doxology

Praise God from whom all blessings flow;

Praise him, all creatures here below;

Praise him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost.

Amen.

- the Doxology

Thomas Ken 1674

simply Spain

Now despite losing Bunny and all the "bad" and "ugly" parts of getting to Spain I really have one thing to say:

It was worth it.

We love being in Spain. Last year the boys were so enamored with it that they listed it among Canada and Uganda as where they are from. 
Our one week conference was in Nerja which is in the South of Spain. Our apartment was ocean front and completely lovely. The conference itself was fantastic and provided childcare which I gladly dropped all three of our boys off at every day. We had some initial struggles to get the older two boys to go, but overall they loved their teachers {as proof: Noah invited his teachers to come and eat dinner with us when he saw them waiting in line to get their food. So.Cute.}.

We had a "free" day and we spent the entire morning at the beach.

The boys and their friend Sebastian who is STINTing {with his parents of course} in Scotland.

It was freezing, but that didn't stop the boys from playing in the Mediterranean.

We later explored town, enjoyed some gelato {have you ever had Ferrero Rocher gelato? AMAZING.} and walked the beautiful streets of Nerja.

Jamie and his friend Andy rented mopeds and bombed around town during the afternoons and in the evening when our boys were in childcare, Jamie took me for a ride during the sunset. It was amazing. Quite possibly my favourite moment in Spain. Riding along the waterfront, watching the bright, red sun setting and reflecting over the water. No pictures, but I'm pretty sure it'll stay in my mind forever. 

One afternoon I took the boys for a walk up to a nearby park. It's been almost 2 years since I uttered those words. A walk. On a sidewalk. To a park. These are the things I've missed from Canada. Strange how it's the little things that we end up missing the most.

Now this park was a bit lame, but the boys played on it by themselves for a good hour while I basked in the sun with Blaise. GLORIOUS.

My view from the park.

It was such a great week catching up with friends. The boys even performed in their first on-stage song ever! It was SO cute. Jude actually did the actions and while Noah stood and faced the wall the whole time, I was proud of him for actually making it on stage! Check it out!

God is watching over you from Vanessa Strickland on Vimeo.

I enjoyed a one-on-one coaching session with a fantastic staff woman {and friend} from Canada. She listened to me and my experience and understood a lot about living in Africa {she's married to an African and lived in Ghana for a time}. We talked so long that I was late for my next appointment. Which was counseling. 

I've never been to counseling but it was offered for free so I thought I'd try it out. I'd also seen some anger in me that surprised me and saddened me as I interacted with Noah who had refused to go to childcare a couple times. Let me tell you, I am a total convert to counseling. I didn't really know at first what I wanted to talk about, but I talked and she listened and asked some really good questions and pointed out some words I had been using as I talked about the things I wanted for my kids and our home and our family. It's something I am going to look into as we move back to Canada and I continue to work through thoughts and life stages and transition back to living in Canada.

Our time in Nerja was a total blessing. Stay tuned for our time in Barcelona!

life, lately

to be honest, i'm tired. i feel like that's been my standard answer now for oh...2.5 months now? good. but tired. 

half of the advent activities we've supposed to do haven't happened. 

i've missed out completely on most of the advent stories/readings that jamie does with the boys because i'm putting blaise to bed. 

noah struggled with his temper yesterday. 

jude peed in his pants four times. 

blaise screamed no matter what i did. 

i'm not complaining, but i do want to be honest here. because i never want to come across as a "super mom" or someone who seems to have it all together on this blog or in real life. i think there's enough out there that compels us to compare ourselves. at least it's something that i struggle with. every.single.day. 

so let's keep it real, shall we folks?

it's amazing, though, the third time around how my perspective is so different. jamie came into the kitchen today as i was making tortillas {yay for a dinner that everyone will eat!} with a fussy blaise in his arms and said, "this shall not pass." jokingly, of course. because we both know this time around how quickly this time actually does pass by us. pretty soon he'll be crawling and shoving noah's rogue lego pieces into his mouth and mauling jude with his drool. 

jamie and i are behind on our advent readings and despite my best intentions, it's after 11pm and i'm still up. 

there are hard things and hard times in everyone's lives. but there are also good things.

such as...

us investing into a new friendship with another couple here and also getting some free baby stuff - yay for a crib for blaise that's not a lumpy, bumpy pack 'n play mattress! 

homemade peppermint patties. lots of work {and a recipe i won't try again with kids running around me} but oh so delicious straight out of the freezer. because ya know, it's too warm around here to keep it out. hard life, i know. 

a date at the movies with my hubs who generously holds and rocks mr. fussypants by the entrance way so i can watch the movie and not miss out. {skyfall was awesome, by the way!}

taco night. 'nuff said.

grace spoken to my heart and patience amidst frustrating circumstances.

so let's not kid ourselves; life is hard sometimes. and sucky. but also? so good.

