Halloween and other happenings!

So Halloween has come and gone and the girls had a good time despite the steady rain that was forecast on that day. We attended a 1st birthday party and although it was steadily coming down when we got home later that evening, the girls insisted on trick-or-treating...so we did what any sane parents would do...we stayed in the van and followed them from house to house while they slowly got drenched (yeah, we discovered the umbrella under the front seat a little too late).

The girls' were off from school all of last week for Fall break. To keep them busy, we had a day trip to the farm and a local park one day. Luckily, we've been having unusually mild weather here. Today was just in the mid 50's, but last week we reached the mid 70's! We also had our first "baby" playdate here for Adam on another day and he was mesmerized as he watched his little friend use a walker toy to get from one side of the family room to the other...and before his friend left, Adam also started walking with that walker. Too cute! Another day, we headed out to the bowling alley and the girls competed for top bowler status against one another. Neither one bowls, so it was fun watching them try their hardest. Leena's skills won out. The girls were also dying to see Adam at swim class, so I took advantage of someone else besides me taking pictures. Thanks, girls! Of course we needed a day or 2 of rest after that, so we hung out at home, watched some movies and generally passed the time together. Here is a photo recap of the rest of our October, including one picture just for fun. Stay tuned for November!!

In Full Swing...

So it's been just over a month since my last post, right after school started, but it seems like we've been at it much, much longer. We are in the groove of getting up and getting ready for school, going to our after school activities, doing homework, and GASP...even cooking dinner on a fairly regular basis each week.

Just recently, both Leena and I had another birthday. She really wanted to go to the American Girl Place in NYC, so we took her last weekend and she had a fabulous time picking out a doll (Julie: circa 1974) and a bunch of accessories. Yasmeen made out pretty good considering it wasn't her birthday (well, if you ask her, it was her 1/2 birthday). She was able to take her long forgotten friend that she gotten for her 5th birthday, Marisol, to the hair salon for a complete "makeover" and even bought a new "sk8er girl" outfit for her. Afterwards, we enjoyed lunch at Bubba Gump's in Times Square and walked around for a bit before returning to the peace and quiet of Hillsborough.

Adam is enjoying his music and swim classes. Unfortunately, soon after his first music class, he got a virus that knocked him down with high fevers for several days. I guess it wasn't a good idea to let him mouth every nook and cranny of every darn musical instrument he came across at that first class. Now I go armed with antibacterial wipes and grab everything within his reach before he does and give it a good rub down. Thankfully, no more germs for now. As for swimming, it takes me a good 45 minutes AFTER class to get us both showered, dressed and ready to head back to the van. All that for a 30 minute class...but, if you saw how utterly excited he is while in the water, you'd do it too! He is a natural swimmer...kicking, kicking, kicking all the way up and down the pool length while I try to hold him securely and avoid getting totally DRENCHED by all the splashing. Now if I could only get someone to take pictures of us so that I have proof.

Adam has also started pulling himself to a stand on just about anything...whether it's stationary or not. Since he's been confined to the family room for most of his gross motor skills practice, he's used the toy bins, the TV stand, and Leena's easel as balancing objects to help himself up off the ground.I bet it won't be long before the girls are begging me to make him stop chasing them or taking their things! He's also becoming much LOUDER! Maybe it's the girls' influence, but that boy knows how to holler! Today at Girl Scouts, we went outside for a bit to play a game, and I bundled him up in his Elmer Fudd hat and he was not happy for long. But he sure did look cute!

Yasmeen continues with Tae Kwon Do and is really enjoying it. She has 2 more segments to go before she is ready for her first belt testing. We are going between 3-4 times per week, but she never complains, and somehow I manage to pack everyone into the van and get her there each day on time...well, most days, anyway. She enjoys practicing her kicks at home and I often catch her doing her moves in the family room for a captive audience-Adam. Once she sees me, though, she acts as though she was merely scratching an itch or something...gotta get her on video!

Mohammed is working hard, both at his regular job and at firefighting. He will start traveling a bit more this fall, so we aren't looking forward to that. At least, we'll have his return to look forward to.

