Layla's School Birthday Party

This is Layla's first grade class - it is an international school with 95% local students and an almost completely South African staff. Layla was pumped to have cupcakes to hand out!

Mom and Dad and Jen and my niece Lily are visiting us for 2 weeks to celebrate my 40th and Layla's 6th birthdays. It has been a great visit but the rest of life is very busy this September so it is a bit rushed at times. 

Azeb is our Ethiopian househelper. She really is a part of our family and LOVES babies. She is desperate for me to have another child (!) but is enjoying Lily while she is here (= We couldn't survive without Azeb....we maybe but all we'd do is keep the house running and little else!

A work of Art

I just have to share these photos of these AMAZING quilts made by the father of our Tutu Lisa (tutu is grandma in Hawaiian and Lisa is from Hawaii and married to Tom's dad). She has brought some fun things into our family and one is a FATHER who quilts! Stanley made a quilt for Layla when she was born and now we have one for Ryan.

As soon as he opened it up it wanted to be rolled up like a paratha sandwich which I guess is "burrito" to most folks (=

Here they are side by side.....I didn't realize Layla's quilt was folded under until the moment past....they are tired of posing for pictures every five minutes!

This is Layla at four months with the quilt in the crib. This was how it was for ages and ages.

Here she is again at the same age.....you can see the quilt is fish in the ocean. SO amazing.

Thank you Stanley!

Best buddies and wiggling tooshes

Layla and Sally have been in class together for two years - they are now in first grade in Ms Rosie's class. Perfect name, right!?

Last week she was BEGGING me to take her on a playdate to visit her house but I didn't have the mom's phone number or anything so we just stopped by....at 830 at night. Love the Middle East. Sally was thrilled and Layla and she ran around and did 6-year-old stuff together.

Sally's mom is from africa and her dad is a local guy who works for the petroleum industry. They are a bit more liberal and open to foreigners than the average local family. They are also better educated than the average family.

Here they are at the wedding! Layla is wearing what she thinks is a lovely head covering though it is more like a missouri farm girl than local arab girl (= Bless her. They are holding big glasses of thick sweet juice. Lots of that at weddings!

While we were there we were invited to a wedding and Layla was THRILLED to be able to attend this past weekend. I have to say it was the most fun wedding I have attended in the seven years we have been here. Really. Mostly because a LOT of the women danced! Those african ladies can shake their tooshes let me tell you.

There were two outstanding ladies - one was young, slim and in a shocking;y tight red dress. There is a catwalk that goes through the room (basement of a hotel with a large banquet hall) so the bride can walk through the crowd and be admired. Before she comes out though, the children run around and the ladies can dance (= Anyway, the gal in red was young and stunning and had a BIG booty that seemed to float around separated from her body. It really was amazing and not at all dirty or shameful as we so often see it in the US.

The other lady was old, SHORT and very fat. Sorry to offend, but they call each other old and/or fat here all the time so all you Americans just have to deal with it (= Anyway, she was the total opposite of the gal in red but she had STYLE and a huge sense of humor....she was loving it up there! What a treat to watch. You'd see this lady walking and have no idea she could wiggle her large toosh so skillfully. She even did that thing where you kneel on the floor and still wiggle. You probably don't know what I mean because you'd never be caught renting a video that would have a sample...too risque in the US. Here, it is just ladies having a good time.

I just loved this older gal and would have given my right arm to take a video or picture but of course nothing is allowed. It was such a great example of someone being young and being old and how we gain confidence and personality and learn how to OWN it all as we age. Love it. This is coming from a gal who just turned 40 so I am all about owning my age these days (=

Anyway - it was a treat and I was able to bring one of the new gals in our little community to see her first wedding. Sadly I had to tell here that they were mostly going to be less interesting than this one! Very few weddings have such expert dancers!

What do you do when it is 106 degrees outside?

Layla turned six last week and she has learned to ride a big-girl bike REALLY well. So for her birthday Tom looked in 4 cities for a bike for her! She is so excited to ride this all the time!

Ryan only recently learned how to pedal.....he would only run beside the bike and push it while watching the wheels turn.

This is the view from our front door....while it may look like dirt....

.....it is really a race track! Their are five kids that live next door to us and while they are overwhelming to Layla when they come inside our house...she really enjoys running races and such with them outside now that the weather is a mere 106 degrees!

I know this is blurry but it is too cute. I learned the arabic equivalent of  "ready, set, go" I translates to "hold your place, stand, move!"

The girl on the left is the same age as layla and while she may be barefoot, chubby and wearing a dress, she wins EVERY race ever since we've moved into this house. She beats the bikes half the time too!

Dates

This is a bucket of dates. This is the normal sized bucket - there are larger ones and also 10 pound flat-packed dates in clear plastic bags. This is date season and it is WONDERFUL! I was quoted two prices for this bucket from two different vendors. One guy said $16 and the other guy said $7. This is one of the reasons shopping takes FOREVER...prices vary so much!

Everyone can flavor their dates however they like.....this one has sesame seeds.....I've seen fennel and cumin as well.

This part of the world subsisted on dates and camel milk and the very occasional meat product cooked underground since biblical times. Now the have access to all sorts of food but mainly eat meat and rice for lunch (Biryani for those who know) which is actually an import from India. Their "arabic" food is actually what you would see in Lebanon or Iraq. Very very delicious!

Layla's Birthday!

Thank you Nana for sending a BOX FULL OF FUN!

We opened the dresses one day early so she could pick one she'd enjoy wearing....and we also opened the Viewfinder!

Family Visit!

We are SUPER blessed this month with having my mom and dad AND sister and little niece come to visit! I turned 40 this month and Layla turns 6 tomorrow so it is fun to have them out to celebrate both birthdays! Jen has a SWEET 8 month old baby who has the hugest cheeks you've ever seen. She is very mellow. Layla and Ryan are enjoying her (=

Here are a few pictures....