30 April update: Of course, we are making connections with folks either in Lome or heading there. I've been e-mailing with the principal of AISL for many months and the new RSO is currently taking French at FSI. The new DCM (who arrives in Lome a couple weeks before we do) will be starting French soon and we've of course been going back and forth with the CLO, Housing and other sections.
I'd written an e-mail to the principal earlier this week, knowing that until phone lines were restored she wouldn't receive it. Basically, it was an inquiry into the safety of the school, the students and of course, herself. Today I received a response outlining the past week:
"Yes, the cell and land phones and the Internet were down as all communications were cut off by the government. We are just getting back to normal as best we can. A short scenario- Saturday-school across the street from my house attacked, ramsacked and looted, Sunday-Elections, Monday School closed, Tuesday I opened the school thinking the election outcome would take days to be announced-wrong. The annoucements came at noon-parents picked up the students. Automatic gunfire everywhere, fires blocked every intersection and tear-gas in the air. At 4:00 p.m. remaining staff and students left the school for the teacher's boarding house. Didn't feel safe there as house across the street attacked and looted. Drove in teacher's car with 3 remaining students and 3 staff for the German Embassy where we stayed overnight. Wed-students were taken home at noon and I returned to my house ... Teachers left for home or for Ghana on Thursday. Thursday and Friday-school closed. Hope to open school on Monday."
The good news, of course, is that all are OK.
Recap: Elections were held this past Sunday and a new President has been elected. According to the polls, Faure Gnassingbe won with a respectable 60% of the vote, while the runner up, Bob Akitani, scored 38% of the vote. So Mr. Faure, the former President's son, has been elected. He's being very gracious about it, extending his hand and asking the loser to join in a "government of national unity." The only problem is that the opposition believes the election was rigged. Violence is erupting in the streets, 11 people are reported dead, And Mr. Akitani is now declaring himself President too.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4488849.stm
To reiterate what Ian wrote: Post has been placed on Authorized Departure. What does that mean? Non-essential personnel and family members who want to leave, can. And new people can't arrive at post. It's early so we don't yet know how this will affect us in July. Until then, we live our lives as though we're off to Togo on August 31st, and hope that the country calms itself in the meantime.
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
Not ToGoing well...
It's post-election time in Lome.
If you haven't been keeping track: The longtime dictator died a few months ago, and his son was installed in his place, flouting the constitution. The African Union made a fuss, the Togolese military relented, and elections occurred Sunday.
Despite a unified opposition candidate, the dictator's son won by a 20 percent margin. The US Embassy and neighboring countries had some observers there, so I'll leave the "free and fair election" decision to them. But I bet if you guess, you'll guess right. Now the angry people of Lome, which are largely of a different ethnic group than the dictator's clan, are tearing up the place in frustration. Most of the Lebanese traders have left, and the Chinese Embassy was attacked.
We're supposed to leave for Lome on 31 August. Where does this leave us? Well, the Embassy is now on Authorized Depature for family members, which means that the USG will pay the tab for any family who wants to leave. There's also a curfew. It's all here, in the State Department's latest Travel Warning.
Here's the latest news.
If you haven't been keeping track: The longtime dictator died a few months ago, and his son was installed in his place, flouting the constitution. The African Union made a fuss, the Togolese military relented, and elections occurred Sunday.
Despite a unified opposition candidate, the dictator's son won by a 20 percent margin. The US Embassy and neighboring countries had some observers there, so I'll leave the "free and fair election" decision to them. But I bet if you guess, you'll guess right. Now the angry people of Lome, which are largely of a different ethnic group than the dictator's clan, are tearing up the place in frustration. Most of the Lebanese traders have left, and the Chinese Embassy was attacked.
We're supposed to leave for Lome on 31 August. Where does this leave us? Well, the Embassy is now on Authorized Depature for family members, which means that the USG will pay the tab for any family who wants to leave. There's also a curfew. It's all here, in the State Department's latest Travel Warning.
Here's the latest news.
