Bunny Sittin'

Ms Dave got out for a little bit of sunshine, hopping and munching the other day. The kids like to bunny watch in comfort and followed Ms Dave around the entire time, with their chairs. The funny thing is, Ms Dave seemed to have liked the company!

Nothing like sitting in the sun, watching your bunny

Frank sure liked it!

They sort of reminded me of an old couple here :)

These guys would have been more than happy to have "taken care of" the bunny! Bridger is actually probably about 95% safe with Ms Dave - Billy, not so much!

Clown

Before too long ( a month?) we hope to be moving into our house. I haven't blogged about it because it's been going so darn slow, but this is the front of the house and we're looking forward to moving in soon!

This is the back porch. My kitchen sink is right under that window :)

March Milestones

March came and went, the large majority of the time catching me without a laptop on which to blog with!But here's a wee bit of a synopsis of the milestones in our family that occurred in March.

First Milestone - March 2nd work began on our house! The story of this land purchase and house building is simply mind boggling to me. It just doesn't happen this way here (or anywhere really!)! I will never doubt that it was God's will for us to buy land and have a house built on it simply because with very little effort on my part, it's happening! Richard, my friend who found the land and negotiated it's purchase (the owner never even saw me ONCE!), still just shakes his head at the speed and smoothness of it all. And to find a contractor who is not only an American but who is affordable? Unheard of! Especially in Christian circles, many people think that I need to get married. To me the obvious and direct ways that God provides for me and the kids is a no brainer that I do not. I mean, what poor dude could compete with God?! It would be a totally unfair act to follow.

Second Milestone - The beginning of March we attended a birthday party for our friend, Abi, who was turning 4 years old. And Frankie had a GREAT TRAUMA FREE TIME! There were seven kids altogether - three kids who mine knew but not well, and Frankie interacted with all of them in a normal way. The two little tricycles were a big draw to all the little boys and Frankie exhibited NORMAL little boy behavior making sure he got his turn with them. No shutting down, no getting overly angry, no pouting, but normal assertive efforts to make sure that he got his turn. Yeah Frankie! Post traumatic crap usually rears it's ugly head after an event like this and even if Frank's had a blast, all he can usually remember are the little "bad" things that happened - like his hat breaking, another kid getting the tricycle or pushing him, etc. But NOT THIS TIME!!! His little brain managed to retain ALL THE GOOD THINGS about the party!!! Amazing!! Proof that little injured traumatised brains DO heal! So when ever he has a "brain relapse" day I hold that image of him at the party in my head and it gives me hope. Thank you Lord for the continued healing of Frank's brain.

Third Milestone - March 10th was Ella's three year anniversary of coming home. Yep, the magical three years when Uganda can complete her adoption! We are planning to wait until November however to see if we can get the kids both done together, hoping that they'll make an exception for Frankie at his two year mark. I'd like to be able to get their US immigration business done together when we're back on furlough next year.

To be honest, I never thought that I could love or enjoy any person as much as I have Ella. She is a JOY. Truly an inspiring little person who has helped teach me to love, forgive and MOVE ON from crap that has happened in the past, simply by her inspiring example. She is like an adoption dream story - three years after coming home, even after living in an orphanage for three stinkin' years, she is a perfectly adjusted little person and appears not to have ANY emotional issues. Not only does she adore and appreciate her family but she truly seems to be free from any "adoption issues" or trauma from her past. It has been AMAZING to watch the Lord take a broken, scared, moody little three year old and transform them into THIS - what we have today. I have NO idea why God chose to bless ME with this child but I am SO GLAD and THANKFUL that He did!

Fourth Milestone - I turned the big 3-0 this month. Wow! What a last 10 years it has been - phew. I NEVER EVER imagined or dreamed that I would be where I'm at now - the mother of TWO children and one SIX YEARS OLD! How'd that happen?! Not to mention owning property and having a house built - in Uganda no less!

I've been through and learned a lot in the last 10 years- working my butt off through college (19 credits a semester, a 100 mile commute to school, two part time jobs and a work study), attending horribly intensive summer school for three summers(linguistics - blah!), moving to Uganda with stars in my naive little eyes and ready to give my whole entire heart and soul to Bible Translation (sorta missed the point, huh?!), getting slapped and stomped down a LOT, learning to get back up, learning to fight tooth and nail (against other "missionaries". Hmmm....) for what is right, having an entire world and world view opened up to me, being a minority ALL THE STINKIN' TIME, becoming a parent - not once but TWICE- to children who already had issues to deal with, and basically just growing up! Geesh, no WONDER I look so old and worn out...

