Semira's back--- playdates---GNO---dinners---Christmas (12.04-12.10)

Sat, 12/4- Semira's back. Yup that's right...so glad she's back. I'm getting really spoiled here w/having help around. So nice to have someone who knows how I like things in the house and where everything goes. And the kids missed her too. Tobin and Skyler were all giddy when they saw her and gave her hugs. Hudson was a little weary, he's usually like that.

Sun, 12/5- Kids had some runny noses & coughs so we skipped our regular Sunday playdate. Luckily Bee called and invited us over to play. I told her of the kids issues, but she was OK since her son, Paden had the same symptoms. Once again, I love her nanny Susan, she can just whipped something up so quick and so delicious. She made a stir fry w/green beans and hot dogs and it was the tastiest hot dog meal I've ever had!

Mon, 12/6- Had a GNO (girls night out) at Charlotte's house. She's new here, maybe 2 months and came from Sugarland, TX. She's one of the mommies in our playgroup and Dan recuited her hubby over here. What a great idea of her to do this since it's really hard to get to know people at the playgroup with the all noises going on and you're constantly watching your kids too. I had a great time and am glad I came out.

Wed, 12/8- I hosted a playdate w/Bee, Ana and Caroline. Bee and Caroline had their nannies so it's nice they watched the kids so we could talk. We're hoping Ana finds one soon, maybe January.

We had Chrissy, Gerry and another friend visiting Gerry over for dinner after the kids went to bed. Very interesting evening, especially when you add some homemade beverages and the different dialects...very funny dinner. Dan and I really enjoyed their company.

Thurs, 12/9- I asked Semira to work this weekend since we had lots of things going on before our trip to Houston next week. Plus she'll be off for the next 3 weeks- paid too! We took everyone, Semira included to our favorite weekend spot, you guessed it...the golf course for breakfast!

At night since Semira's here, we went to a couples dinner w/Bee, Caroline, and their hubbies. Ana had already left for Singapore the night before so she couldn't join us. We wanted to get together for dinner before everyone left for the holidays, but no one wanted to cook, so we opted for a night out on the town, Saudi style. Mike, Caroline's husband speaks Urdu or some kind of Pakistana language and knows all the hot spots in town. He took us to an amazing Indian restaurant, the food omg I can't even described it! Yummy chicken curry, yummy grilled chicken, yummy goat all with the nan bread...we were so stuffed! It was one of our best nights over here! Great company, great food!

Fri, 12/10- I left for "work" as soon as kids woke up aka went to a baby shower for Edith, one of my mommy friend who's expecting a girl at the end of the month. I went to the dining hall first for breakfast since the shower didn't start until 9:30. Nice to sit and have a HOT meal without someone stealing bites. Semira helped Dan in the morning. It gave us a glimpse of what it's like to have help on the weekend...kinda nice. :-)

After the shower, I went to Bee and picked her up so we could go Christmas shopping. We went to the Recycled Christmas sale. It was put together by older expats who donated their Christmas decorations, ornaments, trees and the sale went to a charity in Lebanon. Scored on A LOT of decorations!

What an exhausting day! Hanging out w/friends and shopping really wears you out! When I came home, kids were all napping and I didn't hear a peep from them. What a great job Daddy! For some reason when I'm with the kids all day, it's a totally different kind of tired than being out of the house tired.

Pictures of the week:

our new Christmas tree w/a few of the decorations from the Recycled Christmas sale. I didn't put all the ornaments up since we were leaving soon. What a great deal we got this tree for! The guy who we bought this tree from, his wife and kids left recently b/c the kids were at the high school age and the choices are 1) go to boarding school or 2) go to the high school outside of camp at American standards...they choose to go to school in the States. So the wife had the husband sell their Christmas stuff. The best part about this is he's VN and he told us there's only 5 other VN families on camp. I know I'm still trying to track down some VN folks so hopefully they can cook me some dearly missed VN foods! Anyways he gave us a discount on the tree, gotta love my peeps! :-) We have (3) Christmas cards on the tree besides the previous ones of the kids. Thank you Jackie and Howard- your card made it all the way from NJ! Because of the furries and kids, it's only decorated towards the top. There were several quiet moments in the house when it was first put up, caught Tobin and Hudson trying to take the beads off the ribbons.

