Eleven Days With Five Kids.

My sister Selina, and her husband Brent, are on deputation to be missionaries to South Africa.  Their burden is orphans.  They will be opening orphanages there in South Africa once they raise all of their support.  

They have seven children.  Four of their children are biological, and the other three were adopted from China within the past four years.  Selina is pregnant with their eighth baby...due in August! I love all of my nieces and nephews so much and can't wait to meet my newest nephew!   

Brent, Selina, Ellie (12), Nathaniel (9), Noah (7), left for South Africa on a survey trip on April 26, and came home today, May 6.  I watched two of their children, Johanna (16), and Ethan (5), while they were gone.  

Selina has been so excited about this trip.  She and Brent have been planning it for over a year now.  I am excited to hear all about their trip once they return.  If you would like to read more about my sister's family and their ministry, you can read her blog The Bergey Bunch and their ministry website Little Fish Ministries

It was interesting adding two more kids to my three.  I thought it would feel strange having to take two more kids out every where I went, but honestly...it felt really normal.  It really made me want to have more babies actually :) Johanna was a big help this week.  She especially loved helping out with Alanna.  Ethan enjoyed playing with Ruy and Liam.  Ethan, Ruy, Nathaniel, and Noah are all SO close.  Ruy was sad that Nathaniel and Noah didn't stay here with us as well :)  

Selina brought the kids to me on Friday, April 25.  She had to leave early Saturday morning, so it was better that she brought them the night before.  Nathan set up a bunk bed in Alanna's room for Johanna and Ethan to sleep on and we moved Alanna's crib back into our room for the 11 days they were staying with us.  Selina got them all settled in and then we went to CFA for dinner.  I let Liam sit with all the "big" kids for the first time.  He thought it was pretty awesome!

 

The kids had a really good time.  I tried to keep them busy so they didn't think about missing their parents too much. 

 

Ethan and Liam had lots of fun playing trains!  Please ignore the boy's "blanket" curtains!  My mom is working on making curtains for them, so blankets are working as curtains for them right now :) 

We went to the park last Sunday evening and the kids had fun playing in the sand and the water.  It took a lot of work keeping them from jumping into the water!

It rained Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday last week.  By Wednesday the kids were really ready for the rain to just go away.  They were all tired of being stuck inside, and I was too.  Nathan was on duty at the Fire Station Wednesday.   We went to the station Wednesday morning, and then to the Children's Museum for a few hours in the afternoon.  Johanna and Ethan had never been to a fire station before, so they were very excited about going.  They both really enjoyed it.  We ended the night with homemade pizza and ice cream cones. 

Ethan wanted to wear all of Ruy's fire gear to the station.

This little boy LOVES fire trucks!  He was yelling "fire truck" when I took this picture.

Thursday was a stay at home day.  Nathan's truck was in the shop getting worked on, so he had to take the van to his part time job.  We spent the day at home, just enjoying a day of sunshine.  My Mom came over at 11AM and took Johanna out for lunch.  I sent the boys outside to play after Johanna left, and soon found all three boys out in the back yard covered in mud!  Our yard was pretty much nothing but mud after all the rain we had.  Ruy decided it was a good idea to dig a big hole in the corner of our yard.  I reminded him that he is not allowed to dig in our yard.  He said " Mom, that's not yard...that's just mud!"  Really Ruy!  Liam had fun jumping into it though, and Ruy and Ethan had a big mud fight.  I had an interesting time getting the three of them washed off, but I was glad they had so much fun getting dirty.

After I got the boys cleaned up from the mud... we went out front and raced cars down the driveway and colored with chalk.  Johanna came home, after enjoying lunch and a fun ride in Nana's car.  I put the little boys and Alanna down for a nap, Ruy and Johanna colored, and I had a few quiet moments to myself.  

Later Thursday afternoon, Ruy and Ethan came running into the house telling me they had something to show me.  Ruy had taught Ethan how to ride the "big boy bike!"  Ruy was so proud of himself for teaching Ethan, and Ethan was so excited for learning how to ride! 

Friday we went to Jamestown.  My Mom and Nathan were both able to come with us!  My Mom brought lots of yummy food.  The kids had such a wonderful time!  It was so much fun watching their smiles and hearing their laughs.  Children make life so much more exciting!

 

Saturday was my 26th birthday.  We started out the day by going to Ruy's baseball game.  Ruy won the game ball!  He was said he won it for me.  

We spent the rest of the afternoon at home.  My Dad got Papa Johns for everyone.  Nathan's parents, brother, and sister in-law came over as well.  Later that evening we went to Qdoba for dinner.  Alanna decided it would be a good idea to pull my tacos down onto my lap....never a dull moment with kids :) It was a nice day though and I'm excited to see what the next year will bring. 

Sunday night Liam rode his bike for the first time!  I was so proud of him.  He was so excited!  I guess it was a good week for boys to learn how to ride bikes!  Then we took a walk with all the kids.  It was such a beautiful evening.  

Selina and Brent landed back in America this morning.  Selina and Brent had a VERY LONG DAY, but I was able to bring Johanna and Ethan to them around 7 this evening.  They were beyond excited to be back with their family.  I'll miss their sweet faces, but I think everyone is happy to have life back to normal.  I'm sure they will sleep well tonight, back in their own beds, knowing Mommy is right next to them.