It is HOT and DRY here, with no rain at night. The pool is STILL not done being renovated (why’d they think they had to renovate it in the first place?) and it’s been in the 90’s these last three or four days. Phew!!!
I never realized at how much the rain keeps the dust down in the sandpit. Ugandan dirt is RED and therefore after spending any amount of time in the sandpit (and they usually spend hours there!), my kids are RED too! Their faces are even red with dirt! They get in the tub at night just filthy (and stinky too – these guys SWEAT) and I’ve taken to emptying out the tub after the first one’s done and putting clean water in for the next one. Otherwise the second kid has to bathe in mud!
The dogs are even dusty, it’s so dry!
And, to top it all off, our little wading pool got a huge, un repairable hole in the bottom so there’s been no swimming or wading in that either. Ah the trials of living in a place like Entebbe... ;) Where the weather is almost ALWAYS perfect and when it’s not – just listen to us complain!! Hee hee : )
Trucks and sand – a combination that can keep these two occupied for hours!
This looks a bit like a used car lot with these two as the used car salesmen! Ella really looks like a shyster, doesn't she?
Ahhh, then there's Frank. What are you doped up on, buddy? I especially like the slack jaw.
Lately he has begun to refuse to smile for pictures and pulls a face like this one - hope he gets over it before we need to get his picture for his passport! They last 10 years so imagine a 10 to 12 year old boy with a picture of himself when he was two, looking like this!! Ha!
We got Dave on Thursday, after a couple of weeks of waiting. The intent of this new addition is to help us move on after losing Kayo. Easier said then done, believe me!
Ella especially (well, after me!) was really excited and looking forward to getting this little bunny and actually was the genius that came up with the name, at 5am one morning!! Fine by me L, fine by me...
One of the rarer moments that Frank gets the opportunity to hold Dave!
Which actually seems to be alright with Frank - he sort of prefers to watch and feed the bunny instead.
Oh! She can hardly stand it!!!
Ahhhh, hers at last :)
Of course a girl has to give "her" rabbit a ride in her stroller
And read him a book...
And give him rides in the sand truck
And swing on the horse tire swing...
Hmmm, think she's a little proud?
Heck, we just like to LOOK at our bunny!
Frank is a GENTLE soul, especially for a two year old. I actually trust him with the bunny more than I do L! She's just a bit too enthusiastic :)
In Montana our dogs ride in the back our trucks, here in Uganda our bunnies do!
I had been wanting to get the kids a rabbit but with Kayo that really was not a viable option. With his loss however, I figured this would be the perfect time.
He is going to be an indoor/outdoor bunny and hop around loose after he gets bigger. Rabbit's are fairly easy to litter train and our door is pretty much open to the outside 10 hours a day so I envision having two dogs, a cat and a bunny running around our house and yard in the future :)
We're now keeping him in the bottom part of this dog crate, which is now sporting chicken wire over the top. In the introductions between Cody and Dave Cody up and grabbed Dave by the head so I didn't want to take any chances. Surprisingly, after a sound beating, Cody has refused to come inside for two days now!! Smart little cat, our Cody...
The dogs are doing okay with Dave. Sanyu is doing the best, which kind of surprised me as she is such a hunter. Her only give away that she'd really like to eat him is that whenever she walks by him, even if she doesn't look at him, she starts licking her chops. It's funny! Bridger seems to be more jealous than anything and wants to lick Dave and roll him around with his feet, then jump all over ME and nervously follow me around. Silly and weird!
As a kid, we had LOTS of rabbits as my sister raised them for meat, we showed rabbits and we also kept them as pets. I actually got my first rabbit when I was around Ella's age, a huge Giant Lop aptly named Popeye. I loved hopping him on a leash. My next rabbit that I got, probably at the age of six, was Clover. After Clover was a mini lop named Leo. Then was Flower, a Rex buck that I used to show and breed. He was not exactly a cuddly rabbit but kids liked to come over and hop him on a harness and leash. He lived out his last few years hopping loose around the barnyard as happy as could be. I think he lasted the longest out of any of my rabbits.
All in all, we are enjoying our new rabbit!!!
And, I start back to work in the office next week! HOORAY!! I survived my maternity leave!
As I was reading the kids their bible story this evening (from their Zonderkidz Beginners Bible which I LOVE!) something hit me. We were reading about Joseph and how his brothers came back to Egypt to buy food and when they found out who he was, they were afraid. The kids little bible says, “But Joseph told them not to be afraid. ‘God meant it for good. He had a special plan for me,’ he said. They all hugged.” (okay, I never remember seeing the “they all hugged” part in my Bible, but hey!) It just hit me – this is exactly what my kids can say about their start to life living in an orphanage.
