This and That

It has been a good week. Ramadan ended and Jordan celebrated the Eid al-Fitr holiday. We were on lockdown for three days that weekend, and then back to regular days with curfew still enforced at 7pm. We had a couple rainy and chilly days and we enjoyed the cooler weather. Here is the mosque near our home on the first morning of Eid, around 6am.

Now that school is out, we have more time on our hands. We are doing light summer school with the boys, but it only take a couple hours max a day. This week, we took out the classic Nintendo and the boys have been enjoying it a lot. Benjamin is determined to beat Super Mario Brothers, I think because Nathan told him he would give him 10 JD if he did, so it's game on...He and Nathan got to the last stage, but Bowser beat them...

One night, we thought there was a fire on the top floor of this building across the street. Our friends live on the ground floor so we called them to check it out. The fire eventually went out and we concluded it was a fire pit. Seemed a bit unsafe!

Meanwhile, the boys took the opportunity to run back and forth across the empty street while Nathan and our friend talked about beating Super Mario Brothers...

Another day, the kids and I were walking around the neighborhood, and we stumbled upon a few kittens that were just born, and the mom left them in a field.

A few people stopped to see them, and we put the kittens in a box to help them keep warm. The boys were so excited to go home to get them a blanket for them, and when we got back with the blanket, the kittens were already gone. Someone must have taken them home to care of them. The boys were really sad when the kittens were gone, but we told them that without them spotting the kittens initially, they may not have been seen by anyone, and because of that, they saved the kittens.

 Eliza has a favorite concerte turtle she likes to visit down the street from us.

The kids have used the water table in the yard a few times this week. Benjamin taught Eliza to lay down on the ground to keep warm after being cold and wet. She like to run around the yard yelling 'sun' and then find a small patch of sunshine and she lays down.

She is getting so big! On the 29th, Eliza turned 21 months old. Time is flying...

She loves her daddy, and she loves watching nursery rhymes on his phone. All she has to say is 'papa' with her sad look, and it's done! Papa is the song, 'Johnny, Johnny yes papa.'

During an afternoon walk one day, the boys wanted to see if the park near our house was still closed...and it is.

We have been watching all kinds of classing movies and TV shows in the evenings before bed, and  several months ago, my parents sent us DVDs of old vacations and events that they got converted from VHS. So one night we watched a vacation we took in 1990 to California and New Orleans. It brought back a lot of nice memories and was fun to watch with the kids. In these videos, Aaron was Caleb's age now.

I was 11 :). I had lots of sweet neon clothes and fun hairdos from the 80's! 

My mom had a sweet perm and looked like Barbara Streisand!

The other video we watched was from my grandparent's (mom's parent's) 90th birthday celebration in 1999. My grandparents were very special to me growing up and they played a very active role in my childhood. My grandmother passed away at 91 years old in May 2001, and my grandfather lived to 95 years old and passed in 2005. They were sharp as whips and I was always amazed with their stories, and at how much change in the world they lived through, being born in 1909. In true fashion, my grandpa was cracking jokes and he even played his harmonica at the dinner. He was in a harmonica band call the "Harmonica Kings," and they used to play in their retirement community.  He was the last living member after everyone else died.They lived on their own and were 100% self-sufficient, to include driving...yes that was scary! My grandpa started painting and making stained glass in his 70's, and we have several pieces of his artwork. He and my grandma did police volunteer work once a week in their community, driving around keeping a good watch on everyone. It was a sight to see! I wish Nathan and the kids could have met them, they were pretty remarkable people and left a strong legacy in our family. 

Today we went to a friend's house and let the kids play in the yard for a few hours. We ordered burgers and cupcakes and the kids had a great time spending time together. They have 2 girls a little younger than the boys, and they have become good friends over the years. They are also expecting a baby boy in a few weeks!

