Another craft

We did another craft today, out of the school curriculum.

Snowflakes

Today, we made paper

snowflakes for our activity.

Another 2 in 1...

Since we forgot to do a Christmas activity yesterday (again), we doubled up again today... Christmas crafts, and hot chocolate. Katrina made a Christmas tree card, and Heather made a nativity scene.

We also have guests tonight from Arusha! It's so good to see old friends! Glen, Ivy and Willie came up for business reasons but its so good to see them. Vino is coming to stay in our guest apartment for a few months. It's good to see some familiar faces.

Computer fun

On Saturday, we Skyped with Grandma and Grandpa Fischer for our activity. We also opened a package from Grandma and Grandpa DeLaughter with some Christmas activities, so lots of fun from both sides of the family.

Sunday, it was Independance Day in Kenya. We went out for lunch, and we saw an airshow flying over head while we were out-- jet planes and all! Very fun. There was even a bouncy house on our street. Very cool.

The kids spent e-cards to their cousins as part of their Christmas activities today. It's wonderful to have internet, and to be able to keep in touch with family and friends that way.

Thank God for the internet!

New book

Today, we read a new Christmas book with giant flaps from Grandma Fischer. Thanks, Grandma!

Stringing Popcorn

Today, we strung popcorn for the tree. Fun, and yummy too!

New Shoes!

The kids in their new shoes, yeah! Sorry, you can't see Jonathan's very much but that shot was so cute with the hat.

We went to the mall today, and so didn't have time for any activity since we got home late and kids were asleep... (isn't he cute?)

BUT, we got the kids all new shoes, and Bill bought me a new outfit including purse for Christmas...YEAH! We had alot of fun tonight, so I think it counts don't you?

Oh, and I just got word from my mom that Jonathan's new prosthetic is ready. They'll mail it to some friends who will be coming to Tanzania in January and Bill will pick it up a few weeks after that. Very exciting!

Christmas activity today

Today, we read a Christmas book that has little plush characters of Joseph, Mary and Jesus. Very cute.

Heather learns to ride her bike!

Heather learned to ride her bike without training wheels today! Yeah, Heather! I'm so proud of you.

Nativity Set

Today's activity for Christmas is one of the kids' favorite-- we got out the Little People Nativity set. They love acting out the Christmas story. It was a Christmas present from Eastview last Christmas and we love it!

Days 4 and 5 Activities

Saturday our special holiday activity, we went to see "Entangled" in the theatres, and had pizza at the mall afterwards, very fun.

Sunday, we made Christmas cards. The Christmas fun is continuing!

Day 2 and 3 activities

Well, since the girls were asleep last night when we got home, we didn't get to bake cookies. So, today we did two things. We baked cookies, and we watched "A Charlie Brown Christmas". Two traditions that are a must for the season!

Nairobi... The Good, the Bad, and the UGLY??

We moved up to Nairobi on Saturday, and it was the smoothest move I think we have ever had! Friday we spent the whole day packing, and thanks to the help of our friends, were able to completely close the house by Friday night and go spend the night with friends. We woke up early Saturday morning and left for Nairobi and arrived at 1pm, amazingly. The trip was really easy. This move was covered in blessings because so many things could have gone wrong.

We LOVE our house, and love Nairobi so far. We live in a gated community, with paved streets and even side walks. Our house is two story. Downstairs is a nice living room, with very comfortable couches and a big screen TV; dining room; big kitchen, bathroom, and Bill's office. The yard is small, but behind the house we have a seperate guest house with it's own bath, kitchen, and living room, and we also have a laundry room out back.

Upstairs are three bedrooms. The girls each have their own room for the first time, which they are loving. We are doing school in the Master bedroom. It's big enough that we have a table and chairs in there and a bookshelf for the books and there is still plenty of room.

The kids and I have been exploring the neighborhood, and we have discovered a school just across the street from us. In the afternoons, we walk down to it, and play on the playground. The kids have met lots of friends from the neighborhood there. I'm glad the kids have started making friends already.

Okay, so that is the "Good". The "Bad" is the traffic here in Nairobi. It took us 3 hours to drive to the mall tonight in horrible traffic, and 2 hours to get home! That's 5 hours in traffic to spend an hour at the mall. We probably won't be going to that mall again for awhile...

