Friends and Rondavels

I once heard someone say that to be a mom is to manage chaos. At the time, I thought it was a funny anecdote. Now, I know it to be fact. I also heard that vacations are actual breaks from daily life for everyone else in the family, but for mom, it's a business trip. I can totally agree with that statement as well.

The four days before leaving the house were filled with packing, grocery shopping, and laundering every article of material in the house. The day before was a manic whirlwind of cleaning and more packing. I managed to remember everything (including four different types of sunscreen) except the cheese and the bug spray. It's rather difficult to have quesadillas for dinner, or grilled cheese for lunch without cheese. It's also rather tragic that we left the bug spray as it would have come in handy when the mosquitos found their way into our warm room. However, it was really nice to be in such a secluded area. The kids could run and run without me fearing much other than some dirt or the occasional cow pie to be stepped in.

We met some great folks from New Zealand who were there in the village working for an NGO. Roger and Judy shared the rondavel with us, which initially made me incredibly nervous. Two kids and a very thin wall between their screams and early mornings and a middle-aged couple who still need to get up and work in the morning. Could be problematic. Fortunately for us, they have 4 kids of their own and a growing brood of grandkids. Judy was wonderful with both kids and they were extremely comfortable being led around by either Auntie Judy or Mr. Roger (I couldn't help myself!). So in the evenings, when the kids still went down at their usual 7pm bedtime, Todd and I would go sit by the main-house fire or get a soda pop to drink, and Judy would keep an "ear out" for the kids.

Most mornings, we could be found wandering the beach for shells or just playing in the waves. We made many trips down each day as the ocean seemed to hold endless fascination for both kids.

Part of the work that the NGO does was to run a preschool for the local children. Judy taught alongside some local "mamas" to the 37 children who attended their school. Em kept sneaking over to "go to school" and each time, she was greeted by smiles and willing friends. They gave her a baby to carry on her back, and then tied it on her.

Home sweet home... kind of. We had two friendly dogs that stayed pretty close the entire time. One was a resident, the other a stray. Em took it upon herself to name the stray (Cece) and bring her along on our adventures.

Em sitting on the steps waiting for the day to begin and her very slow parents to catch up with all the fun she's WANTING to be doing.

Rainbows

A little while back, Todd and I decided to head a children's church program. I'd love to say it was out of a burning passion for ankle-bitting two-to-five-year-old kids, but it was really because we were so frustrated at not being able to worship, even in kid-speak, on Sundays with having to wrestle the kids to stay quiet. So we embarked on the Old Testament with (on any given Sunday) 4-24 kids Em's age to a bit older. It's been challenging, but really fun.

Right now, we're in the middle of a 4-week series on Noah's Ark. The kids have a memory verse with each 'unit' we do, and for this one it's about the rainbow: "...Yes, this rainbow is a sign of the covenant..." (Gen. 9:17, NLT). Em is apparently really good at memorizing things (one of the few traits I'm glad to say she gets from me) and has the verse down. On our last evening at the coast, I left Todd and the kids at dinner to go and fetch something from the room. On the way back, I noticed a HUGE rainbow stretching over the entire cove. I've never actually seen both ends of a rainbow before, and I'm pretty sure the kids have NEVER seen one, so I yelled to Todd and grabbed the camera (which of course had a dead battery so we had to use the pitiful point-and-shoot one, and I must say, I'm rather impressed given the limitations of the thing).

Todd and the kids joined me and we were standing on this bluff overlooking the rainbows, when out of nowhere, Em starts shouting at the top of her lungs with both fists raised high above her in victory: YES THIS RAINBOW IS IS SIGN OF A COVENANT!!!
I must admit, I'm not sure if I was more in awe of my nearly 2 1/2 year-olds' grasp of her Bible and her God or of the God who gave me such an amazing (and challenging) little girl. Either way, the rainbow got trumped!

MIA but Not Dead

There are times when I wonder how so many people are able to accomplish so much in such a short amount of time. I know we all have the same number of minutes in a day, but I don't think I can account for as many of those as the average bear. I don't know where October went, but I can tell you this for sure: It blazed a burning path right past me and I didn't even feel the heat wave. I'm looking around at the disaster that is my house with half the beach on my floor and I must admit, this has been the best October on record!

