aina turned 29 yesterday. she is hanging onto her 20's by a thread. here is ella (and beckett in the background) wishing auntie aina a happy birthday. sorry it is late...we could not get the video to download last night because we did not have internet (welcome to morocco!)
we love you, aina, and we hope that you had a great birthday dinner. wish we could have been there to celebrate with you. sending much love from morocco. we can't wait to see you!
Sunday, September 21, 2008
Saturday, September 20, 2008
the party continues...
ella had another party last night. this would be #3 if we are including the one in austin. as you can tell, we in the douglass casa love to have a good party.
christy making corny dogs for ella
mommy making sure there is something healthy on the table
ella getting shy when everyone is singing "happy bday"
all the kids on campus to celebrate ellas bday
ella getting a bday kiss from catie (her favorite babysitter!)
christy making corny dogs for ella
mommy making sure there is something healthy on the table
ella getting shy when everyone is singing "happy bday"
all the kids on campus to celebrate ellas bday
ella getting a bday kiss from catie (her favorite babysitter!)
Thursday, September 18, 2008
happy birthday, ella!
happy birthday, tink! today you turned three, which is crazy because i remember vividly the day you were born, just like it was yesterday. i told you that story last night and today, about how everyone was in san antonio for a wedding (even sunny), and you decided that you wanted to come out and meet us. i told you about how we were so happy to find out that you were a girl and that i cried (happy tears, not sad tears) when i finally got to hold you and kiss your sweet little face.
here we are three years later and you are officially a little girl. you are so beautiful, so beautiful. you have a lot of personality and words for such a little body. you can be sweet, sour, sensitive, and sassy all in about 10 minutes. i love when you are so happy or excited about something, that you smile your big smile, squint your eyes, and crinkle your little nose...it is priceless. you always have something to say (which is like me) and something to do (which is like your dad). you know no strangers because you make friends with everyone. i love that about you. had it not been for your extrovert personality and free spirit, we probably would not have been able to come here to morocco. ella, i learn so much from you. you continue to teach me to have childlike faith, you teach me love, and you teach me patience (when you test mine and also when you are patient with me.) you are who you are, and we love you just the way you are.
you had a wonderful day today. your friends across the hall came over early this morning to eat apple pancakes with you and give you birthday cards they made for you...so sweet! we went to mcdonald's (which you call old mcdonald's)for lunch with ezra and you got to run around in the playland and get an ice cream cone. i made you a cake this afternoon so we could sing happy birthday to you when daddy got home from work...you told me that you were not 3 until we sang happy birthday to you. you had a true moroccan birthday as you wore your moroccan dress and ate a moroccan dinner at a nice little cafe...just you, mommy, and daddy! as if all that was not enough, all the kids on campus are coming over for corny dogs (made from scratch) and cupcakes! "we love you too much!"
ella, ezra, and "old mcdonald"
"cheers!"
the mister
playing in the playland
happy birthday to you!...now you can be 3.
the girls
here we are three years later and you are officially a little girl. you are so beautiful, so beautiful. you have a lot of personality and words for such a little body. you can be sweet, sour, sensitive, and sassy all in about 10 minutes. i love when you are so happy or excited about something, that you smile your big smile, squint your eyes, and crinkle your little nose...it is priceless. you always have something to say (which is like me) and something to do (which is like your dad). you know no strangers because you make friends with everyone. i love that about you. had it not been for your extrovert personality and free spirit, we probably would not have been able to come here to morocco. ella, i learn so much from you. you continue to teach me to have childlike faith, you teach me love, and you teach me patience (when you test mine and also when you are patient with me.) you are who you are, and we love you just the way you are.
you had a wonderful day today. your friends across the hall came over early this morning to eat apple pancakes with you and give you birthday cards they made for you...so sweet! we went to mcdonald's (which you call old mcdonald's)for lunch with ezra and you got to run around in the playland and get an ice cream cone. i made you a cake this afternoon so we could sing happy birthday to you when daddy got home from work...you told me that you were not 3 until we sang happy birthday to you. you had a true moroccan birthday as you wore your moroccan dress and ate a moroccan dinner at a nice little cafe...just you, mommy, and daddy! as if all that was not enough, all the kids on campus are coming over for corny dogs (made from scratch) and cupcakes! "we love you too much!"
