Early Christmas

Due to our trip this year to Vietnam, we celebrated Christmas a bit early. We had our Christmas celebration on December 18th (also on Robert's birthday). Our departure to Hanoi, Vietnam was on December 20th at 3:30am on Emirates flight EK394. So technically we had to head to the airport at about midnight on the 19th.  This made December 18th our best option for an at home Christmas celebration.

Christmas was lovely and, as always in Dubai, feels a bit strange in t-shirts and shorts. I had put up the tree this year before Thanksgiving which I have never done before but as we found a lovely large artificial (slightly white to give it a snow dusted appearance) tree, it was easy to do without all the maintenance of a live tree. 

With all the kids now knowing the 'truth' about Santa and his magic, the presents started to pile up under the tree in the weeks and days leading up to our Christmas celebration on the 18th. This heightened the excitement and made it all easier and more fun to celebrate early.

The hardest thing for the kids (mostly Ali and Mia) was that I didn't allow them to wake up on the 18th and open presents right away - as we always do on Christmas morning. Part of the reason why was it was still a work day so Curt left before they all woke up. I did my usual 'mom' activities and hit the gym then finalized shopping for all the food items, breakfast treats (knowing they wouldn't wake until late morning when I was due back home), and last minute holiday necessities (including a few last minute stocking stuffers I had forgotten).

When I returned home, I only heard a bit of shuffling from our trio upstairs so they were all treated to a special breakfast in bed. I wish I had taken pictures as their breakfasts were all served up on Christmas plates and included all sorts of yummy foods that they all loved including some delicious fresh fruits, freshly baked croissants and donuts (from Baker and Spice) and for Mia her favorite avocados. She can eat avocados all day and night. 

Normally on Christmas morning I make home made cinnamon rolls but with all the travels I had been doing and about to do and Christmas presents still to wrap and dinner still to prepare, the Baker and Spice treat seemed like the perfect breakfast treat and they were all very happy!

Curt returned home at about 4:30pm with the last of the presents that just arrived via post. Phew, that was a close call! I was still at the dentist with Ali (really not a normal 'Christmas day') but made it home just after 5pm to do a quick 45 minute packing job and dinner preparation. 

Dinner consisted of amazing grade 11 wagyu steaks prepared by Curt on the charcoal grill, mashed potatoes, broccoli, green beans, tomato salad and home made dinner rolls. We all gobbled it up and the kids were bouncing around ready to open our presents before we even had a chance to clear the table.

We decided to leave our dessert of homemade Angel Food Cake for after our present opening. 

Below are some of my favorite photos of our tree and the kids. In the next post (may work out to be previous post as it's been a while since I blogged), I'll post a few more pics from the day. 

Clements Girls skiing (Dec 2014)

Here are a few short clips of my our girls skiing in Meribel last month. 

Mia (in the 2nd video) is harder to spot as there are more people. Look for her in the blue jacket and bright orange ski pants.

Budapest Sofa vs Floor

Maybe this is why Curt moves onto the floor all the time. Not sure who took the one of me sleeping on the sofa last night. It was after a great long lunch at the Majlath's home. Friends of ours for ages. 

I love Ali with our cat, Mickey, and Mia sound asleep next to her. It's still early but we are full on with lots of hiking and reunions with friends and brains having to work things out in Hungarian again.

PS Mickey must be about 17 years old now! He says he misses Papa.

  

Mia's Pre-Teen Friday

So our Mia (12 in January; going on 16 1/2) and I organized a little girlie weekend fun on Friday. She's actually pretty good about the weekend hang outs. She is at school for such long hours and we all seem to run around all week long as we are all full on with activities * that our weekend time is really reserved for family-time. I love our family time and have actually steered away from weekend adult activities as I really just, plain and simple, love hanging with my hubby and kids on the weekends. 

You may or may not know but we never had an 11th birthday party for our MiMi. We started a birthday tradition with our kids ages ago that every birthday they have a choice of:

A. Birthday party with friends. 

We set the limit of friends and budget (which we almost always seem to go over in expensive Dubai).

