The decorations are hung around the house with care.....

We have been steadily decorating the house for Christmas since Thanksgiving. I usually have a strict rule against decorating before December 1st, but Isaak and the girls were eager, so we did.

Isaak and the girls also missed having a "real" tree, as the girls said, so my cool cardboard and burlap Christmas tree didn't get hung up. Instead, we put up a little three foot pre-lit tree that a family graciously gave us who moved back to the States.

But, since we didn't bring any decorations with us when we moved here, it was a good thing that we started decorating early, because we needed to make a whole lot of decorations for our tree! Yes, I could have bought some from the highly overpriced home store here in town, but I wanted to stay with the simple theme from last year and strip away a lot of the excess so we opted to make a few decorations to hang around the house and on the tree and that was it.

So, the girls got to work making some snow flakes.

We bought some pagnes because Isaak had a great idea to make a local fabric garland to wrap around our tree.

So Isaak cut a bunch of strips of fabric and him and Sydaleigh, who he taught to braid through this
( ! she was so happy ), braided us a long garland.

We set our tree on a little side table next to the couch and Sydaleigh used one of her blankets for the tree skirt.

To decorate the tree we made some dough ornaments.

And a whole lot of paper ornaments I made from a stack of paint samples from Walmart that Kristine sent me last year.

The beaded stars are from the Ampo orphanage, and there's the fabric garland that Isaak and Sydaleigh made.

Our decorated Christmas tree. We were stumped on what to put on top, the girls insisting that we needed an angel to complete the tree, and me not really caring if it was left bare. But then Isaak brought in a tiny little box that we had forgotten about from last year and inside were just a few decorations that my mom sent us including a wooden angel! It's meant to be hung on a wall, but I stuck that thing on the top of our tree and we were all pretty happy to have an angel up there, and not just any angel, but one my mom sent us. Made our tree even more personal. And then we strung up around the house some handmade paper decorations of ornaments and the snow flakes the girls made and a wreath of paper hand prints glued to a plate.

We set out our little nativity we purchased while in Ghana. It's the manger scene made from a calabash. On the windows I hung the stockings I sewed for the girls last year.

And just some other little touches here and there.....

My friend Ima brought me this little wooden angel from Germany and the girls insisted we buy this $2 nativity, which is actually pretty nice for $2, it lights up and everything.

And that's it. Simple and understated but still lovely and personal. It makes me happy to see so much of "us" in our decorations.

Only one more night till Christmas......

A sickling this morning....

Poor Marvi girl. On Thursday evening, just one day after getting out of school, she came down with a fever for about 12 hours. And then this morning, she woke up vomiting. Poor thing can't even hold down a saltine cracker. Not the way she was hoping to spend any part of her break. Hopefully it's just a 24 hour bug....we shall see.

She's currently laying on the floor having a movie marathon. The only positive side to being sick, you get unlimited movie watching at your disposal.

 And unlimited snuggle time too. =)

Praying my little munchkin gets better soon.

The 1st 24 hours of Christmas BREAK!!

Christmas break is officially here!! Whoo-hoooooo!

The girls have been counting down the days on the calendar all month and we did some serious jumping for joy yesterday when each girl got done with school! (For the record-I don't care how silly we look, I am a mom that will grab my kids and shake them and bounce them and make all kinds of weird excited noises in front of other people when celebrating something happy. Which was the scene yesterday at their school.)

We are all equally happy to have a break from school and be home together for a couple weeks. And these first 24 hours of vacation have been put to good use!

We got down to business right away making sugar cookies, a holiday tradition.

We spent the whole of the afternoon and evening stirring, cutting, and frosting. And taste testing of course.

We tallied our first batch at 77 cookies-not too shabby I'd say.

And then after dinner we opened up our first gifts of the season, some special gifts the girls made for us at school, pictures and a puzzle. Then the girls went to bed in the extra bedroom having a movie night and then we woke up early and set off for the orphanage.

We helped some friends deliver some special gifts bought with money donated by a church in the states that supports my friend Rebecca. She was able to purchase big tins of formula, rice, a new filter, two hand made rocking horses made by the garibou boys at Kids of Hope, and a child size table and bench for the kids to eat their meals at.

 And then we just hung out and held our favorite little friends....

