Truly grateful for these gifts given to me in this world

Hmmm..Inspecting the capsules closely. Okay, pass!

Elhan and Evren both light up whenever they see or talk about animals. They know most of the sounds animal makes. Even just planning a trip to the zoo gets them so excited!

Of course, I try to make sure they get their daily dose of vitamins before we go out and they love it!

Health is a luxury and it is the best investment. There's nothing more a parent would see than their children being healthy and active. I do what I can by giving my kids supplements so they can grow healthy and strong!

My kids love the Champs chewable vitamins and the orange flavoured soluble tablets and they will jump up and down to ask for it. They also just like sucking the soluble tablets before it's  dissolved.. It makes me so happy that they like to take their vitamins.

That beautiful smile and gorgeous laughter. sigh. Melts. Me. Every. Time.

Last one for the blog. Elhan enjoying the Champs Vitamin C. Kids grow up so fast, don't they?

1. “Reading is everything. Reading makes me feel like I’ve accomplished something, learned something, become a better person. Reading makes me smarter. Reading gives me something to talk about later on. Reading is the unbelievably healthy way my attention deficit disorder medicates itself. Reading is escape, and the opposite of escape; it’s a way to make contact with reality after a day of making things up, and it’s a way of making contact with someone else’s imagination after a day that’s all too real. Reading is grist. Reading is bliss.”

- Nora Ephron, I Feel Bad about My Neck: And Other Thoughts on Being a Woman

2. “If you can’t read the entire book, read the page. If you can’t read the entire page, read the sentence. Read.” 

-Anonymous

3. “Reading gives us some place to go when we have to stay where we are”

- Mason Cooley

4. “Maybe this is why we read and why in moments of darkness we return to books : to find words for what we already know”

- Alberto Manguel

5. “She read books as one would breathe air, to fill up and live” - Annie Dillard 

6. “If you don’t like to read you haven’t found the right book”- J.K. Rowling 

7. “Keep reading books, but remember that a book is only a book, and you should learn to think for yourself.”

- Maxim Gorky 

8. “We lose ourselves in books. We find ourselves there too.”- Anonymous 

9. “Great books help you understand, and they help you feel understood.”- John Green 

10. “Reading gives life more life”-Anonymous

11. “The only important thing in a book is the meaning that it has for you.”

- W. Somerset Maugham

12. “Reading a book doesn’t have to make you better, but it will make you feel better.”

-Anonymous 

13. “Reading is an exercise in empathy; an exercise in walking in someone else’s shoes for a while”. 

- Malorie Blackman

14. “Read and be better don’t read to just be”- Anonymous

15. “Reading is to the mind, what exercise is to the body. As by the one, health is preserved, strengthened, and invigorated: by the other, virtue (which is the health of the mind) is kept alive, cherished, and confirmed.” 

- Joseph Addison

16. “Reading is never a waste of time”- Anonymous

17. “Until I feared I would lose it, I never loved to read. One does not love breathing.” - Harper Lee

18. “We have to change books if we want books to change us”- Anonymous

19. “I do believe Something very magical can happen when you read a good book “

- J. K. Rowling

20. “The book is not an escape from life but a shortcut to a better one”- Anonymous

21. “I think of life as a good book. The further you get into it, the more it begins to make sense.”

- Harold Kushner

22. “There is no chance you’ll read all books in the world, but there is a chance the one you read is the right one.”

- Anonymous

23. “The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.” 

- Dr. Seuss

24. “A book never runs out of battery” -Anonymous

25. “We read in bed because reading is halfway between life and dreaming, our own consciousness in someone else’s mind.” 

- Anna Quindlen

26. “Don’t think too much before you reach for a book. Think while you’re reading it.”

-Anonymous

27. “Books are the quietest and most constant of friends; they are the most accessible and wisest of counsellors, and the most patient of teachers.” 

- Charles William Eliot

28. “You can’t buy happiness, but you can buy books and that’s kind of the same thing.”

- Anonymous

29. “The habit of reading is the only enjoyment I know in which there is no alloy. It lasts when all other pleasures fade. It will be there to support you when all other resources are gone. It will be present to you when the energies of your body have fallen away from you. It will last you until your death. It will make your hours pleasant to you as long as you live.” 

- Anthony Trollope

30. “Reading books makes you better”- Anonymous

Journey. Reflect. A reflection of our journey. Reflecting on our life. What we have gone through, how we have grown, the choices that we have made, where life has brought us to, all of the signs in life that we have chosen to ignore, the countless reminders that we choose to put a blind eye to? Self-growth, improvement, maturity, self-development, self-reflection. The ease, the blessings, the trials and tribulations. Those things, the good and the bad, makes us who we are. There are always two sides of the story. And sometimes, even more. You can go through the most beautiful moment in your life, but there will be challenges along the way. And vice versa, you can go through the most difficult moments in your life, but there will be snippets of joy or the happiest moments in between. Despite the pain, there is joy if you only look around. Life is a journey, they say. So, I have to remind myself to trust and embrace it. Find joy in the journey. The story behind this photo? I was on a train ride from a country that I have never been to, to another country that I have also never been to in March. It was an unplanned, spontaneous, random last minute trip that my husband brought me to. I was in a lot of pain but in terms of mobility I was much better after umrah in February. At the same time I was extremely happy to travel despite my illnesses, conditions and limitations. I was so happy. It might not look like I was giving out the biggest smile in this photo but I was in the most happiest state. "Life is a journey that must be travelled, no matter how bad the roads and accommodations. -Oliver Goldsmith-

"The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of us but those who win battles we know nothing about." This was my first time at a place or country that I have always dreamt of going since I was a teenager. It was a dream come true for me but not quite how I imagined it. It was impromptu and spontaneous. I did not imagine that I would be here especially more so while facing health challenges. But despite those challenges, I still managed to come here and live the dream. All praised to the Almighty for bringing me joy through my trials. It is true, as He mentioned in the Quran "with hardship there is ease".

A lucky shot of me smiling on a sunny day in a country that I have never been to before.  The sun always rises every day, and sets down every evening to be replaced by night.  And so is our life.  There are ups and downs, happy moments and sad ones.  Unexpected blessings and unexpected challenges.  Just because we choose what we want to share,  it does not mean that we do not experience the other.  Just because I am smiling though,  it does not mean that I am not in pain.  And just because I am in pain,  it does not mean that I do not smile and appreciate the blessings in life that I have been granted with.  Most of our life's important happiest and unhappiest moments cannot captured or shared or are not shared. Most of what people share are the things that happen in-between.

Resting after a long journey. This was a very last-minute and spontaneous trip. I was so happy and anxious and was busy with planning and packing that I couldn't sleep the night before. I had always wanted to wear this dress since it was released last year, but could not find the right time or opportunity to wear it (especially when I was on the wheelchair) so I decided to wear this dress throughout my 13 hour flight. And since I didn't sleep the night before, I had to wear my sunnies to cover my eyes.

It was exhausting. It was tiring. It was painful. But it was extremely beautiful. I'm glad I fought through the pain. I'm glad I went. To experience new things and countries and emotions. It was definitely worth the pain, definitely worth it.