The Baha'i Temple of Chicago made it to the 7 Wonders of Illinois.
She won!! Yay!!
Check out the video of the winner of Chicagoland Wonder: The Baha'i Temple
It's really awesome!
The footage is just beautiful...
The Baha'i Temple of Chicago WON!!!
The Baha'i Temple of Chicago made it to the 7 Wonders of Illinois.
She won!! Yay!!
Check out the video of the winner of Chicagoland Wonder: The Baha'i Temple
It's really awesome!
The footage is just beautiful...
Mona & Ajay's Playdate
A while back I decided to have a playdate for Mona & Ajay.
As they are cousins and love each other so much, I thought it would be great to have them have a playdate on a regular basis.
So with my sister in law, we agreed on Mondays afternoon to be the playdate.
So every Mondays they come over in the afternoon, the kids play together while the mums chat.
But tonight after the playdate they stayed over for dinner, and the husbands also joined in.
We had a lovely time and specially Mona & Ajay!
They were so happy playing together, following each other everywhere, making a mess by taking all the toys out on the floor, eating yummy snacks and later dinner sitting side by side, feeding each other.
Now my house is like a war zone! Toys and toys and toys everywhere! Plastic bowls and spoons from Mona's cupboard everywhere... even in the bathroom!! lol
As they are cousins and love each other so much, I thought it would be great to have them have a playdate on a regular basis.
So with my sister in law, we agreed on Mondays afternoon to be the playdate.
So every Mondays they come over in the afternoon, the kids play together while the mums chat.
But tonight after the playdate they stayed over for dinner, and the husbands also joined in.
We had a lovely time and specially Mona & Ajay!
They were so happy playing together, following each other everywhere, making a mess by taking all the toys out on the floor, eating yummy snacks and later dinner sitting side by side, feeding each other.
Now my house is like a war zone! Toys and toys and toys everywhere! Plastic bowls and spoons from Mona's cupboard everywhere... even in the bathroom!! lol
Raising Children of Light
RAISING CHILDREN OF LIGHT
Article written by Mrs. Bani Dugal
THE JERUSALEM POST - Apr. 19, 2007
To a child, the world must seem like a confused and perilous place. One need only to sit and watch the grim scenes unfold on television: hundreds of thousands of Sudanese children and mothers huddled together in refugee camps - their worn faces and bodies a testament to the rape and pillage they have survived. Or footage of mothers and children foraging for food in famine-racked North Korea. Or images of children in Southeast Asia, many infected with AIDS, sold to traffickers and living in slave-like conditions.
For many children, these scenes loom just outside the door. As mothers, what do we say to our children? How do we explain the seemingly ceaseless, senseless abuse, violence and killing? How do we do so truthfully and, at the same time, impart hope for a better future?
First, we must prepare ourselves. As the first educators of the next generation, we must seek to make sense of the world in our own minds. Much is said about the importance of education, but mothers themselves must be educated. Without an understanding of the forces at play in the world, of the hijacking of minds and hearts for power and political ascendancy and, conversely, the human capacity to hope, to transcend and to act justly - we cannot begin to help our children make their way.
As we reflect on our understanding of the world, it is our responsibility as mothers to examine our thinking, knowing that consciously or unconsciously children will absorb our attitudes, our habits and our worldview. In a world so painfully divided by political agendas, violent conflict, extremes of wealth and poverty, gender stereotypes, racism, religious disputes and other permutations of "us" versus "them," we must strive not to pass on the attitudes that perpetuate the prevailing order. We need to scrutinize our own thinking. This is perhaps our greatest challenge.
Second, we must tell our children that we are all one people, that there is only one human race and we have just one planet to learn to live together on. This concept of oneness and interdependence is the bedrock upon which we should build our efforts to educate our children. For, in an increasingly interconnected world, the capacity of any one individual to do good or evil increases exponentially. As such, we must consider that every child is potentially the light of the world - or its darkness.
