So here’s a post of various updates just so you all don’t miss a thing that’s going on in my life. Uh…or something.

Babies (sleep): Sleep is hit-or-miss these days. Last night, Alex cried once, but went back to sleep on his own. But the two previous nights, I was up 2-3 times. This too shall pass, though, right?

Babies (other)
Erin is getting really good at understanding us. This morning, I asked her to find Alex’s pants (which she had carried to him earlier and left in another part of the room), and she went and got them and brought them back to me. Too cute! She loves to have her belly tickled. And she also loves to give people things. She’ll pick up both cups and bring one to Alex, dropping it in front of him (and usually drinking out of it before she does ). And she’s started lying flat on the floor when I’m changing Alex’s diaper, even if I’ve already changed her. Very funny!

Alex is my bruiser. Seriously, he just launches his body at things/people full-force. He sits on Erin. Though sometimes he’s really sweet with her. Once when she was lying on the floor for some reason, he went over and laid his head on her chest like he does when he “loves” his stuffed animals. Very cute! He’s learned how to go down stairs by himself. And he thinks it’s funny to “run away” when I want to change his diaper. He finds a corner and sits in it…because, you know, I’ll never get him there. But he also has the best laugh in the world.

Chore List: So I’ve now had the chore list up for about a month (a little more), and it does work. I’ve discovered a few realities about it, such as the fact that I still avoid cleaning bathrooms until the end of the week that’s supposed to be done (or early the next week). And I forget to actually check things off the list, even when I do them. But as the list is pretty well cemented in my head now, I don’t really feel bad about that. I know what needs to be done. And my house has, for the most part, been cleaner this month than it’s been in a long time. I’ve vacuumed and dusted multiples times and yes, cleaned the bathrooms TWICE! In one month! So mostly, I consider the chore list experiment a success.

The Wall:
A few weeks back, I mentioned that I was struggling with a lot of heavy stuff. But I didn’t have the words to elaborate on it. Well, things are better now, and I wanted to share it with you because I know some of you prayed for me. And I totally appreciate that.

See, about the turn of the year, I was in a pretty dark place. Just feeling lost and stymied. I had hit a wall, but I couldn’t figure out what the wall was, so I couldn’t get past it. I began to pray about it. I talked to people. I read some things that “appeared” out of nowhere. And slowly, it began to take shape.
Here I was, facing the beginning of “real” parenting. You know, where taking care of your kids becomes about more than feeding and diapering them. Suddenly, I was trying to figure out how to teach them things. The basics (colors, shapes, words, etc), for sure. But bigger things. Like Jesus loves them. And why we don’t hit people. And where the boundaries are for them. And I didn’t know what to do. Or how to do it.
I was really discouraged. And struggling. And lonely. And easily angered. It was not pretty.
But then I began to dig through the crap to find out what was really going on. And it occurred to me that I was looking at myself and not liking what I was seeing. See, if my kids are going to “catch” the relationship I actually have with God, instead of the one I tell them to have, I was in big trouble. After a year of hit-or-miss bible reading and prayer, and after 30 years of getting tons of info about God but letting very little of it get into my heart, the thought of passing on THAT relationship with God really scared me. I didn’t want the relationship with God I suddenly realized I had, so I certainly didn’t want my kids to know Jesus that way.
Anyway, when those ideas started to materialize for me, I began to see the wall as God’s way of stopping me in my tracks. Of forcing me to take inventory and really focus on what I wanted for myself, and thus, for my kids. And I’ve started pursuing God again. I’ve read some really helpful books (along with the Bible, of course). The current one is called The Praying Life (Miller), which I HIGHLY recommend. And I am slowly rekindling a relationship with Jesus that is about knowing him, instead of knowing about him.
It’s not really easy. And as that connection with the Spirit disappeared a little a time, it also comes back a little at a time. But it’s better. And it helped to be reminded, too, that my responsibility is not to be a successful parent (whose kids have some perfect Christian experience or untroubled life), but to be a faithful one. The outcome is not my responsibility, but being faithful on a daily basis is. And that is where I’m trying to focus now.

So thanks to all who prayed. And thanks for reading my big, long explanation. I hope you all have a marvelous weekend!

I was beginning to think that the babies had given up sleeping for Lent. They started getting up 3-4 times a night about the time Lent started. Not fun! Thankfully they slept all night last night, though. Hopefully that will continue. Or not.

