Where does the time go...

Well, it's been a couple of months since I last posted and there's just no excuse for that. We have been busy as usual with school in full swing, and of course, Girl Scouts, Tae Kwon Do, and dance, but I've just been lax with posting. So, consider this my catch up post! After my birthday, we celebrated Leena's 9th birthday with a fun American Girl themed party which she loved. We also made a trip to a local farm and completed a fun corn maze and spent some time in the kiddie area where Adam (and Yasmeen and Leena) thoroughly enjoyed playing in a big pen filled with corn and a ton of trucks. Another big event that occurred in October was the fact that both Leena and Yasmeen (and Mohammed, too) had their first horseback riding lessons. Turns out that a new friend of Yasmeen's at school has 2 horses and her mom invited us to come to the farm to let the girls ride. Once she saw how comfortable Leena was on the horse, she suggested that we pursue official lessons with Leena and even offered to do them for free. THAT was a big blessing, as both girls have wanted to learn to ride for a long time. The month ended with Halloween, of course. We attended Trunk or Treating at Leena's school and participated in the local tradition of heading out mid afternoon on Halloween dat with our neighbors for some yummy trick-or-treating. Leena dressed up as Cleopatra, Yasmeen went back and forth between a goth looking black widow and a geocacher, and Adam dressed up as a cowboy!! It was a totally FULL, but totally FUN month.

In November, the girls were off for "Jersey Week" where our township has combined days off due to election day, and the teachers annual convention. We visited another farm, went out to eat a few times, visited a playspace in another town, did a little geocaching in the rain (!) and celebrated Eid Al Adtha and Thanksgiving. Right after Thanksgiving, we took advantage of a few Black Friday sales, but mostly spent time together. One of our activities was going out to North Jersey to check out a Wolf Preserve. Even though it was bitter cold, it was fun and informative. Have to make a note to check it out again when it warms up a bit. Seems like the once school starts the pace picks up and we have one busy month after another...November was no different, that's for sure!

Soon after the month ended, we started December with a bang and a square dance. Leena's class was putting on a program with the rest of the 3rd grade at Triangle. She had a bit of pre-performance nerves and was mortified at having to dance with a BOY, but did really well. Adam's 2nd birthday was a couple of days later. We managed to avoid an ER visit this year (last year Leena needed stitches for a cut she obtained by running into an open door of our AC guys truck) and went back to Old Man Rafferty's for dinner with Gido and Shoo-Shoo, who flew in from Sunny Florida to freeze in the Jersey cold. The next day we celebrated with everyone else, including Nana, Papa, Titi, Tio, Joey, Elena and our family, of course. Adam scored big with a brand new Thomas train table, several trains, a huge firetruck and a snazzy Mercedes Benz pedal car. He was so wired he totally missed his nap and didn't even notice! So that brings us to today...I'm getting ready for SCRAMP in about an hour and a half and taking it easy this weekend. Hoping to get back in the swing of SCRAPPING, too, but if I keep up this pace, I may have to wait until my next LOAD in February! Have a wonderful month and see you soon!!

It's the big 4-0 and LOAD time again...

Yep, today is officially my birthday, although I have been lucky enough to have been celebrating for the past 2 weekends. First off, my bff and I headed off to her trailer in PA for a long awaited scrapping weekend a couple of weeks ago. We shopped, went out for dinner and ice cream, watch a couple of chick flicks and scrapped to our hearts content. Then this past weekend, my good friend invited me over for another scrapping weekend at her place along with Aileen and another friend, Judy. She pampered us incredibly and even hired a massage therapist to come to house to beat us into relaxation ;-). This past Friday, I had a small gathering of people here for a 31 Gifts home show, and when my sister and parents came over, they came bearing gifts, balloons and delicious cupcakes from a famous bakery in NYC. I feel blessed, loved and pampered and the fun continues tonight. The gang and I will be going out to dinner later and I'll be eating at my favorite place...Olive Garden. I guess the big 4-0 isn't so bad after all. Hey, I've got to stay young to keep up with my 22 month old, after all.

Speaking of which, Adam is into everything...EVERYTHING...and making life quite the adventure. Naptime is a favorite of mine around here. Hope he settles down soon. If not, I may be going into therapy soon. Take last night, for instance. I'd worked hard at getting my 1st layout for my October LOAD (Layout A Day) done, and after (mistakingly) leaving it out while I went into the kitchen to get dinner ready, Adam found it and DESTROYED it. I found out what he had done when he brought me the chipboard letters I'd used for my title in his little hand and threw them on the floor by my feet. I could have fainted...really...you'd felt my pain if you'd been here. Even though I reproduced it to the best of my ability, it isn't the same as the original. Oh when will he settle down????

