It's been 5 years...Bethany Joy Patrow July 22-August 6 2008

In memory of our daughter, Bethany Joy.  We love you and miss you, Bethany!

I just updated Bethany's Caringbridge site for the last time.  Hop on over there to read our thoughts about this day..... www.caringbridge.org/visit/bethanyjoypatrow

Today Jonathan made a painting in honor of Bethany.  It has been entered into an event put on by the wonderful organization Now I Lay Me Down to Sleep, who provided so many beautiful remembrance photos of Bethany.  You can vote for Jonathan's painting!  Each vote is $1 and all proceeds go to Now I Lay Me Down To Sleep!  www.drawingsfromtheheart.com

Jonathan:  "I'm making a painting for my sister Bethany in heaven."  

Seen and overheard at our house this spring

We're getting ready to be in America for two months, and my preparation list is a mile long!  But I have these photos and quotes that are so cute....and if I don't post them now, they will be buried in the backlog! So here goes!

Although in general I don't approve of toilet humor, this quote from Jonathan just makes me laugh everytime!

"If you go poopoo, and that poopoo pops, that is called tooting."

If any of you are familiar with the Berenstain Bears, you will know that Papa Bear once took his family camping and made them some Wilderness Stew. This is Jonathan's reaction when he read about how it tasted!

Jonathan:  Mommy, God has power.
Jennifer:  Yes, he does.
Jonathan:  Mommy, why does God have power?


Playing fireman:  
Jonathan:  Emergency!
Dave:  What's the emergency?
Jonathan:  All the people are watching a scary movie!  Come on daddy!  Let's change it to a movie that's not scary!  We're gonna save you!

First time ever licking the beater!

Joshua age 16 months

Joshua's Vocabulary list:

Dank-yu -- thank you  (This was his first consistent word)

Peez -- please

cheez -- cheese (for photos)

Shoes

Mommy

Daddy

Nonny/ Onna -- Jonathan

ep -- help

Dada -- goodbye, goodnight

Ka-ker -- cracker

Doddy-- doggie

Bob-bu -- diaper

Poo-poo

Peek -boo

kuh -- truck

Uh oh

Bah -- ball

luvoo -- love you

Buh -- book

ow-sai -- outside

Wey-wey -- rain 

No

Yes/ Yeah
Owie -- Sorry
Owie -- Owie
Buh-By -- Bug Bite

Just copying what he sees Mom and Dad doing....

 

      The economy is this country is really booming, and in our neighborhood too.  There is so much new construction .....thus the infestation of rove beetles as I described in an earlier post.  A week ago, the lot you see in this photo used to be a shady banana tree garden!  Now it will soon be storefronts.  Yet oh the excitement for the neighborhood children when this genuine giant excavator arrived to carve away the hillside for the foundation!  We stopped with the stroller on the way to school one day to watch it work.  Just 4 shovelfuls filled up a dumptruck! 

Field Trip: A Purse made from an....innertube. A repurposing industry.

For their last field trip of the year, Dave's Environmental Science class went on a field trip to visit a re-purposing business that makes and sells items made from used inner tubes and tires, such as purses and wallets.  The business had about 6 people working that day.  Here are some photos from day at the rubber shop

Arriving at the used rubber workshop

Washing old inner tubes

Final cleaning

Cutting the best pieces

Punching designs in the rubber

My students

Wow, even a teacher can do this with some help.

At home, Joshua plays with a wallet made of rubber from the shop. 

As Iron Sharpens Iron --- Thankful for Friends!

About a year and a half ago, I remember crying in my living room because I couldn't arrange any playdates for Jonathan.  I couldn't find any little boys in our community who could come play.  I felt that Jonathan needed the practice to learn how to share, be gentle, be polite!

In the next year, God provided several little friends for Jonathan.  It's been very special because two kind boys are quite a bit older than him (kindergarten), but still are faithful to come for a playdate at our house or play on the school playground each week.  Jonathan thinks these big boys are worth emulating. 

We LOVE this friend who comes to play every Wednesday afternoon!

On this day, Joshua just would NOT leave him alone, wanted to hug him or sit on his lap for 30 minutes solid!  Our friend is the youngest of 5 kids, so doesn't have any younger siblings.  He didn't mind the baby love.

This friend is from the Phillipines.  His mom works at Mountainview.  We've been playing with him twice a week for the last 6 months or so, and although he is shy, he and Jonathan love each other.  In this picture, he was sick at the hospital and we went to visit him there.  He had typhoid fever but is all better now.

Sunday School play time

Another blessing this year has been the little 3-5 year old Sunday School class that was started at the international fellowship where we attend.  We started in September, when he was not yet 3, always accompanied by a parent and closely coached.  Now he goes to Sunday School by himself and has learned to sing songs in the group and (sometimes) sit quietly for story time!  After the lesson and craft, there is usually some play time. 

We miss this friend who already moved to Papua in February.

As we live in a language school town, many of the ex-pats who come to town only stay for 10 months to a year, and then move on to another island or area of Java.  Jonathan has lost several friends this way already.  He often asks "When are we going to move to Papua, Mommy?"  A few of his friends have already moved to this far eastern island, so he thinks maybe we will too.

When good friends leave, new ones arrive.  Here is a friend who arrived with his parentsfor language school in December. 

Of course it's nice to have some female friends too.  Sometimes these two sisters come to play, and Jonathan always agrees be the patient while they play with his medical kit.  Nothing like being doted upon even when you're not actually sick.

Even Joshua has had a regular play date this year.  It has been such a joy to watch these two little boys, only 16 days apart in age, grow up together!  Sadly, Monday will be our last playdate with him and he will move away with his parents!  Words cannot express how much we will miss them! 

