Mercy was sure she found potato greens in our backyard!! It took a bit of convincing to assure her that these were not the leaves of the sweet potato plant but vines growing up the side of the tree...either way, she was in her glory mashing them in a big bucket with a stick making pretend potato green soup!
A loving remembrance of Nana ... a sweet group effort to honor our Nana who passed away in May 2006 -see post below~
L, our mini Karate King...friends commented on his interesting attire and I realized it didn't even phase me because I am so accustomed to his creative costuming. Note the belt to hold the weapon of choice-usually a sword.
Jenkins and Odesco braving the storm during Nature Notebooking class
Odesco and the coveted mango seed!
These 4 decided to wear ties...Odesco and Mercy insisted they were all 'pastors' because pastors wear ties (at least in Liberia they do!!). Then they proceeded to run around the house yelling in their best 'pentecostal' voices..."the Bible says do not steal..do not lie ... (and my favorite) do not eat too much food!! " "Sing Hallelujah...He is alive forevermore!" This is all done at maximum volume complete with hand motions and facial expressions...they have obviously observed a few spirited preachers in their time! 
Mercy, Odesco, L, Jenkins and G in their first karate class~ Oh boy, what have we done?!?Well, the past few days have been a blur of activity. On Wednesday, we began our spring semester of Homeschooler's Day Out...a day where many of the homeschooling families in our church meet at another facility so our children can take classes taught by the moms and sometimes outside instructors. It was a full day...9am-3pm and even Mercy and Odesco had their fair share of classes. At the last minute, I enrolled all the littles in Karate since we were already paying for 2 students, I just learned the rest were free! (Boy, did our family make out on that deal!! ) What a riot to see Mercy Odesco, L, G, and friend Jenkins in their own little subsection of the class. Just think, they will have even more tricks to 'play' together...kicks and chops and spins...ought to be interesting and I'm hoping they forget everything they learn except when they are in the class :)!! (-Just kidding )
P and C take Astronomy and Latin together and then P takes a Literature course and C is enrolled in a history class. G has an art class for her age range and also participates with Mercy and Odesco in a science/gym class combo and nature notebooking...a class where the kiddos go outside and observe nature around them and then come inside to draw it in their little sketchbooks. This week they were out in the snow as it was falling! Mercy, Odesco and L also had a class called 3 in 1...a story time followed by a related actvity and then a little physical fitness routine set to music...great fun! 5 of the kiddos will participate in the spring musical...Odesco is too young.I'm hoping I won't have to repeat with Odesco the issues I had with L last year who so badly wanted to be a part of the production that during dress rehearsals he actually wormed his way onto the stage numerous times when I took my eyes off him momentarily!
When we arrived home after our full day of classes , everyone crashed but especially G and L who were already fighting some sort of cold. G fell asleep and did not awaken again until 4am when she began with the croupy cough... Odesco and L also woke up at various times the same night with the lovely seal bark. So yesterday all 6 kiddos and myself trekked over to the pediatrician's -the office only had room in the schedule to see one child and not the other 2 little ones who were sick. I felt like a triage nurse trying to decide who was the sickest-L fit the bill since he has been sick the longest and actually was complaining of an earache...thankfully, when the doc took a glance at G and saw how pitiful she looked, she went ahead and checked her out as well. How kind of the Lord to provide in that way. G is just fighting a virus...no other issues right now! L did have an ear infection so I'm glad we did make the trip in...after setting the appointment, I kept wavering wondering if I should cancel and whether it would be worth the effort. I could not bring anyone into the house to stay with the kids due to the other sick kiddos so I planned to drop off the 3 healthy children at a friends who lives enroute to the doctors . This plan backfired when Mercy caught sight of their huge but harmless dog and raced back out to the car screaming. Odesco was having his own drama in the back seat as he was quite put out when he saw Mercy, P and C getting out of the car and realized that he wasn't going too! So, I told my kind friend who was so willing to serve me that I would just take them all since our 2 little Liberians did not appear to be settling down anytime soon. By God's grace things went rather smoothly in spite of the fact that none of the exam rooms are equipped for 6 children at one time! That was Mercy and Odesco's first visit back to the exam area since their initial checkups in December so I'm hoping that will help them next week when we go back for their checkups and the dreaded shots or 'jukes' as they call them.
Days like yesterday remind me of how God gently leads those with young!!
Before our doctors visit the morning was punctuated by many 'opportunities' to instruct sweet Mercy's heart. In the afternoon I was so blessed to witness the following:
Mercy went into the basement and I figured she was playing with Legos...imagine my delight when she announced that she had spent all that time sorting out the clothes in the dirty laundry basket without ever being asked!
Later, she spent at least an hour peacefully sitting on the couch listening to bible verses on tape and following along with the book..so sweet to hear her singing quietly as she studied the words and pictures on the page. yes those bolded words hold much meaning and if you've ever spent even a few minutes in my house, you understand the added emphasis :)
Again, this is another reminder of God's gentle leading as our morning was just a bit intense and discouraging!!
So, we are recovering and I am so ready for spring...open windows, time outdoors etc. We often tell Mercy and Odesco all the signs of the seasons they have yet to experience...budding trees followed by fragrant blossoms, butterflies, nesting birds, baby bunnies in the backyard... fun summertime pool days and trips to the shore, a visit to Mimi and Pop Pop's summer habitation in Indiana....it will be such fun to watch them experience their new world as all of these experiences unfold before them. Sort of reminds me of all the firsts with our babies except these 2 can tell us with words what they think!
Saturday...
Yes, sometimes it takes a few days to find the time to get a blog update completed. Today I had my wish...a teaser I'm sure, but it was a glorious taste of spring!! The kids were in the yard for hours and had such fun digging in the dirt that they each went through 2 sets of clothes. G has been wanting to make a 'garden' as a memorial to our Nana who died in May (my maternal grandmother). So, all the littles spent quite a bit of time fashioning 2 crosses out of sticks and fastening them together with duct and masking tape...G found a piece of slate and wrote "Nana" with a Sharpie marker...Odesco found some dried hydrangeas that he placed near the cross ...very sweet. We will have to try to do something permanent once spring really has sprung as this seems to be very important to G. Mercy and Odesco never did get to meet Nana but they love to hear stories of how Nana had their pictures on her refrigerator in the Assisted Living where she spent the final months of her life...they love to hear how Nana would tell the Liberian nurses aides and housekeeping staff of her soon to come great grandchildren from their homeland . It was precious to see them working alongside of each other on this little project.
Well, better get this published before a few more days go by and I have more to report!
As always,thanks for checking in~
So grateful for His gentle leading!!!
MamaB
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