Easter Tute

Over the girls' Spring Break we made their Easter Tutes.  (pronounced too-tah) This is a new Easter craft for our family.  In the past we have always made Easter Nests from flowers and other nature, but this year I thought we would make Tutes.  This idea comes from a German tradition for school children on their first day of school.  The children receive Schultute, which are cones filled with goodies and school supplies. 

Our kids will hang their tutes the night before Easter from their chairs and see what goodies the Easter Bunny brings them in the morning.  The whole family took part in the tute making and when all was done we hand some beautiful, though rather large, Easter Tutes!

A Belated St. Patrick's Day

I was just perusing my pictures and realized I have not yet written about our St. Patrick's Day.  The day before the 17th I invited the moms over for a St. Patrick's Day tea which was a lot of fun.  I was most impressed by the twins- they had no problems sharing their toys.  I had prepared zucchini bread muffins and green dyed rice krispie treats as well as grapes and kiwis.  It was a lovely morning and most everybody wore green.  Next year I need to remember to take a group kid picture because all the kids looked adorable in their green outfits.  One mother had brought the most refreshing lemonade.  It was a blended mixture of lemonade made from concentrate and mint.  We all loved it and the best part was she gave me a bottle to share with my family.  I'll definitely be making the drink in Texas this summer. Our dinner on St. Patrick's Day was Oma's scrumptious Shepherd's Pie and Oatmeal Bread with Shamrock Cookies for dessert.

Here are the twins waiting for their guests:

March Madness

It has been ages since Theresa has made one of her "piles."  Well, the other day she was at it constructing one we labeled "The Dollie Tower."  Note the 18" doll base- clever girl!

The picture of the twins was amazing.  Marcella practices her facts each morning on the couch using Flashmaster.  Earlier this week the twins were playing with their play kitchen and kept saying what I thought was "fats, fats..."  I had no idea what they were meaning.  Then they both ran into the living room and got up on the couch and both said "I'm doing my fats."  They had taken the little play burners (there are two sets) and were pretending these were their flashmasters.  They made all the right sounds and everything.  It was the cutest thing.

The last picture is after Marcella and Theresa got their Fancy Nancy Manicures.  I decided to treat Theresa to a manicure with Marcella.  They both received a full manicure and beautiful, flowery nail polishing.  Afterwards I took them out to lunch - Ladies Morning Out. 

She's Seven!!!

Enjoy these pictures from Marcella's official birthday.  Marcella received her first dangle ring from Granny and Grandpa- a butterfly!  I think we all had the most fun with the headbands from the Nuckels.  My favorite gift was the Pride and Prejudice paper doll book from Aunt Rita- I love Jane Austen!



Party Time!

Marcella's official birthday is on March 8 but we celebrated with her school friends this past weekend.  This is the first time we have had a "friend party" and I was quite pleased with how smoothly it all went.  We reserved a room at our Island Oasis Rec Center, ordered pizzas, brought drink boxes and bottled water, had clementines and plums, and ordered two beautiful cakes from our friendly Tamimi grocery store.

The party's theme was "Fancy Nancy" and went from 10-1.  We spent the first hour doing crafts: making fancy bracelets, fancy critters, and fancy clips.  Then everyone played outside on the playground adjacent to the room, came in and ate, played some party games, and had cake.  About half of her class showed up including two very sweet boys, as well as Ms. Mary, her teacher.  We had specified there by no gifts but her teacher gave her the neatest gift cerftificate- a fancy manicure.  Ms. Mary said her daughter had received one as a gift and could not resist giving one to Marcella since the party was a Fancy Nancy party.  We will have so much fun at our local salon. 

I had planned for us to play about five different party games but we only played three: pop the balloons, red rover, and a game we called the Dress Up Relay.  The kids' favorite game was actually one we came up with before we popped the balloons.  Casey just made it up right then; it was basically making a balloon volcano and they wanted to do this over and over.  It was a very sweet bunch of children and everyone seemed to really enjoy themselves.

Return of the King

King Abdullah of Saudi Arabia declared a holiday this past Saturday.  This was in honor of his safe return from a three month absence.  He was actually in the US for medical reasons.  We really enjoyed our unexpected three-day weekend.  I did not find out until Marcella came home from school on Wednesday and told me.  I was a little skeptical, but Casey confirmed the good news when he came home. 

On Thursday we enjoyed a KAUST sponsored event called "Family Fun Day."  The day started off with bike races in the morning.  There were races for all ages and bike and helmet decorating contests.  We decided just to be observers this year but I can tell the girls are excited about entering next year.  The adult bike race was a site to watch.  Four of the men competing were professional-like with appropriate gear and bikes.  I have never seen a bike race up close and I was very impressed with their speed. 

In the afternoon we played at the Fun Day's "water park" set up.  KAUST had kiddie pools out with hoses for toddlers and for the school agers there were jumping castles and water.  The girls had a blast with all their friends.  It was so fun watching them run around.  The pictures show the girls with their faces painted (done during Fun Day).

KAUST also sponsored a Classic Car Show this past weekend.  This event was situated along the Harbor area and we all enjoyed viewing the cars.  There were even some good oldies playing to help us get in the mood.  We were all most impressed with the cool shelby cobra and corvettes.

Finally you'll see little Eleanor holding her first duplo cake!

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).