i hope...

Umm Zahra tagged me and i had forgot about it. Sorry so late!

Rules:

1. ON your blog, post the Rules & 10 things you have HOPE for in your life.

2. LINK Tag 10 people (we want hope to spread people!) and LINK the person who tagged you.

3. Comment/Notify the 10 People they’ve been tagged.

I hope to live a healthy long life.

I hope my son grows up to be a thoughtful, peaceful, loving human being.

I hope to have more children and live to see them grow and have children. And I hope my son's family stays in tact with family more than mine did/does. I hope he will have close relationships with his siblings, parents, grandparents and children. I hope he'll always be happy and will have his gutteral laugh that everyone loves so much.

I hope to be a better Muslim and to teach my son to be a good Muslim (boy i could write a whole post on what that specifically means to me).

I hope my mom finds peace and forgives herself before she dies. Time is closing in for her and i pray every prayer that her last days will be spent in peace.

I hope i make through this week of potty training. Boy has it gone uphill.

I hope to make hajj and ziayarat. And i hope to do it with my son. And husband of course.

I hope that the world's view of Muslims changes. I'm tired of the negativity inflicted on us out of pure ignorance. Even in my own family, Muslims are considered terrorists. It pains me and seperates me from my family on so many levels because i never feel like i can be myself around them. I find it sad that in our will if anything ever happens to us, he will not be raised by family. I can also never leave my son with my family alone because i don't trust them. Such a simple thing as not eating pork incites them to wave bacon in front of me and to tell little dude that he will get to taste it one day with them. Just pathetic. And i just have to ask why does it bother them so much that i don't eat pork. I tried to explain that Muslims aren't the only ones that have this rule, that it's in the Torah, the Bible and the Qur'an. But still, we are backwards because we have such strict rules. I hope one day they just let it be and respect my wishes as i respect theirs. Never do i tell them how to live their lives.

I hope to move back to Colorado one day. I miss it so. There is no place so beautiful with such wonderful weather in my opinion.

I hope this world wakes up one day and opens its eyes to all of humanity and people find a way to make peace out of all the chaos. Not so the world is more sustainable or so we can live longer but so the human race is united in compassion. Everything in life branches out from compassion. When people have compassion they want for others, they are selfless and they naturally do what's right for the earth, other people and themselves.

I’m not tagging anyone specifically but would love to know if you do it so i can read it.

fluffernutters

Me and the little dude introduced ourselves to the fluffernutter sandwich today and boy are we fans, especially him. He won't usually eat sandwiches or peanut butter and he finished his half and then went after mine. :-)

oops

Unless you are a mom (or dad) you may want to just skip over this post.

I woke up today with a crazy thought. Let's potty train. Yeah, no prep, no nothing just let's do it. I've been telling him for the last few weeks that he's going to stop wearing diapers and start going on the potty soon so he had a warning at least - i just didn't. I had underwear from last summer's attempt (where i learned to not get upset or show the slightest frustration because it will backfire and make you quit altogether). Then i didn't try again because it was too cold and then and then but i don't have any excuses now.

It's gone well today. Much better than i thought it would and how it went last summer. I haven't really been frustrated at all. He's done good but boy did i underestimate how many pairs of underwear would be needed for 8 hours of training. I had 10 and thought that was good!

I was planning to train him when my inlaws got here but then i started thinking that it would be too many hands in the kitchen or the equivalent thereof. Plus me and my mil have ideas on the best way to do things (like her thinking he should be trained at 12 months) and i really don't want to butt heads so i figured i'd get the show on the road today and maybe (ha ha) we could have it done by Sunday when they come. What i didn't forecast is that you really can't get anything else done while potty training. That is basically your day and i can't believe how fast today has gone by. So much for getting some things done around the house before they come.

I can say that the $1 i spent on the DVD Once Upon a Potty for boys was well worth it! That book and dvd have been of no interest to him but today he likes both. He was sitting there saying "for making wee wee and poo poo into" and saying it ever so seriously while waiting and waiting and waiting.

Any tips for potty training? We've yet to do number 2. I think he's gonna be stubborn on that one.

strawberries

We went strawberry picking for father's day and i've made three jars of jam, strawberry milkshakes, ate a bunch of them and still have a ton leftover. What can i say, none of us could stop picking them and i thought it would take more strawberries than it did to make jam. That's our haul in the picture. What can i make out of the rest of the strawberries? Has anyone made strawberry pie and is it good?

What a fun day. Little Dude was so happy. He was already a little tired when we got there but once he saw the for climbing hay pile, the goats, peacock, pigs, donkey and tractors he was ecstatic. He even rode the tractor train ride by himself. Couldn't believe that. He's growing up because i never let him out of my sight like that. I go with him on things but this was kids only. We then let him go on a pony ride by himself.