5 things i've learned since becoming a mom: slow down

part four in a five part series of things i've learned since becoming a mom 5 years ago.
you can read part one here, part two here and part three here.


this has been a lesson i've whole-heartedly engaged in over this past year.

slow down.

i'm going to be honest here. we lead a pretty slow life here. some would call it boring. heck, some days i would call it boring. we {the kids and i} don't often leave the house. we don't have preschool or kindergarten to go to. we don't do extracurricular activities and have struggled to find a church to belong to. there are no sidewalks here and walking along the road you're likely to get side-swiped by a taxi {public transit-type van} or a bodaboda {motorcycle}. there aren't public libraries or swimming pools here. we have nothing we're obligated to attend here and for awhile it felt wrong to be so unencumbered by programs or places. 
but then i thought about it for a moment and realized it was a gift. i will never have time like this again with my children. my children will never again be this age and giving me all of their time. every single minute of every single day is spent soaking up time with me. to some this might sound like a death sentence, but i've chosen to see it as a gift and a blessing. i always wanted to be a mom. i wanted to stay at home and raise my kids and right now? now i get to. 
it's amazing to me that noah is 5 and jude is 3 and blaise? he's 6 weeks old as of today! 

i've learned {and am continuing to learn} the beauty and value in slowing down. living in the moment. time goes by fast enough without me wishing for the next stage. how sad it would be for me to blink and realize that i'm 75 years old and i've spent my entire life wishing for time to go by faster so i can get to "insert a time in the future here". there is beauty in the here and now with my children. 

the long, lanky legs of my 5 year old, racing up and down our driveway. 
the hilarious "hey wait" that jude says every other sentence.
the sweet coos from blaise as he makes eye contact with me.

these are the moments that disappear before i can appreciate where i am if i'm always looking for what's coming up next.

i am tired and sleep deprived and sometimes short on patience, but this time is short and it will pass and i will have difficulty remembering the harder moments. all i will remember will be the sweet moments of sitting with jude on my lap at the table as we draw pictures together and giggle at the way jude calls a scarf a "scarft". the moments where noah throws his arm around jamie as they sit together on the couch. the moments of holding a sweetly sleeping baby who sighs and smiles in his sleep. these are the ones i want to remember and soak up.

so i am learning to slow down. in fact, this one lesson has been so incredibly valuable and precious to me that i already have small fears creeping in about returning to canada and the fast pace of life that i will encounter and undoubtedly struggle with. but that will be another lesson to be learned. all in good time, right?

on breathing

these ladies {aletha on the left of me, kelly to the right}. what an absolute blessing they both have been to me in my first year here in uganda.
they have both been like breathing in fresh air a midst the dust and diesel of this city.

before we left canada, i was googling resources for families living in kampala and came across kelly's blog. her and her family {same as mine; 2 boys about the same age} were preparing to move to kampala only months before we were. i left her a comment on her blog and we soon connected via blogs and emails. it wasn't too long after we arrived that kelly and i met up and the connection was instant. a friend! in kampala! thank you, Jesus!

about mid-october i decided to take a hiatus from facebook but feared how i would connect with other women in kampala without the help of facebook groups like "expats in uganda", etc. God is so good. he doesn't need facebook to connect people.
about a week later i got an email from a friend of a friend who lives in uganda and thought that me and another young mom she knew of should meet up for coffee and get to know each other and if it didn't work out, well that's fine. so me and this other mom {aletha} met up and i really liked her! she was honest and real and had already been living in uganda for a year with her two little kiddos. what a total blessing from God!

