I was born 45 years ago today!

Should I be shy? I'm not! Today has been great so far! Nice breakfast! My sister made french toast! My dad made Colombian empanadas (meat pies) and I just finished baking my cake. It is that Red Velvet box mix that I showed in my previous post. It smells divine! My sis and her two girls and my two and I are all leaving as soon as I finish here to go see the Grand Opening of Eclipse!! Yippee!!!

Then, when we come home, I will use the fresh strawberries that we picked and that I did not post yet (I lost a very long post last night and did not have the energy to do it all again!) to fill the cake and will be making 7 minute frosting. Can't wait!!

Have a great day all of you!

We're Here!

We are HERE!!

It was a LOOOONNNGGG flight but worth it!!! We went:

Muscat - Abu Dhabi

Abu Dhabi - Chicago (20.05 hours)

Chicago - Cleveland

We were in Abu Dhabi waiting, waiting, waiting for our next flight. We sat at Costa and I looked up and saw Hexagons EVERYWHERE!

Here we are on the plane and Amal was so tired she was sleeping and drooling all over herself. Ali and I had so much fun with her! She is a good sport even though she hasn't seen the movies I took yet. This is Ali's cheeky smile!!

Here is Amal with my parents. My dad is pointing at the henna and making a face because he does not like henna. He doesn't see the beauty in it at all. He was humorous and nice though.

My parents again as I was giving my gift of Omani silver earrings to my Mom.

Oh. My. Gosh!!! I was so excited to see all the magazines! I bought three. I think. Maybe two. I need to see them again. It is quite different here than at home where it is just the kids and I most of the time and here there are nine of us. It is hard to get on the computer for any amount of time and/or read anything without a gazillion interruptions!! It's all good though! I am so happy to be home!

We have been trying to walk very early in the morning every morning and after dinner. My nieces want to come along and have whipped out their scooters. Ali in the back, then Sofia and then Melina all coming toward me! Amal is walking next to me.

There are certain things that I miss dearly and those are the things that I forget about over in Oman or just remember from my childhood. One of these is the Daddy Long Legs spider. Isn't he just darling!

And blackberries! Wild ones! I wanted to get these shots posted that I did not take the time to edit any of these photos; but here are blackberries all along the road. We had fun picking them.

I remember picking them with my Mom and Dad on our after dinner walks. Then, my Mom would cook them down (she got to them before I could watch) and serve my Dad a plate of them on top of cream cheese!!???

Oh, I miss all the flora and fauna. Here in the field was a lone white flower. Is it a weed? I have no idea but would presume so!

Here is a little flower peeking through the blackberries! How sweet!

Ooh, a good few.

I was determined to fill this little container.

Amal really got into picking them and they stain your skin! Here is a picture of her and my hands.

As soon as we got back to the house, we left and my Mom came and cooked them down. Isn't the color beautiful!?

On one of my outings; I found this cool 2-egg microwavable egg poacher. I thought I would give it a try and we love it. I must remember to go and get another one before we leave! Amal likes an egg on a piece of 12 grain bread. The healthy kind that South Beach allows!

Oh. My. Gosh! It IS true! They have now made a red velvet box mix! Well, you KNOW I have to try it! Wednesday will be my 45th bday and so I will make my own cake! I talked to my friend Bootsie from Texas and then we skyped eachother and she gave me her recipe for 7 minute icing. I think I will use that instead of the cream cheese icing. Yummy!

I came back from the store at some point and had my breakfast. I had a little bit of that blackberry thingy my Mom made on my toast. It was really good!

The color is so pretty. I wonder if people ever used this fruit to color or stain their clothing??

My Dad is the cook around here and he whipped up some Quesadillas for the kids. It was so good! Now, of course, I make them too but it must be the ingredients that are different and that he made them!!

On one of our outings we spotted a white male deer! He is so beautiful!

I'm home. Come on! I love sweets so I had a hankering for pie. So, my sister took me to the famous restaurant, Perkins, to see and maybe taste but I did not like anything they had. They are supposed to have a yummy breakfast.

Black cows!

We went ahead and bought our tickets for ECLIPSE!! I'm so stoked! Once a fan, always a fan!

We went to my BIL's family's house for a birthday party for one of the little ones and my crew watched the game. My dad is hard of hearing and at home; he has this cool apparatus that he puts on his head and he can hear without having to blast us out of home and hearth. Here, at Aunt Donna's, he is a bit lost even though he could see the game. Maybe he was just chilling really good. He scared me because he has 'episodes' all the time because of his heart and I thought he was going into one but he did not, thank God!

Aunt Donna had a few quilts laying around the house and this one caught my eye. It is like a Double Wedding Ring with spikes or something. She could not remember the name. I think it is stunning.

