project 52-- week 12

ISO 400, 1/500, f 2.5, 50mm

an afternoon of watching luke and the big boys play soccer at a university's field right down the road.  we found green grass, people! 

reminder: we like david, not goliath.

david and goliath is very popular these days in the pierce home.  any story with soldiers, really.  luke has been a little slower than mary when it comes to interest in books… but these days i often find him in his room, looking at his Bible, re-telling stories.  it's usually david and goliath, joshua and the battle of jericho or moses (with a special interest in the egyptians forcing the israelites to keep working-- they have a whip).  

before you think he's unusually spiritual for a 3 year old, take note that he is basically only looking for soldiers in his bible.  but, we go with it and frequently remind him of who we want to be like in those stories and about their trust in God making them great.  one day, he'll get it but for now, he just want to play soldiers.  i made him a sword, spear and a helmet a few days ago.  he had to have a "belt of truth" for his sword.  i can't get over his still chubby, baby legs.  i love them.  he's ready for battle.

mary also enjoys these stories… it's one of the main things that bonds them these days.  mary loves to pretend anything and luke basically only pretends soldiers/fighting and doggies, so mary just goes along with it.  usually one of them ends up crying.  but they have fun for the 25 minutes before the tears.  :)

mary's sword had a cute little smiley face with goggly eyes, of course.  she was a little more focused on the appearance of the sword than it's function.  

danny pulled in from work as we were outside crafting… so he joined in the fun.  he looks fierce in his soldier helmet, right?

cutey with her sword and belt of truth.  

fierce.  i'm sure goliath would cower at her sight.  

buds.

they ran off into the puddles with pure joy.  i call their name so they will turn around and i can get a picture of them.  they both posed like this.  by themselves.  hilarious.  it has asian selfie written all over it.  (please note luke's finger by his cheek)

i feel like there has been a shift in the last few weeks.  a really great shift in our house.  they are starting to play together more and more and enjoy themselves.  they are loud, rowdy and quite honestly, a little annoying as they rambunctiously run around the house.  they don't really play quite games together-- their favorites are building forts with every pillow in the house, playing dog (read: endlessly barking at my feet asking for me to pet them) and role playing david and goliath.  nothing about their play together is quiet.  

but i love it.  i love hearing luke yell 'mawy, mawy, watch dis!' and then i hear her die laughing.  he feeds on her laughter.  i love hearing mary boss luke around and luke happily doing all that she says.  i remember having a little brother like that… or at least i bossed him and hoped he'd follow along.  

they really couldn't be more different in personality and interests but somehow they are becoming buddies.  i tell them all of the time God gave them a brother/sister so that they always have a friend to love and play with.  i write this as they watch "peep and the big wide world together" dying laughing, looking at each other.  so cute.  

anyways, i have two ways that they love one another right now that i don't want to forget.  recently we've been a lot of conferences/meetings where they have to go to child care together.  luke never wants to go and mary really takes it upon herself to help him.  they hold hands and she reassures him that it will be okay and they will be together.  he won't go in unless he's with mary.  i love the way she cares for him.  

and as far as luke loving his sister, well he adores her.  but one thing that i LOVE is that he always thinks of her.  here's a few examples:  he asks if they can have a yogurt drink (kind of a treat).  if i agree he immediately turns around and runs to find mary, yelling 'mawy, mawy… mom said we can have a yogurt drink!'  he comes back and gets one for her and runs to give it to her.  even when she's at school he thinks of her.  we will go to the grocery store and i tell him we can split a kit kat (it has two pieces).  he always says we have to buy another one so mary can have one when she gets home from school.  if he gets a cookie, he asks for one to give to mary.  if i tell him we're going to go to the mall 

