Sunday, August 19, 2012

Elio the Olympian and Nalia the Nine-Year-Old

The first week of August was BIG.  Olympics time means mom, me, is glued to the TV every night, especially when swimming is on.  We were also getting ready for our big trip home to the U.S. (where we are now), and for Nalia's ninth birthday on August 3.  She really wanted a Hello Kitty cake, and since there is no pre-made icing to be found in Mozambique, I had to figure out how to make boiled white icing-- without an electric mixer.  The first time around was a syrup-y mess, but then I got on allrecipes.com, looking for some salvation.  In the end, because we didn't have an electric mixer that worked on 220, I enlisted Matias' mom and Matias to help with beating, and it worked.  All the recipes I found suggested using black licorice and Jordan almonds for Hello Kitty's whiskers and nose... but since these were at least a 3 hour plane ride away, I opted for cutting up felt and craft foam.




Elio and Nalia both participated their school's annual sports day before we left Mozambique.  Elio was very proud of his gold medal and promptly put his hand on his heart while he waited to receive it.  He then held the medal up for photo opps, just like he had seen the winning athletes in London do... can you tell his mom is an Olympics junkie?
Elio is preparing for 2024

I love that Nalia looks so HAPPY to be running...