The days go by so quickly here. I guess because I stay so busy. It hasn't been an eventful week other than the girls really acting up. Not sure why, they are just going through a stage of testing their boundaries. Today they had a birthday party in the afternoon. It was for Ronan- his 5th birthday party. It was really nice. His mother, Janine picked the girls up at school since it started at 2 pm. And I arrived around 3:30. They had been swimming. I didn't know they would be swimming there so I didn't pack their "cozzies" (costumes or bathing suits). So, when I got there, they had on some of Ronan's swimming attire. So cute! There were lots of kids there and lots of family and friends. The girls were pretty shy and played mostly with a little black girl who has cerebal palsy. She was by herself so Sienna and Sofia went to her and were trying to teach her to jump and play with them. She is in their class at school. The them was firetrucks. Everyone already loves the girls and gravitate to them.
I had a parent teacher conference this week. Janci, their teacher, said she is also having problems getting them to obey. When it is time to do something, they just run outside or lay in the floor. But she said she thinks it is getting somewhat better. And they are also really trying to get the girls to integrate with the other kids. They will hardly leave each other. They are learning to ride bikes at school. And some of their friends are Holly, Zoe, Quinn, Tai, Jaryd and Ronan.
Tomorrow (Saturday), I have to fly to Johannesburg for the day to meet with Archbishop Desmond Tutu's daughter. She is interested in coming onto our board. That would be incredible. He is such an icon- even at almost 80. He was instrumental in helping end apartheid here in South Africa. I leave at 7 and get back at 4. I'm not sure what we will do on Sunday. I keep wanting to take them to the beach. We'll see
Friday, March 12, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
My birthday
Today is March 7, 2010. My 37th birthday (or my 5th according to Sienna and Sofia). I think I like their proposed age better. It has been a hectic week and I am usually pretty tired in the evening and don’t have the energy to write. On Tuesday, Sofia woke up in a horrible mood and didn’t want to listen at all. So, I put her in time out in the bathroom. Well, in her attempt to open the door, she turned the key and locked herself in the bathroom. I was panicking. She couldn’t get it unlocked. She tried and tried to turn the key but just couldn’t. After about 30 minutes (which seemed like hours), I decided to get a screwdriver and try and dismantle the handle of the door. As I was unscrewing it she finally was able to turn the key just right and unlock it. It was so stressful!
On Thursday, they started ballet class. It is once a week at school. They are really excited. There is a play in June.
Yesterday, we went and visited the Bracken’s. Where we stayed for 2 weeks when we got here. The girls wanted to see their cats and dogs and play a little there. Afterwards we went to the Hillcrest Aids Center. The first Saturday of the month they have a fundraiser and it is a nice place to go and spend the morning. There was traditional dancing and singing. They also have beautiful beadwork made by women with HIV/AIDS. The women come to the center once a week on Fridays and sit together and work. It is a steady income for them. Afterwards, the girls were hungry so I took them to Wimpy’s. one of the little places they like to eat. We did a little shopping and then came home.
Today, we spent the morning at church (where the girls also go to school). The girls went to Childrens Church and then to class. They did pretty good. Until Sofia lost a little frog she had taken. In the afternoon, we went with Gavin, Kirsty and their kids to Makaranga Lodge. There are some very, very beautiful gardens. This place is very near to where we live. It is like a sanctuary. There are parts that are jungle and other parts that are little ponds and statues. You could walk around in the park for hours. I took lots of good pictures of the girls. Later, we had some yummy milkshakes and snacks. It was a nice afternoon
On Thursday, they started ballet class. It is once a week at school. They are really excited. There is a play in June.
Yesterday, we went and visited the Bracken’s. Where we stayed for 2 weeks when we got here. The girls wanted to see their cats and dogs and play a little there. Afterwards we went to the Hillcrest Aids Center. The first Saturday of the month they have a fundraiser and it is a nice place to go and spend the morning. There was traditional dancing and singing. They also have beautiful beadwork made by women with HIV/AIDS. The women come to the center once a week on Fridays and sit together and work. It is a steady income for them. Afterwards, the girls were hungry so I took them to Wimpy’s. one of the little places they like to eat. We did a little shopping and then came home.
