I know, I know! Still no pictures. It's just that 1, we still don't have wifi here in our villa as we are still waiting for residents permits that allow us to be real people here in Qatar and I refuse to follow the 54 million steps to upload pics without wifi and 2, we live on the outskirts of town meaning a giant sandy, dusty oasis, or as Bailey likes to call it- "beach without water" (aka desert, but whatever Bailey) and up until 2 days ago I was carless so I only went where I absolutely needed to since the taxi/whole family combo was not so fun. The point of that enormously huge run on sentence is that other than some great poolside pictures of the kids, we really haven't done anything that has merited a snapshot. I mean, yesterday on mine and Jack's venture down to City Center we passed the Corniche and Gulf (or whatever that body of water is there) however I dare say we both would have died terrible, awful deaths had I tried to both drive amongst the locals and snap a quick picture and noon in August in a dessert is not as pleasant as one might imagine so I felt no desire to pull over for some sight seeing.
So what have we been up to minus pictures...
As well noted, I now drive! Driving tests are an interesting process culminating in having your name announced followed by "pass" or "fail" as you walk through a crowded room to collect your papers. It is no small blessing that I passed both parts of the thing on the first try. So far I have not been bumped, crushed, or trampled which is super exciting considering the number of roundabouts I go through each day. They're fine until you glance through one of your mirrors and then you realize you've entered the vehicular Hunger Games. We need Robert to, uh, pass his test this time since he'll have is RP before me and then we can purchase a car or two. I'm in the market for at tank.
School orientation/meet the teacher was Sunday (Friday here is the Sabbath). Because of the grades, we arrived (by taxi) at 8:00am and were there until 4pm. Despite the tremendously long day it went well and prepared the twits well for Monday. Trey and Bailey are in classes close to each other. They both chose to study Arabic. I opposed the idea until a friend of ours said that on their family's trip to Jordan their 3rd grader read all of the signs for them. Fine, Trey and Bailey. But I'm expecting some Arabic usefulness in our future travels! Next week they start the swimming unit in PE. Good timing as they are going through withdrawls after this summer's swim team experience. They have a bunch of elementary intramurals they're hoping to play.
Tyler really didn't want to like the school. He really wanted to be miserable. He instead really enjoys it. Middle Schoolers are divided into 5 houses (not chosen by a sorting hat. Lame.) Already he's got some house pride and has made some friends. He'll be issued his personal laptop today. He also is doing a PE swimming unit and has found that he is really a great swimmer.
Jack will hopefully be attending pre-k at ASD sometime soon. We just turned in an application for him last week. Poor foresight on my part. We should have done it when we did the other kids earlier this summer. Until school starts for him he'll hang out with me and we'll do some Mommy School. He has yet to sleep in his own bed (usually ends up with Bailey), has overcome his intense fear of swimming, has finally made it through primary without falling asleep, and has learned to tolerate strangers touching his little round blonde head. He's an awesome kid.
We have gotten our air shipment. Packed primarily with toys chosen by the kids, I was really happy to see them quickly empty the boxes...to play with the boxes. I would have shipped way more kitchen stuff had I foreseen that! Twits. We did, however, get lots of storage boxes, some linens, and the contents of Peyton's trunk (the actual trunk comes sea). We don't have a lot of things still, but we've got a 4 foot manatee!
Just yesterday Jack and I bought a kitchen table so we can stop using the giant table in our dining room. Today I sharpied up a big dry erase board to make a command central calendar. It's especially useful now since we can't all share calendar items (ugh, wifi). Slowly but surely things are coming together.
8.29.2013
8.08.2013
Lost in Translation
Late Tuesday night (the evening we arrived) I sent Tyler(12) to the clubhouse to find out times for the pool...
Mom: "Did you find someone to ask?"
Ty: "Yes. I politely said 'hi, do you know what time the pool is open?'"
Mom: "Oh good. And?"
Ty (with the slanty eyes I do when I am less than amused): "He said 'Del'"
Mom: "Del?"
