Hope you had a Merry Christmas!

Christmas morning:  lovely.  but no pics!
breakfast was yummy.
Got the turkey in the oven around 10 to sit down for lunch around 2pm.  Just like my Mom and  Dad did all my life.
Ate, it turned out so lovely.
I rested a little bit and then got up to make American Potato Salad for my BIL's BBQ that evening.
Went to the BBQ and Ali got sick.

Christmas evening:  awful.  got pics.

Ali ended up in the hospital for around 5 hours.  Poor Amu.  She was so tired.  My husband was also sick and both are now on antibiotics.  We got home around 4:30am or closer to 5am and settled the kids into bed and began the disinfecting of the house.  I got to bed at 6:30am and woke up at 10 for an appointment.  I have been scrubbing the house since.  Now, I'm off to have leftovers.  Well, later.  The culprit?  Hard to say but on Christmas Eve we had KAY EF SEE.  Never, NEVER again!

We need to get better and the house in tip top shape for my friend's visit from the USA.  This will be glorious!

Merry Christmas!

Mystery Quilt 2010

Ok.  I'm embarking on a new Mystery Quilt for this year.  Our next Muscat Quilt Guild meeting will be this coming Saturday, December 18th. Stay tuned ladies!  I'll be taking pictures to post!  I did not get my two quilted at all but at least they are basted.  Anyway, we can only show what is completed and I agree with that!

Here are my fabrics for this Mystery Quilt.  I am going American Patriotic this time around!

The stars and stripes will be my dark.

The blue will be my medium dark

The red will be my medium light

The cream with gold dots will be my light.

This first 'clue' will be my border, so they say!

Lookie what I got in the mail!

I ordered some customized pin cushions from Cindy over at Around the Block Designs.  I have seen pictures but not the 'real' thing!  I will wait to open mine on Christmas day.  She wrapped them up nicely and wrote my name so I could distinguish them.  Yay!  Can't wait!

She also sent me some fabric!  It is gorgeous!  Thank you Cindy!!

Thanks for stopping by!  Just one more post for today!

Ali singing at the Intercontinental Hotel

Ali was one of 55 children that was chosen to sing for the annual Christmas singing at the Intercon.  We went to this and then immediately went to the Oryx Caravan launch.

Please check the few posts below as this is my third post today!  Don't want you to miss anything!

I thought this was such a nice photo.  The Christmas tree next to a beautiful painting of three Omani men having dates and kahwa (Omani coffee).

From my seat, I looked up and liked the huge ornaments hanging and the wreaths.

There is my Ali.  I think he got up on his tippy toes.  Wanted to make sure that I was watching!  See the painting?

My kids next to the tree.

Happy Holidays!

I miss my Ali!

Ali went on a school trip yesterday morning, Sunday, December 12th and won't be back until tomorrow late afternoon, Tuesday, December 14th.  Three days and two nights.

I MISS HIM!  IT HURTS!

Amal and Ali in Saudi Arabia in 1999.

On his new and first big boy bed.  Reading about his favorite subject:  DINOSAURS!!  He loved these things.  Learned all about them.  Now, we saw Disney's Dinosaur and we saw Aladar and Baylene after so many years.  We both looked at eachother and sighed.  Aaahhhh...

This was his official birth announcement.  What a pretty baby! 4.1 kilos.  You do the math.  4.1 x 2.2 (lbs) = 9.02 lbs.  Big boy!

Don't you hate the date stamped on the picture?  I do.  However, I am grateful for this very useful information.  This was taken here in Oman in Seeb at the now defunct Ostrich Farm.  He is holding a 'toddler'.  He is 5 years old!

Here in Muscat.  This is his 'Nanny McPhee' tooth!

Can you BELIEVE it!????  We are driving up the western coast of Scotland with so much beauty to look at and he and Amal are asleep!  The bums!  My face was smashed against the window!

This was his little friend's birthday and he put on a tie all by himself.  My God, what a doll!

His Kindergarten graduation!

Yay!  That darn tooth finally came out!  He had to have them both pulled!  He is dressed in Omani dress.

My kids were hit by a car while coming home from school on the bus.  He lost his sandal.  Never saw it again??  He dislocated his elbow.  Amal had a head injury and was upset that there was "nothing to show for it".  Ali milked his sling to death!  Scary afternoon.

Ali is so happy that I bought him designer shades in Italy outside of the Pantheon.  There is Seth on the left of the screen; Liz behind him and Grandma Betty on the right of the screen.  Great trip!

Here is Ali at St. Mark's Square in Venice, Italy.  He is feeding the pigeons and freaked out about it!  Aw...

Ready for his uncle's wedding in Omani formal attire.

This is what I am afraid of.  See what a little tiny ant bite does to my boy?  It is an allergy that is prevalent here.  He has graduated to steroid shots and breathing machines.  Now, I sent him with two EPI pens and an inhaler and pills!

In St. Louis at a pet store holding something exotic.

He loves to do your hair.  Here he is doing his cousin Melina's hair in Cleveland one summer; maybe two years ago by the looks of the kids.  That is Sofia, my niece and Amal.

OMG.  Too  cute!  We were at the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo in Cleveland, Ohio, maybe two years ago and it started raining.  Rain is a novelty for my kids as it doesn't rain too often here in the Middle East!  Ali wanted to catch the 'fresh rain in my mouth'.  This was certainly a Kodak moment and thank you God that I had my camera ready.  Priceless!  Here we have Amal, Ali, Melina and Sofia all in an action shot!

