Sick kid, but scrapping MOJO back!

Ok, we've been holed up in the house since Saturday afternoon after Yasmeen came down with a fever of nearly 103 degrees! She's had no energy all day Saturday, but started to look up by Sunday with only a slight fever of 100.5 degrees...then this morning, she spiked back up to 101.8. Needless to say, no school for her today (I'm gonna have a hard time getting Leena out the door this afternoon, I'm sure!) and I've been washing my hands like I have a little OCD. I'm just praying this isn't that nasty bug she got last year with fevers for 7 days straight!! Praying even harder that Leena doesn't come down with it too!

Now, the silver lining to all of this is that since we weren't going anywhere, I decided to pull out some page kits for scrapbooking. I had SCRAMP here Friday night and managed to finish 1 page before everyone got here, and then started another 2 during the night, but the scrap fest wasn't over for me yet! Between Saturday and Sunday I managed to scrap a total of....DRUM ROLL PLEASE...9 layouts (12 pages in all)!!! This is fantastic seeing as how I've been in a scrap funk since last Spring. So happy that I'm scrapping again and not feeling stressed about it! And hey, it isn't over yet, since I'm home today as well ;-)

Ok, as promised, I managed to snap some pictures of the Stampin' Up Regional Seminar samples I made 2 weeks ago. Here they are, along with a layout I did this weekend that was DIRECTLY inspired by the layout we did at Regionals. Oh, did I mention that we got the fabulous stamp set "So Much" for free?!! Well, it's becoming a fast favorite!! Check out the detail piercing along the concentric circles in my gardening layout below.

Ok, stay well and wish us luck here with this virus in the Khashab household!

So pumped about Stampin' Up!

Ok, so I thought I'd share a little about a great Stampin' Up regional seminar I attended in Philadelphia last Friday. It was so motivating and very exhausting. The day began for me at 5:45am-the time I woke up to get ready and meet a fellow demo whom I was hitching a ride with (thanks, Linda!). We got into Philly around 8:15am and it was pretty much non-stop from there. Shelli Gardner, the founder of SU herself, was present and gave an introductory speech. Linda and I even scored a photo op with her, which I'm sure will make it's way into my scrapbooks. So, we started with some business pointers, which were very informative, but the best part were all the make & takes. We made a 12x12 layout, 4 cards, and a 6x6 page. We even got the So Much stamp set for free just for attending. We got to play with so many fun stamps and accesories, but I think my favorite was the new scallop punch. One of the speakers even mentioned that 150 stamps actually work with this punch, so it's ultra versatile. As soon as I get a chance to take some pictures of the projects we made, I'll be sure to post! Until then, Happy Stamping!!

Remembering 911, and the start of a new school year...

Well, what a day to post. It's the 6th anniversary of the World Trade Center tragedy and a day I will never forget. I often think of the moment I heard about what had happened. Mohammed called me on my cell phone as I was driving home from a park playdate with my then, 18 month old, Yasmeen tucked safely into her car seat. Hard to believe I was also over 8 months pregnant with Leena on that fateful day. I remember the fear I suddenly felt knowing that my sister worked in the downtown area just blocks from the WTC. I remember hearing later how she feared for her life as police ushered everyone over the bridge by foot, and then quickly yelled that it was the next terrorist target and she was forced to literally run for her life. I remembered watching the news on TV-being glued to it, in fact, and then realizing that my sister-in-law's office building was directly next to the second tower (she witnessed the crash). I remember how senseless and tragic it all was and I felt sorrow for all of those that perished on that day, and even sadder for all the families left behind. I think what got me most was all the pregnant wives who lost their husbands on that day. It hit close to home for me, and I can't help but think about all those babies who were born shortly after 911 (like Leena), and are now entering kindergarten. Hard to imagine it's 6 years later! Hoping that those children have had the memories of their dads passed on to them...and ever so grateful that our family was spared from personal tragedy on that day.

So, here we are beginning a new school year-it's our 4th day, in fact, and it's going strong. Leena is finally in 1/2 day kindergarten (at least it's EVERY day, unlike pre-school). Yasmeen is happily settling into 2nd grade. They both love their teachers and (thankfully) know people in their classes. Even though Leena was worried about the bus ride, she hopped on without any problems and has been doing great. I am happy for them both, and also glad that I didn't break down and shed any tears on that first day--after all, my "baby" is starting kindergarten already and growing up much too fast!

As for me, I've been running non-stop since they started school and haven't had time yet to enjoy my "free" afternoons. Between grocery shopping trips and other miscellaneous errands that are better done sans kids, Girl Scouts, dance classes, and all the rest, I am looking forward to when I finally get a little time to myself. Can't wait to get my creative juices flowing again and get back to SCRAPBOOKING! At least I have these great pictures for motivation!

Nine Years and Counting!!

Yesterday, Mohammed and I celebrated 9 years of marriage (plus 2 years of togetherness prior to that). We had a great day! I received a sweet card from hubby with a recording of our actual wedding song in it. I was really touched that he was able to find that...it meant a lot to me. Yes, it helped that I also received an iTunes gift card in it, but it was truly the card itself that really blew me away.

