MIA

No, the title does not stand for Missing In Action, although based solely on the frequency of blog posts on this here space, you could draw that logical conclusion.

For today's purposes, however, MIA stands for Mya In Africa.

She was an amazing little travel partner. And while I can't say I loved/understood her movie choices on the plane ride over and back (she watched Rio, a movie she has already seen, 5 times), I do love her heart. She jumped right in with the kids she met, rarely complained and was generally one step ahead of us wherever we went.

My favorite Mya quote from the trip:  "Mom, the world is a lot bigger place than I thought."

She was not ready to leave Zambia, but I have a feeling she will be back someday.

Maybe she will return as an artist/teacher/missionary just like Aunt Leslie.

Below is a clip/compilation of  watching MIA (Mya In Africa).

TIA

Did I say something about blogging in Africa?

Between the jet lag, busy schedule, spotty Internet, low shower pressure and limited hot water, it just didn't happen. And while the water temp/pressure didn't have anything to do with my blogging schedule, I thought it was important to find a way to let you know.

All of this can be summed up in one little phrase, "TIA."  

Translation:  This is Africa.

We had an amazing time.

Between learning about the incredible work Lifesong is doing in Zambia, spending time with Leslie, watching Mya interact with kids from the other side of the world, making new friends and having face-to-face encounters with African wildlife, we left with grateful hearts for the experience of Africa and the work God is doing there.

Here is a snippet from ONE of my favorite moments. The women you see work for Lifesong farms, in the strawberry fields of Zambia. They all have children who attend Lifesong school. Lifesong is not only investing deeply into these families by providing income and schooling, the profits from the strawberry farm are being poured back  into the school. The dream is that one day 100% of Lifesong school's administration costs will be covered by Lifesong farms. 

I am hoping to post more. There is SO much to share!

Here we go...

The day she has long awaited is finally here.

In Mya's own words, "As the days got closer (to leaving for Zambia), I got nervouser and excited. I couldn't wait to hug Aunt Leslie and play with the things in my backpack."

She has been ready to get on the plane for weeks and the day is finally here.

Today Mya and I leave for Africa, Zambia to be specific, to visit my sister and the Lifesong school.

We are expecting to have a great adventure.

I have a few other expectations for our trip as well:

I am expecting to spend some quality time with my sister whom I miss,
to tour the Lifesong school and learn more about how God is working there,
to have lots and lots (like a 15-hour plane ride lots) of mother-daughter bonding time,
for a life-changing experience that shapes my daughter's perspective for life.

There are others, but I'll stop here.

I don't know if my expectations are too high, or too low.

Regardless, its time to set expectation aside and start living this adventure.

Here we go!

a Glorious MOMent

I had successfully navigated one Kindergarten Valentine party, Littles in tow, with only a minimal amount of pouting. This was to be expected as nap time had been cut short for one and cut out altogether for the other. I could live with minimal pouting.

The final feat of the day involved collecting the three Big Kids from the daily schools-out chaos. I had one with me, although he wasn't sticking close. This bugged me.

I spotted the second at the door. One more kid to find and we could wind our way through the maze of elementary-sized students, cross the car pool line, load up the van and get home.

I kept corralling the ones I already had. Reminding them to stay close. Telling one to get out of the rock pile. Losing one, to find him again by the flag pole.

"Stay with me! As soon as she comes out we can go. It won't be long!"

Finally, out she came. It was time to go. Almost home free.

"Let's go, but stay with me," I commanded as we made our way through the crowd towards the car pool line.

Someone didn't listen, make that someones.

Off they ran without me followed by a teacher who was quick to reprimand, "Stay with your mom."

Almost instantaneously, another one stepped in a mud puddle and started to cry because he was wet. He refused to move one step further. He was in the middle of the car pool lane.

And for one brief, glorious second, we once again became "that family."

Harried mom, herding cats, I mean kids, across the car pool lane.


Speaking of MOMents... Today is the last day to take advantage of the early registration fee for Hearts at Home. Swing on by and register today! I would LOVE to see you there!!!

The start of a list:

Things I Love (besides the obvious)

Instagram

It is probably my favorite app right now. Kind of a combination between Facebook and twitter only status updates come in the form of pictures. 

So I thought I'd share a few of this weeks Instagrams with you...

Happy Valentine's Day!

Jonah's Basket

We signed the "olders" up for our local Upwards basketball program this year. When their first game rolled around I was nervous. None of them had played before and I wasn't sure how their skills (or lack of) would line up.

I didn't need to worry, they have fit in just fine.

Mya's games look like real basketball games.

The boys' games on the other hand, are starting to look like real basketball games. During their first few games they were focused on defending their man. Whether their team was on offence or defense, they were guarding their man.

Mya and Simon made baskets early on in the program. Jonah's first basket has been a little longer in coming, but last week that darn ball finally went in the hoop. Kory captured the moment on video and I am so glad he did!

There is so much I love about this clip. Simon's (somewhat reluctant) pass to Jonah and his excitement as Jonah dribbles in for the basket. The coach's reaction (he is on the court as the referee and starts to jump and pump his fist in the left hand corner of the screen). And Jonah's smile and strut once the ball goes in.

When the game was over, their coach came up to me and said, "Hallelujah, the ball went in!"

My sentiments exactly.

Suhn's Video Debut!

It has been almost two years exactly since we saw Suhn's face for the first time. Crazy how you can fall in love with a picture, although looking at her picture again... maybe not so crazy.

She has come so far since then. We all have. It has been one wild ride that I am so glad we went on.

A big part of her physical progress has been the hours and hours of time spent at Easter Seals. The therapist there are top notch and they really care about our little girl. They get as excited as we do when she makes progress.

Over the next month our Easter Seals is working to raise money so they can continue to serve children with special needs in our area. It is their final fundraising push before their biggest event, the Telethon which airs the first Saturday in March. Every year they put together a video highlighting a few of the kids they work with. This year, Suhn made the cut (Sean gets a small cameo too!). We think she is the star, go ahead and watch the video. I dare you to disagree. :)

If you are interested in donating to Easter Seals and supporting the great work they do, send me an e-mail (see sidebar). I would love to tell you how.