Long Weekend Short Work Week

This week we had a long weekend. This was due to the Saudi National Holiday that was on Monday. So that meant that Michael was off on Sunday and Monday. We spent two of the days going into Al Khobar on the shoppers’ bus. The first time we went we had a list of a few items and end up carrying a lot of stuff home! Guess that happens when you don’t have your stuff! Michael really was having a hard time not having “HIS” space to work at. We have one little desk and he said that every time he went to work I had stuff on it. Which is true. So we ended up purchasing a table that he could set up in the office room for him to escape to and do “work!” We also purchased a rug for the living room and some decals for the wall. Although when we got home the one rug we bought was way too small. So, on our second trip we bought two more rugs. Now I just need to buy some padding to go under it so it feels a bit softer when you sit on it. Here is our living room! It’s looking like a home now!

The design on the wall comes from Ikea and are stickers. The carpet is also from Ikea.

 

On Monday we met up with some friends at the golf shack to have dinner! We met another family that lived in Euless. Sarah, Miguel and their son Liam who is 3 years old. Caley and Liam hit off and seem to be the best of buds when they are around each other! When we left the golf shack the sprinklers were on and the kids just ran to it and had a blast running in the water! Here is a picture of them playing!

 

I’ve been cooking again this week. I made tortillas and pizza this week. We were able to purchase chips and hot sauce from Chillis. So, we had a Mexican food night which turned out pretty yummy. Although I need to adjust the amount of olive oil that is in the tortilla mix because I think it is just way to much! The pizzas turned out pretty good, too! The girls made their own pizza rolling out the dough and putting on their toppings. Which by the way I bought some pepperoni from the commissary that wasn’t half bad. Here are some pictures of this week’s cooking adventures!

 I was so happy to have my griddle!!! We use is a lot!

 

On Wednesday, Michael went back to Al Khobar, shopping for Halloween items, because he is in charge of the haunted house! Just right up his ally! There is a group on camp that is donating the money to help make the haunted house and basically they gave him a budget between three to four thousand dollars! November 1^st will be the big day! There will be a charge to go through the haunted house and the money raised will be used for the ninth grade prom! The ninth grades will also help run the haunted house!

So while Michael was gone, the girls and I decide to play outside in our back/front yard. We played with the water hose and had lots of fun. I wished that I could have taken them down to the beach but it was way too windy. I got the bright idea to just give them their bath while we were out there because the water is the same water used in the bathtub plus it comes out very warm! The girls had a blast here are some pictures!

 We tried to make crazy hair but it kept falling down!

 

On Thursday Caley and I went to check our mailbox and were very excited to see that we had a package! We a slip of paper in our box saying that we had a package and went around to the mail center to pick it up! It was our very first package from the states! And it was from Gammy. We waited till Daddy and Macey were home from school before opening it. The video will not load but Macey started jumping up and down screaming about the contents...candy... that was in the package! Thank you Gammy!

 

 

Here are some bonus videos from this week!! Enjoy

This is hoe Macey greets me everyday when I pick her up! Priceless!!!

 

We visited our friend Andres's classroom and did some dancing!

 

Here is a picture of Caley and Liam playing!

 

 

Until next time be blessed!

The Myers



Sand Angels and a Taste of Home

Our week started out slow but towards the end we were busy, busy! At the beginning of the week Michael had his back to school/meet the teacher night. He really enjoyed meeting the parents of his students. He made a comment say, “All my student’s parents showed up!” This is the first time in his ten years of teaching that this has ever happened! And while he was busy with work the girls and I decided to have dinner on the beach. We went to the Surf House picked up dinner and made our way to the beach. They loved it, just sitting out there watching the water. But they really loved playing in the sand. They made sand angels, dug in the sand and didn’t want to go home even though it was really dark outside. Here are some pictures of them playing and having a good time!

 

 

On Tuesday the girls and I had to go to the clinic for our blood check from the previous week. Which tuned out that we really didn’t need to go. But since we were there it showed that I wasn’t immune to hepatitis B and that if I wanted I could start the shots like Michael did. So, I decided that it wouldn’t hurt since we do plan to travel in the future. I have two more shots in the coming months to complete the series. Caley also need a hepatitis A shot. Macey kept saying she wanted a shot until she heard Caley hollered out “Ouch that HURTS, with a little crying!”

On Thursday I went to the Mom and Tots group to see what it was like. I met a few more Moms and enjoyed watching the girls play with other children one of which is in Macey’s classroom. They played for a while did a coloring activity, had a snack and then played some more. It was a bit unorganized and a bit chaotic. At least the teacher inside of me was thinking of other ways to handle the group. I only say that because they came up with the coloring activity on a fly and drew a snake on a piece of paper for the kids to color and then added wiggly eyes to them. So as I left I made a comment that I could open the house up since I am literally a block and half from where they meet. Another mom explained the process so the first week of October I’ll open the house and will be in charge of the snack and activity. I’m looking forward to this!

We also got our air shipment in. It was a little taste of home! We finally have a vacuum, microwave, my steam mop and many of useful items that we were missing. It’s funny because we packed three packs of pull-ups but hope that it will take forever to use them since we are trying to potty train Caley. She is getting there.

 The girls were so excited to see some of the toys we had packed!

