Summer

I have some amazing news:  we seem to be absolutely over the jet lag.  Lulu has been sleeping until eight am, but I think it has more to do with her four-year-old immunizations (not one tear was shed during those shots; she was so impressive) than jet lag.

We have kept busy, with very exciting things like trips to (much) colder beaches than the ones we left, and Costco.  It's hard to appreciate Costco until you don't have it, but there is something magical about that shrine to consumerism.  I love it there.

I promise more posts to come - I have some very cute pictures of a friend's baby who is very adorable and the type that just sort of snuggles into you and relaxes.

It's chilly here but happy summer to all of you anyway!  Wheee.

Hello from chilly Seattle

My lord, the last two weeks in Muscat felt like a sprint to the finish.  I can't tell you how many times I told Eli I thought I might collapse before the day ended (which is pretty lame as he has a stressful job and doesn't usually complain about being tired).  Anyway, we have weathered the goodbyes and the parties and the end of school and the leaking AC units and the three cockroaches and, well, everything else but most importantly the 13 hour and 15 minute flight from Dubai to Seattle.  The major catastrophe was that Lizzie spilled orange juice all over herself and her seat during the first meal and I'm not sure if you realize this (I certainly didn't), but orange juice that is spilled into an old seat cushion and then warmed by a human body smells very much like urine.  So paranoid was I that Lizzie had wet herself, about half way through the flight, she screamed, "MAMA, QUIT TOUCHING MY BUM".  Yes, everybody heard.

I watched that movie about Mr. Banks and I loved it (but I also love Mary Poppins) and that one where Matthew McConaughy is super skinny (liked it quite a lot) and another one that I won't be confessing to have watched on this here internet.

I'm so tired that I'm not really making sense even to myself, but I shall soldier on because I know you all want to hear about this.

The kids are thrilled to be in Seattle and have successfully destroyed my parents' house and yard.  Tommy spilled green food coloring while doing a chemistry experiment (still wants to be a chemist) and stained my dad's clothes and the kitchen floor.  They are wearing us all out with their need to become reacquainted with every detail of my parents' house.

Last night, the kids were up until sometime after five pm when Tommy fell asleep while eating ice cream.  Then, we all went to bed and guess who woke up at midnight and never went back to sleep??? ME.  Lizzie slept until three ("Mama, my brain is just keeping me awake!") and Tommy until 3:40.

Tonight will likely be worse as they will wake earlier and I will be taking a sleeping pill.  On the bright side, I have replenished my parents' netflix queue so the kids will just need to wake me once every two hours or so (ha).

PS:  Have you read that All Joy and No Fun book?  I'm 15% in (I hate reading on my kindle but English books are pricey in Muscat) and, to be honest, I'm finding it interesting.

A random one

This morning was Tommy's portfolio review and the whole thing had me laughing so hard I was crying.  A choice example was, in his plant log (you know, they planted a seed and then observed it daily), he wrote:  "My dear old plant I fear is dying!"  He just kills me.

Anyway, here are some more random ones:

A red rainbow for Tommy; a pink rainbow for Lizzie.  There are words that she can read! Exciting times over here.

In a kitty sort of a mood.  She's cute as anything in these costumes so of course she wants to be Elsa (from Frozen) for Halloween.

One of the best things about Muscat is our dentist.  She is one of my favorite people here, has kids exactly T & L's ages and is the most patient dentist you have ever met.  Here is Tommy experimenting with "Mr. Thirsty" before the cleaning begins.  My children absolutely love going to the dentist which is just so nice.

Guess who got layers at her last haircut.  She gets lots of compliments on her hair these days and she loves that I don't make her brush it in the morning anymore.  Yes, you read that correctly.  I often don't brush my hair in the morning, either.  Nice.

Sid and Ollie's dear cat Nicholas passed away last week, and it has hit Tommy hard.  These are drawings of Nick. 

Luke spent the night on Thursday.  This is Friday morning.  The boys had a great time,
but their parents are feeling quite sad that Luke is moving away from Muscat this summer...

Our family motto

I hadn't actually realized that we have a family motto (I picked up this whole concept from my Mormon mommy blog habit) until I was looking at prints on scoutmob, and saw it.  And then I thought, "ohmigosh, that's what I want our kids to know."  So, I ordered it (and this beauty as well, which now hangs in the kitchen so that I am reminded of it when I am doing dishes for the third time that day), got it framed for nothing (one of the benefits of living in Oman) and it now hangs in T & L's room.  Here is the link, in case you want to put it in your house, too.

Anyway, I'm not actually sure the kids have noticed it and only one of them can read it at this point (but Lizzie is making lots of progress!), but maybe it will sink in no matter what.  It may sound silly (or neurotic?) but Eli and I have lots of conversations about what we want to teach our kids and what kind of people we hope they will be (it could be that I do more of this talking and Eli does a lot of listening) and if my kids work hard and are kind, then I will view my attempt at parenting as successful, no matter what they are (this weekend Tommy wants to be a chemist and Lulu wants to be a rock climber).

It's June! Everybody is leaving!

I haven't been around much lately, because I've been busy and also a bit whiny.  Nobody wants to read a whiny blog. Eli and the kids had a holiday on Tuesday (not sure what it was for, but I think the Prophet's Ascension?) and we went to a fancy hotel for the day with our friends the Engstroms.

Our friends the Engstroms are leaving Oman in two weeks forever and this is quite a loss for all of us.  Two of us have not begun to process this - and won't until they return in September to an Engstrom-less life.  The other two of us try not to talk about it too much, because I've started getting snappy when Eli points out that if we hadn't chosen the expat life, we never would have met the Engstroms.

Note the Luke-Tommy handhold.

This is right after I said that it's appropriate that Eli and John were taking the photo because they are always at work, anyway.
 (I am gearing up for some lonely, boring Saturdays come September.)