Please say a prayer!!!

So this afternoon I have been having some light spotting. Nothing red, red but still it is freaking me out due to the fact that I lost the last pregnancy.

Been doing absolutely nothing since it has started except being aprehensive and offering up some prayers that everything is ok and that perhaps this is just implantational spotting which can occur between 7 and 9 weeks.

Seeing as I am now just 8 weeks and 1 day I have to lean on that.

Thanks for stopping by

7 Weeks and all is well

Well I reached my 7+ week mark but I have to say after having lost the last pregnancy getting to 12 weeks seems to be taking an eternity!!!

My nesting has slowed a little but not because I want it to!! My list is doing ok but I guess the pregnancy + the fasting is taking its toll. On top of that I now have a cold - YUK. I have so much to do this week, just thinking about it is making me tired LOL. My kids have a short school week this coming week due to Thanksgiving and then Eid on Friday. So I still have shopping to do plus decorate the house and do some middle eastern baking. Not forgetting of course that I have my P/T job at Curves and a rather important meeting on Thursday afternoon.

Otherwise all is well on the homefront.
Hope all is well with my friends
Thanks for dropping by!

Productive Weekend!!!!

Well I got lots done this weekend...this nesting thing is turning out to be a good thing. LOL sure hope it lasts a bit.

On Friday I cleaned house to almost perfection....had guests coming for dinner from Overseas --gotta reputation to uphold LOL.

So yeah I vaccumed, shook out the rugs and washed the floors. Dusted and then cleaned the bathroom and then hit the basement to tidy the toys. Then on Saturday am I put the first coat of paint of the front door and then paced myself with the dinner prep. Glad to say that by 6 pm everyhting was ready and we weren"t eating until approx 6:45. We had a lovely evening and by the time I cleared away it was 12:30 pm - time to hit the sac.

Got up at 10 am (gotta make sure I enjoy my kids independance for the next 7.5 months cause I will lose it for about 4-5 years) headed outside to help my brother in the back yard and then decided to dig up my potatoes LMAO got about 25!!! Then I cleaned up and re-organized the shed. Man I took 3 garbage bags of "one of these days I might need it" out of that little 8x10 structure!!!

Then I cleaned up my veggie garden and put that to bed for the winter. All this while I supervised my brother and DH in the sprucing up and re-stabilizing of the kids play structure and then the relocating of a tree in my garden.

Still gotta do some landscape clean up and move another tree. Hopefully that will get done before the weather changes.

Thanks for stopping by!

1st PreNatal Visit

WOW that was fast and totally unexpected!!!!

On Monday I personally took my Family Dr. referral for my OB GYN ( gotta do it that way if she hasn't seen you in the last year and my family Dr. takes care of everything for me) I was about to book the apt, thinking I wouldn't get in until just before or shortly after the 12th week.

Anyway turns out they had a bunch of no shows on Monday am so they decided to see me right away. Everthing was basically routine EXCEPT All the talk about the potential risks at my age...OK don't want to hear it even though I know they have to tell me. But this is my theory....Never any drugs or smoking, no alchol, I live a clean and healthy life with only 1 partner. I am blessed with 2 healthy children and this is not my 1st pregnancy and we are God fearing people. So I am thinking the odds are in my favour.

In any case ANY test I do will give me a poistive result due to my age and the only conclusive test is the Amino which carries its own set of risks. So what do I do??? Leave it in the hands of God and trust in His will.

So my first Ultrasound is booked for the 15th of Oct. and then the next OB apt will be on the 20th of Nov. At that time if all goes well we should be able to hear the baby's heartbeat.

I am feeling fine but fairly tired and already feeling bloated oh and I am not sleeping the greatest these days. Not sure what is up with that?!

I have also started some early nesting... just feeling like I have to get my ducks in a row so as not to stress myself or the family. So what have I been up to??? Well on Sunday we went to Rona and I dropped some $500.00 for lights for the house. Then on Monday, after discovering I would have to do some painting in the dining room before putting up the sconce lights, I painted the whole dining room. Have to say I was even especially meticulus as well and even taped everything before I started. And gosh was I good LOL didn't even use a drop cloth and didn't lose a drop of paint!!!

On Tuesday I sanded the front door and then cleaned the garage, no worries I am not lifting anything heavy. I even cleaned DH's work benched and sorted and threw out stuff. It looks amazing in there now.

Today I worked for 6 hours and then came home totally busted so I slept for 1.5 hours then I wiped down and dried the front door and then I put on the primer coat of paint. Thinking I will have to wait until Friday before I put on the second coat and can hopefully pain on saturday or sunday.

