Spring Break Recap

Since our school is still operating in the midst of Covid-19 (helloooo homeschool life!), we were eagerly looking forward to Spring Break.  Everyone needed a break, maybe Mama most of all.  We took a week off after Easter, and lots of fun ensued. 

We asked the boys what they wanted to do during Spring Break, and they created a lengthy list of activities, including (but not limited to):

                                         ●  movie night                     ●  campfire

                                         ●  critter quest                     ●  archery

                                         ●  Dragonwood                   ●  Settlers

                                         ●  painting                           ●  Tetris                                        

                                         ●  cinnamon rolls                ●  Ninjabread cookies

                                         ●  walk to the river              ●  sports

So it was a busy week!  But such a great week.  And Eli was home with us!  He was able to take the week off with us which made it all the sweeter.

Easter Day was a wonderful day for us.  It started early since the boys woke us up before the sun was up, excited to see Easter baskets waiting for them (which they'd totally forgotten about and made it all the more fun).  I had saved some candy from American visitors awhile ago, and the boys were elated to see all the special candy.  And we realized that they don't know what some American candy is anymore.  They had no idea what Twizzlers were.  Or jolly ranchers.  Or Hershey kisses!  I've officially decided that when we're in America next, we'll be doing an "American candy tasting party" so these American kids know their way around the candy aisle at the store :)

Most importantly, we enjoyed a beautiful morning celebrating our Risen Lord!  And Caleb and Kai received their first full versions of the Bible, which has been so meaningful and special.  Watching our kids get so excited about reading the Word and learning how to look up stories/verses for themselves is heart-squeezing.  They still look at the children's Bibles all the time, but now they compare those stories with the full passages in their new Bibles and it just fills me up every time!

Here are some snapshots from Easter Day.  There was lots of time playing outside, along with the all-important Easter Egg hunt, followed by Resurrection Rolls!

These two are chained at the hip and I love it!

I filled the Easter eggs with Tootsie rolls - 

also from our American visitors and also a candy the boys were unfamiliar with

Resurrection Rolls have become a new tradition for us, as long as we can get our hands on marshmallows.  I brought a bag of marshmallows across the ocean with us last year and used them on Easter, and this time I saved a bag of marshmallows that my parents brought over in November just so we could use them for Resurrection rolls again on Easter.  Yes, I saved marshmallows for five months.  I know how to plan ahead!  And how to make all the special stuff last as long as possible.  You don't wanna know how long I hold onto things like M&Ms...  At any rate, these delicious treats are the perfect way to celebrate Easter.  Not only do they remind us of the Empty Tomb, but they taste so good that you can't help but declare "Praise the Lord!  He is Risen indeed!" as the cinnamon sugar marshamallowy goodness melts in your mouth.

All of that was only the beginning of Spring Break!  Every day had something special on the agenda.  It was a week for the books!

The boys were recently introduced to a show called Critter Quest where a naturalist from Michigan explores and finds critters.  Naturally, these nature-loving boys wanted to emulate his example, so they packed their backpacks and we set off to find and identify critters around our compound.  This is actually a very normal activity for them.  They find critters every day, but this was an official Critter Quest, complete with picnic lunch in tow and backpacks full of bug-catching tools and critter books.  Plus Dad was available to join - could life get any better?

Kai was adamant about wanting to learn "grown up" Settlers of Catan.  He loves Catan Jr. (thanks to Grandma Horn for getting that across the ocean!) but he's seen grown-ups playing the real Catan and was desperate to learn for himself.  So we invited some Catan-playing friends over and taught this game-loving boy how to play "grown up Catan".  Mission accomplished!

And of course they wanted to pull out their bows and arrows.  We don't let them use these too often because, well, we've learned the hard way that three little boys running amuck with bows and arrows is a recipe for disaster.  But when an adult can give full attention to their antics and keep them all in line, lots of fun is had by all.  And they're actually pretty good at it.  Asa is shockingly good at shooting those arrows.  And what little boy growing up in Kenya doesn't want to pretend to shoot arrows like a Maasai warrior?

