Her tea party...

 She requested my blueberry muffins for her birthday cake.  I surprised her with two different kinds of quiche (there's a reason I've had to promise to take her to France one day) and various other goodies.  There was an assortment of teas and strawberry lemonade for those wanting cold refreshment.

We made paper plate and bowl hats and decorated with ribbon and flowers.  She helped me make the tissue paper flowers and picked out the tea cups and decorations.  And I must say, I do believe a fun time was had by all.
Happy Birthday to my lovely, eldest daughter.

She is six

Eldest daughter finally got her wish: she is older (by a little, and for a while anyway).  She is now six and seems to be wearing it well.  We had a lovely tea party to celebrate and it was also her first party with school friends as the main invitees.  I can't wait to post some pictures!

Camping in the Desert: Part Two

The last time our family went camping it looked a lot different.  

For starters, we were one child fewer and eldest daughter was 6 months instead of almost 6 years old, but hey, life can get hectic and hopefully now we’re back on track for more outdoor adventures.  Another difference was that the last time we went camping we went with my sister-in-law and then future brother-in-law, and there was a wealth of camping know-how between them and husband dear.  (I know that I enjoy camping—I was just never in charge of putting up the tent or starting the fire, or well, you get the picture.)  Also the last time we went camping was in the middle of a green forest and this time we were in the middle of the rocky, SANDY desert.

But all differences aside, we loved our last-minute camping trip!  We had been talking about going camping here for a while and finally decided to go for it the last two days of our holiday break.   So we ran out and grabbed all the essential things we could think of that we didn’t already have (like sleeping bags and lighter fluid--and no, we did not use them together) and borrowed a few more, and then we were off.  Camping here is easy-going, after all this area was largely Bedouin for centuries, so you can set up camp almost wherever you like.  Gathering wood is also easy (easier if you have a chainsaw we discovered, but nonetheless): pick a dead tree and go to work.

The children loved running up and down the dunes and following little animal tracks in the sand.   They did NOT love eating crunchy/sandy hot dogs and mac and cheese =( .  But now we know meals cooked in closed foil packets are the way to go in the evening when the wind picks up—live and learn.

The setting was so beautiful—open but secluded.  The only other people we saw were some locals out gathering firewood (with a chainsaw =)).  The sunset and sunrise were both gorgeous and we got to watch a beautiful orange moon rise between them.  Husband dear even saw a couple of shooting stars.

Aside from the sandy meal, and being kicked in the face by Imp while she slept (that girl did somersaults in her sleep and still managed to keep her sleeping bag on!), it was a great family trip, and I hope we can go again soon.

 Eldest son and daughter getting ready to run down the dunes.  I don't know who taught her to pose like this, but I think we may be in trouble with this sassy girl of ours.

Husband dear hard at work procuring firewood.  He only had a small hand saw and was going to try to use the car to help pull the upper part of the tree down.  However the rope was not very thick/strong, so in the end my man sawed through and broke the tree down all by himself. =)

 All while we watched and cheered (and played in the sand).

Sunset.

 Sunrise.

  

 Eldest son and Imp greet the dawn with the moon still smiling down.

Camping in the Desert: Part One

 Our camping adventure begins like this--any of you who know me will immediately see the humor in this picture.  Husband dear said my job, upon arrival, was to set up the tent.  I allowed as how this might not be the best plan, but our tent came with a  roughly hand-sketched diagram and instructions in German, so he thought I could manage (ha!) and it was either that or go cut firewood from dead trees...

In the end, the tent went up (with help from eldest daughter and husband dear).  Here you can see our view (around Imp).  Isn't it beautiful?

And another view from outside the tent.











The light was beautiful but fading, and we still had firewood to collect, a fire to start, and many adventures to have...

This is not normal

This is a picture of eldest daughter completely crashed on our couch in the middle of the day (with the TV on, and her brother and sister playing around/on/over her).  She’d been complaining of her head hurting and just seemed out of sorts, but after the impromptu nap seemed much better, which was a good thing because we had a long car trip planned for the day.  All seemed well until we pulled up to our destination and she says, “Actually, I think I need to throw up…” which she then did all over herself, her blanket, the back seat…

I was a little afraid this was going to be a virus that we would all get to experience, but thankfully it was just the once and we were all able to enjoy a few days of a holiday break together after this rather less than auspicious start.

Sick Days

Well these past weeks have been a strange fog of sickness and life lessons.  We are emerging from this wicked sickness that—had you asked me a week earlier—I would have promised it might end up with me expelling my lungs from the force of coughing…

But just because we are sick (husband dear too) doesn’t mean the world stops or slows down—so sometimes, as husband dear was so good to remind me, sometimes we have to step off and take sick days.  And so for two days we did.  The only effort we put forth was into making sure our children stayed alive and made it to and from school.  And praise the Lord, we all survived and are once again well (and then sick again briefly for eldest daughter =( a story we’ll tell next installment).  Thank you to all of you who thought of us and prayed for us, and have been so faithful to do so always—we love you!

Stanley's Visit: Part Two

What a difference a little know-how makes in fixing up pictures.  Husband Dear took pity on you all and took the red-eye out of these, maybe one day I'll try to learn how to do that...

In this picture you can see the henna she just got done (it's very orangey on the first night).  No henna for Stanley, darn that laminating film!

 Stanley hanging out with the other "kids."  I can't say what is more disconcerting in this picture--Stanley's electric blue eyes that follow you everywhere, or the babydoll without eyes...

This is the one playground toy I can't look at without feeling a little sick...NEVER eat creamed spinach and then take a spin on this bad boy is all I've got to say...

I added this picture so you could all see the henna after a day or two, it gets much darker as you can see here in this picture.  Stanley enjoyed playing at the park--we took him when everybody else here goes to the park--at night. =)  Thanks for the visit Stanley!