My Life as an African Gypsy

Anaya is 22 months old and will be turning TWO before I know it. What?! (A common Anaya-saying) She is such a blessing to Jon and me. She now knows all her colors. (Black, white, brown, yellow, orange, red, green, blue, purple, pink) Her favorite color is yellow... everything must be yellow. She counts to 12 in English and is learning to count to 10 in Portuguese. She sings most of the ABC's, but often gets out of order or decides to skip a big section. She knows more than half of her letters by recognition and an object to go with them, such as "B for baby" or "G for Gasher". She LOVES singing. She has mastered "Twinkle, Twinkle"  and "Old McDonald" which are by far her favorites and many other complete songs from our kids class. "The B-I-B-L-E" is especially cute, as is "I Love You Lord" her bedtime song that we sing to her and she now sings to baby as baby goes down for her nap. She talks and talks with a vocabulary I could no longer list. If we point to something and ask her what it is and she doesn't know, she responds with a peppy, "I don't know what that is!" And when we tell her, she likely has stored it away for good, knowing it from then on. She has begun memorizing her books, 'reading' pages at a time. She enjoys praying. Last night we were thanking Jesus for everything we saw, from birds to baby's swing. Other things she enjoys - bath-time, the sprinkler, coloring, caring for baby, rolling in the grass (a new found joy), doing dizzy in the swing, picking flowers and smelling them, climbing, jumping, etc.

Jovie is now 6 months! Time is flying with this one. She is such a funny girl and already all her own, very different from her sister. We are slowly getting to know her, which is such a cool privilege as a parent. She is my snuggle puppy and very much a Mama's girl. She would love for me to carry her on my hip all day long. She is sits fairly confidently, however, does have her occasional topple, already resulting in a few head bonks and tears. She hates her tummy, so while she is capable of rolling, prefers not to. She plays nicely with toys, now flapping her arms to make the noisy ones shake.  Everything goes to the mouth. Everything. She has totally figured out her jumperoo and goes to town in that thing, loving when you praise her. She enjoys music quite a bit. She loves to make raspberries with her mouth, spitting everywhere. I frequently hear her doing this in bed. Today is day 3 of food, and she is starting to cooperate. She is eating oatmeal with a little bit of applesauce in it. We'll introduce bananas soon. She adores any attention Anaya will give her and will laugh at the smallest action Anaya makes in her direction. She loves her. A favorite activity is chasing Anaya around the house yelling. She likes a lot Gasher and is testing his kid-proof-ness by frequently getting a firm grip on his lip. He handles it well and returns for more torture, tail wagging.

Baby #3 is growing well. I am 12 weeks now and beginning to feel more energetic and less nauseous. And Jon sings "Hallelujah" as his wife might start waking up before 8 in the morning and help with the dishes again. ;) I have a rockstar husband. We should find out the gender next month, which is always exciting. I love giving our babies names in the womb and calling them by name instead of 'baby'. I feel like we get one step closer to knowing this little resident in my tummy.

I am so blessed to be Mama to these three.

The image is burned into my mind. After 3 years in the hospital here, little shocks me and leaves me disturbed. Yesterday was the exception.

I sat across a lady who begged me to let her go home. She told me over and over again that she is tired. I explained that I didn't know how to help. I am not the doctor; therefore, I cannot get permission for her to leave. She would have to stay at least one more night in order to talk with her doctor the next morning, whom I am sure won't let her leave; she is in too bad of a condition. I felt a little helpless. We tried to call her family, but she didn't have the right number.

Puss oozed from her eyes and drained out her mouth. Her skin was like thin tissue paper and where it was attached to the body it was bubbling with blisters. Where it wasn't attached was bright pink raw tissue. Her teeth chattered against the sopping gauze she held beneath her chin. Her words were hard to understand and it pained me to tell her once again, "I don't understand," forcing her to talk more.

When it was time to leave, she told me she wanted juice. I asked her what kind she liked and she told me, "Coca Cola." I told her I'd get it and then went quickly to a shop at the hospital and brought it back. I could hardly imagine it possible for her to drink from a can, but she willed the strength, sat up, grabbed it, and started drinking right away. I will never forget her gulping the cold coke as blood poured like a fountain from the new raw spots on her cheeks, soaking the sheet beneath her.

On the way home I felt a little sick. I wanted to weep, but the sobs were caught in my throat. She is someone's daughter, someone's sister, someone's mom. She is human. I just can't imagine it being me or someone close to me.

I got home, fearfully disinfected my phone, and told my hubby about it. I went to bed thinking and praying for her.

Oh that the Lord would have mercy on this woman in some tangible way.

It was late.

