update

Okay sorry that I haven't been the best blogger lately,,,life is moving at an immesurable speed and it is sooo hard for me to keep up with everything. I will attempt to catch you all up to speed.

General: well the house is coming along, today we recieved appliances. The town engineers came out and refused to give us occupancy but mohammad tells me that its not a big deal that we can still move in on saturday and have ameena start school. Apparently we are borrowing electricity from the neighbors and that will be enough to get us through. the outside isn't finished but the inside is good. We still haven't recieved the tanker, god knows when it will come. It has been delayed so many times. There is so much red tape concerning the tanker sometimes I wish we didn't do it. Mohammad is going crazy with all the stuff he has to deal with on a daily basis for the house. He spends every day there trying to get things done. He is sooo frusteraited that things aren't coming together like he likes. I swear me and him will never build from scratch again...well just buy things that others have gone through the hassle.

Me: I spend every day with the kids trying to entertain them. Its hard without a car, public libraries or parks but I try my best. Today we swan in the blow up pool in the veranda, played candy land and ameeena helped me bake a cake for dinner. Fasting this year has been a challange because of the long time and because it is so hot here. Every day is in the upper 80s to lower 90s. I drink a 2 liter in the am and a 2 liter in the pm but still feel thirsty almost all the time. Other than that I am trying to contain some sanity and sleep.

Ameena: well the big news for her is that she lost a tooth.....she feels like such a big girl and she put it under her pillow and got two dinars from the tooth fairy. Which she put in her collections for buy the very expensive stuffed tiger she saw at the store. She also went to the school to meet her teachers and pick out her uniform. It was a very big day, generally she was well behaved with the teachers. She has two teachers and two different classrooms half the day she spends in her english class with Miss Heba....who ameena adored and wanted to stay there forever. The other class is arabic with miss Eisha...which ameena threw blocks at because she was sooo frusteraited. You can only speak english in the english class and ameena hated that she couldn't understand the arabic. I hope they can handle her. We found out that he bus will come to our house at 645 in the morning!!! I don't think that ameena has been up that early before but well will have to start our day at 6am. wish me luck.

Ibraheem: is excited that ameena is going to school and he can have me to himself. Ameena went and spent the night with her cousins the other day and didn't come home till 1 pm. Ibraheem was so happy to have that time with mommmy. He has a new love for fire, and if you leave a lighter out he will attempt to see the "pretty." He of course enjoys his daily carebare watching and loves his cousin halla which he calls sweetie pie. He got a haircut and it was a disaster as he bucked and kicked the hairdresser...he didn't want to be there. Haircuts now will be handled at home where he can be easily distracted. He continues to be eaten up by the bugs....I guess he is just tooo sweet. his cousin othman thought that he would like a horse viewing and asked his friend to bring over his horse. Ibraheem in a usual way was happy to look but not touch. Ameena on the other hand pet the horse and then rode it for a while... she is soo daring.

well the next post should come from the house and hopefully I will have pictures. Pray for us that the boat willl come and mohammads stress level will decrease.

Take care everyone

general update

we are doing well...

ameena...

she is getting sooo excited about going to school she keeps telling everyone that her school bus allows her to watch movies in it. At least we know where her priorities are. She is generally having a better time with everyone in the family, although the hitting continues. But after all it is ameena.

Ibraheem: Ibraheem is starting to show some definance. After three weeks of going to bed with mommy he hates to go to be alone now that I am trying to get us on a schedule for ameena's school adventure. As you can see from the picture above, after an hour of putting back to bed..he decided the best option was to bring his pillow and sleep at the door. It worked for me...I didn't have to go to bed at 8pm that night. He is picking up on the arabic at an alarming rate....its amazing those young minds. I bought the kids a small swimming pool, of course because of the water shortage I didn't fill it all the way up..but it did draw a crowd of spectators as you can see. Even though it was small the kids still had a great time.....and I got some much needed mommy brainless time as I just had to make sure one didn't kill the other :P

Mohammad: continues to run back and forth between here and amman to watch the building and to work at the same time. Its starting to run him down but now that his brother is back from omrah....he's not doing it alone. He is genuinely enjoying being with his family, sometimes I am jealous of how they look at him...so much love and genuine joy for him just because he is their brother...its nice to see that kind of unconditional love.

