Jumping rope

A couple of months ago Naomi developed jump rope fever.  I forgot how difficult it is to master.  Case in point...

In her defense she did eventually get the hang of it.

The Drapers.

While Naomi and I were having a serious "We need a little Christmas" dance party last night Talmage looked up, and without a second thought said, "And there are the Drapers." 

As if that explains something. I can't decide whether to be insulted or flattered.

Nice One.

Talmage has a new catch phrase. "Nice one." I hope I never forget how he says it.  He loves to use it when Andy makes one of his really bad jokes or when someone says something that he thinks is clever.  It's awesome because he feels like a grown-up when he gets a joke and nobody else does.  I love it.

One more thing I hope I don't forget: I love how Beti smacks her lips when she is sleeping.  So cute.

"Something kind of good happened today..."

Tal: Something kind of good happened today. We were doing a fitness test in PE to see how many pull-ups we could do.  The record was four pull-ups and I did six!  Then everyone was giving me high-fives 'cause they wanted to be my friend!!


Talmage now knows one of life's little secrets.  People want to be your friend if you're freakishly strong.

I feel like I should give a shout-out to Tal's Aunt Rachel.  Law family legend is that in 4th grade Rachel out-pull-up'ed the entire class - including the boys.  Must run in the family.

Breaking up is hard to do.

Moving is hard.  Just to be clear, I have no doubts that we are in the right place.

It's just that we have grown and growing is hard.

And more than that, my beloved Texas friends are moving on...without me.  And it breaks my heart a little.

Seeing pictures and hearing stories of Halloween, camping, races, and girl time that I should be participating in with my peeps leaves me with a knot in my stomach and a lump in my throat.

I'm happy for my friends - I just miss, miss, miss them.  I know it takes time - I'll make new friends - life will go on....but it hasn't yet.

So, for today I am sad.  'Cause breaking up is hard to do.

Talmage

Talmage turned 8 a couple of weeks ago.  It's a big day when you're first child turns eight.  I feel like we are transitioning to a new phase of parenting and I'm not sure I'm ready for it.

What a blessing it has been to have Tal as our first child.  He has a truly kind heart and a generous spirit and he makes our home a better place.  That's not to say he doesn't have his moments, this summer brought the first mood swings I have seen from him.  He tried to tackle Andy one day (in anger) and that in itself is a sure sign of some raging testosterone :)  But he is a wonderful, wonderful boy and I am so glad to be his mom.

We baptized him in the preacher's pool.  Both sets of grandparents were able to make it.  His confirmation blessing was beautiful.  All in all it was an incredible day.

No shallow end?  Who needs it? Tal just stood with one foot on the ladder until it was time.

Beti-ism's

A few of my favorite quotes:

"Mom, you makin me cwanky"

"I yuv you so so much"

"I wust cannot bewieve dis"

Shayba

We had the opportunity to go on a Aramco sponsored trip to the Empty Quarter.  Apparently it's usually very difficult to get tickets for this trip but we were in the right place at the right time and lucked into them.  It was such a fun day!

Yep, that's a company plane.  Yep, we look like we should be on a brochure.

Andy showing off his mad sandboarding skills.

We tried to get a good picture here it just wasn't in the cards.

Naomi, starring in her own Success Poster.

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This is Beti's thoughtful contemplation pose.

First Day of School.

Once upon a time in a faraway land called Saudi Arabia school started for three amazing little children.

Okay, I know I'm a couple of months late but really, what's new?

School has started and the kids are loving it!  They have a K4 program here (like Pre-K) for all of the 4 year-old's so even Calvin is attending half a day.  I can't believe the progress he has made!

Tal and Naomi get to have Arabic lessons a couple of times a week so I'm hopeful that they will soon be able to translate for me.

My favorite thing about school here is that all of the kids (and the dads) come home for lunch.  So we get to see each other in the middle of the day.  It's nice to check-in and see how the day's going.

Talmage striking his traditional "cool kid" pose.

Naomi, ready for 1st grade!

So, so glad they have each other.  What a blessing.

Can you see the backpack Beti is wearing.  Let's just say that she is not a fan of being the only one not attending school.  But there's no way I'm ready to let her go yet :)

Check out the size of that bus!  No wimpy yellow school buses here.  We go for the greyhound variety!

Reflections

I keep waiting for the cards to fall.

That's how I feel about our new life.  There are still annoyances, adjustments and inconveniences (they'll have to wait for another post).

But the most fundamental aspects of my life have improved so much that it's hard for me to believe.

I feel like a huge weight has been lifted off of my shoulders.  All of the sudden I am not alone in this.

And it is wonderful.

I am a better mom (most days), wife (sometimes), and person (usually) - but we're counting small victories here and those little improvements add up to a big difference.

I'm so grateful we took a risk and made a change.

Because it was and is hard.  But it has been worth it.
Just wanted you to know.

Sri Lanka

Over the Eid holiday we took a trip to Sri Lanka.  It was incredible - beautiful scenery, kind people and a new culture to explore.  It was the first third world country we have traveled to and we were struck by the humble lives the people lead and how even in relative poverty they found happiness and contentment. It was a nice reminder that even though things are less convenient in Saudi than America we still have a lot to be grateful for (like toilet paper, air conditioning and washing machines...you know the simple things :))

  We were lucky to travel with the Swendsen's and with our nine kids we took Sri Lanka by storm.  The kids had a blast together - it's so fun to travel with friends!

The whole group at Sygiria.  This is a palace that was built by a king about 1600 years ago.  The palace was built on top of that rock outcropping in the background. We are posing in front of one of four swimming pools the king built for his 500 concubines to swim in...just sayin.

See that guy carrying Calvin?  We hired him to carry Calvin up the mountain.  Like a Sherpa - only instead of carrying gear he carries people.  It was awesome and let me tell you, it is a climb to the top of that rock.  

The grounds looking down from the top.

Sygiria means "Lions Rock" - you can see the lions feet in the background, all that is left of a massive lion statue.

Andy "chillaxin" on the deck of the house we rented...technically I think it's a "villa". We're kind of a big deal like that.

This is our resident monitor lizard.  Apparently they are "extremely carnivorous"

They grow cashews in Sri Lanka...yummy!

Heather was a good sport and let the snake charmer put this baby python around her neck.

The turtle hatchery.

Okay, we know the sign says not to touch the turtles. But they handed them right to the kids.  Don't worry we were very careful!

Sri Lankan fishermen...these guys are awesome!

The driving in Sri Lanka is crazy!  Yet somehow polite.  These are the three ways most people get around scooter (we saw a family of four riding one), bike or tuk tuk.

Ummm, we may have ridden on an elephant in an alley.

We were told it is good luck to go under an elephant three times.  We only made it once.

The people in Sri Lanka love blondes and especially blonde babies. Beti was a little bit of a celebrity.

At the beach.

Went on a safari.  Saw...

Crocodiles.

Leopards.

Elephants.

And some other stuff like mongooses, boars, water buffaloes, an asian bear, monkeys, and a few beautiful birds. Oh, and a big elephant skull.

We also went on a boat safari.  The people love blondes so much they pretty much let them do anything...like drive the boat.

Honestly, we spent the majority of our time at the pool.  It was so much fun and the kids played in it for hours.

Does this really need an explanation?

Dinner on the porch.

More blonde love.