Week is almost over... whew

This week seems like it will never end! Monkey had his presentation for the Challenge at school. He did a fabulous job, but sad to say they gave the award to a yr 9 girl who made a board game. Which when i stop being his mom, i can see how that did take a lot of work. My complaint about it is that all the kids did such totally different things, that I don't see how they could choose. They narrowed them down to 6, his movie, 2 stories, a ecology study, and a board game. Could they be any more different? But, he was a trooper, there were no tears, from him anyway :) All of the teachers and judges said he did a great, great job. Truth be told, i saw one of the heads who he interviewed, and she was floored he lost too. He was apparently one of the youngest in it, and that was shocking to the judges. so it was sad, it really stinks to see your baby lose, but i guess everyone is someone's baby. The girls dad was so gracious though, and stopped monkey on the way out to tell him what a great job he did. That was nice. So i guess the praise he is getting, is making his hard work worthwhile. Now if i could figure out how to get it on here.....

Book Day

The kids had book day at school yesterday, and had so much fun. It was funny to see all the kids and teachers dressed up. I wish I had gotten a picture of some of the teachers, they were all dressed up as where's waldo(forgive me, it's wally here :). Midgets new love is Pippi Longstocking, we've been reading them for a while at bedtime. So, when she heard of book day she squealed, "I can be Pippi, she's a hero!" That was easy enough, we bent a hanger, painted it, and she had all the clothes already. It suited her to a T. And once she put the costume on, she even acts like her :)
Monkey likes the green hornet. So I found him the hat, which he now loves to where, which is very cute :) I lucked into the suit at a store called Lulu's. 82 dirhams, which is around 20 dollars! A 3 piece suit. he absolutely loves it. Which is somewhat funny, as he has always loved dressing up. When he was 3, he had a christmas outfit, it came with a blue velvet vest. He wore that vest everywhere we went, shorts, didn't matter, the vest was there. Last year it was a corduroy blazer, so this is perfect. He even hung it up carefully next to his dads suits. So adorable! Now the only mask i could find was a green glittery one, which didn't thrill him. Of course as it got warmer during the day, the Green Hornet lost his jacket and mask, and monkey said he became Al Capone, how clever is that!
He also had his play shown on the big screen at assembly. It was a bit long for that and the kids were antsy, so we couldn't hear it well though. But still, that was exciting. And to top it all off, Midget won an award for her costume in her class, and an award for Best Book Cover design for all of year 3! She got a dictionary, and her cover is going to be displayed at the school. I didn't know anything about it, so I am dying to see. So it was a great day for our kids, we couldn't be prouder! Luckily dad was there to see it all, and he was so happy he couldn't quit beaming <3 Here's Pippi Longstocking!

The Green Hornet, and his backpack all set for school :)

Midget's class..

Midget's teacher, as Enid, the naughtiest girl in school

Monkey is on the big screen!

The Green Hornet at assembly.

Midget and her best costume!

Midget getting her award, it didn't turn out as a good picture :(

Weekend

We did have a fabulous weekend! Midget got to ride her horse, and she was thrilled beyond belief. Her dad was thrilled as it was the first time he had seen her on a horse. He was shocked at how at ease she was with them. She is not intimidated at all, just climbs right up and is happy as can be. The equestrian centre, is a nice little place, with all kinds of animals. Monkey loved playing with the cats all around and the chickens. Who doesn't love to run with a few chickens?!
There is a beach right by the horse place so we stopped and played a bit before grabbing some dinner. This country drives me mad as there aren't any quick drive thrus. So you have to go to a strip center and wait, or go to a gas station. Yes, a gas station. They have restaurants in them, like home i suppose. This one has a domino's, burger king, baskin robbins, dunkin donuts, and a few other little unknown cafe's. So strange!
Yesterday the boys went duning. They had a blast again, i think hubby has a new hobby. Now a few friends went for the first time, and are hooked also!

Check out that grin!

Monkey was loving that swing, the cats kept coming up to him :)

Fun Weekend Ahead!

