the Phillips family

family fun days

2012-01-23T16:38:00.000-05:00

For the first time ever, Mark & I sat down & made a list of goals we wanted to accomplish as a family in 2012. (I'll try & do a post on all of our goals we made later.) One of our goals was to have a "Family Fun Day" each month. We, of course, have fun as a family every day (ha!) but we wanted to make sure that we spend time away from the house, just the 4 of us, making memories together.

Our first fun day? The zoo! Also known as the animal prison to any adult with good seeing eyes. To our children, though, this is a magical place where they can see hippos, lions & monkeys! It only costs us a total of $6 to get into the zoo, so it's a very inexpensive fun day.

I will add that it is VERY hard to do things like this where we live. For one, there are just not many options. I'm already nervous about trying to plan 11 more fun days in this city! And, secondly, our family sticks out just a bit when we go out & about. Just a bit. You know when you go to the zoo in, let's say, Louisville? You can blend in with the crowd, right? Your kid cries or falls down & you may get a stare or 2 but no one minds you much business because they are taking care of their own kids.

Here? Not so much. It's almost like our kids become the bigger attraction at the zoo! Everyone stares at us. Everyone nudges their neighbor to say, "Hey look at those white people & their kids." And then out come the souvenir sellers because they know we want to buy one of their tablecloths & they will not take a kind "No, thank you" for an answer.

So a trip to the zoo to do something fun, blend in with the crowd, just be out of the house for a day ... not so easy here. But we do it because, for our kids, it is fun. They have no idea that they don't look like anyone else. They don't realize people are staring at them. And they are so used to everyone wanting to shake their hands that it's not unusual or weird to them.

But enough of that side story ... onto the fun at the zoo!

Seriously guys? Look at this poor monkey. Breaks my heart every time.

And this one? Poor fella.

My precious little girl. She was so excited to come to the zoo. PS - Can you see the pile of thorns & trash in the background? That's our zoo people. Classy & clean.

More cuteness coming at you. And more trash, too.

Izzy's favorite part ... the hippos.

She was telling some elaborate story here. That's her thing now ... telling stories. She'll say, "Okay, okay guys ..." & then go off telling us some story that we can only understand half of.

Lukey checking out the monkeys. These were indeed his favorite part.

Izzy was checking out this monkey by herself & she turned around & said, "This is what monkeys do" & stuck out her tongue. We were like, "Umm... Isabelle, monkeys do not do that. What are you talking about?"

But then she turned back around, reached for the monkey & he stuck his tongue out at her! Sorry, Belles, you were right.

My baby & the baby hippo.

Nothing ends a fun day at the zoo like a Tootsie Roll pop.

And this is where my daughter decided she wanted to get grumpy during our fun day & not take a picture with me. But at least my son still loves me.

Oh age 3, you are free to move on whenever you please!

our crazy kids

2012-01-22T17:22:00.000-05:00

I think I find myself at least once a day, if not more, saying to Mark (or thinking to myself), "Our kids are just so stinking precious. They are flat out crazy cute!" Now there are also multiple times a day when I probably say to myself, "These kids are driving me crazy!" But, seriously, Isabelle & Luke just get cuter & cuter by the minute. And I love how much they have been becoming BFF lately. Izzy said to us at dinner the other night, "Mommy, you & Daddy are best friends. Me & Luke are best friends." Awww ...

The most recent thing they want to do together is snuggle before bed time. They don't want anyone else in the room & they talk & laugh together & are just so sweet. It breaks Luke's heart when I take him to his crib because he wants to stay in the room with Izzy.

And since Luke has gotten older we've found that it's much easier to do things with both of them. Just last week, we went out to the river with Randy & spent the morning hanging out there & cooking bread in the pizza oven. This time last year, Luke was not walking & he was still taking a morning nap. So mornings by the river were not conceivable. But now? Watch out hippos, here we come!

Izzy & Luke before we headed to the river. Izzy wanted to wear her pearls for our fancy day by the river!

yummy Zatar bread made in the pizza oven by Randy & yours truly!

look at those 2 cuties! BFF!

And speaking of Luke growing up ....

how handsome (& nerdy) is my son?

oh my word, if I'd been ANYWHERE near this incident, this picture would've never been taken but my husband decided not to tell me what was going on so he could take this picture! Basically, it went like this ... Mark kills lizard on porch, Mark hands dead lizard to my son, Mark snaps picture, ha ha ha ... except Mama was not laughing!

last week, we also had Randy & his friend Issa from Ghana over for supper. Luke, our big boy, has decided that he actually likes other people now & went to chill out with the boys while I cooked. Yes, he went & sat with them outside ... by himself. And then, after supper, he decided he wanted to play his guitar for them. What a ham!

And in Izzy news, she's becoming quite the little girl herself. Even Gaga remarked that Izzy seemed to grow in maturity in the 3 weeks they were here. As she is getting closer & closer to being 4 years old, she is really maturing into a little girl ... most days! Ha!

Izzy & her friend Maggie. Maggie's family lives 12 hours away from us so we always try to squeeze in a play date when they are in town. This is where we found these 2 little girls after lunch this last time ... in our bed!!


this is Izzy's friend from church. We try to go to the English service on Sunday nights when we are not busy with volunteers & Izzy gets to go to "Sunday School." This is her little bud from her SS class.

Our kids really are growing up! Sometimes I just sit & watch videos of them when they were babies or becoming toddlers & am amazed at how much they can change so quickly! Time really does fly by & I do not want to miss a single minute of this time I have with my kids. I know that in the not-too-distant future, my kids aren't going to want me to have a video camera on them or to take them to the river or aren't going to have playdates anymore or Mom & Dad are just not going to be "cool" enough for them. (Although, I think Mark & I have pretty high "cool" ratings, if I do say so myself. .... Aaannnd that right there is why one day Izzy is going to look at me & roll her eyes & say, "Mom. Seriously." And then she'll make some exasperated sound & walk away. I know this will happen because I was the exact same way.)

Anywho, all this past & future mumbo jumbo talk is just to help make the point that I want to live in the present & be fully here & soak up every second I can with my kids & be grateful for each minute, good or bad. And that right there, folks, is basically my new year's resolution/goal for 2012. Well, it's a lot more than that but that's one of the numero uno ones. Being fully here. Being fully grateful.

let's rewind just a bit

2012-01-19T14:05:00.000-05:00

I feel like we need to rewind the clocks a bit & catch you up on the first week or so in January before moving on to the present day. I had plans to do this last week but, as such is life in Africa, our internet was down for 8 days. Lovely.

I also don't feel like I've given a good recap of Gaga & Papa's trip here so we'll just make it a hodge podge kind of post ... but mostly about G&P!

First, let's give them a big round of applause for watching the kids & giving these 2 love birds a date night. Awww ....

Most of the their trip looked like this ...

baking Christmas cookies with both kids!

bubbles with Lukey

playing in the school room with Izzy

reading the same book to the kids EVERY night

more bubbles with the Lukester

playing with water outside

painting with Isabelle

watching Luke perform some mad skills on the porch. look at that form, will you?

We also took some time to do a few fun things like going to the river ...

ladies chilling on a mat watching for hippos

brave Gaga for getting in the boat with our crazy kids

watching Izzy scoop water out of the boat ... or maybe into the boat ... I'm not sure but she was sure having fun doing it

We also celebrated Gaga's birthday ...

Izzy wanted to wear her "fancy" dress

Dinner at Namastae's (the delicious Indian restaurant in town) with Cephas & Biba

and ice cream to top off the night. Wowza, wowza ... my kids are crazy & messy!

One of Gaga & Papa's other main objectives on this trip (besides doting on our children & spoiling them rotten) was to participate as part of a volunteer team with their church. This was G&P's 5th trip to Niger but the first time for them to be part of our ministry as volunteers & not just family. We were so happy, that after 5 years of praying for us, their church was able to join us on the field!

First Baptist Church of Franklin, Kentucky spent 5 days (should've been 7 but you can read about that in the last post) doing both children's & music ministry in Ayorou, Boubon & Niamey ...

Big D teaching some fellas in Ayorou how to rock it on the hand chimes

A sweet time of prayer for & with the believers in Ayorou

Madame J doing what she loves most ... holding babies

The team performed with Cephas' church choir on a Wednesday night & also performed a few numbers on the hand chimes

The last day of ministry in Boubon, we decided that it'd be a good day for the kids to tag along. It was only a half day in the village because the team was flying out that night so it worked out perfectly that the kids could tag along & not miss naps. Izzy was BEYOND excited to ride with Gaga in the bush taxi!

The kids in Boubon were VERY excited about the team being there!


teaching the kids some songs in Zarma. The team did an amazing job of learning songs in Zarma before they came.

I am so thankful to have wonderful in-laws who not only love my children but also love the people we live & work among. We know that our family are some of our biggest advocates & prayer supporters. While you'd think that'd be a common thing among missionaries, it's not. We are in the minority in that our parents have both been to the field & multiple times, at that. We are even in a smaller minority in that we've also had a sibling (& their family!), a cousin & an aunt come to visit us. We are so grateful for our family in so many ways but we are especially grateful for their partnership with us in our ministry.

taking it easy

2012-01-03T05:36:00.000-05:00

From Christmas to New Year's Eve, we took it pretty easy & enjoyed being at home & not having a schedule. While the kids played with Gaga & Papa & their new toys, I tackled some items on my long standing to-do list. I spent the better part of December 26 printing out the rest of Izzy's preK curriculum. Mark & his parents helped me take down the Christmas decor that evening & then we rewarded them by making them play Quelf with us. Ha!

Soaking up some time with my Lukey while watching his new Elmo DVD. Y'all the kid has become a snuggler!

On December 27, I spent from 9 am til 11 pm organizing, cleaning, & decluttering every cabinet, closet, drawer or shelf in my home! There's just something about taking down Christmas decor that puts me in the mood to do a mass overhaul on my house ... & our stuff!

My performing child! (please disregard the tipped over trashcan in the back) She loves to put on a show every evening & making up her own songs! Half the time, we have no idea what she's saying but it makes us laugh & smile so much!

And her performance is completed with a bow ... hand on chest!

On December 28, we celebrated Gaga's birthday with a trip to see giraffes followed by lunch out & then dinner out on the town with Cephas & Biba.

Seeing the giraffes. This was Izzy's gazillionth time to be out here but Luke's first.

He wanted to wave to that giraffe standing next to the tree.

Whoa! Who's that smokin' couple out there in giraffe territory?

Me & my girl!! What you do not see is how I am squatting & she is trying to sit on my leg & I'm doing all I can to not fall on the ground!

Isn't that just precious?!

Family photo! And let me just explain my awkward hand-on-hip ... Izzy was pulling my neck down &, again, I was trying to not fall over. So I immediately reached out to brace myself but then realized I would be grabbing my mother-in-law's backside, so I quickly pulled my arm into myself & then the guy snapped the picture. Awesome.

I have no idea with the Belle is doing here but she's got her hands on her hip, so that means serious business.

Luke kept putting his head on Mark's & saying "Awww!" I wonder if he's heard someone say that before?!

Izzy yelling to the giraffes. She has a special communication technique with them.

Luke & Daddy spitting. We teach 'em young.

Cephas & Biba with Gaga & Papa before the birthday dinner.

On Thursday, December 29 we had a picnic by the river & then started getting ready for the team from Franklin, Ky that was scheduled to arrive on Friday. However, at 10 pm that night we found out that, due to mechanical problems on their flight in Nashville, they were not going to make it here ... until Sunday!

We were all devasted as this church has been a powerful praying force for the Songhai for 5 years & this was their first trip to the field. But the Lord knows what He's doing & is faithful & the team had such good spirits about having to spend 2 nights in Paris. It ended up working out for the better because Gaga got really sick on Thursday evening & was out of commission all day Friday. Izzy woke up in the middle of the night on Thursday throwing up & then being sick on Friday. And then Papa was under the weather on Saturday!

Making crazy faces. We're just cool like that.


Luke & the guard's son. I think he actually has started liking other people. Whudda thunk?

On Saturday evening & with no team to host, we decided to have ourselves an impromptu New Year's Eve party ... for ourselves! With about an hour & a half to work with, I scrapped our meal plans & whipped up a few random appetizers & cupcakes instead (because we all know that appetizers are a way better party food than a meal!). We projected a movie on the wall for the kids & made it about halfway through Toy Story. We then headed outside for our fireworks "show" which only consisted of 4 fireworks. Luke made it through 2 of the 4 ... barely. So he & I finished the show from behind closed doors. We all headed to bed well before 11 pm & rang in the New Year with our eyes closed.

Our random, what-was-on-hand appetizers: Cheese tray, crudites (aka - cucumber slices), deviled eggs, cream cheese chicken spread, meatballs, pizza dip & cupcakes

The kids' original set up for their dinner & a movie

But they decided they'd prefer to eat & watch the movie in the comfy chairs

And my poor little fellow who couldn't even handle the fireworks from behind closed doors. I do have to admit - they were pretty loud!

On Sunday, everyone was back to health, so we went to Cephas' church in the morning & then divided & conquered in the afternoon. The team was scheduled to play at the English worship service on Sunday evening but, in their absence, Mark & his dad had to fill-in. So Luke & I headed to the airport with Randy to pick up the team while the rest of the clan went to church. We met up with them at a restaurant afterwards, got the team settled in & then made it home around 10 pm. It was a long day! Happy New Year, right?!

And this now begins our busy year! We have enjoyed the last 12 days with Mark's parents being here & having a little bit of relaxation, sleeping in, getting things done on our to-do lists & just not being in a hurry to do anything. We're looking forward to all that's in store for 2012 & are so thankful that we had time to rest up before it hits us full force!

If you are one of the many, many people that are on the books to come see us this year & minister alongside us, we CANNOT wait to see you, host you in our home & introduce you to the Songhai. If you are one of the many, many friends that are returning to see us because the Songhai have become so deeply embedded in your hearts that you have found you cannot NOT (got that?) come, we seriously cannot wait to reunite with you & see your face again!

If 2012 is anything like 2011, we are in store for some amazing things. I have a feeling that God is just going to continue to amaze & astound us with His goodness & faithfulness!

where we've been

2011-12-31T10:41:00.000-05:00

This is a letter that Mark wrote to our Songhai team. We're sharing it on our Songhai ministry blog & I thought it'd be appropriate to share it here, as well. So many of you pray not only for our family but also for the ministry we do among the Songhai. Thank you.

Have you ever noticed that it’s hard to see growth, at least on a daily basis? To just look at Isabelle I would say she pretty much looks the same as she did this time last year. However, behind our kitchen door we keep a chart to measure her height. It is when we compare today’s mark with last years that I see how much she has grown in a year.

It’s hard to see growth in ministry too. When you’re in the trenches day in and day out, it’s tough to pause and look back on where you’ve come from. It’s tempting to think, “We’re where we were this time last year.”

Now the problem is that we don’t have a spot behind a kitchen door to measure this kind of growth. That’s why I’m writing this. I hope to put a couple "markers on the door" of Songhai ministry to be able to see what God has done this past year.

Here are just some of the highlights:

· Two villages that had previously had NO believers now have a witness. Read that sentence again. Two villages that for their entire existence have not had anyone believe or anyone to be a light now have a Gospel witness!

· 27 men and women prayed to receive Christ and were baptized!

· The Gospel was clearly preached in 16 different villages.

· Two men, both in their 50’s and from different villages share the same testimony: “I’ve been waiting 20 years for someone to tell me about Jesus.”

· A new long-term unit joined our team.

· We hosted 12 volunteer teams and 2 summer interns.

· We established a three-year partnership with Living Hope Baptist Church who will be sending 4 teams a year to work on “The Road to Karma.”

· We re-upped our partnership with FBC Hurst as they continue to minister on the Mehanna Road.

· We established a new partnership with Mount Olive Baptist Church.

· We created the E2E ministry strategy and implemented it in all our work.

· We trained and sent out our first short term national partners.

It is clear to see how powerfully God has moved this past year. Thank you for your faithfulness and your obedience to engage, equip, and empower the Songhai!

Together, advancing the Kingdom of Christ in Songhai lands,

mark

twas the day after Christmas

2011-12-26T07:31:00.000-05:00

Twas the day after Christmas & all through the house, not a creature was stirring, not even a mouse.

You read that right. Not a creature is stirring in this house ... except for me. Am I up early? Oh no! Y'all, my family let me sleep til 9 am! So why is it so quiet? Well, Mark needed to run errands to get ready for the team that's coming on Friday, so he took the kids & his parents with him. So I have a quiet house all to myself! What ever shall I do? Post a blog!

I know y'all are just dying to hear about our Christmas & see pictures! Ha! But if you really were hoping to get a glimpse into the Phillips family Christmas, I've got about 25 pictures to share with you!

One of our many, many attempts for a good "kids in their Christmas jammies" picture.

This was about as good as it was going to get.

But Luke said, "I'll show you good!"

Can y'all see "trouble" written all over that boy's face?!

I'm just glad his sister tolerates him!

After we tried our hand at a good picture, we read from our Advent calendar & then sang some Christmas songs. This boy loves to dance!

We got a little away from the normal Christmas songs & had to bust into "Boro Kulu." If anyone is familiar with this Zarma song, I bet you can guess which part Luke is dancing to here.

Luke can dance & Izzy can prance.

Ending the night with a picture with Gaga & Papa ...

... & starting Christmas day with one, too!

We woke up around 7:45 & took our time getting ready (okay, so I took my time getting ready while the kids played). We gathered around for our last reading of our Advent calendar around 8:30 & then Mark read of Christ's birth from the Bible. We sang a few songs & then were just about ready to open presents when Ms Izzy Rue had a little meltdown. Gaga was smart to suggest that maybe she needed a little snack before we opened presents. A little piece of fudge was all she needed to get her back on track!

This year was so much fun to have BOTH kids excited about presents. Izzy's been "ooh & ahh-ing" presents for the last 2 years but this was Luke's first year to really get into it.

My little kitchen helper! Papa made her this apron!

Luke was really excited about his new "backet-balls" (as he likes to call all balls)!

More puzzles for our puzzle obsessed child!

Izzy got a guitar from G&P when we did Christmas at their house in November & Luke loved it. So G&P gave him one, too! I think you can tell he was excited!

Christmas is just so fun with our kids at their ages!

Can you see the "oooh/ahhh" on Luke's face? It was so fun to watch him open his presents!

Isabelle helping Gaga with her present.

G&P gave Izzy & I a popcorn maker for our movie nights!!

And this is why I love shopping for my kids year to year & not buying in advance (which is what we're sometimes forced to do). If you had asked me 18 months ago (when we were buying for our crate), if Luke would want a stuffed puppy dog for Christmas, I would've said, "Ummm ... I don't think so." His sister is not really into stuffed animals but Luke just loves them. He wants to sleep with 4 at a time! So it was so wonderful to be in the States before Christmas because we were able to buy exactly what we knew both kids would want this year. And that puppy dog was one of them! Luke just cuddled it & then laid on the floor with it.

Time for stockings!

