American Reflections aka boring post

So I went to visit a blog I read that has a "Feejit" like mine where it tells where you're logging on from. It said I was from Woodbridge, VA. Not sure why exactly it picked there, but it made me kind of sad to think I was just another little American flag registered on their blog instead of what I have become used to, my special green and white flag that adds a little "international flair" to people's blogs.
Things I've noticed about America.
1. Cheese is expensive (though not nearly as expensive as in Lagos)
2. It is a pain trying to get everything set up when you have a new phone number, a new address, and your name is still not legally changed since you got married. The bummer is I have to go through much of this again once I finally do change my name. Maybe I'll do another post on the issues of not having the same last name as your husband.
3. Everyone wants you to enter into a 2 year agreement. GRR! I won't be here for 2 years so I have to pay a penalty and not get as good of a "deal" or I have to call and beg to get out of my agreement and use words like, "it's kind of like my husband is in the military." This applies to cell phone, TV, and internet and I'm sure much more.
4. Moving into an empty house gets very expensive. Today I did Leah's bathroom set up with a new shower curtain, towels, etc. and it looks quite cute and it was fun to use my new cleaning products. But still, I'd rather spend my money on clothes than a curtain rod. I can't tell you how many miles and stores I have been into looking for the "right" and also cheapest thing like a towel bar.
5. I just heard a strange noise and I don't know if it was ice falling from my new refrigerator's ice machine or gun shots. I kind of miss my security guards and I am more motivated to get all my windows with curtains.
6. I just about had a heart attack when another piece of ice fell, but I am 99% convinced it is my ice maker. Still, I think I'll go to bed.
7. The house is much quieter than when you have a generator running outside and a bunch of loud a/c units running.

Is This Child Abuse

Time to Say Goodbye Part 2

Yesterday we said goodbye to our dear friend Kelsey. Just to give you an idea of how special Kelsey is to us, yesterday Leah woke up from her nap GRUMPY! Neither Leah or I could figure out what she wanted. Then I saw Kelsey pull in the compound and I said, "Leah our friend Kelsey is here shall we go let her inside." Leah, who had her head down, perked up and gave a huge smile.

Kelsey took a very long extended Christmas and has only been back for a month. During that time we have kept her SOOO busy. Levin said I was smothering her, but I figured why not she only has a month to deal with me and then she can hate me for the rest of her life. Happily for me, she said she didn't mind!

Here are pictures of one of the fun things we did and sadly the only picture we have of her.

We made aprons!

Lucky for me, Kelsey knows how to sew and read a pattern, and lucky for her, I have a sewing machine. And I guess lucky for both of us, Africa has a plethora of fabric and cheaper than the U.S.

If you are wondering why I have two and Kelsey only has one, it is because she is such a good person that she always let me work on mine first. Here is what it was like. Kelsey drives over to my house. Kelsey figures out the pattern and explains to me what to do. Kelsey plays with Leah while I sew, Kelsey plays with Leah while I rip out my mistakes (more time spent with the seam ripper than the actual sewing machine I think.) Leah screams because Kelsey comes over to help me instead of play with her. I feed Leah something and Kelsey presses my fabric. Hmm . . . who do you think is getting the better deal here? Obviously me!
I forgot to mention that during this time there is almost non-stop talking. If there is something we are good at - it is talking.

Kelsey has been one of our life savers here in Lagos. She arrived just a short while before I came back to Lagos with tiny baby Leah. Kelsey would watch Leah while I took a tennis lesson and then she'd play tennis and THEN we'd do water aerobics while Levin watched Leah. It was our Wednesday thing to do. Sorry, I never got any pictures of that (probably a good thing as my face was usually beet red and swimming suit pictures are kind of a no-no.)

Kelsey is, hmm . . . I'm too embarrassed to say how much younger because I feel old, but we have a lot in common. She and I are both from small towns with an LDS influence, but not Utah. Both of our Dad's work with cattle and we both moved to Lagos within weeks of getting married and we both like to stay busy.

Included in my smothering of Kelsey this last month we had her, her husband Jeff, and our friend Roy over several times to play Settlers of Catan. We wish they were coming with us!
We'll miss you Kelsey!!

Time to Say Goodbye

Today is Lucy's last day - well I guess it is mine and Leah's last day with Lucy. She'll still come over every Wednesday until Levin leaves.

Leah of course doesn't know what's going on, but Lucy does and I think she is sooo sad. A few months ago when I told Lucy we were leaving in April she was speechless and I think almost cried. Today she told me again how much she will miss Lillian. Yes, she calls Leah by the name of Lillian. It was a mistake she made once that I didn't correct and well . . . . then I was too embarrassed to correct her. It kind of makes me laugh. I still call Leah by Leah in front of her, but she still calls her Lillian.