And for the record...IT'S GIRL SCOUT COOKIE TIME. Get your order to us right away before you have to wait another YEAR to eat some yummy cookies. Come on...if you don't want to eat them, we can always donate them on your behalf to our current charity: Operation Shoebox, which give the cookies to soldiers.

Well, that's it for now...here are some pics from the recent weeks!

A busy September so far...

Well, school is under way. The girls started back up this past Tuesday and are getting into the groove. Both love it so far, so that's great news. Here at home, Adam and I are enjoying some one on one time together. We've gone shopping for a bunch of babyproofing items and finally put up a gate, some cord keepers, and a few outlet covers. Unfortunately for him (or us), the family room is the only 1/2 safe place for him in this whole house!

Right before school started, we had a flurry of last minute "summer" activities in the hopes of extending that summer feeling a little longer. Amazingly, though, the temperature has dropped dramatically as if to say, "Get over it, school is starting already". Even so, we managed a trip to Sesame place, a birthday party for Joey, 2 sleepovers at our house and an anniversary celebration at a cool restaurant with all of us in tow.

Starting next week, all our crazy activities of fall begin (although Yasmeen's Tae Kwon Do continues as it has this past month). Adam will be taking swim and music classes, and Leena will head back to jazz class. Let's hope it doesn't get the best of me :-)

Until next time...

9 days left of Summer Vacation, but whose counting???

Well, I might be a bit anxious about the first day of school, but not because the girls are starting a new year with new teachers and challenges. Well, yes, a little of that too...but mostly, I'm getting worried about having them gone all day and missing out on all the amazing help they have given me this Summer. First off, they are wonderful big sisters and help a ton with Adam. From watching him in the family room while I cook dinner, to sitting with him in my bedroom while I take a shower that doesn't involve a baby in bouncy seat and an anxious mom poking her head out every minute making peek-a-boo squeals to keep said baby happy for 10 minutes! Now, I'm not taking advantage of their offers to help...they sincerely are CRAZY about this boy and are actually willing to help! I think that for those of you out there wondering if Mohammed and I were crazy to "start over" with a baby after 7+ years...I'm here to say that it is wonderful! The age spread between the girls and Adam makes for some genuine love and affection with no competition and lots of kisses.

On another note, we are wrapping up our summer with a few more activities including a recent trip to the Jersey Shore with Titi, the girls, Adam and me. Mohammed was hard at work, and besides, wouldn't have enjoyed the water as much as we do! Speaking of which, the girls and Mohammed are actually at the Junior Firefighter Olympics as I write this. They didn't want to participate, but they were very excited to help Daddy set up for the event. I'll meet them there later with Adam...who is napping right now.

Yesterday I spent a glorious day at the NJ Scrapbook Expo and also attended an all day (and night) crop. Although I didn't get as many layouts done as I had planned on (I hardly ever do anymore these days), I had a great time with my friends going back and forth between the various vendors at the show. We stopped only to eat and check out each others amazing finds (with the occasional layout thrown in every so often). Believe it or not, a friend of mine actually surprised me with an awesome scrapbooking/laptop/diaper bag in a fabulous print by Amy Butler. Very similar to the Vera Bradley bags you see everywhere now. Can't wait to use it! Now that is my perfect day (if I had to choose something that didn't involve my family of course).

Well, this next week is the last of the lazy days of summer before a busy week.and the start of school. Besides being Labor Day weekend, we also have classroom orientation for the girls, Adam's 9th monthiversary and our 11th wedding anniversary all on the same day!!! Add to that a visit from a family friends and a party for my nephew's 21st birthday on Saturday, and the first day of school will be here before we can say "bye-bye Summer". For now, I'll leave you with these images...enjoy and have a great week!

Playing with collages...

Well, every so often the scrapbooker in me takes over and I begin thinking of ways to" scrapbook" in the few minutes I carve out here and there in the wee hours of the morning. Last night, I got on the computer to download some recent photos and started playing around with Photoshop Elements and made several collages. I just thought I'd share them since I was pretty darn proud how they came out...now if I can just find the time to scrapbook them! Below are collages from Yasmeen's last summer volleyball class, Adam hanging out at said volleyball class, a Hershey Park collage, another collage from a recent trip to the Splashground with our friends, the Yankos and a cute collage of Yasmeen posing in her TKD uniform while showing me some moves. Enjoy!