The weekend was busy. Friday we watched a movie. Saturday I got a haircut, cleaned the house, and had the family over for my birthday party. Saturday night was the worst night for sleep of the week (we were all up for about 40 minutes at 3 a.m. – thanks to Alex). And then Sunday was church, some resting/playing with babies, and church again.

Today is laundry. We are seriously starting to run out of things. I have sorted clothes already, but I still haven’t gotten a single actual load started. Oh well.

I have no other news for the day, I guess. Happy Monday!

8. What surprised you (about the country, the people, your travels, etc)?

They view our presence as a symbol of hope and reassurance that their country is safe again and

growing stronger . During the wars all the “white people” left. I thought that might make them resent

us—like “Where were you when we needed you?”—but we were told that the people realized the government made them leave. We were always welcomed.

I was also, on the other hand, surprised at the trash, burned buildings, rusted autos everywhere—just hadn’t thought about all those remnants of war still being so visible. And the crowds of people and “flea market” type atmosphere in the cities—such crowding and trash.

Cell phones—nearly everyone has a cell phone which has made it possible for them to stay connected. Since the most important thing to these people is relationships (they have little else) this has made a huge impact in their lives. And if your cell phone rings, you answer it—pastor, teacher, student. The difficulty is in charging them. They have to find a place with the generator running. One missionary told me that is why church services run so long—they sing until everyone’s phone is charged if the church has a generator. Otherwise there are “booths” around the towns that sell “charging”. It did seem strange to hear the announcement made in the first little mud brick church we attended to turn cell phones to vibrate during service!

9. What were the Liberian people like?

Most were very open and friendly. They continually told us “welcome” and “thanks for coming”. We were able to hear many stories of survival and fleeing the country during the wars, but then they return home to do what they can for their country. Physically they are fairly thin, in good shape from walking etc. The women especially have such perfect posture from carrying loads on their heads and babies on their backs. We rarely heard a baby cry even though to us some of them looked so hot and confined wrapped around their mothers’ backs. The young children especially liked to be around us and everyone loved to have their pictures taken. They speak English, but it is like pidgen or something—accents and pronunciations are enough different that sometimes it is really hard to understand—very fast, too.

10. What is Liberia like?

The country is beautiful if you can look past the trash. There is ocean front, then the land rises to gentle mountains and trees—palm trees and lots of scrub type trees. Also lots of rubber trees. The dirt is most places is very red and since this was the dry season, there was red dust everywhere. Most of the roads are still dirt although there are a few newly paved ones. The ones paved before the war are full of potholes—probably from shelling.

10. What did you enjoy most about traveling?

Just seeing new things—things I’d only read about or seen in pictures.

10. What was the hardest part about traveling?

Not sleeping well, just feeling tired and homesick. It was also very hot. I had a digital travel clock with a thermometer. On the day we traveled back to Monrovia, the temp said 135. We then traveled 5 hours in a van without air conditioning—4 of us across the back seat. I knew there were people praying for me that day!

10. What were you most concerned about before you went? Were those things issues once you arrived?

Believe it or not, my biggest worries had to do with eating, going to the bathroom and sleeping. I slept pretty well actually. Eating was ok—I never really got sick, though a couple of my team did. I often just did not feel hungry. And because it was a “guest house”, the cooks put food on the table and then left so we weren’t really obligated to eat anything. There was rice, oatmeal, bread, peanut butter and fruit at nearly every meal. Then there were sauces to put on the rice. I tried many, but I couldn’t do the whole fried fish staring at me and we shied away from the things they fixed with mayonnaise (we knew the electricity was only on 4 hours a day, so the refrigeration was iffy at best.) But I didn’t feel as though I was offending anyone if I didn’t eat and I could take very small portions. As to the bathroom, suffice it to say I did NOT have travelers’ diarrhea. There were toilets—the seats were broken and we had to dump in water to flush—but they were toilets. That was a good thing!

10. Did you see any “wildlife”? Native customs? Other interesting experiences?

We saw no wildlife unless you count geckos and roaches. There were lots of chickens, goats and a few pigs running around in the villages and we saw only 2 or 3 cows. Most of the customs we saw reminded me of National Geographic pictures—mud brick homes painted with handprints, other homes made from reed mats with thatched roofs; babies on backs and loads on heads; driving everywhere on the road—motorbikes and pedestrians beware!. There was a special handshake which I never quite mastered—it ended with snapping fingers. I did get to “try on a baby”. One of the ladies we talked to after church showed me how to carry her baby. (Afterwards she asked me for money for the baby—I don’t think she wanted to sell her, she just wanted a donation and I felt bad because I had nothing to give her)

We also went to the Leprosy/TB clinic. That was amazing too. The fellow who took us around was so proud of the care they gave their patients. And there was a little man who was making shoes. He showed us how he fashioned them to fit feet without toes and use very thick rubber for the soles since they have no feeling. Then he raised up his pant leg and said “I made my own leg” as he showed us his prosthesis.

