A Sword Foot.

I have been having problems with my left foot on and off and it makes it hard to walk on sometimes. The girls like me to carry them down the stairs (a habit we are trying to break). This morning as we were walking down the stairs Madeline says,

"Mom. I know right now you can't carry me down the stairs because you have a SWORD in your foot (my foot is sore), so I will just walk slow and be really careful... okay mom, okay?"

Don't worry mom, it's real.

I over hear Mads in the playroom making fight noises...
Me: "Madeline... what's going on in here?"
Mads: "My camels are fighting."
Me: "Ohhh, but our toys don't fight remember? Because we are a family and we love each other."
Mads: "Don't worry Mom, it's real."
Me: "You mean it's pretend?"
Mads: "Oh mom, you make me laugh. You are a funny mom."

Those Darn Shoes.

On our way up the stairs to bed... Madeline stops and drops to the floor.
Me: "What are you doing? Let's go. It's bedtime"
Mads: "Carry me."
Me: "Madeline, I am not going to carry you. You have two healthy, strong legs, and my arms are full." (already carrying Abs, some books, and some water).
Mads: "My legs aren't working." (Moans and fake bottom lip shaking)
Me: "Madeline... lets go. Stop playing games." (continue walking up stairs).
Mads: "aaaahhhhh... my legs! My legs! They hurt! I can't walk. Ahhh haa haaa"
Me: "Do we need to go to the hospital? Do you need surgery? Do you need... a great big shot?" (thinking this would stop the moaning).
Mads: "Yes. I need to go to the hospital. I want to be in the stroller because I can't walk..." (moaning and screaming).
Me: (fake calling the doctor on my cell, but calling Paul's cell instead) "So Dr., she will need 10 shots AND can't play outside, go to school, or go to dance class ever again? Will you tell her? K. Here's the phone Mads. It's the doctor who will do your surgery"
Mads: "Hello? Uh huh." (high pitched moan) "Oh-kay...huuh huuh... Mom. let's go."
Me: "Okay. Go upstairs and get your shoes."
Mads: (Stands up. RUNS UP THE STAIRS TO HER CLOSET to get her shoes.)
Me: (from the hallway) "HA! You CAN walk! Ha!"
Mads: (With the realization she has been caught in her lie, drops to the floor screaming in agony).

The Flower Festival

Today was the Fifth Annual Flower Festival here on camp. It was also my Madeline's very first time walking in a parade and her very first time performing with her latin dance class on a stage! In front of PEOPLE! And she. Did. Awesome.

Abigail was up nice and early and very excited to see her sister in the parade and on stage

Madeline

Madeline in her costume for the dance.

Here is Madeline getting a healthy breakfast of fruity pebbles before we left.

Here is Madeline standing in the parade line, waiting for it to begin. They had Madeline and her class in the very front, right behind the band. The band was EXTREMELY loud.

Madeline was, still, very excited to be in the parade. She said it reminded her of the movie RIO.

The parade route was quite long, but the kids had a good time anyway.  The only real uncomfortable part of the entire thing was the shamal/sandstorm. It has been sandy for several days now and it is not nice to breath.

After the parade was over, the kids got cookies and juice - a nice break before the performance. Madeline enjoyed her cookies and sitting on this big rock.

Madeline in front of the stage

Paul keeping Abigail entertained with some tummy zerberts

The Performance (click play)

Madeline and her friend Kiersten after their dances.

What's In A Name?

What's in a name? This has been a big topic in our house the past week as our little 3 1/2 year old is showing an interest in writing! She can now write her name, and we are SO excited and proud. I love when my children accomplish something. I love it so much, I want to marry it.  I literally do the happy dance. 



Name contrasted because it was too light on the paper

Yay!!

A Nice Cold Glass of Money.

I have been sleeping really deeply the past week or so. So, at times, when being woken up by one of my girls, I am not as coherent has I have been in the past. It has been a strange week.

Last night Madeline sat up and began screaming for me. I jumped out of bed, tripped over the strategically placed pile of laundry on the floor, bashed my thigh into the foot of our bed and went stumbling down the hallway to her room. Then I sat on her bed, gave her a hug and said,

"I'm here sweetie, are you okay? Do you want some MONEY?"