Another of Luke's gifts from G&P was this Tow Mater wagon. Izzy pulled Luke, Luke pulled his puppy, & all the adults had turns pulling Luke!

While I fixed breakfast, the kiddos got to play with their new toys while Papa & Mark cleaned up the mess of paper!

Christmas breakfast: sausage/egg breakfast casserole, homemade biscuits, sausage gravy & scrambled eggs for the kids.

After breakfast, we played some more with the kids & their new toys while G&P cleaned up from the meal. Both Mark & I got super sleepy around 11 am & so I zonked out for about an hour! The kids had a light snack for lunch & then went down for their naps. After they woke up, we Skyped cousin JJ, my Mimi & the rest of the SC fam (we had Skyped my sis, GB & Bebe on Christmas Eve). After the Skype call, I started in on Christmas dinner: pork roast, sweet potato casserole, Brussels sprouts (don't knock 'em til you try 'em), mac-n-cheese, 7 layer salad, & 3 choices of pies (pumpkin, pecan & coconut). It was a very Merry Christmas indeed!

Merry Christmas from the Phillips family!

how to decorate for Christmas in Africa

2011-12-24T08:13:00.000-05:00

Here are some helpful tips for how to decorate for Christmas in Africa. Are you ready? Get your pencils & start taking notes ...

1. Buy tickets to America

2. Get on a plane & go to said country

3. Take a trip to Hobby Lobby & stock up on their 50% off sale

4. Pack all your goodies very carefully in a suitcase

5. Get on a plane & go back home

6. Decorate your house with your new decor!

It's that simple! Okay, okay ... I'm half teasing. There really is not much to chose from here in terms of Christmas decor. Our first Christmas (2006) we had nothing except for a tiny tree my sister picked up at the $1 Spot at Target & what the Hepners sent us in a Christmas package. The next year we added a 4 foot tree, some ornaments & a few items that we had packed on our crate. In 2008, we had added nothing new except for a few ornaments we had mailed or brought here. In 2009, we had to leave Ayorou earlier than expected & spent our first Christmas ever (as a married couple) away from our home. Last year, we had that same 4 foot tree & just a few more ornaments.

But this year? Whew! What a great time to go to the States in November! We (or I) had a hay day at Wal-Mart, Target, Hobby Lobby, Home Goods, etc. buying new decor! We also got a new tree &, with a tree topper, we've almost doubled the size of our old one (about 7 ft tall)! In actuality, it's not much decor & we know that decorations do not enhance or define the meaning of Christmas at all. It's more for the traditional side of ourselves, the cultural side of ourselves, that likes a decorated home this time of the year.

Because you know what? Nothing else in this country, even the weather, makes it feel one bit like Christmas! It's just another day to the 99.9% of the people that live around us. And so we do what we can inside our house to show that this season is one of the most important holidays of the year to celebrate.

Our dining room. A few faux poinsettas from Wal-Mart, a half price table runner from Hobby Lobby & a little ribbon is all it takes!

Our entryway table. I've had that garland & snowman for years! The framed print was made & given to me by the most talented Amy Richey. And the fabric/ribbon garland was what I referenced in the last post that took me 6 evenings to finish!

I had to divide that garland into 3 strips because it turned out to be 10 feet long. I then had to find spaces to hang it all!

One of my most favorite gifts this year!! I've always wanted one of these plates!! Thank you Amy!!

Our buffet in our dining room with the last remaining cupcake from the parties! Some new garland (can you tell I love garland), gold ribbon & little holly berries. Plus, an awesome little Joseph, Mary & baby Jesus wood figurine made by my great friend Cheyenne!

More garland & our Christmas village. We've received that Christmas village at a wedding shower. Actually, the wedding shower was Christmas themed! Oh & there are our wise men from another nativity scene. We like to place them across the room since they technically weren't there at the birth of Jesus! Yes, I know, we're dorks.

Our tree & "mantle." And more garland!

A little wreath I picked up at Target & then added some ribbon & berries to it.

And what's Christmas decor without decorated Christmas cookies?!

tis the season to part-ay!

2011-12-21T16:40:00.000-05:00

The Phillips house has been partying like nobody's business. After we'd been home for a week, I hosted a Sip & See for a fellow colleague who just returned back to the country after having her little girl in Senegal. It was a fun gathering full of great food, fellowship & passing around the baby! Unfortunately, I didn't take a single picture nor did I get to hold the baby! Boo!!

I had both kids by myself that day because Mark was away at an overnight retreat. I got Izzy to entertain herself with a movie while the party was going on but Luke wanted to be right by my side. When he did sneak away & go watch the movie with Izzy, I bounced on the opportunity to hold the baby. But it was like he had some sixth sense. He came running into the room yelling, "Mama! Mama!" & wanted me to hold him. Crazy boy!

Since there were no pictures, I'll just show you the invite I whipped up for the Sip & See & it'll have to suffice ...

Five days after the baby shower, we hosted a Christmas party for Mark's Boys' Bible study group. Every Wednesday he teaches a group of 11th & 12th grade MK's. He's been taking them through Tim Keller's "Gospel for Life" study for the past semester. They normally meet at someone else's home but we decided to do the party at our house. I fixed a slew of Christmas treats & some of the boys brought a few extra things.

I made normal "Christmas-y" party type foods ... sausage balls, hot taco dip, little weenies, veggie tray, cake pops, peanut butter balls, etc, etc. Can you believe that some of these guys have never had nor ever heard of a sausage ball?!! What?!! Unfortunately, I didn't get a picture of the food but they all seemed to enjoy it because there was not much left! After they ate, they watched "Captain America" & then Mark gave them their "Man Up" t-shirts he had made for them. I'm not too sure what they're doing in this picture but I think it has something to do with the movie. Either that or they are letting their arm pits breathe.

Two days after the boys' Christmas party, we had our Songhai team Christmas party (us, Saleebys, Foxes, Cephas & Biba). We also invited our friends Ben & Melissa & our supervisor & his family. We had to do it in the morning/early afternoon so that the Foxes could come in from Boubon for it. So we started the morning with Christmas cookie decorating for the kiddos & ladies while the fellas played a game outside that Mark built called Washers.

After the kids had all they could stand of decorating cookies (which only lasted about 15 minutes), Melissa, Biba & I quickly finished the rest of them & then got the food out & on the table. We had a FEAST of food!!

We called the fellas in from their game, gave thanks for our delicious food & dug in! It was so funny while we were eating because it was so quiet in the house. There were a few conversations here & there but most people were just stuffing their faces with all the delicious food & sweets!!

After we finished eating & were full to the gills, we all got comfy to watch "Elf." My idea had been to have the movie on & in the background for those that wanted to watch but leave it optional. However, doing it in the living room, having to turn down the lights & be quiet so that those who were watching it could hear, made it kind of impossible to do anything else. But it worked out okay because I don't know of anyone who doesn't like "Elf," right?

Most of the kiddos made it through half of the movie but Luke was out first. He had enough of sitting still & was ready to play. So he snuck back to Izzy's room & was having fun with all the toys to himself! Eventually, the rest of the kiddos followed suit & they ditched the movie for the toys.

That evening, we invited Ben & Melissa back over to help us finish off the leftovers & to play "Quelf." But before we ate, Melissa gave Izzy & Luke their Christmas presents that she had made.

Monster shoes!!!

Will you please notice that Izzy's monster toes are painted?!

Raaaarrrr!!!

The Phillips fam is not quite partied out yet. Gaga & Papa just arrived last night & we are gearing up for one last party on Christmas Eve Eve. Well, it's not really a party ... just more of family & friends eating Christmas pizza & playing games! Is that a party?

U S of A ... place by place: last stop!

2011-12-20T16:27:00.000-05:00

So we are finishing up our recap of our trip to America. I don't know how many of you stuck with us through all of these VERY long postings. I pretty much did this for MY sake because I have such a hard time remembering things ... especially vacations that were a month long! But if you hung around, I hope you enjoyed it ... at least the pictures of our cute kids!

After saying goodbye to Bowling Green, we hopped on I-65 & started making our way south towards Atlanta. We had no real goal in mind of when to get there but preferably before midnight. The kiddos passed out pretty soon & took a long nap in the car. We stopped for gas & for a snack. We were really hoping to find a Chick-Fil-A somewhere on I-24 in the vicinity of where we were at because I was craving one last milkshake & Izzy was wanting one, too. But no dice. We settled for a slushie at a gas station.

An hour or so later, we happened upon Cartersville, Georgia. Forever & a day ago, longst before our life of international traveling, we came upon this same town in a trip to South Carolina & found a pizza restaurant that we loved. We crossed our fingers & used the very outdated, not too reliable GPS we were using in hopes that it would point us to that same restaurant. It did! Gondolier's Pizza did not disappoint for a second time almost 7 years later! The kids ate it up!!

And this is where I began to realize how much our kids taste influenced our eatings during our month in the States. The first time we ever came home after being on the field for a year (in 2007), we ate Mexican food 5 times in the span of 72 hours. That is what we missed most. The next time we came home, we loaded up on Mexican again, with a wee bit of Chick-Fil-A & a few steak restaurants (Izzy was only 11 months old at the time). The next time was our stateside & we had 7 months to spread out our choices but it was heavily weighed by Mexican, Japenese & Buckhead Cafe in Bowling Green.

But this time around? Our kids loved pizza. They ate REALLY good, full meals when we ate pizza. Other places (even Chick-Fil-A)? Not so much. We kept going to the Chick for the convenience of the playground & letting our kids get their wiggles out. But when we let the kids choose ... pizza, pizza, pizza! I don't think I had any idea on November 2 just how much pizza we would eat in one month's time. But I'm not complaining because it was good!!

Anywho, after our bellies were full, we spotted a Target &, even though we had no space left in our suitcases, we decided to hop on in & just peruse the aisles one last time! We got back on the interstate after our "window shopping" excursion & made it to Atlanta around 9 pm. We checked into our hotel & Mark went to wash the car & fill it up with gas while I got the kids ready for bed.

The next morning, Mark took the car back to the church where we had "rented" it from while I got the kids fed & dressed. We got a late checkout at the hotel since our only means now of getting to the airport was their free shuttle service. We didn't need to be there until 4 pm, so we wanted to stay at the hotel for as long as we could. The latest we could check out was 1 pm so that's what we had to do. We walked up to Quizno's for lunch (it was that or McD's) & then hopped on the shuttle a little after 1:00.

We were at the airport, checked in & through security before 2. We still had three hours to kill before we technically would start boarding for our flight. We walked & rode trams trying to find a "play place" like what we had seen in Minneapolis & Paris but couldn't find anything. I even got on ATL's website & went to the gates where they said they were located but nothing. We were pretty much exhausted from walking & searching & we weren't even in our terminal! So Mark parked us in front of a window & managed to get Luke to sleep.

While he was napping, Izzy & I headed out on another excursion in search of a mailbox to mail some thank you cards I had written. We seriously had to go ALL the way back to ticketing to find the mailbox! There was only one USPS mailbox in the Atlanta airport & it was at ticketing. I'm so glad I had our passports & boarding passes with me because we had to go through security again! Izzy was dying for a snack & I had promised Mark I'd pick us up a Cinnabon on my way back, so I stood in a line for forever to get us an order of fries, sweet tea & cinnamon roll (the 2 restaurants operated together). We got back just in time to scarf down our food, wake Luke up, go back to Chick-Fil-A to get supper to go, get on the tram, run to our gate, scarf down our supper (such bad planning to do a snack & supper 30 min apart!), get one last Starbucks, do a potty run/diaper change, & board the plane.

I was SURE that the kids would pass out soon after the plane got in the air because of the time of our flight. I just KNEW that they would sleep the entire trans-Atantic flight. We had 3 seats together by a window so it was just our family. I held Luke (because he was not happy anywhere else) & Izzy sat between Mark & I. Isabelle passed out around 7:00 but Luke would NOT go to sleep. Y'all he screamed & cried for about 3 hours! THREE hours!! It wasn't constant crying but there were few breaks. He was just not happy.

Finally, finally, he passed out & there was peace in the world again for the next 5 hours of the flight. Well, actually, either Luke was really uncomfortable or was having bad dreams because he woke up about 5 times screaming & there was nothing I could do to comfort him. I literally had to just take my hands off him, balance him on my lap somehow & let him twitch & turn until he got himself comfortable. He was NOT about snuggling!

Then we got to Paris. Oh I wish I could block this part out of our trip. We got there & did the awesome bus rides to get to Terminal C. Ugh! Terminal C. C stands for crappy! Seriously, the security line was so tiny & odd (not tiny as in length but tiny as in wide). We stood in this line that barely moved & was snug up against a wall for a good 30 minutes. When we finally made it into this tiny room to put our bags on the scanner, the attendant said our boarding pass was no good. I said, "Ummm ... excuse moi?"

Basically, the Delta counter at ticketing in ATL did not have boarding passes for us. When I was coming back from the USPS box, I found a Delta counter in the terminal & asked to see if we could get our boarding passes from them. They printed out these things that looked like a receipt from a department store. I said, "Are these our boarding passes for Paris to Niamey?" They said, "Yes." I said, "Are you sure? You are telling me that the people in Paris will accept these." The guy said, "Yes!" So I believed him.

Well, no sir, the people in Paris DO NOT accept your boarding passes that look like a receipt. They DO NOT. They told us that we were going to have to go back & get new boarding passes. So, we drug our poor tired kids out of the line & found a gracious Air France attendant that got us correct boarding passes. We asked her if we had to go back through the security line & she said, "No, just go through that door over there." So we went to that door. A security official told us that we could not "cut in line" & needed to go back through the line. At this point, we were very close to missing boarding our plane if we had to go through security again. We were like, "We were JUST in line & YOUR people told us we didn't have the right boarding passes & to go get new ones. We've got the right boarding passes & we just need to go through the checkpoint, PLEASE!" He said, "No. You need to go through the line."

So we went back to the lady & asked her if she could help us get cut in line. She said she couldn't leave her desk but she would find somebody. Praise the Lord for one nice lady that works with Air France! We got back to the x-ray machines, got through security (with the right boarding passes) & made our way to our gate. Again, Terminal C is the PITS because it is overcrowded & there is not near enough seating for all passengers. Plus, the bathroom was some creepy, shady, tiny bathroom at the end of a very long hall & I had to change Luke's diaper on the floor! So we parked ourselves on the floor of Terminal C until it was time to board. I guess the silver lining in all of this is that we were only on the floor for about 10 minutes before it was time to pre-board.

We finally got on the plane & this time we had 2 seats next to a window & one seat behind. So Mark took Luke & Izzy & I sat together. Y'all, I don't know what kind of voodoo magic Mark has over Luke but the kid did not make a peep the entire 5 hours of the flight & slept 4 of those 5 hours! Izzy slept almost 3 hours on the flight!

We arrived to cool temperatures in Niger & friendly faces! The Saleebys picked us up, helped us unload our bags & then brought supper over for us. I could hardly hold my head up during supper & was probably non-coherent for our dinner conversation. After they left, we gave the kids a quick bath & put them to bed. I laid down with Isabelle at 7 pm & was out! I woke up around 11 pm, took a shower & went back to bed. It was 10:30 am the next morning before I woke up again ... & the kids, too!

We unpacked a few things the next day & started putting up some of our new Christmas decor & the tree we had bought in the States. Izzy was still so tired most of the day & said her head was hurting. We finally figured out that our kids were probably dehydrated!! By the afternoon, they were back to themselves again! We put them to bed at 8 that night & the next morning we had to wake them up at 11:15!! I mean our kids took the "lag" part of jet lag seriously!!

Thanks for tagging along with us on our trip to America & back!! I'll try to get some more recent posts up here this week & show y'all our Christmas decor! This is the most decorated for Christmas we've EVER been & we love it. Here's a sneak peek ... a fabric/ribbon garland I made after getting home! Ton of hours cutting & tying but loved how it turned out!

U S of A ... place by place: 6th stop, Bowling Green

2011-12-18T13:25:00.000-05:00

Now in our USA recap, we are at Saturday, November 26. We just left Gaga & Papa's house around 9:30 am & made our way up I-65 to Bloomfield, Kentucky. We couldn't come all the way to America & not see the Carwiles or Hammetts! We made plans for this little get together many months prior & was so glad that it worked out for almost everyone to be there. The Carwiles, the Hammetts, the Hastes & us were all in attendance. Only the Perry clan was not able to make it. 8 adults & 10 kids under one roof = crazy & awesome!!

We pulled into the Carwile's driveway a little before noon (eastern time) & let the kids play a bit while Richard finished grilling up some fabulous meats. When it came time to eat, we somehow managed to have most of the kids eat together, the moms eat in the dining room & the dads eat in front of the TV while they watched college football. We were actually amazed at how much conversation (although a wee bit interrupted at times) we were able to have between 4 mamas.

After lunch & a good dose of convo, the boys headed out to shoot clay pigeons, while the mamas took all the kids & 2 dogs to a nearby park. We knew that skipping naps for most of our little ones could create a few problems but they all did great! We walked them back home a little later, tried to get them to snuggle up to a movie but most weren't interested, fed them some snacks, had a little more conversation & then headed out around 5:30 eastern time. It was a quick visit but it always does a mama's soul so good to be around good friends that can feed wisdom & experience into you.

We hopped back on the parkway & made our way back to BG. Our kids passed out immediately. We let them sleep for a little bit but didn't want to mess them up too bad by letting them sleep the whole way back & then putting them to bed soon after we arrived. So once we got to BG, we pulled off at Chick-Fil-A (noticing a trend?!) & got some food to go. We pulled into the missions house (which had been our home for 3 months in 2010) & were overwhelmed by all the new changes & renovations. It was fabulous (& beautifully decorated for Christmas on top of that)! We were already dreaming about when it would be our turn again to live there for an extended amount of time! Ha!

We let the kids take a long tour of their home for the next 4 days & then let them pick out bedrooms. We got the kids to bed & then Mark went out to buy a few groceries & meds & pick me up a movie to enjoy for the rest of the evening. All the changes in weather had gotten to me & a cold was creeping in & taking the best of me. (Seriously, I sounded like a baritone for the next 3 days & could hardly breathe through my nose!)

I did a few loads of laundry, watched a chick flick & then dosed up with Nyquil while Mark hung out with one of his former students. Luke woke up while Mark was gone & was all stopped up too & had trouble breathing so I had Mark pick up MORE meds for him! We were not looking like we were going to be in good shape for our last few days in the States.

The next morning we headed to our home church, Living Hope Baptist Church, to worship with them. Isabelle got to go to Sunday School but I kept Luke with me because I didn't want to be that mom that brought her sick kid to church & infected everyone else! We got to see a lot of familiar faces at church & we were very thankful for that!

After church, we headed over to the Perry's house for lunch. Tom (who came to Niger in September with Shawn) & his family drove down from Illinois to attend church & have lunch with us, too! We were so excited to have a mini-reunion & get to meet the rest of his family.

