The Road Not Taken

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood,
And sorry I could not travel both
And be one traveler, long I stood
And looked down one as far as I could
To where it bent in the undergrowth;

Then took the other, as just as fair,
And having perhaps the better claim,
Because it was grassy and wanted wear;
Though as for that the passing there
Had worn them really about the same,

And both that morning equally lay
In leaves no step had trodden black.
Oh, I kept the first for another day!
Yet knowing how way leads on to way,
I doubted if I should ever come back.

I shall be telling this with a sigh
Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I—
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.

- Robert Frost

the 1 less traveled by

A move to Nicaragua

Azalea at Surf Ranch

A letter to my 6 year old daughter

I made an email address for my kids and I send them emails every now and again. Every year I make sure I send them an email around their birthday that captures the previous year and what are life is currently like. Here’s my email to Azalea this year:

The 6 Year Old Princess

My Little Wooski,

Oh my goodness have you’ve grown this year! So many sleepovers and after school “play dates”. And, you finally did loose a tooth! Actually two, the two bottom middle ones. The Tooth Fairy brought you $C150 ($3). The second tooth went missing, but wrote a note to the Tooth Fairy and she put money under your pillow anyway.
We’re still living in Nicaragua. We’ve moved into the house we built. Grandpa stayed with us the first few months so Titus & you shared a room. When he moved into a place in town, you didn’t want to switch rooms so you still share. You seem to like it. Its a big messy room full of toys. We don’t have much furniture yet, so you & Titus roll your scooters around the house. We have a bunch a chickens and baby chicks wondering our yard. Raising them has taught you a lot about life & death. We also are sometimes a kitten orphanage. There’s never a shortage of pets around.
Your best friends are Aryel, Thalia, and Chloe. You are all constantly making plans to hang out with each other. You are a kind and thoughtful friend, everybody likes you. You are really easy to care for when you have friends over. You’re starting to do imaginary play. I’ve even heard you playing with Titus this way. You have to tell him what to say, but he goes along. He’s such a good little brother, he loves you so much!
You sort of repeated kindergarten this year at San Juan del Sur Day School, not because you were held back, but because they were more strict on age. You have a wonderful teacher, Lisa who is also my friend and Chloe’s mom. I’m so proud that you are learning to read and write. You have started to show a big interest, asking what things say and for me to write sentences for you to copy. This year you are reading the little books yourself that Teacher Lisa sends home.
You still LOVE art. You draw pictures all day long. You love to make people presents with your art. For your birthday you got a lot of art supplies and you have made very good use of them. One of the best things I’ve ever bought you is a stack of computer printer paper. You go through pages daily!
You also love to dance and sing and put on shows. We have a speaker called “Alexa” and you can push a button and tell it what songs to play. I think you really like to be in charge and make requests. You are still in dance class with Maggie at MÚÚV Dance & Yoga and she says you are doing very well. You recently gave Titus an adorable ballet lesson. I’ve attached the picture. You also just started taking soccer lessons once a week. It was supposed to be just for you, but Titus has joined in and you two seem to be having a lot of fun together.
Your favorite color is still rainbow. Your favorite foods are hot dogs from a can (*yuck), candy, Ritz cheese crackers, candy, fish, and candy. You really like sweet things. I’m constantly telling you that everything you request to eat has sugar in it.
For your birthday this year you wanted to invite boys & girls so we had a “Roller Party” at the Comunidad Connect Sports Park. Everyone brought their skates, roller blades, bikes, and skateboards. Titus got a wheel with flames cut into his hair for you b’day. You requested rainbow cup cakes again, so Daddy ordered them from a local baker. We ordered a bunch of pizza from our friend, Gaspar’s pizza place, Don Monchis. We invited a few of our Nicaraguan friends, but mostly it was kids from your school that came. It was a very easy and fun birthday party. You got a lot of presents and you were very happy. Your favorite present was a baby doll that Grandma Moo gave you. She made all sorts of clothes for her so you change her in the morning, give her baths, feed her… G’ma gave you a 6 week art class session at The Art Warehouse that you love going to.
I wrote you a birthday message on Facebook. I often wonder if Facebook will still be around when you’re older so that you can see all the pictures of you I have posted. I write a blog about our life here in Nicaragua and I will always save that for you to read later. Anyways, here’s what I wrote on Facebook:

Happy 6th Birthday To My Spunky Little Princess!
You’re my soft place to land when I’m down & my source of energy when I rise. You used to think I knew everything & now you are wise.
You are the beauty I longed to be & the creator I never was. You’re my partner in silliness & my enemy because,
You challenge me in ways I never knew could be.
You have my heart & an unbelievably kind soul. You’re growing up too quickly & I’m getting old!
I love you to the moon & back sweet girl, please forever stay bold.

I love you so much my Sweet Princess. You are strong, fierce, and funny. I have enjoyed every minute of watching you grow.
Love,
Mommy
6 year birthday sons for AzaleaAzaleas 6th bday Roller PartyAdults at Azaleas 6th bdayTitus bday hair for AzaleaBallet lessons for TitusReleasing baby turtles in Nica 2017Azalea and orphan kittensAzalea helping Titus with artAzaleas first lost toothMommy and the kids at the Nica Zoo

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *