Thursday, January 7, 2010

Seriously, I SUCK. Has it been a YEAR?

OK, so as I sit here smelling my breakfast cooking I realize that it has been a whole year since I have blogged and much has happened since then. First I had a baby, which has totally thrown me off of my game. Actually now that I think about it, it was after my last entry well shortly there after that I started to feel like total crap. I wanted nothing but sleep and was on a major emotional roller coaster 99% of the time.

Random thought...today is a day for am omelet. They are my favorite breakfast.

Anyway now that my bundle as arrived I could not be happier. He is so pleasant all of the time, well unless he is hungry, bored or sleepy. Other than that he is cool. His diaper could be soaked and he just keeps rolling. My other two children have adjusted very well to our new addition. They love him so much and try their very best to make him smile and laugh.

There are not too many people in my circle who actually inspire me. There are many folks who I actually think what they do is great, but I do not see them and say "man I wish I could be more like them". There are many folks that I admire for many different traits that they posses, it does not mean that I want to possess those same traits. There is really only one person in my world that actually inspires me to live my life the way that I want. Now do not get me wrong. I have a ton of people in my life who love and encourage me. I have a loving family who support me come what may.

Life is a hodge podge of people whom we love, some encourage, some motivate, some inspire. Some do all of the above. One thing about me, is that I do not make resolutions. I have just seen too many people make them and break them within a two month time frame. However I can be inspired. My children are amazing and if they are my only mark left on this world, then the world better watch out.

Today I am inspired and I love it, I am also really hungry after eating half of my breakfast. My son is still sleeping and I know I should be sleeping as well, but again I feel inspired. So as I sit here listening to Sade radio on Pandora, I will write.

Friday, January 9, 2009

I Can't Have A Hug Unless I Have A Kiss

I come from a family of kissers. From as far back as I remember whenever you went to anyones house you walked in and gave hugs and kisses all around. Today if you go to a family members home and bring a guess they may not get a kiss but they will certainly get a hug.

So today I started to think of just how much I kiss my kids. Khamar will be five in March and he gets the most kisses of anyone I know. I think that in a given day Khamari gets anywhere between 30-50 kisses. This is of course counting kisses in succession. Jordan probably gets about 15-30. She is getting a little older and she is so very ticklish that even getting close to her causes squeels of anticipation and delight which makes it so fun. However because she is getting taller and stronger and more beautiful each day when she squirms under a kiss, she fights a little bit and I am not trying to get knocked out.

As I lay in bed this morning pondering this, I wondered how it would be when my kids were all grown up. When they come to visit will I kiss them as much, ok well half as much and will I still feel the same sense of maternal affection as I do now for all of their innocence and sweetness? I think yes, I may not kiss them as much but I do believe that it will still feel the same. When my mom kisses me, I can tell she still sees me as a baby or at the very least a little girl. When I kiss my baby brother EJ, who is 18 now his skin and smell are still like they were when he was three. When I squeeze my grandmother and kiss her, I still feel as I did when I was six years old sitting on her lap watching The Price is Right. The love and affection never change, they just grow and the sensation on our lips to feel the skin of the ones we hold dear is a testament to how amazing our father in heaven has created all of us.

This New Year we had an opportunity to go and visit with our extended family, we had a wonderful dinner and good conversation. As we all prepared to leave there were hugs and kisses all around and we all said our goodbyes. As I sat in the car getting the kids strapped in and asking them to "Please be quite for a minute" One of these extended family members came to our car to give us all a hug and kiss. This was such a humbling thing for me to be a part of. First of all this young man is about 25 years old with a new baby (she is gorgeous). Secondly he got out of his car after getting his family in, just to come and bid our family farewell with a hug and kiss. I was blessed by this experience and the outpouring of love. It was also kinda funny because while this person was not a blood relative it just proved that my family is drawn to smoochers. That small act of kindness blessed me and I am grateful to come from and be a part of a family filled with love and where love is given and received freely.

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Nostalgia



As far back as I can remember my dad carved a pumpkin for the kids in my family every Halloween. My cousins and I would sit around the table at my grandmothers' house and watch in awe as he pulled out a HUGE knife and created lively faces on the different pumpkins we each had gotten from our various school trips to the pumpkin patch.

Although my parents were not together and even as I got older my dad would call me to see if I wanted to come over and watch him carve a pumpkin. He loves to do anything that will make a childs' face light up. Once I had kids of my own, my dad would invite us over so that the kids could watch. For a time my dad lived with me and during that time, he carved pumpkins for my children and they loved it.

In my last blog entry I stated how much I loved being the grown up in the house. Today was my true test. I actually carved my first pumpkin. As you can see she turned out pretty nice. The children in Joy School decided that the pumpkin was a girl before I stuck her with the knife. The entire time I carved I could hear my dads' voice guiding me on what not to do. All of his pumpkin carving wisdom came rushing back me and I felt like a little girl in my grandmothers' kitchen again. It is amazing how something so simple can bring so much joy to a child and today to an adult.

Tuesday, October 21, 2008

Here goes nothing...


Originally I did not want to create a family blog page because I feared that I would not be able to stop. I do not have much time on my hands and I can clearly see how this can be addictive. It seems that summer has officially ended and I think that I am pretty happy about that. This summer was a blast. However, I need a vacation from my kids summer vacation! Shareef and I celebrated five years of marriage this summer. He "surprised" me with a trip to Baltimore. We stayed at the Waterfront Marriot, our suite was beautiful and we had a wonderful time.

The 2008-2009 school year has kicked off with a bang. Jordan is in the 6th grade and loving every minute of it. Well I may be pushing it with that. Khamari is home schooled and is doing excellent in his studies thus far. He is reading small words which is very exciting for everyone. He and I spend most of of our days together which makes us both very happy. I am grateful to be able to be with my children each day after school and to have an integral role in their education.

We got a turtle this summer. He is an Eastern Box, Khamari named him Cheeto. He is a pure pain in the butt. I love turtles but I cannot get him to eat and I am concerned for his health. If anyone knows anything about box turtles please let me know. To have such a small brain they are very complex creatures.

We are all growing so much, this has nothing to do with me eating a half pan of brownies as some of you may have guessed. Shareef and I always say to one another that we feel so grown now. I love being the grown up in the house. Life is good in the El'Amin household.

One Love