Thursday, September 29, 2022

Home on furlough!

Hey all! As you may have noticed, I haven't been blogging for a while. I'd like to do that more often, but if you'd like to be on my regular communication list, you are welcome to write to me at abigailcaple@gmail.com (or message me on Facebook) and ask to receive my newsletter. I send it out quarterly and I try to keep people pretty up to date on there! I also post regularly on Facebook and I'm starting to share a little on Instagram as well.

Currently I'm home in the US on furlough. It has been a whirlwind trip involving three countries and (if all goes according to plan), eleven states! I've slept in a different bed just about every week, and am spending far more time than I anticipated just packing, unpacking, and reorganizing my luggage! But it has been such a privilege and so cool to be able to visit so many friends. If I can't have you all in the same place, this is the next best thing. 

I thought I'd use this to answer a few frequently asked questions!

- How long are you home?

I left South Africa in mid-August, but I spent the first two weeks of furlough visiting former MBH interns in Germany and Switzerland. I entered the US on the first of September and I fly back to South Africa on November 8th, arriving November 9th. 

I spent two and a half weeks in Minnesota and Oklahoma during September, and we (Mom, Dad, and I) are (God willing - there is currently a hurricane happening) going to be road tripping down to Florida in the first half of October. We plan on stopping in North Carolina on the way there and on the way back. (I am also going up to Miracle Mountain Ranch in Pennsylvania this weekend.) So, my total time in Ohio amounts to about 5 weeks - not an awfully long time at all, once you factor in all the things I need to do and people I need to see!

- Do you miss the kids?

Yes! Yes I miss them! I can't wait to get back and see them. I video call them about every week and S (our two year old) is thrilled to talk to me, although most of the time she points the camera at her forehead or at the ceiling. I'm also super excited to go back and see my church family. But I'm enjoying my time here, enjoying having a bit of a break from my everyday work, and attempting (rather unsuccessfully) to get some rest. 

- Are you going back?

Yes. I live there now. The goal is to live there as long as I possibly can, hopefully until I'm old and gray (actually, I'm already gray, and I'm feeling kind of old, so hopefully far past that). I wouldn't mind spending my whole life there. I'm not the kind of person who likes a fresh change of pace all the time, I like to put down roots. Visa situations can be complicated though and I have to reapply every few years. (Maybe someday I'll be able to get something more permanent, but there are no clear paths in that direction at the moment.) I also have to maintain enough support to live on. So far, both those conditions have been met, but they are a daily reminder that I have to place my trust in God rather than in the government or in money.

- Would you want to marry a South African/is there anyone in your life/do you have a boyfriend?

I would be totally fine with marrying a South African, as long as he was the right guy. (Would certainly make the visa thing easier, so they're actually preferred, although I'd definitely never marry just for that.) This is a public blog so I'll just remark for the random stranger who may be reading it, I have very high standards, so don't bother sending me a marriage proposal. No, I do not have a boyfriend. No, I do not want to set up a profile on a dating app. I want to get married someday, but I enjoy being single and I'm not desperate to change that (no offense to those of you who do online dating - it just isn't for me and personally I think I'd have to get to the point of desperation before trying it). Marriage is a wonderful, beautiful thing and I think I have a reasonably healthy view of it, I'm just by and large content with where God has put me right now regarding this.

- What can we be praying for?

Please pray that God will continue to sustain me where I am! Pray for my furlough - it's going fast and feels pretty chaotic. I'm not getting all the things done I wanted to, although I think my expectations were kind of unrealistic. (They felt realistic at the time!) Pray for self-discipline in the middle of this constantly changing schedule. Pray for my foot - I've been struggling with plantar fasciitis for over a year now and it's painful, persistent, and incredibly discouraging. Pray for increased support - I am working on raising my monthly support levels. Pray for this upcoming trip that may be derailed by a hurricane. 

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Adjusting back to your own culture, even for a short time, is hard. I'm not fully African and never will be, and I'll also never be 100% American again. I'm looking forward to Heaven, where I will be 100% at home. I think some of the strangeness comes from just being out of a normal schedule, but things here sometimes feel sleepy, disconnected, and quiet (it kind of reminds me of the Wood Between the Worlds in the Narnia series), even when I have a lot to do. Also, it's a really weird feeling to not remember things - how to deposit a check, how to get to your friend's house, which side of the car to climb into. It's strange to hear everyone speak in your accent. It's strange to actually understand everything that is said around you, whether it's relevant to you or not - I'm used to so much of the background noise being in another language! It's strange to be in a land where people can just spend money without thinking about it - we live in a better off part of Africa than many places, but struggle is the norm. And things here are just so much more expensive than I remember and definitely more expensive than SA - well, most things. I can't believe a jar of spaghetti sauce is only a dollar, I'd pay three or four times that much for a jar half the size (except I wouldn't actually - I make it myself!) The longer I'm here, the less shocking stuff is, but it still doesn't feel normal.