The most important thing that I learned these last 10 years is that if you know God is telling you to do something, you just need to OBEY HIM and step out and do it. NO MATTER WHAT. Obey first and trust Him later if you have to. Work your butt off if you have to. You just have to know that He DOES hold to His promises, even though it's hard and it may seem like you're floundering. And usually He works things out totally differently than anything you've ever dreamed about!

Yard work!

We have REALLY been enjoying our new home. I can not describe the relief I’ve felt being ALONE in a compound, with out the steady stream of people in and out and the claustrophobic feeling of the old place.

I so enjoy working in the yard after I get home from work now. Unfortunately this hasn’t lend any progress in Ella’s school nor in unpacking my remaining boxes, but the outside is looking nicer! Our latest project has been collecting flowers and plants and planting them in our new flower bed that goes around the end of our house. We’ve collected flowers that were growing wild outside of our gate, from our old house, and from the office. We’ll have quite a variety!

I’ve never considered myself a “gardening” type person but wow, it’s hard NOT to be one in Uganda! It’s hilarious – you rip up a plant (hoping that you get the roots too but if not, no big deal), stuff it in some dirt and pour water on it and usually by the next day it’s looking perky again, like nothing ever happened to it! With that kind of near instant transformation to a “landscaping” project, how could anyone not be hooked?

We are almost done planting the flower beds and after that I’m going to start raking up all of the rocks that are around here (a lot of cement and debris was left over from raising the wall). Then I will probably continue to plant more flowers and try to spruce up the outside of our gate a little AND pick up some of the trash along the road that goes by our place. Oh, and maybe I’ll unpack those boxes...

All of my "pups"

L watering our newly transplanted plants. Quite the outfit, isn't it?!

The flowers go all around the house now, in an L shape.

Can't exactly call these two "helpers" but they ARE cute

We even get to wash our own car now. Yes, it's fun!

She's serious about it :)

I really need to get these rocks raked up! Ranger will have a smoother ride then.

Such a placid puppy!

Ella and Madea, who is shaping up into a nice SUBMISSIVE little dog!

Some little girls play with dolls, some play with live animals.

"Ranger has a nose!" and a very long tongue!

Growing Madea

Growing Ranger

"The Pack"

The big dogs are seriously mean and I don't know why. Not over the top aggressive but if they are out and not on leashes they will just RANDOMLY attack people. As in, people who are just STANDING and not moving at all and aren't even near our house. It's crazy. I'm starting to wonder if keeping the pups was smart. I mean, will I have FOUR mean dogs? I don't want to be "those" people with the dangerous dogs who people worry will get out and hurt their children. I do wonder what's wrong with my pack leadership. My dogs are crazy!

We've MOVED!!!!

Guess what? We’ve MOVED!!! We moved last Saturday so have been in our new place now for a week. And we are loving it! It’s taken me about a week to start loving it, as we have been getting the kinks worked out, but a week later and wow – we needed this!

The house is perfect – bigger than our old place (well, how could it not be?!) but not huge. And the yard – is AWESOME!!! The place has sat empty for several months so the yard was in a state of neglect but all it required was a little raking, tidying up and mowing and wow, do we ever have a beautiful place! PLENTY of room for two growing kids, two dogs and two growing puppies.

It’s a big change for the kids, although still right in the same neighborhood. They both seem to be adjusting well, although Frankie reverted back to his naptime stinky “gifts” in the pants for Sarah, for a couple of days. Yeah, nice Frank, and something I put an end to FAST. Especially since we don’t have the washing machine running yet (one of the hoses got cut during the moving process and is proving difficult to replace).

Ms. Dave is enjoying the nice big yard too!

The swing set got put up (wow is that thing ever BIG!) without anyone getting killed or injured – no small feat! And amazingly enough three men with NO LADDER did it, with me looking on worrying about my swingset getting broken (???? Um, it’s made out of TELEPHONE POLES!). I have a deep sentimental attachment to this swingset as my friend, Lisa, made it for Ella before she moved back to the States.