Today, we spent the morning at church (where the girls also go to school). The girls went to Childrens Church and then to class. They did pretty good. Until Sofia lost a little frog she had taken. In the afternoon, we went with Gavin, Kirsty and their kids to Makaranga Lodge. There are some very, very beautiful gardens. This place is very near to where we live. It is like a sanctuary. There are parts that are jungle and other parts that are little ponds and statues. You could walk around in the park for hours. I took lots of good pictures of the girls. Later, we had some yummy milkshakes and snacks. It was a nice afternoon
Saturday, February 27, 2010
Monkeys in the house!!!!!
Today is Saturday, February 27, 2010. We got back to South Africa late Tuesday night. All of our luggage arrived with us. The girls were pretty good on the planes. We were able to get bulkhead on the long flight and that always helps. At least we don’t have anyone in front of us that the girls can bother. And there is a little more room. Sofia slept a few hours. Sienna slept almost 7 hours. On Wednesday, they didn’t go to school because I knew they would be tired. I went into the office for about ½ day and Mavis watched them.
Thursday and Friday we were back to normal at work and school. Everyone was happy to see them at school. All the little kids ran up to them and surrounded them. They were trying to hold their hands. Sofia didn’t want to stay and cried quite a bit on Thursday. She was better on Friday and just teared up a little. Thursday afternoon after school, the girls and I went to the nearby movie theater to see Princess and the Frog. It is pretty cheap to go to the movies here. I think I spent less than 10 dollars and bought our tickets, popcorn and juice. They enjoyed it. They had already seen it before leaving the US.
Today, we didn’t do much. I just wanted to stay around the house and rest because we are all still pretty tired from the time difference and long trip. It was rainy most of the day. We only went to the grocery store, the Mica (like Home Depot) and got gas for the lawnmower. We came home and were in the back part of the house. I heard a bang and went into the living room. I didn’t see anything so I went back into the back. The girls were being quiet and playing. Then I heard a “ooo oooo ooo”. I went to the kitchen and there were 3 monkeys in the kitchen. They were eating our bananas. They dropped one and left a big mess of peels. They ran out. I called the girls to come and see. The monkeys hopped out the top part of the door (the door has two parts- you can close the bottom and leave the top half open). They sat outside on the wall and clothesline watching us. The girls were so excited. The banana they dropped had already been bitten into so I took it outside and put it on the ground. And one of them came and got it. He sat there eating it on top of the clothesline pole just staring at us. I went to get my camera and they were already trying to come back in the house for the apples and other fruit. For the longest time afterwards, they sat in the avocado tree near the kitchen and just watched us. I guess they were waiting for us to leave so they could come back in.
I guess I will have to be careful from now on and not leave the door open so much. Now that they know they can get in, they will be trying to get in all the time. One of them was pretty big. When he stood up, we came to my waist. The other two were smaller. Of course they had the blue balls. And Sofia was talking about their “blue toys” hanging on them.
They girls talked about it the rest of the afternoon. Sofia said “Mom, I guess we need to put a sign on the door saying- NO BANANAS, DON’T COME IN MONKEYS”. It was so cute.
Sofia seems like she is getting sick again. She is losing her voice a little and her eyes look a little red. I just hope she doesn’t get sick like last time. Maybe it is just the traveling and germs she picked up on the airplane.
Apart from the monkeys, the ants are just horrible. I constantly battle them. They go everywhere. They are only the little ones. And they usually are sparse and not the long lines. But they drive me nuts. Then on Thursday night, we had a long millipede in the house. I was trying to get it before the girls saw it. But Sofia kept stepping around it and she didn’t know it. I finally had to tell her to look down and get back. I think she jumped 3 feet in the air and started screaming. She asked why the “worm had spikes on it”. I took it out and tried to squash it but it was pretty tough. Not sure if I killed it because the next morning it was gone- but that could have been because of the big ants took it away. They devour anything left outside. Already today when the banana peels were on the ground, they had started running towards them.
