Icicles!

One day it snowed and then everything  turned into ice. One our deck teeny tiny meeny miny icicles formed. All the trees were covered in ice. And I played in the snow!

The Pakistan Diary

Guess where I went? I went to PAKISTAN! I kept a diary while I was there but I only got to write two funny entries because I was so busy:

November 21st 2013
I was really excited! I could not wait to hit PAKISTAN!! I am sorry to scream in your face. Now why did I shout. Be ready to hear about the monument.

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November 25th 2013
Pakistan Monument

Where are we going?
To apples? No.
To bananas? No.
To the moment? No.
To the M-O-N-U-M-E-N-T? Yes.

I was so excited to view the whole Islamabad. It looked amazing! I was at the monument and I saw six masjids. My mom said that there are a lot of masjids in Pakistan. Like I said I saw a lot of masjids. My only words were Wow and Woah and Waaa and Ekkk!




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December 02, 2013
Saidpur Village

We went to a place called Saidpur Village. There was train there that was a 110 year old train there made of clay. My uncle bought a clay picture for me from there. We also saw an old orphanage turned into a picture gallery. There was a Hindu temple there as well.





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Faisal Masjid

We went to a masjid called Faisal Masjid for Maghrib prayer. It was so beautiful inside with a huge chandelier but then while we were almost done with our salah, the electricity went out. And I wasn't able to find my mom because it was dark but then I looked around and I saw her.



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Dec 03, 2013
Daman-e-Koh

We went to a place in the Margalla Hills called Daman-e-Koh. It is a viewpoint and I saw all of Islamabad again. This time I had proper binoculars that used to belong to my mom. We saw so many monkeys there. I counted fifty!



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Dec 05, 2013
Lok Virsa Heritage Museum

At this museum we saw a truck and a boat. The museum was interesting. It showed the history, arts and crafts and culture of Pakistan.


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The best part of Pakistan was Saeed Book Bank. My uncle took me to this bookstore. It is so humongous!  My uncle bought a dozen books for me!

Besides all of this I had FUN!

  

My shopping. Gifts for my friends at school.

  

Fall and Garlic Bread

I love Fall because my birthday comes in Fall. And I think it's even more colorful than spring! One day on one of our walks, we went through the grass and we found a nest on the ground. It fell from a tree and it looked really nice. It's amazing how birds construct a nest.

One evening my mom and I made garlic bread. I love garlic bread. It was really yummy and was very crunchy and hot for a chilly evening.

Frying Pan Park-Fall Festival

A few weeks ago, I went to Frying Pan Farm for a Fall Festival. It was real fun! I got to milk a cow! It felt like rubber! I also got to peel, core, and slice with a really cool machine. I got to choose the apple. It was a fuji apple and it was delicious! I tried corn shelling and corn grinding as well. I also bought 10 honey sticks and I tried a sample of a crunchy honey candy. I saw the farm animals like horses, cows, sheep, chickens, and goats. I also saw two peacocks. One male and one female. I also tried some yummy snacks like sweet and salty popcorn and funnel cake.

Ready for apple coring, peeling, and slicing

Corn shelling

Shelled corn

Ground corn

Popcorn!

Funnel cake!

The male peacock

Honey sticks! Yummy!

Painting Rocks ( yay cool )(haha)

 My mom, brother, and I have been painting rocks since yesterday and I did 2 rocks today! Yesterday I did 1 rock. I enjoyed it so much! Here are some cool pictures of the rocks we painted.

I love Autumn and Egg Sandwiches!

I love FALL! The leaves change color and the trees look beautiful. Look at the pretty colors!

I also love egg sandwiches mmm mmm (just by telling you about it its making me hungry). Here is the recipe:

-1 hard boiled egg
-1 tsp mayonnaise
-1 tsp yogurt
-1/4 tsp salt
- Black pepper to taste
- 2 slices of bread

Mash the egg with a fork. Then mix it with the mayonnaise and yogurt. Add salt and pepper and mix it in. You can toast the bread and then spread the egg mixture on it. 

                    MMM EAT IT!
            
                         YAY!!! 