I could NOT have said this a year ago. You see, I have suffered a lot of guilt over Ella and her three years in a babies home because I knew Ella since she was maybe 18 months old. At the time I had NO IDEA that God was calling me to adoption within the next year, nor that little Ella Monica was the child. She was just another screaming, dirty child in a group of other screaming, dirty children.
Not to go into the entire story, but when Ella was 24 months old the Lord made it crystal clear that I was to adopt HER. Not wait a few more years to adopt some other child, but Ella. This was actually the first time that I really even noticed her all that much! Anyways, I had planned on bringing her home in June 2007 and instead.... didn’t bring her home until March 2008. Almost an entire year later. The reason for this was because the mission I was with wanted to kick me out and I had jump through a lot of hoops to pacify them and be allowed to stay (I'm committed to my work!) and adopt little Ellster.
The reason doesn’t matter. The fact is Ella had to spend an extra NINE MONTHSin a babies home without a mother or family before I brought her home. That is a LONG time for a two year old. I saw her EVERY WEEK for the entire nine months and it was absolutely heartbreaking to watch her sadness, insecurity and mood swings.
So, you can see why I’ve felt terribly guilty over Ella. I’ve grieved what she went through for the last three years. We saw God do some miraculous things during the nine “extra” months Ella was in the babies home and there is no doubt that that was His plan. I am still working in Bible translation and Ella has paved the way for others, and myself, to adopt in our organization now. God really worked some miracles. But the guilt and grief has still been too much. I haven’t been able to accept that God’s timing really was perfect and that it wasn’t all a horrible mistake. And I’ve had a hard time accepting that God would make a kid like Ella “needlessly” suffer those nine extra months, just because of the whims, mistakes and sins of other CHRISTIAN adults.
But in the last six months, as I’ve been watching Ella grow and mature, the thought has crossed my mind, “That extra year in the orphanage made her a better person.” WHAT??? An extra year for a two year old in an orphanage COULD BE GOOD FOR HER?? CRAZY!!!
Ella is different. She LOVES me and does not take having a mother for granted. She has repeatedly thanked God for giving her a mother and family. VERY humbling. While abandonment and institutionalization often kills the trust and love in a child, Ella is one who loves unreservedly. She remembers and cares about people.She is very empathetic to anyone who is sad and especially anyone who is left alone or by themselves. She worries about strangers being hurt. She is generous. She does NOT hold a grudge and forgives SO easily. Even though we live so far away, she genuinely LOVES her grandparents and aunt and appreciates and are grateful for them.
I’m now beginning to see how God used those “extra” nine formative months in the babies home to help shape these character qualities. It’s taken me THREE YEARS to finally see or admit to this! Maybe now I can quit being angry over it?!! And feeling guilty?!!!
So, it really comes down to trusting God. Do I trust that God did the best for my children in their past and will do the best for them in their future? Well, I don’t have a problem about their future but their pasts I’ve struggled trusting Him with. It just hasn’t seemed like He’s done right by them. The following verses have been a comfort to me and are helping me trust God with my youngsters pasts.
“Can a mother forget the baby at her breast and have no compassion on the child she has borne? Though she may forget, I will not forget you! See, I have engraved you on the palms of my hands; your walls are ever before me.” Isaiah 49:15-16
God has worked so much in Ella’s life, and she’s only just turning five! Sometimes I feel like she’s way farther along than I am. It is very evident that God did not forget her – even when she was in the babies home for those nine “extra” months...
Frankie reading from "the good book." How funny that God can speak to us through little Bibles like this! Makes yah wonder what Frankie's getting out of it... ;)
They love this Bible! Frankie's doing a little preaching here :)
L's three weeks of golf lessons ended last week so now we have a (near) professional little golfer on our hands. In order to keep up with the game, she has recreated a highly sophisticated (because that's just the type of people we are!) little golf course in our yard and has also begun to give lessons. Learn one week, teach the next...
She managed to filch a golf tee from the golf course and wrestle up a ping pong ball that used to be Cody's. Perfect for practicing ones drives!
Her club is a plastic purple baseball bat. It sort of matches the pink ping pong ball...
And she makes the drive!!
Not one to keep her newly found knowledge/gifting to herself, she immediately began to give her little brother golf lessons as well.
Ella using her best big-sister-teacher face. Pleasant enough but all business.
And the promising pupil! (when his leaves stick out sideways he looks like a faun :)
The teacher shows the attentive pupil how to balance the ball on the tee
Next, a demonstration on good stance
Lining up for the swing....
KERBLAM!!! A successful drive!
And that my friends, is how you golf.... She will start booking lessons on a first come, first serve basis :)
Little Frankie really likes bugs. He likes to chase bugs, pick up bugs, squish bugs, look at bugs and talk to bugs. Fortunately he doesn't like eating them yet!
