Village Girls!

As we have mentioned before - our girls LOVE the village! They would move there in a heartbeat if the opportunity presented itself. What could be better? No baths, playing in dirt all day, you almost never have to do basic cleaning chores (like vacuuming, mopping, dusting, cleaning the bathroom etc. like mommy haves them help with at home), there are always animals running loose everywhere and there is always something new to explore.

The night before this trip Monty was explaining to the children about his upcoming trip to plant trees, and that when they are older they can accompany him as helpers. Manon challenged him asking why they cannot help now? He thought for a moment and decided they could help now and they would go with him. I began packing thinking this meant our entire family but Monty said only Manon and Henna were invited as he needed the other seats in the truck for others traveling with him (Manon and Henna were good sports to ride on laps for the 5 hr. drive up the mountain). I agreed, thinking it was only an overnight trip but it turned into three days! I must say I really missed my girls (and Monty too of course). Judah was quite bored with just mommy to entertain him. I thought he would be interested as we organized cabinets, cleaned out drawers etc but he still kept calling, "Mamen, Menna, Daddy?" At one point I called up some friends' children and invited them to come for a play date. When they arrived to find Manon and Henna were not here they wondered why I invited them - I said "for Judah of course!" Judah seemed to appreciate the companionship of children. This trip really made me thankful for how great Manon and Henna are with Judah and how they help me out by watching him from time to time so I can get things done around the house.

Here are the girls above with their best friends in this village. We always stay with a family that also has two daughters and a son. Our kids get along great with them and by the end of the three days Monty said Manon and Henna were beginning to speak Wa again. Their survival skills were coming back to them as they needed to say something important like "no, don't do that, give that to me, can I have some, I am hungry, come with me" etc.

The trip was not all play for the girls. Here Monty put them to work helping plant a tree nursery. He said they were actually a big help as they needed people to carry the bags of soil back and forth.
Manon found a mangy kitten that she cared for as she worked. When Monty called and told me she made friends with a kitten, I asked him to bring it home as ours died a few months ago. He said this one was in bad shape and did not think that even from Manon's TLC it could be revived. We are still on the lookout for a kitten for her.
The survival of the fittest --Using Chop Sticks! Usually if I am with the kids in the village I try to do my best to make the trip somewhat comfortable - i.e. looking for spoons at meal times. Monty is usually busy at meal times because this is the time most relationships are built and good conversations happen. So, Manon and Henna had to fend for themselves and they did quite well by learning to eat with chop sticks. In these pictures they are eating a sweet snack of rice dumplings - good motivation for getting the chop sticks working.
The box milk was my contribution to the trip. I put in a case of 24 in the back of the truck before they left and Monty said they would never drink it all - but I know little girls and new foods. I figured if nothing else at least they could get full on milk. But Monty said they ate well and never complained - way to go girls!
Here they are getting supplies for the trip at the lumber yard - notice their new boots Daddy got them just for the trip!

The little bed. We have slept in this bed before - it is about half the size of a twin. And, on this trip there was another girl who shared it with them! 3 people in the little bed.

Growing up in Asia our girls think smoking is normal - everyone does it. So, when they have something to chew on (like the root they dug up above) they pretend it is a cigarette. We have often seen 8 and 9 year old children smoking. It is quite sad. I guess for biology class this year we need to spend some time taking a look at all of the bad things cigarettes do to the body.

I must say I was impressed with Monty and how he handled the busy schedule working in the village, continuing to build relationships and being a full time daddy! I am also impressed that the girls have their hair fixed in each picture - I have a feeling he did not do it but some grandma in the village who wanted to get her hands on the foreign hair.