Yummy!

As our trip to Zambia nears, I'm beginning to think that I may lose weight while we're there when I remember the foods we ate! Here's my yummy and not so yummy memories!!

YUMMY: Indian restaurants in the capitol city, Chinese restaurants in the capitol city, homemade Indian chipatis (like tortillas) from our friends, Laurie's bbq on a bun sandwiches, Cadbury chocolate bars, American chocolate from Wes and Laurie's freezer, homemade banana bread, Laurie's waffles, pizza in the capitol city, samp (kinda like hominy), roasted maize (except for that time it gave me dysentery...that wasn't fun..)

NOT SO YUMMY: mangoes, hamburger meat (it took some getting used to), schwarmas in the capitol city (a pita filled with meat, french fries, and pickles--weird combination of flavors!), bread (hard to find soft, fresh bread), goat intestines we ate at a wedding, rape (collard greens--ugh I can still smell them), fried chicken and chips (soft, greasy french fries), did I mention mangoes?

Anybody interested in our schedule while we're there?? I thought you'd never ask!!

Monday, Mar 16: Fly Austin to DC, then DC to South Africa
Tuesday, Mar 17: Fly South Africa to Zambia, Arrive at 9pm
Wednesday, Mar 18: Drive 3 hours to Gwembe (Wes and Laurie's house) stopping to visit friends along the way
Thursday, Mar 19: Drive approx 2 hours to Macha to meet with Chief regarding land
Friday, Mar 20: Drive approx 1 hour through the bush to Namwala, stopping to visit friends along the way
Saturday, Mar 21: Drive back to capitol city (5 hours or so)
Sunday, Mar 22: 12 hour bus trip up to Isoka, where my sister lives
Monday, Mar 23: visit with sis and family
Tuesday, Mar 24: visit with sis and family
Wednesday, Mar 25: visit with sis and family
Thursday, Mar 26: Drive 12 hours back to Lusaka
Friday, Mar 27: Fly to South Africa, then to DC
Saturday, Mar 28: Arrive in Austin, pick up kids in Temple, drive to DFW, go to bed!

Lots of travel!! The bus trip should definitely be an adventure worth blogging about! :)

Angels!

No, seriously, they are! Yesterday was my first time to take ALL 3 kids to Walmart by myself!! Granted, Baby Cason is sick so he slept most of the time, but still!! I had Cason in his car seat in the front of the basket, Cambree in the big part of the basket, and Caedmon hanging on the end. We went to buy my sister's wishlist for when we go to Zambia. We even went through the toy section, and they were still great! And to top it all off, the gum machine took Caedmon's quarter, but there were no freakouts, screaming fits, or anything! SUCCESS! :)

Memories from the Bush...

No, not memories from the Bush Administration, but memories of the Zambian bush.

We leave for Zambia 3 weeks from today! I feel totally unprepared! I am not a spur-of-the-moment person at all, and this trip was completely unplanned so I just feel a bit overwhelmed! We spent the weekend getting some small gifts to take to our friends in Zambia, things like bath soap, American chocolate, coloring books/crayons, and dolls. I actually managed to come up with 6 skirt/shirt combinations in my closet that will work for me to wear. I wore a skirt pretty much every day for 2years in Zambia and haven't worn them since we got back! Anyway, in the midst of it all, I'm trying not to stress so today I let my mind drift back to some memories from the bush...

These are a few of my favorite things:

