Winter is officially here ,,,

Back to posting again, I can't believe how crazy life has been the past few weeks, I missed you all.
So latest news is as follows,,
Hubby's back from China,,and what's a better gift from China than a perfect box of original tea?!
He also got me some scrap-booking supplies that I have been dying just dying to use,,is that too much to ask?? (weeping)
And winter is officially here ,,,everyone is so anxious to see the snow and my son is literally glued to the window since morning asking me over and over again if it's snowing today or not.
We are so lucky to have a long weekend ,,I'm gonna make the best out of it inshalla,,,top plans are reading and crafting with the kids,,,I think I'm also in the mood for baking.
And speaking of which,,,,I have this great dough recipe that I use for almost every single pastry I make,,it's easy ,,convenient and saves so much time.
It's called the ten minute dough,,I always get a lot of thank yous after I share the recipe.

Ingredients:
2 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups of warm water
1tb spoon of sugar
2 tb spoons of dry yeast
 mix all ingredients together and set the batter aside for 10 minutes till bubbles form.
then add :
2 cups of flour
1 cup of yogurt
1/2 cup vegetable oil

Knead the dough for about 5 to 10 minutes and set aside for less than 15 minutes
Use it for pizza or cinnabon,,its perfect.

زهر اللوز,,,

محمود درويش,,,ومن احلى ومن أسمى من محمود درويش؟

كزهر اللوز أو أبعد

لوصفِ زهرِ اللوز، لا موسوعةُ الأزهارِ

تسعفني، ولا القاموسُ يسعفني...

سيخطفني الكلامُ إلى أحابيلِ البلاغةِ

والبلاغةُ تجرحُ المعنى وتمدحُ جرحه،

كمذكَّرٍ يملي على الأنثى مشاعرها

فكيفَ يشعُّ زهرُ اللوز في لغتي أنا

وأنا الصدى؟

وهو الشفيفُ كضحكةٍ مائيةٍ نبتتْ

على الأغصانِ من خفرِ النَّدى...

وهو الخفيفُ كجملةٍ بيضاءَ موسيقيةٍ...

وهو الضعيفُ كلمحِ خاطرةٍ

تطلُّ على أصابِعنا

ونكتبُها سُدى

وهو الكثيفُ كبيتِ شعرٍ لا يدوَّن

بالحروف

لوصفِ زهرِ اللوز تلزمني زياراتٌ إلى

الَّلاوعي ترشدني إلى أسماءِ عاطفةٍ

معلقةٍ على الجدران. ما اسمه؟

ما اسمُ هذا الشيء في شعريةِ الَّلاشيء؟

يلزمني اختراقُ الجاذبيةِ والكلام،

لكي أحسَّ بخفةِ الكلماتْ حين تصير

طيفاً هامساً فأكونها وتكونني

شفافةً بيضاء

لا وطنٌ ولا منفى هي الكلمات،

بل ولعُ البياضِ بوصفِ زهرِ الَّلوز

لا ثلجٌ ولا قطنٌ فما هو في

تعاليه على الألوان والكلمات

لو نجحَ المؤلف في كتابةِ مقطع ٍ

في وصفِ زهر اللوز، لانحسر الضباب

عن التلال، وقالَ شعبٌ كاملٌ:

هذا هوَ

هذا كلامُ نشيدنا الوطني!

Sunday's Letter "Your Daughters"

Dear students,

This letter is for your parents. So let me start again.

Dear parents,

I know you love your kids more than anything else. We all pretend to know our kids the best ,but let me tell you a secret : We don't!

We see your daughters for almost half of our day,,, we lecture them ,yell , scold, laugh, play, scream , eat, hug and sometimes cry with them.

Teaching is half of what actually happens between the walls of our school, and what we see is amazing. Most of it is literally sharing our lives with them. So let me introduce you to your daughters ,,,your daughters that make US teachers,,, we owe them the honor of the title ,,,,we owe them the pleasure of putting some wisdom in their heads,, they are the reason we believe in youth because of the determination they have, they are the reason we have faith in what's left of our pride because their heads are up high.

Your daughters know what they want and they are in seek of it no matter how hard it is for you to steer their attention, they just know where they are heading ,,even if the road seemed tough for them and the view was blurry , they know the right way so don't worry!

Your daughters know it's wrong to lie, they know a bad attitude takes them nowhere ,,they know they should pray and they should study hard, they know when to apologize and how to take risks.

They know life is hard and they know being a student is the ugliest yet most rewarding  job ever,,, they know how to cope with pressure and how to adapt.

They are the best friends, they are loyal, loving, considerate, reliable and trustworthy more than our grown up friends.

They solve their problems in the simplest ways, they know how to have fun and they constantly smile no matter what ,,,don't we miss that spontaneity in our fake adult  world?!

In their eyes you almost see their dreams, what they want to be and how precious hope is to them ,,,God is the solid foundation of their hearts. They talk to God more than you know ,,,they have Palestine carved inside ,,,and they love poetry.

They don't quit easily and they ask a lot of questions about life and what will happen ,,,most of which we have no answers for ,,just because they are too smart and out witted our age. You might not be their best friends now but they know deep down inside that you are the rock that anchors them down safely in the wild world around them ,,,they know they can turn to you no matter what.