Monday, April 25, 2005
Tv turn-off week
We're endeavoring, at least for the kids/daytime, to have no TV or computer games for the week. Today was day 1 and it went well with daddy playing Monopoly Jr. with the boys and Multiplication War with Katherine. All the kids had baths, Rebecca and I scrapped, and we read lots of bedtime stories. During the day, the boys listened to stories on CD (a birthday gift for Nicholas from the grandparents) while playing Legos for hours. Of course, it's also grocery day and housekeeping day, so there's no time to be bored.
One thing I wasn't thrilled with... _Eloise_. This book has won awards and "people" love it. I do not. I didn't enjoy reading it, and the kids didn't enjoy hearing it because of my dislike. I couldn't get over what a brat the kid was, and then you have to read the book in one long breath because there's absolutely no punctuation. Yes. I get it. Stream of conscious, jumping from one activity to the next, ignoring what a pain you're being... it's all normal for a 6 year old. But goodness, I found myself checking how many pages were left for me to suffer through. Twice. Nicholas got up and walked away. Jonathon asked how much more there was. We won't be reading it again and good riddance.
OK, it's late and I haven't written anything about the past two weekends. I promise I will, just not tonight. We went to the American History Museum, the Air and Space Museum and the Maryland Science Center, so we've been busy.
One thing I wasn't thrilled with... _Eloise_. This book has won awards and "people" love it. I do not. I didn't enjoy reading it, and the kids didn't enjoy hearing it because of my dislike. I couldn't get over what a brat the kid was, and then you have to read the book in one long breath because there's absolutely no punctuation. Yes. I get it. Stream of conscious, jumping from one activity to the next, ignoring what a pain you're being... it's all normal for a 6 year old. But goodness, I found myself checking how many pages were left for me to suffer through. Twice. Nicholas got up and walked away. Jonathon asked how much more there was. We won't be reading it again and good riddance.
OK, it's late and I haven't written anything about the past two weekends. I promise I will, just not tonight. We went to the American History Museum, the Air and Space Museum and the Maryland Science Center, so we've been busy.
Something in the Air
I don't know what's up, but the boys have been getting along so well. Several times the past few days, Nicholas has quietly said just so Jonathon could hear (and mom overheard while puttering around), "You're fun to play with, Jonathon." He really means it. And they have been playing great. Oh sure, there are tussles now and then, but they've been great.
Today I got cranky at Jonathon for not listening to me (again) and sent him off to his room (again). Nicholas pulled out a piece of paper and a marker. "Mom, I'm going to make you a happy card." A happy card? "A card to make you happy." It had hearts and pictures of me and him smiling in the corners. Jonathon sidled out of his room and got his own piece of paper. "Mama, I'm going to make a card too." Commence coloring. "Here's a happy card for you. Happy that I don't have to be in my room anymore." It had me under a rainbow. See, that's how he gets away with things. I hadn't released him from his room and yet, how could I stay firm and send him back?
Yes, it does bite me in the butt every time. But gosh the boys are cute.
Today I got cranky at Jonathon for not listening to me (again) and sent him off to his room (again). Nicholas pulled out a piece of paper and a marker. "Mom, I'm going to make you a happy card." A happy card? "A card to make you happy." It had hearts and pictures of me and him smiling in the corners. Jonathon sidled out of his room and got his own piece of paper. "Mama, I'm going to make a card too." Commence coloring. "Here's a happy card for you. Happy that I don't have to be in my room anymore." It had me under a rainbow. See, that's how he gets away with things. I hadn't released him from his room and yet, how could I stay firm and send him back?
Yes, it does bite me in the butt every time. But gosh the boys are cute.
Friday, April 22, 2005
22 April 2005 - Togo
Lome, 22 April, IRIN:
Thousands of opposition supporters swathed in yellow took to the streets of Lome on Friday insisting that people power would remove the government, even if opposition candidate Emmanuel Bob Akitani were declared the loser of Sunday's presidential election.
Many of them carried knives, hammers and iron bars, a sign of possible trouble to come as Togo heads towards a hastily organised poll which one influential minister tried to cancel at the last moment. He voiced fears that it would plunge this small West African country into bloody conflict.
