simply grateful

I got up early this morning to: breath, get the girls ready for school, practice Asanas and have some breakfast. all before a day of teaching. but well, all turned out different. so I am not teaching, but writing down what went through my head during this early hours for myself, as I noticed that...

... today, I am simply grateful for:

• the person who comes in, cleaning up the mess we leave, when we all have to be out of the house early  in the morning.
• the morning sun out on the terrace.
• two girls who love school.
• the meal plan I made for this week.
• afternoons I can spend with the girls.
• the weekend away, I'll get this week.
• one of my favourite summer meals.

eggplant

zucchini (not this time, but usually)

pepper

chilli

onion

garlic

tomatoes (used a can, but very ripe fresh tomatoes would be great too!)

olive oil

salt and pepper

in the oven for about 30/40min

enjoy

this moment

inspired by SouleMama
A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words A few pictures, some words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

the big girl

well, at exactly this time 9 years ago I was busy getting ready to deliver my first baby. so excited I "started" the day early, but this baby didn't decide to make her way out until 11pm.

and then...there she was, a girl, so beautiful, so tiny, our little Mia. just as I had her in my arms she was taken away again. thanks to a wonderful nurse, who realised how my baby struggled to breathe,  Mia was taken to intensive care the same night.

so our first few days together weren't quite as expected, but with the help of wonderful friends we made it and could start into our new life only 4 days later...

now, 9 years later - Mia, a strong, sensitive, crazy girl - just what we needed ;-)

she joined our adventures right from the start, well we didn't really give her a choice. now, being older there is one side in her that's really proud of living the adventurous life of an expat girl and a small part that is sad not to be as "normal" as the rest of our extended family. living in Austria, not moving every other year, going to one school...

as our family will move on at the end of June this topic is almost daily talk again. and of course as parents we are not always sure. but isn't it just different things we have to think about in an expat life? when I listen to friends living the so called "normal" life, it's just other questions that come up, other decisions/life-choices they make each and every day for their little families. ours or theirs are neither bigger or smaller, all just as important to the life you live.

not all do understand why we chose this kind of life, but then I don't understand all the choices of other people either :-)

so, what I am trying to say, it doesn't matter. I trust all of you out there to think of the best for your own kids and well, so do I!

so yes, here is she is, my 9year old. all she wants today is be at home. enjoying her presents, the time for herself. in the evening family dinner at her favourite restaurant...

hey, big girl, we love you more than anything and wherever the 4 of us are together - it's home!

week-end

oh yes, a looooong week-end and it isn't over yet!

with the girls on school holiday anyway I wasn't really in need of a long week-end, but well, we take what we get and of course the girls and I do enjoy having our man home all day as well, it does make a difference ;-)

with Friday being one of our first really hot days, here in Cairo, we started with breakfast outside and that's basically where the rest of the day happened. the girls declared it a family-pool-fun day! the water is still very refreshing, but we better enjoy that as it won't last long.

in the evening the big girl started watching this, after finishing the book. so total excitement while the little girl enjoyed  that :-)

Saturday Easter breakfast! first time I tried to bake Easter nests for the girls. looking good, didn't taste that great though. well, better luck next time...

while the little girl was already in the pool again we were lucky the Easter bunny hopped by and left some yummy chocolates and a fun game for the family to play.

the week-end was quite some games, as we also borrowed this wonderful game from friends and the whole family enjoys it a lot!

I found this cake recipe and well that turned out to be quite something. sure we'll have that more often!

I was greated by an oily accident Sunday morning. the bottle of olive oil crashed on the kitchen floor when the girls wanted to get their breakfast ready...

the rest of Sunday morning was spend preparing BBQ-goodies for the evening. a quick yoga-break around lunchtime, a little rest and then it was a busy house full of kids and adults playing, chatting, having a good time and yummy food.

it's also a holiday in Egypt today so one more day of family goodness ahead...I can hear footsteps now so I guess it's going to be breakfast soon.

the sun is out, there is not too much wind so it might be breakfast out on the terrace, let's see. I am sure it will be a little bit of pool, a little bit of reading and more game-playing around here.

Happy Easter!

following thehabitofbeing, sharing this special time of the week with you!

early morning quietness

a while ago I decided that whenever the girls are on a holiday, I'll take a break from work too. in the beginning it was hard, especially when we're not travelling, but I started to really enjoy it. well, and I am so grateful to be able to just take a break, whenever!

so, here we are - on holiday. after a few days at the beach we're back home enjoying exactly that - our home.

what I enjoy most is to rise to a quiet house, getting to not only do my breathing practice, but also to sit here with you now, or out on the terrace or well, just be quiet or writing my lists, plans for the day.

you might think I do get that once in a while on a non-holiday as well after everyone left the house, true, but no, it's not the same. to me, it's knowing my girls are sleeping upstairs. my man is out riding his bike.

then slowly the house comes alive. I might hear little feet running to the bathroom and back to bed to enjoy being able to snuggle in again. soon the front door will open and the man will be back. all sweaty and dirty, but oh so full of joy and energy. I am almost a bit jealous ;-)

we have to make the most of it. every time, every where. only now I remember how important it is to just be grateful for the here and now and enjoy it the most. we do forget.

my every day reminder at the moment is that it will soon change as we're moving on. we'll leave Cairo end of June and yes it will all be so exciting and we're very happy and ready for our new adventure.

I will still be able to rise to a quiet house, but it will take some time to feel just as comfortable.

so, here I am. ready to enjoy every single day and all it's little moments. getting energy for the move and all the moments that might not be as easy. still, to me that's the moments we'll remember and the stories we'll tell. I remember every move we did pretty detailed. first hours in a new country, a new home, new faces we meet that become friends...oh, it's going to be good!

this moment

inspired by SouleMama
A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words A few pictures, some words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Yes, the pool is up and the girls were both brave enough to have quick jump in last night. Cairo temperatures are wonderful at the moment and the girls started into a 2week school break, so we'll spend some fun time on our terrace for sure :-)

While I'm writing this now I am grateful to be at the beach, seeing my children laugh and play, my man out on the board and me taking it all in, saving this wonderful time we get to spend here. 

So the plan for this weekend is to save as many pictures in my head as possible, the great memories nobody can ever take away!