LonLons Birthday

It has been a very busy month! Lonlons birthday was lovely and i think the kids had a good time.  The thing is with birthdays they are a lot like weddings. There is always someone who you didnt invite that is pissed that you didnt invite them.They are not really just about the birthday girl who wasnt really sure she was the birthday girl at one point. Its about sharing your happiness. Its about making others happy because you are happy on this day. Its seeing kids dance and enjoy going back home with favors. Watching them Bang Away at  the Pinata that didnt tear open till i tore it open like the HULK! Then seeing them attacking the candy on the ground. It was a lot of work but seeing all those kids happy made it worth it :)

 You will never be able to please anyone and well something always does not go as planned but in the end it is just a birthday and if it was for me i would invite everyone i know but it was not possible which is why i had a small DIY party :) Here are the pics i promised to share with the little party details for inspiration.

Under the Sea Theme.

Welcome Frame :)

Customized Clay Giveaways

Customized Chocolate & Hershey Kisses

 

Customize Chocolate Lollypops

Sea Animal Theme Bubbles

 Crab Shaped Plates

 

Fish Theme Marshamallows dipped in White Chocolate

 

 Customized Favor Beach Set!

 

Fishing Game :)

 

 Lots of Prizes, Coloring Corner & more Games

 I had a Shark boxing corner as well :) which i forgot to take photos of

And a little Mermaid Lonlon ofcourse Awwww

 

A lot of my friends helped me and without my friends and lovely neighbors help i think this bday would not have been such a success :)

Oh i also had a huge surprise myself on my BIRTHDAY ! which was 2 days ago :)

Im 32

*CROWD GASPS

*dino nods slowly with eyes closed

My cute neighbors came over with a surprise bday cake and i was all dressed up ready to go out on a bday DATE. which was all part of the surprise..

First time anyone ever surprises me on my bday..

i feel so loved.. and happy.. al hamdulilah

Family,Friends, Nutella ∧ lots of laughs that was the best birthday ever...

I am now taking orders for customized birthday themes and you can check out the fb page 

LITTLE MUNCH

We offer a variety of desserts, Customized chocolates, favors,  water bottles, Pushpops ,  candy bags Lollypops & can design any party theme of choice :)

 

Birthday wala 3urus?

 

So i feel these days im i have a lot on my mind.. My mind is constantly thinking of things that i need to get done and thing that i did or didnt do and du du du du du du ya bayee shu bagurr ana

So this month is full of events... Tomorrow my lonlon turns 2!! cant believe 2 years have passed! 

*dina remmebers that she said that she will have lina potty trained at 2

oh oh.. my aim is by 3 years inshala :P

So.. anyhow.. so its my lonlons birthday.. Jan 14th. my Sisters Birthday is Jan 15th.. i remember 2 years ago my sister asked me to wait another day for my induction so that they celebrated together..  i remember back then i could not wait a second longer to BOG my baby lonlon out into this word.. 

Another major change happening is that we are MOVING to a new house.. or not.. still not sure.. depends on if the owner will be Son of 7alal and not raise the rent to balyooon alf.. 

We all expected this Rise since Expo.. but anyhow.. Inshala khier..

And another event soon.. is my SISTERS WEDDING! my little sister who is now 3aroosa.. its just one of those moments in life that you wait for but then when it happens or its happening you dont get it. in my head i think , you are the same girl i used to sing BURP songs to when we were younger! yeah well at the age of 7 i think i discovered how to burp and talk.. and i used to annoy my sister by singing the alphabet in one long BURP.. ok.. not so feminine.. haha 

So a lot is going on.. hamdulilah all is good... but believe it or not in the midst of all this what is stressing me out the most is planning my lonlons birthday party!... initially i planned on having a small party.. just us a cake and happy birzdayyy to yooou ree rampa rampa..

Suddenly i find myself running from store to store buying decorations and think of themes...  5 kids turned into 5x5 and i find myself planning the birthday details all day and my husband ( as would many husbands) doesn't get it..

WHY do woman spend all this time, effort and MONEY on a Birthday??? 

Who care how the plates look like! and so on.. 

* dino has expressionless face

i have to agree that some people over do it.. and slowly i feel birthdays are the new WEDDINGS.. 

its no longer about the kids having fun.. its about that fancy candy stand with those little fancy candy that is probably to hard to even be chewed.. its about those cookies and cake pops that are just too CUTE to eat!! The amount of money people are willing to spend on birthdays is 

RIDICULOUS!

So my little 3aroosa sis who is no longer little thought the birthday was yesterday. and well came with the party balloons and gifts and i was like... *blank face.. 

arent you supposed to get the helium balloons on the DAY of the party?

hahaaha anyhow.. so cute that she even went through the trouble.. 

