Friday, July 31, 2009
Thursday, July 30, 2009
Adoption Progress
Since Thursday seems to be a free day, we can make it the adoption day. So here you go...
Monday afternoon Nathan picked me up about 2 and we headed over the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for me to apply for a Certificate of Good Conduct. It's basically a background check for Kenya. Wow...what an experience. On the way there, a homeless man was walking right in the road, Nathan slowed down, but the man just kept walking right into our lane. Nathan had to run off the road so we wouldn't hit him. Told you it's always an adventure here. We got to the CID and had to go have my passport copy authenticated. I'm not really sure what he did other than look at my passport and the copy and made sure they matched. Then we headed over to where the extremely long line was, paid the 1000/= ($13), got the receipt, had it copied, got the cover page where the finger prints go, and headed back outside to wait in that extremely long line. We were the only white people there so many heads turned as we did what we needed to do and then got in line. There were probably about 200 people in front of us...maybe more. We waited and waited. And waited some more. Finally, we made it into the building where there were about 75 chairs. We continued to wait, but at least were able to sit down. We finally got close enough to the front and Nathan left me so we wouldn't get fussed at for him waiting in line with me. There were 3 men doing the fingerprints. I finally made it into a line and waited for a few more minutes. They aren't the most gentle men when doing your fingerprints. Anyway, I got it done and we are one tiny step closer. Now we wait two weeks and go back to pick up the certificate which will probably be another grand experience. :)
Tuesday afternoon, we headed over to Little Angels for us to each have an interview with our social worker. Before we went to Little Angels though, we went to see Dr. Patel, the kids pediatrician. Nathan doesn't have a doctor here and we needed his medical form filled out, so we went to ask him if he could do it. Of course, he wasn't there, but would be back at the time for our appointment at Little Angels. So, off we went to Little Angels. We got there, waited a few minutes, and then Steve, our social worker, came out to get us. We gave him the stack of papers we had collected and then he informed us that we couldn't both have an individual interview on the same day. Bummer. So, Nathan did his, and I will go back on Tuesday for mine. It was really short and Nathan said he could have done more, but we are learning to be patient and not push it. After that, we headed back over to Dr. Patel's office. He filled out Nathan's form for him and stamped it with his stamp that says pediatrician. Hopefully that won't matter. We're getting there one small step at a time.
Monday afternoon Nathan picked me up about 2 and we headed over the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) for me to apply for a Certificate of Good Conduct. It's basically a background check for Kenya. Wow...what an experience. On the way there, a homeless man was walking right in the road, Nathan slowed down, but the man just kept walking right into our lane. Nathan had to run off the road so we wouldn't hit him. Told you it's always an adventure here. We got to the CID and had to go have my passport copy authenticated. I'm not really sure what he did other than look at my passport and the copy and made sure they matched. Then we headed over to where the extremely long line was, paid the 1000/= ($13), got the receipt, had it copied, got the cover page where the finger prints go, and headed back outside to wait in that extremely long line. We were the only white people there so many heads turned as we did what we needed to do and then got in line. There were probably about 200 people in front of us...maybe more. We waited and waited. And waited some more. Finally, we made it into the building where there were about 75 chairs. We continued to wait, but at least were able to sit down. We finally got close enough to the front and Nathan left me so we wouldn't get fussed at for him waiting in line with me. There were 3 men doing the fingerprints. I finally made it into a line and waited for a few more minutes. They aren't the most gentle men when doing your fingerprints. Anyway, I got it done and we are one tiny step closer. Now we wait two weeks and go back to pick up the certificate which will probably be another grand experience. :)
Tuesday afternoon, we headed over to Little Angels for us to each have an interview with our social worker. Before we went to Little Angels though, we went to see Dr. Patel, the kids pediatrician. Nathan doesn't have a doctor here and we needed his medical form filled out, so we went to ask him if he could do it. Of course, he wasn't there, but would be back at the time for our appointment at Little Angels. So, off we went to Little Angels. We got there, waited a few minutes, and then Steve, our social worker, came out to get us. We gave him the stack of papers we had collected and then he informed us that we couldn't both have an individual interview on the same day. Bummer. So, Nathan did his, and I will go back on Tuesday for mine. It was really short and Nathan said he could have done more, but we are learning to be patient and not push it. After that, we headed back over to Dr. Patel's office. He filled out Nathan's form for him and stamped it with his stamp that says pediatrician. Hopefully that won't matter. We're getting there one small step at a time.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Dinah, John, and Ruth
Nathan took these pics Sunday morning at breakfast. And here's an update on the kids since I haven't done that in a while.