this next year is going to look different for me in terms of these two ladies. aletha and her family will be returning back to canada in october and both of kelly's boys will be in school 5 days a week. and oh yeah, i'll be having a baby in mere weeks. so it's going to look different for all of us, but i am so thankful for their friendship during my first year in kampala and whatever this next year looks like, i trust in God's provision for all my needs - all i have to do is look back to how He provided for me this past year and my hope is renewed.

one blessed mama

i'm not sure if it's some sort of instinctual pregnancy thing {like nesting} that makes me want to scoop up my children and love on them in a way that seems to say,

life is going to change for our family. it won't just be the four of us anymore. someone else is coming into our lives and he's going to require a lot of my time and energy but that doesn't mean i'm going to love you any less.


noah's been more cuddly lately. or maybe i've just been more attuned to his needs. whatever the reason, tonight while we cuddled in the dark with no power he had some questions about the baby and i braced myself for questions like, will you stop loving me? or why weren't you happy with just us? but they never come. instead questions like, will you read to baby b, too?

yes, i answer. he'll listen to the same stories i read to you and jude.


and when you and daddy got married, was i not born yet?


i say, no. you weren't born yet. you and jude came a few years later.


i love how my sweet noah is so tender-hearted. so interested in babies and kids. so thoughtful in his questions. so accepting of this new life coming into our family.

at dinner time, jamie shows the boys his wedding ring and says that the ring means that he's married to me.
jude pipes up with, one day, i'm going to marry you all by myself!

i am one blessed mama.

lucky friday links

i'm not superstitious. at all, really. but it is friday the 13th. i think i like that it's friday the 13th mostly because it doesn't happen too often.

2 more sleeps until jamie gets home!

this morning we had some friends over and played and read books and danced to disney songs. i love that i have a couple really sweet friends here. i am so thankful for how God's shown His love to me in this way over the past year.

we all had a little lay-down after they left, then cleaned up and now the boys are sitting watching the lion king. i'm thinking about what to make tonight. i was planning on doing my usual friday night = pizza night but i have no cheese. so...it might be pb & j or whatever else i can scrounge up.

last saturday we went to mishmash but my bagel lady wasn't there. nor was the tortilla chip lady. sad times. so we'll try again tomorrow.

i posted this picture on facebook the other day and a friend commented that soon enough i'll have 3 little musketeers! crazy.

here are some fun friday links for ya!

i don't even remember how i found this link, but when i did, i almost died a sweet, sugary death as i imagined how delicious this dip would taste. yum. dessert. dip. make this. i made a tiny version of it for myself the other night. it was perfect. if you can't go camping, why not have some of the benefits? :)

and then there's the whole phenomenon of fruit & vegetable chips. here's a fantastic site that give tons of options {beet chips? kale?} with possible seasoning combinations.

and this? i am absolutely and completely in love with. every child's {and maybe a few adults, too} dream backyard hideaway. and they made it all. just...love. did you have a tree house in your backyard growing up? a fort? we had these oversized bushes on the corner of our townhouse property that had an empty space in the middle for us kids to have secret club meetings or create booby traps in. sweet memories, right there.

and this is a blog i'm crushing on right now. she's cute. and she sews. {just like how i will one day. right? right.} and it's a pretty blog. check it.

and these? genius. they're cheap and chemical free! i think they'd be perfect to give in a little "get-well" porch fairy gift. and also just to have for you and the kiddos when you've got the sniffles. if i can find the essential oils here, i might try and make them here. otherwise they're on the "to-do" list in about a year's time.

and for my Toronto friends and readers, you need to go here. please. just go. now. {donuts. chicken. need i say more?}

enjoy your weekend!

on what i've learned...

as this STINT year is coming to a close {the short-term project has come and gone and our fellow teammates, nick and trevor, are heading back to canada on tuesday} i've been pondering and mulling over the things i've learned over this past year.
one thing in particular is actually all-encompassing and i've described in so many different ways.

giving thanks.
finding joy.
seeking beauty in the every day. in the mundane. 
splashes of glory.


i took a facebook hiatus from about october to sometime in february. it was so good for me and my soul and it really helped me become more confident in who i am apart from the praise of man, which is so easily found on facebook. or the interwebs in general.

how many likes did that status get?
look at all those comments on that cute picture of my boys!
that blog entry got so many page views!
what a great tweet by me. so many people retweeted it!


