i get by with a little help from the club

I know I know I am a slacker... it has been a while since my last post. Well I have been... ahh busy I guess. Not really just lazy : )! So yesterday after convencing ourselves that it was okay to join the "American Club" Spencer was turning in our application and paying when Abby's school called and said she was sick. I said okay but looked at Spencer and said Abby said she is sick but... Okay our wonderful beauitful sweet Abigail loves to ... not tell the truth. She has become really good at being dramatic and convensing of "her world". So I left Spencer with the business and headed to the school (which is only a few blocks away). When I looked at Abby she started crying. I knew she was sick. Poor baby, she threw up 2 times yesterday and once was on Spencer. Of course it was that 10 minutes I was at the store. Today she woke to a 104.1 fever. She cries and says everything hurts. Not sure what really is hurting b/c like I said she is very dramatic.
Luke wants to go swimming today since we are now members (just for one month by the way). I may take him when Abby is sleeping later. It is a very relaxing place and the kids love the pool.
The kids school asked if I was able to teach Luke's class from the 6th-10th. I said yes and look forward to being with the kids. Luke wants to be my helper and of course he will help with French. Yes that is right he speaks great French. It is a whole lot smoother than mine. But he is immersed in it everyday for 7 hours.
Anyways I need to help Abby with breakfast. We have found some gingerale in one store here and she is drinking it. She is staying hydrgerated so that is good. She ate some pizza last night for dinner and kept it all down. By the way the pizza was soooo yummy. I made 2 kinds mainly becasue the yeast made the dough rise alot and I had tons of dough. Okay so the first one was Hawaiian with fresh pinnaple, bacon and green peppers. The second one was a made up pizza. It included pinnaple, left ofter barbque shrimp from the night before and green, yellow and red bell peppers. I am looking forward to the left overs today.

Okay more later... I love you all and always remember... leftovers saves money!... to join the American club :)
April

o-yeah the pictures are of the kids on their field trips. Abby went on Monday and Luke went on Wednesday. Their school project is about the environment and they are making a movie! I sure hope it is ready before move!

keeping it simple... man that is hard!

When I was reading today from the book of Luke I think the Lord was trying to tell me something. Hummmm...

Okay I am not going to lie... on Sundays I like to look at the Target ads on the internet. I look forward to seeing the new styles and how much things cost. Not really sure why. I just miss shopping and decorating my house. I used to really enjoy heading to Target in search for a great deal. You know those end of the isle deals. Well, as I look back at the things I used to do in the states I might not have been keeping it so simple. Okay so I know the Lord was not talking about shopping when he demands simplicity. But that is some of what I got out of the scripture.

So lets figure out what else He was talking about. It seems to me He was telling the disciples to go and preach the good news of God's kingdom and heal the sick. But the thing is He said to keep it simple and not load yourselves down with a bunch of equipment. Make your self real to the people, preach and heal. He even mentioned while traveling from town to town don't go for the luxury places to rest.. be modest and content where you are.

So do you think that God wants us to not live in a palace or a house decorated to the T. Absolutely not! To me it is a reminder not to get distracted in the luxury... Keep it simple. People don't need to see us they need to see HIM. So I guess we don't need to get so caught up in life that we forget what he is asking from us. To reach the lost!

Anyways as I write this I am thinking about all the things I would like to buy while in the states. Aren't you glad that the Lord conintues to knock on our door. That He contines to work on us day after day and reminds us that He is all the luxury that we need.

Okay more later I guess.
I love all yall and remember... facebook rocks!

a bald husband and minty Reese's Pieces

Okay so my husband shaved his head yesterday. Yes he is bald now. I actually kinda like it. Anyways today we had 24 kids come to eat lunch. i am so thankful for our guard since he is the one doing all the work. Especially cleaning up afterwords. It was a yummy meal and the kids were happy. I sure wish I spoke Pulaar... I guess since I can't chat with them I can still be Jesus to them. One of the little boys got in trouble because he was trying to hid the biggest piece of meat. Cheikh caught him and took it away. I think he was probably just following the directions of his parents b/c he brought a bowl in with him and hid it under his shirt. We tell the kids they can't take food with them until everyone has all the food they want. There really isn't much left over.

After school today we took the kids and met Abby's friend Mia and her mom at the trampoline. They jumped for about 30 minutes for about 6 dollars. It was a lot of fun for them. It is a huge trampoline. I am not sure why we havn't done it before today.

Tomorrow there is a guy who is coming to look at our car. The air conditioner is broken and you can only roll down one window. It is really hot so I guess it is time to do something about it. He was suppose to come today but c'est la vie... that is life.