T.G.I.T!!! That just doesn't have the same ring as T.G.I.F... But I will think it anyway :) Tonight we have been asked to watch our friends kids. Midget is thrilled beyond belief, as it includes the new twins. Frankly, I get my baby bug fix, and get to send them home and sleep all night :) Their big brother always has fun playing with the kids too. It's nice to see them all play together. I am wondering if they will change their mind, as it's the first time leaving the babies i think. We shall see. We are ready and willing though!
After school today we are stopping at the German Vet Clinic for a little surprise for midget also. Tomorrow she has her first riding lesson out here! I am not sure who is more excited me or her. Monkey is looking forward to it also, they are a animal rescue place, so they have tons of animals out there too. It's a huge piece of land with a petting zoo out there also. Fun, fun, fun!
We also are starting to edit monkeys film. He has interviewed around 11 people, we still need some emerati's. Hubby found a few at a 4 by 4 shop, where he got a roof rack for the jeep. Silly boy... He's all excited about this duning he's been doing. But he is going to talk to the man about monkey interviewing him. He's even a police officer here! He gave us all the info on the goings on here in the uae with the worry about the protesting in the region. We are good here he says, the stuff in Oman is escalating quite a bit. The Saudi's have sent in the military, and it sounds like a religious crisis brewing. This country screens (not good of course, but in this case it is ), so the ones protesting wouldn't be here so much to do it. It's worrisome though. But that is what is going on in Kuwait, and Oman. It's growing in noise it seems. We got the travel warning from the embassy not to go there if you can avoid it. I will do just that! Sad though, we are out here, it's so cheap to go places like Egypt and Oman, and now we can't! It would have been a great end of term break, especially with the kids studying Egypt :(
Then after all that, Saturday the boys are going duning with a co-worker who just got a awesome deal on a hummer. They are all driving their cars out to do drive in the dunes. Monkey loves doing it! I am debating if we will go or not. I want to, just don't want midget to get out there, freak out, and ruin it for the boys. We will see, but i am so ready to start this weekend!

Mummytime and bake sales

So in midgets ongoing Egyptian unit, we made a mummy. We made the coffin, and she even made the fruits and all kinds of accesories. She had so much fun, and actually so did I. It's cute to see her spouting facts. Did you know that they pulled their brains out their noses, before putting them in a jar, when preparing them? EEWWWW....,
It's really interesting actually. :)
And for the bake sale, wow. The school made over 16,000 dirhams, that's around 4000 dollars! We even had the ambassador from New Zealand come by. He was very nice, and very grateful. The heat melted some cupcakes, but the kids loved all the cakes, and it was fun chatting with the other moms, or mummies :)
Now we are on to Japan fundraising.
Midget painting her sarcophagus.

Note the jars with the body parts out of play doh :)

She is so proud of herself!

Ambassador of New Zealand :

Ok, so i did make some biscuit things that were new zealandish, but cupcakes, you can't go wrong. Throw a New Zealand flag, and it's New Zealandish!

All Black Day

Since the kids go to an "international" school, it seems with all these horrible disasters going on around the world that they seem to know someone affected by each. It's a good thing, in the way it is making them much more aware to the things going on far away, but it is bad in the same aspect. When Pakistan had all the flooding, they had Green Day. The kids paid to have a free dress day, but still wore green. They had the option of donating more, and midget gave all her piggy savings. They have another day on Monday, all black day for New Zealand. There are alot more people at school, including staff, who are from New Zealand. They are also having a bake sale, i have volunteered t bake, and man a stall. They have some interesting recipes, don't seem t like the typical chocolate iced cupcakes? Scones, and smething like peanut brittle called hokey pokey? It's for a good cause, and midget and monkey are all excited to help bake, and taste test, tomorrow. Cross your fingers these things turn out edible, and i don't poison anyone!

First Dune Bashing Run

A little video from monkey's 1st run in the Jeep over the dunes.

This is for you...

Polly this is for you :) and Bob, you know the Dr Pepper, i found it out here! So we will be getting a bed ready for you :)
You Know You're a Texan When....
I ganked this one from Lane out on myspace...it's entirely too funny not to share, especially since I can relate to each and every thing on here! LOL!

You know youre a texan when...