i took a step back and am learning to embrace who i am apart from everyone else. who God has fearfully and wonderfully made me to be. and to STOP comparing myself to everyone else.
and even though i'm back on facebook, i'm feel so much more aware of what i post. the words i choose. am i being salt and light? am i encouraging those who happen to see my statuses or am i merely looking for an outlet to boast or complain or seek justification? i'm definitely not seeking to present a false image of who i am. i am not happy all the time. i don't gush with love and patience and joy in every moment. i am not perfect. but i am aware of the fact that social media can be used for good and not just fill a void. or become an obsession.

and so these things that i've been learning over this past year. i want to share. to show that life is not easy. it is hard. and filled with challenges. but we have a choice. to choose joy. to choose our words so that they drip with life-giving encouragement instead of bitterness, grumbling and complaint.

the other day i was reading Abide in Christ by andrew murray and he spoke about how we are the branches and Christ is the vine. how all we need to do to abide in Christ is come to Him as we first came. in faith. trusting in the strength and life and love of the Saviour {our true vine} to do everything that he has promised He will do {help us to love, trust, abide, find joy and love others}. and that includes helping us to see the beauty in the mundane when everything around us is begging for negativity.

these days i've been struggling to love someone. i think we all have a person we struggle to love, at least at some point in our lives. part of me feels justified in this difficulty but i am praying for love because i know it's not going to come from anything within me. it's just not. so i'm praying and i'm trusting in my True Vine to come through and provide.

so i'm still learning. and growing. and it's good. HE is very, very good.

busy

there's so much going on i barely know where to begin or what to blog about!
our student summer project {a short-term missions trip with the organization we work for} arrives tonight from canada! the staff have been here since wednesday and we've got a full house. it's full, but i'm loving it. it's busy and it's only going to get busier.
with the staff came sweet little packages of goodies and treats for us and the boys.
i've got a pantry full of chocolate and candy and the boys got some fun toys from our lovely friend and former house-sharer {in guelph she lived in our basement}, emily.
the boys loved the little capsules that when put in hot water, turn into little sponge animals.

and then there's the fabulous bubble-wands/light sabers the boys were thrilled to try out this morning. i laughed {again and again} and how jude blows bubbles out of the side of his mouth. like popeye. 

and i know that my mom and my mother-in-law have sent over a ton of stuff with some very gracious students who arrive late tonight. it'll be like christmas. i might have to ration it out over the next few weeks. 

but the biggest blessing for me? having people in my house who are lovely and wonderful and most of all are loving on my kids - big time. last night i watched my boys run over and over and over into the arms of some fantastic ladies to give them hugs as a game. my heart was filled to overflowing with happiness and gratitude. 

it's busy and over the next 6 weeks it will be stressful and overwhelming and incredibly tiring {i'm watching my energy levels what with me being 23 weeks pregnant and all} but i pray the blessings will remain at the forefront of my mind and my heart.

the sweetest thing

jude is only wearing a diaper and is covered in blue {washable} marker.

noah is wearing his red cape.

there are 2 cardboard houses in my living room {decorated in blue washable marker}. one belongs to a washing machine. the other to a dryer. we have power. both are running right now. so incredibly thankful.

putamayo kids folk playground music is playing right now.

i did a 30 minute pilates video workout this morning and dripped sweat.

i made our favourite banana muffins this morning.

my hair feels unbelievably healthy and wonderful after getting a haircut last week.

tonight we're having tuna casserole for dinner. i'll probably get started on that soon.

i banned all kids toys in the living room this morning after the boys painstakingly and with much complaining grudgingly cleaned up the mess that had somehow taken over our entire living room. we'll see how long it lasts. jude needs constant reminders of this new rule. i've lost it a few times with them today. i hate raising my voice. i feel like bill cosby sometimes,
come here. come HERE. COME HERE. COMEHERECOMEHERECOMEHERE. 
i know this is a reflection upon my poor parenting skills and lack of consistency as of late.

regardless, there are many things {so many things} that we have to be thankful. i am counting my blessings. one by one, big and small.