B. Dinner alone with mom and dad at a restaurant of their choosing. 

Terence always picks B since his 8th birthday.

Mia knew she wanted a party but couldn't decide where, with who, when. Our weekends were always packed and every time we detected a reasonable weekend, she seemed to get an invite to another friend's birthday at that exact time. 

Long story short, it eventually became too late. To make up for it, I asked her if she'd like a girlie afternoon with some of her best mates. She jumped at the opportunity.

We started with a lovely late lunch with her group and then walked over to this amazing newish hot spot called BOUNCE. It's an indoor trampoline park and the children all love it. Especially in this Dubai heat. The evening ended just after 8pm and the girls all had an amazing time. Mission accomplished. 

Walking from lunch to Bounce.

Getting their wrist bands which allows them entry.

6 of them (and 2 others) awaiting the start of a game of dodge ball.

Mia and her besties (2 couldn't make it) and sister, Ali.

And a video of some of their dodge ball fun.

Friday Night

We were out on Thursday night at a friend's and didn't get home until quite late. I think our entire family finally made it to bed just before midnight. Therefore, this is what the girls looked like on Friday evening during family movie night (in).

PS our weekend in Dubai is Friday and Saturday.

Fun Weekend Stuff

The best parts of the weekend were on Thursday night and Saturday (all day).

On Thursday, our family hit one of our favorites spots for dinner: Ruth's Chris. I only have a few photos of the girls from this evening as we were so busy chatting, eating, enjoying the evening that I didn't take any other snaps. I had to take the first one of them, on the escalator after dinner, as I looked up and suddenly saw two young ladies. Where are my little girlies? At the top of the escalator, I took the 2nd photo of our gorgeous girls.

 

On Saturday, I surprised our family with a trip to the Wild Wadi water park. It was a fantastic day and a great way to stay cool in the 40+ degree Celsius desert heat.

Chilling in the shade in between water slides.

Our little cabana tucked away.  It was perfect. 

Terence napping after about 5 or 6 hours of water slide fun.

 

 And a few more of the girls. The first is of them watching the surfing which they later took turns on (photos coming) and temporary tattoo time! The fun was non-stop. We spent our entire day from 10:30 until about 7:30 enjoy the water park and our family time.

Fulfilling Weekend

Today is Saturday, 9:03pm and tomorrow is the start of a new week. Our work / school week here is Sunday - Thursday. 1 of 2 of the children are asleep. That would be Ali who a. needs the most sleep (probably because she is the youngest), and b. gets collected by her bus an hour earlier than the other two. Her bus actually comes at 6:40am so if she is not asleep by 8pm then she is a wreck in the morning.

Mia has just finished her homework, via Face Chat and Skype with a friend and T is chilling (on his laptop so probably watching Netflix) as his homework was done earlier today while we were out and about running errands.

Here are a few photos that encompass our weekend. 

Thursday I surprised little Ali by picking her up from school. I received a call earlier in the day that her 2 school books were in stock and ready for pick up. I had to order 2 out of the 5 from the book store. The other 3 were found amongst Mia's (or T's) stack of old school books from the French school. Sadly, I always leave this annual task to the last minute and she always has to start the new year with some or none of her school books as these French school books take about 4 weeks to ship into Dubai. Terence and Mia used to go through the same fun, challenge every start to each new school year but now they are at a school where the books are provided.

Anyhow, she was so excited for my surprise pick up and then our surprise book collection. She didn't like starting the school year not being 100% prepared even though it is an understanding situation.

My happy book worm gets all her books at last! PS Notice her new school uniform.

Then, we paid a visit to ACE Hardware to start our hunt for paints for the new house. This was the first, but not last over the weekend.

We visited again today. Ali is asking her dada which color paint sample he likes the best. 

Our helpful girls at our new house.

  

   

Lots of measuring, paint samples and my new electric measuring unit! 

More Extra-Curricular Activities

Today from 4-5pm (after school) Emilia will be at the U14 (grades 6, 7 and 8) swim squad try outs. Last year she made the team for the Elementary (Primary) school and we were so excited for her. This year she is trying out again. Then, on Wednesday, she will try out for the U14 Girls Volleyball team. Keep your fingers crossed! 

