Saturday, May 28, 2011

Muhammad


Yesterday we attended a Fundraising event for a local organization called SMILE. Check it out here.
Yes that's Yusuf on the flyer mashaAllah. That picture was taken two years ago when Yusuf met this little boy named Muhammad and wouldn't stop kissing him. Yusuf hasnt seen Muhammad for a long time so when they were reacquainted, Yusuf was amazed with him and kept going to talk to him or give him high fives. I spoke with Muhammad's parents and inshaAllah I would like to arrange some kind of play date for Yusuf to go visit Muhammad. Children like this are a huge blessing and its an honor to have the opportunity to know them and their families. I hope inshaAllah Yusuf and Muhammad's relationship continues to flourish and they are both able to benefit and learn from each other. Ameen.

Oh, it was also a special night because Yusuf was asked to recite Quran on stage, which he did, and he did awesome mashaAllah. We are very proud of him. <3

Garage Sale


These are a couple of my gatage sale finds this week. I really wanted one of these tube things. A friend has one and Ibby loved it. I checked them out at Ikea recently and they were $30! I got this, plus a tent (not the one in this pic) for only $5! I also got the kids camping chair and sleeping bag for $5. And a box of Crazy Forts for $10! I got them from the resource center a while ago and the boys loved them.. theyre about $40 in the stores so I was excited when I saw them at the garage sale.

I love garage sales! And inshaAllah next weekend we will be having our own garage sale at our house along with our playgroup friends.

Comfy Cozy


We recently bought a new mattress. We dont really have any place to store the old one, and I dont want to sell it either... so I had an idea - to let the boys use it as an area to sit / relax / read. So far, theyre loving it (and so am I!)

Progress


Ibbys come a long way... hes beginning to enjoy painting more. Hes not crazy about his hands geting dirty, he randomly shows me his hands with a look of disgust, but then goes back to his masterpiece.

Check out this post from feb - click here.

Farm






We went on a homeschooler's field trip to the farm and brought along GG (my grandmother). There was lots of fun things to do like a wagon ride, straw maze, climbing hay stacks, riding toy tractors, feeding chickens and goats and we even had a class arranged where a farmer taught the kids about bees.... and mashallah we had amazing weather!
And GG ended our trip with a yummy Popsicle treat =)

Painting Outside


We brought paint to the backyard and the kids had a blast! They actually enjoyed cleaning the mess up with soapy water and sponges more than they did painting!

Carnival

Ive been missing my blog but with the nicer weather weve been pretty busy!
Last weekend we spent the day (6 whole hrs!) at the local carnival... the boys had tons of fun mashallah.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Boys!


If you told me five years ago that Id be a mom to two boys, two years apart, I would have probably been scared. When I was pregnant with Yusuf I wanted a girl. But Allah blessed me with a son, and two years later, another one! Life with two boys is crazy.. stinky.. messy.. loud.. but amazing. Im still a girly girl at heart. I dont think Ill ever love basketball, but at least now I can name more than two NBA players off the top of my head. I still am not totally familiar with all the terminology, but Im slowly getting there. As someone who never enjoyed sports, I think Ive come a long way.. I did, after all, google how exactly the lines are drawn on a basketball court and tried to replicate a kid-sized version on our carpet with masking tape.

Before having Yusuf, Id always gravitate towards the pink and purple section of the clothing stores, oo-ing and aww-ing over the frills and flowers. But now, my eyes go straight to the blues and greens and I get excited to see a shirt with a ball or bike on it.

I doubt Ill ever fully get used to the humor of bathroom words or bodily functions. But at least I dont cringe as much as I used to. [ However when Ibby ate his poop, yes, you read that right, ate his poop, I did almost barf!]

I grew up with an uncle not too much older than me and was like a big brother. Everyone knows big brothers must teach the art of wrestling, so thanks to him, I did have some prior experience in this field. I was a little surprised though when I learned just how instinctive wrestling is for boys! Having two boys so close in age, I knew to expect my living to transform into a wresling ring now and then. But... nothing could prepare me for the shock of watching my little preemie second-born muster up the courage to fully through him self at and tackle his brother who almost doubles him in height and weight! He throws punches probably better than me and sometimes I'm more worried for my eldest than I am for my baby!