We tried to get Izzy to take a nap at the Perry's house so that the ladies could finish their conversation & Mark could watch some more football but she wasn't having it. Luke had already passed out but Izzy wanted to go back to the missions house to sleep. After we got home & the kids were down, I met my friend Amanda at the mall & finally got my new make-up. Thanks to all of your suggestions, I invested in Bare Minerals make-up!

I got back to the house in time to help Mark dress the kids & head back over to the church for the potluck they were having for us that evening. We were so glad they hosted this "Niger reunion" for us because we were able to see SO many of our friends that have visited us in Niger over the last 5 years. Mark was able to share a little bit about the Songhai ministry but it was mostly just a time to hang out with all of our friends that now call Niger a dear part of their hearts, too.

Izzy & Luke were a little shy at this event to begin with but then they both started showing their personalities. Isabelle immediately clung to Amanda & I didn't see her for a good hour or so! Luke was either attached to Mark or I for the majority of the event but then when Mark got up to speak again, he snuck away from me & went right for Mark. When Mark picked him up, he quickly grabbed the microphone & started shouting into it! What a ham!! And then, when we were chatting it up with people, he decided to get cozy with one Miss Stella Jane Perry & then love on Blake Richey! You can just NEVER guess with Luke. Ever!

After the event, my most wonderful husband in all the world graciously agreed to take the kids back to the missions house & bathe them & put them to bed while I went out on the town with some of my girlfriends! Okay, we really didn't go "out on the town" so much as close down Panera Bread & then chat it up til 11 pm at Amy's house. But it was SO much fun & there was ZERO interruptions from kiddos! Another "good for my soul" girl time!

The next morning, I met up with a group of some of my fave LHBC ladies at the brand new (to me, at least) Connection Center to do a play date. In my mind, I had imagined our kids playing in the bouncy house, while we sat around & caught up on life. Better in theory than in practice, however. It was a wee bit chaotic & I barely got to catch up with one person, let alone the other half dozen that had so graciously given up their time to meet me there!

After the bouncy house, a few of us headed to the Chick-Fil-A (again! yay!) to continue our "play date." But it just seemed that a nice lunch with mommies chatting while kiddos playing was not in store for us that day. It was a little crowded at the Chick, so none of us even got to sit together. Seriously, I sat at a table by myself with my kids while the other moms basically did the same.

By the time our kids finished eating, some of the moms needed to leave to put their kids down for naps & only Brittany Richey & Tiffany Ayers & I remained! Even though there was little adult conversation going on, it was just nice to be in the presence of friends & other moms for the little time we had together. So a BIG thank you to all of you who made the sacrifice to attempt my ill-fated play date & come hang out with me & my kiddos!

After I put my own kids down for a nap, I took a little napsie myself! Mark had gone to breakfast & lunch with a couple of his friends & came home for a bit before heading out to do a little shopping to mark a few more things off his list. When he got home & the kids were up, we headed back over to the Perry's house for some more hang time with them! We obviously couldn't get enough of them ... or them of us!

The kiddos played together while the parents talked & then we ordered pizza. After dinner was over & SJ was in bed, we put on "Tangled" (or "Hair," as Izzy calls it) & thought the kids would zone out so we could have some more adult conversation. However, that was not the case. So we took our kids home to bed & then Mark headed back over to watch MNF with Shawn while Natalie came to the missions house & did a fab-o job on my hair. Us ladies enjoyed ourselves a good THREE hours of uninterrupted, soul-stirring, quality conversation while the men did who knows what.

The next morning (Tuesday), my BFF Amanda Brooks Borders met me at the house &, being the awesome woman that she is, played with my kids while I got ready for the day. (Mark was out at breakfast again.) When he got home, AB & I headed out on the town for the last shopping excursion of 2011 (& the next 3 years)!

Bless her heart, Amanda drove me all over creation trying to find the last few things on my list! After a morning of running errands, we met up with Amy for lunch at Home Cafe (a new-ish bistro type restaurant in BG that is owned by one of our former students). Y'all, it was GOOD!! I mean G-O-O-D! I am SO proud of Mr Josh Poling for opening this fabulous restaurant! And if you do get the chance to eat there you MUST get the homemade chocolate pudding!!

After another great meal with great friends & great conversation, we headed back to the missions house so that Mark could have a meeting with our missions pastor. Oh wait ... what was Mark doing while I was having my girl time? He was being the most fabulous husband & dad EVER again! He took the kids on a Daddy/kiddo date to Target & then to Chuck E Cheese & then put them down for a nap by himself. Y'all he is so wonderful to me!

While Mark was at his meeting, I got to have a few more minutes with Amy before she had to leave. I love this woman to death & am so thankful for her friendship. I hated to say goodbye but I'm pretty certain I will see her on this side of the world in the next year so that made it a little less painful.

When Mark returned from his meeting, Amanda & I headed back out to finish off the list. A trip to Hobby Lobby & Wal-Mart & then we finished our "day-o-fun" at Buckhead Cafe! After dinner, we headed back to the house & I helped get the kids to bed. Mark's parents had come up after school to have one last evening with Izzy & Luke. So after I said goodnight to our kids, Gaga & Papa had a few more minutes with them while Amanda & I started on packing all those last minute items I had bought that day. So thankful for friends who take a personal day from teaching to drive you all over creation & then help you pack!

Amanda had to leave around 10 pm so that she could have some decent sleep before school the next day. Another hard goodbye but not as tearful as others because I'm also pretty sure I'll see her on this side of the world in the next 12 months. Also, so thankful for friends who have a heart for the nations and a heart for the Songhai & desire to see His name shared with those that have never heard!

After the house was quiet again, Mark & I tried to finish the last of the packing but Luke woke up with his nasty cold again & so we put the kibosh on packing for the night.

The next morning, we got up & finished our packing & was out of the house before noon. We dropped off some things at the Perry's & said our last goodbye to them. As we were heading out of BG, we were trying to decide where we should eat at for our last place. Thinking that something close to the interstate would be easy & quick, we started heading that way. And then I remembered that we hadn't eaten at one of our favorite restaurants ... Moe's!! So we peeled off Scottsville Road & made a mad dash for one last order of Billy Barou nachos! And y'all, the lady behind the counter did NOT disappoint Mr Mark Phillips. She gave him THREE scoops of cheese dip! It was a Christmas miracle.

After our bellies were full of cheese dip, chicken & black beans, we said goodbye to Bowling Green & headed south on I-65 with our sights set on Atlanta. Our time in America was down to a mere 28 hours remaining.

U S of A ... place by place: 5th stop, Franklin

2011-12-15T17:24:00.000-05:00

So now in our recap, we are at Wednesday, November 16th & just flew into Nashville from South Dakota. After a semi-good night's sleep, we got up the next morning, packed up (again!) & headed to downtown Nashville. We had enough time to squeeze in one more meal with GB before we headed up to Franklin. He suggested we eat at Arnold's downtown. It is a hole-in-the-wall restaurant but it was incredibly, delicious Southern home cooked food. After our bellies were full, we dropped GB off at his conference & the kids say goodbye to him (I had made plans to see him one last time over the coming weekend).

We headed up I-65 towards Franklin & the kids drifted off to sleep. It only took about 45 minutes to drive to Franklin, so we still needed to kill a little time in the car for the kids to finish their naps. What to do? What to do? With not many options in Franklin, we decided to bypass its exit & continue up to exit 22 to Bowling Green. I had a few things I needed to return to Old Navy so we thought this would be a good time killer. It proved to be a very successful trip indeed!

After our short shopping excursion, we hopped onto 31-W & headed back south to Franklin. We had wanted to time it perfectly to show up at Gaga's school as she would be coming out at the day's end. Well, we did it! We showed up about 3 minutes before she came out & as we were still trying to find a parking space, we saw her walking out. It was a great surprise!! Izzy & Luke were so excited to see their Gaga!! From the school, we headed to the house & the kids took off to play with Gaga & Papa. And that was really what the rest of the week was like! Gaga & Papa & the kids playing til their heart's delight.

Gaga had to go to school on Friday so we went there during her free period & the kids got to see where Gaga worked & meet all of her teacher friends. We took them home for naps & by the time they woke up, she was back from school & ready to play again!

On Saturday, I headed back to Bowling Green to have a daddy/daughter date with my Dad (who had now made his way to BG for meetings). We had a great time talking just the 2 of us (which surprisingly did not happen the entire week we were in South Dakota) & then had a yummy lunch at Kyoto Gardens followed by cupcakes at Gigi's. Around 3, I said goodbye to him in a parking lot & managed to choke back the tears somehow.

While I was in BG, the rest of the crew in Franklin had a full day of playing!

On Sunday, we went to church at First Baptist Franklin (where Mark's dad has been on staff as Minister of Music for 35+ years). Mark was able to share a report of the Songhai ministry with the church during the SS hour & then we were able to worship with the church body at 11. The kids did great through Mark's presentation ... well, they almost did great. When Mark walked onto the stage, Luke got away from Gaga & followed after him. He made it all the way to the platform & stood between Mark's legs. None of us were reacting very quickly & we were all afraid he'd flip out if we went after him. So Gaga finally made the move to go & get him & bring him back!

The kids weren't keen on staying still for 2 hours in a row in the same seats so they didn't make it through the entire worship service. Fortunately, they were able to see Papa do his thing at the beginning & end of the services.

After church, we had a wonderful potluck meal with the team that is coming to Niger in a few weeks & then able to sit in on a little of their meeting while they practiced their Zarma songs they've been working on for weeks. They did an awesome job & Izzy, of course, loved dancing along to all her favorite songs! When I took the kids home for a nap, Mark stayed behind for the team's weekly meeting & was able to answer some of their questions firsthand.

When Mark returned from the team meeting, he & I packed up & headed out for our "romantic getaway." Yes, you read that right. Mark & I left the kids ... for 2 nights!! Y'all, this lovely couple had not been by ourselves, away from home, overnight since BEFORE Isabelle was born! We were so excited. And the bonus was that one of our dearest, most awesomest friends hooked us up with an amazing place to stay ... for free! We were in heaven!! We slept in, ate the most AMAZING food I've ever eaten in MY LIFE, shopped kid-free, went to a movie & just enjoyed time together! We were so thankful to Mark's parents for allowing us that time together!

Unfortunately, I cannot tell you what the kids did while we were gone because, as you all know, what happens at Grandma's, stays at Grandma's. I'm sure they were spoiled rotten & that is okay with me ... because I was, too!

When we returned on Tuesday evening, we met up with Mark's aunt, cousins & kiddos for a fun dinner at the Hollywood Grille in Franklin. Izzy loved playing with her cousin Sarah & I always enjoy our time with Sue & Pam! I really do just love Mark's family!

On Wednesday, we geared up for Mark's brother & family who was coming in town that day! When they arrived, Gaga & Papa were in heaven ... all four of their grandkids together under their roof! Isabelle & Luke LOVED playing with Matthew & Mollie. I'm serious ... from Wednesday afternoon to Saturday morning, that is what those four kids did all day, everyday: play, play, play. They played outside, they played inside. They took walks around the neighborhood. They played on the air mattress. They played at the church. They just played & played!!

After a full day of play on Wednesday & a yummy dinner that evening, we did Christmas with the fam so that the kiddos could have the rest of the week to play with their new toys. After the little ones went to bed, the guys (Mark, Jon & Matthew) played Mark's new game of Quelf. Let's just say that it was hilarious but I'm not signing up to play it anytime soon!

For Thanksgiving, Amy & I offered to do the meal so that Gaga could have the day to play with her grandchildren. We made a feast, Papa made his ham & Gaga did take the time to make her famous corn pudding. And it was all delicious!! I, of course, had so much fun cooking in an American kitchen with convenience items & an electric stove! After the meal, everyone but Amy & I headed to the church to play at the gym while she & I cleaned up & then kicked our feet up!

On Friday, the weather was gorgeous so the kiddos played outside all day. I mean, ALL day! Amy & I thought that we deserved to treat ourselves to a morning away from the kitchen so we headed to BG for a little shopping. We ran into a few long lines but nothing like the craziness that Black Friday is at midnight. We had a fun day of hanging out & marking a few more items off my shopping list. We also ran into Pam & Sue at the mall & enjoyed an unexpected lunch with them at Chick-Fil-A!

We returned home around 5 & enjoyed our last few hours with the Kansas Philips clan. I spent most of that time packing as we were trying to pack our 6 suitcases plus 5 more that we were leaving behind for 2 churches to bring when they come next year.

On Saturday, we all got ready & said our final goodbyes to Jon, Amy, Matthew & Mollie. We said a temporary goodbye to Gaga & Papa because we had plans to see them again before we left the States for good. It was a great week in Franklin &, before we knew it, we were on our way to our next destinations ... Bloomfield & Bowling Green, Ky.

On night one, this is where we found Luke. I think this may be a view into his future. The boy just loves music!

And speaking of music, this was Luke & Papa's daily & nightly routine ... a little Les Miserables! Who better to watch it with than the Maestro himself!

The Phillips fam. We're a little crazy & a little calm. But mostly, we're just crazy.

Aunt Amy getting some snuggles from Lukey!

Gaga, Papa & their grandkids in their new monogrammed shirts! (Wonder who those were from?)

And coming to a city near you ... Papa & The Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke & Jon)!

U S of A ... place by place: 4th stop, SD

2011-12-13T14:33:00.000-05:00

**FYI - I think I've made it a little unclear about these updates on our trip to America. These are updates of the past, not the present. We were in the States for the month of November but are now back in Niger. Just wanted to clear up any confusion!**

So, now in our update we've made it to November 8th & at this point we had been in country for 6 days, visited 3 States & already said four really hard & tearful goodbyes. When we left you, we were on I-40 & heading west. On our trek, we stopped in Knoxville for a quick stop to say "Hello!" to some of our new friends at Mt Olive Baptist Church. (If you keep up with the Songhai blog, you may remember this team from September). While Mark went inside to chat it up with Pastor Deron, Cesar & Ryan, I drove around aimlessly hoping to get the kiddos to sleep. I was successful & then parked myself in the MOBC parking lot while the kiddos finished their nap!

After my own quick catch-up with the fellas, we pulled out of the parking lot & got back on I-40 hoping to make it to Nashville by supper time. However, the lure of Turkey Creek (a shopping center in West Knoxville) was calling to us & we pulled off for a quick visit to the ole Super Tarjay! Of course, it wasn't quick but it was fine by us! We were just enjoying our time as a family & doing things (even like shopping at Target) that we can't do here.

We drove up the interstate a little more, pulled off somewhere for Chick-Fil-A & then made it on to Nashville. We checked into our hotel & while the kids passed out, I started repacking our things for our flight the next morning to South Dakota. I tell ya, I spent SO much time packing, unpacking, & repacking during our 30 days ... it got old real quick!

The next morning we made it to the airport &, for some strange reason, we got there super early. Our flight wasn't until 10 but we were already at our gate by 8:30! I guess all of our international travels gives us the constant mindset of being at an airport 2 hours early. We took turns walking the kids around the airport until I finally found a play area & then I was almost late for our pre-boarding! Woops!

The flight to Minneapolis was NOT fun people, not fun. I was about to swear off flying with kids forever & told Mark that we should've just driven the 18 hours to South Dakota. That's how not fun it was. I guess the long day of travel the day before had made Luke not inclined to sitting still for yet another day of travel. I was literally sweating profusely trying to hold him still & keep him entertained on the flight. The trans-Atlantic flight had been a breeze compared to this!

We made a quick layover connection & rode a "train" (or tram but Izzy thought it was a train & so that made another mark off her list!). We actually rode the "train" for a while because we got confused about where our next concourse was at! You would've thought we were new to all of this fancy air travel!

We got on our next plane for Aberdeen, SD & it started off rough again. The boy was just not in any mood to sit still. He was screaming (SCREAMING!) & I was so embarrassed. The only good thing was that we were in the very back row but I got a lot of "awesome" looks from the many hunters that were heading to South Dakota for their man's man vacation. A screaming child was probably not part of their package deal. Luckily, as the airplane took off, it soothed Luke into a deep sleep (& Izzy, too) & they didn't wake up until we landed in South Dakota. One of the hunters (from Alabama) said to me, "Your kids are really good travelers." I was like, "Are you kidding me?! Were you not here for the first 15 minutes of this flight?!" But all I said was, "Thank you, sir."

So we arrived in South Dakota a little worse for the wear but we were SO happy to see GB & Bebe waiting on us! We got our bags & stepped out of the plane & were hit with South Dakota full force ... 40 mph winds with a temp of 45 degrees or so. Lovely! We loaded up in the cars & made the 5 minute drive to my parent's new place of residence. (When we were here in 2010, they lived on a farm in the middle of nowhere, 75 miles from Aberdeen. The 5 minute drive was wonderful!)

GB immediately started doing his grandpa thing & shoveling loads of treats towards us! Izzy went for a beef stick & fruit pop! After we got ourselves settled in, GB took Izzy to Wal-Mart &, for the first time ever, Izzy made a trip to Wally World before us! She came back so excited & had bags & bags full of more treats! And so began Izzy's love of Wal-Mart!

After having an awesome meal of ham, fresh corn, green beans, & mashed potatoes, Mark & GB headed to Wednesday night Bible study & I got the kids bathed & in bed. I did a little unpacking & repacking because the next day we were heading out on the road again!

Thursday morning we packed up & headed for Sioux Falls where my dad had business meetings & a doctor's appointment. It was a 3 hour drive there & we actually had to rent a car so that we could all go in the same car together! We ate our first meal of Sonic that night, Izzy swam in a hotel pool (& marked another things off her list!) & then after the kids were in bed, I went out shopping with my parents. We may or may not have picked up a little fro-yo on our way back to the hotel!

The next morning we did a little shopping while GB was in his meeting & then made our way to Wolsey so that Izzy could ride a tractor with Scott. She was so excited to do it again & this time, Luke got to join in on the fun. They played on hay bales & on the back of flatbed trailers & just had a blast out on the farm. It made us miss those 3 months we spent out there. We had dinner with Scott's family at the Rollin' Wheel restaurant & then headed back to Aberdeen.

Saturday we hung around the house & the fellas took the kiddos to a park since it was a semi-nice day (aka - low wind speeds). We were feeling a little cabin feverish in the afternoon so we decided to take the kids to the mall to walk around. In case you haven't figured it out, there is not that much to do in the great city of Aberdeen. During the summer there is TONS to do but not so much in the winter. But the mall was a great choice because it had an indoor play-land that we had forgotten about. The kids loved it & Izzy kept asking to go to the "mawl" (she's so Southern!) We ended up going 3 more times ... free fun, you can't beat it! We actually stayed so long on Saturday evening that we just ended up getting mall Chinese food to go & taking it home.

Nothing beats the feeling of cabin fever like ...

a Little Debbie Christmas tree & ...

wrestling with Daddy!

On Sunday, Mark had the privilege to preach at Fairview Baptist Church (another of our prayer partnering churches) & then we had an awesome meal with Marion & Lynn (pastor & his wife & long time family friends) at the famous El Matzalan! It was SOOO good! After Izzy's nap, we marked another thing off her list & took her to see a movie. Mark stayed back with Luke while GB, Bebe & I took Isabelle to see "Puss in Boots" (it was the only children's movie available). She had a blast & sat through the entire movie (except for one potty break) & almost ate an entire tub of popcorn by herself!

