And the Movie Version

A Cairo Christmas

Decorating the tree with Henry in Christmas tree camo pajamas.

CAC Christmas celebration

Of course, Santa swaps reindeer for a camel when visiting the Middle East

Christmas morning pre-wake up

Yes, I still love football cards. Get off my back.

Displaying new earrings and charm bracelet

Bombs away

T-Daddy's Favorite Things

Ms Underwood's charming The Sound of Music got me thinking about a few of my favorite things. So, for those looking for last minute gifts or for something cool to try out or read or watch, here are my favorite books, movies, apps, products, etc. that I discovered in 2013.

1. Moleskine journals. I had moved my journal writing and day planning to the digital realm but reversed that this year. I find spiritual serenity in the excellent craftsmanship of these journals and have rediscovered the joy of cursive handwriting, something I hadn't used in years. Yes, you read that correctly.

2. Pacific Rim. As my brother said via Facebook, not the best movie of the year, just the most fun. So awesome.

3. Keynote for iPad. No more laptop for me. iPad only. This has been an enjoyable transition. I especially enjoy making presentations in Keynote. There was a learning curve, but not that steep. And it is so much easier than PowerPoint. It's actually fun to use. I find myself thinking up excuses to make another presentation.

4. Clear for iPhone. Must. Swipe. Red. Items. Task list app keeps me on task.

5. The end of Despicable Me 2. Best movie ending ever. I swear.

6. The Paleo Manifesto. Few books relocate my world view as dramatically as this. In addition to scriptures, I have three books I read regularly and try to put into practice: 7 Habits, Standing for Something, and Magic 1-2-3 (you know, for parenting). This book, for now, is similarly situated as my personal bible of what to eat and how to exercise. Though I did just have a bowl of Cap'n Crunch.

In Which More Bragging (To Be Fair)

Also last week, Caleb advanced a belt in Tae Kwon Do to yellow with green stripe. In doing so, he memorized his third pumse in about five minutes. Good chance you don't know what that means, so I'll just tell you, it's impressive.

And Madeline won the dance contest at the super-birthday-party-dance-party (like father like daughter*).

* Groove is in the heart

Am I Bragging? Yes. Yes I Am.

Today was Cairo's annual Youth Death-by-Soccer. This is a six-game round robin tournament in which five-year olds who have been playing games for weeks with few onlookers and no score keeping suddenly have covens of eager mothers screaming at them to "get him!"

Unlike last year (see mid-November 2012 post for more details), I kept quiet, though I was assigned official score keeper and frequently had to correct "well intentioned" parents who were pretty sure their kid scored three goals, not two.*

Anyway, through six games, Henry's team was outscored 15-10, posting a record of 2-3-1. However, during the time Henry was on the field, his team outscored opponents 10-9. Henry scored 8 goals. While on the sideline, he was upset, exclaiming several times, "I'm letting down my team. Can I go back in?"

* They're five years old people. Get a grip.

Saturday Extracurricular Update

Henry Soccer Game: The other team had a ringer, but Henry nearly neutralized him with several excellent defensive plays. Henry scored his side's lone goal with an end-to-end dribble, fighting through several tackle attempts and following his blocked first shot with a rebound strike. The effort fell short in a 3-1 loss.

Maddie/Caleb Tennis Lesson: I observed Caleb swinging with his right hand. So I pointed out to the coach that he is a lefty.

"For me," the coach said, "he is right-handed."

"Okay. I've only lived with him his entire life and you've coached him for five minutes, so you'd be the one to know."

So the coach did what he called "a little test" in which he told Caleb to catch the tennis ball with his right hand. When Caleb was successful, coach said, "See, he is right-handed."

What?

But anyway, I'm not trying to raise the next Roger Federer, so, whatever.

Pinewood Derby: Caleb first place for the Wolf Den and second place overall.

Back in Egypt Photos

This is still in Virginia, I just like photos of Henry playing soccer.

Maddie back on CAC campus. Don't ask, because I don't know, why she is holding a stuffed lobster.

Tiger was happy to have me back.

Pillow Talk (Maddie)

She wanted to talk to me about her feelings. It was 11 pm and we both should have been long asleep. I was tired. But you have to take such moments when you can get them. So I laid down next to her and made some interesting discoveries.

