Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Really... Really?

So this afternoon
The kids and I 
Decided to take some time
And relax...

We had slight reprieve
From testing
(non today because Zane had to go on a short trip)

So we decided
To bust out
"The Great Escape"

Classic!

Can't go wrong
With Steve McQueen ever!
Right :)

Anyway,
I got a cup of coffee

And we all settled in

About half way through
The movie

I casually glanced down
Into my almost finished
Cup of coffee

And what do you think
I discovered there?

A drowned spider
About the size
Of a silver dollar...

Really...
Really?

Is NOTHING sacred anymore :)

Bugs are even
Invading my coffee time now

Ew!


As for testing
Three down
Three more to go!

The kids are settling into the routine now
And seem to still enjoy it
For the most part

Please continue to pray for them
Some of the curriculum that they teach
Here in the schools
Is just memorization
And the students of the school
Don't really "understand" the concept

Which we aren't doing with our kids
We are taking our time
And slowly adding
Making sure that they really understand
What we are teaching them

Understandably
They kids get frustrated
When something comes up
That they don't know how to do...

Thankfully
As I have explained to them
That they just need to do their best
And skip the "hard stuff"
They seem to be doing better

Blessings!
Bri

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Second Post... Same day

What?
Can it be???

Two posts in one day!

Outrageous!!!

However,
It is indeed true

:)

Sorry that I have been
A bit lax
In updating

Seems that there is a lot going on
When you are taking care
Of 11 children
Homeschooling
And generally
Keeping up 
With life
In an Africa Country!

However,
I am so blessed!

God has been so faithful

He reminds me constantly
That His strength
Is made perfect
In my weakness

That He is the author of all wisdom

And that
Without Him
I am nothing

Blessed be His name

All that said

Things are going well
Here at Lil' Village

Next week
Is Finals at the local school

Please keep that 
In your prayers

Praise the Lord
I feel 
Like the kids are ready

We have been studying hard
And the kids
Are really trying
To learn well

It is cute :)

I wish people
Could sit in on our classes
I can't believe
How much I learn!
And I am the teacher :)

So
Any and all prayer
For exams
Would be much appreciated

Needless to say
After all the prep
And extended class time

The week after exams
We will be taking
A bit of a break
:)

On the front
Of Summer's health
She continues to rest
Eat
And wait in America

Her return date is set
For early September
And we all await her return
With baited breathe!
 
Please keep the entire McCourtney family
In your prayers

For Summer's health
That the Dr's would have wisdom
In diagnosing
What is going on
In her body

And helping her
To regain her health

 That the time would go quickly
Until her return
As I am sure
You can understand
It is hard for all of them
To be so far apart
For so long

On another front
 The farm
Continues to grow
And change

It is so cool
To see everything green
And growing!

The rain has been coming
In the Afternoons

By rain
I am talking
Torrential downpours!

However
Being an Oregon girl
I can't help
But love every minute of it

Although
In the middle of the night
When I wake up
Because water is dripping on my face
I might not have
Quite that good
Of an attitude about it

Building around the property continues
Sorry about the lack of pictures
I just so happened
To feel inspired tonight
(Hence the two blog posts)

I will try and dust off my camera
And run around 
In the next few days
And take some pictures

Thanks you everyone
For your prayers

Blessings
From a little hut
In Africa

:)

Okra

So
I am not from the South
Which means
Until I moved to Uganda
I had never tried Okra



I realized last time I was here
I wasn't missing much
:)

It is a bit
Of a slimy mess

However
It is hard to escape
Here in Uganda

In Okra season
It is everywhere
And it is cheap

So once again today
It was time
To eat Okra

Well I did try to share with Zane
That I felt it was possible
The Lord might be
Speaking through me
That we should just sell it all
And bless the community

He however suggested
That I might be confusing
My own opinion
With the Lords...

I did after all
Say might... 
:D

So I was told
The ladies could make it for lunch
Or I could make it
To go with dinner

The house helper
Catherine
Who was cooking that day

Said she felt it would be better 
With dinner

Seems they didn't
Want to eat it
Either

:)

You know there is something wrong
If the locals
Won't eat it...
Right!

Elise
A friend who is staying here
For the summer
Informed me
That she had Okra once
In the South

Of course
Deep fried

She said that
It wasn't so bad...

So...
Battered
And deep fried

Sure,
I can do that!

So...
Evening comes
Okra is cut
And batter is mixed

At which point
It begins 
To torrentially
Down-pour...

Really?

Yep, sure enough

Don't know if I have mentioned it
But we have an
Outdoor kitchen

So I am deep frying
Outside
With a little metal roof
That just covers my head

Fortunately
The rain was pushing
The other way
So it wasn't blowing in at me

Stop for a minute
Run and get a rain coat
Shut all the shutters and doors
And it is back
To cooking

Yeah wind and rain!

So here I am
Deep frying
In the middle of a rain storm

All of a sudden
There is a
Bright
Light...
Goodness gracious!

Sure enough...
Lightning

And I am deep frying
Outside
Under a metal roof
That is built
Under a giant tamarind tree
In a rain storm

Did I mention
I might...
Have been barefooted
And standing in puddles
From aformentioned
Rain storm...

Points to me
For being so smart

What do you think
My next thought
Was...

"Run inside"?
"Put on shoes"?
"Turn of gas burner"?

Nope
My first thought
"I wonder what
Would happen
If I got 
Struck by lightning"

Yikes!

Sorry Mom

Anyway
I finally got the Okra done
And I had tons of batter left

So what do you do
When you are deep frying
And you have extra batter...
Deep fry it of course!

Yum

I am pretty sure at this point
That deep frying
Makes everything taste good

No wonder they eat Okra in the South

They probably only eat it
Deep fried
Which I am happy to report
Tastes amazing!

Kind of like a slightly sweet Jalepeno

Who knew....

So...
I survived

The Okra turned out

And on top of it

The kids liked it!

I even had
The house help
Try some
Before they left

Surprise
Surprise!
They liked it too

Yes!

Another dish to add to my 
Cooking abilities......

Score one
To the South!