How to beat winter cold!

Ghadi discovered two simple steps:

1- Go to the Living Room

2- Jump under dad's Moroccan Cape

and 3:
take hold of the Remote Control!

Wise words cracking me up!

It's Christmas,
and here is Ghadi, having his first photo with Santa!
he saw the guy and he whispered: look mom, this is someone dressed like Santa...
cuz there's no real Santa!
I smiled at his wise words, and agreed to take a photo of him, and the "guy" dressed like Santa!

we also enjoyed the Christmas decorations at our favorite mall, the "ABC" Achrafieh!

Ghadi likes..."creepy stuff"

I mentioned in previous post that Ghadi is growing up quickly but I didn't elaborate about that... here are two incidents to clarify my point:

At home on Christmas day, the movie "Nightmare before Christmas" by Tim Burton was showing...
when Ghadi entered the living room, his eyes caught the eerie shape of the main character, I automatically changed the channel.
- But whyyyy did u change the channel?
- Because this movie is not for kids
- But why?
-... Because it contains creepy stuff.
- But mom! I LOVE creepy stuff!!!!!!!

credit

While we were at the mall the other day, Ghadi insisted on going to play at the secured play area, a playground where kids can enjoy many activities and which does not require the presence of parents for children above 4 years old...
I explained that we came to the mall on a specific mission and that I have to buy some stuff and I have no time to stay with him. He agreed to enter and play on his own, which was an achievement...
many kids wouldn't go especially without a friend or a parent.
We made our shopping mission and after 50 minutes Jamil went to pick him up...
when they came back, Ghadi had an amazing tiger paint on his cheek.
Jamil then explained that when he entered the hall, he searched for Ghadi at the playground area, when he didn't find him he turned around, and there he was sitting next to other kids, waiting his turn for the face- painting, holding a bottle of water that he bought himself!
When I asked him about the bottle, he said: " I got thirsty, and I wouldn't wait for you so I went and asked the girl in charge to get me a bottle of water and told her that you will pay for it when you come!"
I don't usually get emotional but at that moment I admit I had wet eyes!

I have to... keep smiling.

I was really willing to write a cheerful post...
last week, I was trying hard, to think positive, willing to announce that love and family and happy children can help us overcome hard times... I even saw a rainbow in the sky... it made me smile and I was happy like a kid... I don't remember when was the last time I saw a rainbow!

I wanted to beat the fever, the headaches, the heart pain and I wanted to go on...
but then I receive some news...
I may be not able to share them but it squeezed my heart and left me paralyzed.

and once again, Sary gets sick, Ghadi catches a flu...
then runny noses everywhere.
watery eyes
coughing, sneezing, yelling...
and on Monday we had to take Sary for a medical check to be sure that the coughing isn't caused by some bronchitis and it wasn't... it seems the Singulair treatment we started 2 months ago is doing him good and protecting his chest
Ghadi had a crisis on same night, his mid-ear hurt and we had to take him to emergency since that neither Panadol nor Advil helped ease the pain.
and to top all this,Sary wakes up almost every night, with blocked nose and thirsty to milk most of the times..

enough said,
and again, this is not the kind of posts I wanted to write
or the kind of news I wanted to share
but this is how my life looks like right now

as this year approaches its end  I refuse to think of it as a wacky December
it is just life, and life resonates... ups and downs...
and I won't stop there...at the down side.
I'm always happy and I will always be, because I simply don't have the right to complain...
If I look around me, and if I forgot about the runny noses.. I can always see the kids run after each other as they were doing yesterday, laughing, screaming from joy...
I can always hear Sary's laugh when I kiss his feet
and I can always enjoy the amazing character of my older boy, who is growing up so quickly...
I can always feel the support of my Jamil... who is waking up with me after midnight to stand by me while I try to calm down a crying cranky boy...

Good bye my beloved aunt Jamilah

When I pass through hard times,
I tend to remember, pray, and cry…silently.

When I lose a dear person,

My lips refuse to move
my tears refuse to fall

And my mind refuse to think

Only my heart beats loudly

And its beats form a noisy rhythm,

reminding me of the fact that, everything we do or see

is following a rhythm…

my heart is beating…

life… death…life… death… life

and today I will allow myself to express and cry and yell and scream and mourn…

only here.

Because here is my heart

And here is where I am able to talk

to cry out all the tears...

Good bye my Aunt…Good bye Jammoul..

May Allah grant you His mercy  and may all your good deeds surround you

We live among the people we love, believing that they are here forever

That they will be there for us, no matter when, or how

We eliminate the fact that someday we’ll turn around and find an empty house

Empty except from their smell and the echo of their voices.

I hug my cousins, my sisters, and my mother. I look around, I see the table runner done by her hands...

the desserts in the fridge, her cup of coffee...

At night, I go home, I wear the winter cape she knitted to warm me up when i'm cold,

I eat the special “makdous” she prepared to delight me…

She left suddenly, as Allah chose… no objections to His Will.

Thank you Allah for everything

She left us within minutes… Sleeping peacefully… 

So that I would always have that image in my head: wide smile, well combed hair, pearl necklace, and fashionable sunglasses, …

She may have reached 74, but she definitely had the heart of a gorgeous girl  cherishing life, and appraising beauty…

seeking happy moments, laughing and smiling at life’s offerings, whether good or bad. Her faith never failed her…

here's a photo I love, during one of the family gatherings my sister usually organize...