She feels a lot of pressure being the oldest kid because what if she makes mistakes and then Caleb and Henry follow her example. So we talked through that.

Also, she keeps a picture of a map in her mind and adds different colors to parts she has visited. Florida is pink. Virginia is green. Egypt is brown.

And this (quoted as close as I can remember): "I found the scriptures open on your desk and I wondered why you kept reading them. So I started reading. The words were all weird and I didn't understand anything. But I felt really happy. I think that was God telling me I should believe in the scriptures."

Back to Cairo

We left Cairo with 4 suitcases, 4 carry ones, and 5 back packs. We returned with 800 pounds shipped, 5 suitcases, 5 carry ons, and 5 back packs. So I guess our 5 months in the US were productive...from an acquisition perspective.

We all enjoyed being able to try things on rather than guessing at the size and buying online.

Anyway, we're back. It rained the first two days in Cairo, which are the only rainy days we've seen here. The kids were thrilled to reunite with Tiger (the cat) and friends. We slept day one and then they returned to school yesterday. All reports from their second first day of school this year were positive.

Decision Matrix

Car: With no certainty as to when the evacuation would end, we finally bought a used car in early October rather than spend $1,000 per month on the rental. We also figured that we could buy an SUV and have some space rather than schleping around three kids plus sports gear in a Nissan Altima.

We spent about $1,200 on post purchase tune up plus new brakes and tires. So with two months of use, we could sell it for $1,000 less than we bought it and basically brake even with the expense of the rental. Plus the risk of extended time in the US beyond two months was effectively hedged, a hedge for which we were happy to pay a premium, so even if we didn't quite break even, the deal would still be considered fair.

We now know that we have to go back to Egypt Nov. 16, one and a half months of car usage, so we won't quite break even unless we can sell it for close to purchase price. However, the time frame is such that we don't really have time to effectively advertise, market, and negotiate the price, so this is unlikely. We will not break even on the deal.

Cat: We left Tiger in Cairo, of course, because we thought we were just going on vacation. Our housekeeper was visiting him every day. This ended in August when her embassy evacuated her home to the Philippines. So Tiger went to the home of an "essential" US embassy employee in Cairo. We debated endlessly whether we should have Tiger shipped to us. But we just kept thinking we didn't want to spend $800 just to find out we would be returning a few days later.

Then this employee's tour ended in October and Tiger went to another US Embassy home, this home less enamored of said cat's behavior regarding furniture. So we made arrangement to ship him back to the US. What else were we going to do? This involved buying shipping crate and related items and having them sent to Egypt and trying to get cat medical records in order via remote control. This effort was somewhat less than convenient both for us and for our agents in Cairo.

Tiger, meanwhile, was moved to a third home, our British Petrolium friends, for the final week before shipping. Of course, now we are returning, so shipping is cancelled. But at least we have a really nice and expensive cat shipping crate.

2013 Additions to Christmas Playlist

In an essential post-Halloween tradition, the Christmas playlist expands by a handful of songs every year. Here are this year's additions.

Little Drummer Boy, tobyMac

O Holy Night, Sara Groves

Mary's Boy Child, Boney M

In the Bleak Midwinter, Annie Lennox

O Come All Ye Faithful, Amy Grant

The fun of Christmas playlists is having multiple versions of the same song so you can enjoy it reverently, or joyfully, or playfully. There is a time to every purpose under heaven. I love Christmas music.

The Henry Dossier

Henry, age 5, is a kinetic wonder. He came with only two operational modes: fast and off. He runs until he sleeps.

His soccer coaches commented with some wonder, that no matter how they tried, Henry was the one kid they could never wear out. Other kids ask for breaks but he only asks to get back in the game. While in the game, he is a whirlwind of simultaneous offense and defense. Katie reported he scored 4 goals in this morning's game. And to her joy, he threw a magnificent fit when the game was over and he couldn't keep playing. My absence, of course, makes such tantrums all the brighter. Katie really loves it when I travel.

Accounts from school portray a bright and eager learner. His competitive nature makes for a bit of a whiz at math because his desire to calculate the score differential and how long it would take to catch up is like a World War Z zombie trying to pass on its disease. Speaking of, that movie didn't make any sense. So, your dead, and all your bones are broken from stepping in front of a car, or jumping off a 100-foot wall to chase the living, yet you run faster than when you were alive. I can only suspend my disbelief so far. Am I off topic?

