Easter Antics

Welcome to our Easter Party Review!
We went to a party hosted at the Marine House on Saturday afternoon, and it was such fun! We ate lots of picnicky food (like hot dogs and potato salad), had an Easter Egg hunt, bobbed for rubber duckies (which only Andrew did...Claire and Josh refused!!), and had a three legged race! We enjoyed time with friends even though it was a SCORCHING HOT day!!! Seriously! I was wishing for some of the nice cool weather I keep hearing about in the states!! Whew!!! And at the end of our fun at the Easter party, the kids each got a basket full of lots of Easter candy (which we actually had to hide from them when we got home, then Devin switched the candy from those baskets into their real Easter baskets, and hid them Easter morning...and the kids were none the wiser!! Ha!!)

Here we have Claire smiling and happy, because she is eating!! Mmmm...hot dogs... (Or 'chaud chien'...which is a really funny translation and our French teacher laughs at it all the time...)



And we have, of course, the looking for the Easter eggs, which is a must at any Easter party function. Here we have Andrew, holding his egg that he found.



Claire with her friend...they found an egg!



Josh found one of the special Golden Eggs, and he's showing everyone.




Here is Claire with her friend as they search for Easter eggs.




Here we have Andrew, bobbing for duckies!! He he he... He actually just reached in and grabbed one, but for a minute there I thought Devin was really going to dunk his whole head! :)




The all-time favorite: The Three Legged Race!!



Here is Josh and his partner trying really hard to go...they just couldn't catch on. It was so funny, though! Josh got SO ticked off!! Hee hehee.. (And you can see that Andrew cheated, as he's being carried through the race instead of having his leg tied to someone else...)




And what better way to finish off a fun hot day than to smother frosting all over your face? (Andrew kept trying to hand his handfull of mushed up cupcake and frosting to the poor guy sitting next to him. Apparently, not everyone likes 'abc' cupcakes. Who knew?)


Here we are the next day: Easter morning for the traditional Easter basket search:

Happy Josh has his Easter basket...



Claire found her basket, too! Yea!!



Here I am with my Easter basket...and the kids who want my chocolate!! (I only got 2 twix!! and I'm having a bad hair day...)



And we ended our nice Easter Sunday with a dinner with friends and LOTS of missionaries!!! I remember thinking that it was somewhat overwhelming to cook dinner for 2 Elders...now there are SIX Elders and a couple!! :) What fun!!





It was a nice weekend. I was super sick on Friday, which was ok, because Devin stayed home, and our housekeeper ended up coming even though it was a holiday. She's so good to us!! But, I got better, and we had a nice weekend after all. :)

Resurrection Eggs

Good Morning and Happy Easter!!

When I was younger, I remember doing these a few times, and thought it was a fun and creative way to teach young children about the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is the whole reason for Easter anyway! I went on a search for this, as I couldn't remember what I needed. I found a few different variations on it, and didn't quite like them entirely, so I cut and pasted a bit and came up with this list, which I like:

Resurrection Eggs

Egg #1:
Matthew 21:1-11
(Piece of palm branch or plastic leaf)
Jesus rode into Jerusalem on a donkey. The people waved palm branches.

Egg #2
Matthew 26:26
(Bread)
While they were eating, Jesus took a piece of bread, gave a prayer of thanks, broke it, and gave it to His disciples. “Take and eat it,” He said, “This is my body.”

Egg #3
Matthew 26:14-15
(3 Coins)
Then one of the twelve disciples, named Judas Iscariot, went to the chief priests and asked, “What will you give me if I betray Jesus to you?” They counted out thirty silver coins and gave them to him.

Egg #4
Mark 15:15
(Scourge-small piece of rope or thick string)
Pilate wanted to please the crowd, so he set Barabbas free for them. Then he had Jesus whipped and handed Him over to be crucified.

