Mardi Gras

The girls have been looking forward to the Mardi Gras celebration for a couple weeks now. Lots of businesses set up booths downtown. They have crafts, games and food, all followed by a parade complete with candy and necklace throwing. The girls have missed the candy parades, and are so glad to have them back.

We had lots of time to anticipate the main attraction today, since school was cancelled due to fog. Madelyn and Cailin were a little relieved because they went to the dentist in the morning and got a flouride treatment that makes their teeth look like they've recently eaten a loaf of Wonder Bread. They were a little embarrassed to take their clumpy white teeth to school. The fog saved them.

Dance Baby

I like to have music playing in the kitchen most of the time. This morning as Jon was feeding Hope, she started bopping to the music. Her sisters all came over to motivate her to do a little more dancing. You can see in the video she starts to get it going. :)

The Plates

I have been heckled by complete strangers about being from California, on average, around two times a week. Folks look at my Sunshine State license plates and can't help themselves from throwing a rankling comment like, "You're from California, huh? You're gonna loooove it here. Hahahahaha!!" This afternoon I was walking home from school with my girls and someone recognized us as being the "family that drives the van with the California plates". He stuck his head out the window of his van and hollered from across the street, suggesting to us that in about three months we would be hating life here.

I do get it. It gets really cold in Michigan. For a really long time. But there are lots of other great things about living here. I love the small town. We have been welcomed warmly by church friends, neighbors and school acquaintances. (The ladies at the DMV were kind of cranky, however.) The summer and fall have been amazingly beautiful. I try and take these jeering comments about the winters in stride. I smile and laugh along with them. I have to say, though, that the joke is getting a little old.

Jon has saved our license plates from everyplace we've lived - at least those places that let us save them. (Jon's stll sore we couldn't keep our Abu Dhabi plates.) He has them neatly lined up in the garage above a work bench. It will be a relief to retire our California plates and lay to rest the (what I am sure is meant to be good-natured) ribbing about leaving the sun for the snow.

Crawler

Nice army crawl. Very speedy.

New House Hat

The roofers are here! We are hoping for clear weather this week so there won't be any delays in getting our house's new hat on.

Checklists

I'm officially tired of nagging my kids all morning to get them ready and out the door. Out come the checklists. I'm hoping they will do the trick. I may even offer a treat every morning for each list fully completed without one single verbal reminder from me.

Lamenting the Loss of the School Nurse

On the whole, we are very happy with our schools here. The teachers seem happy and dedicated, the principals are approachable and invested, and the facilities are adequate. One thing we are lacking, however, is a school nurse. My girls have really gotten to know our previous school nurses. From bumps to tummy aches to the unexplainable "just not feeling good", the school nurse was there to give a cuddle, a band aid or a pep talk. It seems school nurses don't just mend the body, but they also are there to lift the spirits - which is a great thing when certain troubles or anxieties are expressed through physical woes.

It must be hard on the administrators as well, to have in addition to their duties of school-running, to also have to put on their proverbial nursing caps. When another recently arrived mom asked a teacher who it is that checks the kids for lice, the teacher responded, "Oh, the principal is really fast at it."

There is a little couch in the school office for a child to lay down when not feeling well. I know this because I have already gone to pick up 2 of my kids on 2 different occasions just last week. A tummy ache and a rogue ball to the head. I missed having the nurse there for them, making them laugh and giving me advice and well wishes. Hopefully my girls won't be making trips to the" sick couch" a habit - but it would be nice to have a nurse there to help them through if they did.

Worms

With the rain has come the worms. My girls are touching the worms. They are holding the worms. They are naming the worms. They are fighting over the worms. The worms are their friends.

Framed

Last night we finally committed. Putting those first nails into a pristine wall was tough to do. Jon's artwork inspired me, though. They are some interesting screenprints and lithographs he made in grad school. After I laid out his pieces and found an arrangement I liked, Jon got busy and hung them in our family room. One wall down, so many more to go.

My Wordle

What's a wordle? It's a beautiful word cloud.
Make your own here.

