Here is a picture of the newest member of our family, Whiskers (or Whiskey).

   I thought that I would post some pictures from our time in Thailand at Dream World with our very special Korean friends:

Here are some pictures from the museum. Rocks and the big one is a meteorite that fell in the desert!

Here's a picture of the boys riding camels on the beach! It was a great time!!

I want to thank Anissa and Bubbebobbie for awarding with an excellence award (2 months ago, sorry).

I finally figured out how to link without messing my blog up completely. So, in accepting this award, the receiver must award 10 people and it can include those who have already received it. The blogs I enjoy are: bubbebobbie, anissa, jimmie, kinley, jamin, harmonyartmom, EEEEmommy, LivingandLoving, bbullard, and skdenfeld.

     We had so much fun and we learned so much!!!

Here's the Floating Mosque:

We had a good adventure. We saw more camels than we ever wanted to see. Here's one that didn't want to get out of the road, but it gave me a great close up: 

 The game worked great for the kids. Mom and dad loved hearing the constant counting! LOL It was a great trip and very relaxing. We have a new view on this country now. For one thing, we realized that there is nothing to be scared of. It's like a ghost story expats tell to make things more exciting. I didn't see any Matawaa (religious police). We loved Riyadh. It's a modern city with an amazing history. We visited the National Museum and it was very enlightening. Here is a picture of the boys overlooking the Red Sea:

   We saw the white mosque. Our presence was quite the spectacle. Everyone was staring and some boys were staying stuff to us in arabic. A man even came up and asked us where we were from. That doesn't happen here very often. I think he had a bet with another man, because he turned to him right away. People don't usually think that we are American because we have 4 kids. Also, they have very blond hair. They usually think we are German. Swedish people are seen in a good light here right now because they are taking a lot of the Iraqi refugees. I think they thought we were Swedish. We will never know.

     I thought I would share this with you because I know that many Americans are confused about this and understandably considering the jargon that was used to explain the 9-11 attacks. And looking in the Webster dictionary or even on the internet can be confusing. I found this definition in a book called The Afghan. What I like about this one is that it explains everything very well. It states that Jihad is either a personal struggle within oneself to become a better Muslim (this is what most Muslims think of) or it means true holy war, armed struggle in the defence of Islam. But, this second part has very specific rules. True Jihad can only be declared by a legitimate Koranic authority. Osama Bin Laden is notorious for his lack of scholarship in this area and has never been considered an authority on the Koran. Saudi has even revoked his citizenship in 1994. Also, it is forbidden to attack and kill those who have done nothing to hurt you. It is forbidden to kill women and children. It is forbidden to take hostages, or to mistreat, torture, or kill prisoners. Another thing that my friends have told me is that hurting another Muslim hurts their chances of getting into heaven, even if it's indirect. For example, the swing on the playground was broken and my friend was very concerned about the kids. So, she pleaded with the compound supervisor by saying that another Muslim might get hurt. AQ has killed more Muslims than Christians or Jews. My Muslim friends compare Osama to Jim Jones. His group takes children who have been orphaned or people who are truly lost and angry and homeless in Palestine and convince them that they are able to take control and do something great with their life by dying in the name of Allah.

     Before I came here, I felt that Muslims were good people, but that Mohammed must have been a bad leader and very violent. I haven't completely changed my mind about this because I haven't done enough research. But, I have been convinced that he was a very intelligent man and a lot of his teachings were good. For example, at the time, people only wanted sons and were burying baby girls alive. Mohammed told them that daughters can carry them up to heaven when they die. He also encouraged people to take care of their neighbors and told them that drinking alcohol would ruin their liver (And this was way before any medical research was conducted.)

     I just want to keep my friends updated on what I am learning about this culture. It is fascinating to me. I am looking forward to finding out more in the next week. I know it will be interesting.

I was reading this cute entry from http://www.homeschoolblogger.com/jaminacema/. It was called Bury your cows. I thought it was so cute and relevant since we'll be travelling soon with 4 boys all squeezed together in the back of our tiny car. But, I haven't seen any cows or graveyards. But, we see lots of camels and mosques. So, I decided that we'll play the game by having the kids count the camels and then, when we see a mosque they all have to go pray. I think that should keep them entertained for awhile on our trips. I know it will make them laugh!

My biggest concern about driving a lot is the bathroom situation. There won't be anything but desert for miles and miles and miles. Have you ever tried squatting with an abaya on? Plus, we live in such a modest country that I'm very afraid to even attempt that. When we went to Al-Hofuf I was so proud because I brought my water bottle with me. I told my husband that I was drinking more water to be healthier. Then, I desparately had to go to the bathroom. You should have seen the look on my face. I was in so much pain. We couldn't pull over and there was no where to stop. It was bad. My husband turned to me and asked, "How healthy do you think drinking water is now?" Not good.

