A.D. Anecdotes 3

This first week in November at our house kind of mirrored the weather - perfect one day, a little too hot the next, then back to beautiful. Highlights of the week include:

WHAT do you do when all of these things happen in one day?

The boys miss the school bus. Unbeknownst to us, one of the stray neighborhood cats decides our car is the perfect spot to spend the night. Not so perfect when said car is turned on, & both cat and car suffer from the attempt to start the car. Ken and gardener undertake cat extraction. Ken is late for work. Boys are late for school. They end up borrowing the neighbors car, since our other one is in the shop. Colby barfs all over the world and me, right after I have showered and gotten dressed. He then proceeds to poop all over me and the carpet as I attempt to change him. I then discover he has a slight fever, so I borrow neighbor's car again to take him to the doctor. Solution? Ice cream! I felt like I needed to down 2 or 3, but I only had one carton...

How do you avoid getting sent to bed after a day when your parents are considering selling the lot of you to passing gypsies?

Everyone pick a book and read quietly! Maybe they'll forget you're here. Too bad no one let Owen in on the secret - he got sent to bed (not sold. it was a joke.)

What would cause you to do a happy dance in the grocery store aisle?

Black beans and banana chips. Ever since I got back the summer, so THREE MONTHS ago, there have been no black beans. Rare sightings were reported among friends, but every grocery store search resulted in nothing. Nada. And there was a little anxiety associated with this - I mean, right after we moved here, cream of chicken soup suddenly disappeared and hasn't reappeared since, so there was no guarantee black beans were making a comeback! Funnily enough, that same day, a friend found a bunch at another store and bought out their stock, giving me some of them cause she's nice like that. Of course, that was the day they had shelves and shelves waiting at the store.

And lets not forget my family's favorite banana chips. These come and go every few weeks, so it was a bonus to find them the same day. I may or may not have bought enough bags of these to get a "wow, you must really like banana chips" from someone. They told me this place would turn me into a hoarder. They were right :)

How do you know when it is time to wash the sheets?

When they look like this. That is sand. We went to the dunes last night. This morning, Will said "I feel like I have a lot of sand in my bed…" That's because you do buddy.

How do YOU spend the first day in November?

Chilling at the beach, rejoicing in the 96 degree weather!

What causes a big smile on mom's face after some long hours?

Watching big sister in action. She was proud of the fact that he stopped crying. Which meant I stopped crying too.

And finally, what do you do when you have budding young artists but refuse to deal with the heartache that comes pre-packaged with the unsupervised use of glue, glitter, paint and permanent markers in your home?

Take a visit to the new modern art museum featuring an AMAZING art zone for kids! The boys crafted their hearts out, while Ken exposed the younger 3 kids to the complexities of modern art. They didn't appreciate it, but I sure appreciated my down time with the boys! Happy November everyone.

The Stay-cation

While living here, we've really tried to take advantage of our weekends and holidays to travel around and enjoy all the UAE and neighboring countries have to offer. Right after Colby was born, the kids had a week off school and Ken had a few days off work. Many of our friends rushed off on exciting trips to exotic countries, and while part of us wished to be with them, we determined that a "stay-cation"was more our speed! 

We traded sand dunes for clothes and diaper dunes - piles and piles of them

We traded shell littered beaches, for toy and book littered floors

We traded date nights for nights of endless pacing with a not so tired little guy

We traded exotic meals for the comfort food that grandmas are the best at making, and for breakfast in bed from a team of creative cooks!

And we traded scenic landscapes for these heartwarming faces

All in all, we were happy with our choice : )

Five Weeks With Five Kids

First hour home. WARNING: What follows is an overload of kid pictures. To be fair though, my current adventures in the UAE all revolve around home life with them. So without further ado, this is what the HAPPY moments of the first five weeks with five kids has looked like for us (you'll have to use your imagination for what it looks like when everyone is crying about something or other, and how awesome I look after 3 nights in a row of no sleep AND wearing the same clothes - in fact, my neighbors can probably describe it accurately, since they are the ones who see it every day…)

snack time

He's going to be very good at reading by the time he starts kindergarden :)

lots of this going on during the day

Will likes to tell Colby stories

Some more snacks - Owen insisted on standing right by her and leaning on the same wall, the way she was doing it

Owen was really excited at the thought of Colby taking a nap in the crib with him. Colby, on the other hand, probably felt only pure terror...

One example of SO MANY wonderful meals people brought us. This one was complete with a cute drawing from a girl in the neighborhood. These meals SAVED us. Seriously. We love our friends (not just for their food - there are so many other reasons :)

Tyler would rather stay home and hold Colby all day than go to school. I don't blame him - me too!

Owen learning how to brush his teeth on his own. A momentous occasion!

"Hey Colby, want to see what it feels like to ride a roller coaster?!"

A little more cuteness

It is extremely important to Owen that he know exactly where baby is every moment. Every moment. 

Late night parties!

A rock collecting expedition with friends. Good thing Ken is such a good sport :) We brought home a HUGE beautiful rock that I'm determined to bring home to the US with me.

A little bit of sun time at the beach!

And Halloween. Lots of Halloween! 4 nights of parties means there is a little too much candy in this house!

School festival

Hailey with Sarah, one of our friends who babysits for us!

Tyler and his teacher Mrs. Pike

Will and his teacher Mrs. Self

Colby spent every Halloween party like this: completely passed out in somebody's arms. What a champ!

Our friends joined us for trick or treating fun!

There was some serious candy sorting and trading going on afterwards

And a couple more of this gorgeous little face. He is already growing too fast!

And that, my friends, summarizes these past 5 weeks. Now we feel like we are ready for some  adventures that would include preparation, and actually leaving the house. Wish us luck!