car bombs, body guards and armored vehicles! oh my!

Peter landed in Bogota last night and the city decided to welcome him with a big bang.

In the form of a car bomb.

While the blast happened earlier in the morning, Peter was still met at the airport by his director -and her driver/bodyguard- and was driven to his hotel/suite in an armored vehicle.

I couldn't help but laugh when he told me all this.

Not that a car bomb is ever a laughing matter... except when I've been spending the last four weeks arguing that no, mom, Bogota really is safe! 

Even with this car bomb, I'm not worried or fearful of living in Colombia. It seems to me that if those responsible had wanted to really hurt or kill a large amount of people, they would've set it off in a highly populated location, like a market or outside a church. This bombing was outside of a building housing a radio stations, a newspaper (I think) and the Ecuadorian consulate. Seeing as the government and the media are HEAVILY involved in Colombia, and a new president was sworn in six days ago, this was pretty obviously a political statement against the current government.

I'm anxious to hear about Peter's first day at work today. If I can walk him through using PhotoBooth on his laptop, I'll get him to take some pictures of the super swanky suite he'll be calling home for the next three weeks. It's a two level loft-style suite and looks reeeeeeally nice. 

When we talked last night on Skype, he told me that he'll be playing soccer with the embassy team this Saturday. The Canadian Embassy vs the US Embassy. The US team is apparently quite good, having a large pool of employees to choose from, but hopefully he'll still have fun and it will give him the chance to get to know a few more of his co-workers.

However I did remind him that a) he hasn't played for a few years, and b) he'll have only been at that altitude for less than three days*. My guess is that it's not going to be pretty.

*Bogota is at 9,000 ft!

more goodbyes

Mattias and Liam

Simon and Edouard

Liam and Jorick

Alexi and Simon

Mattias, Liam and Nathaniel

the whole gang (those who were there)

I've mentioned what great friends we have, right? These pictures of the boys and their friends were taken on our last Sunday at our church in Gatineau. It was a really special morning and I'd love to share the card plastered with love-filled messages that we were given, but it's currently in a box somewhere awaiting its big international move.

I'm hoping it won't be too hard to find someplace to print some of these images once we get to Bogota. I especially love the grimace pictures. Little boys being little boys. At their best. Love it.

And love all these little faces.

goodbye to our besties

As I sit here at the computer, there are three workers from the moving company busy packing our house. The contents of our home -of our life- are soon to be the contents of boxes. Some boxes we won't see for 4-8 weeks and others will be in storage for at least a year.

This is all starting to seem more real.

Although I know it will only feel completely, irrevocably, unchangeably real when we're on the plane the day after tomorrow. When our bags are packed, our goodbyes are said, our house is empty... when there's no turning back.

Well, sort of.

This first trip will see us heading to Regina for three weeks -with a weekend spent at a family reunion in Calgary- before a brief stop back in Gatineau. Had this trip west not been planned months ago, we probably would have talked ourselves out of a last minute visit, so I'm really glad the timing is allowing us this time with family. On the return trip, we'll be back to for a day and a half before our actual departure for Colombia. Peter won't be with us then (since he flies direct to Bogota the day after we leave for Regina), but I know that day and a half will be as crammed full of friends and visiting and fun and (more) goodbyes (again) as time will allow.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Speaking of goodbyes, we had a wonderful evening with friends on Friday night. Most of our closest friends were there. We ate good food, drank yummy sangria, celebrated two birthdays, and chatted late into the night... all while 22 kids played hockey, wrestled, roasted marshmallows and generally ran wild.

These are some of the people we love and who will be greatly missed.

I'm near the upper right, grinning madly... and hiding Andrew who's in 

Peter's arms behind me. Liam and Simon are hugging just left of centre. 

I love this picture. It's not perfect (deep breaths, Amy), but it's full of so many people that we love. This is our family. There are others who aren't pictured but who will be equally missed. All together, these people are making our leaving very hard.

I look at this picture and smile. 