However, I am really thankful for this opportunity. I'm thankful to be able to at least attempt to rest, to catch up with old friends, to spend time with family, to enjoy things I've learned to live without but I have missed. Dryers are so exciting, guys. And large public libraries (we have libraries, but they're tiny). Taco Bell. Autumn leaves. Good ice cream. People who think chocolate and peanut butter is a normal combination. Thrift stores. (Ok, we have those in SA, but I'm enjoying them here anyway. They're bigger and better.) A functioning post office. The woods. Variety in online shopping. Daylight savings time. Wal-Mart. Those little bars on shopping carts you can stand on if you want to race them across the parking lot. (Some things on my "missed" list are very small and very strange!) Green grass. Apple picking. Cheez-Its. Oh, and you know what's huge, the LACK OF CRIME. Not having to look over my shoulder and hang onto my purse constantly. There are no fences! You can sleep with your window open and NO FENCE (except you can't because there's air conditioning)! The only reason I lock the car while I'm driving is because I don't want to get out of the habit. None of these things are really a big sacrifice to give up (other than probably the safety thing - and of course friends and family). But they're nice to enjoy while I can.

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If any of you would like to hang out while I'm home, let me know! I look forward to seeing as many of you as possible. I also have prayer cards I can mail out if you'd like one to hang on your fridge. I know so many people are praying for me and I really appreciate your prayers so much. Also, if anyone is interested in knowing more about how you can help support me and/or MBH, I'd love to chat. I was hoping to speak at some churches/to some small groups while I'm home, but time is filling up fast! I don't think I have any free Sunday mornings left - I'm already at my sending church precious few Sundays as it is - but if anyone knows of any small groups or Bible studies that would be interested in hearing about my work at MBH, please let me know! Time is definitely flying. I thought three-ish months would be a long time, but it's halfway gone now - as of today, actually, it's day 43 of 84!

Only one life, will soon be past;

Only what's done for Christ will last.


Thursday, October 28, 2021

Just for laughs

So, if you've read any of my posts for any length of time, you'll know that I work with some pretty hilarious kids. I've combed through the archives and put together some of my favorite stories and quotes from over the last few years (keep in mind that some of these were from when they were pretty small, like 2, but Big T is 6 now). I only wish I would have written down more! But I hope you enjoy.


Big T: (picks up paint stir stick): Can I paint with this?

Me (envisions what will happen if this child has paint): No.

Big T: That’s crazy.

Me: What’s crazy?

Big T: MY FACE!

T: When I grow up, I’m not gonna listen to church songs! I’m ONLY gonna listen to kids’ music!

So, I have this little wire basket shaped like a chicken that usually holds eggs . Right now it has potatoes. I was going to make some chips so I took it down.
Big T: What you doing?
Me: Making chips.
Big T: Oh, you making chips for the chicken! Good job, Abbie! Applause, applause, applause!

Little T: I was coughin’ like this. *cough cough* I was gettin’ multivitimals.
Big T (affirming): Multi-meatimals.
Little T (happily exclaiming): Multi-beetimals!

"I can’t go to the toilet. It’s too sensible." ~ Child in Sunday school

“Auntie Abbie, I like your dress and your clothes and your head.”
“...and your clothes and your pants...” ~ Big T

So Little T's pants aren’t staying where they are supposed to because the elastic is totally worn out, so she’s been hiking them up all afternoon. Big T says the problem is “her pants don’t have batteries.”

Big T and Little T (eating their dinner): I EATIN’ ANIMAL!
(Well, I guess it IS true...)

Big T: Don’t repeat everything I say! (Turns to Little T) Say, “Don’t repeat everything I say.”

So, big T calls bubbles Bibles. I thought it was just a cute mispronunciation until he was running around chasing them yelling "Jesus, Jesus!"

According to Big T, the kernels of popcorn that don't pop are referred to as "the bones of the popcorn."

Me: Hey guys!
Big T: Hey, Guy Abbie!

Big T (to one bike falling on the other): No fiy-tin', bikes. No fiy-tin', ne?

Me: I’m tired. T, can you put me to bed?
Big T: *looks a bit confused* ...go to the bed...