He loved the pigs and kept running to them but then would get there and run back saying plugging his nose and yelling "stinky!" "Stinky pigs. oink oink." LOL. That explains right there why we don't eat them kiddo. He hee hawed with the donkey and pet the goats. And out of pure love i let him eat a huge helping of homemade (their home, not ours ;-) strawberry ice cream for lunch and nothing else and an hour a half later another one.

Thrifting Tuesday

I found this great find randomly. The pictures i took of him on it in the garage are the best but since my husband has the "no pictures on the blog" rule, i can't share sigh. The basement picture isn't nearly as good. Him jamming on those drums just make me laugh. I wasn't looking to go anywhere but on his last day of school after dropping him off there it was right on the way back. The lady was selling the toddler aged things she had for her grandson at her house. I missed the Peg Perego motorized car by 30 seconds for $20!

I got this cool drum set that is perfectly sized for my guy and boy does he love banging away on those drums and i love the sound. You'd think it would be annoying but i love it. He plays the music and makes me sing to it. I put his baby trike next to it so you could see the size. I was looking it up on the net to try and figure out the bass pedal thing and realized these things go for around $200. Crazy.

Also found one of those small trampolines. I'm worried about safety with it but have it propped up against the wall and he knows it's strictly a parent and child activity.

Last i got a toolbox full of cool toy tools. They threw in a crawl through tunnel for free since that was the last of the kid stuff they had in the sale.

Thrifting Tuesday

I believe that everything will eventually end up in a thrift store. It's just being there at the right time and place. Today i got one of the things i've been scouting for - a train table. I've been patient...well that's not entirely true - i did scout craigslist and local ebay for weeks before giving up. Today i went thrifting at my favorite store since it's been several weeks and with the inlaws coming it will be several more weeks because thrifting is a no no in the family. I'm going to be placid this trip. Placid placid placid. Anyway i found the exact one i've wanted because it has drawers - bonus! And after it's a train table it could easily become a lego table etc. I saw it and i watched it like a hawk till i could get someone to put a sold sign on it. When i saw the price tag i almost fell over. $10. I've wanted one for him for a long time but couldn't see paying $100 plus for something so simple. Bigtime score for me because i'm sick of trains all over the floor and LD every five minutes asking me to "fix the circle" because the carpet or playrug has messed it up. He also likes to stand when playing trains so they are always all over different surfaces. He's been up there for over an hour now playing with it.

Here's other items on my thrift store/garage sale want list:

- sandbox with cover (the lobster one) or i'll get it end of season...it's not functionalable for us right this minute anyway or i'd get it now but we have to fix our deck problem first. I hate paying $50 for plastic. Just do.

- train table - wooo hoooooo, cross that puppy off!

- Friendship Pyrex set

- Slide

- play house

HOT!

Two record breaking days in a row. It's a scorcher out there. And as I am always the brilliant mother, i ran into someone i met at the library when we first moved here last fall and after trying to call her a few times but receiving mailbox full messages each time, i left it alone and ran into her today. We were both so happy. I had been tempted to drop by her house or send her a postcard since she had given me her address but hubby said that was weird and i sort of agreed but alas, right as summer is starting we run into each other. I really liked her and her daughter is very sweet and the same age as LD. They held hands the whole way to the park (which is my brilliant mom moment). She doesn't drive so didn't have a car but asked what we were up to and i told her we were going to the park down the street, a two minute drive, and apparently a longgggg and hot ten minute walk with two two year olds on a busy road.

She's a very nice lady and i was actually sad that we didn't get in touch last fall and apparently she feels the same. We switched numbers again and already have plans together. I get along with some Indian women so well. The ones that are down to Earth, non-competitive, non-shopaholic, non-gossipy and she's just pure joy to be around - you can just tell.

I was hoping our social lives would pick up in the summer. I don't need many friends...just a few good ones and it's nice to get out and do things. My hubby works a lot so it's nice to get a little social time while kids play.

I'm feeling a lot better about the Joey situation now that there are some alternatives. I haven't talked about Joey at all but this morning when we got in the car and drove LD said "Ami, go this way. Want to see the kids. Want to see Joey. Mommy - this way!" But he let it go and moved on. This is the last week of school so it shouldn't go on too much longer. I wish he could have Joey too but i give up. I am leaving a note with my contact information and a final plea but there's nothing i can do.

cool meme

Wasn't tagged but thought it was cool....let me know if you do it too.

rules:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd’s mosaic maker.

1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Prophet Muhammad cartoon movie

I've been wanting to get Muhammad the Last Prophet for Little Dude for some time now but it has been selling for $50 or so and now the price has finally dropped. I bought mine from Circuit City for $19.99 and shipping was only $1.99. It's on sale there - most other sites are selling it for $29.99. The nice thing is you also get a song cd with nice nasheeds. I saw this movie in the theatre on Eid when it came out a few years ago. It's very good and both sects worked on the content which makes it all that much better.

