Friday, December 31, 2010

Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge: BOOKS

Haruki Murakami Reading Challenge: BOOKS: "The following is a list of the books written by Haruki Murakami that have been translated into English (with the original Japanese titles li..."

Saturday, December 25, 2010

Tis the season

the first one i've seen this season. it's big. it's white. it's a snowman. woot!

New Do

i love it. less hair is better.

Yo-Yo with Ma

Mina and Sufyan and I attended an event at the Alicia Ashman Library last Wednesday.  It was an old friend/co-worker of mine from my years at REI. Mark Hayward is a world champion yo-yoer and juggler, and is from Madison. He was in town and did a 1 hour yo-yo demonstration/show at the library for the kiddos. It was awesome! Mina even participated!

this is Mark about to demonstrate his finesse with a top. 

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Nutcracker Crumbs

striking a pose

watch out!
    
our view of the stage, we were sitting at the very top balcony a lil bit to the right

my little "boy" at her first ballet
Saturday December 18, 2011.
Mina and Mommy day. 
It all started with an invitation to go and listen to Xmas music at the Capitol. Our bestie Jen plays the cello in the Madison Community Orchestra, and they were playing a concert in the Capitol Rotunda.  BUT....
prior to attending, we decided to leave the boys at home and have a girl's day! (although my little princess decided that she was to dress as a boy today and have a boy name. She went by the name of Geo.)
So at 11:30, we set off for Ian's Pizza for a slice of cheese and a slice of Chicken Alfredo pizza.  (This is literally the best pizza in town.  The variety of combos are amazing!)  After pizza we went next door to Clary's Popcorn, which is my FAVORITE place for popcorn. I always get the warm cheese and caramel mixed bag. Well, while standing in line waiting, i turn back to apologize, to the two ladies behind us, for taking so long, and here is where it gets interesting.....
The older woman says to me, "hey do you happen to want 2 free tickets to the Nutcracker at 2 p.m. today?" i kind of hesitated because i was already pressing my luck with leaving the boys at home for 3 hours, now it would be extended to 5....could we manage it?  So i took them from her, if we couldn't use them, i'd pass them on to someone who would.  I thanked her on our way out and said we would maybe see them in a bit, the seats were next to theirs.  
So we hustled on over to the Capitol, took a look at the giant Xmas tree in the center, and proceeded up several flights of stairs. We found our friends Noah and Ima, and then Bodie and Tate, and Brynne also showed up to enjoy the music. (They all were actually looking forward to seeing one another and playing with Bodie's dad Rob.)
After about an hour, i convinced Mina that we should get going if she wanted to see some ballet. So we hustled out of the Capitol and down the street to the Overture Center.  
After the facilities were used and a bottle of water purchased, we headed up, way up, to our seats and sat next to the extremely generous grandma Amy and her granddaughter Jada. 
The Nutcracker is Mina's first visit to an event like this, her first professional ballet experience. She watched with open mouth and awe, and as the ballet proceeded, she began to ask questions and requested to be in the ballet. Toward the end of the 1st half, she was getting a little restless, but still quite intrigued. By the end of the 2nd half, she really wanted to go and meet the Nutcracker and the rest of the ballerinas. We thanked our gracious benefactors profusely and followed the line out of the theater.
Unfortunately, none of the ballerinas came out to meet and greet, so we left, having had a wonderful mommy & Mina day, and a swell ballet experience. 
I sure hope this started a tradition of ballet/play/musical seeing for the future!

Sunday, December 12, 2010

monkey see, monkey do

Sufyan has watched me now for the last 10 months use this phone to read the news, play games, check email, etc. He's already figured out that ONE finger does all the magic. I bet by the time he is 2, he'll be able to download apps, and call his Baba!

Let it snow.....but now make it stop!

these are pics from our first major snow storm of this winter season.  the winds are blowing like mad and it's supposed to get very very VERY cold for the next 2-3 days. So, i guess whoever was dreaming of a white Xmas will have their dreams come true.

Back yard
 front yard
street corner

Saturday, December 4, 2010

The Return of Francie Face

About 5 or so years ago, on Francie's birthday, Shira and i threw a little surprise party for her sister Francie. We printed out about 20 or so copies of her face, glued them to tongue depressors, and then when Francie showed up to her party (at Brocach Irish Pub) all she could see was a gaggle of her 3 or 4 year old face held in front of some of her biggest fans! It was probably one of the best surprises/parties that Shira and i have hatched up.