The girls are happily adjusting to school and we have finally had our first GS meeting of the school year. We have lots to do in order to earn our Bronze Award, but it'll be worth it. Yasmeen has also started band classes at school with her instrument of choice...the Trombone! Yep, it's huge, but she is enjoying it and making strides with playing it. For her first class, I drove her to school, but she will eventually have to get used to carrying around her large instrument case since I won't be driving her in each week (don't look at me like that...she has to assume responsibility for it, doesn't she?). Another morning this week, we were ready early and headed into McDonald's for an early breakfast before school...just a little something to shake things up and get us out of our usual routine.

It was also "bring a friend" to TKD this week, and on one of the days she went in, Yasmeen brought Leena. The Master even let Yasmeen lead the class for a bit and Leena really enjoyed herself. Leena will start her third grade crocheting club tomorrow. She will learn to crochet with a HUGE needle (size P for those who know) and will be donating the scarves (and eventually blankets) to people in need. Maybe she'll teach me one day...

Well, that's it for now. Here are some pictures to enjoy...including the layout of Adam I made before he destroyed it...

Not loving getting back to the grind...

Well, school is in full swing and I have to say, although the IDEA of having the girls in school all day and it just being me and Adam sounds good, the truth is that I hate the stress of getting everyone ready and out the door, packing lunches, doing homework, checking homework, RE-doing homework, running here and there all week, and then still trying to keep up with housework, my classes, and getting a meal on the table each night. Yes, I know, it's sounds a whole lot like whining...and it just may be...but I have got to figure out a way to keep all the balls in the air. Just thinking out loud...hoping that an idea comes to me quickly...before attitudes flare and these girls never get to watch TV or go on the computer again!

On a lighter note, Adam's activities have started up again...it's music and swimming again for him, and he loves both. Today was his first swimming class, and it turned out that Roberta and Zack are also in the class. Adam "swam" hard and wore himself out. He was asleep in the van before we even got home and slept for almost 3 hours!! On top of that, he went to bed on time tonight...maybe even a little early.

Well, the weeks ahead are packed with Back to School nights, classes, playgroups, appointments, Girl Scout leader meetings, scrapbooking, consignment sales, volunteering at consignment sales, home shows, birthday celebrations, anniversaries and more! I'm getting the feeling that I won't be posting much here out of sheer lack of time, but I might surprise myself. Until the next time, enjoy the pictures above from the end of the summer (ah, sweet summer) up through the past few days. Enjoy!

A little geocaching...

So here we are the 9th anniversary of the 911 tragedy and I wanted to take a moment to make sure that we never forget about all those that were lost on this day. I hope you were able to hold your loved ones close and hug them a little tighter today.

In the spirit of family togetherness, the gang and I decided to go visit my folks, and planned a few geocaches in the park near their home. I wasn't sure if my folks would play along, but they were troopers and came out with us. It was a great day to be outdoors and we attempted 2 and found 2 caches. There are so many more cache's in this particular park...so we will have to come back for sure. It was a great day together and we ended with a bite to eat and then set off on the ride back home.

Back to school today...

September came a whole lot quicker than I expected, but today was the 1st day of school for the girls. Leena headed out (with all of us following) early this morning to catch her bus. The bus stop was crowded and there were a few new faces, too. Leena and her neighborhood friends are the oldest at the stop, even though she is only in 3rd grade. It felt strange to see Yasmeen stay behind after the bus came. We headed home for ANOTHER HOUR before it was time for Yasmeen to go catch her bus. She watched TV, played with Adam and made sure she was ready for the big day. When we drove out to the bus stop (1 street over and NOT at the end of our block), there were tons of kids waiting and before I could snap more than one picture, she was off too. Adam was just happy to be walking around and not bound to a stroller. Looks like we are back in the grind again. Lucky for us, we ended our summer vacation on a high note, finally having our first monthly mommy/daughter date days, getting out to the pool one last time, going into NYC for a WNBA basketball game and a walk around Times Square, as well as finishing up a puzzle geocache we'd been working on for the past several weeks. Here's to a great school year ahead!!!

Home again...

Well, we have been back a week and settled back into our usual (summer) routine...sleeping in late, playdates, pool, lazying around and generally kicking back until the start of school kicks in. Ramadan started yesterday and we would like to wish all our family and friends who celebrate a blessed month. Girls have been getting up with us at 4am and then fasting until early afternoon. Adam is oblivious :-) Doesn't realize we are exhausted at 6:30am when he's ready for his day to begin.

Well, I have been getting ready for my first ALL DAY CROP in a long while coming up this Saturday. Editing and printing pictures from our vacation, getting page kits together and writing journaling AHEAD of time. I was so much better about this a long time ago, but as they say, life gets in the way sometimes.

Everything else is calm on the home front. Glad to be back to the balmy weather of NJ after roasting in Florida :-) Enjoy the last few weeks of Summer. Hugs to all!