The "UGLY"... on our way to the mall, I was holding Bill's phone in my hand because I was checking the GPS, and some guy reached into the car, ripped it out of my hand and took off running! That scared me, and we lost a very nice, expensive phone. No more driving with the windows down!!

Okay, I have "vented"... we are really enjoying it here, and we liked going to church on Sunday at LifeSpring Church not far from our house. I love the fact that everyone here speaks English, even the kids. It has made it very easy for the girls to make friends here.

We have started our traditional Christmas activity advent. Day 1, we put up the tree, see pictures above. Even Jonathan got in on it. Day 2, we were supposed to make cookies but we got home so late that the kids were asleep. SOO... we'll continue the Christmas activities tomorrow.

Happy Christmas Season!!

Last night in our house

Well, it's our last night in our house in Moshono, Tanzania. Although we have been busy packing for weeks, I still feel unprepared. Tomorrow, we are staying in a hostel, and then *hope* to leave early Saturday morning, if we have everything done by then. If not, we will put off going until we finish moving everything out of the house. I am just ready to go to Niarobi, and start getting settled again.
Our vehicle was finished today, and has a new engine. Yeah! It's nice to have our own car back. We will be taking it to Kenya with us.
Having decided what we're doing with Romeo yet...

A Move

Well, we are most likely going to be moving up to Nairobi in about a month!! WHAT? Well, our partnership with Haven of Peace didn't pan out for us to get a visa through them. We really want to set up our own NGO here in Tanzania. But, we really don't have time to get that done before our permit expires on Dec 8th. So, we need to leave the country until we can get our NGO set up in Tanzania. Bill will be making trips every month to check on Moshono Christian Church, and work on our registration.
In the meantime, we'll be settling into a new routine and a new life up in Nairobi, for possibly up to a year!! Bill is in Nairobi right now looking at houses and thinks he has found something we'll like. He'll be getting a work permit with Larry Neimeyer for the time we're in Kenya.
I can't believe we are going to be packing up again, after moving into this house 3 months ago! I'm still trying to make myself believe that we're moving out of the country. I guess that's why I wrote this post.
Nairobi is nice, and has lots of cool things (malls, movie theatres, ice skating rink, bowling alley!)... but I will really miss my friends here in Arusha. We also have to decide what to store/what to move/what to get rid of. Lots of work to do in a few weeks time.
Here we go on another adventure!!

Timothy the Turtle

Well, Timothy has offically eaten all of the sproutling vegtables out of my garden... you can't really blame him, it's what turtles do. So, we're going to put up a chicken-wire fence around the garden to keep him out and then start over from scratch.

Timothy thinks he's a part of the family now, and regularly comes into the house. I keep putting him back outside, but he comes in usually once a day at least. This is a picture of him on our front porch, with Romeo our cat. Romeo's not sure what to think of him. The orange stuff is carrots, I was trying to get Timothy to eat. He isn't interested in eating anything except lettuce, and of course my sprouts in the garden.

Happy Birthday Bill

We made Billy breakfast in bed for his birthday!

Movie Night

Every weekend, we watch a movie together as a family. We usually make popcorn, and let the kids have a soda, turn off the lights and all sit together to watch a movie. It's quite a tradition.

Jonathan is really getting into this, and loves his popcorn. If he doesn't have his own bowl he will go from person to person begging popcorn off of them! He fits right in to our family!

Vegetable Garden

This year, for the first time in my life, I am starting my own vegetable garden. I have had flower gardens in the past, but have never grown vegetables. My parents sent me some seeds so I am growing: lettuce, brocolli, cauliflower, peas, radishes, and parsley. Also cat grass. A few days after planting, and the radishes and peas have already sprouted! I am so excited. Looking forward to see what will grow in my little garden.

Radishs have sprouted!

Our new pet, Timothy

We have a new pet turtle, and we named him Timothy.

This is his story.