Monday was a pretty frigid day & we attempted the park again but we didn't last very long. The winds were fiercely cold & we called it quits after 15 minutes or so. I took the kids back to the "mawl" with GB & Bebe in the afternoon to let out some wiggles but that was about the extent of our day. We were definitely enjoying some rest & relaxation during our SD stay. It was much needed.

On Tuesday, we celebrated Bebe's birthday. We began with a meal at IHOP & then Izzy & I treated her to a manicure. She also helped me make cupcakes for Bebe, which we all enjoyed immensely! We then had a wonderful meal out on the town. Marion & Lynn joined us for the meal & more cupcakes afterwards!

Wednesday we packed up (yet again!) & headed to the airport to catch our flight back to Nashville. But this time we had an extra passenger! It just so happened that my Dad had meetings at LifeWay on the day we were flying back. He scheduled his flight to miss a meeting or two so that he could fly with us. We said goodbye to my Mom at the airport & it was yet another tearful & hard goodbye. My parents weren't planning on coming to see us in Niger until 2013, so we were trying to say goodbye to last us for a good 2 years. It just killed me at the thought of my parents not seeing my children for two years! But I think the depth of sadness that was felt at having to say goodbye has made them reconsider their plans! : )

It was a huge blessing to have extra hands on deck on the flights & in the Minneapolis airport. Speaking of the Minneapolis airport ... this time we had 3 or 4 hours of a layover & really got to explore it. It's awesome for kids. They had a HUGE indoor playground & even had vending machines for moms with diapers, formula, pacis, toddler snacks, sippy cups, etc. I was wishing I had forgotten something just so I could use it!

We landed back in Nashville at 10 pm with Luke passed out on my Dad's lap. I told him that I was glad it was him sitting next to me instead of a stranger or that incident would've been really uncomfortable! When we finally made it to baggage claim, we realized that Delta had lost Luke's carseat. The kids were so tired & I really wanted to get them to bed but Mark was having to fill out all this info & get a temporary car seat. So the kids & I jumped in the back of the car that was picking up my Dad (an associate who was also in town for the meeting) & he took us to our hotel so that we could get checked in before Mark got there. (Mark had also wanted my Dad to follow us to the hotel anyways because he had this nagging fear that our van wouldn't start after sitting for a week. This is how your mind starts to think after living here for so long. Luckily for everyone involved, it started just fine!)

By the time we all got settled in & asleep, it was well after 11 pm. Four stops down & 3 to go!

One of the kids' favorite things to do every night was "Rock a Bye Baby" with GB (aka - my Dad throwing them on the bed)! Izzy remembered this from when they were here last February & she wouldn't let my Dad forget to do it each night!

Awww! They love their GB ... & Bebe!

U S of A ... place by place: 3rd stop, NC

2011-12-12T14:28:00.000-05:00

Y'all still with me here? In case you need a refresher, in our update of our trip to America, we are now less than 48 hours off the plane & heading to our 3rd state ... North Carolina, home of the Coyle family!

After we left Grandma's in Anderson, we packed the kids in the car & we headed up I-85 again towards Salisbury, NC. The kids took an awesome nap in the car & woke up about 30 minutes before we got to my sister's house. JJ decided to tag along, so to speak, for the ride & met us on the interstate to follow us. She had never been to my sister's house nor met her 2 youngest children. It was a perfect time for a big ole family reunion!

We arrived at my sister's house & I immediately left my children to zero in on my new niece (who was just a few days shy of turning 1 year old) that I had never met before! Somewhere in the first few minutes of arriving, however, Luke had a big ole meltdown & I blanked out for about 30 minutes. I think the stress of the trip caught up to him for a bit & he needed to tell someone, anyone who would listen ... including the neighbors 4 doors down!

Luke calmed down & he joined Izzy in playing with the cousins. It was so fun to see them playing with Chord (6 yrs) & Emory (almost 4). Izzy definitely became the ring leader (who, if you remember, is just 3). The boys were so excited to play with Isabelle that they just did whatever she wanted, followed her around & waited for her to play with them. It was pretty comical to watch!

After a little bit of play, we ordered some most delicious pizza, hung out some more & then said goodbye to JJ ... yet another tearful goodbye. Literally, JJ just said to me, "Just go. I can't do this." And then got in her car. We were both in some major tears at this point & it was best to just turn around & leave each other before we became uncontrollable. I'm telling y'all, these goodbyes just do not get any easier.

Once the kids were bathed & in bed, the adults finally got to hang out! I'm not sure which one of us went for a Starbucks run that night but it definitely became an evening tradition during our 4 night stay there! My sis caught me up on some new TV shows & Mark worked on his sermon.

The next morning we hung around the house & the fellas took the kids to play outside. For lunch we ordered from my 2nd favorite hot dog joint in the South: Haps! 3 dogs for me & a Cheerwine slushie = happiness! The Coyle family had a prior engagement around 1, so the Phillips clan stayed back & put the kids down for a nap.

When my sis returned, we decided we need a little sister time that included shopping! We drove to Winston Salem so that I could have my pick of Target, Home Goods, Kohls, etc. I picked all of the above! The guys were SO great to stay back with the kids & even ventured out to a Greek restaurant ... with 5 kids ... by themselves! Us Hill sisters have some wonderful husbands, to say the least. But it was really good to have that long stretch of time with my sister. We definitely needed it.

My sis & I returned with a VAN LOAD of bags (mostly mine!) just in time for the kids' bed time. We got them down & then had another night of hanging out ... with Starbucks! The next morning, Mark headed back down south to Spartanburg, SC to preach at Oakbrook Community Church (a church that's prayed for & sent teams to the Songhai for many years). He was also able to see his aunt & uncle who live in Spartanburg (& he hasn't seen since 2006).

While Mark was out of town, the rest of us had a lazy morning & then decided to venture out to a local coffee shop for a mid-morning treat. The boys road their bikes, Nathan pushed Lena in a stroller & then I pulled my kids in a wagon. It was not a far walk but there were a few hills & some quick steps to be made for sake of the traffic &, let's just say, I increased my heart rate that morning!

When Mark returned & the kids got up from their naps, we packed everyone up & headed to Concord, NC for a fun evening of Chuck E. Cheese!! We had a blast & it was SO fun to see Luke eat it up ... including the pizza. The boy can put it away! We came home, put the kids to bed & then watched the newest X-Men video ... after a quick run to Krispy Kreme!!

The next day Mark headed out to Greensboro, NC to find the Songhai men & women who have immigrated there. I'll let him tell you about that later but it was definitely a successful trip & he was so excited to be speaking Songhai IN the US! BJ, Lena, Izzy, Luke & I played around at home while Nathan was at work & the boys were at school. On the way to pick up Chord from Kindergarten (it's just half days) we stopped for our first Sonic treat of the trip!! I have not been in a car pick up line in a LONG time & it made me a little sad to see how BIG my nephew is getting ... & that Izzy is just 1.5 years from that!

We decided to do lunch at home & then took all the kids to the park. Luke & Izzy had a blast & it was SO nice to watch them play & not worry about them getting dirty! Seriously, everywhere they go here, they get SO dirty because, well, we live in the desert. But America?! Grass, grass, grass!

After a hearty time of playing, we headed back to the house for naps. When everyone was up & going & Mark had returned from Greensboro, we packed everyone back up & headed to the bowling alley to mark one more thing off Izzy's list. We had a great time & I'm so glad we made the time to do it. For our final meal in Salisbury, we hit up one of their Mexican restaurants & it was oh so good! After we got home, we did yet another Christmas between the Coyle & Phillips kids. And then I'll let you just guess how we ended the night after the kids went to bed!

The next morning, we loaded up our van & said our goodbyes to BJ & Lena. I thought the goodbyes I had previously had were hard but NOTHING compared to saying goodbye to my sister. We stood in her front yard hugging each other & wouldn't let each other go. It just doesn't get easier & each time my sister is the hardest person to say goodbye to.

To say that I was a wreck driving away would be an understatement. Bless Mark's heart for trying to comfort me but I just needed to cry & sulk. After we had been on the interstate for a few minutes, we noticed that Isabelle was being awful quiet & looking rather sad in the backseat. We said, "Baby, what's wrong?" And she said, "I miss BJ." The tears came again!

So there I was, heading off on I-40, crying like a baby & wondering how I was going to get on a plane in 3 weeks. Luckily I had about 9 more hours before our next destination to compose myself!

Luke's first taste of Chuck E Cheese! He loved it!

I think Izzy kinda liked it, too!

The boy put it away on the pizza!! This was definitely our kids' favorite food in America.

Lena cracked me up riding in the car with Stuart Little! Can you see her hand on his leg?!

Winner, winner chicken dinner!

Luke made a friend at CEC! Seriously, this place was overflowing with so many internationals & ethnicities!

While the boys were at school, Izzy got to play with their paint & easel. Quite the artist, eh?

Luke asked "please" to go down the slide everytime!

Lena Grace. Be still my heart. She's just so cute!! And you see that bow? That's a present from her Auntie Parker!

Emory just being Emory ... chasing the ducks!

Luke thought it was so funny to go limp when we were walking. So I finally just let him lie down in the grass until he was ready to walk again!

All the cousins!

Izzy dancing to the bowling alley music. That's my girl! She's got moves!

This is a bad picture because it focused on the wrong thing but can you see the joy on my child's face?!

Luke loved bowling too!

Izzy & Uncle Nate doing high fives!

Christmas #3 for the Phillips kids!

Izzy & her Aunt BJ

U S of A ... place by place: 2nd stop, SC

2011-12-10T05:35:00.001-05:00

Y'all still with me for our America trip update? Or are you just here for the pictures?! Either is fine by me!!

After we pulled out of Chick-Fil-A in Hotlanta, we got on I-85 & headed north towards Anderson, South Cackalacky! The kids & I took a nap in the minivan while JJ helped keep Mark awake up front while he was driving.

We originally had reservations at a hotel in Anderson so as not to bother any of our family with our crew for an overnight stay. Plus, we weren't sure how the kids were going to be sleeping/adjusting to a new time zone, so we thought it best to have our own quarters in prep for the worst. However, when we dropped JJ off at her Dad's house, the kids began running through the big yard & were squealing with delight & the smell of fall was in the air & the big log cabin just became too inviting. The ole Quality Inn soon lost its appeal! Plus, JJ was going to be there by herself, so of course we wanted to keep her company! I mean she did come all the way from LA to see us, right?! We couldn't leave her by herself!

So we unloaded our things & then headed to my Mimi's house (the grandmother that made JJ & I cousins). Isabelle insisted on riding with JJ ... by herself! On our way there, we were planning to stop by Sonic to get an apple slush since it was on Izzy's list to have one with Mimi but the Sonic had closed! Blast!! I guess a Chick-Fil-A milkshake would just have to do in a pinch!

After we had been at Mimi's for no less than 10 minutes, Uncle Steve started bringing out presents for the kiddos ... & Christmas in the States had begun!

Before we left for the States, my sister & I had t-shirts made for our grandmothers & I had some made for the kids too. You can't really see in the pictures below but it has Mimi's name in the middle & then it's surrounded by the names of all her great-grandchildren (thus far because I'm sure they'll be plenty more).

I love this picture of Mimi & Izzy together. So sweet!

And this has to be one of my favorite pictures of Mimi ever. I love her smile! So glad JJ grabbed my camera to get these shots.

After the presents were passed out & the paper cleaned up, we headed to Outback steakhouse for what we were hoping to be a yummy, delicious meal. One of the traditions with my Mimi is that, if ever the time, we love to have a bowl of French Onion soup together. There were about 4 choices of restaurants to choose from in Anderson that we were sure had the soup, so we chose Outback because I knew the kids would eat their mac-n-cheese & Mark would love having a steak.

Well don't you know that this Outback said they stopped carrying the soup about 2 years ago! At this point it was too late to pick up our stuff & leave, so we just ordered something else. Let me tell y'all, Outback did not impress. I was so disappointed. I felt so bad to take our family there & none of us really super enjoyed our meal. Boo! But we had great company & the kids did awesome & Izzy put on a show for JJ & her mama (my Aunt Sherry). We were a little worried that with the international flight plus the busy morning plus the drive would not be a good combo for taking them out to eat but they did fantastic. They just kept proving us wrong!

We took Mimi back to her house, hung out some more & then said goodnight. We got the kids back to the house, put them in bed & then JJ & I headed back out to town to go shopping! Really, I'm not that shopping obsessed but I really needed to find a pair of shoes & some for Mark, too. I only brought 2 with me (a pair of tennis shoes & a pair of flats). The flats had holes in the bottom & Mark only brought his tennis shoes & was scheduled to preach on Sunday. We were already making fun of him & telling him he looked like a gym teacher with his khaki/sneaker combo!

Our shopping run was not successful in the shoe department, so we came back home & I crashed at about 10 pm. We were up & going the next morning around 7 again & were out the door around 9. We stopped by Mimi's one last time to say our goodbyes &, let me tell y'all, that was hard! I cannot stand to say goodbye but especially to my grandmothers because I just don't know if I'll see them on this side of heaven again. I make sure to tell them just how much I love them before I leave & it's just not ever easy saying a goodbye like that. Needless to say, many a tear was shed.

We then made our way to my Grandma & Papa's house where Christmas was waiting for the kids again! After they got loaded up with their presents, they played with my Papa while I helped Grandma in the kitchen.

We ate a most delicious lunch of fried chicken, fresh corn, fried okra, green beans & potatoes, homemade mac-n-cheese & biscuits & gulped it down with her famous sweet tea! All of my favorites! Oh, that food does so many good things to me. There is nothing like it! She also made a homemade pound cake but we had to take that with us because I did not leave ANY room for it in my belly!

After lunch, the kids played outside with Papa. And people, this is a sight I never, EVER thought I'd see. My grandfather is a great man but he was just not playful with my sis & I growing up. He was a businessman that liked to watch sports & nap in his chair when we could come visit on Sunday afternoons. My grandmother is the one that would play with us for hours. In the last few years, my Papa became gravely ill & it has changed his life. The following pictures that Mark took are some that I will treasure forever & ever.

And if any of you know Luke's personality, this picture will shock you like it did me. The boy never takes up with strangers & here he was playing with my grandfather AND holding his hand. Thank you, Jesus, for this sweet miracle that day!

After playing, Izzy needed a little homemade sweet potato pie to recharge herself! Oh yeah, grandma had made that, too!

Izzy & Grandma in their personalized shirts. At this point, Luke was well past his naptime & in NO mood to have his picture taken. Not a great way to say goodbye to the grandparents!


Again, a picture I will treasure forever!

After another tearful goodbye, we loaded up the car & started making our way to North Carolina ...

U S of A ... place by place: first stop, ATL

2011-12-09T17:32:00.002-05:00

Last time we "talked," I told y'all we were headin' up & movin' out to the U S of A for a month. I guess you may be wondering what's happened since then! We went, we ate, we played, we visited, we came back. The End.

Oh I am so teasing. We did so much, saw so many people, went so many places. It's definitely too much to put into one blog post. I must brag on my kids first though. I heard or read from various people, about the Thanksgiving holidays, how hard it is to travel with kids & pack everything up just to travel even a few miles to spend the night at a family member's house. Some talked about how their kids were so out of sorts over the holidays with all the traveling & seeing so many people.

Well, this is where I am going to brag on my kids. Y'all, my chittlins flew 14,000 miles (fourteen THOUSAND miles!) across the Atlantic & back again. In 30 days, they drove 700 miles, flew another 2500 miles & then drove another 600 miles. They slept in 10 different beds & saw more white faces & heard more English spoken in a month's period than they'll probably see or hear in the next 3 years. And they did AWESOME! Yes, they may have been a little shy at times or they may have put on a little extra personality at times but they were great. There were so few discipline issues that I can't even remember them. Seriously, they are the world's greatest.

There are SO many things I want to remember about our trip. So many details. So I've decided to do it step by step. If you're not here to read the details (& I don't blame you at all!), then just skip to the pictures. But since this is my family journal/scrapbook of sorts, I want to write it all down for my memory's sake because I know that 20 years from now, I will not remember it nor can I expect my children to either! (Warning: the details are long, so really, don't feel obligated to read it all but make sure you at least read the 2nd paragraph down)

On November 1st, we woke our kids up at 10:30 pm to haul them out to the airport for our 12:45 am flight. They were so excited, especially Isabelle, because she KNEW what was going on. There was ZERO chance she was going back to sleep in the car or at the airport. A big thanks to Grandy for taking us out there so late! (PS - We had already checked our bags & got our boarding passes at 3:30 pm. That's one great thing about Air France!)

We got to the airport & before we even made it to get our passports stamped (I'm talking like less than 2 minutes of being at the airport), I looked at Isabelle and knew something was wrong. She started doing this little cough that I've only heard from her a few times in her life but a mom always knows that cough. I immediately threw out my hand in front of her mouth & caught most of what she threw up ... in my hand ... in the airport ... welcome to our trip to America!

I got her cleaned up & she said, "Mommy, I feel better now!" Well Mommy wasn't feeling too hot at this point with 5 minutes down of our trip & my hands smelling like vomit! But we pressed on! We got on the plane around midnight & sat there for another hour before taking off. The great thing about having kids is that you board first. The bad thing about having kids is that you board first & are sitting on the plane the longest!

We were so unsure & anxious of what Luke was going to do so Mark decided that it might be best for him to have Luke in his lap in the row behind where Izzy & I were sitting (we didn't get all our seats beside each other on the first flight). Well, I'll have you know that y'all are a powerful praying bunch. That boy never made a peep!

Izzy, on the other hand, was chitty-chatty. We were so worried about Luke that we never even considered that Izzy might be a handful. For the full hour that we sat on the plane, she asked me at least every other minute, "Mommy, are we flying now?" "Mommy, are we flying now?" "Mommy, are we flying now?" Lord, help me! And then when we finally got in the air, she started asking, "How are we going to get down? When are we going to get down? I want to get down!"

Somewhere between 2 am & 3 am, both our kids finally fell asleep. We landed in Paris around 5:30 am & then had an awesome 6 hour layover (yes, I'm being sarcastic). The great thing about Paris is there are many things (in certain concourses) geared for kids & even free strollers. The bad thing is that they are anal on their security. We had purposely not taken our laptop so that security would be a breeze. Oh no. Our dear Parisian friends wanted you to take out EVERY piece of electronic equipment. For us, there was 8 items in our carry-ons including 2 cameras, a couple of iPods, a Kindle & a GPS unit. It took us at least 4 times of them running our bags & then backing up the scanner thingy before we got everything out of our bags that they wanted to be scanned separately. Needless to say, there was a LOT of huffing & puffing behind us!