Spotting an ant and poking it with a stick
Hey, quit distracting me! I'm in the middle of a hunt!
Well I'll be darned... what the heck?
I love Frankie's "I'm concentrating" look. Eyebrows scrunched and looking cross eyed at his impaled bug. I know, I know, he'll probably grow up to be a serial killer or something...
Eyebrows furrowed in concentration
One thing that you probably didn't know about mighty hunters is that the good ones wear bright blue underpants that their Grannies get them. This was a fact that I had missed myself, until a mighty hunter arrived in our midst. And wore bright blue underpants!
And by golly are they proud of them!
I can't believe how much this boy has changed in just three months. Not only has his hair grown longer (thank goodness!) but he's lost a lot of weight. He came with a BIG tummy and kind of a swollen look. The boy was stuffed with starches at the babies home and didn't get a lot of exercise. Now that he's fed more of a variety and eats a lot more meat, fruits and vegetables, not to mention plays constantly and gets LOTS of exercise (largely thanks to the trampoline!), he's really slimmed down while still retaining a healthy look with chubby cheeks and thighs (I love his chubby thighs!)
Not to mention that he has cool underpants now!
Then
Now
You can even see his rib cage now - something you couldn't before
Oddly enough, Frankie went from being a real pig and eating anything and everything, to a picky eater now! At least he wants to be a picky eater but around here you don't have much of a choice - you eat what I cook. And really, you do need to eat some vegetables, whether you like it or not. He really would prefer to just eat meat and starches...
I think that I'm about the only person I know who actually got a fat kid from a babies home! My Frank's a real chunk :)
Today we skipped church (due to a bad back), packed up some lunch and sand toys, and headed to the Lake for a picnic. My back went out yesterday and even after taking 800 milligram Ibuprofen I can't tell any difference. NOT a good sign. So I figured that I would never survive two hours on a hard wooden bench with Frankie on my lap at church, nor another day at home, so we headed to the Lake.
One look at this picture (taken in the morning) and you can probably tell how Frank's day has gone! Bridger is laying exhausted after our neighbor had a little party last night (gotta love it when you have prostitutes walking back and forth through your yard all evening, weaving through your children and their toys!). These parties wear the dogs out as there are lots of rather drunk people to bark at. Anyways, I digress.
Back to your picnic!
I packed not only the food and the sand toys but the kids swimming suits too. Ella LOVES to swim!
The gangs all here!
Every party has a pooper and that's why we invited...
...Frank!
Oh boy was he in rare form today. Yikes. It started before we even left with him whining in his high little voice because he was ready to go and we weren't yet. That turned into full scale screaming when he was asked to go to the bathroom first. I would have loved to leave him behind but there was no one here to watch him :( So I guess since we didn't leave when he wanted to, he turned into a total non participator. Fun.
While Frank pouted on the mat (who ever heard of two year old who goes to a Lake and wants to lay on a mat the whole time?), Ella amused herself with playing in the sand and swimming! We eventually drug Frank in to and he whined and splashed a little.
Bridger of course was not about to miss out on the fun either!
Sanyupreferred to stand on the shore. She's really not much of a water dog
Then we ate lunch. The kids usual fare - peanut butter and jelly sandwiches, with carrots and I forgot the bananas. I had an avocado and we had marshmallows for "dessert".
Ella ate with her usual enthusiasm
Frankie "enjoying" his lunch. This was after squirted pee on the mat...
Our lunch time entertainment was watching these two attack a couple of men (they even drew blood!). I've failed to understand Ugandans logic when it comes to dogs. If you don't like dogs (or you "fear" them) then why head to the only other people on the Lake, who happen to have dogs? Especially when the dogs are barking at you and clearly don't want you to get near their people?
After lunch and a little more pouting time on the mat, Frankie FINALLY decided to go and play
He still tried really hard not to have fun though! He worked really hard today on being miserable :(
Instead of getting better, my back progressively got worse, once to the point that I thought I might have to call the neighbors to come and get me in a car! So I was glad that we didn't go to church and I was also glad that it got a little better and I could walk home. Ouch!
Last night the kids got to stay up a little later than usual and watch a movie and have popcorn. They watched one of Ella's favorites, "Akeelah and the Bee." Children are NOT color blind and I think one of the reason it's one of her favorites is because everyone in it is black, or "normal" as Ella would say... ;)
An engrossed movie audience! All that's missing are the Twizzlers and fountain pop...
This looks a bit like a used car lot with these two as the used car salesmen! Ella really looks like a shyster, doesn't she?
Ahhh, then there's Frank. What are you doped up on, buddy? I especially like the slack jaw.
