Sleepovers...

So Thursday we had a sleepover for some of Monkey's friends. We crammed 6 boys and midget and I into the car on the way home from school. I was laughing, as they think it is cool to say bad words. So i asked how many languages are you guys going to try and use in front of me? We had korean, croatian, portugese, russian/swedish, and emerati and monkey. So funny! It is funny as they all talked about having been, or wanting to go to America. They were great boys though. Hubby thought i was nuts... having them all come. There were pranks in the night, i've seen them on facebook :) But all in good fun :) They swam, played soccer/football, and played video games. They also ate me out of house and home :)
Playing some soccer! one of the boys is really, really good. He's been giving my little man some pointers:)

Popping some confetti poppers, trying to anyway. We got a giant one that didn't work :(

How cute are they? I mean cool...

Sleeping arrangements...

Breakfast... I made waffles with strawberries, per the boys request.

Games... notice the big boy in there too!

9 days...

9 days people, 9 days!!! We will be on a plane, on the way home!! The kids are getting so excited, some more than others :) Although, much as monkey likes it here, even he is looking forward to some "normal" things back home. It's the little things we can take for granted. Aside from the obvious, family and friends of course. Stop signs, drive-thru's, being able to read the instructions and menu's for the food.... And grass... even if it is dead from the drought :)
We've been packing, gift buying... Which is really kind of funny here. They don't really make anything. So a gift from here, is really something from somewhere else. And every gift shop you go in, they throw pashmina's at you. Now i admit, they are gorgeous. I have a few, i love them. Here... Not really something you see everyone wearing around town back home :) A sword, not the average gift, although i do know someone reading this who might like one. :) I went to the place here called the hamden centre, not to be confused with hamed centre, monkey. I wouldn't go there without you :) They have knock off purses, clothes, hats, shoes... I saw a Ferrari hat, so i thought. So i thought, i know someone who would like this. You know who you are, and I bought it. Got it home, showed the kids, they were all excited. Until this a.m. when midget looked, "Mom, how do you spell Ferrari?", so i told her. Well, you are now the proud owner, of a true sign of Abu Dhabi. A Ferrart hat. It says Ferrart. You may lose the hat to grandpa, who is as midget says, "so proud of his farts, he would love it." And as hubby says, when will I learn? But i do so love my Buberrys wallet :)

stalling...and swimming

So there are a million other things i should be doing right now... But frankly unless one of them jumps up and walks over and says "you should start here", it isn't looking to promising :) So, i will brag on my little man. He has taken a love to sports over here, which is something that makes his dad and I so happy. Unfortunately it's too hot to do any of them right now. But swimming, we can do. So he had his swim gala at school yesterday. He did really well. Especially considering some of the other kids are on swim teams, and have done "field training". His classmates mom told me that, to me that's military training out in the desert or something, i'm guessing it's something else in Africa? That kid swam like Michael phelps! He was done, while the "good swimmers" were halfway done! So even though my man came in 3rd, he did awesome! So while the dutch criticized her son, and how he did good, but... I was thrilled to pieces and praising my 3rd place kid!

See the pro next to him, alot wear those tight swim shorts. Monkey would just die if i brought those for him :)

We do feed him, i promise!

He had so much fun!!

Recital

So we went to midget's recital, and she did good. It was long, and monkey was quite bored. They had assigned seats on the tickets, but we never knew when i bought them. So apparently you didn't get to choose, luckily ours were good! They had quite a few mishaps with lights and sounds, but luckily she didn't notice. Now, her costume.... Her 50 dollars last minute costume we had to buy. Well, the leaotard was too small, and a unicorn is what she was. But no tail, and as you can see she had a wardrobe malfunction with her obscene, carrot horn. :) She had fun hanging out with her friends all day though, so as long as she had fun that is what counts!
I've got pics of collin's swim gala he had yesterday. I'll try and get those up tonight. He did really well! I'm so proud of both of them. Such amazing little people they are becoming!

We have a wardrobe malfunction people, horn down!

Daddy even wore the purple tie she got him a few years ago for the daddy daughter ball, can that grin be any bigger? Notice the silly monkey in the background!

