Merry Christmas!

Doha Alarm Option

What's your choice for an alarm sound? Buzzer? Music? How about caterpillar jackhammer?




This is right outside our bedroom window. And like clock-work, it's reliable.....10 minutes to 7 a.m. EVERYDAY!

On the bright side, we no longer have the little trucks back there screeching their tires. :-) I guess the big hole and road barriers have scared them off.

Update

The girls are doing better. I ended up taking them to the doctor on Sunday. That was a lovely 4 hour experience. So many sick kids in the waiting area...

Anyway, Lil N has bronchitis and an ear infection, and Lil H has a cold and an ear infection. Both are on antibiotics and are starting to show some improvement. Their cough still sounds bad though. Hopefully it will be cleared up enough for them to go to school on Thursday. It will have been a whole week since they've been. They are missing it so much.

Thanks for your prayers.

A little prayer

Will you say a little prayer for Lil N and Lil H? During the marathon blog I've been doing, I've been listening to them downstairs just cough and cough. They've had a cold for about a week now, and their cough is really sounding bad today. They haven't had any fever so I think it's just a common cold that has to run its course. But they want to get back to school, and I need to get back to work this week as our office has a Friday deadline. So if you don't mind, please say a quick, little prayer that God will heal them and get rid of their cold and cough. Thanks.

Run for the Ring

Last Saturday, TAMU-Q had a 5K "Run for the Ring" event. Mr. D participated in it, and the girls and I cheered him on. We actually participated a little....we almost made it to the first round-a-bout (maybe 50 yards), but then had to bow out gracefully. We then had our own little race down the hill that led into the parking garage. I should have thought through the situation better before I decided to go take the trikes back to our vehicle. Trying to wrangle 2 out-of-control tricycles speeding down a hill with screaming toddlers on them isn't as easy as it sounds. Oh, if I only had pictures of that.....

Lil N and Lil H before the race...

And we're off!!!

And now we're way behind...

Here comes Daddy! Go, Daddy Go!

He did it!!! Yeah, Daddy!

Halloween Pics

Our Cowgirls!! Lil N and Lil H

Yee-Haw!!
(Yes, those stick horses traveled back with us on the airplane after our summer visit in Texas....)

Cowboy'd up Mr.D and his Cowgirls.

Jacob, Lil H and Lil N

The compound had a Halloween function at the clubhouse for all the kids. Here's Lil H and Lil N scoping out the "fish pond". The little boy next to them in the monkey suit is Jacob, their friend, neighbor and class-mate. He's so cute. His baby sister was a banana. LOL!

Friday Funny

I'll be the first to admit that I'm kitchen-challenged. And I don't need anybody's help trying to trip me up in the cooking/baking area -- I do a fine job on my own. I at least try really hard and follow instructions very carefully...but even that doesn't work sometimes. Luckily on this day, I was making something I had made several times before, and I was able to realize that something was wrong. Imagine a true beginner, following the instructions word for word. I'm not sure what they would have come out with, other than some oil and blueberries still sitting on the counter!

Fantasy Football

Remember in one of my posts how I talked about how I was in 2nd place in both of my fantasy football leagues.... I think that was way back in week 3 of the football season. Well, no more. I'm have spiraled downward, and quickly. I'm now clawing my way up from the bottom, trying to make the play-offs. I think I'm now 4th and 7th in the leagues. So there is still hope...but it's not looking all that good.

I at least have one good memory from a week where I scored the highest points in one of the leagues. That particular league offers a "Winner's Ball" for that week, and you get to sign the ball, display it in your office and have bragging rights for the week. The week I won the ball, I was still at home, not working yet... so displaying it and bragging about it to Lil H and Lil N wasn't all that rewarding. :-) So I'm now displaying and bragging about it to you. Like my team's name? I'm the only girl in the league so I thought it was fitting.



Now that I have an office to display it in, maybe I can get it one more time. And of course, if I win the championship, it's mine to keep. Did I mention I won the championship last year??? GO NUTCRACKERS!

