby pool or deep).

They had a blast playing with their naked Barbie and Ken dolls.

  After a shower, "Mom, do that towel thing on my head like you do."

 Our last two months in Jakarta we felt so blessed to have the Bells invite us over for a weekly play date. Having them in our lives was an answer to many prayers.

  Shae took a few bday pictures for us of us with Belen and when I looked through the camera roll I found this selfie of him showing off his ouchie from a few days before when he was running and biffed it pretty hard.

 A Belen drawing of our family. 

 One day we went to the pool and the water was greenish. The kids were convinced that leprechauns had infiltrated the pool. 

   I finally got out to do some Batik shopping for myself and I decided on this one.

These signs in all the bathrooms made me giggle (and wonder how to even get in that position).

 Darin got his face on a huge banner! 

I was so happy to find some candy coins at one of the grocery stores in Jakarta. They were silver, not gold, but who really cares? Threw together a quick scavenger hunt for the kids the night before St. Patty's day leading them to their silver coins. 

Belen's clues were pictures showing her where to look.

 They were excited about the coins, a little disappointed that no Lucky Charms were left for them like last year, but they got over it pretty quickly. 

Belen's Jakarta BFF. She misses this sweet friend so much. She is 3 years older than Belen but played so well with her. She would always come over to our bench after sacrament meeting and grab Belen's hand and take her to primary. I peeked in one day and instead of sitting with all the other little girls her age, she was sitting right next to Belen. Talk about a mama heart-warmer. She is a sweetheart.