We boarded the next plane around 10:30 am &, again, sat on the plane for a lovely hour. This time we were all seated together in the bulkhead but had a French man who was so lucky to sit beside us, too! Really, he was quite kind & patient with us. All in all, on that lovely 8 1/2 hour flight, Luke slept about 2 hrs & Izzy slept 30 minutes. Not what we were planning for! Eating meals on the flight was interesting with 4 people & only 3 seats & keeping them entertained for that amount of time in a confined space was a little challenging, too. They did great though & Luke had hardly any meltdowns. We were so proud of him! We kept saying, "Can you believe how great he is doing?!!"

We landed in Hotlanta & it seemed to take us a million years to get through passport control & security. After finally crossing the last security check, we laid eyes on a most beautiful sight ... my cousin JJ who had flown in from LA purposely to be at the airport waiting on us to welcome us to America! I mean, seriously? How many cousins do that?! We were SOOOO glad to see her!! She even had Starbucks treats for us & the kids & it came in quite handy when we had to wait forever & a day on our bags to make their way through security!

We hopped an airport shuttle to our hotel & then Mark headed out to get our car we were using for the month. There is an AWESOME ministry organization in Atlanta that leases cars to missionaries while they are in the States for next to nothing. While Mark was gone to get the car & sign the papers, JJ & I walked the kids to the nearest restaurant to the hotel ... a Quizno's sub. If you know me, something Mexican would've probably been my first choice but it was all about feeding the kids, so I said, "Yes!" And it was surprising delicious & nothing beat that fountain Dr Pepper!

We got the kids back to the hotel & they were SO tired. It wasn't even 6 pm & I knew I probably needed to keep them awake for at least another hour so they wouldn't wake up too terribly early the next morning. I gave them a quick bath & then a startling reality set in. When we headed to get supper, I put Luke in a cutsie pair of jeans. He had been wearing cotton pants or PJs on the flight & I didn't think anything of it. When I put him in the bath, he screamed a terrible scream & wouldn't sit down in the bathtub. I could not figure out what was wrong but I gave him a quick bath & pulled him out of there.

While I was putting lotion on him, I noticed that the backs of his legs were some sort of awful red & it hit me ... the jeans had chafed his legs!! The poor kid's legs have not been exposed to denim ... EVER! He was so miserable & I felt so awful!

I got the kids in bed & turned on the TV in hopes that it might keep them awake for a few more minutes. It was not even 10 minutes & they were OUT! Mark got back around the same time (after having Chick-Fil-A for his first meal!) & he stayed with the kids while I went to JJ's room for a few hours to chit chat. I'm pretty sure I was in bed by 9:30 that night & don't remember a thing til the next morning!

The kids did so awesome sleeping through the night. We were down at the continental breakfast by 7 & then dressed, packed & ready to go by 9. Our time in America had begun & we weren't going to waste a second!

First stop ... Target! We needed some essentials (diapers, wipes, shoes for Izzy & sunglasses) & we had a little time to kill before our next adventure but I think we walked out of there with just a little more! It's hard to go from not being in a Target store for 18 months & then going to one & trying to walk out with only 4 things in hand!! I also got my first White Chocolate Mocha (praise the Lord to whoever agreed to let Target stores have Starbucks in them!) & we also got the kids one of their favorites - popcorn!

After we got my caffeine & shopping craving out of the way, we headed onto to the Children's Museum of Atlanta. We had done something similar with Izzy when we flew into Richmond, Va in January 2010 & we wanted to make sure we did it this time around with Luke, too. The museum was awesome. The kids loved it. The adults loved it. Well worth the time & moolah. We did lunch at Chick-Fil-A & then headed out to our second stop ... South Carolina.

JJ met us at the airport with a huge smile & this awesome sign!! I mean that is the most well done handmade sign ever ... complete with glitter & even fall themed!! It meant so much to me, I brought it all the way back to Africa with me!

Izzy was so excited about being in America! I love this age!! She ooohed & aaahed over everything & constantly asked, "What we going to do now?" "Where we going now?" She thought our hotel room was the coolest!

Seriously, Luke was a champ. He did so great on our international flight & loved every new thing we did or saw ... again, the hotel included.

The Children's Museum was SO much fun! Luke was loving every minute!!

JJ even loved it, too!

Izzy took her time warming up to it. I think she was in a little bit of overload mode. There were about 4 or 5 other kids' groups there (preschool field trips & such) & there were just so many kids. I don't think she can remember ever being around that many kids. She was a little reserved about doing things & really just wanted to do things where no one else was at.

Luke, on the other hand, being only 20 months old, had no problem doing anything & everything!

We finally got a break when they did a "show" for all the kids' classes that were there & we basically had the museum to ourselves for about 30 minutes. That's when our Isabelle finally came out of her shell & put on her own show. Check out those tap shoes!

Her most favorite was this awesome contraption that consisted of filling a tub full of plastic balls & then raising them up to about 15-20 ft high and then spinning another contraption to watch them all fall down on top of you. She had SO much fun! We all had so much! Less than 24 hours in America & we were already marking stuff off the list & making memories!!

I'll try to keep updating y'all with our USA trip over this next week. Next on the list ... South Carolina!

load 'em up

2011-11-01T05:04:00.000-05:00

First, thank you all so much for your kind comments & emails that you sent to me about the last post. Thank you for letting me be honest & for encouraging me to do so. Thank for taking this journey with us over the last 5 years. Thank you for praying for us & with us. Thank you to those of you who have shed tears with us. We are so grateful to our friends & family who have been able to experience this journey with us. And we are so grateful to those of you, some of who we've never met but have kept with us on this blog, who have come along for the ride, too! Thank you for your prayers & encouragement & even just an interest in what we are doing. Who knew what the world wide web & this little ole blog could be for 2 newbie missionaries 5 years ago?

And thank you to all of you who sent me ideas for toys for my kiddos & make-up for this mama's face! I'm so excited to have a list in hand & go shopping for Izzy & Luke. I'm also excited to hit up some of those make-up counters y'all suggested in the comments & emails & get myself a little pampering done! I'll be sure to let you know what my final pick is! Let's just say that it is going to have to be something that holds up under the "wear & tear" of 2 young chilin's & this desert heat & the insane amount of sweat that comes from both!

But onto matters at hand ... the Phillips family is packed up & ready to go to America! We will be leaving on a jet plane in 12 hours! Oh, Lord, please help us!! I'm so nervous about traveling with 2 kiddos. I'm just praying that the other passengers on the flights with us will have patience & grace. Some of you have flown international flights before & there's always "that" kid or "that" family on the plane. I'm praying we won't be "those" people but you just never know with small children.

I'm fairly confident that Isabelle will be fine as she is now out of those terrible 2's & is easier to reason with in times of stress. But Luke ... well he's a different story. The last time we flew, Isabelle was just a tad bit over 2 & Luke was 6 months old. Now Izzy is 3 1/2 and Luke is 20 months old. That lovely ole age where they try to communicate but don't really make words & then get highly upset when you don't understand them. Y'all know what I'm talking about?

Luke is also just loud ... happy or sad, he's just loud. The day he was born, there were 9 other babies born that day in the hospital & 13 born the day before. The nurses made it a point to tell us that he was the loudest baby in the nursery. He has lived up to it til this day. Which being loud is not always bad but on an airplane for 8 hours traveling across the Atlantic? Well, that's just not cool. Oh & he's not a snuggler or doesn't like to sit in laps ... so being an "infant in lap" & having to stay in my lap for take-off & landing, that's just going to be so much fun!

Let's just say that we are going to be glad for more than 1 reason when our feet hit American soil tomorrow!!

I don't know if I'll have time to post blogs while we're on our vacay but I'll try to update you on all our fun. We really are looking forward to just making some new memories with our kiddos while in the U S of A. Luke is at the same age Isabelle was at when we came back to the States in January 2010. We had so much fun doing things with her there that we can't do here, so we're really looking forward to doing those with Luke & as a whole family (seeing as how Luke couldn't even sit up the last time we were there). Plus, Luke has never tasted American food (other than from our kitchen), so we're excited about introducing him to all of our favorites! Isabelle is also at that age now where we know she will remember everything from our time there & we're really looking forward to helping her mark off some of things on her "list"!

Even amidst all our busyness during our time in the States (ummm ... 6 states in 30 days!), we are looking forward to being together as a family & just having fun! And we hope to see some of you along the way!!

5 years ago

2011-10-27T09:34:00.000-05:00

Five years ago, we moved into our home in Ayorou. We had been in our new country a mere week & we moved into a converted mud house in a town in the middle of nowhere, 3 hours from the capital city, & couldn't speak a lick of anything except English. We had no idea what we were doing & had no idea what lay ahead of us. We were just plain clueless!
But in the last five years, we've learned a thing or two & realized that we still sometimes have no clue what we are doing!

Five years ago, I had no idea how to speak French or Songhai. I could barely get out a greeting. I sometimes felt paralyzed by the language barrier & wanted nothing more than to speak!

Five years ago, I had no idea that I would come to call a village in the middle of a third world country my home. I had no idea I'd fall in love with dirt roads, animal trodden paths, mud brick homes & the faces of so many people that looked nothing like me. I had no idea I'd miss it more than anything 5 years later.

Five years ago, I had no idea what day to day life would look like in that village. I had no idea that I would sleep outside 9 months of the year. I had no idea that I would actually get used to it. I had no idea that it would be 108 degrees in my kitchen while I tried to cook.

Five years ago, I had no idea what having malaria felt like ... or a scorpion sting ... or being electrocuted. I would like to forget all of those, thank you.

Five years ago, I had no idea what it felt like to live among people that were so impoverished, so "without" on a daily basis, so lost & dying, worshipping a false god that could not save them. I had no idea the emotional toll it would take on me some days. I had no idea that I would beg for their salvation. I had no idea that God would grant me the grace to see Him answer my prayer over & over.

Five years ago, I had no idea what prayer could do. I had no idea that hundreds of people on the other side of the world would pray for & with me & that we would all see God be so faithful to answer prayer after prayer after prayer. I had no idea what God could do through the prayers of His saints.

Five years ago, I had no idea what it was like to be a mother. And then ... and then ... May 15, 2008 came & I held the most beautiful baby girl in my arms. I had no idea that I would literally hurt with how much I loved this little girl. I had no idea what a mother's love was until that day. I had no idea how much more I would love her day after day. I had no idea how much more I would love my God because of this gift He gave me. I had no idea how much more I would love my husband. I had no idea that I could feel this kind of intense love for a human being.

Five years ago, I had no idea that almost 2 years later I would feel it all over again. I had no idea that my love for my children would double. As I held my precious baby boy on that snowy morning in February 2010, my heart literally ached inside of me all over again for how much I loved him. I had no idea that I could love him so much & still love his sister equally.

Five years ago, I had no idea how hard it was to be a mother. I had no idea how fulfilling it was yet how hard it was to raise 2 children. I had no idea that it would be harder than sleeping outside for 9 months of the year or getting malaria or a scorpion sting. I had no idea that I would have to pray daily for grace, patience & wisdom to raise my children in the Lord. I had no idea that I would have to ask for forgiveness so many times for failing. I had no idea how much grace the Lord could show me.

Five years ago, I had no idea that Mark Phillips would be a father. I had no idea that I would fall in love with him all over again the moment I saw him with that little girl in his arms. I had no idea what a great father he would be. I had no idea how much he would bless me & serve me by being the father to our children. I had no idea that I would love him this much more than I did five years ago.

Five years ago, I had no idea that one word would rock my world: dementia. I had no idea that I would learn to grieve the living. I had no idea how to do that. I don't know if I still know. I had no idea that I would be worlds away from the people I love as my world crumbled. I had no idea that I would wrestle over & over & over again for an answer, for something to cling to & be left with God's Word & His grace only. I had no idea how much His grace is sufficient for me.

Five years ago, I had no idea that I would not be the same person I was five years ago. I had no idea how much God would teach me about myself by bringing me to this devastated land. I had no idea how much He would teach me about Himself in a dry & weary land where there is no water. I had no idea that I would love Him more than life. I had no idea how great a God He truly is. I had no idea.

I still think I have no idea sometimes. I definitely have no idea what the next 5 years hold. But I know that whatever God brings my way or wherever He takes me, He will show me more of Him.

making lists

2011-10-26T15:39:00.006-05:00

As you know by now, we are heading to the U S of A in less than a week!! I'm almost completely packed & ready to go! But I've also been making lists of "have to" buys while we're in the States. When you feel like you've only got one shot a year to go shopping at Wal-Mart or Target (or both!), you want to go with a list in hand. Otherwise, one may have a tendency to "over buy" (of course, I'm not speaking from experience)!

So, I need your help!! I'm making my list but I need to know if I'm missing anything. I need to buy Christmas & birthday gifts for all of us ... for the next few years. So what's a 3, 4, 5 year old girl want for Christmas or birthday? How about a 2, 3, 4 year old boy? How about a dad of a 3-5 year old girl & 2-4 year old boy? I mean, really, what will Izzy & Luke like to do a couple of years from now? I have no idea! Movies, toys, books, etc. I'm clueless.

And then there's the ominous grocery section. We normally stock up on cream of ... soups, green chiles, taco seasoning, pepperonis, bacon, etc. Is there anything we're missing out on? Anything we should *definitely* try while we're home?

Oh & for the mom here ... here's my request ... make-up! I've been wearing Merle Norman since I was a senior in high school. That's a long, committed relationship, my friends. It's not that I want to part ways with Ms Norman (or Mr? Does anyone know?), but the last time I was in a certain MN shop in a certain town in south central Kentucky, the lady behind the counter looked like Tammy Faye Baker. And well, y'all, I just don't think I'm at that point in my life where I want my make-up to be associated with Tammy Faye.

So what kind of make up is good? Long lasting? I usually do foundation, concealer, eye liner & lipstick on the high end but then go drug store for the eye shadow, blush, mascara & lip gloss. Where I think I need the most help is with the mascara. I don't even want to tell you what brand is in my bathroom drawer. Let's just say it does not work wonders for my lashes. Not one wonder.

That's my "need to know" items for making my list so far: presents. food. make-up. I'm a well rounded gal, aren't I? Feel free to tell me anything else I need to know.

See y'all soon!

Week in the Life of ... Weekend Recap

2011-10-25T15:38:00.000-05:00

I had totally planned to continue the "Week in the Life of ..." series on into the weekend. I was planning to combine Saturday & Sunday into one post. However, life happens, the weekend came & went, & I did not take one picture (gasp!) nor document one word. Now I've almost forgotten what happened hour by hour during our weekend. I'll try to muster up some memories & try to fill you in on our weekend.

Saturday morning was Mark's birthday! He got up early & I celebrated by NOT setting an alarm! He was out the door early on to head to the conference (poor fella had to work on his b-day) & the kids I were lazy & just hung out. We usually aren't too "scheduled" on our weekends. We do enough of that during the week that we choose to be a little more "free" on the weekends. Unfortunately, Mark didn't get to partake in our freedom!

I headed to the store sometime that morning to buy some cheese because Izzy decided she wanted to make homemade pizzas for Daddy's birthday. I dropped Izzy off at the conference & Luke & I headed to the store. A pound or so of cheese, a pack of diapers, way too much money dropped for both & 20 minutes later, we were done & picked Izzy up & headed home.

The kids played & watched a video while I made *their* birthday present for Mark. *They* made him a book of pictures with captions of why they love their Daddy so much. Things may have gotten a little stressful during this process as the kids got more interested in my markers & stickers than in the video they were supposed to be watching.

The kiddos also helped me make the pizzas before Daddy got home. They seriously did help me with this part. I wish I had a picture of this because they were too cute smooshing out the pizza dough into the pans.

Mark got home around noon, we ate the yummy pizzas, he talked to his parents on the phone (since our internet was out & we couldn't do a b-day Skype) & then the kiddos went down for naps. We may have celebrated his birthday with a birthday nap ourselves.

The birthday boy headed back to the conference that afternoon & the kids & I played some more. Mark got home around 5:30, we fed the kiddos supper at 6ish & then we both got ready for our hot date. We put Luke down at 7:30 & then my friend Melissa came to watch a movie with Isabelle. Mark & I headed to Namastae, a fabulous Indian restaurant in town that has butter chicken & naan that is to die for!!

Afterwards, we caught a movie at the local theater. Got you there, didn't I?! Ha! How I wish there was actually something to do after dinner but, alas, there is not. Not even a Starbucks. Or B&N. So we came home. The end.

Sunday we slept later than normal but got up & headed to church. By church, I mean a local African church where men sit on one side & women on the other. We usually take turns of who goes out with Luke & Izzy when the preaching starts because our children cannot sit in one spot from 9 am - 11 am. It was Mark's turn.

We came home, grabbed a bite & then took naps. Oh yes. Mark headed back to the conference center for the last meeting of the conference while I prepped food for supper & played with the kiddos. I really don't remember what we did. It's all a blur.

Mark got done at 5:45 & then I went to pick up our friend Melissa who we invited to eat with us ... along with the team. (Her husband was out in the bush all weekend, hence the reason that she was cool enough to hang out with us so much!) We did supper (fajitas & the works) around 6:30, Mark gave the kids baths & then I put them to bed at 7:30.

Mark took the team back to the guesthouse a little after 8 & then headed to the American Rec Center to watch football. Mel & I stayed back & laminated & cut til our hearts content prepping the letter "G" for school this week. We may have watched a few episodes of TV while in the process. Mark came home around 10:30 & I took Melissa home.

And that right there, my friends, was our weekend. Maybe a little lengthy but I was trying to go heavy on the details to be in line with our "Week in the Life of ..." theme. Don't expect this again anytime soon. As fun as it was, it was tiring on my brain to try & remember so much & then commit to typing it all out! But I'm glad I did it because for now & forever I will have one VERY detailed account of what we did for one week of our life over here! Oh & sorry I was lazy with the photos this weekend. If you made it this far, kuddos to you & yours.

Week in the Life of ... Day 5

2011-10-25T09:40:00.000-05:00

The internet has been out since Friday afternoon. Better late than never! I actually wrote this on Friday so just pretend it's Friday when you're reading this ...

Last night’s power outage set me on another bad course for getting to bed late. After I posted the blog, I checked on the kids, put the roast in the crockpot for tonight’s supper, made my coffee to put in the fridge to be cold for this morning & then got myself to bed. Mark & I both weren’t tired at all & neither of us ended up going to sleep before midnight, I think.

I got up around 6:45 this morning & very slowly made my way out of bed. I was dragging. Dragging. I sat with my iced coffee in my hand & my Bible in my lap & just stared into space for what felt like 10 minutes. My brain finally started firing on some cylinders so I began my day in the Word. I finished up around 7:30 & instead of getting up & moving around, I thought to myself, “I’ll just lay here until Izzy wakes up.” Mark woke me up 15 minutes later to tell me he was heading out to take breakfast to the conference participants. Nice, Parker, real nice.

Izzy woke up a little before 8 & then Luke woke up a few minutes later. I got them dressed & then Mark came back home & had fari masa (fried balls of flour … like doughnuts) & cecena (fried bean cakes) in hand! I didn’t have to cook/fix breakfast this morning!! While he sat down with the kids, I went & washed my face & got ready for our morning.