I wanted a daughter so I could braid her hair and put on cute dresses. But I having just as much fun with hair gel, kufis and thobes.

Tea Parties and playing with dolls would have been fun... but I would have never thought how exciting it could be to construct a complex train track complete with bridges and loops!

Sitting to colour, doodle, draw and do crafts was also part of my little girl dream, but putting blobs of paint on a paper and driving toy cars through it is totally cool too!

We can go anywhere, Walmart, a restaurant, the park or a lecture... and only two simple things are required to keep them happy: a car and a ball.

I wanted a daughter so we could cuddle n chat n giggle. Little did I know just how loving and loyal sons can be to their Mommas. Yusuf can no doubt carry a conversation longer than I can. And of course little girl giggles are adorable, but so are boy giggles once you find their ticklish tickle spot! [ I could make them laugh with bathroom talk and fart noises, but Im not there... yet].

I know my future will be filled of countless google searches and library books about topics I would have never paid attention to. Im still working on learning the names of all those construction machines. Planes, trains and automobiles are not exactly my specialty, but I'm excited to learn about them along with my boys.

Not only do my boys have a huge appetite to learn, they have a huge appetite for food! At meal times, I feel like I have to prepare food for three men, mashaAllah! Lots of eating of course leads to lots of poop, but also, the inevitable of them growing... growing out of their clothes faster than I can keep their closets organized.. growing until one day Im sure they'll be towering over me! Until then, I'm gonna chase them, grab them n pick them up to squeeze, kiss and hug them as much as I possibly can!

When Yusuf begs me to allow him to lead me in prayer and Ibby excitedly grabs a prayer mat so he can copy... or when Yusuf stands on our sofa and starts giving lectures and Ibby climbs up right there beside him imitating his voice and hand gestures... my heart skips a beat to think what the future holds for them.

May Allah SWT always keep them passionate towards Islam... increase them in beneficial knowledge and benefit them with the knowledge they gain...May He grant them pious wives and and children who make them as happy as they've made us... May He grant them health, happiness and success in this life and the life to come... May He keep them on the straight path, enable them to do that which pleases their Lord, and always shower His Mercy and Light onto them....May He grant them kindness, wisdom and compassion to always be good sons and make us, their parents, a means of Jannah for them, Ameen.

Sunday, May 1, 2011

The Momma Guilt!

A friend of mine posted this today - click here - and since I love reading blogs, I waited til the boys were in bed n quickly sat down to skim through the list.  Two hours later Im left with The Momma Guilt.  Guilt that I havent / dont do enough.  Guilt that there are a billion other homeschooling (and non hs-ing ) Mommas out there that are doing so much with their kids.  Guilt that I spend way too much time worrying about the dishes/laundry/vacuuming and sweeping more than I do sitting down with and treasuring my boys who are so passionate and curious about life!

One blog that particularly gave me The Momma Guilt was about a woman who homeschool, lives on a farm, gives her children a very nature enriched lifestyle.. and.. adopted two boys from Africa.  Ya, enough said.

There was one awesome post I read once at Confessions of a Homeschooler blog basically about how people ask the author of the blog (sorry I cant find the exact post) how she does it all and in short her answer was: she doesnt.  See, blogging is wonderful, but the reality is we only see what others want us to see.  Its kinda like when people come up to me and say how Im doing such an awesome job because of what theyve seen on my blog, in my head Im thinking, you have no idea how little I actually do!


Dont worry.  This isn't a depressing post.  Even though Momma Guilt makes me feel pretty crappy.  Its a good.  It pushes me to re-evaluate myself and where I am.  Makes me ask myself what do I really value, and where do I spend most of my energy.  Sometimes I do get too wrapped up with worrying how clean our home looks and I need reminders like this to slow down.  My boys are growing up quickly and I want to savor this time with them. I want to be able to look back on these days and know I wasn't perfect, but I tried my best. 


I ask Allah to give us mothers the strength and wisdom to whats best for our family... and to keep us on track of pleasing Him, and not let the little meaningless things get in the way.  Ameen.