Winding Down

Tomorrow we leave for the good ol' USA. Finally! I can't wait to see my boys! All three of them.

We leave at 11:15pm on a direct flight to DC. We finished our last set of meetings today. Finally no presentations. Afterward we had a very late lunch at the hotel restaurant situated on the water. I had grilled tilapia (the whole fish, head and all!), jolof rice and a bitter lemon drink. It was fantastic.

Here is me (no, I'm not drunk-just a bad picture)


A view of the beach from one of the hotel restuarants



A little lunch friend (these lizards like to hang at the pool too)



See/talk to you soon!

Love you!

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Ghana

We left Dakar at 3 am this morning and we arrived in Accra Ghana at 8 am. The hotel we are staying in is modest but there is a pool and it is on the ocean.

We had a very busy weekend visiting villages where the whole village (at least 40 people) came to meet us. It's overwhelming and undeserved but it's interesting. These villages farm for their own consumption and now farm crops to sell. They farm maize (corn), millet, peanuts, and some vegetables like peppers, cabbage and lettuce. The women are amazing and do everything from farming, caring for children, cooking, cleaning, and they are learning to read and write. And I thought I was busy. Hardly.

My feet are covered in mosquito bites and my stomach is off and on quesy but not bad. Others have had more severe stomach issues. Cross my fingers I will remain well.

From Dakar to Accra via Banjul (the Gambia - yes, Jason it is a country) we flew Air Nigeria. That is my first and last time flying that airline.

We are here until Friday and I can't wait to go home. I wish it was today.

Live and miss you!

Hotel in Accra



My favorite tree in Senegal, baobab tree-they make candy and drinks from it.



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Senegal

We left Kenya on Wednesday for Senegal. I really saw nothing of Kenya but my hotel which was really great. We stayed at Tribe Hotel if you want to google it.

I think Senegal might just be my very favorite place in Africa. Here is our hotel and view from my room.





Leo and Aidan you would love it here at the hotel! The pool is awesome. I think the reason I like Senegal so much because it's on the water. I was feeling a little tired and down on the way here but being by the water was just the uplift I needed.

My room is terrific. Obviously the view, I have 1.5 baths, it's big, and they brought me a mid-day snack of water, fresh fruit and some like applesauce but with mire exotic fruits.

On Thursday we went to a market and it was interesting for about 20 minutes and then it became exhausting. There are people everywhere trying to get you to buy their goods. They would say 'pretty lady, come and look in my shop', 'looking is free, you come here', 'you promised to look in my shop', 'i give you good price'...and at the end of the day they didn't want to give a foreigner a good price and i didn't buy a thing. i just couldn't take it anymore.

Tomorrow we go outside of Dakar to visit some farms and then we leave Dakar at sunday night/Monday morning. All i can say is Mon Dieu.

Love to all

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Spirit Week

This week is Spirit Week at Aidan and Leo's school. Today is crazy hair or hat day. Our kids went with crazy hair!

Leo's been dying to spike his hair up and wear it to school! Viola!

Aidan's hair always looks beautiful because he has luscious locks! -- which I proudly take credit for. It's a Foster thang!




Word big bird!




Yesterday was pajama day which they loved and Tuesday was twin day. Aidan and his friend Max dressed alike.

This is the first year we've really been into spirit week. It's fun!

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Happy Birthday Grandpa Russ

Ooops! We meant....

 We love you and hope you have a super great day!!!

Kindergarten Field Trip

Yesterday Leo's class went on a field trip to Homestead Farms to pick pumpkins. I was selected as one of the parents who got to help. We had such a great time!

On the bus...


Arriving at the farm...


On the straw ride...apparently it's not hay it's straw don't cha know...


Picking the perfect pumpkin...


I had 4 really great kids with me. I was so lucky to have one of my friends' daughters in my group, Emma. It is a lot of work keeping four kindergarteners together and having fun. My kids were SO, SO good. I told them how proud I was of them and what a good job the did listening and staying together.

I always made my four stick close together because I was NOT going to be THAT parent. The one who lost a child (there was a girl who got separated from her parent and class!) but we found her.

I had great fun and again was awed and inspired by teachers, especially Kindergarten teachers!

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Driving home from beach weekend

Sadly, we left the beach and are on our way back to reality. It takes about 4 hours to get from Virginia Beach to Rockville. Here is a glimpse of our ride:

Such a good driver...