I got my stuff ready to go see my ladies that Susan & I meet with every week. Mark got stuff ready for the conference & packed some snacks for Luke because we were splitting up teams this morning: girls vs guys. I took Izzy with me & Mark took Luke with him. I was on “stand-by,” however, in case Luke had a similar incident like yesterday. We were out the door by 5 minutes after 9.

We dropped off Mark & Luke at the church & then headed to pick up Susan from her house. We arrived at our friends’ compound around 9:15 but they weren’t home. We found out that had gone out this morning but would be back soon. Susan & I both needed to buy vegetables, so we decided to go shopping & then come back. We bought our stock of veggies, returned our purchases to our houses & then went back to our friends’ compound. They still weren’t back. Such is life here when you have no appointments or fixed schedule. C’est la vie!

Izzy & I dropped Susan off at her house & then went & picked up Luke. Mark said he had done SO good during the conference & hardly made any noise at all. Praise the Lord & Amen!

Mark took the kids & I back to the house & he returned to the conference. While the kids watched a video & played in their rooms by themselves, I made a chocolate cake for dinner & worked on some emails & budget. Mr Luke thought he was a funny man today & kept sneaking out of his room. He usually can play for 30-45 minutes but today, after 15 minutes of playing, he came out of his room to show me that he had already cleaned up all his toys, books & mat … which he never does on his own! I’ve got my hands full with that one!

Around 11:30, I noticed that I had a little breeze coming along my backside & found a huge hole in my skirt!! I had been all over town & in front of Issa all morning & had no idea that my caboose was on display for the world!

Mark got home a little after 12 & I got our lunches ready while he took the kids to the store around the corner to get this mama a cold Coke!

After lunch, Mark played with the kids while I prepped some more things for dinner.

The kids went down at 1:30 & I made the frosting for the cake & then played a Word Find puzzle (I know, I’m such a dork!). I worked out, took my shower & went back to work on the budget. Mark did some stuff on the computer, too, & then headed back to the conference for the afternoon session.

Isabelle woke up around 3:45 & she asked to make juice ice pops to put in the freezer.

This was also the time that she mistook the cake that was covered with a towel for a pillow & put her whole weight into with her hand! Again, c'est la vie!

We watched a video while we waited for Luke to wake up. I finally went in & checked on him at 4:30 & woke him up out of a deep sleep. He’s been taking such good naps lately! We played in his room for a while & then the kids came in the kitchen with me while I started getting supper ready. Izzy asked me if she could play in a cabinet of tupperware & I told her she could if she promised to pick it all up.

While the kids played, I got supper in or on the oven, made some iced tea & set the table. At 5:30, I told Izzy to clean up her mess &, lo & behold, she actually did! It wasn’t like she found it but she did it.

Mark got home a few minutes later & played with the kids while I made myself presentable for our evening guests. I also took a picture of how hot it was in our kitchen at 6:00. Really lovin’ this fall weather!

Mark took Luke with him to pick up the team at 6 to bring them here for dinner. Izzy put ice in all our glasses while I sat out the hot dishes. She then got the salad & fixings out of the fridge & put them on the serving counter. She is such a big helper! Really, is she only 3 years old?

Mark did the kids’ baths again tonight while I chatted with the team & then cleaned up dinner. The kids put on a show for our guests after their baths but the lovely Ms Mary reminded us that our kids are just normal! I think I need a reminder of that every once in a while! I put them down for the night at 7:30 & then we spent a little more time with the team before Mark took them home at 8.

The internet is out today at our house so I don’t know when this blog will post. It’s 9:00 here & Mark’s about to work out & I’m going to do a little packing for America … 11 days!! I’m thinking that we’ll actually go to bed on time tonight!!

FYI

2011-10-22T14:51:00.000-05:00

Our Internet went out at the house yesterday & probably won't be fixed until Monday or Tuesday. I'll post the Week in the Life of ... Day 5 & Weekend recap when it's up & running again!

PS - today is Mark's birthday!!

Week in the Life of ... Day 4

2011-10-20T17:04:00.000-05:00

I suppose you know by now where this will start. You know how we ended things last night so you can only rightly assume that I did NOT get up to workout. I so love that y'all have been able to see this week how undisciplined I am! I also somehow turned off my alarm (again!) instead of hitting snooze so the kind Mr Phillips dropped in to check on me at 6:50 to make sure I wanted up. Yes, honey, I did! Thank you!

Iced coffee: Check. Time with the Lord: Check. Check. Laid on the bed for 5 minutes in a daze: Check. Check. Check. I hopped into the shower before 8 & Mark got Izzy out of bed sometime around then. She greeted Bingo, of course, & then Mark started her on breakfast around 8:15. Luke was still snoozing at 8:30 & I went to check on him to make sure he was still breathing! He was.

He got up about 5 minutes later & then he & I & Izzy (who was still eating breakfast) sat down together around 8:40 for breakfast while Mark headed out the door to the discipleship conference. I scarfed down my pumpkin bread because I knew we needed to be fast this morning. However, we were all running really slow today ... from the get-go. I should've known today was going to be "off" when I didn't even start it with making a to-do list.

I ended up putting my make-up on at the breakfast table while the kids finished their breakfasts & then I got them dressed. We walked out the door at 9:15 to do school but it was a very traumatic experience. Every year, around this time, the grasshoppers come out in FULL force. They must've all made it into town last night because this morning, you literally could not walk out without getting smacked in the face with one.

Needless to say, it scared Izzy to death & she was paralyzed by fear ... not moving, just screaming & crying which made Luke scream & cry. We made it into the school room with only one grasshopper that followed us in. He met his maker this morning, I'm sad to say. It was either him or my child.

We did school in record time & then had to head back outside to get back in the house which was another ordeal. We got snacks, waters & our books & headed out to the library! (The Christian boarding school in the capital city has a large library on their campus that's open to missionaries.) Mark came back to the house to get us so I could use the car. We dropped him off at the conference again & then went & picked up my friend Melissa.

We got to the library around 10:35 or so & had planned to spend a good amount of time there but Luke was not happy. He didn't like his snack, he didn't want to read books (which he usually loves) & so we got out of there a little after 11.

We had to go get gas & then we headed to the tailor's shop to pick up my iPad case I had ordered & some curtains for Melissa. This awesome quilted case, which I custom ordered, only cost me 5 bones!

We dropped Melissa off at her house & then headed back to the conference to have lunch (made by Biba!) with the team & the believers. It was at this point that I knew I should've just gone home but I went on. Luke screamed from Melissa's house all the way to the church. When we got there, Mark met us outside & he thought maybe Luke would be okay if they walked around some first. He was not.

The boy screamed, & I mean SCREAMED & cried, the whole time. I didn't even eat. Izzy & Mark didn't finish theirs. We just left. And you just have to love Africans & their bluntness. It is a well-known fact that the majority of African men have little patience with children. So it did not help that this conference is being attended by 20 African men. One of them came up to us as we were trying to leave & basically said (in my loose translation), "Your kid's crying is killing my head!" Thanks, thanks a lot.

So we came home after 12:30 & this is how we did lunch ... sitting on the kitchen counter. Not going for formal in this occasion. Luke was just pitiful & tired & hungry & not a happy camper.

We put the kids down for naps at 1:15 & then I didn't even try to pretend like I was going to fight a nap. I just went for it. And I really don't know what's up because I usually only take a nap like twice a week & I've done 3 days in a row! Maybe I should get tested for anemia.

Izzy slept til 3:30 & then Mark headed out (into the grasshopper plague) for the conference again. I could only count 11 grasshoppers in the air but there were at least 3 times that on the ground.

We Skyped GB at 4 & Luke was still sleeping. I finally went in at 4:20 to wake him up because I wanted him to sleep tonight. We talked to GB (which is mostly me talking & the kids playing in the background) til almost 5.

The kids & I played in the playnook while we waited for Daddy to get home. Luke is really wanting to color now & Izzy is loving writing her letters.

The letters she wrote are (from L to R): P I D L D F E T T A I B C

I headed into the kitchen a little after 5:30 to start supper & Mark got home around 5:45 & played with the kids. I had planned grilled chicken but in light of the grasshopper epidemic, we went for pan-fried.

Supper finished up around 7 & Mark did the baths tonight. I'm so thankful for a servant husband! He did Luke's bath separate so that Luke could have a bath with baking soda to help his awful diaper rash. While he gave Izzy her bath, Luke & I watched a little Les Mis, of course. Izzy came in to join us for the "One Day More" number. Luke loves it!

After Les Mis, we did the rest of their nighttime routine & then did something I've been forgetting to tell y'all about. We made a "Countdown Chain to America" a couple of weeks ago & have been taking off a link every night & then counting how many days are left til we get on the plane. TWELVE days left!!

The kids were in bed by 8 & I sat down & finally breathed. It's been a long day. Luke's stomach issues & diaper rash have made him extra fussy. The day started off slow & not in a groove & it just didn't pick up until the afternoon. I was not in any mood to pretend I'm trying to save pounds for America. I dove right into this ....

Mark & I watched a couple of episodes on iTunes & then he headed off to work out while I screamed at the computer (actually, the internet) because blogger kept messing up the pictures I was trying to upload! Grrrr!!

And now I'm screaming at the electricity because it has been off for an hour! I was almost done typing this blog & it was a little before 10. Then the power cut ... for an hour. Now it's almost 11! I have a whole list of stuff I need to get done & emails to send but, in the words of Scarlett O'Hara, "I'll think about that tomorrow."

And speaking of tomorrow ... a friend tweeted me a great reminder that His mercies are new every morning. I praise the Lord for that!! Izzy took the picture of me below today (she asked me to make a crazy face) & this is how I really felt most of the morning. I know this is not my life everyday. I have 2 young children & these things just happen. The Phillips house is not always in order, y'all. I praise God that He shows us such endless mercy & grace ... even when my kids & I are acting like crazy people & causing Africans to want to lose their heads!

Week in the Life of ... Day 3

2011-10-19T17:14:00.000-05:00

So, I'll start again with last night. I am reading an awesome, yet deep, book by Graeme Goldsworthy. I put on my to-do list yesterday to read for 15 minutes. Well, 15 minutes in this book is only a couple of pages for me! So I kept reading til I got to a good stopping point & then hit my pillow at 11:15. I was pretty proud of myself for this & I drifted right off to sleep. However, I woke up wide awake 10 minutes later because I thought I forgot to lock the front door. I checked it & we were good. But then something came on my heart that was kind of heavy & I did not fall back asleep until after midnight!

Well, you know by now what that means ... no workout for me this morning AND I accidentally turned off my alarm instead of hitting snooze! Blast! I got up about 10 til 7, made my iced coffee & delved into the Word. Izzy woke up around 7:40 & she laid on our bed in a stupor while I took my shower. Mark headed out the door at 7:45 to get croissants for the team's orientation & to meet with the bush taxi driver.

Luke woke up a little after 8 & boy did he give me a nice "Good Morning" surprise!! That surprise was ALL OVER his sheets, his bumper & his giraffe. Luckily, Barney was spared any of its shrapnel. Once that was all cleaned up, the kids headed outside to play with Bingo while I made them some chocolate milk ... & tried to keep myself from making any association with what just happened.

We did breakfast around 8:30 & the kids dove into some Lucky Charms cereal sent to us from the States while I ate leftover pumpkin bread from Susan's last night. We did NOT have to wait on Izzy to finish her breakfast this morning!! I guess that cereal is magically delicious after all!

I got the kids dressed & ready after breakfast. See? We like to mix it up in the Phillips' house. Expect the unexpected. Play fast & loose. Sometimes we get dressed before breakfast & sometimes after. You just never know with us crazy kids.

We started school around 9:15 & went til about 10:15. We tried to do what we did yesterday with me working 1-on-1 with Isabelle & then switching it up. However, Luke wasn't in the mood so I didn't push it. I was quite pleased with Isabelle's fish she glued on paper today. Something about it just makes me smile!

Oh yeah, someone had to go to "time out" during school!

The kids watched a Cedarmont Kids video after school while they ate their morning snack. I put up yesterday's laundry & made myself presentable (we had somewhere to be for lunch so I couldn't wait til the afternoon!). Around 10:45 they went to their rooms to play by themselves while I did some work ... sending off a monthly report (fun! fun!) & doing 4 blogs on the Songhai blog (2 posted today, 2 are scheduled for later).

While I was trying to work & send off some emails, someone snuck out of their room to see what I was doing ...

Around 11:45 I had the kids pick up their toys while I got our stuff ready to go to lunch with the team. We waited outside for Daddy to come & get us & Luke took advantage of the time to play with Bingo ...

We had lunch at the American Rec Center with the Saleebys & the team from Texas. The "restaurant" is on the same site as the American school, so we always take advantage of their playground (as long as students aren't using it for recess) while we are there.

We got home around 1:40 & the kids went straight down for a nap. I sent off a few emails & tried to fight a nap but it just overtook me. I thought I'd just lay down on the couch in the office & doze for a few minutes & then maybe workout. Nope! I was out cold ... like drool coming down my chin cold!

Mark left the house right after he dropped us off from lunch to drive to a village to get some of the believers for the conference this week.

I woke up to the Lukester crying & came to find another surprise awaiting me. This time he kept it in the diaper. Izzy woke up when she heard Luke & so we all snuggled & played in his room for a little bit.

A little after 4, we decided to make some popcorn for our afternoon snack. Izzy got everyone some lemonade to drink ...

We tossed around a few options of what to watch but Luke wasn't happy with anything unless it was Les Miserables. I know, I know. This kid always keeps you guessing. He loves this musical though ... more than Barney or Elmo. This is how he sat on my lap for 20 minutes straight. You best believe it's going on the plane with us.

We watched 20 or 30 minutes of the video while we ate our popcorn & then headed outside. It's been terribly hot lately & I've been avoiding taking the kids outside to play for an extended amount of time. At 5:15 pm today it was 102 degrees. Don't you love our fall weather?! We played outside for a little over an hour & then headed inside for supper.

Now depending on whether you consider cereal a valid supper, we may or may not have had 2 bowls each of something magically delicious for supper. Mark got back to the city around 4 but he had to take the team souvenir shopping & then to dinner, so he wasn't home for this special supper. Before we may or may not have had cereal, I had to make us a 1/2 gallon of milk ... another extra step in food prep!

I just want to add this next part for my memory's sake lest I have a day & think this stuff never happened ... at supper, the kids were just extra funny & were making each other (& me!) laugh. I started making up songs & the kids were rolling. I'm not lying ... we laughed for probably 10 minutes straight & kept doing things to make each other laugh. I don't know about meal times at your house, but sometimes they can be kind of stressful around ours. It was just nice to have a meal with no complaints & lots of laughs. Maybe we'll have cereal for supper EVERY night!

After dinner, it was bathtime. Note to self: make sure to always dress the kid first who's had explosive diarrhea all day. Leave it to me to get Izzy in her PJ's first & then what happens? Luke poops on the floor! Seriously, the day Mark is gone ALL day ... this is what I get dealt! After that was all cleaned up, we did Bible story, singing & prayer.

Izzy has been begging me to cut her hair for the last week, so it wasn't technically bed time yet & I decided to go ahead & do it. This was the "before" picture. I don't have an "after" one yet.

The kids got to bed around 8 & then I came to upload pics to the blog & look at emails. I tried to Skype my grandparents (who I'll see in 2 weeks!) but couldn't get it to work.

Mark got home around 8:30 from taking the team to dinner & then leading his Bible study that he teaches for junior & senior MKs on Wednesday nights. He took Bingo for a walk while I tried to Skype again. No luck!

We sat down to catch up on our day with each other around 9 & then decided to watch another episode of the season of TV we're working through. Probably not the smartest move in retrospect but we both just needed to "chill" for a bit.

I got on the computer to add my images that had been uploading & they were gone! Ugh ... blogger!! So I had to wait for them to reload & now it's 11:15 pm & I'm finally done for the day! Mark & Bingo are both passed out behind me. I need to take one outside & drag the other to our bedroom, check on the kids & then call it a night!!

See y'all tomorrow!!

Week in the Life of ... Day 2

2011-10-18T16:28:00.000-05:00

So I'll start again with last night. First, this is what we found when we went to take Izzy to the bathroom before we went to bed ....

Bingo is technically an outside dog but we let him in the house occasionally. Last night, he snuck into Izzy's room & this is how he found him. I guess he likes the A/C! Unfortunately for him, he slept outside the rest of the night.

I also tried to go to bed before 11 last night but it wasn't happening. I got in bed & decided to read my book for a little bit & well ... I ended up going to bed around 11:30.

So onto today ... the late night resulted in the hitting of the snooze button this morning & so I got up at 6:35 & put my workout off again! I got my iced coffee in hand & did my Bible study. The kids woke up around 8. They were dressed & ready for breakfast at 8:30 & we sat down to a big hearty bowl of cereal ... not quite as fab as pancakes yesterday. (I'm not always Holly Homemaker around here!)

Izzy took her time AGAIN on breakfast & so Luke & I read books while we waited for her to finish.

We did school from 9-10ish & continued with the letter "F." Today Luke played with his sensory bin (which is still on the letter "D" because I haven't had the time to switch it up) while Izzy did school. We read "Fancy Nancy", sang some songs & then switched it up. Izzy played with the sensory bin while Luke & I worked on coloring. This was a first today & it went pretty well.

After school, we came back inside, did a diaper change for Luke, grabbed some snacks & our water & headed over to the guesthouse compound to play on their playground.

"breaker, breaker, one-nine, you copy?"

We got back home a little after 11 & the kids played in their room while I did some work on the computer ... answering a few emails & starting research for Mark. While we're in the States, Mark's going to be "seeking the Songhai" in a few different cities where there are pockets of Niger refugees. We hope to begin connecting our partnering churches with Songhai that live in America! But first we've got to find them!

Mark had another office day. He really needs one good one each week but has been so busy this last month that he hasn't had one in a while. So he's spent the last 2 days answering emails, doing budgets, running errands for various Songhai projects & a lot of other admin stuff that's not on my plate!

A little after noon, I realized I had used all the lettuce & tomato last night in our taco bar & had none for our leftovers today. So Mark took the kids again with him to the store right around the corner (isn't he an awesome husband/daddy?!) but only came back with tomatoes. I had to bleach them before I could use them ... a lovely extra step in all your food preparations on this side of the world!

Around 12:30, we sat down to lunch ... leftover tacos, chips & queso!

After lunch, we still had about 20 minutes before the kiddos naps, so we read books & played around in Luke's room.

While the kids napped, I checked a few emails & then took a 30 minute nap (this heat wears me out some days worse than others). I got up & worked out & then hit the shower. Mark left at 3 to pick up our volunteers from the airport. The kids both woke up early from their naps but with a tag team effort, Mark & I both got them back to sleep before he left. They woke up for realsie at around 3:45. We had a snack outside on the porch & then they watched a little Barney while I made myself presentable ... aka hair & make-up.

Around 4:30, I turned off the TV (those Barney DVDs can be kinda lengthy sometimes, so we never actually finish a DVD!) & I got the kids dressed ... again!! Does anyone else have to change their kids' outfits after lunch & naps?! We played in the play nook & around the house until Daddy got home from the airport at 5:30.