Golf course breakfast: Daddy and Skyler

Semira w/Tobin & Hudson

playdates---preschool ???--- mommy time--- Santa in KSA (11.27-12/03)

Merry Christmas from The Cotes. Daddy holding Tobin & Skyler. Mommy w/Hudson. Our visit w/Santa courtesy of the SAEA. Santa made a special trip to KSA, didn't think he could get his visa approved! :-) ( I don't know what happened to Skyler's shoes)

Sun, 11/28- Angie hosted this playdate. It was at park near her house. I debated whether to go or not since it was just me, but we went. I checked to make sure it was fenced in, with 2 yr old triplets who are ALWAYS on the go, that's a MUST especially if I'm by myself. We came there an hour late, not because I couldn't get out the house on time. They had breakfast, diaper and clothes changed and ready to go by 9, but they were playing SO WELL together that I didn't want to disrupt them. We left for the park when someone made someone cry! :-)

Then at the park, it was really tough to hang out w/the mommies b/c I was pulled in so many directions, Skyler wanted to swing, Hudson wanted to do something else...so I just tended to them and didn't get a chance to mingle. BTW, they were really good at holding hands and staying close even when crossing the streets. The weather was so beautiful we stayed there another hour after everyone left. At one point I was so busy taking pictures and wasn't looking, Hudson fell down and hit his head on one of the metal rods on the playground...I felt so horrible, that's when it was time to go home.

Tues, 11/30- We visited a pre-school after the kids woke up from their nap, Mrs. Libby. We'll try this place out when the New Year rolls around. They will go for 3 days a week from 8-11. Pre-school or I should say play school is not regulated by anything over here...it's basically in someone's home. Most of the time people convert their garage and use that as part of it. Mrs. Libbey has the converted garage, the front room (the one we use as a dining room) and her backyard. And it's very clicky, some schools have "waiting list" but that doesn't mean anything, it's sad but basically if you're in a certain crowd and knows the person running the school, you can pretty much get in. Also it's very segregated, Americans, Canadians, and other countries don't want to be in an Arabic school and likewise.

The kids seem to like the school, maybe because we were both there talking to Mrs. Libbey. Maybe it's a new surrounding w/lots of toys. Who knows how it'll be when they actually go there next year. I can only hope for the best. I do know several moms who have their kids there so that's a good feeling. And if they're not ready then they're not ready...we shall see, enshallah!

Wed, 12/1- Playdate at Caroline's house. I brought my banana raisin bread...I've finally found the perfect recipe that is so moist. I am now skipping my regular Wed's playgroup and joining a different one. The previous group, most of the moms are already a part of the Sunday one so when Bee asked me to join hers I was so happy. This new group is just me, Bee, Caroline, and Ana (yes another Anna, not me). We all have 3 kids in common. I just happen to be the one w/triplets and they don't seem to mind at all. They actually are very understanding, really friendly and nice ladies to hang out with. Caroline's been here for 2 yrs, Bee since Feb. and Ana since June of this year. We all clicked instantly, it's so wierd how you meet people and gravitate to them.

Thurs, 12/2- Dan took care of the kids all by himself so I could go shopping in Damman, a nearby city, with Bee and Ana. I picked everyone up and met by the theatre so the bus could take us there. I can't believe we are at a point w/the kids where they're OK w/Dan being at home w/them or Dan being OK at home w/them alone. We finally figure out how I can be out of the house and they don't cry, we just tell them "mommy's at work" when they don't see me. It's a wonderful plan, I just love it! :-) They funny thing is I asked Dan if he was OK w/them and if he would trade me working full time (if I could here) and he stays home w/the kids...his answer "heck no" (as much as he adores these guys). Bought lots of stuff for the house, I even bought my SECOND abaya!!! I can't believe it!!! Never in a million years would I think to own more than one. This one is black, of course w/silver stitching and turqouise stones. I thought I did a lot of shopping, but when I came home and converted it to US, it was only $80 US. Love the bargaining here! I had a really fun time w/these ladies! We even sampled some Arabic snacks. I came home and hung out w/the kiddos before we put them down for their nap.

That night, I headed to Heather's house to watch Sex in the City 2 with a few ladies she had over. I knew a few of them, but there were some new faces. She lives down the street from me so I just walked. Wierd to think I could just walk at night and not feel scared...could never do that in Houston, atleast not by myself. What a perfect day!