And now we're back to life as usual.  We've already got another week of school under our belts.  It was a tough week, but the end of the year is in sight and that gives us motivation to keep at it and finish strong.  And after that: summer break!  The boys are already planning all sorts of summer activities :)

The She Shed

Our new shed is officially named "Hitchcock's Folly" because our friend who built it, Nathan Hitchcock, named it so.  But it's also being affectionately called "The She Shed" because I'm the one who begged and pleaded for any kind of outside storage to free up space in our house from all the outdoor kid toys and gardening tools, etc.  After being in Chogoria for a year, we finally have a shed!

After trying and failing two times to get a shed built via local channels, we gave up and asked Nathan to do it.  He's a nurse by day and handyman at all times.  And he literally built this beauty from the ground up.  He concocted a plan with whatever local materials were available (or could be ordered in), and bit by bit he built us a shed.  Oh, and he also let our kids "help" him almost all the time.  Clearly this man is full of dedication and patience!

The main benefactor of Nathan's kindness and patience with our children was our Kai Guy.  Kai is a builder at heart and he was in heaven, let me tell you!  He may have skipped a decent amount of homeschooling to participate in this project :)

Even Eli got to help sometimes!  And he learned some new handyman skills like mixing cement and welding.

Asa liked to "help" too and made his best contribution by painting.  He actually painted a bit, believe it or not!

Once the mabati was on, we all signed the back before it was installed on the concrete slab.  Psalm 127 has been a theme for me this past year, and it seemed fitting to reference that psalm on the shed:

Unless the Lord builds the house,

its builders labor in vain.

Unless the Lord watches over the city,

the watchmen stand guard in vain.

In vain you rise early and stay up late,

toiling for food to eat --

for he grants sleep to those he loves.

Sons are a heritage from the Lord,

children a reward from him.

Like arrows in the hands of a warrior

are sons born in one's youth.

Blessed is the man 

whose quiver is full of them.

They will not be put to shame

when they contend with their enemies in the gate.

Now the shed is done!  And we've put the soccer balls and sidewalk chalk and diggers and dump trucks in there, along with the hose and the machete and other things for the shamba. 

We are so excited this project is complete!  And so thankful for the kind of friend who would willingly gave days of his life to undertake this project.  What a gift and tremendous blessing to the House of Horn!

Music Class

I've always known that our kids would only learn music if I taught them.  We don't have options for music lessons here, and although my husband loves and appreciates music, he can't read music and simply doesn't know music theory.  So I've always known the lot would fall to me as long as we're living in Africa.

And it has.  The lot has fallen to me.  This year I officially started teaching music to our kids!

Music class has become one of my favorite parts of the week.  It's reawakened my love of music.  I've found myself missing the chance to play my cello, I've been flexing my piano fingers (because I'm also teaching piano to these kids), and getting more acquainted with the guitar (because I'm also teaching guitar to these kids).  It's been a huge reminder of how much I love music and want my kids to love music too!

My mom, who was an elementary music teacher for years, supplied me with some basic "music class essentials" and made my job much easier than it would have been otherwise.  I hauled a box of her music stuff across the ocean and we use it every week in my music class with the four oldest MKs.

There are many days when I'm winging it, making it up as I go.  But there's so much to learn when a kid's music knowledge is next to nothing, so the bar is low and anything I teach is increasing their knowledge!  I've been going through all the instruments and finding videos on YouTube that show how they're played and what they sound like.  We spent several weeks learning about string instruments - my personal favorite - and now we're on to wind instruments.  

We had planned a music field trip to attend a band concert at a boarding school where a friend of ours is in the band, but coronavirus ruined those plans.  So we just keep watching videos on YouTube - everything from watching a string quartet play Mozart, Ricky Skaggs dominating the bluegrass scene, how to put together a saxophone, and the University of Michigan marching band halftime show!  It's been a lot of fun.

And of course they're learning music theory.  Notes, clefs, keys, dynamics, time signatures...  This job has been incredibly easier for me because an intern (a friend of the Webber family) was here last fall and did initial teaching on these points.  She's also the one who started them on piano and guitar, which means I got to jump in after the foundations were laid and am helping to maintain that basic knowledge and teach them even more.

