Cheesy papaya, toast and butter, a blueberry, and orange juice. -Courtesy of Moody and Tala!
This morning I was awakened by Moody and Tala storming in my room shouting, "Wake up, wake up. Time for breakfast." They set me up in the bed with cushions behind me and served me and Sol breakfast.
"We used blueberries for garnish instead of parsley," said Moody, "We brainstormed and came up with this breakfast since there wasn't much in the fridge."
"An early birthday treat for the two of you!" said Tala.
It's becoming a habit of theirs to prepare me breakfast on Sunday, and they're upscaling every time. Check pictures for another breakfast treat on February 28.
We sat relishing the breakfast while Moody read to us "Smoky Night."
I am very impressed--Sol and I must be doing a fantastic job as parents! *taking the credit after all*
A red and black Italian leather sofa I'm in love with: $3,000...
An Italian leather jacket I have my eyes on: $400...
I'm tired! Been working all day. I cooked, did laundry, cleaned the desk, cleaned the med cabinet, started the tree decoration, etc., etc., etc. Now I'm sipping my calming herbal tea, and hoping to be able to take a nap soon. What's up with the kids today? They can't stop talking at all... All I'm asking for is some minutes of peace and quiet where I don't hear a sound and I don't have to answer any of the non-stop questioning! Ma ma mia!
OK, nothing seems to be working and questions and requests for attention are pouring on me as I'm writing this... mama mia!
December 10, Thursday, was our 11th anniversary. I didn't have anything on mind or planned on anything. But when I came home, Tala greeted me in the garage and ordered me to close my eyes while she guided me inside. Inside, she handed me a card she made and I found a vase of my favorite flowers (stargazers or oriental lillies) and a cake from my favorite bakery! What a wonderful surprise. Then all 3 dragged me out to go have dinner. It was very nice and warm.
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Last Thursday, Moody had an event at school about the Railroad Underground movement. He was playing William Hanby. Sol attended, I could not since it was during the day. In the same evening Tala had her Holiday Performance at school. She read a poem about Eid that the teacher came up with. It was a nice touch of the school and the first year we don't have to argue with them about not being all inclusive.
Yesterday we got the tree. The kids are so worked up and hyper wanted to decorate it right away. We didn't. instead we went to watch Avatar in 3D. Great, great movie; I highly recommend it. It was 2hrs and 40min long, but not boring at all.
Today, of course the kids started decorating the tree before we got up. I asked them to take all the ornament down so I could put the lights and streamers first. Appearently, they got bored and decided to take all the tys out of the 2 humongous toy boxes in the basement. After fighting with them so many times, they are now taking 15-minute turns. One cleans the toys, while the other decorates the tree, then they switch and so on. I am NOT doing any of that!
The weekend is over, and I didn't get to rest like I wanted to... again! Well, at least the atmosphere is festive inside and outside the house.
I forgot about Eid! We had a good one again. Suhir and I took Tala and Rayann to Sweet&Sassy for manicure, pedicure, hairdo, and makeup. They had a blast. We also got together with 2 other families and had fresh Eid 3esban, yum yum!
This year I decided to make duck instead of turkey. It was a last-minute decision. The kids objected, but I ignored them :) Actually, the duck came out very nice, tender, and juicy. The kids were so excited about Thanksgiving and Eid, coinciding together.
Tala wanted to help cook. She made "ants-on-a-log". It was her own idea and made it all by herself. Moody volunteered to make dessert. They both made a list of the ingredients they needed and handed it to Sol. They go what they wanted!
I was planning on making pecan tart as usual. Unfortunately, I could not. I had an upper endoscopy on Wednesday to dilate the area where the esophagus was joined to the intestines, and had a rough time afterward with nausea, gas, and pain. Nausea is still persisting! Anyhow, I skipped the tart and the yams. It was a great dinner nonetheless!
It started snowing today-first snow of the year on Eid day! Moody and Sol are going to the mosque for prayer, while Tala and I are heading to Sweet'n'Sassy!
Ugh, I'm so totally stuffed with candy! Trick-or-treating was last night. The kids had 2-bagfuls of candy, and we can't resist, except for Sol. My favorite is Starburst--I'm chewing right now. Tala decided she wanted to be a ballerina, and a beautiful, graceful one she was! Moody dressed as the Scream character with blood oozing off the mask... ooooh scary!
