Crafternoon

I stole that particular gem from Sandy, I must be honest. 

After lunch today Hunter read us a book called "Swimmy".  Its pictures are done with carved potatoes dipped in paint.  Guess what the girls wanted to do?

 

 

So, out came the knife and 4 potato halves soon became a giraffe, elephant, baobab tree and flamingo.

 

It was a HUGE hit!  The girls sat quietly painting at the table for what seemed like an hour!

 

Hunter turned her ideas into an amazing book.

 

"Fleing (flamingoes) are fethery fowls thye stand on onw Leg thye Livin the water.

 

Elfints are hyoog Anmls wiht littl hars and Long nosis.

 

Jrafs heve Long neks thar legs are long."

 

The final picture failed to load after 5 attempts, but it says, "Hunter ilustrater".

How cool is this girl?

Goodbye Justin

Justin D. that is.  He will fly away tomorrow and we will miss him sorely.  What a treasure from home to cherish for a little while. 

Did I mention the two Justins built a swingset?  We'd brought 2 swings with us with that intention, but without a Home Depot handy, the job was just too big.  Until the big guns arrived.

 

It started with a trip out to a field of trees. The Justins picked out the 3 they thought would do the best. Then they negotiated a good price (about $5 a tree) and paid the man to have the trees chopped down (by hand) and hauled to our house (by ox-drawn-cart). They were delivered just after dinner and we spent a surprisingly fun evening stripping off the bark.

 

Then came the deciding of size for the project, measuring, and inital cuts. We found the "panga" to be even easier than the saw, if you didn't mind the risk factors of flying wood chips. Ali was the pro on that!

Day 2: Tar the ends of the trees that would be sunk into the ground to help fight against the eventual rot. Notch out the joints to fit together. Haul the trees into place. Dig 4 foot deep post holes. Drop in vertical trunks. Stare up at the monstrosity you just started and wonder how on earth to get the crossbeam up. Drag dining table out. Stack ladder on it. Put Justin Brown on the top rung, Justin D on the 6 inch wide concrete wall. Overhead press a 200 pound tree trunk, wiggle it into its notch and push the bolts through. Various versions of physical collapse to follow. 

Day 3: And it's a SCORCHER! Attempt to plumb up and level structure using eyeballs, bolts hung from fishing line, and coral rocks. Mix and pour concrete into trunk post holes. Handprints required of course. Drill holes through cross beam and install hardware. Hang swings, level swings, wait for concrete to dry.

Day 4: FLY, FLY, FLY! And don't hit your head on the water tower. Actually, the Justins masterminded a way to keep body parts just inches away from danger, maximizing swing distance AND safety. Cool.

 

Yes, Justin is looking right now on the big island for a swing for Hunter.  For now, sigh, she has to share with Avery.  Or ride the rope.

 



 

Oh yeah, I decided to rip out my kitchen sink while the men were slaving away. I'd done my last dish reaching into a sink situated in a corner half a foot away from the edge of the counter. Justin D suggested it, then swooped in to save the day by re-installing it for me when he came in from finshing the swing set. Very cool.

 

 

Did I mention we were gonna miss him?

 

The Really Little Island

One of our nearby Really Little Islands is populated with about 500 fisher-folk, and completely devoid of fresh water.  Justin has helped bring them a desalination machine to filter ocean water into pure, crystal drinking water.

 A special blessing for us came in a package from home also named Justin.  What a delight to work with, relax with and enjoy!  Thanks, Kim, for sending him to us!

 The audience never waned as they sought to construct this 20 foot high station.

 The food was truly local with octopus served over rice, sometimes with a side of beans.  The crew of 8 (Americans, Germans and Africans) really experienced village life as they camped out on the little island the entire 8 days.

 Here are the Justins pulling the cables taut for the wind turbine.

 Which ended up like this:

 This is the machine in its almost finished stage. The technology used in this machine can take out any virus or bacteria and obviously the salt in the water too. 

 This solar and wind powered machine should provide the whole island (2 villages totaling around 500 people) more than enough clean water to drink and cook with.  We pray it is a blessing, and that our guys were a light to all the people they worked with and for.

Catching a ride home.  Praise that they all made it safely!

PS: PLEASE PRAY FOR HOMESCHOOL BOOKS TO ARRIVE FAST!!!!!!!  It took weeks for them to arrive back home, and now they have to make it over here.  Thanks!

Beautiful Faces

Justin has just returned from completing our Little Island's first Desalination machine!  

 We were oh, so blessed to have the wife of one of the other men stay with us, help us, play with us!

 We are now doubly blessed to have a favorite friend from back home join us!  Mr. Justin (yes, a different one) got to join in the machine building adventure, and now experience Island Life.

Sorry for my newfound inability to blog.  Homeschool is busy, but going great, we are all finding a great routine and actually learning stuff.  And I am getting to spend quality time with my 2 littlest ones!  

Thanks for your prayers.  Please continue to pray for language learning, peaceful days and open doors.

Avery's Five!

Sweet Avery is 5 years old now!

Our simple cake-and-balloons birthday became a nearly-overwhelming event when TWO packages arrived!  One we've been waiting for for about three months and it was such a blessing!  Thank you dear friends!

 Last night our neighbors came over to share cake with us.  Mariam, Abduli and Mariam.  The girls are actually Abduli's nieces who got sent back to Gramma (Mariam) when new babies arrived in their houses.  We don't mind a bit...those girls are PRECIOUS!

 Notice Hunter covering Braelyn's mouth?  It's cause she blew out the candle the first time around!

 The special candle we found on the mainland.

 Five Flower cupcakes topped the grassy green cake.  Hunter and I called it Home Ec for the morning!

 See what I mean about precious?

This one too.  We love you Avery and treasure these first 5 years with you; looking forward to so many  more as we watch you grow in beauty and grace, inside and out!

The rest of the story...

Here's what filled the rest of our time off the little island:

 So much fun at a play park where rides were about 35 cents per kid!

 Braelyn would ask to "wide ho-sey" every time we left the house after this.  And often when we weren't.

 It was fun watching the girls' eyes light up and hear them squeal.

 We got to play with Legos!  That's new for us and they LOVED it.

 These Love Birds provided their day of entertainment, then earned their freedom with their screeching.

 We reconnected with old friends... and new.

 I just loved how excited B would get every time the truck came to her!

 Traveling the pool circuit, this one definitely was near the top.  

 And it was fun to play with our teammates who also came over for a break from little island life.

 We did head to the mainland by ferry, which was a really big deal for me.  I'm normally not a worrier, but with my own 3 babies, and seeing the throng of humanity pressing onto the boat with us, fears definitely got the better of me for a few minutes.  God's peace and protection won out thankfully.

It didn't hurt that THIS is what first class looked like!  Avery did get pretty sick though, so we hopped on a plane when we were done renewing passports.  

So, Passports renewed, computers purchased for the adult education center, 2 weeks of language school completed and we're back home!  Just in time for the end of Ramadan celebrations and Avery's birthday!

The Big Isle

It's time to start buying supplies for the Adult Education Center!  Plus, the girls need new passports and I needed a break from cooking, so we headed out.

 First stop, the Big Island.  Restaurants, air conditioners, pristine beaches free of gawkers, and of course, some hand-line fishing with the kids.

 This is the beach nearby where we stay here, so beautiful

 And the girls are pretty beautiful as well!

Someone tell me, though: where DID Avery learn to pose for pictures?