Sicky

Well in typical form the day after Bill travels the kids get sick one right after the other.  Jonas was the first to come down with fever. He took a 2 1/2 hr nap while Zaky was at school. He fell asleep at 5pm, only to wake up at 8.  Poor guy had to join me in bed for an episode of 'West Wing'.

Ready for her own

Anna Lena will be ready for her own plasma car soon, or maybe it's me who wants my own?

Bike ride

Last month Bill rediscovered the path around the soccer stadium in Saidon. We've been back several times since then. The weather has been really mild but it is usually 10 degrees warmer there and a great walk with bikes, no cars just walkers (Lebanese don't really jog). The boys have also been taught an important lesson by their father, how to urinate publicly discreetly. They can stand between the rocks with just their heads showing. Now to teach them to then not yell "I'm going potty". Anna Lena has her push car but is quickly becoming discontent with anything less then "BIG"

A find

What a find. Jonas has not worn this vest since this time last year.  And this time last year we were in Texas.  And in Texas we feed our deer pets.  Jonas pulled these out of his pocket and Zaky was laughing saying "these are from Grape's house!"

The wave

No video

Jonas's face is just so happy here. I made a deal with the boys they could get a bed time book back ( a loss of a book is a punishment of a very serious nature) if they said their memory Bible verse for the camera. ( doing anything for the camera usually takes bribery - except for Anna-Lena who loves the camera) the video was a mess but this picture is great.

Spikes

After bath spikey hair!

New Trees

The boys helped me and a friend plant a few citrus trees.  Lebanon has tons of citrus.  We get 25 pounds of clementines for $4.  The tress themselves are inexpensive too at $10 a tree.

Collecting Water

Lebanon gets as much rain annually as London.  Our problem is that it all comes here in the period of four months. So we collect what we can in a cistern out back from part of our roof. This stored water will usually last us until June.  Because we get so little city water we then have to start buying tractor loads of water from private well owners.  This winter we have had less rain, so Bill and the boys worked to collect water from two additional sections of our roof.

Rail Road

Grandmom and Grandad gave the boys this train set for Christmas. Bill has built and the boys taken apart the set many times.  In the words of Jonas, " this s a really good train set."

Race track

Eating the house

Home building

I can't call it gingerbread house building, why?  Because I bought cookies instead of looking up some non molasses (none here) recipe mixing and baking gingerbread.  My boys were non the wiser!  And their whole incentive for making them was to eat them.  Their works of art were equipped with swimming pools, garages, snow covered grass, gummy alligators in the pool and cars in the garage.  Yaa for completing something crafty with minimal clean up!