Routine has hit

Shermy is now riding his bike without his training wheels like "that boy" who happens to be a neighbor of ours who is also 4 years old. He does have a name but my kids prefer to call him "that boy". Actually every kid we know is either named "that boy" or "that girl". Strange.



What else is going on in our lives? Since I've had my license I've had to sit in the car a lot. There is only one benefit to being in the car at least two hours a day. My feet don't hurt at the end of the day. We have no rugs on our floors and I tend to be barefoot when I am at home. It takes its toll since I've gained almost 30 pounds during this pregnancy. You may say "Wow!" but you don't need to. I always do it this way, and I'm always pleased with the result. Nice fat babies that don't give me long labors. (I like to trick myself into thinking that my large weight gain contributes to this, but in reality it probably doesn't.)



So, my life consists of driving the kids to school every morning. Can you believe that we leave the house at 6 AM? I feel bad for the kids sometimes but I've already seen the benefits of going to school. They really needed a break from me. I then come home and hang out with my baby, Cinci, and we pretend we're spiders. In fact, today we made the cutest little spiders out of egg cartons. So cute! We finished them up this evening with the older two. They had the best time placing them in different parts of the house to scare daddy when he got home. They put five just in our bedroom around dad's bed. Atticus embellished his spiders with red hourglass figures pasted to the backs.

After a few hours with Cinci we go back and pick up the two boys, do homework, play, ride bikes, whatever they want, have dinner, then read Halloween books, and then they are very ready to fall asleep.



Another thing we've enjoyed doing is going to the mountain. There are really no mountains in Qatar but there is an abundance of construction going on. That means piles and piles of chalky dust and rocks. There is a massive pile sort of near our home, so on the weekends we go there and let the kids climb the mountains. I guess you could call this our outdoor, nature time. I wish it were a little greener and more earthy, but its really the best we can do right now. It is kind of peaceful though. We live out in the boonies of Doha and there is plenty of space everywhere. So while the kids climb up the rock mountains, I weave around the mounds of dust and the resting steam shovels. There are bright lights in the distance where thousands of immigrant men from India and the Phillipines are working endlessly on some gigantic building of some sort, that, I doubt, will ever be filled. Who will ever come to Doha? That is the question. Will there ever be an event large enough to attract enough people to fill these buildings? Perhaps someday. But I won't be here. I hope I won't be here.



For now things are peaceful and pleasant in our lives. I enjoy my new sewing machine, the kids enjoy their bikes, and Jonathan enjoys his quality time with his good buddies Steve Colbert and Jerry Seinfeld.