Love the Month of Picnics

In September we usually have a lot of picnics to go to because of the beautiful fall weather. This year we had three picnics to go to! The first one was a special picnic party just for me. It was very fun! We put brown paper on the picnic tables and the kids could color on them and there was a bounce house! I jumped in the bounce house. I could touch the top of the bounce house! I would like to my aunt who made all the pretty  decorations! <3

I went to two more picnics this month. It was a weekend full of fun with friends, games, yummy delicious food, face painting, and a magic show. I also made my own tie and dye t-shirts! Here are some pictures.  

Coloring on the tables

Puffy Stars and Paper Flowers made by my aunt

Yummy Desserts!

Bounce House

My Tie and Dye Tees

I got butterfly face painting done with glitter!

Yummy Icecream!

The Colorful Star Crayons

My mom and I made star crayons. This is a good way to recycle old crayons. We got some really awesome colored crayons. We got the idea from this blog http://findinghomeonline.com/crafting-with-kids-how-to-make-crayons/

 HERE ARE THE STEPS:

1. First we peeled the crayons

2. Then we broke the crayons

3.We mixed fun colors and we put the pieces in star mold.

4. We melted them in a hot oven for 10 minutes

5. Then my mom took them out and let the crayons cool before putting them in the freezer for 10 minutes. The crayons were ready to take out of the mold.

Review: Burka Avenger

A few weeks ago I watched the first episode of a new cartoon called Burka Avenger. My mom told me about it and we watched the trailer on YouTube. I thought it was interesting. It is about a teacher named Jiya who fights for justice and education while wearing a burka and using pens and books to fight. The cartoon is in Urdu and I enjoyed watching it. There were some words that I did not understand so I was reading the subtitles. I especially liked the characters of Immu, Mooli, and Ashu. This show also helped me see how some people may be living in Pakistan and how some girls struggle to get an education. The show is also hilarious and funny in some parts. I would definitely recommend this show to other kids.

Watch the trailer here:

Dinner at Panera Bread

A couple of weeks ago my aunt took me to Panera Bread.I ate tomato soup with a side order of chips. I also had lemonade.It was so yummy! My aunt also took a picture.

Deep Under Sea

Once upon a time two girls named Ayesha and Yusra. Yusra had found blue and green gems on their previous adventures. This time they found a lime green gem. "I wish we could go where this would take us", they said. So then they went to the ocean in a splash! They were wearing their swimsuits. They saw a shark swimming towards an octopus. But the octopus let out ink and the shark swam away. Yusra and Ayesha watched in awe! They swam towards a loggerhead sea turtle and said hello. The sea turtle offered to give them a ride around the ocean. They saw clown fish, ocean slugs and snails, and they even saw a humpback whale! Then the turtle had a gift for them. It was real gold! Ayesha and Yusra went back home after that! What an adventure!

Halwa recipe. Yum!

This is the recipe for the halwa we made on eid. Halwa is a sweet dessert we make in Pakistan. This my Nanu's (grandmother) recipe and it is delicious! I watched my aunt make it and I wrote it down for all of you. You can make this with any type of nuts like almonds, walnuts, pistachios or cashew nuts. We made this one with walnuts.

1 cup ground nuts 
1/3 cup oil
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup powdered milk like Nido
5 ounces evaporated milk

Heat oil in a cooking pan and add the nuts in it. Fry it for a few minutes. Then put the sugar in it. Mix it for a few minutes. Then put the powdered milk in it. Then mix it well. Mix in evaporated milk and turn off the heat. Then eat it!

EID MUBARAK!!!!

Eid Mubarak! I know it's a little late but I was just busy with my family. We decorated the house with lights and I made an Eid banner. I got presents for and from my whole family. My favorite was a iPod cover that my brother gave me. It's so pretty, shiny and sparkly! I also gave badam ka halwa (Almond sweet) to my urdu teacher in a jar. I will post the recipe for it on another day.

My outfit was red and purple and was from Pakistan. I also wore red choorian (bangles) that came from India. I got to do a sleepover at my cousins' house and we had an eid feast over there. Another day everyone came to our house for a family dinner. This Eid was so fun and exciting!

Eid banner and lights

Eid gifts. I made so many eid cards!

Badam ka halwa for my teacher

Choorian 

My khussay (shoes)

Henna on my hands. My mom did my left hand and I got the right hand done at the festival.

My new iPod cover!