Who's that wonderful girl? Could she be any cuter? Uh-uh!

Phoebe and I made it to the library for Arabic toddler time this morning, which was so great! It's a pity she's aging out of toddler time because it's right at her my level. The librarian leading it just welcomed us in, hardly translated anything for Phoebe, and made her repeat Arabic words, just like she did with all the (actual) Arabic speakers. 

It was perfect. 

When we left, it was so windy. 

"Hold up," I said (carelessly), observing my shadow as the wind whipped my hair around. "I need to put my hair into a ponytail really quick so I don't look so awful." 

"Mommy!" Phoebe gasped, having taken grave offense. "You don't look awful. You are so beautiful!"

Noted. 

I was unduly critical. And I shouldn't be modeling such bad self talk.

But I still forced my hair into a ponytail because, uh....

 

IKEA chair and tomato wedgies

I have been under "makeshift desk" conditions for...several months...now and I finally found a chair that I thought I could stand to sit in for hours at a time (while writing and so forth), but I didn't want to commit to actually getting the chair before trying it out (in case I hated it) so we went to IKEA on Saturday to give it a test run. It's very comfy...but also on the short side of things...so then we went on the hunt for a desk that could also be shorter than usual and were happy to find adjustable legs that start at around 60 cm (a good 10 cm shorter than a standard desk). I'm still getting used to it (the desk might still be too high) but I think I like my new set up better than a typical desk and chair. 

Andrew makes fun of my little "baby" chair (it's not a baby chair...it's just low to the ground), but it's so comfy!

Evening strolls: Head, shoulders, hips, and nightmares

We went for a walk last night, and I'm not sure we'll never not be dazzled by our surroundings. 

On the way to QNL (A guest post by Alex)

Prologue (by Mom)

Zoë has been begging to ride the metro by herself. Alexander has been begging to go chess at the library. And I have a meeting scheduled every afternoon chess is scheduled for so it just hasn't worked out very often for us to go.

So today I suggested that Zoë and Alexander head to the library together for chess. Now that Alexander's had his birthday, he's allowed to ride the metro without an adult...so that should mean that I should relax enough to let him, right?

They had a blast navigating their way across the city together!

Here are some completely unrelated pictures of those two riding on the golf cart shuttle between our island and the main island (we caught it for the first time on Tuesday and then caught it again this evening on our way home from a too-long stroll; also, everything is lit up green for sustainability week):

Al Jazeera II

 

This morning's segment was a lot less rapid-fire than last night's. Andrew reports feeling that it went a lot better.

What's gonna happen in the world today?

The (US) midterm elections are behind us and I feel hopeful that the situation here (in the Middle East) won't escalate. 

Clearly war isn't what people want (and I, being one of said people, can hardly blame them...and am also so proud of voters for sending such a clear message of "no thanks to war"...I don't think being pro peace should be controversial, but sometimes it seems like it is...for whatever reason...anyway...).

Andrew was asked to do a segment on Al Jazeera tomorrow morning, which he agreed to do. And then they called and asked if he'd do a segment this evening as well. It felt a little last moment, being decided as we were all just coming home from various places.

It was pretty funny, actually. We had been at our friends' house doing art and history lessons:

Beach thoughts

We went to the beach this afternoon and my question is...

Ja-ack and An-nie!

Phoebe and I just finished reading Dinosaurs Before Dark, the first book in The Magic Treehouse series. She read a page and then I read a page and then she read a page and then I read a page and like that we made it through the book. I believe it only took us two days (because Phoebe kept wanting to read the next chapter).

I was delighted when Phoebe was the first one to encounter the name "Annie" because she said "Ay-nee," which is exactly how Rachel thought it was said (for who knows how long before I finally figured out she was really saying "Annie"). Because we were reading it aloud together, I had the opportunity to correct Phoebe right away (unfortunately).

But, you should know, Rachel, that I have a friend here, from Finland, whose name is Eini, pronounced (more or less) "Ay-nee."

So...it's not like it's not a name. It is!

Rumour has it...

And ye shall hear of wars and rumours of wars: see that ye be not troubled: for all these things must come to pass, but the end is not yet. For nation shall rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom: and there shall be famines, and pestilences, and earthquakes, in divers places. All these are the beginning of sorrows.

        —Matthew 24:6–8

And in that day shall be heard of wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, and men’s hearts shall fail them, and they shall say that Christ delayeth his coming until the end of the earth. And the love of men shall wax cold, and iniquity shall abound.

        —D&C 45:26–27

When I used to read scriptures like these I would sometimes internally scoff at the "rumours of war" part because...that...just...seemed...like such a laughable problem compared to other things mentioned. 

Like, "Oh, no! Not more gossip about war! Send help!"

But, uh, now that we find ourselves in the midst of rumours of war? It, uh, it hits different.

And like, totally do send help!!

Thoughts and prayers are 100% welcome (our area had a special fast this past Friday). 

I mean, we're fine, but it's also absolutely bizarre to have a date for potential violence hanging above our heads...pending people's moods after certain mid-term elections and other what-ifs and what-nots: 

Halloween 2026

Our homeschooling friends have been away for the past couple of weeks but returned to Doha the day before Halloween. We were very happy they could join us for some trick-or-treating! 

We had them over for dinner before heading to ARV, where car lines were long and security was ambitious—they had a list of names and were checking IDs (which is about normal to enter that compound, but security was even more ramped up because of the high volume of visitors).

Here are the kids up on the roof with friends prior to leaving:

Our friend K made their hyena mask out of cardboard by themself—and it was really cool!