...and watched the kids take turns learning how to use a rocking horse. Which was hilarious. And nerve wracking. Mia thought it was so funny to put Emé on the rocking horse. Except he's only, like, five months and can't even sit up on his own yet, so approximately two seconds after I took this photo he made a crash landing. Oh man! Well, now they know, you don't put kids who haven't developed back muscles on a rocking horse! I'm sure the workers and older kids will get the hang of these eventually!

And on the way home we stopped at Bingo and low and behold, they had Disney Snow White pez dispensers! What?! They were even marked half off! What wha?! Disney Snow White pez dispensers and on sale because no one else wanted them?! Merry Christmas to us! Disney in Burkina baby!!

While the potatos boil....

or is it potatoes? I can never remember whether to include or exclude the 'e' in that word.

Sydaleigh is laying sprawled out on the floor watching a veggie tales episode. I love that she doesn't think she's too old to still watch those. Even though I feel like Veggie Tales have kinda copped out in recent years and gone soft on the whole "God" theme, they are still good clean shows. No denyin' that.

Marvelly is currently sprawled out on the couch....sleeping. She takes a nap maybe twice a year. She's like me, a non-napper. I have a feeling she is going to be beast to wake up. I'll let Isaak have the honors when he gets home. =)

I got my first Christmas card of the season today! It's from Sydaleigh, and she made it is French class.

Coolness. 

The new Sound of Music with Carrie Underwood came on television yesterday. Ugh. It was so bad. I thought it might be good. I had decent hopes. I turned it on to watch with the girls because we are mega super huge Sound of Music fans. Turns out it was a major let down. Bummer. For being such a good singer, Carrie has surprisingly little vocal range. Or maybe it's just that Julie Andrews 4 octave awesomeness just overshadows anyone else's attempts and not a soul can compete with that. Maybe that's it. Either way, she flunked. And she's also a bad actress too. Double wammy.

The girls only have two days left of school before Christmas break. Yee-haw! Now that's somethin' to be excited about! I love having my girls home. We have big plans to make an obnoxious amount of cookies and treats for us and for friends. We have a cookie decorating party to go to on Friday. We have a super fun overnight trip to Yako planned for Sunday with some more friends for the orphanage and school's Christmas party where I will be bringing cupcakes for all. I think I see diabetes in my future...

And lastly, I have made it a personal goal this year to train myself to do the splits. That's this year's goal, resolution, whatever you want to call it. That's right. The splits. And maybe, a handstand. I have never been able to do either, and I will do them both at least once before I die. I am about as flexible as a #2 pencil so this will be no easy feat. Which is why I'm giving myself the entire year. Maybe next year too. We'll see how it goes.

The art of negotiating

Learning to negotiate is not something that has come very easy since moving to Burkina. Which, really surprised me because before moving here I thought negotiating would be a piece of cake-you know, with all the yard sale experience I have in all.

I'm actually kind of embarrassed to even write that.

Why in the world I thought that going to a yard sale once a month or so would somehow give me an advantage in negotiating here is beyond me.

But that's what I thought, and boy was I ever wrong! Ha! I could not have been less prepared!

Oh, my skills at negotiating for Barbies and children's books and the occasional Little Tykes toys did nothing to prepare me for the realities of how a country negotiates for everything. Every. single. day!

Negotiating is a way of life here in Burkina. And not only do you negotiate for just about everything....it is expected prior to every purchase.

And since I am a girl that hails from a country that does not engage in this practice, it has taken a while to get used to it. And even after living here for 16 months, it's still not something that I particularly enjoy doing. It's simply something I do because I have to. Even though it's a hassle.

Sometimes I just want to go buy something and pay asking price and walk away. But alas, that is not practical here. Because if I were to settle paying for immediate asking price I would end up paying over double than what it is worth. And here's why....

I'm white. And I'm a female. Two aspects of myself that I can't change but work against me every time I leave the house in an attempt to buy something in a country that is 99.9% black and where women are inferior to men.

So of course, for me, the price will always be higher. They see my white skin and will try to charge me double because I'm not a Burkinabé, I'm a "nasada" or foreign/white person.

For a long time it was more difficult to negotiate because we were new to this country and we simply didn't know how much items should cost. We didn't know how much we should be paying for fruits and veggies, or fabric, or djembés, baskets or whatever it is that we were wanting to buy. But over time and growing experience we have learned. We're still learning. We have a better understanding of what products costs on the market here and a fair price to pay.

