Our Trip to Bekaa - 2 of 2

Here is more about out trip to Bekaa one month ago,

when Spring showed up with warm sun rays, if only for 2 days!

the second day, kids woke up early, 

and to our surprise the weather was even more beautiful than the day before!

Our trip to Bekaa - 1 of 2

End of March, the weather got warm, and I thought we should benefit this change,

and so we did!

we packed our stuff, and we headed to Bekaa to spend couple days... I persuaded our cousins and the accompanied us...

and I'm so glad they did!

kids had a blast playing together the whole time!

  

 

Is it Spring?

After a long week of rain and cold (it's already APRIL people!)
the sun shows up today...finally!!!
and with it I felt like coming back to life!
and my fingers felt like tipping the keyboard again...
so many updates, I'll try to sum it up... starting by... this little package of cuteness...
So, if you happen to visit us these days, be sure that you will be well received and mostly welcome in our house!
Sary gets happy whenever the door bell rings! he runs, gets excited, even delivery guys receive smiles and warm welcome salutations from him!
He's getting more aware, repeating words, making up scenes, and of course, mastering his tantrum techniques!

yes, this angel face can bring you to the edge of your self control 

but the good  thing about this little boy is that he is easy to distract and easy to please...

now his ultimate goal is to imitate his brother... and to run after him. 

Ghadi is also showing more affection towards his brother, he's taking care of him, plays with him, and they started to enjoy doing some activities together:

dancing like crazy with mom just before bedtime,

finger painting,

 playing outdoors whenever weather permits...

and finally I want to post my mother's day's goodies before I forget...

 from Sary!

 from Ghadi!

Car Free Day!

Last week we decided to explore a new public park/garden/space in Beirut.

I've heard a lot about the Jesuites Garden and that a small public library has opened adjacent to it to serve the neighborhood, and I was so happy and excited to go there...

and Bang, 

total disappointment! 

we hit it Sunday morning, it was full of trash, unpleasant, not one single working slide, swings are all twisted or broken, unclean sand floor, awful bathrooms...

I was sitting there, full of rage, how much would be the cost of a new swing, 

or to clean up this mess...

how much public money is spend on useless projects, while this sad garden is neglected in such a horrible way!

I asked Jamil to leave the place, and we head to Achrafieh... Jamil's sister informed us about an event there.. I knew nothing what it was about, or if it is suitable for two energetic kids, but I knew we should go there to support her work.

She's handling a small fresh orange juice business, with her son, and I am so proud of her and of her will and all I was thinking about is that I should go, buy that fresh orange juice and then we'll manage to find out some activity to continue the day in a better way...

It turned out it was a car free street day in Mar Mechael, a famous street in that area... the day aimed at spreading environmental awareness through a series of activities and events... some really extraordinary events!!!

upon our arrival, kids were excited to hear loud music and some funny characters welcomed us...

then the first kiosk we hit was a dream comes true!

kids were encouraged to decorate planting pots using colors...

It doesn't stop here...

Curious Ghadi!

So, What about Ghadi?

 5 and 1/2 year old boys are the cutest...EVER!

he is so caring, so nice, so willing to please us...

 he still enjoys being in the kitchen with me,

and we often do pan cakes together,

with LOTS of whipped cream of course!

 he still enjoys all sorts of crafts, and lately he insisted we shall do a drawing "A La Christian Voltz", 

an illustrator whose works are introduced at school...

and we did it!

 ...but wait... did you see the previous photo of Ghadi carefully?

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have you noticed anything weird about his hair??

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his fringe specifically?

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if no, here is a close-up!

yes..

It is what you may think!

last week, he was at my mom's place, my mom was busy chatting with my younger sister who came for a very short/quick one week vacation _which was a blast by the way_

and when he came back from mom's bedroom (which he rarely enters)

here it was...

when I came back from work, my sister warned me: Ghadi did a wrong thing,

 try not to yell at him cuz mom talked to him and she was so angry and afraid he could have hurt himself...

I still didn't know what it is about, and I prepared myself for the worst..

when he came, and stood in front of me, with that guilty look..

then I saw it...

he did himself a haircut, a fringe-cut better said...

and he was like: don't worry mom, it'll grow again!

and I couldn't help it.. I laughed and laughed and then talked to him (as serious as I could)...

his curiosity is growing and hopefully it will always lead him to explore 

safely and away from unreasonable acts!

Virus attacks_episode 2

Just to add to the chaos mentioned on my previous post, Sary had a stomach virus, causing him severe diarrhea / vomiting, all the time, everywhere...

so after we had almost all bed linen in laundry, I had this brilliant idea, inspired from a fellow blogger:

I brought that crib mattress back!

and I prepared a bucket for any sudden vomit attacks!

the Good news is that the virus did last only three days, then we had a constipation attack which also lasted three days...

now he's having intolerable pain inside his mouth, putting his five fingers under his tongue, 

sucking everything in hand, 

I wonder if 2 year sold kids experience teething,

but it is definitely something causing him lots of pain, cuz he's waking up at night, screaming, crying 

and we are having difficulties to bring him to sleep in piece again!

hope this episode will end soon...

cuz he looks really sad and enduring pain, and above all, 

he can express way better now, 

and he looks at you and says: 

ou'ou!

_which, translated to grown-up language would be: 

Aiiii, i'm having that intolerable pain and you all could do nothing about that???? HELP!_

Chaos disguised as a little... Sary!

This month is marking Sary's second birthday...

but he is definitely NOT waiting for this to manifest his strong personality and his rebellious character!

last week, I walked in to the living room and I gasped...

the story began with Ghadi was having breakfast early morning, then had had to go the bathroom, 

I checked on him and got distracted at the kitchen, maybe for 40 seconds...or 45... no more than that!

and during this precious time,

Sary decided he wants to eat corn flakes just like his brother (ma hada ahsan min hada :)

and here we are...

helping himself putting the corn flakes INSIDE the spoon, before trying to bring it to his mouth!

is he picking  his nose? or did the flakes enter the wrong location? 

hard to tell...

 anyways, this kind of mess is very normal when Sary is around...

we got used to it, we love it and we love how chaotic it gets because simply:

we love chaos, 

and a neat home is just...boring!

Sary is Two!

Last month marked Sary's second Birthday...

Actually I am going through the not-so-talkative-phase due to many reasons...

this is why i'll just post couple photos, 

and I promise I'll be talking about this little monster and his cute milestones soon...

we didn't have a huge party, it was just us, and two candles,

which were lit and blown about ten times!

just because it was so much fun and Sary was finally singing Happy Birthday to you!

 Two of the best years in my life, 2 years old Sary was just the perfect addition to our life.

 his gift from "teta" (grand'ma), and she knows how much he adores motorcycles!

 

Ghadi was also cute, celebrating cheerfully his brother's birthday without any sign of jealousy, 

and because the best photos at the right time should be blurred, I couldn't delete this last one! 

Happy Birthday mon grand!

you are the candy of my life

you are filling our days with non stop laughter and happy moments and we are grateful we have you

your personality is blossoming and you are showing us more tenderness and love...

you imitate your brother and now you are playing with him around the house...

your screams and the sound of your tiny steps running away or hiding from Ghadi are the music of my soul!

I kiss every toe of yours, wishing you the best a life can offer...

I love you both and all I hope is that you stand by each others with every breath you take.