Open House at the Fire Station

Our local Fire Station hosted an awesome open house last weekend.  It was definitely the most interactive fire station trip I've ever been on.  Kudos to our wonderful firemen for making it all possible!  Even the weather cooperated; we had the coolest weather we've had since our return from the summer.  What made it maybe 95 rather than 100 was the air was drier!  On a side note it has felt incredibly hot due to the humidity.  No rain, but loads of humidity.  Anyways, for this event we enjoyed slightly cooler weather.

Portable Toxic Wash Station

Hose Spraying Practice

Uniform Sizing

Portable, Inflating Cast

Fire Extinguisher Fun

Rescue Rangers

Ambulance Exploration

And Our Favorite:

Foam Fun!

The firemen made rainbows using their tall extension ladder and hose.



Surprises All Around

Marcella came home from school with an egg to take care of the same day these three decided to go around having babies!  No kidding!



You can call Marcella "Toothless" now.  In one night she lost both her front teeth-after she had gone to bed!  I'm downstairs after putting the kids to bed and Casey's out jogging.  Marcella comes down with the first tooth.  We get all the fixings set for a possible tooth fairy visit and she asks if she can stay up till Daddy comes home to show him.  I say sure and take my shower.  I come out of my shower and there is Casey.  He says Marcella has something to tell you-she lost the other tooth!

The Borrowers

The two older girls made the cutest little houses inspired by the book, "The Borrowers" by Mary Norton. This was my first Kindle book to read to the kids.  I love Kindle!  It is fabulous for those of us living in regions without expansive libraries and where books add shipping weight.

I read the book to all four kids actually and they all enjoyed it, although it did take a few chapters for everyone to get hooked.  As the chapters go one it becomes a suspenseful little read.  Anyways, about midway through Marcella and Theresa decided to make their own houses for their pipe cleaner people- almost everything was "borrowed" from their dollhouses!

Fizzy Art

We made some cool fizz art the other day: vinegar, baking soda, and food color on a pan.  I was most impressed by the twins' ability to use a syringe properly.  None of the kids tired of this and if I'd have let them, they would have gone on and on.  Unfortuantely, I ran out of pans.

Fluffy New Pencil Case

At the end of last year we were browsing around our compound's bookstore and Eleanor fell in love with a cute little, pink, fluffy, pencil case.  Oh, how she wanted that pencil case!  Part of her yearning for the pencil case came from the book "Eat Your Peas!" by Kes Gray.  Eleanor was denied the pencil case and told to ask for it for her birthday or Christmas.  She was not upset at all and danced out of the store exclaiming how she would get the pencil case at her next birthday.

 

 

In this book a mother tries in vain to get her daughter to eat her peas.  She offers her all sorts of outrageous things such as a zoo, candy factories and the like.  In the end, she meekly adds to the enormous list a new fluffy, pink, pencil case.

 

Well, here in KAUST, the students are not required to bring school supplies but Marcella's teacher did request two items: a flash drive and a pencil case!  It was too hard for us parents to deny Eleanor the pencil case this time, so, when we took Marcella to get hers, we got Eleanor one too.  We also got this great pencil sharpener that I love!  Our electric sharpeners just do not last and this one is a nice hand krank with metal parts.  I love it and it works great.

The story does not end here.  The next day Eben and Eleanor are playig upstairs and Eben comes running down with a broken pencil for me to sharpen.  I gladly do this and think no more of it other than how nice it is that the twins are playng so sweetly together (they actually do this a lot).  Later I go upstairs and my, oh my, our walls have what Eleanor later said were new "creations!" 

We hang our kids' art work up all over the house on mini clotheslines made from yarn and small clothespins.  Eben and Eleanor were making more art for the lines.  Casey and I were so shocked but did not scold or get upset because the twins were so innocent in their work.  We talked with them about how we write only on paper and went through a lsit of what is good to write on and what is not.  The twins are cleaning up their creations, although it will take us about a week because we only manage to do a little bit each day. 

They even created a nice lower case e!  Eben said he wants to clean that one!

 

First Day of School

Here are our cute girls ready to begin a new school year.  Marcella is starting third grade and Theresa first. 

Theresa is actually being homeschooled this year.  Homeschooling is the direction we will be heading upon our return to Texas in a year or two so we decided to go ahead and begin that journey now rather than with all four at one time.  It is a great fit for our family and Theresa has expressed an interest in it and so far is enjoying herself. 

Marcella stayed within the KAUST school system and was actually placed with most of the same children as last year.  We were so happy for this because her peers are all motivated learners and help Marcella challenge herself.

Happy Summer

We'll be off to Texas in a few hours and I just wanted to leave you with a sweet farewell picture I call "Love From KAUST."  The biggest tomato we grew this year just so happened to be a heart!