Wow, It's Wednesday.....

and I have 3 days of home schooling behind me. RVIS has set up links on there website to get homework for the next three weeks. I'm afraid to look at weeks 2 & 3 after starting week 1. What's all the fuss you may ask well for week 1 Cody must do the following:

Week 1

Practice keyboarding skills (kids.learn2type.com) 20 min/day
Keep daily journal
Math (mathletics.com) 1 hr/day
Science - documentary project (Inventor). Present to class.
Social Studies - (timeforkids.com) select article of interest & write report.
Reading - (raz-kids.com) read a book online (1 book a day); complete quiz. Read an additional 20 min (evening) and keep a daily reading log.

Today I'm going to the library to get Cody's books for his science project. Each student will narrate a filmstip about their inventor. So he must construct his filmstip panels by using a tissue box, construction paper etc. I will post pictures once the project is complete.

I'm enjoying my time with the Codeman! He is an awesome student! Earlier this week we made luminaries for Halloween. I will post the pictures later.

Milard has found himself a new Helper!

Devin is such a great helper! Don't get me wrong he enjoys getting into things and making a mess. However, when Milard is here he's a good helper! Milard is such a good sport he just goes with the flow. We hired Milard to clean my car and do a little cleaning inside. He is such an awesome person! He has a son that is a little older than Devin and hasn't seen him since he was born. He is planning a trip to see his family next year.

Enjoying the Pool

H1N1 - NO SCHOOL

In order to contain the H1N1 virus (swine flu) the Minister of Education and Health made a decision to close all schools in Bahrain. http://www.gulf-daily-news.com/newsdetails.aspx?storyid=260145  Riffa Views International School will be affected!  From this article (Gulf Daily News) Cody will be out of school until October 18th. Wow, I'm still in shock and a little frustrated! I realize that there has been a couple of cases in Bahrain however; our kids will be exposed while going to the mall, store, swimming pool, restaurants, etc. I'm not sure this is the solution. The Faculty will meet to develop ways to create home/school connections to assist families in maintaining student skills. It seems to me that I will be doing some home schooling for a month or so. Meanwhile, the students will makeup this time by starting school at 7:45 versus 8:00 a.m., two (2) days will be eliminated from spring break, all four (4) faculty improvement days (1/2 days) will be removed from the calendar and the end of the school year will be extended by four (4) days! To RVIS defense they were not involved in this decision (No School). Riffa is required to abide by the decisions made by the ministries that pertain to "private schools". In my opinion, this virus has been contained!!

Please feel free to leave a message of encouragement and/or an opinion!!!        

Ramadan

Ramadan http://en/wikipedia.org/wiki/ramadan a time of fasting and praying for the Muslim community. During this time all restaurants/coffee shops are closed during the day. Ramadan hours for restaurants vary they normally open around 5ish (depending when the sun sets) close around 3 a.m. During this time we are not allowed to eat, drink or chew gum in public. I have a friend (Hannah) that is Muslim and she said that the Kids don't start fasting until they are 11 years old. However, there are a few of Cody's classmates that do fast (9yrs-10yrs old). Those students that fast go into the prayer room during lunch and pray. Because of Ramadan the school hours are from 9a.m. until 2p.m. However, this will end on Sunday. They will go to regular school hours 8a.m - 3p.m.

Saturday will be the end of Ramadan and because of this Cody will have a long weekend. There will be no school from Sunday thru Tuesday. Jeremy has taken Sunday off. Yeah! We have plans to join some of our friends for an evening of water slides (Lost Paradise). Should be fun. Cody is looking forward to it and has invited two of his friends. The water park will be open until midnight. I'm not sure if J and I will be able to stay awake. We will see.....

Devin's 1st Haircut

All done....Good Job, Devin!

No crying!

Hang in there....

Poor Devin he dosen't know what he is getting into....