Egg #5
Mark 15:17
(Purple cloth)
They put a purple robe on Jesus…

Egg #6
Matthew 27:29
(Thorns)
Then they made a crown out of thorny branches and placed it on His head, and put a stick on His right hand; then they knelt before Him and made fun of Him. “Long live the King, of the Jews!” They said.

Egg #7
John 19:17-18
(small cross--toothpicks)
He went out, carrying His cross, and came to “The Place of the Skull,” as it is called. (In Hebrew it is called “Galgotha”.)

Egg #8
John 19:18, 37 & John 20:25-29
(Nail)
Jesus was nailed to His cross by His hands and His feet. They pierced His side, and blood and water came out.

Egg #9
Matthew 27:48
(Sponge)
One of them ran up at once, took a sponge, soaked it in cheap wine (vinegar and gall), put it on the end of a stick, and tried to make Him drink.

Egg #10
John 19:40
(Spices—whole cloves or cinnamon sticks)
The women gathered spices to prepare Jesus’ body for burial.

Egg #11
Matthew 27:59-60
(rock)
Joseph took the body, wrapped it in a new linen sheet, and placed it in his own new tomb, which he had just recently dug out of solid rock. Then he rolled a large stone across the entrance to the tomb and went away.

Egg #12
John 20:6-7 (Matthew 28:6)
(Empty)
He is not here. He is Risen! Just as He said!


I would much rather have my kids searching for eggs that would teach them something of value, than for candy which just makes them irritable and unmanageable. :) I think I'm even going to use it in my primary class today...I wonder if any of the kids in there have ever seen this lesson presented this way before? I'm excited!

Summer Haircuts

I gave all the boys (Including Devin) haircuts yesterday. Andrew looks so grownup!! :( My little baby... *sob* Well, for family prayer last night, it was Josh's turn to pray. Here's part of his prayer: "and please bless Andrew that his hair can grow back soon!" Ha!!



Aren't they handsome?? What big blue eyes...

Long Weekend

Today is Good Friday. Is it a holiday in the US? I don't remember ever getting the Friday before Easter off...but my mind is slipping. I think it's an observed Cameroonian holiday. Devin has the day off, and yesterday was treated as a Friday (which means he got out of work at 12:30). So, we went to our favorite place to eat: The Euro Marche. Mmmmm...real Italian food! We invited some friends with us because they had never been there. (Apparently, the reason they'd never gone is because someone else told them that the owner had told him that if he ever saw another American come into his store he'd cut off their foot...or something to that effect, and that the owner was very rude toward Americans in general. We've never felt any hostility from anyone...but we are pretty oblivious.) But, a nice time was had by all. We enjoyed getting to know a new family (they have 3 girls-one is Josh's age), and that's always nice. We discovered a new thing at the Euro Marche: They have a huge fish tank! Andrew discovered it. We were letting him roam free somewhat, and he stood at this one spot for about 15 minutes. He is not one to stand still in a new place (or any place) so I went over to see, and he was completely mesmerized by this giant tank full of fish! I told everyone else, and all the kids had a ball watching all these fish swim around! I wish I would have brought my camera!! Although, I don't usually bring my camera around, since I'm always afraid I'll get in trouble for taking pictures. I've heard that you have to have a permit to take pictures in the city...I don't know if it's true or not, but I don't want to cause trouble anywhere. It was fun! Then after the pizza, we came here and had our homemade Soy Ice Cream...Mmmmmmmmmm... It is yummy, if I do say so myself...and I can, because usually Devin makes it! :) He does a good job. It was a hit, as always. A yummy cold treat. The kids all played. It is interesting to me, that when the kids play by themselves, they usually play 'airport'. I suppose it's because they've been in lots of airplanes...so they're always pretending they're going somewhere. They get bags and backpacks and fill them full of stuff, then they visit far away and exotic places (yesterday was Arizona). The interesting thing, though, is they played with their new friends yesterday while the adults sat and talked (as is normal for everyone), and they all played airport together. Their kids play airport all the time, too, so they merged their imaginations and were completely compatible. I suppose it must be a common thing among foreign service kids, as they travel a LOT. Interesting. I remember playing with My Little Ponies and visiting forests. I didn't go on my first airplane until I had graduated from high school. These little guys, on the other hand, will probably have traveled the globe before they even get to high school.

