I have so much from this week that needs writing, but for now, I must start with yesterday and today. I am on cloud nine and in little girl heaven!
Considering that at various times in my life we had extra 'siblings' around (totally 7 of us, but never all at once), I'm surprised I'm only totaling two nephews and three nieces at the moment (plus Layla the puppy). I have a feeling the number will keep growing. :) Two of my sweet nieces, Tina and Joelle, live in Grapevine, about 15 minutes from my old house in Flower Mound. I drove up yesterday to spend the afternoon with them and their mommy Bridget. We had a great girls' afternoon, painting toes and visiting with their friend Tessy, who is from Nigeria.
When it was time for Bridget to head to work, I took the girls to visit our friend Sandy and her son Given, who had just returned earlier this week from Zambia. The girls liked hearing about the trip, and I am so impressed with all they accomplished in such a short amount of time. Sandy, Given, and our friend Dickson hit up the craft markets for me, and I literally drove home today with a huge suitcase stuffed full of wood carvings, copper art, oil canvas paintings, and etched stone. I now have two giraffes, an elephant, and a guinea fowl, along with various things to hang on the wall. I'm sure everyone thought I had forgotten it was July and not Christmas morning. The three of them couldn't have done a better job of helping but Zambia in my home. If I'd thought about it, the only thing I would've ask them to add was a bag of red dirt. I miss that dirt.
On a side note, one of the Amish communities from PA was completely brainwashed to all things Zambian a handful of years ago when ZVC was still touring more frequently. They have pulled together so much funding for the guys' church back home in Kalingalinga (Highland Baptist) and had a serious financial roll in helping them add to their facilities. The church is thriving, and I randomly burst into a fit of giggles thinking about mainstream Americans, Amish, and Zambians all working on that church. This is what Heaven will be like folks. Get ready!
Dallas, I love that you have a Christian radio station that plays songs from when I was a kid and the current hits, but your heat makes me crazy. And your construction traffic, well, that's just deplorable. What kind of scam is going on with the government to decide to tear up that much road all at once?? We finally got out of all of that traffic and were able to swing by Chick-fil-A for a picnic dinner at the local botanical gardens, which is beautiful, by the way. And that's when the 'looks' started. Oh, get over it people. Yes, a white lady was walking around with two black little girls. You were all sitting on a bench while your kids played, staring into space while I was pushing swings, talking with the girls, taking toes hostage for kisses, and sliding down slides with my big booty. So, you stop forming opinions, and I will too. Perhaps each one of you adults there had just had major surgery and aren't far enough along in the recovery process to yet be active. See, I can come up with positive thoughts too.
We came home in time to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony parade, and we counted how many countries we could find from Africa. Actually, I let Tina count, and I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to see how many should could recognize all by her big almost-second-grade-self. She did exceptionally well for the part I let her stay up to see. We had a little tea party during the parade (incredibly British and Zambian to celebrate something exciting with tea. How fitting!). By 9:00, I had two sleepy girls on my hands, and they had no problem getting ready for bed, reading, saying prayers, and going to sleep. The best souvenir of the night was pulling out my dirty laundry when we got home tonight and still smelling the sweetness of the best cuddles I've had in ages on the couch during the Opening Ceremony. The Dallas heat had tried to make us all stanky (yes, stanky), but all that goodness was much too powerful for the heat. I love that smell, but dirty clothes must still be washed, despite the fondest of memories.
This morning I wanted to sleep and sleep. Bridget got home from work about 12:20, and we stayed up another hour visiting, looking at things her brother sent from Zambia, and packing the girls. I was proud of us for getting everything for a 7 year old and almost 3 year old for a whole week in one suitcase. Yay! Despite the big girls' lack of sleep, the little girls had had plenty, and by 9:30, they were roaring to go. We took our time getting ready, left about 11:20, stopped an hour later for gas and lunch, swung by our library to load up on books, and walked in the door right before 5:00. Um, I'll travel with these two smarties any day. No fighting, just polite requests to turn the DVD screen a few times. We talked, we sang, and they watched Little Mermaid twice. I quickly learned I could play my cds with the speakers only on the front left, and they could still hear the movie and not really the music. That made us all happy. Old school Garth Brooks found his way out of the case, and I had forgotten how 'un-country' some of the Chris Gaines songs were from that album. "Lost in You" is a beautiful song that I enjoy, but man, oh man, it mess with my brain trying to remember that it's truly Garth singing. Check it out sometime.
The girls explored and read books while I unloaded and began dinner. Isaac was tuckered out from working his booty off to make sure the crown molding was finished before his parents left today. He then cleaned the whole house for the girls, and in this house, that's no easy feat. I'm impressed. After dinner, the girls had really begun warming up to Aggie Belle, as long as she didn't try to kiss their faces. They decided to join our walk, and Tina pushed Joelle's stroller the whole way without complaining once. We just chatted, met another big dog, and managed to avoid the mosquitoes. Joelle decided we needed a dance party in the bath tub tonight, and I am not one to turn down a dance party, no matter how brief. Aggie Belle followed those girls from the tub to the bedroom for pjs to the bathroom for teeth brushing and night-night potties. She reminds me so much of "Nana" in Peter Pan. We read two stories out in the game room, had hugs and kisses, said prayers, and they were out ten minutes before my goal. Now, if only we make it to church so promptly in the morning.
Bridget, thank you for letting me borrow your two cuties for a week!