- that jude's cold has passed. we didn't have to take him to the clinic.
- a washer!
- a dryer!
- my very own Mr. Darcy who would say that i have bewitched him body and soul.
- power!
- friends here in Kampala
- sweet friends and family in Canada
- skype
- sour gummy worms
- sharing a giddy laugh with jamie in the pantry
- friends here who know how to fix stuff
- the smell of freshly cleaned and dried laundry
- money to buy food
- noah's imagination and love of reading
- a Kindle from my in-laws {the gift of unlimited reading here!}

thank you, Jesus.

jinja

we've been in jinja since thursday on a little getaway with our friend & coworker archie, who's joined us from canada.

jinja is located on the nile river and some of the places we've been to are absolutely gorgeous.

we went on a sunset cruise of the nile and we were the only ones on it! there were snacks a-plenty and even a barbecue on board for us all to enjoy to some eclectic tunes {kid rock, bob marley, coldplay, garth brooks...yeah. it was epic.}. 

we sat back and enjoyed the ride.

and then jude threw his nalgene bottle into the nile.

awesome.

and our captain even turned around and fished it out of the water!

we've done lots of swimming and watched some christmas cartoons. we've eaten some yummy food {tonight we tried banana fritters - so good.} and there have been been some kids for the boys to play with here.

i am looking forward to getting back "home" and wonder at this homebody i've become.

homebody and yet...traveller still. it's interesting.

we've been reading our christmas story books and opening our advent envelopes {although today's was "Do a craft with Mom." and that was a bit of a fail as i didn't properly read the instructions. oh well.} and can't wait to get back to our house to go through all the goodies that archie brought from home for us.

so very thankful.

oh! also, our boys have slept in the same bed for the last couple nights here. the nights have not been super smooth, but they could have been worse. needless to say, both boys took 2+ hour naps today.

it's so good for all of us to continue to learn to be flexible. i'm just thankful they are used to sharing a room {which i 100% recommend}. 

happy saturday!

a perfect 30

i almost feel as though i can't even write words to do this day justice.

it was perfect.

jamie and the boys brought me breakfast in bed {okay, so i was pulling on my jeans as they walked into the room, but it's the thought that counts, right?} and then gave me a couple cards {thanks amanda for the sweet card and hilarious lollipops!}.

i came out to the living room to discover that they had put up "30" garlands everywhere {again, thanks amanda! you are one thoughtful, wonderful girl!} and the new coldplay album playing {shhh! it's an illegal copy, but jamie's buying me the real one in 3 days when it officially comes out!}. go and buy mylo xyloto when it comes out. just do it. it's freakin' awesome. i've been listening to it non stop all day long.

then i hopped in the car {yes. i am driving in kampala. this is a blog post for another day.}, cranked up the coldplay, and drove to meet my sweet friend, kelly at a wonderful french bakery called le patisserie. we had lattes and apple turnovers that had the most delicious apples inside the butteriest, flakiest pastry ever. perfection.

outside le patisserie

then we drove to friday market where we walked and talked up aisles and aisles of gorgeous african art, jewelry, musical instruments and general creativeness. 

i bought some pretties for me, an apron, a light shade to cover up the hideous florescent light fixture in our dining room and a cool wooden block thing that you can change to show the month and day for "educational" purposes for the boys. 

after a very productive shop at friday market {i'll be back.} i drove home and hung out with the boys for the afternoon and even got to have a wee nap.

also, did i mention that all this week jamie has gotten up with the boys in the morning so i can lounge in bed a little longer? i married up. just sayin'.

then jamie and the boys and i got back in the car and drove to the mall and did a bit of looking around. i got the boys some juice boxes and we waited for jamie to finish paying for the other things.

then we went over to cafe java's and i ate the most delicious curry EVER. it was their coconut fish curry and OH.MY.GOSH. it melted in my mouth. buttery, coconutty, deliciousness. 

then we ordered dessert {why yes i did pack up 1/2 my dinner so that i could still have room for their brownie sundae! how did you know?} and nick and trevor surprised me with this fantastic batik for our dining room! great job, guys!

and then, our dessert came out and all the waiters sang to me. ha! love it. sneaky, sneaky, guys. 

and then we stuffed ourselves with delicious ice cream and chocolate brownies.