Living the dream on his birthday


Crashing in the car...


Blogging ...


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Sand Sculptures

Neptune Festival Sand Sculptures



First place teams


First Place Solo









Awesomeness


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Sunrise on Aidan's 9th Birthday

At Virginia Beach...



Happy Birthday to Aidan!

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Virginia Beach

The boys got out of school early and we headed down to Virgin Beach to celebrate Aidan's birthday on Sunday and Uncle Marc's Birthday on Saturday.

We left at noon, stopped in Fredricksburg for lunch and still we didn't get here until 6 pm. Despite leaving early we still ran into a ton of traffic. It is always a puzzler to me when we leave so early in the day and run into so much traffic. I mean, aren't people supposed to be at work.

Still, even though we didn't arrive until 6pm we got our swimsuits on and headed down to the beach. I LOVE, LOVE the water.












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Leo's first soccer practice

Leo had his first soccer practice of the season. He just loved it. He's fast, has good control of the ball and the best part is he loves it!

He scored 6 or 7 goals--we stopped counting and one of his sweet teammates kept telling him "good job Leo!" He is so cute running up and down the field with a humongous smile on his face and so proud.

Here is our little speedster (in the colors of the Dutch national team):










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Jack

Here is a picture of our new love!



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New Cousin Jack

Aidan, Leo, Ethan and Riley have a new cousin, Jack Michael Peryam. He was born at 4:39 this morning (AK time). He weighs 8 pounds, 1 ounce and he is 20.5" long. He has blonde hair and blue eyes. Oh boy, is he ever going to be loved by many!

I'll post a picture as soon as I can. I'm so thrilled I can barely stand myself! I'm an Auntie for the third time.

Rushell kindly started a blog to share information about her and Jack's lives in AK. The link is on the side bar to the right!

1st Day of School

Well the day finally came-the end of summer and the beginning of the new school year.

Aidan started 3rd grade and Leo started kindergarten. Leo got the teacher we hoped for, Mrs. Stewart. She was Aidan's kindergarten teacher whom we adored.

Last night we let the boys choose the menu for their last night of summer vacation meal. Not surprisingly we had papa johns pizza and ice cream sundaes. Our friend Tina came over to celebrate the last night of summer vacation and we challenged her to bit of Wii dance party. She rocks the Katy Perry songs!

This morning the boys were up at around 7am got dressed in some new school clothes and we took a few pictures. Breakfast was a bit thin for both of them due to nerves but they were both in high spirits.

Doggy snuck away to school in Leo's backpack. When we arrived at school Leo got right in line with his class. You could tell he was a bit nervous because he got quiet and his face was serious but no tears and he was ready to go. He has dropped off and picked up Aidan from school for 3 years now, I think he was happy to get to do it all on his own this year too. Aidan wanted Jason to walk him to his classroom and when he arrived he had a few tears due to the nerves but marched into class like a real trooper. We are so lucky that his best friend William is in his class too and about 4 or 5 friends from soccer are also in his class!

Mom on the other hand had lots of tears when we left school. I know that Leo is more than ready for school but I still find it very sad for all that it represents, growing up, independence, separation, years if schooling ahead, etc. They have done amazing and we couldn't be more proud but the tears are flowing today. I'm at work for a few hours trying to keep distracted then will go home for pickup! I really can't wait!











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DC Earthquake

You may have heard that we got shook with a 5.9 earthquake today at around 2pm.  I just wanted to let you all know that we are fine.  Our cell phones aren't working too well right now so if you are trying to reach us, the home number is the best way. 

At the Park

I've been working at home a bit since we got back from Seattle. I have an assignment that just requires a lot of reading and concentration. I basically lock myself in the basement.

Yesterday Jason took the boys to the park yesterday afternoon so they could play and let off some steam. It worked because for the first time since we got back from Seattle the boys were asleep by 9pm. Phew!!

Two guys!


Leo in a web!


Aidan way up high!


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Bigger Bikes

Okay, now that we have mastered two wheel biking, the boys completely out grew their bikes. We had no reason to invest in bigger bikes if they could not ride them.

Now that Aidan and Leo are bikers they need proper bikes. So we got Aidan a much bigger bike and Leo got Aidan's bike which was frankly practically new. (of course we fully understand that Leo can not always be getting hand me down bikes!)

