I don't really have pictures and that makes me less likely to get on the computer and write about life. But I'm getting emails from family (LOVE IT!!) and realizing that I am the one falling behind.
Jessica went to her follow up dentist appointment with fantastic news. Her teeth can feel extreme cold, but are not overly sensitive. So the roots are alive and well for now. The dentist cautioned us that they could still die, you just can't be sure in tooth trauma cases. We have been joking with Jess that if her teeth do die and turn purple, it will only be the top halves because the bottoms are fake and will stay white. Now that nothing hurts any more, she thinks it's quite funny. Her lip has finally healed up and she is eating and drinking normally again.
We had a marathon church day. We went early to the Branch President's house for two baptisms. One was the husband of a very sweet young Philippino sister who was baptized as a teenager, but then went inactive. She had started coming back (with her husband and cute nursery age daughter) right before we moved here. I didn't know he wasn't a member until they announced his baptism. I had given them rides before and knew her fairly well. She was so happy all day. The other baptism was the most smiling young man from . . . . I forget which country in Africa. Darius has been coming to church every week for most of the time we have been here. So there is no proselyting, but converts can still happen. The large living room was packed, with people also sitting in an overflow room. They had borrowed chairs from a nearby school. So after that was normal church. At the end, the kids were driven home by Brother Van Moorsel and I stayed for a Relief Society enrichment meeting and then a baby shower. I got home about 8 o'clock that night. It was long, but everything was good. For the RS meeting we had summer salads to share and then had several mini lessons about getting to know each other, ourselves and the Lord. The get to know you game while eating was simple, but very effective and interesting. Someone had brainstormed and placed lots of random questions under chairs. We went around the room reading the question and trying to guess, which elicited more comments and conversation. Things like "who has lived in the most countries? Who has the longest travel time home (including plane, train, bus. car. . . )? Who has the longest hair? Who speaks the most languages? Who has served a mission? Who wears the highest heels? Who has run a marathon? (there were 4) Who knows how to knit?
We have been doing more night swimming. We have seen the moon go through all it's phases while looking at in from the water. The great thing about going at night is you don't need sunscreen and you might actually feel a little chilly when you get out. The kids like to go on Matt's days off best so they can be thrown around and play chicken. He is by far the fastest swimmer, but has the hardest time doing somersaults. Jess broke her old record and did 10!! somersaults in a row with only one breath. The girls like to wear goggles that cover their noses. They both look like mermaids swimming and spinning around under water collecting rings and playing. They are fish.
The real heat is truly upon us now. We must water the plants once or twice a day or they will die. It takes about an hour to do, holding the hose with your thumb to make it spray. I have taken automatic sprinklers SO MUCH for granted in the past. We bought one little sprinkler, but it reduces the water flow which puts too much pressure on the hose at the connector site. So we have to turn down the water and it just takes longer. The kids take turns some days. Whoever is doing it gets soaked from the waist down, nice warm water, not the least bit refreshing. We have to wait until the backyard is in shadow or else the plants will just burn up. If we aren't home during the window of shade, we have to water in the dark. Blah. We often go jump in the pool to cool off after watering. Thank goodness for the pool chiller. When I manage to make myself go run in the morning, I try to water a bit when I get back before the sun is hitting the grass. There are a couple of trouble spots that look like they are getting fried. I am wondering if it's because of window reflections.
School continues on, though some subjects are finishing up. Isaac had already started his next math and science classes. Makenna has her next math too. But I am not ordering anything else until everything is done. I want to feel like we are having a bit of a break. They are all down to their last week or two with fewer subjects. The end had been scheduled for mid May, but between homeschool events, visa runs, chess club, get togethers with families that are about to leave for the summer, we took many days off. We are about to get ahead during the summer though. The main fun thing we are planning is learning to ski, in Dubai, in the summer! Cuckoo, but perfect.
There were two things that happened last week that cemented "home" for me. I couldn't have said before hand that these were homey things for me, but during each I had a moment of realization. First was fixing a pocket that Matt had caught on a handle and ripped out. I pulled out my sewing machine, plugged it into a transformer and 5 minutes later his favorite shorts were as good as new. Or at least as good as before the pocket got ripped, I couldn't removed a couple years' worth of wear and tear. The other was making homemade rolls from scratch. I had not used yeast for over a year. It was so satisfying and so well received. They got gobbled up.