WHAT ACTIONS, then, can help our children become beacons of light? I would begin by helping them to understand the idea of connectedness - connectedness to their family, their community, their environment and the world. Over the past century, our lived experiences, coupled with scientific and social advances, have gradually broken down the barriers that once compartmentalized our world and its people.
We know that girls and women have the same rights as boys and men and that the oppression of girls and women contributes to the breakdown of communities. We know that, despite sinister notions of racial superiority, we are part of one human race. We know that our commercial activity has a direct and negative impact on our environment and our health.
In other words, there is no "us" and "them," there is only "us." This is what I want to teach my children.
In other words, there is no "us" and "them," there is only "us." This is what I want to teach my children.
The paradigm of interconnectedness also raises the question of justice and responsibility. How can we impart in our children the sense of responsibility for making their community and their world a better place? How can we teach them about justice when we see so little of it in the world?
We can begin at home by cultivating the child's capacity for compassion - an awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. We can encourage children to help at home or in the community. On a larger scale, we must also make them aware of the challenges in the world and help them to feel compassion even for those they may never meet. Even children as young as three years old are capable of sharing, refraining from hitting when angry and are beginning to develop a sense of right and wrong about how people should be treated.
We can begin at home by cultivating the child's capacity for compassion - an awareness of the suffering of another coupled with the wish to relieve it. We can encourage children to help at home or in the community. On a larger scale, we must also make them aware of the challenges in the world and help them to feel compassion even for those they may never meet. Even children as young as three years old are capable of sharing, refraining from hitting when angry and are beginning to develop a sense of right and wrong about how people should be treated.
In the midst of our chaotic and beleaguered world, we can also strive to impart hope to our children. Notwithstanding present-day human suffering, by many accounts the number of wars and conflicts is steadily decreasing. Awareness and intolerance of injustice and inequality are steadily building momentum. More and more children are in schools. The voice of women is increasingly heard in their communities, nations and the world. The degradation of our environment has finally captured the attention of the world.
We can tell them these things, then, and explain that despite what they often see in the media, many people are working hard to build a better world. History need not repeat itself.
We can tell them these things, then, and explain that despite what they often see in the media, many people are working hard to build a better world. History need not repeat itself.
As I consider these questions, I am drawn to the writings of the Baha'i faith. "God has given us eyes, that we may look about us at the world, and lay hold of whatsoever will further civilization and the arts of living," wrote Abdu'l-Baha, son of the founder of the Baha'i faith. "Senses and faculties have been bestowed upon us, to be devoted to the service of the general good; so that we, distinguished above all other forms of life for perceptiveness and reason, should labor at all times and along all lines... until all mankind are safely gathered into the impregnable stronghold of knowledge."
Let's give our children the vision and the tools to further our civilization and to perfect the art of living.
The writer, a native of India and a lawyer,
is the principal representative of the Baha'i International Community to the UN
and serves as a member-at-large on the UN's NGO Committee on Human Rights.
She is the mother of two sons.
Bedtime Story for Mona
Meeting 'Abdu'l-Bahá
"Mona"
Mona looked at 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
He was dressed in dazzling white.
His turban was pushed back a little from His face.
His blue eyes twinkled.
He looked at her and smiled.
Then He reached down
and lifted her up.
Little Mona felt warm and safe
in the arms of 'Abdu'l-Bahá.
He kissed her on both cheeks.
"Are you French or English?"
He asked her.
Mona was too shy to answer.
'Abdu'l-Bahá smiled again.
"If the people ask you whether you are English or French," He said,
"Tell them you are a Bahá'í."
From the Bahá'í Magazine for Children "Dayspring", Issue 66 
Dinner & Gold Class Cinema
hmmmm... what a romantic evening we had tonight.
We decided to spend a little "just the two of us" time today.
We haven't had any alone time together since my parents went back home from their holiday with us in January! So it was much needed for the two of us to spend a few hours together...
So this evening, we dropped Mona at her grandma's place, who had kindly offer to babysat her for us, and headed for the cinemas.
