Posted by Doll Divas on March 20, 2008, 3:31 pm Board Administrator
Hello Divas and Divos,
I am so happy to share a bit of my life with my dolly friends. First, I will start with a little about my background. I was born in Lebanon and came to America when I was 16. I began my journey in 11th grade with no English, but because of my background in French and Arabic, I was able to learn English fast & finished high school with flying colors! My dad had his hopes on me finishing college before I got married, but my heart was going in a different direction ! I met my husband of 29 years, Mustafa, when I was 16 and got married at 19. We have three beautiful children. My son is 27 years old. He is married & has a son who is 7 months old. My older daughter, Hanaa, is 24 years old. She too is married & has a daughter, Ava, whom you all have seen on DD more often than you would like ! Hanaa is expecting her 2nd daughter on Mother's Day. Finally, my youngest is Randa! She is 19 years old and is finishing up her 2nd year in college. She too wants to be a teacher someday (go figure! I wonder who they take after?)!
Well, having children and being married did not stop me from doing what I always wanted to do & what dad wanted me to do. I started working when my son was 11 months old as a teacher's assistant while going to college. In 1991, I graduated with my Bachelors in Elementary Education & taught kindergarten, 1st & 2nd grades in the 8 years I served as a teacher. After I earned my Masters, I was promoted to Assistant Principal & did that for 3 years. Last year, I was promoted to the position of Principal, and that's what I do now!
I love having the opportunity to make the decisions regarding everything my students need. I have 500 of them from pre-school to 5th grade & they keep me feeling young & in tune with the younger generation (Hey! No wonder, I still play with dolls. Some are displayed in my office. Only decent ones though! We do lots of fun things at school such as Bingo for Books, Student of the month, Ice Cream Parties, assemblies, popcorn & bake sales & many other fun activities. This month is “March is Reading Month”! Every Friday, I dress up as Inspector Gadget & draw names of those who read books & give them prizes. As I do this, a couple of my fifth grade girls video tape me & we go live on the building’s TV monitors. Yes! The school is only 10 years old & is a state of the art one. Every classroom is equipped with cable & other technology tool you can think of.
School is lots of fun, & I enjoy every minute of it. In fact, any time I am not feeling well, I make a trip to the pre-school or the kindergarten & all my troubles are washed away. All it takes is to look into those innocent eyes of the tiny & precious gifts & see their beautiful smiles! I get lots of comments from parents & teachers telling me that they wouldn't ever want to be in my shoes, & I smile. It is challenging & risky but never a dull. One teeny decision could damage so many lives yet another could make them ever so happy!
Most of my students come from homes where parents are new immigrants. Although this is a challenge, my experience in having to learn English when I first came to America, gives me the expertise to provide the children & their parents many opportunities to get accustomed to the American culture & their new world just like I did some 32 years ago. The children are amazing at how fast they learn English! I also work with adult education to provide the parents with English classes during the day. In addition, my teachers & I hold parent monthly meetings to demonstrate to our parents lessons taught in classrooms & help them in turn assist their children at home!
I hope that I didn’t bore you with my school happenings & want to thank the moderators for giving us these wonderful opportunities to get to know each other better. The diversity of our members is amazing. I don’t have any special talents when it comes to collecting dolls like some of you do, but I sure love to spend money & take pictures!I have learned so much in the past year as a member of this board, & my day does not go well until I sit at my computer at night and share my love for dolls with all of you. Thank you so much for stopping by & sharing a little of my life with me!
Now, let’s have some fun! I bet most of you are saying, get to the dolls already! Well here we go!
The first set of pictures is of my family members (the real dollies in my life). Then you will get to drool over some of the collections I have. I took pictures of each of the collections for this occasion to make it easier for me to show you what I have collected for the past 10 years. However, the dolls are spread all over the house in different settings. I am so lucky that I have a big house & lots of closet space to store my things in.
Here is a picture of our house in the summer time! A picture of me as Principal! Smiles make miracles happen....
The love of my life!Hubby & I
THEN & NOW! OH! Where did all that hair go? .....
My son & 2 daughters!
My JOY, AVA!
And Lastly, Little Dimple face! The newest Jolly Dolly in my life! He should join Mitzi's eyelash girls' Club!
Now that we're done with the real dolls, we can start talking doll collecting. I started collecting dolls some 10 years ago. However, my love for Barbie started when I was 11 years old back in Lebanon. A friend of mine whose aunt was in the US sent her a #1 Barbie. When I saw her, I was amazed at how her body was made compared to the child like dolls my parents bought me! I wanted one and still do. A #1 Barbie is probably my Holy Grail, & I will get one someday!
My Vintage collections have many different Barbies & outfits. They are displayed in a curio cabinet along with the rest of my Barbie collections!
SILKSTONES
BOB MACKIES:
Then, two years ago, I discovered Fashion Royalty and that’s when poor Barbie lost ground & my bank account depleted! I love the way they pose & love to redress them. Some still are in their original outfits but none are in boxes. Pictures of FR dolls by collection. We’ll start with my favorites!
VANESSAS!
EUGENIAS!
AGNESES!
VERONIQUES!
KYORIS!
ISHAS & LUCHIAS!
NATALIAS!
MB GIRLS!
MISAKIS!
MY BIG GIRLS & BOYS: TONNER, SYBARITES & ELLOWYNES!
TONNER!
My favorite is the Sydney repainted by our VERY TALENTED HEIDI. She is dressed in the long red gown!
MORE TONNER!
SYBARITES!
My favorites are repainted Salon & Eaton by the most talented artist, Pinkman! They are the ones on the left! Salon is dressed in a gorgeous Matisse outfit with the white straw hat & Eaton is lounging on her favorite chaise!
AND LAST but certaintly not least MY all time FAVORITES: My ELLOWYNES! My Ellowyne Hannah is the best doll I have other than Salon! Hannah & Salon were repainted by my dearest dolly friend, grandpa Pinkman! She is dressed in the black & white outfit and is sitting in the middle!
! I met my husband of 29 years, Mustafa, when I was 16 and got married at 19. We have three beautiful children. My son is 27 years old. He is married & has a son who is 7 months old. My older daughter, Hanaa, is 24 years old. She too is married & has a daughter, Ava, whom you all have seen on DD more often than you would like 
! 
!I have learned so much in the past year as a member of this board, & my day does not go well until I sit at my computer at night and share my love for dolls with all of you. Thank you so much for stopping by & sharing a little of my life with me
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Hubby & I
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