The New Year has come and gone. As well as another quiet Christmas here in the Middle East. Each year we whine that we didn't go anywhere. And each year, upon the return of all of our friends, we're always glad we stayed.
These three weeks are my time each year to try and help my children grow in areas outside of school. This year the three oldest learned how to cross stitch, and Solomon made a hat on a knitting loom. I hadn't intended for Sam and Si to cross stitch, mainly because I didn't think they would be interested. But they insisted I teach them. Sam made a dog paw print, Simon a seahorse (with his initials and some crossed swords, and some Egyptian things. Leave it to him to take the concept and run), and Roo made some flowers she has made into a bookmark for her BFF, Lilly. They did it for hours and hours for a few days running. I told them that this is what children did before video games. They were pretty impressed with that and told all their friends what they were up to. I'm not sure, in the end, what learning to cross stitch will do for them. If nothing else, they learned a little something new, something that most kids aren't learning any more.
We also made pillow cases. I figure if we don't have home-ec. anymore, I'll have to teach them what I can. Last year was a lot of cooking, this year was sewing. I love to see my kids create.
We practiced Sam and Si's dance moves for their parts in the middle school play - High School Musical.
Peter took a few days off this year, something he hasn't done during the break before. It was really nice. We spent a lot of down time as a family. We also took some fun day trips to Bahrain. We saw movies, did some shopping and went to "The Tree of Life." A tree that has been alive and growing for hundreds of years, with no visible source of water. We ate at PF Changs a few times, lettuce wraps, mmmmm...My favorite.
As you know, I love the quiet peace of Christmas in the Middle East. It's kind of ironic I had to move to a place where this holiday is illegal, before the true meaning was really able to shine through. Some things are better left alone. Christmas is better without the modernized media telling me how to celebrate.
These three weeks are my time each year to try and help my children grow in areas outside of school. This year the three oldest learned how to cross stitch, and Solomon made a hat on a knitting loom. I hadn't intended for Sam and Si to cross stitch, mainly because I didn't think they would be interested. But they insisted I teach them. Sam made a dog paw print, Simon a seahorse (with his initials and some crossed swords, and some Egyptian things. Leave it to him to take the concept and run), and Roo made some flowers she has made into a bookmark for her BFF, Lilly. They did it for hours and hours for a few days running. I told them that this is what children did before video games. They were pretty impressed with that and told all their friends what they were up to. I'm not sure, in the end, what learning to cross stitch will do for them. If nothing else, they learned a little something new, something that most kids aren't learning any more.
We also made pillow cases. I figure if we don't have home-ec. anymore, I'll have to teach them what I can. Last year was a lot of cooking, this year was sewing. I love to see my kids create.
We practiced Sam and Si's dance moves for their parts in the middle school play - High School Musical.
Peter took a few days off this year, something he hasn't done during the break before. It was really nice. We spent a lot of down time as a family. We also took some fun day trips to Bahrain. We saw movies, did some shopping and went to "The Tree of Life." A tree that has been alive and growing for hundreds of years, with no visible source of water. We ate at PF Changs a few times, lettuce wraps, mmmmm...My favorite.
As you know, I love the quiet peace of Christmas in the Middle East. It's kind of ironic I had to move to a place where this holiday is illegal, before the true meaning was really able to shine through. Some things are better left alone. Christmas is better without the modernized media telling me how to celebrate.
No comments:
Post a Comment