New Library Books!

The last few weeks have been super busy as we just finished our missionary home schooling co-op, Sonlight Christian Academy. It was an awesome two weeks where about 7 missionaries families came from all over Cameroon to the Baptist Center here in town, and us parents taught the kids different subjects. I had the privilege of teaching LA to the 3rd and 4th graders, helping out in music class, and instructing the dolphin swimming class (I got a lovely tan!). As always the kids had a fantastic time hanging out with all their friends and having someone else other than "boring ol' Mum" teaching them. It was also very tiring as we are out the door at 7:30am and not back till 5:30 most nights (I was hitting the sack at about 8:30pm). So it is nice to be back to normal schedule again. Pictures will be coming soon. 

Today I finally got the chance to take down the hundreds of children's books that were donated to the orphanage while we were back in the States. It was a lot of fun to sort through them all and then get them up on the shelves. Of course the kids were very happy to have some fresh reading material and library time went extra long today. 

We filled almost another whole shelf up today. A massive thanks to everyone that donated books! And this isn't all of them, I pulled some of the bible story ones out to use at our church for kid's club. 

All these books have been donated over the years. I'm thrilled that even outside kids are now coming in and borrowing them. In a culture where reading it not a normal pastime, it is great to see kids excited about books.

Library time comes right after out weekly kid's club at the orphanage. Karen Jackson, a Wycliffe missionary in town, has been helping out with the younger class. She brings lots of children from her neighbourhood, it is great to see HHCH so full. 

We have been working on the rubbish system at the Children's Home. When we left in June there was a massive hole in the back yard that had been dug to throw trash into. When we got back it was more than overflowing. There is a truck that comes around once a week to pick up trash but you have to be at the  side of the road as it passes to hand them your rubbish. So it is not the most reliable system, but at least there is something. But now we have a three bucket system; compost, scraps for the chickens, and fire. It has taken a bit to drill it into everyone but it seems that it is finally working and the kids are sorting their rubbish accordingly. The compost is overflowing and giving us plenty of good, rich soil to add to our farms.

A few weeks back we turned all the compost of the last 6 months.

32 bags in all!

We trying something new, using inside-out tires as planters for herbs and spices

Today we have a bunch of tomato plants, garlic, leaks, and onions sprouting. Looking forward to our first harvest!

All caught up (or just about!)

Well, I told myself I wasn't allowed to write another blog until I got caught up on everything I needed to get done in the last month (in January we took back all the responsibilities that we had given to the Borns, our co-workers, when we left.). Praise God I have finally caught up on ministry finances including closing out all the accounts for 2012, completed all the sponsorship and update letters for the orphanage, got the HHCH animal records back in order as well as the HHCH kitchen records up-to-date and the shelves all stocked and inventoried. I also had a day of prayer and planning with all my children's workers from the church and we planned out the year.  And I have just about replied to all the emails in my inbox. I feel a great weight has lifted on my shoulders as I'm not playing catch-up anymore. So I hope to be more faithful with my blog now!

December was getting over jet-lag, getting our house back into working order, getting our truck going, getting all our utilities and contracts back up, and the other million personal things that needed to get done. Oh, and Christmas of course.

Since getting back it has definitely taken a while to get into our normal routine. Finally, finally I am waking up at 5:30 again and it isn't like torture to drag myself out of bed. Jake is back to managing the two car washes, teaching at Faith Bible College, preaching at church, getting projects at the children's Home finished up, and making sure that the new bus for the orphanage is getting fixed and painted the way we want it. Home schooling has been going Ok and is definitely getting smoother each week.

The much needed bus for HHCH. It is currently having an "extreme makeover." Should be finished this week.

So, some photos of the last month:

We had a lot of fun setting up decoration at the orphanage for Christmas, the kids had an awesome time.

Sandrine got some new earrings!

Creative Kingsley

Beautiful Dorcas

Norbert getting into the Christmas spirit :D

On December 20th we celebrated Seth's 10th Birthday! He had a bunch of friends over, Jake made a big slip 'n slide in the back yard (thankfully the water was on!).

Seth's Angry Bird's B-day Cake (the Cameroonians had no idea what it was meant to be of!)

I was wondering if we would be able to pull a party off as we had so much going on, but it all came together and we all had a great time.

Then it was time for us to find our own Christmas tree. We usually find a big Cyprus tree in someone's yard and ask them if we can lop the top off. This year we just couldn't find a good one. So finally just a day or two before Christmas we found a little one in a garden. It was more of a ball than a triangle but it worked. I let the kids decorate it all themselves this year (with the help of some of their neighbourhood friends).

