Butterflies

We recently attended two events where face painters were on hand to fill Angela's face and arms with cute little characters. At one birthday party, her face was transformed into a butterfly. Last weekend at brunch, she had a snowman on one cheek and all sorts of little things all over her arms. She came home from school today and was coloring on her white board with markers. Suddenly she turned around and asked me to make her a butterfly. Before I could react, she took the black (thankfully washable) marker and colored her face. Not quite as nice as the two that were done by professionals, but still pretty cute!

catching up

Oops! Its been over a month since I last published anything here. Sorry. I've been filled with good intentions but my execution has been terrible. There are hundreds of photos to sort through, a handful of videos to upload, and tons of really great stories to share.

We are all getting really excited about Santa Clause. Our tree went up a few weeks ago in preparation for a holiday party we hosted. We had almost 50 friends & coworkers join us last weekend for a party in our garden. It was a really fun night. Angela was a little disapointed that it wasn't 'her' party - as we were getting things ready she asked if people were coming to see her, and if they would gift her presents and kisses. Needless to say, she is thrilled about her upcoming birthday and cannot wait to celebrate with a Minnie Mouse party and all of her friends.

The girls seem to be growing up unbeliveably quick. Angela is a little chatterbox and never stops. Her teachers at nursery love her and she has so much fun playing with all the big kids in our new neighborhood. Caitlin is now scooting on her butt all over the house - she loves following both Angela & Millie. She is getting a bit more consistent with her sleep although still wakes up once or twice during the night.

I put together a selection of photos from the past few weeks below. Easier to post as a slideshow than to try and upload each of them here individually. Enjoy, and hopefully I'll be back soon with more posts!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Op1n_aXkudc

Winter in the UAE

The seasons are changing and the weather has been perfect lately. It's mid-80's and sunny most of the day, a few scattered clouds and we even had some rain! We put a patio area in the backyard and bought a grill. We have two new bikes and a trailer that holds two kids. The girls are really enjoying being able to spend so much time outside!

Trick-or-treat

If you sense that my posts are lacking in frequency and content, you are correct. My laptop has died which leaves with an iPhone and iPad to use for updates. Sharing photos and typing out posts are not as easy without a camera connector and keyboard!! Maybe Santa will treat me to a new laptop for Christmas this year ;). Or maybe I just need to find time to go to the one HP repair center in Dubai (40 minutes from our house) to see what is wrong with my laptop.

Anyways, we enjoyed a wonderful Halloween this year. It's really exciting now that Ang can understand what is going on. We painted our pumpkins, went to a Halloween party at school and got to trick or treat with some of the neighbors. There were actually some really impressive decorations in the neighborhood. Unfortunately Caitlin had to stay home for most of this as she was sick. Ang must be bringing all sorts of lovely germs home from nursery - the latest round was tonsillitis. It only seems to have struck Caitlin and fortunately she seems to be feeling much better after a few days on antibiotics.

We now have a small bucket of candy to consume, dried egg smashed on the back of our house, and some great memories of a fun Halloween. You can see the photos using the link below. Enjoy!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/38403322@N00/sets/72157628037259148/

Working girl

Rich had to spend a few hours in the office this morning - on a Friday, which is our weekend. I guess he has been missing Ang lately because he invited her into the office with him. Her face lit up and she was so excited to pack her bag for work. It looks like she is having a great time!

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> Sent from my BlackBerry Handheld.

The sandpit

We are doing a big patio project in the backyard and a good portion of our (dead) grass has been turned into a giant sandpit. Angela is loving this and has spent so much time out there digging, building sand castles and making a mess. Eventually the area will be covered in brick tiles - hopefully soon!! Caitlin is happy to sit on the patio and just watch her big sister make a mess. The weather is now perfect for being outside and we are loving it!

(and notice, no diaper on Angela! We are giving potty training a go!)

Farewell, lizards!

Our family has grown by one! This is Millie* a kitten we adopted this afternoon. She is about four months old and was found abandoned at a cat farm just outside Abu Dhabi. The person that rescued her believes that she was dumped after spending some time with people because this cat loves people. She lets Angela pick her up and is currently curled up on my lap, purring away.

We are hoping this helps with the lizards!

*The family that rescued her was calling her cinnamon but we have decided to rename since Angela cannot say anything that sounds even close to cinnamon. Millie is our latest choice, although we are waiting to see if this sticks.