Almost There...(Stay On Target!)

Well, here it is Thanksgiving Day. The day hasn't really started yet for us...I still have to plan timing for the meal and get everything ready...so pictures and stuff from that will come later. Right now, I have a bit of catch-up to do!

I've had a nice last week in Yaounde! Last Saturday I had a big surprise! We took the kids to their swimming lessons as usual, and since it was my last Saturday here, I thought it would be fun to try finding somewhere to eat (hard to do here, I know, but it IS possible...even though EVERYTHING is deep fried in peanut or palm oil...) So, we asked around to see if anyone had any recommendations. Then, we stopped home (well, we had to since the police had all the main roads blocked off...) to get Devin's wallet. On our way back out, Devin got a phone call. Someone needed him to stop by and give a little help. Ok. I'm pretty used to that. So, we get to the people's house, and Devin jumps out and says he'll only be a minute. A minute later, he comes jogging out and says that they need to talk to me. ?What? Whatever. So, I walk down in, and out jump about 30 people--Surprise!!! They had thrown me a baby shower!!! I was SUPER impressed that everyone was able to keep that a secret for as long as they did. According to Devin, it had been in the works for about 2 months!!! (Yes, Devin has become AMAZING at keeping secrets. It's that top secret security clearance, I think.) It was so fun and so thoughtful of everyone to do that! I do LOVE surprises, so even though I had just come from swimming, I enjoyed myself still. It was fun to have so many friends all together!

Other than that, it's been the daily battle of sick kids. I forgot to mention last week that Claire and Andrew got nice and sick. Andrew had a fever for a couple of days, and Claire's only lasted a day. Last Thursday, I think it was, both Claire and Andrew fell asleep at 4:30 in the afternoon....and slept until after 6am!!!! Wow!!! It was so strange! Devin came home an hour later and it was super quiet inside the house and just Josh and I were hanging out in the living room waiting for dinner! So crazy! But after that marathon sleep everyone felt much better. I just keep hoping and praying that there are no 'sickos' on the airplane. I know I'd just have to deal with it, but I'd rather just focus on getting to the US safely. One time when we were flying out West, there was a lot of turbulence as we came closer to the Denver airport. I was sitting between Josh and Claire. Well, apparently, the turbulence didn't sit well with those two, because just as we were beginning out descent, they both turned to me at the same time with pale faces and said, "I don't feel good mom!" and they both started throwing up ALL OVER ME!!! Unfortunately, there were no 'barf bags' in the seats in front of us, and since we were going down fast, I couldn't jump up and take them to the bathroom or something, so I just sat there and let them get it all out. (And I was VERY surprised at some of the looks and glares people gave me as my poor kids were sick all over me. What? What's your problem? They're not throwing up on YOU--unless you keep looking at me like that!) When we landed, we just sat there as everyone else jumped off the plane as fast as possible, and then the flight attendants came over to change the seat cushions and give us a bag to throw our nasty clothes into. Ah, the joys.

Anyway, I also finished Andrew's stocking this week. Thus the main reason why I haven't posted anything. I've spent every night this week sewing his stocking together so I could take it on the airplane with everyone else's. Now we all have stockings. I don't have to make another one until next year! Yea!!



We packed up all the bags last Sunday. I had a checklist of what I wanted to bring, so I sat on the floor by the bags and sent the kids on a 'scavenger hunt' to find everything on the list! The kids really enjoyed themselves, and I got it all done! This is ALL that I'm taking on the plane (other than the kids, the double stroller and their 'leashes'! For those of you who remember the post about leashes vs strollers, well, I decided to go for the overkill and do both! I think it will be good, and both Andrew and Claire are excited for their backpacks!)



Since I have to go through security about 50 times, I decided it would be more prudent and simple if I just bypassed the whole checked baggage thing. There's no reason for me to bring more. We don't have any winter clothes, and there's only three of us traveling. The kids are fairly low maintenance, so why bring more? Hope it all goes well! I still can't believe that we leave tomorrow night...

A Poopie Birthday

Well, it's already time for another little birthday fun...My sister is...ummm, how old are you Chessnut? :P Good grief, you're 25, aren't you???? Ok, so here are some pics of my Sis:

She is a fantastic aunt:



Here she is after serving her mission to Spokane, WA! Yea, Celeste! (I would send you more balloons like this for your birthday...)



She has always been very supportive of everyone in the family. Here she is at my mom's graduation (the only one there...sorry mom!!)



