The Foulds Family

Story Time With Jeriah

2012-05-23T11:22:00.001+03:00

It has been mentioned many many times on this blog that our kids love reading books. Jeriah enjoys our weekly trips to the library, last weeks trip one of the books we borrowed was "Grumpy Bird" by Jeremy Tankard. After reading it to him 2-3 time yesterday afternoon he picked up and "read" it for Corban and I.

Taking a video seemed totally necessary. What a super cute kid he is!

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 33

2012-04-19T09:56:00.000+03:00

I am Canadian! This is our flag, flying on our house here in KSA.

Guess who is having carrots fresh from garden tonight?

3 cute kids and a butternut squash (from our garden).

Pretty little flower in our backyard. When Michael and Blair were here they helped to redo our back flower bed and these are the some of the results.

The globe. This is a piece of public art in Jeddah it is in the middle of a round about. It is my favorite piece in Jeddah

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 32

2012-04-18T09:51:00.000+03:00

Nice relaxing day at the beach. But as you can see we miss the snow.

I went to Paris for the MEMS2012 conference. It was a little chilly coming from KSA with only my hoody. Here I am at the Arc de Triomphe.

The Eiffel tower. From this perspective it reminds me of the "Destiny" from stargate universe. Yes I am a nerd.

Spooky tree picture. I took this near the Eiffle tower the trees were back lit by all the light pollution bouncing off the clouds. I thought it looked nifty

Friday Morning Family Bike Ride.

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 31

2012-04-17T09:46:00.000+03:00

The Elephant's head from below.

Old al-Ula was kept intact at the request of the government. It is now being restored for tourism. It is a good example of old Islamic architecture having no city wall the outer houses have no windows and act a little like a wall.

Looking down on new al-Ula. This is where the town was moved.

The valley by al-Ula is full of date orchards. You can't see but under the palms there are orange trees in their shade.

The oranges were delicious. 1 dollar a dozen. Picked fresh.

Granny & Grandpa's Spring Visit

2012-04-15T21:34:00.001+03:00

So as many of you know Ian's parents, Barry & Donna, aka Granny & Grandpa were here for a visit. They arrived in the end of February just in time for Corban's birthday and they stayed until Ian and I got back from Uganda. It was a week ago actually that they left.

This was there 3rd time visiting and so they jumped right in to life here at KAUST taking the bus around campus on little adventures with the kids. Many mornings they would take Jeriah out to the library or to get a little treat. In the afternoons they would take Marin or Corban out. Corban enjoyed going to the library with Grandpa to get Bill Peet books and Marin and Granny had a couple "manicure adventures" at the salon. In the evenings Ian and I enjoyed teaching them a new favorite game of ours Carcassonne, or we all relaxed watching Survivor or Amazing Race.

They were here to see Marin be the MC at her K3 assembly (sorry can't put videos of that on here way to many kids in it) and to be part of book week for Marin and Corban's school. They got to go to each class and read a book and go on a field trip or two as well.

They were then of course here while Ian and I went to Uganda. The week we were gone was spring break for the kids so they had lots of fun planning days with activities, like morning walks to look for fish by the docks, swimming at the pool in the afternoons, and doing craft projects like decorating Easter eggs.

Here are a few pictures of some of the fun that I was around to snap pictures of. :)

Oh and cute story, you will see pictures of Barry and Jeriah sitting at the table building block towers. Jeriah started knocking them down and saying that he was shocking Grandpa by doing this. Barry would build the tower and then with great gusto Jeriah would knock it over saying "Shock you Gandpa!" It was really funny!

We also took a little visit to Ian's lab, hence the safety glasses pictures. :)

Thank you again for coming all this way to visit us, and for helping us by hanging out with the kids while we went off on an adventure of our own!

