Hello, I'm Denise. I'm the other half of this little blog (you met Kimberlynn on Day 1).   I'm an Army Brat, so when asked where I am from, I give the simplest answer, "Georgia."   Whether I'm homeschooling my six kids or hiding in the a/c watching Netflix, I can guarantee I'm always thinking about what to feed my family next.   Ever since we moved to Southeast Asia in 2008, I've been learning to appreciate the slices of humble pie cross-cultural living serves me every day; especially when the discussion of language is brought up and I am, yet again, reminded that I am not as fluent as my husband. Connect with me:     Blog     Instagram     Pinterest

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   Good morning!  It may look like it it's 8 am, but alas, it is not.  Living on the equator means the sun comes up every morning at 6:15 and goes down every evening at 6:15.   365 days a year. The little mama (pictured here) gets up before the rest of the bunch, so she can read in "quiet."  Oh, I get that, little one.  The big mama (not pictured here) needs coffee.  Lots of coffee.  Usually via french press.  Then followed by my daily dose of Joshua through a Jen Wilken study.   Naomi in Mexico proposed there are two types of women: those who wash their dishes in the evening and those who wait until morning.  I have to disagree, because I (shamefully) fall into a 3rd category: those who stack the dishes and wait for the helper to come in the morning.  Yet again, Ibu (means "Mrs." or "mother", depending on the context) saves me from drowning in a sea of dirty dishes.  Later she will cook lunch and help with the laundry.  I can't explain how much this lady helps me by taking care of tasks that would otherwise take me hours. Beep, beep, beep! Out of water again.  We change one of these five gallon water jugs almost every day.  Here is a tip, ladies: if you want something really nice (i.e. electronic water cooler), send your husband jet-lagged after an extended home assignment.   I guarantee he will come home with something nice.  When the hubby bought this water cooler he must've been wearing his "western eyes," but I'm not complaining.  Hot, cold and a special middle button to fill up pots.  The 3-year-old likes this magic button.  That's probably the reason we go through a jug a day.   The kids are already outside playing, in their pajamas-- the homeschool way.  I choose not to disturb them.  It is super hot once the sun is full blast, so before 9 am is a prime time to be outside.   TGIF.  We school year-round and take it easy on Friday.  We start every day with Circle Time.  Today we are concentrating on Bible, Math and hand-on activities for the younger ones.  Some Fridays we do art, but today I'm not feeling it.  We were super blessed to have a homeschool helper fly back with us from the U.S. this January.  She comes Monday-Thursday and she is ah-mazing!  Today she is off galavanting on some beautiful island off the coast of the main city.  Ah, to be young again. My husband is home doing office work and talking with his accountability partner.  Also, the internet is out.  So during nap time, I get a chance to run to my favorite coffee shop to work on some writing.  I love that small little local shops have been popping up in our little town.  I unintentionally have become a coffee snob.  When you live on an island with some of the best beans in the world, it naturally happens. Home again and kids #5 and #6 are sleeping.  Time for a couple games of backgammon. Also, time for today's lice check.  We got lice {again} this week.  I think we are at the tail end of this episode.  Insert a million praise hands.   I have way too much experience on ridding my girls of lice.   I wear the title of "The Lice-Slayer" in these parts.  Nap time has come to an end and we are all outside playing.  The neighborhood comes alive in the early evening and there are about 20 kids on our street out and about.  Our oldest daughter is using this time to try to get the baby to walk. It's no use.  He has no desire.  Plus, she insisted on him wearing shoes.  Amatuer. Ibu-Ibu are running from my camera.  They are taking their trash down to dump by the river.  I know, horrible.  Indonesia is so beautiful but there is trash everywhere. The  sate man is here.  And on the note of the trash issue I mentioned, my neighbor threatened the sate man with not allowing him to sell his wares unless he figured out a way to keep the trash from his cart off the ground.  The next day he showed up with this little red trash can tied to his cart.  Once step closer to a greener world.   It's 6:15 and the call to prayer goes off.  That means everyone goes inside, including my crew.   I use to pull everyone inside around 5:30 to eat but we lost all the good community time.   Now we eat a later dinner, usually around 6:30.Tonight is a treat. The 10-year-old has made dinner.  Grilled cheese (I brought my cheese in from another country during our last visa run) and homemade tomato soup. We have a few pop-in guests and our helper comes over to taste our son's fine food.  Word has spread and she is interested to see what he has cooked up.  (Please note that when we moved into our home it was freshly painted...a rainbow of color.  The only thing I changed was the pink master bedroom, I do have some standards.)   Baths. Bible. Bed.  The internet is still out.  Aduh, (the Indonesian way of saying "aw man").  No "West Wing" for us tonight.  Guess it is for the better.  My hubby has to do some homework and I'm tired.  Guess I'll go to bed.  Good night!