Flashing 'V' signs, blowing whistles and sharpening their machetes on the pavement, the opposition supporters were defiant and confident.
"Me, I am going to support my candidate because I want change and we are ready to die for our freedom," said one muscular man of about 30 brandishing a machete. He wore a yellow tee-shirt, a yellow bandana round his head and a yellow cloth wound round the wrist of his machete hand.
Other opposition supporters drove by on cars and mopeds waving green, yellow and red national flags.
Government supporters, who have clashed repeatedly with the opposition in street fighting in recent weeks, were nowhere to be seen.
"Suicidal electoral process"
Interior Minister Francois Esso Boko summoned journalists and diplomats for a press conference at 2 a.m. on Friday morning to announce that the presidential election should be suspended.
He called for a transitional government to be formed, headed by a figure from the opposition, to rule Togo for a period of one to two years while the country drew up a new constitution.
"It is essential that the President of the Republic takes into account the very real risks which are visible on the horizon by ending this suicidal electoral process," Esso Boko said.
"We have reliable information that there is a very real risk of a slide into bloodshed as a result of this poll whose outcome is uncertain," said the interior minister, former officer in the paramilitary gendarmerie, who was charged with maintaining internal security.
But a few hours later, Interim President Abass Bonfoh sacked Esso Boko and announced that the election would go ahead as planned.
The transitional leader said Esso Boko he had spoken without consulting him. He appointed Justice Minister Karari Foli-Bazi to take over the interior ministry on a provisional basis.
"The forces of order and security have taken the necessary measures for the presidential election to take place in calm and serenity. Public order will be maintained," Bonfoh said in a statement read out for him by Information Minister Pitang Tchalla.
The election is expected to be a straight fight between Faure Gnassingbe, the son of Togo's late president Gnassingbe Eyadema who died in February after ruling the country with an iron hand for 38 years, and Bob Akitani, who is backed by an alliance of six opposition parties determined to drive the Eyadema family from power.
However, neither side appeared willing on Friday to concede defeat, whatever the official result of the ballot.
Neither side will accept defeat
Esso Boko, a veteran supporter of Eyadema's regime, warned that the army would try to stage a coup if Gnassingbe were defeated at the polls and that the opposition would take to the streets to seize power through a popular uprising if Bob Akitani were denied victory.
"If on the evening after the elections they announce the victory of the candidate of the regime, things are going to go very badly indeed," Jean Pierre Fabre, the deputy leader of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC), the largest party in the opposition alliance, told IRIN on Friday.
The UFC leader and eminence grise behind the opposition campaign is Gilchrist Olympio. He was banned from standing as a candidate in the presidential election because he has been living in exile in France for several years.
The opposition packed about 10,000 people into the national stadium in Lome for a final campaign rally on Friday afternoon.
The alliance has been calling for several weeks for the presidential election to be postponed, fearing that it will be rigged by the government and Eyadema's ruling Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party in favour of the deceased president's son.
But Bob Akitani told his supporters at the rally that unless the poll was cancelled at the last moment, they should go out and vote.
"You must seek your freedom, you must seek your independence by turning out massively to vote on Sunday," he said.
The opposition has accused the government of preparing rig the poll in favour of Gnassingbe by packing the electoral roll with false names and preventing thousands of opposition supporters from being issued with voting cards.
ECOWAS says poll must go ahead
Bonfoh's decision to proceed with the controversial poll was backed by President Mamadou Tandja of Niger, the current chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Tandja described Esso Boko's attempt to try to abort the vote at the last minute as "irresponsible."
ECOWAS was instrumental in bringing about the presidential election in the first place. After Eyadema's death on 5 February, the army installed his son as head of state in defiance of the constitution.
However, ECOWAS, backed by the African Union, United Nations and all the main western powers, forced Gnassingbe to step down three weeks later and seek election through the ballot box.
Gnassingbe's slick and well-financed campaign has daubed Lome with massive campaign posters and his campaign slots appear constantly on television.
