When the Cats away

The mice will enjoy a pumpkin spiced latte. 

Artist Anna Lena

Her latest obsession is drawing. Her color of choice: blue marker, but pictured above is a sample of her diversity in use of color. Her palate choice: used printer paper, carefully selected while Bill is working or on a skype call, or the early wee Saturday mornings. Her latest inspiration: babies in mommy's belly pictured in blue.

Dairy

We visited a dairy with our church group. It is a small dairy that produces yogurt and milk products for the whole country. It also had a dried up lake to walk and bike around. This country is odd like that, beauty interspersed with less then beautiful. 

Just a reminder we still live in the Middle East

Ancient Baalbek

Big girl bike rider

Our crazy European pedaless bike has now successfully trained our third how to ride a bike without ever using training wheels. She just made her brother's marks of riding a bike at three years old by 6 days. We never told her that of course. No pressure, but lots of pride.

Anna Lena's 4th Birthday

First day of First grade, and Second

Anna Lena's First day PS2

Talk, banter back and forth

Anna Lena "my tummy really hurts, I need to eat some pop cycles then it won't hurt. But it really hurts a little bit"

Jonas "how much is a billion minutes?"

"How much is a trillion seconds? More then a year."

"How much....( you get the idea)

Zaky "invention is my middle name"

Me "I thought quick was your middle name yesterday"

Zaky "yea, yesterday it was but today it's invention"

Zaky "daddy said he got to watch the Smurfs when he was a kid before school"

Me "that's because we didn't have all the thousand different cartoons you get to choose from"

Zaky "so you got to watch it too!"

Me "we only had three channels with cartoons, we watched what was on"

Zaky "what?"

Me " ya when I was a kid there was no such thing as internet, or iPads "

Zaky ( blank stare ) "did you have computers?"

Me " we didn't get a computer in our house until I got a bit older"

Zaky "but no internet?" (Blank Stare)

Just don't get it

They complain about being hot at night. They move the fan right into their face. While refusing to sleep on the top bunk, then sleeping on top of one another! This evening I let them sleep like "Pop Pop" without their shirts..

Jet lag sleeping

Jet lag coming East stinks. Up all hours of the night and poor sleeping up until early morning hours, then like a rock until noon. I was squeezed on my sliver of bed space just on the other side of Zaky's feet. This picture was taken at 9:30am, we got up at 11:30.

Um. These don't exist any more

Anna Lena pulled pulled out the cards and asked "mamma what's this", me "um these don't exist anymore"

Schools out for summer!

Last day

Well technically the last day of uniforms for all three. Jonas and Anna Lena last day will be tomorrow (wear whT they want) Zaky will finish with exams Friday. Yes my first grader has five days of exams yet ahead of him, as my gramma says "bess Em li'll heart".

Magical Spider Man!

Or is Anna Lena lifting him up with the use of the force??

Zaky's field trip

River

(No one got sick in the making of this post) early yet in the season for the river. It was empty, just the way we like it. Had a wonderful time playing in the mud, meal, and then more mud. Wonderful meal to celebrate some guys who have worked hard in our first training for locals.