Just today...

So... I haven't blogged in a while.  By a while, I mean since November.. Yeah, that's a while.  That's when life got ahead of me.  I wanted to blog, thought about it a lot, blogged in my mind, and then..didn't blog.  Then, it seemed like it had been too long, like I should blog retroactively..  and I waited.  Today, I just decided to pick up where we are.  I want to fill you in on all the happenings, and I will, but let me update you on now first.

So, here we are. The beginning of April.. how did that happen???  We have three days before A's Spring Break starts.  We're traveling for a few days, but will be back here for the last half of the week.  We're heading to Abu Dhabi (United Arab Emirates - our neighbor to the south-east).  It's a city that we considered heavily before moving here, so we're so excited to visit.  It will give us a chance to recharge a bit and spend some quality family time before some time apart. 




When we get back from our Spring Break travels, we have about five weeks before the kids and I travel to the States for a wedding on the East coast.  We decided it wouldn't be a good option for us to return to Doha and then fly to the States again for summer four weeks later, so A will stay here and finish out his school year (ending June 21), while the kids and I are visiting MI and IN.  We don't like being apart as a family, so I'm super looking forward to our time in UAE.  The kids are so excited to travel again too, they're becoming excellent little travelers.  M has been counting down on the calendar for some time and loves to update us several times a day on his personal countdown.  P just wants to take another airplane ride..the girl loves to fly!  Let's be honest, she loves that she can watch movie after movie without much interruption from me.. 

I've realized that the time until we leave for three months is getting very very short.  We're hoping to be moved into a larger apartment (three bedroom vs. two) over the summer, so things must again be packed up.  I've been dreading this.. I don't love packing all of our things, though it seems like I'm in a perpetual state of packing up or unpacking..  I gathered some boxes yesterday and thought I'd get started on our school "hallway" (yes, we need additional space).  I wasn't sure how the kids would react to seeing their things put into boxes again, so I quietly started with the Easter items.  They both ran out of their room...
P:  Are you packing?
Me:  Yup.. remember how we talked about moving into a bigger place?  Here in the same compound?
P:  YES!!! (squeal)  Can I pack too?? 
M:  ME TOOO!!!!!  I LOVE packing!
Me:  Um.. ok..  yeah.. you can help..

We spent the next several hours cleaning and packing school stuff, books, and some of their room..  I couldn't believe how much they've changed!  We're all excited about more space, just not the packing/unpacking..  And can I just say, that for being here less than a year, we've accumulated a lot of stuff.. Good grief!  IKEA is way too convenient...