Our First Eid

We had a wonderful and restful Eid holiday.  The entire country is off during this celebration.  In case you are wondering, Eid ul-Adha (auf deutsch Das Opferfest) is an important religious holiday celebrated by Muslims worldwide to commemorate the willingness of Abraham to sacrifice his son Ishmael as an act of obedience to God, before God intervened to provide him with a ram to sacrifice instead.  It is a joyful time and many people give to charity, give gifts, feast and so on.  This is the first time since Casey has been working that we felt he was truly "off."  Everything is closed in SA.  People are truly on holiday.  Here in KAUST many people used the ten days for travel.  Others were making their pilgrimmage called "Hajj" to Mecca.  This pilgrimmage is an obligation that must be carried out at least once in their lifetime by every Muslim who is physically able and can afford to do so. 

We did not do any travel other than two trips to Jeddah.  I went with Kelly for one of the trips to mainly get story time supplies and a few craft and toys for our own kids.  Casey took the two older girls later in the week.  When Kelly and I went we hired a driver.  Casey took the bus with the girls.  The bus leaves KAUST at 4:00 and returns at midnight.  We had no idea how this would work for the girls since they never stay up this late but they had a blast and stayed up no problem.  Of course they fell asleep on the way home but this was expected.

The bus took them to the Mall of Arabia:

After doing some quick shopping where Theresa chose a Fulla doll (SA Barbie) and Marcella chose rollerskates, they visited the carnival.  The carnival is a permanent fixture in the mall.

Below is this climbing thing that the girls went in.  It is like a glorified fast food playscape.

Naturally we did a lot of crafting over the break.  The neatest thing the girls made were their stick horses.  They spent an entire afternoon making the horses and stalls in their room.  This was inspired by a book we have been reading called "Summer Pony" by Jean Slaughter Doty.  The girls absolutely love this story and we have started its sequal, "Winter Pony."  Up till now they have really shown no interest in horses which has been a dissappoinnment for me since I was a huge horse lover as a girl.

They love running races with the horses.

We also spent the break visiting new parks or areas of interest here.  

Here is Theresa, Spider Girl.  She probably climbed this web twenty times.

And here are some hands we have always seen while swimming and wondered about. 

These last few pictures are maninly of the twins.  They still love their rabbit and mouse from Tante Oma La-La and here they are giving them a bath:

Theses next few pictures are just for fun. 

Eleanor has started to make line ups of everything.  She gets real upset when Ebby messes them up.  He prefers to be the destructor but occasionally enjoys making a tower or two.

Eleanor loves to sit and read various magazines and instruction manuals to things like games.  She is so cute.  She will take the piece and do this little get comfy sit and say "I'm reading it."

She also loves to carry ALL her animals and dollies and then some with her after her nap.

Well, that's about all for now.  Here is Marcella, sending out love from KAUST (look carefully and you will see a heart she drew with a piece of wood through it for the arrow):







New Heights

We have had a nice mellow week so far.  One of our outings this week was to a climbing wall here at the rec center.  Marcella actually made quite a climb.  She is usually so timid about new things, but she was raring to go!

Go Marcella, go!!!

Nice Sand

Helmet Head Eb

"Mommy, I'm not sure if these shoes have been sterilized." 

Here are some more book friends I've added to the twinner's wall:

 "Spot" and "Hand, Hand, Fingers, Thumb Monkey"

The kids were all coughing a lot last week and the twins had accompanying runny noses.  This has actually been happening with them all on and off since we arrived.  Casey and I took them all down to the clinic for a second trip and only Marcella seemed to have any real issues-mild bronchitis.  The doctor gave us some natural floral/herb elixirs and their coughs have lessened somehat but the twins noses still run at times.  After talking with other friends having similar issues we decided to have our ac cleaned, filters changed, etc.  We also had a mold check which came up negative but a lot of dust was found left over from construction work.  The ac systems here are ductless so this dust is blowing right in our rooms.  A crew came and cleaned all this dust out and actually cut a hole in our livingroom to clean more thoroughly.  Now the noses do not run so much but at certain places we still have nose issues.  It appears we will just have to make do with this allergy.  Luckily it comes and goes.



Happy Halloween!

