Kai is obsessed with digging in the dirt. Almost every night when we say prayers he says thank you for dirt and sand. He's often covered in dirt whenever he comes inside, and he often needs extra baths because of his inability to leave the dirt alone. He's gotten in trouble for digging in the flower boxes, digging in the garden, digging in our neighbors' bushes, and digging in any number of other places without telling me that he's gone off to dig somewhere.
Because of the problem of not being able to keep my eyes on Kai while he's off digging, it suddenly occurred to me that we should build a sandbox behind our house, next to the garden where there's an open patch of grass that nobody's using, and where I could look out three different windows of the house and keep an eye on him. So I talked to Geoffrey, our househelp who works in the garden and who does odd jobs here and there, and he got to work on it right away. Geoffrey figured everything out - where to get wood that wouldn't rot during the rainy seasons, where to buy nails, who to hire to bring wheelbarrows of sand - and he built the sandbox in two afternoons. Kai was elated, and so was I!
Kai was interested in watching the entire process, from staking out the area to clearing the grass to nailing the boards to adding the sand. He didn't even wait until all the sand was in before jumping in with his digger and starting to dig. It was so fun to watch his excitement, to hear his constant jabber about Geoffrey building a sandbox, and to see his continued commitment to all things construction. He's played in the sandbox every day since it was finished last week, and he's been more dirty than ever, but he's been so happy and I've been so relieved just to know where he is all the time! We can't thank Geoffrey enough for helping us with this project!
using a machete to cut the grass
he stood and watched for a long time
before I thought to offer him a chair
he looked like a little supervisor :)
he watched for hours, never leaving until
I made him come inside to get out of the sun
jumping in as soon as he could
digging digging digging
Caleb joined in the fun too
Other kids joined in the fun over the weekend. Kai appreciates anyone else who also has a love of dirt and the sandbox became a great gathering place for getting down and dirty. This morning he played out there for a couple hours with Ebenezer, the son of another househelp who's almost the same age as Kai and who has become friends with our kids. It was adorable to watch these little boys working in the dirt together!
Now when Kai prays at night, he starts with, "Thank you for the sandbox," and continues with any variety of, "And for sand. And dirt. And the shovel. And the digger. And the other digger. And the dump truck. And [fill in the blank]." Kai isn't the only one thanking God for the sandbox - we are thanking God for it too!
I celebrated a birthday last weekend, which was full of ups and downs, mostly because Eli was on-call the entire weekend and I was left to fend for myself with three little boys. But I stretched out the celebration and there were many highlights, the first of which was a Girls Brownie/Movie night on Friday night. Several other missionary women joined me in eating Ghirardelli brownies and watching The Hundred-Foot Journey, which I'd never heard of but which I thoroughly enjoyed. I brought a single box of Ghirardelli brownies to Kenya, and it was the perfect time to use it!
The next morning I was blessed with an unprompted birthday song from my boys. Eli had attempted to lead them in singing Happy Birthday to me at breakfast, which mostly failed, but apparently they liked the idea and just wanted to do it of their own accord. So mid-morning they found me and Asa in my room and started singing out of nowhere. It was priceless. I was somehow able to convince them to sing it again so I could record it:
The next highlight was listening to Asa's giggles while tickling him. This boy is super ticklish and his giggles are infectious!
The rest of the day went downhill from there. I won't bother to explain the meltdowns and temper tantrums that ensued and how completely tapped I was by the end of the day, but somehow we survived the weekend of Eli being on-call, and then Monday came. Eli was given a comp day for working the entire weekend, and we found someone to watch all three boys while we slipped away to have lunch at a brand-new restaurant just outside of town. It's called the Fair Hills and it was amazing.
We ate outside in one of the gazebos surrounding the fish pond and enjoyed the magnificent view of the hills in this part of the country. It was such a treat! The Fair Hills is so nice that we can scarcely believe it's right here in Bomet, a town of insignificant stature. We're not exactly sure how it will stay afloat since few people in this area can afford to frequent such a place, but we were thankful for the chance to check it out and enjoy a Birthday Lunch with just the two of us.