Here they are, in all their glory:

Aidan


Leo



Don't they look so grown up???

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Stampin' Up Cards by Amy & Leo

I realize I should probably be putting up pictures of our trip to Seattle but that requires much more organization and time than I have!

While we were in Seattle we had a Stampin' Up card making party by our own, very talented Ellen Wright! Check out her website link on the right...we made 5 superduper cute cards (Doris, H, Symantha, and Barb with our cheerleaders Mom and Joan).

Using the techniques I learned from Ellen, Leo and I made cards. His turned out way cuter than mine! He picked the colors, patterns and stamped and cut. Okay...I tied the ribbon...

Leo's


Amy's



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Homemade Ice Cream

Do you think scrambled egg flavored ice cream would be good? I don't! I'm trying to make homemade vanilla ice cream but it smells like scrambled eggs. You have to cook milk with 2 eggs and sugar until it is a thin pudding consistency. I stirred my mixture for about 45 minutes and it never turned into a thin pudding consistency it went straight to scrambling my eggs. I strained the mixture but it still smells like scrambled eggs. I'm going to put in the cream and vanilla mixture, cool it and see what happens. Sadly, Jason just bought vanilla ice cream at Trader Joe's and it taste pretty damn good. Why am I doing this?

To be continued...

Success! We have two boys that don't need training wheels

Aidan and Leo both set their minds to learning how to ride their bikes with no training wheels and we had super success!
It started out a little iffy after they first tried it on Thursday. They were whining that it was too hard, that they couldn't do it, and that they were tired. I gave them a pep talk and told them that they had to have a positive attitude, that everything they did the first time was hard and that they have to keep practicing. And once they got it, they wouldn't even have to think about it. That day, I proclaimed that they would be able to ride their bikes without training wheels by the end of the 4th of July holiday weekend!

They didn't prove me a liar! By Friday, Aidan changed his whole attitude. When I said "you guys are going to be able to ride your bikes!" Aidan yelled "yeah!!" and guess what?? they did it! Leo's attitude changed by about Sunday but we went out everyday to practice. Their bikes are a little small for them but they mastered it! And their mother and father high-fived because we achieved another huge hurtle in parenting. It's up their with potty training, reading, and eating with a fork!

The look great on their bikes!

Preschool Graduation

Friday, June 3rd was Leo's preschool graduation. We were all so excited, even Leo. At home we had been doing cheers and chants in preparation. Leo was so proud but not sure what it all meant. Aidan got to stay home from school to attend because we think it's a big deal and wanted Leo to have the support of his whole family. Aidan was excited to see Leo's school because he'd never been and has asked about it numerous times.

When we first arrived Leo was happily playing puzzles with a couple of his teachers and other students. Then it hit, they had to line up and march across the classroom and sit in front of dozens of parents and siblings. He did not like that! He cried when they were lining up and his teachers were trying to console him but he didn't like all the fan fare and attention. Still he put on the little cap and marched out, crying, and sat down in the chair. One little girl said loudly "why is leo crying?!" It was heart breaking. He was crying, and gasping for breath and he shut his eyes and sat until he was calm. I almost thought he was sleeping. I wanted go up and grab him and say "you don't have to participate in this! Who cares anyway, let's go home and have ice cream and celebrate!" When they handed out the diploma's they were supposed to walk up and shake the assistant principal's hand and take their certificate. The principle just bent down and handed Leo his. Thank goodness.

But he made it through. I'm not sure if he is better for it but he did it. Some times I don't know why we have to do these things. I guess sometimes you just don't know how they will react and other times they are important moments. I know how he and Aidan both feel about this kind of stuff. I don't like it at all.

On Sunday, Aidan had one of this last soccer games and afterwards the team and the parents went out for pizza. It was nice but those types of events are really hard for me too. I don't feel comfortable in these situations either. I think about them a lot afterwards and later I feel completely exhausted and drained. Jason is amazing. You could drop him in the middle of a room with 20 strangers and he could stay for 2 hours talking. It's really a gift. A gift, I think he gets from his mom.

I'm really not ready for Leo to go to Kindergarten. He's ready but I am not. Check back with me at the end of summer.

Leo and his preschool teachers: Ms. Alayna, Ms. Emma and Ms. Pokeress