Reuben turns five

Back in August it was five years since Reuben's dramatic, unplanned homebirth. The unplanned part was being at home with four ambulance officers crammed into our little apartment bedroom, Soren asleep in the next room, me howling and laughing as Reuben made his way into the world. He hasn't been in a rush since. He's inherited his father's phlegmaticism and moves through his life at a very leisurely pace. We adore him and wouldn't want him any other way (except when running late). He makes us laugh til we cry. At dinner the other night Soren said: Hey Reuben, push away your icecream and have rotten cabbage. Reuben: Soren, that's sin. If not for the fact that he can't read yet (he's on the way, wandering around the house chanting g-g-g gecko! sh-sh-sh shoe!) I might have thought he'd been reading CS Lewis who said 'We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday by the sea. We are far too easily pleased.' My prayer is that he'll know the joy of knowing Jesus as his saviour and friend and of serving Him all his days. 

Masak-masak (again)

Masak-masak = play cooking. 

Agnes prepares the pineapple from our garden.

Saturday Solitude


As much as I love and adore my children, one of the tricky things is that one or more of them is ALWAYS THERE and I sometimes crave a bit of blessed silence and space to get my head together, or into a book, or onto a pillow. Mercifully, I have a fearless husband who is willing to take them all away from me from time to time, like on this rainy Saturday...

...and look, he's even smiling, bless him. They're off to the awful mall which the boys love because it has a kind of time zoney place with lots of awful games and they're allowed to play the non-shooting ones.

Soren the Chef

Soren has his own recipe book and loves to use it and surprise us with a 'treat'.

He especially enjoys making the most of the drama of the occasion (applause for his effort is welcome) and always makes sure things look beautiful.

Bible Club

For a few years now I have been taking the children to a neighbourhood mid-week Sunday School connected with the church we used to go to. For a while I was helping with teaching, then I stepped back and was just going to help provide good material, but the lady running it recently and suddenly took her three children to Ambon to live. This was a blow for me as she was one of our neighbours that I counted a friend. I don't have the time or energy to run the group myself at the moment, or train someone else to run it, so for now it has folded. Maybe it's something I'll take up in the future, using Papuan Malay material our team prepares...maybe I will run a Christmas program in the holidays...maybe...but too much going on at the moment. My children were not always enthusiastic about going. It took all my tenacity some weeks to follow through and insist that this was what we were doing, like it or not. Other weeks a thousand other tasks at home beckoned, but it was almost always worth making the effort. This particular week Soren played the part of Big Responsible Brother to perfection.





After some sweet tea and biscuits, time to head home through the mud, cow poo and rain.

Reuben's playgroup

Reuben goes to playgroup a few times a week, 8-10am. Lately I have been staying for the duration, to help him engage and keep it a postive time for him before he heads to the international school in August. 

On this particular morning the children played being at the market. Ibu Esther who runs the group has a never-ending supply of creative play ideas. 



Burning rubbish.

With friends Mel and Mama Kin, who've also been conned by their kids to stay for the morning.

Gaby

Soren's friend Gaby often comes over once Soren has finished homeschool. He's a lovely boy and they are very tight.

Soren says to me, Can Gaby pleeeease come in and play, I don't think he's ever played playdough before!

I'm not sure if he was just being polite but he seemed to like my risotto. I still have a precious little stash of arborio rice, which you can't get here.

Big Ruben & Little Reuben

Our house-helper's son Ruben had a day off school so he came along to work with her. He and Reuben play really well, seemingly without any need for conversation, as Ruben has no English and Reuben speaks little Indonesian. 



Afternoon light

I love the long shadows of the afternoon and the way the light streams through the swaying coconut palms as the kids play, riding bikes, soccer or whatever. Soccer is definitely the sport here; kids grow up constructing makeshift goals and kicking a ball around with each other.

Mango harvesting

The boys have been learning about 'harvesting' at Kinder. Everyone went to one of the kid's houses to pick mangoes, which was reeeally exciting! Here Soren and Ibu Lilik climb the mango tree to toss some down to eager hands below.


Attempting a catch. One poor kid copped a mango on the head.

Washing before eating. Yum!

Bikes

Most afternoons I go out on the street with the boys, and chat with any neighbours who are hanging around. Soren's the one wearing a helmet.





Abdil adores Reuben, and will do anything for him. He often comes to our gate calling for the boys while they are resting/sleeping in the afternoon.

Abdil, his sister, and neighbour Fita.