"You love me, you love me, we're a happy fal-a-meee..." ~ Big T

Big T is finally saying "It's finished!" instead of "It's Finnish!"

Me: *walks out of my room in pajamas*
Big T: Hey Abbie, I like-ah dress!

At dinner when she ran out of meat...
M: T, you need to stop crying.
Little T (pathetically sobbing): Need to stop, Mama, need to stop....

You know it's gonna be a long prayer when Little T starts thanking God for sticks and chairs and tables and people and chairs and the ground and dustbins and feet and chairs.

Little T came down to my house today and asked me if I had a "pleasure cooker."

Big T and Little T are in the backseat arguing over whether it’s called a tummy or a belly.
BigT: Guys. Bellies are SERIOUS!!!

Little T just put "governments" on her hands so she didn't burn them when taking imaginary pizza out of the oven. Governments = oven mitts.

Me: That’s Cinderella.
Big T: Umbrella.
Me:...yeah.
M: Why are you crying?
Little T: I cryin’.
M: But WHY are you crying??!
Little T: I cryin’...

Little T (points to a logo on a shirt): Mama, I like your ABCD.
Me: Say please...thank you.
Big T: Plank you!

Little T (eating lollipop): Look, Mama, I eating yummy balloon!
M: T, where is your happy heart?
Big T: Happy heart is ouchy.

Little T (climbs on something)
Big T (enthusiastically): Me too! I’m gonna get high!
Me (laughing): WHAT did you say?!
Big T (looks confused): I said, I wanna get higher up...

Me: Did you write on the bike?
Big T: I color. Sneaky sneaky.
At least he's honest, I guess...

"Auntie Abbie, I want to do a hungry..." ~ Big T

Me: *puts on makeup*
Big T: Good job, Abbie, you so cute, good job!

It’d be easier to resist my book weakness if I didn’t stand in the (thrift) store thinking about how Little T hugs each book and tells it by name that she loves it, before she puts it away.
(Hugs) “I love you, Big Green Monster!”
(Hugs) “I love you, Chicka Chicka Boom Boom!”

Me (reading aloud): Pippi sang in a hoarse voice...
Little T: You mean like this? *neighs*

"It's windy, everyone! Put on your hats and pockets!" ~ Big T

"Little T is teaching me Spaghetti [Sepedi]." ~ Big T

"I'm so impressed!" ~ Little T (meaning that she's pressed)

"Corona is not kind. It doesn't wanna go away." ~ Big T

"They are neighbors, and we are people, and they are people." ~ Big T

"The pastor's in the HAT!!!" ~ Big T (trying to sing the lyrics to Let it Go)

Big T: When I grow up, I have to marry someone.
Little T: We can marry each other!
Me: You can't marry each other - you're brother and sister.
Little T: When we grow up, we can marry each other.
Me: Even when you're grown up, you still can't.
Little T: When Corona goes away, we can marry each other...

"My tea is not properly!" ~ Little T

Words according to Big T's definitions:

"Scrubbled" - messed up/wrinkled
"Taged" - torn, ripped
"Colar bear" - polar bear
"Grooty" - messed up/sloppy
"Entertiring" - entertaining/tiring
"Wurb" - something a spider spins
"Inspickerating" - ?
"Imagine blender" - immersion blender

Words according to Little T's definitions:

"Coward" - many cows
"Vernaculars" - binoculars

Someone: "Fresty" - "the things for the party to start"
"Tackoo" - charcoal
(Lots of fun trying to guess what their mom would send them down to my house to fetch...)

Big T: I LOOOOVE vegetables!
Auntie: What's your favorite vegetable?
Big T: Chocolate cake!
Big T: You can't marry a man you MET!!

So, Big T thinks the words to 10,000 Reasons are not “worship your holy name” but “worship your whole Rene.”

"Did you cross your mind?" ~ Big T

"I want to be a yogurt instructor." ~ Little T

B: Today is 23 9.
Me: What is that?
B: I don't think so. Today is very, very Wednesday.

Not a quote, but...B didn't get a bike helmet until a month or two after the other kids (it took me a while to find him one). After the initial reaction, though, he didn't let it bother him...he just soooo carefully took out his imaginary helmet and buckled it on before he started riding! Then when he was done he'd take it off and snap it onto the handlebars of his bike. You know, so he didn't lose it. I think he took better care of his imaginary helmet than most of his real possessions...

Little T, upon finally receiving her bike helmet: Now all our helmets can be on our bikes in the garage...I want to cry!
Me: Are you sad?
Little T: No! I love it!