Making the most of what's left of Summer Vacation!!

Well, with the summer winding down quickly, I feel this need to get out there and do as much as possible with the girls and Adam before they head back to school and school-year activities. We've taken advantage of a few nice days here in NJ and have gone to a few local parks with friends and even to Hershey for a weekend. The girls have become quite the dare-devils...joining their Dad on every roller coaster ride he suggests. Thankfully, I have Adam to use as an excuse, I mean, er, to take care of, so they leave me alone pretty much. After all, who would take all these great pictures if I was up on the rides all the time? By the way, Mohammed takes great pictures too...he actually caught us on one of the few rides I did go on with the girls-the Roller Soaker, which didn't seem worth the 1.5 hour wait! Seeing as we've caught the Amusement park fever, Mohammed is taking off from work this Monday so we can (barring rain) go to Six Flags here in Jackson. Unfortunately for them, the world's biggest roller coaster that happens to be at Six Flags is temporarily closed, so they will miss out on that one (sigh of releif from me, since I don't much care to send my babies off on a ride where they seem to be risking their lives). I guess there's plenty else to do there, though, so they won't be that upset.
On another note, Leena has decided to sign up for Jazz dance classes again in the fall, and well, Yasmeen is doing great with volleyball this summer. And although she wanted to continue into the fall, the academy is far from us and they require multiple classes a week, so that wasn't going to jive too good with Adam being so young...maybe next year. In the meanwhile, we just started Tai Kwon Do classes here in town. She's going between 2-3 times per week and she seems to enjoy it so far (lots of kicking and punching, which she LOVES to do :-) ). If she continues to enjoy it, we'll most likely sign her up through the upcoming year...we'll see where that goes.
Well, luckily for me, back to school supply shopping is completely done except for a pack of glue sticks and new backpacks (which Titi has offered to buy for the girls--thanks, Titi!!). We've even gotten a few new 1st week of school outfits and Yasmeen is excited to go. Leena on the other hand, not too excited...she enjoys being at home with all of us...Me? Well, I've got to say I'm torn about school starting again...I hate the tight scheduling of the fall, and boy, will Adam and me miss having the girls around (how do you think I get to update this blog every so often??). I guess the good news is that next summer is less than a year away!
Enjoy the rest of your August...see you soon!

Finally...no more RAIN!

Well, it has been a really wet couple of months, but seems like July has finally brought with it a little sunshine. We still aren't very hot here in NJ...and I guess that's good, but it sure doesn't make me want to take the kids anywhere near water. The few times we've gone to a pool or the sprayground, the girls' teeth have chattered, and I didn't even dare dip Adam in the frigid waters. Of course the weather never stops a child, but it sure does stop their Mama! Perhaps we'll get to Sesame Place sometime this month if the weather heats up...after all, we go there mostly for the WATER!!

So far this month, we've spent a lot of time outside riding bikes, having the girls' friends over for playdates, we've gone to a local "sprayground", a friend's pool, and Adam has experienced his first "self-feeding"--accidentally of course--I turned around for a second to get his bottle and he grabbed his bowl right off his high chair. He has also had his first "altercation" with a friend of the opposite sex...she tried to grab his pacifer and he didn't know what to make of it!! And as for me, I've discovered a new use for Yasmeen's old bean bag chair that I was getting ready to throw out...it seems that Adam sinks perfectly into it and it has become very useful for his naps. It's like his own personal Tempur pedic mattress!

On another note, I've finally bitten the bullet and started studying for my recertification exam later this year. It's amazing what being out of practice (both figuratively and literally) have caused me to forget. Now that I'm re-learning about all those diseases out there, I'm really agitated that so much misery exists in the medical world. No wonder I never "loved" my job...it was so depressing! What I do love, though, is scrapbooking...and to reward my efforts in studying, I've signed up for 2 upcoming crops and can't wait to catch up on some of the great pictures from the summer. Take a look at these until we catch up again!!