{note jude's finger reaching out to nab some of my ice cream!}

easy there, big fella.

i was so blessed today. by friends a far sending me sweet messages on twitter and email and by friends here treating me to breakfast {thanks kelly!} and giving me very thoughtful gifts.

teapot from kelly, sugar bowl from our housegirl elizabeth and delicious camembert cheese from a fellow missionary, lynn {who remembered our conversation about our mutual affection for cheese.}

i wouldn't change a thing about today and my heart is full. 

*also now? i'm going to watch The Fellowship Of The Ring - per my request. happy birthday to me!

land of eternal summer

today we went swimming. outside. in the middle of october.
so surreal.
and yet, i love it.
it even rained while we were swimming but then the sun came out and it was a sweet, warm rain.
the boys loved it and i think we'll likely do it again sometime soon.

later today while i was pushing noah on the swings, we talked.
he - without any prompting by me - started listing off all the things he loves, make him happy or is thankful for. it was so wonderful to hear my boy choosing to give thanks and recognizing that he has much to be thankful for. i am thankful to have such an amazing little boy with such a huge heart.

one of jude's latest saying is "i'm safe. we're safe." and when i asked where he got it from, jamie told me it was him.
sometimes when our power goes out in the evening i light a candle in the hallway near the boys' room in lieu of a nightlight, but every time i've done it, jude cries and cries and jamie told me he blows it out and tells jude that he's safe and he doesn't need to be afraid. so i guess i'm not lighting a candle near their room anymore.

saturday

i slept like a log last night. it was amazing.

i made starbucks coffee this morning for breakfast. have you heard of this amazing invention called a thermos? you should get one. it keeps your breakfast coffee hot when it's 2pm in the afternoon and you're hankering for another cuppa.

it's pouring rain. the boys were delighted to put on their raincoats and run around. i liked watching their joy and the beads of water coming off their {MEC} raincoats that we bought before we came here. a wise investment as far as i'm concerned.

i had cheesy scrambled eggs with a leftover biscuit from yesterday for lunch. and a cup of coffee.

i lay down with jude for his nap and watched him suck is fingers until slowly he drifted off into sleep and his fingers fell out of his mouth. is there anything more wonderful than watching your child sleep?

i took this picture of noah while running in the rain and all i see is baby noah. i love it.

i'm waiting for my butter to come to room temperature and then i'm making these. be jealous. or make 'em. whatever.

tonight jamie and i are going on our first date night since moving to kampala. i'm excited. maybe i'll tell you tomorrow what we ended up doing. {rule #1 of living in africa. always hold your plans loosely.}

plans are in the works for a swing set to be made for the boys. again, holding this loosely. maybe by the end of this month there will be some sort of play structure in the backyard for the boys!

i'm exercising almost every day. we got a stationary bike and i'm using it! i think i'm in a place where exercise is just a part of my life. i enjoy it. i need it and i want it in my life. so i do it. it makes me happy and a little bit proud of myself.

our house girl {elizabeth - she is awesome} is looking into the availability and prices of a turkey and ... pumpkins! now apparently they don't have orange pumpkins here. they only come in yellow/green so we'll see. i may have to experiment a bit but i'm hoping to be able to serve pumpkin pie come next monday {canadian thanksgiving}.

have i told you how much i love october? no? well. i love it. it makes me sad to be missing the change of the colours of all the leaves in ontario. the crisp fall weather that requires cute hats and pretty scarves and stylish boots and goes well with steaming mugs of hot chocolate and apple picking and baking, baking, baking. so i'm getting some of this and i miss it, but i'm not homesick. instead, i'm embracing the goodness of living in africa. life is pretty awesome and i'm choosing to open my eyes wide to the beauty and splashes of glory in the everyday.

this is me. on the first saturday in october. 2011.
how's your saturday?

it smells like rain

we've been hearing thunder for the last couple days but no rain.

i had just been speaking with my mom on skype and mentioned how we hadn't had rain in a few days.

about an hour after i said this the skies opened up and rain poured down from the heavens.

i breathed in deep.

it smelled so good. earthy. wet. 

i grabbed my camera and went outside to find it smelled even better out there.

i thought to myself

i never want to forget this. 

to my delight, noah joined me and sat on the warm steps as we watched the rain come down.

can i go and run around in the rain, mom?

definitely. always and definitely.

Listen, you heavens, and I will speak;

hear, you earth, the words of my mouth.

Let my teaching fall like rain

and my words descend like dew,

like showers on new grass,

like abundant rain on tender plants.