Icy cokes in glass bottles on a hot day...
Showers outside under the stars with a cool breeze blowing...
Loud, drunk men singing as they walked past our hut around midnight...
Our dog barking and the sound of the loud, drunk man screaming and running away...
Sitting in the kitchen hut watching Blu start a fire for supper...
The lady carrying homemade fritters in a pan on her head each morning, headed to town to sell them...stopping at our hut because she knew we'd buy some...
Taking walks with Blu at sunset when I was 7 months pregnant for daily exercise...
Sweeping the hut at least 3 times a day....
Burning the beans, but Mulenga eating them anyway so he wouldn't hurt my feelings...
Walking to the market to buy onions and tomatoes...
Baptisms in the river...
The air-conditioner in our truck...
Blu killing a snake and carrying it to every neighbor in walking distance because he was so proud...
People coming to the hut to get medicine from us...
Germ-X...
Mango season..(I hate mangoes, but the trees are gorgeous)
The first rain of the rainy season...
The Southern Cross...
The fact that it didn't matter what I wore or how I looked...
Singing hymns in Tonga...
Hearing Blu preach in Tonga...
Scrambled eggs with fried tomatoes and onions for supper...
Roasted maize...

The list goes on...but those are the things I'm focusing on these next weeks as we prepare to travel!

(Ok, ok, in the midst of all these African memories I have to admit that I am GREATLY relieved that The Bachelor will have just concluded its season before we go...I am sadly addicted to that show....)

Wowzers!

Check out the pics Leighanne took of us on Valentine's Day!

ONE MONTH!

Have you noticed my ticker at the top of my blog?! We leave for a trip to Zambia in one month!! We are so excited to get to visit with some of our old friends and churches and to see my sister and her family who I haven't seen in 2 1/2 years!!! We are really close, and it's so unbelievable that it's been that long. We will be doing some survey work for the orphanage, hopefully meeting with a chief about some possible land and doing some things related to work permits and banking. But, things do move slow in Africa, so we'll see how much we actually accomplish... :)

We will be taking Baby Cason with us, but leaving the other two here with grandparents...for 2 weeks!! At first, I was really torn about leaving them, but after days like today.....2 weeks will be fine. :) Cambree spilled hot pink acrylic paint all over the carpet today. I called Blu crying--I absolutely lost it. It was on our mattress, sheets, comforter, the carpet, all over her...a complete disaster. I made her go to her room until I calmed down! But..thanks to the awesome Mama Dee, (and Erika's amazing vacuum cleaner), the paint is gone!! As I said, 2 weeks will be fine.....

My First Wedding Cake!

What do you think of my first ever wedding cake?!!

Actually, this is the new rage, called a fake wedding cake. I've heard of people having fake cakes for their wedding and then taking it to the back to cut it and bringing out a much cheaper cake to actually serve! Not a bad idea!! I made this for my mother-in-law's school play. It cost about $50 to make, and I had a blast making it! I bought styrofoam blocks from Hobby Lobby and covered them with joint compound (like spackle). Once it FINALLY dried, I sanded it to make it smooth and then decided to go ahead and paint it white to cover some flaws. I then glued the blocks together, added some ribbon and fake flowers, and voila! My fake wedding cake!

Happy Birthday Big Maw!

Blu's mom, who we all call "Big Maw", will be 50 years old this Wednesday!! We won't get to see her, but we made this special cake that we're going to get Paw to take to her! The kids had a blast making it!


Ha! Notice the look on my face--you can tell I don't think that sugar is going to make it in the bowl!

Just cause they're cute...

Cambree's Room

I have to post some pics of the Princess's room! My mom (Mama Dee to the kids) has made a quilt for each of her grandkids. She finished Cambree's this week, and now her room is complete!!





On a sidenote, Cason had his 2 month appointment today! The Moose weighed in at 13 pounds, 2 ounces and was 25 inches long. That puts him in the 50th percentile of weight and the 95th PERCENTILE of height!! Here's a comparison of all 3 kids at 2 months:
Caedmon - 11 1/2 pounds
Cambree - 11 pounds, 2 ounces, 22 inches
Cason - 13 pounds, 2 ounces, 25 inches
Wow!!! He's a moose! :)

Hoodlums...

Today was just one of those days...I'll show the innocent pictures first, and then end with the TRUTH..



I was nursing Cason and on the phone with Whitney when things got very quiet...too quiet.... This is what I found...

Yes..that is honey, and syrup, and pop tarts, and pretzel sticks, and you can't see the Doritos but they were there too....