Me: Your helmet is to protect your skull.
Big T: What's a skull?
Me: Remember, your head bone?
Big T: Oh! My bonehead!

Big T nicknamed Little T's super slow and hard to pedal bike "Largo." You know, after the music tempo...

Big T: When I grow up, I'm going to make a delicious feast. It's going to be toast and cooldrink and juice and donuts and white eggs - the flat ones. Oh, and tacos. And I would like if you could come.

Me: explains God's final judgment of Earth
Big T: Auntie Abbie, if that's true, we need to get a rocket ship and get off this planet!
(Funny...but not funny!)

"Auntie Abbie, I think a kidnapper sounds like someone who takes kids and forces them to take naps." ~ a friend's child

"I can go anywhere with the wind in my hair, I just wanna be ME!" ~ Little T, who makes up very lengthy songs while on her own in the yard...they all sound like a bot took all the Hallmark and Barbie movies and wrote like a 15 minute emotional song full of these kinds of phrases that makes little to no sense, but definitely has all the feels!

"Rainy tacos, ooooOOOOooooo..." (When I asked them why, they told me "so and so from church sings it...")

Big T (hands me a flyer): Maybe baby home has enough mail. Maybe we should start bringing mail to you so you can show it to your friends when they come over...

"When I grow up and forget about what's in my body, maybe I can study it again with you." ~ Big T

Big T: I hope we aren't almost done with our [outer space] book!
Me: No, look, we have all these pages left.
Big T: Whew! That was a close one!

Me (getting to a suspenseful part in a book): She ran away as quick as a rabbit...
Big T: cracks up laughing
Me: But this is a scary part!
Big T: But auntie Abbie! She was pretending to be a rabbit!

They also think the word "extinct" (EX-STINKED) is HILARIOUS.

We got back from the library and the kids were helping each other out of the car. Big T lifted up the middle seat so the girls could climb out and was like "ladies..." in his most polite gentlemanly voice.
So then Little T starts giving him a tongue lashing about how he's helping them now but he let her trip at the library. Intense, full blown sass. Keep in mind, this is usually the relatively demure, sweet child.
Big T tries to say sorry. And she just starts going on about how he didn't say sorry at the library. I come around the corner of the car - I don't think she saw me - and fix my mom glare on her.
She looks aside and very quietly mutters "I didn't hear THAT coming..."

Big T: Auntie Abbie, I know that [Barbie storybooks] make you dizzy.
Me: Why do you say that?
Big T: Because every time we ask you to read it, you say, "Let's not read that one..."

B (looks at a large brown dog hanging out behind the black bars of a fence): Look! A tiger!

Me (pulling through the McDonald's drive through with B): Auntie Abbie is just getting coffee for herself, that's all.
B: I get coffee too?
Me (shuddering at the thought of a caffeinated B): No, coffee is just for adults...
(Pulling up to the order box): One coffee please.
B (from the backseat) TWO COFFEE!
(We pull around) IT NOT ONE, IT TWO!

Alphabet Project


Since last December, we have been working on a large-scale alphabet project where we do a craft for each uppercase and lowercase letter. I'm posting the pictures here because I thought you might want to see what the kids are doing, I'd like to have a record of this project, and I thought someone else might be able to use the ideas. 

I did it with a 5, 4, 3, and (partway through), with a 2 year old. The 5 and 4 year old could mostly do it on their own if I showed them what to do, although the result was sometimes a bit messy. They already knew their alphabet, so this was mostly for fun, for art, and to learn to follow directions, as well as to reinforce what was previously learned. The 3 year old needed some assistance, worked on his fine motor skills and learning to do things independently, and mastered all of the alphabet sounds. The 2 year old needed a lot of assistance and probably doesn't know her alphabet at all, but I'd like to think it helped her with her fine motor skills, provided early exposure, helped her with English as a second language, and gave her a chance to enjoy being part of a group. Homeschooling is fun! It's cool that you can help so many different ages with different skills, even when they are working on the same project.

I will say, I am relieved to be done and finally move on to some different types of art projects! I have all kinds of exciting ones pinned on my Pinterest board, and the baby home walls are getting painted this coming week, so it's time to take all of our old projects down, file them away in the flip file, and start fresh!

Most of these crafts are not original - I got a lot of ideas from Pinterest, but the pictures are all my own. (If any of the original creators happen to see this and would like me to link to their page, please let me know.) I found this post to be particularly helpful in thinking of ideas for the lowercase letters. This one gave me a lot of inspiration as well.