It is SO nice to let the kids run without fear of them being run over by a neighbor, or, um, being molested or anything. Something to consider when you live in a shared compound with people who you don’t really know.... I mean, it’s good to think the best about people but on the other hand, it’s also good to be on your guard. And on my guard I always was but let me tell you, it’s exhausting! And here Frankie can scream and cry outside, Ella can sing as loud and obnoxiously as she wants, and the kids can make as much noise as they want without any fears of bothering the neighbors.

We are SO loving it!

And the puppies are liking it too. They just keep getting cuter and cuter!

Ella, the "Doctor" with her puppy, Madea.

Oh, and here's a big surprise. We have decided to keep the little female puppy, Madea. She seems to be Ella's favorite and is well, much like Ella... I think she'll grow up to be a great guard dog, if we can just keep her from dominating our pack!!

The delight of my new table

Yesterday was a day of home improvements and the start of Ella's 17+ years of formal education (kind of.)

Wednesday night I was sitting out on our porch at about 9:30pm during a thunder storm, enjoying the fresh air rolling in, my nervous dogs (Bridger HATES thunder!), the smell of freshly mowed grass (smelled just like hay!), watching two frogs hopping through the yard and the neighbor passing back and forth in his pajamas, making phone calls. The thought occurred to me, "We need a table and chairs out here so that I could be sipping coffee." This thought escalated into visions of my when my Mom comes this summer and the two of us sitting out on the porch sipping coffee and playing Cribbage and RummyKub together, in the beautiful, fresh air. Now, our house is fairly small and the weather here in fairly perfect pretty much 100% of the time so it makes sense to spend a lot of time outside on your porch, which we do. Our porch is basically just an extension of our house.

I got off of work early yesterday (thanks to computer problems - yikes!) and was on a mission- finding the perfect plastic table and chairs for my front porch. If you've ever been to Entebbe you'll know that John's Shop is the place to go for pretty much everything. Imagine my delight when they had exactly what I wanted in a table! No trips to Kampala for me!

After collecting and setting up my new table and chairs, I got a call from a guy who had just come from Montana who my Mom had sent some little work books for Ella, with. So before the kiddo's were even up from their nap I charged over to his hotel to get them, while Sarah stayed with the kids. This worked out perfectly as now Ella actually has a place to do school!

Not only does the table provide a nice place to sit and do your work, but I think it will provide some added protection from thunder storms! The thunder can't get you if you hide, right?

We ate dinner AND breakfast on it and I was able to sit and sip a cup of coffee this morning, as intended :). Ahh.... life is good when you have a new table on your porch!

Boy was she thrilled with her new books!! Now she can do "school" like her best friend, Janet. She is however, not the most academically minded child. She likes the coloring, cutting and gluing of things but when it comes to writing letters, not so much.

While he might come across as a rather dim bulb (fat and happy and compared to his sister, quiet), I'm thinking that Frankie just may end surprising me and being my academic genius. I'm afraid I've woefully underestimated his brain cell abilities! He'll point to a letter on something and tell me what it is, totally out of the blue, and yesterday he picked up a bug and told me it was green - and it was!!! The thing is, I don't work with him on colors OR letters! At all. But I work with Ella and he just watches, absorbing it all.

I LOVE his look of concentration. He'd catch me smiling at him and start to wiggle his shoulders and "dance!" Yup, strange kid :)

He's smiling for the camera again :)

Ella, sitting in the "shade" of our baby lemon tree (the stick with leaves on the top, sticking up to her right.) The cool thing about this tree is that it's right in front of our house and no one planted it! We throw our dish water into this circle of flowers and evidently there was a lemon seed in it once and up grew a lemon tree!

Our darling 19 month old neighbor, in an outfit that Ella's Granny made

A sight every mother of preschoolers likes to see... :)

We’ve got...SAND!!!

Over the weekend we got a dump truck load of sand. At long last Ella actually has a decent sand box – or “sand pile” in this case.

The child plays in the dirt and the small amount of sand that we had, all the time. So it was really past time that she had a decent sand pile of her own. I still need to chop my poles and fix them around the sand so that it doesn’t get washed out.

We also put a bunch of sand underneath the swing set, to make the landing more soft. Before it was just hard murrum, which really packs down hard (it’s used here for roads).

