Indoor Camp-out

Devin and I were cleaning out the pantry a bit on Saturday, and decided to air out the tents. The kids thought this was great!



Then we ended up having a 'camping day'. We ate sandwiches and root beer for lunch. We set up our badminton net outside and played (Andrew hit us all with his racket while we were hitting the 'birdie'...it was like this intense game of dodge ball!) then came in and had a Bar-B-Q! We cooked us up some Ball Parks (for the kids), then got really creative! We had some fish and rice left over from Friday's dinner, so instead of putting in the 'freezer' (which is what the kids call the microwave, although I have no idea why) we decided to spray some kitchen foil with Pam spray, plop the leftovers inside, and stick it on the 'barbie' (how would you spell that the Aussie way, Danno???)--not the doll, of course.




It was absolutely fantastically delicious!!! (The kids even roasted mini marshmallows on wooden shishkabob skewers, but I didn't get that one on film since Peter needed a friend at the moment.)



THEN, we decided to make toast on the BBQ, too!!



OH, that was yummy!! I buttered one side and sprinkled it with garlic salt, and boy did that manage to make some fantastic garlic toast!!!

Claire and I did some online shopping, since Land's End had some great deals on a lot of pink winter clothes. She is now ready to go to Finland (literally. She cried when I told her her clothes wouldn't get here for a few more weeks AND that she couldn't wear them here because it was too warm AND that we weren't leaving for another six months...) Josh is next. He's hard to shop for. I think we'll wait for him, since there are no sales in his size. Oh well.

It was a fun day. Stay tuned for this Friday as we have an actual camp-out planned for our living room floor complete with foil dinners and perhaps the occasional outing with a mosquito coil! :)

Fish Fry

We had another Fish Fry at our house Friday. This time, it was a little more 'traditional'!

Here we have Yvonne and Pascaline preparing the sauces and the fishies for cooking time:



The fish are ready!!



Yvonne is fanning the flame:



(She didn't really want to have her picture taken, but, well, I got her anyway!)

The fish are cooking 'the way the do here'. (That's the way they say things here...they usually omit the word 'it' or other random articles that make the sentences cohesive. You get used to, though.) :)



Close up of the fish while they cook:



These are the yummiest fish--Bass! ("I caught you a delicious Bass" --Napoleon Dynamite) But, seriously, folks, it's yummy! The only thing that beats it is the Capitaine... of which we happened to just buy a 6 month's supply. We were in the market getting our fish and veggies for the week, when Devin comes running up the hill (Josh wanted to stay in the car, so I stayed with him and we had a spelling test) and says he did something which may have been a bit silly--he bought an ENTIRE 10 KG Capitaine fish! He had the guy fillet it for us (meaning cut it up into fillets, not cook it) and we took it home. I cut it up into actual edible portion sizes and came up with 36 portions. What a nut! But, now that we did our little aluminum foil fish cook, I think I'll do that with the capitiane...just douse it in Olive oil and some of my Pampered Chef Rosemary Herb Spice, and Voila! A meal fit for (please excuse the overused cliche) a KING! I never thought I'd see the day when I started actually liking fish. Good thing Finland is a land of fish, too. I won't have to miss it when we go.

Here is a quick interesting quote about the Capitaine Fish (found on WikiAnswers):

The Capitaine, or Nile Perch is a species of fish found in lakes and rivers throughout Africa. It was introduced to Lake Victoria in the 1950's, killing of many of the native cichlid species, but later became renowned as an excellent eating fish. One of the largest Nile perch ever caught weighed a total of 440 pounds.

Wish I would've had my camera at the market when that guy held up that 22 lb Capitaine fish that Devin bought! It had more whiskers than the neighbor's dog! :) We didn't keep the whiskers, though.