Ruth Amelia Mueni~
~She's eating all kinds of things now. She just totally skipped over baby food and is eating table food. She likes oatmeal, wheat bread, pasta, carrots, potatoes, injera, matoke (cooked bananas), strawberrys, bananas, cheerios, and just about anything that is soft enough for her to eat and that's not baby food.
~She continues to scoot anywhere she wants to go. She's not even attempting to crawl.
~She's really trying to pull up. She has done it once in the bathtub, but that's it. I think our furniture might just be too high for her right now.
~She's adjusting to Kenyans...well at least Zipporah and Salome. We've had to leave the kids with them several times for us to go do things for the adoption and she's done great. Other than not taking her bottle from them. :)
Dinah Belle~
~She is such a little Mommy. She loves to hold Ruth and try to feed her. And takes care of her babies all the time.
~She is trying new foods. It takes her a few times to warm up to it, but she's getting the hang of it. I'm really trying not to fix seperate food for her and John so they will learn to eat what's served. They even asked for Ethiopian food the other night.
~We are working on numbers and she can count to 10 now.
~She really enjoys reading.
~Her imagination is really coming alive. It's so much fun to watch and listen to her pretending and getting John in on it, too.
John Culver~
~He's doing so awesome with potty training. I've been letting him take a nap in his undies because he really fights me when I try to put a diaper on him. He's been doing that for probably 3 weeks now. On Monday night, we decided to let him try going all night with his undies. We've been putting him in a diaper and he's not wetting it. And he's done wonderful! He woke us up by standing in the hallway and wimpering Monday night about 1am to go pee. Then this morning about 6am to go pee. We are SO proud of him!
~He will eat just about anything you put in front of him. Especially if Mommy or Daddy is eating it.
~He's such a wonderful little helper. I asked him yesterday morning if he wanted to vacuum for me and before I knew it, he had disappeared. He was in the closet trying to get the vacuum out. I helped him get it out, he pulled the cord out, plugged it up, turned it on, and started vacuuming.
~He LOVES to help me in the kitchen. Yesterday he helped me make a cake and koolaid. Then peeled the bananas to put in the freezer. He will do just about anything I ask him to. He especially likes to stir things.
Ruth Amelia Mueni~~She's eating all kinds of things now. She just totally skipped over baby food and is eating table food. She likes oatmeal, wheat bread, pasta, carrots, potatoes, injera, matoke (cooked bananas), strawberrys, bananas, cheerios, and just about anything that is soft enough for her to eat and that's not baby food.
~She continues to scoot anywhere she wants to go. She's not even attempting to crawl.
~She's really trying to pull up. She has done it once in the bathtub, but that's it. I think our furniture might just be too high for her right now.
~She's adjusting to Kenyans...well at least Zipporah and Salome. We've had to leave the kids with them several times for us to go do things for the adoption and she's done great. Other than not taking her bottle from them. :)
Dinah Belle~~She is such a little Mommy. She loves to hold Ruth and try to feed her. And takes care of her babies all the time.
~She is trying new foods. It takes her a few times to warm up to it, but she's getting the hang of it. I'm really trying not to fix seperate food for her and John so they will learn to eat what's served. They even asked for Ethiopian food the other night.
~We are working on numbers and she can count to 10 now.
~She really enjoys reading.
~Her imagination is really coming alive. It's so much fun to watch and listen to her pretending and getting John in on it, too.
John Culver~~He's doing so awesome with potty training. I've been letting him take a nap in his undies because he really fights me when I try to put a diaper on him. He's been doing that for probably 3 weeks now. On Monday night, we decided to let him try going all night with his undies. We've been putting him in a diaper and he's not wetting it. And he's done wonderful! He woke us up by standing in the hallway and wimpering Monday night about 1am to go pee. Then this morning about 6am to go pee. We are SO proud of him!