So little lonlon was so excited to see her fishy balloon, and was playing with it a bit aggressively and then lulu joined and i think one of the balloons is officially dead while the other is still surviving.. i foudn myself yelling at them to not ruin the balloon.. 

WALKOM kharabtoooooohom!!

btw balloons are freaking expensive these days

Then it hit me.. i was so worried about the party.. the balloons gettign ruined that i forgot that the most important thing is that this party is FOR HER.. she should tefga3 as many ballaleen as she wants.. she should be happy... that should be my concern and not what people think about my Birthday theme and presentation..

We get so caught up in the party details and we forget that in the end our kids dont care about the candy stand presenation, they dont care about the matching tags and favor bags.. they dont care about all that.. we dont need to spend thousands of dirhams to make them happy.. 

happiness is sometimes in the simplest things that probably don't even cost money..

I buy my daughter all sorts of expensive toys. In the end of the day the most fun they have is when we all gather under the blanket and play " CATHLE" ( castle) is the name of the game according to lonlon... Or i find lonlon playing with an empty tissue box or keys! 

 In our mind we feel better buying the expensive gifts thinking the more expensive the gift the Better.. throughout the years we ourselves have changed and have become to hard to please..or to be content.. we are always looking at what others have or what "COST" more.

Our kids dont want fancy toys they want Love.. they want to feel loved. they want to spend quality time with thier parents.. We sometimes get them those expensive gifts because we feel bad that we are not spending enough time with them.. to compensate for that.. not knowing that no gift or toy will replace the fun of quality time with them..

I remember when i first came UAE. i lived in Sharjah.. i remember the first time we ran into "MAJAZ PARK" next to our house.. like it was HEAVEN.. we got on the swings although we were j7oosh ya3ni hahha i was 13 i think... to us we are not used to seeing so much greenery in Amman.. then we visited Burjuman Mall.. at that time there was no Dubai Mall, Emirates Mall, There was no Dancing Fountains or SKi Dubai.. we stood there in Burjuman Mall.. look a dancing fountain.. looking back at how amazed we were i kind of understand why some people were staring :S 

I remember going into the  SEE THROUGH elevator and never will i forget how AMAZED WE WERE! WAWWW WAAAAAW WAAAW

MAAMMAAAA SHOOOFI IL ASANSAYR SHAFAAAF!

( MOOOM LOOK THE ELEVATOR IS SEE THROUGH)

* head stuck on elevator glass as dino looks down as it goes up with mouth wide open with amusement!

Years later.. i stand infron of the Dubai Mall water fountains.. and i know they are amazing and wow but ive seen them so many times i feel like im no longer amused.. i stand there and enjoy the show but im no longer in that SHOCK of WOW THIS IS WOOOOOOOW!

I notice not only i have this feeling.. i see several shows in Dubai Shopping Festival and many are with acrobats or people doing seriously dangerous acts... hanging from the ceiling with no net.. stuff like that.. and i look at the peoples faces as they munch on popcorn or look like they are about to fall asleep.. hardly anyone even claps.. like its everyday they see a man swallowing knives.. 

Anyway... back to topic.. i just wish that one day i start a blogpost about something and not end up talking about something else :S 

So about lonlons birthday.. yes its getting bigger than i expected.. but in my mind i feel the birthday is a reflection of the mother... or at least it has become that these days.. i personally love doing all the little details.. but i will not pay thousands and try to do the simple doable ideas that are reasonable and not too costly..

In the End... I feel its ART... and letting it out in my daughters birthday is something i enjoy.. its very tiring and i will regret it after but well when she is older i will show her the pics and she will appreciate the trouble her mommy went through to make her day even more special..

Some ideas are just TOO CUTE AND TEMPTING! 

* p.s. I will not be blogging till after the bday so much to dooooo

* dino runs around like Um il 3aroosss ( mother of the bride)

:p

Merry Mawled Nabawi

I don't consider myself a religious person although in my life many have called me an extremist for just simply deciding to wear the hijab. I don't like to get into Islamic debates on halal and haram because i don't feel i have enough Islamic knowledge to defend my point of view, opposed to someone who has memorized the quran and many ahadith. I fear that me not being able to answer might give the other person the feeling that they are right, therefore i will not speak of halal and haram but just something i have noticed and lived through growing up.

I remember in school days we waited for christmas, halloween, easter & i remember giving out X-mas cards each year to friends. It was the best time of the year. I was not very Islamically conscious, lets say. When i grew older and starting to learn more about islam, i loved it more and more. I may not be the best Muslim but i am now a very PROUD Muslim.