Ty: "Del."
We then spend a few seconds saying "del" to ourselves in varying dialects trying to decipher what the heck "del" could be.
Our best guess is 10.
We find out in the morning from a resident that the pool is 24 hours.
(Nearly)Everyone here speaks English. It's the dialects and accents that'll get ya!
Mom: "Did you find someone to ask?"
Ty: "Yes. I politely said 'hi, do you know what time the pool is open?'"
Mom: "Oh good. And?"
Ty (with the slanty eyes I do when I am less than amused): "He said 'Del'"
Mom: "Del?"
Ty: "Del."
We then spend a few seconds saying "del" to ourselves in varying dialects trying to decipher what the heck "del" could be.
Our best guess is 10.
We find out in the morning from a resident that the pool is 24 hours.
(Nearly)Everyone here speaks English. It's the dialects and accents that'll get ya!
We're Here!
We are still working out network kinks, and won't be fully technologically competent until at least Robert has a resident's permit, but thanks to new friends, we have something workable in the villa and wifi, if needed, at the compound clubhouse.
So, a briefing...
We left Houston Monday night to fly 14.5 hours across the world (and over the Tigris River, you have NO idea how cool I thought that was!) to be picked up from the airport a full day later and dropped off at our villa. None of us had seen Qatar in person but after 2 years of research, the place looked remarkably familiar.
We arrived at our villa which is comfortably furnished and stocked with what in someone's mind are basic dietary needs. We went grocery shopping yesterday :)
The villa is a great space, the compound is quiet and safe for the kids to easily navigate on their own and the pool is ridiculous.
We attended our first Iftar, the meal when Muslims break their fast in the evening, on the last day of Ramadan. It was the first chance to meet work people and for the kids, the first chance to be fancy pants. My super taster was less then impressed, my "eat everything" enjoyed his first lamb chop, my "stick to the basics" is on a roll after his accidental order of crab on the plane and has become an overnight foodie, and the baby slept. We let him.
Today's to-do's:
Swim
Get dryer fixed...again
Swim
Go to ikea to get little step stools so teethbrushing for 3 of the littles can happen a bit tidier
GO OUT TO EAT! WooHoo end of RAMADAN!
Swim
Uh, hang out, maybe play the wii that I set up at 4am 'cause I'm still jetlagging a bit
Swim
Dinner (after playing supermarket sweep I'm pretty sure I accumulated the fixin's for taco salad)
Swim (did I mention it's 24 hours)
Being Taxi dependent (again, have to wait on an RP before our existence here is recognized) means we have a pretty laid back life right now. I'm enjoying it while it lasts. At some point (school starting) things will get crazy again and I'll be running like a mad woman. I hope my family is enjoying my sanity. I make no promises as to the duration of it :)
So, a briefing...
We left Houston Monday night to fly 14.5 hours across the world (and over the Tigris River, you have NO idea how cool I thought that was!) to be picked up from the airport a full day later and dropped off at our villa. None of us had seen Qatar in person but after 2 years of research, the place looked remarkably familiar.
We arrived at our villa which is comfortably furnished and stocked with what in someone's mind are basic dietary needs. We went grocery shopping yesterday :)
The villa is a great space, the compound is quiet and safe for the kids to easily navigate on their own and the pool is ridiculous.
We attended our first Iftar, the meal when Muslims break their fast in the evening, on the last day of Ramadan. It was the first chance to meet work people and for the kids, the first chance to be fancy pants. My super taster was less then impressed, my "eat everything" enjoyed his first lamb chop, my "stick to the basics" is on a roll after his accidental order of crab on the plane and has become an overnight foodie, and the baby slept. We let him.
Today's to-do's:
Swim
Get dryer fixed...again
Swim
Go to ikea to get little step stools so teethbrushing for 3 of the littles can happen a bit tidier
GO OUT TO EAT! WooHoo end of RAMADAN!
