Monday, October 13, 2008

weather, food and fun

Nice that things are finally cooling off in our parts. Temps during the day have probably been in the low 90s and, at night, it feels like it could be in the low 80s, but not sure. a nice breeze has come on some days, and it's actually fun to go to the park, and run around w/out getting a headache from the heat. I'm dying to get bikes w/ the little seat in the back for Naief... so hopefully in the next few months, that'll be a nice gift for our family.

We've been taking Naief to this park down the way from us many nights during the week, where he runs around, watches the soccer game while trying to go onto the court during play many days :) , and where he can play w/ many different children at this one area in the park. Every day you'll get families or mothers w/ little kids... usually close to Naief's age or a bit older, and he soooo enjoys it. There's one little girl that's been there twice now w/in the last week, and Naief is smitten. She's precious. So cute. She's Egyptian... how I know this is one, she looks Egyptian and two, her momma puts a little kohl around her eyes and maybe a tad bit of blush (not sure on that one)... and yeah, you'd think she looks gaudy or ask why her mother might put make-up on the little girl... but w/ some Egyptians, it's a cultural thing dating back to the Pharaohs. And, I'll have to say, it really suits this little girl. It's not all pageant-like or anything... it's very subtle, but the eyes are somewhat dramatic, in a little girl sorta way.. if there is one.

But... it's really, really sweet to watch Naief w/ her. They stand looking at each other, almost seem to be talking, walk around the area w/ each other, kick balls around... follow each other here and there. There's also a little boy that's been coming, altho we haven't seen him the last two times we've gone.. but he liked this little kid a lot. One little girl pushed him away as he got close to her. He stood there, looking at her... makes me wonder what he was thinking. I'm glad she didn't do anything further aggressively. Her older brother seemed to keep her in check though, so that was good.

Tonight I made this yummy banana bread again. I can't wait to have a taste. If anyone would like it, I found it on cooks.com. It's a high fiber banana bread.. I think it's the only one they have. I add to it w/ white raisins and nuts... and I don't use the egg substitute or butter substitute... and it is just yummy.. obviously less healthy than the original recipe and higher in fat.. but I don't care. I also made baked chicken in the bag... why is it that turkey and chicken taste so much better cooked like that!!?? I also made a good recipe that my sister, Jahooni, gave to me w/ zucchini sauteed in balsamic vinegar... Naief loves this. I made my mom's baked macaroni & cheese casserole, which I usually only make during the holidays, but since Naief has been rather picky about what he eats lately, thought it might go over w/ him.. and he loved it. :) I scored some major mommy points tonight... and am starting to realize that he likes my down home cooking, American style, much better than most other things. Figure I'll stick w/ this a while, since hubby likes it too, and see if it makes a difference in his eating habits... altho, it's nice to change things up every now and again.

anyway... been posting a lot of music lately, which sorta fits my mood as of late.

I meditated last night. Thought I'd try a method from that Laws of Attraction book, and... it worked. Not only did it relax me, but it put me to sleep. I'm going to try it again tonight and see what happens. Hopefully it'll bring the same type of deep relaxation that it gave to me last night.

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

Children know good friends when they find them. Even when they're just toddlers. They sound adorable, and I hope they somehow stay friends, through their lives.

I've never been a big fan of banana bread. But, I'm up for anything healthy! I'll check Cooks.com for the recipe! Also, have you ever tried lobster mac & cheese?

Olivia said...

Hey it's good that you've found a relaxation method, since I remember you had trouble sleeping earlier in the year.

I have seen little Egyptian girls with kohl on their eyes and it does look right on them, specially when they have the curly hair.
Anyway, it protects their eyes from the sunshine.

I had to laugh when I noted that your Bahraini autumn temps are the same as NY summer temps!

So now, we're in the 60s in the day and 40s-50s at night. This weekend has been warmer, though, 70s in the day and 60s at night.

Rock Chef said...

Those trips to the park sound great, I really miss doing that with my kids.

Zuccini in balsamic vinegar? Sounds great - can you post the recipe?

BTW have you heard from Jahooni recently? I have been wondering how she is getting on, what she is up to. Say Hi from me if you get the chance!

Um Naief said...

chief rock chef, i talked to her yesterday on gmail.

maybe she's reading my blog and will see your comment, but i'll also tell her you said hi.

there's a lot of stress in the states right now w/ companies downsizing, laying ppl off and whatnot, and california is really feeling it. i just pray that she's not affected by it.

Um Naief said...

fluff the artist, no, i've never tried lobster w/ it, but it sounds good. :) makes my mouth water just to think about it! ;) do you have a recipe?

i agree w/ you. i'd love to see him keep friendships. this is a wonderful age, and i'm really glad that i'm finally slowing down to realize that.

thanks for coming by my blog! :)

olivia, the meditation did the same last night. i don't remember much else other than concentrating on my breathing. now i want to try it during the day.

you know, my MIL wanted to put kohl on naief's eyes. i didn't do it. i thought it would seep into the eye, irritate or something. she put it on hashim's eyes when he was little. i'm not sure that i'd like it on him.... but who knows.

Rock Chef said...

Thanks!

I can imagine things are tough over there - I hope she is OK.

Hi Jahooni, if you are there!

The Moody Minstrel said...

I think I scared Jahooni away. She never seemed to like me very much.

Gaz said...

While your looking forward to the weather cooling down to gt your bike's out ours have been put away for the winter lol,it wont be that long till your looking for little boys bikes lol.