Me: Hanging in there, still grapling with all the change...I think that it has been the hardest on me. We went to a posh wedding three days ago, it was so lovely. The bride being from Canada took a groom here from Jordan and he is going back to live with her family there. I wanted to say "take me with you" . But that was me panicing. I have been spending a lot of time with mohammad's sister she helped me make home made pickles. She's going to teach me to make a nice zuchini dish tomorrow. The building of the house has really taken off...we are picking the final paint colors, bathroom fixtures, lighting. the outside doors were installed today and the tile in the main living areas is put in place. We hope to be in before september fingers crossed. People tell us we are being optimistic but its really a necessity to be in there before ameena starts school. The tanker will be arriving later than we thought probably not till the end of august beginning of september. Note to all my friends don't trust a russian shipping company :P

Anyhow I hope you all are well...sorry about the delay in posting. tootles.

mall trips

One thing that we have come accustomed to and like are the malls of amman. Although their merchaindise is outragously priced they have these great areas for kids. Its likea 360 amusement park. Of course ameena went right from the giant slide while ibraheem clung to me like a monkey and only perked up when he saw the bouncy house full of balls :P He then decided that it was safe to venture out onto the cars, but he let ameena drive. Each time we have gone out we went with her little friend Omar and his mom Rania. I am so fortunate to have a friend from bburg here with me. The second trip to the city mall yeilded and indoor rollercoaster ride. Thats ameena and omar's little head in the green roller coaster. And yes folks, their was an animated lion that walked around the rides....ameena was sooo excited she road it sooooo many times. It was kind of disturbing though...the lion sung the Titanic theme song...which was a poor choice for a mechanical riding lion. all in all both trips were a hit with the kids and ameena and heem appreciated mcdonalds and burger king respectively. I luckily met a woman at one event that spoke great english and gave me the inside scoop on all the places to take your kids in amman...stay tuned for future adventures. choa

adjusting

Well the good news is that we were able to find a school for ameena. Its this great place near to our house called bunatalghad you can check out their website at http://www.baa.edu.jo/ They are a half en

glish half arabic school that supports islam. they have awesome facilities including a pool which ameena was way psyched about. She is ready for school we just need to keep our fingers crossed that we are moved into the house at that time. They start September 1st. The awesome thing is that their buses are airconditioned and have dvd players,,,I bet ameena wont want to get off the bus some days. Her uniform is going to be sooooo cutie. Its gray and pink, how perfect.

We went to the castle today, the main attraction wasn't the 1000 year old ruins...no it was my blonde arabic child that was speaking english. You would have thought that he was a martian with how these people were taking pictures of him and pinching his cheeks...yeah very little personal space here :P

Ibraheem is picking up the language sooo fast. The other day for breakfast he said "oh here's cheese." in arabic without even thinking about it. I am soo impressed by his ear. Ameena is doing better tooo. She's reminding herself that she needs to speak it and she is reminding me too. I am having a harder time, I guess its more difficult to teach an old dog new tricks.

Its still hot here, most days its in the upper 90s but it helps that it is breezy and there is no humidity. The sun seems different here, more bright, I practically have to keep my sunglasses on all day for the fear of my retnas being burned out :p We saw chickens the other day and immediately ibraheem wanted to go pick them up, I had to remind him that they aren't like Dana's nice birds and that they will peck your eyes out. With that Ibraheem decided not to approach the "crazy birds."

tomorrow will be a busy building day picking out stone and floor tiles as well as meeting with the carpenter to design the kitchen (every womans dream).

