Month: June 2014

hook

I use this blog as a place to share what our family is doing so that family and friends who are far away don’t forget who we are, but also as a place to keep those memories I don’t want to forget. It has been invaluable when someone asks a question like “What did you do last Christmas?” On the spot, my mind is a blank, grasping at fog that fills the dark void in my head. But never fear, I can always go back and look at my blog history for December 2013 and remember all the little details of our trip to Turkey that I otherwise would have forgotten forever.

A few weeks ago we were talking with friends about babies eating lemons and making faces and it reminded me that Camille used to LOVE lemons. It was one of the only things that would keep her quiet. I knew I put it on my blog somewhere so I went back through my mental file: post evac, at my mom’s house . . . I can picture Camille sucking on a lemon while lying on the floor, that would have been right before we flew to Oman, so start looking in March of 2011. . . bingo! I know you’re all dying to see lemon-sucking Camille, so here’s a direct link: lemons! and more lemons!

In the spirit of minor splices of life becoming priceless memories someday, I had to put this (very short) story here: Carter came home from school this week, bounding into the room where I was reading. “Mom! I learned to read a spinny clock today! I taught myself! Each of the numbers around the clock equals 5 minutes!” I gave him the requisite “Yay! That’s great!” while thinking to myself, “You didn’t know how to tell time on a regular clock before? #awesomehomeschoolmom” In my defense, the boy COULD NOT read and I’m positive that any spare minute of instruction I had was dedicated to reading with him. Technically he would sound out words and I would fall asleep. We even started doing reading lessons in my bed because I gave up pretending to stay awake. It took 2 years post homeschooling and several teachers before he was finally reading fluently so I feel somewhat vindicated. And now he can read a “spinny clock.” Hallelujah.

The other funny story was from this morning. Josie told me that Camille came downstairs and said, “My mom said I can have candy. But don’t ask her.” I came into the kitchen to see Camille eating a bowl of candy, so clearly those tactics are working for her, but she’s going to have to get a bit more clever than that once she no longer has Josie under her spell.

On an unrelated note, one of the high school students that went on the trip to Uganda with Calvin made this amazing video (with a GoPro camera) so you can see a bit of what they saw. He made it as a project for school, so it doesn’t explain the mission of True Impact Ministries as a faith based organization, but it’s a fantastic glimpse of what they were doing there.

Mosaic

Because I need another hobby like I need a poke in the eye with a sharp stick . . .

I went to a mosaic class with a group of friends a few Saturdays ago. You pick a wooden shape ahead of time and upon arrival, you start with a blank board. Mine is the shape of a door/archway like we see all over here in Bahrain. Other options are camels, Bahraini teapots, palm tree, hearts, a mosque, and more. 

These two long tables are FILLED with jars of glass and ceramic tiles (and there’s a third table that’s not pictured). Me, a blank canvas, and 5 hours to create = heaven. Having a time crunch was actually a good thing for me because I didn’t have time to second guess my choices. I knew I wanted to do a door, so I found various light brown tiles and some dark ones to mimic the ironwork of the traditional styles. I thought we’d be using a super special adhesive on the tiles: nope! Just Elmer’s glue. You can see my glue outline in the top photo as I’m working on the sun. 
I love this camel with the bejeweled blanket over his hump
All my blank spaces are filled in! You want to lay the tiles with a small amount of space between them to make room for the grout (which is what actually holds the tiles in place eventually). I used a lot of square tiles for the door, but for the arch and the border, I had to use the tile cutters. They look like a set of pliers with two blades on the ends (red handles in photo), but the action is more of a snapping (like a nut-cracker) than a slicing or cutting. Aside from making sure that tile fragments don’t go flying across the table, it’s pretty easy. Some people were getting amazingly straight cuts, but mine all seemed to be curved or uneven. All day long I joked that it was totally the tool’s fault, but at the end of the day someone picked mine up to use it and said, “Oh, this one doesn’t work right!” So maybe my cut tiles would look straight and professional if I hadn’t had a broken cutter. Stay tuned for that update . . .

We worked from 10am until 3pm almost non-stop. The pieces are much bigger in person than they look in the photos and it’s a lot of decisions to make: color choices, shapes of tile/layout, size of pieces, finding the last few of one color to make your design work, etc. Around 1pm, the lady running the class served us all an excellent lunch, but I had to hurry up and get back to the tiles. (above are an elephant, camel, and coffee/tea pot)

By 3pm everyone has to be finished gluing so the tiles have a chance to set before applying the grout. We take about 30 minutes to sort all the leftover tiles that were pulled out throughout the course of the morning. Try finding the one jar with the metallic brownish gold tiles in the middle of a sea of glass! 
Half of the fun was walking around and seeing what other people did with the same tiles or how two camels, lizards, or mosques end up looking completely different. 

