Girls and Retail

Isn't it funny, the little things make us smile.
The girls recently needed shoes and so it was off shopping and after a day of attitude and "You always say NO" or "I never get ...." it was all smiles.
Our girls, well mostly Aimee LOVE shopping !
Here Lucy is quite happy posing in the luxurious Thai Silk gowns they got at Christmas time - perfect at posing aren't we hehehehe, this was for a Read-the-day-away at school where the kids laze around in PJ's all day reading.

Annual Reading Month

The month of February is historically reading month at DEMS.
Of course there's the reading challenge - with keeping a daily record of minutes read; book buddies; book swap; mystery readers and more. The highlight though is always the last day when we have a character parade and finish off with the school enjoying stories read to them by the library staff and other teachers.
This year we went "old-school" hehehe
Actually it was just easier to pull out the princess outfits and of course what teacher doesn't have a witches hat stuck in a cupboard somewhere.
We have Aimee as Cinderella and Lucy as Sleeping Beauty and Tracy as Liewe Heksie.

Now that reading month is done, is this the last we'll see of reading for the year ??? Hope not hehehehe

Al Hada - Home !

We live on Al Hada which is a smaller compound on the larger compound. Oasis bought the compound last May and there have been some changes. Notably the name of the larger compound is now Oasis Gardens, not Al Bustan anymore.

We have also had some changes to the gardens. They removed some of the more invasive trees and replaced them with HUGE palm trees. We are told they will clean up the rest of the gardens but that is yet to happen.

So here are some views around the compound and then of course our street - Walnut, and our house, Walnut 1.

How to make girls happy !

It was VERY early on a Tuesday morning, 2:30am to be precise when Andre arrived home. He had driven home from Yanbu - was expecting him mid-morning, but I guess maybe the incentive to get home quicker was more than he could ignore hehehe. Needless to say there were three very happy girls in our house Tuesday ! After three weeks, we were starting to forget what he looked like hehehe.

Wednesday was C-day for me...... Sick and tired with my hair, I arranged for a hairdresser to come to the house and off came about 4 inches. I am feeling much better about it although getting used to it being in a kindof style not just long and straight. And most importantly I guess, the boy is happy - had threatened to shave it again hehehe and he seriously requested I don't go shorter than my shoulder. So shoulder it was ! Not the best photos but you get the idea, before & after !

Thursday, it was up early to sit on the causeway for 90minutes. We needed to go and book tickets for Thailand. I would be going to our annual NESA teacher's conference being held in Bangkok again this year but, this year, the family would be coming along ! So we're booked, Andre will be heading back to Yanbu for the whole month of March but will return in time for us to spend a week in Thailand together.

And now its Friday. Some of us enjoyed watching the first game of Super 14 round two this morning - Andre and I had predicted different teams to win hehehe his won :(

And then it was off outside for the girls to ride - Steven you asked for photos and here they are ! Lucy needed to start riding a two wheeler, didn't go as well as we'd hoped, still very hesitant but maybe she'll try again later.

Dads 'n Donuts

Every year at school we have a Dads 'n Donuts where all our dads are invited to school 7:30-8:15 to share a donut and some coffee with their kids. This year it was Sunday 17th February but sadly Aimee and Lucy's Daddy was sitting in a hotel in Yanbu.
So I was the stand-in this year (sadly again, last two years Andre has been away).
We started by viewing some pottery the girls had done in Art class.

Its Reading Month at school too so while we enjoyed our donut, Lucy read to Aimee and I. Donuts done, we had some math games and activities set up for kids to demonstrate.
Lucy did some measuring activities - measured my ankle and wrist, head circumference and handspan. WOW, Aimee has the same handspan as me already and her shoe size ain't far off either hehehe.

Aimee and I played a math game together from Frog.

All this done it was back to class for the girls and off to work for mom.
Happy Dads 'n Donuts 2008 !

2007 Dubai 7's

The last time Andre was able to attend the 7's was a couple of years ago. Each year he signs up to go and ref and has to bail at the last minute due to work commitments.
This year would have been the same situation so he decided to not even sign up. Close to last minute though it looked like he would be able to make it. Rather than mess with appoinments that had already been worked out, he decided he'd play instead. Mmmm wife was not too happy with this as at the moment its just for fun, the odd game here and there, and we've had enough injuries just on the fun level ! This was going to be an entire weekend !
And then came an email looking for applicants to serve as IRB Anti-Doping Chaperones. Andre was accepted and so a compromise was reached. Andre'd play the first day and then be a chaperone for the remainder of the weekend.
So off he went.... Dubai is a fabulous venue for the tournament, so much going on. He had a wonderful weekend. The chaperoning was very interesting....Collect your player from the field, and stay with them until they give their sample. They can warm-down, they can even take a shower. Sadly though they MUST be watched at all times - just in case they "lose" some sample hehehe So guess who got to see a player or two in the shower !? What fun ..........

My wonderful wonderful wonderful husband !

My husband is the sweetest, most romantic ever ....

listen to the song he sent me !

And I'll even forgive the fact that he said it was our thirteenth Valentines when in fact its our fourteenth heheheh

Happy Valentines day everyone
hope you're blessed with all the love in the world !

Wateen's birthday party

The girls attended a birthday party of one of Aimee's arab classmates recently. Was at a farm so it was a cowboy theme. Each child - and there were plenty, got a bandana & cowboy hat to wear and a sherif's badge. They enjoyed horserides and games included shooting at targets, and sack races (notice the interesting sacks hehehe). The girls had a ball and wow you should have seen the cake/s - filled a 2x1m table !

International Festival

Our wonderful PTG (Parent-Teacher-Group) organises a 2 day International Festival at school so that all the students can take a trip around the world.


The whole thing starts weeks in advance with the students making flags and doing drawings about their countries, obviously the parents are seriously preparing as well. Then to launch, the students in national dress or colors - or in our case some significant clothing (bok shirts hehehe) parade for the parents and other schools.

Then its down to the visiting, everyone gets to "take a trip" to many of the countries represented at school, taste some food, wear some clothing listen to their music and more. On the last day, parents/families are invited to attend the evening session where there are performances by some countries, henna decorating (by countries that practice this), photos in tradional dress and well just a fun evening together. You'll notice the Korean students who sang and little June (4th grade) did a traditional fan dance for the audience. Their clothing is super comfortable and just so light, we had loads of fun dressing up !

Hope you enjoy some photos from our trip at least part-way around the world !