I looked around thinking how strange it was, these roads that brought us here, together him and I. I glanced over his scars thinking up possible stories for how he got them, remembering the life he lived, a real life he lived, full of joys and deep sorrow. There was a deep pang in my chest. I replayed memories of him kicking the bottle hung from the tree and hopping on the roof with Jon, unhindered by the crutches and the loss of his leg. I now watched his pulse beat in his neck, too fast. I stroked his limp hand, hoping he felt my presence, hoping he felt His love.

He wasn't liked much, having a bit of a disrespectful attitude. He didn't fool me, though. You know the kids with chocolate all over their faces who are insistent they didn't eat the cookie? That's how I saw him, his head held just a little too high, his laugh of confidence wavering a bit at the end. He'd been hurt by those who should have been closest to him. He was scared. Who could blame the kid? I could see glimpses of tenderness, glimpses of the Savior in him.  

Just that morning the Spirit rested heavy upon me, my nose pressed to the floor, my tears pooling on the dark hardwood. My girls and I cried out, "Come on, Jesus!" I yearned for Him to come, for Him to save. I wanted so desperately for this to be the one we saw healed. I conjured up all the reasons why God would receive so much glory this time; I thought of how sometimes the Lord just acted in compassion. (I would lie if I said this was the first time I did this routine.) I was lead to look up his name, Samuel - "God has heard". Surely Lord. I dared to hope to believe.

I threw on a sweater and tucked my English and Portuguese Bibles under my arm and hopped in the car. It was my shift, Jon and Alice having taken the hours before.

There I sat stroking his hand; it didn't look as if a miracle was coming. He was peaceful though, pain managed nicely by the morphine, yet still able to talk and respond to questions.

A call came the next morning. He had been given a bath and then he died. Just like that. Life gone.

Covered in scripture, songs, prayer, and faith - he died.  

And I remember once again, that this is why we are here.

Now feel sorry for me. Waaaa.

Okay. Now we're over it. ;)

Jon and I are committing to 6 months of this lifestyle to see if helps his eczema. When he was no longer having breaks between his outbreaks and he was using steroid cream almost daily, we decided we had to figure something out. So we're giving it a shot and if it helps, it'll be our new lifestyle.

Currently I have 3 bowls of coconut shavings soaking in effort to make my own coconut milk and coconut flour. I bought pre-packaged stuff to test the waters, then I hope to buy fresh coconuts to use, as they are cheap here.

I've also experimented with white and brown rice flour and tapioca flour, though my processor and coffee grinder can only get the flour semi-fine. I am so grateful that my brother-in-laws are headed over in 2 weeks, and they will bring along an electric grain mill. (Cheers broke out across the land) These vary in price, so I think I got a well reviewed mid-ranged one. I'll give review after I test it out a bit. This should make life a lot easier, as current rice flour takes blending about 1 cup at a time, and then running about a 1/4 through the coffee grinder multiple times, and even then we get some crunchy raw rice.

We are headed to South Africa this weekend,, and I hope to find a few other helpful things. I was graciously given a little jar of xanthan gum and I was excited to find out that I can buy it in South Africa without breaking the bank, though I've yet to experiment with it. I couldn't find it here in Mozambique. I am determined to figured a good all-purpose flour blend with ingredients I can find here. This sweet-loving baker needs me some cake, pies, and cookies... not to mention my tortillas and bread.

Coconut milk has been an awesome substitute for us. I've been buying cans, though I hope to make it myself. I've used it in mashed potatoes, butternut soup, bread, etc. and it has worked beautifully, without a coconut taste.

Previously I was a confident cook/baker taking pride in the compliments of friends and guests, now I am floundering, apologizing, and often on the brink of tears. Sigh. Give me some time. I keep telling Jon that I am confident I can make gluten free food that is yummy and that people won't be able to tell the difference. Only time will tell.

God has been exposing deep heart issues, forcing me to be honest with myself. Yesterday we had a friend at the hospital receive news that his daughter had died from Tuberculosis in a hospital up north. So here is the short, he has cancer, his 15 year old son had cancer and has just finished Chemo, and now his daughter is dead. My first reaction was to shake my head and think it was an unfortunate situation. I wasn't grieved though. No tears welled in my eyes, no sorrow in my soul. That bothered me. Had my heart become a little numb to death here in Mozambique? Death just happens. Often. People expect it to happen. It isn't so sad for them.

It is easy to grieve and have compassion on suffering that is in your face and before your eyes, for the person with obvious physical pain. But what about the family? What about emotional pain, that which we don't see, especially here in Mozambique, where tears are weakness and are rarely shed?

I forced myself to really think about the situation, what had happened, what this man was experiencing. I thought about my own daughters and my own husband. There. I felt deep in my gut.

I don't want to grow accustomed to suffering, to death.

From there the Lord said, "That isn't enough Layne."

