Just some pictures

 Here are just some random pictures that I thought were worth posting.

Love these kiddos.

At the Niger River. We have pics of the kids from years ago on this tree (before H was even a thought in our mind). Fun to have another on the same tree many years later.

Watching UNC basketball. Trying to teach them the right things even over here. :)

I think here they were actually watching Messi, but I have no idea. Cute to see them all piled up on their dad.

This really doesn't need a caption. :) Just a cute smile.

So Brett's been trying to lead climb on our house, and well, he fell. From holding onto the roof (which is like a third story) to about 8 feet off the ground. I watched it happen and amazingly didn't freak out for some reason. Thankful that Jean caught him before he touched the ground. :)

And this struck me as funny. Even the donkey carts respect the street lights. :) 

Dawson's baptism

We've have many conversations about baptism over the years and we've always told the boys that we want them to do it when they feel ready and not feel pressured by us. 

About a week before his birthday, D said he felt ready to be baptized. Since his birthday was so close, he decided it would be neat to do it on that day. 

So after school we headed out to the river with some friends. There were a lot of people around and a lot of trash but we were able to carve out a little space for ourselves and have a moment.

It was a sweet moment. Special in so many ways. On his birthday. Baptized by his dad. In the Niger river. 

Dawson, I'm so proud of you. I'm proud of this step you have taken to choose for yourself to follow the Lord. I pray that you will grow in wisdom and knowledge, that you will grasp how wide and deep is the love of God, and that you will know His grace is full and complete. I pray that you will have a heart sensitive to His voice and that you will do whatever He calls you to do.

Twelve

Dawson has turned twelve. I can hardly believe it. My Easter morning gift who changed my life forever is now twelve. I'm not surprised at his age when I look at the young man he has become. He's polite, respectful, responsible, kind, incredibly helpful, and sweet. But it takes me back that 12 years have already passed. Two thirds of his childhood are completed and in the books. Crazy. I can't keep thinking about this or I'll end up in swimming in my tears.

We were grateful that his friend J was able to come up from Koutiala and spend the weekend with us. The boys may not have a lot of friends but the ones that have are super special. 

Speaking of growing up, D has officially made his own mac and cheese. :) As with all things parental, D is the one I have to learn on, and I'm not totally sure when I wassupposed to let him start making his own meals. I mean, he uses a knife and can light matches but preparing a cooked meal I just didn't know. But I'm pretty sure I was cooking noodles for myself after 6th grade so I figured there's no time like the present. At least now I know he can feed the family if we are ever in a pinch. :)

D is still the rock climber, the one who desires to be outside but is just as happy reading a book or playing legos with his brothers. He cares so well for his siblings. I'm impressed by his critical thinking, his desire to know about things, to try to learn new skills, his heart for others, and his incredible willingness to do whatever is asked of him. Whatever. Whenever. We are so blessed with this one. Love him to pieces.

Happy Birthday D- man!

I am three, three, three!!!

"Look at me, me, me. I am three, three, three! I'm as happy as can be, be, be!" 

Thank you, Barney, for the perfect song for this girl's third birthday. :) It was sung a lot on her day.

This girl is full of life and energy. She is everywhere all the time. You can't take your eyes off of her for a minute or she's throwing cats off the balcony, tearing up books, pulling all the plastic containers all over the floor, pouring water everywhere, drawing on the walls, etc. You get the idea. This girl never stops until her eyes finally close at night. (And thankfully they still close at nap time). I wish I had half of her energy.

And if it's possible, she has more spunk than energy. She knows what she wants and she will get it. At any cost. Mostly, the cost is my sanity. I've been encouraged by several visitors who have worked with kids before that affirm that this girl is a wild and determined one. Sometimes, I think it's just me. It's nice to know everyone sees it. :)

BUT, this girl is also the cutest thing ever. She has us all wrapped around her fingers. Her smile is a killer. And let's not even mention her laugh. She is so cute it's hard to stay mad at her. She is really a fun kid.

She's also smart. She's picked up her ABCs, numbers, can spell her name and even recognizes her letters. I feel like I'm in that kindergartner age, " Mom! There's a H!". And before you think all this is due to my good parenting, you can thank Letter Factory instead. :)

Three years running we've had spaghetti for her birthday. Guess it's still a favorite.

I wanted to try a rainbow cake for her this year. I've seen them online and wanted to give it a go. 

It was a bit big. I mean, insanely big. To make each color have a good layer, I ended up making a double plus a little recipe. So the cake was huge. She liked it. :)

Remember me saying that Kenan is my truth teller? This is the cake he told me I was " hyperventilating over." I totally wasn't. But I was pretty happy when I cut into that sucker and it looked like it did. Pleased. Not hyperventilating. :)

Me and my favorite girl. Having only one girl is nice so I can say she's my favorite, instead of clarifying, " You are my favorite second born son." (Yes, kids, I love you all the same amount).

