Visitors in Al Ain

We have K's brother and family staying with us right now. The kids are on easter hols and we are chillin out together. We have been to the park and the pool and chatted and read books and generally relaxed. It's been wonderful. I have a tma due; when do I not? and I am supposed to be taking today to write it while they visit Dubai but I have stalled again and am really too tired after a lousy night's sleep last night. Poor K is working and has not been able to hang out with us much. He is working really hard right now and I can't wait for the inspections to be over and us to finally get a little time together.

Kiki just asked me how to spell Alex as she was drawing a picture of Lexy and she wrote it beautifully. Her drawings are great too. She is such a little cutie but she is so bossy and manages to have everyone running to her beck and call. She now has mastered the DVD remote and pauses at will while she goes to get things, that is of course if she has not commanded someone else to get her things for her. If you ask any of the other kids why they give into her they just claim it's easier that way. She even had her cousins under her spell this week. TJ sticks up to her sometimes but even he gives in a lot. Apparently she is so compliant and lovely at school and never bosses her friends around. It's reassuring to know she can be nice when seh wants to.

More bike pics

Bikes

A year or so ago we all had bikes, the cost of shipping them was greater than the cost of buying new ones. This was my rationale for leaving pretty much everything we owned in England.
TV it'll cost more to ship it,
books- really heavy will we really read them again, lets get some new ones
slow cooker it's ten years old and the handle has fallen off- we'll get a new one.
That was how we ended up starting from scratch in a new country, what I didn't really think through was that if I couldn't afford to ship it, I also could not afford to just replace everything on day one.

All that to say one year after arriving I finally replaced the kids bikes. We are going to try and use them as much as possible in the next three months or so before it gets too hot.
How to go for a bike ride in the UAE;
First take two SUV's and load bikes into back. No way will five bikes fit in one.-we have tried.
Drive to park, unload bikes and cycle until midday. Load up bikes into cars and drive home.
Here is TJ riding his bike without stabilisers for the first time.

Blogging as procrastination

I really should be doing other things. I have my first assignment due for my OU course, dishes in the sink and washing to be put away and yet here I am. Inspired by an article on women bloggers in the times and knowing how much I enjoy reading about other peoples lives on their blogs I thought I'd give it a go.
I will probably blog mostly about my kids, they take up most of my brain space most days. There are four of them Lexy,Clo, TJ and Kiki. Lexy is educated at home, Clo is about to become home educated, TJ and Kiki are at an international school. I have a split personality between PTA mum and a more radical school is an unnecessary imposition on our lives type mum. If good parenting requires consistency my kids are out of luck.
Home is Al Ain, UAE. Well home is wherever we as a family are and this is where we are right now. K is my wonderful husband and is a schools advisor as well as a great maker of cups of tea.
I may write a little about life here in Al Ain but mostly the culture shock has worn off and it all feels rather normal now.
So if you want to read another mummy blogger chatting about her kids this is the blog for you. Travel, Culture and politics not so much.