~He will eat just about anything you put in front of him. Especially if Mommy or Daddy is eating it.
~He's such a wonderful little helper. I asked him yesterday morning if he wanted to vacuum for me and before I knew it, he had disappeared. He was in the closet trying to get the vacuum out. I helped him get it out, he pulled the cord out, plugged it up, turned it on, and started vacuuming.
~He LOVES to help me in the kitchen. Yesterday he helped me make a cake and koolaid. Then peeled the bananas to put in the freezer. He will do just about anything I ask him to. He especially likes to stir things.
Tuesday, July 28, 2009
AIM AIR
AIM AIR has recently released their latest video. I had the privelege of seeing it the beginning of this month at a ladies meeting and was very impressed. Nathan saw it yesterday for the first time and was also impressed. The On Field Media team of AIM put it together and did an awesome job! We thought you might be interested in seeing how things work here in Africa.
It is also a good reminder of why we are here serving and working with AIM AIR.
"AIM AIR - Serving those who serve"
Tuesday Treats
Last Thursday night, there was a ladies movie night. Nathan so graciously watched the kids, got them ready for bed, and put them all to bed by himself! It was a fun time to get out and spend some time with other missionary ladies.I didn't have to wash a dish all weekend! And I don't think I put one away either. Every time Nathan was washing dishes and I tried to take over, he told me to go sit down. Wow! That was a nice vacation from dishes!
He is so helpful with all these adoption hoops that we have to jump through to complete our adoption. He's been on board with it since the beginning, and I'm so happy to have someone else as excited about it as I am to share it with.
What has your Sweetie done for you lately?
Monday, July 27, 2009
Friends
I just read a blog post on our friend's Chris and Lindy's blog. It gave me cold chills to read it. If you've never been to Nairobi, you don't know that there are street children just about every where you go. Once they notice that you are a white person, they immediately come to your window to beg. I have a really hard time with that. They almost always come to my side of the car since that's the one closest to the side of the road. I hate to totally ignore them, but there's not much else you can do to get them to go away. I want to help, but you never know what they are going to do with the money. And if you do help that one that's at your window, you are immediately going to be bombarded by others begging. Anyway, all that to say, that Chris and Lindy have started a ministry to some of these street children. Way to go guys! If you think of them, lift them and their ministry to these kids up to the Lord.
Prayer and Praise
Prayer~
We are headed out this afternoon to apply for my certificate of good conduct. Nathan has already done one for work and says it's an adventure. Also, we have our second meeting for our homestudy tomorrow afternoon.
The famine in Kenya is taking a toll. Food prices continue to rise, our water comes out in a dribble if it's even on, and we are beginning to have more power outages.
We are still looking for a car to use for our home assignment.
Praise~
We have collected a lot of documents in the past week for our home study. We are excited about having so many documents to turn in! Thanks to Mimi and Papa for getting the stuff we needed in the mail and to our references for getting your forms filled out and in the mail!
My headaches seemed to have subsided again as long as I concentrate on drinking plenty of water throughout the day.
All of our children are eating Ethiopian food! It was so fun to see them eating it Saturday night. I had fixed some pasta for them, but they chose the Ethiopian over the pasta. We are so excited about this because we want to incorporate Ethiopia into our son's life, and it will help if all our children participate in eating. (I would have taken a picture of them eating, but the power was off and the pictures won't have turned out.)
We are headed out this afternoon to apply for my certificate of good conduct. Nathan has already done one for work and says it's an adventure. Also, we have our second meeting for our homestudy tomorrow afternoon.
The famine in Kenya is taking a toll. Food prices continue to rise, our water comes out in a dribble if it's even on, and we are beginning to have more power outages.
We are still looking for a car to use for our home assignment.
Praise~
We have collected a lot of documents in the past week for our home study. We are excited about having so many documents to turn in! Thanks to Mimi and Papa for getting the stuff we needed in the mail and to our references for getting your forms filled out and in the mail!
My headaches seemed to have subsided again as long as I concentrate on drinking plenty of water throughout the day.
