One of 'those' days...

Mercy lost a tooth(bottom right)...finally we get to be there for one of her milestones!! She lost a few before getting to us and according to her, she 'chunked ' them in the banana bushes at AOH!
Jenkins K. was over with his big sisters on Friday... it is such fun to watch these 3 interact together!!
On Saturday morning, I took Mercy out on a 'date' with me....we have never had 1:1 time together like this and since most of the house was still asleep, she joined me on my morning errands. It was a delight to spend time alone with her ~ We went to a produce store and she was so excited to see a coconut. We bought it with the promise to crack it open after an afternoon photo shoot with a photographer (I'll post the pictures when I can). Anyhow, this was great motivation to cooperate during the picture taking. She and Odesco were sooo excited to have another taste of Liberia :)!! On the way home in the car Mercy told me how men selling coconuts often passed the gates of AOH...then she mimicked their sales pitch....too funny!

Here they go...showing their clueless American family how to open a coconut!!
They did it!! Notice our gleeful Liberians and our sour faced Americans....both L and G said the coconut milk tasted like sour milk and I must admit, it did!! Umm, umm good!!!


Thought I'd post a few pictures before too much time passes. I must admit, today was one of those' Calgon take me away' type days. I'll spare you the nitty gritty details but sibling strife, less than enthusiastic students, $6.30 in library fines and a bit of 'fence rattling' pretty much sums it up. Ironically, as I was typing this I heard an unfamiliar dripping noise and after investigating, found water dripping into our foyer above one of the windows....hmmm... I sent C upstairs to check the bathroom and he yelled down that the floor was full of water... evidently, the toilet tank has a small crack and its contents emptied on the floor and down the foyer wall. Thankfully, there is no major damage...just the need for a new toilet and my "Mr. Fix it" hubby will take care of it :) Opportunities abound today to put my trust in Him and not in our current circumstances!!
Earlier in the morning when I was doing our preschool program with the little ones we were reading about Hannah's prayer for a child... I told the kids how I often read Hannah's account when we were waiting for God to allow me to conceive again after our first miscarriage...I shared how we prayed and prayed and how God blessed us with our bio kiddos...then I was able to tell Mercy and Odesco how God led us into adoption...and how we prayed and prayed again and the Lord blessed us with them. They love hearing the story about our phone call at 10 pm from Donna at AOH telling us about Mercy and Odesco...I spoke of our excitement and anticipation to bring them home and how grateful we are that the Lord has added them to our family.... BUT, I must admit, there is often a disconnect with my brain and my heart. I am so very grateful for the blessing of a house full of children...BUT , often my responses to the challenges of mothering do not display gratitude. I am so aware of my desperate need for supernatural grace, compassion and love to do the job He has called me to do. How good it is to be reminded that on my own I am incapable of doing this.... I need more of Him and less of me!!

Thankful that His mercies are new every morning and great is His faithfulness!
MamaB
ps SOME OTHER FUN TIDBITS:
*Odesco needed(an understatement!!) to spray some airfreshener in the bathroom...he said"Look Mommy, the blessings are falling down!" as the droplets floated down...
* On Friday when we had our first warm sunshiny day in a long time, both Mercy and Odesco were requesting a 'cold bath' because they were sooooooo hot! Pretty odd considering the humidity and hot African temps they endured...not to mention the lack of electricity (no fans or AC)... I wonder what will they think of August weather?! Thankfully, we have lots of friends with pools!!