One night last week, I happened to look out the gate and saw some kids gathered around a large tortoise. I was afraid they might him, so I went over, picked him up and brought him into the gate. The kids started trying to peek into our gate, calling to us, and refused to go away. I wondered if maybe this was their pet, and I had just taken their pet away? So, I went back out with him, they grabbed him and ran off. Katrina and Heather were devistated. They were sure the turtle would be hurt or mistreated.

So, I talked to my guard who told me that the kids had come by hoping to sell the turtle to me! They wanted to make a sale, and I had just taken him! With that cleared up, we settled on a price (7,000 -// or about $6 US). My guard negotiated for me and paid the money to the parents of the children (who had sent them over to sell the turtle!). That is how we got a pet turtle. Timothy lives in our yard. Now I'll have to figure out how to keep him out of my vegetable garden!

Happy 6th Birthday Heather!

Heather had her 6th birthday Sept 13th. We are having her party Sept 25th. We love you, Heather and we are so proud of you!

Yeah for the used clothing market!

The Rochester Christian Church group has arrived safely (David, Joy, Christine, and Carol), but when they first arrived six of their bags weren't with them. So, yesterday, we took them down to the used clothing market for some things just in case their bags took awhile to come in.

While there, I decided to get some clothes for the kids since I was planning on doing that next week anyway. It's our form of school clothes shopping, on a budget. For less than $40, I was able to get both girls some nice strap-on sandels, and for each girl: a dress, a pair of pants, a skirt and 2 shirts. I even found an Ariel purse for Heather, and a ballerina outfit for Katrina and a Princess nightgown. Not bad for about $35!! I am so thankful to have this used clothes market here where we can find decent clothes... you just have to be willing to search through piles of clothes to find what you want, and then negotiate for the best price. It was worth the effort though!
By the way, their bags came in late last night! Praise God!

Jonathan at 17 months old

I thought I'd write a little about Jonathan, who is growing and changing so quickly. It's harder for us to notice since we are with him everyday.

Jonathan is a very happy boy.

Most mornings, Jonathan gets some coffee (watered down) from Daddy. I know, horrible... but it's kind of cute how he is so proud to be drinking COFFEE with Daddy!

He HATES getting dressed, and usually screams the whole time. He also screams and fights to be put in the car seat, but once he's buckled in, he's fine. ???

He has alot of words, and picks up new words all the time. So far, he can say: Dada, Mama, Nose, Eye, No-no, Yeah (yes), bye-bye, Beep-beep, broom-broom (the noise cars make), ball, weeee!, ju (juice), ow!, out. When we pray at dinner, he "prays" along with us, making noises that sound like the prayer and puts his hands together. It's SO cute! If you ask, "Do you want to go on a walk?" He runs over and climbs into his stroller.

Jonathan loves his sisters and has very different relationships with both of them. Katrina is the more active, and he loves for her to push him around on the stroller like a race car, carry him around and swing him around, play ball with him, etc. Their special time is usually in the morning, when they cuddle together.

Heather and him have a more peaceful relationship. He is always giving Heather hugs, usually one after the other (but then he'll start hitting her right after that). They play together quietly, or they will run and chase eachother. Katrina tries to "mother" him by dressing him, feeding him, carry him, etc. Heather only plays with him.

Jonathan gives kisses if you ask for them, and hugs often.

He LOVES water and getting wet. If its quiet in the house, he's usually to be found with the hose on, or pouring a cup on water on himself, or with some faucet running! Bathtime is his favorite time of the day, needless to say. He usually cries when he has to get out.

Jonathan loves food and eating. When I ask, "Are you hungry?" He smiles and runs to his high chair and tries to climb in. We just give him whatever we happen to be eating, just cut up a little bit. He only had "baby food" for about 2 or 3 months and then starting eating table food. He's 22 lbs., which is what Heather weighed about about 3! He's just a healthy, growing boy! He usually eats as much as Heather does at each meal, sometimes more.

Well, hope you feel like you know a little more about Jonathan now!