Here is a short clip of her trying out last year. She is so strong!

Birthday Marathon week

Hello. I'm BACK! After a very long break from blogging, I have returned and am happy to be back journaling our family's life and where-abouts...

The long break has not been at all intentional. Life has kept all of us busier than ever. Curt and I are working many, many hours but, at the same time, loving it. The kids are busy with school, making new friends, exploring this incredible city and taking part in many new, fun activities.

On top of all of this, we have visitor after visitor after visitor after... I think you get my point. It's been a great pleasure and many of my Dubai friends have told me that this is a very popular destination for friends and family to visit. Especially at this time of year as the weather is perfect!

Our visitors have so far included: Julie (Curt's cousin), friends Sue and Peter, my dear, dear friend Kim and her family and then Curt's parents and 2 sisters. We have only 1 week in our home alone. But, if you know my personality, I love playing hostess of the mostest. Last night was our first night with no visitors and we ended up having company for dinner! So, I'm not one to ever rest...

Next visitors on the agenda for February and March are: Curt's fantastic Uncle Tim, our Hungarian friend and tennis coach (for kids) Bea - she's coming for 10 days for the Dubai Open, my sista (like a sister because I love her SO much) Nicola and her family, the kids' French tutor and our friend Rafael and his cousin. After that I am hoping we'll get a visit from my kind, handsome brothers and our dear, dear friend (and Ali's godmother) Margaret. The best part about Bea and Rafael visiting over the next month is the kids will have to be practicing their Hungarian (with Bea) and French (with Rafael)!

Okay - so the birthday weekend has just come to an end. For those of you that know us well, know that this week in January is crazy with 3 Clements' birthdays. Mia was on Jan 22 (8), Ali was on Jan 24 (5) and Curt just turned 46 on Jan 26. It was a busy, fun-filled weekend and we were oh so pleased to have Curt's parents and 2 sisters here to help us celebrate each one.

Here is a photo of each during their special days:

Mia's birthday - per her request - was to the Old Souk in old Dubai and then on an Abra on the Dubai Creek followed by the movies. There was a big group of us that took up nearly 2 rows in the movie theater. Here she is at the front of our 50 dirham private Abra (there were 10 of us).

2 carloads of family went to pick Ali up from school on Monday, Jan 24th. Curt surprised her with these 2 helium balloons. At first, I thought he got the letter S but then realized it was the number 5! She was so thrilled and I got a snap of her in front of her school holding them. More on her birthday afternoon as that has to be a blog post all to it's own!

Then, last but not least, was my very handsome husband on Wed, Jan 26th. We both worked until about 7ish and came home to Curt's mom's famous homemade mac n cheese! It was delicious and flavorful with hidden peppers and other yummy ingredients. I hope to have the recipe soon. We tossed a huge salad, some broccoli and lots of delicious Australian red shiraz vino. We filled up our table with friends and family and had a lovely, chilled evening. Here he is with little Ali (and her balloon) waiting on the birthday cake.

Mia's Kabaret

I have been the ultra worst blogger ever. Work, kids, life, etc are all keeping me so busy that I have no spare minutes to do the things I enjoy... like blogging. C'est la vie... Here are some photos and videos I had to post from Mia's weekend Kabaret. She was incredible! The entire show was so incredibly professional and well done. Curt and I were proud of our confident daughter who seems to have fell right into a very comfortable place in this group. Here is an overview of her show on Saturday. (by the way, she had 2 performances on Friday and 2 on Saturday).

her young fans waiting to go into the theatre

She performed 3 song / dances - all were from famous shows... I'll put down what they are in my next post.

LOVE THIS NEXT ONE. It summarizes her confident stage presence!

2 videos

Hula Hooping Island Fun

Mia won the hula (or is it hoola?) hooping contest on Kiawah Island. I had no idea she was so good! She can even do 2 at a time. In this video she was attempting 3 at a time. Love it! Especially since I was never a good hula hooper...

My Magyar Mia

Magyar, for those of you that don't know, means 'Hungarian' in Hungarian. Mia is a Magyar girl through and through. She loves the food, culture, language and now that she's been introduced to the folk dancing, she is at home!