We had a surprisingly great Halloween.  I had had no idea what to expect but KAUST put on a nice little party for everyone on the 28th.  This was a Thursday so it was the "Saturday" of our weekend.  The party was from 4-6 and then we went trick or treating.  Houses that welcomed trick or treaters put a Jack-O-Lantern sign on their door.  At the party we got to decorate cookies, make guesses for candy filled jars, paint pumpkins (which were actually very large gourds), and do Halloween arts and crafts.  There were other events happening, but these were the ones we chose to do.  The girls really enjoyed themselves and since it was located in KAUST's day care building the twins got to play on some fun toddler sized play equipment. 

Marcella and Theresa made their beautiful fairy costumes.  All four kids wore green, which believe it or not we did not plan; it just happened, so I guess we had a particularly "go green" Halloween this year!  How fitting since the fairy costumes were made from a recycled school posterboard and other recycled house items like foil. 

My only complaint about the whole thing was the heat.  The evening was actually quite cool but the party was held in and enclosed play area and there were so many people.  Everyone was sweating and practically gasping for air.  I was drenched.  There was just no air moving.  It was so refreshing to be in the open air when we left.  Hopefully next year the festivities will be held in a field or someplace where air can circulate better. 

Casey took the girls trick or treating and I stayed home with the twinners to hand out treats.  There were so many trick or treaters that we actually ran out of candy and had to raid our pantry.  The twins loved running to the door to see the next batch of kids all dressed up.  The girls brought home a nice stash of goodies- KAUST families were very generous!

Two sweet little fairies biking to the party!

Twinner Party Hang Out

Marcella has a loose tooth!  She is so excited about this-it is her first loose tooth.  She has actually "graduated" to a new Arabic class and as a reward her Arabic teacher let her pick a prize.  She chose a little fairy and immediately made this fairy a little fairy house:

Theresa has become quite the little puzzler!  She loves them and now does 100-150 piece puzzles.  She gets home an hour before Marcella so she and I have about 30 minutes of one-on-one time.  We usually play school with her being the teacher.  I love this because she has such a cute little teacher voice and I get to be the good kid.  Sometimes we do puzzles and baking too.  It is a very nice quiet time.  Casey and I really have to work at making alone time for each of the kids so this time is very precious to me.







New Moon

Tomorrow we will have been here a month!  These past few nights we have been enjoying the gorgeous full moon.  All the dust in the air makes it especially dazzling.  Speakng of dust, this is the time of year in SA for dust storms.  They are actually called sand storms here and last week we had two.  Both days we woke up with the weather clear as usual but at 10:00 am each day in blew the sand.  It is literally a cloud of sand that lingers for an hour or more depending on the size.  The first one was the worst.  It brought a tremendous heat with it and so much sand that the pool closed down.  The sand coated everything.  It also dried out the air which in a way was a blessing- we were not sweating so much- but then again we also could not breath due to the smothering heat.  I have never felt such a heat.  It was like opening an oven but not being able to close it.  We were constantly putting on lip balm.  The second sand storm was not so bad and actually blew away the heat so now we are back to the humidity which I prefer.  While most people welcome fall with cooler weather and the changing of leaves, we welcome it with sand storms!  Actually other than that first sand storm day, the temperatures have dropped to the upper 80s and mid 90s and in the evenings it is very nice.

We were not aware that the pool had closed so when we arrived for a swim we had to wait for the finishing cleaning touches.  Luckily the gym was open so we had some fun with balls:

                                                        WOW..that's our Mommy!

                                                               Theresa has a sit.

We finally got to go swim and I could not resist a few pool shots mainly to show off Eleanor's USA suit.  It actually bothers her a lot for some reason.  I think she does not like being the only girl in a two-piece and there was this little string hanging down in the front.  Little strings hanging down can be such a bother!

 Here is a good shot of Eleanor and the bothering string.  It had been cut off in the previous two pics.

Every Wednesday evening we go down to a place called "Discovery Square" and eat out.  We would never do this in the States but here it is a nice place for families to gather and get out after a work week.  We always see other families we know and after dinner we treat ourselves to delicious Baskin Robbins.  The BR here is way cheaper than in the States.  Our whole family can have icecream, large scoops for $8.  This is even cheaper than buying a half gallon of vanillla at the Tamini since in the store the icecream is about $9 for a half gallon.  This past Wednesday we ate at "Pizza Inn."  Note the founding city of Pizza Inn!