Then on Thursday at work, there was a little baby snake in front of my office door. It was so tiny we couldn’t tell what kind it was. But it had me worried because if there is one baby, there are probably more.
The girls have been carrying around their Billy Ray Cyrus CD cover for the past couple of days. They are so funny.
Other than our excitement around the monkeys and other critters, life is back to normal here. The girls have had their KFC already. They love the popcorn chicken. They play with their Barbies and have been dressing up like princesses. All is well. We miss everyone back home.
Thursday and Friday we were back to normal at work and school. Everyone was happy to see them at school. All the little kids ran up to them and surrounded them. They were trying to hold their hands. Sofia didn’t want to stay and cried quite a bit on Thursday. She was better on Friday and just teared up a little. Thursday afternoon after school, the girls and I went to the nearby movie theater to see Princess and the Frog. It is pretty cheap to go to the movies here. I think I spent less than 10 dollars and bought our tickets, popcorn and juice. They enjoyed it. They had already seen it before leaving the US.
Today, we didn’t do much. I just wanted to stay around the house and rest because we are all still pretty tired from the time difference and long trip. It was rainy most of the day. We only went to the grocery store, the Mica (like Home Depot) and got gas for the lawnmower. We came home and were in the back part of the house. I heard a bang and went into the living room. I didn’t see anything so I went back into the back. The girls were being quiet and playing. Then I heard a “ooo oooo ooo”. I went to the kitchen and there were 3 monkeys in the kitchen. They were eating our bananas. They dropped one and left a big mess of peels. They ran out. I called the girls to come and see. The monkeys hopped out the top part of the door (the door has two parts- you can close the bottom and leave the top half open). They sat outside on the wall and clothesline watching us. The girls were so excited. The banana they dropped had already been bitten into so I took it outside and put it on the ground. And one of them came and got it. He sat there eating it on top of the clothesline pole just staring at us. I went to get my camera and they were already trying to come back in the house for the apples and other fruit. For the longest time afterwards, they sat in the avocado tree near the kitchen and just watched us. I guess they were waiting for us to leave so they could come back in.
I guess I will have to be careful from now on and not leave the door open so much. Now that they know they can get in, they will be trying to get in all the time. One of them was pretty big. When he stood up, we came to my waist. The other two were smaller. Of course they had the blue balls. And Sofia was talking about their “blue toys” hanging on them.
They girls talked about it the rest of the afternoon. Sofia said “Mom, I guess we need to put a sign on the door saying- NO BANANAS, DON’T COME IN MONKEYS”. It was so cute.
Sofia seems like she is getting sick again. She is losing her voice a little and her eyes look a little red. I just hope she doesn’t get sick like last time. Maybe it is just the traveling and germs she picked up on the airplane.
Apart from the monkeys, the ants are just horrible. I constantly battle them. They go everywhere. They are only the little ones. And they usually are sparse and not the long lines. But they drive me nuts. Then on Thursday night, we had a long millipede in the house. I was trying to get it before the girls saw it. But Sofia kept stepping around it and she didn’t know it. I finally had to tell her to look down and get back. I think she jumped 3 feet in the air and started screaming. She asked why the “worm had spikes on it”. I took it out and tried to squash it but it was pretty tough. Not sure if I killed it because the next morning it was gone- but that could have been because of the big ants took it away. They devour anything left outside. Already today when the banana peels were on the ground, they had started running towards them.
Then on Thursday at work, there was a little baby snake in front of my office door. It was so tiny we couldn’t tell what kind it was. But it had me worried because if there is one baby, there are probably more.
The girls have been carrying around their Billy Ray Cyrus CD cover for the past couple of days. They are so funny.