His heartland of support lies in northern Togo, where his father's Kabiye ethnic group lives.
Gnassingbe closed his campaign there with a rally in Kara, the main town in northern Togo, 400 km north of the capital.
He urged his supporters not to be put off by Esso Boko's sudden change of heart about the election "What has happened should not unnerve you," Gnassingbe said in a speech broadcast on national radio.
"Should we be afraid of elections which we are sure to win?" he asked, dismissing suggestions that Togo was headed for civil war.
In recent weeks, the Gnassingbe campaign has managed to assemble large crowds of supporters in the seaside capital Lome, but his supporters there decided to stay at home on Friday, leaving the opposition to rule the streets.
"This is the yellow revolution," said Chile Adobo, a spokesman for the alliance backing Bob Akitani.
"We will no longer allow ourselves to be trampled upon by the regime….Faure cannot win. It is just not possible. Victory belongs to us," he told IRIN.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f5027f54c34c18b8d7b030fca3e9aeac.htm
Thousands of opposition supporters swathed in yellow took to the streets of Lome on Friday insisting that people power would remove the government, even if opposition candidate Emmanuel Bob Akitani were declared the loser of Sunday's presidential election.
Many of them carried knives, hammers and iron bars, a sign of possible trouble to come as Togo heads towards a hastily organised poll which one influential minister tried to cancel at the last moment. He voiced fears that it would plunge this small West African country into bloody conflict.
Flashing 'V' signs, blowing whistles and sharpening their machetes on the pavement, the opposition supporters were defiant and confident.
"Me, I am going to support my candidate because I want change and we are ready to die for our freedom," said one muscular man of about 30 brandishing a machete. He wore a yellow tee-shirt, a yellow bandana round his head and a yellow cloth wound round the wrist of his machete hand.
Other opposition supporters drove by on cars and mopeds waving green, yellow and red national flags.
Government supporters, who have clashed repeatedly with the opposition in street fighting in recent weeks, were nowhere to be seen.
"Suicidal electoral process"
Interior Minister Francois Esso Boko summoned journalists and diplomats for a press conference at 2 a.m. on Friday morning to announce that the presidential election should be suspended.
He called for a transitional government to be formed, headed by a figure from the opposition, to rule Togo for a period of one to two years while the country drew up a new constitution.
"It is essential that the President of the Republic takes into account the very real risks which are visible on the horizon by ending this suicidal electoral process," Esso Boko said.
"We have reliable information that there is a very real risk of a slide into bloodshed as a result of this poll whose outcome is uncertain," said the interior minister, former officer in the paramilitary gendarmerie, who was charged with maintaining internal security.
But a few hours later, Interim President Abass Bonfoh sacked Esso Boko and announced that the election would go ahead as planned.
The transitional leader said Esso Boko he had spoken without consulting him. He appointed Justice Minister Karari Foli-Bazi to take over the interior ministry on a provisional basis.
"The forces of order and security have taken the necessary measures for the presidential election to take place in calm and serenity. Public order will be maintained," Bonfoh said in a statement read out for him by Information Minister Pitang Tchalla.
The election is expected to be a straight fight between Faure Gnassingbe, the son of Togo's late president Gnassingbe Eyadema who died in February after ruling the country with an iron hand for 38 years, and Bob Akitani, who is backed by an alliance of six opposition parties determined to drive the Eyadema family from power.
However, neither side appeared willing on Friday to concede defeat, whatever the official result of the ballot.
Neither side will accept defeat
Esso Boko, a veteran supporter of Eyadema's regime, warned that the army would try to stage a coup if Gnassingbe were defeated at the polls and that the opposition would take to the streets to seize power through a popular uprising if Bob Akitani were denied victory.
"If on the evening after the elections they announce the victory of the candidate of the regime, things are going to go very badly indeed," Jean Pierre Fabre, the deputy leader of the Union of Forces for Change (UFC), the largest party in the opposition alliance, told IRIN on Friday.
