When life gives you rain, make umbrellas!

If you haven't figured it out yet from earlier posts, we love rainy season. There's nothing better than a cool rain.

The other day we were out just before a rain and Dawson started making an umbrella out of mango leaves.

I thought they were pretty cool so I made one myself.

They didn't really provide tons of rain coverage when it did actually start to rain, but they were great to twirl as we sang "Singing in the rain."

Three reasons I love Africa

Nothing ever goes to waste. Elizabeti, a type 1 diabetic, used my fake hair once I took it out to do her own. Glad someone else could enjoy the hair as well.

There are reminders of home. Though you can't tell very well, Balla is wearing seersucker pants. Someone donated clothes and the inpatients enjoyed all the new things. It makes me smile to see him walking around in seersucker pants. Sweet reminder of Charleston. We've also seen UNC hats and Duke sweatshirts. They wear whatever they find without any idea of what its significance. That brings me to number three...

There are always reasons to laugh. In case you can't read the shirt the little boy is wearing, it says, "I didn't ask to be a PRINCESS, but if the CROWN fits..."

Thankful

Yesterday I was in our bedroom when I heard a crash. I thought a plate had broken. I walked into the room and saw this.

Somehow the window came off the hinges as Dawson was sitting on the couch. He said he had his foot on the window and then it fell off. Now, Brett tried later to see if he could get another window off the hinges and it didn't even budge as the windows were painted after they were put up so the paint kind of glued them in place. But for some reason, this one came tumbling down.

I am thankful it landed on the couch corner and not on Dawson. He was sitting right under the window. These are heavy metal windows. Both Dawson and I have had stitches from hitting our heads on them. He would have been seriously injured had it landed on him and not the other couch. I am thankful for the Lord's protection.

I don't mean to sound dramatic, but it was one of those times where you see what happened, start cleaning up and realize what could have happened and how the outcome could have been much different.

Even neater was that Dawson recognized that God "saved him." He even asked me to get the video camera out and record him so he could tell his story. So he stood there and told me what happened and how God had protected him and kept him safe. Sweet to see his trust in the Lord.

I love my boys

I love my boys. Even during those days that I want to pull my hair out, I love them. They make me laugh. I love the stage of speaking that Silas is currently in. His vocabulary is increasing a ton yet he still can't get all his words out. When he does it often makes me smile just to hear all the things he can say.

Lately at night he likes to pray after reading the Bible. Really all he wants to see every night in Bible reading is Jesus. "Dat Jesus?" - No, that's not him. "Me see Jesus!" He's not content until we look at several pictures of Jesus. Then he prays. He closes his eyes and begins to talk in a mumbled whisper, "Tank you, Jesus...[mumble various things] Dawson [ mumble mumble] sleep." Then he looks at me and says, "dat good?" and continues this pattern for several cycles until we get an Amen. He doesn't like when others close their eyes since he wants to be the only one praying. (We'll have to work on that). I don't know that there is anything sweeter than hearing a little one pray to Jesus, even if he is yelling at his brothers in between.

I was struck the other day as I played cars with Silas how different that is with the third boy rather than the first. With Dawson, I would sit and we would drive the cars around. Silas asked me to play. He gave me four cars and lined them up in front of his. He then proceeded to fight with them. They were blowing each other up and flying. Never did the cars drive around like cars. For all practical purposes they were super heros fighting the bad guys.

Kenan calls the remote control the "camote."

And then there are the sweet comments from my boys. As I came home one day from work, the boys gave me flowers from our yard and told me to put them in my hair. I did and Kenan told me I was pretty. Dawson took my hand and said, "I think you are pretty everyday." So sweet.

I was eating on a small plate the other day for lunch and Dawson asked me why. I told him I was trying to lose weight. He asked me if I was on the Biggest Loser (he has seen me watch that while I exercise). I told him I wasn't but I was just trying to eat less. They kept asking why and I showed them my belly. "Oh, you want to get rid of that extra skin?" Dawson asked. He then pulled on his belly and asked if he had extra skin. I told him no, that he was perfect. Kenan, as he stuffed himself with food, pipes up and says, "I am perfect too, aren't I?" Yup, you are Kenan. I loved his confidence.

