MILESTONES

It has been a very busy 2 weeks here at the Longhauser house. Sophia started her first day of kindergarten at Quality School International of Chisinau and my little baby boy turned 4. That's alot for a mom to digest in a span of 4 days! Sophia was hesitantly excited for school to begin. There are 2 other students in her class (not a typo); one is a German girl and one is an Indian/Swiss boy. I think the enrollment of the entire school is 31 (k-8). We have a school pot-luck picnic this afternoon and it feels like it will be a throwback to my high school international club days. I remember that I brought cardamom bread to my international club lunch, but don't dare do that this time around as there will be actual sweds there (this I know for a fact). The pressure is on!! I am not thrilled with the school yet - but will certainly give it some time. Sophia seems to like it so far, her favorite classes are gym and art. That sentence, in and of itself, is your genetics lesson for the day (specifically for those of you who know my art abilities!)

William turned 4 on Sunday and he really enjoyed his party. I made a bunch of sugar cookies (dresses and crowns for the girls, fire engines, trains and airplanes for the boys) and let the kids decorate them. We also made a pinata which, of course, was a huge hit with the kids. You can also see that we have a new playground. We bought it from a family that is leaving for Bangladesh and the kids (and mom) are thrilled with the new distraction.



























































I need to add an "only in Moldova" story that I forgot to write in my London blog. I feel that it should be filed under, "only in Africa", but it alas I can't say that I ever experienced anything similar in my 4 years there. So, on my trip home I flew Air Moldova from Prague to Chisinau. The airplane had about 25 or so seats and I sat in the 3rd row...very close to the action. There was 1 stewardess on the plane and she had the cockpit door open constantly to get food, coffee and cookies for the pilots. Don't worry -it gets better than that. About 10 minutes before landing, she opened the cockpit door to hand over yet another 2 cups of coffee and then proceeded to stand in the doorway and talk to the pilots as they landed the airplane. I swear, this really happened, she stood with the door open and I watched the whole thing go down. I was so close, in fact, that I heard the cockpit alarm sounding, "whop, whop, too low, pull up" - you know, the same one you hear when you watch shows about airplane disasters!! Those of you who were in Africa can understand why I thought this should be filed under, "only in Africa." I know this story does not help convince those who are on the fence about visiting...but I just couldn't resist not telling it.
Have a great weekend!! Scroll down for a few more random pictures from our week.
~L