We went to the Gold Class Cinemas and let me tell you, once you tried it, you cannot go back to 'normal' cinemas!!
We had been there before Mona was born and we totally forgot how good it was to go to the gold class cinemas. (we haven't been to the cinemas for over a year now... since Mona was born!!!)
As soon as you enter the gold class cinemas (which is in the same building complex as the cinema) you enter into a new world, a world of luxury and class!
We had dinner in the exclusive bistro bar and then ordered our desserts and coffee to be served during the movie.
The cinema itself is very spacey and intimate at the same time.
It was so romantic and wonderful to be pampered while having a great time laughing and enjoying a movie which didn't have any cartoon characters in it!
Here are some pictures that does the talking(writing) for me:
Oh and yeah, the movie that we watched was "Wild Hogs" with Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H Macy. It's a rollicking comedy-adventure about a group of middle-aged friends who decide to rev up their routine suburban lives with a freewheeling motorcycle trip. Taking a long dreamed-of breather from their stressful jobs and family responsibilities, they can’t wait to feel the freedom of the open road. Naturally, they encounter a world that holds far more than they ever bargained for. The trip begins to challenge their wits and their luck when they run into a real-life bikie gang who are less than amused with their novice approach. As they go looking for adventure, they soon find that they’ve embarked on a journey they will never forget.
It was really a hilarious movie! Great laughs!!
We decided to spend a little "just the two of us" time today.
We haven't had any alone time together since my parents went back home from their holiday with us in January! So it was much needed for the two of us to spend a few hours together...
So this evening, we dropped Mona at her grandma's place, who had kindly offer to babysat her for us, and headed for the cinemas.
We went to the Gold Class Cinemas and let me tell you, once you tried it, you cannot go back to 'normal' cinemas!!
We had been there before Mona was born and we totally forgot how good it was to go to the gold class cinemas. (we haven't been to the cinemas for over a year now... since Mona was born!!!)
As soon as you enter the gold class cinemas (which is in the same building complex as the cinema) you enter into a new world, a world of luxury and class!
We had dinner in the exclusive bistro bar and then ordered our desserts and coffee to be served during the movie.
The cinema itself is very spacey and intimate at the same time.
It was so romantic and wonderful to be pampered while having a great time laughing and enjoying a movie which didn't have any cartoon characters in it!
Here are some pictures that does the talking(writing) for me:
Oh and yeah, the movie that we watched was "Wild Hogs" with Tim Allen, John Travolta, Martin Lawrence and William H Macy. It's a rollicking comedy-adventure about a group of middle-aged friends who decide to rev up their routine suburban lives with a freewheeling motorcycle trip. Taking a long dreamed-of breather from their stressful jobs and family responsibilities, they can’t wait to feel the freedom of the open road. Naturally, they encounter a world that holds far more than they ever bargained for. The trip begins to challenge their wits and their luck when they run into a real-life bikie gang who are less than amused with their novice approach. As they go looking for adventure, they soon find that they’ve embarked on a journey they will never forget.
It was really a hilarious movie! Great laughs!!
A little bling here, a little bling there, makes a lot of bling-bling!
Too much bling-bling never hurts...
You might go blind.... but who cares as long as it looks good right?!? lol
Here is a list of bling-bling must haves!!
Bling-Bling 1: Crystal Rhinestone Computer Mouse
Bling-Bling 2: Ice Diamond USB Drive
Bling-Bling 3: Sliver Computer Mouse
Bling-Bling 4: Lamborghini Laptop!
Bling-Bling 5: Sexy Red Samsung Washing Machine
You might go blind.... but who cares as long as it looks good right?!? lol
Here is a list of bling-bling must haves!!
Bling-Bling 1: Crystal Rhinestone Computer Mouse
Bling-Bling 2: Ice Diamond USB Drive
Bling-Bling 3: Sliver Computer Mouse
Bling-Bling 4: Lamborghini Laptop!