Fun with (plastic) Bugs

2012-04-12T22:55:00.001+03:00

A quick little snip-it of our visit from Granny & Grandpa. :)

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 30

2012-03-20T10:00:00.000+03:00

The kids really enjoyed it. You can see them running up to this tomb which stands alone. It was un-finished on the inside and when Marin came out she announced that it was "Super Boring" inside. :)

This is where the temple, shrines and sacrificial areas for Madain Saleh was. Michael and Blair are looking into the temple sitting area where they would have had feasts. Marin is crawling into the ceremonial wash basin. (oops we didn't know at the time) That narrow gap behind our guide leads to a small valley where the sacrifice area and another area of shrines are.

temple area we could hike to the top of the surrounding mini valley and the view was beautiful.

Corban at the top if the valley. The climb was mildly dangerous so each of us took a child. Corban my little adventurer was my climbing buddy. Mom you would have had the HeebyJeebees, but Corban and I held hands at the scary parts and we had fun.

Corban and I at Elephant rock. Called that for obvious reasons, it is near al-Ula and Madain Saleh.

Happy Birthday to Corban!

2012-02-29T22:26:00.000+03:00

Happy 4th Birthday to our Corban boy!

Brand new

1 month

8 months

11 months

17 months (the day we moved to KSA)

Hard to believe the little boy above was the one we loaded up and moved over here two and a half years ago. Looking back at pictures of Corban sure makes it feel like a long time ago that he was so little. What a cute little chubby boy though! :)

Although I know Corban dosen't yet fully appreciate that fact that he got a "real" birthday on the 29th this year, it was fun to celebrate on his true birth-date for the first time.

Corban has grown quite a bit in the past few months, he is slimming down and getting taller, he is growing out of many clothes and moving into a size 5T.
His imagination is always full and he is never lacking in ways to occupy himself. He is curious and likes to take things apart, he wants to just check everything out. He loves to create creatures and robot like things out of blocks.
His love of playdoh remains and his love of books. For his birthday he received 3 new books and paused each time he opened one to examine the pictures on every page. He loves to read books and snuggle. He also received 3 playdoh sets and has already put them to good use.
Corban is not a morning person, he would snuggle with us in bed until 8am every morning if he could, his non-morning person-ness also comes out in the fact that he dosen't really like eating breakfast either.
Corban is a sweet, loving boy, he gives hugs and kisses, he tells us he loves us, and he comforts Jeriah and Marin when they get hurt. He also brings me a flower every morning from the flower bed in our front yard.
He likes going to school and playing with his friends and exploring and learning new things there.
Corban is left handed, now what are the odds of that! A leap year baby being left handed...
He loves pizza and he loves pizza crusts, he likes to drink tea, and he likes welsh cakes without currents in them... All just like his daddy (Ian didn't like currents in his welsh cakes with he was little either). Corban also loves small shell shaped pasta with "totayeenee sause" (tortellini) as he calls it. Chocolate milk is also a favorite of his.
Corban is a wonderful brother to both Marin and Jeriah, he is a great playmate to both. With Marin he plays all sorts of made up roll play games, they are usually animals of some kind. With Jeriah they play with trucks, trains or cars. They also like to chase each other and run around. Corban knowing that Jeriah loves slap-stick type humor will pretend to run into walls or fall on the ground just to make him laugh. Or when Jeriah is upset of hurt he will do it for him too.
He is a smart boy and you can see the wheels in his head always turning.
Corban is wonderful, happy, sweet, cute boy, and he brings us so much joy.
We love you our Corban Barry, Happy Birthday!

Corban had a birthday party on Wednesday afternoon with 5 of his friends. They went in the pool and played on the slip and slide after eating cake.
At Corban's request he had a cake with knights on it, specifically some on horses. In the evening he opened his gifts, he is enjoying them all. Thank you everyone for your thoughtful gifts and for helping us celebrate Mr. Corban's birthday. :)

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 29

2012-02-23T17:33:00.001+03:00

The Al-baydha project site. A permaculture project being done among the settled bedouin near mecca. Very cool might help rebuild the environment here. Check them out www.albaydha.org

Marin, the now 6 year old, on an amusement park ride on her birthday at Red Sea mall. Here in KSA pretty much every mall has a small amusement park and games area.

Road trip to Mada'in Saleh. Here it is camels you have watch out for not deer.

