Barrett's Art Party

Last week was Barrett's 6th birthday!  We put off a family celebration until Daddy was back in town from Houston and just celebrated all week long with friends and other activities.  The big party day was on Tuesday after school.  Bear is always easy going when it comes to opinions. He's not demanding and usually doesn't mind just tagging along with whatever everyone is doing.  But for a birthday, you should have some opinions!  We finally landed on something he was excited about.  He LOVES art at school and keeps bringing home the most beautiful little masterpieces.  So we decided to have an art party. Tried to keep things from being a rainbow or girl looking party and I think it was a success. We kept the numbers down and had the best time.  Everyone invited stayed really interested and seemed to enjoy it.  Thank goodness I had some extra helping hands to make things possible!

 First up a little outdoor painting

 Smocks are a good idea but seriously...its just impossible for little boys to keep paint off clothes and faces.

 Beautiful art work by Brooks, Christoph and Barrett

 Barrett and his best bud Cres

One of my friends from church, Whitney is an incredible artist.  She just started a business here in Doha, so I asked her to come help with the party. She was very excited for us to be her very first kids' party.  She was so great with the kids and obviously we had a wide range of talent :)  She brought everything for the canvas painting and I didn't have to worry about any details. 

 Gabi

 While the girls painted, the boys worked on plates with permanent/Sharpie marker.  This was a Pinterest idea which FAILED!!  I baked the plates after the party and the marker still washed and smeared off. Boo!  But still a fun activity.  Just don't eat on the plate. 

 

We took a little break to have a snack. 

Birthday Boy!

 

Just about a week before Barrett's birthday he came home from school with these 2 pieces of art!  I was thrilled to have a centerpiece for his party and pretty impressed with kindergarten art from little Bear.  

Morgie and Georgie

 Girls had their turn at the plates.

 Then the boys had their turn with Mrs. Whitney!

 

 Singing happy birthday! Paint pallet mini cupcakes for everyone.

 The Masterpieces!!

Presents! 

Giving some thank you hugs to Mrs. Gena for the remote control car.  She was such a little worker bee at the party too!  So thankful! 

 

I can't miss the mark of Barrett taking the initiative to cut his own hair.  Its pretty obvious in every picture.  But we love him just the same...especially Georgia!  

 Paintbrush rice crispy treats for the taking and eating!

 Party favors

 Brooks snapped this pic of me and little Bear.  So incredibly thankful to be blessed by such a sweet spirited thing.  We had a great afternoon celebrating such a special gift God's given our family!

Farewell to Morgan

Last weekend I helped host a little going away party for our sweet friend Morgan.  She lived here about 18 months just after graduating from Auburn and was a blessing to us in so many ways.  She worked on her masters and was a full time sub at ASD while living with her parents (our dear friends) Gena and Dan. Didn't take long for us to snatch her up as our number one babysitter since they live just a few doors down!  She has been a precious part of our lives in so many ways.  Once again blessed by a friendship that I wasn't looking for.  She's headed back to Texas to get married and live in Dallas.  So excited we'll be seeing her in both Houston and Dallas in the near future! 

Gena (Morgan's mom) and I put together a spread that included food and decor from her recent foreign experiences and of course her homeland.  Morgan finished her education degree by student teaching in Greece so we served up typical Greek appetizers and of course Greek salad.  And just around the corner from those options was a full spread of Arabic food from this region including shwarmas, hummos, and tabouli.

 

And of course the main attraction was a little Texas grub.  Beef sliders and Nacho bar.  We aren't the only family that snagged Morgan for babysitting. She was also in high demand for tutoring so she had a big little people fan club!

 And she ALWAYS takes the time to make the little people feel special wherever she is.  

What a great mama she'll be one day!

 After the party (looking a little worn out) but so so thankful for this sweet girl and our time with her in Doha!  We'll miss her so much but can't wait to see what's just around the corner.  We love your Morgie!

 

Singing Dunes

Seems like we've been out to the Singing Dunes 100 times in the last 5 years.  But it never gets old.

Can you see tiny Barrett climbing the monster dune?

 Brooks at the top!

 And the ladies head up...including little Georgia. 

 

They made it! 

 Boys!

 Just hangin' with Morgan! She's such a sweetheart to always love on these little monkeys!

 After we enjoyed Fudd's grilled burgers. I introduced everyone to the new and improved Smore! Not Hersheys but Reeces!  Yes...you've missed out!

Traci and Teresa licking their chops!

 Barrett with his deliciousness!

 While we were at the Singing Dunes Nick headed to the Inland Sea for the Men's retreat at our church.  

Pretty sweet view

 Camp!

Trophy Day!

We finished up baseball season strong.  It was a pretty hefty commitment for our family.  Daddy coached both of the boys teams as well as coordinating the T-ball league.  He did such a great job with kids and with parents.  The boys changed and improved so much.  It was a lot of fun to watch.  

Barrett's T-ball team celebrated with a donut party, bounce houses and trophies! 

It was so much fun to play with our best buddies Cres and Coach Brad

Great job Mud Cats!  While it was a pretty comical and entertaining season as usual with T-ball...I'm  happy to put it behind us.

 Just after Barrett's trophy party we headed over to the big boy fields where Brooks finished up his last game with the Rockies.

 He was so excited to get the game ball.

 What a fun experience to watch these boys step it up and truly learn the game.  Coach Nick and Coach Bobby were so patient with these boys! It takes a special man to coach 7 and 8 year olds.

 

Virtual Day!

We recently had a virtual school day at ASD, which is basically a fire drill where the campus isn't accessible and students do their school work from home via the internet and school websites.  There were a few complaints but it obviously makes a lot of sense considering the region we live in and the unknown possibilities.
A few years ago schools were shut down for weeks in Qatar because of the Swine flu outbreak.  So this drill could really be helpful in the future when kids need to get their work done during unusual circumstances.

So we had the day off of actually going to school but still had some work to do.  And why not play before actually doing what you're supposed to!! 

We met our Doha cousins at the Sheraton park for all kinds of fun. 

  After we played at the park, the kids rode their bikes around the corniche so we could catch a ride on the dhow boat.  I love this picture!  Its so Doha for so many reasons. 

On the boat 

 Daddy's office in the background, the green and white building with on the right.

 My Doha sistas!

 We worked up quite the appetite and headed to the souq for lunch!

 

Georgie and Emmy

  

Caught a glimpse of the camels on our way back to the car. 

Then we did the boring stuff...school! 

Lets just say that hour of homeschooling will last me for a lifetime.  I was about to hurt someone! One boy on the laptop, the other on the desktop, both demanding the life out of me with questions I couldn't even help them with.  Whew, I'm glad I'm not a student anymore. Also glad they have a daddy they can ask b/c I'm seriously O.U.T. on helping with school work.  

Brooks had 4 assignments.  Here he's doing a one for music.

 Barrett had 3 assignments. All which included a video and then an activity for them to return the next day at school.  Not only did they have to turn in their work. The teachers could monitor who was logged in or not that day.  Way to much pressure for me!  I'll happily put them on the bus and send them to get some good school the old fashioned way! All respect goes to the homeschooling mama!