I will proclaim the name of the Lord.

Oh, praise the greatness of our God!

He is the rock, his works are perfect, 

and all his ways are just.

A faithful God who does no wrong,

upright and just is he.

Deuteronomy 32:1-4

one

happy first monthiversary to us!

to celebrate living in uganda for 1 month we {me and the boys} made rice krispie squares with {lots} of sprinkles. i gave jude a little container of sprinkles thinking he'd pick them up with his fingers and delicately sprinkle them all over the rice krispies.

oh silly, silly me. why of course he just dumped the entire thing out in a pile on top of the rice krispies.

they tasted amazing.

then the boys helped me make {whole wheat molasses} bread.

and then i made italian ground beef and veggie soup with apple crisp for dessert. jamie even came home with strawberry ice cream so we served it up with a scoop of that deliciousness. 

and then {just now} i found out that i won a contest i entered on this fantastic kids style blog i subscribe to. 

what a day of blessings.

what a month of blessings.

rain :: storm

quiet nights are hard to come by here.

it's now been several nights in a row where jude has slept all the way through the night without waking up {thank you Jesus}.

but the other night i woke up to

nothing.

no dogs barking.

no african clubbing music.

no random djembe drummers.

no loud cawing birds.

no honking.

no sirens.

just a few crickets.

and then it started to rain.

have i mentioned how much i love the sound of the rain here?

no?

well, it's amazing.

incredibly soothing.

and lovely. 

probably one of my favourite nighttime sounds.

{another one being the sound of cars driving along at night on empty roads. it reminds me of home. 

total city girl right here.}

i decided to thank God for this sweet middle-of-the-night blessing.

just for me.

look for the every day blessings.

they are there.

alongside the challenges and hardships, they are there.

you just have to look.

************

and then there was last night.
raging, fierce, thundering, lightening, sheets of rain poured down.
angry, harsh, powerful rain.
not the steady, sweet sound of a light rain that happened a few nights ago.
no, this was pure power.
He was there in that powerful, fiercesome storm.
but just like elijah, i didn't hear His voice in it.
but i knew He was there.
sustaining us.
protecting us.
my heart broke as i lay there listening to the rain go on and on.
i was thinking of all the ghettos i've seen here in kampala.
children and their parents live in those ghettos.
i'm sure their roofs leaked.
i'm sure they were cold.
did they tremble in fear because of how exposed they felt in the storm?

there are blessings in my life, but even here, in this life that is so different from what i'm used to, i have it so much better than most others in this city.
what are their blessings?
what do they look like?
is their faith stronger than mine?
surely it must be.

little things

it's the little things that make me happy.

i think that's true about most people.

here's what's made me happy in the past few days:

is it weird that it makes me happy to have somewhere to put my toothbrush and face wash? 

oh and not only do the boys have a shelf for toiletries but they also have a mirror! oh the luxuries!

{it only took 2 weeks. still waiting on ours.}

you guys, i have mixing bowls. in all different colours! happy!

would you just look at that soft lighting? goodbye ugly florescent lights! 

also? 

tonight i had a hot shower! {also for the first time in 2 weeks.} 

all those who are planning on visiting us here, take heart! 

your bathroom has the only hot water tank in our house. 

and last, overhearing noah "reading" the very hungry caterpillar to jude this afternoon.

a moment of sibling happiness a midst the cranky, aggravating behaviour that was more than present today.

and now off i go to read in the beautiful glow of my new soft lighting.

bon nuit!

beginning

yesterday i decided to just go ahead and make some plans with a blogger friend i had not yet met.

so this morning {after baking some banana bread} jamie called our taxi driver {his name is abby and he's been great so far} and me and the boys loaded into the car and drove to the other side of kampala to meet up with kelly and her boys.

it took less than 30 minutes {i was totally expecting it to be longer} and we arrived to their lovely house way up on a hill.

me and jude. noah was beside me.

my view from the backseat.

oh my. it was indeed a breath of fresh air to my soul.

to be honest, i've been missing my friends and specifically some solid, female interaction. 

and so i prayed.

and God is so faithful.

kelly and i had a lovely time chatting and our boys played together quite well.

in the words of  humphrey bogart, "i think this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship."

thanks God for providing for your children. 

matthew 7:11