wish you all well

were here

well we are here...finally the kids have adjusted to the time change. there was a lot of 3am waking thinking it was party time. thank goodness that is over. there are many people visiting and mohammad and I have decided to rent a temp apartment in amman to get away from the commotion because he isn't getting any work done. Ameena and heem are finally starting to warm up the family,,,,the first days all everyone heard was NO. But they are now giving them some space and it is working out better. I think that language barrier makes the other kids tease them more, so of course they think that they are mean. But it is getting better

we went to the house a few times, it looks great. the view from the kitchen is breathtaking I love it sooo much. I have attached a photo. Also ibraheem likes the place every time we go and we pull up outside the first thing he says is "lets go look for treasure". I have also attached a pic of him digging in the house rubble thinking that he is helping :P

Ameena has attached herself nicely to a cousiin named nouradeen who is very nice and of course handsome....she always picks the good looking ones. we are also going to the city tomorrow to look at schools for her. There are also two big malls here that I am just itching to go and see:P well I hope everyone is well and we wish you the best,,,,see you next post

i did it

Hello all...well the good news is that on wednesday I passed my NP exam!!!! But, two days before the exam I fell down at the university and broke my leg :( I am on the mend and we are finally free to take our leave.

The kids are doing well, they are excited to go and ameena is playing her arabic color bingo game like mad and hopefully we are both learning the colors for our new language development. Ameena had an awesome lion birthday party and her best gift was that grandpa came down to celebrate with us. She was so supprised when he came with me to pick them up. Ibraheem, was excited, recognized him and let dad carry him in from the car when we got home. It was such a sweet momment. The girls nextdoor commented on how much baby heem looks like his grandpa. Ibraheem is being his usual carefree self. It does appear that we are all clear to take Bella with us to Jordan. She is in good health and is ready to go after all her vaccinations and the airline gave us the okay to bring her in the life cargo. The good thing is that she will just account for a peice of luggage. Here's some new pics from that family...enjoy.

moving on

We SOLD THE HOUSE!!! I can't believe it. We got a good deal and I am so proud of us doing it without a realestate broker. It seems that things are moving full steam ahead. I went to NYC last week to pick out the furniture. I am leaving tomorrow to attend a class to help me pass the NP boards. I haven't recieved my testing time, but I plan on calling them tomorrow.

Ameena is doing well, she graduated from Islamic school (see pic). She's excited about seeing moh's family. Ibraheema caught a cold last week. He stayed home with me some, some residual coughing now but much better. He comes up with the funniest sayings lately like "what's up with that!" he whips them out over dinner and cracks us all up. We are planning a family vacation before we leave the country. We have booked out tickets for the 7th of July, we plan to be out of bburg around the 26th of June.

c yah

adventures in insanity

Well we are fixing up the house, I now know that I am certifiable. It has been horrible. I am soooo tired right now that it is ridiculous. The house looks great inside though. New paint, floors, exterior pain and tile. I must say we have done a good job, although I am getting worried that only three people have come to see it. I am posting some pics...I am also sending some of ameena and heem of course, they are too cute to be left out.

I haven't started to study for my Nurse Practitioner exam, I figure I would take some time off after graduation....I need to get back to it. Mohammad took a couple of days off from work to work on the house, it paid off but with me leaving town to go to NYC to pick out the furniture for the big move....he has zero time off. I am arranging with a local girl to help sit while I am gone so moh doesn't get tooo overwhelmed and so he can pick up on his time at work.

Heem: well he has become a handful, he bit me on the back just the other day..ouch!!! He has this infectious laugh though. Now when he does something wrong and you ask him why he did that...he replys "because". Little booger:P He loves going to the house and picking up the pressure washer. As you can see above him and Ameena play this game of I'm going to spray you and he gets the biggest kick out of making Ameena run off and scream. He also got the guys and the graduation picnic to hold him up to the drinking foutain numerous times so that he could watch the water. although they thought that he was thursty and that something was wrong because he would just stare at the water. he's gotten pretty good at recruiting people to do his bidding.....does this sound familiar we may be talking an Ameena 2.