And one more of this girl because she's a goofball. 

We L.O.V.E. you Haven!

Science Fair

Several of the teachers down in Koutiala put together a science fair for all the kids in the area. It was so much fun! We're so thankful for all the work they put into it.

The boys had a great time working on their projects. I'll be honest, so did I. They came up with their ideas all on their own and really did a wonderful job. This is the morning before they were heading out to present their work.

Dawson's question was whether different background noises affected the speed and accuracy of written work. Each participant had to do four trials, copying a paragraph in silence, with music without words, with music with words, and with someone reading out loud. The results were actually inconclusive (thanks to only 5 participants- there aren't a lot of native english speakers around. :) ) but it had a lot of potential. :) It was a really neat idea.

Kenan from the very beginning wanted to know how temperature affected decomposition of something. He mentioned to us (a little too late) that he had wanted to bury the food, which would have been really cool, but that part was missed on me until a week from the science fair. So he had apples outside, in the classroom, and in the freezer. One funny note, one of the apples from outside got taken by some animal late into the study. Thankfully, it waited until day 13 or so! :)

Silas wanted to see how sight affects taste. Participants were given 5 different juices. The first trial they were shown and told what they were drinking. Trial 2 they were blindfolded and given a drink. Trial 3 they were shown a juice that may or may not be what they were drinking. His results were pretty clear that sight does help taste. I was actually surprised how many were missed blindfolded. I didn't think it would be that clear. I guess it did help that the juices were Malian juices and the flavors were slightly off. :) You've got to work with what you've got.

All the kids did a great job. The projects were really impressive. Dawson ended up winning 1st place for grades 6-8. I was really proud of him.

Here's hoping there's another science fair to come!

Kenan- 10

All of the sudden I have two kids in double digits. Where is the time going? Kenan turned TEN on January 1. He is a great kid. Smart, funny, sweet, analytical, and honest. Sometimes too honest, but we're working on that. :) I never have to worry about what K is thinking. He's going to tell me. And tell you. And whomever else walks through the door. While I have to admit I have been hurt from time to time by his brutal honesty ("mom, I'd rather not eat what you just served me again" kind of honesty), I have come to really appreciate it. He's not trying to be mean or harsh. He's just being honest. Like calling me out on caring too much about how birthday cakes turn out. It's true and it's good to hear. I want to foster his honesty and sincerity while also teaching limits so he doesn't end up making every girl cry in college like his father. :)

K loves to tell a joke. He loves to get a laugh. He's always thinking through things and trying to come up with a new joke. Yesterday's was, "What animal is always concerned about bones?  -A frog, because he's always saying, " RIBbit, RIBbit"". 

We had a visiting team here on his actual birthday so we celebrated early with his friends. Carrot cake was his choice.

We were out in the village on the 1st and Lauren had learned a great way to make your own sparklers so we tried it out. You put steel wool in an enclosed cage, light it on fire and then start swinging. It was really, really cool.

K has always had a sweet spot for his little sis

One of his creations...

We are so thankful for Kenan and the blessing he is to our family. We'd be a lot more boring if it wasn't for him. :) Love you, bud!

Random pics that consist mostly of Little Miss

 Brett and I often say we feel bad that H doesn't get "real" pictures with a good camera but she definitely won't miss out on the number of pictures actually taken of her. Since she is so wild and has to have pretty much constant supervision, I always seem to be around to catch her in her cute moments. :) And there are just as many cute moments as her wild ones.

The boys have been doing anatomy this past semester. This is D with his lung he made.

She has several layers of her brothers' underwear on. If I remember correctly, it was a pair from each of them.

Making mud balls

She chooses her own clothes already and some days her style just cracks me up

The sweet kittens. They were sweet when they were sleeping. It became a wild house when they were awake. Thankfully, they have been transitioned outside. Did I mention that Little Miss threw them off our second floor balcony three times? And threw one in a toilet full of poop? And countless times put them in the sink and turned on the water and cackled with laughter as they tried to squirm out? I am honestly surprised they are still alive.

 S told me he didn't think I was an animal person because I didn't want THREE cats in my house. I told him he needed to rethink that as I don't believe a person who didn't like animals would have 4 cats (currently housing a 5th for a friend), 4 birds, 3 hedgehogs, 2 dogs, 2 dessert turtles, a rabbit and a monkey in or around their house. 

She was looking sweet on the one day she let me braid her hair.

This is how she normally rolls. Girl on a mission.

We were at church and she pulled up a table, took a chair from a little boy, and made herself a comfortable place to eat her snack. I tell you, this girl, she is something else.

The object on her finger is kind of blurry which is good because it's a BIRD'S HEAD that her father stuck on her pinky. She is definitely not a girly girl but is rough and tough. 

I'm hoping that since her third birthday is 3 months away that we will soon start to see a quieter and calmer child emerge. One can hope...