The Eid

Yesterday began Eid here in Kuwait. At 6am the prayer man started up like every morning, but this time he went on for about an hour! I thought it would never end.

Part of the celebration includes the slaughter of a sheep for their dinner. So people on Sunday were out buying their sheep for their Eid Feasts. We actually saw people with live sheep in the back of their cars and SUVs. Seriously, a live animal in the backseat of the car!! And there was a guy right outside our neighboorhood selling sheep on the street corner. He just set up a little corral and had as many sheep as he could fit in there. I wish I would have had my camera. I am sure we will have more Eid stories before our time in Kuwait is over, but just had to share these.

Maid Update

A couple of you have asked about the Maid thing. As with all things in Kuwait, things never go as originally planned! We have had a few changes to our plan since I originally posted about this. First we switch maids, we now will have Lorna working for us, not Nor. Also the start date changed, and now Lorna will be starting with us on the 21st of this month, not the 1st. Lorna did come on Friday for 4 hours to do some basic cleaning and she did a great job. The kids loved her and she even had time to play with them for a while when she finished cleaning. I am glad we had her come in on Friday, it made all of us more confident and comfortable about her arrival on the 21st. I am very much looking forward to it!

Embassy Fun

Embassy Fun

We were able to make it to Happy Hour again on Thursday night. We had a nice time and I only had 1 glass of wine this time! hehehe The kids got to run off some energy and play in the bouncy castle.

Then on Saturday afternoon they had a Children's Christmas party at the embassy. The kids even got to see Santa and sit on his lap! No tears this year! Both kids did some crafts and decorated some cookies. Alayna made a little candy cane with beads and a pipe cleaner all by herself. I couldn't believe she had the dexterity and patience to do the whole thing! She even got the pattern of red, white, red, white with out any help. She was so proud of her work!

Once again the Embassy has proven to be a real blessing in our lives here. We have a great time every time we go there. The kids love it when we tell them we are headed to the Embassy. Don't forget to click on the pic to see more!

St Nick

St. Nick

Ok, for those of you not from the motherland (Wisconsin), you probably have no earthly idea what St Nick Day is. Here is a little explanation I found on Wikipedia to fill you in:

While feasts of Saint Nicholas are not observed nationally, cities with strong German influences like Milwaukee, Cincinnati, and St. Louis celebrate St. Nick's Day on a scale similar to the German custom.[4] On the previous night, children put one empty shoe (or sock) outside, and, on the following morning of December 6, the children awake to find that St. Nick has filled their previously empty footwear with candy and small presents (if the children have been "good") or coal (if not). For these children, the relationship between St. Nick and Santa Claus is not clearly defined, although St. Nick is usually explained to be a helper of Santa. The tradition of St. Nick's Day is firmly established in the Milwaukee, Cincinnati and St. Louis communities, with parents often continuing to observe the day with even their adult children. Widespread adoption of observing the tradition has spread throughout the German, Polish and Belgian communities throughout Wisconsin, and is carried out through modern times.

Ryan and I both grew up celebrating this tradition. We put out our stockings on December 5th and when you wake up on the 6th it is filled with little treats. Usually candy and some pencils or new hair bows, little things. We have added a new twist with our kids. We have them write their letters to Santa and put them in there for St Nick to take back to the North Pole. Calvin actually wrote his letter entirely himself this year! Along with some very creative spelling! I was smart enough to scan the letters before they got taken to the North Pole. If you click on the pic you will get to see them!

The kids were very excited this morning to find that St Nick had left them some goodies in their stockings. They both got some new Christmas jammies and a new holiday movie. Calvin got a little talking Yoda and Alayna got a Color Wonder coloring book. We had a fun family morning with pancakes for breakfast and all.

School Holiday Parties

Christmas parties

This week both kids had their school holiday parties. The muslim holiday of Eid starts on Monday the 8th and Christmas of course is fast approaching. The kids last day of school was on the 4th and they don't go back till the 4th of January!

Calvin's party was on Wednesday and they played some fun games including this dancing one that you see here. Then they sat down to some special treats. Alayna loves Calvin's school and a few of the little arab girls in his class love Alayna and her blond hair! So you will see her partying right along with the rest of the class. You also will see pics of me with a couple Mom's Caroline is from Jerusalem and Nena is from Nigeria.

Then on Thursday Alayna had her party at school. They also played some games and got to eat some good food. Her class had made reindeer hats so they also all got red paint on their noses to be little Rudolphs! Very cute! There is a pic of a little girl with a pacifier sitting on a teachers lap, that is Alayna's friend Chloe. She actually lives right in our neighboorhood and we have met them outside of school a couple times as well. (don't forget to click the pic to see lots more)

Now we just have to enjoy/survive a month off of school!!

For the LOVE of HONDA

WOOO HOOO!!! I got my car today! Finally, and not a moment too soon either. The Muslim holiday of Eid is approaching and all the locals will be off of work from Friday the 5th till Sunday the 14th, so if we didn't get it now we wouldn't have until the earliest of the 15th. We shipped it from IL on September 8th and it arrived in Kuwait on November 2nd. We didn't get it till today a full month later! That is middle east bureaucracy for you. She looks good and is running great. I am so happy to have my van back, and so are the kids. They can't wait to watch a movie in there!

Winter Wonderland Bazaar

winter wonderland bazaar

Today was the Winter Wonderland Bazaar at Calvin's school. The kids had a blast and I got some Christmas shopping done. It was a very good time. Calvin loved the big slide as you can see, that is him in the green shirt. He would jump and literally fly about half way down before his little butt would even hit the slide! And Alayna got to have her face painted with a pink butterfly. She sat really good and looked so cute! Oh, how different boys and girls are. She went down the slide once, but was much happier to get her face painted and Calvin had to be pulled of the slide when it was time to go home. Click to see more pics!