Maldives Trip

A month or so ago...(seems like forever), 4 of us ladies set off to the Maldives, a group of islands in the Indian ocean, for some much needed R&R. All of our husbands agreed to take on the "Mom and Dad" responsibility for a few days. We are sure they all bonded together to survive our absence. Instead of "it takes a village", over here we say, "it takes a compound". Anyway, we had a wonderful time and everyone, including our husbands, survived the trip.

Here we are leaving the airport. (see the tower?) We had to be taken to our island by a 20 minute boat ride.

This is the view of our island as we were coming in.

Some of the villas were actually out in the water.

We chose a villa on the land. Here was our view.

A few times throughout the day, sea planes would land and take vacationers out on excursions.

We didn't do much -- the point of an R & R trip. We laid on the beach, some of us read (not me!), we ate, people-watched...relaxing kind of stuff. We did do a snorkeling excursion which had more funny moments than memorable fish encounters -- masks that leaked, fins that were too small, and snorkelers that apparently couldn't swim...AT ALL...which was made apparent like 30 seconds after they jumped into the water. Literally, the people running the excursion were having to rescue people, snatching them up out of the water. Not too funny...but kind of.

We all got a lesson in Pig Latin from one of the ladies that we traveled with. Here we all are one evening. Our "new" names are below.

Errishay, Onnaday, Annya Ariemay, Engway

A Visitor

This is what I found in my backyard one afternoon. I had never seen a bird like it around here, and I was convinced it had escaped from the zoo which is about a mile or two from our compound. I took several pictures and showed them to my neighbors and friends, and they had never seen a bird like this either. But after doing some internet research, I found that this is a bird species that lives in Qatar. He is called a Hoopoe. I enjoyed watching him for about 3o minutes. Come back and see me some day!

Update

Just a quick update. I'm already in my 3rd week of work. It has been a little chaotic trying to get a schedule down, but I think I'm close. My brain was able to jump back into work much quicker than I thought. I thought it was nursery rhyme mush, but apparently there is a section that has retained all the stuff I've learned over the years and was just waiting to come out again.

Still have to get the dinner thing worked out. We've been having to do "take away" more than I like so I need to plan better to have a dinner on the table each night. Gotta get organized in that area.

The maid is WONDERFUL. I wonder how I was making it without her. Just for the ironing alone, it has been so helpful. Plan on packing her in a suitcase when we make our final venture home... ha ha.

The girls love AWANA. They've already earned their Cubbies vest. I'll have to post a pic later. And the way they can remember their scriptures...even from 3 weeks ago... I did not expect that. They are really enjoying it.

Okay...supposed to be working. Just took a quick break to update.

CHA-CHA-CHA-CHANGES

Lots of changes going on in our household. So I've tried to catch up on my posts because I don't know how much time I'll have over the next few weeks. So what's going on with us?

We've started AWANA with the girls which has made our Sunday's completely crazy. But they are having fun. And we are all learning more scripture by doing it.

Our part-time maid is moving in with us this week. She will still be part-time for us. She'll leave during the day to go do her work outside of our home, but she'll will return to our house in the afternoon and stay with us at night.

We are in the 4th week of Fantasy Football. I'm in two 10-team leagues and I'm currently ranked #2 in both. Unfortunately, it takes a lot of time to manage those teams. I wonder if that's something I could work on my resume for future use???

And the biggest change....I'm going back to work!! Mr. D is kicking me out of the house to go earn some money. Okay...not really, but I definitely think he is happy about the extra income. I'll be working part time for Texas A&M-Qatar as a Research Administrator helping them submit research proposals and working closely with my pals back in College Station. I'll get to do some work from home so hopefully it won't be too chaotic for all of us.

Okay...I'm off to start my crazy Sunday afternoon.

July 4th Party 2008

After our trip to Indiana, we came back and stayed a few more days with Grandma and Pops.

We went to a July 4th party in Kerrville. Here are some pics:

Lil N showing off her new head attire.

Lil H with her face paint.

A video of the girls dancing:

And one more pic from Grandma's house:

Summer 2008 -- In Town Visits

Here are some random pics from visits with friends and family within the city limits:

After 100 snapshots, we finally got one decent one. This was taken in Ms. Lesley's garden.

