A Date with All of Us...

Dada leaves in a day in a half and today was our last day with everyone all together all day. We relaxed for half of the day and we hung out at City Stars Mall for the rest of the day! We ate at On The Border, ate ice cream, drank coffee at Starbucks, window shopped, ran around in the air conditioning, and toy shopped at Toys R Us. We were exhausted when we were all done! All children are in bed at the moment and it took them about 1 minute to go to sleep. What a great day!

A little Starbucks...
Hollywood...

Awww...I love him...You can't even tell he had a terrible eye 2 days ago!
Awww...I love him, too!
Craziness...

Spending Time with some local Pastors...

Matt's dad, Don, got to spend some time with some local pastors during his visit. He loved his time with them and loved seeing their committment and desire to learn more. Many of these pastors have a very difficult life. For several days they were fed spiritually and physically!

Meredith's Date Night with Dada...

Dada said when he arrived, "If I don't do anything else on this trip, the one thing I HAVE to do is take Meredith on a date." So, that's exactly what the two of them did on his second night here. They enjoyed their time at the City Star's Mall. They stuffed themselves at Macaroni Grill, walked around to try to make more room for dessert, and then had ice cream at a cafe in the mall! They both came back with huge smiles on their faces! Such sweet memories!!

Polka Dot World...

After we opened all of our gifts from Dada and Mimi we started to work on the polka dot wall. Remember our midnight painting experience about a month ago?? Well, we ended up ordering pink dots to go on Meredith's wall. We had a lot of fun applying them to the wall...we think it looks so cool while Matt thinks it is a little "much." Even though he thinks that, he is always willing to let us do anything we want around here for decor...such a great husband!

Dada is Here Again!!

Dada arrived yesterday to visit us again...and he came packed out with presents from he and Mimi!!! We enjoyed our first day with him by just visiting, playing with our new toys and trying on new clothes. Stacey also received her new computer that Matt so sweetly bought for her! He's such a great guy!

Check back tomorow...we have date night pics and Meredith's finished room pics to show you!

Madison's Arabic....

Madison received a call today from one of her friends from her Arabic pre-school. The little girl misses having Madison around and just HAD to talk to her. The great thing about it is that she only speaks Arabic...so, Madison is made to use her Arabic! We heard her on the phone..it made our hearts so happy to hear her speak. The teachers at the pre-school said she only used Arabic at the pre-school but she would never really use it in front of us. We had to capture some of the conversation on video for you to hear. (The phone call came while she was getting out of the shower so just nevermind her naked self in her towel! :)

Funny Pharoah Land Moments..No. 5 and 6

I promise I could write one of these funny moments every day...but I just don't have the time!!! Here are two for ya!

Madison has just started kindergarten so she and Matthew enjoy (most of the time) catching up after school. This is how the conversation went over their after school snacks yesterday:

Matthew Ray(in tears): MOM!! Madison said I was made out of dirt! I am NOT made out of dirt!

Madison: No, it's the sand thing...you know mom...the sand/dirt thing!??

Matthew Ray: I AM NOT MADE OUT OF DIRT!!!!

Madison: Yes, you are made out of dirt and I am made out of this thing right here (pushing her side out and pointing to her ribs)....right mom? You remember the story, don't you??

Matthew Ray: It is not true! I am not DIRT!

Madison: Yes, you are!!! My teacher said so!

No. 6
Madison has been informing us for the last several months that when she is older she is NOT marrying anyone and she is NOT having a baby. When asked why she just states that she wants her own stuff and her own house...to sum it up...she doesn't want to share! And then the thought of a baby just sends her over the edge...no baby is coming out of her body!!! So, I was walking with her in the street and we were discussing this topic once again:

Madison: Mom, I am going to have lots of money when I grow up. I am going to buy whatever I want and whenever I want!

Me: Well, you better marry someone really rich or have a really good job!

Madison: Remember mom, I AM NOT MARRYING ANYONE!! So, I will have a good job...what is a good job??

Me: Well, you could be a doctor or a nurse or you could be a business woman I guess..

Madison: I know what I will be! I want to own my own store! I am going to sell toys! And you know what?? I can save the toys I have now and then I won't have to buy new ones to get started in my store! I can just start selling those and then I will have money to start my new store!

Since this conversation, she is stuck on this toy store business. She and Matthew Ray have now decided that they will both have toy stores...She will carry boy toys and he will carry girl toys...and then each will have a place to shop for what they want!!:)

Patrick, Liz and their Room Decor...

