Happy 11th Kaitlyn!

I love walking this journey with you!

My oh my. Kaitlyn is getting so old!!! I remember my 11th birthday but only from pictures that I've seen I think...and now I have an 11 year old daughter!! Time is flying by! I have loved seeing Kaitlyn mature and transition from a little girl into a pre-teen. No longer are there 'brush you hair' battles...she brushes her hair all the time and is normally awake before me and as I groggily meander out of my room in the morning, she is there just putting the finishing touches on her hair or outfit! Eventhough Kaitlyn still plays outside a bunch, I am finding that she spends more time inside doing crafts or journaling or listening to music. That being said, Kaitlyn is always up for a game of 'pioneers' outside or playing 'house' or 'restaurant' in the tree house, or a making up a fun trampoline game or playing hide and seek with walkie talkies. She is super creative and imaginative...always dressing up as someone or dressing others up in a costume of some sort as part of the game they are playing. She loves fashion and hair but also loves art and music. Kaitlyn still plays her guitar despite not having formal lessons...she occasionally will play worship with me on a 'home church' Sunday morning at our house.
It has been a roller coaster of hello's and goodbye's for Kaitlyn these past 2 years....but she is such a resilient girl...friends are super important to her and she has had to say a lot of goodbye's to good friends. She seems to do that well though...always believing their friendship will last despite the distance and making an effort via email and FaceTime to maintain those relationships. As a result, she has a best friends in Australia, Kenya and Canada. Friends around the world!

Breakfast in bed for the birthday girl!

As she grows and matures it has been encouraging to see her conscience grow as well..admitting more readily when she has done wrong and asking forgiveness without being prompted to apologize. Kaitlyn can't wait to be of 'babysitting age' and has purposefully read an old babysitting manual we had laying around and has been practising her skills on a sweet almost 2 year old boy that lives on the compound with us. She has won him over with her sweetness and patience and persistence in befriending him. Now he wants Kaitlyn to push him on the swing, and not his dad! I know she will be a favourite babysitter of many kids soon!
Kaitlyn has wanted her own room forever and just two weeks ago she moved into our spare room (no Air Conditioning in this room...hence the spare room) and has made it quite the cozy space. Despite boxes and random things being stored in there...Kaitlyn has rearranged this and that and hung up some of her pictures and art and organized shelves and a bedside table and loves her new space. It is cool enough to sleep without an AC but she may have to move back in with Lily and Evie come hot season next year. She is just getting to that age when she wants more alone time...less '4 year old sister climbing all over my bed' time! :)
We love Kaitlyn! She is such an encouragement to Phil and I to keep on going in our parenting journey! :) On those challenging days with Evie or when I feel like I am saying the same things over and over again...we can see who Kaitlyn is becoming and how she has changed and matured and know that our hard work will pay off....eventually for our other two!
Happy Birthday to our sweet first born. We love you. You are such a blessing to us and your sisters!

The party crew...Ice Cream Sundays!

Ideas from an Ex-pat Kitchen: Banana or Mango Smoothie

Ladies. I must admit I've never been the biggest fan of bananas....ever since I had food poisoning-like sickness shortly after eating a banana, I couldn't bring myself to eat one for YEARS (thinking I was allergic)....BUT.....several years ago, I decided to give bananas another try and voila! I discovered that I am not allergic to bananas AND they actually taste good in just about everything....ok, not everything but certainly lots of baked goods and to my recent discovery: smoothies!
I do admit that the appeal of bananas increases when it is the cheapest and most readily available fruit in Chad.....but to be honest, I really, really, really like this recipe....and so do my kids. If you've written off bananas like I had....I encourage you to give them another try.....this recipe could be the thing that makes you fall in love with bananas all over again :)
As for mangoes, I never really ate them before living in Chad as they are considered an 'exotic' fruit in Canada and therefore outrageously expensive to buy so we just never bought them. BUT, since mangoes are a dime a dozen around here when they are in season, I discovered that freezing pieces of mango and adding them to my smoothie recipe (milk powder, water and vanilla), we could enjoy a creamy, naturally sweet fruit drink that is filling and healthy!

