NARRATING the CAMERA ROLL...

 ^^^  Last Friday we went to a birthday party on the opposite side of our building.  The family has an incredible view of the mosque across the street and we were lucky to witness the call to prayer from their windows.  After 8 years in the Middle East, I continue to be moved by its beauty.  

  ^^^  Left Side:  My new "Mom" tumbler and my first-time having "Jamberry Nails".  Not a huge fan of the nails but a REALLY BIG fan of my mug :)  Right Side:  McDonald's coffee is amazing.  I'm not even being sarcastic.  I actually LOVE IT. 

^^^  The good news is that Juliet doesn't eat the playdoh anymore.  The bad news is that she thinks it's for throwing all over the floor.  #progress

 ^^^  Left Side:  We found a really cheap "Gingerbread Village" set and decided to build it mid-week.  Nory was thrilled!  Right Side:  You have no idea how much glitter is scattered throughout our apartment.  You also have no idea how much I DON'T EVEN CARE :) 

^^^  Nory scored her first two baskets EVER this week!  Of course, the achievement happened the minute I stopped videoing it so I am determined to get her third basket on video this week!

 ^^^  In these pictures, Juliet is wearing a dress from the Easter Bunny under her Puma zip-up.  It's from Heidi Klum's clothing line which I happen to be obsessed with.  The clothes are so fun and bright! :)

^^^  Turns out there is a secret group of us at our building that love to do puzzles!  We've been meeting on Sunday nights and our very first group piece is COMPLETE!  Three cheers for the SUNDAY NIGHT PUZZLERS!!!! 

  ^^^  Thursday night, the START OF SPRING BREAK!  We ran around like fools in the courtyard right up until prime meltdown-time.  HOORAY FOR THE HOLIDAY!!!!

^^^  Sometimes we're driving along and it just hits us that, YEAHHHH, WE LIVE IN THE DESERT!!!  So we pull over and take a picture to remember the moment :)

^^^ "Okay, Mom.  Mom....are you ready, Mom?  Okay....ACTION!!!!!!!"

^^^  Spring Break with these two cuties! #priceless

Three Exciting Things:

1)  Our flights are booked and we will be home in Canada from June 10th to August 12th!  Although the time in between those dates is looking marvelous, the bookends have me tired already.  I'm counting on Starbucks, My Hero (as I do every flight with the girls).  

2)  June 11th is our town's Fairy Festival!!!  We missed the first annual by ONE DAY last year and so I'm over the moon about being in attendance this year.  The image of Grampy walking along with two little fairies is going to be SUPER!!! :) 

3)  Today is the last day of school before Spring Break and I am SO FREAKING EXCITED!!!!  I can't wait to spend quality time with these two darlings....

A celebratory high-five to all of my colleagues that made it to Spring Break and a "you got this!" high-five to all of my teacher friends who are tagging back in after the weekend!

Summer is almost here!!!

XOXO

FACT: Our "village" includes an animated character.....

Ever since Netflix came to Kuwait, we've been introduced to a new variety of children's shows.  Shows like Ben and Holly, Bo on the Go, Max and Ruby and Daniel Tiger have become BIG NAME ACTS in our television repertoire.  In fact, some of them (well, ONE OF THEM) is an honest-to-goodness item in our ever-growing "parenting toolbox." 

Not kidding, you guys.

Daniel Tiger is FOR REAL.

The thing is, Daniel Tiger is not just a show.  He's some sort of THREENAGER-WHISPERER that turns every single parenting dilemma that you could possibly think of into a song.  A song that your child loves.  AND believes in.  And I know it sounds freaky, but I PROMISE, PROMISE it's true.

Evidence #1:  Stopping play to go potty

It's every child's nightmare.  One minute you're happily playing toys, and the next your Mom or Dad is dragging you to the potty because you're doing the pee-pee dance.  There's kicking and screaming and it's a big, painful ordeal that leaves everyone annoyed and stressed out. 

Until you learn about Daniel Tiger.

Because there's a song about that:

When you have to go potty
Stop
And go right away
Flush and wash and be on your way

All we have to do is sing the song and Nory goes off to do "all the steps!"  It's . like . MAGIC.

Evidence #2:  Leaving the house without the kids

Kids love to make it seem like you're really, truly abandoning them, don't they?  At least ours do.  It breaks my heart and I always have to wait outside the door until I hear them stop whining and crying.  This allows me to move from HOME MODE to WHEREVER WE ARE GOING MODE, knowing the waterworks are over and everything will be fine. 