Makenna finished her knitting class and has a sewing skill to teach me. She often pulls it out in the evenings and works on it. She is not too fast, but her stitches are so neat and even. She has really been enjoying looking through her baby scrapbooks. She will sit down and spend an hour looking at pictures and reading everything I wrote. I am so glad I made the start I did, but every time I see her looking, it fills me with guilt that Jess has almost nothing. It's a goal for our time here to create something for Jess. I better get crackin' cause who knows how long I have. Makenna is my best grass clipper. Until a week ago, all we had to trim the grass was an old rusty pair of hedge clippers. She would patiently trim up a section here and there. Now we are the proud owners of a human powered lawn mower (rotary blade that you push along, hard) and a new, bigger and better pair of trimmers. She is still in charge of the edges. We bought them at Dragon Mart. Matt talked them down to AED 180 ($48.96).
Jessica is getting changed for soccer. She still has it once a week until the end of June. Then it's summer break. It already feels to hot, but she loves it. On the side lines it's me, two other homeschool moms and a whole bunch of nannies. We have so many nanny stories now. Makenna comes along to play with two sisters who have brothers on Jessica's team. We all melt in the shade while Jess steams in the sun. Jessica's favorite thing to do is go to the pool. She has also enjoyed rediscovering her rollerblades. She and Makenna have named the speed bumps in the neighborhood.
Isaac is being quite the teenager. Last week, he was dropped off at the mall (gasp) with some friends to see a movie and eat. Most things I suggest are met with a complaint, but in the end he is the last one to leave. He didn't want to do chess club, but then begged to stay longer to take out the kayaks on the water after. He didn't want present in the year end homeschool show, then spent three days polishing his poem to share. He didn't want to go to a going away party at Chuck E Cheese (yup, there's one here), but ended up meeting a 16 year old boy who has become a good friend. I guess the moral of the story is expect some whining, but don't give in to it because he'll end up enjoying it. Currently I am hearing whining about going to a museum in Abu Dhabi with displays on loan from the British Museum showing examples of 3000 years of human history. Oh yes, he is going.
Jessica went to her follow up dentist appointment with fantastic news. Her teeth can feel extreme cold, but are not overly sensitive. So the roots are alive and well for now. The dentist cautioned us that they could still die, you just can't be sure in tooth trauma cases. We have been joking with Jess that if her teeth do die and turn purple, it will only be the top halves because the bottoms are fake and will stay white. Now that nothing hurts any more, she thinks it's quite funny. Her lip has finally healed up and she is eating and drinking normally again.
We had a marathon church day. We went early to the Branch President's house for two baptisms. One was the husband of a very sweet young Philippino sister who was baptized as a teenager, but then went inactive. She had started coming back (with her husband and cute nursery age daughter) right before we moved here. I didn't know he wasn't a member until they announced his baptism. I had given them rides before and knew her fairly well. She was so happy all day. The other baptism was the most smiling young man from . . . . I forget which country in Africa. Darius has been coming to church every week for most of the time we have been here. So there is no proselyting, but converts can still happen. The large living room was packed, with people also sitting in an overflow room. They had borrowed chairs from a nearby school. So after that was normal church. At the end, the kids were driven home by Brother Van Moorsel and I stayed for a Relief Society enrichment meeting and then a baby shower. I got home about 8 o'clock that night. It was long, but everything was good. For the RS meeting we had summer salads to share and then had several mini lessons about getting to know each other, ourselves and the Lord. The get to know you game while eating was simple, but very effective and interesting. Someone had brainstormed and placed lots of random questions under chairs. We went around the room reading the question and trying to guess, which elicited more comments and conversation. Things like "who has lived in the most countries? Who has the longest travel time home (including plane, train, bus. car. . . )? Who has the longest hair? Who speaks the most languages? Who has served a mission? Who wears the highest heels? Who has run a marathon? (there were 4) Who knows how to knit?