While a very large part of me is super excited about the adventures this next year will bring, and equally large part of me is already looking forward to coming home.

We'll miss you guys.

(Do. Not. Cry. Now. The movers already think you're weird since they saw the green smoothie you made this morning and for insisting that Peter take down the piece of 1x4 we've been using to measure the boys' growth*.)

*This is totally NOT weird, thankyouverymuch. What mother wouldn't want to take that with them? Especially since we screwed that piece-of-easily-removably-wood to the wall precisely so that WE COULD TAKE IT WITH US WHEN WE MOVE? Totally not weird. The green smoothies? Well, maybe.

penance for eating crap

Hopefully I'll start to feel better after a few days of these,

This post links to these great parties.

the good, the bad, the ugly, the spending, the not-so-celebratory

It's been two weeks since my last post. TWO WEEKS. I know you're all super sorry I didn't take time to document every detail of our move preparations in all their fascinating minute. Truth is, it's been pretty monotonous and painstakingly boring at times. Having to write down everything you own, how many you have, when it was purchased and how much it would cost to replace is really a wonderful catalyst for WANTING TO GET RID OF A WHOLE LOT OF STUFF.

While shipping our household goods down to Bogota is paid for, we decided early on to take as little as possible. We're taking everything we need (no need to have to buy things down there that we already own), we're only taking about half of the boys toys, 2/3 of their clothes, maybe a tenth of all our books, and -prepare yourself- hardly any of our Christmas decorations.

We have A TON of decorations. Dozens of strings of lights (white and multicoloured), boxes and boxes and boxes of balls (from shatter-proof to hand-blown glass, from vintage to ones I made as a preschooler to brand-new last year), twenty-some nativity sets (some handmade, some store bought, some given to me as gifts, others purchased from Ecuador, Argentina, Egypt, etc), and various other stockings, linens, napkins, placemats, etc, etc, ETC. 

Oh, and books. We have a couple dozen Christmas themed books that we only pull out during the holidays.

We narrowed it down to the lights, garland, the tree (!), and two toddler-friendly nativity sets (the Fisher Price Little People one and a beautiful, simple wooden one given to us as a wedding gift from friends in Regina *thanks, Lorraine*). 

THAT'S IT.

From an enormous Rubbermaid (fondly referred to as "the Christmas coffin") and several smaller totes... to one book box. 

It's a little sad, but also a little exciting. 

This year will be my chance to really flex my crafting muscles and hopefully get the boys involved and really appreciating our Christmas "away from home". So if you know of any great Christmas/craft/tutorial related blogs, leave me the links in the comments section. Pretty please.

(Although we also run the risk of having a bare tree with nothing but lights and whatever toys the boys decide to hide in its branches.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

We have been hemorrhaging money these last two weeks in a sometimes-fun-but-almost-always-sickening way. After being so careful and frugal and making sacrifices whenever possible in order to pay down our debt, spending this kind of money is more than a bit unsettling. 

It's not that we've been foolish with our money. We've needed to stock up on things that we either know we won't be able to get down there or know they're hard to find or more expensive than here (ie, all the different flours and other food stuff I'll need to feed Simon and Andrew safely down there for a year, given their allergies). Also Peter needed a new suit and a sports coat, the boys needed rain gear, Liam needed a few shirts and shoes (STOP GROWING, CHILD), I had to order our homeschool supplies/books/curriculum and I needed a few pieces of clothing befitting my new wife-of-a-diplomat status...

*snort*

In my case, that means I've traded in my ratty sweats and pj bottoms for some more respectable black yoga pants.

We also stocked up on a few toys for the boys for birthdays and Christmas since we don't know what will be available down there. Several Lego sets, a few new games for the Wii, new markers and other craft supplies, and about 7 or 8 new dress up costumes (I'm super excited to surprise them with these when our shipment arrives in Bogota), along with some marbles, Nerf guns, mini hockey sticks and nets, and a couple super cool remote control helicopters for Liam and Simon.