Foliage 2: Banana Harvest Day

You might remember this post a while back about some bananas growing on our backyard banana tree.

Well......

 For four months we checked the bananas every day.  They grew and grew and grew.  In mid-April we knew it was getting close.  Our helper, Ibu Tri, told us "Wait until one banana starts to turn yellow, then cut them down."  So we waited and watched and watched until finally on May 1 Ibu Tri said "The whole side is turning yellow!"  We found our machete and with a manipulation of stools and a bamboo ladder and some hacking, the bananas came down.  Ant nest included. 

About 3 of the bananas had gotten so large that they split their skins down the middle!

So after the ants ran away, we hacked our banana bunch into smaller "combs" and divided them up.  Two bunches for Ibu Tri, one bunch for the gardener, and 2 for us.  

The next day the banana tree was cut down and taken for cow food.   Banana trees grow and produce one bunch of bananas, after which they rot and die.  By cutting the tree down right after harvest, another one will grow in it's place!  

It's very satisfying to eat bananas grown in your own back yard!  Thank you Lord!

Critters 3 -- The Rove Beetle vs Jonathan

We had a frustrating mystery in our house about a month ago when Jonathan sustained an injury of unknown cause to his chest.  Here is an excerpt from the e-mail I sent to our parents about it:

"First big frustration is on Monday Jonathan complained of pain on his chest area.  I saw a faint rash and thought perhaps he had rubbed himself on a raw surface of bamboo on the play structure (which can leave miniature slivers in the skin -- although the workmen had sanded it all clean, I thought they might have missed some spots).  On Tuesday the rash was HORRIBLE, it looked like a serious burn injury.  It looked like he had been splattered with a chemical and the surrounding areas looked scalded.  I tried all kinds of different creams and medicines ....no relief and he was cranky all day, on a very short temper, and seemed to be having pain spasms.  That night he woke up screaming 4 times.   Finally Wednesday morning I decided to try some generic burn cream from a friend....it worked.  After that the rash didn't hurt anymore and has been healing since then.  But I am so frustrated because we have NO IDEA what caused it!  I was right by his side or close by all of his waking hours!  And except for a short time around bath time, he was always wearing a shirt.  He wasn't even separated from me to go play with his daddy at school because Dave home with a cold that weekend!  The only time he wasn't right with me was Sunday School, and they had 3 teachers for about 8 kids that day, so he was closely supervised.  For all of the protection Dave and I give this child, how could this injury have happened?  We asked him all kinds of questions if he had gotten into anything or played with any bottles (chemicals) or seen any big bugs (maybe he got sprayed with a vinegar scorpion?) ...and he thought about it and answered slowly "I don't think so."  I believe him.  Have no idea what happened ....but at least it is healing.  I'm going to attach a picture of the rash, taken on Tuesday so you can see why I'm so frustrated and confused! "

Ouch

Fortunately the following week, his skin healed and now only a faint shadow of the inflamed area is left.  Finally last week another teacher at school had a similar lesion on her neck and she told us it was from a "Tomcat Bug."  Internet searches soon gave us enough information to confirm, although we never saw the creature, that this is what caused Jonathan's horrible rash.  To this day, I still haven't seen a Rove beetle (as they are known officially) around our house, but I've been told they have been on campus and in the dormitories.  I've also found several Indonesian newspaper articles reporting of severe infestations on this island even last year, with up to 300 people going to the hospital for care.   The bugs live in rice paddies or forest areas, but often are disrupted by new construction projects.   If you only knew how many new construction projects have been started in our neighborhood these last few months. 

Of interest about rove beetles:
1.)  They don't bite.  When threatened they emit a fluid from their bodies which is poisonous.  Thus it looked to me like Jonathan had been splashed or scalded with a caustic substance.
2.)  Initial symptoms include reddening of the skin and a burning sensation.
3.)  After 2-4 days symptoms develop to painful skin irritation, pustules and blisters.
4.)  Affected areas are symptomatic for 10 days or so.
4.)  If a rove beetle lands on you, don't smack.  Try to blow it off in some way.
5.)  Treatment is to wash with soapy water.  Things that may help are antihistamines, hydrocortisone, aloe vera.  I ended up using a burn ointment that worked quite well.  

I hope you never get to meet one!

Happy Mother's Day 2013!

These are our moms at our wedding.  We love them!  

Happy Mother's Day, Grandma Coral and Grandma Arlette!  Happy Mother's Day, Mom! 

I blush to confess that I don't think I've paid much attention to Mother's Day for most of my life and certainly didn't appreciate my mom in a tangible way until I wasn't living in her house anymore.  How is it that we take our loved ones so much for granted?  Now that I'm a mother, and far away from my own mother, I'm reforming.   Thank you Mom, for all you've done for me.  Thank you Arlette for taking care of my husband, too!

A mother's job is hard work .....uhm, especially that first 30 minutes after everyone gets up in the morning and there is crying and comforting and hugging and poopy diapers and full potty chairs and the putting on of clothes and hunger and breakfast and "please read me a story mommy?"  and oh by the way the mommy is hungry and has to go to the bathroom too......happening all at the same time! 

We call you blessed, and hope that you fully enjoy all of the blessings that God has in store for you!

Grandma Arlette (Dave's mom) holding Joshua on his baptism day.

Grandma Arlette having fun in the backyard with Jonathan last summer

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Grandma Coral (Jenn's mom) introducing Jonathan to the Pacific Ocean.

Grandma Coral's first meeting with Joshua when she visited here last March.

P.S.  Hey don't forget to check out the previous blog post, too ....it's part of your Mother's Day gift!