Before...

... and after

Christmas morning was spent at the orphanage. The Borns and us made a massive breakfast for everyone. We read the Birth of Jesus, sang Christmas carols and gave out presents. As always, it was very special.

Christmas morning

Yum!

Sardines are always popular on their eggs (Seth and Jude have gone native as they love the combination)

Blessed enjoying his breakfast

One family from the States sent new bibles and cases for all of the older children. They even had their names embossed on them! The kids were SOOOOO excited with them.

Jake's Dad's church, Grace Baptist Church, in Henreitta, Texas, sent presents back with us for each of the children. They were full of little goodies like candy, pens, coloring books, skip ropes, and balls as well as some practical things like toothpaste and toothbrushes, socks, soap, etc. It was so cool to see the kids faces light up when opening them. For five of our children this was the very first time to ever celebrate Christmas!

Happy Kids!

Pa helping Blessed open his presents (Jude looking on!). Once again I have to say how impressed I was with my kids on Christmas morning. They had to wait till about 11am till we got home to open their own presents. I didn't hear one complaint from any of them. Once we did get back, we opened presents and then I got in the kitchen. We had some friends over for Christmas dinner and then we headed to our missionary friends for dessert. It was a really lovely Christmas day.

Usually we go camping on the beach for New Years with a bunch of other missionaries. We didn't feel we should go this year as we had just got back, so our awesome friends who we usually go with, decided to come up to Bamenda and celebrate the New Year with us here. We had a fantasitc week with them, hanging out, staying up way too late, eating way too much, hiking and picnicking.

The Young family; Daryl is a pilot with Jaars/Wycliffe. A beautiful family inside and out! We miss them so much since we moved from Yaounde. 

Going for a hike at the incredible Lake Awing

The kids traveling in the funnest way possible. It's so nice to be back in a country where we're not bound by a bunch of safety laws!

New Year's Eve we made a massive fire, sang songs, played charades, and ate smores. 

So, I think that catches me up to just about now. Phew!

Back in Cameroon

Well, we made it back to Africa and we are just about back to Cameroon time.  Jet lag had us all in a headlock for a few days there. It was a LONG 3 days of travel to get here, never easy with kids, 12 pieces of luggages, and 12 carry-ons, but we all made it in one piece, praise the Lord! On the way back to Bamenda, the Landrover started having brake issues so we had to slow right down (welcome back to Africa!). We didn't get in till it was dark. And as we pulled into Bamenda, all the electricity was out over town (welcome back to Africa!). 

Some friends were waiting at the house for us (and a dinner had been cooked). As we pulled up, it was pitch black, we were trying to hug people, the dogs were going crazy barking and jumping up on us, it was absolute chaos! Then we decided to run down to the orphanage (we had already called to tell them that we were not coming as it was so late). They were in the middle of devos when we walked in and it took them a few seconds to register who we were (a combination of it being pitch black and them not expecting us). Then we literally got squeezed alive. It was so lovely to see all of them again, they have all grown so much. We headed back to the Children's Home the next day (when the lights were on) and they had a presentation for us with songs, a drama, and even two speeches, they are some special kids! Check out the link below to see their welcome song for us. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4vQ9m4887CA&feature=share

Lots of catching up to do with the house, ministry, and homeschooling ( I am ROCKETING away at school with the boys), so it is going to be go go go for the next few weeks. Still hoping to catch up on my blog, and post about the other States we visited while in the US. I need a few more hours in the day!

We brought all the kids back towels, practical yet still a present to make them smile

Sooo good to be back!

The bus in front of us going to Bamenda; now I've seen pigs, goats, chickens, and even dogs on top of buses before, but never a shark!

Our lunch stop on the way up to the NW; Soya, our favourite (grilled meat)!

Baby Godwill... one year on

Can you believe it, it has been a whole year since we went on that long trip out to the village of Benadae to see tiny baby Godwill. Just 4lbs at three weeks old, we knew that if we didn't bring him into the Children's Home he wouldn't last much longer. He got some extra TLC the first few months of his life (from our co-workers the Borns who looked after him tirelessly night and day) and he soon started gaining weight. Today, he is a healthy, happy one-year-old! He is starting to cruise around furniture and I'm sure by the time we get back in December he will be toddling around. I can't wait to get my arms around him!! A massive THANK YOU to everyone that prayed for this little guy, gave us much needed advice on how to fatten him up with out making him sick, and for those that give financially to cover the extra cost of hiring a lady to care for him, formula, and all the expenses that comes from having a baby. 