But then we learned about Daniel Tiger.  And there's a song for this scenario too.....

Grown-ups come back to you
Grown-ups come back they do
Grown-ups come back

So now, we sing the song and Nory stays calm and tells Juliet, "grown-ups come back, Jettie!"  Our departures have become much, much SMOOTHER.

Evidence #3:  When something goes wrong

There are times when the Nornado comes out and absolutely everything upsets her.  Her milk isn't in the right cup.  Her dress doesn't match her lips (don't ask).  The table has a speck of dirt on it.  It's one thing after another that makes our chance of survival seem rather bleak. 

But, being the threenager-whisperer that he is, Daniel Tiger made a song for this situation too!

When something seems bad
Turn it around
And find something good

Not only does it work with Nory, but she uses it AGAINST US whenever we're frustrated or grouchy.  It's hysterical. 

To summarize the evidence I've presented in this morning's post:

"Tell me everything, Daniel...."

So now you know that we don't just have a nanny.  We also have a big cat helping us to raise our children.  Haaaaaaaa.  It takes a village, you guys.  And we've now introduced an animated character into the line-up :)

WE LOVE YOU, DANIEL TIGER!!!!!!!!!!!!

A Year and a QUARTER (plus 13 days because......you know how it is.)

A few things about Juliet Tyko at this age:

*  She is a SERIOUS DADDY'S GIRL.  Like something you've never seen before.  I really only get my share of snuggles when Phil's out of the house.  (That should equate to lots of cuddles for me when Phil is busy at work next year!!!)

*  Words she says / words we can interpret (ha!):  pizza, more, kitty cat, Minnie Mouse, Barbie, puppy, taco, noodles, milk, ball, night-night......

*  She's water obsessed - a sure sign that she's her sister's SISTER :)  She also says "wawa" for water, just like Nory did!!!

*  She loves the Happy Monster Band on Disney Junior.  It's so cute to watch her dance when they start to perform :) 

*  If you say "outside", she walks straight for the door.  If you say "tubby", she bolts to the bathroom.  Those are two of her favourite activities :)

*  Jet drives her sister CRAZY because she always wants to be doing whatever Nory is doing.  The funny thing is, the situation often reverses itself when Nory wants to receive the same attention that Jettie is getting.  #sisters

*  She has an opinion about what she wants to be doing.  If you ask her a question - food or play related - she will give you a "yaaaa!" or "no!" in response.

*  "PIZZA" lover.  Ah-hem, lover of anything with sauce.  

*  Jet LOVES to FaceTime.  She will touch my laptop and say "buppy" (for Grampy) or "nana".  Then it's my cue to dial :)

*  She's cautious around new faces and often runs for Phil or I when she's unsure.  She buries her head into our shoulders and will stay that way until the coast is clear.  I tell you, we couldn't have two MORE OPPOSITE little people in our house. 

We love you, Juliet Tyko!!!  We can't wait to take you home to Canada this summer, where we'll make "NEW FACES" become OLD NEWS before we fly back to Kuwait in August! :)

XOXO

NARRATING the CAMERA ROLL....

 

^^^  Our obsession with the tiles continues!  Stage Left:  Barbie Palace.  Stage Right: Animal Farm!  Also....kids sit in the most uncomfortable ways.  For real.

 

^^^  The QUIET ONE (who we've been told to watch out for!). 

^^^  The "can you please be quieter?" one (who we ALWAYS watch out for).  Whenever Jettie naps on the weekends, we get out TWO piggy banks and move coins back and forth....as quietly as we can...

 ^^^  MOM!!!!  Look at my chocolate beard!!!!!!

^^^  Courtyard POLICE!  Guarding her friend's bike until he returns!  Haha.

 
^^^  He's the BEST DADDY.  The girls love him SO MUCH!!!!!!

^^^  Gem wanted to get a picture of the four of us for International Women's Day.  HAAAAAAAA.  Who run the world?!  GIRLS.

 ^^^  The girls love to play "Snapchat" with their Auntie Gem.  Nory think I should get it too (as do my students) but I remain anti-snapchat because a) I don't get it and b) who has time for that?!  (Apparently everyone else is better at time management than I am....)