Henry has essentially two requests, which feel like they are coming from a Gatling gun: Someone must play some sport with him, and he needs candy.

He's charming when not tired, a terrorist when exhausted.

Goodbye Curb

I was leaving again for a three week work trip. The kids were anxious and sad. Caleb asked if he could walk me down to the taxi (we live on the eighth floor). Of course he could. Maddie wanted to come as well. Henry, a despiser of the goodbye scene, passed.

We went down with back pack and suitcase. The taxi was already there, so it was time to go. I gave them both a hug and reached for my suitcase.

"No dad," Caleb said. "Let me do this for you." He grabbed the heavy suitcase and dragged it to the curb.

Then they both stood on the corner and waived for the three minutes it took for the light to turn green and the taxi to drive out of view. It is strange how this breaks my heart, yet calms my soul.

It's Hard When It Gets Easier

The evolution of my role as father is more or less as follows:

1. Awkward observer

2. Eager helper

3. Worker bee (drone)

4. Clean up crew

5. Body guard

6. Psychological torture victim (aka "when the female mastered language")

7. Courier

8. Referee

9. Coach

So far the work has been physically demanding, a massive endurance challenge. But the objectives have been straight forward. Get kids to school on time and alive, for example, is a logistics problem with pretty clear inputs and objectives.

But strange days are arriving. Hints of adolecence are upon us. The first "body image" concern was recently expressed. The physical demands have eased. Not getting at least 7 hours of sleep is now of my own doing (Monday Night Football is on late, you know) and almost never because of the kids. Two thirds of them tie their own shoes.

How quaint do such concerns suddenly seem, however, now that reasons to worry have increased (I mean, they're just out in the world, like, doing stuff...without me) while influence is indirect and endangered. I realize "Coach" should have been earlier than number nine on the list above.

Dream Team

Caleb decided to try out for the "Dream Team" of his Tae Kwon Do dojo. This involved all manner of speed, strength, and flexibility tests. And man did he want it bad.

I know how flexible he is. I stretch with him in the mornings (can I say "in the mornings" if we got up three mornings and stretched and worked out?). When they asked him to go a little farther, he was at his limit. But then he just did it, pushing through obvious pain to reach about two more inches. And so on with the rope climb and speed kicks and other drills. Enduring pain to stretch his capacity.

I was proud of him. I might have cried a little in the dojo lobby.

He made the team.

Henry meanwhile, is doing great in soccer, so far as it goes at age five. They play three on three with no goalies and no throw ins. When a ball goes out, the ref just tosses another into the middle of the field. Henry's big advantage is that he never stops running yet never gets tired. Also, he just loves it. Sometimes he misses the ball because he is laughing so hard. Nothing "funny" has happened. It's just that playing soccer makes him laugh.

Unrelated to the sports theme, but funny, Maddie says to me today, "Dad, isn't it kind of weird that a naked baby would be a symbol of love?" It took me a moment to realize she was referring to cupid. Then I realized, yeah, that's totally weird.

Fathers and Sons

I took the boys camping with our church's "Fathers and Sons" activity. During a brief program at a large fire, the speaker concluded with the hope that kids will be able to bond with their dads. Caleb put his head on my shoulder and said, "Yeah, dad, we're bonding."

Later, just before going to bed, I hugged Henry and Caleb and told them how much I loved them. Henry looked up with a surprised expression. "Dad, I love you too," as though making an unexpected discovery.

So that was a good event for me. I hope they liked it too.

In the morning we raced back to Arlington and caught the end of Maddie's soccer game. Then we stopped by McDondalds on our way to Caleb's baseball game where Katie dropped me off with C while she went to Henry's soccer game. After which we raced home and got Maddie showered and changed and ran her over to a birthday party and then hurried to a park for Caleb to meet his friend. And then we thought, we could use a second car.

Jawbreaker

Caleb's torture apparatus is fully installed. We have been turning the crank two clicks every night for a week now. He grimaces, holds out is hands for a while in sort of a "calm-the-waters" gesture, and then says, "I'm good." Not a single complaint.