Bling-Bling 5: Sexy Red Samsung Washing Machine
The Calendar for the Wired Family
I keep several calendars in our house: a small one in my purse, a Fridge Grid Pad in the kitchen, etc. However, I'm usually the only one who updates them, and soon something will get missed because my husband never wrote it on the calendar. I can't blame him entirely - he's very busy with his clients and on the phone much of each day, so it's hard for him to remember to update the calendar. But he's usually near a computer 18 hours a day, meaning if he had a virtual calendar he could be better at writing everything down. Plus, I too often forgets what it was that I needed to write down!
A friend asked me to try out COZI, and once I saw what it was I could barely contain my excitement! Cozi is a software program that includes a family calendar, shopping list, and message center. You can download the software onto your computer for quick, easy access to your family calendar, but you can also use the Web login to check and update when you're away from home. Each family member is given a color code, so you can easily sort out who is doing what. You can see the overall family calendar using the "All" tab, or look at each person's individual calendar. Adding a meeting or appointment is as easy as double clicking the day and filling out the event, time, and choosing who is involved. You can also set up recurring appointments or events, like birthdays or regular meetings.
This calendar is amazingly useful for the family. Nays can update the calendar from work or where ever he is, via the Web, while I'm adding appointments to it from home using the downloaded software. The two versions sync up right away, so you always have the most up-to-date information. Also useful is the shopping list that Cozi provides. I updated it from home, then pulled it up online when we were out so I could remember what I needed at the grocery. Nays was also able to update the list with things he needed while at work. And best of all? You don't even need to write it all down before going to the grocery. You can either ask Cozi to text the list to your cell phone, or you can call the Cozi free number and have a computer read the list to you. How cool is that?
Cozi has other features like a family photo collage screensaver (which looks really cool) and a messaging system. And you can customize the color assigned to each family member, as well as select a family photo for your Cozi Central homepage. But the most awesome part of all of this? It's free. Yes, you read that right: f-r-e-e.
I'd recommend COZI for any family who has little time at home, a lot to do, and has at least one or two techno-geeks with a computer attached to them for a significant part of their day. But even the non-geeks in the house can use this simple, intuitive software to manage the family calendar.
Meeting with ATC
Last night, the Area Teaching Committee had a youth gathering in the new Baha'i Center of Learning Building in Adelaide City.
It was a very nice and casual meeting.
Here are some pics.
It was a very nice and casual meeting.
Here are some pics.
Welcome to Toddlerhood Sabby!!
You know the old saying:
"Be careful what you wish for - you just might get it."
I spent a good part of the first 8 months of Mona's life wishing things would get easier. I prayed that she would get over that colicky period, sleep through the night, and start taking solid food. Daddy and mummy wished that our little princess would soon become less of a "blob" and more like a little girl with whom we could both play with. We both looked forward to the day Princess would say her first word and take her first step. We happily envisioned the day she'd pick up a pen, put on a sock, say the alphabet and someday - please God - go potty by herself.
Now that our baby is a toddler, our wishes are coming true!
Dear Sabby & Nays: Welcome to what is probably the most strenuous and awe-inspiring stage of parenting!!
The dictionary defines a toddler as "a small child roughly between the ages of one and three." Other books marks this phase of childhood when a baby first begins to "toddle", or walk with short, unsteady steps. Either way, we have a toddler on our hands, and trust me, no matter what a book tells, we know we have a toddler at home!!
I've been really watching Mona lately...
Even though my little toddler may be a tad shaky on her feet, my little darling seems now truly ready to explore people, places, and things - without my help, thank you very much!
She is becoming social too. Mona loves to imitate. She can clap, sing (well sounds like it), dance, and play side by side with other children.
In short, Mona is more like a miniature person now than a baby.
She's wide-eyed with curiosity, full of energy, and courts trouble constantly. lol.
I feel like i am under-siege - every container, every box, every object my darling Mona can grasp, every electrical outlet, every cherished knickknack is fair game to her.