Jammoul sitting and smiling at us and at life...

I will not cry, I will smile at your memory my beloved aunt, for I never saw you crying…

And for all the times we shared, for all the positive vibes you used to spread…

For your will, your warm lap,

Your tight hugs and your love to every baby you held,

I will not cry…

for all the tenderness and the kisses you offered us and our children...

for all the support you granted us through all these years, 

I will remember

and smile

and pray

hoping that, at that definite time we will gather all again…in His paradise in'shaa'Allah.

Mom is a Girl with capital G!

Working on a crafting project, Ghadi and I needed some silhouette shapes of animals.

since we didn't have any left from our previous art attack, we searched through our printed sheets, and we found the silhouettes of a couple of children TV characters, so we decided to use them.

Ghadi chose the penguin character: Tchouppi...

while I was searching for a character myself, I picked the "Hello Kitty" shape.

Ghadi protested:

- No, this is for girls!

- but this is for me, you've already chosen yours

- but you can't use it it's for girls!

- and I'm a girl!

-...

-...

-still you can't use it, you have to choose another one...

No, it is NOT that he doesn't admit that I'm a girl!

I prefer to think that he simply doesn't like Hello Kitty... 

(and tomorrow I will be wearing a skirt... just to make a point!...)

A glimpse back to November

Happy Sunny December

December is starting really great!
sunny sunday, warm weather, fresh breeze... what would be more perfect for a December day!
and for another Manara promenade!
yes, the coast road Beirut is and will always be my favorite destination!
Kids loved it!
A post will follow about November recap including STING Concert and Ghadi's Friends Party at home!

Just everyday's life...

Those are few random shots taken by my phone,

they are of bad quality I know, but I'm posting them 

as a quick glimpse to our daily chaotic crazy life 

with the boys I adore the MOST

 taking advantage that his brother had to go to the toilet,

Sary jumped on the car track and tried to roll the cars exactly as Ghadi does it!

of course shortly after taking the shot I had to stop 

the fight that erupted as soon as Ghadi spotted his baby brother daring to play with HIS cars!

coming back from a visit to Jamil's parents, it was raining heavily, 

and we had to wait a couple minutes on the sidewalk before heading to the car parked on the other side...

Sary struggled to get off my grip 

he felt the rain drops and he was extremely happy

It was a huge discovery for him, then the fun began when he realized it could hit his face!

I took a bazillion photos but all were blurred because the little explorer wouldn't stand still for a fraction of second!

 Sary wearing his first Hoody!

 Me" shooting myself as per my sister's request!

in one of our self-portrait exchange session

 The classical Music concerts by the Lebanese philharmonic Orchestra are back 

and we are trying to go regularly..

 Ghadi didn't accompany us yet since that he gets sleepy by the time we leave... and knowing that he is able to sleep in the middle of any concert of any kind, 

just like he did in Sami Youssef' Concert we attended last summer,

I prefer that he stays at home and I don't push him to accompany us anymore!

 That was taken just before the concert started!

and then 30 minutes after... yes, fully asleep, on my lap!

 A visit to Jamil's Brother would definitely include: playing with IPAD

Playstation/ and or computer games!

 Ghadi getting grounded by Jamil for a Major thing he did!

I envy Jamil's for the cold blood style!

he talks with him slowly and he clarifies things and he's always ready to hear what Ghadi has to say!

do my kids know how lucky they are for having such a great father?

I know I am for having him by my side, and someday they'll realize it as well...

and here's my hero, tasting the pain au chocolat for the first time!

Whipped Cream fans!

On his 5th Birthday, Ghadi received a very cute present from a very special friend:

a cooking set!

Including cookie's molds, mini spatula, decorating tools and much more!

so when I decided to whip some cream, Ghadi insisted on helping me, and what a great joy I had, finding out that he is fond of whipped cream!

just like me!

my favorite part is licking the remaining cream from the whiskers...

and so was Gahdi's!

we laughed and had great fun fighting over the leftovers!

then our neighbors joined us, and each had his turn to decorate the tiny cupcake!

such times mean the world to me... 

sharing the fun, laughing, and experimenting are the real treasure for those cute kids...

An Autumn day to remember

It's Autumn people!

and I'm back to track

here they are...

 my Autumn leaves...

and a LOT more!

Summer Camp 2012

I know it's already November

It's starting to get cold...

maybe that's what takes me back to those Summer Albums...

and whoops, I fins tons of photos that are worth posting,

but got lost in the mid of all the summer chaos!

and I found out that I posted nothing about Ghadi's days at summer camp!

so here are some photos 

reflecting the great spirit he had!

He enjoyed it way more than last year's 

he was excited to go every single day 

and every day we had a new story,

a new adventure!

I'm SO glad Ghadi is having all this fun during summer!

What is Eid without a trip to the Funfair!

It was Sunday,

it was Eid,

it was sunny...

Definitely it was the right day to take the boys out,

straight to the Dream Park!

Adha Mubarak 2012

Football!

Sary is 20 months old!

This little boy is cuteness!

here are some photos taken with my phone just to document every day's funny moments!

 Opening the Corn flakes,

eating the Corn Flakes,

 Playing with this awesome Sliding monsters toy from the awesome ELC store 

(this was a gift from Hala to Ghadi by the way, but among the few toys that could distract Sary for more than 5 minutes!!)

 using the Golf pole to get what he can't reach... seriously??!

what can I say???

Cuteness!!!!!!!!