Also note Marcella's new look.  She is really working at "blending in with the natives here."

On Thursday while the twins were napping we got real crafty.  Theresa made about six beautiful water color pictures which I will show at a later date.  Marcella made some cute little ghosties and a black cat.

I worked on decor for the twins' room.  Their room is so bare and I have been struggling with what to put on the walls.  I did not want to spend a lot of money but also wanted something meaningful for the twins to look at.  Casey came up with the idea of book characters.  We do soooo much reading here without our toys.  Well, we do a lot even with the toys, but since our arrival I would say reading is what we do the most.  Luckily I brought quite a few books with our luggage and we have been frequenting the library.  What I am doing is copying the twins' favorite book characters from the books we have spents hours reading.  This weekend I did Rosie from "Rosie's Walk" by Pat Hutchins and Dingo Dog from Ricahrd Scarry's "Cars and Trucks, and Things That Go."

"I just can't believe that Dingo.  He is so naughty."

                                                                    "Run Rosie!"

Here are some cute reading pics.  Eleanor loves this dress.  She calls it her Rosie Dress because it has little blue chickens on it (they are actually roosters but gender does not matter here).  The dress was actually made by my Gonka (mom's mother).  It is almost 40 years old since it was sewn for my older sister.  Eleanor is so cuddly in it.

                                       "Here Eleanor, let me blow dry your hair while you read."

Two favorites with Daddy, "Go Trucks" and "Baby Dear."

We wrapped up our weekend with a KAUST sponsored "Kite Festival."  This was another well attended and fun event.  They had face painting, more jumping castles, characters to pose with, and even a trampoline.  Casey's boss' family was there (from Austin area) and his oldest daughter was wearing the same shirt as Eleanor!

                                             Eleanor has a little rest from all the festivities.

Before I go I wanted to update everyone on two things.  First our zinnias have sprouted!  We made signs so that the gardeners won't pull them up and placed an Inukshuk near them. An Inukshuk is a rock pile traditionally built by Native people of the Far North as a landmark for guiding their way home or marking a special place.  Second my story time last week was a success and I am hoping for more people this week.  Casey helped me obtain a $500 grant from Recreation Services as well.  This much needed money will go towards purchasing a cd player, puppets, and other supplemental materials.  I am really enjoying setting this up for the KAUST families.  It is my way of helping build a community here.

Waiting for Our Shipment

Our sea shipment is still not here and from what friends have told us, it may not come for quite awhile.  We shipped it in the beginning of August.  People say it will be like Christmas when we finally do get it and I am beginning to think it will be Christmas when we get it!  I think that the shipment did not leave the States until we actually arrived here.  Casey's coworker and her daughter Jasmine have let us borrow our second batch of toys.  We are so grateful to her.  Here are some of the things we do to pass the time in a community that did not exist 800 days ago:

We have been frequenting the Harbor Public Library each Friday afternoon.

 
I am actually going to start helping out with the storytimes here beginning Tuesday!  I am very excited about this.  The age group is 0-3, so Eben and Eleanor will join me.  My hope is that we will be able to hold two storytimes for this age group a week.  There really is not much in KAUST for this age other than storytime and what we call "The Playroom."  The Playroom was established by the first year moms.  They arrived last October after spending nine weeks in a hotel in Jeddah.  When they finally came, there were no pools or playgrounds so at first they all donated their old toys and eventually got funds to purchase toys for this room.  I take Eben and Eleanor here about twice a week.  We have met two other families from central Texas here.  One comes from Austin and the other San Marcos.  It's truly a small world!

Luckily all of our children are avid readers.  They will spend long periods of time just reading or looking at books.  Both older girls love to read to the twins.

The house is so open and full of tile which makes it quite echo-ee.  I hope that the echos dissipate after all our things are here.  The echos really upset Eleanor in the middle of the night when we first arrived.  Their room in particular is very bare and when she would wake up her screams would be increased due to all the echos.  After a few nights of not being able to console her, we decided to put the maid room mattress in the twin's room.  What a difference this has made.  Their room is way less echo-ee and has a great "plumping" mattress to play on:

We love reading and just having little relaxes here.