Other than our excitement around the monkeys and other critters, life is back to normal here. The girls have had their KFC already. They love the popcorn chicken. They play with their Barbies and have been dressing up like princesses. All is well. We miss everyone back home.
Monday, February 22, 2010
In the States
A brief break in my blogging while I was in the States. Gary, my dad, passed away January 30th and the girls and I had to rush back to the States. We stayed there until February 22nd. He will be so greatly missed. May you rest in peace!
Thursday, January 28, 2010
Driving in SA- Arrrggghhh
Driving seems to be something I write about a lot. You have to be so attentive when driving here. Take your eyes off the road for a second and you could hit someone. You very rarely see people talking on a cell phone when driving. For one thing, it is illegal. And not to mention pretty hard to do since most all of the cars here are standard. Another thing that is illegal here is to drive and smoke with kids in the car. This was a recently passed law.
There are so many police roadblocks here. When I drive to work in the mornings, I usually pass about 3 or 4.
The girls do pretty good in the little car we are driving- especially since it doesn't have a radio, a dvd player, etc.
Another thing you will see quite a lot of here is people (men) peeing on the side of the road. Last Saturday, we had come to a major intersection and were at a red light. Right on the side of the road was a guy peeing. I told the girls not to look. He was on Sofia’s side. Of course she look and was asking why he was peeing on the side of the road.
The cows are another danger here. Every morning on the way to work I also have to watch for cows. They graze freely on the sides of the roads here.
Then if it is raining and foggy, driving conditions are so much worse. Especially in the hills going to the office. The hills are usually blanketed with a thick fog.
But on the days it is sunny, the view is spectacular. You can see for miles and miles in the valleys and hills. I almost stop every morning when I pass through this certain point on my drive to work. It is breathtaking.
The girls are good. This is their first full week of school. On Tuesday, Sofia was sad and didn’t want me to go. But for the past two days she has been okay. I think it is partly because they were with me nonstop for the first month. Sienna just plops right down and starts coloring. They are going to start ballet classes. Apparently, there was a demo at school and they really want to do it now- Sienna and Sofia call it ballellet. And now they want to wear tutus.
It has been really hard this past week and a half knowing Gary is so sick. I want to be there with Mom but know that if we come, we can only stay for a little while. So, I am trying to wait as long as I can. There has been an outpouring of love and support here from staff and friends. They are very concerned. The girls know PawPaw is sick and we talk about it in the evenings.
There are so many police roadblocks here. When I drive to work in the mornings, I usually pass about 3 or 4.
The girls do pretty good in the little car we are driving- especially since it doesn't have a radio, a dvd player, etc.
Another thing you will see quite a lot of here is people (men) peeing on the side of the road. Last Saturday, we had come to a major intersection and were at a red light. Right on the side of the road was a guy peeing. I told the girls not to look. He was on Sofia’s side. Of course she look and was asking why he was peeing on the side of the road.
The cows are another danger here. Every morning on the way to work I also have to watch for cows. They graze freely on the sides of the roads here.
Then if it is raining and foggy, driving conditions are so much worse. Especially in the hills going to the office. The hills are usually blanketed with a thick fog.
But on the days it is sunny, the view is spectacular. You can see for miles and miles in the valleys and hills. I almost stop every morning when I pass through this certain point on my drive to work. It is breathtaking.
The girls are good. This is their first full week of school. On Tuesday, Sofia was sad and didn’t want me to go. But for the past two days she has been okay. I think it is partly because they were with me nonstop for the first month. Sienna just plops right down and starts coloring. They are going to start ballet classes. Apparently, there was a demo at school and they really want to do it now- Sienna and Sofia call it ballellet. And now they want to wear tutus.
