So, I am apparently not very on top of birthdays. My dad's birthday is actually tomorrow, the 5th, not the 3rd as I mistakenly wrote before. So sorry dad, and Happy Birthday tomorrow to you! I also forgot to send our niece, Makenna, a birthday note because I thought her special day was in October, when it was actually in September. So an oops and a sorry to Papa John and Makenna.
We also want to say welcome to our new nephew, Zachary Justin Moss. Congratualtions to Daci and Justin and big sisters Brooklynn and Makenna. Make sure you give him lots of hugs and kisses from his cousins and auntie and uncle in Africa.
Saturday, October 4, 2008
Lights Out! 10/3
Late this afternoon, I headed over to TYB to help out with the kids and go on line for a while. It had been overcast for much of the day and windy. While I was at TYB, the wind was really picking up. The kids were all laughing at all the stuff blowing around and Themba and Fetsi kept repeating “ It is going to rain soon. It is going to rain soon”. I thought I better get on line in case there was a storm coming. I had just opened my hotmail account when the lights went out. There was a whirring sound of things shutting down and something in the office kept beeping. So after a quick email to my parents, I shut down the computer, said good-bye and drove home.
So, it's about 4:30 when I get home. It is still light out, but there are only windows on one side of the house, so it was already pretty dark inside. James, who had been over at TYB, told me there was a gas burner in the closet that we could use to cook things, so we hauled that out and then quickly decided it would be too much work. We decided on sandwiches and pudding. Quick and easy. Thankfully, both water tanks had filled up during the day, so we did have some water, even though the pumps didn't have power to run.
After dinner, we decided to head outside. It was still really windy out. There was a lot of stuff on the yard from the trees-branches, flowers and leaves. The kids loved running around. We played Red Rover, Ring Around the Rosy, London Bridge is Falling Down, and more. Today was another no napping day, so at 6 we took the kids in, put their pjs on and put them to bed. They were both asleep in less than 10 minutes. It was really dark in the house now. We did have a big flashlight, and Darin had filled one lantern with oil (quite the process), so we did have some light. We decided to watch a movie, hoping that between the DVD player and computer we would have a couple hours of battery power. So, we spent the evening watching Legally Blonde 2 in a very dark house. We did have to stop the movie on more than one occasion because something would land on one of us. It was usually just a moth, or there wouldn't be anything there when we'd shine a light around. After the big spider we saw this morning, we weren't taking any chances.
We were almost to the end of our movie when all the lights came back on. After almost 4 hours of not having power, we were back in business. Darin was most excited that we could turn the ceiling fan on again. It was really muggy today and our house, which is usually cool, has really heated up. So ends another day in the bush.
So, it's about 4:30 when I get home. It is still light out, but there are only windows on one side of the house, so it was already pretty dark inside. James, who had been over at TYB, told me there was a gas burner in the closet that we could use to cook things, so we hauled that out and then quickly decided it would be too much work. We decided on sandwiches and pudding. Quick and easy. Thankfully, both water tanks had filled up during the day, so we did have some water, even though the pumps didn't have power to run.
After dinner, we decided to head outside. It was still really windy out. There was a lot of stuff on the yard from the trees-branches, flowers and leaves. The kids loved running around. We played Red Rover, Ring Around the Rosy, London Bridge is Falling Down, and more. Today was another no napping day, so at 6 we took the kids in, put their pjs on and put them to bed. They were both asleep in less than 10 minutes. It was really dark in the house now. We did have a big flashlight, and Darin had filled one lantern with oil (quite the process), so we did have some light. We decided to watch a movie, hoping that between the DVD player and computer we would have a couple hours of battery power. So, we spent the evening watching Legally Blonde 2 in a very dark house. We did have to stop the movie on more than one occasion because something would land on one of us. It was usually just a moth, or there wouldn't be anything there when we'd shine a light around. After the big spider we saw this morning, we weren't taking any chances.
We were almost to the end of our movie when all the lights came back on. After almost 4 hours of not having power, we were back in business. Darin was most excited that we could turn the ceiling fan on again. It was really muggy today and our house, which is usually cool, has really heated up. So ends another day in the bush.
Friday, October 3, 2008
All creatures great and small 10/3
First of all, Happy Birthday Papa John. If any of my siblings read this today, make sure you call and wish dad a happy birthday!
So, we have seen an abundance of wildlife all around us. We drive around and see impala and wildebeest, there are lizards climbing on trees-close enough for us to touch, and birds of all colors and sizes squawking and flying all around. We love to see all the wonders God has created.
