Twinkle, Twinkle

This is Adam's favorite song to sing. I hope you enjoy it as much as we do!

Christmas morning

Adam came down the stairs on Christmas morning looking for what Santa had left him. He found the Thomas the Train pop-up tent with no trouble (ha!), but we had to show him the new train set since his table is not new.

He has been playing with this stuff non-stop, so I guess we did good. Merry Christmas!

Twas the night before Christmas...

Santa brought Adam a Thomas the Train pop-up tent and a new train set for his table. Since Santa doesn't actually deliver these things already assembled, it was up to us...

This is just not good...

This is one of the new stores that opened up in the Villagio mall. It just doesn't seem like they will be selling much perfume - at least not to English-speaking people!

Circus Land

Adam's favorite thing to do when we go to Landmark mall (where the grocery store is) is to ride the carousel and the airplanes in Circus Land. Daddy rode the carousel with him and I rode in the airplanes, while Matish, Papa and Joseph took pictures.

I have to go...

We went to City Center mall on the last day of Eid Al Ahda. There were these signs everywhere stating that it was family day. Is it just me or does the woman look like she needs a restroom?

Playing in the sand

I know I have posted about Adam's fear of sand and dirt. Well, I think he is finally over it! He played in the sand the entire time we were at the camp on the Inland Sea trip. He had a great time and got sand all over him and all in his clothes. That night when we bathed him, it took 3 rounds of shampooing to get all the sand out of his hair!

Strange things in the desert

On our way back from the Inland Sea, our driver saw a bunch of people and trucks in a big group. He got nosy and went over to see what was going on. There were 2 large SUVs that were wrecked, with one overturned. I don't think anyone was hurt, but it was scary to see anyway. How they wreck in a flat part of the desert is anyone's guess...mine is that they were being idiots and just ran into each other...

We also saw a dog running along behind this SUV when we were on our way back. First of all, this is weird because you NEVER see dogs running around out here. Cats, yes, but dogs, no. The other thing was - why was this dog out in the desert - many miles away from civilization? Again, it's anyone's guess.

Inland Sea

We took a day trip down to the Inland Sea, which is down by the Saudi Arabian border. It is an area of sand dunes that circle around an inland sea, which is formed when the tide comes in. It is absolutely breathtaking to look at, and any pictures we take out there do not do it justice. Once we reach the end of the road (about half-way to the inland sea), it is nothing but sand dunes ahead. We were in a Land Cruiser driven by a Palestinian guy that frankly didn't know what he was doing. We went last year and that guy was great. This guy bottomed out in his truck so many times that the front bumper nearly came off! It was great fun in spite of that, but it would have been better if the driver knew what he was doing. Adam had a great time, which I was glad since I didn't know how he was going to react. It is a bit like being on a roller coaster - except we weren't on a track! After we visited the Inland Sea and took some pictures, the driver took us to a camp where we had a traditional Arabian barbecue (lamb, beef and chicken kebabs) and could relax by the sea. I will post more pictures and maybe some videos after I go through them all...between us we had 3 cameras and a video camera!

Camel rides

We all went on an Inland Sea safari on Thursday. The first part of the trip is to stop and have a camel ride while the driver lets some air out of his tires. I guess he does that so we can bash the dunes better... Shane and Mike didn't want to ride, so they just took pictures and laughed at us! No surprise that Adam didn't even want to get near them, much less ride one!

I can do it myself!

Adam has been practicing riding his tricycle by himself. Normally when we walk around the neighborhood, I have to push him if we want to go anywhere. The other day when we went out, he said "NO I do it!". He made it pretty far without my help, but tired out before we got home. It's a start, I guess!

I love New Yourk

I was in the furniture and upholstery souqs on Sunday and saw this shop...I think they have been listening to too many Yanks tawk!

I gotta catch up...

I know I am behind on getting things posted on here...but I have a good reason (at least I think so). My Mom, Mike and Joseph arrived in Doha on Sunday and I haven't been able to get on here. I am so excited that they are here!! I miss them terribly, and it is good to see them in real life (I normally see them on the video cam).