We also took a trip to a village back in the bush that was celebrating the opening of a midwife clinic—that was so neat to see. It took a long time—all the chiefs and the hospital people had to speak but they were so happy and proud to have the clinic. There was even entertainment—one older lady pretended to be pregnant and kept wanting to get to the clinic. The others kept shooing her away and laughing. Each of the pastors from our team took part and I made a money presentation from our team to help with the running of the clinic. But by that time people were getting tired—it was about 3 hours—so they weren’t paying much attention. I couldn’t help thinking as I was trying to get their attention that it gave new meaning to the saying “The natives are getting restless!”. That was also the one time we had to “go” in the woods—looking for snakes and spiders all the way.

10. What will you remember most about the trip?

I’m not sure I know the answer to that one yet. I think it will be the resiliency of the people and especially the commitment to their nation of those who could certainly have an easier life somewhere else but returned.

10. Would you go on another missions trip? To Africa (or someplace that far) or somewhere closer to home?

I don’t know the answer to that one yet either. When I finally got home after the 24 hour delay in Brussels I said I was never leaving home again. It was hard and I felt old at times, but it was also very satisfying. Some day I might want to see how Liberia is faring and what has changed. Maybe a shorter mission trip might be good. God knows.

Okay, so technically it’s “about” Africa.  But still…here is my interview with my MIL, Pam, about her recent missions trip to Africa.  I wrote out the questions which she answered and emailed to me.  I am splitting the questions into two groups, just because it would be crazy long otherwise.  So…here you go!

1. What was your team’s purpose in going to Liberia? What part did you, specifically, play?

The East Ohio Conference of the United Methodist Church has decided to specifically focus on The 3 C’s—churches, classrooms, and clinics— in Africa. After a fact finding trip to several sites, they decided to focus on Liberia as it seemed to have the most needs. Our first and foremost mission was to develop relationships with the people there and to do some fact finding on how our church can best serve and meet the needs of the Liberian people. Specifically, we did do some health care teaching.

2. Why did you want to go on a missions trip? Why Liberia, specifically?

When I was younger and considering career choices, I thought that perhaps I would be a missionary nurse. I don’t know that I really felt it was a “calling” just a possible choice that would reflect my desire to be a nurse and to serve God. Instead, I got married and raised a family, but within the last 10 years or so the idea of experiencing that one time dream kept cropping up again. The Liberia trip appealed to me primarily because it was health care related unlike so many trips.

3. What were 1 or 2 difficult parts of your trip?

Being alone—I really didn’t think about that before I went, but I felt very alone at times even though there were people all around. And I really felt inadequate as a leader—I was made sub-team leader after the first leader had to drop out of the trip and I was not prepared for that.

4. What were some of the enjoyable parts of your trip?

Getting to know my team. I had some great people with me and it was interesting to hear their thoughts on our trip and ministry and life in general. Just seeing new things. Teaching the high school students.

5. Did you do any sightseeing?

Just traveling from one site to another allowed us to see many things. Each site consisted of churches, schools, towns and native villages as well as “stores” and street scenes. We also took a brief “walk” into Guinea and had a dug-out canoe trip to an island where the natives feed chimpanzees.

6. How did you travel in Liberia?

We had a driver and a 15 passenger van for long trips—other wise we walked, but most places were close by.

7. What were the church services like there?

Amazing! They worshipped with such exuberance. The singing and dancing were unbelievable, of course. Most songs were accompanied by a three clap cadence or a bongo type drum. When the pastor asked for prayer or testimony, people sprang to their feet—there was no hesitancy or shyness. The first church I was in had 109 in attendance in a room about 20’x 30’ with no electricity etc. They used old hymnals from all over the world and ended every hymn with “AMEN” in song like we used to do when I was a kid.

The second church in Monrovia is the biggest one in Liberia and it was much more like a traditional worship service here (although the singing was still amazing!) with communion, responsive readings etc. The most touching thing about that service was that it was Armed Forces Sunday and they sang “America, the Beautiful” and “Battle Hymn of the Republic”. Read the words to those songs and you will see how much freedom is treasured and that these folks who were in civil war until 2004 desire their country to be free.