The UFC leader and eminence grise behind the opposition campaign is Gilchrist Olympio. He was banned from standing as a candidate in the presidential election because he has been living in exile in France for several years.
The opposition packed about 10,000 people into the national stadium in Lome for a final campaign rally on Friday afternoon.
The alliance has been calling for several weeks for the presidential election to be postponed, fearing that it will be rigged by the government and Eyadema's ruling Rally of the Togolese People (RPT) party in favour of the deceased president's son.
But Bob Akitani told his supporters at the rally that unless the poll was cancelled at the last moment, they should go out and vote.
"You must seek your freedom, you must seek your independence by turning out massively to vote on Sunday," he said.
The opposition has accused the government of preparing rig the poll in favour of Gnassingbe by packing the electoral roll with false names and preventing thousands of opposition supporters from being issued with voting cards.
ECOWAS says poll must go ahead
Bonfoh's decision to proceed with the controversial poll was backed by President Mamadou Tandja of Niger, the current chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).
Tandja described Esso Boko's attempt to try to abort the vote at the last minute as "irresponsible."
ECOWAS was instrumental in bringing about the presidential election in the first place. After Eyadema's death on 5 February, the army installed his son as head of state in defiance of the constitution.
However, ECOWAS, backed by the African Union, United Nations and all the main western powers, forced Gnassingbe to step down three weeks later and seek election through the ballot box.
Gnassingbe's slick and well-financed campaign has daubed Lome with massive campaign posters and his campaign slots appear constantly on television.
His heartland of support lies in northern Togo, where his father's Kabiye ethnic group lives.
Gnassingbe closed his campaign there with a rally in Kara, the main town in northern Togo, 400 km north of the capital.
He urged his supporters not to be put off by Esso Boko's sudden change of heart about the election "What has happened should not unnerve you," Gnassingbe said in a speech broadcast on national radio.
"Should we be afraid of elections which we are sure to win?" he asked, dismissing suggestions that Togo was headed for civil war.
In recent weeks, the Gnassingbe campaign has managed to assemble large crowds of supporters in the seaside capital Lome, but his supporters there decided to stay at home on Friday, leaving the opposition to rule the streets.
"This is the yellow revolution," said Chile Adobo, a spokesman for the alliance backing Bob Akitani.
"We will no longer allow ourselves to be trampled upon by the regime….Faure cannot win. It is just not possible. Victory belongs to us," he told IRIN.
http://www.alertnet.org/thenews/newsdesk/IRIN/f5027f54c34c18b8d7b030fca3e9aeac.htm
Thursday, April 21, 2005
The third kid has attained school age
Happy Birthday, Nicholas!
Yesterday the big guy turned 5. He's been waiting for this day since Katherine had her birthday and last week we made up a countdown chart for the wall. He crossed off each passing day, picked out his birthday cake, chose paper plates and wondered every day what he would receive as gifts. OK, the last one I'm not so proud of, but what can you do? The boxes arrived a week ago and since then they've been on top of the TV cabinet. This place isn't big enough for us to really hide anything so he had to deal with being teased by their presence every day.
Finally, the dawn of the 20th arrived. Shortly after 6 I shooed him back to his room. For a kid that wakes up around 7 these days, 6 was way early for him to be wandering. Besides, we'd set up a preschool scavenger hunt (an idea I stole from elsewhere) to find his gifts and I didn't want him moving things around. Around 7 when everyone was awake, he was allowed to move the cereal box from blocking his bedroom door. In fact, he put it back on the kitchen counter where a DVD was waiting. Looking confused, he put that back on the movie shelf where one of my shoes was sitting. The shoe went in the pile, Katherine's reading light went back on her nightstand, the pot moved back to its cupboard and the bug vaccum returned to the bug house. And in the cupboard under the bug house were his gifts. The night before the girls disappeared off to Target with daddy to purchase gifts as well so he had quite a pile. An action figure of Anakin Skywalker, a big bouncy Spiderman ball, a toy Spiderman camera, a Spiderman game joystick and a tape player. Somehow I completely missed on the Amazon site that the camera wasn't real! How did that happen? It doesn't seem to bother him though, it flashes and makes noise and what else does a little kid really want?