Ameena: she is doing well. We went a long stretch this last time almost a month, without an asthma attack. She has a cough for the past couple of days, I hope it wont progress. In the new apartment she has found some new friends. Accross the hall are two girls from south africa that are 6 and she likes to hang out with them. They come over at least three nights a week to watch movies with ameena. She likes them so much she would have them every day but poor mom can't handle that. Ameena is taller than them, and their mother thought that ameena was 8!!! Can you imagine what her face looked like when I told her that ameena was 4, she towers over her 6 year olds. Not bad for a premie. Now the next thing to do for her will be her birthday party, always a big deal ?P

Well enough from us...take care family and friends.

graduation

Well after six years, two babies, a PhD and a future move I finally gradutated :P It feels soooo good to be done. Ameena was happy that mommy wouldn't have to be studying anymore. I honestly don't know my official grade but I really don't care because it happened and they let me graduate...i guess that means that I didn't do that badly ;p I spent mothers day laying flooring in the old house, our goal is to have it listed by Monday. Bob is reduing the hardwood floors today, tomorrow and wednesday. A cleaning crew is coming on Sunday and Thursday I am doing some landscaping. All with the goal that monday it will be ready. I travel to NYC on memorial day to pick out the furniture we want, you know us girls...we love to shop. I'll keep you posted

so I'm late

so much has happened...I have defended...I am officially finished with school. It feels amazing. all i have to do is sit for boards and then we are off. we had the HUGE yard sale, i was so happy to have a great recommenedation from Jenny to list everything except marked big items for 50 cents... we made a killing and I didn't have to haul much stuff to goodwill...definately a win win situation. With the money I bought a big chunk of the stuff we need for the new house. Yippie.

I bought myself a new mini computer, I figure I will have no need for a large bulky laptop and I am very happy that I got this cutie....acer aspire one....great investment for anyone out there.

we are also buying a new camcorder and camera...i would like an all in one device...but it seems its not out there. I am uploading some recordings taken from a camcorder we bought a JVC but I think its a bit grainy. However, ameena is superbly funny with her finger puppet show and Ibraheem's table dancing...enjoy!!! Well, it seems I have to download the software, seeing we don't know if we are going to keep it or not...I have one of the still pictures of ibraheem for you to see. Our life is so crazy right now we don't know where half the cables are the the old camera...or the charging devices.....

Ameena is doing well. she really wants to get to Jordan to open all her new things. She is so funny when I am bringing home the gifts for the family members..she told me that the best gift will be her and Ibraheem....an obvious truth but still shocking coming from a four year olds mouth :p I am on the hunt for lion birthday party supplies...if anyone out there has any suggestions I am all ears. I have been hunting, I tried to change her mind several times, but she insists that this party must be all lions.

Ibraheem finally used the potty.. he did at school no the frog potty I sold them the same one he refused to sit on at home. go figure. He is saying some crazy stuff lately....like "don't you say no to me" and when I ask him why he did something he says "because" he is so funny. He has no idea about the move, but if he could understand the concept I have a feeling that he is so easy going he wouldn't really care. He's starting to change in his body, first he got really fat and was eating adult portions. now, hes shooting up and starting to thin out a little bit. He is also loosing the baby fat in his face, however, he has not lost his facination with flushing the potty:p

Mohammad is doing well, he is managing the majority of the renovations at the house. He spent the entire weekend with some very good friends painting the house and he is there now too. Its a big job paininting.

I have my graduation this friday and saturday, sunday we are laying new vinyl flooring, then monday thru wednesday the handyman is coming to do the hardwoods. Then the later half of the week will be general clean up and sproucing for us to list the house on craigslist and get it sold hopefully in good timing. Lets just hope it all goes to plan. If it doesn't we already have a couple of people interested in renting the place so...were covered either way. it would be nice to sell it outright so that we could have some free cash to finish up the house in Jordan.