Patrick and Liz are here this week. We found a great deal at a nearby hotel for them. It's pretty nice..I think...well, the shower is not the greatest and they have to have the ash tray, coasters and a brush to hold the curtains down so the air conditioner cools the room...but hey, TIE..This is Egypt! :) The greatest part of their room has been the cleaning lady's personal touch to their bed! This takes talent!!!



Swan and Heart towels!! How romantic!

A Little Cooking and Karate Chopping...

Have I ever said on this blog before....WE HAVE AMAZING FRIENDS!!! Patrick and Liz came to visit here and brought a suitcase full of goodies from our friends in Pensacola...and again...they REALLY out-did themselves! We got SO much stuff...cookie and muffin mixes, vitamins, sweets like crazy, clothes, jackets, oatmeal, goldfish, cereal bars, books, new Crocs for Matt, swimsuits, coffee (Matt's favorite) and CREAMER (my favorite)! YIPPY! We are giddy this morning! Thank you so much guys! You always keep us stocked up! BTW...Meredith had a mini-meltdown this past week about missing Wal-mart and Sonic...she was SO excited to see a Wal-mart plastic sack in the suitcase..it's amazing what a small thing like a plastic sack can do for our present emotional state!:)

Matthew Ray has been asking for a karate suit for several months. Gina Hodges MADE him one with all of the belts to go with it! He has been chopping everything today! :)

Madison and Meredith got matching aprons with oven mits to match...They helped cook pancakes for breakfast this morning:

Matthew Ray insisted on sleeping in his new karate suit!

Madison's First Day of Kindergarten! WOW!

Madison's teacher who said she had a WONDERFUL first day!

Well, at least two of our children had happier faces on this morning before school! Meredith was so glad to get back to her "social atomosphere" and Madison was pumped about her first day of kindergarten! As for little Matthew Ray...just about as pitiful as yesterday's shots. Poor guy...it was hard for him to see his sister go to "big school" without him. We were going to send him to his regular pre-school but we just didn't have the heart to today..maybe tomorrow! :) This is not Meredith's teacher this year but she is our really good friend who is also teaching at the school. Isn't she cute? She's single, ya'll!:)

When Madison came home she was full of new rules and information! Here's just a few things she enlightened us with...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

It's Tough Growing UP :(

What kind of people enjoy capturing "torture moments" of their kids? Well, I guess we do but we have a good reason...you see, we took Meredith's picture 7 years ago when she had her kindergarten shots and it is in her scrapbook. Now that I use my blog for my scrapbooking it was A MUST to add Madison's in! (side note: Have you heard of blurb.com? Thanks to our really smart friend, Ashli, we discovered it! It is a free downloadable program that turns your blog into a book. We just recently turned a whole year of memories into a thin book straight from our blog! It was sooo easy, quick and only cost me around $50 for a 120 page book!)

Anyhoo, we felt we had to record the same events with Madison to our new way of scrapbooking. We discovered at the doctor that all three kids were due for some shots! YIKES!! If you are saddened by pitiful faces you may want to stop now before scrolling down to see pics!:) Tomorrow we should have happy pictures of Madison's first day of kindergarten!

Meredith is not really happy here. We were encouraging her to stay strong for her brother and sister who were next in line!


Madison was really brave. She wanted to make sure the doctor knew that she wanted to watch the needle go in...no suprises for her!



He made me so sad!




When it was all over we headed for Chili's to play on their outside playground and got some PROMISED ice-cream! It made it all better!

He's Too Sweet...

Matthew Ray is such a sweet little boy. We are filled with joy when we see his little face! He has such a tender heart, is such a sweet helper, is full of affection, has a giving spirit, and is going to be a CLASS CLOWN for sure!!! These two moments capture what we get to enjoy about him every day!





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Stink!!!! I Forgot My Camera!!!

I cannot believe I left my camera at home last night! We were invited to eat at some friend's home last night. We met them about a year ago and have seen them from time to time but have never been in their home. We arrived at a reasonable supper time around 7ish and were worried because we were a little late....

When we first arrived I went to take a quick potty break. After returning to the living room I found a very strange look on Matt's face. I knew something was up but had no idea what was in store for the evening. The woman of the house soon left the room and Matt said in a very low tone, "We are having pigeon for supper!" I whispered back, "What!? I can't eat pigeon!" Meredith was there with us and she repeated, "I can't eat pigeon!" He kindly instructed us that we WOULD be eating pigeon, that we WOULD NOT be making the faces that we were currently making and that we would smile about it! :)

I don't know why we were worried about arriving late... The husband arrived home from work at around 8:30 (which is really the regular Egyptian time for supper) and we sat down to eat. I should have saved all of my worrying for what I was about to eat! Our menu: Pigeon (one for each person), mashy (stuffed zucchini), mululhaya (slimey green soup), refrigerated green beans with onions, baboganooh (eggplant dip), bird's tongue soup (no, it is not really bird's tongue!) and flat bread.

