Another Birthday!

Frame is a freebie by Monica(Sparkymom), using Valarie Ostrom Designs's "Let's Color Scrap Kit".

My son is 10 today. Isn't he a cutie?

He is such a funny boy, loves to make funny faces and say funny things (and of course talk about buggers and farts, yuck!). When I am feeling sad he does silly things he knows will cheer me up. He is a sweetie!

My little girl is 17

She has grown into such a beautiful young lady! See her thorough the years on my blog header above. It was too big to put here.

I miss those curls!

My son got his hair cut short out of necessity. Someone originally cut it, but totally screwed it up. It looked like a 2 year old cut it. So he got it cut with clippers to get it evened out. The quality sucks because I used my cell phone to take it.

He looks a lot like his dad in this picture. I do miss his curls.

What we've been up to

I haven't posted much in a while. Just been feeling kinda meh.

School ended in early June, so the kids are home, bored of course. My daughter went to her dad's house for the summer. It is a lot quieter now lol. Her older brother couldn't go. He's busy working this summer. Same job he had last summer. He works at a restaurant. They don't get much business during the winter, so he mostly works summer and part of fall.

My younger son and I go to the library a lot. He's in the children's book club this summer. Every 10 books they read, they get a prize. He's reading really well. His first grade teacher told me he was reading at a 3rd grade level. I'm trying to get him to read a lot this summer. Maybe he'll be the one of my kids that is a bookworm like me!

My daughter and my 7 yo both had birthdays in June. His is the day after hers. We got a cake but didn't do much else. I should have more money to do more things with them when I'm working. Although then I won't have the time. I guess that is what weekends are for.

I've been feeling kinda meh. Census work is done. I didn't have much to do the last 3 weeks of it. I think I'll be getting one or two small checks from it.

And big news, I got a job. I had applied at this company before, but the interview was tough and I flunked it. I know someone who works there and they encouraged me to apply again. They were trying to hire 43 people to start training next week. I was nervous, but I finally did a week ago, and I am starting next Monday. We are contractors (temporary workers), but some people get on permanently there.

My son is working a lot and can't watch my 7 yo son. A friend that lives in town is going to babysit him. She has a dog that my son loves, and there are kids that live near her. I haven't had to find babysitting for years. He'll have fun with her.

Training will be 8:30-5 or 5:15 for 3 weeks, then we will get our schedules. We have to be available from 8 am to 8 pm Monday-Friday, and from 9-5 on Saturdays. If we work Saturday, we get a day off during the week.

I'm trying to get my house cleaned up, since I won't feel like it much when I'm working. Trying to get all the winter clothes up, and sort through clothes the kids have grown out of. I want to have a garage sale this summer. They are a PITA though.

Holiday Memories

This time of year brings back memories of the holidays my family and I shared while I was growing up. We had a small family, it was just my dad, me and older sister. We used to go to my grandma's (dad's mom) house for Thanksgiving, Christmas, and most other holidays or breaks. Usually it was just our family and my grandma and her husband, Charlie. He was a nice guy, very quiet. My grandma talked a lot (must be where I got it, hmm?), so he must have either been a good listener, or was good at pretending to listen. We always felt welcome at their house. Charlie sometimes had his kids over. They were older than my sister and I, I think. They didn't always come over, I think there was some estrangement there, which I didn't pick up on as a kid, but learned about later.

My dad and his mother in the late 1950's

I don't have any more recent pictures of her on my computer. Well I say more recent, she died about 20 years ago, but I only have the older family pictures on my computer. I have to see if my dad can scan the photos that he has.

A few holidays my sister and I went to our Grandpa's house. He was my mom's dad. He had remarried. I didn't feel that we weren't really welcomed by his wife, but later my sister told me what she picked up on. I was too young to really understand. After we moved to Nebraska when I was 14, I don't think I ever stayed at their place again, though I did see him occasionally. I lived in Kansas when he was in the hospital, in 1991 or 1992. My mom (who I call Beverly because she never tried to be a mom to me), had come up to see him from Florida, where she lived with her husband. I hadn't seen her since I was 13 or 14 and my sister and I had gone down to see her in Texas, where she lived at the time. When she picked up my daughter, who was about 2 at the time, she didn't even know how to hold her, and she had had three children! I was glad to finally meet my oldest sister then, she was from Beverly's first marriage (my dad was her second). She and I have kept in touch erratically. It's hard to really feel very close to someone that you didn't grow up with, even though you are related by blood.

This is my grandpa with my oldest daughter when she was a couple of months old in 1989.

House cleaning

I know I haven't posted in a while. Sometimes I have something I want to say, but by the time I get to the net, it just goes out of my head. Hopefully I can get the internet at home before too long.

My kids and I clash over them cleaning up after themselves. they will cook something for themselves, then just leave the pan in the sink. They must think the house cleans itself!

Batter up!

My son playing with his birthday present. He had a lot of fun. It also pops the ball up, which we will try next. Yes I played around with the first picture, there's not two of him lol.

I don't even know my last name

I actually do know my last name, but the title is a title of a country song, and I just had to use it.