Adam's artwork

Adam's school Christmas party was Thursday. He was sent home with all of the Christmas-related artwork that he did. I thought it was all pretty good. I am sure the kids have a bunch of help from the teachers, but I thought it was good anyway! I thought maybe some of you would like to see what he made at school, minus the frames, of course - Adam and Mommy did that this morning with some red wrapping paper.

Would you want one?

I saw these Christmas trees on sale in a furniture/decor shop at the mall. I kept looking at it, thinking "what kind of plant is that"? I finally realized it's an upside-down Christmas tree - not a regular tree that was turned upside down! I can't imagine that they would sell many of these. But you never know...

Where NOT to park in Doha

I went down to the fabric souqs today with a friend of mine, and the best place to park for those shops is the so-called "bird poop mosque". I am not kidding, people actually call it that! The reason is obvious if you have ever seen it. It is normally covered in birds and, of course, bird poop. Today when we went, the birds were all over the parking lot, and in some cases the cars that were unfortunately parked there. Needless to say, we chose to park somewhere else and walk the rest of the way.

Music class

Today was the last day of music class for this year. If we choose to keep Adam in nursery for only 3 days per week next term, we will continue to go since he loves it soooo much. The bubbles are his (and the other kid's) favorite part!

Emma Joanne Plunkett

My friend Samantha had her baby! Emma Joanne Plunkett was born December 6, at 3:15 am. She weighed in at 8 pounds, 8 ounces. She looks like a perfect little doll!

File under things you wouldn't see at home...

I was waiting at a traffic signal the other day and this truck came up next to me in the other lane. Before the light changed, I managed to get my camera out and get a shot of these poor sheep. They are probably on their way to be someone's dinner...

Wednesdays at the park

It seems that we always go to the park on Wednesday afternoon. Our maid comes on that day, so I guess we started doing it to get out of her hair. Anyway, now it is expected. Sam was there (pregnant as ever) with her Mother-in-law and two kids. We also saw some other kids from Adam's class at school. But Adam and Robert stuck together like always...

Adam in the Santa suit

It took a bit of convincing, but I finally got him in the Santa suit. I always take his picture in front of the tree for his "official" Christmas picture, but this year he gave me a bit of trouble about getting it done in time to order Christmas cards. Oh, well, at least I got it!

More pictures from St. Andrew's

These pictures were taken by one of the other couples at our table. I thought the one of Shane and I was pretty good. He also got a some good pictures of the band and Samantha and Rob (by the way, she still has not had the baby).

Who me, a Democrat?

I saw this on a friend's blog and thought I would check it out...

You Are 16% Republican

If you have anything in common with the Republican party, it's by sheer chance. You're a staunch liberal, and nothing is going to change that!

How Republican Are You?

You Are 40% Democrat

You're a bit Democrat, and probably more liberal than you realize. If you're still voting Republican, maybe it's time that you stop.

How Democrat Are You?

We made Elfs of ourselves!

Click here to see what I am talking about...

The tree is up!

We put the Christmas tree up yesterday, and also worked on getting the rest of the house decorated. Adam has his own little tree to decorate this year - he really liked hanging the ornaments. At first he had them all on one or two branches, but after we showed him he moved them around. Only 24 days to go!

Kid's Christmas Party

Today was the Exxonmobil Children's Christmas Party. Santa was there - on his camel, of course! They have various activities set up to keep the kids entertained. Adam tried the big slide, but after one turn, realized he didn't like it. He wouldn't get close to the camels without having someone (Daddy) hold him. He was the same with Santa. I helped him decorate a cookie, and he really like that. We also ran into Tory, his babysitter. I think he was a little upset with her since she didn't babysit when we went to the St. Andrew's ball, but he warmed up for a quick picture. We couldn't stay too long since he is still taking an afternoon nap, and by 3:00, he was getting pretty wild! To see all the pictures, click here.