*You can properly pronounce Corsicana, Palestine, Decatur, Wichita Falls, San Antonio, Mexia, Waco, and Amarillo.
*A tornado warning siren is your signal to go out in the yard and look for a funnel.
*You've ever had to switch from "heat" to "A/C" in the same day.
*You know that the true value of a parking space is not determined by the distance to the door, but by the availability of shade.
*You think everyone from a bigger city has an accent.
*You measure distance in minutes.
*Little Smokies are something you serve only for special occasions. (So funny, in a crock pot with bar b que sauce!)
*You listen to the weather forecast before picking out an outfit.
*You know cowpies are not made of beef.
*Someone you know has used a football schedule to plan their wedding date.
*You have known someone who has had one belt buckle bigger than your fist.
*You aren't surprised to find movie rental, ammunition, and bait all in the same store.
*A Mercedes Benz is not a status symbol. A Chevy 3500 4x4 is.
*You know everything goes better with Ranch. Midget totally does, and has taken carrots with ranch for her snack. She has now shared this wealth with the british and emeratis :)!
*You actually get these jokes and are "fixin' " to send them to your friends.
*You go to the river/lake because you think it is like going to the
ocean.
*You think "y'all" is perfectly good usage if you're referring to more than one person. So having issues not saying that out here, and now the kids say it in an arabic country with a british accent :)
*Finally, you are 100% Texan if you have ever heard this conversation:
"You wanna coke?"
"Yeah."
"What kind?"
"Dr. Pepper." I don't even need to admit it, it's just a given :)

School projects.....

Glitter, pipe cleaners, straws, fabric and poster-boards, oh my! So my sweet midget had a poster to do on Egypt, she picked the god Ra. Quite interesting actually. Next week we are making a mummy, last week we made a crossword. Her new teacher is doing units. Where each week we pick one things from a column with a choice of poster, craft, paper projects. It's quite fun actually. :) She did really well printing, and cutting, her little brain was going a mile a minute. She's quite proud of it.
Now monkey had puppets due the same day... a few blisters later we have learned the glue gun here goes a lot hotter than ours back home! He made the puppets to go with a story he wrote. They are going to choose a story and puppets and put a play on for the little kids at school. I think his story was great, but a bit gory for four year olds, but who knows :)

Monkey and his puppets, the white one is a beast, and that is blood on the horns. Made of straw and fabric..

Midgets Ra poster... That is a pipe cleaner snake with googlie eyes..

My little hole in the wall stationary store, love this place!

Long week...

This was a crazy week with school work, hubby's work. It was long, but we survived, and it's been a fun weekend. The boys went sand duning with some co-worker's, and locals. They had a blast! I need to get the pics from monkey's phone. They wanted to go without us this time :) I am not sure how i feel about being vertical in a jeep in the sand. We will see :) Midget and I went shopping, got some shoes, and had dinner. She rode the hamster ball again, and was thrilled. We rode back with the sunroof open and katy perry, she declared she had the best night ever, can't ask for more than that!

Polly, this is for you, this is Texas Hair....


Nicely done :)

This I would have killed for, and truth be told might still.

Here's a funny old Texas monthly article :)
Texas Big Hair....
Hooray for Big Hair!
Cover Image

From Farrah to Ann, Texas women have combed, curled, teased, and tousled their way into the national consciousness. Who says bigger isn’t better?

by Skip Hollandsworth

It arrives like a blimp, floating ethereally through the door before the rest of the woman’s body does. For a moment, you can look at nothing else. You try to stare at the woman’s face, at her dress, even down at her shoes—but your eyes keep wandering upward. No matter how many times you’ve seen it, you find yourself once again awestruck by that towering, impenetrable edifice known as…Big Hair.


The most scorned fashion statement of our day, the target of rabid eradication campaigns by modern hairstylists, Big Hair hangs on like a buzzard in the desert. I, for one, am glad. At the risk of sounding socially impaired, I must confess that I love Big Hair.

I mean really big. I love the old-fashioned bouf-le-dos made popular again by Governor Ann Richards, and I love the wild curled-all-over hair of the Dallas Cowboy Cheerleaders. I love the way West ...