Artimus and Joan

This weekend, some friends from church invited us to a costume party. We borrowed wigs from some friends and went as Artimus Pyle and Joan Jett.

 He wants to be just like daddy!

We had a good time, and will probably be looking out for online sales on wigs!

Ben is 13 months old

Happy 13 months old Benjamin! This little boys is getting more active and fearless by the day. He loves to play outside, go up the stairs and down the slide, playing with trucks, and pushing balls around the house.

 

Ben is doing a great job standing for a few seconds. Look what I found the other day!

Ben is serious and cautious, but he laughs a lot too. Especially when it involves his big brother making him laugh or a good tickle from dad. Ben loves Tes, and his face lights up when he sees her in the morning.

 

Ben loves food of any and all types. Some of his favorites are cheerios, plums, bananas, apples, rice, carrots, chicken, and potatoes. He is doing a good job transitioning to a cup, and he still prefers his bottle for naps and bedtime. Ben takes 2 naps a day. A short one in the morning, and a solid nap in the afternoon. He only likes to nap in his swing, but real soon he will be too big and will need to start sleeping in his crib. We are working on it. Thankfully, he goes to bed great at night and sleeps from about 7:30 - 5/5:30am.

 

 

Ben wears a size 4 diaper and 12 - 18 month clothes. We are not sure how much he weighs, but he is a solid little boy. We love this little boy to pieces, and we are so thankful for him and the love he has brought to our family.

Boats and Books

A typical scene from bedtime. Caleb wants to read every book in his basket, and Ben wants to look at the boat, train, and airplane on their growth chart. Good night sweet boys!



Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from the Toy Story Crew! Starring:

Woody

Buzz Light Year

The dynamic duo

Woody is still sick, so he hung out in his costume on the couch with dad tonight. He was so thrilled to put it on after the bath, I don't think he even realized he missed a party. Buzz and I went to the Embassy Halloween party. There was lots of kids in adorable Halloween costumes, games, trick-or-treating, and a movie on the lawn. We had a fun evening!

 Ben and his main squeeze, Tes ;)

Hope you had a great Halloween!

 

Couch Potato

Caleb has been feeling a little under the weather the last couple of days. He caught the Kuwait crud that is going around preschool. A day at home lounging on the couch and watching movies helped him feel better. He should be back to his perky self tomorrow.

 

Ready, Set, Go!

We had a busy week at work, and a good weekend. On Thursday evening we went to the Embassy social hour. When we got home, we met some neighbors who were outside and they invited us over to say hello. Only one of the women spoke english, but everyone was very so friendly and welcoming, and we had a nice time talking with them. One of the ladies had a 3 year old girl who enjoyed running around with Caleb, and everyone loved on Ben. We ate lots of homemade arabic sweets, coffee, and tea, and they sent us home with a plate full of goodies. It was 9:30 before we got the boys home and to sleep! Now to decide what American treat I should make for them :). Any suggestions....

The next morning, our early riser Ben slept till 6, which was a treat. He is getting more adventurous. I was in the kitchen for a few minutes, and came out to him standing on the chair. Let more fun begin!

I am in love with his chunky little feet!

Later that day, we explored a new park that has a covered playground and a 10k running/walking trail. There were lots of people out enjoying the nice weather. Caleb recently learned to say ready, set, go! He kept on saying it as he ran down the path. He ran close to 1/2 mile...I think we have a little runner in training :).

On Saturday afternoon we met Abeer and Firas at a fall festival. The festival was busy and there was a lot of people there. They had homemade crafts, a large play area for the kids, and real pumpkin pie. I'd say the pumpkin pie was the highlight of my time there. We took a few pictures behind a scarecrow backdrop. Aside from the decorations in our home, this is the closest thing to fall that we have.

Thank you Abeer for taking this nice family picture of us!

 Afterwards, Abeer took us to a new park that had a big covered playground. Firas and Caleb had a fun time running around the playground and playing together.

 Ben enjoyed climbing and going down the slide.

 It was fun to spend the afternoon with Abeer and Firas.

 I love this picture of them.

Have a great weekend!

 

Having fun at home

We had most of the week off for the Eid holiday. We spent time together at home and we got out and about. A couple of mornings, we went down to the gulf to run and play outside. One foggy morning after a run, Caleb found some feathered friends to play with.

Caleb ran for a good 1/2 hour chasing the birds, and he got a few kids in trouble along the way for influencing them to run through the puddles, haha!

 These boys are developing a nice brotherly relationship.

 On Friday, Caleb helped me make blueberry muffins that I brought to a brunch on Saturday.

 Later that afternoon, we went to the park. Ben is becoming a very good stair climber.

 And he likes to go down the slide.

 Nathan showed me a new way the boys like to swing at the park.

 On Saturday after brunch, Tes watched the boys for us, so Nathan and I could get out. We were supposed to go to the National Museum, but it was closed for Eid. We will get back another time.

 Instead we went to the souk, which was fun to see. Nathan has been a few times, and it was my first.

Many of the shops were closed, but there was still a lot to see. 

 I love the colorful tea kettles on display.

 And the fresh produce looked delicious!!

 We settled on a kilo of fresh assorted dates.

 And ended the afternoon with Mexican for dinner.

We had a good week off, and now it's back to work!

Saudi Arabia and Bahrain - Post 3

We left Bahrain early Monday morning so we could spend the day in Saudi before heading home. We really enjoyed our time in Bahrain and hope to get back for another relaxing weekend in the next couple of years.  

Good bye Bahrain, hello Saudi Arabia!

First stop was breakfast at McDonald's! In Saudi, all restaurants have a family section. It was empty, so we had the entire place to ourselves.

 

The booths in the family section have curtains around the table, so you can have plenty of privacy. 

After eating pancakes, eggs, and sausage, we let the boys play inside for a while, then we went shopping.

Some friends told us about a unique shop called Desert Designs, that we should visit while in Dharan. The shop sold all kinds of art, pottery, rugs, furniture, and other unique items from around the Middle East. We got lost finding it on the way down to Bahrain, but we found it on the way back and we were glad we did! The shop owner was so friendly and he liked the boys a lot. He opened a back room so Caleb could watch cartoons while we looked around. Just look at the beautiful tile work on these fountains and at the traditional Saudi door. 

Then it was time to head back home. We saw a lot of goats and sheep in the back of pick-up trucks during this trip, which was probably for the Eid holiday sacrifice. This one was so close, so I had to take a picture.

The border crossings were much less crowded on the way home and we made it home without stopping. The boys were great travelers both ways! We had a great time on this roadtrip, and were thankful for the relaxing time together and all the new places we had the opportunity to explore!