This must have been 2008 when my Mom came to Oman.  Here she is with the kids at the Dubai Aquarium in Dubai!

Another priceless photo and memory.  Here Ali and my Mom are cutting the rug.  She is sooooooooo happy that he has that joie de vivre and loves to dance.  We all got worried about him at one point because he got so pink!  Unfortunately, he is no longer invited to mix with women now that he has passed age 10.  It's a Muslim thing.  Anyhow, he can cut the rug with my Mom any day of the year and with me too!

I went to Dubai with a friend a couple of years ago for the Dubai International Quilt Exhibition and bought Ali this really cool wig.  He took it to a friend's house and we have never been able to find it!  They looked but did not find it.  It disappeared!  You can't find wigs in Oman.  Every time I go to Dubai I look for a wig for this boy and can't find one!  I did not have a chance but did look around in St. Louis for one and couldn't find one.  I have to find one for my little man.  Here we are at home (no longer have this furniture or carpet, yay!) and he was chillin' and playing on his Nintendo when he zonked.  Priceless!

Ali, I hope you are having a wonderful time and I can't wait to see you tomorrow and hear all about it!  Love, Mami.

Oryx Caravan Launch - Picture Heavy!!

My son Ali wanted to photograph the Oryx Caravan.  Unless otherwise noted, he took all these!

Zaman Jasem - Saudi Arabia

Zaman Jasem - Saudi Arabia

Nja Mahdaoul - Tunisia  This man is very widely known for his Arabic Calligraphy.  

Anwar Sonya - Oman

Amrut Patel - India

Jamal Abdulrahim - Bahrain

This was an embarassing story.  As Amal and I walked up to this display, I walked around and was totally thinking outloud and put my hands up chest level and with my hands thumbs down and four fingers up; I did like a squishy-on-the-butt movement and said very loudly, "Oooh, I LIKE this!!".  I then looked up at Amal and then looked to my right and there was Jamal.  Grinning.  I split!

Abdallah Akar  - Tunisia

Maryam Al-Zadjali - Oman (a woman!)  FAVORITE

Stephanie Borg - Malta  FAVORITE

Close up of the head dress so typical for Omani women.

The kids with Stephanie.

Sarah White - England

Buddor Al Riyami - Oman

Rashmi Dauria - India

Riadh Abdi - Tunisia

Ali Al-Mahmeed - Bahrain

My Ali turned around and exclaimed, "Mommy, HIS name is ALI toooo!!"  He is still amazed that others have his name.  I don't think he realizes how common the name Ali is!

Radhika Hamlai - Oman

Ok.  Here is where we discovered that there was not a name placque.  I asked him, the one on the left, and he said they did not have one ready for him.  He is Omani by the attire.  I had Ali take a photo of his signature but did not post here as I can't read Arabic!  The cool thing about this one is that he cut out the design and then put a light in.  You can see the cord dangling but, of course, where we were, there was no way for him to plug it in. The logistics.  I will keep a keen eye out for this one!

Yousuf Al Nahwi  FAVORITE

No name plate but he is the one I met the previous day when I saw him finishing up.  I just love the color and the story behind it and the Arabic design.  He has his Oryx standing on a mirror so you can see the belly that he painted.

Here is the belly reflected on the mirror.  It's upside down but you can see the 'people' migrating in between the design.

Here is his signature.  Arabic script, calligraphy, very pretty.

Here you can see two dudes sleeping on the migration!  See all the people 'walking, walking'?

No name, but you can see that it is Omani people in village life and playing instruments.  More in the center and just the head, you can see a bedouin (ones that live in the interior of the country) woman covering her face in a gold looking mask.  It is made of fabric, not metal!

No information

No information either but just look at how the Oryx is draped with Arabic letters.

This one is so pretty.  It's like something was molded on top and the detail is amazing.

A close up of the face.

No information

No information

No information but cool zebra looking!

No information

Raya Al Manji - I met her the previous day as well.  Doesn't this look so realistic?

Close up of the eye with the Omani Khanjar

I wish I would have spent more time if any at all looking at this one.  This one was a collaboration of all the artists.  Darn it!

I am assuming that Ali took this shot because he recognized Stephanie's lady!

No information.  Lovely color though!

Anna Dudchenko - Russia

I know Anna.  She is very nice and very talented.  I did not get to meet with her as she was busy talking to people.

No information

No information.  Very nice looking tiles?

No information

I don't have the name but this gal shown is the artist talking to someone and she is from India.

Mohamed Al-Marmari - Oman  FAVORITE

I met him and talked to him.  He showed me again, Arabic script.  Beautiful.  He wanted to depict the desert as this is where the animal lives.  Well done!

A close up.

No name but I know another woman from India!

No information but certainly beautiful!

No information but looks like a cheetah!  Ali was taken with the zebra and this one!

No information but it is very reminiscent of Omani chests.  Like the ones you store stuff in or a trunk.

No information.  Ali caught the face in the center there.

Job done!  He was exiting on the red carpet!  How cute!  I took this shot! He captured 37.

Thanks for stopping by.  This took me hours to post.  I look forward to the media coverage on this!