They are growing up so fast...



Their new favorite game is wearing my shoes all over the house. And Josh is always putting on a tie with his t-shirt. The first few times he did it, I laughed like crazy! I asked him why he wore a tie with his t-shirt, and he said to me in his most grown up and 'Why-are-you-even-asking-me-this-question-because-it's-so-obvious-Mom' voice: "I just want to look extra nice today, Mom." Ok. Can't argue with that.

Tomorrow we're going to an Easter party at the Marine house...I appreciate that they didn't have it on Sunday as I had feared they would. That will be fun, as I'll get lots of candy... :)

Maps Are Cool

The little cluster map off to the side is SO COOL! I hope you don't mind, Jaclyn, that I stole the idea from your blog! wow!! I've always thought maps were awesome, but the coolest thing about this map is seeing where all the people are who have seen my blog! All my family and friends around the world!! Now I need to make friends in Asia, and get my little bro in Australia to look at it so there's a dot in every continent of the world! Neat! The only one I'd be missing is Antarctica...who named that as a continent, anyway? The only things that live there are penguins and polar bears...It's colder than Rexburg and Russia, and that's saying something!! :)

It's time to post a few pictures, as I haven't done so for awhile:

We had some friends over, and with all the kids, we decided to do a Tower O' Kiddies! What a riot!!



I know, I know...who wants to see a bunch of naked babies?? But I think this is so funny! All three of them in the bath. They each had a car in each hand and were 'vroom'-ing them around! I think I'll post the video of it, too...I think it's funny!

IN-Famous...It Means MORE than Famous!

We've had a fun weekend. Having Devin come home early on Fridays is so nice. It's like having a 3 day weekend every single weekend! :) I don't remember what we did on Friday, though. But Saturday mornings, Devin has taken to going to the Mfoundi market (yes, I thought it was spelled 'Fundi', but apparently, it's not) to get fresh cheap produce. Oh so yummy and cheap!! Woohoo! He takes one of the kids with him. Josh and Claire usually take turns, and as soon as I finish the job chart I'm making, it will be much easier to figure out who should go! :) Anyway, Claire got to go on Saturday. Apparently, she made Devin hold her the whole time, but she enjoyed herself nonetheless! :) They came back with bags of zucchini, cucumbers, tomatoes, leeks, onions, potatoes, avocados, apples (they're imported), lettuce... other things we've gotten before are ginger root, garlic, beans, cabbage... and it's just so cheap!! So, that's our usual fun Saturday morning thing.

Saturday afternoon we went to a chili cook-off! It was so much fun! About 7 or 8 people showed up at the Marine house, and brought chili and cornbread, and we chatted while the kids ran around... I made my IN-famous white chili, and it ended up being pretty good! It's still strange to be in the environment we're in...to see the parents just letting their kids roam free (of course, it was a very safe place where we were because of all the gates, and they spray for mosquitoes there, so the threat isn't as great...but we did put on our bug spray, and no one got any bites, so no worries) while they sit around and chat, drinking their red wine or beer. I don't know if it's something I'll ever get used to... They're such nice people, though, and I enjoyed getting to know them better. Josh and Claire and even Andrew had fun running free in a very large grassy area in the early evening while it was cool. This coming Saturday we're going to the Marine house again for an Easter party...mostly for the kids, but I know that I'll benefit, too, since they're planning to have a LOT of candy, and since my kids don't hold their sugar well, I get to stash it and munch on it until next year...Ha!!