Happy Birthday to me today!

Not that “grownup” birthdays are anything much to speak of. And today won’t be a very exciting day, by any stretch. But, that’s okay. It’s still my birthday, and I get to spend most of it with my little ones.

Other than that, I have no news. It’s been snowing since yesterday morning. It took Eric an hour to get home last night (a 20 minute drive normally). I watched some of the Olympics and knitted and made dinner and ironed. And then I went to bed.

So…pretty uneventful. Sorry for my boring post!

Happy Tuesday!

So the weekend started early for us.

Eric took off Friday morning so I could get my driver’s license renewed and run a few errands. But I got home later than I’d intended so he took the entire day off and we left for the farm on Friday afternoon instead of Saturday morning.

So we hung out at the farm then for the weekend. Eric helped his brother with a farm chore or two. And I ran a couple of errands with my MIL. And we played with babies and hung out and watched a bit of the Olympics and generally goofed off. On Sunday we went to church, had dinner, and hung out some more before heading home (a bit later than we had planned, but hey…what are you gonna do?)

We got to hear about my MIL’s trip to Africa, too, of course, and see her pictures. I left her some questions to answer for my “interview” (which she was surprised to hear that you had requested!), so when I get her answers I’ll post those. But she had a good time and was very glad to be home…even if it was to all this snow!

Today, my in-laws and Eric’s brother, Alan, are coming my direction to tour a farm near here. Alan’s plan is to put in a robotic milking system at the farm in the next couple of years, and he’s going to look at one today. So my in-laws are joining him and I think they will be stopping in after their tour, so we can all have lunch. At least, I think that’s still the plan…it’s snowing, but I haven’t gotten a call to say they aren’t coming. So we shall see…

And finally, a baby update:

Erin had roseola last week, it turns out. Days of higher fever turned into little/no fever with crankiness, but Saturday, she had a rash all over her torso. So it would seem she had a virus. She’s still not eating all that well or acting like herself consistently, but I’m hoping she’ll be back to normal very soon.

Alex is walking more and more these days. He’s still walking on his knees some, but he rarely crawls anymore. And he’s a climbing machine. In less than a day, he figured out how to get on top of my MIL’s ottoman and then onto the couch. It’s the highest thing (the ottoman, I mean) he’s gotten on top of by himself so far. At least he’s not climbing bookshelves…yet…

And that’s about all I have for now. Happy Monday!

Yes, I did actually look up a Star Trek Star Date Converter website to do my title. Yes, I loved Star Trek: Next Generation. The rest of them I didn’t love. But that series, I was totally into. I am such a nerd.

Today I got roses from Eric for Valentine’s Day. They are lovely. So is he.

I have no gift or card or anything for him for VD. I haven’t even thought about it yet. I should get on that…

Yesterday, Erin had a fever for most of the day. She didn’t want to eat much, but she drank like she couldn’t get enough. I didn’t realize she was warm until after lunch, poor girl. But I did get to use my new temporal thermometer (“like they use at the doctor’s office”). It was about $35 at Target, but seriously, it was worth every penny. No fighting her for a temperature reading. Just swiped her forehead 3-4 times to make sure it was accurate. And then some Tylenol for the fever. Lovely.

And she seems to be better today. I think. I’ll probably check her forehead regularly today just to be sure, but she ate better this morning, so that’s a start.

I got some new books I ordered this week. I’m very excited to read them. I’ll let you know if they’re any good.

I also got some bible song cds that I ordered this week, too. Unfortunately, they aren’t very good. We all like the Toddler Tunes collection better. I probably need to go to a store and actually look at the cds to find some good ones. And I am open to suggestions from all you mommies out there. Any bible/worship song cds that your kids liked a lot?

Okay, I hear the jingle bunny (one of Erin’s crib mates), so I’d better close off now. Happy Thursday!

Here is a weird list for you about myself.

Things that I think are a little creepy:

1. Sock monkeys. I’m sorry, they aren’t cute and cuddly to me. They are just a little “off” for some reason.

2. The first verse of “The Teddy Bears’ Picnic.” This song, from our Toddler Tunes cd, is what prompted this list. Seriously…should I be scared of teddy bears in the forest, frolicking together. Yep…I think I should.

3. Hairy spiders. I don’t mind daddy long-legs or anything, but the black fuzzy ones…*shudder*.

4. Rodents with beady eyes. Not all rodents. I like squirrels just fine. But mice. And rats. Yuck.

5. Steve Buscemi. I mean, he’s turned his creepiness into a movie goldmine. And I’m sure he’s really a very nice man. But still, just a little creepy.