A tactic that may work in the future when she is older and I am really tired, but not right now.

What I meant to say was water... do you want some WATER. It was one of those out of body experiences because in my mind I was saying water. She looked at me like I was insane. I then handed her some water.

Blow Kiss My Butt.

Madeline and I have been blowing kisses at each other from afar for a couple of years now. The procedure for her and I is as follows: She kisses her hand, blows it towards me, I catch it, and smack it onto my cheek. Then I kiss my hand, blow it toward her, etc. etc. Sometimes we even do ten of them at the same time really, really fast. It's pretty cool and one of our little things.

Today I blew her a kiss. She caught it, smacked her own bottom, and then said, "You just kissed my butt mom! Hahahaha!"

Bad People.

My sweet, and increasingly capable, 3 1/2 year old loves to unlock and open the front door by herself. She thinks any time the door rings, it is knocked on, or if she just feels like it, she should open the door. So yesterday we had a discussion about strangers. It somehow progressed into a discussion about bad people. When I asked her what she thought a 'bad person' was she replied,

"Someone who pokes you in the boo boo."

I have to agree. If someone poked me in the boo boo, I would think they were a really, really bad person.

Madelinisms

Just after I dropped some watercolor paints all over the floor,

Madeline: "It's okay Mom! I'll get my magic wand!" while running down the hall in a hurry.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

While in the bathroom about to take a tubby, Madeline is running all over the place and keeps bumping my leg with her bum,

Madeline: "Look at my butt Mom!" laughing hysterically and shaking her butt at me

Me: "Stop messing around buster brown!"

Madeline: "You! Buster blue!" laughing some more "Buster red! Buster yellow!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~
After eating her lunch all gone,

Madeline: "All done Mom! I really enjoyed that food. Thanks!"

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Talk one afternoon at lunch,

Me: "What do you think I should be for Halloween Mads?"

Madeline: "Hmm. You could be a Mom!" pauses a minute "How about a balloon?" 

9/28 - 10/03/11

I've been trying to post an update for several days now and can't seem to get it done so here in our past week or so, short and sweet.

9/28 - preschool - So far Madeline is enjoying her new preschool. She seems to like her teachers and enjoy her day. She enjoys being with the other kids. It's hard getting a truthful description of the day from her because she seems to always give us the same answer.  We'll say,

"How was your day Madeline?"

and she'll say, "Geed" (her funny way of saying "good" lately)

and then we say, "What did you do?"

and she always says, "lined up, played, shared, sang songs etc." I'm hoping she will give us some more descriptive answers sometime in the near future so we can really tell whether or not preschool is having an impact on her or not. 

Her teachers really love her and tell me all the time how sweet she is and that they hug her a lot because she is so irresistable.  I wasn't surprised to hear this because I think this way of her as well. This is true about all Mevec women, including myself. We are irresistable.

Today Madeline and Abigail and I attended a birthday party for one of our little playgroup friends.  It was amazing! Tina out did herself. It was a fairy/garden gnome theme and she had little tutus for the girls and gnome hates with cute beards attached for the boys.  The kids got to decorate their own wings and wand and she had a wall decorated for photo ops.  The food table and cupcakes were out of a Better Home and Gardens magazine.



Mads in her fairy tutu



Abs in her fairy tutu



Cute gift bags for the kids

Craft table where kids made their own wings and wands

Amazing table of treats!

Another shot of the amazing table of treats

Mads enjoying her sugar rush with friends

Mads with her wings and wand

 

Mads in the playroom with a friend


 

Mads encouraging the other children to throw the balls


Lately Madeline has been obssessed with the fact that she is small.  She uses her being small as an excuse for getting out of a lot of things.  She also says, "I can't" alot, and it is driving us crazy.  I read The Little Engine That Could to her on a regular basis to try to teach her to "TRY" and not give up so easily.  We've even resorted to the "I Can't" statement being a swear word in our house.