All of our children are eating Ethiopian food! It was so fun to see them eating it Saturday night. I had fixed some pasta for them, but they chose the Ethiopian over the pasta. We are so excited about this because we want to incorporate Ethiopia into our son's life, and it will help if all our children participate in eating. (I would have taken a picture of them eating, but the power was off and the pictures won't have turned out.)
Saturday, July 25, 2009
Best of Friends
Dinah and John were outside playing while Nathan and I were inside working. I heard them talking about building a fire and looked out the window. They were taking the wood that Nathan had just bought and filling the chimenea with it to build a fire. :)
When we were at Uchumi a few weeks ago, we found these little "pushy thingys". We were totally out of cash so we weren't able to buy them. When we went back today, we made sure we had some cash to get them for Dinah and John. Of course when we were there last time, the guy didn't believe us when we told him we didn't have any cash and went pretty low on his price. This time he tried to get more out of me, but I knew better. He told me he would charge a tourist 500/= (about $6.75) for one. I bought 2 of them for 300/= ($4). And they have had a blast with them!
They were walking around the yard in circles holding hands and pushing their new toys. :)
Walking on top of the wood Daddy had drying. This was before they decided to build a fire. 
Friday, July 24, 2009
Humbled
On Wednesday, after Nathan and I got home from our homestudy meeting, Nathan headed off to work, and I got the kids ready and we went over the Amani Ya Juu. We took Salome, our houselady, with us. She had never been there before and I thought it would be a treat for her to go. When we got there, I gave her a little money to spend on whatever she wanted. We walked around the store, let the kids play, and had some lunch. I went back in to pay for the things I had picked out, and after I was done, I asked Salome if there was anything that she wanted to get. While we were walking around the store, she was talking about how nice the stuff they have is and what all she liked. But when I asked her if she was going to get anything she said no. On the way home, I wondered what she was planning to do with the money. I didn't want to get upset with her because she didn't spend the money. I thought she might have something else that she needed more than something pretty from Amani. When we got back and got in the house, she asked me if she could keep the money because she doesn't have any food at home. Of course, I said yes.
I think it's sometimes hard for me since I'm home all day with the kids and I'm not out seeing the need first hand. But this time, it came to me. Right here in our house. I honestly can not imagine not having food in my house to feed my children. Or even not having money to get food for them. Wow. I was humbled that day. You can be sure, I will be making sure the ladies working in our home don't go home to no food.
I think it's sometimes hard for me since I'm home all day with the kids and I'm not out seeing the need first hand. But this time, it came to me. Right here in our house. I honestly can not imagine not having food in my house to feed my children. Or even not having money to get food for them. Wow. I was humbled that day. You can be sure, I will be making sure the ladies working in our home don't go home to no food.
Thursday, July 23, 2009
Always an Adventure
When you live in Africa, an adventure, whether thrilling or heart wrenching, is always lurking. You never know when it's gonna happen, but you better be ready for it.
Last night, we went to the food court to get a quick dinner. We made it there without too much traffic, got our food relatively quickly, ate without any problem, waited in line for a while at Nakumatt just to buy a tub of ice cream and a coke, got in the car and headed home. And to think we almost made it without an adventure!
We turned off Ngong (the main road) with two other cars in front of us. Of course, the policeman at the police check chose us to pull over. Nathan just pulled off the side and rolled down my window to greet the policeman. He glanced at our registration, shined his flashlight in the back to see the kids, and asked for Nathan's driver's license and looked at it. Usually that's the end of it, and they tell us to go on. It's not too bad and we usually know what to expect since they pull us over quite a bit. However, last night, the policeman took a look at Nathan's license and wanted to know if the car was ours. Nathan told him no, that the car belongs to our organization and they allow us to drive it. The policeman then proceeded to tell us that our registration was expired and that was a very big offense. He then told Nathan to pull the car off the road. So, we pulled up and Nathan turned off the car. The policeman told us that he was going to have to tow the car to the police station and we would have to go to court tomorrow. Nathan wanted to know how we were supposed to get home with our three small children. The policeman wouldn't let us even move the car.
