Per the usual, it has been eventful while David has been gone.
This actually happened the Monday before he left, and it was planned.
Termites had eaten the door frames of three of our rooms. We have been waiting 6 months on the door guy and our landlords to solidify things. Finally they came.
Renovations or brand new things in this country have about a 5-7 year shelf life before needing serious repair. That's about where we are.
I was absolutely not pleased with the results of the new doors, but since David is away I decided not to deal with it. During his time away I also had to call the plumber to deal with our kitchen drain (again!). He left our outside pipe a mess and I didn't realize it until the next day. I am leaving that for David too. :).
The most pleasant worker I dealt with was the locksmith. A week ago we were locked out of our house, we thought a kid had dead bolted and we went out the back. But now we realize there was actually a real problem with the lock. Saturday morning and locked out! He came right away and fixed it all within half an hour.
Sophia hadn't been feeling great all weekend and finally spiked a fever with aches and all for almost 2 days, Isabella followed, and one night Tobin woke up, threw up and had stomach issues all night, and I followed him from 3-6 a.m. This was actually a virus from Gabrielle who bore it better and faster than anyone else: fever, diarrhea for 4 days. Obviously this did not make for a good start to anything. Tobin and I were so weak. My helper was the hero. She took the other kids where they needed to be, I stayed in bed a lot. Slowly we started getting better. Tobin was so weak he asked me to carry him back to bed that night. This virus took its toll and we are still recovering. Daily I think I am improving but still weak, not able to eat much and nothing settling quite yet.
God has been so incredibly gracious through this all. We mustered strength for our English class. Sophia got to participate in an all day birthday party, and our helper took Tobin and Gabrielle to her village while Isabella and I taught English on Saturday. Sunday started rough with attitudes but we regrouped with lots of praise music, time in the word, and the ever-promised 'daddy away' tea party. Tobin dressed as Iron Man, the ladies, nice dresses. He called on them to come to tea and we had a great time drinking coffee/tea/hot chocolate, eating junk food and playing some dominoes.
This is the week for the Arts festival at local school which is keeping us busy. Also, I leave for a conference the day BEFORE David gets back, so once again our helper will step up and watch the kids overnight. They will walk to and from school and even catch up on some home school while I am gone.
There you have it. Crazy and yet not.
And.....Gabrielle will do her 100th lesson of Reading tomorrow!
