Flat Stanley

 

 Flat Stanley came to visit us - for the 4th time since we've been overseas!  He visited us 2x's in Bangkok and 2x's now in Kuwait!  This time we took his picture in front of a Date Palm Tree, driving by the Kuwait Water Towers and in front of the Arabian (Persian) Gulf!  We had a great time with him and now he's back on his way home to Rochester, NY!  

Brunch made by the Girls

 For a year now, Megan and Ava have wanted to make some sort of meal for the parents.  They recently talked about doing brunch - and thankfully there was a weekend morning when both dad's would be in town!  Ava came over at 9:45am on a Saturday to make Brunch with Megan for both of their families!  They made blueberry muffins, Megan made German pancakes (she wanted to make Mom Mom's french toast, but I talked her out of it since it was too much to make enough for all 9 of us), they sliced up cantaloupe and peaches, toasted and buttered cinnamon toast and Ava made excellent scrambled eggs!  They offered a variety of beverages and made menus that their waiter and waitress used to take our orders (Jack and Kylie were the waiter and waitress).  It was a delicious brunch and I'm so thankful that we were able to do it!  AND, they did a great job of cleaning up in the kitchen, too!

 Cute girls

 German Pancakes

The spread of food with the Chefs!

German Pancake Recipe
Turn on oven to 400 degrees.  Cut up a 1/2 cube of butter into pieces and put it in a 9x13 casserole dish. Put butter in the oven to melt while the oven heats up and you mix the ingredients.  Be sure to check on it so it doesn’t burn.

In a bowl, beat six eggs.
Add 1 c. flour gradually and mix ‘til smooth.
Add 1 c. milk and beat together ‘til kind of frothy.
Add 1/2 tsp. salt.
Take out melted butter from oven and pour mixture into the butter. 
Return to oven quickly and set the timer for 20 minutes.
It will puff up like nobody’s business.
After twenty minutes, take it out and serve with syrup, powdered sugar, strawberries, sliced peaches or whatever. 

KLBS

 

 This is my friend Cheri.  She is an amazing woman who has currently lived in Kuwait for 34 years.  She is married to a Kuwaiti, has 4 children and is an amazing woman of God!  I am so very thankful that we are friends - she has been a huge encouragement these last years!  In the last couple of months, she has hosted us all out at her "Camp" for a traditional Mindy Roast of lamb and a time to spend in the desert.  She also hosted a fundraiser at her "Chalet" for Project Mali, a charity that she founded and organizes to raise money for schools, communities, an orphanage and micro loans to ladies in the country of Mali.  She is a great friend and I will miss her dearly when we move!  

I got to help Cheri organize items to purchase at the fundraiser at her chalet

 Ladies at the brunch getting ready to eat at the fundraiser

 The spread of food!

 Cute cute napkins

 Her beautiful pool at her chalet

 Me and Cheri :)

 Ladies eating poolside

 Traditionally "Chalets" are beach villas.  Hers is located right on the gulf - with this gorgeous view from the back doors.

And the back of her chalet from the water!

 The traditional pit in which they roast the lamb...right before they uncover it and bring it up to eat!

 And one of the tents at her camp with ladies getting ready to eat!

Kylie's Ballet Recital

 Kylie had her last ballet recital of the year the other week!  She was so excited for us to see it - they have been practicing all semester long!  They danced to "Can You Feel the Love Tonight" from The Lion King.  She did a great job and we were so excited to see her and all the other little friends!

 Beautiful Ballerina

Mommy and Kylie

 Faz, Dalal, Joury, Kylie and Judy

waiting for parents to arrive :)

 Beginning dancing

 The whole class with Miss Megan :)

 Kylie's teacher came to watch her, which was so nice of her!  She had to stay after school to come, so that was so nice of her!

 Two of her favorite teachers!!!

And with her big sister - who came to watch her!

Happy Mother's Day Tweeter!!!

 We got to start Mother's Day off right today with our kiddos getting to say good morning and Happy Mother's Day to Kristen before heading off to school. It was a great way to start the day!

The kids had also made some beautiful cards, the girls made flowers and Megan made the vase. You can see they clearly have some of their Mom's talent for art! Their words inside the card were priceless and were evidence of how much they love, appreciate and adore Kristen.

Happy Mother's Day Tweeter!!! Thank you for being such an amazing Mom to our kids and for loving and caring for them the way you do! We love you!!!!!

p.s. To Grammie and Mom Mom, Happy Mother's Day to you both as well. We are thinking of both you on this special day and love you much!

Kylie's Zoo Field Trip

 Kylie had a field trip last week to the Kuwait Zoo!  I got to go, too!  She came home the week before, got off the bus and said I had to email her teacher right away because the first 5 parents who emailed would be able to join them on the field trip!  I emailed her teacher immediately and got to go too on the field trip!  

It was a beautiful and not too hot day!  It was so fun because I had 3 other little girls in my group with Kylie - and I knew all 3 little girls from working in Kylie's classroom last year!  We were given free reign to go see whatever we wanted in the time allowed.  Each girl had to make observations and write a bit about 1 animal that they enjoyed seeing - so we had a great time!  

 These signs were posted all over the zoo.

Do not feed the animals.

Do not harass the animals. 

It's a MAJOR problem at this zoo.  There is trash everywhere, that kids feed to animals and many have died from it.  You'll see more pics in a bit.

The girlies eating their snacks while seeing the goats

Kylie in front of a cheetah - which is pretty close through this random chain-link fence

Me and Kylie

Kylie and Rajaa

Kylie and Amnah

Kylie and Faye

Trying to find the flamingos on the map...which we never found in real life!

Kylie's teacher helping them look at the map

Signs posted all over the zoo.  So so sad.

All of the animals that have died recently at the zoo because of choking on plastic bags that kids have given them, sling shots used to kill animals, etc.  So so sad.

In front of the Kuwait Flags

And her whole class

And the class with the teacher

Megan's 5th Grade Concert

Megan had her 5th Grade Concert last week!  It was during the school day - so I busted Jack and Kylie out of their classes to come to it.  I'm glad they came, even if they missed a bit of school for it!  Megan got to perform 3 songs with the band - on her cool looking J-Flute!  Then the band students joined the rest of the 5th Graders to sing a couple of songs they have been working on in Music!  Megan had a drum solo for one song and a singing solo for another song!  I think I take for granted that she is able to do these things, because of who she is - that she is willing to audition for these parts, but it is really a big honor to get to do the drum solo and also the singing solo - and she did a great job! 

Her cheering section!

Warming up on her J-Flute

Smiling at us

Getting ready to play the drums

The whole 5th grade

Megan in a row with 3 of her closest friends!

After singing her solo for Turn the World Around

And posing with Jack and Kylie at the end!