Sunday, June 30, 2019

June Fun

There was a lot going on in June - the month kicked off with the girls' superhero birthday party, and right after was an Eid holiday from school that we didn't travel for, but opted to have a staycation with friends. Then we had our first non-family visitor, Cindy, who also came to visit us in Norway and took a trip to Poland with me. All of that combined with end of year madness, Madi's actual birthday, and catching up with friends made the month fly by quite quickly!

Our Eid staycation was at the Ritz Carlton and was lovely! The pool was fantastic and the kids all get along so well. We were able to hang and visit after bedtime and enjoyed the mini vacay in Doha.



During Cindy's visit we got to do some hanging out and some touristy things. We visited a few museums, including the newly opened National Museum of Qatar, which the girls loved. They were still on school break most of her visit so there was some arts and crafts, playing, and pool along with it.



  1. Cheesecake and cake for breakfast. Sometimes you just have to say "yes". 
  2. Painting cupcakes they molded. 
  3. Enjoying the museum.
  4. Family pool time with the unicorn. 
  5. Dress up day at school for these three during the Fun Week before term ended.
  6. Practicing her Elsa moves.
  7. Taking Cindy out to enjoy the Doha sunset.
  8. We cleaned and sorted our massive shell collection to make these displays. 
  9. Delicious coffee with friends before departing for the summer. 



  1. Madi looking too grown up on her bicycle.
  2. Pajama dat at school with the matching animals.
  3. Name took the girls to Bounce for their birthday present and had a blast.
  4. Real life at 33 years old.
  5. Playdate fun with this crew.
  6. We enjoyed seeing Toy Story 4 after binge watching the first three, haha.
  7. Jason's been collecting money from each country we visited after seeing our friend Cindy's display and wanting to do something similar. We found this vintage coffee table made out of a door that's perfect!
  8. Last swim lesson for the summer!
  9. Delicious pork green chili because sometimes you just need a taste of America. 

We also celebrated Father's Day (a day early since Sunday is the start of the work week). Last month the school hosted a Father's Breakfast so most of these pics are from that, but we made Jason breakfast and the girls made cards for him.



  1. The girls parent watch gymnastics and certificates for the year.
  2. The gymnastics crew.
  3. The girls have conned us into doing evening walk/bike rides together. It's a sweaty mess since the temps have been in the 110's here lately, but we've obliged for now. 
  4. CeCe snuggles.
  5. Ms Attitude! She's got the best poses and is a natural. 
  6. Madi had a final playdate with this friend who is leaving Doha and will be greatly missed.
  7. I got not one, but two nights out this month - say what?! The first was checking out Nobu and catching a beautiful sunset.
  8. The second was hitting up Morimoto with these ladies.
  9. Who made us do shots. I do not like shots. 

The girls had their last day of school this month as well. I cannot believe how much they've grown in the past year!



It's been a busy, but fun June and we are excited to spend a couple more weeks in Doha before heading to America for a few weeks to catch up with more family and friends!

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Thursday, June 20, 2019

Happy 6th Birthday Madison!


A very happy birthday sweet girl! I can hardly believe you are already S I X years old. Looking back at pictures made me realize just how far you’ve come and what an amazing young lady you are becoming. 

God knew you’d need an ability to adapt and make friends easily with this expat lifestyle and you have embraced that. You love deep and easily to everyone and make friends immediately wherever you go. I pray you always love this way despite whatever the world throws your way.

You show amazing leadership and inclusion abilities and I pray you continue to use those to help people and guide them the way you do with your sisters.

Your joy and compassion are inspiring and I look forward to seeing how you grow in the Lord and share the gifts He’s given you. I love you so very much Madison Rose!


We celebrated your birthday at your restaurant of choice (Chili's - the one with the play area) and you loved having them sing to you and run around. 





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Friday, June 14, 2019

Al Nebras Montessori Notes and Pics from 2018-2019

One of the reasons I started blogging was to document our family traveling and growing and now living overseas. A few years ago I started printing the blog into a yearly book to document our adventures and since I'm still doing that and this is the best record I have, I want to capture the girls time spent at Al Nebras and the notes we got from their teachers for the 2018-2019 academic year.

Madison (Teacher: Ms J) - December 2018

  • No adjustment problems since starting
  • Happy and confident with good social skills
  • She calm and good at listening and participating; good leader (not pushy)





Evelyn (Teacher: Ms S) - December 2018
  • Very social and making friends easily
  • She's always working with someone and does not like to work alone
  • Needs to be reminded to work and not socialize
  • Starting to learn numbers







    Olivia (Teacher: Ms S) - December 2018
    • Like sensorial tasks and puzzles
    • She prefers to work independently rather than with groups
    • She's happy and independent
    • Starting to learn numbers







    Madison (Teacher: Ms J) - June 2019
    • Good at influencing others because she's confident and popular
    • It's good for her to be with older kids to temper her sometimes
    • She rules the class, but is not pushy - she's gentle and kind
    • She's starting to do better adjusting to not getting her way, but still has an attitude at times




    Evelyn (Teacher: Ms S) - June 2019
    • She's good with her letters and has learned them quickly
    • She's talkative and confident, easy going, and good with large groups
    • She's left-handed for the most part, but does some activities with her right








    Olivia (Teacher: Ms S) - June 2019
    • She knows some letters, but not as interested in them as numbers and puzzles
    • She want to be alone when she's working
    • She likes hands-on activities
    • Prefers to be with Evelyn or close friend and tends to be quieter and less social







    And here's the twins together. It will be a transition for them to be in separate classes next year when they all move to International School of London in the fall.  


    Here's their pictures from the first day to the last day. Wow, they've grown!







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    Wednesday, June 5, 2019

    Stingerie Superhero Birthday Party!


    We opted to do a joint birthday party again because that's the easiest for our family and we had to do it early because of summer holidays starting and people leaving already. The girls didn't mind of course. ;-)



    Chocolate Fish Parties had the exact same superheroes printed as decor and photo booth props which turned out to be a huge life-saver and my friend Marli arrived early and helped me set everything up in the clubhouse which was invaluable. Jason and I made the cookies and the cake and cupcakes (remind me next year that filling fondant is not actually as easy as it sounds-ha). I love how everything turned out and am thankful for everyone who came out to celebrate with our girls!







    The activities during the party were five different tasks the kids had to finish in their training to become a superhero. The stations were Strength (carrying a 2L bottle back and forth a line), Endurance (jumping in the bouncy castle for five minutes), Creativity (designing their own superhero logo and/or name), Intelligence (solving riddles), and Agility (running through a mini obstacle course). After they finished their reward was decorating cookies!



    Then we moved to singing happy birthday to these superheroes and eating all the sweets!





    We managed to sort of get a group photo with most of the attendees and the girls got the birthday present from us (bicycles).




    Happy birthday Stingerie superhero girls!!


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