There is one thing you should know about this sticker that was supposedly expired. Yesterday at work, someone brought Nathan our new registration sticker. However, it wasn't the right one. They got our sticker and the sticker for the other SP van switched. So, we had the sticker for the other van and not ours.
Okay, on with the story. So the policeman told Nathan to call a cab to take us home. Nathan asked him if he was going to pay for it. :) Of course, the answer was no. Nathan then called Randy to see what we need to do. Then he called Raymond, the guy in charge of transportation at SP, and talked to him. The policeman was very adament that we were not moving the car and that we were very much in the wrong. All this time, Ruth was sleeping, and Dinah and John were being relatively quiet in their car seats. Well, while Nathan was on the phone with Raymond, Ruth woke up and started crying pretty good. I got out to take care of her, and Dinah and John were getting a little louder. By this time, we had been sitting there for a good 15 minutes. I had called Angie, and she sent Kurt to pick us up since the policeman wasn't budging. Nathan got off the phone with Raymond, after getting some advice. Raymond told him to go agree to go to the police station with the police officer and discuss it with his boss. The whole big fuss was centered around the fact that there is a time on each registration sticker. Our sticker had yesterday's date on it, but with a time of 2:55pm. The policeman was trying to tell us that it expired at 2:55 yesterday afternoon. Raymond on the other hand said that the law says that it didn't expire until midnight last night. When Nathan told the police officer that, the officer just argued with him, and said that wasn't what the law said. He actually also said that Raymond didn't know what he was talking about and he knew the law and Raymond did not. So, Nathan again told him they could go to the police station to dicuss it with his police boss. During this conversation, Kurt had arrived, I had gotten the kids out of their carseats, gotten their shoes and jackets on, and tried to gather our things from the van. The policeman then decided that he would show mercy on us because of our small children and let us go. AGGHHH!! :) What in the world?!
It was nice of him to let us go, but we have to wonder if he was just scared of getting caught of looking for a bribe. We never once mentioned a bribe although we feel sure that's what he was wanting. Nathan also did ask him where we could find some of the traffic laws so that we could read them and learn more about them...he didn't really have a straight answer. He did say that the laws are very hard to find and not many people know them...what?????? What an adventure life in Nairobi can be!
Last night, we went to the food court to get a quick dinner. We made it there without too much traffic, got our food relatively quickly, ate without any problem, waited in line for a while at Nakumatt just to buy a tub of ice cream and a coke, got in the car and headed home. And to think we almost made it without an adventure!
We turned off Ngong (the main road) with two other cars in front of us. Of course, the policeman at the police check chose us to pull over. Nathan just pulled off the side and rolled down my window to greet the policeman. He glanced at our registration, shined his flashlight in the back to see the kids, and asked for Nathan's driver's license and looked at it. Usually that's the end of it, and they tell us to go on. It's not too bad and we usually know what to expect since they pull us over quite a bit. However, last night, the policeman took a look at Nathan's license and wanted to know if the car was ours. Nathan told him no, that the car belongs to our organization and they allow us to drive it. The policeman then proceeded to tell us that our registration was expired and that was a very big offense. He then told Nathan to pull the car off the road. So, we pulled up and Nathan turned off the car. The policeman told us that he was going to have to tow the car to the police station and we would have to go to court tomorrow. Nathan wanted to know how we were supposed to get home with our three small children. The policeman wouldn't let us even move the car.
There is one thing you should know about this sticker that was supposedly expired. Yesterday at work, someone brought Nathan our new registration sticker. However, it wasn't the right one. They got our sticker and the sticker for the other SP van switched. So, we had the sticker for the other van and not ours.