Top Ten: Cameroon

Here are the Top Ten things I LOVE about Cameroon:

10. Banana trees in the back yard!! Avocado trees in the front yard!! Coconut trees next door!!

9. Tropical fruit (pineapples, mangoes, guavas, papayas...) available every single day for super cheap!!

8. Outdoor markets with cheap FRESH fruits and veggies EVERY SINGLE DAY OF THE YEAR!!

7. It's ALWAYS warm! (Even when the people say it's cold, it's really warm.)

6. The rain storms here are, as they say here, WONDERFUL! SO much fun!

5. I have help all day!

4. You can have clothes made specifically for you by specially trained tailors at rock bottom prices!

3. People are almost always really nice to us.

2. Haggling is fun!

And the number one thing I love about Cameroon:

1. Scenery!! Beautiful, lush, green, tropical scenery!!


And, as there must needs be opposition in all things, here are the Top Ten things I really dislike about Cameroon:

10. It doesn't always smell so nice.

9. There are scores of mosquitoes--especially during rainy season.

8. There are a plethora of different diseases that you can get here and they really freak you out about it before you come...

7. There are no sidewalks for strollers or walking.

6. Driving here is incredibly insane, and people aren't very nice about it.

5. There are no addresses. It's practically impossible to find places unless you already know the places that are around it.

4. There really isn't a lot to do unless you're really adventurous and have a very large imagination.

3. I must admit that multiple power outages a day does get annoying.

2. No berries or winter squashes amongst the fresh fruit and veggie fare.

And the number one thing I really dislike:

1. LA BLANCHE!! (La Blanche is what everyone here yells when they see me. In Guatemala, it was 'Canchita' or 'Gringa'. It basically just means 'white chick'. It is irritating, though...)

Fun Outings

We've been doing lots of fun things lately. We've gone to an outdoor grassy park full of fun paths and bridges, we went to a small amusement park where the kids got to swing and ride on 'really fast race cars' (according to Andrew), we've gone to the British High Commissioner's house with a group to run and jump on a trampoline and swim in their pool (it's about 4 houses down from us). My favorite was the kids swimming in that pool all together! Claire and Josh could touch the ground, but Andrew couldn't, so Josh was carrying Andrew all over the pool! It was hilarious and so sweet! We've had art days and music days (I'm teaching the kids to play the piano...it's an interesting endeavor, I must say), math days and reading days, and they're allowed to watch one movie a day (mostly for my own sanity).

The saddest thing about all of this? I KEEP FORGETTING THE CAMERA!!! Bah. I will do better, I promise. Maybe by next weeks' outings?? :)

Sleep??

I was getting such a good night's sleep lately. A friend even told me that the dark circles were gone! Wow! I was feeling so good!

Well, it has ended. Peter has thrown me for a loop; Andrew has to go potty all night long; last night we made the terrible mistake of having watermelon for our before-bed-during-family-scriptures snack and that kept Josh and Claire using our bathroom (their bathroom is undergoing some repairs right now)... *sigh* The dark circles are back and I feel like a zombie today.

Can I be your friend again, Leonora?? :)

Dedication

Here's our big news:

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles is coming to Cameroon in August to dedicate Cameroon for missionary work!!! And the even cooler part? WE are going to be their chauffeur service!!! How super cool is that? Devin gets to pick them up at the airport and drop them off at their hotel, then he has taken off two days of work to drive them around to all of their appointments and things!! SO cool!! I may even get to do a little of the chauffeuring myself, too, just so I get to! :) Pretty awesome! We are super excited!

Sunday Stress

I've been thinking about my Sundays. For the past couple of months, I've been getting horrendous stress headaches every Sunday afternoon before church (and admittedly, just thinking about it right now is putting me into 'shut-down' mode...) but I didn't know what to do about it. Ever since we returned from the US, and they put us in charge of the English branch, I've felt this incredible amount of responsibility. I've done a LOT with it. For the first month, I taught singing time, sharing time AND sunday school. Now, we've called two teachers for Sunday school. So, I no longer do that. I have a Primary counselor, so now we take turns doing sharing time/singing time. Right now, she does sharing time, I do singing time. Next month, we'll swap. Do you know how good it feels to teach these good people how to run things all by themselves?? :) We started up a nursery and donated a big box of toys. BUT the kids were still screaming and being disrespectful and disruptive all through church! Plus, I was STILL getting stress headaches even without having to keep everyone's attention for 2 hours straight.

