Rain Dance

There have actually been three rain storms and one caused enough flooding that school was cancelled.  We were fortunate enough to only have two leaks and some seepage from windows.  Both leaks are unfixable according to maintenance and I was told, "In Shallah, it won't rain again."  The window leaks did get fixed with some nice thick calk so we should be good there.  

The weather since our return has been fabulous.You do not really need a jacket but pants and short or long sleeves is comfortable.  It is actually too cool to swim but we have been spending more time than usual outdoors and can even enjoy our backyard more because the sprinklers do not come on as often.  Casey bought the cutest red grill and made yummy steaks.  The charcoal here is actually real carbonized pieces of wood.  Very different from the briquets we use in Texas.

The girls watched a Curious George episode where George makes a tree for a pigeon and this inspired them to make their own tree for the birds.  The rain unfortunately destroyed the tree but luckily no one had their feelings hurt.  The fun part was making the tree anyways.  In the picture you will see Marcella pointing to a plastic container filled with dried grass, dryer lint, and such for the birds to use when making their nests.  We will put bright ribbons and felt in later so that we can look for signs in the real trees of bird nests made using our scraps.

Our zinnias greeted us with sweet little blooms.  You will see in the picture what I mean by "little."  For some reason the plants did not get too big.  We brought back a lot of Texas seeds and will be purchasing some better quality soil for these.  It was a nice surprise to see the blooms.

Eek Eek

Before we could take off from New York to Jeddah we had to wait for an hour on the run way due to "overcrowding."  Three previous flights to Jeddah had been cancelled due to rain there.  This flight was actually making two SA stops.  Luckily Jeddah was the first stop.  Our plane was supposed to leave at 8:00 pm NY time and the kids were all exhausted from travelling since 7:30 in the morning.  All but Marcella crashed before take off as we see below.  Marcella fell asleep soon after take off and actually did wear the eye covers for quite awhile.  You can also see Eleanor in her airplane bassinet.  I could not believe she slept in it again, but she did.  Theresa is so cute on the plane because she sleeps in this little ball.  The man next to her was a huge help.  He kept covering her up and let her put her head on his arm rest. 

The rains did not damage our house and all the plumbing was working fine but we did have a little visitor.  The first time I saw it was during the night and I thought it was an abnormally large roach.  The next morning Casey and Marcella stated that they had seen a very large ghecko and we should just leave it to eat bugs.  Then that afternoon there was no mistaking what it was, a mouse.  It was actually the cutest little thing, darting everywhere but we can't have this in the house so the pest people set their traps and later that night the little guy was caught.  He was so cute and tiny I really had to fight the urge to "put it in a cardboard box" as a pet.  The men came and took it away for "release" I was told and I will not pursue the matter.  The traps were left out for a few more days but that one little guy is the only one we had.  This picture does not do justice to his cuteness.  He was really a cute one.

Christmas 2010

We are back and in the groove again after a restful break in Texas.  Casey and I continually comment on how much we enjoyed being back with loved ones and how happy and peaceful our time was.  The kids seemed to suffer from no jet lag whatsoever other than going to bed early the first few nights.  They all did wonderful on the flights too.  Well, Eben had two little fits, one from New York to Austin and the other in the taxi from Jeddah to KAUST, but we won't dwell on that.  This trip was the twin's last trip as "lap sitters."  They'll be two in February so for all other flights they will get their own seats, Yippee!!!  We are assuming this will make a huge difference.  Eben's biggest scream fest was due to his not being able to sit by the window.  Our total luggage poundage for the return trip was 400 pounds plus carry ons.  Casey did a great job at insuring all suitcases were at their limit so we did not get charged any extra and everything arrived in one piece.

Below you see a picture of the kids and me in the Saudi Airlines Lounge.  These lounges are great.  Due to all of Casey's travelling he gets us in free and it is the best thing.  Free food, good TV, great bathrooms, room to run.  I am holding a little Saudi coffee cup filled with their traditional white coffee.  Alone it is not very tasty but with dates, the way we were told to drink it, it is quite good.  We used the Korean Air Lounge in New York for the return trip and it was just as nice.  The second plane picture is of the kids sharing seats and snacking.  We got all the kids up at 11:30pm for the trip to Texas and pretty much spent the entire trip snacking and sleeping alternatively.  For the trip back to SA we seem to sleep for a much longer period.

These next couple of pictures are our family on Christmas Eve and of the girls with their new Hello Kitty scooters.  It was so fun to dress in coats and mittens.  Marcella especially enjoyed this and was often seen with her scarf. 



Farewell 2010!

This will be my last post for awhile because we are returning to Texas for about three weeks to celebrate the holidays.  Hopefully we will get to see some of you guys.  It has been a fabulous first few months for us here in SA but we are so excited about seeing our families. 

