Christmas in August

Every once in a while, Christmas comes early .  Last week that is just what happened in Mokhotlong.  After lots of finagling with DHL between the US and Lesotho, our giant box of goodies from the States arrived safe and sound.  Full of surprises, things we had requested and a few things we’d forgotten while in the US, this package was exciting for all the St.Clairs.  

Dusty jammies and motorcycles for Kyle

Horse jammies for Ellee 

Inside we found a new baby doll for our little Baby Doll.  Superman and Planes jammies for Kyle.  Super hero undies for Jonathan… just kidding, those were for Kyle, too.  Chili powder, Reese’s, a thermometer and Arm & Hammer toothpaste for Mama.  And a giant box of shells and cheese, a new iPad case and head phones, and marshmallows for Sunday Night Sleepovers for Jonathan.  There were other things, too, like new jammies for Ellee, motorcycles for Kyle, a piano toy for Ellee, and a Liberty reading light for Jono.  His and hers coffee creamers.  Oh, and two pounds of pepperonis.  Ahhhh.... the taste of home.

So excited about pepperonis, I had to deviate from our normal leftovers-for-supper on Wednesday night and make some pizza.  Oh man, delicious!  These Americans think they are Italian with as much pizza and pasta and stromboli as we eat!

So this is how Kyle tells us what he wants to wear to bed now....

Thanks, Uncle Ric and contributing parties for getting our package to us!  

~Abby

If You Can't Beat 'Em.....

....join 'em!!

Blanketed men walking along the road...

Blanketed woman in town.

Before we moved here, we were told it was tradition for the women to wear blankets wrapped around their waists for modesty and extra warmth.  I distinctly remember thinking that sounded like the most unfashionable thing I had ever heard.  Seriously?  Blankets as clothes?  I would never.

But, let’s be honest.  Who wants to get out of the blankets in the morning when it is cold and you have no heat?  And who wants to walk to town and back with the wind blasting your legs through your jeans?  Wearing long-johns isn’t the most comfortable way to layer up the bottom half.  I am here to tell you that wearing a thick, warm blanket is!  You never have to get out of you blanket (except to use the loo) and it keeps you warm all day long.  It is practical, relatively cheap and comfortable.  I’m sold.

My blanket cost about $10 and my gigantic safety pin10 cents.

Do I still think it looks funny?  A little.  I’ve really gotten used to seeing everyone walking around with blankets draped over the shoulders, pinned around their waists and tied around their backs holding babies.  Sometimes I shake my head at the very realization of how normal it all looks to me now.  But does practicality win when the temp is hovering around freezing, snow is beckoning and you just can’t get warm in your own house?  Absolutely.

So, I joined ‘em.  And I think I’ll live with this style through winter for the rest of my life.

~Abby

Kart Wheels

In the past couple of months, Kyle has decided he thoroughly enjoys helping me in the kitchen whenever possible.  Admittedly, there are times when I try to sneak into the kitchen to accomplish something before he realizes I'm in there.... only to hear, "Mommy what are you doing in there?" as he rounds the corner into the dining room, grabs a chair to stand on, and comes trotting into the kitchen ready to help, chair in tow.  I am constantly reminding myself that these years fly by; I need to take advantage of my time with him even when I'd rather just get the job done.  So he helps me measure flour, stir batter, get milk from the fridge, eggs from the counter..... And I smile because he is just the little buddy I prayed for.

While in South Africa earlier this week for an AIM prayer day, we found Kyle an adorable little baking set for kids.  I couldn't pass it up, complete with an apron and tiny cooking utensils.  He has been giddy about cooking something with his new toys.  So yesterday we pulled out the Alpha-Bakery cookbook my Aunt gave us and flipped through the pages until we settled on something quick, easy and consisting of ingredients I had on hand.

Photo credit : Kyle

Then we started making Kart Wheels.  We complied the components and got to work.  First, measure the butter and get it softened in the micro because it's still rock solid on the kitchen counter.  Then, measure the flour, baking powder, powdered sugar and milk.  Mix all the ingredients together until a nice ball of pastry has formed.  We halved the recipe because I was only looking for a tiny treat.  Divide into equal pieces and shape into balls.  Situate them on a baking sheet like so, flattened slightly and mash a hole in the middle with your finger for the jam.   We did two apricot and one strawberry.  Fill with about a tablespoon of jam and bake at 350 for 20 minutes, until edges are slightly browned.

"See, Daddy, this is what we are making!"

You never know who is watching you lick the spoon.  Photo credit : Kyle 

(See the hairless spot in the back of Kyle's head?  That was the fight he got into with the gravel road in front of our house 6 months ago.  Quite the fright, with blood everywhere we anticipated an emergency trip out of the mountains.  But after some evaluation and careful cleaning by Dad, we decided to just baby it and try to avoid stitches...)

The proud baker!

A pretty delicious snack for not much work....