All the same, Leah loves her and loves to play with her and doesn't realize Lucy came to clean, not to play. Lucy is SOOO good with Leah. Once Lucy and Leah were playing downstairs and dancing to Leah's musical toy. In an effort to distract Leah so Lucy could go home I started dancing to the music too. Leah told me No! No! Lucy covered for Leah by saying she didn't want me to stress myself since I was pregnant.

I know the truth though. Leah knows that white girls can't dance. I just don't know if Leah realizes that she too is a white girl. Hmm . . .

Here are some pictures of them playing today.

Once again - just tilt your head left. The problem is I'm posting straight from the camera and not putting them on the computer so I have no way to edit. Sorry-o.

For Aunt Dani

The only person less photogenic than Leah is her mother (me.) Leah has this super cute and big smile and I NEVER get a picture of it. No matter how hard I try she gets too focused on the camera and loses her smile. Yesterday I took some pictures and was bound and determined to capture her smile and I failed. This one came the closest.

The pictures below are for Leah's Aunt Dani. My sister is a basketball coach and I guess all-around lover of basketball. She knows NCAA coaches names and recognizes them when she sees them in the mall while in Indianapolis for the Final Four - neither one of which I could do. Our dream is for her to coach Leah to stardom. Leah's tall and she's got Danielle as a middle name. AND she loves balls and it was her first real word. So . . . maybe we can get it work. When we go to the GQ to watch Levin play tennis (I actually usually only get to see him hit the ball a few times because Leah won't sit still) Leah finds the basketballs kicking around and carries them around and chases after them after she drops them. Here she is - staring at the camera and not smiling like she had been seconds before (grrr!)
Oops! Forgot to flip this one, and am too lazy to do it now (just tilt your head left and Leah is right-side up).

Happy Birthday Levin!

Apparently it has been so long since I blogged pictures, I forgot how to get them in the right order. Oh well, all the explanation will be here and then you can see the pictures in reverse order.

Last week we celebrated Levin's birthday! Just a little insight into Levin's personality - when it is his birthday he starts celebrating it at least a week early and tries at least a couple of days after by asking for something and following it up with, "but it's my birthday." So we had a long celebration that happened to fall on Easter weekend and Nigerians really know how to party for Easter so we had Friday, Saturday, Sunday, AND Monday to celebrate his birthday with no work to interfere.

Sunday was the actual day so that's when we had his cake. (See photo #3)

For Levin's present he said not to get him anything, so I didn't. :) Well, that's not completely true. For his birthday he wanted a sheep. Initially I was going to buy it at the Amish auction near our house the day after I arrived home. He said part of the present was that I had to be the one to actually raise my little number at the auction. Fortunately for me, his brother found an Amish man that would sell to him direct and we don't have to go through the auction.

SO . . . . one week late, Levin is the proud owner of a black lamb. It's not the first time I've given Levin a present that I get to help eat, but this one will be around much longer than the standard inclusion of Reese's as part of his present. I don't think the lamb has a name yet, unless his brother has named him and not told us yet.

Also included in the pictures is Milky Way (calf) who is 50% Levin's and 50% his brother's. This picture my sister-in-law sent so that we could see his growth and progress.

So Happy Birthday Levin and I hope you like your lamb and hopefully next fall/winter I can figure out some way to cook lamb so that it doesn't taste like lamb. That is if you don't grow too attached.

Catching Up With Leah

Here she is after she discovered how to climb onto the coffee table.

After a very long time of trying to introduce a "lovey" so she'd sleep better she finally attached to this blanket a little. Unfortunately, she is a lot more attached to it when she first wakes up than when she goes to sleep, but I swear she does sleep better now that she has a friend to go to bed with. She actually makes it through the night most nights now. It's a day I feared would never come.

I saw in the Flake Family Cookbook a recipe for homemade play dough and remembered my Mom used to make clay for us to play with. More for my own curiosity I made some. The first day Leah wasn't too interested, but she has had a few more days of a lot of fun with it. I have to lecture her every time before we play that it is not for eating and one day she did sneak in a pea size amount. There is nothing toxic, but TONS of salt. She didn't seem to mind, but hasn't eaten it since either.

Our friend Spencer teases Leah about being Oxford bound. He's the one that helped get the letter "a" off my finger and told her you can't get into Oxford with a mother like that (or something less mean than that.) Don't you think Leah looks Oxford bound in this picture? When I picture Levin going to school at Oxford with some C.S. Lewis type professor this is the look I imagine on his face. Don't you? Ha! Leah does love to climb in her book basket and read her books. One of the first times she did it Lucy was here and declared Leah a genius!

Do you have to learn how to use a spoon before you can go to Oxford? We're still working on that, but she loves yogurt and neither of us have the patience for me to feed it to her so this is what we get. Usually a bath follows.

Grandma Flake sent Leah this for Easter. She once saw an indoor cat at a friend's house and freaked out when it suddenly moved after sitting still for a while. She yelled and yelled at the cat and thereafter yelled and screamed at stuffed animals. Apparently those are days of the past because she LOVES this thing!