Author Archives: samoorstuff

About samoorstuff

Mother, Wife, Business woman...in that order! love to cook, craft, socialize and entertain.

Sep28

Change of Weather

Posted on September 28, 2014 by samoorstuff

As a parent there’s always this worry and concern about our children’s health. Who’s a good pediatrician? What are the symptoms? Should they be sent to school? And the most worrisome is the infamous FEVER!

With the change of weather and Kuwait starting to get a little cooler our fear becomes oh to real.

A new mommy asked me last week if she should worry about her infant’s temperature…. I am not a doctor by any means but tried to dig down in my memory when the girls were younger and when did I start worrying about them being a little too warm.

Off course the first thing I did was do some research and found a great chart that will help any parent no matter what age your child is.

Please note that this is just a guideline and in no way a doctors recommendations. If you feel your child is feverish you should consult a doctor.

Another good website to check is Advil. There’s a lot of information and help regarding temperature and methods of taking your child’s temperature.

I hope all children are feeling well and don’t need this as a reference.

Good luck in nursing your child and wishing them a speedy recovery in order to keep Making Life Memorable with happier memories.

Sep27

Birthday Games

Posted on September 27, 2014 by samoorstuff

Birthday Games

When planning my girls’ birthdays I always like to have at least 2 or 3 games for the kids. I’ve come to realize that all they want to do is just run around and have fun but I still do it anyway!!

One thing I always like to make sure of is choosing a game where everyone is a winner and no hard feelings. There’s nothing worse than making a kid cry on your child’s birthday. So musical chairs is OUT! Too rough and just our mean of a game for me!

The way I avoid any losers is by actually having the kids that are out choose a gift from a huge box of 100fils toys, stickers, bubbles, stationary, colors, play dough….etc Soon some of the kids wanted to loose just to be able to choose a gift from the box.

Off course the games I choose are always theme related.

For example, Zeenah’s 3rd birthday was a monkey theme. So instead of the traditional pass the parcel I had pass the monkey.

I used a stuffed monkey that they passed around. Whenever the music stopped the person that had the monkey got to leave the circle and choose a gift from the “Box”.

Last person got to keep the stuffed monkey as their prize.

I take every opportunity I get to get artistic and crafty.

The minute I found these cute little plush bananas I had a light bulb moment…..

A Banana toss would be a perfect “Monkey Themed” game.

First on the agenda was to get a big cardboard box.

Perfect, conveniently I have a gift shop that I always save some shipping boxes just for occasions such as these!

I took the box and outlines the monkey I wanted.

I then cut out the “mouth” intended for the banana’s to be tossed into.

Off course after that was my favorite part which is painting!!!

It was even better than the way I imagined… The girls were super excited after I had finished it that they played with it constantly before the big debut on the birthday.

For a 3 year old birthday I figured 2 games was just enough and I was right!!!

We had the singing of the birthday shortly after and a chance in Making Life Memorable for everyone involved.

Sep26

The story of the missing workbook

Posted on September 26, 2014 by samoorstuff

The story of the missing workbook

There comes a time in every mother’s life where she must endure the horror of the missing workbook, homework, journal or Library book.

I’ve been very good about trying to be as composed as possible when these minor things happen.

Mainly because I keep reminding myself it’s just elementary and not Harvard.

Until today…….why today???

I’ve been frantic! Searching high & Low….. tracing back to the beginning

Still no Math Workbook to be found. Worse of all it’s the one that stays home so it must be here somewhere!!!

Then I think to myself OH NO OH NO!!! It’s the weekend and I have no clue where Jennah’s Math workbook. I’m positive and sure we left it where we always do. Yet it seems to have disappeared into thin air.

Usually I would take it with a grain of salt and tell her to look for it except I can’t do that this weekend because she has a TEST!!!

I’m feeling the stress… almost as though I’m the one that’s going to be graded. Well then again parents are judged and graded by their kids performance but that’s a whole other post!!!