Daddy brought back a suitcase of goodies with him & we dove right in! I had ordered Izzy some winter clothes for our trip (Luke got TONS of hand me downs from his friend Gavin & cousins Chord & Emory, so he's set) & also a new booster seat so we didn't have to lug 2 huge car seats home. Our friends, the Tolsons, stuck in a few surprises too!!

Bless Mark's heart, he is just SO good to me. I think my brain starts shutting down around 5:30 & my patience with the kiddos starts to run real thin. This is usually when I escape to the kitchen to cook while he plays with the kids. Tonight we were heading to the Saleebys to have dinner with the team, so I didn't have a reason to escape. He could see I needed a few minutes by myself, so he took the kids while I made myself busy with something else.

We headed out to the Saleebys at 6. This is what I found waiting for me on my camera when I came to upload the pictures. My husband everybody ....

We had a delicious meal prepared by Mrs Susan K Saleeby (better known as Grusan, in our house) & enjoyed getting to know our team a little better.

We got home a little before 8 & it was my night to give the kids a bath ... it was quick, to say the least! They did their bed time routine of vitamins, brushing teeth, jammies, a Bible story, a song (they usually pick a Zarma song) & prayer.

Mark & I sat down to watch a little TV after the kids went to bed & then he went to work out. I started the LONG upload process for the pics on the blog & answered some more emails (they never end!), checked a few blogs & picked up around the house. It's now 10:30 pm & I'm planning (yet again!) to be in bed soon. I've got it on my to-do list to read a little more before bed so we'll see how that goes! See y'all tomorrow!

Week in the Life of ... Day 1

2011-10-17T16:33:00.000-05:00

I'm going to try something out that I've seen on other blogs. It may work but it may not since I have a tendency to procrastinate or forget things easily. Here's the idea ... I'm going to try & let y'all "follow" me around this week so you can get a glimpse of what our life is like. Granted, every day or every week does not look alike so you won't get a "true" picture but this may give you a better idea of what we do day in & day out. If I remember to bring my camera along, I hope to take as many pictures of our day's events as I can.

So let's start with today ... Actually, let's start with last night. Sunday night is my night to myself because Mark goes to the American Rec Center to watch live football (what you are watching on Sunday afternoon, Mark watches at 7 pm here). I use this time to plan out my week of school activities, meal plan & calendar planning. Last night, I did all of the above plus tried to start packing for America. I got interrupted by a little boy who was running a fever & needed some mommy love. All that to say, my head hit the pillow after midnight.

Now onto today ...

I set my alarm for 6:15 with the intentions of working out & showering but didn't roll out of bed until 6:45. I decided to skip the workout & shower & went straight for my iced coffee ... a mix of cold coffee & sweetened condensed milk. Good stuff!

I then did my quiet time & finished right as Izzy was waking up. She went straight into her new morning routine ... saying "Good morning!" to Bingo!!

Not too long after that, Luke woke up & our day began. Mark snuggled with Luke while Izzy helped me make pancakes.

After breakfast (which took an HOUR because a certain little girl is the slowest & most distracted eater EVER), Izzy & I did school from around 9:30-10:30. Mark took Luke to the doctor to have some tests run because of his fever & diarrhea (all came back negative, by the way). They returned as we wrapped up school. The kids then watched a Leap Frog video while I began work on a party we had this evening. Mark had the rest of the morning in the office to catch up on his admin duties.

After their video, they played in their rooms for an hour while I continued to work on party preparations & cooking. I realized that I had only a half a pound of powdered sugar for my frosting (I needed 2 lbs!) so Mark took both kids to the store on an emergency run while I got lunch together.

We ate lunch around 12:30 & then Mark headed out to conduct the Fox's language evaluation. I put the kids down for a nap about 1:30 & went back to party preparations ... making the frosting & decorating.

I finally hopped in the shower around 3 & Mark got home from the language evaluation. Izzy woke up a little later & then she & Mark headed to the baptism of one of our MKs at 3:30. Luke hung out with me while I frosted the cupcakes. We read a few books & played with Bingo & then he played in the kitchen while I started fixing the meal for tonight.

Mark got home with Izzy a little before 5 & took the kids so I could finish in the kitchen in peace! At 5:30, our guests started to arrive. The party tonight was to celebrate a multitude of things ... "Welcome Home" for Randy & Susan who just got back from being gone for a month, "Happy Birthday!" to Sarah (Oct 21) & Mark (Oct 22), "Congrats!" to Jody & Sarah for finishing their mid-term & to Ben & Melissa for celebrating their 1 year anniversary of being on the field. Obviously, we love any good excuse to eat a meal together!

We had a great time of laughing, talking, eating & celebrating! Izzy loves to have people over &, especially, her friends so she can sit at her own "big girl" table!

Ben & Melissa gave Mark "coupons" for his birthday. They included things like "One Free Handshake," "One Free Training Session for your dog," "One Free Night of Babysitting" & then one more. Mark decided to cash this one in tonight.

Everyone left around 8. We put the kids in bed & sat down to watch an episode of TV on iTunes. Mark worked out while I paid bills online & uploaded these pics. I've made my batch of coffee & put it in the fridge to have cold coffee for tomorrow morning & I'm about to hit the sack! It's 10:15 pm & I hope to be well asleep before midnight tonight! See y'all tomorrow!

D is for dinosaur

2011-10-14T13:17:00.002-05:00

This week in school we worked on the letter "D." It was perfect that Izzy had her "Daddy/daughter date" last weekend to start her off!

Izzy worked on counting. She would count the number of dinosaurs & then match the correct number to it.

She also worked on matching colors. Each dinosaur was a different color & cut in half.

She also worked on writing the letter.

She worked on graphing. She had to count the number of dinosaurs & then draw the same amount of circles on the grid below.

She also had to separate the uppercase letters from the lowercase letters.

One of Izzy's favorite things to do is patterns.

Practicing writing again.

And finishing the week by putting the letter on the Chicka Chicka ABC tree.

As you can tell from Izzy's outfits, this was just for 2 days of her preschool. There were 2 other days that I didn't document in pictures. As you can see, she is learning a ton & having lots of fun!! Onto letter "F."

All material shown here is from the "Letter of the Week" curriculum found on www.confessionsofahomeschooler.com.

projects around the house

2011-10-13T16:27:00.000-05:00

Mark & I have tried our hand at a few projects around the house lately. Some turned out like we wanted, some not so much. But when you don't have easy access to a Hobby Lobby or Home Goods Store, sometimes you just do what you gotta do & be satisfied with what you do have. A few of these projects came from our heads & some are revised from ideas I saw on Pinterest.

I thought I'd share a few of them with y'all. Please don't make fun. We are amateurs here! Our pictures are not high quality either, so some of them don't really show the true quality of the "artwork."

These are canvases we painted to originally put as "bookends" on the bookshelf in Luke's room. However, we just did a switch-a-roo in our rooms & Luke no longer has a bookshelf. So we decided to hang these on the wall above the baskets where we keep his books ... like a reading corner. I think there needs to be a "to" in between them now ... like "A to Z." But they'll do for now.

These were white letters I had bought at Hobby Lobby & put on the crate. I finally got around to painting them to match the frame given to us by Aunt Patty. And, no, that's not a picture of Luke in that frame. I am AWFUL about putting pictures in frame ... I'm like Minnie Pearl with home decor.

My wonderfully talented husband did these to hang above our couch. We have a huge white wall & it needed something big. We couldn't find a canvas big enough so we decided to do four. I think they turned out really good. Mark's not in love with them yet but that's the great thing about canvases ... you can always just repaint them one day.

And this is what I'm not in love with yet. I wanted to paint 3 or 4 different types of trays to hang by ribbon on the wall in our dining room ... except I couldn't find any different trays. So I just bought 3 different sizes of the same shaped tray & decided to hang them all together. I think it's too big & long next to the silhouettes on the other side of the window. Maybe it'll grow on me or maybe I'll try something else sometime soon or maybe I'll try to find trays in the States next month.

I've always wanted to do this in our kitchen & we finally did! I did the letters & Mark did the effects to make them look a little more "rustic."

If you ever stayed at our house in Ayorou, you may recognize this fabric. It was the old comforters in the guest room. We recently did a room change up & moved Luke to the guestroom & made his old nursery into an office. When we did that, we ended up with an extra bed to put somewhere in the house. I didn't want a normal bed in the office but I had to put this somewhere. I also had 2 foam African mattresses to deal with, too. So I covered one mattress with the fabric & put it on the bottom. I took the other mattress, folded it in half, secured it together & covered it with the other comforter. Voila ... 30 minutes later, I had a couch in our office. It works as a perfect place to sit when we watch movies on our computer.

So all this Facebook & Pinterest boycotting has proved to be a good thing ... in terms of finally getting around to projects around the house! I have also finished 2 books on my reading list plus an additional one I added. I still need to get around to writing in that empty journal but I feel like my time is less wasted & I'm doing more things with my time that I can show for it. All in all, it's been a good thing so far & it's been confirmed over & over that it was the right move in my life right now.

teen favorites

2011-10-11T13:02:00.001-05:00

Here's another confession for you ... I'm a dork. Yes, it's true. I'm a dork because I love to do Word Search Puzzles. Anyone else out there who's dorky like me? No? Just me. Okay then.

So I found this Word Search Puzzle book somewhere & picked it up. Maybe one of y'all left it at our house this past year. Anywho, I was working through it & came to one puzzle that was labeled "Teen Favorites." As I read down the list, I thought, "Okay, how old is this puzzle book?! Seriously?!" And then I noticed it was published in 2011!!! I about spit out my tea I was laughing so hard!!

That's Mark holding the book for me ... just to clear up any confusion: this is Parker's weird habit not Mark's or if you thought I had suddenly grown manly fingers. Okay, glad that's cleared up!

I thought some of y'all might enjoy this 2011 Teen Favorites list. Here are just a few of my faves ...

Boot ... not bootS, just boot. Because every teen loves to have one boot.
Denim ... because what typical teenager isn't down with DENIM?!
Diary ... yes, all teenagers I know keep a diary. It's probably hidden under their pillows along with a picture of Doogie Howser, MD
Gymnastics ... definitely, gymnastics. All those students in our high school ministry at Living Hope were so down with gymnastics, it wasn't even funny.
Jukebox ... oh yeah, I saw TONS of teenagers this past summer in America jamming to some tunes on a jukebox at the local diner. It got a little dangerous once when one teen wanted to hear "Islands in the Stream" but another wanted "I Just Wanna Dance with Somebody"
Loafers ... you didn't know? You're not down with the 4-1-1? Loafers are THE thing!
Record ... CDs - what? I-Tunes - no way! Records are where it's at people!
Teen Star ... is that what we're calling them these days? NKOTB ... woot woot! Teen Stars are all the rave. If you're a teenager & don't have a favorite Teen Star, then you are SO not cool.
VCR ... this is one is my personal favorites! Because we all know that teens get together on Friday nights, sit around in someone's basement & pop a VHS into a VCR for a good ole time!

In other news, the Lukester came down with a fever this morning & has been terribly fussy but also adorably snuggly. Win some, lose some. We took him to get a malaria test (It's just life here. Got a fever? Get a malaria test. It's best to rule it out in advance.) His came back negative but it did show a slight infection. So, we're taking a sick day today ... & I may just have to lay back & enjoy a couple of word puzzles in honor of the ole sick day. Nothing cure's a sick baby's mama like a word puzzle. Am I right?

daddy/daughter date

2011-10-10T08:11:00.000-05:00

I have to brag on Mark Carney Phillips for a moment. Not only is he the best husband in the world but he is also the best father in the world to our 2 precious children. After a week of hosting a volunteer (& having malaria, I might add), he offered to let me sleep in on Saturday morning & took the kids to a softball tournament in town!! Major, MAJOR brownie points!!

That same day he also decided that it was high time he had a date with his daughter. He wants to teach her young the proper way to be treated as a young lady & he sets the bar pretty high. She should pretty much expect nothing less!

Izzy got SO excited about her night out with her daddy!! She wanted to wear her fanciest dress (her Easter dress) & she even wanted me to blow dry her hair, put on a little parfum (aka - scented body spray) & a little lip gloss, too. She's seen me get all dressed up for dates with Daddy before & she wanted to do the exact same!

When she was dressed & ready to go, Daddy presented her with flowers & candy!! (See what I'm talking about? That's a high bar already!) Daddy then took her to one of the nicer restaurants in town (a yummy Indian restaurant) & then took her to another place to get ice cream afterwards.

She was GLOWING when they got back that night! She was so proud that Daddy took her out & she knew that it was the most special treat night she'd ever had!! She asked for another date with Daddy the next day!!

Izzy & Daddy at the start of their big date! Mark picked the flowers out of our yard for his little girl!

Big kisses for the numero uno man in her life!

Precious, precious!!

Headed out on their big date! Mark even wore dress pants ... I don't think he's done that on our last 3 dates!! I mean he's worn pants, it's just been jeans!

Isabelle didn't want Luke to be sad so she made sure to give him lots of kisses before she left.

A gentleman always escorts his lady to the car & opens the door for her!

Can you see the smile on her face? She was SOOO excited!

I made Mark take a camera with him because I wanted him to document every minute of this very special occasion!!

Yummy butter chicken, naan & Sprite! It is really a delicious meal. However, when I asked Izzy what she ate on her date, she said, "Rice & sauce!" Only in Africa!

Stop #2 - Ice cream at Amandine's!

So happy on her date with Daddy! (PS - you can definitely tell this was a date with Daddy since Izzy still has the remains of butter chicken on her mouth from the earlier restaurant!)

My precious baby girl & her most awesome Daddy!! I hope she always knows just how much he loves her & thinks the world of her!

And on this note of Daddy & daughter special relationships, have y'all heard the title song from Shane & Shane's new album, "The One You Need"? Oh my word, it will make you cry ... if you are a daughter or if you have a daughter! Bless! I was bawling like a baby this morning when I heard it for the first time!

sensory bins

2011-10-09T09:13:00.000-05:00

Another activity that was highly suggested to me (for both Izzy & Luke) was a sensory bin. I'll have to admit that I was just as highly skeptical of this thing. Everybody & their mama has been talking about it but I just didn't think I could do it because of lack of resources & wondering if my children would really enjoy it.

But I'll have you know ... I was wrong. I finally found a storage bin (much smaller than I'd like though) for 4,000 cfa (about $8). A little pricey but ya gotta do what ya gotta do. I used a combo of beans, macaroni & popcorn as my filler because I didn't have enough of just one in my pantry. I decided to do our first bin with the theme of the letter "D" for this week's letter. I figured that maybe Luke could play with it while I did school with Isabelle.

I may have overdone my items in the bin. It's a little crowded! After the filler, I looked around the house to try & find things that started with "D" that I could add to the bin. We've got pics of Daddy, a Dumptruck, a Donut, a Dinosaur, a Dog, a Donkey, a Drumstick & Dishes (I ended up taking the dice out). I then added some Bananagram tiles of the letter "D", a magnetic "D" & a piece of paper with foam "D's" stuck to it. I also have an old ice cream scoop & empty frosting can, too. See ... maybe a little too much?

The first object lesson was "Do not eat the filler, Luke!"

But after we worked on the first lesson, he was set! I had to remove some of the items so he could really get in there but I think it worked fairly well overall. He played with it while I made supper & was SO quiet (which is HUGE for Luke). Then he & Izzy played with it today. She lasted about 20 minutes but he kept on for at least 30-35 minutes! I realized I had to sit & supervise him for a while to keep redirecting him to keep the filler inside the box but he got it after a while & if he spilled some, he'd pick it up & put it back in.

I'm telling y'all ... these little bins are like crack for my kids!! They're amazing! I'm going to try & be super teacher & switch up the bins every week to go along with our Letter of the Week curriculum but we'll see how long that lasts. I also think that I either need to get 2 bins so that Izzy & Luke can both have one or get one big long one when we're in the States next month. It was really hard for both of them to play in the bin at the same time, so they kept removing their scoops & bowls & spilling the filler everywhere.

So, all in all, I give the sensory bins an A+!! My Type-A somewhat OCD personality has to chill a bit when I pull these out because it's only barring a miracle that either child doesn't spill at least some bean or macaroni or popcorn kernel. But it's also another good way to teach my children to clean up their messes while I learn another lesson in patience & grace!!

school's in session

2011-10-08T09:08:00.000-05:00

Earlier this year, I decided that I should attempt the role of "homeschool mom." Isabelle had just turned 3 & I knew that she was at a good age to start doing some preschool activities. I had a friend suggest a curriculum & decided to go with it.

We opted on Confession of a Homeschooler's "Letter of the Week" curriculum. It is all downloadable, has tons of activities for each letter (not just limited to the alphabet) & even has 5 day lesson plans for each week. It couldn't get any better or easier than this!

Here's what it includes:

A-Z ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:

A- Z Weekly Lesson Plans
Weekly Bible Verse
Read aloud books
Phonics practice
Capital/lowercase letter recognition
1-10 Numbers recognition
Counting practice
Colors
Shapes
Fine Motor skills: Lacing cards, cutting, coloring & pre-writing
Logic skills: Puzzles, size sorting, matching games
Large Muscle Movement: Large Floor Numbers/Letters Hopscotch
Singing: Leapfrog A-Z letter sound songs, Bible Verse Songs
Arts & Crafts for each letter
Daily Calendar and Weather Activities

I started it with Izzy in mid-August & after a couple of weeks of both of us getting used to our new roles as teacher & student, I'd say we've gotten into a fairly good pace of "school." It was tough at first because Isabelle didn't know what to expect each day & had never done some of these activities before or had never done them with instruction (i.e. - "color this apple red"). Up until now, I had always let her color her own way & let her choose how she wanted to do it.

But after a couple of weeks, and now 6 weeks into it, we're doing good. We usually spend 4 mornings a week for about an hour each day doing "school." This is about the max time limit for Luke's attention span to play by himself or to entertain himself with the few activities I have for him. I think in the next month or 2, he'll be at the age when he can start to color a few items or have some more activities that are specific for him & we'll try to increase our school time.

For now though, what we are doing works! We all have fun & Isabelle is learning so much!! I know we don't need to spend 8 hours a day doing "school" because a lot of her learning comes from "playful learning" on her own or in other activities. Even though I was a little overwhelmed at first, I'm really glad I decided to do this because (A) the curriculum is super easy, (B) it helps to keep our day & routine structured with an hour slot devoted to this each day, (C) Isabelle is learning so much more than if I tried to do just do "stuff" with her here & there, (D) I can incorporate other activities during our week into what she's learning because we are focusing on one letter at a time (i.e "let's go ride Bikes!" during the letter "B" or "let's Cook Cookies!" during the letter "C" or pointing out things in grocery stores or along the road that go along with our letter) & (E) most importantly, we are all having fun!

So, let me introduce you to our school ...

There is a small room off the back of our garage that we were using as a storage room. I had tried to do school in the house in our play nook but it just wasn't working ... too many distractions, I guess. After we moved over here, it's been much easier.