Swim
Uh, hang out, maybe play the wii that I set up at 4am 'cause I'm still jetlagging a bit
Swim
Dinner (after playing supermarket sweep I'm pretty sure I accumulated the fixin's for taco salad)
Swim (did I mention it's 24 hours)
Being Taxi dependent (again, have to wait on an RP before our existence here is recognized) means we have a pretty laid back life right now. I'm enjoying it while it lasts. At some point (school starting) things will get crazy again and I'll be running like a mad woman. I hope my family is enjoying my sanity. I make no promises as to the duration of it :)
7.16.2013
Hello?
Yes?
My kids would like to know if any future Qataris would like to come play.
You mean the former Frenchies would like to play with the future Qataris? Why they'd love to!
Our neighbors are now hosting a mini United Nations pokemon style.
Makes me giddy thinking of this on a larger scale. I want my kids to rub shoulders with the world.
My kids would like to know if any future Qataris would like to come play.
You mean the former Frenchies would like to play with the future Qataris? Why they'd love to!
Our neighbors are now hosting a mini United Nations pokemon style.
Makes me giddy thinking of this on a larger scale. I want my kids to rub shoulders with the world.
7.15.2013
Things I've learned preparing for an international move:
1. I will never own so much stuff again.
That's about it. All the rest I already knew (or at least anticipated).
If we were moving to somewhere else in the US, sure we'd be cleaning out and organizing. But being given very firm limits on what can ship via air and sea is a whole other ball game. I am fairly confident the garbage men hate us. For weeks they've been greeted by an army of black trash bags. We really need to make them cookies or something. Let me be clear, my house is always clean an tidy. But really, when was the last time you combed over every craft and sewing item you own? Completely cleared out both of your attics? Inventoried every kitchen utensil? Sorted out all your various ratchet sets? See?
We will be holding a garage sale, or more appropriately, a pop up super center, this weekend.
TOO. MUCH. STUFF.
Our house sold in record time- 36 hours! WooHoo!
Papers signed, price agreed, awaiting inspection... and then it fell through.
The kids took it a little personally. They're better now. Good opportunities for patience and prayer.
We're bummed but clearly that was not meant to be. Worse comes to worse, we take a buy-out offer from Robert's company. I'm not going to pretend that we're anything but spoiled when it comes to the relocation package we get. Don't get me wrong, it's still a gigantic pain in the neck, but we know how good we've got it!
So now, 3 weeks from being on the other side of the world I find myself with the mother of all to-do lists that just got a little more complicated since the house is now back on the market. I'm pretty sure that 4 out of 5 Ricker children would agree that having the house show ready at any given time is the worst part of this whole thing. We're pretty good when it comes to crunch time though. Here's how it works:
*Ring* Hi, so and so would like to go by in about 45 minutes.
Okay, thanks *click*
Jack, you get to watch a little show on daddy's chair! (side note- nervous energy does not contain itself well in the body of a 4 year old. He has to be quarantined in his own little world while the house turns into a busy beehive)
And then the rest of us all proceed to make our house "show ready". It's a science.
So Monday it's back to work. Serenity now. Serenity now.
1. I will never own so much stuff again.
That's about it. All the rest I already knew (or at least anticipated).
If we were moving to somewhere else in the US, sure we'd be cleaning out and organizing. But being given very firm limits on what can ship via air and sea is a whole other ball game. I am fairly confident the garbage men hate us. For weeks they've been greeted by an army of black trash bags. We really need to make them cookies or something. Let me be clear, my house is always clean an tidy. But really, when was the last time you combed over every craft and sewing item you own? Completely cleared out both of your attics? Inventoried every kitchen utensil? Sorted out all your various ratchet sets? See?
We will be holding a garage sale, or more appropriately, a pop up super center, this weekend.
TOO. MUCH. STUFF.
Our house sold in record time- 36 hours! WooHoo!
Papers signed, price agreed, awaiting inspection... and then it fell through.
The kids took it a little personally. They're better now. Good opportunities for patience and prayer.