Moody had a bad day with Nicole last week, so we decided to ground him from trick-or-treating. At night, he brought us this letter. We could not say no--how could we!
I'm off to Cleveland tomorrow and will be back Wednesday night. The kids had been asking for spaghetti with meatballs, so I cooked that today and some desheesha. They are covered till I'm back.
Here's some Halloween artwork from Tala. One skeleton is on the treadmill; the other two are not decided what they want to do: One wants to play basketball and the other wants to play with dolls.
It's the time of the year when things settle down and we get in a routine. It is nice to have that back this year. Last year was choas, but it was also nice in its own way -- kind of bitter and sweet. I was sick just out of surgery, but Mama and Baba were here and so were Anas and Juju.
The kids and I went to the Fall Fest at Whittier on Friday evening. Then Moody went with Nicole for a sleepover with Logan. Tala got so upset and was crying for a while saying that she misses Moody, and the howuse is not the same without him--true! We tucked her in bed, but then found her sleeping on the stairs later at night. Sweet Lalla!
Sol went to the OSU game on Saturday with Esayed. Tala and I went to the mall for some shopping. Tala thought it was so rude of Victoria's Secret to show women in their undies and in big posters! "So gross!" She kept saying. Yep, agree. Later we met with Nadia and Zainab and the kids for lunch. Moody joined us too and we ran into Shebra. It was a nice, unplanned get together.
Today, Ann Rigney came over with her two grandsons, Corey and Evan. The kids played together for a couple of hours, had lunch, and then we headed out to see Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs in 3D. It was OK; the kids loved it.
I'm still contemplating whether to sign the kids up for dance his year or not. I need to decide today! Things are getting too busy for me at work. I'm heading two major projects besides everyday work and the little things here and there. The company is going through a major re-org which we're calling Transformation, and I'm leading one of the workstreams of the Purchasing TransformationJourney. It's very demanding and challenging, and I love it. I'm enjoying my job to the fullest and am very pleased with my manager. I owe the challenge and the high visibility I'm getting to him--he's awesome! Sol is going through a major change at work as well. They will be moving from the quarter system to a semester ,and that involves a lot of work on his end to prepare the new curriculum. Oh, what fun!
Tala learnt about producers and consumers last week at school. She was telling us about that and said "I told Mrs. Loefertt that we are producers since we grew tomatoes and peppers in our yard. And then we become consumers when we eat them." Very smart, Loli! She wants to go to a knitting class at the library and knit a sweater with a heart on it for me. I promised to take her to the class. She reminds me of when I was young and used to knit hats and scarves myself. Oh, what days!
We had awesome weather today, sunny and crisp with not so much wind. The temperature was about 58° F (~15°C). It was the perfect day for the farm trip with the girl scouts. We went to Farmville, uh I mean Devine Farms, about 45 minutes east of Columbus. Moody lost his way in the corn maze and he and Luke had to find a way out through the corn. The trip was very refreshing, and the kids had loads of fun. Check out the airbrushed pumpkins down below.
Tomorrow it will be exactly one year from the day Mama and Baba arrived in Columbus. This time last year, Anas and Juju were here with us. We had such good times with Anas and Juju, as well as Mama and Baba. We all miss them a lot. Moody and Tala still talk about their siblings, remembering those days, and they love wearing their clothes.
October the 15th will be a year since my surgery--how time flies! I can say I have come a long way in terms of recovery. And my family has come a long way in terms of coping.
Last night, the boys kicked me out of my room, so they could have a sleepover! I slept in Moody's room.
I have a busy week ahead of me! I will be in a workshop for 3 days, then going out of town on Wednesday and coming back Friday evening. Work never slows down, it only moves in one direction--up!
The kids just went to bed. Moody is so happy... He kept telling me I'm his favorite Mom! And I kept reminding him that I'm his only Mom! He just now told me that I'm his favorite person in the whole world, and that I'm always calm! lol Sweet Moody!
Oh, and Obama got the Nobel Prize for Peace?! What's up with that?! And, I was disappointed with the LCROSS lunar impact images, kind of expected more; though it is remarkable to be around when such events take place.