Fri, 12/3- Kids got to take pictures w/Santa, yup Santa Claus in Saudi Arabia! It's part of the SAEA group. Our appointment w/Santa was at 1:30, very close to nap time but we managed. They slept late but atleast they slept. Bee and Ana's family also met us there. Caroline's family came later b/c of her kids napping schedule.

Chrissy babies sat for us and we went to have dinner at AppleBee's and grocery shopping at Panda. We had wings, I couldn't believe I was eating them here. It was OK, not like in Houston, but atleast I know where to go when I have a craving for them. It's funny, how things change when you've been here for a while. We've been here for almost 6 months now and the stuff that used to bother us when we first arrived has become irrelevant. I guess we are over the culture shock, except for the black and white at the malls. I don't think I will get over that. Men are in their traditional tobe (long while gown) and women in their black abayas and most of them cover their faces/head completely.

Pictures of the week:

Yogurt, one of their favorite snack. I used to fret over how messy they get, but not anymore...it's not worth it.

Hudson


Skyler

Tobin

Park playdate: all loving the sand!

everyone on the playground

Skyler loves the sand!

Hudson & Tobin on the slide

Hudson, he really was so curious about the sand!

Furries update: it's been a while since I've talked about these guys...frankly, we've just neglected them since being here, we both feel so badly for them. The house and yard is just so small for them...I know it doesn't matter to them that they're rather w/us, but it's very hard to find time for them. Dan still walks them at night after dinner, but it's not enough for them. So now that the weather's gotten so much nicer during the day, I've been taking them for a walk, about 45min- 1 hr w/the kids. And on the weekends during the kids nap, Dan's been taking them out to the open desert field to let them run around freely. Redford's aging so quick, he has a lot of gray hairs under his chin. One thing they are useful for is the cleanup, they love to clean up all the mess on the floors from the kids, that's why Redford's so round. My "cleanup crew" never fails me. :-)

this is what I saw one day during the kids nap as I was trying to get upstairs, Molly. She is so gentle with the kids and all the other kids that come into our house.

Skyler's meltdown, I don't know what about. FYI- we have these chairs like this b/c we needed to make room for the "holiday" tree. :-)

Skyler, Hudson & Tobin. Yes they're all in onsies...it's just so easy when we're at home. And yes Skyler's in one of her bros clothes. She just seems so happy when she looks like her bros.

Skyler, Hudson & Tobin

playdates---sleeping issues---Thanksgiving (11.20-11.26)

Sun, 11/21- I volunteered to host again b/c Tina's kids were sick and she couldn't do it. Besides that she wanted them to get better before their upcoming Malaysia trip. Only one mom, Saadia showed up. All the other moms had stuff going on or the ones who rsvp'ed ended up not coming b/c either their kids or themselves were sick that morning. It actually was kinda nice getting to know Saadia. We hung out in the backyard and got to talking so much, I don't think she left until noon.

My worst fear happend that day. We had napping issues. Let's see, they are 27 months and I was hoping they would continue napping until they went to school. Is that asking too much? I was put them in their room about 1ish and they did NOT go to sleep until 3ish. It was 2 long hours of jumping, laughing, wanting water, dropping their lovies and blankets out of the cribs and calling for me to pick them up. No one was crying, but it was really hard for me to relax and do stuff when that's all I could hear. Dan came home and we woke them up b/c I didn't want them sleeping too long, otherwise they wouldn't sleep at night and there's NO WAY we're pushing back bedtime. :-) Of course, 1 out of 3 was grouchy (Tobin). This continued the next day...the problem was they really didn't need that much sleep during the day b/c they already do 11-12 hours at night. And some days they were waking up after 8:30, while that's good for me, it was screwing up their schedule. So on Tuesday, I was waking up at 7 so I could shower, feed the dogs, make their breakfast and wake them up at 8. Everyone was feed and diaper changed by 8:45. I also pushed back their lunch, it just mostly depends on Skyler, I think she has blood sugar issues like her mommy, but if I can push it to 12:30, than I do. They always get fruit as their dessert so I started doing that an hour after lunch and start getting ready for nap at 2. Usually everyone is quiet and out at 3 and they sleep til about 4:30ish. This doesn't leave me a lot of time during their nap to do stuff but I guess things are changing and I should still be thankful that they are napping.