So, the other day, when i was looking for something, Mina and i found one of these stick pictures and i took a picture of Mina holding it in front of her face.
Upon sending it to Shira, i got the idea to have a bunch of people hold it and then create a photo collage.  But when Shira and i put out minds together, great things happened, as usual, and we came up with a brilliant idea.


Francie turned 30! Why not take 30 photos of random places from Francie's 30 years, with the stick photo, and make a photo collage of that. BRILLIANT, right? Well, it was, is, and she LOVED it. I'll try to take a pic of the finished product sometime and post it on here.
Shira and i had a blast working on this project together. Maybe we will have to "work" together again.






Say Cheeseburger........





I took these photos of Mina's classmates on Wed, Dec. 1st.  Picture Day. It was so adorable seeing some of the kids dressed in their best. Most of them were also quite boisterous and completely enthralled with Sufyan. The Pre-K kids got to go first, but by 10:30, barely half of them had been photographed (she started just before 9a.m.). So, before they were all corralled to the classroom, i took some photos of them sitting at the lunch tables, TRYING to wait ever so patiently, until it was their turn. You can see that some of them were having fun, and it's clear that Mina was none to pleased. (What you don't know is that Mina was really mad at me, cuz i let some of her buddies see the pictures in between shots, and she didn't get to see them until after.) I've got quite the character on my hands. But let me tell you, her school friends and teachers can't get enough of her and LOVE having her around. Thank goodness she listens and is sweet to somebody! Ha!

Yet another Trader Joe's plug.....

I finally did it. I finally purchased a box of brownies from Trader Joe's. I know it's "Reduced Guilt", but i figured if i added the mini milk chocolate peanut butter cups, it would make it taste not so "fatless".  and let me tell you.....it was TERRIFIC!  all you add to the mix is non-fat vanilla yogurt (but really you can add any kind you want), next i added in the peanut butter cups, and thirdly bake for just under a half an hour. wah-lah, you've got moist, chewy, rich yummilicious brownies. it's a good combo. enjoy!

Thursday, November 25, 2010

Thanksgiving 2010

 My beautiful breast. TURKEY breast.
 it was perfect in EVERY way.
 Delicious sides: Brussels Sprouts with Shallots, Stuffing, Sweet/Yukon Mashed Potatoes, Crescent Rolls
 My Be.Fri.'s dog that i'm watching while she is gone. This is Emily.
This was the meal i took to Emily. She had to have her Thanksgiving too!

Tuesday, November 23, 2010

Please, let me eat my brussels sprouts!

that's right, my little buddy is totally stuffing them in his little mouth! loved 'em.

Brother and Sister Bear





So happy together....
My kids absolutely LOVE one another. I am going to enjoy the love while it lasts.....before the fighting/screaming starts.

Candy Cane Joe-Joe's.....yum-yum!

now these are some GOOD cookies. mint Oreos are a thing of the past once you take a bite of this candy cane yumminess!  it's like eating peppermint ice cream and Oreos, just without the brain freeze.  They are quite sweet, so if you are lacking a verified sweet-tooth, you might wanna just have one.

Thursday, November 18, 2010

Eid al-Adha Party at Vitense Golfland

 What is Eid al-Adha?

For our kids, it means more presents, more parties, more fun! Today the school celebrated at a local mini-golf place where the kids had an absolute blast!

I was in charge of Mina and her friend Ruqayyah, and those two proceeded to run amok, barely even attempting to putt a ball into any number of holes that were around. The girls each had Dipping Dots, popcorn, and pretty much loitered the candy machine for quite some time.


Yassmine, Nesreen, Ali and Mina
same as above plus Sara








Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Running Without Scissors

So, my baby man-child is growing up! he's cuttin' a rug and cuttin' a tooth! he absolutely refuses to eat anything remotely deemed "baby food", and quite insistent upon eating only things HE can put into his mouth. enter Clan of the Cave Baby.  He runs around in this Death Star Death Trap contraption, bumping into everything and trying, with all his might, to get into all the cabinets! 

Sunday, November 7, 2010

Princess Brunch at Liliana's

Headed with my little princess to a princess brunch at a locally owned restaurant. Their daughter is Liliana, it's her birthday. So, the whole city of Madison is invited....although we have to pay to go. :-)
I will post pictures as soon as i get home, so you can see the excitement that ensued!
http://www.lilianasrestaurant.com/PrincessBrunch2010.htm