Midweek Ramblings...

A pretty busy week here which is so nice because it helps the week fly by.....

• We booked our flights back to the States! I am flying back solo with the kids the beginning of November from Saudi to Amsterdam to Seattle. Then I am heading down to Texas for 10 days at the beginning of December and then John meets us in Seattle the middle of December and we all head back to Saudi together December 30. I am scared to death of flying with two kids by myself. I would have no problem with one or the other but not both. I am worried.
• We attended a weekly meeting last week. It made us miss CCCC but it can be a good thing here. It was really hard to attend with both of our kids so we are trying to look more into what is available for kids and also see if this is where we need to be involved and what our purpose looks like here. Please pray over us as we try to determine where we need to be pouring our time into. Is it the weekly meeting? Is it a smaller meeting to study in our home for people who are not comfortable with the other larger place? We came not knowing what our purpose was and knew that it would be revealed and right now we are trying to determine the needs of our community and where we need to be.
• I skyped into my good friend Diane's baby shower on Sunday. I loved that I could see her on her special day, wish her well and see the beautiful shower that was thrown for her. I never really thought about how I would handle it emotionally so it caught me by surprise when I got off skype and broke down crying...more like sobbing. I don't know why I didn't think it would make me upset. I wished I could have been there. It made me sad to miss friends, important memories and also just hit me again the roller coaster of emotions you experience here. Earlier that day I was thinking about how this is working, how we are happy, getting more settled and then BAM...I start crying. I know it is normal and I am so thankful I will be back to actual see her little boy!
• I hosted two seperate coffee mornings at our house this week. Although it would have been fun to have the kids play, I planned them in the mornings when Peyton and everyone else's kiddos are at preschool as I have found that it is really hard to spend time socializing when I am monitoring Peyton and wanted to focus on quality conversations. I am truly blessed with such a vast group of women in my life that come from all over the world. Lots of fun!
• Peyton is doing better with school. Her teacher sends us weekly pictures of what they did and it was nice to see her being happy and engaged in her class during the week. I am really pleased with her teacher and looking forward to her getting more and more settled in school.
• We went to a play date as well and I loved that out of the six women there....I was the only one from the States/North America.
• We visited a remodeled grocery store called Tamimi's. They have several but this one just opened and it was beautiful! I felt like I was shopping in an upscale Krogers. I was so overwhelmed by all of the choices, the cleanliness and really was overwhelmed. I am not sure how I am going to handle shopping in the States. I am not used to so many options, and seeing foods I haven't seen in 4 months. I even wanted to buy a bag of Funions because I have never seen them here. I have never had one in my life...let alone bought a bag but I saw them and felt like I should buy it. I didn't...but I did find the last bag of Reeses Pieces in the whole store which are delicious. I almost don't want to eat them. We did see Charmin for $37...didn't buy it....real trash bags, clorox everyday cleaning spray, Pepperidge Farm Texas Toast (we did buy that) and so much more. And yes that is me sporting my awesome abaya and being overwhelmed with choices in the cleaning aisle. Goodness...what has my life become...excited beyond belief over grocery stores!

• I am having issues with Titus stealing food from Peyton or off the counter and yesterday was the worst when he stole banana bread off the dining room table today while I was in the kitchen cleaning up from coffee this morning. I got mad. Peyton told me to "be nice to my doggy." Fun times.
• John had a three day weekend this past weekend. He hasn't worked a full work week in awhile due to training courses, holidays, being sick, our shipment etc. I am enjoying him being home more and being around to help with the kids
• Graham loves solids! I am not used to having a baby eat solids so well. I had to do another big batch of baby food this week to stock up. I made peaches, butternut squash, sweet potatoes, carrots, peas, apples, pears, pumpkin, mango, papaya, spaghetti squash. I love how easy it has gotten to make baby food and how much I can make in just a couple of hours.
• We are off to Doha, Qatar this afternoon to celebrate my birthday! I am excited about visiting their famous Souq Waqif, Mexican food, getting my hair cut, a massage and exploring another country around us!