Sunday, Devin had to go in to work on an emergency. Apparently the air conditioner stopped working sometime on Saturday, and it was around 120 degrees in his office, which is bad, since that's where all the servers and big computers are!! Doh!! So, he ended up spending a good 5 hours there Sunday morning, and got home just in time to rush us all off to church! :0) We dropped off a loaf of my IN-famous bread to some friends who were having a party that we couldn't go to that day, and made it in time for our classes. Whew! After church, our neighbor came over for dinner. His family left for the states last week, and he's all alone...so we like to have him over as often as possible.

Tonight, we had our famous family home evening...or should I say, IN-famous? The kids LOVE it! They ask for FHE almost every night, which is fine with me. I don't mind that they enjoy learning about how to be good and follow Jesus...singing songs about Him and reading the scriptures... :) We have a few quirks in ours. Josh HAS to 'conduct', or be the one assigning parts and welcoming everyone. So, he picks who prays, who leads the music, which song we sing, who gives the lesson, etc. The person who prays is 99% of the time Claire. And she got to even lead the music tonight! My favorite, though, is Andrew! He stands up next to Josh as he is conducting and waves his arms all over the place (leading the music) and giggles like crazy. Then, when Josh is finished, he folds his arms and is ready for prayer. It's so cute! I can't help but laugh all the time when I see this! They're so adorable!!

I made guacamole for the first time tonight. I've never made it before, but we had a really ripe avocado that needed to be used, so I threw a bunch of stuff together and made it...and it's the best stuff I've ever had, if I do say so myself. Devin must have liked it as well, because he ate most of it.

Happy Thoughts

Things I could get used to about life in Cameroon:

1. Peaceful clean house with housekeeper: What a fantastic feeling as I walk through my house to find the kids or put something away, and everything is just clean and peaceful...no more harried mom! Oh, it’s so wonderful to have a constant clean house, and I feel the spirit more often this way. What a blessing!! I often think of the poem that my mom had on the wall as I was growing up:
Cleaning and Scrubbing
Can wait ‘till tomorrow,
For Babies grow up,
We’ve learned to our Sorrow.
So, quiet down cobwebs,
Dust, go to sleep!
I’m rocking my baby,
And babies don’t keep!
I know with all moms there are some things that we will look back on and maybe feel regret that we did/didn’t do it. I would rather feel sort of sorry that I didn’t get to clean as much, but that I was able to play with my kids a LOT...I am SOOO grateful!!! I DO still clean up after myself and the kids...after all, Pascaline is only here until 5, and it’s after 5 that comes the dinner, and our hour or two of ‘wholesome recreational activities’ aka group effort of extreme silliness.

2: There are advantages of cement walls: When the doors are slammed open, no holes appear from the door knobs slamming into the wall! They are much more sound-proof than drywall or plaster, and Josh can ‘fix’ them with his plastic hammer and not wake up the whole neighborhood...

3: Early out fridays! I didn’t notice until about a week ago, that the workdays are actually ‘longer’–7:30 to 5. I was so used to that schedule already because of the extra time that commuting took in DC that it hasn’t been a transition for me! Yea!!

4: It's warm every single day of the year! We love the great outdoors!

5: We have huge gates and a guard so I don’t have to worry about the kids running away or getting lost.

6: The sun rises and sets at almost the EXACT same time every single day of the year (NO daylight saving time...ah, bliss!!)

7: The kids are used to seeing bugs all over the place, including inside the house, so it’s not a shocker if we go somewhere and there are bugs running around...

8: There is tropical fruit year round...mango season is upon us!

9: We have a large garden that I don’t have to even weed!

10: Fruits and veggies here are dirt cheap and plentiful

11: We have bananas, guavas, papayas and avocados growing in our yard...

