Tuesday, January 29, 2013

Little house on the carpet

We made a house for the kids using crazy forts and some sheets. It's the biggest house we ever made.

My son was thrilled!

He made a picture to decorate the house.

My daughter was ecstatic too. She brought some blankets into the space and made herself all comfy cozy.

Before the house building exercise we had a family dance. We listened to my childhood favorites, mamunia, both the Paul Macartney and the original Ferdous Waheed version. Did you know when I was less than a year old, my parents took me to a Ferdous Waheed concert and he seranaded me with this song? It's so special to me and I love that my daughter likes it to. We danced to I Will and Here comes the sun by the Beatles. It was a groovy evening!!!!

Wishing upon a star

One day I would like to take my babies to Disneyworld. In the meanwhilst we took them to Disney on ice.

My son's favorite part was Toy Story and Aladdin

My daughter said her favorite part was when the said goodbye at the end. Funny girl!

My favorite part was the Small world and my husband liked beauty and the beast. He's such a romantic!!!!



Monday, January 28, 2013

Double birthdays

Do you believe in horoscopes? For example that if two people share the same sign then they must share similar personalities? Well I have evidence to proof horoscopes cannot reliably predict personality traits. Here is my evidence - exhibit A:

These two people are born on the same day, but 15 years apart, my aunt and my brother in law. My aunt is  sweet, kind, loving  and easy going. My brother in law on the other hand is funny, quirky, nerdy and an A type personality. They are nothing like each other! Regardless, their shared Birthday is cause to celebrate and my family likes celebrations. The girls were playing really nicely together. It was the first party in a long time where my sister and I weren't running around, chasing, scolding and mediating hyper little kids. They actually sat down together and played docile games.

My little munchkin and I found a moment to cuddle but my son was no where to be found. He and his best friend (his cousin) were busy playing learning games on my brother in laws ipad.

When cake the cakes were put out, my sister and I were back to patrol duty. We had to protect the cake from hungry little people like this:

and this:


I had to include this picture of my handsome cousin squinting. His glasses came off when the cameras came out. Oh the vanity of youth!





Friday, January 25, 2013

A good brother

My kids had to entertain themselves for a moment whilst my husband and I did a chore together. My daughter wanted to be with us so she cried but she soon stopped. When we rejoined the kids my son told us he told his sister three stories to stop her from being sad. They were Goldilocks, Pinky and a made up one. My daughter informed me "It was nice for me!" They warm my heart.

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

The balloon saga continues

After my son had lost his balloon the other day, my husband found two balloons from our extra birthday party supplies and blew them up for the kids. My son had left his balloon in the dining room where it gets really hot during the day. It must have burst in the sunlight because when we got home my son found shreds of his balloon on the floor beside the dining table. This was his response. How to explain to him that sometimes life just sucks!!!!

Cinderella

Look at my princess!!!

She's washing her own dish! My husband asked her to put the dish in the sink and then he came to talk to me about some minutiae of our life. We stopped talking when we heard the water go on in the kitchen. My cutie had pulled out a stool so she could reach the sink and was industriously scrubbing away at her dish! I am blessed to have a child that thinks it's fun to do dishes. May she always feel this way =).

Sunday, January 20, 2013

Expanding my horizons

I went to a book swap today. My neighbor (and friend) had invited a bunch of book enthusiasts to her house.

We were told to each bring a few books that we had read and were ready to pass on to a new home. She put on quite a spread ranging from healthy treats like fruits and vegetables with epicure dip (yummy) to decadent butter tarts. After we were all settled in and munching away on our snacks the swapping began. I gave away my copies of She's come undone and The virgin lover (not a dirty book, it's a historic novel about Queen Elizabeth the First) and came home with The Postcard killer and The Friday night knitting club.

It was like Christmas  but for nerds. I loved it!!!! The other thing I loved was that I got to snuggle with a 3 month old baby. He was beyond adorable with his bright eyes and enormous cheeks.  He didn't make a peep and after being in my arms for a few moments he sweetly fell asleep holding on to my finger. Oh god I want another baby!!!!! My heart says yes, but my mind and my body say don't you dare!