I remember Eid passed by year after year with our family gatherings eating ka3k il 3eed. I never liked ka3k then. now after years of eating it i learnt to like it. Anyway. most of the time our dresses and so neat and slightly uncomfortable. We would sit politely in our relatives house as our parents discussed politics, asked about other relatives and every once in a while they would ask 

" Keefek habeebti.. meen bet7ibii hown aktar wala Amman, wala il Kuwait" 

( what do you like better Amman Kuwait or Dubai?"

Followed by an aggressive pinch to the cheek that left my cheek in excruciating pain! as they say 

" MA AZKAAAHA" ( hmmm HOW DELICIOUS is SHE)

* that is a rhetorical question btw that means im so CUTE.. which BTW i am..

 but that is not the point haha

So.. we sit there bored as ever.. unless we are visiting our cousins who are our age.. then we dont want to leave.. suddenly 5 mins later  my parents say we have to go visit other elderly people.. WE start whining " LA LA LA baba we want to stay!!" Dad gives the jahra look and we run to the car becase we know what that look means"

 * dino does cut throat move :P

So.. anyhow.. EID to me was not exactly Fun.. Although i remember my mom got me the nicest fanciest dresses and i did feel like a princess.

Now As Muslim Mother. i feel it is my duty to make our children love EID, not as much as they love christmas but MORE. I want them to learn that yes we respect other religions, yes we are all brothers and sisters but we as Muslims should Celebrate our Islamic Occasions.

Year after year i look around the malls, with all the Christmas Decorations, and i feel yes it is beautiful. But what about EID? We are in a Muslim Country aren't we? I ran into store after store on EID to find decorations for the house. i barely found anything but one light in the Union Coop. In Xmas there was several stalls full of xmas decorations and cards. Playing Xmas carols all day.

If you say you dont get a little fuzzy feeling in your heart when you hear Xmas carols i wont believe you.

My dear Christian friends dont get me wrong. I respect your religion and celebrations, but my heart aches when i see Muslims forgetting about EID. Getting X-mas trees in thier homes and wearing xmas pjs the night before they open their xmas gifts. When on EID they dont do anything at all.

Our religion respects all religions and Muslim Men marry Christians and that proves that Muslims and Christians not only can live together but also start a family together. Islam urges us to be kind with all people without any kind of discrimination due to differences in faith or race. 

But in the end of the Day you have to ask yourself, What is ISLAM? What is CHristianity?What do you believe in? Do Muslims have their own identity or have they lost it ? As i looked through my FB pics i swear to God i was unsure who was Christian and who was Muslim. 

Whether you like to Admit it or not Christmas is not just fun day where people gather and share gifts harmlessly, it has a religious meaning to Christians.  Its like a christian wearing Hijab and saying its a nice Fashion statement. Its Hijab and its means something is ISLAM.

It is true that this holiday is very popular and it is extremely commercialized; nevertheless it is basically a religious holiday. Its very name and all its symbolism is Christian through and through.

Christians celebrate at Christmas what they believe to be the "day of the birth of God's Son" or what they call "God Incarnate". Thus it is not only a celebration of another religion, it is also a celebration that is based on a belief that is totally against the teachings of Islam. 

How many Christians Dont Celebrate Xmas but Fast Ramadan? How many Christians Dont Celebrate Xmas but Celebrate EID? None that i know of... i heard some fast for fun or in unity but i don't think any christian would not celebrate their own festivity to celebrate another religios one tof another religion they don't believe in.

The argument that “Christmas is, after all, Prophet Jesus' birthday and so there is no harm in celebrating Christmas” is neither logical nor Islamic. Why should Muslims celebrate Jesus' birthday? Why not the birthdays of the other 24 prophets and messengers who are mentioned in the Qur'an by name?  

For us Prophet Muhammad (peace and blessings be upon him) is the final Prophet and Messenger of Allah, not Jesus. Therefore if i will celebrate any Prophets Birth it will be the birth of our Prophet Mohammad (pbuh) who was sent as Mercy to all creation.

For a while i was worried by saying this i would upset my christian friends but now i realized as a Muslim that stands strongly to what i believe in they should respect my point of view and not be upset if i dont celebrate thier religious occassions, they should not be upset if i express how i truely feel about Muslims who act more christian than Muslim as i know they also stand strong to what they believe in and will feel the same way if the tables were turned.

Here are two FREE designs you can print and stick on any sweet favor bags for your kids if you wanted ideas to celebrate. 

Maybe we can make this day a day to teach our kids about the greatest man that ever was.. maybe we ourselves can learn more about him. Because how can we possibly love our prophet Mohamad (pbuh) if we don't know about his life and all the great things he has achieved and been through,

 

اللهمَّ صلِّ على سيِّدنا محمَّد وعلى آلِه وصحبِه وسلِّم

 

 

2014!! WOAAH!

 

I try to blog every year on New Years to look back and reflect on my previous years. And wow so much has gone on in my life, in the world and looking back at all events and things that i have experienced in the past years all i feel all sorts of emotions .