I rummage through all the past papers and teacher e-mails. I find the main topics of what’s going to be covered and off to my main man “Google” I go…

Search “Grade 3 Telling Time free worksheet”…Find appropriate page…Print!

Search “Grade 3 Money (USD) free worksheet”…Find appropriate page…Print!

Search “Grade 3 Number Patterns free worksheet”…Find appropriate page…Print!

Search “Grade 3 Name Collection Boxes free worksheet”…Find appropriate page…Print!

Search “Grade 3 Place Value free worksheet”…Find appropriate page…Print!

GREAT!!! sigh of relief, my own homemade workbook. Funny even in this I have my own DIY.

The dilemma still remains as to where did Jennah’s Homelink Workbook disappear too??? Come Sunday and we shall see!!

With that I will leave you with a few websites I stumbled on that any mom will find useful…

Home School Math
Everyday Math
Math Aids
Kid Zone
Super Teacher Worksheets
Math Tube
K 5 Learning
IXL

So to all you mommies out there that struggle with you child’s responsibility there is comfort in that they will grow out of it…but for now we do what we can to ensure that we come out of it alive and still sane!!!

Here’s Making Life Memorable one Math worksheet at a time!!

Sep25

Public Speaking

Posted on September 25, 2014 by samoorstuff

Public Speaking

I am a very public person. In behavior and in action. I have no fear of getting up on stage…. Actually I should rephrase that, I thrive when I am up on stage.

You would think it was genetic but sadly it isn’t.

Today Jennah sat waiting to get up on stage with the rest if her class mates for morning meeting….

You can tell she’s putting up a front with her fake smile.

I encourage, smile back and tell her she’ll be fabulous.

Drumroll and it’s her turn. All she had tondo with her group was “sign” Good Morning.

She’s totally distracted, looks at her group and completely jumbles all the actions. She knows this!!!

All I could think was look at the audience!! Forget about the rest….

Then I calm myself down and tell myself she’s only 7, she’ll grow out of… It will come.

Then I remind myself “Don’t be a stage mom” ewwwwwwweeee.

I’m off to research how to build my child’s self confidence.

Here’s hoping I’ll keep Making Life Memorable without any terror.

Sep23

WordPress App

Posted on September 23, 2014 by samoorstuff

WordPress App

It’s the end of the night and I’m ready for bed….

Sitting upright under the covers with what I love to call “me time”

I’m rushed during the day doing this, that and what not that I hardly have a moment to myself. A person I really do enjoy spending time with and only get to indulge right before I sleep.

Now I’m ready for my little secret pleasures. With my knees propped up, iPad in my lap, I am ready for my ritual.

After the stalk session on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter and before my guilty pleasure of playing scrabble I turn to my WordPress App.

And I’m horrified! Utterly mortified!! My post for today didn’t make it in the blog… WHAT!! I’m post less?!?

It’s time like this that I get totally frustrated with technology. I scheduled a post and it should have been posted. All I see is “Failed”

What do you mean failed… You failed me wordpress you should say “I’m sorry”

At times you get so consumed with Making Life Memorable that you don’t make sure all your rows are in a duck….. Oops! I mean all your ducks are in a row. Guess that my queue that it’s late and I should sleep for my 5:30am wake up call!

Sep22

From the PE Department – Sugary Drinks Can Hurt Memory

Posted on September 22, 2014 by samoorstuff

From the PE Department – Sugary Drinks Can Hurt Memory

To all those people that think I’m super strict when it comes to my girls having juice or sugar, here’s proof why I’m right!

Granted I do give them a treat every now and them but at least it’s controlled.

So happy that I have common sense.

I want them to remember that I’ve been Making Life Memorable!

Sep21

Lady Bug Piñata

Posted on September 21, 2014 by samoorstuff

Lady Bug Piñata

As much as I’m not an advocate of distributing candy to children I cannot resist a good old fashioned Piñata.

A fun ritual I think for me to make and for the kids to destroy.