Jon and my first reaction was, "Let's get him home." We'd pay what we needed to, but we would be determined to make it happen and quick. His family needed him right now. He should be there for the funeral. I felt no attachment to the money, glad to see it go to a good cause, to be a blessing. We'd pay for the round trip, making sure he would be back for the next round of Chemo.

But the Lord began to prod. Layne, you are so free with your money, and that is good, but are you so free with your life? As I began to think, I realized I had to be okay with more.

I am a planner; I hate last minute things. I don't do well with my husband traveling. There it was though, we needed to offer for Jon to drive him, which would be an overnight trip. I wrestled a bit, wanting the money to be good enough, wanting to make excuses.

No good.

So I let go. I swallowed the lump in my throat, got myself back to thinking of the grief this husband and wife must be feeling, especially the wife at home alone, now needing to plan a funeral for her own young daughter. I vocalized it and told Jon we needed to offer it.

Turns out, for various reasons, the bus was the better option for this man. I won't lie, I felt a bit relieved, but my heart had still been exposed, challenged and hopefully changed.

In my exploration of how to teach preschool for Anaya, I was exposed to light tables as a means of learning. There are endless activities to use them. (check google, Pinterest, playathomemom.blogspot.com, etc.) Put it this way, just about everything is more awesome on a light table. Well I soon decided we must have one. Because I have a handy hubby, we came up with a plan, and as of today we are proud owners of our very own light table! (Said with bursting excitement)

Here is how we did it:

Bought a clear plastic storage tub with a flat smooth top

We painted the inside silver to reflect the light well. (I bought heat resistant spray paint, because I didn't want to worry at all.)


Bought 2 florescent lights to put inside


Hot glued them to the bottom of the tub and connected the two cords


Drilled a hole in the side for the cord to come out


Added an extension cord with and on/off switch


Cut a piece of parchment paper to fit under the lid, so you don't see the bulbs straight through the clear top


And ta-da! Light table!
Love that it is plastic - no worries about breaking or harming it and everything can easily be wiped off. And the top has a little lip, which is great for things simply staying on the table and will be great for playing with paint and sand.


Anaya is already enjoying it


Our discovery bottles just got a lot cooler



Showing how mixing colors makes new colors!

I've only had the table a few hours, and I am loving it! Okay, okay, Anaya is too. ;) Here's to learning in fun ways!

My new addiction. I love these! Old plastic soda bottles turned into toys/learning tools. Be sure and hot glue the lids shut so you don't end up with a mess on your hands.




Anaya calls the pink one the "pretty one". Water + glitter. If you use shampoo, hair gel, or corn syrup, it will fall slower, but those things are a little expensive here and the water is still fun.

The green on is water + food coloring + dish soap. Bubbles!


I cut some ribbon to watch float around. It is fun to watch float around.

Next one is toothpicks + rice. Cool shaker that kind of sounds like rain.


 Water + food coloring + marbles and shampoo + marbles. We can compare the way the marbles fall.

And the last one is very versatile. I cut up the letter of the alphabet and put them in peas. You roll the bottle around searching for different letters. You can put plastic items/animals and do an eye-spy. Older kids can do sight words or spelling list. So great! Anaya actually likes this one a lot.

I am going to make a static electricity one this afternoon when one of my bottles dries. You put little pieces of styrofoam and little pieces of tissue paper then rub the bottle on the carpet and on your hair. Fun!

I'm proud of myself keeping up with Anaya's daily activities. While we will cycle through through them and repeat, for now most days are new and exciting.

This one is one of the easiest and one of my favorites for working with colors. Get 2 pieces of contrasting colors of construction paper and then go hunt for a variety of toys those colors. I hide them in a gift bag and hand them to Anaya one by one and have her place them on the correct sheet of paper. At first I thought the activity was a little too old for her, but by the second time we tried she understood. I don't like her to become frustrated, so if she decides to play with the toys instead of placing them on the paper, no biggie, we try again later. She now asks to do it from time to time. 

This was another fun one for Mama, because I got to be part of the reward. YUM. =) I baked cookies in the shapes of ABC and 123 and then whipped up some frosting colored red, blue, and green. I  let Anaya frost and sprinkle her cookies. She'd repeat was letter it was and what color she was using. Then it was off to the bath. Ha! Hard to believe Anaya used to not like feeling different textures and getting dirty.




Then today we played with Russian nesting dolls. Aunt Tara, who knew when you bought me these in Russia, my daughter would love playing with them? She had so much fun and played for such a long time, content as could be. She liked saying things like "big one" and "little one".

 One day I'll learn these little activities get messier than you think... but oh so fun.

















We practiced saying the colors we were playing with, writing on the tub wall, and then just had fun. =) Easy to turn on the shower and rinse it all away. Love my Anaya girl.