Not only are we having napping issues, we're having bedtime issues too. I think it's b/c one affects the other. For the first time, it's been really difficult this week. There's usually someone who doesn't want to go to bed. And he or she will cry and do things to get our attention. It's been mostly Hudson and Skyler and they will switch. Hudson will constantly ask for water, and when you go to him, he'll take a small sip. It's his way to keeping us in the room. Skyler will just cry, not sure what about. Tobin too. Glad it was short lived!

Mon, 11/22- Coffee morning at Caroline's house. Caroline is one of Bee's friends. Her husband, Mike is the one who let us borrowed a microwave when we first arrived, what a life saver that was! Got to also chat w/Lydia, who dropped off her twin girls at Caroline's house since she's now teaching yoga. Her girls go to pre-school 5 days a week, but the teacher was still out on vacation from the EID holiday. Also met another lady, who's extremely outspoken, I will just leave it at that. Had a really nice time with these ladies!

Tues, 11/23- Julie's son has some surgery scheduled and she didn't want to bring Sarah, her daughter to the hospital (I don't blame her) to reduce her chance of getting sick, so she asked if I could watch Sarah, she's 5. Another mom dropped Sarah off after her pre-school and Sarah hung out w/us until about 2ish when her mom came. The kids really enjoyed playing w/her, it's so wierd that they play w/just about anybody, big or little kids, as long as they interact w/them. It makes me kinda look forward to when Skyler's old enough so I can talk to her, but then again, want them to be little for as long as it can be...I know I can't have it both ways! And I got a glimpse into how much ONE 5 yr old eats, boy are we glad we brought the freezer!!!

In the midst of me taking care of (4) kids, the cable guy came and switched out our receiver boxes to HD ones...I can't tell the difference. And the electrician came and installed the motor part on our garage door opener. He had installed it when our shipment arrived along w/all of our ceiling fans, but the "motor was missing". We ordered it a month ago and it finally arrived. So nice to not have to manually open the garage door.

Wed, 11/24- Playdate at Julie's. She lives down the street from me and I still drove there. Wasn't risking anyone having a meltdown from not wanting to be in a stroller.

Thurs, 11/25- Thanksgiving, can't believe the holidays are here! We originally planned to have the Felembans over, but with their sick kids and them preparing for the trip, we canceled Thanksgiving. I had planned on cooking a turkey and the whole shibang, but just wasn't in the mood. We did get invited to one family's home, but it was so last minute I didn't want to come empty handed and I was too tired to do any cooking. It was our first Thanksgiving without family or friends and it felt kinda wierd, but being over here makes Dan and I stronger with each other. I don't know how to explain it, it's just different here. I am extremely thankful and blessed for the family I have, my husband, 3 little ones and our furries. And of course this opportunity over here.

So since we had an untraditional Thanksgiving day, we thought to continue that at night. Chrissy babies sat for us at night so we could venture out again. We finally found Al Zamil's, the arts and craft store. I got the directions from Julie this time. Leave it to a woman giving directions to another woman in Saudi and we found the darn place! Who knew? It was so cool to know that I could get a lot of supplies here should I want to pursue my print making techniques or any other crafty things I want to do. I was planning to bring back a bunch of yarn and stuff from the States to start basket weaving, but now I don't have to. And I was told that you could get a Christmas tree there too, but you have to ask for them. So I did...I asked one of the sales clerk "do you have any Christmas tree" and Dan said "holiday tree". He pointed upstairs to their top floor. Went there and asked the guy and he looked around, I'm guessing to make sure there were no Saudis in sight...he took us upstairs again into a room. And there they were, three Christmas trees sitting on a table. They were not your average trees, they bearly had any "branches" on them...pretty sad looking. I was going to settle for the middle one, 250 sr/$67 US that had maybe 10 branches on it, it was so naked looking, but Dan didn't want me to settle. He was on a mission to find me one! They also had a Christmas decoration section, but nothing pretty. I did buy some gold beaded ribbons that I'll use for the tree.