These are special days. Now that I feel like my head is above water and I'm not drowning in poopy diapers, sleepless nights, and endless days of meeting three little kids every need, I can simply enjoy the boys. Enjoy their innocence, mispronunciations, and words of love. I'm so thankful for them!

A glorious Saturday

I know that I've already posted about rainy season but I just can't keep myself from doing it again. I don't know that there is anything better than waking up to a rainy Saturday morning. It makes you feel nice and cozy and gives you a good excuse to do nothing but enjoy your family. We had that kind of Saturday last week.

As I sipped on my special weekend mocha, the boys enjoyed hot chocolate and Pringles.

I do wonder if they will ever be able to see rain and not have hot chocolate. :)

We now play "Run Rain" with each rain. Kenan says the rules are you are to run without getting hit with rain but really, it's just a running in the rain race. I laughed as we played because there were levels like they would have in a Wii game. Level 8 and after you could use a short cut but before then the path was different. Kenan was a good sport saying that if we all ran and made it to the garage we all won. Good thing, too, because he is the slowest of the bunch.

And of course, a day of playing in the rain wouldn't be complete without super heros, at least in this house.

A super hero and his trusty side kick following along.

Andy's visit

Andy came back to visit this year. He was only supposed to stay three weeks but once here we were able to convince him to add on to his trip so we were blessed to have him here 5 1/2 weeks.

The boys loved having him here. They talked about his arrival for weeks. They always wanted to play with him. He was gracious and played with them a ton. I don't know that I've met another non-parent (especially a single guy) who could stand kids as long as he did. 5 1/2 weeks in a house with three little kids isn't easy, especially when they were in his room all the time. Thankful for those extraordinary people who can truly love on our kids and make them feel special. Thank you, Andy!

Having a shaving cream fight with the kids.

After an afternoon rain the boys found chalk that had been left out and was soaked. Andy showed them how you could "paint" with it and they (boys and Andy...and ok, me too) had tons of fun which included painting the wall with handprints. Dawson didn't like that Andy was taller so he had him hold him up so he could have the highest handprint.

Andy loved on the patients at the hospital as well. He will make a great pediatrician! Here he is playing in the rain with Francois.

Andy went on many village trips with us. We visited several patients whom we had sent home to die and hadn't yet passed, checked up on a TB patient who didn't come back, as well as taking one of our Type 1 diabetics back to her home village to greet family.

Walking with the kids and Kadia's father. (see post below)

Andy with Kadia's family.

Despite all the trips, Andy found time to still have fun. This is at the Malian National Park (see post below). We laughed saying if you just saw this picture you wouldn't believe this was in the middle of Mali.

Like last year, we cooked a ton while he was here. I think we all gained weight. We grilled several times (a first at the MacLean house), made blueberry scones, chocolate coconut macaroons, a pear tart, apple pie, butter pecan ice cream and many other yummy foods. Jeremie even called him the "grand cuisinier" since he was such a great cook. We enjoyed the variety of meals since I often just cook what is easiest/quickest.

We all enjoyed having Andy here and do hope that he comes back again. He is a blessing to have around. I also learn a lot when he is here since he has a wealth of knowledge on what seems like every subject. I truly appreciate his servant's heart and his willingness to do whatever we ask, whether that be at the hospital or here at the house. We are thankful for the time we got to spend together. Thanks for coming, Andy!

Mali National Park

Whenever we are in Bamako, we love to go to the new Malian National Park. You walk through the gates and it feels like you are in a different country. There is beautiful grass, nice playgrounds, a coffee shop, restaurants, and I must mention again GRASS! It's so nice. It is worth having to pay $3 a person to get in (though Maliens pay 60 cents).

of course all good days include playing super heroes.

they were really into picture taking

we got this one when we said we would go to the pool if they smiled. :)

decent family picture...

what they more normally look like. :)

We love time in Bamako and thoroughly enjoyed the good (by Malian standards) food. We had ice cream three times that day! :) We also enjoyed pizza, fries (twice) and hamburgers. Glad we live in Koutiala, though, so we don't eat like pigs all the time.