The day it was installed, he noted his new and distorted speech and commented to the orthodontist, "How will I make new friends talking like this?" The orthodontist teared up. Katie teared up. Guess who did not tear up? Caleb.

In his Caleb way, he asked more as an observation of a new problem to be solved than as an expression of self pity or a request for sympathy (though sometimes he plays that card masterfully to acquire new toys). And he has largely solved the problem. This may be correlation and not causation, but immediately he increased his time spent reading aloud, improving his speech to the point that the impediment is hardly noticeable.

I've always loved my kids. Then, as they got a little older, I liked them as well. Now they are giving me opportunities to genuinely admire them. Parenting is a cool gig.

Summer 2013 Photos: Disney World and Misc.

A little target practice at Merida's place.

Maddie likes the hotel room view of zebras, giraffes, and so forth.

Caleb conquered Everest

Captain Jack Sparrow grants Caleb a pirate diploma

Summer 2013 Photos: Camping and 4th of July

Redfish Lake

Floating Bed Garage

Special thanks to Krisy Wolle for lawn access during the parade!

4th of July in Idaho, therefore camels. Duh.

A Five Year Old Psyche

June

"We're going back to America for seven weeks."

"How can I go to kindergarten in Egypt if we go to America for seven years?"

July

"Is Idaho our new home."

August

"Can we go home."

"Well, we can't right now because of the evacuation. We don't know when we will be going back."

September

"It's the last day of summer vacation!"

"Yeah. We can finally go back to Egypt and see my, I mean our, cat."

"No, buddy, we have to stay here. We're going to school here."

"But how we will find each other?"

Saw VIII: The Orthodontist

The gym of the Amman Marriott has treadmills equipped with small television sets right in front of your face. They automatically turn on when you step on the treadmill. I've run on them approximately 84 times, but still can't figure out how to change the channel or even turn it off.

So one morning this past July, my most recent Jordan trip, I stepped on the treadmill and was presented the choice of running while watching a supremely distasteful horror gore bloodfest movie, or not running. My commitment to the run won the day, but at a high price. I don't watch horror films, ever. Hate them. This opinion was confirmed.

Fast forward to yesterday. Katie is explaining to me the details, with photos and charts, of what the orthodontist is planning to do to Caleb's mouth. It was like a flashback to the treadmill. I've seen this movie before!

We have to turn a crank every day that slowly splits his jaw in half. What kind of sadistic torture is this! Then they say, all casual like, "Bone and cartilage will eventually just fill in the gap we create in the roof of his mouth." Wait, what?

I've often wondered why these terrible movies even have a market. Now I know: Orthodontists.

Who Misses a Flight to Disney World?

We were on vacation anyway when the evacuation was announced. In fact, we were in the Sawtooth Mountains of Idaho and didn't even know of the "counter revolution" until three days after it happened.

We were in the midst of a typically Tim-Hart-overplanned summer fun extravaganza, mapped out in five minute increments for each of 18 days (I exaggerate only slightly). This meticulous and glorious detail included these ill-fated numerals: 0700 (yes, I plan in military time as it is way easier when up to 8 time zones are involved).

On the morning of our IDA to MCO (yes, I travel enough that I now think in airport codes, so to translate, that's Idaho Falls to Orlando) we were casually driving to the airport at 0600. As we neared the airport, Maddie said, "Cool, look at that plane taking off."

There just aren't that many flights out of Idaho Falls. It took about one second to realize this was bad. Suddenly the scales fell from my eyes and I saw clearly. I remembered the emails received one day prior: "Check in online now for your 6:00 am flight." Oops.

Funny (I use that word because otherwise I get too mad at myself) that writing 0700 on my master schedule created a confirmation bias so powerful that when I received that email, I understood it as "Check in by 6:00 am for your flight."

In any case, there remained the problem of not that many flights departing IDA. We couldn't get to MCO for two more days. Tears were shed. We began making alternative plans to just rent a car and drive to Disneyland that very day.

Ultimately, at the expense of time with Papa J (which had been scheduled to follow five days at Disney World), we were able to push back all Disney reservations two days to spend the same time there.

But seriously, who misses a flight to Disney World?