I gave my youngest son my last name when his dad didn't come for his birth. I kept my maiden name when I got married. I've talked to him about his dad, shown him pictures, told him his name, answered his questions as to what I think his ability to understand is.

The other day my daughter told my son his dad's last name, and said that it was her brother's REAL last name. I tried to explain to him that some kids have their dad's last name, some have their moms, but he doesn't get it. He says that's his REAL last name. I guess he wants to be like his big brother and sister and actually really have a dad (that he can talk about or see or something). I grew up without a parent, so I kinda know what he may be going through. He doesn't have a man in his life he can look up to and do the dad stuff with. He looks up to his big brother, but he is only 14.

Sigh. Sometimes life is a PITA.

First Library Card!

My son turned 6, and got his first library card. He's so excited. He wanted to keep it himself, but I know he'd lose it in a couple of days. He had to write his name on it, but his handwritting is so large, he only had room to write his first name lol.

He'll be a bookworm (like me) yet!

It's Moving Time!

I'm moving this weekend. I'm putting our stuff in storage and staying somewhere temporarily until we can get another place. I forgot how much I hated moving. Hopefully I can get a place by the end of the school year.

Anisah

Nabilah's Little Friend

This is Nabilah a s Gerbil. Don't they kinda look alike *grin.

An.

School Boy!

My son loves to take the bus to school. He loves his teachers and his classmates. Wed. is their "Fall Harvest" party. Bring on the candy corn!

An.

Teenager in the house!

Well my son is a teenager now. I can't believe he's 13. It seems like just yesterday he was a toddler. They grow up too fast. He's into skateboarding and long hair. He's doing great in school. Next year he'll be in high school, sigh.

An.

My baby's gonna start school!

Ibrahim with a milk mustache on his birthday

My youngest son, Ibrahim, is going to start preschool. He has been accepted in 2 preschools. The teacher from head start came today to evaluate him, then I get a letter in the mail from the local school today which has a preschool program saying he was accepted. The problem is they are both in the afternoon. The head start is in another town, and even though it seems like a nice program, I will probably put him in the local school.

My oldest son is going in his last year of middle school, and my daughter is in her last year of grade school. So I'll have 2 graduations to go to.

Time sure flies when they are growing up!

Another fun weekend!

My sister took Nabilah, Ibrahim, and I to a dog agility show. It was fun seeing dogs run an obstacle course. My sister's friend came with her dog. This is her dog Quinn with Nabilah:

Then we went to a neighbor's birthday party. Mustafa was with a friend at a Boy Scout's camp-out. He didn't get home until Sunday.

My dad is coming to see us the week of Memorial Day, so we'll be having a busy week.

Anisah

Weekend fun!

The past 2 weekends we have had a bit of fun. Last Saturday (the 6th) we went to a Mother's Day lunch at a friend of mine's church. It was a potluck and the women cooked great food. Thanks to Amy for inviting me!

Then on the same day in the early evening we went to a potluck with another friend's church group on the campus of Andrews University. They had a bonfire and the kids loved roasting marshmallows and making smores. My son likes fire just a bit too much. There was a small playground and they were swinging and going too fast on the merry go round, and running around. They had a lot of fun. I was still kinda full from lunch.

Yesterday (Sunday May 14th) we went to church in the morning (it doesn't start until 10:30, so we don't have to be up and around too early. We have to leave our house by about 10), then I had to return some *ahem overdue books at a library that's near my church. After I put them in the book return slot, I saw a park right behind the library (most libraries here are closed on Sundays). So we went to the grocery store to buy some lunch, and had a picnic and played at the park. I got on the swing too, bet that was a sight. I need to make sure my camera has good batteries in it so I can take it next time and have some pics.

Anisah, loving the great weather!

Next: School!

Yesterday they had preschool and kindergarten "round-up" and I signed Ibi up for preschool. They do a testing of the children next month, to see how they are in different areas. They can't take all the children, so I hope he gets in. It's in the afternoons Monday through Friday. They bus kids in preschool and kindergarten even if you live close to school. They had a bus ride parents and kids could go on, and we did a short trip in a bus. And of course cookies and juice!

Anisah

New Pictures of my kids!

Here are some pictures of the kids I got taken at Walmart last month (February 2007).

I made this today with the frame.

The printouts of the photos didn't turn out so well. They were too dark. So I have to do a re-shoot after I get the $ to get Mustafa's hair cut. When his hair gets long the sides get really poofy and curly.

Fair

We went to the fair yesterday with my sister. The kids had a ball. It's not a huge fair, but there were plenty of rides. Ibi rode the train 4 times. He loves trains, can ya tell?

We saw the circus there. Ibi fell asleep a few minutes into it, so he missed the animal acts (elephants & pigs). Mustafa & Nabilah said they liked the magician the best. I thought the elephants looked sad though. Maybe that's my imagination, but I just felt so sorry for them.

We saw lots of animals, and they were feeding a horse and some lamas. We had a lot of fun.

A.

Haircut!

Ibi got a haircut yesterday. He sat really still for it. The last time I took him for a haircut about a year ago, he didn't want to sit very still and they weren't able to finish it. Now he looks like such a big boy. My baby is growing up! I can't believe he's 3 now. Time really flies.