Bringing my travels home

http://http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/8027367.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/7991479.stm

On a lighter note, this afternoon we will be enjoying what I could cram into my suitcase when we host a thank you party for friends and neighbours:
Congolese coffee
Rwandan passion fruit juice
Kenyan tea
Dutch cheese
And amazing cake from around the corner!

Meanwhile back at the ranch...

Here are the shots that their dad sent to me while I travelled. Out and about as always.

On Tuesday, Seb starts tennis lessons with Xin. And then we all dash to the YMCA for swimming...

Grape Girl



Spring has sprung so Dufferin Grove Park it is.

Ooops, it's sideways. But here is Sophie's first summer booboo.

They are pretty great together.

Just a note: Here Sebastian is allowing his little sister to inherit the Thomas the Tank Engine Jacket Nannie Gen got him when he was 2. However, having just got out the 2009 spring/summer clothes collection (available in all high end Value Villages), I note with some bewilderment the number of garments from 2006 that he still thinks he can squeeze into. Nope, she aint getting the rocketship vest just yet nor the Thomas t-shirt.

--- And no, M didn't blow the great solo-parenting escapade with any late night Karaoke.-----

Photos from my DRCongo trip

Once a mum always a mum - what's the first photo I take? The lego display at Schipol airport.


Some shots of eastern DRC -
I flew in and out of Goma, the biggest city in the east and squashed in tight between an active volcano and Lake Kivu.
- that them hills are Rwanda.





The incredible lushness of Mr Anderson's colonial era farm in Lubero, North Kivu. It is self-sufficient with a dairy making cheese, bees making honey, a vegetable garden with fresh lettuce and more; fruit trees; cows and pigs for sausage, etc. The land is so very very fertile and yet because of the war, pockets of people are starving and thousands of children going malnourished.





A typical town road - in this case, Lubero.


Children at the various camps for internally displaced persons (IDPs) that I visited. The majority of IDPs live woven into the host communities.

Here are children's regular task of collecting water, as well as the lucky few who are involved in organised soccer (played on volcanic rock...).

Family Separation is ever present; the agency I was with has registered over 800 cases in the past 6 months. Here are 4 young children who were separated from their parents during the first hour of a disturbance at one of the IDP camps. Fortunately, in that situation everyone knows to come to the children's hut and ask for help to find them.

Here are some older children (who know their places of birth) being driven back to their families after 1-3 months of separation.

After 10 long days on the road, it was time for a celebration! This was a school group that put on a great show for me.

Back in Goma and coming full circle, I found the Goma branch of Seb & Sophie's much beloved Jane-Jane (the Jane Goodall Institute) and the city's baby doll hawker.

Nairobi friends
Margaret rockin' her Michelle Obama look


The ever-professional Joyce at the ever-growing Java House chain


Business mom Andrea with the sprouting Madeline

I hope to go back in October, if I can be of any use.

I am proud that (part 1)

our dress up box is larger than our "things that go" box.

Patiently waiting

I like to imagine that Sophie occasionally perches there in the front room, patiently waiting for mama to come home ("Mama go Congo"). But to be honest this was taken a week before I left...

Outfit stories

One thing I love about dressing my children - especially the younger they are - is that there is often a story about their outfits. Take this case in point:

stripey sweater - chosen by Grandma
soft cord dress - chosen by me but given thumbs up by Grandma as her birthday gift to Sophie
blue & white check blouse - saved by my mother from the '60s
fancy pants shoes - a Nana who had to buy the best for her granddaughter's birthday
white tights - new because what stays white more than 3 or 4 wears?!



This is a combo of hand-me down sweater (that I bought Sebastian for his 2nd birthday - Sophie is not waiting around for the Frog Prince) and Value Village deal of a polka-dot trimmed denim dress.


Here Seb is sporting his new West African ensemble; he proudly wore it for 2 minutes and pronounced it itchy; so it is going through the wash a few times.


And then there are the outfits that their father chooses!!!????

Things one can do with food

Seb had seen something about making dinosaurs out of food in a magazine. Unfortunately, it did not got fully consumed - even the blueberries!

Were we that bad?

I acknowledge that my posse has visited quite a number of GPs, specialists and ERs this past year (though I will point out that the hospital stint that M did was in NB), but has it really come to this?

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20090413.wontario0414/BNStory/Front/home

The thrills (and chills) of parenting never cease

By now, most of you know where I spent my Wednesday afternoon. For those that don't, SickKids ER. You see small, plastic cannonballs made by Playmobil are not meant to be inserted up one's nose. Sophie knew it was up there but just coudn't figure out how to get it down, and neither could I.

While their dad continued to recover on the couch from his brutal migraine, Seb was hustled off to a friend's house from where he would be walked to school and Sophie and I went to SickKids to be sheepish and wait.

After 2 hours, all was resolved in about 20 seconds with the help of a tiny pair of forceps. Small discomfort and no pain.

We went home with the cannonball in a speciman jar. It's our family's new rattle.

Nocturnal sprinkles

Nope, I am not talking about Sebastian's waterworks...

But I have a beef (a vegetarian beef). Previously, I have blogged about the great satisfaction that I take in having both a well-stocked larder and now a well-stocked "clothes to grow into" basement.

The downside is that if a brand-new item is flawed, I can't return it because I can't recall where I bought it. The most galling case in point are Seb's new rain boots. I remember them being $5 more than the plain blue but WOW! green! frogs! sold.



He has worn them about 5 times. 4 of which have produced soaked feet - both of them...

I know that we need rain this spring but could it please come at night - when Seb is all tucked in?