^^^  Yesterday Phil and I ran a girls/boys basketball session at the middle school rec night.  We pretty much got CLOBBERED by teenagers, you guys.  They've got limitless energy, I tell ya and I'm using it against them in class next week ;) 

^^^  Wearing my favourite colour with my favourite people!!!  HAPPY St. Patrick's Day!!!  (Or go-to-bed-as-soon-as-the-kids-go-to-bed day.)

"TEACHER by day, BEAST MOM by night."

Kids REALLY do say the darnedest things and this has gotta be the best quote of the week.  The student who told me this clarified that "beast mom" means "really good at taking care of your daughters."  And so......if that's the case....I'm honoured to be a BEAST MOM.  But, mostly, I'm honored to ever be called anything with the word BEAST in it.

It's THURSDAY, EVERYBODY!!!!!! 

For us, this means that work is finished for the week.  Although, Phil's started up another sport (#obsessed) and so I'm sitting in the gym watching/blogging as he hosts the U14 badminton try-outs.  There are so many kids in attendance that I am reminded, once again, that he has the loudest, most projecting voice ever given to a human being.  For real.  Who needs a megaphone when your name is Phillip Parkinson? 

And now, for some THINGS THAT HAPPENED THIS WEEK:

1)  We started learning about the Skeletal System in class and the girls told me that we should watch Miley Cyrus sing The Bone Dance on Hannah Montana.  So we did.  And now we can give each other "metacarpal love" (ahem, HIGH FIVES) in the hallways!  

2)  Someone brought a CHICKEN to the Women Tell All episode of The Bachelor.  And Ben has told TWO WOMEN that he loves them.  I am #teamjojo and #teamlauren because BOTH options are ultimately about #teamlove.

3)  Em got a new painting that she is obsessed with.  It's Michael Jackson playing an oud, but Nory believes the man in the picture just might be Auntie's son. 

Do you see any resemblance?  Or do you think Nory believes that only a MOTHER would have such a large portrait on their walls?

4)  We reached the THREE MONTHS UNTIL WE ARE DONE SCHOOL point!!!!!  Our last day of school is June 8th and we are starting to work out our return home details.  Stay tuned!!!

5)  Nory was so cute when she brought people over to our apartment last night.  When she walked out of the elevator and into the lobby, she proudly remarked, "THIS IS MY HOUSE!  See, it's the one with all the decorations!!!!"  And then she pointed to the heart garland and princess crown on our door.

6)  There's been PERFECT WEATHER ALL WEEK LONG.  The girls love playing in the courtyard and Jettie actually screams when we have to go upstairs.  It's a phase we remember very well with Nory...

7)  Jettie loves "PIZZA" this week.  To her, this is anything that comes with sauce.  Actual pizza, noodles, chicken, etc......PIZZA is her FAVE :)

Soon enough, everyone will be on the weekend with us.  Wishing you a good wrap-up to your work week and sending lots of love your way!

Sincerely,
BEAST MOM
xo

NARRATING THE CAMERA ROLL...

^^^  "Let's be angry and take selfies, Mommy."  So the two Belles and I showed off our finger-shaking ANGER ;)

^^^  Jettie, chilling.  Nory, heading to "work".  Their differences KILL ME!!!! 

^^^  Our cats win a gold star every day.  For putting up with the uncomfortable, over-the-top, and excessive number of cuddles that we, as parents, only DREAM of receiving from our daughters.

^^^  Obviously, this is an activity Nory can only enjoy when Juliet is on a walk with Daddy.  She was so proud of her massive bridge that held all of her little figures.   

^^^  Juliet smiles and we feel it is so genuine and sweet.  Nory smiles and she has this look that makes you wonder what she's already done OR what she is going to do next.  

 ^^^  I'm OBSESSED with MagnaTiles.  OBSESSED.  I should start documenting all of the "palaces" that we've built together as a family.  Every one turns out beautifully different :)  I think we're going to need to buy a second set for Canada....

^^^  How much chalk did she eat this day, you ask?  (Lots.)

^^^  Don't worry, I spend a ba-zillion hours trying to get them off my phone and onto my computer last week.  Yes, I know I have a problem.

^^^  WOW cups are the best invention ever.  I owe their discovery to Erin Marsh (shout-out to you, Mama!!!).

^^^  Hop-scotchin' in the courtyard!!!

^^^  Two little sweeties, playing hide and seek :)