12: There are advantages to tile floor verses carpet: Potty training is simplified(not that I'm starting that yet, but just think how nice it'll be just to mop up the mess instead of worrying which part of the carpet he was standing on last...), less vacuuming, less unseen dirt, it doesn’t matter if gum falls on tile!, no ‘black stains’ or trying to get jello out of carpet...blah

13: The rain storms here are fun and amazing! (In fact, it looks like there is one on the way as I 'speak'...)

14: Beautiful tropical views from every balcony and window of the house (well, except the back...)

"I think I'm gonna like it here!"

Midnight Snacks and Paper Boy

During the evenings, after Devin gets home from work, we always try to have 'wholesome recreational activities'...(I usually give the kids a bath before he gets home so we have a few hours to actually play instead of Devin coming home, getting the kids into the bathtub and getting frustrated because they tend to dawdle a lot, then everyone's upset by the time we're all ready to have family scriptures and prayer. So giving the bath before Devin gets home avoids the unhappiness and we all get to spend quality time together and have a nice little family devotional every night) ANYWAY, tonight's wholesome activity was Devin's idea.... We acted out the bridge scene from Monty Python and the Holy Grail. Oh dear. It was absolutely hilarious!!! The kids had taken all the cushions off the couches and placed them in a neat line. First they had races across them, then they played Billy Goats Gruff (we all took turns being the big bad troll, and the biggest billy goat Gruff), and then Devin says, "Let's act out the bridge scene from Monty Python!" Oh my goodness. Where does he come up with this?? So, we did! Devin was the first bridgekeeper, and Josh was the first to try to cross the bridge. So we went through the whole thing telling Josh he had to answer the questions three, 'ere the other side ye see', and I told Josh to say, "Ask me the questions bridge-keeper! I'm not afraid!" So Devin asked, "WHAT is your name?" "Joshua Hendriksen" "What is your quest?" "What?? What's a quest?" And at that, Devin and I both screamed and threw him off the bridge! It was SO funny! Claire, on the other hand, answered every question. "What is your name?" "Claire Bear Princess" "What is your quest?" "Ummm...picture" "What is the average wing velocity of an unladen swallow?" "Ummm...piano" "Oh. Ok" Ha!! She doesn't miss a beat! She came up with all kinds of answers...even when Josh asked random questions. And when claire was the bridge-keeper, she asked '2' questions, while holding up four fingers. Oh dear. We were all laughing so hard!!

We are finally enjoying some REAL rain storms!! :) Today, it HAILED!!! WOW!! I was exclaiming this to my housekeeper, and she said that sometimes the hail comes down golfball sized!! Crazy!! But I am certainly enjoying the rain and the occasional lightning and thunder.

Our French teacher got sick this week. We think he has malaria. His daughter has it and has been in the hospital for awhile now. Scary.

I've been driving all over town!! WOOHOO!! What a rush!! I must admit, that after getting over the initial shock of the way people drive here, it's actually quite fun! I'm sure I won't say that after I get into an accident, but I'm enjoying myself! You can swerve all over the road avoiding people and cars and things, and no one thinks twice about it. I think the closest thing to compare driving in Cameroon to is the old Nintendo 'Paper Boy' game. I do sing that song quite often as I'm driving and trying not to hit things that keep jumping out in front of me. It's rather exhilarating. I think I'll actually miss it when I go back to the states. Or anywhere else in the world. What fun! :)

Devin is off to the airport tonight, so I am once again all by my lonesome! I think I'll go read a book and see if I can't scrounge up a nice 'midnight' snack...

