N’s 3rd Birthday (Flashback)

So my older daughter turned three several months ago and I never posted about her birthday. Poor girl’s special day got all caught up in the drama of getting kicked out of our country on the other side of the globe.

The night before her birthday was actually the evening we sat together with friends and prayed and cried and accepted the fact that we had to leave our country and fast. It was an emotional and unreal evening. On top of that, we had a house-guest staying with us. Someone we had never met before who didn’t have much understanding of our situation.

I don’t know how I remembered late that night to make preparations for her birthday morning traditions…

Surprise balloons in the bedroom to wake up to,

hanging the birthday banner,

setting a special place setting for breakfast and wrapping gifts.

N didn’t know that her little world was about to change. “I’m free (three)!!!”, she is saying here.

After she ate she plopped on the floor to open her gifts.

And our new friend plopped down with her once he actually realized what was happening (which was awhile). It was all very odd. I sat there on the floor taking photos of my daughter on third birthday thinking ‘We have to leave. We have to leave.” And this new friend (read: virtual stranger) is sitting here sharing this special birthday moment and has no idea of the scope of the decision we just had to make the night before. Over breakfast he was telling all kinds of stories to us. In my head I am counting the hours left in my home and beginning to formulate a plan to liquidate our lives of six and a half years. And he is still just telling stories while sipping coffee. Oh my.

It was a very VERY odd moment. It was a ‘my life is weird’ moment.

Just now when Mike looked at the photo above, he bust out laughing. This morning was just so very very weird. I don’t know what else to say.

In any case, N opened her sweet gifts!

Because we immediately started packing and giving things away, N tried to give this skirt away as soon as she got it. She loved giving her things away. But I couldn’t let her… it was just too cute! So it came back with us.

Luckily I had ONE piece of cake in my deep freezer and a bit of icing. It saved the day. I am not sure I would have been able to pull off a birthday cake that day.

We all shared that one piece of cake in the evening.

Happy Birthday N, almost five months late! Your third birthday was a memorable one, to be sure! Love you so!

Lil’ Fashionista, Again

I posted at least once before about my lil’ fashionista.  Apparently, this is an on-going thing.

This first one was when we were still in Africa (hence the warm-weather clothing). Prints and prints. That’s what she likes.

Flower skirt again. With heart leggings and flower shirt. More prints. She feels beautiful in any case, can you tell?

This is a hat I bought for her to keep her warm that I never thought she’d like so much. When my parents were here she wore it quite often. It’s charming, isn’t it? Her baby’s bonnet is also a bit peculiar…

Aaaaand flower skirt and more prints. With Dora boots. And a knitted hat and butterfly sweatshirt. Overload!

Skirt under dress is also one of her trademarks. Oh my.

I am trying to teach her that if you wear a print on top, then you don’t wear one on bottom, etc. It’s a slow process. I am also trying to teach my boy that matching doesn’t mean wearing the same color pants as shirt. Before I was a parent I never thought about having to teach kids how to match/coordinate clothing! I guess they have to learn somehow. Unless I want my lil’ fashionista to keep her unique touch forever…

Goodbye Tours–Preschool (num 2)

Photos of some of my favorite things about my lil’ preschool.

Goodbye dear preschool.

My Mantle

If you think because of that title that this is some spiritual post about ‘the mantle’ of whatever that God has given me (have you heard that phrase?) you’re wrong…. it’s about a plain old (fake) mantle… where decorations go! I’m deep like that.

I’ve never actually had a mantle. And I may never have. But a girl who loves to decorate for the seasons and other occasions has got to make do!

My Dad installed three shelves just inside my front door when he was here. And then later I added one more shelf. It’s the perfect place to switch out decorations (as often as I like) and I love it. Cause I like to switch a lot. And I already want to rearrange the furniture, much to my husbands *joy*. But that is a different topic.

This was the first arrangement. The Welcome Baby arrangement. Flowers, cute subway art, lace bunting, gorgeous photo (ifidosaysomyself) and a lil’ message on the lil’ chalkboard.

Then I did a pretty Easter mantle arrangement, but BAH I didn’t find a picture of it! Boo. It had a super cute little free printed Happy Easter Bunting and lots of other cuteness.  I know you’re so disappointed to have missed that.

But, to comfort you, here is a photo of my current Spring arrangement.

Free printable art is the best. So is bunting made from scrap fabric found under my bed and a lil’ burlap birdie purchased for nothing on clearance. And yes, my baby’s pic is still there. I can’t stand to take it down and she’s still fresh and sweet and new…  just like spring. So she is sticking around awhile longer.

Quote of the Day

“There is snow on our bikes. We will have to lick it off.”

-N to H

My girl does loves to eat snow!

Quarantine

Today is day four of my self-imposed quarantine. I temporarily lifted my self-imposed quarantine yesterday long enough to go to one of those little clinics inside the grocery store to get diagnosed for the miserable ailment that had required this self-imposed quarantine.

The results?

Tonsillitis. And an ear infection.

Well, no wonder I felt like crap. For days.

The nice nurse practitioner happily took my $85 dollars for the visit and sent me out with a prescription for antibiotics.  I did a jig. Not really. But I felt like it because it meant there was an end in sight to my various symptoms but also to my quarantine, which is maybe equally as painful as the sickness for a lady who loves to be around people and loves to care for her family and her home.

After two days of bedroom quarantine I have occasionally joined my family in the rest of the house yesterday and today. But not without tying one of my daughters receiving blankets around my mouth and nose first to protect them from my germs. I thought about posting a picture of that sight, but decided against it… it’s absolutely ridiculous. But I am taking all possible precautions not to spread this thing. I can’t imagine how a preschooler would deal with how much it hurts to swallow? My heart would break into a million pieces if I had to watch one of my babies go through that. Taking a sip of water can bring me to tears. It’s just terrible and let’s hope the rest of the family stays healthy and that I can hold onto my sanity for another day and a half until my self-imposed quarantine is lifted!

Tonsillitis is from the devil.

The end.

What Remains

Remember this cup? (from this post)?

Remember how much my boy liked his lion cup?

This is what remains.

:(

We brought special things like this back with us in our luggage. Little things that would remain constant in my kids’ lives between their African life and their American life. It helped. Their special drinking mugs were among those things.  And today it was accidently knocked off the island by my boy and as soon as I heard the crash I knew it was gonna be bad.

I rushed to him and he wept. I held him. And I wept.

I cried because my boy lost something dear to him. I cried because his tender heart was hurting. And I cried because that silly and special lion cup is something from our dear African life that can’t be replaced.

So much can’t be replaced. For this I wept.