9/29 - 9/30 - This past weekend was quite relaxed.  I volunteered to make dinner for a friend of mine who recently had surgery so I wanted to go grocery shopping with Paul.  Normally he goes by himself and it's a quick trip on the morning.  I had to make a one stop at a different store before we hit our regular route because I had decided to make an Asian Sesame Salmon with Orzo and Wild Rice.  The Orzo and Wild Rice was a side dish I used to LOVE LOVE LOVE getting at J. Alexander's - a nice restaurant in Memphis Paul and I really liked.  I actually found a recipe online for the rice, and I was really excited to try it out.


The girls harassing kitty

 Excitedly, I was able to find all ingredients here in Saudi and after I made it and took the first bite???? Memories flooded my mind of our Memphis days.  It tasted EXACTLY like the Orzo and Wild Rice from the restaurant.  I am so ecstatic that I can make this and eat it.  It's actually quite good for you. So yes, it will be a regular thing around here (even though I am the only one in my house who likes it) because it is just that good.

When it was time to go home and leave the grocery store, Mads decided it would be the perfect opportunity to throw a lout, arm and leg flailing, tantrum.  Paul and I both thought it would be a good idea to get the girls to the car and ready to go before he came out with all the groceries.  It was a bad tantrum.  Really bad.  And it only reinforced Paul's determination to do the shopping on his own if at all possible.  I agree/

9 months old

10/01 - Today Abigail is 9 months old.  I cannot believe it.  She is such an awesome little baby.  What a personality!! 

She loves to cuddle, gives kisses to all of her family on a regular basis.  She loves kitty.  Sometimes she just sits and pets kitty and talks to her and smiles real big at her and then suddenly wails on her and grabs her tail.  Kitty just lays there and takes it. 

Abs is crawling and cruisin' at lightning speed now.  She tries to stand up a lot (currently still unsuccessful) and pulls her self up on things. 

She's loud - very vocal, always talking, screams that match and, I'm afraid, will exceed decible levels currently produced by her sister. 

She's eating well and whenever we come at her with a drink or a spoon with food on it she waves her little hands in the air and twists her wrists with excitement and then pulls this twinkly face as she spits it out. 

Today, while Madeline was in school, Abs and I made a visit to the camp commissary with our good friend F.  It was hot and took us a while so when we were done Abs was ready for a nap.  Our friend did us a favor and picked up Madeline from school so Abigail could sleep. 


10/02 - Today was a pretty laid back day. Madeline had preschool and did well, apparently up until te end, when a little boy accidentally stepped on her while they were lining up to go home.  She lost it and did her over-dramatic scream and cry.  I heard about it from her teacher.  She spent the entire way home telling me of the tale and how some boy sat on her and pushed her over (in an "on purpose!" tone). 


Mads keeping warm and eating a muffin



Madeline ended up not taking a nap, but falling asleep early and then sometime in the middle of the night our old, unwelcome friend, Croup.

10/03 - Today we literally did nothing.  Madeline was sick and spent the morning coughing and sniffling.  Every time she coughed she would cough so hard she would spit up a little. At one point a noodle from her lunch got lodged in her nose.  She was scared to death.  It was at that exact moment I had the service men at the door wanted to fix the wall in the kitchen and I had Abigail holding onto my legs, crying, because she was hungry and wanted attention.  It was one of those moments where you feel like you could very easily explode.  I'd like to say I could look back on it and laugh, but nah, it was pretty devastating. I called Paul - a moment of weakness - pleading for him to come home and take Madeline to the clinic. It must have been great to hear this on the phone:

Me, crying
Abigail, crying
Madeline, coughing, gagging, and crying
The service men of Aramco (so happy they could be a part of the moment) "Ma'am? Ma'am? Ma'am no need plumber. No need carpenter. Call painter. 939 Ma'am, 939."

Paul, of course, said he would be home asap. 

5 minutes later, Abigail was nursing, Madeline was relaxing on the couch with a popscicle watching Wonder Pets, The service man was working on one of the holes in the wall... all was at peace.  So I called Paul back and told him we'd be okay. 

The day got better and Madeline actually slept okay tonight, with the occassional cough attack and request for water. 