* Dino Cries, * Laughs Hysterically* IN SHOCK FACE * OUCH look

* people in coffee shop stare at Dina as her facial expressions change drastically reading through her posts

Anyway.. i was looking back at my life and i have to say its passing by very quickly. Its so scary how things change. How even how we change without even knowing it.. I read my older posts and i really do feel a noticeable change in how i am, how i look at life..  

So ill take a look at my new years resolution for 2011 2012 2013 to see what i did

(2011)1. I want to focus on a goal and work on achieving it instead of thinking of so many ideas and starting with them and never taking them to the next level. Maybe i will finally focus on designing and publishing my own book. ( I ACTUALLY DID THIS ONE!!!  Illustrated & Published  2 books for KALIMAT ) * crowd CHEERS * Dino takes a BOW

 (2011 2012 2013) I will workout at least 2-3 times a week. even if its from home. because i feel like the pillsbury dough boy! Mujarad 3ajeen no muscles! *waves arm in the arm and sees the jiggly kalabeez flag *faints ( Still working on that) Joined a gym though i dont go anymore :S *waves arm... * hides it

(2011) I will never try to change lulus diaper while she is standing up! Also when i do put her diaper on make sure its closed really tightly incase if it falls off when she is running in public :S! wait wait.. POTTY TRAIN LULU ! NO MORE DIAPERS.. *dino nods in fear

Now i need to potty train LINA!!! * Waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

I will try to teach lulu more useful words other than "kahkah" " tatooz" (_/_)  

Still working on that too.. Lulu yells "you are stinky you are poo poo you are tatooz " to her friend and giggles * Mama Dina hides face 

(2011) I will get a maid inshala this year and then i will give her a big bear hug when she arrives

( i got  one that year.. it didnt end well.. Karnisim was her name.. i call her KArni- SAMETBADAN because everytime i remember her i get so FURIOUS.. she had a HOTLINE and used to act so Islamic and SHARIFA.. 

Allah yakhudha but Hamdulilah.. now i have a new nanny.. i cant call her my maid because she is not just a maid.. and it sounds degrading to just say maid or shaghaleh sometimes..  she is a person, one of the most important people in my life, i call her by her name IKRAM. Because she is a person before she is a maid, she makes my life so much easier, without her i will not have time to blog, shower or see my friends. Getting Help is one of the best blessings and my new years resolution is to KEEP her.. It upsets me how i see people treating their Helpers, They forget they are human, and that they too get tired, they too get sick. 

They forget that in Islam there is no difference between us to God ila fel Taqwa ( faith). Problem with those people is that they believe they are giving them the best treatment possible, but how many of times i see them in coffeeshops or cafe, thier nannies sitting on a different table as they eat. Others dont even order for her. I see weird looking uniforms that they are forced to wear as a label for everyone to remind them that they are THE HELP. I see a lady walking with the nanny behind her holding 50 bags and her kid and pushing a stroller as she walks empty handed infront of her shopping. Its a shame that we have lost our humanity. 

Before you treat your help in a certain way, remember that in a blink of an eye God can take away his blessings from you, In a blink of an eye you could be forced to be a MAID. And you then will be treated the same way you are treating your help.

Anyway i tend to go offtopic as usual.. so in 2012 i was pregnant and my biggest worry was that my husband wanted to name my daugher OLIvia...dont get me wrong its a wonderful name to all the Olivias out there... but i dont feel it will sound great in the Arab world.. 

Many will pronounce it : OLEEEEFIA...and bedal3ooha leefeh ... that cant be right.. anyway glad we decided on  LINA LONLON.. who is  btw 1000000 times naughtier than lulu.. and i just dont know how every generation is more defiant than the next..Cant believe she will be 2 years on JAN 14! 

Happy New Year Everyone

So my new years resolution is to not set resolutions.. Every year i write a list of things and barely do anything on that list... so this year  i just want to DO MORE and SAY LESS.. 

This year i will not SAY what i want to do like every year and get disappointed that i didnt do the things i wanted to do.. 

i WILL JUST DO the things i want to do inshala and will Share with you ofcourse :)

Much Love for you all.. 

* Dina does a wave dance to one of her readers.. * they stare at her reactionless

I will leave with with a vidoe of the GGGamazing Fireworks Show that i was actually AT yesterday night.. I started my new year doing something i never did before.. i didnt SLEEP. i went out :)

it was beautiful.. I Love you DUBAI.. 

just please if you ever decide to go to a crowded beach with bilyoon sayra and get stuck there 10000 saneh.. make sure you dont drink lots of fluids .. it might not end well.. 

i managed to hold it bi 2o3jubeh!! others were not that lucky im sure.