The food was so-so, but it was such a treat to eat out anywhere and have the food made for us. We do so much cooking at Tenwek that we marveled in the fact that someone else prepared and served us food, even if the ketchup bottle was filled some kind of sweet 'n sour sauce and the salt 'n pepper shakers were filled with salt 'n salt. The food was relatively cheap and not too bad. We couldn't ask for anything more.
So my first birthday in Kenya ended on a high note, and I'm looking forward to the year ahead!
Because I love close-up shots of these boys, and because I love black & white, here are some recent photos of our trio, playing outside and doing well here.
So it was particularly special to celebrate Mother's Day on the same day as Caleb's birthday this year. We made the celebration last all weekend because birthdays are better when they last longer and because it was our first birthday bash in Kenya and we wanted to particularly enjoy it!
We began on Saturday with a superhero party for Caleb. First things first: a cake! Batman was ready for action, as usual.
I must say that the Dark Knight is very good at mixing up some cake batter. He wouldn't try it when it was done, which surprised me since he's never been shy about eating cookie dough when we bake cookies together, but I wasn't complaining - it left more cake batter for me!
We included Batman, Superman, and Green Lantern on the cake. Caleb requested that we put the Joker on there too but I convinced him bad guys didn't need to go on birthday cake!
Super Caleb indeed :)
We had a small birthday party with the other MKs here at Tenwek. Eli arranged some yard games like foot races and shoe toss and poison ball, and everyone participated except Caleb who clung to my side the whole time. He was very excited about his superhero party until it actually started, because big groups of people make our boy nervous, plus he doesn't like being the center of attention. So it was pretty much the worst way we could've chosen to celebrate. But it was a chance to get everyone together and be a part of this amazing missionary community, and it really was a lot of fun. Despite his nervousness, when all was said and done Caleb whispered in my ear, "Did you see the people at my party?" which means he was ultimately glad for it all. He even got some presents out of the ordeal, which made him quite happy :)
All three of our boys were dressed for the occasion. It was Asa's first time wearing a cape, which I'm a bit embarrassed to admit since no boy should have to wait 7 whole months before donning his first cape! He only chewed on it a little bit :)
And here's Mama with her superheroes!
My boys! I'm such a proud Mama. And I love showing off that big belly to the rest of the world :)
To cap off the birthday celebration, Caleb opened one more gift. This was packed in our luggage as his birthday present from Grandma and Grandpa Horn. He was ecstatic! Our superhero costume collection grows yet again :)
And what better way to end a day than with a balloon lightsaber duel? There is no better way.
The next day was Caleb's actual birthday, as well as Mother's Day, which I celebrated by taking a long nap and watching a girly movie after the boys were in bed. It was wonderful to rest and hang out as a family, and celebrate the life of this boy who made me a Mama in the first place. Caleb is a fun, creative, passionate little kid. He loves animals more than anything in the world, loves peanut butter sandwiches, loves to snuggle, and loves to hide toys in hard-to-find places. He's learning how to write his name, trying new foods here in Kenya, and asking why we put money in the offering plate at church. His world is expanding at an exponential rate right now and we're incredibly impressed with how well he's handling the significant life changes he's experiencing at such a young age. He's definitely struggled with some things since being here, but he's definitely thrived too. We're so thankful for this boy and how he's teaching us to see the world through the eyes of a child. It's a big world out there, which we're learning firsthand right now, and Caleb is helping us understand the world in new ways. For that, and for so many innumerable things, we are beyond grateful for this boy!
The past two weeks were a blur. Two weeks ago we attended the annual WGM Kenya retreat, which required traveling to the coast. Last week was Eli's first official week of work at the hospital, which brought its own stressors and exhaustion, so the past couple weeks have been crazy and busy and tiring, but we are hanging in there and continuing to adjust to life here in Kenya.