Nabataean Tomb carved into the rock at Mada'in Saleh. This is the same civilization that built Petra in Jordan.

The tombs are carved right into the sandstone in a giant circle around where the town was. This UNESCO world heritage site is really big.

Meda'in Saleh

2012-02-12T15:51:00.000+03:00

While (Uncle) Michael & (Auntie) Blair where here visiting us we all took a 3 day road trip to Meda'in Saleh. According to Google it was a 7 hour trip, we made it there in 6 1/2 and on the way home only 6. What awesome road trippers our children are! That and their Daddy may have a led foot...

I have oodles of pictures to share, but I'll first tell you some tidbits about the trip and then all the pictures will make a bit more sense, that and you should click on the Meda'in Saleh link above it will explain a few things and then I wont have to. :)

We saw many, many camels. There were lots of "watch for camel signs" just like we have watch for deer ones in Canada.
Jeriah was very impressed by the trucks we saw, and many times exclaimed (loudly) "Look at the truck! Mommy take a picture of the truck!"
We booked 3 rooms at the hotel, one for Jem, one for Michael & Blair and one for the 5 of us, we weren't totally sure what to expect, but figured we could make it work whatever we ended up with. Our room had 2 chairs and two single beds, and a door that we asked to be unlocked that went into Michael & Blair's room so... we pushed the 2 single beds together and into the corner and Jeriah slept against the wall and Ian and I in the bed with him. We then took the 2 chairs from our room and the 2 chairs from Michael & Blair's room and made them into beds for Marin and Corban. They loved and and called them their "nest beds".
The sandstone mountains are gorgeous and along with the blue sky and perfect temperatures it was refreshing and beautiful place to be.
The drive up there was also through some really neat dessert mountains.
The palm trees that are in Al Ulah, the town that is near Meda'in Saleh, are like "date orchards". Underneath them they grown many other things one of which is oranges. While filling up our SUV with gas we bought some from the man working there. Appox 40 fresh pick mandarin oranges, for 15 SAR ($4 USD)! They were tasty! We later learned that at this time of year the oranges and other fruit like that is in such abundance that they have a hard time giving it away. Guy who sold them to us probably thought "white people, they are not from around here, lets see if I can make a couple bucks" and then laughed at us as he stuck the money in his pocket. Ha ha! Oh well, they tasted great and $4 is nothing for that many oranges.
We where "mobbed" in a positive way by a group of local tourists wanting to have their picture taken with me, I was not wearing an abaya, and the women wanted their picture taken with me. Ian had his picture taken with one of their husbands as well. There were loads of kids too and they followed us around for a bit calling out the English phrases they knew. "Thank you very much", "I love you". They followed us around for a while taking pictures of us especially Michael and I (it's the blond hair and blue eyes) until the men called them all away from us. There was also a separate group of young men who asked for a picture with Michael.
Corban loved hiking up the sandstone hills/mountains. Ian and him where hiking buddies, it was to keep him safe! When it came time to listen to the history about the tombs Corban was not at all interested and played in the sand near our feet as we stood and listened.
Marin enjoyed seeing the small rocks embedded in the sandstone. At school her class was in the middle of a unit on the environment and geology type things so it was great for her to see things like erosion effect and the different rocks.
Jeriah was Uncle Michael's hiking buddy. You'll see a cute picture of Jeriah trying to copy Uncle Michael.
We drove up a crazy switch-back road to the top of a mountain plateau. (I may or may not have expressed concern about the craziness of the road and caused my daughter to almost cry... bad mommy...)While at the top we got to see a 180 degree view of the valley and a really pretty sunset glow.
We got to check out the (unfinished) reconstruction of the railway station that was there during WW1 and the whole Lawrence of Arabia thing.
We got to see old Al Ulah. Some of the houses have been built over top or turned into 'date orchards" but before they were all destroyed they were declared a historical sight and they are now protected.
We had a dessert roadside picnic on the way home, we tried to find shade by one of the shrubby trees but when we did it was full of camel poo. We opted to hang out in the shade of the SUV stand, and eat.
We also get to go see the elephant rock which is very neat. The English translation of the description below it is really good for a laugh. I took a picture don't worry. :)

I have many pictures to share, here are 4 favorites.

