Free Wheelin'

We are sooooo proud of our girls!  BOTH of them have just recently taken their training wheels off!!!  About two weeks ago Marcella finally decided to have them off.  She really had not been using them at all but needed them on for a confidence boost.  She was so proud of herself for actually making the decision to have them off.  Next week she turns 7 so this was a big six-year-old milestone for her to overcome.

Well Theresa was not to be outdone and as soon as Marcella's were off she wanted hers off as well.  She was having some issues with putting her foot down for stopping so we worked on that and just this past weekend she was off on her own!  Theresa is only 4 1/2 and I think this is the earliest that any of us have been able to bike (by us I mean Tantes and cousins).  She is so cute because she likes to wear the gloves, knee pads, and elbow pads.  I think these will be off soon though because her confidence is up- she was doing some standing on the peddles biking yesterday evening.

From the last picture you'll see that Eben showing off on his motorcycle (it's actually Eleanor's but he prefers her purple to his red).

Twins Turn Two!!!!!

Our little Twinners are two!!!!  Incredible.  I love the two year old stage.  I love the way they talk and see the world in such a simple way.  Little things like walking down the stairs fascinate them.  They are pure innocence enjoying small steps towards greater independence. 

Our playgroup/story time friends had a little celebration for the twins after story time on Tuesday, Feb. 1 (this was their actual birthday).  We enjoyed cupcakes, singing, and good company.  This is a fabulous group of mothers and we really look forward to the time we get to spend with them.  The twins have really come away from their shyness with others and interact more.  At home we often talk of their little friends too.  Both twins have just recently begun to speak of their friends with correct names like Omar, Corban and Saif.  One little girl, Leila, is a favorite with Eleanor.  Eleanor loves her shoes and dresses and says how pretty little Leila is.  During the story time for youngers we sit in a circle and sing a hello song where we address each child individually.  The twins love to repeat this song during lunch.  One mother is very creative and made the twins the cutest little rabbit birthday cards.  The rabbits were small stuffed animals and fit perfectly in little James Avery jewlery pouches.  So cute.  Eleanor loves to sit with her legs crossed as you'll see in the second picture.

We chose to celebrate the twins birthday at home on the second because this was our last day of the work week for us and we knew we would be staying up later than usual.  The twins had a star and moon cake (they love pointing out the moon and stars) and we made little signs symbolizing their favorite nursery rhymes and songs like a school bus for Wheels on the Bus and a spider for Itsy, Bitsy Spider.  Here are some pictures from the party.  We named their new dolls from Oma "Adam and Anna."  These were the two names we had been considering with the names we chose, Eben and Eleanor, for the twins.  Look at the joy on Eben's face as he opens the Big Yellow Dump Truck from Tante Lisa.  Also notice them playing with their birthday rings.  The twins spent hours (ok, minutes each day) setting these up.  It turned out to be a great toy for them!  Marcella's gift touched me the most.  She gave Eleanor her Annabel doll.  This is the sock doll we made while waiting for our shipment.  She gave Eben a piece of "working on it" wood (this came from her braiding board-she cut off the ribbons) and various tools from our dress up accessories bin. 

We're Two!!

Hanging Out in KAUST

As I previously said, we are basically just enjoying life.  Here are some day to day pictures of us Smiths.  You'll see Theresa and Daddy as twins for the day, Ring Around the Rosies Twins, Fancy Eb, and a picture we call "Eben Loves Whipping Cream."  In the Ring Around the Rosies picture you will notice Eleanor has an expired passport book in her lap.  She loves this little book and reads it all the time- usually to the tune of "Go Dog Go."  In the Fancy Eb picture he is pointing to the beautiful ring sewn onto the glove- he is so proud to be able to wear high heels.

Getting Crafty

Not much has been happening here other than day to day so I thought I'd show you all a few of our latest crafty moments.  Theresa finished her first sewing project with felt: an adorable penguin!  Marcella brought home a rather large piece she did in art class we call "Sensory Marcella."  We had some extra garlic and decided to see if it would take root which it did.  The picture shows our garlic plant next to a sweet play dough flower Marcella assembled.

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.