Just thought i'd let those that might be interested know...it's so hard to find good Islamic stuff for kids. It would be a good film for non-Muslims too which was part of the reason it was made...provides the basic story of Islam and Muslims.

when one door closes...

another opens. There's a new mom at the school who has two children and apparently LD likes her son. He doesn't talk much but LD is good with kids that don't as he's more interested in being silly with kids. We plan on getting together over the summer. His two mornings a week at school have really helped him socializing and i really want to keep it up even when he's not in school which ends next week. Our neighborhood just isn't easy to socialize in. So many nannies, etc.

A bonus is she's really friendly and i get the feeling she's a bit crafty too because her kids bag has hand drawings on it...wouldn't that be grand?

Frustrated

Such a frustrating day today. LD has a best friend here and they adore each other. He talks about him all the time and the teachers at his preschool always say how crazy it is how much they like each other and spend the entire time playing with each other. I've passed our number onto his parents and the teachers have tried to encourage his parents to have a playdate with LD but they just won't. It's so sad. It's the first kid that really gets LD (his sense of humor and activity level is just different from other kids) and likes LD as much as LD likes him which is a first. I think Joey actually likes him even more. When i dropped him off this morning, it was the first time they've seen each other in almost two weeks and Joey yelled his name and came running to him and they went running off. When i picked him up this afternoon he refused to leave crying out "I want Joey! I want Joey! I want Joey. Nooooooo!" He cried the entire way home and not a normal cry - that kind of cry that makes kids hyperventilate. It was horrible. He was crying from emotional pain and that just kills me.

These parents are annoying. Apparently, from what the teachers say, all they care about are his numbers, what he excels in, that he knows his abc's and can count to a hundred forwards and backwards etc. They go to a Montessori school which does not promote that type of attitude. I think this is why the two of them get along so well. LD loves to play and is active and really Montessori isn't for him i feel and i'm moving him next year to a different school for this reason. But Joey is this way too. They make each laugh so hard. LD says he loves Joey and he's his best friend. He even talked about him in France.

I just think it stinks that there's nothing that can be done and that these parents have to be so rigid with their kid. At first i thought there was an English barrier maybe since the parents are Korean but i don't think that's it and neither do the teachers. How do i explain to my kid why he will never see his best friend after this next week? It breaks my heart and i ended up crying with him on the way home. I pray to God he finds another kid he loves as much. He had a good friend in Atlanta too. Those are the only two kids he's ever really been friends with. He plays with other kids but they aren't "friends." At least LD's grandparents are coming for a month at the end of June. That'll give him some attention and hopefully ease the transition. I wonder if i should just make pictures of Joey disappear or should i keep them out? This parenting thing is tough.

back

I think i'm going to write a book on how to visit Paris with feisty two-almost-three-year olds. It would only be about a word long.

Chapter 1: Don't.

:-)

It wasn't that bad but i don't think i would do it again any time soon. Not with our boy who doesn't like the indoors much unless they are filled with toys (it rained quite a bit).

Morning 2 there started like this. At four in the morning because it gets light there at that time (and stays light until 10 pm).

4 am. LD wakes up and says "I want to go to my playroom." We say we're sorry but there's no playroom here. He says "But it's light outsiiiiide (turning into a whail that turned into huge tears)." I felt so bad for him right then. That's the rule here. If it's light outside he can get out of bed and go to his playroom. Otherwise he has to stay in bed which usually means he turns my face to him and says "talk to me ami. ami, wake up. Talk to me." As much as i love these morning conversations we have -after the fact, they are grueling in the beginning at 4 am. Ours this morning was what we were going to buy from the grocery store today. The staples: blueberries, cherry's, grapes, oranges and raisins. And then we sang silly songs - wheels on the mommy.

He did good though. Loved the pigeons - especially our day in London, the cars, trains and London buses and French playgrounds with crazy french kids. Interesting parenting in Paris from what we saw...although i do think many were nannies. Parents sit on benches with babies and smoke while the kids that are old enough to play do so without any supervision. Which means your kid can get thrown from a slide and no one will say anything -if they even notice. In one case, a six to eight month old kid ate sand, a stick, and almost fell off the platform he climbed up while not a single person watched him. His fingers got stepped on by the big kids, he cried. Nothing. When the nanny got up to leave she simply wiped the sand off his face and out of his eyes, plopped him in the pram and off they went.

But LD loved the playgrounds and we went to one usually every day. Luckily there was a playground across the street from our hotel.

That's a small update. We did have a good time - it was just much more stressful than we imagined and lugging so much around and time changes and food and diapers and lack of toilets and changing places can really zap your energy. He was a trooper though and I'm still glad we took him with us. I can't imagine travelling without him. He makes everything fun even if it's more stressful and we have to compromise on food and things like that. We'll have our retirement for solo trips, until then, this is how it will be.