Celeste is an amazing photographer. She set up and took this picture! Pretty good, eh??



You have the funniest sense of humor--I LOVE IT!!! You're way old now, I guess:



Happy Birthday, chessnut! I hope it was a great one! You're the bestest sister (ok, so you're my only sister, but you're still the bestest!) :) We are going to have so much fun while we're out there! See you SUNDAY!!! :))))))

Big Boy!!

Josh is SIX today!!! Yea!! So, once again it is time for another tribute! :)

Here is my sweet little baby boy in the hospital. Sleeping soundly...



He still looks like this when you wake him up in the morning!! :)



Here he is after his first birthday (sorry it's super dark...) in his little Winnie the Pooh outfit:



Here he is after his baby sister is born! He usually takes such good care of her! :) Even at two years old he is a sweet big brother! :)



He also likes to help out around the house and the yard! (Don't you just love the boots???) This is my 3 year old Josh:



On his 4th birthday he got the movie Cars and was so excited! :)



He looks so grown up here in his 5th birthday picture....(with the traditional 'wrapping paper', aka plastic bag, and the 'Heavy, Heavy, Hangover' by Claire)



We had a little party for Josh today. He sure enjoyed himself! :) (So did Andrew and Claire...the punch balls were a huge hit with all of the kids!)



Here he is with his cake (the cake looks boring, but it's because it's a shortcake. The Strawberries and Cool Whip were in the kitchen!)



The official 'blow out':




Josh got a 'tank' of sorts from a friend at school, and he and Devin put it together! They did a good job!



I still can't believe that I have a 6 year old boy! I know I'll continue to say that as my kids continue to grow up and get older without my permission!!!

Happy Birthday, Big Boy! We love you!!

Top Ten

I've been chuckling to myself about some of these things for awhile now, so I thought I'd share my Top Ten things that I ... Love? ... About Being Pregnant:

10: Sleeping only on one side all night long--love the ache when you get up! (Or the whole getting OUT of bed to be able to flip over to sleep on the other side...)

9: Leg cramps

8: The 20 nighttime runs to the bathroom

7: Cravings (now, normally this isn't a bad thing...but it is when you're in Africa and there's NO WHERE to go to get the things you're craving!)

6: The Pregnancy Brain (I forget almost everything)

5: Heartburn

4: Morning Sickness

3: Stupid Nurses ("Oh, You're having contractions, do you feel that?" Duh. There is now one less nurse in this world. I'm surprised that more nurses don't die from angry pregnant women in labor....)

2: Well meaning comments from passersby ("You're looking pretty big now!" Yes. Thank you.)

1: Getting really really really really fat.


But, all of this aside, my favorite is that little tiny person that comes after. I'm excited to meet this little one soon! :)

Balls and Stuff

So I went to my first Parent Teacher Conference, and it went great! Josh has the best teacher we could have hoped for! She is very patient with all the children, and very strict, and boy do I appreciate that! I'm excited that he's doing so well. He does well in reading and math, etc., but, of course, I always worked with him a lot in all subjects before he even started school. He's become so much more coordinated with his work. And he's even started being nice at school. :) I was always so ambivalent about sending Josh to school or homeschooling. School is definitely the right choice for Joshua. He has made all kinds of improvements and I'm very proud of him!

On another completely unrelated subject, I have decided that the person who decided that Halloween was all about giving kids as much candy as they could hold in a bag should be SHOT!!! Last week, I was tired of the kids whining and crying about wanting more and more candy, so I gave them free reign on their candy bags for like 1/2 an hour. BIG MISTAKE!! They cried harder and fought like cats and dogs afterward. So, we've had a ban on candy for a week. This is especially fun when Claire starts to throw tantrums because she wants more candy. I'm trying to get their snacks back to the good stuff like carrots and cucumbers with ranch dressing; freshly cut pineapple, bananas, apples, raisins, mangoes, etc. They're doing better about it now. I haven't had quite as many complaints the past couple of days. But I seriously am rethinking what we're going to do about the candy next year. Even I have been making myself stay away from the candy stash...and that's saying something! :)