Ballet...

We are in ballet mode this weekend. I am a bit miffed... We pay for classes every month, so someone please tell me why do I have to pay for her recital tickets? We have to pay for her costume, on 3 days notice no less! Plus tickets for us all to go! I've never had to pay before. Plus they are doing it two days in a row! This is pure craziness people! She's never tried her costume on, we've never even seen it before tomorrow. So the day of the recital she gets her costume, it's utter chaos.
I miss my structured teachers, you pay for the costume in installments 2 times a year, there are fittings a month or two ahead of time, and then the recital is free, cause i don't know, gee, it's a show to show you what they have learned. Ugh....
So we are not looking forward to this, as she has to be there at 11, and the show isn't until 6. So we will have one grumpy ballerina. Not to mention 2 days in a row? I wonder if i can bribe her to not go on Sat.... would that be wrong? :)

Swim Gala

Midget had her swim gala last week. We were all picturing everyone doing water ballet, or synchronized swimming :) Quite dissapointed, it was merely swim races...
She had worked hard, and her swimming has really come along way! I'm glad she doesn't take after me, and have to hold her nose ;)
Here are some pics. Monkey has his on the 19th, he has exams all this week.. bleh!

She's in there!

Bounce house blows away!

These things have always scared me. Although i have to admit, i am a paranoid mother. But it never failed, when the kids would get in one, one would come out getting smacked in the face, or kicked in the stomach. They are so much fun, but I would always watch with nervousness praying nothing happened.
Well now I can say this is why :)

(CNN) -- A heavy gust of wind blew away inflatable bounce houses with children inside at a New York soccer event, leaving 13 people injured, authorities said late Saturday.

The Oceanside United Soccer Club in Long Island was hosting a tournament Saturday afternoon when three bounce houses started floating away, said Eric Evensen, a Nassau County police officer.

"As children were inside, a heavy gust of wind blew across the field, raising them off the ground and sending them airborne," he said. "Once they hit the ground, they began rolling and struck several people on the ground."

Lara Rhatigan said she was about to enter a ride when her neck got hooked by a rope connected to a bounce house.

"The wind blew everything down," she told CNN affiliate News 12 Long Island. "It felt like someone was grabbing my neck and they were dragging me."

Her mother was getting hot dogs at the time, and turned around to see the houses floating away.

"I couldn't believe it. It was like something out of a movie," Marianna Rhatigan told the affiliate.

The 13 people were treated for minor injuries at local hospitals, according to authorities.

"I don't think there'll be any criminal charges, but I'm sure there could be some civil," Evensen said.

T.V.

So it is June. I will spare you all the woo-hooing going on in our house about coming home in 29 days. But i'm not counting, and neither is monkey. I won't tell you she put a countdown app on my iphone and shows it to me everyday with a big grin. That would be bad.. right?
But what is driving me nuts, is T.V. I miss my good shows!! Yes, i can download them. But truly, some of my most peaceful moments last summer were after the kids went to bed and I got to watch tv in peace. Well, peace minus the scramble for the remote as they snuck out of bed one by one. Saying they couldn't sleep, needed a drink, were hungry, etc. Trying to pause my favorite show... sniff sniff, that is going to come on this month and i will miss. Oh my vampires, and wolves, and so on. True Blood, i miss you. Not to mention Weeds... sniff sniff. Somehow 500 episodes of law and order, and not the good ones, aren't doing it for me. And HGTV, that was my thing, i loved it. The BBc version, not the same. There is one show, that is very good, but i can't ever remember when it is on. My poor midget is missing NICKELODEAN people! I had her weaned off Hannah Montana, we had discussed she's a bit... well you know what she's a bit of. We were done, and here, no nickelodean.. No good role model Icarly, although she too was kissing boys when we left, so who knows. She could be pregnant by the time we get back. Where are the good role models for her age really? I mean she's too old for some of the little kids shows, but does she really need to watch 13 year old girls make out on tv? Is there nothing inbetween? Of course this i write, while i am missing as Bob calls it my vampire porn.... But did you ever really watch the whole thing? I mean come on.. it's fabulous.