There was one other thing I was going to put on this list, but I can’t think of it now. Oh well, this w ill do!

OTHER NEWS:

My MIL made it home from Liberia yesterday. They got to the Cleveland airport about 4:30, so they were pretty close to on time. She called us about 9:15 to let us know she was home. Yay!

We’ve had no bleeding incidents since the weekend. Shwew!

I just finished a really good book. It’s called The Divine Mentor (Cordeiro). Read it. Seriously. If your devotional life needs a restart. Or even a first start. This is a fantastic resource. I highly recommend it. To quote Marla, “Just, wow!”

So when my MIL left Liberia yesterday, it was sunny and 90 degrees outside.

They are currently stuck in Belgium because of the feet of snow being dumped on the East Coast/Midwest for the second time in a few days.

So, they were hoping to catch a flight early this morning to the States. But even if they managed that, they still have to figure out how to get to Ohio once they land. It’s going to be a long day for them. Please pray that the right flights open up and they get home safely.

Also, I was thinking I would do an interview with Pam about her trip and post it here, since some of you were interested in hearing about her experience. So, if you have any questions about her trip or Africa or whatever, let me know and I’ll see if I can get that done!

In baby news…

Alex is probably a week or so from figuring out how to climb onto the couch. Unfortunately, the couch is where we have “hidden” all the stuff we didn’t want them to have, so I have no idea where we will put all that stuff once he figures it out!

Both babies are inching closer (somewhat literally) to learning how to go down the stairs safely. Alex prefers sliding down on his stomach – going up in reverse. Erin seems to be more inclined to do the “bump-n-scoot” method. But either one works for me.

Erin has figured out that she can take her bib off. And she pulls it off regularly while she eats. I think I’m going to have to start pinning it around her neck or something. Sheesh…

Yesterday, they were playing together with a riding toy. Alex was sitting on it backwards. Erin was standing, facing him, pulling and pushing the toy with him on it. Both were giggling, having a marvelous time. I was watching, wishing I could get the video camera without interrupting them (I couldn’t) when Erin leaned over, held out her arms towards Alex and gave him a “hug” – and he leaned his head on her shoulder and grinned. It was too cute! And I was really sorry to have missed that moment with the camera!

And now, Erin is crying, so I’d better go see what happened…happy Tuesday! Enjoy the snow (if you got it)!

That pretty much recaps the weekend.

Friday was a long, hard day. Alex fell about 12:30 and cut his upper gum with his lower teeth (at least that’s what we think happened). And then he bled for 6 hours. He didn’t seem bothered by it at all and even ate just fine (they both enjoyed the popsicles especially!), but it was almost bedtime before we got done with all the drips and drops of blood. And, being 14 months old (today), he kept putting his hands and toys into his mouth like normal. So it was a frustrating day, to say the least. The only good part was that Eric got home early from work and helped me deal with it all.

On Saturday, I went out to shovel the driveway (something I like and Eric doesn’t), and Eric stayed inside to man babies. When I came in, he announced that I shouldn’t worry…the blood had stopped. My first thought was that God must have known I needed not to be around for that one and I thanked him for that! But anyway, it turned out that Erin had tripped and bashed her mouth into the back of Alex’s head. She bloodied her mouth and both were screaming quite loudly. But thankfully, popsicles helped that all heal quickly, too.

As for the busy, that was Sunday. We had a schedule change because of Super Bowl, and Karen and I were in the nursery for the “evening” activities. And they scheduled a meeting, with promised childcare, for an hour earlier than services were scheduled to run. So we got home from church in the morning at about 11:30, and I had to leave for church again at 2:30. Thankfully, no kids showed up for that meeting, so we had the first hour to just talk and laugh. Very nice! Then we only had 5 kids for regular services (two of which were mine), so it was actually a pretty easy evening!

Then we went over to Karen & Erik’s house for a Super Bowl party. We (Eric and I) don’t actually watch the football games, of course, but the commercials are worth it (some of them anyway). And it was good to hang out with people other than my babies for even a little bit. We got home about 7:45 and put the babies to bed, and we were in bed by 9:00. Nice!

Unfortunately, the babies didn’t have a good night. I’m sure they were just over-tired, since they only got one nap yesterday and were overstimulated right before bed. But that means they should take good naps today. And because I’m pretty tired, still, that will be good for all of us!

Happy Monday!