Once a week I spend a couple hours doing piano practice with all four kids too.  And they're all making progress!  It's very gratifying.  Granted, the progress is slow since we can only work on it once a week (which is all the time and energy I can afford), but progress is progress and I am pleased.  Kudos to the Webbers for making their keyboard available to us all!

Asa is clamboring to play piano and guitar like the big kids, but I'm making him wait because, let's be honest, I've got enough on my plate right now.  But someday soon he'll be able to join the ranks of missionary kids under the musical tutelage of Mama Horn!

The Bandas

One of the greatest things about living in Chogoria is how close we are to Mount Kenya National Park. 

We've taken several drives through the forest on our side of the mountain and seen various wildlife (mostly monkeys) and enjoyed picnics at the official "Chogoria Gate" where hikers can start their hikes up the mountain.  We've never ventured beyond that because the rainy season has made the trails difficult to navigate and because little boys always make hiking more difficult than you think it should be.  BUT what we did do recently was stay overnight at the bandas.

The bandas are rustic cabins at the Chogoria Gate where hikers can stay coming/going on a hike.  We stayed there just because we live so close and thought it sounded like fun.

It was a lot of fun.  And it was freezing overnight!

The cabin we stayed in had two bedrooms, a living room, kitchen with fireplace for cooking, and a bathroom with a toilet!  Plus it had running water!  The caretaker even turned on the generator for a couple hours so we could have some electricity at night.  We were living in the lap of luxury :)

The boys, of course, took off running and exploring the minute we arrived.  I could hear their giggles and shouts of joy as I unpacked everything.  It's a boy's paradise up there and these boys were definitely living their best life running around the foothills of Mount Kenya!

While the older two could barely be corralled for supper, the Bubba was hungry right on time.  I made him a sandwich and he entertained me with songs and funny faces as we sat on the porch together.  That boy steals my heart every day with his antics!  He is the funniest, loudest, most expressive Mama's Boy I know of.  And I loved sitting on that stoop, just him and me, eating our PBJ  sandwiches and feeling the air getting chilly and scooting closer to each other to keep each other warm.

The other two finally came back and I just loved watching them sit on that stoop, with the tree out front and the foothills beyond.  Little boys and PBJ sandwiches make such an iconic picture!

The highlight of the evening was Caleb's Catch.  He went around the side of the house to "wash my hands in a puddle" (I know, I know...) and he saw something sitting in the puddle and just reached in to grab it without knowing what it was.  Thank God it wasn't a snake.  It was a frog!  The boys, of course, were enamored and many people have since heard about Caleb's Catch at the Bandas.

We finally got tucked in for the night, and let me tell you it was COLD!  I think we've officially been in Africa too long.  This Michigander and my Minnesota husband were both freezing in that cabin overnight.  The beds had a wool blanket on them but it simply wasn't enough.  We wore long pants and long sleeves and jackets with the hoodies up, plus wool socks on our feet, and it wasn't until I added an extra big blanket and a Bubba to snuggle with me that I felt truly warm enough!  I had to remind myself that we were sleeping at 9600 feet and that I wasn't a total wimp!

Suffice it to say, it wasn't the best night of sleep we've ever had.  Eli had knocked himself out with a Benadryl because the dust in the cabin was so bad his allergies were going haywire, and 2/3 boys woke me up 6 times before morning.  The silver lining of being awake so much was hearing a munching noise outside the cabin and peeking out the window to see a waterbuck!  I saw it on two different occasions, and it was big.  I had no idea they wandered around at night, but it was apparently pretty hungry and liked the grass right beside our cabin.  It was amazing to see that!

After a wonderfully slow morning, Eli found a place to hang the hammock.  We don't have a great place to hang the hammock around our house, so it was particularly fun to use it at the bandas.

We very slowly made our way home (and saw more monkeys along the way!) and crashed into our own beds that were warm enough for us all :)

We absolutely love being this close to the national park.  It's only an hour to get to the Chogoria gate, and most of that drive is through the forest, quiet and beautiful and rejuvenating.  Besides, there's nowhere else to go around here.  It's the closest thing we've got.  And it's a pretty good thing :)