Corban's happy face always makes me smile. :)

Jeriah ran up to this tomb stood in front and said "Take a pictures of me mom!"

Gorgeous girl, gorgeous scenery.

Family picture at the elephant rock, what is not to like?!

I have divided the rest of the pictures up into 4 slide shows. You can pause the slide show to read the sign at the elephant rock.

These are pictures that Blair & Michael took with their camera.

Anniversary Greetings

2012-02-05T20:17:00.000+03:00

Happy 1st Anniversary to (Uncle) Michael & (Auntie) Blair!

Happy (belated) Birthday to Marin!

2012-01-31T23:02:00.000+03:00

Our girl is 6! Pretty exciting stuff. :)
We love you our Marin girl! We are very proud of you and how you are growing up, riding bikes, loosing teeth, reading, writing, and lately wanting to type and send emails! You are growing up so fast it is amazing to think and wonder about all the things that you will be doing by the time you have your next birthday. I feel the need to make a little list...
how about 6 things Marin loves (in no particular order).
1. Oliebollen
2. Playing with her friends
3. Stuffys
4. Going for breakfast dates with her Daddy
5. Going on adventures with her family
6. School
Here she is showing how old she is using her fingers/thumbs, see the thumb on her left hand, it is technically standing up.

We all had a really fun time celebrating her birthday. On the 18th, the day before her birthday we had a party with her friends from school. There were twelve 5/6 years olds in total, but with the help of Michael, Blair, Jemhalyn and of course Ian it went really well. We had mini pizzas, that they made themselves, and carrot sticks and apples slices for a snack. Then it was time for birthday cake, and after that straight out into the back yard for some games. Marin had loads of fun with her friends, the game they enjoyed the most was red-rover-red-rover.
On Thursday, the 19th, her actual birthday we gave her her gifts in the morning and she was very pleased. She loves gifts, giving and receiving, and when there are gifts to open she dosen't like to wait. :) (Any guesses where she get that from? ;) )

Then in the afternoon we hit the road and headed to Jeddah for dinner and to play in one of the many mini amusement "parks", there is one in pretty much every mall. (Auntie) Blair snapped this picture of the birthday girl and I at dinner. :)

The amusement park was lots of fun. The best part was seeing the kids have so much fun.

Marin loved the mini roller-coaster, the river tube and the log flume rides the best. The funniest part of the night was when we all piled into the log flume ride, Ian, Marin, Corban and Jemhalyn went in the log in front and Blair, Michael, Jeriah and I (the 4 of us seated in that order) went in the one behind them. As we climbed the hill to go down the big drop we could see Ian and crew looking back at us with big grins on the faces and a look of anticipation. Once we got to the bottom we knew why. They were laughing and laughing at us, our log weighed more then theirs (due to the size of the people in it) and so Blair being the one in front received a hugs splash of water, and apparently the look on her face was awesome. It also needs to be mentioned that since she was wearing an abaya all the water pooled in her lap as it was like she had a big bowl on her lap.
Fun times and good memories. It was a great day hanging out as a family celebrating our special girls birthday!

Happy 6th Birthday Marin!

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 28

2012-01-14T08:30:00.000+03:00

Beautiful flower I found at a friend's house.Not sure how I got such a clean shot with my iPhone.

Through my eyes.

My gorgeous little girl enjoying a beautiful sunset.

The flowers on our front porch.

Corban painted his own face at Victoria's birthday party. He is a salamander.

Ian the Instagrammer ~Part 27

2012-01-11T08:00:00.000+03:00

Gazebo ceiling in old Cairo.

Merry Christmas! Kids are in bed, the turkey is deboned, Santa (aka me) brought the presents out and my little elf ( aka the tooth fairy, aka Kristin) arraigned them under the tree. We'll se how late the kids let us sleep.

The kiddos hamming it up in their Christmas PJs. We had a good day.

Happy New Year!

Ahmed during the festivities at his engagement party.