We went to the Marine Ball on Saturday. What a hilarious thing! First of all, the tickets are outrageously priced, but everyone goes, so you just pay it and think that maybe you're helping out the Marines somehow... Then I got my dress made and that was a fun thing. On Friday I finally went out to the big market (Mokolo) and found a pretty shawl/scarf to go with it and add some elegance. The thing cost me 1500 cfa--just under $3!!!! Woohoo!!! Such a deal for you today! :) But, the whole major problem was the fact that I got SUPER sick on Thursday morning, and it lingered. I thought I was going to pass out on Friday morning as we walked around the market. It was hot, I was feverish and hungry and tired...yah. Not so good. Saturday, the kids had their swim lessons. I didn't get into the pool with them in the morning because I didn't want my cough to get worse...or my fever. Well, we did end up going to the pool again later in the afternoon (we even brought my housekeeper, which was completely hilarious because she'd never been swimming in her life before! But she was decked out in one of my old swimsuits and a beach towel that she found at Mokolo) and I swam then because it was SUCH a hot day! Then I got home and I was FREEZING--but I had to go to a hair appointment. Yes, it was time to get my hair trimmed and done nicely for the ball. My appointment was for 5:30. The ball started at 6. Well, let's just say that the guy who had written down the appointment time thought it was for Friday. So I had to wait for 45 minutes for the lady to be done, and by the time it was my turn I was so hot I thought I was going to pass out! THEN they tried to charge me an extra $12 for no reason. Yah, right. First, you write down the wrong appointment date, then you make me wait almost an hour and make me late for my other engagement, then you cut my hair way shorter than I was anticipating (I even had a picture right in front of me of what I wanted!!!), and you expect me to pay you MORE???? I don't think so!!! I was a little upset by that, but too sick and tired to argue--so thankfully my housekeeper argued for me. :) I finally got home, dressed quick like a bunny, and Devin and I made it to the ball just as soon as the ceremony had ended and the buffet dinner began. Sounded ok to me! :) It was a nice evening, even though I felt really sick and dizzy.



(They're a little blurry...but you get the idea...)

Sunday was another regular church day. Singing songs, teaching lessons, listening to talks... It wasn't bad. I was still so sick, though, I had a hard time. I had lost my voice, so teaching my lesson was rather interesting. Our hometeachers came over, and not once did they ask how we were doing. They came in, told us how they were doing, read us some really random scriptures, asked us some questions (are you doing your family history? Are you having Family Home Evening? Do you read your scriptures every day?...) and then they were done. Said good-bye after eating some apples and ran out the door. I had to sort of laugh at that. Here we all are--my eyes were red and watering from fever and I was coughing up a lung and could hardly move, but there was no "Are you ok? Do you need anything?" Not that I do need anything, it's just nice to ask. Am I wrong? Makes me think of this little movie on Visiting Teaching. Pretty funny, but sadly true. I felt like the last lady on the movie...except that they didn't come back to help out. Oh well. (I don't actually have Visiting Teachers, so the Home Teachers are the closest thing.)

Anyway, after sitting and doing ABSOLUTELY NOTHING Monday and most of Tuesday (seriously...but the nice thing is, my house still gets cleaned, my kids still play happily, and dinner was still made!!) I feel much better today. We even did some 'fun projects'!

Claire built her own Snowman!!


And here's her Christmas Tree:


So, it's nice to feel almost normal again. Hopefully I've gotten it out of my system so I can enjoy our trip to the US NEXT WEEK!!! And I am praying with all of my heart and soul that Claire and Andrew don't catch anything!!!

Did I mention that Josh threw up for like an hour or so on Monday night? Yah, that was yummy. The kid didn't end up going to bed until about midnight. So, I made him stay home. I think I kept him bored enough that he was happy to be back to school today! :) Ah, the joys!

You're SICK, Jesse! SICK, SICK, SICK!!

Does anyone remember that Far Side cartoon? Where the cow is BBQ-ing hamburgers? I always thought it was so funny...especially the little after-thought cartoon that shows the cow eating the burger and thinking, "Hmmm...tastes like chicken..." Ha!

But, at this moment, I'm not thinking of hamburgers or any type of food as a matter of fact. I am SICK!! SICK, SICK, SICK! I have been since Thursday, thus a large lack of posts. We even have our internet back 24/7 now which is nice, but I can barely move myself around, let alone think of clever and informative things to write on my blog. Blah. I have a chest cough, nasal congestion, a continuous slight fever, and I ache ALL over. I can barely sleep, and I can barely stay awake. I am miserable. I went to the Dr. on Friday morning and thankfully they're of my same frame of mind--no meds unless it is absolutely necessary. So, I was told to take it easy, put my feet up, take a vacation for the weekend, and drink lots of lemon. That is, of course, easier said than done. I'm afraid I really over did it this weekend, and now I am paying the price. Blah.

