Day Sixty Five

We're cruising along pretty well.  Only three weeks until he comes home for his first R&R.  The girls had a Halloween party at school over the weekend.  Jack's class put on a haunted house and everyone had a relatively good time.  My little ladies looked very precious:

Olivia had wanted to go as Alice in Wonderland, but she just wasn't loving it when she tried the costume on.  She played around a bit and was very happy with her new costume:  Malice in Wonderland.  Grace is the ethereal Corpse Bride.

Olivia ate a bunch of junk at the Halloween party. An entire bag of candy, filled with color dye and all kinds of chemicals and gross crap.  She was sick for three days and missed a bit of school.  I missed work, but we had a great time laying in my bed watching old episodes of Little House on the Prairie.

She is on the mend and went back to school today.  Our little compound is hosting a Trunk or Treat on Friday and the embassy Trick or Treat is on Thursday, so I hope my darling girl will make it through the next week without getting too sick.

Oh, and I wrote this little piece about the critters we live with down here for work:
http://papagaiobrasilia.wordpress.com/2013/10/18/brushes-with-nature-horrible-horrible-nature/

Day Fifty Seven

Fifty seven days, yo!  Only 299 to go. It's been a disappointing week for Jack, who was supposed to go to Ecuador with Global Issues Network, a volunteer group he leads at school.  We didn't have the proper paperwork from both parents and it was impossible to make it happen in the short amount of time we were given.  I wasn't about to chance just sending him and having him get stuck in Panama or Ecuador with no parents and a government shutdown, so I made the difficult decision to cancel his ticket.  On the bright side, I took him out for shwarmas, and I'm pretty sure savory meat wrapped in flatbread was just as good as going to Ecuador.

The girls went to an insane birthday party for one of their classmates on Sunday.  Seven-piece band plus a deejay for during the breaks, a bar manned by four bartenders for blended concoctions, full dinner set-up, and dessert bar.  Then, there were massage tables lined up and the girls all got massages by professional masseuses.  Swimming, dancing, a photo booth with a bunch of zany props, and personalized Havaianas (Brazilian flip flops) for each girl.  And puppies to play with.  Nope, I am totally not kidding.  I love that my kids get to go to these over-the-top Brazilian parties and still seem happy with the lame-ass American style parties I throw.

Henry is still a vegetarian.

I helped my friend Katie throw a cowgirl ladies' party on Saturday night.  I think we had a really good time, judging by the way I felt the next day.

Day Fifty

"Henry, did Jack help you figure out your math problems?"

"Yeah, he's a really good teacher.  If I miss a problem, he punches me, so I'm really motivated to learn."

Day Forty Eight

I'm happy to report that Henry returned from the Amazon alive and in one piece.  He seems different. Older, I guess.  He brought gifts back for everyone and showed us an impressive new skill: the natives taught the kids how to make blow dart guns (I KNOW!) and Henry blew a dart right into our concrete wall with his gun.  He also went to a meat market in Manaus and came back a total vegetarian.  Will not even consume fish.  Here's a few pics the school sent:

Swimming with pink dolphins.  You may need sunglasses to pick out which child is mine.

According to Henry, these guys taught them some dances and the women wore coconuts so the seventh graders "wouldn't have to see their boobs".

There appears to be a monkey on my kid

Jack returned from Sao Paulo Model UN in one piece as well.  He and his partner won "Best Delegation", representing Syria.  So proud of my blow dart-wielding, argument-winning boys!