Happy birthday rating/shoveling guy!

Friends, say happy birthday to rating/shoveling guy! Cuz, he loves his birthday and also cuz he does a lot for us, what, with all the rating and shoveling and mice defense!

So, we had to make his current favorite foods for dinner – potato salad, fish, and shrimp. The fish was awesome (please allow me to say that even though I made it myself!), so was the potato salad and aunty sid made that one.

I thought the shrimp was alright-ish, even though, my mom called to say “hats off the the chiefs” (mostly for the fish! )- and trust me, she does not give compliments easily!

Happy Birthday rating/shoveling guy and thanks for everything!

Happy birthday sid!

So, my sister, aka aunty sid, should really be receiving a medal today, or keys to a country, or something more in line of an “award” than a present. Anyone that meets her, while she’s with me and the kids, can’t help but be awed by her “aunty-ing” skills! She is nothing short of amazing with my kids (and me – cuz I certainly need to be “supervised” sometimes!) and they not only usually run to the door to greet her when she comes home, but also gives her the third degree when she’s leaving the house!

Without a doubt my sister sacrifices a tremendous amount for my kids and I – her time, her money, her sanity – I know that I could never be able to repay her for this past year, but I hope that she gains something this experience – she’ll be a great mom at the very least!

Thanks sid, and you are greatly loved and appreciated. Happy birthday! And sorry you had to order your own cake! hahahah

Peek in Monday & having hakka

There are many advantages to having sisters, the main one being that I rarely ever have to entertain my own kids when they are around, especially, for example, when we’re waiting for food to arrive at the table!

(In honour of Cake’s Peek in Monday)

We had hakka food (we didn’t actually go to Federick’s as in the linked article, but it’s the same type of food, and I am not a fan of Federicks anyways), which is pretty much an Indian/Chinese style, and I love, love, love Chili Beef!

Celebrating Eid part 2

Part of celebrating Eid is waking up early and going to the Masjid (Mosque) for special prayers, this is something that I’ve done since I was a child when I remember wondering why everyone was always crying, only to experience the same feelings now as an adult. The Eid prayer just brings about many powerful emotions after a month of fasting and increased spirituality; a mix of happiness, sadness, accomplishment, regret, and overwhelming gratitude to God for His mercy.

Eid celebrations is a combination of obligation and tradition; we are obligated, for those of us who can afford, to donate a fixed amount of money per family member to members of the community that do not have the means to celebrate, so no one is left out of the joy and happiness of Eid. Our old family traditions are things like making sawine, as we call it in Trinidad, giving money or gifts to the kids that we see on the day, cooking tonnes of food, and so on… but my husband and I also started our own tradition, after the prayer, we go out to breakfast with the kids, because they really enjoy it and also because everyone else in my family are too busy cooking and preparing for the party!

I hope you enjoy the video! (I am only in one of the last photos, the other women in the video are mostly my sisters, and a little of my mom.)

song credit: Irfan Makki

Celebrating Eid part 1

Hello Internets! Eid Greetings, Happy Saturday and all that…

Remember my video blogging event... I think I’ll have to give you the delayed, condensed version of the day because here’s the thing – that plan was a teeny bit too ambitious… you know, given the 3 kids and the sink of dirty dishes, and so on…

In the meantime, here are some pics of the boys from this morning.