So what else is on my list????
-Put the garden to bed which will include some serious weeding and moving around trees.
-Paint DD's room from the original baby colours
-Paint the breakfast room
-Wash the walls of the living room
-Organize and clean up the basement and storage room
and THEN scrap like crazy to see how caught up I can get!!!!!

Sure hope I am not being over ambitious lol. Thats the list and I will likely add to it but I will also see how my enery holds up.

On another note my brother has been in town since mid August - posted here by the military. He came alone, so he is doing the seperation posting and living downtown while his wife in still down east. He has been spending a lot of time with us and we are loving it. He is telling me to take advantage of it as much as possible cause if a position comes up down east he will take it and leave the military. So what has he been up to??? Well my deck has been designed and completed in that time. He did a beautiful job, now we just have to put the stain on. We are totally loving it. Will post pictures soon. :o)

So what else is on his list???
- fix my fence - some posts have heaved
- change the lighting fixture at the back of the house
- tighten up the kids play structure DONE
- might help me with some gardening, especially the trees
- complete the bathroom in the basement
- rearrange my laundry room and put down some flooring
- put up a few walls in the basement as we will need to re-locate the guest room
- Relocate a tree in the back yard DONE

Gosh that is a long list so far sure hope we can do most of it before he goes back home!!!! Don't you just love family who are handy???

Well I think this is a long enough post for now. Will check in soon, Thanks for stopping by!

Guess What?????

So I guess I get to use this as part of my excuse for being an extemely bad blogger. Can't promise I will be better but I can always try right???? LOL

It's Official!!!!

Tickets are booked and paid for and I am heading overseas for the first time in my life!!! 1 week in Dubai - UAE and 1 week in Kuwait!!!.

I would love to stay longer but DH has to come back for work. At this point I am feeling beggars can't be choosers.

Especially because he was originally going to go alone for 5 days. I convinced him that I should go, so the second set of plans was to leave the kids with the Grandparents and just the 2 of us go for 8 days. We were working on that but it was sitting on our shoulders like a ton of bricks. DH asked me how I felt about bringing them with us and it was like the ton of bricks disappeared. I was in a huge frenzy trying to get everything in order before leaving and now I can take it slower. We have never left the kids before, and as much as I would like to get away with just DH and I, in my opinion going half way round the world isn't the way to do it. So the beginning of next month all 4 of us are jet setting overseas.

I am so excited but it still seems unreal!

PJ Day!!

Yup I practically spent the day in my PJ's. This flu doesn't want to let up so other than taking the kids to Karate today I basically stayed in my pj's and let the flu take over. DH brought me chicken soup in bed, he's so sweet! He then took the kids tobogganing, I hate to miss out on that but hopefully next weekend. Still haven't been to any WinterLude activities this year. Sure hope we can go next weekend.

Hope you all had a great weekend and have a great and unstressful week!

Smothered!!!!

with the stupid Flu!!!!! I was feeling fine all day on Thursday and then wham!!!! Thursday night I was down for the count. I can't breath properly, I am sneezing my head off and I want to sleep!!! And yes I did get my Flu shot!!!So why am I here posting???? Well I have had a few comments about neglecting my blog lol, you know who you are!!!! :o)

So yes I have been neglecting my Blog and I really shouldn't because this is a great way to let my friends know what I am up to and also a great way to get my journalling down. Anyway I digress, I think I got discouraged when I had trouble uploading my photos, can't get them to work but now that Blogger has been updayed perhaps I will have more success.

So Barb that is why those strawberry photos never got on my blog!!! LOL

In my scrapping world, I haven't been scrapping much lately I really should get at it because I am way behind and now that I am not working I should have the time right??? Wrong!!!! I seem to be either just a whole lot busier or a whole lot lazier LOL. My life seems to be filled with cleaning, shopping, an occassional movie and meeting friends. Then there is my volunteering at the school, started back at that this past week and again I wonder what I got myself into . But I do enjoy it, I think it is the prep that gets to me and the fact that the budget that I have to work with is so tight. I really end up dipping into my own money....shhhhhh don't tell DH lol. So right now I am teaching the grade 7 class how to do a book of scraps and started a scrapbooking and paper crafts club with grades 5-8. There is a total of 30 girls in those 4 grades and I have 21 signed up - not bad but Thank God I have 2 volunteer assistants!

Anyway that is my news for the moment, stay tuned there is something big for me coming up soon!!!!

