Living The Dream~

Today, Jeeej was talking to one of his customers about their plans for the future. The guy has a great one that I need to share with you.
He has 2 kids, The 1st is five and the second is three. He is planning to sell his business, buy a piece of land with horses, hens and some other animals where he could fix, buy and sell cars on that piece of land.
His wife works in one of the big hospitals so they will both work to support the family and share duties and chores at home.
Now, this sounds like a great story!

His girls are so excited about his plan...
I wish I can live this kind of life at some point.
Of course, excluding the animals and the working at a hospital parts...

My dream is:
Home school my girls in the morning.
Give classes in the afternoon and evening.
Have Jeeej around at home 24/7.
Give him all the time he needs to work on his eBay store.
Become rich.
Live happily ever after :)

No seriously!!
Check out his store on eBay: Value Maximus.
He has so many beautiful items posted there. For both Males and Females.

I work so hard on getting closer to accomplish my dream...
Today I got rid of the old shelves since we got newer ones for the girls' room

I love these shelves much more :)

Then I took the old ones and put them in the storage room so we could get his eBay stuff more organized :)

Don't forget to shop at his store, get gifts for your loved ones and then for yourself and help me keep my dream alive :)

Four My Girl :)

Mariyati,

Collecting my favourite pictures of you since you were born was like mission impossible.

You are so beautiful.

I am so emotional and sleepy right now, I wish I can write more lines for you...

One thing I can proudly say is that I remember when, how and where every single picture was taken!

Say Masha'Allah :))

TODAY,

You are FOUR :)

Like you said: you are so proud of yourself for becoming Four!

At school

At the daycare with the cake we both decorated :)

I love you marmoura amoura,
FOURever!

Hugs And Kisses
xoxo

It Felt Like Home...

Last week, While on our way back home from the daycare Mariyah simply asked :"Can we live in a hotel? Our house is not new anymore!".
When I told Jeeej about it, he started planning a trip where we could stay in a hotel. Lake Tahoe and Memorial day was the plan but then it was too cold there and he had to help his mom move to Santa Cruz today -Monday-.

So when the plan didn't work we headed to Sacramento and had a great day at the Cal Expo.

No, they were not sleepy



Mariyah in Heaven, petting cows, goats and rabbits!



Selma is full of surprises :)



Big sister, Small sister



First Ride, Brave girl :)

So Much Fun!

To make one of Mariyah's dreams come true, we stayed for the night at Marriott Suites.
On our way to the hotel we heard Mariyah asking Selma to behave at night since both of them were going to sleep in the same sofa bed. It was a peaceful night where Selma felt extremely comfortable :)

Perfect! One Beautiful trip altogether :)

I think I'm becoming better when it comes to trips. I mean with packing and not stressing out about the weather and the food we eat...
The four of us shared one carry on and lots of entertainment in the car away from electronics, thanks to the dollar store!

On Sunday morning we drove to Auburn and met the family, had fun with the grandparents and the cousins, beautiful weather and yummy food :)

Grandpa reading Pete The Cat to his grandchildren at the park

Enjoying the sun

 We got back home tired on Sunday night. We slept for long hours but it didn't feel like we left home :)
Yes, long trips are getting easier...


 

My #1 baby is turning 4 tomorrow,
 I'm going to post my favourite pictures of her since she was born
:)

As If "Yesterday, She Was Born"

I still remember the day Mimi was born, we couldn't wait to meet her at the hospital and I remember my mom's words describing her.
Mama said: "Her eyes are mesmerizing!"

I'm 7 years older than Mimi. For years I was responsible for her. She was my own baby for so many days. We shared one bedroom and that meant it was my duty to put her to sleep, to read her stories and come up with fun "before bed" activities.

It was my job to get her ready for school in the mornings.

Mimi was always bright, she's always ahead. I watched her bloom with the passing years and then I left to the states when she was only 17 and now she's 23.
Whenever we met during those 6 years it was never awkward. It was almost as if we've been seeing each other every single day talking and laughing and more laughing.

Mimi is the kind of a girl who would keep you entertained the whole time. She ALWAYS has something to talk about and share and discuss and you always have to be awake enough for her, otherwise, it's a fight!
But then it's all forgiven...
Remember her mesmerizing eyes?

Mimi my little sister presented her graduation project yesterday and she made our mom one of the happiest on earth. But then Mimi brings joy and happiness to mama's life every single day simply because she's her favourite :)

And no I'm not jealous :)

I love you Mimi so much and you make me proud as well...
I just wish I was there for you yesterday but I know you believe me when I say that I slept praying for you :)

You have a wonderful life ahead of you, I can see it :)

You know you have a BIG spot in my heart because you and Mariyah have a lot in common...I just pray you stay the baby you are so my girls would always have fun playing with you every time we're in Amman...
Or here in CA :)

When Your Kids Stress You Out...Just Laugh or Cry

I'm not a perfect mother who enjoys every second spent with her kids. I have my bad habits that I need to work on.
Bad habits like Stress.

I'm always stressed out. I have this blog to write down my days and then hopefully feel better about myself and my life in general.
I like to write down about the good things I do for myself, for my girls and for my family. It's kind of a way to cheer myself up at the end of a hectic day.

A couple of days ago, I was checking one of my favourite blogs, halistic for Hala, and I was interested in checking the blog she highly recommended; Zenhabits.
Once I read a post there I became addicted. I read many of Leo Babauta's posts in one night and I still am. I just click on a catchy title and then read forever.

His posts taught me to laugh more with my kids when they stress me out. Now instead of trying to make my girls stop crying I make them laugh right away.
I know it's been only a day or two but it's working. I love to see my girls laughing with teary eyes.
I see success!

Tonight,,,
I couldn't laugh.
I mean, I was laughing really hard inside but I couldn't show it!

This little baby of mine is a big trouble maker.
People believe she is so innocent and cute and lovable and all...
She actually is, along with the adjective: Naughty!

It was OK with me when Jeeej told me he's planning to hang out with his friends tonight, it was OK only after we put the girls to bed.

They are usually asleep by 7 pm, Mariyah in her "big girls" bed and Selma in her crib.
At 7:20 He left.
At 7:30 I started my class on Skype.
At 7:45 I heard my baby running around in her room while Mariyah is still in bed shocked by her little sister's actions.
I stop my class and run to their room, I'm laughing so hard inside but I put on a mad face and ask Selma to stay in her bed and Sleep!
At 7:50 I stop my class again and put the baby back in bed, trying so hard not to show my laugh.
At 7:55 I cut my class and apologize for the inconvenience and I hold my baby in my arms after she fell off of her crib and hurt herself.

You see, I have never had this problem with Mariyah -I'm comparing, again-. Selma has done it once -jumping off her crib- with her big sister's help and that was it. I didn't see this coming at all.

I love how strong and brave she is, I wanted to hug her and tell her how funny it is to see her running around in her room carrying a book while in her pajamas but I just couldn't!
I had to be that stressed out mother who wanted a perfect child during that crazy 30 min.
And I almost cried.

Golden CA

This Summer, we decided we should go to the beach more often, for so many reasons...

* Because we love to please the girls and trips to the beach are so enjoyable for all of us.

 

*Because it's a really short drive to very beautiful and quiet beaches.

*So we could use our new yellow beach umbrella.

*So we could enjoy the clean golden sand for free ;)

*Because I love to see this and much more :)

Learning about crabs

Enjoying the water away from the ocean

Both Mariyah and Selma have been sick since the trip last weekend but "it's OK" As Mariyah says..."We need to get used to it" "معلش ماما لازم نتعود عالبحر"