Negotiating, as I am learning, is not about getting the cheapest price for a product. Because if my main purpose when haggling for something on the market is to get it for as cheap as possible, then I am responsible for taking advantage of the seller and not offering them a fair price for their products....and when he/she tries to gauge me with an overinflated price they are likewise trying to take advantage of me. Negotiating should be the mutual exchange of a fair price and product for both the buyer and the seller.

I have also learned, in this art of negotiating, that if I am not offered a fair price for a product, I have to either be willing to walk away and go somewhere else and start all over again, or stand around and negotiate until I am offered a more reasonable price.

And I've done both, many a times.

Take this fabric for instance. I needed a lot of fabric to cover a dozen tables for our churches Christmas service. I wanted to go to the Afro Tex store, where all of the fabric is price as marked and you don't have to worry about negotiating. But when we arrived midday the store was closed for afternoon siesta. So, I had no choice but to take to the streets to find what I needed. After looking through one vendors fabric and not being offered decent prices for some seriously cheap fabric, we left, and went looking elsewhere. That took me to a different vendor who had much nicer fabric but wanted to try to charge me three times the price I knew it was worth. Not wanting the hassle of having to go some place else I dug in my heels and stood in this guy's stall for 30 minutes haggling on a price. He wanted to charge me 36.000 franc for eight meters of fabric. I walked out having paid him 15.000 franc.

I was able to bring him down over half and we were both able to walk away satisfied with a fair deal.

I've had vendors quote me a price, clearly not expecting me to negotiate back with them, and then all of a sudden I start countering their offer with my own and they start laughing and their eyes light up with excitement, clearly delighted that I'm engaging with them in an aspect of their culture. Like I said, negotiating is expected here.

It doesn't always happen like that. Sometimes vendors are just unwilling to budge on price even when it's too high, no matter how much we negotiate, so we either have to pay, or walk away.

It's just another aspect of life in Burkina. It is challenging and exhausting and makes shopping downright burdensome at times. But it's an aspect of life here that can not be avoided, and (despite how annoying it can be at times) I wouldn't want to. I'm happy to experience this aspect of life here. It's good to ruffle some cultural feathers every now and then. =)

And it has been fun to learn how another culture operates. Holy cow do Africans ever drive a hard bargain! They put my yard sale bartering to shame! Whenever we go back to the U.S. I'm gonna have a whole new set of negotiating skills to bust out at our neighborhood garage sales! Whoop whoop!

But in the meantime, I'm just gonna keep learning how they do life here for the year and a half we have left,  continuing to build confidence to engage with them in their culture, and keep fine tuning this art of negotiation.

It's December!!

And cold season is upon us! I love that even here in Burkina Faso, where it is virutally summer all year round, we still get our own version of "winter". Yes, the temperatures still spike to the mid 90's everyday, but once the sun sets around 6:00pm the temperatures quickly plummet to the mid 60's. 

That 30 degree difference is quite significant! And makes it feel COLD outside! 

For this very brief month long cold season, I am finally able to open the doors and windows and flood the house with cool fresh air. 

That's a beautiful sight! Windows open. Cool breeze blowing in. Makes me one happy lady! Even during midday when it is very warm, the breeze is surprisingly cool and feels really good despite the hot day.

It's very common to see Burkinbé all bundled up in hats and mittens and thick winter jackets this time of year. Last year during cold season I thought it was unusual to see everyone bundled up, but this year, it's not so unusual! Your body quickly gets acclimated to the constant heat, so when the temperatures actually fall below 80 degrees, you shiver like it's in the 40's!

I love how refreshing the the weather is right now.

For you, and Madiba.

"i suppose i just want to say, while you are on african soil, would you... in some way, when you hear he passes. go. go outside to the yard. pick up the dirt. rub it between your fingers. let the red stain your hands as it may. and then? and then, pray. praise. whisper thanks to Jesus that he came into the smallest and most unlikely place and gave us examples to follow. thank him, for me, for giving us madiba to care for Africa and show how to live in peace. and pray for africa, while you stand on her soil, pray that she can learn that peace. and so doing, live out her own long walk to freedom."