Okay, on with the story. So the policeman told Nathan to call a cab to take us home. Nathan asked him if he was going to pay for it. :) Of course, the answer was no. Nathan then called Randy to see what we need to do. Then he called Raymond, the guy in charge of transportation at SP, and talked to him. The policeman was very adament that we were not moving the car and that we were very much in the wrong. All this time, Ruth was sleeping, and Dinah and John were being relatively quiet in their car seats. Well, while Nathan was on the phone with Raymond, Ruth woke up and started crying pretty good. I got out to take care of her, and Dinah and John were getting a little louder. By this time, we had been sitting there for a good 15 minutes. I had called Angie, and she sent Kurt to pick us up since the policeman wasn't budging. Nathan got off the phone with Raymond, after getting some advice. Raymond told him to go agree to go to the police station with the police officer and discuss it with his boss. The whole big fuss was centered around the fact that there is a time on each registration sticker. Our sticker had yesterday's date on it, but with a time of 2:55pm. The policeman was trying to tell us that it expired at 2:55 yesterday afternoon. Raymond on the other hand said that the law says that it didn't expire until midnight last night. When Nathan told the police officer that, the officer just argued with him, and said that wasn't what the law said. He actually also said that Raymond didn't know what he was talking about and he knew the law and Raymond did not. So, Nathan again told him they could go to the police station to dicuss it with his police boss. During this conversation, Kurt had arrived, I had gotten the kids out of their carseats, gotten their shoes and jackets on, and tried to gather our things from the van. The policeman then decided that he would show mercy on us because of our small children and let us go. AGGHHH!! :) What in the world?!
It was nice of him to let us go, but we have to wonder if he was just scared of getting caught of looking for a bribe. We never once mentioned a bribe although we feel sure that's what he was wanting. Nathan also did ask him where we could find some of the traffic laws so that we could read them and learn more about them...he didn't really have a straight answer. He did say that the laws are very hard to find and not many people know them...what?????? What an adventure life in Nairobi can be!
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
Tuesday Treats
~ A few weeks ago we went to borrow some movies from some friends. Nathan was the main one looking through them and he pulled out several and then found Anne of Green Gables and Anne of Green Gables: the Sequel. We brought them home and watched the others first but have been watching a little of Anne of Green Gables for the past several nights. What a Sweetie he is to watch them with me and to have picked them out for me!
~ Last night after we got the kids in bed, Nathan helped me pick up and clean up the table and then washed the dishes! How nice! Oh, AND he made the soymilk!
~ I love to see him carrying Ruth and playing with her. It's so precious! He's come such a long way since Dinah! :) He's such a wonderful Daddy!
What has your spouse done for you??
~ Last night after we got the kids in bed, Nathan helped me pick up and clean up the table and then washed the dishes! How nice! Oh, AND he made the soymilk!
~ I love to see him carrying Ruth and playing with her. It's so precious! He's come such a long way since Dinah! :) He's such a wonderful Daddy!
What has your spouse done for you??
Monday, July 20, 2009
Weekend Pics
Here's Nathan carrying in the chimenea. It was HEAVY!
Dinah thought it was funny to hold on and peep around. :) 
Ruthie could swing for hours. I think she was in the swing for probably an hour and a half all weekend.
Nathan and John putting the wood away.
Nathan had fire coming out the front and top. It was HUGE! Thank goodness the kids and I were still in the house. It did calm down a bit.
John reading books early Sunday morning. :)Prayer and Praise
Prayer~
We have a meeting scheduled for Wednesday with our social worker. It's the first meeting of our homestudy. We also have several documents that we going to be going back and forth between the US and Africa. Please pray for the safe and qucik delivery of these.
We are coaching 2 short term guys that are here for a month or so. Please pray we are able to help them get a clear picture of missions through AIM Air in Nairobi and are able to help them with whatever else they might need while they are here.
I've started having headaches again. Maybe I've just not been drinking enough water so I'm starting to drink more. Please pray that will help once again.
Praise~
Yesterday during church, I was reminded how blessed we are to have healthy children. It seemed there were several who mentioned children having surgery or in the hospital. We are so blessed to have three healthy children!
We had a great family weekend! We had plans to go out of town for the day on Saturday, but things fell through, and we just stayed home. We had a wonderful time doing some shopping Saturday morning, having lunch out at an Indian restaurant, a relaxing afternoon, and roasting marshmellows in our new chimenea Saturday night. Sunday we went to church, had a relaxing afternoon at home, and then a fun soup supper with fellow missionaries.
The kids slept until 7:15 this morning and Nathan and I only woke up a few minutes before them. It was so nice since they were up around 6:30 Saturday and Sunday mornings.