What to do? I must admit, I am NOT one to delegate tasks. I like to do things a certain way. I know that if something needs to be done (and I know how to do it), I can depend on myself to get it done and do a decent job. "If you want something done right, do it yourself", right? I am learning a great deal about delegating here. I've delegated Sunday school, and it's going well. I've delegated half of sharing time, and that's going really well, too. I very often delegate the piano during sacrament meeting.

Last week, I was tired of the kids going crazy. It gives me such a headache to think of trying to keep them in order--so I thought bringing lots of snacks and water would help them. It did NOT!!! They go BONKERS!! The spill the water, fight over the food, don't listen to a word because they're focused on when they can eat next and who got more... It was a mess!!! Two weeks ago, we got to church and the first thing the kids ask me AS SOON AS THEY SAT DOWN IN PRIMARY: I'm thirsty, where's my water? When is snack time? K, we ate and drank not even 5 minutes beforehand. What were they thinking?!?!?

So, anyway, I decided NO MORE SNACKS OR WATER!! It worked like a charm. They didn't need it. I also delegated the task to them of coming up with their own special thing to do during sacrament meeting. So, they each brought a coloring book and a reading book. I didn't have to make any snacks. I didn't have to pack an extra bag of 'tricks' to keep them occupied. They didn't ask me "Mom, what can I do now??" because they had brought what they wanted to do. They didn't ask "Mom, when's snack time?" because they knew there wasn't any food or water. It was the most peaceful time at church I think we've ever had. Wow. Why didn't I do this before???

I did singing time. I didn't prepare any visual aids; I didn't have any coloring pages for anyone to do; I didn't bring any pictures. I used the chalkboard and a piece of chalk and we talked about how you build a house and what you need and how it relates to our families...and we had a ball learning a new song and everyone--EVERYONE paid attention! I was singing the new song today in the kitchen and Andrew walked in and said, "That's the song we learned in Primary on Sunday!" IT WORKED!!!

I had NO headache this past Sunday. There was very little stress. It was WONDERFUL! It really is all about delegating and letting go. Less really is more, isn't it?

Nest: Found

I found the mouse nest today. EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!!!!!

Yes, I was going through a box of material and I could smell that little-animal-lives-here smell (which is also a I'm-potty-training-and-I'm-not-sure-where-the-toilet-is--isn't-it-here-on-the-floor? smell). So, I was very slowly and carefully taking each scrap of material out of the box, and Voila! THERE WAS THE ROGUE MOUSE!!!! It moved to bury itself a little more and I screamed like a banshee (funnily enough, however, NO ONE ELSE HEARD ME!! The kids were watching a movie at the time...and even Peter slept through it...) I ran downstairs to grab the sticky trap. With the trap in hand, I went back to my box to find that stinking (literally) mouse. I slowly moved a few things and found it sitting quite still (probably thinking, as my kids do, that if you just close your eyes and don't move then I won't be able to see you!) so I threw that trap right down on top of it and pressed it down! I have now discovered why the rodents have been able to avoid our traps. They're sticky, but just not sticky enough. I had to really squish that little monster to get it to stick enough so that I felt confident in picking it up, and I had to take a whole bolt of cloth with it! I took it out and showed the kids and the nanny, and took it out to the guard so he could take care of it. I feel so proud of myself!! and I'm still shaking like a leaf! Whew! Hopefully that's the mouse that Dev and I have been chasing for weeks. Guess we'll find out tonight!! :)

I was going to take a picture, but couldn't manage the camera and still hold onto the mouse at the same time. Too bad. It was a momentous occasion.

Breakthrough

We've had quite the breakthrough with Andrew and potty training. Last Wednesday I finally decided that that little kid just needed a little extra nudge in the right direction. If given the chance, I think most of us really would have preferred to stay in diapers as it's rather convenient--no need to get up in the middle of a blog posting brain wave! But, alas, it is necessary to all be potty trained. If not for environment (think of all those Huggies piling up in land fills...) then for the good feeling of accomplishment knowing that we have at least some control over our body. (Yes, I need to go to bed, but I'm getting there...)