Sanyu and Kayo enjoy the sandpit as well. Perhaps it’s because they camouflage so well in it :- ) The blue buckets are for the toys to go in when Ella’s not playing with them, otherwise these two will take them!

New Outdoor Hog Habitat

Over the weekend, despite my cold that was making me miserable and threatening to kill me (exaggeration, but it was making me miserable), I mustered my waning strength and was able to make a very fine outdoor corral for Spike.

I would like to say that this was modeled after a “natural hog habitat” but that would be no where near the truth. If it were indeed modeled after Spikes natural habitat, which I mercilessly plucked him from in Southern Sudan, I would tear out all the flowers and put in a thin layer of dust and sand. Then I would somehow crank the heat up about 30*. Maybe I’d throw in some old plastic water bottles and other various bits of trash too. Only my neighbors wouldn’t like it and it wouldn’t be so delightful in front of my house. So we’ve gone with an “Entebbe-ized” version of a hog habitat.

So now Spike can trundle along amongst marigolds and some other flowers, nibbling on bugs and enjoying the fresh air, dirt between his toes and fresh air blowing through his quills.

I’m really hoping that none of these plants are toxic to animals. My Mom clued me in about tea being made out of marigolds, so they must not be toxic at least. If poor Spike keels over we’ll know that something was!

Now all Spike needs is for his friend Tanya, from Southern Sudan, to come with her new plastic tea pot, and make him a cup of marigold tea :)

Out with the old, in with the new!!

The Uganda Halland's have upgraded their bathtub! My experiments to see if Ella was like a goldfish and would cease to grow if I kept her in a small tub failed and I had to get her a bigger one.

The old, green basin.


Ella has fond memories of this little basin but obviously it was getting a bit small for her rapidly growing body. She fit in April but now, not so much.

Ella in her new, purple basin! Plenty of room to grow :)

Backyard renovations

We have been doing some improvements on our outside dwelling places lately. Since the weather in Uganda is so PERFECT, one likes to spend a lot of time outside. With the change of landlords and the neighbor, Gift, getting inspired and more involved, we have been doing some minor improvements in our yard.

This was the latest improvement - a boda and bike lean to. This gets our boda and bikes off of our porches (actually, we've been keeping them on the neighbors porches!) and there is also some room for various other junk as well, like L's swimming pool (not pictured). I think Gift is working on some brick tiles to go on the ground and we might get some plywood to put on the back to close it in a bit more. But this was a vast improvement and something my boda's needed for a long time!

While my Mom was here we tackled the job of removing the giant, ant infested compost/garbage pile that was alongside the house. The plan is to plant it in grass and to eventually erect a swing set and fashion a sandpit, since Ella will be losing her free and private access to the one behind the school, in November.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

Eventual sight for the swing set. The fire pit is there in the middle. Solomon, our new day guard and gardener, loves to work on gardening projects so he worked on this a bit one day last week. Next we are going to buy some grass seed and plant it.

These are the beginnings to the eventual sand/dirt pit. Solomon cleared the firewood stumps that had been thrown on top of the pile and had begun to grow (EVERYTHING grows here in Uganda!).

Lisa is going to help us build a nice wooden swing set out of telephone poles over Christmas break this year. She has an AMAZING swing set that she built herself so mine will be a miniature one and it will well be worth the wait. Plus, it will be fun building it ourselves!

Washing Machine!!

Last Tuesday I got a new addition to my home - a washing machine! We have been using the one that was at the school for the last 7 months or so (before that Sarah did all the laundry by hand) and now that the school is selling out the neighbors and I went in together and bought it. Ella generates quite a bit of laundry and the neighbors are having a baby the end of September so we will get our money's worth out of it.

My house was chosen to house the new appliance since I have a nice big kitchen, and it fits perfectly!


Fits in perfect between Spike and the trash can - plenty of room for everyone!

It was about the easiest installation that I've ever been a part of. The neighbor, Gift, dealt with the plumber, Sarah and Ella babysat the plumber and when I took Ella over to a friends house to play Sarah stayed on until the job was finished. I had nothing to do with it except fork out some dough at the end! Now THAT is how I like to be involved in things like this :). I am learning how to enlist the help of others in order to make my life easier.