Update: Ds4 did great yesterday. He must have had a mild stomach flu or something. Dh was worried about more interruptions at night. But, we all slept peacefully. Thank goodness! And I'm glad it wasn't food poisoning!! Thank you for thinking about him.

Have a great Monday!

    Ds4 was up crying all night because his stomach hurt. Dh got up with him and brought him in our room. I was very concerned because I worry about the chicken I buy here. I only go to one grocery store here because they provide us with a driver so I go to the same place every week. Dh and I refuse to go out at night because the traffic is so crazy! But, the chicken I buy always has a yellow layer of something on it every week. So, I always hesitate, but we eat a lot of chicken so I always buy it anyway. Then, when I take it out of the fridge to cook it, I always frown again and wonder if it's safe. Last night I even threw a piece away because it looked so bad. But, I did cook the rest. So, when ds4 was crying and threw up I got his clothes and we thought about going to the hospital, but then he fell asleep and we thought he was better. He didn't throw up again but he was up off and on all night. Dh didn't get anymore sleep, but I slept in with ds4 until 10 this morning. I can't rememer the last time I did that! We are taking this week off of school to get the house in order and sleeping in so late really throws things off. Now, I only get half as much as I wanted to get done. But, that's life. It happens! Ds4 seems to be fine this morning. He woke up begging me for bacon and oatmeal. That's a good sign. But, I've noticed that he keeps pressing on his belly. Hopefully, it'll work itself out today. I'm hesitant about taking him to the hospital because I wouldn't want to tell them it's food poisoning and find out we put him through all that for nothing.

I worry about dh, I have no idea how he's going to get through his day with no sleep!

My friend Kinley from www.homeschoolblogger.com/passionforpurple asked me if I had ever seen a camel spider. I had never even heard of them before. When I looked them up it made my stomach turn a little bit.

This is a camel spider. I know they're here in Saudi, but I've never see one and I hope I never will. They run at 10mph and they bite! And very aggressive! Not lethal to humans even though there are stories that they are!

     I changed the title of my blog because I thought it was more appropriate. We are going to be going to India in the near future for vacation. And we're going to be exploring more of Saudi too.

     Today we visited Al-Hofuf (means whistling of the wind). It is claimed by many to be the largest oasis in the world with over 1.5 million palm trees. I guess in ancient times, Al-Hofuf lay under the ocean.

     I found an excellent site about the Muslim faith. It is: http://www.sacredsites.com/middle_east/saudi_arabia/mecca.html I went to this site to find out what the black stone is because Al-Hofuf was a refuge for the Qamartians who were a group of people who had stolen the black stone from the Kaaba. The Kaaba is now a holy mosque that is believed to be a holy shrine built by Abraham and Ishmael. When they completed building the shrine, Gabriel (the angel) brought the magic stone for the sanctuary. Some say that it was a great white sapphire from the Garden of Eden. Legend tells that the stone was originally white, but turned black from the kisses of sinners. When Muslims go on Haj to Mecca they kiss the stone.

    We really enjoy April Fool's. My husband and I always trick our kids to some extent. It's so much fun. They always retaliate with silly things, like ringing the doorbell and acting like someone else is there.

     We had a good homeschool week. (Our homeschool starts on Sat. and ends on Wed.) I decided to go from 5 days a week to 4. I used to just have two short days, but decided that that was just causing me more stress, so now I do my grocery shopping and cleaning all in one day (Wed.). The other days we learn from 8-2. I started working on my MBA again this week, so I work on it now from 1-2 while the kids read quietly. That has been working pretty well so far. Ds4 wrote his name for my husband last night. He was so excited. He's doing pretty well. We considered sending him to a private school next year where he would learn his subjects in English in the morning and then, Arabic in the afternoon. But, my husband had a presentation there today and he wasn't impressed. He said that kids were fighting in the halls. I wouldn't want ds4 to pick up any bad habits so young. We'll just have to get a tutor for the Arabic instead. The university my husband works at would pay for my children to go to school. We are hoping that next year we could convince them to pay for the books from one of the schools, so that I can teach them at home. Knowing how the university operates, it probably won't work if they know we're homeschooling.

Well, everything is going great in Saudi. Have a great day!