I think we just might have subconsciously tried to buy our way out of some move-related parental guilt... the whole taking-our-kids-away-from-their-home-their-(amazing)-friends-and-church-and-throwing-them-into-(yet another)-new-culture-and-new-language-AND-MAKING-THME-LIVE-IN-AN-APARTMENT kind of guilt.

That type of guilt can be assuaged with Lego, right?

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

It was my birthday last Saturday! My 31st birthday on the 31st of the month. Friends on Twitter informed me that it was my "golden" or "champagne" birthday. The one where the year matches the date. I guess you're supposed to drink champagne, but we opted for sangria.

(Peter makes the best sangria.)

The day itself was pretty low key as far as celebrations go -see, we have this little move we're preparing for- but I was made to feel special nonetheless. In addition to the sangria, Peter also made a delicious supper with steak, shrimp, scallops, fresh veggies with hummus and tzatziki, and cheesecake with fresh berries for dessert.

My favourite part of the day was hearing Liam and Simon pray for me at supper and again at bedtime.

By far my least favourite part was -one duvet, one pillow, two sheets, two sleeping bags, and four changes of pyjamas later- confirming that Simon does in fact have an allergy to either shrimp or scallops. Or both.

My 28th birthday saw me spending the night in the ER with Simon because of a diner-time tumble down the stairs that resulted in a broken collar bone (he was only 9 months old), and I got to play nurse to that very same Simon the night of my 31st birthday.

So maybe not the best way to ring in the next year of my life, but I am genuinely excited about this next year and all that it promises to bring.

* * * * * * * * * * * * 

I don't know how many of you have ever suffered through experienced a move like this -a last minute international move with only four weeks to organize/pack/inventory the contents of your house, prepare and sell said house, complete passport and visa applications, purchase all the necessary food/toy/school/clothing for a family of five for a year, and fit in some precious visiting time with good friends whenever a golden moment presents itself- but I will not admit to you select few (hundred) who read my blog the following things:

• I will not admit how many times I've fed my family MacDonald's, TacoTime, frozen pizza, or those hot dogs at the exit of Costco over the last few weeks.
• I will not admit how many days in a row Liam wore the same shorts EVEN AFTER WEARING THEM ALL WEEKEND AT CAMPING (but there's the slightest chance that it possibly, just maybe  was in the double digits)
• I will not admit that while Liam's grass-stained, smoke-smelling, ketchup splattered, every-present shorts were more than a little cringe worthy AT LEAST HE WAS WEARING PANTS. Never in my life have Simon and Andrew gone so ill-clothed for so long. While we did manage to stay on top of Andrew's diaper changes, I can make no promises for how long he might've been in the same shirt. And Simon? Let's just say that he's lucky he had some almost near-misses over the last week so that at least his underwear got changed.* 
• I will not admit how poorly/little I've been sleeping these last few weeks. When I do sleep, it's not soundly because Simon and Andrew have both been waking often. And whenever I get out of bed to see to them, it takes me forever to fall asleep afterwards because my mind starts racing with all the things we have to do before we leave and questions about what it will be like when we get there.
• I will not admit how poorly/little I've been eating these last few weeks. Never mind the poor quality of many of our meals (see above), I often find myself forgetting to eat altogether. I've heard wondrous things about these stress/anxiety diets before, but clearly I'm the exception. Not only are the pounds not melting away in all of my fears and worries, but I actually feel bloated and gasses and tired and sluggish. I need energy, but feel even more lacking than normal. Hmmm, think this might be related to all the gross processed foods we've been eating? We've eaten more garbage this month than the rest of the year combined and I think my body is rebelling. Even with how hectic our lives are right now, I'm thinking some daily green smoothies are in order (now to find time to get to the store for supplies...).

*SERIOUSLY WHO HAS TIME FOR LAUNDRY AT A TIME LIKE THIS? How am I supposed to get all the clothes organized/inventoried/packed WHEN THEY KEEP GETTING THEM DIRTY? For this last week, my plan is to keep out two outfits and just rotate them. It's too hard to keep track of what they have and where it all is when they have free reign of their closets.