Strawberry Picking

Decided to take the kids strawberry picking yesterday! After searching around my area with no luck we headed over to the field on Fallowfield and Richmond. Wow They still have lots of strawberrie sand gosh are they big!!! Zaynab sat her little self down on the irrigation pipe and had a snack, way too cute. Of course Abdullah couldn't stay in one spot so wandered up and down his row picking as he went till he got bored. I am not usually much of a berry person but decided to partake in the sweetness yesterday. Ummm , Ummmm good - man will my Mom be surprised to read that LOL.

Will try to post photos later when I upload from my camera.

New Library!!!

Well our part of the city finally got a new library and we took the time to check it out. Wonderful new facility with lots of computers and lots of space. Very open concept, not sure if that is good or bad LOL or are libraries not as quiet as they used to be??? My kids always had lots of books so we didn't make it a regular thing. But now that there is one right in our neighbourhood I am sure it will be a bi-weekly event if not more.

That was our outing for the day plus a trip to Dairy Queen for a cold treat.
Was hoping to get some scrapping done tonight but no such luck maybe tomorrow or the next day???? or maybe I will have to wait until next week while the kiddies are in summer camp.

Hey it's not a full month yet...

and here I am updating again!!! All due to my wonderful friend Barb and a message she posted on SB. I am still here Barb and I am well!!! LOL Busy with the kiddies and the Canada Day BBQ that we had on the weekend. It all went well and now I am attempting to keep the kids entertained. Gosh summers are so different now than when I grew up. Not even a full week out of school yet and already I am hearing ..."Momma I'm bored!" God help me, maybe it was a mistake to not enroll them into camp for the whole summer. Sigh, guess I will have to work harder at entertaining LOL.

Haven't done any real scrapping in a while, finished up a few pages from my last crop and completed a mini family album that I did as a class at the Stamping & Scrapping Boutique. Awesome class and I totally love the completed results.

Tomorrow we are off to our new local library to check it out and get a few books and then maybe off to Dairy Queen for an ice cream treat. Today we saw the movie "Cars" cute movie!!!


That's my update for the moment, take care and enjoy the lazy days of summer!

Bad, Bad Blogger I am!!!

Ok I know I have been a really bad blogger and poster for that matter on my favourite scrapping site. But it is really weird actually. In the past few months I have been much more of a reader than a contributor. Sorry for that all, been busy in a lot of other areas as well. volunteer teaching at the kids school, plus field trips galore and to add to that a new kitten in the house. Busy little fellow - so never a dull moment LOL. Anyway all is well on the home front here. Still struggling with secondary infertility and just about ready to give up :o(.We have a somewhat busy summer coming up but it should be fun.

I apologise to my friends for being out of touch in the last few months and will do my best to rectify that.

Hope to add some more to my blog soon.

My Life's Hero!!!!

Without a doubt the hero in my life is...
MY DAD!!!!
OK so many people might say that but in my case you have to undestand my DAD if that is at all possible. You see he is the stong silent type and I know too that that can be considered a cliche but again you need to understand my Dad.

He is built beautifully, he has the greatest physique and at almost 71 he can still put my brothers and BIL to shame. He has the greatest pecs, fabulous shoulders and biceps LOL. I have never seen him not be able to lift something and to tell you the truth I get my physical strength from him. He looks like an older James Dean only better...at least in my opinion. But beyond that it is so much more. You see my Dad is illerate and definately not proudly so. So much that I was, I think in my early teens before I really understood that he was. It was a carefully guarded secret that he did not want to share with his children. It became apparent to me that he wanted so much more for us.

For the longest time I believed that my Dad owned his own helicopter - why wouldn't I, he would come home from work in one LOL. I also thought that he finished grade 13. Funny thing is that until my High School years the Newfoundland System only went to grade 11. My Dad had a hard life, he quit school before grade 3 and began to work in the woods in Newfoundland. He is the type of man that even to this day would and could put 12 hours of work into an 8 hour day. He had many jobs but was always a stable and steadfast kinda character. When us 4 kids were small my Dad always worked away from home on Survey jobs wanting to do the best he could for us. But when I was 3 years old - as my Mom tells it - he came home one weekend and seemed to look at his family in a different way, realizing that we were all growing up and he was missing it all. He quit that job to take one close to home. Very likely for lesser pay and benefits. He became my best freind and would take me everywhere with him. From joy riding on the ski-doo to rabbit hunting. I have had many adventures with my Dad. There were times when money and food was scarce but we always had something to eat and clean clothes to wear and a roof over our heads - our roof. HE would never take charity and refused any sort of assistance - even though I am sure we qualified. We always had fun - he was a fun Dad to have. At one point he decided that he wanted us kids to experience camping and so our first camping adventures started out in an old parachute as a tent - no idea where that came from LOL and as the years passed level after level we eventually graduated to a cottage. Which we still have and I love it.

