Change of Plans (aka Aunt Ellie to the rescue)

We were supposed to leave yesterday to drive home to Mombasa but we had a little change of plans. Chris started feeling some familiar pains on Saturday; this is his third bout of pancreatitis in the last 6 months. He was hospitalized and although this isn’t a life-threatening condition, it’s extremely painful and we expect him to be in the hospital until at least the end of this week.

We knew M had to head home because his lab advisor is in town but I have some flexibility in my schedule so I offered to stay. We have 8 kids under 15 (Chris and Jamie have 5 and Linda and Jim have 3) so having an extra adult on hand allows Jamie to spend time at the hospital with Chris. Plus, Linda and Jim can continue on with their work while their kids are at school (Chris and Jamie's kids are homeschooled).

Below are M and Z, the youngest at 3 years old. Z is hilarious and is fond of saying things like “hims bumps hims head on the ceiling” about M. He also said, “your head is like a hedgehog, no no no, like a sea urchined” about M’s hair. The most famous Z quote though is actually about the slums though when Linda took him one time: "It smelled harrrible in dere, I'm about to fhrow up." He's hilarious.



Let me tell you, going from no kids to 5 is a handful! The kids are very well behaved but they’re energetic and there are a few who miss Mom and Dad a lot. Two nights ago I had M’s help and we sat on the couch while they ran around and played a game of capture the flag and some sort of fake war game. I’m more accustomed to the chaos than M from teaching kindergarten so I laughed when he said “um, should we stop them?” I informed him that they’d do this until they were tired or someone cried and as long as they were playing nicely (and loudly!), we should let them carry on. They collapsed like puppies after an hour and we didn’t have to entertain them!

Last night's bedtime was a little stressful since it was just me and the requests for water, potty, and food got a little out of hand but everyone was settled and sleeping at about 10.

This morning I led a mass cleanup of the house on the Baptist compound and though the troops were less than happy, the house is more workable and everyone has their own clothes sorted into drawers instead of just pulling things in and out of the suitcase they are sharing. The lack of organization had placed me at a huge disadvantage since I would pull out a clothing item and of course it didn't belong to the person I was trying to coax into dressing. Now I am on top of it and I think that should cut down on the wearing of dirty clothes.

Mealtime is another thing I'm rusty at since I haven't babysat for a while. Trying to fix a simple meal for 4 kids (I make G the oldest pretty much fend for himself), ensure that they eat it, and get the minimum number of fruits and veggies to fend off scurvy is complicated since I don't know their preferences. I am on the hook for some surprise dessert tonight since I used the "if you don't eat your carrots, you can't have dessert" line at lunch today. That could end up being a rookie mistake but I'll figure something out.

Really though, joking aside, I’m thrilled that I can pay back Chris and Jamie in some small way for their generous friendship to us over the last 5 months. Plus, I have already earned Mean Auntie Ellie status when I banned brownies for dinner last night. So things are looking up from here!