A long walk

This afternoon I was out on a walk with the girls, pushing Jonathan in the stroller. I often take walks with the kids around the neighborhood. While out, I ran into Mama Teddy and Vincent on their way to the children's program at Moshono Christian Church. I thought, "Hey this is my chance to see how far it is to walk to Moshono Christian Church from our house!" So, we started walking together to the church.... and arrived there AN HOUR AND A HALF LATER! I had no idea how far it was! (Obviously!) The kids were tired, but enjoyed playing with the animals that live on the farm next to the church, and we stayed for most of the children's program. When it was 6pm, it was getting dark and Bill was still in town, so we had to walk back home. It was a long and tiring walk, but I'm glad to say that we have done it, at least once! When we got home, we were locked out, but Bill showed up after a few minutes to let us in. It "only" took us an hour to get home, so thankfully we made it before dark. I was so happy to be home again, to have a glass of water and some food and sit down and rest! I was a long day, but it was nice to get to see everyone at Moshono Christian Church.

Katrina and Heather walking behind Mama Teddy to the church.

'Power Cut

We lost power last night (Tues night) at 8pm, and it didn't come back until 2pm today (Wed.). 14 hours without power isn't really that bad, the worst part of it was that our water tank was empty when it happened, and we didn't have power to pump any water.
Thankfully, the kids were all asleep already. I decided to go to bed early since there was no lights and nothing to do.
When I woke up and found there was still no water or power, I had to get creative. I used some wet wipes to take a sponge bath. I used some bottled drinking water to wet wash clothes for the girls to wash their face. They had bathed before bed.

I didn't want the dishes to just sit there, so decided to use one teakettle-full of drinking water to do dishes. We had 5 L of drinking water. I boiled the water on stove. We have gas stove, so we never have to depend on power to cook.
No water means not cooking any rice or anything else you have to boil, but thankfully I had plenty of left overs to heat up for lunch.
Heather fell and straped up her knees, and I used wet wipes to clean them off.
It's amazing what you can get by with when you have to... now that power's back and I have pumped the water... I think I'll go take a real shower!

Long Time, No Blog

I haven't been blogging in almost a month. We are all setttled into our new house in Moshono, and are loving the house. Our cat, Romeo, ran off for the first week but found his way home finally. The girls were happy to see him again. School picked up again after a week's break for the move, and we are going full speed. From now until the end of Sept, we will even be having school on Saturdays to make up for lost time. We'll finish 2nd grade/ Pre-K the last week of Sept, and start with 3rd grade/Kindergarten on Oct. 4th. Our "summer vacation" was a month off while the Eastview Group was here in July.

School is going MUCH better with Katrina, for those who are wondering. She has been more cooperative and responsive in school, and has even been reading books, and writing outside of school-time, a good sign I think. We decided to take a break from Audiblox (the reversal program) until 3rd grade, because it took so much mental effort for her that she was exhausted by the time school started.

Thanks to my parents, Katrina and Heather are joining Girl Scouts this fall! I am so excited; I loved being a part of Girl Scouts. I was excited to find out that my Girl Scout Council offers Postal Express Girl Scouts or, PEGS for short, which is Girl Scouting long distance! That is the perfect solution for missionaries over seas! So, I will be their "troop leader" unoffically, holding troop meetings and helping them earn badges. I think its going to be alot of fun.

On another note, we have another team coming in Sept from Rochester Christian Church, lead by our mission director for ACM, David Upchurch. He is bringing 3 lady nurses who will do some health teaching here for a little over a week. We are excited to be having guests again!

Well, I had alot of catching up to do!!

P.S. The picture above of the kids-- they are wearing new clothes from Kevin and Carla Short... thanks guys!

We are moving again!

We are moving house again, back to Moshono. We're much closer to Moshono Christian Church. The house has 4 bedrooms, a BATHTUB (yeah!), it's own well. We'll be saving around $200 a month on this house, since it is a little bit out of town. Just call it our Pink House... the girls dream house!

Pictures of Prosper and Sophie's wedding

Prosper and Sophie got married at Moshono Christian Church last Sunday (May 30th). The wedding was beautiful, click on the link below to see some pictures of it.
Click here to view photos

Jonathan walking

I know I already uploaded a video of Jonathan walking, but this time he's taking so many steps! Jonathan is walking all over now, even all the way across the room without stopping. I am just so excited to see Jonathan walking with or without his prosthetic foot... so happy that he isn't being inhibited in his walking because of his small foot. God is good!