But there is still more you see as my Dad is the type of man who would and does offer assistance to anyone and everyone but will usually never ask for it. My Dad is not a religious man yet he refuses to say a bad thing about anyone and has always challenged us kids to be the better person and step above another's treatment. He chooses not to retailate but calmly states that "I will live just as long!" My Dad is a very dignified kind of person but don't get me wrong he is not stuffy and boring in fact he is the complete opposite. He is fun, a mischief maker, a grand story teller, an adventurer and generally game for just about anything. He is respectful and caring but he is not emotional - in fact I believe I was an adult before he actually could articulate "I love You".

He has stood beside me in my life decisions, just wanting me to be happy - he accepts Me! He is someone I can look up to and respect!

He is without a doubt has been my first love and my greatest love.


He is My Hero, He is my Dad!!!!

2.5 LBS!!!

Well not what I had expected but this week I lost 2.5 lbs!!! I am on a goal for a healthier & fitter me. So my goal is 2lbs a week up to the 1st week of June so If I can stick with it I should be 35+lbs lighter for the summer.

I was expecting a bit more this past week because it was my starter week but I have to admit that I didn't stick with it 100%. I have been going to Curves and doing 185 sit-ups every other night. I am drinking my water but I am having trouble getting in the whole 8 glasses every day - man my bladder is tired LOL.

So in light of this I expect I will BLOG at least once a week as I document my progress. Please send positive healthy eating vibes my way!!!:o)

20 years ago today...

...at the tender age of 20 I married! Can't believe that it has been that long already - WOW where have all the years gone? As with any marriage there have been the highs and lows but the lows have always made us stronger in our relationship. I am happy to say that the man I married I still love and he can still make my heart skip a beat. We have two fabulous children together, our own home (shared with the bank LOL) and with the grace of God many years yet to look forward to!!!

Happy 20th Anniversary Ra'ed

Tagged Again!!!LOL

One way to get me to post eh Marlene? Thanks hon I really do enjoy these tags as it gets me to actually write things!!!

Four jobs you’ve had in your life:
- Junior Exective @ Chateau Laurier
- Administrator
- Trail Blazer for Cross Country Skiing Trails
- Sales associate for a ladies clothing store

Four places I have lived:
- Pasadena NFLD.
- Ottawa, Ont.

Four movies you would watch over and over:
- Sound of Music
- Jurassic Park 1, 2 & 3
- ?
- ?

Four TV shows you love to watch:
- CSI - ALL
- General Hospital
- Grey's Anatomy
- Lost

Four places you have been on vacation:
- Mexico
- Texas
- Calgary
- Quebec City

Four websites you visit daily:
- Scrapping Buddies
- Scraptivity
- Ebay
- Various Blogs

Four of your favorite foods:
- Mexican
- Indian
- Middle Eastern
- Italian

Four places you would rather be right now:
- in NFLD with my parents
- Somewhere scrapping without interruptions
- in Kuwait with my Sister-in-law
- On a tropical with my DH with no one else around


Four bloggers you are tagging:
- Katie
- Kim
- Sonya S. She hasn't updated her Blog in ages LOL
- ?

Getting ready for a Fresh Start

Well it is under 60 minutes before we ring in the New Year, reflecting on 2005 is kinda weird as it is really my first time to really stand back a take stock of how the year went. It was definately a busy year with Z's play groups and activities. A's school, soccer & obsession with X Box and DH's business trips. Then there was the crazy summer we had with surprise visits from my family, family from overseas, summer camps our trip to the rock and then back to school full time for both kids.

Here I was thinking I would have some time for me but it just isn't working out that way. DH has decided he needs me at his office so I am doing what I can plus the usual. I have been attempting to carve out my own time with scrapping and curves but it has been somewhat of a struggle. I am now able to go on Field Trips with both kids and I have also been volunterring at the school - teaching scrapbooking as part of art class. That has been an adventure LOL.

Now there is the newest development of MIL moving in with us. Not sure yet if it is to be long term and that decision will definately have to be hers. It's great that she can spend more time with my kids and help them and myself with arabic but I am expecting it is also going to add more to my little time as well. I will leave that alone and let it work out for itself.

