just for kicks!

good things and not so good things

Okay so I am not going to write much because Spencer is wanting to watch something on the computer before we head to bed...or actually before i fall asleep. Anyways this week I have been attending a seminar on children in crisis... particularly the street children. It has been great and I will write more on that later. Okay so here are some of the things that I miss and don't miss:

Things I miss from the US:
family
Mexican restaurants and other restaurants i am familiar with.
carpet
grass
Target and Walmart.. I would actually take a walgreens
bug free rice and flour
paved roads
lunchables for the kids
sweet potatoes
real milk
seeing police in cars and not on the streets with machine guns

Things I don't miss about the US:
the bad news stories on tv
carpet i have to vacuum
bills
selfishness
pumping my own gas
cleaning my own house
having to go to the grocery store for veggies and fruit... her they are on every corner
okay anyways.....

I love living in Africa. Weirdly enough I love the different smells and noises of it here. I love to hear cars honking their horns and the sound of scooters weaving in and out of traffic. Even though I may get frustrated with people walking out in the road I love to watch the people here. Most seem to be happy. Rich or poor or just surviving the day they are enjoying life. Most of the time that is...
Okay Spencer is calling
i love you all very much and always remember... Niit Nitte Moy Garabam
april

opps, my bad!

So I have really have lost track of time lately and haven't blogged. So lets see what have I been up to? Did I tell you about the last package we received in the mail? Well it was great. It had about 15 packages (2 in each) of chocolate pop tarts, 2 huge bottles of yellow mustard, 2 big bags of Reese's pieces, about 15 taco, chili and buffalo wing seasoning packets, 4 cans of rotel and 2 blocks of velveeta cheese. It was a lot of fun opening it. This was from our home church Hermitage Nazarene in Nashville... well technically Old Hickory, TN.
Friday is "Mali" day at the kids school. Mali is a Country close to us here in Senegal. They have 33 different nationalities in their school and they try to celebrate some of them...so Friday is Mali day. The kids get to wear Mali clothes to school...which is a change for them since they have to wear a uniform on the other days. We went yesterday to try to find some Mali clothes. We had some luck after going through the market and getting frustrated. The people in the market really get on my nerves. For now on I am going to pay more money to not have to go there. They get in your face and hassle you until you buy something. Ahhhh... so we now paid way too much for the kids clothes BUT we didn't have the hassle. We found a store that sells African clothes and you can pick out your material and they measure you for what you want. We go back on Thursday to pick it up. Pictures of this way crazy expensive outfit to come. Man what we do for our kids.
Today i am headed off to a seminar on street children. The seminar starts today and ends Saturday. I am really excited about this and will tell you about how it went later.
So yesterday for dinner we had beef that Spencer grilled. It was so good and our guard enjoyed the leftovers. I really wanted some steak sauce but didn't have any so I decided to make some homemade steak sauce. Man was it the bomb! Here are some of the ingredients: balsm. vinegar, ketchup, Dijon mustard, pepper, garlic, and raisins. YUMMY! Our guard commented about it this morning. People like sauce here.
Okay so maybe more later. I need to search for airline tickets and shipping quotes.

I love you guys and remember... NEVER tell your kids they are going to Disney World until the day you actually go... they will run it into the ground... or the sand that is here.

April

a taxi ride

Yesterday I went out to lunch with a new friend. Her name is Sun and she is from Korea. Her son is in Abby's class at school. We went to a Koren restaurant downtown. It was pretty good. Different but good. Okay so I took a taxi because sometimes it is easier to do that than to try to find a parking spot and the place you are going. The taxi drivers here usually know where everything is. So I went out to get a taxi and we (Spencer walked with me to the taxi) turned down 2 taxis because they were charging us way too much. I ended up paying about $5 and probably should have turned this one down because he was a horrible driver. He was moving the steering wheel so much the car was moving back and forth. Not sure if he had a reason for that or not. I got sooooo dizzy.
Anyways, as I was sitting in the taxi I took out a piece of paper and began writing down things that were unusual to me. Since we have been here a year now I think we are overlooking the "different"things going on here. Okay so here it goes:

- there was a guy sleeping on the sidewalk (happens all the time)
- trash everywhere - apparently it is a cultural thing... whatever! cultural or not it drives me crazy. You can see a very wealthy person get out of their expensive car and throw trash on the ground. ahhh
- you can buy tissue, phone credit, prayer mats, sunglasses, clothes and lots of other stuff and not ever get out of your car... talk about drive up service
- you can not drive down the road without dogging something... there is always something in the road whether it is a block, tire, person or even someones leg (I really have seen someone asleep on the sidewalk and their leg was sticking out onto the road) ... now that was crazy and I don't even think he was... that is a crazy person - just tired I guess!
- there are either wires or spikes on most of the walls surrounding homes or businesses (we have spikes)
- every house has a block wall around it (ours is big with flowers)
- the taxi driver had several pictures of a man in his car (this is probably his marabo -Islamic teacher)
- everyone seems to be cold - they have jackets on like it is going to snow - hum... Africa winter
- there are little boys (ages 4-?) begging for whatever they can get... they are very dirty! Sometimes I wonder what Luke would do with all the freedom... he would be scared for sure
- women carry their children on their backs... even if they have a huge bucket of water or food on their heads
- men are just hanging out - it is a cultural thing... they just sit around and drink tea (i guess they may not have jobs)
- lots of the police carry big gun and do not have a car (there is a big truck that carries them to their working spot) i have heard that if you are doing something wrong they will get a taxi and chase you down that way... i wonder who pays for the taxi?

Okay there is alot different but this was just a 10 minute taxi ride. If you ever want to come over and check it out for your selves come on.

Okay bye for now... I love you all and always remember... the Savior of the world is here! - in Africa, American or where ever you are...

april -

oyeah the picture on the top is a picture of a new start church here in Dakar... notice the shoes outside the door... the people in the church took their shoes off before entering the room

downtown visit and Obama ice cream

Saturday we had a family day. We went downtown and walked around a bit. Didn't buy anything. We tried to bargain with the guy selling the Monopoly game on the street but didn't have any luck. He wanted about $45 for a knock off game. I offered him $4 but he just looked at me. That is what they do when I offer less like that. One day a lady asked Spencer if I understood the money here because my offer was so low. She wanted me to pay about $50 for a necklace and I offered $1. I think we ended up paying about $10. I think I won! Not that I am a competitive person or anything. Although Luke is really starting to care if he loses Mario Cart. He doesn't want to come in last place.

Okay back to the downtown visit. As you can see in the pictures we gave the kids wayyy too much chocolate. They had chocolate pancakes for lunch and the we went for ice cream and they had dark chocolate ice cream . O0well it was alot of fun. O-yeah the store had a flavor called "Obama Cookie" . There were also people selling shirts that said Obama is good.

We had a great day at church. We are going to miss the music here in Dakar. Alot of Sundays I take the nursery. Today we had a child come to church for the first time. He was leaning on the door and fell when it opened. Of course he screamed and his mom came to see what I did. Opps he was fine though.

There is a mosquito that keeps biting my foot so I am going to go and leave this couch. Search for the bug zapper and pop some popcorn.

more tomorrow... maybe :)
i love you all and always remember... Always close your windows when Harmatan winds come.

how dare that tooth fairy!

Alright so it has been a couple of days since my last post. So what have I been up to? Couldn't tell ya! Hum... glad it is Friday. It is coke day for the kids so I guess I better run to the store. I went out earlier today to search for Abby at least one long sleeve shirt that she can wear to school and I finally found one. It is so funny because every time I think... I am going shopping and am going to buy what I need no matter the cost. Then I get there and start protesting the prices. I can not seem to forget about how ridiculous the prices are for simple things like long sleeve white shirts or socks. ahhhh Craziness!

I can't stop thinking about all the things we need to do before we head out. I am getting very anxious about everything. Pray that I can have patience and not get to anxious. ahhhh again!

O-yeah Luke finally lost his other tooth that was loose. Opps this morning we woke up and he was sooo upset because he needs to wait another day for the tooth fairy to come. She forgot! How dare her. I told him I would give him a loan and he could pay me back. Ha! Opps be right back.... I forgot to take the tooth out from under the pillow and Sophia already made the bed ----------
Opps the tooth is GONE. Owell I guess I will just have to tell Luke the tooth fairy comes during the day too. So... I put the money under his pillow. Luke actually gets double the money with this tooth because with his last tooth fairy money he decided he wanted to put it all in the offering plate at church. Sure hope he doesn't find the lost tooth.

our other banana tree has begun producing fruit. Hope to eat some before we move. Our pomegranate tree is full of fruit too.. yummy i am about to go pick one or two.

Okay maybe a little more tomorrow -
i love you all... and remember - always wear your seat belt when flying in a plane...you never know when you will hit the waters in NY.

me

mascara?

Okay so I have started this reading through the New Testament in a Year. It has started out wonderful. Today I was reading about people in the Bible asking Jesus to heal them. They were asking in a way that they were not questioning if He could do it but asking in a way as if they knew if they could just touch Him they would be healed instantly. What faith these people had. I wonder why it is I wait to be healed or wait to ask for things. Is it my faith or just plain laziness. Today I want to spend more time in prayer. I am going to ask for healing and miracles in my life. I want to have such strong faith that I see miracles everywhere.

My prayer is this for you... may the Lord touch you today in a way that you KNOW He is there. That you know your faith has grown more.

I love everyone of you and remember... you are suppose to change your mascara every 3 months....
me