Rainbow Toast

2012-01-08T20:39:00.000+03:00

Yesterday the kids went back to school, they had from the 22nd of Dec to the 6th of Jan off. During their break from school we had lots of fun playing at home and doing special fun things. We went for bus rides (which they think are fun) to go get Popsicles, we went to the library to check out a couple DVDs, and we had a few playdates.

We also had rainbow toast for lunch. Marin had done this in her class at school and had wanted to show Corban and Jeriah. They liked it so much we did it 2 days in a row, one day I took pictures while they painted, and the other while they ate it.
This is Marin's rainbow toast Canadian flag.

I also enjoyed some time to play with my new camera. :)

This little sunflower is growing in our garden.

Also growing in our garden are beans, and Jeriah likes to eat them, he prefers them raw. He was helping me the other day, by holding the bowl, I looked down to see him sitting there with his mouth full, so I ran to get the camera.

I am sure you have noticed that he has a bandage on his hand. Right after Christmas he and Corban got bad coughs so we had the humidifiers in their bedroom. On about the 3rd night he got a steam burn on the back of his hand below his ring and pinky finger knuckles. We ran cold water over it right away, and he settled down and didn't seem bothered by it anymore. We all woke up the next morning though to see that it had blistered badly and he and rubbed part of it open in his sleep. It is healing well now though and it hasn't slowed him down. He has been really good about getting the bandages put on, during one of the first time I was putting on a bandage, he asked me "what are you tempting (attempting) to do?" He has also learned a lesson and knows now that steam can hurt you. He talks often about how you need to be careful by "seam", how "I got a seam burn on my hand". Cute kid.

On Thursday we took a trip into Jeddah and bought Marin a new bike. She had outgrown her first one, and even though the training wheels are on it still she can ride without them. Her new bike is cute and I think suits her very well. She has the training wheels on it too, she wanted to keep them on, it is giving her confidence, she'll want them off when she is ready.

We also got Corban a bike, he had gone back and forth on wanting one, but without one he can't learn to ride so... On Friday afternoon we took the bikes down to a big empty parking lot so Corban could start learning. He was having a hard time with it, but also wasn't that into it. We got him to ride a bit, but he really just wanted to run around and explore. Oh well eventually he will want to learn.

Pictures were taken though. :)

Happy 2012!

2012-01-05T20:27:00.001+03:00

Happy New Year Everyone!

This post is brought to you by pictures from Christmas Day and Boxing Day. :)

Ian took 3 days off, the 24th, 25th, and 26th, and with the way our week works here the weekend was on the 22nd and 23rd so we had a wonderful 5 days together. We relaxed, played, went for bike rides, listened to Christmas music and enjoyed the Christmas feel. On the 24th there was an evening "candle lit" service on the beach. There ended up being no candles though it was so windy, those of us who attended though still enjoyed the time to sing carols and read the Christmas story together. We also had our traditional sweet and sour meat balls dinner.
On Christmas morning we had fresh cinnamon buns for breakfast and then we dug into our presents. Before that though I had the kids sit on the couch to take pictures of them in their festive pj's (which were purchased here in Jeddah).
Darn cutes kids! And looking so grown up!

I took about 10 pictures the rest all looked pretty much like this. :)

We then moved on to opening our gifts. The kids were all very pleased with their presents, they got quite a few books and wanted to read them all as they opened them, so we did. :) Well except for Marin's chapter book, last year she got the Rainbow Fairies, and this year she got the Weather Fairies. We are reading through that together she reads 2 pages, then I read 3. She is very pleased with herself, that she can read it, we are of course very proud of her!
Here she is with her new Barbie, and looking more like she is going to be 16 not 6 soon!

After lunch, and putting the turkey in the oven, we opened the stockings. We had kind of forgotten about them, but Marin reminded us.
Corban was pleased with his magnifying glass.

Here is Jeriah with Ian's peppermint sticks.