A quick breakfast and we dropped the girls off school. The playground across the street has finally opened so I promised that we'd pick the girls up from early release and play there for a bit in the afternoon. Dropped Ian off at FSI then picked up the birthday cake at Heidelburg Pastry Shop on Lee Hwy. It looks and smells so good in there, but does anyone really pay $4 for a cookie? Granted it's a lovely cookie, but $4? I don't even ask how much the chocolates are. They don't have prices on them.
We dropped the cake off in the fridge then attended storytime at B&N. It was held outdoors because most of the county was out of power which made intersections interesting. Generators kept the construction going so it was difficult to hear over all the noise, but we listened and then hopped right into the car (for the first time, we drove to B&N and I did miss the nice walk) to go to Annandale. Nicholas had asked for McDs for his birthday lunch and who better to have it with than grandma? She even splurged on fudge sundaes. Nicholas did say several times "I don't feel 5". As mom, I can definitely say he looks 5. He also said several times "I wish I was 6". As mom, I can definitely say I'm glad he isn't.
We were back in Arlington with about 20 minutes to spare beofre school got out. The boys got dirty in the playground sand pit and sweaty on the spiderweb before the girls joined us and we made sandcastles and sand food. Ah, the joys of sand. Can't wait to go to the beach in August.
Katherine still isn't feeling well as her cold lingers and laryngitis sets in, so after brushing off pounds of sand, we came home for homework and some down time. Rebecca's class is working on Time and the "igh" combo, Katherine's class is focussing on recycling and multiplication tables.
A box arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon that will help Rebecca and the boys quite a bit. Watches for all four of them from campmor.com, for about $5/each the boys' watches have labeled watch hands with an outer ring of numbers for the specific minute times. This morning Nicholas looked at his watch and said "It's almost 8" and right he was. We've been working on time for over a week and it's slow going but he's definitely getting it.
After dinner of fish sticks and farfalle (butterfly) noodles (another Nicholas request), the whole family watched the twins play baseball at the park next to the library. The weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed watching so live sport before getting back home to wait for Jeff. He came over to have some cake and he brought gifts for all the kids. I had been hanging on to music tapes for, well, at least a decade past the time I actually listened to music tapes. During the past couple moves, they have all been disposed of. And now, all the kids have tape players for use in the car. Well, Jeff was so kind as to go through his old stashes and let us have such classics as the theme to the Ghostbusters and FootLoose, along with Cyndi Lauper and Weird Al. All tapes that the kids will love to listen to, especially on our drive to the midwest later this year.
When the baseball game was done, the twins and their parents came by to share in cake as well. Izumi and Dan were in Manila will us and they're off to Beijing this summer. They brought Nicholas gifts as well and totally floored Nicholas with Spiderman legos. Over this past weekend Nicholas found a small set of legos that I had as a kid and literally spent hours playing with them. My parents have bought him a huge set that he'll receive this coming weekend and I just know that he will be beside himself. We've never had real legos and I'm almost as excited as the boys are. He also received a floor puzzle of the States which I am completely thrilled with. We put it together today and talked about our trip this summer. We'll be doing a week on the States this summer (so the girls can do it too) and this map will be great.
No one got to bed before 9 but until the last few minutes no one was cranky about it either.
I just can't believe he's 5. He's learning to read and write, tell time and draw great pictures. He can tie his shoes and gets himself completely washed and dressed. He makes his bed better than his sisters. Earlier this week I'd asked him to organize the art corner, basically just stacking up papers and putting the makers away. He pulled out all the construction paper and organized it by whole sheets and scraps, and then by color. He folds clothes from the laundry pile, carries his stuffed dog everywhere, still stuffs his pockets full of treasures, and loves spinach, mushrooms and pickles. He adores Katherine, tolerates Rebecca and is Jonathon's best friend. He is so sensitive and I love having him home with me where he's outgoing and doesn't have a malicious bone in his body (except, sometimes, when Jonathon is on his last nerve, but then that's not really malice is it?). He's such a wonderful kid, and I just can't believe he's 5.