We had the privilege of arriving in Kenya in time to attend the retreat and we were looking forward to it for weeks beforehand because it was a chance to see the Indian Ocean, a chance to meet everyone else in the WGM Kenya team right away, and a chance to listen to a thought-provoking speaker during the sessions. Well, the week didn't turn out exactly like we'd hoped. The retreat took place on the coast of the Indian Ocean, which sounds lovely and exotic (and partly was), and was meant to be a true retreat for everyone (even for us newbies who'd just arrived on the field), but our enjoyment quickly diminished when two of our kids became sick on the first day of the retreat. Few things can dampen the mood of a vacation like sick kids!
We had spent a night in Nairobi before our early morning flight to the coast, and it quickly became apparent that Kai was coming down with a fever. He was practically on fire by the time we put the boys to bed. Thankfully Eli had thought to throw in some ibuprofen "just in case" and we gave him a couple doses before we boarded the plane in the morning. The poor guy was clearly uncomfortable, started coughing overnight, and slept terribly. It was the start of an exhausting week. By the next day Asa was feverish too, and by the next night Asa was coughing through the night too, and sleeping terribly. Suffice it to say, this "retreat" was a lot of work for us. With that said, we are still so thankful we had the privilege of going, not only because it was our chance to see the Indian Ocean, but especially because it was a way to meet the rest of our teammates and gain a greater appreciation for our mission organization. In short, we came away from the retreat extremely thankful for our teammates, and for our field leadership, and for the blessing of fun and fellowship even in the midst of managing little kids who are sick!
Caleb somehow avoided the fever/cough (although he did catch the cold by the end of the week), so he was able to enjoy the pool and the beach quite a bit. There was a kiddie pool attached to the main pool, which was amazing for our little swimmer, and he couldn't get enough of it.
Once Asa's fever was gone we got him into the pool as well. We borrowed a floatie from another missionary family, and he loved it!
It's a lot of work to take little kids swimming, but their excitement makes it worthwhile :)
The dining area was poolside, which is great for people without two little boys who keep getting up from the table in favor of wandering toward the pool and making us frantically shout, "Stop! Get away from the pool!" Sheesh...
The Bubba turned seven months while we were there. He was snotting like crazy while I took photos on the beach, but he's so smiley that it's hard to recognize that he was sick!
Caleb loved the beach. He loved playing in the sand, wading in the water, and talking about animals that live in the ocean. There were many moments when my Mama Heart squeezed as I watched our son explore the ocean for the first time!
Kai and Asa saw very little of the beach overall but did make it there once or twice. Kai loved digging in the sand - he's our construction machine guy and loves digging anything - and Asa continually tried eating the sand and hence wasn't allowed to hang around too long. But we can officially say that our entire family has been to the beach on the Indian Ocean!
Toward the end of the week we ventured to the beach right after breakfast, at low tide, to see the tide pools and find sea creatures. It was the highlight of the week! Not only was it breathtakingly beautiful, but we saw lots of fun things, like crabs, starfish, and moray eels!
It was an exhausting week, to be sure, but we're glad we made the trek and put up with sick kids. We're trying to remember the fun parts more than the frustrating parts. One difficult thing that's hard to forget, however, was the heat and humidity. We were at sea level near the equator, after all, and the heat and humidity were treacherous. But the rooms were air conditioned, and there was ice cream at the airport as we waited for our flight back to Nairobi! So there were silver linings even as we sweated through our clothes every day just by standing still. Thank God for air conditioning and ice cream when you need it most!
We made it back safely to Tenwek, even though we ran into some bumps along the way (quite literally). The main road was completely blocked because of an accident, and the detour was completely blocked because of construction, so we wound our way down the Rift Valley through small, nearly impassable roads that jolted the van horrendously but which made for quite an adventure! Our poor kids were stuck in their car seats for over six hours because of how long the new route took, but we made it back in one piece, and Caleb's response when we got back into our house at Tenwek was, "It's so fun to be home!" Our hearts were happy and encouraged to hear our son declare this place to be home. And we agree: yes, it's fun to be home!