But, hopefully, I will be better soon. I just thought I would update you all and let you know why I haven't been around, and why I may not be around much in the next few days. I'm going to put my feet up and make my housekeeper and nanny do what they're paid to do! Right now, I'm going to drink some lemon-ginger tea, put my feet up, and hope for the best! I kind of wish I were at 'home' right now so my mom could take care of me and tell me I need cayenne pepper and lobelia, and I could rebel and it would be such fun! :) But, all in good time. At this time in 2 weeks I will be in the US....and almost there to Idaho! I do have things to post before I go, though, so stay tuned and wish me luck. In the words of The Farley Family Reunion, "Any of you prayin' folks out there, pray for a late frost." :) *cough, cough*

Christmas Fun Projects

We’ve started doing our Christmas activities. We stuck whole cloves in oranges–oh, they smell so good! I couldn’t get Andrew to do it, he just wanted to eat the oranges. Claire and Josh had a ball, and even our housekeeper joined in the fun! :)



We made reindeer using the kids’ feet and hands. That was fun, too! I gave them all free rein as to where they wanted the faces, antlers, eyes and noses to go. They turned out very creative! :) Josh even added a ‘mouth’! :) Andrew kept wanting to take off the nose and eat it for some reason... I had the kids draw a ‘forest’ on the green paper for their reindeer to live in. The became very creative with that as well! Josh drew each individual leaf of a tree–even adding all the veins of the leaves! Claire drew pretty circles and things all over, and Andrew colored another paper entirely! :) It was fun!



We made glittery pine cone Christmas tree ornaments. Where did I get the pinecones, you might ask? Well, we picked them up in Virginia either last year or the year before. I kept them in a paper bag and even had them packed up and sent around the world because I knew that someday, I would want them for a craft project!! I am just so smart! :) Andrew and Claire were the only ones who did this one. Josh would have enjoyed it, but he was too busy with his bike and talking to the guards on walkie-talkies! So, I had an old wet wipe container, and the kids put their pine cones in it (one at a time) and squeezed glue all over it, then poured in a whole bunch of glitter (this has now become one of the favorite activities!!) After the glitter, they closed the lid and shook it with all their might! After a minute or so, out comes a beautiful, glittery pine cone!



I tied some pretty yarn (you could use ribbon, too) around the top so they can put it on our poor tree that seems to somehow have less ornaments on it every day...I wonder why??? :)

We also wrote letters to Santa. Here they are in all their glory:

Andrew wrote that he wanted a big, big truck (and made our housekeeper draw a truck for him...)



Claire wrote that she wanted a big bag of marbles. She drew 'marbles' all over the page...then she added the stickers after. Ha!! If you look closely you can still make out a few marbles under the myriads of stickers! :)



Josh actually wrote a letter! Here is what he wrote: "Der Santu, Ie hv bin nes too me bruthr and me sitr. and I wud loec u noo belt and Ie wud loec u noo bag. Ad u litl ueteins!!" (translation: Dear Santa, I have been nice to my brother and my sister. And I would like a new belt and I would like a new bag [meaning a backpack for school]. And a Little Eienstiens [meaning one of the movies]!!)
Then he drew pictures of the bag, the belt and the movie. And ended with Luv Josh H!



It was fun for everyone! :)

Cars

Andrew LOVES cars. He will spend hours at a time in this one spot driving cars around. If you want to do anything with Andrew, you have to go stand in his spot with him, he will give you a car, and you can drive with him.



It’s almost sad the way he just stands there going ‘vroom, vroom’ or ‘Down the Hill!’ or ‘Watch out!’ He cracks me up! Here he is showing off some of his most favorite cars:



Gotta love that little kid! Yesterday, while he and Claire were on the swing, he fell asleep! Doh! Usually, I can get him to wake up again, but he just slept on! So, I let him take a 15 minute nap while Devin and I got all our swimming gear together. Then we threw the kids in the car and headed off to the pool for the afternoon for a nice swim after a long fun day. Andrew and Claire jumped in over and over and over again (to me and Devin, not by themselves...) And Josh is getting much more confident since starting his swim lessons. He now goes under the water, doesn’t wear a flotation device, and enjoys showing us all the things he’s learned. Claire and Andrew had their first swimming lessons last Saturday, and they had a blast! It’s been really good for them! :)

Well, we got home, and a couple of missionaries stopped by, so I whipped up a quick dinner for everyone (Lemon Ginger Chicken, Quinoa, and Salad...it was a BIG hit!! Anyone want the recipe??) and we enjoyed a nice dinner together.

