On Sunday we headed back out to the bush (check out Ben’s post for details on last week’s bush walk) to play some disc golf.  I know what you are thinking, Africa has disc golf??  Not really, but we managed to create a few holes of our own.  We played to fence posts, soccer goals, trees, pretty much anything that was off in the distance with a few obstacles in between.  It wasn’t the same as playing at Keriakes with our friends in BG, but it was pretty fun.  Mikayla even threw a couple of disc!

I finally convinced Ben to hang Mikayla’s art wall this past weekend.  Back in BG she had a homemade art wreath, but due to space limitations it got left behind.  I am pleased with what we have though and now we are able to display all the fun projects she does at school!

Before we left for Swaziland I saw homemade bowling sets floating around the Internet and made a mental note that I wanted to make one for Mikayla.  They are super simple, just some empty two liter bottles and ball.  Sure you can jazz them up, but I am not that jazzy of a person, so we just left them plain.  I have been collecting empty bottles for a few weeks now and finally had enough to resemble a set of bowling pins.  Last night she was getting restless so we pulled out the few pins we had and started bowling.  She loved it!  Please note her concentration and determination in each picture!

We also found and set up a mosquito net for Mikayla’s room.  The mosquitos are already out in full force, just ask Ben who got almost 20 bites in one night!  She is very excited about her fort/tent she gets to sleep in each night. 

Mikayla has been really into asking "WHY?" lately, for everything!  Don’t get me wrong, I love that my daughter is inquisitive, but the constant "whys" are wearing me out!  Her "why’s" can go on forever it seems like.  Is this an all toddler thing or just my daughter??

Can anybody guess what these are? 

They are starting to form in the trees by our house.  If you guessed mangos you are absolutely correct!

Attention Kickert family:  We played ten thousand as a family the other night and you would be happy to know that Mikayla really beat up on Ben and I.  She immediately rolled 650 and each round made good choices in when to roll or stay.  Quite the competition!

Can I just say that I am loving having access to Food Network?  This is the first time in my adult life that my home has had it and I am addicted!  I am pretty sure it is the only channel I have watched this week.  Who knew it would take moving to Africa to get it?  (Disclaimer – I only turn on the TV at night after Mikayla has gone to bed so please don’t think I am watching Food Network all day everyday!)

The twins went to the hospital on Wednesday for a check up so they were gone most of the day.  Mikayla and I took full advantage of it just being the two of us.  We cleaned, watched a movie and had some fun Mommy/daughter time.  She only complained about the twins not being here first thing in the morning!  We ended up having company over for dinner on Wednesday night (Ben was actually in town trying to take care of some things) and the kids all went to bed late.  That meant they all woke up early on Thursday and for some reason didn’t take good naps.  Needless to say with all the crankiness everyone had early bedtimes!

I made some really delicious banana bread courtesy of a recipe from my good friend Jennifer.  It was delicious and enjoyed by many in the office and hostel. The recipe is below.  That was really the only thing I baked this week because we ran out of butter and it isn’t like there is a grocery store on every corner here!!

The twins are making a lot of progress this week.  Nosipho is crawling efficiently and moving all over the place. She has gone from crawling while dragging one foot behind to crawling the right way.  She is also pulling up on stuff and cruising along the furniture like a mad woman!  She is smiling, laughing and jabbering constantly.  Simo is also becoming very good at mimicking you.  We even caught her the other day soothing her brother when he was upset by patting him on the back like we do.  She has also picked up a few signs along the way.  She now knows eat, more and milk.  Simo is making progress in his own little way.  He is now pushing up (with a little help) while holding on to your hands into a standing position.  This is something that a week ago (and even a few days ago) he refused to do and would hold his legs up so you couldn’t make him stand.  He is laughing and smiling and jabbering along as well.  He will occasionally sign for eat and more.  He is clapping and is still perfectly content to just sit still!  And of course they are both eating like champs.  They eat twice as much food as Mikayla (and poop three or four times as much)!  It is amazing the progress they have made in a week, I can’t wait to see where they are at the end of the month. 

We are getting into a pretty good groove of being a family of five.  Bath time is still a little tricky because everyone wants to be in the bathroom at the same time and if you saw Ben’s video, it really isn’t that big of a space.  We have started letting the twins "cry it out" at night and that is going well.  It takes a little bit longer for them to settle down than it does for Mikayla, but they are getting much better at putting themselves to sleep. 

I also found out that Ben will be in Manzini (the town about 1.5 hours away) for three days next week for a meeting.  I will get a real taste of what it is like to be a mommy of three toddlers then!

Cookie time!  Or as the Swazi’s would say Biscuit time!

Beautiful Nosipho

Simo and his tongue that is always hanging out!

Spaghetti night!  Notice that Simo is completely annoyed we are interrupting his second bowl of spaghetti to take a picture.  And also take note of the fat rolls these babies are getting!

Mikayla is taking full advantage of having the twins bath here!

My baby girl and I

Banana Bread Recipe

Prep time: 5 minutes

• Cook time: 1 hour

Ingredients

• 3 or 4 ripe bananas, smashed
• 1/3 cup melted butter
• 1 cup sugar (can easily reduce to 3/4 cup)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• Pinch of salt
• 1 1/2 cups of all-purpose flour

Method

No need for a mixer for this recipe. Preheat the oven to 350°F (175°C). With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, and vanilla. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour last, mix. Pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.