However, we have been noticing a lot of creatures in our house lately that are not so thrilling to behold. There is a swarm of bees around the house. When you are outside, you can hear a steady buzz that reminds you of their presence. That buzz has also moved into our home. The bees seem to especially like our upstairs “puzzle room”. Darin, armed with his trusty fly swatter, usually kills a handful each time we go up. The ones that decide to cooperate get a chance to fly out the window to freedom, but many have met their doom at Darin's hand. We have also spotted a few frogs in our house. Now, frogs are harmless and Amos said that when frogs start coming inside that rain is sure to follow. So they are kind of little bearers of good news. However, at night when it is dark in the house, you can't always see the frogs that are lurking around. This makes walking in the dark quite hazardous. The thought of stepping on one of their squishy little bodies makes me throw up in my mouth a little, so I have started shuffling my feet when I have to walk in the dark. Bees and frogs, I can live with.
This morning, however, we had a guest that I hope does not have any relatives in the area. I was in the bathroom, taking my vitamins (just for you, mom), when I happened to see something in the reflection of the mirror. I turned around to get a better look and immediately walked out of the room, calling for Darin to come RIGHT NOW. What had I seen that sent me scurrying for the protection of my husband? Take a look at this.
So, we have seen an abundance of wildlife all around us. We drive around and see impala and wildebeest, there are lizards climbing on trees-close enough for us to touch, and birds of all colors and sizes squawking and flying all around. We love to see all the wonders God has created.
However, we have been noticing a lot of creatures in our house lately that are not so thrilling to behold. There is a swarm of bees around the house. When you are outside, you can hear a steady buzz that reminds you of their presence. That buzz has also moved into our home. The bees seem to especially like our upstairs “puzzle room”. Darin, armed with his trusty fly swatter, usually kills a handful each time we go up. The ones that decide to cooperate get a chance to fly out the window to freedom, but many have met their doom at Darin's hand. We have also spotted a few frogs in our house. Now, frogs are harmless and Amos said that when frogs start coming inside that rain is sure to follow. So they are kind of little bearers of good news. However, at night when it is dark in the house, you can't always see the frogs that are lurking around. This makes walking in the dark quite hazardous. The thought of stepping on one of their squishy little bodies makes me throw up in my mouth a little, so I have started shuffling my feet when I have to walk in the dark. Bees and frogs, I can live with.
This morning, however, we had a guest that I hope does not have any relatives in the area. I was in the bathroom, taking my vitamins (just for you, mom), when I happened to see something in the reflection of the mirror. I turned around to get a better look and immediately walked out of the room, calling for Darin to come RIGHT NOW. What had I seen that sent me scurrying for the protection of my husband? Take a look at this.
Now, we have seen a lot of spiders around here, but none have been so big and hairy and just disturbing to see. Darin said he has never seen such a big spider here, and he's been to SA 6 times! Darin sprayed it with a bug killer called Doom. That caused him to fall to the ground and seemed to slow him down. After posing for a couple pictures, Mr. Spider latched on to the fly swatter, and was then dumped in the toilet. Darin wasn't able to flush him right away, because we ran out of water again this morning. Needless to say, I am in no hurry to use that toilet again anytime soon.
Water, please 10/2
Another day in SA is coming to an end. It's almost 9 pm, our new bedtime. I guess when you don't have a TV in the house to keep you up, it's much easier getting to bed on time. Tyson is usually up a little after 6, so the sooner we get to bed, the better.
Darin and I went to Mama Catherine's this morning. He worked on the shower some more and I played with the kids. All the schools are closed this week for a holiday, so there were older kids around today as well. Once again, my hair was the center of attention. I had 5 or 6 kids clustered around me, just playing with my hair. So I spent the morning holding kids on my lap and having my hair done while Darin toiled in the hot sun. It is much warmer here now. It's been over 90 the past few days. Still no rain, although we have had some thunder and lightning the past three days.
We came home around 11 and Mama Rebecca and the kids had just finished lunch. Tyson was in his bathing suit running around while Amos sprayed him with the hose. Jori wanted her suit on too, but after less than 5 minutes, she was done with the water. Tyson didn't nap again for the second time this week. I need to just be thankful he naps at all, because he was not napping at all back in Michigan.
This afternoon we started having problems with our water, as in we had no water in the house. Thankfully Amos was still here, so he showed Darin how to manually turn on the water pump to fill the “water towers”. The water came back on, so we bathed a very filthy Tyson who had been rolling in the dirt for some reason. We had dinner, washed dishes, and then the water ran out again. So Darin has been heading out in the dark trying to get us enough water to shower tonight and hopefully still have some tomorrow morning. We'll have to see if Mark has any idea about why our water is on the fritz. I am hoping this isn't going to become a regular occurrence.
