Saturday, December 8, 2012

Enoch and Malaria

Please keep Enoch
In your prayers

He has malaria
and his temp is up and down

Through it all however
He is doing great
and has an awesome attitude!




Just another opportunity
For the Lord
To teach me to trust

Oh joy :)
Isn't it amazing
How He uses children
To stretch us!

Friday, December 7, 2012

Surprise "Birthday" Party

So the girls
And the young ones
Have been planning
A tea party
For two days now

Making gifts
Setting up the table
Dressing up their dolls
And
So on and so forth

Today
They came to me
With the official invitation
And informed me
It was time to start

I walked in
And was met
With this

My "Surprise Birthday Party"
Wow...
I love it!

The totally surprised me
I can't believe
The little ones
Kept it a secret

Talk about planning!


My Birthday Cake!
Complete with sprinkles


I also 
Took some pictures
Of the "guests"


Eston and Eden
Enjoying some of my cake
 

Enoch
Was VERY enthusiastic
The girls kept rebuking him
For eating with
"Bad Manners"
:D
 

Elizabeth feeding
Her baby doll cake
 

The whole party!


Eden and her baby
 

Enoch
 

Elyssa and her babies
 

Elizabeth
 

Eston was ready to eat!
With his napkin and everything
 

Elianah
 

Me and my "crown"
It was after all
My party!


Wednesday, December 5, 2012

The death... Of a turkey... Plus Thanksgiving!

So
Last week
We had a group come
From RCF

What a blessing!

On top of 
Just being an amazing group

They brought us
A bin of goodies...
Full of the fixing
For Thanksgiving

So...
We of course
Had to have
A turkey...

So the neighbor
Obliged us
By selling two
Stellar specimen

However
Since it is fresh
We have to butcher it
All by ourselves

Or should I say
Our staff does
Fortunately
I was close on hand
With my camera...

*Warning
So of the pictures
Are a bit gruesome!*


Ashley
Our ill fated turkey #1
 

And Charlie
Ill fated turkey # 2


Killing a turkey
The old fashioned way
Thank goodness
For Joseph and Julius...
I would have been lost!
 

I can't kill a turkey
But I do know
How to prepare one
To bake in the oven!
 
Thanks Erica!
For letting us use
Your oven

Then
It was time
For the feast!


Mashed Potatoes
And turkey...
Yummy!

  

Gravy, Green Bean Casserole and Peas/Corn

  

What is Thanksgiving
Without Cranberry Sauce
Easy Cheese
And Deviled Eggs!

 

Finally our dessert
In the absence of yams
We had pumpkin
Think Candied Yam
Meets Pumpkin Pie

Happy Thanksgiving from Uganda!!!



Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Zooey

It's that time of year again
The one that we all dread...
Hot season!

However
Zooey is all over it
And has found
The coolest place on the property
To hang out


It is an especially wise choice
Because right above...
Is the faucet...
So when someone comes
To wash their hands
She cools off
Even more

Smart dog!
:)

Sunday, November 11, 2012

Happy Happy Birthday Eston!

It is that time again
Another Birthday!

This time...
It is dear Eston!




And 
As you can see
He is now 5 years old!
Big man :)

For his birthday
We had his two favorite foods!
Pizza and Hamburgers



And everyone came for the party
Since the McCourtney's have
Such a large family
Eating out
Is super special


I think his birthday
Was a success!


And everyone kept saying
"I'm so glad
It is Eston's birthday!"

Thanks Eston!!!
Happy Birthday dear :)
And many more to come!

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Learning Made Fun!

So it is a Saturday
Which means
A break from normal school

And yet the McCourtney children
Just love to learn!

It is sweet really...

So what we do
Is at the beginning of the morning
I make a list
Of WAY more things
Than we could even begin
To do in one day

Then we make another list
Of the kids names

Remember the game 
"Pick a Number Between"
Well
We put that game to use!

This is the result


The kids love it!
It's kind of fun for all of us
:)
You never know
What the next will pick

This evening
Enoch selected
Twister

I think it is his favorite 
Because even though
He is only 4
He is ridiculously good at playing it

So to make it
A little more challenging
We decided
To play where the kids
Have to play "properly"

Which means
Right hand and Left hand!
So
Out comes
The sharpie
And the kids
Are ready to play!