I've decided to name Babe #3 Boo until he/she arrives sometime in April, for the sheer fact that I'm trying to talk Todd into letting me name this kid all by myself and I'm really wanting something exciting from one of my favorite books... like To Kill A Mocking Bird (side notes, pretty sure he won't go for anything crazy like Scout or Atticus, so this is as close as I'll get but I can still hold on to hope!). Anyways, Boo has been nice enough to make the sheer exhaustion that's been the last few months start to ease up. Thank you Boo! The lack of needing 20 hours of sleep (but getting only 6) made the vacation we just got back from that much more enjoyable.

We went to a beach on the Indian Ocean. The drive was a bit far for the kids and the slightly morning sick mom at times, but it was totally worth it when we had not one but two coves all to ourselves. The kids loved the water, I LOVED that they could literally run for miles without line-of-sight being broken or noise to drown out Em's screams of, "MOM-MEEE! Look, shell!!!" The local Xhosa village had some really nice people who seem to be more than a bit entertained by the crazy white people who kept swimming when it was more overcast than not and who spent hours and hours looking at the tide pools and never once taking things back with us to eat.

Pretty sure there's nothing better in this world than seeing wonder and awe in your child's eyes and your spouse's heart overflowing with gratitude to your Lord at His majesty and abundant blessings.

Em tentatively poking a fish... until she saw a crab and FREAKED OUT!

I think he looks sweet... sort of.

Poor Coop slept through most of the fun, but he woke up a bit abruptly when some of the ocean spray caught him in the face :(

When he did wake from his nap, Cooper was all-hands-on-deck. He splashed the life out of more than one ecosystem, which made the rest of us laugh out loud. He couldn't figure out why the fish and crabs kept running from him.

It was a real treat for me to be able to share something I really love and that was really part of my childhood with my family. We were able to see barnacles, crabs, fish, sand-suckers, chorals, sponges and those really fun things that you can stick your finger/toe into and they suck on it. Todd and Coop really liked those, but Em was more than a little wary of them.

As most family vacations, I spent most of my time behind the camera, but I must say, watching my three musketeers combing the beaches and pools for interesting things to point out was really fantastic. I was so thankful it was a bit cool and the sun stayed hidden. No one got hot and tired, so curiosity was our limit... that, and my sand-bogged legs!

Sprinkler Fun

Cooper seems to have a way of sucking Em into whatever activity he wants to be doing. Lately, that's extended to his father as well. Any time we're in the yard, Coop wants to be playing in the water. He's managed to get Todd and Em in cahoots with him in this effort. It hasn't rained in what feels like forever, and therefore, the grass is still mostly dead. I'm not a huge fan of the kids playing in the sprinkler for the simple reason that I don't like cleaning up the dirt. That said, I thoroughly enjoy watching the kids and the dog (and Todd) playing in the water for hours... until its time to clean up anyways.

If this doesn't make you laugh, you need to have your laugher checked out. Seriously, he makes the FUNNIEST faces sometimes.

My serious one testing the waters...
Because there can NEVER be enough funny-faced pictures on the internet to forever haunt your child.

Right after I took this, Em looks up at me, gives a small shriek of excitement and says, "Brrrrr Mommy, it's HOT!" (Direct quote)

Time to get all washed up... not sure how effective this method really is, but I guess when you strip the kids stark-naked, it works okay- hehe.

Onward to the Party!

It seems to be tradition now to reschedule first birthday parties. Last year, I was sick for Em's... this year, we were all sick for Cooper's... hum, maybe this isn't such a good tradition after all. One way or the other, though, we managed to get the parties going and today was no exception. There was cake, ice cream, cake, fellowship, cake, Wild Raspberry Lipton Iced Tea (left from a rather generous Work and Witness group), and cake! I decided to stick to what I know and I'm so glad we went simple and easy on this one. Coop loved all the attention he got, and all the fun "big" kids around. I can't remember the last time I spent so long in conversation with other adults and therefore, count this party a ROCKIN' success!

Cooper, leading the troops to the party.

The whole burning-candle-thing seemed a bit too out of his realm of possibility, so the quizical expression only left his face...

when he was trying to figure out why his big sis was so excited about the burning thing. Then, he transfered the questioning to her rather than the candle.

Now I LOVE baking and I LOVE eating but I also realized that on this occasion, Cooper couldn't care less what he ate so much as how much he would get to play with it. So, he got his own bowl of banana cream pudding I've been saving for a special occasion, with banana slices and M&Ms. Needless to say, this is the last picture of this outfit in a state that would pass for cleanliness!!!