How scary is this...

http://7days.ae/storydetails.php?id=75541&title=No%20way%20to%20avoid%20him

The fear now is that many of the labourers will run out into traffic to try to get themselves killed for the blood money. Blood money is money paid to the victim's family from the person who committed the "crime." They can work and work for their meager pay or do this and leave their families well off. Scary stuff.

Bumbo and Sword Fights

Laci is getting too big, too quick. She loves her Bumbo. She is also losing almost all of her hair. It is gone on the sides and back. She just has a little tuft on the top and some right above her neck. I'm sure it will come in blond, but maybe not until she's 4, if she's like I was.

While I was taking Laci's pictures, Drew came and brought me a sword. He said, "here mom, fight." This was our first official sword fight. After having many a sword fight with Bret and Cole when they were little, it was nice to get back at it again. I haven't lost my skills in the last couple of years. He's just starting to get his little imagination and I love it. Here's my handsome little knight:

Cole's 6th Birthday!

Last Thursday (Feb. 26) was Cole's much anticipated 6th birthday. He had a fun day at school. I brought in brownies for the class to share. Later that afternoon, he had a party at Chuck E Cheese. It opened last Fall - this place is becoming more and more like the US everyday. Cole invited all the boys in his class, about 10. He and his friends had a great time running around playing all the games and eating pizza. There was even a little ice skating rink that a few were brave enough to try out. He had a great day!

Not Yet!!!

This is what our car temperature guage read yesterday on the way to Bret's baseball game:

Triple digits in February - I'm not ready for the heat yet!

Summer treat in Winter

We were out in the backyard today when we thought we heard what sounded like an ice cream truck. The kids and I ran out front and sure enough, there it was - the ice cream truck! We quickly grabbed a few dirhams and they each picked out a treat.

Laci at 3 months

Here are some pictures of Laci at 1, 2 and 3 months. I always take my babies' pictures on their month birthdays their first year in the same spot to see how much they change and grow. It's amazing how much babies wake up the first few months of life.

A couple of things

Last weekend, I went to this place called global village. Nick calls it a big county fair, but it's more than that. At global village, many countries from around the world have areas where people from that country sell stuff (Nick calls it junk). It is only open November through February and we never made it last year so I had to be sure to go this year. It was fun to walk around and see all the different things from around the world. There are so many things I want to go back and get - rugs from Pakistan, leather jackets from Afghanistan, a neat nativity scene from Palestine, pictures from Egypt, just to name a few. Here are the purchases I did make:

These are camel leather purses from Senegal. They were about $15 each. There were also snake, iguana and crocodile skin bags.

These are crocheted dresses from Kenya. They are really cute and cost about $8 each. The African ladies were crocheting them right there at the stalls. They are so talented. Also, there were pictures of Barack Obama taped up all over the Kenya section. It was kind of funny.

Nick and I also managed to make it to Dubai mall again this weekend. What can I say? This is Dubai and there is nothing else to do. We're total mall rats. Anyway, the mall has a new feature open - a 4 story tall water fall/fountain thing with divers flying down. Here it is, look close.

Couldn't the people who made this thought of a better place to attach these guys to the wall? We just had to laugh.