It is hand quilted and the batting is thick and fluffy. I think I use thinner batting in the Middle East as it gets so hot but because it gets so hot; we crank up the A/C so I might buy some thicker batting as it sure does feel cozy! There are hearts quilted in the middle of it.

Another deer!

Thanks for stopping by. I took some pics of my niece helping me with my hexagons. I'll post later.

Getting ready to fly out...

Two manicures and pedicures...DONE! Amal is on the left and I am on the right.

I got my hair colored and cut and styled and then pulled it all up in a ponytail!

Amal and I and her friend Shannon and her Mom Julie went to get henna. Ali is here scraping the dried henna off with a plastic spoon and plenty of water!

The is my other hand. I wanted you all to see it with the henna dried on. I chose two colors: the traditional orange-y henna and the more modern black henna. Yes, they put black dye in it.

Darn it! Amal beat me to the bathroom and got herself washed off and cleaned up before I did! I should have pulled rank! Isn't it lovely?

She had to choose the ugly part of the bathroom floor to snap her leg! Anyway, isn't it pretty!?

Wow, you can really see the two colors. It REALLY shows up on my VERY white skin!

Here I am washing off some of it myself as Ali did most of it!

Here is my big ole leg! This style of henna is called 'Emirati'. The design hails from the United Arab Emirates. Dubai is one of the seven of them! Can you name the others?

Ahhh, I had my lunch and was chillin' and admiring my henna.

This should be taken outside in the light. It is just to freaking hot to do so! I love her orange skirt!

Here are Momma and Daughter legs.

Just want to share a little bit of my husband's culture. Henna is a big thing in the Gulf states (Oman, UAE, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar), and my daughter and I wanted to celebrate going to America with it; and to say Au Revoir to all my followers and anyone whom stumbles and reads this far! I am officially turning off my computer and our journey begins in a few hours. It will take more than 24 hours to get to my sister's house so I shall turn on my computer on the 22nd!!

Thank you, just in case you are wishing my kids and I a safe trip!

MOM, DAD here we come!!!!!

xo

Hexagons ready for America! I need more!!!

I went through my scrap bag a while ago and found these little squares that are BARELY big enough for my 1.5" hexies. They are left over from my watercolor quilt. They are so pretty so you know that I had to use them! The other fabrics are scraps that I really like and wanted to use.

I don't think that I will be taking my little pink box as it certainly will be cumbersome to carry around. However, that said, it is strong enough to protect my stuff. Anyway, here are my things: A box; a needle threader for my poor eyes; scissors with the protective thing; a sandwich baggie for my plastic template that I am using and a bunch of freezer paper templates; the ready to go hexies to be stitched; 10 threaded needles ready to go; a thimble and thread.

Here is my latest stack. I hope to trace and cut out more freezer paper templates before I leave. My sister is not a quilter so I really am on my own and don't want to buy freezer paper there so I think I will tear some off the roll and fold it nicely and pack it just in case!

I'm a bit sad. I just found out that my best friend in St. Louis will be traveling and we don't get to go with her so we will only see her for 10 of the 22 days we will be there. Oh well, I'll still make it work. I know the city well and have other friends to call and visit! Still....

Thanks for stopping by.

More yummies!

We had our last Book Club meeting last Tuesday for the season. We will resume after Eid in September. Pam hosted and I had asked my British friends at a previous meeting how to make a Lemon Meringue Pie as I have NEVER made one before! Pam was inspired and made it for us and what a treat! It was tart (I don't DO tart!) but oh so lovely! I guess the meringue compliments the sourness of the lemon perfectly! I had two pieces! Shhh....don't tell Amu (my daughter whom is down 26 pounds!!!!!!!!!!!).

I brought some homemade truffles that Amal and I were experimenting on for her last day of school. OH. MY. GOD... they are to die for! I had Pam prepare a plate for me and when I set them out I felt they were boring looking so she ran into her garden and plucked these Frangipani blooms! Beautiful!

I made them as a gesture for Pam's birthday and for mine which are both this month! Happy Happy!

This was my slice. I thought it looked so very pretty and am sharing with you all!

Toys Ali and I have been making!

Little Angels!

Ali picked out all the fabric; the design; copied the pattern; cut out the pattern; cut up my fabric (eek!); organized it all for Mami (Spanish way of saying Mommy) to sew together!

This Angel is for my Mom.

Now, the wings gave me a bit of a hard time. I still need to figure out how to sew them all the way through and tightly! Did you notice how I shortened the legs for the other two and not the Red and White one? My friend Pam likes the longer ones better. She likes the dangly-ness of it!

Thanks for stopping by and.........ALI GREAT JOB MY SWEET LITTLE MAN!!