 

Way too much fun! 
Let me tell you

So once the kids
Start looking like this



You KNOW
The day was a success!
Yeah for twister!



Who says
Learning can't be fun!

 
P.S.
I realize
That Elizabeth isn't smiling...
I believe
This must have been
Her "Game" face
:D

Saturday, October 6, 2012

Baby Rabbits and Cute Kids

I'm pretty sure
The title says it all!

With no further adeui!

Baby rabbits...
and
Cute kids!


 Elianah
 

Enoch


Eston
 

Eden


Eli
 

Elijah
 

Elyssa
 

Elizabeth

I'm not sure
How I managed to miss
A few of the kids

Guess I will just have
To spend more times
With the cute kids ;)
And our three baby rabbits!

Wow
My life is HARD
;) 

Tuesday, October 2, 2012

Exams This Week, Lord Help Me!

So once again
It is THAT time...
The time
That stresses every teacher out

(I know I'm not alone in this!)

Exams...

To be precise...
Mid-Term Exams...

While going through
Some cirriculum
From here...
I discovered something
That pretty much 
Epitomizes...
The Ugandan take
On schooling here...





If you note
Under the badge
It says
"School is God"

Yep...
I found it
In the curriculum

A lot of people here
Think school is
The beginning and end 
Of all...

Please be praying
For the children

The school system here
Puts HUGE priority
On passing exams

So the way they go about that
Is by having the kids just
Memorize
The things the teachers know
Will be on the test...

Contrary to that
We have been teaching the kids
The actual facts
And making sure they understand
Each thing they are taught...

As a result
Sometimes our kids get discouraged
If they can't answer
Every one of the questions
Even though some of them
Are far to advanced
For a 6 or 7 year old...

Please be praying
That the McCourtney children
Would be a light
As they go for testing

That they wouldn't become discouraged
But would know that
Everything that they do
Is "unto the Lord"

And

That their teacher
Would have peace
That only comes from the Lord!

:)

Blessings all!

Monday, October 1, 2012

Birthday Birthday Birthday!!!

Happy Happy Birthday
To Miss Elianah

She is making!
This many
:)


In the absence
Of a cake
We made due
With candles...



And in the absence
Of an oven
We had


Pumpkin pie...
Minus the baking
And the crust...
 


All's well
That ends well
Right!
 

I love birthdays :)



Beavers or Ducks...

Trust me
I know this is
A touchy subject...

But it cracked me up
Too much
Not to post!

Yesterday
Enoch was a bit
Under the weather

However,
By mid-morning
He was back to normal

I asked him
To put on a coat
And he got
The OSU sweatshirt
That I am sure
Some avid fan
Sent us...

Anyway
I asked him
To continue resting
On the bed

As I continued
To read my bible
All of a sudden

I heard
Get this...

Duck noises
Coming from the bed

I have no idea why
But it destroyed me
That here he was
Wearing Beaver colors
And quacking

True contradiction!

Best of both worlds maybe?

:)


Friday, September 28, 2012

Autumn In Africa :)

So
A friend of mine
It a very gifted artist!

And she is always trying
To help those of us
Who aren't so "artsy"
Get in touch with
Our inner artist

So she has a little "event"
On Facebook right now...

Dedicated it Autumn

For that event

We are supposed to do
"Autumn" or "Fall" Things
 Whether it is
Crafts
Photography

Anything that has to do
With the Season

So being in Africa
Where we are in the middle
Of rainy season

Well...
I am a bit limited :)

So yesterday
I decided to try to get 
My "Autumn" on!

Here is the result...
Of my Autumn Pumpkin Soup 

:D

Love you Cassi!


Off to find the perfect pumpkin!


Eden


Enoch and Elianah


Eli and Ethan


This one is just cause
I thought the picture was pretty
And sort of artsy ;)


Back on the home front...
My cutting assistants!
Elyssa and Elijah


The onions complete
I have such amazing helpers!


Boiled pumpkin
On the way
To soup


Mashed pumpkin
With sauteed onions and garlic
Yummy

And the final result


Pumpkin soup
Accompanied
With fresh cooked chapati!

Yum :)