The Countdown is On......

Here, as well as back in the states, everyone is starting to think about school!  The countdown has begun.... We only have 4 weeks till school begins...EEKKK!!  This will be the first time in my adult life that I will not be going to school too!   I have been going to school in some form ever since my first day of Kindergarten!!  I mean, I went through elementary, middle and high school years, then on to college immediately after that, AND then straight to teaching before I even finished college.  This is going to be a weird experience for me.....  I don't know if I will know what to do with myself after I drop the boys off at school... LOL!  

The boys and I will all be starting something new... new school, classmates, teachers, and rules for them AND new schedule and way of life for me!  Clay will start his first year of high school, Joshua will begin 6th grade, and Denver will begin 4th grade!  WOW time is flying!  

I am going to feel really out of sorts for a while I am sure....  At the same time, I am hoping that I can embrace this new role of just MOM, and actually participate in the things that the boys do at school....maybe even be a home room mom!  Every time the note was sent home in the past asking for volunteers to be the home room mother when my boys were younger, I would have to send it back with a note of my own saying that I would help in any way that I could but wouldn't be able to commit to helping other than sending items that were requested.  I always felt bad about this!  Of course, their teachers always understood because they knew I was a teacher, and they were also missing out on their own kids class activities.

We have a meeting in 2 weeks to discuss Clay's high school pathway with the high school counselor here.  It is kind of bittersweet... he is going to be missing out on so many things that we, as Americans/Texans, had visualized him doing, like Friday night football with his friends back home and having the sense of comraderie with the same group from K-12(bitter) BUT he is going to meet so many new people from around the world and learn so many new things that most kids his age won't have the chance to experience (sweet).

The other two of our boys, are also missing out on their friends and making those memories back home with them, but they too are meeting new friends that from all over the world and learning great things about so many different cultures.  New sports will be played as well as some familier ones....Rugby and soccer will be new but we will be playing baseball!!  We love baseball!

One thing that I am going to try since I won't be teaching at a school, is to teach small cake decorating classes in my home!  I think that this may be a fun way to continue teaching!

Well....onward to school!

Just another day...

I think that things are settling into a routine of sorts... But soon the summer schedule will be disrupted by the introduction of school!  I am glad that so far all three of our boys have my ability to make friends fast...  We have met several great families and kiddos in our community but shortly after meeting and getting to know them, then they would leave for their trips back to their home countries to see their families and friends.  Each time we meet someone new the boys are non-stop playing, but then as soon as they leave for their vacations my boys are down in the dumps and moaning.."There is nothing to do..."  Oh poor things!  LOL... well we have just 5 weeks till school begins here, so I know that very soon a lot of the families that are gone on vacation right now will be returning.  I have been told by my hubby and the other families that we have met that our little community here, Mangrove Village, is overflowing with kiddos!  The streets will be filled with playing children each evening!  That will be an experience that our boys have not really ever had.  Granted we miss our country home and way of life...BIG TIME, but being able to live in a community that is very family oriented with so many kids is the best thing for our boys during this time away from our home and our friends and family!  This will keep them occupied and engaged, so there will be less time for extreme homesickness to sink in! 

As soon as school gets going, we will be just as busy as when we were back in our little hometown of Alto, TX!!  Those of you who know us, know that the Anderson's are not the type to not be involved in something...everything!  HAHAHA!!  We have school work to do, sports to play, hobbies to learn, relationships to build, cakes to bake.... etc!!!  I will keep you posted friends!!

From the Anderson's to all of you...We love you and we miss you!!!

How do you BEAT THE HEAT?

It has been said that most folks that move over here to the Land of Sand from places like Texas, seem to fair better than those who come from other places that do not have the same hot and humid weather.  Sooo yes it is hot folks, but we are managing!  Today we topped out at 111 !!  We live "in town" and not out in the actual desert, so unbelievably it is hotter out there than where we actually live.  Clint goes out to check on the rigs at least once a week and he said that it has been around 135 on more than one ocassion!!!  My mercy!!  Add on top of the actual temperature a wind effect equivalent to standing in front of an intense hair dryer on the high setting!  Uh...no thank you!  I will stay in the A/C!   

OR......

You pack up your gear, grab a towel and the all important sunscreen (yes, this easily tanned girl and her children, no matter that we do not usually burn, are going to be covered in sunscreen), and you head to the WATERPARK!!!

About 20 minutes from our villa/community you will find on Yas Island the new Yas Waterworld! They just finished the park and all its fun attractions this past spring!  It is out in the open, but yet amazingly the water is quite COOL!  You actually step in and suck in a breath of shock from the temp! But oh so refreshing at the same time!!  We went for the first time yesterday evening for about 4 hours... we all had a great time!  We even bought annual passess....I mean heck why not!?...It rarely rains here and the temp for swimming is pretty good year round, so we should get our money's worth!!  

The park has 1 mildly thrilling roller coaster but what it lacks in thrills for those who love the rush, it makes up for with being family friendly and not one that you have to really check your health history for!  I am not an adrenaline junky, neither are my oldest and my youngest BUT my middle child and my husband....different story!  So three of us stuck to the mild and fun, while those two crazies searched for the scare your swim trunks off of you rides!!  LOL

There were 2 lazy rivers to choose from...one was definitely the "lazy" river with a slight current to move you soothingly along, the other was a fun faster paced river with waves!!  You could still float along the faster paced river but the added waves made it more fun for those who wanted just that little extra more!

The park is not huge but rather it is just right in size, and has plenty for everyone!  We plan to make as many trips as we can!  So two thumbs up for this way of beating the heat!

Dates...What do you do with them?

Ok, so let's clarify to begin with...dates, as in the fruit, not an outing with someone to see if you are compatible!  LOL  What do you do with dates?  We have our very own date palm tree in our tiny little back yard.  When we first got here about a month ago, they were NOT ripe!  Clay climbed up the tree and picked a few to try.  Well since none of us were familier with them, we weren't sure if they were ripe or not.  I really didn't think that they were but no one wanted to listen to mom!  Go figure!  Well Clay popped an unripened date into his mouth and commenced to gagging and coughing.... he spit it out and said I need something to drink!!  His mouth was sooooo dry, the unripened date had given him cottonmouth!  LOL  Well he couldn't be alone in that adventure so Joshua decided to see what the big deal was!  He too sputtered and coughed and needs something to drink... and a lot of it!!!

So now a month later, the dates are ripe!  It is the fruit of the area and used to end the day of fasting for the Muslims during Ramadan.  They pray, then break their fast by eating a date and drinking water!

I have already mentioned that during Ramadan, the restaurants are closed during the day but open each evening after about 7pm.  We went out to eat the other night and we were served dates as soon as we sat down.  Clay looked at the little dish of dates, and then looked at me....  He said, "They definitely don't look the same... I will give it a shot!"  So we all tried a date... They were actually pretty good!  Clay has decided that he loves them!  He is constantly wanting to buy them at the store or find them ripe on the trees.....  So my plan is this, to find a recipe that I can use these dates in!  Why not?  We have them, they are falling like pecans all over the ground... What do Texans do with pecans when they find them on the ground?  Why we pick 'em up and make a pie!!!  So we are going to gather some dates, take out the seeds, and find some way to prepare them!  If you haven't ever had a ripe date, they have a slightly yet not over powering sweet flavor and very smooth caramel like texture.

Stay tuned for the recipe that I choose!  I may even do more than one... watch out!!!  Living on the edge!!

Nope... Not Ready!

Getting there!

So here are some pictues of unripe to ripe!

READY!!

Almost ready!