Considering that at various times in my life we had extra 'siblings' around (totally 7 of us, but never all at once), I'm surprised I'm only totaling two nephews and three nieces at the moment (plus Layla the puppy). I have a feeling the number will keep growing. :) Two of my sweet nieces, Tina and Joelle, live in Grapevine, about 15 minutes from my old house in Flower Mound. I drove up yesterday to spend the afternoon with them and their mommy Bridget. We had a great girls' afternoon, painting toes and visiting with their friend Tessy, who is from Nigeria.
When it was time for Bridget to head to work, I took the girls to visit our friend Sandy and her son Given, who had just returned earlier this week from Zambia. The girls liked hearing about the trip, and I am so impressed with all they accomplished in such a short amount of time. Sandy, Given, and our friend Dickson hit up the craft markets for me, and I literally drove home today with a huge suitcase stuffed full of wood carvings, copper art, oil canvas paintings, and etched stone. I now have two giraffes, an elephant, and a guinea fowl, along with various things to hang on the wall. I'm sure everyone thought I had forgotten it was July and not Christmas morning. The three of them couldn't have done a better job of helping but Zambia in my home. If I'd thought about it, the only thing I would've ask them to add was a bag of red dirt. I miss that dirt.
On a side note, one of the Amish communities from PA was completely brainwashed to all things Zambian a handful of years ago when ZVC was still touring more frequently. They have pulled together so much funding for the guys' church back home in Kalingalinga (Highland Baptist) and had a serious financial roll in helping them add to their facilities. The church is thriving, and I randomly burst into a fit of giggles thinking about mainstream Americans, Amish, and Zambians all working on that church. This is what Heaven will be like folks. Get ready!
Dallas, I love that you have a Christian radio station that plays songs from when I was a kid and the current hits, but your heat makes me crazy. And your construction traffic, well, that's just deplorable. What kind of scam is going on with the government to decide to tear up that much road all at once?? We finally got out of all of that traffic and were able to swing by Chick-fil-A for a picnic dinner at the local botanical gardens, which is beautiful, by the way. And that's when the 'looks' started. Oh, get over it people. Yes, a white lady was walking around with two black little girls. You were all sitting on a bench while your kids played, staring into space while I was pushing swings, talking with the girls, taking toes hostage for kisses, and sliding down slides with my big booty. So, you stop forming opinions, and I will too. Perhaps each one of you adults there had just had major surgery and aren't far enough along in the recovery process to yet be active. See, I can come up with positive thoughts too.
We came home in time to watch the Olympic Opening Ceremony parade, and we counted how many countries we could find from Africa. Actually, I let Tina count, and I kept my mouth shut. I wanted to see how many should could recognize all by her big almost-second-grade-self. She did exceptionally well for the part I let her stay up to see. We had a little tea party during the parade (incredibly British and Zambian to celebrate something exciting with tea. How fitting!). By 9:00, I had two sleepy girls on my hands, and they had no problem getting ready for bed, reading, saying prayers, and going to sleep. The best souvenir of the night was pulling out my dirty laundry when we got home tonight and still smelling the sweetness of the best cuddles I've had in ages on the couch during the Opening Ceremony. The Dallas heat had tried to make us all stanky (yes, stanky), but all that goodness was much too powerful for the heat. I love that smell, but dirty clothes must still be washed, despite the fondest of memories.
This morning I wanted to sleep and sleep. Bridget got home from work about 12:20, and we stayed up another hour visiting, looking at things her brother sent from Zambia, and packing the girls. I was proud of us for getting everything for a 7 year old and almost 3 year old for a whole week in one suitcase. Yay! Despite the big girls' lack of sleep, the little girls had had plenty, and by 9:30, they were roaring to go. We took our time getting ready, left about 11:20, stopped an hour later for gas and lunch, swung by our library to load up on books, and walked in the door right before 5:00. Um, I'll travel with these two smarties any day. No fighting, just polite requests to turn the DVD screen a few times. We talked, we sang, and they watched Little Mermaid twice. I quickly learned I could play my cds with the speakers only on the front left, and they could still hear the movie and not really the music. That made us all happy. Old school Garth Brooks found his way out of the case, and I had forgotten how 'un-country' some of the Chris Gaines songs were from that album. "Lost in You" is a beautiful song that I enjoy, but man, oh man, it mess with my brain trying to remember that it's truly Garth singing. Check it out sometime.
The girls explored and read books while I unloaded and began dinner. Isaac was tuckered out from working his booty off to make sure the crown molding was finished before his parents left today. He then cleaned the whole house for the girls, and in this house, that's no easy feat. I'm impressed. After dinner, the girls had really begun warming up to Aggie Belle, as long as she didn't try to kiss their faces. They decided to join our walk, and Tina pushed Joelle's stroller the whole way without complaining once. We just chatted, met another big dog, and managed to avoid the mosquitoes. Joelle decided we needed a dance party in the bath tub tonight, and I am not one to turn down a dance party, no matter how brief. Aggie Belle followed those girls from the tub to the bedroom for pjs to the bathroom for teeth brushing and night-night potties. She reminds me so much of "Nana" in Peter Pan. We read two stories out in the game room, had hugs and kisses, said prayers, and they were out ten minutes before my goal. Now, if only we make it to church so promptly in the morning.
Bridget, thank you for letting me borrow your two cuties for a week!
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