It has been really hard this past week and a half knowing Gary is so sick. I want to be there with Mom but know that if we come, we can only stay for a little while. So, I am trying to wait as long as I can. There has been an outpouring of love and support here from staff and friends. They are very concerned. The girls know PawPaw is sick and we talk about it in the evenings.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
Daily life
I just got the girls into bed and figured I should write on the blog some since it has been a few days. It was soooo hot today here. We were pretty miserable in the house since there isn’t air conditioner. We swam in the pool in the morning and then it started getting too hot to be outside. Later in the day we went to KFC and got some ice cream and then to the grocery store- just really to get out of the house and the heat. And we didn’t have water today. They were working on the lines or something. And when it came back on, it wasn’t very clear- I think it was just lots of air in it but I was still a little leery to drink it. The water in this area is safe to drink. We have also been having lots of power outages lately. What can I say- this is Africa.
We didn’t do too much all weekend. Yesterday, the girls and I went to the mall to look for some baby things for the gardener’s, Emmanuel, new baby girl. They don’t have much money so I wanted to get them a few little sleepers. He makes $12 a day.
Mavis, the housekeeper, also has a little 5 month old- Junior. I got him a little outfit, too.
Sofia is better. She was sick all last week with a pretty bad sinus infection. I was worried I would have to take her back tomorrow if it didn’t get better. But finally the antibiotics beat the infection. I don’t have insurance here yet. It may still be several months before I get it because you have a 3 month waiting period. But I took her to this doctor who works out of her home. She doesn’t charge much.
Apart from Sofia being sick, it has been a tough week knowing Gary is so sick and all that the family is going through there in Arkansas. Sofia and Sienna know that Gary is very sick and they pray for him. It is so sweet.
Then all you see in the paper and on the news is the desperation in Haiti. Such a sad situation there.
Otherwise, we are fine here. The girls started school on Friday. I picked them up early so they wouldn’t have to stay all day their first day. They like their school. Their teacher’s name is Yanci.
One other little story before turn the computer off….On Friday I went to a grocery store near the office. I haven’t gone in there before because there are always so many people standing around outside and it doesn’t look to safe. But Nunu was with me and she knows many people in the area. I was checking out and I noticed this HUGE spider hanging over the heads of the cashiers. It was so big, I thought it was fake. But it wasn’t. Finally, some guy came with a piece of cardboard and knocked it down. And it started running. It looked like a HUGE brown recluse but I don’t think they get that big. Just goes to show how different the standards are here in the grocery stores. You never know what you are going to see of find.
We didn’t do too much all weekend. Yesterday, the girls and I went to the mall to look for some baby things for the gardener’s, Emmanuel, new baby girl. They don’t have much money so I wanted to get them a few little sleepers. He makes $12 a day.
Mavis, the housekeeper, also has a little 5 month old- Junior. I got him a little outfit, too.
Sofia is better. She was sick all last week with a pretty bad sinus infection. I was worried I would have to take her back tomorrow if it didn’t get better. But finally the antibiotics beat the infection. I don’t have insurance here yet. It may still be several months before I get it because you have a 3 month waiting period. But I took her to this doctor who works out of her home. She doesn’t charge much.
Apart from Sofia being sick, it has been a tough week knowing Gary is so sick and all that the family is going through there in Arkansas. Sofia and Sienna know that Gary is very sick and they pray for him. It is so sweet.
Then all you see in the paper and on the news is the desperation in Haiti. Such a sad situation there.
Otherwise, we are fine here. The girls started school on Friday. I picked them up early so they wouldn’t have to stay all day their first day. They like their school. Their teacher’s name is Yanci.
One other little story before turn the computer off….On Friday I went to a grocery store near the office. I haven’t gone in there before because there are always so many people standing around outside and it doesn’t look to safe. But Nunu was with me and she knows many people in the area. I was checking out and I noticed this HUGE spider hanging over the heads of the cashiers. It was so big, I thought it was fake. But it wasn’t. Finally, some guy came with a piece of cardboard and knocked it down. And it started running. It looked like a HUGE brown recluse but I don’t think they get that big. Just goes to show how different the standards are here in the grocery stores. You never know what you are going to see of find.
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