Fri, 11/16- We took the kids to the Golf Course for breakfast. Did I mention how much I enjoy this place? Dan and I always get the tapsilog, it's a Flipino dish that has fried eggs, rice, and steak...so yummy! Kids usually get pancakes and chicken fingers or some form of that. We're getting really good at eating out w/(3) toddlers: basically we both just shove as much food in our mouths as fast as possible. If we don't, someone will have "bites" and eat it all or the food will be cold by the time we get to it. :-)

Pictures for the week:

Skyler, one of her thing now is to lay down on pillows, wherever she feels like it, usually in the kitchen when I'm cooking. Yes those are her bros clothes. Lately her tantrums have been different too, instead of screaming, crying, and flinging her arms, she just quietly puts her head down, sometimes her whole body down to the floor and just be there and wait for someone to say something. Don't get me wrong she still has the loud tantrums, just not as much. I also found a way to listen music through the netbook and was singing "Yellow Submarine", the Beatles song and Skyler remembered I used to sing that for them when they were babies. She went and got out the yellow block piece from their toys that's shaped like a submarine and I would make the motion like a submarine. I was so surprised she remembered that, I didn't know kids formed memories at that early in life, I think I started doing that when they were 5-6 months.

For some reason when Daddy's home, they like to stripped down to their diapers...not sure why. Here's Tobin, looks like he's dancing but he was telling the other two to stand against "this" wall. Another thing they're doing is saying "this" and "that" a lot, "this" cup, "that" pant, "this" shoe...

everyone dancing around. Hudson has his back to the camera.

Hudson & Tobin watching Jim Jam. Man they are gettting to look so much alike! They love to play w/each other A LOT more now, they love to wrestle! I love their little tanned bodies and their longish locks.

The Golf Course: this is what we see when sitting on the patio. Still amazed everytime I see the lush landscaping...we're in the freakin' desert!

Tobin & Hudson

Tobin

this cracks me up, but then again they do that a lot to me...just pure entertainment watching them.

someone's getting tired

Man I love her hair! (which have never been cut except for the bangs)

My kiddos, big and little ones

Daddy and Hudson

flu shots---playdates---EID holiday---lasagne night---Paden---date night (11.13-11.19)

Sat, 11/13- Kids had their 2nd set of flu shots. I also got one too. Thank goodness no one had a reaction to it. Dan met us at the hospital, I'm so glad that he's able to met me there b/c the kids really LOVE him and nothing's better than Daddy's arm after getting poked! We came home and Bee invited us over for lunch. I love going there b/c Susan, her housemaid, makes some yummy Asian dishes. I can't help it, food's my weakness!

Sun, 11/14- Playdate at Nadia's. Our normal playdate group was merged w/the 3 yr old group this week since it's EID week, a Muslim holiday. A lot of people usually leave for EID, we were supposed to go too. We had somewhat planned for our first trip to Bahrain, a nearby country that is more liberal than KSA, but had issues w/our visas b/c someone at the passport office messed up one of the boy's paperwork. Dan's trying to resolve this before our trip back to Houston in December. Anyways, this playgroup was pretty huge, Nadia said about 50 people. Met some new moms, I can't believe all the new people I have met so far since coming here. I think Dan said there are about 250 new expat hires for this year...amazing!

Went to Julie's house for dinner, pot roast night. YUM!!! Julie lives down the street from us. They have 3 kids also, all different ages though. We've found that usually families with 3 kids like us are more open to hanging out w/us, I think they are used to the noise level...there are a few exceptions.

Clud's last day. Yes that's right, I let Clud go. I know it's 3 more weeks til Semira gets back, but I can't take it anymore. She is just not a fit for us (me and the kids) and it drives me nuts having her in the house! All this negative energy in the house was too much! Most important is that she is not very interactive w/the kids and wanted to do everything in the house except watch the kids, I'm talking about excessive cleaning (even though she doesn't do a good job), dog walking, you name it, anything but kids. So it was time for her to be gone, we took her to the Murphys before we headed to the Fosters for dinner. Yes I have to take care of 3 kids, cook, clean, etc. all the stuff in a household for the next 3 weeks by myself, but it is what it is. C'est le vie!

Mon, 11/15- play at Tina's. Leanne and her family came as well. Dan's off this whole week forhte EID holiday and stayed at home b/c I needed a few things done before we have company over the next night. He spent the morning covering up the exposed cords we have for the cable tv. Over here, when you get cable, they just drill a hole through the walls from the outside and run the cord through, nothing's done inside the walls like the States...so with triplets and furries, now's the time to tiddy it up before more kids come tomorrow evening.