I love the reddish lizard that is at the top next to my door. You can’t tell from the photo, but it’s a bronzy gold and red glass that shimmers in the light. The bottom square one is a tree of life design that the woman sketched out herself. 

On the left is my friend’s mother/baby piece. She’s going to put a baby photo inside the heart and hang it as a frame.

After the glue is set, it’s time to apply the grout. Do not use this photo as an example for all of your future tiling projects. It’s too dry and thick of an application. 

The grout is pressed into every single crevice and then gently wiped off the top with a damp sponge. It seems like it is NEVER going to come clean. Wipe, rinse the rag, wring it out, wipe some more. 

Finally the tiles begin peeking through and the pieces are set outside to dry completely. 

After it’s completely dry, the individual tiles have to be polished with a soft rag to remove the haze from the clay. 
 
At home and on display!
It was so much fun, I already booked myself for another class. Carter and I are going to spend this Saturday making camels. 
And because no post is complete without a funny picture of Camille . . . 

Brunchings and Munchings

It’s 110 today. She’s wearing a sweatshirt, leggings, and a scarf to church. I’ve stopped asking “why?”
As part of the marathon of goodbyes, a group of friends from our Bible study group did a Friday brunch together. For some, it was their first time experiencing the wonders of a Bahraini brunch. 

This is a view of 1/8th of the dessert table — 3 or 4 levels, 365 degrees. That doesn’t include the ice cream and crepe station, the chocolate fountain, or the cotton candy machine. 

Exotic fruits — mangosteen (not related to mangos), passionfruit, rambutan, dragonfruit and some others. 

Sushi and sashimi — I ate my fill of the tuna and salmon sashimi. Mmmmm. 

The dedicated cheese room — 365 degrees of cheese. Brie, gorgonzola, aged parmesan, and a bunch of others. 

Lobster tails, crab claws and oysters

I didn’t have any oysters or mussels, but I did have 1/2 of a lobster tail. I liked the ceviche (raw fish cooked in lime juice) better. That was on a beautiful table that I neglected to get a photo of. Grilled fennel and eggplant and steak tartare were also highlights from that table. 

I didn’t do this table, but you can pick your fresh fish or cuts of meat and whichever additions you like (vegetables, noodles, etc) and have the chef prepare them any way you like — wok fried and thai style (with a spicy coconut sauce) both looked good. 

Fresh juices: orange, carrot, watermelon and sweet melon. Both the watermelon and orange juice were delicious. 

I think this was my 3rd course (after eating part of my plate I realized I should take a photo and email it to Josh). Sushi rolls and sashimi salmon at the top, tempura eggplant, fruit salad, fresh mozzarella salad with arugula, mongolian beef and fried camembert cheese. The cheese bites are incredible. 

Chocolate eclair, hazelnut mousse, tiramisu, and fresh raspberries (that I pirated from of the top of another dessert).

After we had eaten our fill, the girls in our group made a trip over to the henna artist and she quickly decorated us. 
Brunch is a process — eat and drink and chat from 12:30 to 4:30. If you drink alcohol, you definitely get your money’s worth. I only had one glass of champagne, but between that, my sushi, lobster, cappuccino, berries, and everything else, I’m sure I at least broke even. Some people brunch (and binge drink) every weekend, but we have to save some money for Italy and make sure we don’t leave Bahrain twice as large as when we arrived! 

Little fish

A week ago she wouldn’t even put her face in the water, but twice a day swimming has gotten her really comfortable, really quickly. 
I couldn’t believe she was holding her breath and putting her face in the water. 
No choking or sputtering! She had been insisting that she did not want to do swimming lessons again this year and I was inclined to agree with her. I didn’t want to sit out in the heat every afternoon for two week while she cried and refused to let go of the wall. (Yes mom, I realize it’s payback for Head Royce.) Now she keeps saying she’s going to show her swimming teacher how she can put her face in. I’ve heard that one before…
Round two today — after school with the boys. She wouldn’t jump in with me, but she was showing off for her brothers. Caleb says he taught her to jump in and swim. I’d love to know his secret! 

She’s working on her belly flops. She comes up laughing and saying, “it tickles my tummy!”
All is well here. Josh is still away with the marines. Between researching Italy, pet sitting for friends leaving the island, juggling the kids’ stuff and going through a million “goodbyes” I’ve had less time than usual to blog. I haven’t abandoned it though. Still plugging along when I can!