For our day, I asked him to go for a drive (with the girls in tow, since we couldn't secure a sitter for the day) into the "country" (aka: Pennsylvania). We had great weather and a great ride. We saw all sorts of wildlife, including a rather big, black and scary SNAKE laying on a rock, in a nearby creek, sunning itself. After a few minutes of all of us peering at it with combined awe and disgust, it slithered into the water. I'll have to make a mental note NOT to go wading in any creeks nearby!

We eventually decided to make a stop at Sesame Place for the girls. It was unexpected, so water rides were out, but amazingly enough, it was not very crowded and they rode the roller coaster about 5 times in a row before moving on to other rides. Afterwards, we enjoyed a great dinner together and then headed over to Aileen's house for some Anniversary Pictures! My camera is on the fritz (dropped it off for service this morning-and anyone who knows me, knows that is was as hard as dropping off one of my appendages), but luckily, Aileen came through with her snazzy, little Panasonic Lumix. Now, I won't miss the first day of school on Thursday, or any other major event that comes up while my aging baby is away getting repaired. Here are a couple of pictures I took before my camera went down. The last one was courtesy of my sister. Have a great week!

What a week!!

Well, another week has blown by and I can't believe the girls start school this coming Thursday!Our last week of Summer vacation was filled with activity, starting with a trip to the newly re-opened Liberty Science Center last Sunday. Mohammed has a corporate membership through work and we love to go there with the girls. The new layout of the building was unrecognizable, but more fun for the girls than ever. We walked around for several hours and saw an entirely new (live) animal exhibit, along with a "surgery" show. Later in the day, the girls even participated in a real science experiment where they collected DNA (well, wheat germ DNA, that is, but it was still cool!).

Midweek, I finally went in for my thryoid biopsy. I was a little nervous, but I have to say it wasn't all that bad. Better yet, my results were reassuring, as there were no malignant cells present! Now to see what the next step is!

Later in the week, Leena had her Kindergarten orientation. It kind of snuck up on us, and I didn't remind her until the morning of the orientation. Unfortunately, Leena is not as gung-ho as Yasmeen was at this stage in her life. She managed to keep it together long enough to meet her teacher and visit her classroom. They even gave the class a mock bus ride to familiarize them with the bus rules (this was not Leena's favorite part). Thankfully, she met a little girl that had been in her dance class this past year, so the 2 held hands and walked off together! I can't believe my baby is going to start ELEMENTARY school! Time to focus on the next phase in life now, I suppose...

And that brings me to today. Mohammed had to leave for a business trip to LV this morning so the girls and I are going solo for the weekend. We'll miss him, but also look forward to him coming home Sunday morning! Thankfully, we'll be meeting Aileen for dinner later today and keeping busy with school preparation STUFF and getting the house in order before the craziness of fall begins. I hope you all have a fabulous Labor Day Weekend!

Birthdays and more Birthdays...

So we've had 3 birthdays in our extended family this month! My SIL, Mona celebrated her day on the 12th, my brother celebrated on the 21st and my nephew just 2 days ago, on the 23rd! I can't believe Joey is 19! I remember when my sister was pregnant and gave birth to him an entire month early. He was so tiny and delicate...well, he's neither now. Joey is a big, strong 19 year old and as handsome as ever (don't kill me for posting this Joey!!). We all stopped by at Aileen's today for a birthday BBQ, but with the heat up to 97 degrees, and the humidity so high that the sweat poured off you like you were jogging in the desert, we pretty much stayed inside the cool AC all afternoon. We missed the cake because of a previous committment, but I just want him to know that we love him very much and that the girls have officially put him on their "ok to get in my bed" list along with the family cats and select family members (thankfully, both Mohammed and I made the list). Here's to many more birthdays to come, and a little flashback of Joey at just a few months old (and this past year).

Sleepovers, Scramp night, and more (oh my)!

Well, this past week has been a whirlwind of activity at our home. First, the girls hosted their first sleepover with friends on Wednesday into Thursday. I had several activities tenatively planned, but the whole event went rather smoothly and we actually rushed to get in the last of the planned events before the friends had to go home. We had two five year olds, one 7 year old, and a twelve year old...so it was great that somehow they all managed to make the sleepover work. They played, swam, ran, danced, watched movies, snacked, played some more, did several crafts and at the end of the evening, conked out cold!

Thursday was uneventful, but I started tidying up for the big event in our home that comes around each month-SCRAMP night. This is where a group of women get together in my house and stamp and scrapbook into the wee hours of the morning. It's a great time, and if you haven't scrapbooked, don't knock it...we can hang until 2am just chatting, rubber stamping, scrapbooking, snacking and making cards. Tons of fun and pretty productive most of the time. Since we start at 7pm, we usually take a few hours to get settled in, but by midnight, the party is in full swing, and so is our conversation! But, that's another post...

Friday, I shopped, swept, mopped, cleaned, decluttered, set up shop and scrapbooked. What fun (at least the last part)!

Today was just the girls and I for most of the day. Mohammed was out with the fire department in the morning, and then helping some friends paint their new house--Go Yankos! So...I thought it was just a good a day as any to go back to school/dance classes/tennis lesson shopping today. We made a lot of headway and Leena and Yasmeen scored on all fronts. YIKES--who knew jazz booties could be so expensive! Anyway, they cooperated, and even decided to have a fashion show complete with pictures.

Well, I'm off to finish a layout I started last night and then need to start planning for an upcoming workshop this week, as well as a class at a local craft store for September. Hope you are all keeping just as busy as we are!

Hugs :-)