Boo!

Hello again friends and family! Last week we were very busy with Halloween celebrations so this post will be full of pictures. Enjoy!

 



 

Here is the bulletin board outside Elizabeth's classroom. Her bat is the one to the middle/bottom left with the bat off center of it's moon. Her class does a lot of artwork and she has really been getting creative. I was especially impressed with a painting she did of the Princess and the Pea, I will try to get a picture of it for you all to see!

 

 

Kindergarten dance party! :) This was very funny to watch. Halloween day they had a small party with all of kindergarten, which is around 40 children. A few games and of course treats. I snuck in to try and capture a few photos of the celebration.

 

 

Elizabeth with her friend Habben, ready to watch a SCARRY movie. Aahhh!

 

 

I really love the look on her face that I captured here. She looks appropriately scared of the witch. :) The little witch is our neighbor Bethany. She is 7 and in 2nd grade, and she and Elizabeth love playing together.

 

 Friday evening was AISL's (American International School of Lusaka) Halloween Harvest Festival. The kids dressed up for trunk or treating and there were games and food. For Matt and I it was a nice way to get out and socialize with the few friends we have made. 

 

 

Here is the whole neighborhood gang. Jessica just turned 11 and is in 5th grade. She loves toting around Miles. She comes to give him cuddles before heading to school in the morning. My neighbor, Maryna, has been wonderful in giving Elizabeth a ride to school every morning with her two girls so that Matt doesn't have to take her. He did it for the first two weeks, but it is a struggle to get through traffic if he doesn't leave the house by 6:30. I have promised that as soon as I get a vehicle I will take them all to school and she can have a nice long break from the school run. It is great having some kids right next door that the kids can play with. As soon as they get home from school and on weekends they are in the yard (or garden as they call it here) playing and exploring. :) And Maryna has also been wonderful in keeping me sane. While the kids play in the garden we sit and have coffee or tea and vent a little of our frustrations. She is originally from Zimbabwe and lived for some time in South Africa and Malawi. Their family just moved to Zambia January 2012, so she knows exactly what we are going through.

 

 

Here we are watching the costume parade because we weren't organized enough to get in the parade. I squated down to try and get a good picture of the two of them... Jackson squated down and wouldn't stand back up for a picture. ;)

 

 

A little better view of one of the cutest clowns I've ever seen. And the prettiest fairy! ;)

 

 

The whole crew digging in the candy bags and ready to call it a night.

 

 

This was Elizabeth's big take-home prize of the night. She won the first round of the cake walk and this was the fanciest cake on the table!

 

 

Proof that I was there too. No one really wanted to take a picture at this point, but I had Matt try to get one anyway.

 

 

Saturday night we headed across town for the annual Baobab College fireworks. There was a kids fancy dress comptetion and since we had costumes we put them on! Here is my love and the two cutest clowns ever!

 

 

Elizabeth and some of the other contestants of the 5 year old costume contest. She looked a little scared crossing the stage. She didn't win, but still got a bag of candy! 

 

 

The advertisement said there would be craft, game and food stalls. By the time we got across the field with the three kids and stroller all we wanted was dinner. Then back across the field for drinks and to find a place to sit for the show. We met with Matt's colleague and his wife and kids who moved to Lusaka from South Africa about the same time as we did. We really enjoyed visiting with them. The fireworks were supposed to start at 7:30 pm. We waited and waited for them to start the show (30-45 minutes late), and just when I was saying let's go home (because at this point it was over an hour past the kids normal bedtime), they finally began. It was one of the longest fireworks displays that I have ever seen. Elizabeth fell asleep on my lap, Jackson looked dazed and Miles was crying. We decided we'd seen enough and headed for the car early to try and beat traffic.

 

 

Here is Matt trying to recover the next day. He did get to nap a little with Jackson before Elizabeth drug us all outside for a dip in the pool.

 

Please say a few prayers for all of us, and especially Matt. His work here is very demanding and since we arrived in Zambia he has been working around 75 hours per week while also trying to be here for the kids and I through this transition. It doesn't seem like it will slow down anytime soon, and it is taking an emotional toll on him and all of us. We knew it wouldn't be easy, but a few extra prayers would be appreciated.