This year we had a whole week of Sayla celebration. First we went to Dubai with the McGoughs and Traci and had a fabulous Sayla-planned-day! We started by letting the girls go to Smaland at IKEA…by request of the birthday girl, of course. After their hour was up we took them to the next surprise: Build-a-Bear! Every time we pass the store, both girls beg to go in, but we have always said no (going in somewhere like Build-a-Bear and coming out empty handed sounds like torture with three little girls). nomini kaszinó online Well, I found some coupons for buy-one-get-one bears so we decided to let the girls do it (And Chase and Britt got a bear for Lydia too)!
At first they were super concerned with the deflated bears we let them choose from, but quickly got excited about the whole filling process!
As soon as the girls caught on, it was hard keeping up with them. And, let me just say, those build-a-bear people sure do know their market! The outfits? and bear dress-up area? and panties? and accessories? and jammies? for a bear? We had a near melt down as we were taking accessories and such off of Keadryn’s bear and (after realizing the outfit she assembled was well over $50) we had to say no to several things but each girl walk away with one outfit and one pair of shoes (Except Evie, who didn’t really think much of the clothes and wanted her bear without- which was fine with us!) and they were all happy.
The next stop on our “Day-for-Sayla” was the Rainforest Cafe (also per Sayla’s request and with a coupon) and I can’t believe it, but I didn’t take a single picture. I seriously have no idea why? It was so fun and the girls had a blast (Although Keadryn did admit she thought we were going to eat in a real rainforest). It really was a great day!
Oh, and once we got home we made these crowns for Angelina and Princess Sparkle (as oppose to buying the $12 crowns at the store) and both girls we so happy with them:
But the partying didn’t stop there! A couple days later was Sayla’s actual birthday. All she wanted for her birthday was shoes (with a heel), earrings, hair clips, nail polish, etc. kaszinó online huf Seriously, she didn’t ask for a single toy! I’m in so much trouble with this one.
She is in love with her “clunky shoes” and asks to wear them everywhere. Since they are 2 sizes too big (I could only find a heel in the bigger kid shoes) I have to limit wearing them in public, but she wears them around the house all the time and on her birthday I let her wear them to the grocery store. újonnan nyitott kaszinó online Big deal.
THEN the day after her birthday we had her Puppy Party! I have to say, as far as pleasing the kids goes, this is my best party yet! They were so excited about every detail, were counting down the minutes until guests arrived and are still talking about it. It makes my heart so happy to see them love something that I put a lot of time into. The full write up is over on the Kojo Blog.
It was such a fabulous week of celebrating out sweet 4 year old. She is such a joy and grace to us. Love you Say Grace!
Here we go:
::4th of July was a blast. We had a ridiculous amount of people come to our house (we invited every American we know- to give you an idea…) to celebrate. It was so much fun! At the time we had some girls living with us while they studied at a summer Arabic program and they were a huge help in getting all the decor together. Britt and Traci helped a ton too, of course. (Have I mentioned that Traci moved here? She did, and it’s SO fun having her around!)
::One of the bonuses of living so close to Dubai is that we get to see people as they pass through en route to their final destinations! This summer we got to see my cousin and some friends from Texas and this fall two more sets of friends will be stopping through that we get to see.
p.s. I love Sayla in this picture…
:: The date harvest happened. Dates are a pretty big deal in this area of the world, and the date harvest is fun to see. We went back to the oasis that we went to while granny was here and walked around to see how it’s done. Â Fresh dates are sold here as a delicacy and are super expensive, but most of the dates are dried on roofs (like raisins). Personally, I prefer the dried dates. The fresh dates are kind of like a green banana, they feel a bit fuzzy on your teeth and aren’t very flavorful.
 
:: This summer has been a slower time than usual (it’s stinkin’ hot!) so we have taken the opportunity to do a little “photo bootcamp”. Â I set up a blog and have been collecting useful photo articles for us all to read. It has been wonderful and I feel like I have learned a lot as well!
So there you have it! Most of the summer in a nutshell. Â I also got to take a most wonderful trip for my 30th birthday, but that deserves its own post. We have really had a fabulously mundane summer, but are ready for the schedule, busyness and cooler weather that will come with fall!
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I’m random, I know. Did you know that the “post title” could possibly be the number one reason I don’t post more? I hate finding a title.
Anyway, here is some of whats been going on ’round here:
I started the 365 project again…only this year is a leap year, so it is a 366 project. I decided to do it again after watching a slideshow of my last 365. SO many little mundane things happened that wouldn’t have been recorded otherwise and that I would have lost memory of. This year is a fun year to do it, too!
We finally had the Pajamas+Pancakes birthday party for Evie! The complete write up will be over on the kojo blog soon.
Last I posted, Kead wasn’t doing too great. She is still having the hardest time of the three girls, but it is definitely getting better! She is going to an international school now where she is thriving (and learning to speak with a British vocab and accent…so funny). She is also loving ballet and asks everyday when it is ballet day. Glad to see her little smile more these days. Man, she is beautiful.
So, our town is not little in size (about 80,000, I think?) But it is seriously lacking in amenities, so we usually drive either to a bigger city in Oman or to Dubai to do our shopping. Since it is about a 2 hour drive both ways we always try to pair it with some fun in the Big City. This time we  went to a children’s musuem:
Did we tell you that two friends from Lubbock moved here? Kevin and Andrew are going to language school and live in an apartment next door to us! They are wonderful with the girls and troopers for driving 2 hours to join us at a children’s museum. (Or it could be that our town is insanely boring…) We love them.
Part of the fun of going to the museum was playing at the playground. It was nice to just sit on grass and watch the three crazies play.
Ok- that’s all that is going on. Lots of mundane and I am happy to say we are slowly getting into (dare I say it?) a routine. “Routine” has not described our life in so long that I welcome it with open arms! I am hoping that this little blog can become part of the routine as well so that it is more than a once a month occurrence.
Missing you all! Write a comment or e-mail and let us know you’re still there!
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*updated to add* Yes, Evie was such a sad bear when it was all over and I took away the remains of the cake and started cleaning up… موقع الخيل it was actually pretty funny how dramatic she was being about it all. :) ]]>
(Thanks to Corrie, by the way, for picking up my camera and taking pictures. I always forget to take pictures of people at parties)
and now a food rant:
1) stop what you are doing and make this pulled pork now. right now. life changing.
2) the cake may look a bit rough, but it is amazing. oonoo I will be sharing the recipe soon. ]]>