There are many nice parks and open spaces here as well. Each play area is surrounded by either soccer or cricket fields.  Unfortuantely all the playgrounds are as of yet under the open sky, so we only go play on them in the evenings after dinner.  The building with the "playroom" actually has two covered playgrounds but alas, we have a slight issue with these.  The playgrounds here have some sort of untreated recycled tire mats and the kids get covered in black when we go there.  I do take the twins to these once or twice a week in the morning and then we go home to bath.  The schools also have these recycled tire mats on their playgrounds and Marcella and Theresa need their shoes washed frequently.  

The open air playgrounds do not have the tire mats.  They either have the sand that I love so much, straight from the beach with nice sharp coral and shell pieces or grass.  We tend to play on the grass playgrounds the most.

Below, Marcella is demonstrating the handy "pout benches."

Since we mostly go in the evenings it gets dark while we are playing.  All parks/open areas are well lit.  The kids love playing when it gets dark.  By the way, it gets dark here at about 6:00 in the evening and light at about 6:00 in the morning.

Another thing we do a lot of is crafts.  The twins love drawing with crayons and markers.  We usually do this while Marcella is working on her homework.  After she gets home from school we have snack and then do homework.  It is a nice time when the kids and I are all at the table doing our work.  Sarah and Mary helped us to establish this good habit.  Sarah and Mary walk home to Oma's from school and after snack do their homework.  We would work with them while we were staying at Oma's for the month before we came to KAUST.  Thank you girls!  I actually found plums for the first time at the Tamini (they came from Italy). We had some for snack the other day and it reminded me of our snack time with you two!

Now back to our crafts....the girls have made so many wonderful creations.  An alphabet wall and sock dolls are a few:

The sock doll idea came from the Nuckels.  They had a friend who made Katie a sock doll. Marcella remembered this and asked if we could do the same.  The dolls are made from five socks and are stuffed with three of Casey's old T-shirts.  Their clothes are made from some old shirts of mine.  We plan on making some more clothes with bandanas.  Marcella is sewing shoes for her doll in the above picture.  Theresa named her doll Charlotte, but has been known to change this to Rose.  Sometimes the doll is a boy too.  Marcella calls her doll Annabel.  The day after we made the dolls we went to the library and found a great book on making things for your doll!  We were not even looking for such a book, but there it was on top of a shelf.  Incredible!  The book is called Things to Make for Your Doll by Kathy Ross.  The ideas are simple and can be completed with mostly common household items.  Some of the neat ideas are a doll picture frame from flip top lids, a hermit crab for your doll (perfect for us), and a wardrobe and hangers. 

Beach Fun

On Friday we went to the beach again and had a fabulous time.  The tide was low and there were so many new things to see like jellyfish and crabs.  We saw so many hermit crabs in all sizes and we saw larger crabs.  We were all ready to depart and had made the trek to the showers when we discovered they were not working due to too much sand that the plumbing could not handle.  The attendants ushered us to the lovely beach bathrooms; typical of a public beach bathroom in the states only newer.  Well, neither the men's nor the women's showers were working.  I take that back, they were working but spraying water all over the place.  Instead of walking all the way back to the sea we decided just to go for it.  I must tell you Marcella had just given herself a nice sand bath before leaving the beach.  Anyways, we did a remarkable job of getting sand all over the bus and our house and ended up showering at home so I am expecting a nice plumbing overflow anyday now.  We also had to rinse the toys in our utility sink at home because our house (and all others in the Island District) have no hoses...

For some reason all the sand made me a little irritable and I just needed some time to myself so Casey took the kids to do some site seeing around campus.

Afterwards he made a fabulous Middle Eastern dinner of Red Snapper, Couscous Tabbouleh Salad, and fresh green beans with almonds.  It was fantastic- one of the best meals we've had.  After putting the kids to bed we watched another Star Wars episode.  We are making our way through all the episodes, in chronological order. 

We also went bowling for the for the first time this weekend.  It turned out to be a lot of fun and all the kids enjoyed it for about 45 minutes, which we thought was pretty good.  Casey and I actually got to play a real game in between helping the kids.  Eben and Theresa had the most fun, but Eleanor scored the highest.

Eben LOVED the shoes

Here we see Theresa anxiously watching her ball while Eben does a dance we call "The Theresa" because she initiated this move as a toddler.