Claire and Josh Funnies

Yesterday, we had all the missionaries over for dinner and FHE(Family Home Evening). Well, at the end of FHE, Josh likes to do this thing where he picks the quietest person, and he gives them a prize (usually something random he finds on the floor...like one of Andrew's socks, or a board book or the like). So, he gets up in front of everyone (mind you, there are 6 Elders plus the senior couple, so this is not a small group o' people) and says, "Now, I'm going to give a prize to the person who is the quietest!" And, bless those Elders, it becomes completely and totally silent (except for me, because I'm laughing so hard -- quietly of course -- I thought I was going to fall out of my chair...which was causing a little problem with those who wanted the prize of the quietest...) and Josh stands up there looking at everyone trying to decide who to give this prize to. Then he runs over and picks something up, then stands in front of everyone and says, "Don't look behind my back!" and stands up there deliberating some more on whom to choose. Finally, he walks over to one of the Elders, and hands him the coveted prize: An electronic mosquito repeller. I thought that was very thoughtful of him, as these guys could probably use something like that...and the Elder thought so, too, as he asked, "Wow! Is this for me?" To which Josh answered, "No, it's just for you to look at!" at which point none of us could hold it in anymore and we were all laughing hysterically to the point of tears! That was pretty classic!


Here's a Claire-ism for the day:
We were reading the Very Hungry Caterpillar, and she was reading it. She got to the fruits, and said, "On Friday, he ate an apple but he was still hungry! On Friday, he ate TWO....earplugs? Mom, what are those?" (Pears) "Ok. On Friday he ate TWO pears. On Friday, he ate THREE....earplugs? Mom, what are those?" (plums) "Ok. On Friday, he ate THREE...earplugs? Mom, what are those again?" (plums) "Ok. On Friday, he ate THREE...of those." I was laughing!!

I have another one from Claire today...but I can't remember it. Luckily, I wrote it down...but I can't find the paper I used to write it on...


I found that paper. Claire had found it before me, took off with it, crumpled it up, threw it on the ground, then refused to tell me where it was. Luckily, Joshua knew, so he showed me.

Anyway, we were making a picture of the Very Hungry Caterpillar, and Josh and Claire started in on a conversation about Heavenly Father. Josh said something about how Heavenly Father loves us...

C: I love Heavenly Father. But, He doesn't love me.
J: Oh, yes He does! He loves all of us, because we are His children!
C: Even Mommy?
J: Yep. Even Mom.
C: Hmmm...Heavenly Father doesn't like leaves, I think. But He does like to watch movies!!

What have I done wrong?!?!?!? :P


This morning, we heard Josh coughing down the stairs before everyone else was awake. Normally, this is a bad thing, and I usually jump up in order to stop some disaster from happening, but for some reason, I was totally out of it this morning. Well, Devin comes in about 1/2 hour later, and says that I need to come downstairs and see what Josh did in the dining room.

I get down to see: Josh has set the table completely! He put plates out for everyone, with a piece of ham on each plate (which, sadly, I was saving for dinner tomorrow, but, oh well.), bowls on top of hot pads, because he remembered that I was going to make meuslix for breakfast this morning, spoons, forks, knives, cups all full of water that he had filled himself (not from the toilet or anything, even!)...he was so proud of himself! He said, "I got up before everyone else, so I decided to set the table for breakfast!" What a guy!

Happy Car

(3/9/08)

Yes, we now have our car. What peace of mind and freedom it brings! It makes me think of a favorite movie quote, when Jack Sparrow is talking to Elizabeth Swan about a ship. He talks of the sails and the hull etc., etc., and says that that's what makes a ship, but that's not what a ship is: FREEDOM! Now, I get into my car, singing 'Yo ho, Yo ho, and Pirate's life for me!' and saying to myself, "Bring me that horizon!" We can go to the 'store' or market at any time without waiting for our driver to come, or for our neighbor to not be busy. We can drive ourselves to social functions and leave when we get tired and ready to go without making other people have to leave early or go in shifts because there are too many of us. I admit it feels strange to drive around without an embassy driver taking us places. It feels somewhat illegal--like we're doing something completely risky and against the rules! I believe I heard myself cackling yesterday as we drove home all by ourselves from a pool party!