Earlier tonight, Jori fell on the tile floor for the third time. She's landed on her head each time. Tyson said he pushed her off the bed when they were playing. She seems ok, but the sound of a head hitting tile is not very pleasant. Other than that, it's been a pretty quiet night. Darin and I worked on our puzzle for while. I am actually getting close to giving up on the puzzle. I am already “cheating” by looking at the letters on the backs of the pieces to see if they are the ones I need. Darin is actually figuring things out the hard way. He'll feel good about his accomplishment when it's all done, unlike me, the big cheater.
We have a quiet weekend ahead of us. I think we'll be heading back to Amos' church this Sunday. We'll make sure we go later so we hear the preaching and don't end up standing outside again for an hour. That's about all that's on our agenda. Now it's past my bedtime, so I have to end this, but I'll be back!
Darin and I went to Mama Catherine's this morning. He worked on the shower some more and I played with the kids. All the schools are closed this week for a holiday, so there were older kids around today as well. Once again, my hair was the center of attention. I had 5 or 6 kids clustered around me, just playing with my hair. So I spent the morning holding kids on my lap and having my hair done while Darin toiled in the hot sun. It is much warmer here now. It's been over 90 the past few days. Still no rain, although we have had some thunder and lightning the past three days.
We came home around 11 and Mama Rebecca and the kids had just finished lunch. Tyson was in his bathing suit running around while Amos sprayed him with the hose. Jori wanted her suit on too, but after less than 5 minutes, she was done with the water. Tyson didn't nap again for the second time this week. I need to just be thankful he naps at all, because he was not napping at all back in Michigan.
This afternoon we started having problems with our water, as in we had no water in the house. Thankfully Amos was still here, so he showed Darin how to manually turn on the water pump to fill the “water towers”. The water came back on, so we bathed a very filthy Tyson who had been rolling in the dirt for some reason. We had dinner, washed dishes, and then the water ran out again. So Darin has been heading out in the dark trying to get us enough water to shower tonight and hopefully still have some tomorrow morning. We'll have to see if Mark has any idea about why our water is on the fritz. I am hoping this isn't going to become a regular occurrence.
Earlier tonight, Jori fell on the tile floor for the third time. She's landed on her head each time. Tyson said he pushed her off the bed when they were playing. She seems ok, but the sound of a head hitting tile is not very pleasant. Other than that, it's been a pretty quiet night. Darin and I worked on our puzzle for while. I am actually getting close to giving up on the puzzle. I am already “cheating” by looking at the letters on the backs of the pieces to see if they are the ones I need. Darin is actually figuring things out the hard way. He'll feel good about his accomplishment when it's all done, unlike me, the big cheater.
We have a quiet weekend ahead of us. I think we'll be heading back to Amos' church this Sunday. We'll make sure we go later so we hear the preaching and don't end up standing outside again for an hour. That's about all that's on our agenda. Now it's past my bedtime, so I have to end this, but I'll be back!
Wednesday, October 1, 2008
It's a small world after all
Yesterday, while the kids were supposedly taking a nap, Darin went to Tamboti to talk to Derrick about business opportunities in the area (his next great idea). While he was there, Derrick mentioned that there was someone from Grand Rapids, who was involved with the Reformed Church, staying at Tamboti. Of course, we had to check it out. So this morning we headed over and saw a group of people eating breakfast. Darin started talking to the guy from GR, and I thought he looked familiar, but I couldn't remember his name. So I said “Are you with the CRC?” and he said yes. It was Jerry Dykstra, the Executive Director of the CRC. Now, I don't know him personally, but each month he has an article in The Banner (CRC magazine) and I had just seen him at Synod in June when I went to listen to my dad talk. He's actually going to be seeing my dad in a couple weeks at another meeting in GR. So, hooray for Dutch bingo, it really is a small world. Maybe I'll take my Banner over there later to get it autographed. Just kidding.
Bester Birds 9/30
Today we ventured out to a place called Bester Birds. Bester is the last name of the family that runs this bird and animal “zoo”. We did not get off to the best start this morning. Darin looked out the window and noticed that our car had a flat tire, which was probably caused by thorns. We went for a little drive around James' farm and some other back roads to look for animals the night before, and other than a flat this morning, it was a successful drive. We saw lots of wildebeest, impala, a warthog and some other bok. So this morning Mark came and got our flat tire and dropped it off at Supa Quick, a repair shop in town. Darin rolled the spare over to TYB to fill it up and check for leaks. The spare was good to go, so we packed up, picked up the tire from Supa Quick, and were on our way.
After several wrong turns, we finally made it to Bester Birds. As soon as we walked through the gate we were surrounded by all sorts of animals. In the first cage, there were Jacka** penguins (that is their actual name). It seemed as if there were a few too many for such a small space, but what do I know about housing exotic animals? There were also lots of birds, including Ground Hornbills, which are super sized versions of the regular hornbills, parrots, cockatoos, owls, vultures, and more. There were 3 or 4 different types of monkeys, meerkats, wallabys, a mountain lion, hyenas, and a bunch of other things.