Earlier this week, we had the pleasure of watching her and her class on stage dancing in true traditional Hungarian style folk dance. She was so great (I thought)! The teacher did a great job and all the kids on stage seemed to be perfectly in sync and with smiles on their faces. It was so fun to watch and I can tell that they also enjoyed performing!

In the short video below, she is the 3rd girl to come out.

Mia's Dance Performance with DCA

Finally, a few more photos and a video of Mia's dance performance last week. Have so many other updates but have no time now. Curt and I are off to Geneva for some meetings in a few hours and haven't packed, prepared anything for the kids during our absence, etc.

Ciao for now....

And a short video clip. Mia is the gray cat with the bun in her hair. Don't feel bad if you cannot find her right away. I also had trouble at the beginning of the show.

Ice Cream and Beer

A couple of Saturday's ago, we were out for lunch with some friends at one of our favorite Italiano restaurants in town. Ali and her BFF, Molly, decided that they wanted to have ice cream and apple juice without glasses. I didn't know why but I agreed. Then, they decided they wanted to sit up in the bar area of the restaurant (the rest of us were outdoors) for their dessert. Here they are eating their ice cream and drinking their apple juice and calling it beer. Funny little things. By the way, notice Ali's new fashion sense. Ensemble is her own creation 100%!

Sneak Peak at Mia's Dance Recital Today

The theme was CATS. Mia did really well! And, most importantly, had a great time...

Ready for the Dance Rehearsal

This is Mia, 7 1/2 years old, yesterday getting ready to go to her dress rehearsal for today's big show. She looks so grown up. It completely freaks me out. I love that she still has her little girl cheeks... Once she loses those...boo hoo hoo... Check her out.

She always gives Ali a lift. She's the ideal big sister!

Below she is loving our garden with her big Jackie O sunglasses that she just found after it had been missing for about a year. After our day in the city yesterday, she and Ali went across the street to help the neighbor with her gardening for almost 2 hours! This is Gabriella, the grand daughter of Margit Neni who you may remember passed away 2 years ago. Mia used to spend every free second she got with Margit Neni fiddling in her garden. Now, Gabriella has moved in and Mia has adopted her (or vice versa) as a gardening friend. I don't mind as she came home yesterday with lots of fresh herbs and radishes out of Gabriella's beautiful, healthy garden. I'll try and get some snaps of them across the street together sometime soon. In the meantime, here is Mia enjoying our peonies.

The Girls' Dance Recital at School

All year, or at least since about October, Ali was in a young dance group with her grade (3 and 4 year olds) and the class one year above her. Mia was also in a similar dance group with her age group. What I didn't realize was that they shared the same dance instructor and over the last month have been practicing together and combining their routines... I felt so lucky to have 2 little beauties in this year's dance performance at school. Mia and Ali were in the same show and it was great fun! They both were so happy to perform together and both did very well. Here are some photos and videos of their performance on Monday afternoon.

I adore these costumes! We had to pay for them but we keep them. They are just gorgeous!

Ali is in the middle in the above left as well as in the shots below, when they changed costumes.

Love her face in the above right and below left as she looks completely confused and slightly embarrassed. They were all so adorable together that it didn't matter!

These next 2 are my favorite shots of each of them. I got to try out my newest zoom lens which worked out incredible!! Terence was next to me and we were getting really excited about the shots I captured. Mia was a bit more of a challenge to get good snaps of as she was often behind other girls.

If you can't tell, Ali is right in front of Mia in this shot above.

In this next one, Mia and Ali are in the back row next to each other (towards the right of the screen).



Here Mia is in the 2nd row (right side of screen) and Ali is in the back row (towards the left). Ali looks completely confused as to what she is supposed to be doing.



This one was super short but cute. Ali starts in the front middle of the screen. You can catch a glimpse of Mia as she walks off stage in the 2nd row. She told me she was put in back most of the time as she is one of the tallest girls in her class. There was one very tall girl in the front but she was older and there helping her mother, the teacher, with the younger kids.