Introducing Boris ....

10 days ago we welcomed a very timid little creature into our home -

how he will ever survive this mad house I have no idea ?!

Boris - named after his heritage - he's a Russian Hamster - more than likely miniture, we're not sure but he is pretty small - well smaller than we ever remember hamsters being.
He is not very social yet but will happily emerge from his sawdust hole if you're offering food :) Loves running at night - much to the facination of Kiwi who has been caught sitting in the dark on his table - just watching !

Needless to say the child is happy, she has her hamster !

Did have a panic though.... was insisting on mom and dad spending some time with him last weekend. So she proceeded to pick up his cage and carry it from her bedroom through to us. Only to be stopped in her tracks as the bottom of his cage separated from the top. Sawdust and food everywhere ! Boris survived ! Thankfully he was having a snooze in his bedroom which is attached to the top part - shew !

Face was a picture, we were just more concerned with the rescue to get a shot heheheh

Almost Pox-free :(

So lets travel back in time to laaast weekend. I didn't post because André and I were due to go the Grand Prix in Bahrain and thought we'd make it just one posting then. News before that was simple... yay Lucy and I went back to school on Tuesday, we were finally pox-free. Poor Aimee had had to have her birthday put on hold because of her sister's pox so once we were back at school, we went out Tuesday night and got the rest of her birthday present. In Aimee's words "FINALLY". You see some seriously crazy person in our house promised their child a hamster when she turned 8 - maybe they thought she'd forget ??? Well for months leading up, all it could say was "When I'm 8, I'm getting a hamster....you promised !" or some such statement. Leading up to her birthday we were reminded and well everyday after we were reminded. So FINALLY we have 3 cats, some dying fish and a hamster in our home.
The world was a relatively happy place !
We woke up Sunday morning, getting ready for school - girls were going to school while we were at the Grand Prix and then our regular babysitter would pick them up and spend the couple of hours with them until we got home. So André comes through to the kitchen and says "you want the good news or the bad news first ?" So what would you have said ???
Good News - Aimee has chicken pox ! Bad News - Aimee has chicken pox !
You see we actually thought her swollen glands, conjunctivitus and fever while Lucy had all the spots was her having a mild dose - we were wrong ! Considering she had no fever and just enough blisters to say she couldn't go to school, we hunted for a babysitter to stay with her at home. She has been off from school ever since. So she missed getting her report card - yes during all this we're rushing around trying to get this done, and the start of her first SAT's. Poor kid has had it really badly, the pox are everywhere - and we mean EVERYWHERE !
So maybe in a week, we will finally be able to say, we're pox-free for good !

The Easter Bunny managed a visit !

We may well live in Saudi and every year we have to wonder if the Easter Bunny will make it through customs. This year, we are once again happy to announce......he made it ! (thanks to mom's recent visit to Greece hehehe)
It's a Sunday, but it's a school day nevertheless - so thankfully no wake-up-at-dawn issues. It's getting warmer too, which means the Bunny is only going to visit near sunset, after bath-time, once it's cool enough that the chocolate eggs are not going to melt !

Well, he rang the doorbell very forcefully at about 6pm, had a quick chat with dad, and then he was off !
Dad rushed the girls out of the bath, gave them the Bunny's lecture "I have brought equal amount of eggs, find what you can and share them out afterwards, no fighting !"
And the hunt began !
Must compliment our girls, they kept on finding eggs and saying, this must be for mom/dad - how thoughtful !

At home with mom

Well now mom is home from Greece, dad can go back to work :)
We decided - once mom had had a good sleep and recovered from her trip, to head to the soccer field for Aimee to practice riding her bike some more and Lucy to kick a ball around.
Of course the girls each had to have a go at photography - have spared you the VERY blurry ones hehehe ooo and you get to see a close up of our spotty child - yes underneath all those calomine smears is a chicken pox ...have no clue what the sungular should be ???

We even had a discussion about boyfriends - shock ! horror ! There is a boy on compound, from school, grade 3, that Aimee gets all giggly about. So Lucy wanted to get a drink from the water-fountain but explained that she couldn't because Aimee's boyfriend was there and she wasn't allowed to talk to him - shock ! horror !
Thought we had at least a few years before we had to worry about all that nonsense !

No question, these are daddy's girls !

....and just for a laugh...

Everything I Need to Know,

I Learned from the Easter Bunny...

• Don't put all your eggs in one basket.
• Walk softly and carry a big carrot.
• Everyone needs a friend who is all ears.
• There's no such thing as too much candy.
• All work and no play can make you a basket case.
• A cute little tail attracts a lot of attention.
• Everyone is entitled to a bad hare day.
• Let happy thoughts multiply like rabbits.
• Some body parts should be floppy.
• Keep your paws off other people's jellybeans.
• Good things come in small-sugarcoated packages.
• The grass is greener in someone else's basket.
• An Easter bonnet can cover the wildest hare.
• To show your true colors you have to come out of your shell.
• The best things in life are still sweet and gooey.

HAPPY EASTER, EVERYONE!!!

Vistiting The Kentons

Although Lucy was all spotty, we decided to make the planned visit to Doha anyway. André was appointed to ref on Thursday night. We headed off on Thursday mid-morning and managed to get in a good few hours of relief from the.... (said in a very exasperated tone) "Why did I have to get chicken pox ?" hehehe
Girls were very excited to see Uncle 'Lerry' again and considering that Nikki and Brad were out to visit - all having had The Pox before, we thought it safe for an overnight visit :)
So it was the game Thursday night and then to the pool for a few hours Friday morning before travelling back. Only thing missing from the weekend was Brett :(

TaDa !

André and his spotted child enjoying a bit of shade hehehe



As always, wonderful to spend time with Larry, and the family this time !
(Lucy was too busy watching cartoons - in arabic, to get in to the group shot hehehe)

Hoppy Easter

Hope this Easter finds you all happy and healthy.

With love, laughter, happiness & friendship,
but above all, God's Richest Blessings, today and everyday...
Tracy, André, Aimee & Lucy
xxx

Chickenpox......what a spring break we're having !

How ADD am I ?
While sitting in an ADD session this afternoon with Dr. Ned Hallowell I received an sms from André asking what chicken pox looked like ! He was waiting outside the pharmacy - prayer time - to find out what the pharmacist had to say. Take a look at our "Calomine Kid" and you can see, their verdict hehehe

Had to laugh, Dr. Hallowell was absolutely fabulous, in fact it was at last year's conference in Bangkok that I first heard him and ....Wow ! But while I was listening to his presentation, I was texting back and forth with André and heheheh I actually could focus more while doing that than when I was just listening and taking notes ! How ADD am I !

the eight year-old cyclist

WOW !!!

Look at how good she is.

We decided before her birthday that Aimee would get a two-wheeler bicycle for her birthday. André went and got it with her on Saturday (we had all looked before I left). The plan was to learn and practice while I was away in Greece. Isn't she great ! André sent me these photos this afternoon.

I am so proud of you Aimee !

Just for my girls !

Just for my girls 'cos they love the movie !

Ooooh and these too !
Got to LOVE YouTube !