Anyway, I decided that I will no longer put Andrew in diapers during the day. No matter what. I just needed to find the right enticement for him. The chocolate chips just weren't doing the trick, and I was eating too many. A friend mentioned that she does a potty sticker chart. Ok. But what for a prize? Then, I found a sticker chart of trucks. How could Andrew resist that? AND I told him if he filled in all the stickers, then he could get a new car! (A Toyota Sienna or a Honda Odyssey...?) Well, that sparked the fires of determination in that little kid. We were on our way!

Then, Thursday, he got an ear infection. Poor little guy was a droopy little limp noodle all day. I was tempted to put the diapers back on for convenience sake. I didn't, though. Friday, Saturday, Sunday AND Monday he did not make it to the toilet ONCE. *Sigh of frustration placed here* I was proud of myself, though. With my other kids, I admit that I did freak out about it. I KNEW that they knew better and yet they didn't! I would ask if he needed to go, he'd say no, then about 4 seconds later I'd find him in a puddle. grrrr. But, I just picked him up and carried him to the bathroom for a sit and a shower. Yea me! Plus the little reminder, 'Ok, Andrew, where do we go potty???' "In the toilet!" 'Good boy'

Finally, Monday night, AFTER he was dressed for bed AND in his diaper, he says to me, "Mommy, I need to go potty!" And he did! He woke up dry the next morning! AND he has not wet his pants once since. He even got me up at 3:30 this morning to go potty! I'm trying to decide if I'm excited about that one, however. I suppose I should be, since it means that I'll have less sheets to wash eventually, but I don't do well when I don't sleep. Most of us don't do well when we don't sleep. Andrew is the hard one when he wakes up. He'll get up at 3:30, then 4, then 4:30, then 5...etc...just to come and ask me if it's morning yet. Oh well. At least he's potty training well now. The sleep will come again...I think. In the meantime, go Andrew! (Literally)

Taking Turns

It appears we're all taking turns getting sick around here. Last week I had giardia. At the end of the week, Andrew had an ear infection. Today, we found that Claire has a UTI...poor little kid! *Sigh* I think the Health Unit cringes every time they hear my name...

Cat's Out of the Bag

Big bags are just as fun as big boxes...




And Andrew is the proud wearer of size 4 clothing:

On Our Way

These are some pretty scenes that we see on our way to Josh's school:

Old Mother Hubbard

Old Mother Hubbard (that's me...)
Went to her cupboard
to get her poor dog a bone.
When she got there,
her cupboard was bare (or maybe that was just Andrew...)



So her poor dog ate 3 little kids instead!

Peter's First Food

I love the first time you feed a baby...it's so funny! They're so confused for a couple of days... :)

Here are a few pics of Peter's first try!

Regurgitation

"I can't believe you won't even go to your own son's graduation!"

"He is moving from the 4th grade into the 5th grade."

"It's a ceremony, Bob!"

"It's psychotic! They keep finding new ways to celebrate mediocrity...!"

I have to agree with that 'Incredible' couple. I do find it funny to have kindergarten or other graduations when, traditionally, graduation is saved until you actually finish school.

Josh did have his kindergarten graduation, however. And it was super cute!



The teachers all gave out little awards.



The kids sang a couple of little songs.

Josh got to wear a super cool paper graduation hat.






Congrats, Josh! You made it through your first year of school. I suppose that is something to celebrate, isn't it?

Bigger and Bigger

Devin and I were sitting with Andrew this morning (pre-school and -work time) and just hanging out. Andrew was going on and on about how he was getting bigger and bigger and putting stickers on his chart so he could get a new car (it's a 'potty' chart and he gets a new matchbox car when he fills it). Devin asked what he needed to do so that he could get a new car, too. Andrew replied: "You have to get bigger and biiiiiigger! (he spread his arms wide and high at this point) Then you can get a new car. Then, you have to give it to me, and I will drive it!" :)

Hold On, Peter!