I love Saturdays I can sleep in at least 30 minutes more in the morning. Although we have run out of poptarts.... poptarts are easy for the kdis to get by themselves.
Goodness the kids are growing up so fast. Our families are going to be surprised. Yeah looking forward to seeing family.

Okay gonna go.... write more later
I love yall and remember... don't ever put Reese's Pieces in a container that previously held mint gum in it... boohoo they taste minty now.

April

a birthday party

Saturday our house was full of kids laughing, playing, eating and having a good time. The kids arrived about 11:30 and left around 1:30. The first part of the party was upstairs where the girls played dress-up and the boys played with legos. They also ran around on our huge terrace, played with moon sand and sidewalk chalk. Wow 22 kids was a lot of kids running around.
Okay so here are some of the things I put our for them to munch on. One of the parents said it was an American party because of the food that was there. Anyways we had hot dogs, mouton (goat) saug., chips, marshmallow treats, lots of candy, strawberries, bananas and pineapple, and more candy.
Then the second part of the party we went downstairs to the backyard and the kids played in the sand and grass. We ate the cupcakes down there too. A couple of the parents stayed and helped so that was so nice. The whole party was pretty much in French. I am still very surprised when I hear the kids playing in French. The other day Abby was trying t0 tell me something in French and I didn't understand her... her accent was so good it was hard.. ha
Today was a great day at church. The music was good and I think the sermon was too. You know - what I can get from it : )
I got a new pair of running shoes this weekend. I am looking forward to using them tomorrow.
Okay well it is almost birthday month for me. Yep it is in April. :)
I am really having a writing block so this is all for now.

I love yall and remember... the grass is not always greener on the other side (of the ocean) .... it is tan here... well the sand that is.
april

Abby's friend Mia and a little sand from the Sahara Desert.

Okay so Abby's birthday party is on Saturday and I think we invited way too may kids. It will be fun though. On Abby's birthday we decided to go out to dinner. So we called Abbys best friend Mia to join us and it was a blast for her. Mia and Abby shared tuna cheesy noodles. They really like it.
So today... once again Luke forgot his fencing equipment so I need to go and take it the school.
This morning after our morning run I came home took a shower then went to Casino. The local grocery store. I got milk, hamburger, eggs, marshmallows, pork roast and some other little things. I then went the market to get some veggies. I bought garlic, green, red and yellow peppers, lettuce, potatoes, cabbage and green onions. They are now soaking in some water with a little bleach. Yep that is normal here.
On the way home I stopped and chatted a bit with Ashto. Ashto is a new believer that I am friends with. Since Spencer is fasting during lunch today I am going to go eat at her resturant. It is some kind of beef sauce over rice. I like her cooking. She is coming over on Monday for some more cooking lessons. The kids are out of school on Monday. Yep another holiday. We celebrate every holiday know to man here.
Yesterday the weather was bad. The air was filled with the desert sand. I guess this is the time of year when the winds from the Sahara desert come and fill the air with sand. Not good for allergies. It is a little better today.
O-Yeah today at the grocery store I said a couple of phrases in Wolof. The meat guy liked it.
Okay I need to go and finish putting away my groceries.
I love all yall and remember... close your windows during a wind storm!
april

Bon Dimanche

I love listening to my kids speak french to communicate with their friends and of course strangers, i say strangers because they pretty much talk to anyone, especially Abby. They are getting so good at this language thing. Sometimes Luke speaks french and I don't think he realizes it. Either that or he just loves the language just like his daddy. Abby's teachers and the parents of her friends tell me all the time that Abby is speaking french but for some reason she refuses to speak it in front of me. She acts shy and doesn't say much.
Tomorrow the kids go back to school.. this is after their 7 day break. Yea! They love school and I think they are ready to go back. They have many friends at school and Abby misses her friend Mia.
So tomorrow is also Abby's 5th birthday. I plan to make her favorite dinner and then maybe take her to get some ice cream. Saturday we will have a party for her. She is so excited. We got a slip in the mail saying we have 3 packages. Waahoo! Can't wait until tomorrow to go get them. If it is the packages from IL it is full of junk food and i think a couple of wii games. I will tell you all about it after we open them.
Also tomorrow I need to go find something for Abby for her birthday. I got her a pink fuzzy robe but she is talking about getting a new skirt... so I would like to find one for her.
We had a good church service today. My favorite little girl ran to me as I came in the door and quickly fell asleep on me. Really - I am gonna steal her. The kids in my class were so good. We are learning The Lord's Prayer in French. We will see who learns it first.. me or the kids : )
Okay well gonna go get a few things done.
I love all you and remember... don't ever buy the cheap marker... they last one day :(