1- I can serve them leftover fish and chicken(especially "chicky on the boon") for breakfast and they think they've hit the jackpot! Mercy knows she's not allowed to eat the bone anymore but she does manage to break them open and suck the marrow out. I spoke to a former missionary to Nigeria recently and she told me that in Africa, chicken bones provide much needed calcium and nutrients.Often this is the only source they have... wow, how much I take for granted here!
2- I almost never have any wasted food as these 2 will gladly consume whatever I place in front of them.
3.They think I am a good cook...Ha,ha--keep reading and you'll understand why this humors me so.
4.They thoroughly enjoy their food like no one I have ever witnessed before!
5. They will happily eat seconds of salad and vegetables knowing that is usually the only way they will receive a second helping of the main course.
6. Their 'little' bodies are sprouting like weeds on Miraclegrow.
Even 18+ years into my role as a homemaker, I am still learning valuable 'lessons'. Read on and you'll see what I mean!....It seems that all of my creative juices and energy are depleted when it comes to meal preparation and I am running out of ideas for satisfying 'meatless' meals. The other night I was reading the littles a Big Backyard Magazine and we came to a page about crickets and grasshoppers. Mercy very matter of factly stated that she ate those in "Li-bee-ra with her true-true Ma". Odesco then chimed in that he also enjoyed these tasty treats with his 'black ma' but not at Acres of Hope.I asked what they tasted like and Mercy replied,"They were yum!" It got me thinking: in the spring/summer,our house is infested with those huge crickets (think crickets on steroids) that have amazing jumping potential... the kids have appropriately called them 'garage haunters' and when these critters are in abundance, the kids are often afraid to go into the garage or basement without an escort.Could this be an answer to my quest for other meal options???(I'm kidding, really!!)
Last week, I attempted to cook up 4 pounds of black beans(got a great deal!)...I was so proud of myself for remembering to soak them the night before. Then I woke up in the morning to find a mass of hard beans at the top of the pot...what happened to all that water??
Lesson #1: You need a really, really colossal pot to soak 4 pounds of beans overnight.
After making this mental note, I scooped off the dry beans on the top and re-soaked those while I attempted to cook the ones that had hopefully soaked enough all night long. As I was working on school with Odesco at the kitchen table, I heard a sizzling sound. The pot overflowed...there was black bean goop all over the stove top, oven door, floor, cabinets and counter. This scenario repeated itself 3 times with every batch I attempted to cook in spite of my efforts to prevent a repeat performance... I never realized before that black bean juices produce a very beautiful shade of purple! Thankfully with a little elbow grease, I was able to remove most of it...just don't look under the drain pans on my white stove - I think they are permanently purple!!
Lesson #2...you need a really, really colossal pot to COOK 2 pounds of black beans.
Not to be deterred by my culinary goof up, I decided a loaf of garlic bread would be a delicious addition to the black bean soup I would be preparing later in the day. In between teaching Mercy and Luke, I quickly threw all the ingredients into the bread maker and at around 1, I turned it on. I noticed about an hour later that the kneading process seemed to be noisier than I remembered but I got distracted with something else and forgot about it. There were only minutes left in the baking cycle when I peeked and saw that my loaf of bread was still a squatty blob on the bottom of the breadpan.
Lesson #3: if something doesn't sound right, investigate!! It seems that the kneading bar had become dislodged and the dough never kneaded or rose as it was supposed to. Too bad, the garlic smelled delicious and I did sneak a bite of the one teeny spot that actually did bake....it was delicious , really!At this point it was nearing dinner time and I needed to leave soon to pick the kiddos up from Mrs. Di's. I knew this meal was going to flop without some other belly filler....thankfully I had some of those quick biscuits in the tube (the ones that you slam to pop open) left over from an activity I did with the girls a few weeks ago. This was definitely lacking in nutritional value but the kids were thrilled to have rolls with dinner. So much for my gourmet meal....it literally took all day to cook(and clean up after) those pesky beans...but I have 4 bags worth in the freezer for future use.
