the kids respond to the comments...

We have had a lot of fun reading your thoughts in the comment section. Thanks for reminding us of your prayers for us...please believe me when I say we recognize how providential this all is. God has been amazingly faithful to our family thus far (all 6 of us), and we are convinced your prayers are a big part of this.
Some of ya'll have put up a few questions that we thought we'd let the kids try to answer with their own thoughts.

Zeke 1st - "Sam, I can't bring you a spear home, how about some real pretty earings in the shape of a water buffalo? Jonathan, I did see machini guns at the market, but they are not for sale."
(on traffic & all the walking) People do not try to stop as easy when people cross the road. The ditch next to the road is about 2.5 feet deep & they are full of trash. I see tons of bottles on the road & it takes 10 seconds if I kick a bottle in the road to get a new one. Outside of the HOM there is a huge pit, about 3 feet deep, half full of trash...and they burn it to get rid of the trash. (the picture of Rayna standing next to what looks like a dirt mound, is really of a trash fire that has gone out. You see trash burning anywhere. We can't believe that in their dry season, with really strong winds, that they don't have major fires. You don't go a day without getting a strong whiff of burning something.)
(on HOM) I made a fort w/ blankets & by pushing cribs together, then putting pillows on the floor. There is a little (tiny) girl in the crawler's room who when someone takes what she wants, she scratches them in the face (as he shows me the scar on his belly).
(on his new little brother) When he goes to bed he screams for about 30 minutes. When you poke his belly he sticks out his tongue & spits.

Addie is next - "I would like to say something to Mary Gray & Parker. Every time I poke a baby's belly at the HOM they laugh. I got a butterfly at the market and her name is Lily, and she is 5 years old. She is purple & her eyes look kinda funny." (they are made out of 2 marbles)
(on her baby brother) - "One time I was playing Bendables with him, and then he started playing with something else."
(at Juls guesthouse) - "One time when we were taking pictures I saw pink flowers on purple leaves. I saw a big rock in the garden. Outside Zeke found some papers that I made into my list."

Rayna actually fell asleep (helping mom put the baby to bed), but she told me what to say - "A chitanga is used for alot of things, including what you see in the picture - a Zambian baby-back-pack & a skirt. My little brother offered to bring you back a Zambian poopy diaper souvenir."
She also is very excited to share her journal with those of you who want a peek.

Today was highlighted by baby's 1st photo! It wasn't your typical "Sears professional photo", complete with 17 options to choose from - many of which are cute & it's really hard to choose between. This was more along the lines of the grumpiest, saddest mugshot this side of the line at the Flying Dumbo ride in Disneyworld about 4:45 PM. We had to get passport photos, b/c we are gearing up for the paperwork stretch. We also had a few minutes to go clothes shopping at Arcades (we felt a little bad about dressing him in Addie's clothes since he had no pajamas). We found ourselves in a back corner of the mall (mostly under construction, Zambian time) in a tiny little shop with both kids' & ladies' fashions. The kids stuff was in a section about the size of a kitchen...and this is relevant because there were 4 ladies working there at the time, and at least 3 of them were within an arm's reach of us at ALL times. Jamie got claustro-scary store clerkio-phobic & bolted outside to let the kids play in traffic. Mandi braved the battle to come out with some socks, one shirt & a sippy cup. Welcome to the mall, Zambian style.

As we made our rounds we have wondered how we are perceived by those around us. We obviously stand out b/c we are white, and that is cool. It does not appear to be a big deal thus far - maybe when it comes time to purchase at the market, etc. However we do notice lots of curious looks & friendly smiles directed at our 3 blonde haired kids running around. Now we have added the Zambian kid in both a chitanga & the Baby Bjorn (good thing we didn't bring a stroller or we really would have stood out). To make matters worse today, our #1 driver, Moya, looked at the kid & then at Mandi and said "he needs his hair brushed." Mandi said (in her best naive voice) "where do we get one?" Moya simply responded "I get one for you." Moya also got Mandi's blue chitanga for us, instead of us buying off the tourist rack at Arcades. Mandi's was 12,000 kwacha (about $2.45), while we got Rayna's at the Sunday market for 25,000 kwacha.

We spent the rest of the day at Juls - waiting to hear back from our social worker about keeping the boy with us. Jamie called at 9:15 AM and was told to call back after 2, and then when he called back they were in a meeting and said they would call back. We never heard anything from them. We asked the director at HOM what to do, and she said "hold onto that baby." So tomorrow will be another interesting day. We are very glad, of course, that we have him here with us tonight. He is opening up so much more each hour it seems. His sad faces & little pouts are fewer & shorter. He still goes "hands up" and sticks his lower lip out a bit whenever Mandi comes in the room, wanting to be lifted and held. However, he has been able to self-entertain a few times & is having fun playing with our kids. Jamie's favorite thing to do is to get him outside & around the guesthouse. He touches trees, the grass, flowers, walls, basically everything. You have to wonder how much of any of it has he been exposed to? He has been in at the HOM for the last 9 mos., and we don't know how much time has been spent "walking" (sort of dragged by our kids, as they hold his hands while he tries to walk) outdoors. He surely has never tried to knock monkey balls out of a tree!! You can see the results of our afternoon diversion in the picture of Zeke & Addie holding what looks like the grossest slime this side of the equator. It is the inside of a "monkey ball" - and it is definitely edible. It's kind of like sucking on small peach pits, as the inside is full of about 30 seeds, coated with the fruit. We had them for dinner. However as irony loves to express, tonight's dinner was also some awesome chicken barley soup & still hot Ezekiel beer bread.