Apple a Week and Arabic They Shall Speak

Last November, I started teaching adults.
A small but a very smart group. They say that learning how to read Arabic is like climbing a steep mountain.

I agree.
Arabic is one of the hardest languages to learn. I tell my students all the time that I envy them for having a teacher who goes to their houses and teaches them a totally new language.

I have students since year 2007. I still drive to their houses every week. I never give up on them and I love watching them progress.

As for the adults, I don't drive to their houses, I simply go to their work in Cupertino to teach them every Thursday night -almost-.
They work for Apple.

After every single class they thank me for teaching them and I actually thank them back for trusting me to teach them Arabic.

They are doing great. They are fast.
Last Thursday they were able to build sentences.
I felt proud, so proud that I decided to celebrate.
I called Jeeej before I left the parking lot at Apple and he said: "Whatever you want, you name it!".

I picked La Fondue.

and I'm glad I did :)

How to Take Perfect Family Pictures at Home

1. Get dressed to go out, brush hair, wear make up and before you leave the house ask your husband to grab a camera or a smart phone. Whatever is available.

2. Find a good/safe location to take pictures and ask the kids to look at your husband.

3. Keep asking your kids to look at your husband and remind them to smile, fake smiles or not, it doesn't matter, just smile.



4. Don't move fast, Don't lose it. Control yourself and stay calm.



5. Calm your kids down

6. Start begging them to just look at the darn camera and smile



7. Start begging your husband to CALM DOWN and be patient. Because this MUST work out one way or another.



8. Don't give up. Don't show any kind of weakness.
Teach your kids what determination means

9. Try not to cry. Try hard not to.

10. Try not to drop any of your kids down. It's important to stay safe.

*     Remember, if it doesn't work out today, it might tomorrow, or maybe in a year ;)
**   Thank your husband for being patient and also for his hard work and efforts.
*** Thank your kids for their cooperation in making this session the best part of your day.

On a side note, everyone says that Mariyah looks a lot like me.

Surprises, Big Or Small

I think I react the same way to all kinds of surprises.
No matter how big or small they are, my reaction is always the same :)

They're all beautiful!

This week, I fell in love...
All over again :)

All Mothers Are Fat

One morning Mariyah drew my friend with her daughter and a cat on her lap.

When she showed it to me I asked her:"Why is she so big?"
She said: " Just like you, mama".

I didn't take her answer seriously. I loved her drawing and I showed it to my friend proudly, she loved it too.

A couple of weeks later she drew a cow.
When I saw it I said: "Wow! Mariyah, this is such a BIG Fat cow".
She said: "Yes mama, She's a mother. All mothers are fat".

Her answer made me laugh...

A couple of days ago she drew this:

I asked her: "Why do we have long nails?"
Her answer was: "Miss Sue came to school today and she has long nails. I love long nails"

I love all the details in her drawings. The fact that we all smile makes me happy. But then I look big here.
I'm 152 lb. ~ 69 Kg these days. I am big.

I decided to get back to working out.
I did it. I go on the treadmill when I have time now. These days my sister in law is visiting so I'm kinda busy :p

But I will get back in shape and hopefully inspire my -almost 4 years old- daughter :)

Pictures Perfect!

During the day, I take some pictures of my girls and I think: "I should send these to mama".
Before I go to bed I go through them all with Jeeej.

 Today I showed him the ones I took for my mom.  Pictures of my girls wearing some of the new outfits I got them from Target.

Jeeej loved this one the most.

It made me laugh, because I think Selma looks so much like him...

I love her. She has a big heart. I just wonder if she loves me as much as I love her :)

And sometimes I take pictures of my dishes...
To send them to mama and to show them to you ;)

Have a great weekend.

Oh. And no more modeling on the table.

My life With My Husband is a Small Rental Car.

Last week, me and Jeeej were stressed out and had an argument/fight. One big argument we actually broke some of the rules we once set, but then...long story short, we made up.
My father in law's surgery and recovery made us closer. It gave us a hint that life is short and no one knows what might happen the very next day...

Being away from my family makes it hard yet easy to get over a fight with Jeeej. When I feel that I need to talk to my mom about it, the time difference is a big obstacle. Once she's awake, we are fine, and the fight is history and a funny story to laugh at.
When I tell him that I'm in need to just be alone and have nothing to bother me is when I realise I have no one but him to turn to and talk to...

It's always been like that when it comes to fights :)

For over a week now, my Big Car is getting fixed. I don't know why it's taking forever to get it done but I was promised I'll get it back tomorrow...

I miss it because it's big and messy,
But I will miss the Small rental car I'm driving these days...because
This CAN happen...

In the big car with tinted windows they have many options to entertain and distract them from each other.
In the small car with too much sun coming through, they have no where else to turn but to each other. They hold hands most of the time and the car rides have never been happier :)
This picture was taken one day after making up :)

Then later on that day, he took me out on a date and played this song for me...

He says it reminds him of me...

I'm just lucky to be in love with my best friend <3

TOTEM is MAGIC!

To be honest, I can't remember the first time I heard about Cirque du Soleil, but I remember that once Jeeej told me that he had seen it before I was sure he'd take me one day.