Lil N, Lil H

A late birthday present from GrandPap and Grandma Debbie included play makeup.

Lil N, Lil H

Our friends and neighbors in Doha, The Kents, stay at a lake house when they come home during the summer. The girls had fun on their hammock.

Lil H, Lil N

We visited some friends, Greg and Cindy, and got to hang out with their horses.

Lil N

Lil N, Lil H

We went with some friends to the pool at Southwood Valley. Lots of fun there!

Lil H, Lil N

Lil N and Grayson

Lil N and Grayson again...

Summer 2008 -- Third Trip

Our third trip this summer was to Indiana. That is where my sister and her family live. We convinced Grandma to come along for the trip. Lil H held Grandma's hand on the plane because Grandma was scared. Lil H repeatedly told Grandma there was nothing to worry about.

The girls got to play with their 3 cousins, Taylor, Tanner and Kaycee. We all had a wonderful time. Some activities included: a local zoo which had some park rides, a trip to The Bear Factory, a water park, helping feed the rabbits, swinging and sliding, a barbie jeep, and a bouncy horse. Oh, and a new kitten. Lots of fun stuff.

Here are some pics:

Lil N pretending to be a prairie dog.

Lil H's turn...

Lil N building her new lamb, Bonnie.

Lil H "washing" her new kitty, Zoe.

Lil N bouncing on the horse. Look at those pig-tails go!

Lil H is not so sure about it...

Lil N, Lil H, cousin Taylor and new kitty, Rico.

Lil N, cousin Kaycee, and Lil H

Summer 2008 -- Second Trip

Our second trip for the summer was up to Arkansas. It was GranCee's 60th Birthday celebration. We all had a wonderful time. Lots of fun. Some of the activities that the girls enjoyed were the swing set, zip line, paddle boat, golf cart, swimming pool, fishing, singing Happy Birthday to GranCee, and playing with all of the other kids. Mr. D only got to stay for a few days. He flew out of Little Rock back to Houston to catch his flight to Doha. The girls and I stayed for about a week and a half. I was trying to get enough courage to get in the car and drive us all home. But the trip only took about 10 hours and we only had to stop 4 or 5 times for various reasons....not too bad I guess. Here are some pics and videos.

Lil N on the swing.

Mr. D and his girls on the paddle boat.

Lil N driving the boat with GrandDad.

Lil H driving the boat.

All the kids going for a ride with GrandDad.

Lil H's first fish.

Lil N's first fish. (That's my girl...fun to catch, but not fun to touch or take off.)

Lil N zipping down the zip line.

Not to be outdone, here comes Lil H....take note of her dismount.

And finally, the girls went off a diving board for the first time. It was a little scary at first for them, but they finally got the hang of it. Here is a video of them showing off their new skill. Lil H jumps first, and then Lil N. You'll see who is more comfortable with it. (And hear me say "Oh!" and quickly put the camera down.)

Texas Souvenirs

I almost forgot to share with you the little guys that got to come home with us. We went to eat at a restaurant with Grandma and Pops and visited the "bubble gum" machines outside the entrance. I was only willing to spend 25 cents a piece, but Grandma bumped it up to 75 cents each. (That's what Grandma's are for I guess.) Anyway, these are what the girls ended up with. We first just started out with Tom and Thomas as shown here.

Then Grandma went back later to get more.

(Yes, the pit bulls appear to be hiking a leg. EEW!)

And finally, a picture to show just how small these things are.

Can you guess what I did for most of the summer? Looked for these things once they went missing!

Summer 2008 -- First Trip

Once back in Texas, the first trip we made was out to Grandma and Pop's ranch. Lots of stuff to see and do out there. There are dogs, cats, deer, goats, guinea hens, chickens, a donkey and a rooster.

There was a birthday party/ hoe-down that we all had a great time at...

The girls had a great time with the tire swing...

We got to see the deer and rode around in the ranger...

And the girls liked hanging out with Pecker Head..(hey, I didn't name him.)