At bedtime, we read our scriptures, said our prayers and had the kids brush their teeth. Then, Devin takes Andrew to his room, and I stay with Josh and Claire and read to them (we’re reading the Chronicles of Narnia–we’re on The Silver Chair). Josh and Claire both fell asleep quickly. But after I left their room, I came out and heard Andrew singing in his room–he was singing I am a Child of God in French over and over and over again! It was SO cute!! Then I heard all these noises that sounded like he was playing with his dresser. So, I decided to go in and check on him and put him back in his bed. Well, I went in, and he was in his bed. The sound I heard was him driving his cars over the railings of his bed! Ha! So I sang along with him ‘Je suis enfant de Dieu’ and then left him to his singing and car driving. Now he goes to bed with books and cars. What a nut!

Kid Quotes (Answers)

For any of you who are dying to know what movies Claire quoted, well, here they are:

1: “It looks like a stopsign!” (Chicken Little)

2: “We need to work on your people skills!” (Mulan)

3: “Help! Help me! I wish Megan were here!” (My Little Pony...Claire got the First Season for her birthday...)

4: “Don’t get too excited! Everyone stay calm!” (Charlie and the Chocolate Factory--the one with Johnny Depp)

5: “Choo choo! Chugu-chugu-chugu-chugu...” (This one really cracked me up!!!!) (Frosty the Snowman--the classic cartoon)

What a nut! I suppose Dev and I must quote movies a lot. But it was just so funny to see her start doing this!

Christmas and a 'New' House

Last weekend, we decorated for Christmas! YEA!!! I know it's a little early, but Devin made me wait until November. I wanted to do it in August! :P It looks so nice and homey! :) I didn't get to decorate last year, and if I waited until the day after Thanksgiving...well, I wouldn't be here! So, it's all up! It looks nice! I might put up some pics....



We also made our house 'new'...we switched around most of the rooms. It was FUN!!! We made Josh and Claire move downstairs to the second floor--to a room that has a closet and an air conditioner that doesn't turn off every time the power turns off! YEA!!!! Now I don't have to get up 4 or 5 times a night just to turn their stupid air conditioner back on after a power flux. We moved them into the playroom. We moved the playroom next door to where we had the craft/ironing room. We moved the craft/ironing room to where I had set up the baby's room. We moved the baby's room upstairs to the third floor to be next to our room. The kids were ecstatic, and quite frankly, I really love the new set up, too! :) It's all cozy and perfect now. I love switching rooms and furniture around (especially if I'm not the one moving, but just supervising! Ha! Just kidding...) as it gives such a nice feeling of clean. It's a very peaceful feeling. Maybe that's why I like moving.

Then, it was such a hot day, that we went swimming and the pool was actually WARM! Wow! It must have been a hot day, because that water NEVER warms up. It's usually quite shocking. But it was a fantastic end to a hard working day! :) I think we'll have to do it again this week! :) It's so fun to go swimming, outside, in November!! :)

Scientific Method

I have a new theory about food and vitamins. Ok, so it’s not a new theory. But, as far as I am concerned, it has now been personally tested and remains firm in my mind that this is now a true fact for me.

Throughout my pregnancies with Josh, Claire and Andrew, I religiously took Prenatal vitamins. Every day. I didn’t miss even one. Why? They made me feel BETTER! When I took my vitamins along with my exercise, I felt less sick, less tired–I had more energy and more focus.

Well, this time around, every time I took a prenatal vitamin, I got SICK! I could hardly move. It made my stomach more sick than ever and I would feel dizzy! I thought that was very strange. Especially since this time around I have more energy than ever. I rarely get too tired to do anything. I still don’t waddle (ha!) and my head is clear (aside from the occasional normal pregnancy brain lapse...) But if I took the vitamins, it would all go away! So, I haven’t taken them. At all. I take vitamin C. I take calcium and vitamin B supplements once in awhile because they give an extra energy boost (most of the time), but for the most part, I haven’t needed it. Why? I’ve eaten healthier food here than I have most of my life (I know it wasn’t for your lack of trying, Mom, don’t worry). I’ve felt super healthy and strong.

