Bath in a Bucket

It seems that we have had a streak of... mayhem here in the Leslie house lately. I had a moment where I stood back and said to myself, "Hummm. You know you're a missionary in Africa when ____." It's rather odd to me because for the most part, I'm totally spoiled since we're in a major metropolitan city and except for the conspicuous lack of siren noise (due to the lack of active policing), there's not much lacking. So when I came to a point where there were more things in a state of being repaired than in working order (hyperbole, but that's what it felt like when nothing seemed to be working at the moment) and we had no hot water at all, or water for that matter (told you I was spoiled- no water for a few hours, poor baby, right?!), I was rather annoyed. But we went off to dinner with friends in hopes to have warm enough water for the kids' bath in a few hours. No such luck. Em will be okay until morning although her sheets will be changed. Cooper, on the other hand, being the self-proclaimed high-maintenance person in the family, is battling a wicked diaper-rash/burn. Not sure which it is because it looks more like a sunburn than anything else, but he could be teething, so who knows. Anyways, he needed some scrubbin'. But, since we didn't have water, the day's dishes were all in the sink with no way to clear them out, or wash out the sink. The next best option (since all my bowls had been used to make food to go to the friends' house) was the mop bucket. Yes, you heard me correctly, the mop bucket folks! It was yet another time in my life where I was so grateful that we only use natural cleaning products because the stuff I put in my mop water to clean my floors is the same stuff that is clearing up his rash issues. Can I get a "praise the Lord!" from anyone? Scrubbed out the bucket just to be sure there was no lingering grunginess and in went boiled water and then Cooper. Can I just tell you how much that kid LOVED that bucket?

Em came in to see what Cooper and I were up to and wanted to join. It was hard explaining to my two-year-old that 1) she's too big without giving her a complex for the rest of her life and 2) she already had her pajamas on and Mommy doesn't like wet pajamas.

She did exceptionally well at helping Cooper take his toys out of the water. In fact, she decided he didn't need any of them and tried to keep them all to herself. But, alas, Coop is a fighter in more ways than one and was able to, er, obtain his toys once again.

With a face that cute, even in a mop bucket, what more could a person ask for?!