Ironically, on Thursdays, when we have our 'friend frenzy' I try to do a Home Economics activity with the girls (okay, you can stop laughing!). I am using an age appropriate curriculum that progressively instructs the girls (although Odesco usually manages to get in on the action as well) in Home making skills.... I guess it's a good thing. Maybe I'll learn the fine art of cooking black beans by the time G is in the 6th grade :)!!!
Thanks for checking in...~Hope you enjoy the pictures ~
MamaB
PS: Some fun household happenings:
**Odesco was taking a shower last night and was asking me about the 'holy smoke' he was seeing. I explained it was steam and a form of water but not smoke. Then I asked why he called it 'holy smoke' and he said," God is like fire...I remember the picture in our bible when God was in the fire"...he was referring to how the Lord led the Israelites by the pillar of fire by night. Too cute!!
**At Homeschooler's Day Out last week, I taught about Mary Slessor, a Scottish missionary to Nigeria, West Africa. The book was illustrated and Mercy was a running commentary on African culture and what we were seeing in the pictures. She explained to the class what a 'lapa' is (the cloth an African mommy uses to carry her baby on her back), she noted the big' drum'in the picture and explained that the people in the picture were 'beating' the food with a sturdy stick..(by this she is referring to the process of 'beating' potato greens for soup or cassava roots to make fu-fu). Later I asked the class if the houses in the African village looked different than our homes in America. One student remarked that the houses had grass roofs and Mercy chimed in," Those are bamboo roofs!". (I know from her adoption paperwork that she lived in a hut with a bamboo roof). While there are many challenges to adopting older children, this is surely one of the many blessings... we get an eyewitness window into her past. It was priceless!! Later in the class, we decorated 'African instruments' and put on the CD of Watoto Children's choir (African music)...the kids had a ball dancing around shaking their bean filled decorated toilet paper tubes!!
** For fun the other day, Mercy and Odesco found my grocery ads and spent a few animated minutes circling all the food they would like me to bring home from the store. I didn't glance at the fliers until I was out shopping and I was not surprised to find that almost every edible item had a large crayon circle around it!! Even my coupons were not exempt...they must have gotten their hands on those before I had a chance to clip them. I'm glad I had a separate written list and was not relying only on my notes in the store ad ...I would have blown the budget and emptied the checking account if I had purchased every item that was circled by Mercy and Odesco!!
Easter Sunday...what a dapper boy!! These are Odesco's 'pastor clothes'. For some reason he equates a tie and button down shirt with being a pastor :) 
Last week: "Friend Frenzy Thursday"...the big guys resting from a rigorous game of basketball! I can't remember where L and Odesco were during picture taking time?!
The older girls doing their "Home Ec" lesson...making biscuits -Yum!!
Mercy and her pal Miss H, had their own Home Ec session making biscuits... for some reason, it was a little bit messier :)....The boys always oblige the girls and gladly eat their creations!
On Friday nights we occasionally let the littles have a 'slumber party'...here they are getting cozy snuggling down with books before lights out- they moved it out of the way for the picture but the girls had rigged up a sheet to hang down the center of the bed to separate their space from the boys--too funny... Eventually L ended up in his own bed and Odesco was snuggled in a little heap with books surrounding him when I went to check on them later that night.
Mercy attempted to ride this bike...her bike is getting a bit small as evidenced by her knees hitting the handlebars--quite a sight! She can ride this one as long as there is no need for a sudden stop...sort of reminds me of our days on the ski slope! On Sunday after church, the neighbor girls were outside on their scooters. The big boys were at a friend's house and the 4 littles were anxious to get outside. They are not allowed out front unless they are directly supervised so they had to wait for me. Odesco sat staring out the window at our neighbors having fun sighing," Life is not fair!". He just wanted to on his bike in the worst way and after some practice he actually has almost mastered riding sans training wheels!!
All that outdoor fun made Mercy quite hungry and she was a bit challenged waiting for dinner...she parked herself in front of the only food visible and promptly fell asleep.
Yes, you are seeing this right...Odesco is lifting his almost 11 year old brother...just after I snapped this picture they both fell over backwards. Still, the strength of this little fellow continually amazes me. Now the challenge is helping him to begin to use his strength to help others and bring glory to God!! When you're the 'big guy' it can be tempting to use your size for other purposes...
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