09.22-09.26.11

We've had a pretty fun week.  We had a nice three day weekend with Paul because of "Saudi National Day."  We love extra long weekends.  We made a couple visits to the mall and ate out a couple times. It was fun taking out the new Yukon.  I still haven't gotten a proper picture of it because we are keeping it in the garage - it barely fits - and this makes it impossible to get a full bodied picture of it. 



The Yukon, in the garage so not a full bodied photo.

 It looks exactly like the picture I posted the other day when I announced we were getting it so if you HAVE to see it, take a gander at that post.

Abs enjoying a cracker

 The girls are doing great.  Abigail is shaking her head back and forth in the "no" motion a lot lately, and she enjoys head butting us from the back when we are holding her.  She also enjoys pinching me when she is nursing - reminds me of a cat sharpening its claws on a soft pillow when it's getting ready to curl up and go to sleep?  She is particularly fond of eyes and eyelashes and pokes me in the eye a lot.  And the hair... she is fascinated with pulling hair.  I know her tricks and habits so I am prepared to counter them, but strangers who offer to hold her and expect to enjoy holding a cute, cuddley, chubby baby get some nice surprises.

Madeline is doing really well.  She has a lot of energy in all areas of her life... especially tantrums lately.  Some days I feel like the most horrible mother on the planet and like all I am doing is putting her in time out or telling her not to do something.  Other days are awesome and she is sweet and attentive and obeys me when I tell her to do something - oh wait, that was a dream I had last night, not reality. 

She really is a sweet kid, but when something doesn't go her way.... get your ear plugs STAT.  I often refer to it as "the screaming banshee call" because man oh man is it piercing.  I'm trying to be patient, and sometimes, when I get really wrapped upin the emotion, it's nice to have someone like Paul there to tell me to just walk away and let her settle down.  You know, she gets it from me.  I am the emotional lunatic in our house.  I just hope we can learn control together and get on with our happy lives. 

Sharing with Abigail has become a bit of a problem lately.  That's usually where the tantrums begin.  So we are working on it. Madeline has an awesome imagination and I love listening to her play.  She is doing great at riding her scooter she got for her birthday.  She loves to play and loves her friends.  She also loves playing my iPad and watching her "shows" - Go Diego Go, Dora, and Wonder Pets.  We often hear her when she is playing quoting the opening statement from the wonder pets show.  We're trying to limit her time on those last couple of activities.


tickle time and peek-a-boo

 This past weekend was Saudi National Day. They held a festival and cricket game on camp this weekend so we thought we'd go check it out.  I wanted to get Madeline a kite because I thought it would be fun for her.  It wasn't really windy, but she could still run around right?  We ended up going pretty late, about an hour before it was supposed to be over. 


This kite will go up!

 The first  kite we bought broke as we were putting it together.  These were pretty chea kites.  And actually, I could probably make one that was sturdier.  So, I had  Paul get another one. He wasn't too happy about it, but I had totally psyched Mads out about it all.  So we got another kite... thankfully we had our old stick from the first kite because the second kite was missing the stick.  So, phew, we finally got a kite together and ready to fly. 


ready to run, up up up!

 First attempt didn't go so well.  Mads ran and it totally did a nose dive.  So we tried again. Not gonna happen. 


Down, down, down

 Abigail woke up from her nap among the excitement and was pulling some pretty awesome faces...

Abs, well rested and excited about life!

Third time... it went up.... but down again. 

One more try

Finally, I told dad to carry the Madster and fly the kite.  It went up! They were able to run back and forth twice before it plopped back down. 

Then, we were done.  It was hot. It was humid.  We had been there for 15 minutes.  Time to go get some ice cream and go home and watch a movie. 


Dad helping get the kite up

 Sunday was the open house for Madeline's preschool.  I got her all dressed up and pretty - it doesn't take much for her to be adorable (she basically has to wake up and she's there) - and we went to meet her teachers. 


Madeline before her preschool open house

 Here is Madeline with one of her teachers, Miss Tori.  We've met Tori before at a friend's birthday party and a couple times since then. She is really nice and way cool so Madeline was excited.  She had a good time at the open house.  I attended a meeting about the school while we were there.  I am really excited about it all.  Everything seems well planned out and organized and I have heard nothing but good things about this preschool.