All in all 2005 was a good year but I think I will work at 2006 being a much better, and more productive year.

To all my scrappin' pals - So glad I got to meet and scrap with many of you and looking forward to getting together with more in the coming year.

Wishing you all health Happiness and prosperity in the coming year!!!

Here's a summary of 2005 Lifted from my Dear Friend Barb!!! Thanks Barb :o)

Major events/happenings:
1. Trip to NFLD to see my family
2. Family from Kuwait for the Summer
3. Break Up of my oldest Brothers Marriage
4. RIS Conference & Concert
5. Sister moves back home so much farther away from me

Regrets:
1. Spending too much time online
2. Procrastinating in my weight loss program yet again
3. Not being as organized as I would like
4. Wishing my sister and her family lived closer
5. Being short tempered a lot more than usual

New things I've done:
1. Started a blog
2. Started working at DH's office - not sure how I feel about that yet LOL
3. Joined Curves and totally loving it
4. Made some wonderful scrapping friends
5. Attended all Field Trips for my kids - I can do that now that both are at school full time.

Passionate about:
1. My Family
2. Scrapbooking
3. Gardening
4. Shopping
5. Sleep LOL

Too much/many:
1. Clutter but have been working on that - Goodwill/Consignment Shops here I come LOL
2. Time spent online
3. Pieces of the kids art and paper from the school - Thinking I am going to put all I REALLY want to keep in a binder and allow them 1 binder per year!
4. Black clothing in my closet
5. popsicles - left over from the summer

Wishes for 2006:
1. A healthier and fitter me
2. Happy kids
3. Healthy family
4. Date nights with DH
5. A Baby? not so sure about that yet LOL
6. Work more on reading arabic and the Qu'ran

An Emotional Time....

Well as you know I spent the Christmas weekend in TO and I got the chance to do a bit of Christmas giving of my own. On the 24th after we finished up at the Conference, while I was waiting for my DH to return I decided to call my oldest brother who happens to be going through a rough time right now - seperated and on the way to divorce from his wife of 17 years.

Anyway he is on his own and definately finding it difficult at this time of year. I decided that we would go and see him as he is in the GTA. I didn't previously tell him I would be in the area as it was unclear if I could make it and I didn't want to upset him. Well, when I called and dropped the bomb that I was coming there was such a heavy silence I am sure you could have knocked him over with a feather. I heard the catch in his voice as he struggled to keep it all together. After I got the directions to his new place I hung up and we prepared to go out for dinner and head to his house. BTW food ended upbeing Indian LOL. So off we go to Brampton. I refused to go to his house empty handed (we only give to the kids now) So I make DH search out a Shoppers where I promptly dropped some $60.00 in Christmas goodies.

When I get to his apartment and unload my stuff I give my dear big brother a huge hug and ask him if he was ok? His answer.... "I am now that you are here" Talk about your heart squeeze!!!! Little did I know that after I had spoken to him he had called my Mother and the floodgates opened. He was so excited and emotional that I would take the time away from the conference to visit him on Christmas Eve. Mom told me that he had said if I had told him I couldn't drive to Brampton he would have drove downtown to see us. Ahhhh DB I do love you and so wish that you weren't going through all this crap!!!

Well I am almost through....

...yet another Christmas, and I am actually surviving it ok. I think it helps that I am not at home this year. We decided to take in an Islamic Conference in TO and to tell you the truth it is just what the Dr. ordered. LOL

Kick that meloncholy in the butt I say. I am not running from my feelings in fact I discuss it quite openly - emotions and all with DH and he is very understanding and supportive. So much to the point that he is willing for me to go home for the Holidays. Funny thing is I don't really want to because there is so much more of me that isn't Christmas as well. Somethimes I just don't understand what I am feeling myself so how do I explain it, or put it into words?

Anyway, I am really enjoying the Conference with the varied topics and the shopping in the Grand Souk, so far I spent more than I intended.. as usual LOL. Right now I am waiting for DH to get back to the hotel so we can drive around TO looking for a place to have dinner LOL me thinks it will be Indian or Malay for dinner. After that I think we will got see my oldest brother for a bit.

To all my dear friends who celebrate Christmas - I wish you all the very best and beauty of the season, I hope you have your dreams fulfilled. I hope you all are blessed with peace, health and happiness in the coming New Year.

I also hope we can get together real soon to Scrap!!!!:o)

Love to you all - I feel so blessed to have met so many wonderful Scrappin friends over the past year!!!