Kart Wheels (full recipe)

1 1/2 flour

1/2 cup butter, softened

1/4 cup powdered sugar

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

2 tablespoons milk

About 1 cup pie filling or jam (any flavor)

1.  Heat oven to 375*

1.  Mix flour, butter, powdered sugar, baking powder and just enough milk until dough forms.  (If dough seems dry, mix in more milk, 1 teaspoon at a time.)

3. Divide the dough into 6 equal parts.  Shape each part into a ball.  Place on an ungreased cookie sheet; flatten slightly.  Make an indentation in center of each flattened ball.  Fill each indentation with about 2 tablespoons pie filling or jam.  Bake until the edges begin to brown, 20-25 minutes.  Makes 6 Kart Wheels.

~Abby

Atlantic, Pacific, now Indian!

I grew up going to the beach for family vacations.  While I tend to label myself as more of a mountain girl, I do thoroughly enjoy a visit to the ocean; the salty air and the relaxing sound of the waves crashing on the sand are comforting to me.  Probably my only irritant with the beach is the sand that inevitably finds its way into my bed.... But a few sweeps from my hand and that's fixed.  Having spent the majority of my beach time on the Atlantic but also visiting the Pacific in Hawaii, I was really excited to dip my toes in the Indian Ocean.  

Although we're closer to the Durban area than to any other large city in Lesotho or South Africa we've visited, we had yet to find the opportunity to drive west and combine our monthly grocery shopping with a trip to the coast.  Typically we have one reason or the other that we need to drive east for a meeting or to visit a certain store.  This month, however, we didn't have anywhere else to go for groceries and decided to combine that trip with a scope of the place before my mom flies into Durban in October (yay!).  I was surprised that it took only four hours to get to Pietermaritzburg where we stopped for McDonalds, and exactly one more hour to drive to where we were staying in Durban.  The Sani Pass, albeit rugged, wasn't as bad as we were anticipating.  We even drove back up it after dark last night.  I'm sure my mom will be white-knuckling it when she rides up in October, but for us it's just the way life is here.  Jonathan drives carefully and we all hold on tight and pray our brakes don't give out.  Reliable Rocky comes through again!

Ellee holding on tight

Top of Sani

GPS warning of car sickness

A couple weeks ago I suggested to our friends in Pretoria that they meet us in Durban for our little vacation.  We were thrilled that they decided to join us and we proceeded to book a lovely ocean view guest house for not much more than the price of a Knights Inn room in America.  Our room was just what we needed, complete with a little corner to tuck away Ellee's pack & play from the rest of us.  Little Lady likes her privacy when she sleeps, otherwise she's keen to stand and cry and beg for someone to come play with her.  We opted out of the breakfast part of the B&B for a discounted rate and I baked muffins and brought instant oatmeal packets from home.  For lunch we ate sandwiches and fruit on our balcony to save our appetites for dinners out.

For dinners we tried a couple new restaurants (at least they were new to us).  One was a genuine African cuisine right on the beach and the food was fantastic.  The other was a seafood grill built on something like a pier and that was also very nice.  The cheesecake with berry sauce I splurged on was probably the best thing about all our dinners out....  I do love cheesecake.

Arcade fun

Dinner photography a la Kyle

Dinner photography a la Kyle

The highlight of the guest house was either the hot water flowing instantly from the tap into a giant tub or the monkeys that roam the trees and rooftops in search of something they can eat.  It was really nice to have a hot shower after a week of frozen pipes.  But seeing monkeys in the wild was really a special treat!  I couldn't help but think that Kyle is growing up thinking this is a normal aspect of life, sort of like seeing squirrels in South Carolina.... 

I found it hard to believe that the climate in Durban was so vastly different from way up here in Mokhotlong until I actually got there.  Even in the middle of the winter, the afternoons were warm and the mornings and evenings were pleasantly cool.  I imagine in the dead of summer, the heat there is unbearable, probably not unlike what we experienced in Mexico.  The ocean was fairly chilly though and we didn't do much swimming... well I didn't at least.  Jonathan and Kyle enjoyed a nice dip in a calm beach we visited on Wednesday.  The beach by our guest house was rocky and the waves were enormous.  Plus, there was a posted warning sign that the beach wasn't protected by shark nets and that was plenty enough deterrent for me.  Still, we walked on the beach a number of times and Ellee had a great time playing in the sand with the new sand toys I bought from a lady walking up and down the beach.

When I invited our friends to join us, I didn't do so with their photography skills in mind.  But certainly having them and their camera around didn't hurt.  They offered to take a few family photos for us on the beach and we took them up on it.  It's been over a year since they took our family photos in Bloem, just after Ellee was born.  You can see that it was windy but we had fun playing around for a bit while Meredith worked her camera magic...

A little warm R&R does the heart good, especially when coming back to frigid Mokhotlong, with still frozen pipes.  Our fire is dead and it's on my to-do list to start it this morning.  Right now I can barely feel my fingers to type so I'll leave you and move on to that task.......

~Abby