Godwill when we first got him, poor little fellow!

Shortly after we got him, he had to spend the night at the hospital as he was so dehydrated

Baby Godwill today!

To read the complete story of how we got Baby Godwill, read it in my blog post a year ago:

http://schilinskifamily.blogspot.com/2011/11/long-day.html

Muscatine, Iowa

At the start of September we headed to Muscatine in East Iowa to spend a week with Jake's Step-Mom, Heidi. She lives on the edge of town with about 4 acres. She has stables with a couple of horses plus lots of other fun animals; a pot belly pig, goats, dogs, cats, kittens, sheep, peacocks, turkeys and chickens (a regular petty zoo). The kids just loved it, it felt a bit like home in Africa with all the animals and open spaces (and plenty of chores!). Heidi gives riding lessons to local kids so the boys got plenty of time to ride and plus some great advice. It was a little different for them to sit on saddles and not use the horse's knee as a stepping stool to get up on the horse, but it was also nice for them to ride horses with a bit more "get up and go" than they are used to.

I got to ride a lot too! This horse was amazing, you clucked to get him to walk, kissed kissed to get him to trot and told him to blow to canter! Very obedient and absaloutly beautiful. It was a little different for me to ride the "western style,' the horse has to keep his head down the whole time and I had to hold the reigns a little differently, but I had a ton of fun.

This is what happened within the first two hours of getting to Heidi's. We put Jordan on the back of a horse with another little girl and led them around the arena. As they were getting ready to dismount, the horse sidestepped and off they both slid. Jordan whacked her chin on a rock and it just split right open. The other girl landed on her side, but other than being a bit sore, was fine. Thankfully the little girl's mother was a nurse who quickly ran home for supplies, cleaned out the wound, and cauterized it with silver nitrate which pulled it together nicely (saved us a trip to the ER). Jordan was a trooper and put up with it all very well, she's a toughie! She does have a nice scar though!

We had the most awesome day with Jake's Grandparents while there. They took us out to an Amish town called Kalona. It was absolutely beautiful to see all their pristine farms with their laundry flapping on the clotheslines, to see them riding in their horses and buggies down the road. We went to a few of their stores and got lots of goodies including wasabi peas (who would have thought!). I enjoyed seeing their simple way of living and would definelty like to do some reading on their culture as it is pretty fascinating. One of the highlights of the day was going to a cheese shop that had the biggest selection of cheese I have every seen. It also had sausages and and different meats. Best of all it had free samples. I am not joking, we spent half an hour at the counter taste testing (I was in heaven!). We bought plenty that we enjoyed for weeks to come. All in all it was a super fun day. 

Grandma Harrison set up a scavenger hunt for the kids. She then chased them for their "loot" dressed up a pirate (Jude was pretty scared!). 

Heidi came out to Cameroon earlier in the year. She got the stars and the sign made by our welder friend while there. We're going to show him what his finish product looks like.

Grandma Heidi and the kiddos (Jordan in her new cowboy boots)

Hannibal, Missouri

We have this awesome little app on our phone that shows us where all the free RV dumps sites are (a necessity, let me tell ya). As we were traveling up from St. Louis to East Iowa, I noticed that there was dump site in Hannibal, MO. It sounded so familiar yet I couldn't think why. Thanks to google, I soon discovered that it was the home town of Samuel Clemens, one of my favourites. I have pretty much read everything Mark Twain has written, I love his short stories but A Tramp Abroad is probably my favorite.  And of course I have read Tom Sawyer to the boys and I must have talked to Josh about him before (I didn't remember) but he knew a bunch about him. The joy of being on the road, especially in an RV, with no strict deadlines, is that we could pull over and spend the afternoon in Hannibal. First we went to the Mark Twain Museum and then his childhood home.

There was a lady there (Gladys Coggswell) that was impersonating a slave during the civil war. She was pretty captivating and as we were the only ones there she really honed in on us. She even taught the boys a song (The Three-Eyed Cat).  We all really enjoyed it. 

There was a bunch of original Norman Rockwell sketches and paintings in the museum... very impressive!

Giving Tom a hand....

Mark Twain's House

Afterwards we had homemade root beer floats at a little diner, delicious!! So if you ever find yourself in Hannibal, Missouri, I highly recommend you stopping and checking out the museum.

"Let us endeavor so to live that when we come to die even the undertaker will be sorry" Mark Twain