ella, ezra, and "old mcdonald"
"cheers!"
the mister
playing in the playland
happy birthday to you!...now you can be 3.
the girls
Sunday, September 14, 2008
henna tattoos!
ella finally got her henna tattoo! for those of you who might not know, ella loves tattoos. loves them. ramos' (mexican restaurant in manor) made a small fortune off of us when ella discovered the tattoo dispenser. if you happened to see ella over the summer, she was sporting all sorts of ink on her arms and even tummy. she was very excited to get her first henna tattoo by najet's sister on saturday. she stayed very still and even let it dry (with the help of a hairdryer). it looks really pretty on her hand and the great news is that it won't come off after being in the bathtub. it should last a couple of weeks. i got one from my foot to ankle. it looks pretty cool. so, come visit us and get a sweet tattoo.
so happy to get a real tattoo
sitting very still...if you know ella then you know that is not easy.
ella and ezra decide to give each other tattoos with sidewalk chalk...you can see the henna tattoo on her hand
so happy to get a real tattoo
sitting very still...if you know ella then you know that is not easy.
ella and ezra decide to give each other tattoos with sidewalk chalk...you can see the henna tattoo on her hand
Tuesday, September 9, 2008
the end of summer...the beginning of ramadan
summer is officially over as scott started back at school on tuesday. as he was getting ready for work he said, "that was NOT a summer!" and he was right. we were so busy getting ready for the move with training and packing and selling the house and getting logistics done for moving overseas that there was not much down time. we did have a good vacation with my family in the LBC and hang out time with scott's fam in rockwall, so i can't complain too much. those two trips were great times with family (aina, ella will be needing another california love book because she has read it so many times the pages are falling out and tape is not working!) anyways, we were very sad to see scott off to work. we do live on campus, though, so no leaving early to avoid traffic because he walks right down the hill to school...so convenient! he can also come home for lunch or we can go eat with him. he is also always home at a reasonable hour. scott will update with some stories from his classes in the future.
note to self: don't go the grocery on the first day of ramadan. my friend, linda, and i made this terrible mistake. we thought that being it was ramadan and everyone was fasting then the last place they would all want to be is surrounded by food. wrong! everyone was at the grocery getting food for f'tour (meal for breaking fast in the evening) so it was packed! there linda and i are, each with 2 kids (3 and 6 months), packed like sardines in the aisles and waiting forever in the check out line. needless to say, i had a tired and crying baby and an impatient 3 year old while i was trying to check out. did i mention you have to bag your own groceries? i was so thankful that a sweet lady behind me had pity on me and helped bag my groceries. i think everyone in line was just happy to see me get out of there! i convinced myself that they were staring at me because i am american and not because of the crying from beckett and occasional screetching from ella.
have i told you about ella's bff? his name is ezra. they are complete opposties. ella is all girl...playing with babies, princesses, pretending to be maid marian from robin hood, etc. ezra is all boy. he likes to play war and fight. you can see where i am going with this. they are already like brother and sister. they love each other inside, but sometimes on the outside they don't so much. there is the occasional whack at the other but they are learning to work out their differences since they are all each other has during the day. let me tell you what these two got into last week. it all started when linda and i went shopping in town with some other ladies. we left ella and ezra with najet (our house help...another blog in itself!) and beckett was taking a nap. i get a phone call an hour later from scott who was totally frantic. he begins to tell me that jason (ezra's dad who teaches next door to scott) spotted the kids outside past the grass where they were supposed to be and in the dirt in the construction area. both dads begin to yell from the third floor of the school building outside their classrooms, trying to tell the kids to go back home. both kids look up and acknowledge their dads, and keep walking. to make the story better, ella is decked out in her "i heart LB" shirt and panties (she had taken her pants off) and is dragging her green blanket while ezra is carrying an old pillow. thankfully a construction worker managed to stop and keep the kids while scott left his class to go get them and take them home. ella proceeds to tell scott that they were going on a picnic. linda swears it was ezra's idea but my tink has a few tricks up her sleeve. she cannot be trusted. oh, and ella's "badger toe" has returned!