For you dear friend. For you, and for Madiba. I stand here today, on your sister soil, and I let the red dirt stain my hands. I offer up prayers and praise to Jesus for Africa and her people. I whisper thankfulness for you, and your love for this land, and for Madiba, and the legacy that he left. Praying, ever so fervently, that they can now follow the greatest example of all.....

Blowing bubbles.

It's always a good time for bubbles.

One day, she'll thank me.

One day, when she's older, and realizes the value of hard work, she'll thank me....

She'll thank me for ripping her pages out of her school journal that she just finished writing in.

She will thank me for making her start her homework all over again in order to turn in her best work, instead of her fastest work.

She will thank me for instilling in her a good work ethic and discipline.

She will thank me for encouraging her to turn in work that she is proud of.

She will thank me that I was more concerned about developing the content of her character rather than striving to make her comfortable and convenienced. 

One day, when she's not cursing me for making her do her chores or redo her homework, or to be responsible for her belongings, or teaching her the value of commitment and finishing what she's started, or painstakingly reminding her that her words carry weight and to choose them wisely, and everything else that I teach that she doesn't think she needs to know right now....one day, she'll realize she does. And she'll thank me.

One day, one day, she will be glad I cared enough to inconvenience her.

Our Thanksgiving day

I come from a large, very very large family. And each year some percentage of us will gather together on the banks of the Atlantic on the southern island of Hilton Head and spend a few days together celebrating Thanksgiving.

It is one of my most cherished holidays.

Not because of the bounty of food that we no doubt consume-but because of the sheer bounty of loved ones I have the joy of spending time with. Last year was a difficult time being away from my family over the Thanksgiving holiday. I missed the playful banter, the late night talks and laughing, the bear hugs, the sounds of a new generation pounding over the floors and giggling in the other rooms, sitting on the sofa while the football games echoed in the background, making last minute food runs with my mom, and all the hilarious shenanigans that would happen over the course of the week.

And even though I still longed to be with my family last week, this year was easier being far away. This year we decided to host a Thanksgiving dinner at our home and open it to whoever needed a place to come to feel the same sense of family and togetherness they were no doubt longing for just like us. And we had a marvelous time. Every seat at our table was filled with friends, both new and old. But for the night, we were not simply friends, we were family. An unrelated family from different countries who came together and shared in what this holiday is really about....togetherness.

(Nicole, Isaak, Rhyan, Kate, Lacey, Bridgette, Rebecca, Julia, Branden, Fred, Nathanja, with Jake, Jonah, Gannon, Harrison, Elijah, Gideon, Sydaleigh and Marvelly)

In addition to the great company, we did also have a lot of great food! I cooked a turkey for the second time ever. Turkeys in Burkina are pretty much non-existent but can sometimes be found in November for around $75-$100. Which, makes them kinda unpractical to buy. So we were all very grateful for the aircraft that lovingly flew in, thanks to the generosity of the USO and military, turkeys to eat this year!

Everyone brought something delicious to eat, like mashed potatoes, green bean casserole, broccoli casserole, and apple die. I made a turkey, stuffing, homemade mac n' cheese, crescent rolls, gravy, fudge, chocolate creme pie, jello, and a pumpkin trifle that looked strikingly similar to the meat dessert that Rachel made on the Thanksgiving episode of Friends....

"Ross: It tastes like feet!
Joey: Well, I like it.
Ross: Are you kidding?!
Joey: I mean, what's not to like? Custard, good. Jam, good. Meat, good!"

Just like that. Crazy how that's what came to mind whenever anyone looked at it. Thanksfully mine didn't taste like feet, and there was no meat in it, despite the fact that my ground up pumpkin bread looked exactly like ground up beef layered with pumpkin custard and whipped creme.  :) Good times.

There was plenty of food, and laughter was abounding. There was a football game on that echoed in the background.

There were good friends, and hugs, and the sounds of a new generation pounding over the floors and giggling and playing in the rooms. There were sweet memories made. And it felt as close to our time in Hilton Head with family that you could get being over  5,000 miles away in Burkina Faso. And we all had a glorious time. I was so overwhelmingly thankful this year for the Lord's provision of friends here in Burkina, both young and old, for us and for our children, to help fill the role of family that we are always missing. It was a day to be truly thankful.

"Enter his gates with thanksgiving and his courts with praise; give thanks to him and praise his name. For the Lord is good and his love endures forever; his faithfulness continues through all generations." Ps. 100:4-5