Today being Sunday, I've been thinking of ways to get our home and selves in order once again. I feel as if we've lost all semblance of order and schedule for such a long time; will it be possible to find it again? Ever since July of last year we've been in a transition state. That is far too long to be transitioning! Our home is finally feeling like the home it should be. I'm only missing a few bookcases to make everything completely and totally cozy. There are two VERY large boxes of books waiting for a home, but it's not overwhelming. The bookcases are in the process of being made at the moment. Our pictures are all up. I will take pictures today or tomorrow and post the before and after. We have couches and rugs, blankets and clothes, and lots and lots of food! :) *sigh* What could be better? And now it's time for me to buckle down and get some schedule going for the kids. I have convinced Joshua to stay home during playgroup so we can do school together. We had a ball last week! This is, of course, all thanks to my neighbor. She invited Josh over to participate in a homeschool class with them and he was beyond thrilled! It only happened once, sadly, as they are leaving the country tonight. But, because of that one time, Josh saw how much fun it was. When I mentioned that maybe we could do that by ourselves while Claire and Andrew went to playgroup, his eyes lit up and his happy grin split his face! I love that look! He was so excited! We did a class on insects. We found some fun interactive learning sites on the internet and learned all about different classes of bugs, their parts, and life cycles. We did a science experiment, drew pictures, followed bugs around with magnifying glasses...it was so much fun! I think that time with just the two of us is very beneficial to us both. And Claire and Andrew get to play at the same time! :) I've thought up some other 'fun projects' as we call them to do with Claire as well, so we have something to do that's somewhat educational during Andrew's naptime. My plan is to do at least 2 major projects with them each day and to read lots of books along with Josh's 2 1/2 hour school time on Tuesday and Thursday. I think this will help us all a lot and get a bit of schedule and order back into our lives. I will have to post pictures of the kids doing their 'school'.

Home is Heaven on Earth!

Oh, it's so nice to have my wonderful housekeeper back!! She's so great, and is becoming such a good friend! We all just love her! Today, I showed her how I make bread and cinnamon rolls in the breadmaker--she was awed by that! Then I showed her how I grind REAL wheat (she had never ever seen actual wheat before!!!!) in my wheat grinder, and she thought that was so cool! We had so much fun in the kitchen today! :) I made the cinnamon rolls for the playgroup today, as I was the hostess (with the mostess, right?), and I made bread and ground wheat just to show her how much fun it was. Then I gave her the loaf of bread and the flour. Sometimes I just feel so overwhelmingly grateful to her for all her hard work and help that I just want to keep bumping up her salary. Well, I can't really do that...that wouldn't be fair to her since it would make it harder for her when we leave, BUT I CAN do extra things for her! Like give her a 'superfluous' loaf of bread when I make it; a little flour when I grind it (it's SO expensive here, and they do NOT have whole wheat, even if they claim they do!!! The stuff they call whole wheat here is NASTY!!!!); some of the fresh produce from the garden... I picked an entire grocery bag full of green beans from our garden today. When are we going to eat that much??? Since we can continue to grow it all year round, there's really no need to freeze it or stock up on it, so it makes me feel happy to share! :) So, Pascaline went home today with half a grocery back of green beans, and loaf of fresh homemade breadmaker bread, and a gallon ziplock bag half full of freshly ground wheat. When I was piling up her goods on the counter for her to take with her, I thought she was going to cry! Good grief! It's not half of what I would like to give her! And how can I in any good conscience NOT share when we have SO MUCH and she gives me so much help and peace of mind??? Because of her, I'm much less frazzled all the time. I can pay more attention to the kids and play with them instead of frantically trying to clean up the bathroom, or all the dishes I made from a big lunch...I can play peacefully instead of absentmindedly driving a car around a track with Andrew while thinking of all the other things I should be doing and I'm not, and thinking how much more work it will be later and how tired I am...I know everyone can relate. I'm able to go to French class with Devin a couple of days a week for an hour, and I know that she's here playing with the kids so they're not just vegging away while I'm gone. I'm very grateful for this opportunity to have help--even if it's just for a short while. It is such a blessing.