Yesterday the big guy turned 5. He's been waiting for this day since Katherine had her birthday and last week we made up a countdown chart for the wall. He crossed off each passing day, picked out his birthday cake, chose paper plates and wondered every day what he would receive as gifts. OK, the last one I'm not so proud of, but what can you do? The boxes arrived a week ago and since then they've been on top of the TV cabinet. This place isn't big enough for us to really hide anything so he had to deal with being teased by their presence every day.
Finally, the dawn of the 20th arrived. Shortly after 6 I shooed him back to his room. For a kid that wakes up around 7 these days, 6 was way early for him to be wandering. Besides, we'd set up a preschool scavenger hunt (an idea I stole from elsewhere) to find his gifts and I didn't want him moving things around. Around 7 when everyone was awake, he was allowed to move the cereal box from blocking his bedroom door. In fact, he put it back on the kitchen counter where a DVD was waiting. Looking confused, he put that back on the movie shelf where one of my shoes was sitting. The shoe went in the pile, Katherine's reading light went back on her nightstand, the pot moved back to its cupboard and the bug vaccum returned to the bug house. And in the cupboard under the bug house were his gifts. The night before the girls disappeared off to Target with daddy to purchase gifts as well so he had quite a pile. An action figure of Anakin Skywalker, a big bouncy Spiderman ball, a toy Spiderman camera, a Spiderman game joystick and a tape player. Somehow I completely missed on the Amazon site that the camera wasn't real! How did that happen? It doesn't seem to bother him though, it flashes and makes noise and what else does a little kid really want?
A quick breakfast and we dropped the girls off school. The playground across the street has finally opened so I promised that we'd pick the girls up from early release and play there for a bit in the afternoon. Dropped Ian off at FSI then picked up the birthday cake at Heidelburg Pastry Shop on Lee Hwy. It looks and smells so good in there, but does anyone really pay $4 for a cookie? Granted it's a lovely cookie, but $4? I don't even ask how much the chocolates are. They don't have prices on them.
We dropped the cake off in the fridge then attended storytime at B&N. It was held outdoors because most of the county was out of power which made intersections interesting. Generators kept the construction going so it was difficult to hear over all the noise, but we listened and then hopped right into the car (for the first time, we drove to B&N and I did miss the nice walk) to go to Annandale. Nicholas had asked for McDs for his birthday lunch and who better to have it with than grandma? She even splurged on fudge sundaes. Nicholas did say several times "I don't feel 5". As mom, I can definitely say he looks 5. He also said several times "I wish I was 6". As mom, I can definitely say I'm glad he isn't.
We were back in Arlington with about 20 minutes to spare beofre school got out. The boys got dirty in the playground sand pit and sweaty on the spiderweb before the girls joined us and we made sandcastles and sand food. Ah, the joys of sand. Can't wait to go to the beach in August.
Katherine still isn't feeling well as her cold lingers and laryngitis sets in, so after brushing off pounds of sand, we came home for homework and some down time. Rebecca's class is working on Time and the "igh" combo, Katherine's class is focussing on recycling and multiplication tables.
A box arrived in the mail yesterday afternoon that will help Rebecca and the boys quite a bit. Watches for all four of them from campmor.com, for about $5/each the boys' watches have labeled watch hands with an outer ring of numbers for the specific minute times. This morning Nicholas looked at his watch and said "It's almost 8" and right he was. We've been working on time for over a week and it's slow going but he's definitely getting it.
After dinner of fish sticks and farfalle (butterfly) noodles (another Nicholas request), the whole family watched the twins play baseball at the park next to the library. The weather was gorgeous and we enjoyed watching so live sport before getting back home to wait for Jeff. He came over to have some cake and he brought gifts for all the kids. I had been hanging on to music tapes for, well, at least a decade past the time I actually listened to music tapes. During the past couple moves, they have all been disposed of. And now, all the kids have tape players for use in the car. Well, Jeff was so kind as to go through his old stashes and let us have such classics as the theme to the Ghostbusters and FootLoose, along with Cyndi Lauper and Weird Al. All tapes that the kids will love to listen to, especially on our drive to the midwest later this year.
