Merry Christmas 2011

I have had Christmas songs in my head for the past week or so. Lets just say the Christmas Music Playlist has been getting a good workout!

The kids woke at a very civilized 7am which may have been a result of the two Christmas DVD’s we let them watch last night until late, hmmm I will remember that one for next year.

After the initial Santa Sack raid we headed downstairs for some breakfast before returning to open our gifts. We were all very blessed this year.

I was still half asleep mind you!

And who doesn’t like to start the day gnawing off Santa’s head?

And then of course the bigger kids thought little Eyad needed a bit of help  

Eyad and Sami both have a cold so Ali was on snotty nose patrol, ewwwww.

It was so nice to have Mum with us again this year.

Each year we hang chocolate decorations and candy canes and then the kids go on a tree hunt. Here they are collecting the goodies.

Before sitting down to a fantastic lunch we tried to take a nice family shot. Ha ha who was I kidding trying to get everyone to look and smile at the same time!

I don’t think we will ever be one of those families that sends out a yearly photo!

My Mum made the most awesome lunch for us all. I helped but really I was a little commis assisting the Executive Chef.  Thanks Mum xxxx.

(sorry folks not a great shot of anyone there but it was a great spread for sure).

Here is the Chef …

I dressed the kids in their Chinese silk pajamas that my sister brought over last year. Don’t ask me why, I was just feeling a little silly I guess? Sami does not feature in the dinner photos as he had two mouthfuls of turkey and declared he was “done”.  I just didn’t have the energy to argue and I was looking forward to a nice quiet lunch so I let him go.

Eyad was an angel bless him, thank you bubba!

Finally as the night wore on Laith tackled his super dooper Lego set while the others watched some Christmas TV.

It was a lovely Christmas and I really do feel so lucky to have a wonderful Mum, loving and kind husband and four gorgeous children.  Of course having my brother and sister here would have been fantastic. The oceans may divide us but my heart is with them always.

Merry Christmas and thanks for stopping by …

Ice Skating

Yes folks it is official the new (and now only) ice rink has opened in Muscat. We visited there last Thursday to have a little icy fun.

The kids loved rugging up. And  my darling Sharon (a.k.a. Aunty Sharon) do you see what Lulu is wearing? Yes it the jacket you got her that we thought she would never wear given that we had no plans to visit any cold countries soon!

Laith had been once earlier in the week with a few lads from his karate class but he was much more confident second time around.

Lujayne just “got it” and in no time was skating along with no help.

I slowly remembered how to push off and keep going, albeit quiet unsteady on my skates, and I had a great time until THUD I had a major crash and then I called it a day. Hey I think 60 minutes was a pretty good effort for this old duck!

Oh and Sami was not with us as sadly he did a runner on me earlier in the day his punishment was no skating. I hope to post some pictures of him skating soon.

Thanks for stopping by …

It is starting to feel a lot like Christmas.

Yesterday was our Tree Decorating day, December 6th, which is the feast day of St Nicholas (and the day he died). But after a long day the kids were not in the best frame of mind and things went pear shaped fairly quickly so we postponed until tonight.

We have talked a lot about St Nicholas and what he use to do. We also talked about the fantasy of Santa Claus and how that came about.

It was nice to decorate together as a family even with a few “sibling moments” to deal with from time to time.

Being a Muslim family it is a rocky road we travel with the whole Christmas thing but we celebrate it each year “for my family” as there is always someone visiting us over Christmas.

We had a lucky draw to see who would place the St Nicholas at the top of the tree. And the winner was …

The tree this year needs to be protected with a baby gate as our little man Eyad would have it down in bits in no time left to his own devices. And don’t get me started on this kids ability to climb … anything!

This is nothing, he scales a tall ladder in seconds!

Thanks for stopping by …

We Have Lift-Off

Yes the little man is off and running, literally!

He is such a joy to watch. His smile and laugh make my heart flutter. I am so blessed.

Eyad First Week Walking Solo

One day soon I will finally remember which way to hold the phone when taking video … I hope.  Sorry to make you look sideways.

Thanks for stopping by …

Planting our Seeds

I am a little behind this year on planting our seeds but I think we will be ok, or that is the seeds will be!

This year we are planting the seeds in pizza boxes and before you go getting all worked up about the amount of pizza I am feeding my little munchkins please know that I got the pizza boxes from the school after “Pizza Sunday”.

The kids got the boxes filled with soil and then started planting.

Sami just loves pulling faces at the moment when I take a picture. I am hoping this a “phase” .

Now we need to get the watering right as the year before last everyone was watering them and the poor things just drowned.

We got the tomatoes, parsley, rucola, basil, and eggplant done two days ago and I hope we can finish the rest over the weekend.  

Thanks for stopping by …

Lulu’s Pinkalicious 6th Birthday Party

Lulu is still a fan of the colour pink so when she read the story of Pinkalicious, a little girl who ate too many pink cupcakes that she turned pink, she was in love!

Naturally then her party was all about Pinkalicious and all things girly and pink.

We started the party by reading the book. Everyone was given a little pair of wings (because they help you to listen better you know ) so they started to look a little Pinkalicious too.

For each girl I had made a felt crown with their initial reversed appliqued on the front and a wand to be decorated as one of the craft activities. Here are the wands and crowns before the party.

After the story we headed to the kitchen to decorate the wands. The wands are made from a thick foam and then I glued felt on the back along with their initial which I kept from the reverse appliqué on the crown. Before we got to crafting we took a group shot.

Then it was down to the serious business of blinging the wands. Eyad was supervising from the back and really wanting to get in among all that fun stuff on the table.

As we had out all the glitter (which I am still finding ALL over the place, ha-ha even in my hair) we moved onto painting the ceramic photo frames that my lovely friend Jess made for me.

We moved onto eating and lots of little girl chatter which was hilarious to listen to.

Then the all important cake. Lulu loves pretty birthday cakes so I have to say folks the pressure was on! I couldn’t have done it without the help of my assistant pastry chef – Mum.

Just cut the cake Mom! (yes she has an American accent now mixed up with her Aussie / Omani accent). Oh and just in case years from now we look back on this and wonder why I was wearing one glove? Nothing to do with Michael Jackson in fact I had a nasty hot glue burn, ouch.

It was a girl’s only affair but Sami had two friends over who had sisters at the party. Cheeky monkeys … very attractive I will keep this one for his 21st party!

The two and a half hours were over before we knew it. Did they have a good time … I think so…

Thanks for stopping by …

Lulu’s Birthday

Wednesday was Lulu’s birthday. My beautiful little girl has turned 6!

She woke nice and early and was greeted in the kitchen by her baby brother and her new bike.

Then Dee Dee joined in for some gift giving.

Of course the others wanted to help her open them.

After school we had football. Then we headed over to Pizza Express for dinner. Lulu loves it there because she gets to make her own pizza.

This time even Sami joined in on the fun.

Meanwhile Laith and Dee Dee chatted.

And did the pizza taste good? 

We finished the night with some Gelato as we were saving the cake for her party the next day.

I love you Lulu Balooloo!

Thanks for stopping by …