My dear husband also bought for me a new camera! The picture of Corban and Jeriah(above) were taken with it. I am excited to learn to use it! :)
The afternoon was spent relaxing and enjoying our new gifts. We then had a very tasty turkey dinner together. It was a really nice Christmas, just the 5 of us.
On Boxing day (the 26th), which when we call it Boxing day we get funny looks from most people as it is not something celebrated in all countries, we headed to the beach. Jeriah had been asking to go, he wanted to play with trucks in the sand and water. While we were there we walked out to the little island that is off the shore of our beach, on the way out there we saw a small stingray. Jeriah is still talking about it. " You have to be careful not to step on the tiny stingray" he will tell you as he points his little finger at you.
See how happy he was to be at the beach.

Corban always loves a trip to the beach, and never really pauses to look at the camera...

Marin of course had fun at the beach too, it is where they have her favorite slushy drinks. :)

We got back from the beach at about 2pm, and after a shower and a snack we watched a movie. Beach days are always fun relaxing days. :)

Here are some more pictures. I have plans to post about the rest of our "winter break", so more pictures are on the way.

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 26

2011-12-28T22:01:00.000+03:00

The Foulds clan making cookies at a "seasonal party".

The wall and ceiling that I stared at while waiting for the graduation ceremony to start. Can you believe this was the only picture I took all day?

Pyramid between pillars at sunset. From my trip to Khaled's wedding.

Silhouette of a pyramid at sunset - got this shot last summer when I went to Cairo for Khaled's wedding.

Arabic coffee and Dates at Ahmed Alfadhel's engagement party.

Christmas Greeting!

2011-12-24T07:00:00.000+03:00

Merry Christmas from the crazy Foulds 5!

Such Boys.

2011-12-19T20:30:00.000+03:00

I have a two videos to share. :) The first is of Jeriah, I took it at the end of November when I was just starting to bring out the Christmas decorations. He had found the train set that (Great) Uncle Don & (Great) Auntie Marjorie had given Marin and Corban, before he was born. I took the video for Auntie Marjorie to show her how excited and happy it made him. He was very impressed by it and spent quite a bit of time that morning watching it go round and round.

The second video is of Corban playing with playdoh 3 days ago. I was eating lunch a the table with him as he was playing. He was just getting started and I had a feeling it was going to be entertaining so I ran to get the camera. Sure enough he didn't disappoint me. :) I set the camera on a container full of cookies, and I don't think he realized I was taking a video (until the very end as you will see). He knew I was watching him, but with out the camera in my hands, I think that made a difference and so his behavior was totally natural.

He is such a funny kid, and his video is so him!

Ian the Instagrammer ~Part 25

2011-12-19T16:03:00.000+03:00

Corban flying in the sunset.

Marin the sailor.

Sunset over the KAUST marina.

Marin looking for pirates.

Old Saint Nick - Marin decided to turn her cat and sheep into Santa and Rudolph with construction paper and tape.

A missing tooth!

2011-12-16T20:30:00.000+03:00

5 years, 3 months and 1 week after getting her first tooth, Marin has lost her first tooth. On Dec 7th it fell out during dinner. She was very pleased and began to wonder if the tooth fairy would come.

During the rest of the evening before bed she talked about the possibility and that she was going to do an experiment to find out. She figured the tooth fairy was going to turn the tooth into a coin.

So as I was tucking her into bed she was talking to me about it and I asked her what kind of coin, from what country the tooth fairy might bring her. She thought and said, Canada, India, Germany... I gave her a small little jar to put the tooth in and tucked her into bed.

That night before I went to bed I found her a Canadian quarter and a penny. I put them in the place of the small jar with the tooth in it. The next morning she came to tell us, the tooth fairy was real and that she had received 2 coins.

At breakfast she began asking, Mom are you the tooth fairy? So I asked her, well what do you think? The more she asked the more she became convinced that I was in fact the tooth fairy. At bath time that night she was talking with Ian and the truth was revealed that I was indeed the tooth fairy. She is not at all disappointed and is already wondering from what country the coin will come from when she looses her next tooth.

And a little recent quote.
I: "Well done sweetie you figured that one out. You asked the question and then figured it out!"
M: "I am a scientist, but when someone calls for help, I am a superhero."