We're bummed but clearly that was not meant to be. Worse comes to worse, we take a buy-out offer from Robert's company. I'm not going to pretend that we're anything but spoiled when it comes to the relocation package we get. Don't get me wrong, it's still a gigantic pain in the neck, but we know how good we've got it!
So now, 3 weeks from being on the other side of the world I find myself with the mother of all to-do lists that just got a little more complicated since the house is now back on the market. I'm pretty sure that 4 out of 5 Ricker children would agree that having the house show ready at any given time is the worst part of this whole thing. We're pretty good when it comes to crunch time though. Here's how it works:
*Ring* Hi, so and so would like to go by in about 45 minutes.
Okay, thanks *click*
Jack, you get to watch a little show on daddy's chair! (side note- nervous energy does not contain itself well in the body of a 4 year old. He has to be quarantined in his own little world while the house turns into a busy beehive)
And then the rest of us all proceed to make our house "show ready". It's a science.
So Monday it's back to work. Serenity now. Serenity now.
7.08.2013
Off We Go!
We're moving! To Qatar! At the end of the month!!!
Where you ask?
The kids are excited/anxious. It seems like we've been getting ready for this FOREVER! It was only officially official 3 weeks ago and just announced at work today hence the late notice. Seeing that a For Sale sign will be in my yard this week, I'm glad to finally start being open about it.
So, some answers to FAQs: Yes! There are two congregations of our church that meet in Doha. One English speaking, one another language. The kids will go to an AWESOME school which is one of top 5 reasons for wanting to go over. The assignment is indefinite. We plan to be there at least 4ish years though. I can drive (well, I mean provided my husband will grant me permission to :)) Mormon modesty standards work just fine, no need for any more or less. We have a house! Well, it's a villa in a compound (with a resort style pool-selling point for the kids) and we already know our neighbors (the Kabells for those of you who know them). There's an LDS family from Kingwood that just went over (yes, the Princes for those of you who know them- small world, huh?). I am feeling particularly spoiled having 2 amazing sources for all of my mom questions.
We are so very grateful for this opportunity. We are anxious to expose our children to new places and people and let our little Texans see that there is life outside of Texas (as absolutely FABULOUS as Texas is!)
5.27.2013
Dress Up
This little girl all dolled up for recital pictures is just too cute. I will never get tired of playing dress up with her!
A New One For Us!
We celebrated the end of soccer season by signing up for swim team!
We've still got baseball going on but since the games are right across the street from where the kids swim it hasn't been too crazy. We can have some kids swimming and some baseballing at the same time.
Saturday was their first meet. Luckily we've got some seasoned swimming pro friends that helped us maneuver the chaos.
Trey and Bailey did great. Jack enjoyed the show. Ty was home with strep (he'll have his swim debut in a couple of weeks I guess).
4.02.2013
Lesson Learned
Last fall, I had the distinct impression that we needed to go visit my grandparents who live in California. When I mentioned this to my sister, Josie, she said she'd been having the same feeling. So we started planning. Kind of. Before we knew it, our fall and winter were loaded full of busy things and our trip plans became non-existent. After receiving a beautifully crocheted sweater for Bailey from my grandma in December, I called to thank her. That call caught my grandparents as they were walking in the door of their home after a trip to the doctor. My grandpa had just been diagnosed with Lymphoma. Long story short, we (us Rickers and the Brenners) were on a plane the next month to go visit. We had a lovely time visiting in their home, the one home from my childhood that us Ririe Navy brats can return to. We stayed in Monterrey and went down to Cannery Row, a favorite of my kids. We enjoyed beautiful scenery, wonderful weather, and the most perfect company. My kids are short on grandparents. It's important that they have relationships with these two incredible people even if they're an airplane trip away.
3.18.2013
A Birthday Explanation...
Out of order? Maybe. But birthday season around here gets busy. For the record, Ty's birthday is in December (3days after Peyt's), Jack's in January, Bailey (and Robert) in February, and Trey in March. That totally gives me permission to post them all at the same time. Happy Birthday, family!
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