Well thats enough of my babbling for tonight. I will post again soon

take care

Jenn

boxes,,,I hate you :P

Well sorry about the delay,,,yet again. The house is packed...well almost. I have been able to trim most stuff down and right now day to day living is happening out of a box. We have rented temperary housing so that we can get out of the house and get things fixed for a hopeful quick sale. I continue on unemployment....yeah for unemployment. Its been a god sent, I get to spend time focusing on my work and the kids and the house and......... there seems to be tooo much stuff to do and not enough time to do it in.
Graduation is around the corner..... lets say it together three more weeks!!!! Oh that feels so good. You all are invited for graduation. 1pm on saturday the 9th of may....if it rains its moved to 1030. contact us if you would like to go so we can all sit together.
We bought Ibraheem's bed, desk, amorie combo thing....its really awesome. Ameena has asked for a horsey room...no idea what that is but I am trying to figure it out. I am starting the prep for her birthday....lions....thats a hard cake to make maybe I'll do cupcakes this time.
We have Ameena enrolled in school in Jordan, she has to know her arabic colors, numbers and alphabet.....so we need to work on that. She will be going to class with a boy she knew here in the states...so that will be helpful and soothing to her. he likes lions tooo....ahhh match made in heaven.
Anyway, I'm off to the library now....just two more weekend of torture.....then it will be over for good.

Were Crazy

I finally finished my big paper.....now comes the other stuff. Papers and reading, looking for a rental apartment, deciding on tanker size....fun stuff. We have begun selling off the house goods, moving on up.

Ameena has been especially crazy....love her picture of her and the underware. Ibraheem loves apples lately.....hey also enjoys the holiday lights up in his room. Regina also came over and ameena loved the game of mail. She really got into it when she could be a lion in the box!! Abraham enjoyed it to, fun for all but Regina left the house very tired.

well a light post this week, I hope you enjoy the video and pictures...have a great week and sorry for posting so late.

End of March

I must say that Mohammad did a wonderful job watching the kids when I was away in Williamsburg. I had an exciting trip, but came home more tired. They jam pack those conventions.....I only had a few hours to do my shopping...the nerve :P I did find some great deals at the outlets 1.99 sweatshirts and fleece pants for the kids. I bought for the next three winters. Lord knows the quality of clothes they will have in Jordan. Being near the outlets brought back great childhood memories for me regarding vacations with mom and dad in Williamsburg...If your ready guys I love you.

The kids missed me, but were well looked after by moh. They were happy and fed, and the house was tidy....he's great. I of course bribed the kids with suckers and candy when I got home. And I thanked moh with chocolate covered peanuts :P Tomorrow is his birthday and he found his present in the trunk of the car....so the kids and I gave him his present early....just more peanuts. He has asked that I don't do cake etc this year, so I am following his wishes and being low key.

The house is moving along, the driveway is done...after many days of rain. I think that It makes a significant difference in the look of the house and hopefully some more exterior work is coming as soon as I hear back from the handyman I contracted with. My offical last day of work is March 26th so after that I will have some days off and I will be able to work more around the house and start bringing people in for hopeful perspective buyers. There is just so much change in such a little time.

I didn't have any specific pictures this time, just ones for your enjoyment. Till next time I hope you are all doing well.

warmest wishes.

The family is well, sorry about being late with the post. Abraham has a new facination with the potty....he doesn't use it but sits on it making a peeing sound pssssssssssss :p then he flushes the pottty and say "yucky potty" he is soooo funny and he isn't eve trying. He also got some new lights for his bedroom, the night light went out and he wanted christmas lights in his room like sissy....he loves them. They are a great distraction tool for whenever he is getting into something he's not suppose to. He smacked sissy in the face yesterday and recieved his first time out......he cried the whole time and then refused to appologize...I think we are starting to see the beginning of free will !!! He loves the ladies at the daycare and they tell me that he manipulates them and gets stuff out of them because he is sooo cute...he's trouble this one. I think my kids are smarter than me.

