We’ve noticed over the last few months that Nia has a very unique style of play that’s different from most other two year olds. Her play centers around ordering her various collections...
Nia
Once upon a time there was a coffee table (originally owned by a beautiful, blonde-haired lady). Â In its day this table was the center of girl chats, group board games and many a memorable dinner...
We decided to spice up Labor Day 2014 with a little trip to the countryside. We had intended for it to be a family trip, but Nick had to bow out at the last minute because the hot water heater was...
Nia and I just got back from a 1 week trip to Minnesota to attend Beth & Jim’s wedding (the 3rd of the 4 Miller gals).  The festivities began on Friday night with the rehearsal and 50...
Last weekend we took a family road trip to Philly. Â This was a very kid-centric trip and we had 2 specific destinations on our agenda. Â The first was Sesame Street Place, a Sesame Street theme park...
I sit here in bed writing this, not quite sure what to do with myself after coming off a jam-packed weekend with my parents in town. Â The “not sure what to do with myself” part comes...
It was a lovely, quiet holiday weekend for the Novaks. Â Nick made us a Thanksgiving feast complete with homemade pumpkin pie, turkey, mashed taters and gravy. Â I was totally spoiled! Â It was our...
As you’ve probably read here or on Facebook, it’s been me and the Nia-meister for the last 8 days while Nick was away in Russia and Ukraine. I was definitely nervous about how the week would...
I’m sure you thought I was going to post about Christmas and I will soon, I promise.  In the meantime, here’s a little look at Nia’s room make-over, which was 6 months in the making...
We decided to stick around DC for Christmas this year, largely due to Nick’s lack of days off and the fact that we’ll be seeing our families in Feb & March. Â We’ve gotten used...
Warning: This post references poop. A lot. Skip it if you’re not into reading about that sort of thing… Potty-training hasn’t gone well for us. Our Peruvian Nanny started training...
DC got somewhere around 5 inches of snow last night and because it’s DC and they don’t deal with snow well, they closed the government and the schools for the day. We decided to take...
Ahoy mateys! We had the pleasure of venturing out on a pirate ship on the mighty seas (of the Potomac) this weekend. This kid-oriented 1-hour cruise was ridiculously fun, for adults and kids alike...
Being on the farm. Getting to pick with your very own “Nia-sized” container. Finding the “perfect” berry. Strawberry juice running down your chin. Eating a few strawberries...
As many of you know, Thursday was my birthday. The big 3-5. WHOA. To celebrate this momentous day, I crammed in a whole bunch of my favorite things – Caribou mocha-drinking, garage-saling...
It has been a week of non-stop birthday festivities in celebration of Nia’s 4th Birthday! I didn’t want to leave you out on the fun, so here’s a recap of all the action! Nana and...
October is definitely Nia’s month. She comes off a week of Birthday celebrations and heads straight into Halloween fun. The festivities began on Thursday with a Halloween parade and concert at...
Hard to believe, but today’s the big day. 9 months of waiting over. Now all that’s left is to make it through the 20 hours of flying with the 4 year old. Fear not though, we’re...
Our first full day in Africa (Tuesday) started with a doorbell. We have several rotating guards that patrol the property 24 hours a day. We had forgotten to tell the one on duty that the gardener was...
Day 2 started with (you guessed it) the doorbell ringing at 9 AM. Once again I was still in bed and groggily stumbled to the door in my pj’s. This time it was my neighbor (the one who had popped...
Hey All – I’m beat after a long day but didn’t want you to think I forgot about you… as a compromise, I’m just going to share a few funny stories today and then I’ll get you a longer post...
Today was Nia’s first day of preschool in Lilongwe. School starts early here, around 7:15 AM, and gets out around noon. I am the family chauffeur now, needing to get Nia to preschool and Nick...
We took our first big road trip this past long weekend. Nick goes down to Blantyre (the industrial capital of Malawi, in the South) once a quarter to provide services for American citizens living...
So our little lady turned 5 this past weekend. She is becoming such a cool little person and I’m eager to see what year 5 will bring us. She’s very inquisitive, kind and been really...
Our house is about 90% set up at this point and I’m feeling pretty good. It’s a strange house we have -Â quirky and small, and while I disliked it at first, it’s starting to grow on...