I've got some random pictures to share before I sign off. First, I finished the twin's storybook pictures with a Goodnight Moon picture between their cribs with a yellow truck made for Eben underneath, some animals for Eben from Jump Frog, Jump!, and animals for Eleanor from Secret Seahorse.

This shot is just a silly diaper twin picture and it is followed by some fun dress up shots.

Eleanor wore those earrings all afternoon!

Finally we have some random Kids Around KAUST pictures with a little zinnia update.

As you can see, it is a slow grow for our flowers.  We did happen upon some zinnias growing near one of the KAUST buildings so we know it can happen, it may just take time.

Merry Christmas to all and may you each have a blessed and peaceful New Year!





Finally

Our shipment finally arrived on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.  It was so much fun to have the truck finally pull into our driveway!  We had not told the girls that it was coming in case it was another mistake, but the phone call came at 3:30 that the truck was at KAUST's gate.  The first item off was Theresa's dollhouse but she and Marcella had eyes only for their long lost Barbie's, which followed soon after!  We spent all week unpacking and each day the girls and twins were reunited with their things.  We had thought the twins would have forgotten some of the toys, but you could tell they remebered and even started asking for specifics like the fisher price people when the fisher price house came down.

 Here is our cardboard kitchen- fully equipped with old playhouse toys.  This has been so nice to have in the kitchen now.  Both twins love cooking with Mommy and Daddy and going shopping. 

Another finally was Marcella losing her first tooth.  This tooth has been wanting to come out for about two weeks now and it finally broke loose this same morning.  She was ecstatic!

Thanksgiving Gala

Our first Thanksgiving here was very pleasant.  Casey cooked the turkey and it turned out fantastic.  He had put the stuffing inside and I think this helped the turkey stay nice and moist.  The girls helped with all the vegetables-washing and cutting.  This was so much fun for them.  They also helped with all our pies- pecan, cherry, and apple.  All day we could smell the wonderful aromas coming from the kitchen.  The smells were so much like the Thanksgiving smells we remember from home that for the day we almost felt as if we were back in Texas.

Later in the evening we ventured out to Thuwal Park for a Saudi Eid Gala.  Now this was a real experience.  So far all the KAUST sponsored events have been so well organized but for some reason this particular event was a little on the "sensory overload" side as Mr. Chris, a K-2 teacher put it.  They had advertised gifts for kids and our kids were a few of the lucky ones to actually receive gifts.  The organizers ran out of gifts in about 30 minutes.  The girls got plastic tea party sets and a hair care set and Eben got a Ben 10 car that continually plays Axel F and lights up.  He loves it as do the girls.  What was so neat about the girls' tea sets is that they came with stove top pieces- this was perfect timing because my sister Mary had sent us a link on how to make a cardboard kitchen.  We used the stove top pieces for this kitchen.  Since our shipment had not yet arrived, the tea set was a big hit.  We got a kick out of the packaging.

Here the kids are enjoying the sights and sounds and their new gifts.  The couches were all over as were the beautiful lamps.

The main problem with the event was the blaring music and in my opinion, treatment of the animals.  First of all, the event was supposed to have traditional Saudi musicians and dancers, which it did, but the music was so darn loud you could not enjoy the show.  Then the camels and horses were a little dissapointing to say the least.  They came a bit late which only drew attention to the way they were transported here: in the bed of a run down livestock truck- all six of them!



  Here you see a camel "jumping" off the truck in full regalia.  I had had visions of the family posing in front of a camel for our Christmas picture but this vision quickly fizzled when I saw the absolute madness taking place with the animals.  There were no lines; everything was all jumbled.  Camels are very tall animals with very large feet.  There was no stairway leading onto the camels back.  The camel sits down, the riders climb up, and then the camel heaves itself up, back legs first.  They had to do this over and over.  Unbelievable.  There was no way our kiddos were getting on them.  Marcella did ride a nice pony and we rode as a family with some school friends in the Hantuk, which was basically and old pick up converted into a wagon pulled by two skinny, sore covered horses given no break.  Apparently there are no animal rights for such events.  When browsing the pictures, note Theresa's friend, Layla and Eben sitting up front- he loved it!

Sand Storm, Sand Blast

I have decided to take a few minutes to show everyone some recent sand storm pictures.  These are not of the actual storm itself but rather they are what the storm leaves behind: fine sand everywhere.  We have been having these storms two to three times a week now.  I feel like most of them have been on a Tuesday or Sunday, the two days we do Story Time, or a play group day.  At first I was staying at home, but I quickly realized that these storms are a part of life and as my neighbor pointed out one day while I was contemplating venturing out or not, "you just have to get used to it."  Casey brought home masks from the lab and we keep these and sunglasses at the ready (thank you Granny for equipping us with so many great pairs!) and go forth to brave the sand.  Anyways, here is what our front and back porches look like after a storm has blown through.