Unexpected tooth

Jonathan got a tooth today, and we didn't even know he was teething... and it looks like a molar! Wierd... Sorry for the wierd expression, it's hard getting a picture of a tooth that far back!

Doing better...

Bless, Billy! He had a wonderful idea for school and for the past two days, school has been MUCH nicer. He thought that each subject should have a definate time limit, and that when that time came, I should move on the the next subject instead of just continuing on indefinatly. School had been going on to 3 or 4pm, and Katrina's behaviour and attitude digressed during the course of the day. I was excited at the thought of finishing school by 1pm everyday, regardless of whether Katrina was "on-task" that day or not. So, I decided to give it a try.
We wanted to help motivate Katrina, so when we told her our new plan, we added that she could earn 5 minutes of time on her video game for each subject that she DID finish within the time allowed (30 minutes per subject). That put the pressure on her, and off of me to speed up the pace of school.
And it worked!! Praise God, it worked. She now is eager and excited to complete each subject and keeps asking, "How much time do I have left to finish Math/Writing/Reading/etc.?" I am amazed at how much she has been able to get on task.
She still gets distracted, but seems to be trying to get herself back on task alot more.
Thank you, Jesus!

Feeling sick

Today, I am feeling sick. I have a headache, and have felt sick to my stomach all day. It feels like someone is stabbing my stomach with knife and twisting it. I tried to do school, and we got through math and phonics before I gave up and crashed. I didn't eat anything until 4pm, then I had a dry piece of toast. That did okay, so I'm going to try some chicken soup for dinner.
Somehow, feeling sick makes me feel homesick. Today, I am missing my family. It's only been 3 months since I've seen them, but it feels long today.

School daze...

Ever since I have returned home to Arusha and my family Feb 15th, Katrina and I have been butting heads about homeschooling. We took a week off when I first got back, mostly because I was on jet lag. Then, we started school again, and I was shocked at how oppositional she had suddenly become. Seriously, she would sit and scream at me, or pout in the corner, or outright refuse to do anything regardless of the punishment. Yikes! So, in March, we took a much needed family vacation for 2 weeks to Dar to reconnect as a family, after I had been gone for a month.

We returned home to "life as usual", including school, and things have been doing better. She seems to swing between having good days and bad days, but the good days are starting to out-number the bad days. Praise God!

Even before all of these Behavior Issues, while I was back in the States, I was looking at material for some concerns I've had with Katrina's learning ability. (Not sure I'm saying it right??)... but I had some thoughts that she might be struggling with dyslexia or something similar (she often reads words backwards, and flips letters, etc.), as well as ADD or ADHD. Now, adding the behavioral issues on top of those two, makes school REALLY interesting. Not to mention we have a toddler that is very distracting, and Heather who doesn't mean to distract by her playing and singing, but does. Katrina is behind in phonics and reading (almost a grade level behind), but is doing really well in Math, go figure.

We are a little behind schedule with school, since we have taken so many breaks, but we will finish this school year in Sept, and will go right into 3rd grade. Please, everyone, if you could be praying for Katrina for her co-operation, concentration, and ability to learn and reading skills to improve. We are doing better, but we could still use the prayer!

PS. Heather is in K-4, and is starting to learn to read, and she loves it!

Jonathan takes steps

These aren't Jonathan's offical "first steps", but within a few days of his first steps. He can stand now on his own, with and without his prosthetic foot, and is taking 1-2 steps at a time. We are VERY excited to see him starting to walk... soon we are going to have a toddler running around the house! Praise God!

Flies again

Even Jonathan was shooing away the flies at dinner! How can you eat with flies swarming you??!

Flies

Yuck!! I hate flies. Especially when there are about 100 of them flying all over my kitchen, dining room and living room. The only thing that I can explain this sudden infestation is the monsoon-like rains we've been having lately that must been good for their "breeding". Gross.
I sent Bill out for fly paper-- paper covered with glue that the flies stick to... but they were out!! So, he brought home several fly swatters. The girls are going to town and have killed about 40 so far! Keep it up and keep killing them!! The only bad part is they leave the dead flies on the ground and I'm afraid Jonathan will put them in his mouth. So, I'm running around after them picking up the dead flies with a paper towel.... again.. GROSS!