The kids all wanted to hold Peter. He he he...





Peter, of course, wasn't always very happy about it...but Andrew was!! :)



Here I thought I was taking a picture, but I had actually forgotten to take off the video setting. Oops! It's still funny, though...even if it is sideways... Sorry. (I thought I would mention quickly...Yes, Peter is drooly. He is always covered with drool. Andrew looks drooly here, too...but he is not. He was drinking from another giant watermelon half and, well, it never all quite makes it in his mouth since it's usually bigger than his head. :) Just thought I'd clarify that, no, Andrew is not teething!)

Manioc

This is Manioc:


(It's pronounced Man-ee-oak)

It's a staple here in Africa. It is "odorless, tasteless, dissolves instantly in water, and is among the more deadly poisons known to man" (Wesley--The Princess Bride). Seriously, though, the only thing about that quote that is NOT true about manioc is that it does not actually dissolve instantly in water! Ha! It is nasty stuff. But, it's plentiful and cheap.

Our guard grew it in the backyard. So, he dug it up (sort of like a weird potato, I suppose), washed it off, and was trucking it home to the wife and kids for a manioc feast. Oh boy.



To cook it, you put it in a pot with some sugar and water, let it boil for about 20 minutes, and...Voila! You eat it with N'dole or fish or anything with a peanut sauce.

Aerial View

A view from on high....

Happy Birthday??

Devin decided to make a cake, and it ended up being a strawberry shortcake. Well, while he was letting it cool, Claire decided to decorate it:



Then they brought it upstairs and yelled 'Happy Birthday, Mommy!' (They're a few months early, but hey, where are my presents??)

Swing Kids

Here are some fun swinging shots:

De-Cluttered

I'm still decluttering my house one day at a time. So far I have given away more than 700 things!!! Go ME!! The kids have helped me de-junk their books, toys and clothes; Devin helped de-junk a few things that I just couldn't do without him (his clothes and some electronic stuff)... It is so fabulous! And as I'm doing this, I'm wondering to myself, "Why have I kept all this excess baggage around????" I suppose it's that pack-rat in me. The one that sits on my shoulder and says, "You may need that someday!" or "One day you may end up liking that thing!" or "I think the kids sort of played with this once..." Yah. BUT this way, I give it to my housekeeper, or to other people from the branch who stop by, and if they can't use it, they find/know people who can--I am blessing literally hundreds of people by giving away all the excess stuff that we don't really need. It feels SOOOOOO good! It makes me beyond happy, and I know it makes others happy, too. Talk about compassionate service and consecration! Just thinking about the fact that all these things I have sitting around my house will leave here and be loved and gratefully used by someone who truly needs and appreciates it makes me feel that warm fuzzy feeling! As my housekeeper was taking out yet another box of stuff, she turned to me and said, "You know, Madame, you are making so many people happy--people you have never even met!" Oh, that made me feel so good!! And when I gave my guard a box of baby stuff (His wife had a baby on Easter--I even got to name the baby!! Did I ever tell that story??? It was so cool!) he took that box with a big smile and said, "She will really love these things!" Oh, happy heart!

I know that many people donate to charities. I think that is very commendable. However, I also think that most of this country is a charity. No one has anything. The charities do receive things from time to time from people, but what about the regular Cameroonians? Families without work? Children without clothing or anything to play with? It is so wonderful to help people and bless their lives--even though we don't know each other! We are all Children of God, however, so I am merely helping my brothers and sisters! :)

And the best part? I only 'declutter' once a day. I get rid of pounds and pounds of stuff, and there's no 'marathon' cleaning involved! I recommend this to everyone. It is liberating! Free yourselves of that clutter! Bless someone else's life with the stuff that is holding you down!

Food Fun

Our Fruit-kabob Fun:






Watermelon Balls After School:




(Andrew had to drink the Watermelon juice out of the giant half of watermelon...he was sopping wet! But very happy!!)

Our 'Milles-Francs' Bread (about $2):



Bon Apetite!