Just Another Wednesday Morning

As I write this it’s 8:45 AM and the generator is pounding away outside my bedroom window (the power went out at 8:00 AM – may stay off all day but no way to know). The presidential debate is being taped in the other room (‘cause it’s 8:45 PM central standard time in the US and it is airing live) and Josh is on his way out the door to buy yet another modem -the second new one in less than a week. It’s rainy season again and our modems have fallen victim to lightening hits. As he left Josh said that he was hoping the new modem was the only problem and that our router was still OK. We’re currently working on dial-up again. Boy, we sure do get spoiled with high-speed (which is still much slower than you get in the US but 3x as fast as dial-up here!). In the front room, a worker is installing a new door lock on our front door. Last night we went for a walk and (obviously) locked the door while we were gone. When we got back, Josh’s key, which he had used to lock the door, wouldn’t work in the lock. Josh and a friend had to demolish the lock to get into the house! It DID reinforce our peace of mind that it took so much effort to break into our house, but we had to pass a night with the door just “pegged” shut (not a major danger, but somewhat unsettling none the less!). So our lives are continually crazy!

Here's a silly picture of Katrina - she didn't seem to care at all that Josh put her burp rag on her head - just kept a pleasant look on her face!  We sure were blessed with a happy girl!

Mitchell brought home his report card for the first quarter yesterday. He’s had some hurdles with spelling and reading but seems to have come through them OK and continues to improve. His Math grade was mid-90’s for the quarter and all of the other grades were satisfactory or better! We’re proud of his adjustment to being in “school”. It’s a one-room schoolhouse with 5 grades in one room and MANY possible distractions for a very distractible 6 year old boy! Josh asked Mitchell this morning if he liked reading and spelling and he said yes, he did, so that’s great that despite challenges he still likes the classes. My hope for all my children is that they will LOVE reading and so far they all seem to! (Being a bookworm myself, I know how valuable it is to enjoy reading – it opens up the world to you!) I supplement their math curriculum with an additional math curriculum that they do at home and Mitchell really enjoys it. It’s a pleasure to have HIM ask ME to “do school” after school with him, rather than me bugging him to get on it!

Mitchell and Katrina hanging out together!

As to more of what’s going on in our lives - here’s an excerpt from a letter I wrote to a friend the other day –

Thanks for your prayers – we sure have needed them as we’ve been adjusting to doing life with 4 kids. More juggling is necessary at this stage – seems like every time I turn around Katrina needs nursing again (and she’s on a 4 hour schedule during the day – imagine if she was on the 2 ½ to 3 hour schedule the other kids were on)! Last night at 10:15 when she was looking for one final nursing I looked at Josh and said, “Can you do it? I want to get ready for bed.” I usually don’t mind at all but it does wear you down with time!

The boys dressed up today for school – Mitchell went as a pirate and Spencer went as Han Solo (we watched Star Wars IV last weekend). Mitchell loved the mascara goatee and mustache but wasn’t impressed with the eyeliner I put on him (a la Jack Sparrow)! Spencer’s new hero is Harrison Ford – when he found out he played both Han Solo AND Indiana Jones Spencer was amazed! I saw it as a teaching moment and asked him what he thought of Han Solo’s character (selfish, just “in it” for himself) and he did see that about him without me saying as much so that was good!.

I had a great birthday party (I turned 32 on September 28th)! We had been missing ordering salads at restaurants at home (we used to always order entrée salads when we went out on dates ‘cause I used to hate making them – getting out all the ingredients, chopping, etc.) so we decided to do a “salad dinner party”. We invited 8 adults (no kids) and had them pre-order from 4 different types of salads (Chicken Caesar, Buffalo Chicken, Oriental Chicken and Mexican Chicken Salad). Then on the day of the party, I breaded and oven-fried the chicken for the buffalo chicken salad and Josh grilled the rest of the chicken with the different seasonings for the different salads. We washed and ripped up a TON of lettuce, shredded carrots, chopped cucumbers, etc, etc. I had made croutons, fried up tortilla strips and toasted some noodles, made all the different kinds of dressings (Ranch; Italian from packets, Creamy Caesar & Sesame Ginger from scratch) and I bought a bottle of Blue Cheese (unbelievably they have that here sometimes!). I also made 3 different kinds of focaccia to go with the salad and that was the meal. I baked a chocolate layer cake, mixed up the local equivalent of Dream Whip (which is actually better than Dream Whip) and with a can of imported sweet cherries, assembled version of Black Forest Cake. It was so good! I made the chai recipe from the India focus group (from Taste of the World - Harvest Fest a few years ago) which was a huge hit. We 10 adults played Spoons and “Scum of the Earth”. It was hilarious and I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a long time. Two of Spencer’s at the party and he couldn’t BELIVE how loud the party got, that his teachers were anything more than the calm, collected individuals he saw in the classroom..

Josh is just finishing up with a busy spurt and the boys are about to start a 4 day weekend. Ramadan (the month of fasting) ended last night (it was a very noisy night with fireworks and bamboo cannons going off every few minutes half the night) and seemingly the whole country is celebrating Idul Fitri. The entire country has a holiday – banks, business and even restaurants are closed, people are traveling home to see their families. It’s kind of like Christmas in the US – kids get gifts, they all eat a lot of snack food and visit friends and family for days. Everyone has off of work – it’s party time for them. We will be making our “traditional” visits to see our Muslim neighbors in the next week or so. For me it’s much less scary than last year this time. Last year I didn’t really know those neighbors and was terrified of their food or drinks making one of us sick! I will be praying and much calmer about it this year. Hope they don’t want to pass Katrina around too much (wouldn’t be a problem but many still have the same “ancient” bathroom habits – wiping with their left hand – and it makes me nervous to give her to people who possibly still do that)! It’s always something when you’re out of your comfort zone!

Here's a pic of the boys on their first day of school in August!  We were in the capitol that day working on Katrina's paperwork so they went from a friend's house!

Thanks so much for praying for us, friends!  Just like your life, some days are great and others are a challenge!  We appreciate your support as we serve here!