Tues, 11/16- Paden at our house in the morning. Bee and her family left for Istanbul for the EID holiday and they left Paden, their 18 month old ish boy w/Susan. Bee asked if I could let the kids play so he wouldn't be bored. We alternated days, two days Susan came over and the other two we came to their house. My kids really like him and I think it's
mutual for him, he already has instant buddies.

While they played, I started cooking lasagne and getting ready for (9) families to come over that evening. Thanks to my amazing hubby for taking care of our kids so I can do what I need to do. Our first party in Saudi and it went quite well! I made 2 lasagne w/meat sauce and one w/meat & veggie sauce. I also made 2 salads. Other families brought salads, breads, desserts and kid snacks. We had a lovely time getting to know our new friends and the kids enjoyed playing w/A LOT of kids. There were kids of so many different age group and they all played well, I couldn't believe there were no meltdowns or fights. By the end of the night I was exhausted, but it was so worth it! Didn't even mind sweeping up the many layers of sand on our floors!!!

Tues, 11/16- Fri, 11/19- hang out w/Paden and his nanny Susan in the morning time. We alternated homes.

Wed, 11/17- We went to the EID celebration on camp, similar to the one in Sept. Nothing new this time, looks like they had the same setup w/food, bounce house and an entertainment stage. We didn't stay too long, just enough for them to run around and get some fresh air.

Thurs, 11/18- We hired Joy who babies sat for us so we could shop at night. We shopped in Khobar at the big Centerpoint store, a garden store, and Tamini, a grocery store I keep hearing people talk about that has a lot of the American brands. The hunt was on for canned pumpkin to make Thanksgiving pies...no such luck! We even tried to find Zamil's, an arts & craft store like Michael's but was unsuccessful in finding it. We ended up coming home w/a curtain rod for our bedroom and three cushions for the dining room chairs. Since the kids sit on our regular dining chairs, they get really dirty more like disgusting and there's no point in getting them upholstered now so I figure I could just get by w/putting a cushion on it. Or like Dan says that's my "quick fix". Anyways that's our date night in Saudi... shopping, not much else

to do here (night life wise).

Fri, 11/19- After the kids went down for bedtime, I tagged along w/Kamal on his shopping trip to Lulu's. I think this is my third time there. Stocked up on a lot of stuff now that we have our second fridge and freezer. It's my favorite grocery store! Thanks to Kamal for letting me tag along and I could take my time, didn't have to rush one bit! Ismi was really good throughout the trip too, I think it helped he had his cartoons to watch and snacks.

Pictures of the week:

Play at Tina's. Skyler picked out this outfit herself. I couldn't believe she picked out a skirt.

Their favorite thing to do besides playing at this stage is eating!!!

Hudson, Tobin & Ismi



kids and Simba, the friendliest cat we know that's so tolerant of 3 toddlers wanting to pet him ALL the time!

yes Tobin's in Skyler's shorts b/c she didn't want to wear it.

Hudson & Simba

Playing w/Paden. Tobin loves the chalk!

Bee's new playroom, their converted garage.

it was really cute how she pulled the Bumbo seat up to the piano

having fun marking herself

kids w/Paden

Hudson

Tobin "vaccuming" the sand.

Skyler & Paden.

Tobin (see the mismatched shoes, lately he & Skyler's been doing this)

Hudson

Lasagne night:

Skyler & Hudson and friends

Dan w/Tobin (I think)

Tina, Leanne and their babes w/new friends

The Fosters (in the foreground)

Boy do I miss our Westwood yard! This yard is about 10% of what we used to have. It was very "cozy".

Baby Elena, I think 3 1/2 months now.

Ismi

Daddy entertaining the kiddos so Mommy could cook.

Tobin- I was trying to capture him sticking his finger in the catepiller from the "Little Catepiller" book.

Daddy and his litte girl

Yummy meat sauce!

Simmering the veggies

Hudson & daddy

Daddy and Tobin, yes Skyler didn't want her shorts & shoes this time.

they can never get enough of playing w/the belt buckles on the stroller

the bounce house, they only let us be on their for 5 minutes before they kicked us off for the next set of kids... pretty sucky!