Your daughters are doing a great job just being who they are,,, accept the fact that we can't own their thoughts and beliefs ,,they need the time and trust to shape their own lives.

Give them a break ,,,they will turn out to be perfect young ladies , I promise.

                                                       T.Binoz

Sunday

24.Nov.2013

The Second Letter ,,

Dear students,

When I got my first watch I was in third grade,,, “This is the best thing that ever happened to me!”  was the first thing I said ,,,then when I first travelled to Europe I was 17,,,this is the best thing that ever happened to me!  was also the common phrase ,,,,I will never forget the first time I walked  in the campus of the university of Jordan ,,,,feeling independent, vibrant, goal oriented…and free! This is the best thing that ever happened to me! Was what I said.

Driving for the first time, was the best thing that ever happened to me,,, having my own car was the best thing that ever happened to me,,, and then again meeting prince charming, the wedding and everything that followed was the best thing that ever happened to me,,,       Well, OK, prince charming is no longer charming now since he is the one responsible for taking the trash out, buying grocery, cleaning my car and in very rare occasions, babysitting the (grood).

This is the best thing that ever happened to me was first said when I saw my son`s tiny face for the first time,,,, this is the best thing that ever happened to me was said when the gynecologist told me, “You are having a baby girl!”, finally some pink around the house!

This is the best thing that ever happened to me was said when I first had the yummiest cheesecake in town, yeah I love food and auntie Hanadi knows what she`s doing J it was said when I lost 8 pounds a month ago, and when I had 3 cakes for my 30^th birthday.

So what was the BEST for me? Is it a moment, a person or a thing?

To be honest, I came to think that there is no BEST! Not because life keeps giving me lemons, or because I’m the happiest person on Earth and can’t choose what is best, but it’s the realization that happiness is not in things, people or momentarily feelings.

Happiness is inside; I take it with me where ever I go. Happiness is in success, peace of mind and serenity.

Happiness is never gained when you don’t believe, when you don’t pray, when you don’t see beauty and when you don’t learn from your mistakes.

Happiness, believe me, is not a thing   ,,,,,,,it`s inside  each and every one of you.

                                                                                                                                                          

                                                                                                                                                          With love,

                                                                                                                                                          T. Binoz    

                                                                                                                                                        14^th of April 2013

Quality time with "Yourself"

Do you enjoy the company of yourself? 
If yes,,, then you sure don't mind being alone,,and there is a big difference in being alone and being lonely!
I decided to have some quality time with myself this weekend,,it has been hectic this week and I was so longing for a time out.
First thing that popped into my head was having breakfast ALONE ,,,in my favorite cafe,,indulge in some heavenly dessert afterwards,,also ALONE !! 
So I dropped the kids in the new Quran learning center they started to attend (will tell you all about it later inshalla) and headed for my place,,,
It was nice to be honest and the two hours went fast and I lost track of time,,,
My ALONE time was not that alone though,,it should always include some chores I have to finish or correcting that has to be done before a deadline,,this time it was the massive amount of notebooks I took with me to the cafe,,the waiter gave me that sympathetic look and mentioned that I reminded him of his dad whom used to be a teacher and was always among piles of notebooks,,,thank you Mr.Waiter :P
I enjoyed the company of myself and I enjoyed the company of my ever- non- parting notebooks,,,they always keep me occupied during hard times.
The Bonaffee pie was also supreme.

When You Travel,,,,

What things would you do when you travel? Other than sightseeing and taking lots of pictures?
Well okay, I know you would enjoy food,,,especially if you are in an exotic place and you want to try new cuisines.
How about taking a great book with you to fill those dull moments at the airport or boring waiting minutes or maybe hours at check points?
I'm always amazed to see foreigners reading books at their vacation places,,they always seem to have a book at hand. at the beach or in the plane,,airports or even buses and trains,,you see heads tucked into books every where BUT in an Arab`s hand ,,,a very sad fact!
It`s not that we don't have readers,,,I believe we do ,,and as I'm around teens for almost half of my day ,I see them reading a lot. I feel very proud and would want to see that beautiful seen everywhere.
Many youth are now turning to read novels over watching soap operas ,,,isn't that just amazing?
Read,,read,,and READ more !!!
Next time you choose a place for a vacation please consider choosing a book to finish while you are there.

home made play dough recipe

Play dough is always fun when you have preschoolers, especially if you are trapped indoors for a weekend and want to occupy them for a while, even my 8 year old Sultan loves to play with it.

I remember when mom used to make it for my little sisters at home and she used natural food colors like turmeric. 

Here is a home made play dough recipe, I haven't tried this one to be hones,t I use my moms recipe which has no measuring at all :P 

(moms are professionals you know!!!) 

• 1 cup flour
• 1 cup warm water
• 2 teaspoons cream of tarter
• 1 teaspoon oil
• 1/4 cup salt
• food coloring

HERE is also a link to a blog that has an interesting play dough booklet that you can print out and hard cover at any bookshop and arrange in a file so the kids can stick the dough on, have fun and learn at the same time.

download booklet