Saturday, January 19, 2013

Having a bad day

Look at this sad little face! He's had a rough day. To cheer the kids up we got them some kinder eggs. My daughter got a nice doll in hers but my son got only..... Stickers! He felt so cheated!!!! We tried to explain that this was his luck at the draw but he could not be consoled. We went to old navy and one of the cashiers there took pity on him and gave him a balloon to cheer him up. As soon as we stepped out the door his balloon got caught in a strong gust of wind 5and flew away! Poor boy!


Monday, January 14, 2013

Looks can be deceiving


I had to blog about this picture. It's not a grimace on his face. This is my son declaring my vinegar and soya sauce mushroom and broccoli vegetables to be the tastiest thing he ever ate. "Mmmm when you bite it, it's sweet and juicy". Here's another misleading picture.

My husband was not reading a magazine to my son, he was doing a very dramatic telling of Jack and the beanstalk.
This picture is exactly what it looks like. The masterpiece that is my husband!

Things of beauty

The second week of 2013 have flown by with the same urgency and speed as the first week. At this rate I will blink and it will be 2014 already. However there have been some very poignant moments in this week - for example the very earnest argument my children had over breakfast on Wednesday. They were bickering over who loved mummy more. I am also enjoying the time I am spending teachings son how to read. It is exasperating and exhilarating in equal parts. Whilst I am busy with my son, my husband entertains my daughter. One day he built Jurassic park for her out of Treo!

This weekend my husband's Aunt, Uncle and cousin came to visit. They bought us an exquisite bouquet of flowers.

We had such a peaceful time with our guests. We spent most of our time just talking around the kitchen table. We took them to an antique marketplace and found a few rare gems, literally! I came home with this sparkling sapphire bracelet.

I also am the happy owner of this charming multi semi precious stone bracelet.

When I got home, I found a package waiting for me. It was from one of my closet friends. She bought me a beautiful light blue necklace. I feel really blessed today. Like a princess!


Tuesday, January 8, 2013

Whirlwind!

Is it just me or is time speeding up in 2013? Wow! It has been a busy year so far and we are only 8 days into the new year! The new year started out tame enough.
For New Year's Eve, my mother and my aunt prepared a delicious meal of tuna and roast beef sandwiches along with boiled vegetables. This was a meal that my grandmother traditionally made for them on New Year's Eve when they were growing up. I prepared a pasta dish for the occasion and we all feasted well into the night.


 I dressed my daughter and myself both in red sweater dresses.


My son and his cousin wore matching spiderman shirts


My niece wore a cute floral dress. Isn't she so adorable?

My sister and my niece had braided matching hairstyles.

Do you think my daughter was enjoying all the attention my sister and I were giving her? At midnight it took a  long time for all of us to individually wish each other happy new years. I think that's because there were 20 of us altogether.

We thought it was too cold to go outside so we tried watching the fireworks from the window this year.

That wasn't a very good plan as the buildings around us blocked our view. We thought for sure the kids would be tired and want to go to sleep, but we were wrong. They were up well past midnight. I tried to recover on new years day but we came back home from my parents that day so I was exhausted from the trip. I was still kind of tired on my birthday. Still I had an amazing birthday. My husband got me a magic bullet to help me make smoothies to go in the morning. My sister gave me a cake decorating set that I can't wait to use. A really good friend of mine gave me a really nice candle holder and make up and another friend gave me this really nice bouquet of pink carnations.

The best part of my birthday though was being surrounded by my family. My parents came to visit on my birthday and they stayed the weekend with us. My son did something really funny. What do you think they're doing in this picture. I'll give you a hint, it's not hugging.


My son was measuring my daughter. By his measurements, she is "nose height' because she comes up to his nose. If you look closely at this image, you'll see that he is sticking his nose on the top of her head. If you want to see a real hug, this is how it's done.