Ameena....well she is ameena. She went to Islamic school on Sunday dressed as a dog and totally plays the part! She is still trying to learn her letters and she has an amazing memmory. After reading a book for one time, she can go back through it and literally re-read me the whole book. She is into fashion lately, she can really put an outfit together. I had her eyes checked at the eye doctor...wanted to do it before school and befor I lost my insurance due to the layoff....she had perfect vision. She was bummed she really wanted glasses, but I was sooo happy she didn't inherit my poor eyes.

We had the driveway ripped up for the selling of the house. They did it on friday when it was raining and its been this way ever since because of the rain. Its been crazy having to find parking etc. You would think that the driveway guy could check the weather before riping it up...knowing it would be about a week of rain before he could come back and put down the asphelt....maybe asking too much!!! I am heading out of town for the week to a nursing convention. Mohammad will have to be mr mom and dad till saturday afternoon. He's up for the task I know he is. He's great with the kids and as long as he has plenty of prep time he can do it. I am staying home today to clean the house and get things together for the trip. Williamsburg here I come, I hope it is having better weather than we are.

To all my followers out there keep posted...I'll see you next week.

In like a lion out like a lamb

The weather has fooled us again, first we get 8 inches on monday and then by Saturday we are having 70 degree weather...go figure :P Ameena is doing well, accomplishing a lot of milestones, she can now write her name ! I have included the video below. She also grew overnight, all the clothes she had are now tooo tight and look like she is waiting for a flood. She does't even fit into 5T anymore...we have graduated her to the 6's now. Thank God for the person who inveneted the adjustable waist band,,,,I would like to think that it was a mom :P

Ibraheem is doing well, singing up a storm. The other day I was in the bedroom and I heard someone counting, realizing it was baby heem I went to the livingroom without letting him know I was there...he got up to 15 without missing a beat!! Proud mom :P He also fell off the jungle gym yesterday and got a big fat lip, that was my fault....he is so adventurous. I sometime wonder how I got such polar opposite children. One dark, one light. One lefty, one righty. One who loves the outdoors and one who would prefer to stay inside and watch TV. One laid back and one up tight!! Its amazing how they come out from the same genetic pool.

Study is becoming a challange to me. I am having a hard time balancing everything from school to work. I am making the transition to have this new nurse take over my job at Danaher....I am starting to have some resentment, because I wont be able to file for unemployment and now one wants to hire me for four months. Its such a challange and something that I didn't need right now. I sat down with a friend over the weekend and went over plans for the house in Jordan, things are tight but it will suite our needs. I am excited about furnishing it with contemporary stylings....it will be my first brand new home, they poured foundation on Saturday...I heard everything went well.

Mohammad is well, trying to make the transition with his job. Thats always a challange. He is maintaining the kids and house well, its great to have such a good partner, he was out grocey shopping last night and putting away laundry...what a great hubby. :p

Well thats enough for our madness, enjoy the photos and video and well talk soon.

new start

This is the space to put stuff about the family and how things are going. I will try to update everything on Sunday nights...but some Sundays are worse than others...but If I can pencil it into my date book...well hopefully it will happen.

Ibraheem: had a great day with dad outside playing in the snow....see picture. He loves to dance lately the favorites are John Jacob Jingle Himmer Smitz....and wheels on the bus..funny stuff. He has been pretty creative lately with pulling up chairs to get to higher cabnets and his favorite...to push buttons on the microwave and nuke our meds. He wants to wear his sisters fairy costume lately.....he asks me if he is pretty and he spins around :P

Ameena: after mohammad's painstaking efforts ameena can now spell her name. in celebration we kept her first paper that she wrote her name on and we bough her hair pretties to reward her. She has such an aversion to the alphabet...but were working on her ...slowly. She loves the new moving Madagascar 2 ...thanks nana.

Mohammad: maintaining this crazy house....informed me that the building of the house in Jordan has begun and once the snow melts they will finally pour the foundaton

Jenny: Going crazy trying to finish this last semester...its so hard spending time away from the kids and family but I have to face it like a bit girl. I finially finished me master's research..I now have to go through all the data.....I see the light at the end of the tunnel..six years in the waiting.