Termites Anyone?

We are experiencing an invasion of flying termites. We are told they will stay with us throughout the rainy season. The bugs are about an inch long with their wings and about a half inch long without. The ground and floors in the house are littered with the wings. This video was taken outside our kitchen door. The bright light attracts them. Sophie did the dishes that evening without the kitchen ceiling light on to discourage them from joining her inside. At the end of the clip, you will see our dog Zambie enjoying a little extra protein. The termites are edible for humans also. Haven't tried them yet.

Another chamelion friend

John found this little critter outside our side door in the bushes. He brought it in to let the kids see it. They are so facinating to watch. John even saw the chamelion eat a couple flies. Actually, he just saw the flies disappear, it was so fast.

Before, Becky has shyed away from touching or holding these critters, but this time there was no hesitation. It looks like she is giving it a kiss, but there is some distance there. It's a cute pict anyway. After showing the chamelion to Uncle Daniel who was visiting with Aunt Kristie, Caleb gave the critter a new home in the avocado tree.

Rain in Zambia!

Yes, the rains have come! There is not as much dust to have to wipe off the window sills, countertops, etc. Now there is just mud all over the floors. : ) What amazes us is the colors of the trees even during the dry season. Before the rains come, the red flame trees bloom, as well as the plumeria and others. I hope to sometime post some pictures of the beautiful flowers here in the yard.

After a couple nights of sprinkles, it rained all afternoon through most of the night Friday. We received off and on sprinkles on Saturday too. With the rains came wonderful cool breezes. It was actually almost cold! The rains were also accompanied by lightning and loud thunder. We have heard that the storms get even more dramatic. So far the kids have been fine. We are trying to teach them that the thunder is from God, just as the rain is. Also with the rain comes more critters. There are many flying ants and other winged bugs in the air and crawling around.

We haven't seen a huge increase in the toad and frog population yet like Caleb is waiting for, but this one toad seemed to be knocking at our front door asking to come in from the rain. He stayed outside.

Another thing that accompanies the rains here is more frequent power outages. We dug into our container (when it wasn't raining, but still cool) to find some of the candles we brought with us. We are very thankful that the Washers have a gas stove/oven that we are able to use to make hot meals even when the power is off. We also have one on our container to use when we are in our own home.

First Day of School

We started school today with all three children. Joshua and Caleb are in K5 and Becky is in K4. They have been asking to be able to do school for some time now. Their break was quite long with packing and moving over here to Zambia. Then we had to wait for the school books to arrive on the container. After seven months, we are hitting the books again! John set up the desks and school supplies in a portion of the living room.

They all loved their first day. Caleb managed to pay attention very well even though he was somewhat uncomfortable with his chicken pox. An advantage of homeschooling is that you still get to go to school even with spots all over you!

Becky sat through the boys' K5 lessons and colored quietly at her desk. She was given the option to go play, but wanted to stay in school.

After teaching two extra lessons this first day, Sophie eventually had to kick the kids out of school and make them go outside and play. At lunchtime, they asked if they could do more school later today. They will have to wait until tomorrow. In a few years, their attitudes about school will probably change, but it is great that they are enjoying it now.