This Corban boy of ours... he is a complicated boy. So full of energy, and an imagination bursting with ideas. He is wild and unruly, but a minute later can be sweet and snugly. He is loving, caring, and gives wonderful encouraging words. He can play for hours at something he likes, like playdoh or in the sandbox, but if it is something he is not interested in, then good luck getting him to participate. If you know Corban then you love him, he is Corban.

A few Corban stories.
After being told to stop talking about toots, farts and all things related, because it often gets out of hand...Corban says: "Hey dad speaking of toots, maybe we should plant one in the garden and see what happens."

C: "Blood tastes like boogers."

I: "Blood tastes like boogers?"

C: "Umm, like boogers and fire!"
(What a handsome dude!)

This ones from a while back, but it's cute so...

While playing playdoh with Marin one afternoon, they were making "eggs".

C: "My eggs will hatch into caterpillars, and then one day they will go to raccoon's house and become beautiful butterflies."
This picture will explain all the sand on his face in the pictures above, and it is very much "Corban".

And not to be left out, the tiny one... Jeriahkins.

He is such a funny little kid. He is totally cute too, and he knows it. The other day Ian was going to take him for a ride in the bike trailer. He climbed in and put on Corban's bike helmet. After getting it on he looked up and Ian and announced "I'm so cute."

The grin, oh the grin, I love it!

The other night while playing on the playground, he bumped his head, it wasn't a hard bump at all, but he told me, "Uh I bumped my noggin." I asked him if he was okay he said very matter of factually, "Yeah I just bumped my noggin."

He likes to sing, and has a knack for remember the lyrics of songs. Right now one of his favorites is Feliz Navidad or "Feliz Navidaddy-dat" as he calls it.

He is squeezing the rocks in this pictures, hence the accompanying facial expression.

Along with knowing that he is cute, he also knows he is our "baby". If he is feeling sorry for himself, or if something has happened to him, that is not really all that serious, but makes him a little sad, he will of course some for cuddles and comfort. I will of course give him cuddles and will say something like, "oh you poor little boy", he will then reply sometimes with "ya I just a baby" and give a little pouty lip.

He has begun to play really well on his own recently, and I can see that he will be just like Marin and Corban when it comes to a big imagination. He was playing with the Fischer Price nativity set last week and had connected the 4 pieces of fence together and then put a animal or person on each post of the fence. He then picked it up and pretended it was a boat and sailed it around on the waves of the water, while the little characters had dialog about how it was a bumpy ride.

Well my post is at an end an I have no clever way of finishing it off. It's been a long week, it took me all week to put this post together so...

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 24

2011-12-13T19:36:00.000+03:00

While the kids back in Canada are making snow angels our kids are making sand angels.

Sunset on our last beach walk.

The view of the beacon from the balcony by my office.

Kristin and Jeriah in the light of the sunset. I am blessed.

Jurassic Plastic - its a dinosaur eat dinosaur world out there.

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 23

2011-12-11T19:32:00.000+03:00

Fire gecko - a rather edited version of a picture of my little gecko friend on my hand.

"The moon daddy" - Jeriah seeing the moon on his first bike trailer ride.

Jeriah and I's shadows as we went on our first bike trailer ride.

Sunset and the moon rising over our Dr Seuss tree.

Silhouetted weeds - from our walk on the beach this evening.

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 22

2011-12-09T19:27:00.000+03:00

Gecko. We have lots of these little guys around the house. They keep the bugs away, we like them.

Kites at #KAUST - some of the kites on kite flying day this last weekend.

Beware the dangerous blue tiger - Corban at the kite flying day where there was face painting.

One of our little gecko friends in the backyard.

Small flowers in our backyard.

Ian the Instagramer ~Part 21

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Jeriah enjoying the backyard. He loves to play with watering cans.

No my daughter is not a vampire. There was some highly dyed Cotton candy at the bazaar this evening.

Our kite - it was kite flying day at KAUST.

Jeriah and I flying the kite.

Marin getting her turn to fly the kite all by herself, she is getting so grown up.