The Cairo Game

We could be going back in two weeks, in which case this two bedroom high-rise apartment is perfect because it is right at the metro stop and in the heart of shopping, restaurants, and entertainment. Or we could be going back in 4 months, in which case three kids in one room and constant fighting over who gets to push elevator buttons is just not going to cut it.

Two weeks: rental car. 4 months: buy a reasonable old car.

Two weeks: claim $600 evacuation allowance (once claimed you cannot have any items shipped). 4 months: have up to 700 pounds of our stuff shipped to us. Once shipped, it could take up to a month to arrive, by which time we could be back in Egypt, where we would wait up to a month for our stuff to be shipped back to us. Note that because we were on vacation when evacuation was announced, we have with us only what we took on vacation.

Not complaining, mind you. The evacuation per diem is generous. Just smiling about the quirks of the situation.

Idaho Trip Special Moments

Found a computer, had to get these out before I forgot.

Caleb, while a panoramic x-ray was being administered at the dentist: "Are you sure this isn't a mind control machine? How do I know I will still be me when this is over?"

And during his eye exam: "First of all, I'm going to need to know what all these weapons are for?"

Then Caleb and I conquered the roller coasters of Disney World. Maddie didn't want to. Henry was too short, and I don't suspect he really wanted to either. Caleb had been afraid of Space Mountain, but decided to try it when we saw no line early one morning. He was proud and thrilled when it was over. So then we conquered Expedition Everest. As a token of his bravery, he bought and wore proudly a pin representing the ride.

And then we just kept riding the "mountain rides" over and over. Each time he would say, just before the ride started, "Listen, dad, I'm not even going to scream."

More later.

Temporarily Out of Service

The circumstances of my present work travel are such that I have not been able to update the blog. I won't really be able to add much until after August 8.

Like Having a Best Friend

Cousins. A few highlights from 2013 Redfish Lake family reunion.

Summer USA Trip So Far

Madeline can really throw. Here she is pointing out what happens when I underestimate her fastball.

Henry had a very Monsters University birthday party. Illustrated below. Special thanks to Gramma for the MU birthday cake.

The Idaho Falls Harts had weekend access to a cabin near Alpine, Wyoming and invited us to join. So we did. And once in the heart of beautiful nature we, of course, watched movies.

The kids had wanted to go to a "real life" baseball game. So I planned to take them to the Idaho Falls Chukars (cheaper then waiting until we're in Boston to go to the Red Sox). Maddie and Henry backed out last minute so I told them we would just stay home and have ice cream instead of going to the game. Caleb was crestfallen.

I adjusted quickly and Caleb and I headed out  to the game. Just the two of us. Five minutes into the game: "Dad, can I sit on your lap while we watch?"

Best baseball game I've ever watched. Loved every second of it.

Interestingly, Caleb now really wants an Idaho Falls Chukars tee shirt.

"Cause, you know, dad, Idaho Falls is kind of my home too, isn't it?"

Observations Upon Returning

Things I noticed on this return trip to the USA:

1. Traveling with kids aged 9, 7, and 5 is way better than traveling with kids aged 8, 6, and 4.
2. My streak of never sleeping on an airplane remains, but I discovered surprising comfort on the floor of the Denver airport.
3. Clean air is super awesome. Thank you, Idaho!
4. After a year in Cairo, overnight lows in the 40s might as well be Antarctica.
5. Toilets in the US have a lot of water in them. I always think they're about to flood.
6. We didn't want to pay to reinstate our Verizon accounts for just three weeks. Turns out, (after a few days of withdrawal) I can live without a cell phone.
7. Turns out I cannot live without my iPhone, even if the phone function is non functional.
8. After Pakistan, Egypt seemed pretty mundane. It is fun to observe how interested everyone is in our life in Egypt. Helps me think of it as an adventure again. Helps me feel more gratitude.
9. We have a lot of partisan bickering and scandals in the government, but the USA is still the best. I love her! I am grateful to be a US citizen.
10. Someone asked me if we (the US government) were handling things the right way in the Middle East. My honest response: "The more time I spend there, the more I realize that I just don't know."

School's Out Celebration

Henry and Bianca

Henry and Harper

Caleb and Dominic (moments after a fist fight with each other)

Caleb, Owen, and Greyden

Miles and Henry