The sponge paint job was already in here & we were too lazy & cheap to re-do it. The small table was one I picked up at Sam's on a whim when we were packing our crate. It folds in half & can be set at different heights. It works perfect for our school but I can also use it in the house if we are hosting a party.

The curriculum we are using came with printables for colors, shapes, numbers, letters, etc. It helps to add "decor" to our room but we also use them to reinforce what she already knows or even play games. These are really helping Luke to even start learning his colors.

Thanks to Mr Shawn Perry for bringing out our Big Apple calendar! I had no idea the thing was this big when I ordered it on Amazon to have him bring. We are slowly working on days of the week & months. We are not focusing too hard on it right now but it helps to be able to use it everyday. The tree in the picture is our "Chicka Chicka ABC" tree. We read that book at the end of every week & then Izzy gets to put the letter on the tree. We started with the vowels & now are working through the consonants.

Our supply closet!

This is in NO way all of the activities that Isabelle does. These are just the ones that are not laminated & that I can hang up on "display" as she completes them. Most of her activities for the day are items I've laminated for durability & longevity (I plan to use these for Luke when he's 3). This is a Do-A-Dot page. I'm so glad Amanda Borders told me to pick up one of those bingo markers when we went shopping for our crate!

Cut & paste activity. Obviously we were working on the letter "C" this week & "C" is for Caterpillar! Izzy's not so good with the cutting yet but I know she'll get there. I do the cutting for her on activities like this & she has "cutting practice" pages she does. The scribblings above her caterpillar is her name! There are a couple of "I's" (she likes that letter a lot), a "B", an "A", 2 "E's" & 2 "L's." We need to work on the letter "S" ... & also putting her letters in order!

A poke page.

Her coloring page for the week. Y'all, I am so proud of her for this! It may not look like much to you but you should've seen her coloring 6 weeks ago ... it's been a lot of blood, sweat & tears (on my part! ha!) to get here!

The curriculum also has a memory verse each week. Isabelle has done phenomenal with this! All I have to do is tell her the first word of each verse we've worked on so far & she can say the rest (almost to the "t").

A fun extra activity (not included in the curriculum) for caterpillars!

We read EVERYDAY & I try to find books that go with our Letter of the Week.

So for any of you moms out there who have 3 year olds & do not currently enroll them in preschool (or even if you do a 2 day/week preK & want to supplement), I highly recommend this curriculum. It's super cheap (10 bucks!!) & has SO many activities ... you could probably spend 2 weeks on one letter with all the activities they have in mind. You can do like me & set your own pace (we don't follow the lesson plan to the "t" since we only do 1 hour each day) or you can use it just to have a ton of activities to do with your kid during "down" times in your day.

It really can't hurt to do anything extra, in the education department, with your 3 year old ... in my opinion. For me, I need structure & organization & a focus or none of us (Isabelle, especially) jives real well with it. This curriculum is perfect & you don't have to spend all day on Pinterest trying to find activities because it's all there for you!!

So that's our school life right now. Like I said, when Luke gets older, we may try to kick it up a notch but we are doing what works for us now & we are all happy & that's all that matters!!

a boy's best friend

2011-10-06T09:31:00.000-05:00

Well, Bingo has been in our lives for one week today. I still can't believe we are dog owners! This is something we had never planned on or even talked about doing some day. But, I tell ya what ... we love it! We love having this little animal wandering around & getting all up in our business ... & our plants!

No, really, Bingo has been an excellent pup. He has not cried or whined one time; after 2 days of "training" him, he hasn't pooped or peed on our porch since; & yesterday, he barked for the first time at kids peeking under our door, so he's already protective of his new family. Oh & he has never once tried to escape or venture outside of our yard. He knows this is his home & I think he's rather content being here.

I think there is one little boy, however, who loves having him here the most. He cries when we say goodnight to Bingo & asks for him first thing in the morning. He tries to snuggle with him & wants to shower him with kisses. He giggles & giggles when Bingo plays with him & loves for Bingo to follow him wherever he goes. Okay, now that I think about it ... there are 2 boys who love Bingo the most but I was really talking more about Luke!

So glad this little pup "happened" his way into our lives last week!! I would have never accepted a puppy when handed to me in a village but Mark did & he definitely scored some major Daddy points (as my friend Amy said) when he walked in our door last Thursday with our kiddos' new best friend!

randomness

2011-10-05T08:02:00.000-05:00

You know how some people do a blog post with random pictures from their iPhone? Well, since we aren't sporting any iPhones over here, I'll just do some random pictures from iPhoto! Close enough, right? It's really just about the randomness anyways, not the high tech gadget in which the randomness is stored.

So ... onto the randomness! Let's get this party started!

How fun is it to take a picture of someone jumping in mid-air?!! Mark says, "Pose like an 80's rocker kinda fun!"

No, better yet, let's just throw our daughter in the air & take a picture of that awesomeness, too!

So in case y'all didn't know ... I had a birthday ... in March! This picture cracks me up because it looks like I'm saying, "Is that for me?" Like who else, in the 6 adults & 2 children that attended this birthday lunch, had a birthday that day? I'm such a dork.

This was my birthday cake from Mark & the kids. Fancy, eh?

Some time ago Izzy & I did some mama/daughter henna. It was fun bonding times!

A Daddy/kiddo day at the zoo! My man is a brave man to take our 2 kiddos to a zoo by himself!

This picture was taken about 30 minutes after Mark got home from Ghana in August. Me thinks he was a wee bit tired. And me thinks the Belle missed her Daddy something fierce!

Who knows why this event was picture worthy? Maybe because Luke won the clean plate award that night?

How many Phillips does it take to blow up an inflatable pool?

This is the first picture of 2011 in my iPhoto ....

... this is the last one. I think someone has changed just a bit!

And I'm pretty sure this was before our crate came because 1) Luke is in long sleeves & Izzy is in jeans which tells me it was cool & 2) it seems that there was only a box & a tea set to play with in our house!

I do believe this is where I noticed that someone needed his first haircut! He's had 2 since then. The last one didn't go so great ... a hairdresser's husband made a comment about it before he realized I was the one administering the hair cuts. Awkward!

This is how I found Izzy one day after a nap. I'm pretty sure I look like that after everytime I'm woken up from a good deep sleep.

But a new outfit, a comb through the hair & a bow (of course!) & she's a new woman. I wish it were that easy for me!!

The awesomeness that is known as Oreo cupcakes (via Bakerella). I made these for Susan's birthday back in July.

And I made her a strawberry cake, too. Because nothing says, "Happy 60th birthday" like a cake and a couple dozen cupcakes!!

Luke & his bestie, Uncle Cephas!

Not sure why Izzy was upset about the rain because it is, in fact, our 2nd favorite season here. We only have 3 to choose from ... cool, hot & somewhat hot with a little rain!

I don't know if you can see this or not but I wrote "Bingo" towards the top of the box & Izzy wrote it about 6 inches under mine. You can tell which letters we've worked on so far (the vowels & first 2 consonants of the alphabet). I think she did great on her "B", "I", & "O". The "N" & "G" need a little improvement!

And let's end this randomness with one adorable picture of one awesome 19 month old little boy who loves to cheese it up for the camera!

Wal-Mart in Niger!

2011-10-04T09:06:00.000-05:00

It must be known that our family & friends spoil us to the max. Anytime a team comes this way, either they or one of our family members (or sometimes both) bring or send us at least a suitcase of American goodies (if not more)!! We are really suffering over here!! : ) Seriously, sometimes our pantry looks like a Wal-Mart exploded in it.

We try to ration out our goodies but sometimes certain items just seem to disappear. I mean one day I open a bag of Cheetos & the next day they are gone! I really don't know how this happens! Hmmm ... maybe I should check for mice. Although, these "mice" always seem to go for the Oreos & Dr Peppers first, so maybe I should just beat them to the punch!

Really, I just wanted to give a shout out to all of our family & friends who have spoiled us & helped to open the very first Wal-Mart in Niger! You know who you are. Thank you for giving your resources to help relieve our "suffering" (ha! ha! ha!), to indulge our sweet tooth, & to give us a little taste of America in a land where fried crickets & porridge made out of millet is considered a "special treat"!

And if you are thinking, "Well, I'd like to add some stock to the Phillips' Wal-Mart," here's a few pictures to give you a good idea of what we keep on hand!! You know, we'd never want to deny you the blessing!! Oh, I'm kidding, I'm kidding ... well, a little ... no, I'm just teasing ... we really don't "need" any of this but it does bless our socks off when a package or suitcase comes our way that's been filled not only with yummy treats but also a ton of love poured into it!!

So to anyone that's sent us a package or brought us a treat (or 50 ... I'm talking to you Kelli Hudson!), we are truly, truly thankful!!

Ole GB got it down just right for his little girl!! My Daddy knows what I like!!

Gaga & Papa know how to spoil their grandkids with a little healthy, a little salty & a little sweet!

Kelli & the rest of the LH team LOADED our cabinets down with cake mixes, frostings & muffin mixes. I asked for A cake mix ... I got TWENTY!!

How do you even stack this many muffin mixes?

Blake & Brittany showered us with Oreos!! Oh my word, those Golden Creme cookies are to die for!! Where have they been all my life?

The Richeys also re-stocked our "cream of" soups. These aren't so tasty in themselves but they sure do make a mean Mexican Casserole (am I right Erin B?) & a yummy Poppyseed Chicken casserole!

And an awesome package arrived in the mail the other day from Cousin JJ!! Pumpkin placemats to get us in the "fall seasonal" mood! With temps rising back up to 115, we need all the help we can get to be reminded that someone, somewhere is enjoying fall weather!

I really wish I had a picture of every package we've ever been sent or every suitcase that's been delivered to us or every yummy treat that a team has left behind for us. We are really, really, really spoiled!!! And it's not even limited to food ... a few certain someones have basically clothed my kids (in rather really cute clothes, I might add) & a few certain someones have overloaded me with awesome preschool curriculum & resources (I could probably open a Parent-Teacher store here, too)!

So I know that I, in no way, mentioned or referenced everyone that's loved on us. I don't think our blog could handle that kind of overload. But please know that if you've ever sent or brought or left us a package, a card, a box of Oreos, a pumpkin placemat, fruit snacks for our kids or the 100 bazillion other items that have been handed to us in love, we are TRULY, TRULY grateful .... & not just because it reminds us of Wal-Mart!

not the norm

2011-10-03T16:36:00.000-05:00

Mark posted this on the Songhai blog today & I just had to share it on here. So many of you pray for us everyday & since we do mostly "family" posts on here, it's easy to forget to update you on the ministry side of our lives & to say, "Thank you" for praying.

God is doing amazing things over here & we are so humbled to be a part of it. We are also so humbled & grateful for each of you who has prayed for us on this journey over the last 5 years & continually sought the Lord on behalf of the Songhai.

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I've made a comment to our last two teams that I wanted to share on this blog. Our last two teams have both been a part of 1) new believers coming to life in Christ and 2) discipleship of believers who hunger for God's Word. The comment I've made to both of these teams is: "There are missionaries who spend their entire career on the field and don't get to see what you just saw."

The point is that this is not the norm, especially in places like Niger. Especially in places the Gospel has never been before. Especially in places that are some of the darkest places on earth. And yet, it's happening.

I wish I could point to a clever strategy or a personal holiness that is at the root but I cannot. I can simply point to a gracious God who loves the Songhai and is calling many of them to faith and new life through His Son.

I remember being told (before we came to Niger) that we might spend 5, 10, or even 20 years here and never see fruit. We accepted that and were willing to live that calling out should it be ours. However, I think at least a part of us held onto the conviction that God's sheep hear His voice and that God has sheep in the Songhai villages of Niger.

So we, and scores of volunteers, have sowed the seed for the past 5 years and, just as Jesus told us, there have been varied results. But, and we are so humbled by this, we have been able to see much seed land on that good soil.

I wanted to share this with our 2 volunteer teams but I wanted to share it with you, too. You may have never stepped foot in Songhai land but you're a part of this. You may have not been the one to share the Gospel for the first time in a village, or baptize a new brother in the Niger River, or disciple a new believer but that does not mean you're not a critical part of all those things.

If we had to try and explain what's happening here I think our best chance would be the army of people faithfully praying for the salvation of the Songhai and our merciful Father hearing their pleas.

We're so grateful to be on this not so normal journey with you.

growing family

2011-10-01T17:46:00.000-05:00

The other day Mark walks in from being out in a village all day & has this little thing in his arm. I barely noticed it & it took a second glance to see it but there was in fact something there. A little something we are now calling in our house, "Bingo"!

Mark has always been a dog lover but neither he nor I have owned a dog since we were young. When this puppy was offered to him in the village that morning, he couldn't resist bringing him home! We gave Izzy the job of naming him & she decided on Bingo.

He is 3 months old &, after being very timid the first day, is quickly coming out of his shell. The kids love him & Luke just adores him. Isabelle likes him from a distance but gets a little scared when Bingo gets rowdy. Luke just puts his fingers right in Bingo's mouth & cackles when Bingo licks or nips them.

After being gone all morning yesterday visiting some ladies, the first thing Isabelle said when we were in the car on the way home was, "I can't wait to see Bingo!" And when we got out of the car, she started yelling, "Bingo! Bingo! I'm home!! I can't wait to see you!"

When I told Luke to come inside today after playing with Bingo for a while, the boy just broke down crying. After I got him to calm down & tell me what was wrong, he kept saying, "Ba ba! Ba ba! Ba ba!" (which is how he says Bingo). He did not want to leave his new friend for anything!

Not that we needed much more joy or entertainment in our house because it is already full to the brim with Izzy & Luke but Bingo has definitely added a little something extra to our lives!! We love the new addition to our family!

if I were to be honest

2011-09-30T04:49:00.000-05:00

If I were to be very honest with y'all, I would have to admit that I'm a bit of a procrastinator. "Surely, you jest," you are probably saying. "You do such a good job on the blog with timely updates!"

But, I do not jest. No, I confess. I am a procrastinator. I get distracted easily. And I'm a time waster. These are some of my many flaws. The problem is that my procrastination/distraction/time wasting can go without end without me even realizing it. Are you following? No? Okay, here's an example ... Pinterest! I get on to just "take a look" at what my peeps are pinning & an hour passes without me even realizing it! What??

To recap, I get distracted easily & for long periods which leads to my procrastination which leads to me wasting time. And while some people have the same tendencies, some people can also just rally themselves together, focus & get over it. Not me. I've tried. I've really tried ... like setting myself a time limit on how long to be on the computer. But I realized that the only way I can be less distracted is to just get rid of the distraction completely.

So I did it. I took the plunge & I deleted my Facebook account & my Pinterest account. I wasn't a Facebook junkie by any means. I didn't stay up til all hours of the night playing Farmvillle or "liking" everybody's statuses or commenting on everyone's pictures. No, my tendency was to just "take a look" at what's happening in the world of Facebook & then somehow I'd get sucked into some endless maze of looking at pictures or profiles & then an hour would pass without me realizing it. I sound like such a creepy dork!

And it was the same with Pinterest ... good intentions to just "look" & then it sucked me in like a tractor beam! I'm obviously not good with setting my own boundaries! So for the last few weeks I have really felt like the Lord was asking me to just "unplug" &, to be honest again, I was not listening. I thought, "If I get rid of it, how will I stay in contact with people? How will they know what's happening here or how to pray?"

It's all just so silly now that I think about it. Because in reality my family & bestest friends & I don't use Facebook to stay in contact with one another ... we are old school: we email & we Skype. I haven't "reconnected" with anyone on Facebook that, if I deleted my account, our relationship would fall back into some abyss. I don't have to use Facebook to keep everyone updated with pictures of life here, I have the blog for that.

For Pinterest, it gave me a lot of great ideas & recipes to try. I'm thankful for that & it was fun while it lasted but, for now, it's got to go. I've got 11 blank canvases in my kitchen from projects I found that I just "have to do" that haven't been done because I've been looking for more projects! I'm hopeless, y'all!

It really all boils down to being obedient to what I feel the Lord is asking me to do right now & to leaving a legacy for my children. If I were to pass on today, what would I have to show to my children of what kind of woman I was? I have a journal that sits on my dresser with all the greatest intentions in the world of filling it up with stories about them but it's empty. I have all these projects that are on my to-do list that I could leave behind that shows them what I did with my hands but they haven't gone much further than a to-do list. And I have an online journal (aka - this blog) that lies dormant for weeks at a time. I have a stack of books with ne'er a crease in them that shows I even attempted to read them.

What my kids could probably find is a history on Firefox on our computer that shows I spent countless hours blog hopping (one of my biggest time wasters) & looking at what other moms are saying about their kids instead of saying anything about my own. Or that I looked at all these awesome crafts without ever making one for them.

Now I need you to know that I do not have some kind of closet internet addiction where I need to go seek counseling. What I do have is a sense of discomfort with how I spend my time. I know in reality it's not really that much time but when you're a mom of little 'uns, you really don't have that much time as it is & I don't want to waste it anymore. I also need you to know that tooting around on this here ole world wide web has not, in essence, taken away from my roles as wife or mother. (The only time I'm ever on the computer when the kids are awake is for work.)

But what it has taken away from is my relationship with God. Don't worry, I'm not in some kind of pit. I just feel like I'm not growing. And Facebook nor Pinterest nor a blog about some mommy in Texas that I don't even know is not helping me grow in my faith. In the long run though, I guess this actually does affect my family because when I'm not growing in my walk, then that filters out into other areas of my life. And more than being a wife & a mommy & pleasing these people that I hold so dear, I want to be a woman that is head over heels in love with my Savior.

I want to read that stack of books. I want to journal about my children ... in my handwriting & something that is tangible & I can hand to them one day. I want to be crafty & do something! I want to go deeper in my relationship with God. And I know this isn't for everyone & I'm not trying to toot my own horn or say, "Join the Bandwagon! Let's ban Facebook!" & start some kind of revolution. There are many women that I respect that can do it all. Right now, I'm just not one of them.

In addition to my list of confessions above, I also am not a multi-tasker. I can't do it all. I can't focus on more than one thing at a time. For me, I needed to cut some of these distractions & then learn some self-discipline over others (aka - the blog hopping). I got like this when we lived in America one time. I was so bad about just turning on the TV while I ate lunch & then 2 hours later, I was still sitting there with an empty plate in my lap. I eventually had to tape a large piece of paper over the screen that said, "STOP! Have you spent time with the Lord today?" so that I could not just turn on the TV flippantly!

Y'all are probably really regretting you read this post (if you've made it this far) & are saying to yourselves, "Well that's a lot more of Parker Phillips than I dared to ever care to know." But, it is what it is.

I just wanted to give y'all an explanation (& a lengthy one, at that) of why you won't see me on Facebook anymore or Pinterest. I will still keep my Twitter account because that's a medium that I can handle ... short & sweet & no way to get sucked into some kind of maze. I will still blog ... hopefully with a little more regularity. And I'm still available by email or Skype.

So for any of you out there who are disappointed by my move, I'm sorry but this is where I need to be right now &, to be honest, it feels really good to be free!