We have been doing more night swimming. We have seen the moon go through all it's phases while looking at in from the water. The great thing about going at night is you don't need sunscreen and you might actually feel a little chilly when you get out. The kids like to go on Matt's days off best so they can be thrown around and play chicken. He is by far the fastest swimmer, but has the hardest time doing somersaults. Jess broke her old record and did 10!! somersaults in a row with only one breath. The girls like to wear goggles that cover their noses. They both look like mermaids swimming and spinning around under water collecting rings and playing. They are fish.
The real heat is truly upon us now. We must water the plants once or twice a day or they will die. It takes about an hour to do, holding the hose with your thumb to make it spray. I have taken automatic sprinklers SO MUCH for granted in the past. We bought one little sprinkler, but it reduces the water flow which puts too much pressure on the hose at the connector site. So we have to turn down the water and it just takes longer. The kids take turns some days. Whoever is doing it gets soaked from the waist down, nice warm water, not the least bit refreshing. We have to wait until the backyard is in shadow or else the plants will just burn up. If we aren't home during the window of shade, we have to water in the dark. Blah. We often go jump in the pool to cool off after watering. Thank goodness for the pool chiller. When I manage to make myself go run in the morning, I try to water a bit when I get back before the sun is hitting the grass. There are a couple of trouble spots that look like they are getting fried. I am wondering if it's because of window reflections.
School continues on, though some subjects are finishing up. Isaac had already started his next math and science classes. Makenna has her next math too. But I am not ordering anything else until everything is done. I want to feel like we are having a bit of a break. They are all down to their last week or two with fewer subjects. The end had been scheduled for mid May, but between homeschool events, visa runs, chess club, get togethers with families that are about to leave for the summer, we took many days off. We are about to get ahead during the summer though. The main fun thing we are planning is learning to ski, in Dubai, in the summer! Cuckoo, but perfect.
There were two things that happened last week that cemented "home" for me. I couldn't have said before hand that these were homey things for me, but during each I had a moment of realization. First was fixing a pocket that Matt had caught on a handle and ripped out. I pulled out my sewing machine, plugged it into a transformer and 5 minutes later his favorite shorts were as good as new. Or at least as good as before the pocket got ripped, I couldn't removed a couple years' worth of wear and tear. The other was making homemade rolls from scratch. I had not used yeast for over a year. It was so satisfying and so well received. They got gobbled up.
Makenna finished her knitting class and has a sewing skill to teach me. She often pulls it out in the evenings and works on it. She is not too fast, but her stitches are so neat and even. She has really been enjoying looking through her baby scrapbooks. She will sit down and spend an hour looking at pictures and reading everything I wrote. I am so glad I made the start I did, but every time I see her looking, it fills me with guilt that Jess has almost nothing. It's a goal for our time here to create something for Jess. I better get crackin' cause who knows how long I have. Makenna is my best grass clipper. Until a week ago, all we had to trim the grass was an old rusty pair of hedge clippers. She would patiently trim up a section here and there. Now we are the proud owners of a human powered lawn mower (rotary blade that you push along, hard) and a new, bigger and better pair of trimmers. She is still in charge of the edges. We bought them at Dragon Mart. Matt talked them down to AED 180 ($48.96).
Jessica is getting changed for soccer. She still has it once a week until the end of June. Then it's summer break. It already feels to hot, but she loves it. On the side lines it's me, two other homeschool moms and a whole bunch of nannies. We have so many nanny stories now. Makenna comes along to play with two sisters who have brothers on Jessica's team. We all melt in the shade while Jess steams in the sun. Jessica's favorite thing to do is go to the pool. She has also enjoyed rediscovering her rollerblades. She and Makenna have named the speed bumps in the neighborhood.
Isaac is being quite the teenager. Last week, he was dropped off at the mall (gasp) with some friends to see a movie and eat. Most things I suggest are met with a complaint, but in the end he is the last one to leave. He didn't want to do chess club, but then begged to stay longer to take out the kayaks on the water after. He didn't want present in the year end homeschool show, then spent three days polishing his poem to share. He didn't want to go to a going away party at Chuck E Cheese (yup, there's one here), but ended up meeting a 16 year old boy who has become a good friend. I guess the moral of the story is expect some whining, but don't give in to it because he'll end up enjoying it. Currently I am hearing whining about going to a museum in Abu Dhabi with displays on loan from the British Museum showing examples of 3000 years of human history. Oh yes, he is going.
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