 

Caley's Potty Chart for this week

I’ve learned something new! Well not really… I put in a load of laundry before going to bed the other night and when I woke up in the morning the washer was still running!!! YIKES! Well I was able to rinse and spin the cloths. I put them in the dryer, they did their thing in there and then when I took them out there was something very wrong with the cloths! Here are a couple pictures of what happened. So lesson learned not to put a load of laundry on before going to bed…

 This shirt actually looks pretty cool but I guess there is too much chlorine in the water.

 

We have a long weekend this weekend and will get to enjoy our time together. We can’t go to Bahrain yet since we don’t have our multi entry/exit visas. But hope to go there on our October break!

Gammy this one is for you!

 

Here is a bonus video. Caley learned to snort. I missed the snort but love her expression and oh so cute little face! She thought it was pretty funny!

 

Some people have asked about our contact info so here you go:

Address:
Our Name

Saudi Aramco P.O. Box 1173

Ras Tanura , Saudi Arabia 31311

Our Vonage number is 817-230-4699

Until next time be blessed!

The Myers

4 Weeks in the Book

So it’s been a couple of weeks since I last wrote, sorry just been a little busy around here! First, I tell you that Michael is in love with his job. He gets nearly all his work grading papers and lesson planning done at work! I love this too because the girls really love when their Daddy comes home and can focus and literally play around with them! He also has the added bonus of coming home for lunch for an HOUR! The girls just cherish all this time they get with him! Macey always tells her Daddy, “I love you Daddy, have fun at work!” when he leaves to go back to work! His class sizes are small and he is enjoying meeting and getting to know his team!

Macey is now finished with the soft start of school and is now attend school from 12:50 to 3:45. She just loves going to school and cherishes her teacher and her friends that she has made. She has about 9 kids in her class and they all seem to get along. She is a leader showing her classmates how to do things. Every day they read stories do art activities, role play, have centers and have a snack. We were a little shock when Michael received a payroll deduction for Macey to go to school. No one or no paperwork that we filled out informed us that there was a charge. If we had known this we may not have sent her since I’m not working but we couldn’t take it away from after she started. It also gives her a break from her sister and me and allow her to be independent which is her middle name!

Every weekend so far we have taken the shoppers bus in Al Kohbar. It’s a way for us to explore and simple get out of camp. We learn something new each time we go. I have learned the right bathrooms to go to during our outing although it came to bite me in the butt when I hit my head on a sink! We’ve also learned that if we get into a restaurant before prayer we can get our food and enjoy the time while all the shops are closed. Although we have learned that some shops just don’t open back up after prayer. I guess the person(s) running the store take a lunch break which by the way has no rhyme or reason. So, you just don’t know when they will open back up.

One of our biggest journeys so far was the trip we took to Farm, a local grocery store. I made a Facebook post about this but here is the logistics. We bought groceries, the cashier keyed in the WRONG amount into the credit card machine because everything is manually keyed in (computer isn’t connected to credit machine like we see in the states). It was just a little wrong but an $18,909 charge was made to our credit card. We immediately talked with the manager who said, “You come tomorrow and I’ll give you cash or a check.” I guess they can’t just credit back or cancel the transaction. So here we sit disputing this amount with the credit card company. Michael has the cell number to the assistant CEO with this company so we are hoping that this will be resolved soon. Just a little crazy that this charge even went through. We have now set up parameters so that nothing like this will happen again.

As for me, I am doing pretty well. I’ve been meeting other stay at home Mom’s and am planning on going to the Mom and Tots group tomorrow. Michael and I sat down Friday and listen to the sermon from our church about the Monsters in our Midst. Ironically it was about loneliness. I’m going through some changes with this move figuring out what my role is, what I’m supposed to do. This has been difficult at times because I’ve always been on the go. But, life in Ras Tanura is different. It’s a slower pace, it takes four minutes to get across camp by car, it’s just different. I’m glad that I can listen to these sermons and still have God speaking to me even though I’m not physically in church. I’m learning me again. Getting up to exercise and take in God’s presence. I know that it won’t always be easy and when our stuff gets here it will really feel like our home and not a vacation rental!  

Caley is doing well. We have Mommy school in the morning time and she has already learned how to spell her name! She doesn’t get it right all the time but usually figures it out. Macey is learning to write her name and is doing very well. I’ve loved just sitting back and watching them play. They can be pretty funny at time having their pretend Mommy and Grandpa! Not sure why they say these two name more often but it is still funny. Caley loves being able to go outside and pick up leaves or shells. She just loves to collect them! Our little nature girl but she still will scream when she sees a bug! LOL!!!

Our quick ship is suppose to be in this week which will be help since we packed our microwave! You just don’t realize how much you use something until you don’t have it! I’m so ready for my vacuum and steam mop. Crazy, I know what hey I’m a stay at home Mom I feel the need to clean!!! LOL!!!

I’ll leave you with some pictures that we have taken (sorry not much but a few) and a video of Caley singing her name!

 

 Here is some pictures of what our sunrise looks like! By the way the birds start chirping around 5!

 

 

 First Day of School

 

 Michael rides his bike back and forth since his school is maybe a minute and a half ride!

 

 Most of the time our waves are small but on windy days they can get pretty big!

 

 Caley singing her name!

Until next time be blessed!

The Myers