This past weekend we officially launched the Embassy Scuba Club with our first trip to Cape Maclear on Lake Malawi! I’d love to take credit, but my husband was the driving force behind this one...
Hi all – We’re back from Cape Town and settling back into our daily routine. I now understand why everyone gushes about Cape Town. It was stunning! Reminded me of a combination of Hawaii...
Cape Town is an animal lovers dream. Not only can you see all sorts of creatures, but you can have personal interactive “encounters” with many of them as well. Our little animal lover...
Last Friday we attended an embassy holiday party at the Ambassador’s House. It was a lovely affair and included holiday traditions like cookie decorating, eating copious amounts of food and my...
Our first Christmas in Malawi has come and gone and was quite delightful, if I do say so myself. The weather cooperated (mid-80’s, no rain) as did our little lady (mostly). I still struggle...
We’ve been fortunate in that during our first 6 months here we’ve managed to go on 1 – 2 hour boat safari, 1 – 4 hour walking safari and 9 – 4 hour driving safaris. Not...
I’m not sure if it’s just Nia getting older or her acting out because I’m gone more now, but we’ve seen a dramatic rise in what Nick and I like to refer to as “stinker-ish behaviorâ€. Some...
I took Nia to a Malawian beauty shop for the first time two weeks ago. We started with a basic trim because, although she’d like it short again, we have to grow it out for her ballet recital...
Our backyard gained two exciting new additions this week. The first was a slack line that Nick put up in the backyard. We got hooked on slack lines in Lima, which were constantly strung up on the...
It’s been a week full of Easter-related fun and while it’s brought much delight to the young’uns, it’s brought MUCH exhaustion to Mommy. The week kicked off with our Embassy Egg Hunt &...
Ladies & Gents – It’s Derby Day here in Lilongwe! This is no small deal, as I’ve been waiting my whole life to go to a Kentucky Derby Party. So of course we had to go all out. :) Nia and I...
I know you all are dying for a little Nick update, so here goes. The first few days were rough. He only felt comfortable on his belly because that relieved the pressure on his spine. We were...
Hello friends! Greetings from Denmark! On Sunday we concluded our week on the Disney Magic sailing through the Norwegian Fjords. I am still working my way through editing photos, but I took the...
Ladies and Gentleman- We officially have a Kindergartner in the family! Â Nia loved going to preschool, so we made the assumption that the transition to Kindy would be easy peasy. Man were we wrong...
This past Friday was Reading Day at Nia’s school. Each year on this day, students dress up as their favorite book character and bring a corresponding book. Nia insisted on being...
I’ve noticed a fascinating new trend lately. My daughter is no longer interested in playing with children her own age, she has become obsessed with befriending “Big Girls”...
Ladies and gentlemen, we have a little swimmer on our hands! It wasn’t looking so good for awhile there. She had a lot of fear about getting into the water and stomped around for days...
We’re pretty new to this International School thing but I can already tell that one of my favorite days of the year is going to be International Day. We participated in our first one at the end...
While Nick was off shooting these beautiful underwater pics in Lake Malawi, Nia and I were busy frollicking around town (more like village, really). The whole weekend was magnificent, but the event...
One of the things I love most about Malawi is how wholesome and old-fashioned it is. I see so many examples of Nia engaging in the kind of dramatic play I did in my childhood… spending the...
Ever since Nia was introduced to Bollywood dancing at the Holi Festival a month ago she’s been Bollywood obsessed. We now listen to Bollywood music in the car, watch one or two Bollywood music...
I have less than 4 weeks of work left and in typical Sarah-fashion I jam-packed them with events. On the calendar for May is an adults-night out at a local restaurant, a 3 day trip to the lake...
T minus 3 weeks and things are moving right along. I wrapped up work last Thursday and am now in full-on selling mode. We’re moving through the stuff at a nice pace though, which should leave me...
Hello Blog Readers – Forgive my absence. I had anticipated having more time to blog but somehow it all slipped away. But I’m here now to update you on all the fun that transpired during...
We wanted Nia to have the quintessential American summer experience during home leave. In my mind that means, tons of family time (bonus points if done at the cabin), oodles of swimming and LOTS of...