A Box of Treasures...

Yesterday Fayth woke up from her afternoon nap to a "box of treasures" from Gammy.

The box was actually for Jon with his birthday gifts; however, we all received fun new items. Fayth's being the most important...an adorable sock "doggie doggie", a cutie Halloween outfit, (she will wear it even though they don't celebrate Halloween here...stay tuned for pictures coming soon), and most importantly...big girl underwear or "undies" as we call them!!

She has been doing a great job of using the "princess potty" and of course she needed her first undies!! They are Tinkerbell and adorable!! Thanks Gammy!! Hope my "galpal" will wear them proud real soon!!

A Little R & R

It's Thursday night, like your Friday, and Jon is out with a couple of "guys" from work. They hit the local pub at the Al Manzil Souk. Fayth is fast asleep and mama had a little R & R. I took a bath in my new L-O-N-G bathtub...it was just wonderful!!!! I love baths and this new tub is going to be just perfect. It doesn't have "kids toys, bubbles, squirt guns, and all the SH#@" I had at home. Fayth is lucky enough to have her own bathroom in her bedroom. Which means...mama is lucky enough to soak peacefully in her OWN tub!! YIIPPPEEEE!!!!!

Pool Anyone??

This is my Cutie Pie...saying "pool, pool, mama!"

We headed to the pool for an afternoon swim.

You can't tell from the photo...but she got a haircut yesterday at a men's salon. Daddy needed a haircut and the "guys" at the salon ate her up with a spoon. One offered to give her a trim. Oh, my god is it cute. She has a little bob and the back is stacked and texturized...no joke!! It only cost 40 dirham which is 14.00 US...and I thought he was going to do it for FREE...silly me!!!

A Few More Birthday Photos...

Happy Birthday Jon, DaDa, and Pookie

A BIG Happy Birthday goes out to who you all know as JON!!! Fayth and I started our day today baking DaDa a cake. Oh, did we have fun! This is what being a "stay at home mom" is all about. We made Dada a big painted banner, a card, and a yummy chocolate cake. It was a great day and our celebration tonight was "small" but nice. Let's just say, we have a TON O' CAKE left over and no one to share it with...and Mama's thighs don't need it...

Man's Best Friend????

Well I know how the saying goes, "Man's best friend" however; Fayth takes this slogan to a new meaning. As you all know, she LOVES dogs and thanks to Gammy & Papa Evenson she constantly says, "doggie, doggie!" She gets so excited when she sees a dog anywhere. Even on the television. It is completely adorable!!

As a surprise airplane gift from Gramie Lynn, she got her NEW best friend Coconut the dog.

Today, I caught Fayth playing make believe with her new furry friend. I just stood back and listened to her playful talk. It was a bittersweet moment for me...my "baby" is growing up!!

After listening for a bit, I ran to get the camera...You know me!!

Here's my "baby" with her new best friend!

Various Views from our Balcony

Pictures are worth 1,000 words...Here are various views from our balcony and what is happening in Dubai around us.

As you will be able to see from the photos there are a lot of cranes, buses dropping off and picking up the millions of workers, and hazy skies. There is so much dirt and dust due to the thousands of buildings, malls, residences, etc. being built.

The first photo is facing Sheik Zayed Road...the main highway in Dubai. You can see what is called "Old Town" and the Burj Dubai Tower that Jon is working on. Downtown Burj Dubai is going to be a unique mix of residential, distinctive retail and iconic, record-breaking attractions. It is said that Downtown Burj Dubai has been designed to become the heart & soul of the Dubai. We will be here to watch the growth and progress of the entire area.

The two photos below are behind us and they are a newer part of Dubai called The Business Bay. This area is totally under construction with a ton of cranes. Fayth and I look at them everyday when we are at the pool. I have taught her how to say crane. It's a hard word...but we're working on it!!

"Mums & Tots"

Yesterday Fayth and I headed to Festival City Mall for a play group for expact women named "Mums & Tots!" It was wonderful. It was a huge, very safe and secure play area (like a Gymboree and McDonald's playland all in one), with moms from all over the world. Most of the moms I talked to were from the UK. Most places I remember off had included London, Ireland, South Africa, and one girl from Canada. There had to be over 25 moms there and then at least one child per mom. I must add, there were nannies everywhere as well. A lot of the moms in Dubai have live in nannies. One lady asked me, "Do you mam, have help?" I said no, you're lookin at her...I cook, I clean, I sing, and even teach the ABC's...she laughed and so did I. I thought she was a mom of a child...she was the nanny. We both chuckled for awhile and then she offered me the nanny number. Then, we met up with our newest friends, Dana and Max. Dana, her husband Alan, and Max (7 month old) moved here from NYC. They have lived here for three months. We got hooked up by Kristen Aslanian's (now Geida I think) sister Denise. At Kristen's bachlorette party, Denise said to me, "Our dear friends Dana, Alan and Max just recently moved to Dubai." Well, the rest is history. Let's just say, THANK GOD, we have them. Dana and I have had some fun conversations on the phone, done some shopping and have gotten together a few times this past week. She and her husband are great and we look forward to many good times with them! Lastly, a funny story about yesterday. As Dana and I looked at our watches it was 3:00 p.m. and we hadn't eaten. Now, for those of you who do not know, it is Ramadan here and adults may not eat or drink, in public, from sun-up to sun-down. This is for the holy month of September. Well, we found a Burger King open in the mall for carry-out ONLY and Dana said, "Let's just take turns watching the kids and just take your burger into the bathroom and eat." So, there I sat, on a stall, chowing down on a chicken sandwich so nobody could see me. Yes, it's what you do when you are embracing another culture in another country!! All I know, it's the fastest damn chicken sandwich I've ever eaten and tasted so GOOD! Chow from Dubai!!

Just Chillin'

We now have family room furniture, a dinner table and have begun to enjoy it. Fayth and I had a lazy day today! It is very hot and humid today so we've stayed inside to keep cool. She was kicking back and enjoying some cartoons this morning.

I promise we will begin to venture out and leave this apartment soon. We are just trying to get set up first and it's almost finished. The next photo is our main room the family room. This will be our "gathering room" and is where we will be spending 90% of our time when we are home!

The final picture is Fayth's bedroom. I tried to make it as much like "home" as possible. Thanks to my friend, and former students' art teacher, Ms. Lund, she has beautiful hand-painted letters for above her bed. Every time I look at them I smile!! Thanks, Chris!! I sure miss Briargate and all the sounds in the hallways and classrooms!

That's all folks...chat with ya soon!!

12 of our 16 Boxes Have Arrived

Jon was able to pick up 12 of our 16 boxes from the UAE Post Office yesterday. It was a wonderful day in the eyes of Fayth. All of her favorite books & toys were with her again. It was like Christmas unpacking all the boxes and seeing the "things" again. We are anxiously awaiting our final few! Today is a low key day. Fayth and I have done some laundry and sat on the balcony and played with some of her favorite things. She likes to watch all the trucks go by and see the thousands of workers. She says, "Men." It's cute. As you can see in this next picture, you normally dry your laundry outside on the drying rack. I, however; don't want our clothes to get bleached by the sun so I dry them in our family room. Hope this finds everyone doing well. Just so you know, some have asked, you can email me from this site and it goes straight into my email account. It is a personal email rather than an open comment if you do it this way. Otherwise, just jot a comment or not!! Have a good day! Hugs all the way from Dubai...