What I really wanted to write a quick post on is the kids. I only have 30 min of battery left on my computer so we'll see. Basically, the kids are doing great. They are more fun than ever. I can't believe how much I'm enjoying them being 4 1/2 and 2 1/2. Emmett absolutely adores Hannah. The other day he got hurt and I asked him if he wanted mommy to kiss his owie. He said, "no, ditda (sister) kiss it." He then turned to Hannah and said, "Ditda, I got owie, ditda kiss it?" She said, in an overly-syrupy voice, "Oh Em! You got an owie? I'll kiss it." Upon receiving the kiss of big sister, the owie was better. Don't get me wrong, they fight like brother and sister too. They are experts on how to get under each other's skin. The thing is, that they get along at least as much as they don't get along. I'm encouraged by this. I told Hannah one day, "I pray every day that you and Emmett will be good friends." She said, "but mom, we already are." Emmett is more likely to do what Hannah asks than what Rees and I ask (we're working on that :). It's really remarkable because I can send them outside in the morning to play and they will stay in front of our apartment - Hannah looking after Emmett and he staying close to his sister. Now, I leave the door open and I'm constantly looking and listening out the window for them, but it's still amazing to see them walk down the stairs together and look after each other, exploring the little world around them. Where we live is very conducive to this. Granted, our apartment building would be condemned if it was in the states (as well as probably all of the apartment buildings around here), but there are moms and kids everywhere and most of the women are home. The bigger kids are totally accustomed to looking after the littler kids so when the kids go outside, it's not only me that's keeping track of them, it's a bunch of other people. There's dirt, mud, sand, rocks, sticks, puddles, sidewalks and all the stuff that "free play" is made out of. I think the kids enjoy feeling a little "independent." I'm amazed at their imaginations and though at times I feel bad that they don't have the wealth of parks and opportunities here that they would have in the states, I love that they are able to contentedly play with what's around. Even at home, they are never bored. They are constantly making up games. Just last night our friends were over and one of their daughters drew a carpet on a large piece of paper and all this morning (while they were inside) Hannah and Emmett were having flying carpet adventures. Even hunting for deer (where'd they get that idea? :) from their flying carpet. They don't feel entitled to movies and such (though they enjoy movies) and are used to the electricity going out and the water going dry. Just last week they were watching a movie and the electricity went out. Not a tear, whine or yell. We found them sitting in the dark, trying to find their toys. Rees overheard Hannah tell Emmett, "we'll just have to finish watching that when the svet (electricity) comes back on." It's great to see some of the positive effects of their growing up in a developing country already. Now, there's always something to say about the negatives, but I'm not going to focus on that today because I'm feeling pretty blessed right now and I don't want to ruin that.
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| I think they look like little thugs in this picture but I love it. After a long morning of playing in the mud and snow, they road in the car while we drove around the city looking for somewhere that had propane for our gas balons. |
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