Hello all! I hope you are doing well. We have been without internet for a couple of days this week. The story is that there were problems with the fiber optic cables between Zambia and Namibia. Last month, the cable bringing internet to the entire continent, was supposedly cut in the ocean. I have to say...if these are the true events that are taking place, I am impressed with the speed in which our provider gets things back up and running. (How do you cut a cable running along the ocean floor? Does it REALLY run across the ocean floor? Anyone out there that knows these tid bits of information, please feel free to comment or email!)
We have had an unexpected blessing in our homeschooling this week. Unfortunately, our sweet Samantha caught a bug that has been going around and has been on the couch with fever and cough. The first day (Tuesday) she felt completely awful so she was allowed to stay on the couch and watch Scooby Doo. Kaitlyn felt this was completely unfair....her having to do school and Samantha not....especially since Samantha's the only other student in her school :)
I felt much pity for Kaitlyn, but not enough to cancel school for the day. Instead, I called my friend Steph and asked if her 3rd grader, Brayden, could come and do school with Kaitlyn. We aren't on the same lessons, but we follow largely the same curriculum. They were very gracious and allowed her to come and Kailtyn threw her arms around my waist and said a very sweet "Thank you mommy". The girls did a great job and obviously enjoyed having class together. I was very proud of how they were able to enjoy each other's company and still stay on task and complete all their work in a timely manner.
The treats have continued to come for Kaitlyn as we have had another friend join us for the rest of the week. We have some new friends, the Williamsons, that arrived a few weeks ago from Kentucky. They are new missionaries from the Reformed Baptist Churches. Needless to say, they are still in the process of settling in. About a week ago, Megan mentioned that they were ready to get back to school. The older two kids were enrolled in a local school, but the 3 younger were still at home. All the homeschool books were packed up 2 months prior to their departure to be shipped and they will not arrive until the end of February. I don't know why it took me so long to think about it, but I realized on Tuesday that it wouldn't be any trouble at all to let Emma join us (she's also in 3rd grade) until their things came. Unfortunately for us, they will probably be moving across town this weekend so the schooling won't continue past this week. But we are thankful to have her while we can. I think Kaitlyn and Emma have had a good time and they work well together, too.
As for Samantha, her breathing has not done great with this cold. She has not participated in school this week. She no longer has fever, but her cough and breathing sound horrible. Brad reluctantly started her on steroids today (he hates to give them to her) but said she should improve quickly in the way she feels. He said it will take a few days for her lungs to catch up. She's acting better already. Aside from her nasty cough and being a little short of breath, she was quite energetic today. We didn't do any school lessons, but she did do a little "make up work". According to the doc, I can look forward to a big appetite and grumpiness over the next few days. Not much of a sacrifice in my book for a healthy little girl. The girls typically only get to watch movies (the only TV we have) on weekends so Samantha has loved her couch time with Scooby Doo this week. She must have seen each episode at least 5 times. (She got season 1 and 2 for Christmas). She is a scooby doo girl.
Brad has worked a good bit at home the past two days so that he could keep an eye on her. All the girls like being able to run back to our room for a quick hug every couple of hours and I must admit I have enjoyed it too. It's nice to have his company while I eat and be able to ask questions when they flit through my mind (likely never to be heard from again :)
Lastly, but definately not leastly, we have Olivia. I stare at her in amazement as I realize how tall she is and how grown up she is getting. She's still my baby. Still has the pudgy cheeks covered in food and dirt at any given point. Still has rolls and rolls on her cute, not so little thighs (that mommy, unfortunately for Olivia, can't resist tickling). She spent so much special time with Grandpops during school hours, that we have transistioned her into doing the same with Charity. I see a relationship developing beyond Olivia's pretending to ignore her for fear she might be here to babysit. It has made school much smoother, but my heart does ache a bit at not being the one that gets to play with her....Speaking of my little one, she just crawled up in my lap, so this will have to wait a little longer....I especially missed our snuggle time today....be back in a bit.....
Well, I'm back. It's 6 in the morning and all is quiet. Back to Olivia...She has reached the stage that was named the terrible twos. She still exhibits such sweetness with her sisters and Brad and I at times, yet at the same time, she has developed a tenacity to stick to her own will and cross all the lines. She thinks it is funny to walk around pushing Samantha while Samantha cries for Mommy to make her stop while running from her--this is a great game to Olivia. She can stare you down with the best of them when given a command she doesn't want to obey and usually chooses not to obey despite the known consequences. She loves to destroy things and seems to think it is a game and ONLY stops when removed from room. We have had our first and hopefully last biting episode (of Samantha, of course)...though I will not hold my breath. All this disobedience is accompanied by flight as she knows she is only free as long as she can evade you. She cheerfully accompanies you to her room (once caught), waving and saying "bye-bye" to whoever is in the vicinity and then immediately begins wailing and sobbing once reaching her consequence (even when it's just time out). Recovery from said discipline then takes quite awhile. She is quite emotional and takes a good 15-20 minutes to recover and stop crying. Add this up over at least 3-4 disciplinary actions a day and you may understand why she gets away with all that she does. ....Deep breath....My friends remind me to be faithful and diligent and I will see the fruits of my labor down the road....I just wish the road were a little shorter :)
Outside the times of disobedience (and sometimes during), she is quite a funny kid. Her new skill is galloping and she loves to gallop all over the house. She giggles as she does and waves her arms rather prissily (is that a word?). She loves to play baby dolls with or without her sisters. Babies refer to anything from little people, to barbies to American Girls. The past few days she has been carrying the American Girls in a baby backpack as she and Charity take walks outside during school hours. She is quite tickled by this.
Her verbal expression is increasing. She is no longer refusing to try words. She will try them most of the time now but they don't sound anything like they're supposed to. There's usually not even a recognizable syllable. But despite this, she repeatedly says them over and over again (like 50 times). So she is much more verbal, but we still have no idea what she is saying (with a few exceptions). Besides mommy and daddy, her clearest word is JoJo. Jo Jo is the Allen's youngest daughter (1 yr) and Olivia loves her. She typically asks for Jo Jo at least once a day and if we see any of JoJo's sisters, it is a non-stop string of JoJo?JoJoJoJoJoJoJoJo...........and on and on and on throughout the length of the visit (I'm not exagerating---did I mention she has tenacity?)
Well, time to get moving. Fridays are a little lighter with school, but still have Math and Grammer to get through which are our most time consuming anyway. Then we're off the Allen's where there is a Valentine's party from 1-4. Steph recently returned from the states and brought back some Valentine Stuff and is having a party for our homeschool friends. There will be 27 kids--wow--and that's only counting 2 of mine (nap time for Olivia). I am in charge of the "Valentine Making Station". This should be interesting :) We'll arrive home in time to throw some pizzas together, eat them, clean up (hopefully), take kids back to Allens where we have babysitters, and then greet 5 other couples back at our house as we start a new marriage study called "Love and Respect".
We hope you all have a great Friday and weekend. Love and hugs.
Zookeeper
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