When TOTEM arrived to San Jose, I got so excited to see it. I expected to be surprised...

Waiting for our friends/neighbors to show up and join us

On the weekend, I was completely blown away.
Amazing costumes, make-up, music, lights, performance...EVERYTHING!

My favourite part was the roller skates, (00:47) And hearing some Arabic music here and there was really beautiful.
I can say that attending the show was one of the best things I've ever done in my life :)

I hope this show won't be the last we attend :)

Jeedo's Guide to Enjoy "Weekly Meals Planning"

A couple of weeks ago, I was talking to my BFF Rina on Skype. We talked about the girls, the husbands and life in general. When we started talking about being organized, I myself got excited because talking to Rina about this is like going to the best school in Life Organizing.
I mean it!

She shared some priceless tips with me and when she mentioned how helpful it is to plan the week's menu I felt proud! Because when it comes to this, I'm the Best!
Well, Not really...But I'm getting there :)

For almost a year now, Jeeej and I have been careful about the budget we set for grocery shopping. Before that we used to do many mistakes:

- We used to go to Costco

- We never made lists

- We used to go to different  and random stores each week

- We used to go to the store whenever we needed an item during the week

- We used to eat out or take away meals a couple of times during the week.

For some, these points are not mistakes.

For us, they are.

    We are a small family of four, we don't need to buy big amounts of food or cleaning items from Costco, plus we don't have the space at home to use as storage.

    We're totally against wasting food, that's why we only buy what we Need.

    We love to eat healthy.

     I love cooking :)

Now, every Friday I love to see my fridge and freezer empty. Our favourite day for grocery shopping is Saturday. We usually go together but sometimes Jeeej takes the list & does the shopping with Mariyah, trying to teach her on how to pick the right food/amount of food from the right store.

We go to 2 stores only, Trader Joe's and Target. Sometimes we go to the Indian/Middle eastern shop to get items that can't be found else where (Good Yogurt, Lady fingers, Pita bread are good examples).

First we decide on the 5 main meals we are eating during the week. Once we decide we start adding the ingredients of each meal.

Deciding on the five meals takes the most time. Everything else is easy :)

Jeeej makes dinner once a week. He picks either Wednesday or Thursday.

He sometimes fixes a good breakfast during the weekend, we get the ingredients for everything.

I don't cook during the weekend, unless we have visitors.

We love Trader Joe's because of the great & healthy choices they provide for less.

We go to Target to get Mariyah's weekly gift -we decided to start getting something for Selma, next Saturday-, the cleaning items I need for the house -which are a few- and most importantly Diapers for Selma.

This Saturday I made a mistake.

I wrote down that Jeeej is making Salmon this week, but I forgot to add it as an ingredient on the list, that's why I'm not the best, yet!

 Let's see what he'll fix for us tonight, hopefully something as good as the Filet Mignon he made for us last week :)

Kalifornya Looks & Tastes Better Now

I got the frames from Whole Foods and sent them to Amman...

My mom got them ready for my eyes and sent them back to me :)

On top of that, she sent me a bag of Arabic spices.

Priceless!

Thank you Mama :)

Bosaat.

The Life Cycle of A...Doll!

Once upon a time, many years ago, before becoming a mother, I was visiting my friend Amal's house, a mother of two girls. I was looking at her girls' dolls and I felt sad. They looked abused and ugly and I wondered why...WHY?!

She understood my reaction and was nice enough to explain the life cycle of a doll to me.

Here you go...

When you have two "innocent" partners in mischief,
They get creative while at home...

The Boss...

The Helper!

Their plan is to keep asking for dolls to be bought...sometimes with lots of hair and other times with lots of clothes.

The first step is to take off their clothes, right away. If by mistake you dress them up, upon their request sometimes, clothes should not stay on for more than 10 minutes.


In Action!

The second step is to add full make up to their faces and bodies?!

The Third step is to rip the dolls apart...One part at a time, the arms, the legs and finally the head.

Well, my angels didn't reach this point yet. They are busy fighting over the dolls.

The best doll is the one in the other sister's hand, of course ;)

P.S: Thank you Amal. You make my life easier learning from you and your girls!

When Multitasking Kills Perfectionism

When I have my day planned ahead I know exactly what I need to do once I wake up, while my baby's napping, before lunch, before heading to classes and right after coming back home.

I never ignore the baby's nap. Actually my whole day is planned around it. whether she sleeps or stays awake in her playpen I call it nap. Today during this sacred hour, from (10-11am) I decided to do it all.

Mariyah's breakfast.
Cook Magloubeh.
Fold 2 loads of laundry and wash the girls' towels.
Prepare snacks for the daycare.
Draw a Zebra, a Horse and make dots for Mariyah to trace and hopefully teach her how to write her name.

Did I do it?
Yes :)

How did it go?
I ate what was left of Mariyah's sandwich.
The burnt cauliflower wasn't good for the magloubeh.
The clothes didn't look perfect in the drawers.
Snacks fresh & colorful :)
The horse didn't look nice but the zebra did. And she didn't learn how to write her name, again.

How did I feel?
Dead.

What about my Perfectionism?
It never existed ;)