From Mona's perspective, it's all new and exciting; from our perspective, it feels like an assault on us, our house, and everything in sight!! lol.. no but seriously!! I can barely recognize my couch and my living room has disappeared and in it's place is not this big huge playroom!!
Toddlerhood clearly marks the end of infancy. (...sniff - wipe off a little tear in the corner of my eye here...)
I read that it's also "a sneak preview of adolescence". In fact, many experts think of this period in the same vein as the teenage years, because a similar separation is under way. The mother and father are no longer the beginning and end of a toddler's world, in fact, as a toddler rapidly acquires new physical, cognitive, and social skills, they also learns how to say "NO" - a skill that also will serve them well in adolescence!!
But apparently, that's the good news! lol
"It is indeed through the toddlers explorations and struggles (mostly with the parents), that they begin to gain mastery over their environment, and most important, gain a sense of themselves as competent and independent beings; even though at times the process is maddening."
Well I'm ready! At least i feel that way!
Although I am very well aware that parenting a toddler isn't smooth sailing all the way, and that raising any child is a huge responsbility and comes with heaps of frustration and brick walls, not to mention tears and tantrums, but I am also ready for all the joy and excitement of every "first"s that are soon to come!!!
BRING IT ON GIRL!!! MAMA IS READY!!!
lol
"Be careful what you wish for - you just might get it."
I spent a good part of the first 8 months of Mona's life wishing things would get easier. I prayed that she would get over that colicky period, sleep through the night, and start taking solid food. Daddy and mummy wished that our little princess would soon become less of a "blob" and more like a little girl with whom we could both play with. We both looked forward to the day Princess would say her first word and take her first step. We happily envisioned the day she'd pick up a pen, put on a sock, say the alphabet and someday - please God - go potty by herself.
Now that our baby is a toddler, our wishes are coming true!
Dear Sabby & Nays: Welcome to what is probably the most strenuous and awe-inspiring stage of parenting!!
The dictionary defines a toddler as "a small child roughly between the ages of one and three." Other books marks this phase of childhood when a baby first begins to "toddle", or walk with short, unsteady steps. Either way, we have a toddler on our hands, and trust me, no matter what a book tells, we know we have a toddler at home!!
I've been really watching Mona lately...
Even though my little toddler may be a tad shaky on her feet, my little darling seems now truly ready to explore people, places, and things - without my help, thank you very much!
She is becoming social too. Mona loves to imitate. She can clap, sing (well sounds like it), dance, and play side by side with other children.
In short, Mona is more like a miniature person now than a baby.
She's wide-eyed with curiosity, full of energy, and courts trouble constantly. lol.
I feel like i am under-siege - every container, every box, every object my darling Mona can grasp, every electrical outlet, every cherished knickknack is fair game to her.
From Mona's perspective, it's all new and exciting; from our perspective, it feels like an assault on us, our house, and everything in sight!! lol.. no but seriously!! I can barely recognize my couch and my living room has disappeared and in it's place is not this big huge playroom!!
Toddlerhood clearly marks the end of infancy. (...sniff - wipe off a little tear in the corner of my eye here...)
I read that it's also "a sneak preview of adolescence". In fact, many experts think of this period in the same vein as the teenage years, because a similar separation is under way. The mother and father are no longer the beginning and end of a toddler's world, in fact, as a toddler rapidly acquires new physical, cognitive, and social skills, they also learns how to say "NO" - a skill that also will serve them well in adolescence!!
But apparently, that's the good news! lol
"It is indeed through the toddlers explorations and struggles (mostly with the parents), that they begin to gain mastery over their environment, and most important, gain a sense of themselves as competent and independent beings; even though at times the process is maddening."
Well I'm ready! At least i feel that way!
Although I am very well aware that parenting a toddler isn't smooth sailing all the way, and that raising any child is a huge responsbility and comes with heaps of frustration and brick walls, not to mention tears and tantrums, but I am also ready for all the joy and excitement of every "first"s that are soon to come!!!
BRING IT ON GIRL!!! MAMA IS READY!!!
lol
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