also last week, beckett turned 6 months! it was a tough week for my big guy as he took a tumble and got a big bonk (almost causing his frantic mother to hyperventilate) and then got hit in the head with a nerf football while some guys were tossing it around. my poor baby! he is back to his usual self, though. very happy hanging out playing with eliana next door and watching ella and ezra be crazy. he has become a big time momma's boy, but still does love to get cuddles and tickles from daddy. we love you, sweet boy!
oh, and there will be more "note to self" stories as i learn new things and have to make mental notes to myself.
ella has a head on collision with ezra
return of the "badger toe"...the orange is from ezra painting her toe nails
sweet beckett (6 months old)
beautiful atlantic ocean and moroccan sunset from our backyard
ella, sofia, and ezra
ella and ezra...the day of the "picnic"
sister and the brother
note to self: don't go the grocery on the first day of ramadan. my friend, linda, and i made this terrible mistake. we thought that being it was ramadan and everyone was fasting then the last place they would all want to be is surrounded by food. wrong! everyone was at the grocery getting food for f'tour (meal for breaking fast in the evening) so it was packed! there linda and i are, each with 2 kids (3 and 6 months), packed like sardines in the aisles and waiting forever in the check out line. needless to say, i had a tired and crying baby and an impatient 3 year old while i was trying to check out. did i mention you have to bag your own groceries? i was so thankful that a sweet lady behind me had pity on me and helped bag my groceries. i think everyone in line was just happy to see me get out of there! i convinced myself that they were staring at me because i am american and not because of the crying from beckett and occasional screetching from ella.
have i told you about ella's bff? his name is ezra. they are complete opposties. ella is all girl...playing with babies, princesses, pretending to be maid marian from robin hood, etc. ezra is all boy. he likes to play war and fight. you can see where i am going with this. they are already like brother and sister. they love each other inside, but sometimes on the outside they don't so much. there is the occasional whack at the other but they are learning to work out their differences since they are all each other has during the day. let me tell you what these two got into last week. it all started when linda and i went shopping in town with some other ladies. we left ella and ezra with najet (our house help...another blog in itself!) and beckett was taking a nap. i get a phone call an hour later from scott who was totally frantic. he begins to tell me that jason (ezra's dad who teaches next door to scott) spotted the kids outside past the grass where they were supposed to be and in the dirt in the construction area. both dads begin to yell from the third floor of the school building outside their classrooms, trying to tell the kids to go back home. both kids look up and acknowledge their dads, and keep walking. to make the story better, ella is decked out in her "i heart LB" shirt and panties (she had taken her pants off) and is dragging her green blanket while ezra is carrying an old pillow. thankfully a construction worker managed to stop and keep the kids while scott left his class to go get them and take them home. ella proceeds to tell scott that they were going on a picnic. linda swears it was ezra's idea but my tink has a few tricks up her sleeve. she cannot be trusted. oh, and ella's "badger toe" has returned!
also last week, beckett turned 6 months! it was a tough week for my big guy as he took a tumble and got a big bonk (almost causing his frantic mother to hyperventilate) and then got hit in the head with a nerf football while some guys were tossing it around. my poor baby! he is back to his usual self, though. very happy hanging out playing with eliana next door and watching ella and ezra be crazy. he has become a big time momma's boy, but still does love to get cuddles and tickles from daddy. we love you, sweet boy!
oh, and there will be more "note to self" stories as i learn new things and have to make mental notes to myself.
ella has a head on collision with ezra
return of the "badger toe"...the orange is from ezra painting her toe nails
sweet beckett (6 months old)
beautiful atlantic ocean and moroccan sunset from our backyard
ella, sofia, and ezra
ella and ezra...the day of the "picnic"
sister and the brother
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