Now to be sure I have consumed foods more disgusting than pigeon. To be honest, its not bad. It tastes like greasy chicken meat and mixed with rice and an assortment of other items is hardly recognizable in the pallet. What was over the line was when Matt ate the brain. Our host suggested that it was delicious and proceeded to show us how to remove the skull and extract the soft grey matter. Before we knew it Matt had popped one in and swallowed it down!!! At that point Meredith and I forgot all about the faces we were NOT supposed to be making!!!

After dinner they told us that we were having mangos for dessert. It is the favorite fruit here this time of year and is considered very special. BUT I REALLY don't like Mangos...so, for me choking down the mango was even more difficult than eating the pigeon!

All in all it was a very enjoyable, interesting, cultural learning, encouraging, and funny evening....I just wish I had had my camera!!!

Needless to say, upon our return home, Matt promptly brushed, flossed, and brushed again.:):):)

Meredith's Movie Party! She's 12 YA'LL!!!

Today is Meredith's 12th birthday! She had several of her friends over last night for a pizza/cake/ice cream/popcorn/coke movie party. It is not cultural here to have "sleepovers" and Egyptians really don't understand why you would ever sleep at someone else's house. But they can come and stay until really, really late and that is not problem at all! Two of her friends were able to spend the night with us...they are so sweet and we had such a fun time! They stayed up until 3:30 and were awake again at 8:30...they watched a movie, played a little, and then made chocolate chip pancakes! It has been a very fun and special birthday for Meredith!





Here's a slide/movie of the evening's events complete with a mini-fashion show at the end!

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

The beginning of the Pre-teen Year!!!

This coming Thursday is Meredith's 12th birthday! She is quite the young lady...we are going to have to put a lock on our door and throw away the key! We are so thankful for her in so many ways....her tender heart, teachable spirit, obedience, spirited personality, faith in Jesus, love for others and their needs, understanding of scripture, and her heart for ministry...she is an amazing daughter, friend, big sister and lover of Jesus! WE LOVE YOU MEREDITH AND ARE SO THANKFUL THAT JESUS GAVE YOU TO US AS A SPECIAL GIFT FROM HIM!!!
Stay tuned for the pics from the birthday bash we will be having on Wednesday night!!

Kinda Funny Pharoah Land Moments...No. 6..In Cahoots for some Cake

Matthew Ray has a friend at his school named Lydia. Yesterday there was a birthday party at the school for one of their classmates. We were not aware of this party but as Matthew Ray returned home we were informed of how he felt about the day. Before I begin the story I must explain that Matthew Ray and Lydia are really sweet kids. They both have tender hearts and are usually mild, sweet and obeident. This is how the story unfolded:

Matthew Ray entered with a look of disgust and the first words out of his mouth were, "One of my teachers yelled at me today and I just yelled right back at her!"

Trying to keep my composure I asked, "Well, Matthew what in the world happened?"

"Me and Lydia wanted some more cake. The teacher left the room. There was a piece left...so we ate it. Then the teacher came back in the room and started yelling at us. She is mean. She put Lydia in punishment and I just started yelling at her!"

I asked, "Did you yell at her in English or Arabic?"

He said with a continued look of real disgust, "Some of it was in Arabic and some of it was in English!"

I really have never seen him this "put out." We have others in this house that get "put out" easily (ie..me) but he is never this way!

At this point, I really didn't know exactly how to proceed next because I wasn't sure of the entire story. I told him that we never yell at adults and just ignored the part about the cake. I immediately called Lydia's mom to see if she may could get some more details about the whole incident from Lydia. Lydia had not yet informed her mom of the incident but was not remorseful (and neither was Matthew Ray) about taking the cake. She told her mom that this teacher is always mean. Lydia's mom asked her what Matthew Ray yelled and this is the report:

"You're always mean! You always yell! You're always mad at us!!!"

Lydia's mom and I talked about it and decided that these two had just had their fill. I think they were just tired of the un-called-for treatment and decided that a little cake and some yelling back might do this teacher some good. We will both be talking to the school's owner this week and getting to the bottom of things.

Life with kids...whew..they really keep things hoppin!