Devin got his first haircut the week we got back from Texas! The Barber did a good job considering he didn't know English. There was a little girl (my guess 7 yrs old) next to him getting her hair dyed. Devin no longer looks like a baby. He's a big boy, now! However, he is still nursing. Hopefully, I will be able to wing him off before he starts school.

Faith & Family Night at the Astros Game

MercyMe: I Can Only Imagine

Crowd: Listening to Lance Berkman's testimony!

Sophia taking her nap during the concert.


Devin enjoyed listening & dancing to the music!


Final Score: Astros 4 Diamondbacks 2

Go Astros Go

We were invited to join the Cruz Family for a day of excitement. It was Faith & Family Night at the Astros game. We went to a concert featuring MercyMe their the Christian group that sings one of my favorite songs: I Can Only Imagine. The group has several other good songs. I've tried to download the video but couldn't. Once I master it I will post. After the concert Lance Berkman gave his testimony. It was very interesting and inspiring! Than it was time for some baseball. Cody enjoyed trying to catch home runs during batting practice. Devin was so fascinated by the crowd and the music. All in all he was very good. The Astros won 4 - 2.

Thanks Cruz Family for such an awesome day!

Miniature Golf

Cody & Jon Carlos (Nephew)

Going for the hole in one....

Cool

Carlos doesn't know what to think...

should I run or continue the game?

Devin demanding a turn...

Enjoying the ride!

Watch out, Guys!!

First Hole (Par 3)



On a rainy day in Kingwood, Tx what do you do? Play a couple of rounds of miniature golf, play video games and eat sour skittles. Carlos was such a big help with Devin. Cody enjoyed his company very much! Thank you, Carlos! We miss you very very much and Love you!

Girls Night Out

Happy Happy Birthday Ladies!!

Celebrating Yolanda & Rachelle's Birthday
Steel Magnolias & Dinner
Spring & Shannon
Wendy, Maria & Liz

Yolanda opening her presents:

James Avery Charm: Live, Laugh & Love

Rachelle opening her birthday gifts!

Enjoying dinner at the first "green" restaurant in Houston!

We all enjoyed a "girls night out" to celebrate Yolanda & Rachelle's Birthday! We enjoyed the play Steel Magnolias and an early dinner. We had such a great time. It was just like the movie your emotions went from being sad to laughing! It's hard to beat wonderful friends, a great play and an awesome dinner!

Happy Birthday, Papaw!

Happy Birthday, Papaw!

Thank U for being such a good sport.

Yummy, ice cream cake.

Happy Birthday to you and many more....

A Birthday kiss from "Magic Girl"

Celebrating Devin's & Papaw's Birthday

Birthday Dinner: Brisket, Pinto Beans, Potato Salad

Pico and ice cream cake.

For Papaw's Birthday Dinner Jeremy grilled a brisket. It was so delicious. Unfortunately, we can't get brisket here in Bahrain. So we made up for it while we were home. We had brisket for both Devin's Birthday Party and Papaw's. Just writing about it makes me hungry. We always eat very good when Papaw and Grammie visit. Grammie made her infamous meatloaf and it was so good! Happy Birthday, Papaw! We love and miss you guys!

Stella Mae's Baby Shower - Parents: Cliff & Zena

"Somebody in Three Rivers, Tx LOVES ME"

Priceless!

Grandma Stella, Elva, Zena, Melissa & Mamita (Elva's Mom)

Nana & Sophia - Sweet

Nana & Grandma Stella a.k.a GiGi

Stella, Mae, Elva, Mamita, Zina and Zina's Mom

Wow, it's been so long since I've downloaded pictures to our blog I forgot the steps. I should have downloaded the picture I wanted first last. Oh well, enjoy.

One of our first outings back home was to Stella Mae's Baby Shower held at Spring Creek -1960 location (Yummy)! I was so touched to hear that Cliff & Zena had decided to name the baby after our Grandmother Stella. The middle name Mae is also after Zena's Grandmother. Precious! This will be Cliff & Elva's first Granddaughter. They have two grandson's Caleb & Kobe. We are all so excited and can't wait to meet Stella Mae.