And then, something interesting happened. We got our frozen food shipment. Boxes of American food Delight! Pot pies, hot dogs, hamburger patties, tater tots, sausage, bacon, cheese...what more could you ask for??? So, the past two weeks, we’ve feasted on good ol’ ‘American’ fare. (Of course, the past two days haven’t been my fault. We haven’t had water, so I couldn’t cook anything else!!!) And what do you think has happened? I am completely exhausted ALL THE TIME. I’m having a hard time focusing and walking. I feel heavy and sick (not just because I’m monstrously huge...) and sluggish. I don’t have the energy to exercise. I’m gaining more weight more quickly. Hmmmm.... Coincidence? I think NOT! (Mr. Incredible...) Yesterday was an all-time low for me. I woke up at a fairly normal time–a little later than usual (6:30) and could barely roll myself out of bed. My head hurt. I couldn’t hardly keep my eyes open. I haven’t been able to sleep well for about 4 days. My head keeps spinning and I keep tossing. After I dropped the kids off at playgroup in the morning, I came home and slept hard for an hour and a half until I had to pick them up. I was still tired and dizzy and my head still hurt. After I got them home, I made tuna sandwiches on my homemade whole wheat bread thinking that that might help. It did a little, but not enough. So, I thought maybe I’d try a vitamin. Within an hour of taking a vitamin, I felt like I had before we got our frozen food shipment. I had energy back again. I wasn’t dragging myself through a thick fog. My headache went away. I felt great again. Hmmmm... I thought that was a very interesting thing. Maybe I don’t want to eat out at every fast food joint I see once I get to the states. I need my veggies and beans and quinoa... :)

I just thought all of this was very interesting. I think I never realized that the reason the prenatal vitamins made me feel better was because I was lacking in all of those vitamins...and the reason they made me sick here is because I’m lacking NO vitamins in my diet. We eat very little, if any, preservatives. We never eat out. Everything is fresh and hormone free. I think living overseas is a pretty healthy alternative! I know I went through a pretty bad withdrawal when we got here...and when I was first pregnant I craved everything that I couldn’t have. But I wonder if I’ll be able to eat any of that now... now that I know what I know... :) (But, it still just tastes so good, and it’s SO NICE not to have to cook once in awhile...)

ASOY UN Day

Today was United Nations or International Day at Josh’s school. It was so cool! I was very impressed by not only the amount of work that went into everything, but how well everything was done. It all started out with a program. They brought in a flag from every country that is represented at the school right now. Super cool how many countries all these kids come from! :)

Here's a picture of Andrew and Claire sitting with Meekness and Pascaline. I'm SO glad they came with me--I wanted Andrew and Claire to be there, because I knew Josh would be happy to see them, and I thought Pascaline and Meekness would really enjoy it as well. It turned out to be really nice, and I got a lot of great pictures and videos! :)


Josh was happy to see us:




Then they had a dance group come and do some Cameroonian dances–so fun!!! I enjoyed it! One of the dances was about a guy with his two wives and how they fought with each other! :) (Thus the reason why polygamy is illegal in most countries...) Andrew enjoyed the drums so much that he fell asleep!




Then started the grades!

Pre-K 3 and 4 did the USA:



Aren't they cute? I just had to add their picture. They did the 'chicken' dance...you know the one: "peep, peep, peep, peep; flap, flap, flap, flap; waddle, waddle, waddle, waddle (clap, clap, clap, clap)" Anyway, they had everyone doing it right along with them! Except for Joshua:


(Looks kind of like me at everyone else's birthdays, huh, mom?)

Then came my personal favorite, the Kindergarteners! :) They represented Bangladesh. They said a poem. It was super cute!