Banana

Deliciously cold & naturally sweet

or Mango Smoothie

1. Cover baking sheet or large plate with parchment or wax paper.

2. Slice 3 medium bananas or cut up several mangoes and place fruit pieces on baking sheet/plate in a single layer (do not layer them as you want to freeze them individually for easy blending).

3. Freeze for 3 hours minimum (can spend all day/night in freezer if need be). The fruit needs to be frozen in order to provide that creamy, thick texture.

4. Remove tray/plate from freezer and lift up the parchment paper on one side to unstick the fruit from the plate/tray. Continue to remove frozen banana or mango slices and place them in a medium ziplock freezer bag for storage. (This amount of sliced fruit will make enough for 3-4 Ikea kids-size cups).

5. Place 1/2 the bag of frozen bananas or mangoes into a blender.

6. Add 1/3 Cup milk powder. *

7. Add 1/3 Cup cold water.

8. Add 1 teaspoon vanilla extract.

9. Blend until mixture is smooth and thick.

10. Pour into cups and serve right away.

* If you live in a place that does not use milk powder but rather liquid milk, add the same amount of milk (1/3 Cup) but do not add any water otherwise it will be too liquidy.

**I freeze any leftovers into popsicle molds and serve banana or mango smoothie popsicles the next time my kids want something cold!

** I keep bags of frozen banana slices and mango pieces in the freezer at all times, so this smoothie process is a quick one! I just freeze the slices and store them in bags for quick removal and use.

Sheep for Lunch

Several months ago, we had the pleasure of hosting 80 people (half kids, half adults) for a MAF social here at our compound. We throw this kind of party twice a year, and invite all those who work for MAF and their families to join us for a day of fun and food. A small way of saying 'Thank you' and showing how much we appreciate all their efforts at work.

Bocce Ball...called 'boule' here. Phil picked up some pointers from the experts! 

We ordered 4 crates of pop (96 bottles!), 2 large sheep stuffed with Spanish flavoured rice (it was our only option!) and vegetables, 150 tortillas and the MAF international staff made 5 cakes and brought 3 huge watermelons and 2 large pineapples....and we ended up with just a little bowl of leftover meat and rice which we gave to the guards on the night shift.
Phil hung a huge tarp to provide extra shade (it was hot season here....and it's 40 degrees in the shade....so NO ONE wanted to sit in the sun!) and we laid out a huge tarp for kids to sit on and managed to scrounge up close to 50 chairs.
We played some fun 'minute to win it' type games...the highlight was the Oreo challenge where you stick an Oreo (icing side) on your cheek and have to use your face muscles to get it down to your mouth. People were falling off their chairs laughing....the guy who won looked hilarious as he tried to move the Oreo down! Another fun game was the 'doughnut on the string' game...we bought some little Timbit-like doughnuts from a lady we know and made several different strings with doughnuts on them. We had the kids go and then the guys take a turn....we held it high and made the men jump to get them! So much fun!

Water games were a hit with the kids...

The biggest hit by far was the ongoing tournament of Bocce Ball...who knew Chadians were MASTERS at that game??!!!!
After everyone was fed and satisfied with dessert, the adults hung around for several more hours and talked and played and relaxed. The kids had the time of their lives....riding bikes, jumping on the trampoline (like 10 kids at a time!), swinging, sliding, running and climbing. Everywhere I looked, there were kids having fun. It was so good to see our friends enjoying a break from the daily grind and relaxing for a bit.
I attempted French in a bunch of different conversations...and managed to keep one going for a while. She was very gracious to me as I butchered French words but hay, she understood me and we had a good chat.
We waved goodbye to the last visitor around 4:30...we were exhausted but happy knowing everyone had a great time. I loved looking around during the day and seeing everyone chatting and having fun....we are blessed to have such an amazing team of people who work for MAF.

Until the next 'fête' however...I think I'll stick with chicken! :)

Minute to win it games...balancing a plate on your head while stacking blocks on it!

The stuffed sheep! 

Kaitlyn with her friend Iris