Madeline and one of her teachers, Miss Tori

Sunday I actually started exercising again, for real, not just talking about it, and it kicked! my! butt!!  It was so hard.  I was that lady who worked really hard and then half way through the hour long workout started doing low impact.  It reminded me of this old workout my mom used to do that was on PBS I think, maybe not, but there were three levels high, normal, and low impact.  The high impact lady or man were uncomfortably energetic and the low impact person was crazily slow and light in their movements. Each of the people would take turns on each level... I have GOT to find that and blog about it. Anyway, I was the low impact girl. 

After the open house we stopped at F's house for a delicious lunch and some play time with Madeline's buddy, B.  It is always fun to visit with them. 

Monday was a day of baking. I made homemade chicken vegetable soup in my crockpot; some carrot cake cupcakes with cream cheese frosting; and some delicious cheesy garlic biscuits.  Paul was surprised that dinner was actually ready when he got home. My family is really picky.  Paul ate all his soup - at least I thought he did.  Until I looked in his bowl when I was cleaning up dinner and found about 20 pieces of celery.  Mads?  She just ate some chicken.  eeesh.  Abigail enjoyed the carrots and potatoes.  Of course they all loved the cupcakes and biscuits because who doesn't like cupcakes and biscuits?

09.11.11

This morning I had a birthday playgroup for Madeline.  I wanted to have a playgroup at the house to catch up and see some of the ladies and I wanted to have some of Madeline's little friends over to have a cupcake and celebrate with us.  It turned out really great. 

The menu:

chocolate cake cupcakes with Ma Mevec's chocolate frosting
Goldfish crackers
Teddy Graham crackers
Watermelon
Grapes - yummy ones that were the size of plums, crisp and just the right sweet
Raspberries
Choco-co-nut trail mix - a combunation of pecans, almonds, peanuts, shredded coconut, and dried cherries with milk chocolate poored over it and refridgerated over night and then broken up into bits.  It was REALLY good.
 Tea, juice, and water
And then my overly awesome friend, F, provided a REALLY good chicken salad with crackers, banana bread, and coffee.

It was a really nice set up and I didn't take a picture - something I am doing a lot lately and I am peeved at me for being so careless at capturing delicious or precious moments.

About half the people I invited showed up, which was good because it was still a pretty well sized group.  The kids had a good time playing and, amazingly, there was no fighting and little or no crying incidents.  I had Madeline's trampoline set up in the main area, the slide and some toys outside, and of course the toys in the playroom.  I also had "Go Diego GO, a fave of Madelines, playing on the TV for a bit in the beginning. 

For the craft I had each child a rock in a basket and they were able to decorate their rock and then fill out a birth certificate.  Most of the kids named their rock after themselves.  Madeline named hers "Princess rock."  My favorite name choice of the day was "boom boom." 

After the playgroup was over and everyone left, F and her little man B stayed and had lunch with us.  The kids played with the balloons and had fun jumping. The only way we could get them to eat their lunch was to challenge them at "monster biting" their sandwiches and then, at one point, letting them eat off their plates on the floor like dogs.  Hey - you gotta do what you gotta do.  At least they ate. 

After our friends left I let Mads open her presents that people weren't supposed to bring, and we played a bit with some of them. Then the girls and I went upstairs for a while to relax. 

Paul had to work late to prepare for a presentation.  Then the girls and I picked him up and we had a light dinner and snacks and left overs and Paul relaxed a little playing some video games.

It was a really nice day. 

Here are a few photos from the event.  I didn't really get a chance to take many pictures because I was holding the baby and making sure everyone was doing well.  It's hard to take pictures when you are hosting an event at your home and trying to socialize and watch kids. No names, just random letters for the sake of my friends privacy.



Abigail playing with E, who is 4 months older than her.



A, S, and O - three of the lovely moms I have met through playgroups

C, another awesome gal, and me

 

S, S, Me, J, F, and E - very cool women

 

Mads playing on the slide with her friends

 

A pretty Abigail shot




Mads with cupcake all over her face


 

After the party, the kids acting like dogs at lunchtime

 

Opening presents with a thankful and happy heart.