   When we first arrived here, we were staying at a hotel. The first thing I did when I walked in the room was turn on the tv. (Of course!) A commercial was on and it was of a little girl with tears running down her face saying that she loved  Abraham, Moses, Jesus, and Mohammed. She said that when people say mean things about any of them, it hurts her. I appreciated being in a country that loved Abraham, Moses, and Jesus as I do and talk openly about them. I also knew that they believed in the virgin Mary and their call to prayers in essence just say that God is the greatest and only He should be worshiped. Most Muslim children are named after them. Ibrahim-Abraham, Museh- Moses, Esa- Jesus, Usef- Joseph. After some time I discovered that they also believe in a lot of the teachings of the Old and New Testament. My favorite old testament story is the one about Abraham sending Hagar away with Ishmael. I imagine Hagar in the desert crying and praying for water for her son because she's afraid he will die of thirst. Her great love for her son causes an angel to appear and he causes a spring of water to appear in the middle of the desert. Mecca is built around this well. However, I can't visit there because non-Muslims are not permitted to go into Mecca.

     Muslims believe that Jesus did not die on the cross. They believe that when Jesus was arrested, his soul went to heaven and Judas' took his place and he is the one that suffered and died on the cross. They believe he was a man and it is not possible for a man to rise from the dead. We know that this is not the truth. But, it explains why no crosses in Saudi.

    Making plans for Easter actually filled my heart with dread. I was actually thinking that we would just leave a candy trail and some candy from the Easter bunny and leave it at that. At Valentine's, the country had a ban on anything red. I can only imagine what they're banning at Easter. Bunnies? Baskets? Chocolate? Jelly beans? Crosses and ham are already banned. Anyway, yesterday I decided that I was going to have to change my attitude. I started to think about what I could do, not what I can't. So, we can't have ham, so what? We can have turkey. In the states, the Easter bunny always left a trail of jelly beans. This year, he can leave m&ms or something. My plan now is to invite people from the compound over for Easter dinner on Friday. (Everyone has to work on Sunday.) It won't be perfect and it will be nothing like the Easters I had growing up, but the most important lesson will be taught. Jesus died and rose from the dead for us and no one can stop us from sharing with others and celebrating. Also, it will bring joy to my heart to be able to help others remember and rejoice the real reason for the day. 

    What are your plans for Easter? What's on the menu? 

Santa brought ds8 a hamster that had babies 2 weeks later. Ds8 loved them and didn't want to get rid of them. We tried to give them away to other people in the compound, but no one wanted them (except for the kids). We bought 6 little cages for the hamsters because we didn't want them to kill each other or breed more babies ! However, the hamsters recently started biting out of their cages. Sunday night one bit through the cage and found itself in our room and I could hear it all night long. I was so creeped out. I kept thinking it was going to crawl all over me. And then, the next day I was exhausted and my son had his accident. I knew that some of them were going to have to go so that we could buy decent cages for the rest. Ds8 went to the pet store today and took 3 back. We still have four but they are all in good cages and they're the kids' responsibility. I was more upset about getting rid of them than ds8 was. I started to have second thoughts, so he had to encourage me. That was weird!! Here are my boys with their new hamsters and cages.

   Everyone on our compound was amazing. We left the other kids at home because we thought we'd be right back after stitches. But, it took more than 8 hrs. Everyone took care and checked on them, they even got a trip to McDonald's. They felt very special. And ds8 felt really good when everyone asked how he was doing today. That's the nice thing about living and working together. We support each other.

Here's my baby at the hospital. He was a real trooper!!

     Thursday, we visited a church that was discovered in '86 beneath the sand. It was built in the 6th century. It was amazing! We found a lot of pottery pieces in the area that were from the 3rd or 4th century.

      Well, someday... Saudi has passed a law that women can drive, but first they have to get a driver's license which is not available yet. It has recently struck me just how difficult this process will be. It's hard for a Westerner to understand this. I was thinking, "Let women drive! What's the big deal! The whole world allows it." But, because of Islam and the state the country is in, it's a lot trickier than that. First of all, they need to find women police to pull over the women. Another law they will pass is that if a man follows a woman in the car, he will be put in jail for three years. (This is a scary one. There is no due process of law here and no accountablility. If you're put in jail, kiss your freedom goodbye forever. It'll go easier that way. And what constitutes "following"?) Also, the government buildings do not allow women in them. My husband and his friend and his wife went to the chamber of commerce to take care of a permit and she had to stand outside and wait.

      So, they made a token gesture but it'll be awhile. I don't plan on still being here by then. But, Western women with international driver's licenses are getting ansy. I saw one of my friends driving in the compound when we heard the news. I don't know if she actually left, but her daughter was sick and I wouldn't have doubted it. We can play dumb you know!