Video of Jonathan-- signing and speaking

Trip to the Magic House

Today, we went to the Magic House with friends. This is Jonathan with his friend, Gavin... fun times!

We leave tomorrow for Arusha! Our time here has FLOWN by so quickly. I can't wait to see Bill, Katrina, and Heather again, and of course Bill and Carolyn my in-laws. But, that means good-bye to my parents, brother, family and friends here. Ah, the life of a missionary...

Not quite right...

Well, Jonathan's first day with his prosthetic didn't turn out quite as planned. It was too loose, and kept twisting around when he crawled, which looked quite eery! So, we are going back in on Monday to have it re-adjusted! I'm glad now that I am here another 10 days to make sure it's all working right before going back!

Jonathan's Prosthetic Foot

Today we went to Shriners and got Jonathan's prostetic foot. He puts it on over his foot sort of like a little bootie, and then closes a velcro strap to keep it on. He has to wear a stocking under it to keep from chaffing. He wears socks and regular shoes over it. He won't be able to walk bear-foot with it, because of wear and tear. He will need to wear his foot with shoes most of the time, expect for naps and bedtime. Right now, he's getting used to wearing shoes for the first time, and the added weight of the prosthetic foot (the front of it is weighted to help with his balance). But, I think he'll get used to it soon.
Thanks so much for all your prayers.
To see more pictures, click on the link below.

Click here to view photos

Jonathan’s visit to Shriner’s—Jan. 25, 2010

Today, Monday, Jan. 25, 2010, Jonathan was able to go to the Shriner hospital in St. Louis, MO. The doctor casted Jonathan for a prosthetic foot that will fit over his right foot sort of like a slipper. He will wear normal shoes with it.
We told them that we are not planning on being back in the US for two more years, and the shop technician (the person making the prosthetic), gave us casting materials, and told us that we can make a new cast for him next year and mail it to the Shriner hospital. They will then be able to mail him his new prosthetic foot.
The doctor and nurse were very impressive with the mobility of his ankle.
The prosthetic should be ready by the first week of February, and then we’ll go back up for the fitting.
Thank you everyone who gave, so that Jonathan and I would be able to make this trip back to the US and have this done. Thank you for all of your prayers during this time.

similar models to what Jonathan will be getting

Visit to the Orthopedic Clinic in Arusha

Today, we went to visit the orthopedic clinic here in Arusha, run by the Evangelical Luthern Church of Tanzania. When we return with Jonathan's special shoe, we will meet with them again and they think they should be able to copy it. This is a huge blessing, because it means we shouldn't need to make a trip every year, or every time Jonathan's foot grows.

We meet the entire Orthopedic team--

From Left to right--

Job (orthopedic technician), Humphrey (Orthopedic shoe maker), Goodluck (orthopedic technician), and Dr. Annemarie Reeg (orthopedic surgeon).

Dr. Reeg was very nice and helpful, very encouraging. I look forward to working with them in the future.

Only 3 days until I leave for America!! I am very nervous about our appointment at the Shriner's hosptial on Jan 18th. I've been waiting for this appointment since Jonathan was born, to see what they will be doing for his little foot. I'll keep you posted!

Snapfish pictures of the visit

I'd like to share my Snapfish photos with you. Once you have checked out my photos you can order prints and upload your own photos to share.
Click here to view photos

By the way, the Evangelical Luthern Church here in Swahili is shortened to the KKKT church. So, its the KKKT clinic.
Afterwards, we went to the shop run by the clinic that sells drinks and gifts. The proceeds to towards the running of the clinic.

Welcome 2010!

Another year has come and gone, and I must be getting older, because it seems like this year has flown by. A year ago, this time, we were preparing to come back to the US to have our baby. We had no clue at that time whether it was a boy or a girl... and certainly didn't know about the problem with his foot.
Today, I am preparing again for another trip to the US, this time with that baby- Jonathan. We will be leaving from the Kilimanjaro airport on Jan. 14th, and returning on Feb. 15th, the day after Valentine's day.
2009 brought many blessings, the biggest of which was our son, Jonathan. I look forward to 2010.
Happy New Year everyone!