Catch up

Man, am I behind. Quite simply, it's because we quickly eased into our daily routines and everything is going really well! The kids are happy and busy at school. They both really like their teachers and have quickly made friends. They're also both getting special help with reading. This was expected for Oscar, but Livi is behind her peers as well. It could be from her experience in French school for the past 2 years, but it could also mean something else is going on, so we're going to see how the next month goes to determine if she needs any additional support or just needs to catch up.

Our compound is a little slice of heaven for them, Oscar in particular. On Saturday morning there were 4 boys playing Star Wars in our yard, and Livi was upstairs playing Barbies with a neighbor. The hardest thing about living in a compound like this is the kids trying to get their homework done (mainly Oscar) before the first friend shows up at the door asking to play! And also encouraging Livi to wait until after 8am to see if someone can play on the weekends…

While Oscar is surrounded by boys his age at home, Livi is filling her social calendar with play dates with friends from school. She has a best friend she hangs out with a lot, and has 2 more new play dates planned for next week. I need a special calendar just to keep up with her social obligations!

Oscar's back to being really busy with work,  a shift of gears from New Orleans. He is home for the most part in the evenings and weekends so we can't complain too much!

I've applied to a few jobs and had my first interview last week. In the mean time, I've explored a few shopping locations with some friends and neighbors, and have gone ahead and volunteered to help out in Oscar's classroom. I'm also co-leading Livi's girl scout troop! We had our first meeting last week and 17 girls (!!?!) are all excited for their next meeting. Fortunately there are 3 leaders to help wrangle in the girl power.

Here's a smattering of photos from our past few weeks…

first familyBBQ - big success!

first fire in our fireplace

a regular Saturday morning monopoly game

Oscar and a gaggle of boys at the pool

 A Gus monkey!! Not the best pic, but fun to see not far from our house.

pretty flower from the garden…
our yard is a work in progress, but this is one of the few flowers we have right now

a garden friend Livi found while playing in the dirt

the full body picture I could get, he was moving surprisingly fast!

Livi on our front lawn

One great thing about Nairobi is that nobody beeps their horn! 

Oscar's fav road - unpaved, with scattered large rocks to prevent you from going to fast,
and lots of big hills

pizza pool party with our neighbors

 A Halloween preview - While the Grim Reaper may make a trick-or-treating appearance, Livi is definitely not going as Spiderman (last time I asked she was going to be a vampire princess):