One of the best things about this place is that you can feed a lot of the animals. We were handing carrots and lettuce to these little tiny monkeys and they'd hold the food in their little monkey hands. There were also enclosures that you could go in with guinea pigs, rabbits and baby chicks. You could hold and feed these animals too. Like all other petting zoos, this one had goats. You couldn't go in with them, but they were sticking their heads through their cages. One even managed to get it's head and one leg out. Must have been desperate for some food. There was one big Billy Goat with a long white beard. I'm pretty sure he could have jumped the fence if he wanted. He was up on his back legs leaning half his body over the fence, determined to get fed from every person that passed by. We also had to be on the lookout for giant tortoises. They looked like rocks just sitting there, but then they'd start moving towards you. If you put food in front of them, they'd take it from your hand. One of them kept moving closer and closer to Jori, and she kept backing away. I wish we had remembered our camera because I've never thought a tortoise would interact with people that way.
After an hour and a half, we were done feeding and petting all the animals. We packed up and headed to McDonalds. There were some older kids in the play area who were totally into Jori and Tyson. It was like free babysitting. We used the ten free minutes of internet time, ate our food, let the kids play, then headed to Pick 'n' Pay to restock Darin's pretzel supply.
Later that afternoon, I headed over to TYB to use their internet. I even convinced Darin to let me drive the car over, which was very fun for me. While I was online, I got to “chat” with two of my friends from home, Rachel and Michelle, which was very fun. My mom and I had arranged to chat as well, and after a small snafu, we finally connected. We decided it would be easier to talk by phone, so I headed home to wait for my parents to call. Tyson and Jori were both very excited to talk to Papa John and Grandma Willie.
All around, it was a great day. Animals, chicken nuggets, and talking with family and friends. All good things.
After several wrong turns, we finally made it to Bester Birds. As soon as we walked through the gate we were surrounded by all sorts of animals. In the first cage, there were Jacka** penguins (that is their actual name). It seemed as if there were a few too many for such a small space, but what do I know about housing exotic animals? There were also lots of birds, including Ground Hornbills, which are super sized versions of the regular hornbills, parrots, cockatoos, owls, vultures, and more. There were 3 or 4 different types of monkeys, meerkats, wallabys, a mountain lion, hyenas, and a bunch of other things.
One of the best things about this place is that you can feed a lot of the animals. We were handing carrots and lettuce to these little tiny monkeys and they'd hold the food in their little monkey hands. There were also enclosures that you could go in with guinea pigs, rabbits and baby chicks. You could hold and feed these animals too. Like all other petting zoos, this one had goats. You couldn't go in with them, but they were sticking their heads through their cages. One even managed to get it's head and one leg out. Must have been desperate for some food. There was one big Billy Goat with a long white beard. I'm pretty sure he could have jumped the fence if he wanted. He was up on his back legs leaning half his body over the fence, determined to get fed from every person that passed by. We also had to be on the lookout for giant tortoises. They looked like rocks just sitting there, but then they'd start moving towards you. If you put food in front of them, they'd take it from your hand. One of them kept moving closer and closer to Jori, and she kept backing away. I wish we had remembered our camera because I've never thought a tortoise would interact with people that way.
After an hour and a half, we were done feeding and petting all the animals. We packed up and headed to McDonalds. There were some older kids in the play area who were totally into Jori and Tyson. It was like free babysitting. We used the ten free minutes of internet time, ate our food, let the kids play, then headed to Pick 'n' Pay to restock Darin's pretzel supply.
Later that afternoon, I headed over to TYB to use their internet. I even convinced Darin to let me drive the car over, which was very fun for me. While I was online, I got to “chat” with two of my friends from home, Rachel and Michelle, which was very fun. My mom and I had arranged to chat as well, and after a small snafu, we finally connected. We decided it would be easier to talk by phone, so I headed home to wait for my parents to call. Tyson and Jori were both very excited to talk to Papa John and Grandma Willie.
All around, it was a great day. Animals, chicken nuggets, and talking with family and friends. All good things.
Who's to blame? 9/30
So, it's time to reveal the identity of the person who damaged the computer. First, I'd like to say a special thanks to Lia Leenstra, the ONLY person who did not think that I (Jonna) was responsible. She also happens to be the only person who is correct. I did not knock the computer over. Come on now people, if the kids or I had done any damage to the computer, would we even be alive to tell about it? Ok, so that's a stretch, but let's just say I was so very happy that Darin is the one to blame. I would not have lived it down and the kids would have some sore little buns. Now Darin has no one to blame but himself. While it would have been best for the computer to have never fallen, having Darin be the culprit is the second best scenario.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)