When the baseball game was done, the twins and their parents came by to share in cake as well. Izumi and Dan were in Manila will us and they're off to Beijing this summer. They brought Nicholas gifts as well and totally floored Nicholas with Spiderman legos. Over this past weekend Nicholas found a small set of legos that I had as a kid and literally spent hours playing with them. My parents have bought him a huge set that he'll receive this coming weekend and I just know that he will be beside himself. We've never had real legos and I'm almost as excited as the boys are. He also received a floor puzzle of the States which I am completely thrilled with. We put it together today and talked about our trip this summer. We'll be doing a week on the States this summer (so the girls can do it too) and this map will be great.
No one got to bed before 9 but until the last few minutes no one was cranky about it either.
I just can't believe he's 5. He's learning to read and write, tell time and draw great pictures. He can tie his shoes and gets himself completely washed and dressed. He makes his bed better than his sisters. Earlier this week I'd asked him to organize the art corner, basically just stacking up papers and putting the makers away. He pulled out all the construction paper and organized it by whole sheets and scraps, and then by color. He folds clothes from the laundry pile, carries his stuffed dog everywhere, still stuffs his pockets full of treasures, and loves spinach, mushrooms and pickles. He adores Katherine, tolerates Rebecca and is Jonathon's best friend. He is so sensitive and I love having him home with me where he's outgoing and doesn't have a malicious bone in his body (except, sometimes, when Jonathon is on his last nerve, but then that's not really malice is it?). He's such a wonderful kid, and I just can't believe he's 5.
Tuesday, April 19, 2005
Of Popes and Flexcars
Cardinal Ratzinger has been elected the new Pope and has taken the name Benedict XVI.
He's German, conservative and was a very close friend to Pope John Paul II. Aside from that, I really know little else about him. I'm not thrilled with the choice, but then the Cardinals didn't exactly ask me either. In all honesty, I was hoping for a Pope from somewhere outside Europe. Ratzinger is 78 years old so chances are pretty good that I'll be around to see his successor.
In lesser world-altering news, today is Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day. Go and get some free ice cream. The boys and I went this morning right as it opened and I was surprised that they dole out full-sized single cones. They were so yummy. Nicholas chose mango citrus sorbet of some sort and it was so good, Jonathon had chocolate and I picked mint chocolate chunk. No wimpy chocolate chips in that ice cream.
Onour way home from Ben and Jerry's and Whole Foods (gotta have my hummus and if I don't have to make it, all the better), we passed yet another FlexCar. This one happened to be at an expired parking meter and received a ticket, but it's still cool how you can rent a hybrid car to hop around town, renting it for as little as an hour at a time. Some cities have their bicycles, we have hybrids. Way cool.
He's German, conservative and was a very close friend to Pope John Paul II. Aside from that, I really know little else about him. I'm not thrilled with the choice, but then the Cardinals didn't exactly ask me either. In all honesty, I was hoping for a Pope from somewhere outside Europe. Ratzinger is 78 years old so chances are pretty good that I'll be around to see his successor.
In lesser world-altering news, today is Ben and Jerry's Free Cone Day. Go and get some free ice cream. The boys and I went this morning right as it opened and I was surprised that they dole out full-sized single cones. They were so yummy. Nicholas chose mango citrus sorbet of some sort and it was so good, Jonathon had chocolate and I picked mint chocolate chunk. No wimpy chocolate chips in that ice cream.
Onour way home from Ben and Jerry's and Whole Foods (gotta have my hummus and if I don't have to make it, all the better), we passed yet another FlexCar. This one happened to be at an expired parking meter and received a ticket, but it's still cool how you can rent a hybrid car to hop around town, renting it for as little as an hour at a time. Some cities have their bicycles, we have hybrids. Way cool.
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