Farewell Party

One on ones were a little different today. 

First, I took Sande and Isaiah to play with play dough, which they were enjoying. Elena joined us with Hope and she suddenly noticed that there was a puddle under Isaiah. Arghh! Not sure what his problem was, he's a big boy and doesn't wet himself any more. That was the end of his one on one! 

Then Mama Georgina suggested that we take a whole group of kids on a walk. We ended up with a group of fifteen kids with just the two of us supervising. I would never attempt to take a whole group of children five and under, but I trusted Mama Georgina to keep things under control. She got the kids to walk two by two holding hands with me leading and herself bringing up the rear. We didn't make a very straight line and we were quite slow, but they were reasonably well behaved. I was still a little nervous about completing our loop on the busier road and suggested we turn around, but Mama Georgina wanted to continue so on we went. We got ready to cross a busy road and I'm thinking to myself, when would I ever attempt something like this normally! I mean some of the kids are only two year olds and we weren't even holding their hands! 

Sande still doesn't answer questions, but he now calls me aunty all the time and will ask me for things. I felt kind of bad, today at lunch I had to tell him to stop talking because he was disturbing his brothers while he was meant to be eating. Never thought I'd see the day that I had to tell Sande to be quiet! He must have hit a stage because I ended up having to take him to the office later for not staying in his bed and I'm pretty sure he's never been taken to the office before. Better keep an eye on that one. I know what passive rebels are like because I was one at his age! :)

Today we had a farewell lunch for Uncle Dusty and Aunt Mary who are going back to the States for several months. Uncle Dusty takes care of the grounds and the workmen. He also keeps an eye on us girls, like a fill in Dad. He likes to know where we're going whenever we head out the gate and welcomes us back safely when we return. Aunt Mary takes care of the adoptions and matching children with families. They both are a huge part of keeping Amani running and enjoy playing Grandparents to all the children here. 

The older children were allowed to stay up from their naps and enjoy lunch with us and cake afterwards. I put up balloons and photographs with William and Matthew. Many of the mamas came including those who were not on shift today and each received a gift from Aunt Mary.

Aunt Mary called each of them up by name. I was sitting with Florence and she explained the meanings of their second names. Most of them mean things like peace, love or God's help. 

Some mamas were funny; doing a little dance to get to Aunt Mary. 

Not a few tears were shed with each embrace. 

It was a lovely afternoon and it was nice to see the community of Amani celebrating together. Mama Cook did an amazing job of cooking for everyone. I always look forward to seeing her cheery face when I go down for lunch and hearing her "welcome!" 

We had an outing today with Rukia, Josephine and Jay. We went to the post office and then The Keep. Jay liked his ice cream so much that he threw a fit when he'd finished it. It's always interesting trying to discipline children in public. Odds are that each outing one child decides to be difficult and push their aunties as far as they can. 

I supervised potty time in the nursery tonight. The babies do not appreciate this newly introduced part of their routine. My main problem is keeping everybody's hands out of each other's potties. Jane decided tonight she would wash her face in her su su while I was busy dressing Rosie. She just looks at you with a cheeky grin when we all yell "NO!" like she knows exactly what she's doing. Bedtime takes a little longer now with all potty time antics. 

I cooked more mince meat to have with our leftovers from last night and our dinner was ready in no time. I love leftovers! 

"To everything there is a season, a time for every purpose under heaven:

....A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance..."

Ecclesiastes 3:1,4