Lately...

I have been a long time between posts but for an amazingly good reason:  I have so many photos I want to post and we are having some complications.  My network guy works six days per week and when he gets home I'm reluctant to complain that things are too complicated for me.  But it's true.  Things are complicated and I haven't exactly figured out where my photos reside once I take them off my phone.  (If you think this is pathetic, you should her me 'discuss' our finances.)

So.  The kids are on holiday from school which is killing me.  They are lovely children but it is now in the 90s and so it's hot at the playground.  We usually go to the playground and then they sit on the ground with their magnifying glass to find bugs.  There's not loads of exercise other than the scooting or walking to the playground.  We are going to go to Leigh and Grace's pool today at some point, I think, which is nice.  And, tomorrow we are going to go to the really nice beach but only if the tide is low.  I also plan to take them to the Muscat Children's Museum.

On Saturday morning, the kids both got haircuts.  They look super cute, both of them -- Lulu got some layers and it's almost silly to see her hair look so styled.  The woman who cut their hair just sort of randomly looked at me and said it would be cute with layers because it would make it even curlier.

We are a couple of weeks into having a cleaning lady three times per week.  It is much dirtier here than the US, and it seems like a layer of dust settles quickly, almost as soon as she leaves.  Perhaps this is why I love having her so often. She also, as I mentioned earlier, really helped me get the house unpacked quickly and that was so helpful.  We are getting closer with that project -- the kids' books are in their new secondhand bookcase.  So we really just have two rooms to sort out, and one is the office where we never go.  I had planned to post a couple of photos because it's looking pretty nice in here, but then I ran into my technical difficulties.  Anyway, we also have nothing on the walls yet, and it will be nicer to take photos when that is done.

Lib's little baby is here and it's a girl called Amelia.  She's very cute and I will post a photo here one of these days.  I am very sad that I can't hold her today.  Or when she was still super duper fresh.

For my second-to-last random thought I will tell you that I woke up about a week ago and realized that I don't dread driving anymore.  I mostly can get where I'm going and I'm not so terrified of the driving culture here.  (I am glad I have a big car, though.)  It feels good.

Finally, if you were me and had two children, and when you asked the younger of those children to do something and then she asked her (amazingly sweet and kind) big brother to do it, would you let him do it? Or would you tell her that it's her job and she had to do it?  Is it appropriate or even good for a three-year-old to be honing her 'managing up' skills, or is it naughty?