(a fun outing for our family… weird i know, but it has AC and usually it includes ice cream), before he can even respond he turns around and he's running off to tell mary the exciting news.  it's so sweet.  he doesn't share toys all of the time and he definitely still looks for ways to annoy her (and he hits her with his sword, takes her blanket and tackles her) and she still screams at him… but he always wants to share treats or exciting news with her first.  so, we'll celebrate the victories.  :)

so, today i'm thankful for their growing friendship.  i still have many days where i would identify my main role as "referee" but they're making big progress.  before you picture pleasantville in the pierce home let me give an update on the current happenings as i write this… the video is over and they are fighting over a blanket… tug of war, laughing, screaming, hitting and then laughing again… and then mary just banged her head against the wall and is screaming at luke.  okay, so we're still working on a lot of things.  :)   

for now, i'll celebrate the fact that they laugh together, protect one another and think of each other… and i'll deal with the countless fights as they come.  

project 52-- week 11

ISO 200, 1/800, f 2.8, 50mm

it's rainy season here in indonesia and i let my kids play in the puddles.  it's gross but my kids love it.  luke's clearly contemplating life.  and on a side note, i'm going to be so sad when all that baby love on luke's stocky body is gone.  

in other news, i'm entered a photo to be critiqued on a website i frequent.  check it out.  leslie and phil, y'all are dreamy.  :)

luke, my madurese kid.

luke had a program last weekend for the "birthday" of his neighborhood playgroup (PAUD).  it was awesome.  all of the kids wore traditional clothing and sang songs and danced.  of course there was a coloring competition first… they love coloring competitions here.  

here's my guy in action.  i mean, if i'm honest i can hardly handle the cuteness.  the boys had a horse between their legs and a whip in the other hand as they danced.  luke loved his whip!  surprise, surprise, right.

here is our friend, alif's mom, putting luke's mustache and side burns on.  he was so proud of his facial hair.  and do you see how his hair is completely soaked.  yeah, it's sweat.  i was that sweaty too.  awesome.

first they sang the indonesian national anthem and their PAUD song.  he was serious.  

then it was dance time.  honestly, he had a terrible attitude almost every day at school leading up to this program so i wasn't too hopeful of his involvement.  but, he did great (as he was consistently reminded of the family ice cream party we're going to have when he's done dancing).  :)  i was so proud of him!  

instagram version:

lastly, here's mary doing her thing at the coloring competition.  my favorite thing about this picture is the four visible beads of sweat on her forehead as she sitting still and coloring… did i mention it's hot in surabaya?  ;)

project 52-- week 10

ISO 400, 1/160, f 3.2, 18-50mm @40mm 

this is alif, luke's best bud here.  i love alif and his sweet family!  he's adorable and sweet and a peanut compared to luke.  i love his little smile in this photo.  luke had a performance for school last week (more photos to come) but this was my favorite from it… the only time i took my camera out last week.  this project 52 is a little more difficult than i imagined.  oh well.

thankful for luke's little school and the good friends we've made here.  

weekend away-- jogjakarta!

a few weeks ago danny and i took a train to Jogjakarta (about 4 hours away) and had a two night get away.  it was so fun and we loved just getting time to talk without having to hear about soldiers or babies or balls or pretend play.  i love my kids but i also love to get time with danny… and i think weekends like this are invaluable!  so, thanks mom and dad for watching the kids!

our hotel was awesome!  it was a really nice hotel, historic and very javanese.  the buildings and decor were beautiful, there was live traditional music playing during breakfast and the staff was so very javanese (mild mannered, super polite and in traditional clothing).  

here we are just hanging out after breakfast. danny was really excited about me setting up the camera me making him take pictures.  :)  

one of the main tourist sites outside of the city… it's call borobudur, it's a old, huge buddhist temple.  side note: mary just walked up and looked at my computer and said "is that jericho!?"  :)

here we are on top of the temple… a beautiful view of mountains all around.

i also made another amazing discovery… there are now retractable poles used to make selflies that much better!  here's one in action.  :)  confession… i could have used that i few times as i was setting the camera up for photos with danny.  

here are a few photos of some of the sights.  

women selling handicrafts on the sidewalk.  there were a lot of people selling things there!

a boy and his dad watching the pigeon they just released.  i don't really get what the deal is with these pigeons, but they do something with them.  

a traditional dancer… not going to lie, something about them kind of weirds me out.  

so thankful that we got to see another part of a country we love so much and spend quality time together.  thanks again, mom and dad!