For Zeenah’s 4th birthday she had picked the perfect theme to design a Piñata for. I would actually dream about what the “Ladybug” Piñata would look like and couldn’t wait to start on it during the planning process.

Let me walk you through what I did for Zeenah’s Lady bug Piñata.

One of the most important things when making a homemade Piñata after the Paper Mache recipe is the base.
Sounds complicated?? Not really!!

The base consists of none other than a plain ‘ole regular balloon.

It’s not the balloon that makes the piñata it’s how you design it after wards that makes it fabulous.

The first thing I did was attach two balloons.

The large 3′ balloon was t make the body of the Lady bug and is the part to be popped after completion to add the candy into.

The other balloon was a regular 18″ latex balloon that I used as the head of the ladybug.

I used red balloons just for fun but the color really doesn’t matter because it’s all going to be covered anyway!!

The next step is the REEEEEELLy messy part.

The dipping of the news paper strips into the Paper Mache past and gluing on top of the balloons.

The important part is to make sure you leave an opening at the top in order to be able to fill the piñata with candy.

After you finish putting the first layer of newspaper strips is to leave it to dry before putting another layer. I always wait at least a day before putting the following layer.

I like to put 4-5 layers of Paper Mache strips to make sure that it’s strong enough.

The entire process usually takes me a 5 days between paper Mache strips and drying time.

Now the artistic part begins!!!

I bought red and black crepe paper to cover the body and head of my “ladybug”.

This was such a tedious and time consuming task because I insisted on making the crepe paper ruffled.

It would have been much easier to just glue it on without the extra designing but then again it’s me we’re talking about and I love making life difficult for myself!!

The body was covered in red crepe paper and I had covered the head in black.

I kept the balloons intact and decided to pop it at the end to make sure that the Paper Mache is completely dried and stable.

You also have to remember to make sure you keep the opening at the top of the piñata uncovered with crepe paper to be able to pop the balloon and fill with candy.

I used my 2″ round punch to make the spots of the lady bug by making circles out of black construction paper.

I then stuck the spots onto the body of my ladybug. The hardest part in this process was to glue the spots randomly. I’m such a uniform person that I found a few spots that were aligned with each other.

But towards the end I tended to stick some of the spots closer to each other jus to get the random look.

With regular white construction paper I cut out the outline of an eyeball and drew the pupil with a black marker.

I think this was the easiest part in the whole piñata project.

The final part of the piñata design was to stick the eyes onto the ladybug head.

I also made a little smile using white construction paper to make the lady bug look a little more friendly.

Using several black pipe cleaners I had made antennas for our little bugger.

Drum roll please for my piñata masterpiece!!!

The final task is always left for my husband, I create but he’s in charge of implementing my visualization.

After filling the piñata with candy and turned out to be extremely heavy and I left him with the challenge.

This is what it looked like in our garden!!!

I made a mess in the process of Making Life Memorable and I enjoyed every minute of it!

Sep21

Tooth Fairy Door

Posted on September 21, 2014 by samoorstuff

Tooth Fairy Door

The wonderful world of make believe is such an amazing place to be, I remember as a child when you thought EVERYTHING was real… Call it the Disney syndrome or perhaps it’s the Peter Pan? Whatever the name it’s all the same a world where everything is magical that’s where I want to live.

If any of you out there is like me with “issues” about being a grown up I’m sure you’d agree. Life was so simple when the worst thing was your mom not letting you go to a friend’s house and you’d feel like it’s the end of the world.

If we only knew what was REALLY in store:) Well moving right along before it turns into a therapy session…….

The world of make believe. Santa, Tooth Fairy and the Easter Bunny are those things that make you tingle and feel young.

I had to make the experience of Jennah’s wiggly tooth and the much awaited Tooth fairy visit extremely special.

I decided to make a little tooth fairy door for that occasion. I debated for a while if it should be a surprise or make Jennah involved but I figured it would make it all that more special if Jennah made it.

So here’s your inspiration and How to…..