I set a goal of not spending any money on this project, so I didn't go out and buy supplies. Thankfully I have a big stash of random scrapbooking paper, and we already have colored paper at the baby home as we color-code the babies for recording purposes. For the rest of the stuff, I scavenged around the house and found various items, such as:

- Old magazines given away for free from the local thrift store

- Sequins from a broken cup - one of those old ones that used to be popular years ago with double walls and liquid inside. I used to have a whole collection - I miss them!

- Random paper I found in the garage

- Porridge bags, the foil packet type (for the silver spikes on the dragon, the horn on the unicorn, etc.)

- Old crepe paper

- Muffin liners

- Pieces of cardboard

- The netting from butternut, oranges, etc.

- Seed beads from who knows where

- My fabric collection

- Old jeans

- Rice from our sensory bin

Etc. It helps that I never throw away anything that remotely looks like it could be used for crafting!

In addition to these crafts, we took one letter a week (for 26 weeks) and glued magazine pictures starting with that letter to a piece of paper. The first time, I had the kids help me look for the pictures themselves. I guess this would be ideal, but honestly, it took a very long time, and some letters are very hard to find pictures for. (For letters like Q and X, I had to print out pictures.) So, I started cutting out the pictures ahead of time and just going through them with the kids once it was time for our craft. We hung the 3 year old's paper on the fridge for the week so he could look at it and self-teach, which he enjoyed greatly. As the project went on, I compiled them into a flip file (a little booklet of clear slipcovers) so he could flip through it and look at his book that he had made.

He also really enjoyed the Akili's Alphabet videos on YouTube. 

We made up our own little song to the tune of another alphabet song and sang it every day while pointing at the uppercase letters. (Don't forget to do the motions...use your imagination!) It's definitely not great songwriting, but it did its job when it came to knowledge retention...it certainly got stuck in our heads. The three year old enjoyed it very much! He learned the alphabet sounds rather than the letter names.



A is for Alligator, a-a-alligator


B is for Buttons, b-b-buttons


C is for Caterpillar, crawling, crawling caterpillar


D is for Dragon, and dragons go "ROAR!"


E is for Elephant, *elephant noise* goes the elephant


F is for Flamingo and they stand on one leg


G is for Gumball, yummy yummy gumball


H is for Horse and horses go "Neigh!"


I is for Ice cream, *lick lick* ice cream


J is for Jellyfish, wiggle like a jellyfish


K is for Kangaroo, hop like a kangaroo


L is for Light, l-l-light


M is for Mouse, m-m-mouse


N is for Night, go night-night


O is for Orange, eat your yummy orange


P is for Pig, p-p-pig


Q(u) is for Queen, qu-qu-queen


R is for Rainbow, r-r-rainbow


S is for Snake, sssslither like a snake


T is for Tiger, tigers also go "ROAR!"


U is for Unicorn, unicorn has a horn


V is for Volcano and volcanos exPLODE!


W is for Watermelon, w-w-watermelon


X is for X-ray and it shows all your bones


Y is for Yo-yo, y-y-yo-yo


Z is for Zebra, z-z-zebra

We dialed it down a bit with the lowercase letters and did mostly collage art. Highly structured crafts are great for learning to follow directions, they're cute, and the kids certainly enjoyed them a lot, but they don't give them opportunity to really be artistic. Also, they're a lot of work to set up!


a is for apples

This did not turn out nearly as well defined as I would have liked, but paint is always a hit with the kids.


b is for beads - also blue


c is for cardboard


d is for dots


e is for eggs

We used plastic Easter eggs and paint for this project.


f is for fabric


g is for grass


h is for hearts


i is for ice

I froze paint in ice blocks for this one. Hint: it works a lot better if you get them a little wet.


j is for jeans


k is for key

We used a stamp pad.


l is for letters


m is for macaroni


n is for net

As you can see, netting is a bit hard to stick onto something, especially if there are a lot of little fingers ready to pull it off...


o is for orange octagons and ovals


p is for paper


q is for question marks

Think twice before you ask little fingers to glue those tiny dots on...you'll be doing it yourself!


r is for rainbow rice


s is for sequins


t is for tape

This is very good for fine motor skills for the very little ones.


u is for up

Vowels are hard, guys!


v is for vegetables


w is for words

The older kids (4&5) found this one especially cool, as they could read some of the words themselves.


x is for x-ray

Yes, that is a real x-ray - I have to get x-rayed for tuberculosis every time I renew my visa, and they give me the x-ray, so this time I decided to save it and cut it up for our x craft. Is it really even a craft? Barely - but the kids thought it was pretty cool!


y is for yarn


z is for zipper