Aash at Home

Yesterday I went to the now empty 1826 with Ajee to meet with our new Realtor who will help us put it on rent. While we waited for the her,  I looked at the empty rooms, bare walls (except for the nails and the really low pencil scribbles n the Master Bath walls thanks to Yusuf) and furniture indents on the carpet. The emptiness  reminded me of the same time exactly 10 years ago right before our wedding when we purchased this brand new townhouse.  The thought that I will not be living here anymore saddened me as this place has always been so blessed and has witnessed so many happy moments of my life that I have experienced from  a young, energetic college girl to a grown (not so energetic) mother of 2. I still remember walking in to 1826 (which was still half done) with Ajee, Amma, Abba, My Abba and our Realtor at the time to choose the upgrades, paint colors, wood flooring etc for our future house. It was so exciting to be starting my new life with ...

As soon as I got home yesterday Isa told me about his Art Show that "we just have to go to". "Ok - when is it?" "Today at 6!" "What? In 30 minutes! Do you also have a painting there? " "Yes but its ugly, I don't paint well!" (sad but true - Isa is not exactly gifted when it comes to art) "Aww Isa ..don't say that, finish your reading and I will take you" Isa finished his reading in record time of 20 minutes and we were on our way along with Yusuf. The parking lot was full and there was a huge swarm of people at the Art Show, the school staff had marketed this event well through the kids. There were a lot of framed artwork on display overly priced at $28 each. We finally made it to the first grade display, and we looked and looked and couldn't find Isa's; his was unfortunately not displayed. Seeing his disappointed face broke my heart and I stood in line for the art teacher, who showed me Isa's paint...

Its been over a month since I have posted (sorry Mahi!), so I guess it is time for some general updates. Everyone at the house (including Yusuf) is very familiar with the term Bey Blades now, and since my last post we have had several additions to the Bey collection. Isa now has a stadium for it and just convinced Ajee to order a specialty Japanese Bey Blade online. Bey Blades in their stadium  The Bey blades however, do come in handy. The sentence, "we will take away the Beys" works like a charm when homework needs to be completed, reading needs to be done or when there is a general need for discipline;  the Bey collection is also one of Yusuf's favorite things as he knows it is off limits, so whenever Isa is not looking he will go and sit in the stadium, or take all the beyblade parts apart. These toys can also used as a distraction to feed Yusuf. Yusuf in the stadium Feeding Yusuf, ...

Isa has a new obsession -- bay blaze (what I thought he was saying for the longest time)..but it is actually Bey Blades. It is what he has been whining for about for a week. Apparently this the newest and coolest gadget on the block that he had to have.. especially since Rayan (his friend) has plenty. This weekend Ajee promised him that he would get him one on Sunday. Sunday was also Yusuf's 1st birthday and all I wanted to do was to make it special for the lil guy..I mean it’s such a big Milestone, Ajee, on the other hand did not really see what the big deal was, it’s just another day and it happens to be the same date that Yusuf was born on last year..so why should we stress ourselves out on a nice Sunday afternoon when we will be doing a party for him later..he wanted to rather focus on his website (that he works on every Sunday in a secluded coffe shop away from home) he did promise to bring me back the pizza though. You know what that means ...

Just yesterday Hasan asked me what I would buy if I win the lottery. Not being able to think of much , I said the IPad! Since I love my IPhone so much I could just imagine how amazing this tablet would be. Little did I know that my little wish was going to come true so quickly. Today as soon as I got home after my work out, Isa came running to me with my (recycled) gift bag. I looked in and it was an IPad. It was so out of the blue that I didn't even know how to react. I am actually finally playing with it now after Yusuf  is asleep and Isa, Asim and Hasan are done playing with it. I can't believe I actually have one of these. I always wondered what it would be like to blog with an IPad and now I know. I just had to type this little post to test my new toy. Thanks Ajee for making a regular day so special! I love it! RIP Jobs!

My Shining little Son is is turning One! Mashallah!! I just can't believe it; time really has just flown by so quickly. It’s amazing to see how much Yusuf has grown from the quiet little new born "Chup Chup" (one of our earlier nicks for him) to the fiestiest and most energetic little person I know. He is definitely anything but Chup  (quiet). He is extremely alert and involves himself in everything and anything going on anywhere around him, and although he can't talk much he can get his point across with his actions and two syllable sounds. There is something definitely extremely special about this little guy. When he enters a room, you can sense an instant arrival of positive energy along with him. Yusuf keeps us entertained, active (and busy) through out the day (to name a few) by: turning off Amma's TV right when she is in the middle of a very intense scene of an Indian Soap taking ...

1826 is about to go on rent in February so we have to find a rental place pretty quickly. For the past month or so we have been looking and have not had much luck - a pretty stressful situation, but we have been in situations like this before and are hoping that something will be worked out right in the nick of time.   This past weekend Amma, Abba, Ajee and the kids looked at a few houses and fell in love with one. They were so excited (especially Amma Abba) as they thought they had found the perfect place in every way. However someone else got to it before us, which kind of depressed the two of them. A few weeks ago a similar situation had happened where we almost got a place but the landlord gave it to someone else. We cannot completely blame luck for us not finding a suitable place however, there are some other factors: 1.       We need something big enough to house all of us and some. 2.       Each member of the family has their...