1st Grade did an aboriginal dance from Australia. 2nd and 3rd grades did Nepal (nice, quiet Nepal). They did a really neat stick dance. 4th grade did the Netherlands. They did a skit about Hans Bringer (however you spell that...sorry if anyone is from the Netherlands.) And they did a Jump dance. 5th grade did Greece–it was a very cool dance! 6th grade did Ireland. Loved the green outfits and the dance was very fun! Very ‘Lord of the Dance’-ish. 7th grade did Tanzania. 8th and 9th grade, I’m afraid, were interrupted by some little friends who came to visit me. So, I didn’t catch what they did or what countries they were doing... 10th grade did Cameroon. They played a soccer game, and ran up to tell facts about Cameroon while playing. 11th grade did China. Loved the dragon!! 12th grade did India. They did a really fun dance! I did get pictures of them all, but, well, if you're really interested, I can email them to you. (My internet time is, after all, pretty limited...) :)

Then we got to go around to the classrooms and see what they had done to decorate for their countries. It was so cute! Every student got a ‘passport’, and when they went into the room, they were asked a question about the country they were ‘visiting’. When they got the answer right, they got a stamp in their ‘passport’. It was such a cute idea! Josh loved getting the stamps in his passport! :)

Here he is in his classroom by some pictures they drew for the day:



and another one with another girl from his class:



I thought it was such a fun day! Tiring, yes, but fun! :) It was very inspiring to see the flags, and all the different nationalities represented. I felt so happy to be a part of something like this! It really is a small world, and there’s so much to learn from one another. And the interesting thing is, we’re all really not that different. We have different cultures and backgrounds. Different languages, and maybe different skin colors. But fundamentally, we’re the same. We all strive for the same things. To be accepted, to be loved, and above all, we all want to have peace with our brothers from every country.

“He gave me my life, my mind, my heart,
I thank Him reverently
For all His creations of which I’m a part!
Yes, I know Heavenly Father Loves Me!!”

Grasshoppers

This morning, Claire and I found a grasshopper in my room. So, I sent her off to get a jar to catch the thing in. We caught it, and she ran around showing everyone the grasshopper. Well, of course, Andrew got jealous and wanted to have a jar with a grasshopper, too! So, my housekeeper found a jar, went out to the door and found this:



So she scooped them all up and put them ALL into another jar:



Andrew wasn’t quite so keen on it at first, but after I showed him that they couldn’t get out, he thought it was the coolest thing:



And just stood there holding it and staring at it and talking to them!!!

It was certainly very interesting! My housekeeper says she loves to eat them–that they’re very good! They boil them and then fry them up! Yummy...

Kid Quotes

Claire has become a master quoter. I used to think it was the most fun to quote movies and stump everyone. Well, Claire managed to stump me quite a few times yesterday.

We were sitting out on our front porch watching the rain pour down, and chatting and she started quoting movies:

1: “It looks like a stopsign!”

2: “We need to work on your people skills!”

3: “Help! Help me! I wish Megan were here!”

4: “Don’t get too excited! Everyone stay calm!”

5: “Choo choo! Chugu-chugu-chugu-chugu...” (This one really cracked me up!!!!)

Those are a few that I can remember right off the top of my head. So funny! Can anyone guess what movies they are from? I’ll post the answers tomorrow... :)



Andrew sings a new song...we’ve been learning the ABC song. I heard him start singing and these are his exact words: “W, X, Y and Z! Now I know my Embassies! Next time won’t you go with me?!” I thought that was rather ingenious! :)

Contentment

I just wanted to share some sweet pictures and movies of the kids just being content and playing. These times are nice on the soul! :)

We made 'scary spiders' (thanks, Shannon, for the idea!):



A Beautiful Afternoon for a swing:



An Afternoon Snack:

Sad, But Funny...

This is Andrew in his new Cameroonian soccer outfit! Our housekeeper brought birthday presents for everyone yesterday. She got Cameroonian soccer outfits for both Josh and Andrew. So, we tried it on Andrew, and he threw a 'tizzy fit' because it was too big! He just kept yelling, "It's too big! It's too big!" You can see how upset he was!! Ha!! Poor guy!!



Here is Josh's Cameroonian Soccer Outfit...he even wore it to school on Halloween! He said he had to wear it so that he could play soccer with the first graders during recess! We figured it was fine since it was Halloween and no one would say anything about it being weird to his face... :)



Here's what it looks like from the back...Andrew wanted to be in the picture, too:



Here are Josh's 'new' shoes after one month of wear! Yikes!!!




And he only wears these two times a week! Hmmm... Luckily, we had another pair of shoes that we thought were too big, but turned out to be the right size. So, he has shoes to wear. I've never in my life seen anyone wear out a pair of shoes so fast! We bought those shoes at the beginning of September--and they were new!!! (Yes, the beginning of September until now is 2 months, but he hasn't worn them now for almost 3 weeks, and since he only wears tennis shoes twice a week, I figured I could get away with saying only one month.)

What funny kids! Gotta love 'em! :)