**Sorry guys..no photos yet...as soon as I get them off the camera, I'll upload**
For awhile, it seemed like every weekend was packed with functions -- too packed. It's not that I don't want to attend, but it was like others were scheduling my life instead of me.. Things are getting better though. This weekend was packed -- but it was mostly things that we had scheduled, so we didn't feel like we had lost control.
Friday was awesome. It was a great day for Shaan. Each child gets to have a "special day" once in the year at
the Raleigh School. Friday was Shaan's. That meant that he :
- got to ready the morning news to the class
- took 5 items for show and tell (two were his arabic workbook and textbook)
- made a lifesize painting of himself with his dad (your parents gets to spend the day with you)
- took a special snack for the kids (samosay and spicy nimco)
He was so excited -- I have never seen him have such a great day. The arabic workbook was a huge hit. All the kids repeated the letters after him...then, during "center" time, a lot of them sat down with Zakir and learned the arabic letters. While Shaan was creating his lifesize painting with his dad, the kids had circle time with their teacher and talked about shaan. He had written his name on the board in arabic and they listed his traits. What was adorable was that a few of the girls described him as cute and smart...awww.
After school, Shaan and Zakir took their remote control cars and trucks outside (yes..they both get excitement from them..not just Shaan) and raced them around for awhile...yet another highlight in Shaan's day.
I have a great team and we all decided to go out for dinner with our significant others. None of them have kids yet (two have kids on the way), so it was all adults and Sarah. Shaan decided that he would rather hang out with his cousins Shahzayb and Sherjeel.
We went to Brasa -- a
brazilian steakhouse. I can't say that I'm a huge fan of the brazilian steakhouses, but it's always the choice of the guys on the team. It was fun getting to know everyone's signficant others..everyone was laid back..and all we did was joke all evening. Dessert was
chocolate covered apples..yumm...I went for the plain milk chocolate (boring i know), but it was awesome.
Shaan had a great time at Shahzayb and Sherjeel's place. As wrong as it is, he's partial to Shahzayb -- probably because they are the same age. I feel bad for bechara Sherjeel, but they're usually pretty good about including him. It was no suprise that they spent a good part of their evening trading their
pokemon cards. Shaan trades them with his classmates at school daily -- and gets mad if we pick him up too early and he doesn't have time to trade. Shahzayb's teacher doesn't allow them to bring them to school and Sherjeel's school (the preschool) doesn't allow it either. Therefore, they are so excited when they meet up with Shaan and get to trade. As usual, it was tough to get Shaan to leave. I love how well he and his cousins are getting along..they are truly like brothers. As Farah (my sis-in-law) put it "They're not always going to talk to us...at least they have each other." -- well said....
Saturday was pretty laid back. Shaan plays soccer every Saturday morning. We were going to pull him from the class (or not sign him up next session) 'cause we didn't know how much he was enjoying it. However, when Zakir was at Shaan's school, he learned that Shaan plays soccer outside daily...so I guess it's worthwhile after all. Later that day, we went and hung out with some friends who also have a new baby Amina. Shaan was fascinated that she had the same name as the prophet's (SAW) mother. She is so cute and looks like her eldest sis...and has the longest, beautiful hands. We hadn't hung out with them in awhile, so it was really nice to just sit and play. Shaan, Halima and Maryam love playing together too -- so we didn't have to worry about them while we were there.
Sat night was the best. Zakir watched the kids (thank you!) and I went out with some of my girls. We hit downtown Raleigh -- has been years since I checked out that scene. We got dressed up and headed out for a night on the town. I'd share more...but what happens at girl's night, stays at girl's night :) It confirmed for me that girl's night is not a nice bonus..it's a necessity...I love my family, but everybody needs to get out once in awhile! I know not everyone agrees, but to each their own ...
Sunday morning was my relaxation time. I was still tired from Saturday night and Z and Shaan spend the morning at the masjid (Sunday school). Shaan had an arabic test and a test on Surahs. mA he had been working really hard and he told me the test was easy ...phew! We had two birthday parties in teh afternoon. Shaan hadn't been feeling great, so I conveyed my regrets to one (the school friend) and still went to Jannah's birthday party at Marbles (the same place where Shaan had his). The party was great..Asma had snacks and drinks for the kids -- along with the cake of course. In lieu of gifts, she offered the opportunity to donate $$ towards the sponsorship of a Pakistani child through Islamic Relief -- a phenomenal idea! I may follow her cue and do the same thing for Shaan's next birthday.
We spent Sunday evening with Zakir's family. We hadn't seen them in a few weeks and therefore, they hadn't seen Sarah. For those of you who don't have kids, you'll soon learn that, once you have kids, the family wants to see you primarily because they want to see their grandkids, nephews, nieces, etc. The great thing is that, as a mom, that makes you happy and not jealous in the least!
So..after a long time of no blogs..there you go. This week is thanksgiving break, so I should have a lot of fun stuff to share next week.
Me -- I so rarely have a photo of myself that I don't hate.
Zakir and Shaan..I loooove Shaan's hair like this!
Nadia and Deen
Deeners
Issa, Shaan and Musa
Newest addition to our family - Kamran!
Shaan and Deen (or as Deen would say "Naan and Deen")