And lastly, this girl loves riding the plasma car. She loves it so much she wanted to ride them both at the same time. Ain't nobody else getting on these cars... Guess we need to start teaching about sharing, haha!

Happy Saturday!

This girl...

This girl is so sweet. She runs and climbs all over the place, loves to be outside, playing with her brothers, and having fun. Eliza is talking up a storm and has her own language that we are getting pretty good at understanding. Eliza loves music, animals,  being read to, and watching nursery rhymes. It's hard to believe that in a few days, she will turn 21 months old. 

This past week was hot and a perfect time to take out the water table. And in true fashion, she climbed right on top!

She loves to take walks and visit this turtle in the neighborhood. Love this sweet girl :)

Last Day of School!

Today the boys finished first and second grade! They attended ACS for the past 3 years, and leaving the school will be bitter sweet. The boys have had wonderful teachers, made many friends, and have learned and developed so much. We are very appreciative of the education and support the school has provided them the past few years, and we now they will have fond memories of their time here. It has been an interesting year, especially the last 10 weeks of online learning due to Coronavirus, and we could not be more proud of Caleb and Benjamin for all of their hard work, perseverance, and great attitudes this year.

Benjamin finished first grade in Mrs. Sweiss's class, and she was a perfect teacher for him. She was very attentive to him as an individual and encouraged him every day. Benjamin learned and grew a lot in her class. She said he was always looking for ways to be a helper, excelled at math, and we especially loved how she encouraged him with confident reading.

The last day of school was different, but a very sweet day. During their morning meeting today, Mrs. Sweiss streamed presentations that the class made for the 3 departing students, sharing memories of their friends. Afterwards, each student had a chance to share with the class. It was sentimental, and I had tears in my eyes sitting by him watching. A lot of his class mates shared memories of playing 4 square with Benjamin (and winning when they were on his team - he loves 4 square :), trading Pokemon cards, and Benjamin being a good friend to others. It is bitter sweet to say goodbye, but with the way things go for us, we have no doubt he will see some of his friends from ACS again one day!

Caleb finished 2nd grade in Mrs. Malhas class, and he had a great year. Mrs. Malhas fostered Caleb's imagination, and she encouraged him to explore his ideas. She said Caleb was one of the most active participators in class, and he always listened when she spoke. Caleb learned so much year, and he especially grew in his love for reading, and we have equally enjoyed watching him explore and learn new things through reading books.

There were 4 students leaving in Caleb's class this year, and during the last few morning meetings, each day they would share memories of one of the students. Nathan and I got to listen to Caleb's morning meeting, and we loved hearing what the other students and teachers said about Caleb. The most common things we heard people tell Caleb was they will miss his sense of humor and jokes, that he was a good friend to others in class, and he often asked people to play. Caleb made many new friends this year, and he was lucky to also have a couple of good friends from previous years in his class. He will miss 'his boys' as he calls them, but thanks to technology, which Caleb is very good at using, we know he will be able to keep in touch with them as they spread across the world.

We celebrated their accomplishments with dinner delivery from our favorite Chinese restaurant and cupcakes from the bakery.

The boys each got a new stuffed puppy. They REALLY want a german shepherd and a husky...we are NOT getting a dog, but they were very happy to get the stuffed ones!

We are thankful for the wonderful teachers, friends, and how much they have grown and developed at ACS these past 3 years. They say, once a Scorpion, always a Scorpion...

Second and third grade, here they come!

Resilience

I am so thankful for how resilient our children are. They have been troopers the past couple of months, easily adapting to a fluid situation. Things are different, but the kids are happy and are enjoying each others' company, and they really like having Nathan and I around more. I have been thinking about this a lot this week, and sometimes I wish I could be as resilient and easy going as our children are.  I am grateful to have them as an example to teach me every day, and I am so thankful and blessed that God chose me to be their mom. On Mother's Day, I received sweet handmade cards from Nathan and the kids, and some pretty flowers they picked from a neighborhood walk. We did school during the day and played in the afternoon. It was a good day:).