We have a meeting scheduled for Wednesday with our social worker. It's the first meeting of our homestudy. We also have several documents that we going to be going back and forth between the US and Africa. Please pray for the safe and qucik delivery of these.
We are coaching 2 short term guys that are here for a month or so. Please pray we are able to help them get a clear picture of missions through AIM Air in Nairobi and are able to help them with whatever else they might need while they are here.
I've started having headaches again. Maybe I've just not been drinking enough water so I'm starting to drink more. Please pray that will help once again.
Praise~
Yesterday during church, I was reminded how blessed we are to have healthy children. It seemed there were several who mentioned children having surgery or in the hospital. We are so blessed to have three healthy children!
We had a great family weekend! We had plans to go out of town for the day on Saturday, but things fell through, and we just stayed home. We had a wonderful time doing some shopping Saturday morning, having lunch out at an Indian restaurant, a relaxing afternoon, and roasting marshmellows in our new chimenea Saturday night. Sunday we went to church, had a relaxing afternoon at home, and then a fun soup supper with fellow missionaries.
The kids slept until 7:15 this morning and Nathan and I only woke up a few minutes before them. It was so nice since they were up around 6:30 Saturday and Sunday mornings.
Sunday, July 19, 2009
Friday, July 17, 2009
Raising Kids in Kenya
Wow, it's been a really long time since I did a blog on culture. Sorry! Sometimes it's hard to come up with something.
One thing that I get asked quite a bit is "how is it different raising kids in Africa?"
The thing that stands out most in my mind is that everyone asks us when Dinah and now John are going to school. When a child reaches about the age of two, sometimes before and sometimes after, they are sent to preschool. It's pretty much unheard of by the Kenyans that our kids aren't in school. I know lots of kids go to preschool in the States, but it's not abnormal for them to stay home, as well.
It seems there are 2 parenting styles here. Either parents let their children do whatever they wish or they beat them...literally. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground. I have to remind myself that I still have to be consistent with our kids even though we have a Kenyan working in our home. We are going to stick to the way we believe we ought to raise our children even though it may be different than the culture here.
We have someone to help us do the housework. Sometimes I wonder if we should have househelp, but then we would really standout if we didn't. I don't want our kids to think that we shouldn't work to take care of our home. So on the days that we don't have help, we work to keep the house clean. I also try to have the kids clean up their things instead of letting Zipporah do it, and I try to pick up and clean up on the days she is here as well.
I'm sure there are more things that are different, but my mind is just not working now. If I think of more, I'll post them next week. We are enjoying raising our kids here now. They are experiencing so many things that aren't possible in the States, and it's shaping how they view the world.
One thing that I get asked quite a bit is "how is it different raising kids in Africa?"
The thing that stands out most in my mind is that everyone asks us when Dinah and now John are going to school. When a child reaches about the age of two, sometimes before and sometimes after, they are sent to preschool. It's pretty much unheard of by the Kenyans that our kids aren't in school. I know lots of kids go to preschool in the States, but it's not abnormal for them to stay home, as well.
It seems there are 2 parenting styles here. Either parents let their children do whatever they wish or they beat them...literally. There doesn't seem to be much middle ground. I have to remind myself that I still have to be consistent with our kids even though we have a Kenyan working in our home. We are going to stick to the way we believe we ought to raise our children even though it may be different than the culture here.
We have someone to help us do the housework. Sometimes I wonder if we should have househelp, but then we would really standout if we didn't. I don't want our kids to think that we shouldn't work to take care of our home. So on the days that we don't have help, we work to keep the house clean. I also try to have the kids clean up their things instead of letting Zipporah do it, and I try to pick up and clean up on the days she is here as well.
I'm sure there are more things that are different, but my mind is just not working now. If I think of more, I'll post them next week. We are enjoying raising our kids here now. They are experiencing so many things that aren't possible in the States, and it's shaping how they view the world.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Mail Call
Dinah and John got letters in the mail from Papa yesterday. I gave them to them this morning after breakfast. They LOVE getting mail. Stickers are probably number one on the list. Thanks, Papa! Here are a few of the pics that I took of them finding and enjoying what was in their letters.
We love you, Papa!
We love you, Papa!
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