You’ll need:
Ruler
Cardboard (about 18cm x 11cm, 7inchx4.5inch)
3 Popsicle sticks
Glue
Pencil
Glitter
Beads
Paint
Pipe cleaner
PomPom
Any cutting tool (scissors, razor blade..)

Directions:
Measuring and cutting the door.

Place 2 of the popsicle sticks on the sides of the cardboard from the bottom to make and the third on the top to attach the other two making a rectangle.

Mark the inside of the sticks with a pencil.

With your cutting tool, I suggest a razor blade, cut the left marking and top all the way through. Slightly shear the right marking to enable you to bend it easily.

Cut the top of the door as to resemble a rooftop.

Paint the cardboard white or any color your child prefers.

Other ideas would be to either use white cardboard or cover it with tissue or construction paper…

We went with painting because it’s just more fun for the kids!

Off course the challenge is to keep them occupied with something else while the paint dries.

My suggestion is stick to the Tooth Fairy theme and either makeup or read a tooth fairy story or find cute facts online about Tooth Fairies.

Glue the popsicle sticks on the sides and top of the cut/ folded edged of the cardboard.

Now the real fun begins….

Let your child paint and design the door the way they like. In my world that’s really hard to ust let them do it “their” way.

If you have a younger child that’s continuously getting into the older child’s work keep them involved tooo….

I gave Zeenah a big piece of cardboard to paint. That really kept her busy and away from her sister’s project.

After the paint has completely dried it’s time for the Fairy Décor!

Jennah added the beads, glitter, pompom for the door knob and the pipe cleaner for the door knocker.

Now you have a gorgeous Tooth Fairy Door that can be placed anywhere the night of the lost tooth allowing her to enter and surprise your child with something in the morning.

Here’s Making Life Memorable one lost tooth at a time!

Sep20

Asian Dressing

Posted on September 20, 2014 by samoorstuff

Asian Dressing

We love salads in our household and try to be as creative as possible.

The hardest thing is the “dressing” you can be creative I. Vegetables but the dressing is a challenge.

One of my favorites and easiest is my Asian Dressing.

All you need is 3 ingredients soy sauce, vinegar and sesame oil.

Mix equal parts of each and enjoy it with any kind of salad. I often use shredded cabbages ( regular, red, bok choy) and shredded carrot.

Easy recipe:
1/2 cup soy sauce
1/2 cup vinegar
1/2 cup sesame oil

I often add Sesame seeds with the dressing to add a nice crunchy twist to it.

Here’s Making Life Memorable

Sep19

Friday weekend or not??

Posted on September 19, 2014 by samoorstuff

Friday weekend or not??

It’s always funny how as a mom you can’t decide if you do or don’t have a weekend.

Don’t get me wrong!!!! I love spending time with my kids and being creative every chance that I get. But at the same time there’s a fine line between enjoyment and borderline going insane with activities.

Thinking a weekend will be a weekend is a joke for any mom with kids under the age of probably 10/11. At that age kids don’t want their mom or parent and just want to hang out with their friends and parent’s are glorified and unpaid chauffeurs.

Let’s take today for example. A day were you’d think I would have a chance to at least get a few extra Zzzzzzs. Nope not true!

Wake up early and start doing homework with Jennah knowing that wee need to squeeze as much in because we have a busy weekend and week. Mean while Zeenah’s doing a page of her workbook and insisting to do it her way.

I quickly jump in the shower and we head out for a breakfast & play date with a friend and her kids to discovery mall.

Thank fully while the kiddos are in the play area we do get a chance to have some grown up talk over coffee….with our eyes peeled at the kids direction. Yet every whine, cry or scream we hear we assume its our children.

After a full morning we come back home in the afternoon to more home work and active learning play. Because God forbid should I rest right?

Next we are all dressed up to head to a birthday at the Little Gym.

So I ask myself probably more often than not are my girls going to be able to keep up with me or is it the other way around.

At the end of the day I still seem to think I didn’t cover something. One thing is for sure, I’m positive I’m Making Life Memorable for our little family one day at a time.