I treated myself to a haircut and hair dye at a local salon. It had been almost 6 months since my last haircut and it was needed. We have to wear masks and gloves to enter places, and all the workers were wearing masks and face shields. Aside from visits to the grocery store and going to work, this was my first visit somewhere in a couple of months.

Another treat is that the Embassy recently starting allowing families to use the common spaces  on a sign-up basis. Only one family can use the soccer field or tennis court at a time, for 1/2 hour slot. The last couple of weeks we have been able to use both areas for an hour each, and the boys have really enjoyed it! One week Nathan walked to the Embassy with the boys after school so they got a lot of energy out that day. The boys just finished their 9th week of online learning, and Tuesday of next week will be their last day of school. Here we come, summer! 

Eliza and Tes take a lot of afternoon walks and she loves being in the stroller and jabbering about everything she sees. 

More fort fun. It's a daily thing here, and sometimes on the weekends they can sleep in the fort.

This week they increased the evening curfew from 6pm to 7pm. They must have been getting tired of all the curfew violators right before the sirens went off. Police were out every night pulling people over out past curfew, yet every day following, the traffic seemed the same?!

Another roadblock just a few minutes after the sirens.

A friend sent us pictures of an epidemiological team at our neighborhood grocery store the other afternoon, conducting random testing. 

We have explored many fields in the neighborhood and typically take walks before and after school. The mornings the boys can ride bikes, but  in the afternoon there are way too many cars on the road. We are still on the even/odd license plate driving policy, but for some reason it seems like more cars than normal are still out because they can be.

Hope everyone is doing well and able to get outside to enjoy the springtime!

A good week

It's been a good week. After a couple of rainy days, we have had beautiful weather and enjoyed being outside. More flowers in bloom.

I love how green everything is this time of year.

Traffic jam in our neighborhood, and the first we have seen since living here. Now that people can drive on certain days (odd/even plates corresponding to the day of the week), people drive around just because they can, or at least it seems that way! 

At the base of the hill of our neighborhood, there is street that is a couple of miles long, connecting two main roads. It typically does not have many cars on it, but now that people can drive, people go down to picnic, play, and race cars...we have seen car wrecks from afar multiple times...here is one.

Nathan did school outdoors with the boys one day and they really liked it!

On evening, this little girl decided she wanted to get into the bathtub with her brother, so she got right in. She is a busy little girl and we need to keep a good eye on her!

You turn around for a matter of seconds and she is climbing into or on something!

Our neighbor across the street is a great baker and we sometimes get to benefit from her over baking! This week it was donuts and english muffins, which was a treat for all of us.

Making swords, hats, shields, and bow and arrows out of tinfoil.

This sweet girl loves playing the piano with her brothers.

We decided to order masks, since they are now starting to require them inside many places. A lady in our neighborhood makes them with fun patterns.

The boys are ready for battle! They picked out an outer space mask and a royal crown mask (it's a Jordanian thing).

One evening while sitting in our porch room, we saw a bunch of cars getting stopped. The police were not in uniform and were stopping people that were driving out past curfew at 6pm. This was at about 6:15pm...and there were already a lot of cars pulled over - all the ones on the right side of the street. Benjamin and I decided to go to the roof to watch the show.

Enjoy Benjamin's commentary, haha! It ended up getting heated and they eventually let everyone go.

On a rainy day, we found our old cork collection and the boys made Jerash and a bunch of other things.

We usually take the boys out in the morning before school to ride bikes or walk, and out for a walk in the evening before curfew. This afternoon, the boys wanted to walk up to the park we usually play at to see if it was still there. It was there but roped off and they are hoping it opens up again soon.

Benjamin said the mosque by our house is beautiful and wanted to take a picture of it.

Nathan got out the water table this morning. She loves splashing water, being outside, and getting naked, so it was a big win for her!

Happy Friday!