Coat Weather

Our first coat day. This morning as we left for school it was a crisp and cool 43 degrees outside. In Abu Dhabi it is 104. We find ourselves constantly comparing our very different life here in Michigan to that we had in the Middle East. Most of the changes are for the good, but I can't help miss a few things; year-round flip-flops, the proximity to the sea, camels by the highway, and perhaps most significantly - being nearby my parents who are still in Dubai. They have recently moved into new living arrangements, and I would love to see where they are now. It was something special to visit with them frequently while we were all so far away from the US.

I can say this, though - I do not miss living in a high rise apartment building. We love being able to step outside and enjoy our yard at any time. Jon is so happy to have a bike, and Madelyn loves to scooter around our driveway and on walks through the nighborhood. I get a little thrill every time I take children or groceries from the house to the van in our attached garage. In 10 steps I have everything inside! No more hauling things from a parking lot to a lobby to an elevator to our door and back down again.

Our blessings are many, and our appreciation of all that we have now is intensified because of our past experiences.

Special Deliveries

We have had a great day today - Verizon came and fixed our wires, so our phone line is finally working, our modem was delivered by UPS, so we also have internet (Yah!) and Jon's bike was delivered, so he now has his own wheels. Now he just needs some riding gear so he can bike in inclement weather. Several friends here actually ride their bikes all winter, so Jon is going to give it a try.

Hope is a busy little trouble maker. She is so fast and getting into everything. It is fun to see her up on her knees, even if she is always somewhere she shouldn't be!

Luau

Last night we went to a really fun Faith in God activity. We were greeted with leis and flowers, and icy pina coladas. Madelyn quickly makes friends with any animals on the scene. She is pictured above with Cumin; a very sweet dog who didn't mind wearing a Hawaiian lei.

We ate delicious grilled teriyaki chicken on a stick, salad and fruit. For dessert we toasted coconut marshmallows and made tropical s'mores. A member of our ward is from Hawaii. She taught us how to do a little hula. My hips were a little rusty, but it was fun dancing with my girls.

Here the girls are making necklaces, alternating cut up straws and paper flowers.

Here is our wonderful group of girls. I'm so happy Madelyn and Cailin have this great group of friends from Church!

Great School Days

Emma is back in her element - loving school and having a great time in the classroom. She is one of the older kids in her class, and her teacher says she will be a great help. Emma already instructed the other kids in the "science" of making a tire swing go. Her first day was a rainy one. She enjoys using an umbrella!

Cailin is excited to be on the "safety patrol". The elementary school only goes up to grade 4. Cailin, as one of the mature 4th grade graders, has been given the responsibilty to watch the younger kids and make sure they are safe crossing streets, getting on and off buses, and entering the playground from the cafetieria.

When Cailin first introduced herelf to her teacher, she did so by saying, "I like to draw, and my favorite band is the Aquabats, and I like to draw pictures of the Aquabats." As we have been unearthing long lost treasures from our stored boxes, Jon discoverd this Aquabats patch and sewed it himself onto Cailin's backpack as a surprise. You can imagine the delight.

Getting Settled

The girls were incredibly excited to start school yesterday. They both had a great day, and came home gushing with happy stories. Emma was a little upset that she had to wait until a couple days for her kindergarten to start, but has been a good sport tagging along with me and Hope on our errands.

Our U-pack cubes were delivered yesterday. I watched in horror as they were literally shaken down the ramp of this tow truck. At one point I was certain a cube was about to tip over, but the driver assured me he had never lost one yet. The street got pretty torn up when he turned the cube to get a better angle for the doors. I suggested he not do that with the 2nd cube, as the whole process was giving me fits.

Amazingly enough, everything was intact, and just as we had packed it 2 months ago. Here is the table Jon worked so hard at, now at home in our dining room. Yes, that is cream-colored carpet underneath. I won't let anyone eat there. I'm too afraid.

Hope is a wonderful musician. She drummed while I attempted to organize the chaos!

On the Lawn

It is fun to see the girls sitting in the backyard getting to know two of our neighbors: Jenny and Jessie; the Beagles on the other side of the fence. 

Jon wanted to try a man-powered mower. It took a good long time to mow the backyard, and he was tired enough to save the front yard for another time - but he likes the exercise, and Madelyn is happy whenever we save the planet.