On to another thought: Our car is HERE!!!! All we have to do is pay for our Yaounde insurance and we can pick it up! Weird!!! Now I'm going to have to drive places!! Doh! But, I admit, it will be nice not to have to rely on the drivers, or on my neighbors who are leaving on Sunday (SAD!). I can just think, "Hmmm...I need some butter (which I really do). I think I'll go to Pavillon Vert and pick some up! Then maybe I'll go to the Euro Marche and get some ground beef, a chicken, and perhaps a nice freshly made Italian Calzone!" (drool) So, that will be nice.

We've had some amazing rain storms, and I'm looking forward to more. I LOVE IT!!! :)

I thought I might add some photos, since it's been awhile, so enjoy!! (Still no pictures up yet, so I'll get those 'before and after' shots in here eventually...)

Here we have a view of part of the back of the house. You can see Josh and Claire's window/door/balcony to their room on the top, and below them is the kitchen balcony thingy...and some interesting purple bushes:



Here is a nice view of the front of the house:



Two views of our backyard garden! Mmmm...Veggies... In one picture, you can see our banana trees--and the two GIANT bunches of bananas that will be ready to cut down soon!!! (I'm super excited about the avocado tree in our front yard that should all be ripe within the next week or so!!!!!!!!!! Here, though, they call avocados 'pears' because in French, the word for avocado is 'avocat', but that's also the word for 'lawyer', and since there are lots of lawyers here, and no 'real' pears, they chose to call avocados 'pears' instead of 'lawyers'. Makes sense to me.)

What a Riot!

Ok, so honestly, it really hasn't been much of a riot in the sense of being something funny... But, the good news is, it appears that most of the rioting has stopped. Some taxi drivers are even out and about (mostly, it was the ones who couldn't park at their homes, so they had parked at gas stations and such, and the gas station owners made them move, so they basically just went to work)...I must admit that when I saw one of the little yellow terrors (aka taxis) fly by on our street this morning, I was never so happy to see it! :)

This is almost day seven of not having left my house AT ALL...talk about cabin fever!!! Maybe that's why they give us such huge houses here in Africa? What with coming in early to try to avoid malaria mosquitoes, not being allowed to go anywhere at night, and the occasional civil uprising, we end up spending quite a bit of time in them. I will be glad to get to go to the market, etc., this week. Maybe we'll even get our car? That might be fun. We'll see.

Our poor housekeeper was stuck in a random city all week long. I called her yesterday to make sure she was ok, and she told me that she was safe, but that they were going to kill her anyway since there was no food! I was so worried about her!! We've been praying for her all week long! Not just because my house is a mess and it's so tiring trying to keep up with keeping this gigantic house clean plus all the other stuff I usually do...like pay attention to my kids...but because she's become a really good friend!! This morning, though, she called to tell me she was in the car and should be here in Yaounde again by 5pm tonight!!! Hooray!! I can imagine that she has quite a story to tell! Here she's stuck in a city with no family, no food and no place to stay, and here I am complaining that I haven't been able to leave my house...including the mini commissary that we have going on in the basement pantry! :P Complain, complain...I know. I really am grateful. We suffered through our 'house-arrest' with the greatest of luxury...because I make all my own bread now...YEA!!! and I make all our soymilk, and we really lack nothing except some fresh fruits and veggies which would be nice, but we can do with frozen and canned for now until the markets are open full-swing and the threat of random riots are mostly blown over. We have been EXTREMELY blessed. Our HHE shipment could not have come at a better time.

We are doing well, Andrew is doing MUCH better. Maybe someday we'll figure out what he had. Hopefully, it's not contagious, whatever it is. Devin and I have been organizing like crazy, and things are really starting to take shape. It's getting so cozy in here! Once I get my pictures up on the walls, I will take pictures and post the 'before and after' of our house! That will be fun...for me, at least! :)