What I am grateful for....

I want Yusuf to practice his writing skills more so Im trying to do it in an indirect way since the old fashioned writing drills dont exactly excite him.  Today I made a chart for him and asked him to write / draw four things which he is grateful for.  I was doing some housework while he did his homework and once in a while Id peek over his shoulder to see how he was doing.  I must admit I was a little disappointed that the first two things were materialistic... I was hoping hed choose something a little more meaningful ( I had given him no ideas or guidelines when I put the paper infront of him).  When he called me to show me that he was done my eyes kinda teared up and my heart was relived and grateful that he had chosen Mama and Baba to include in his short list <3

May Allah swt help us to raise grateful children, and always keep us all grateful to Him and to those around us, Ameen.

Nesting...

...has begun.  The clutter in my house is creating clutter in my brain but my body cannot keep up = (

Syria Part III

Yesterday we attended an event about the Syrian Revolution.  Mashallah it was a good event with four different speakers raising awareness of what is happening there.  Both my husband and I went so that we could rotate taking turns watching the boys.  It took place at a university lecture hall and we were unsure how graphic the content would be and were prepared to take the boys out of the hall to walk around if needed.  For the most part the content was not too disturbing (no videos or pictures were shown), however there was one man there who gave a detailed account of his imprisonment in Syria, but the boys were outside playing with toy cars at that point.  Human Concern International helped organize the event and alhamdulillah Yusuf had the opportunity to hand over the money which he has worked so hard to collect.  I counted it yesterday and it was over $750 mashaAllah!  We took his jar and at the end of the lecture, there was a booth outside collecting donations and Yusuf gave it in.  Mashallah we were very proud of him that he gave it in so eagerly.  There were moments during the time period he had been collecting money where he asked us if he could keep some of the money for himself but we explained to him that the people had given money speifically for Syria and it wasnt right for him to keep even a penny of it and alhamdulilah he accepted it.
I pray that this is the beginning of Yusuf's journey of helping others and that Allah swt keep his heart and intentions pure and accept his hard work.  Also that we as adults take a lesson from his courage and compassion, Ameen.


[I was tempted to take a picture of Yusuf handing his money over, but I just allowed myself to enjoy the moment instead of looking through a lense and have the moment imprinted in my heart <3]

Family Trip to Niagra

Alhamdulilah we had a short, but very nice, family trip to Niagra Falls.  Since my husband works all hours of the week, he is occasionally able to take time off of work during the week.  It was really nice going during the week because there were NO crowds anywhere!  A few months ago we bought groupons for the Bird Kingdom and they were about to expire so we planned a trip.  We left Tues morning, had a hotel for one night and stayed until Wed evening.  We were blessed with amazing weather and really enjoyed each others company. Im really enjoying the boys ages now... they're becoming little people and its so exciting to watch them having fun. <3

Baba and his boys on the boat to go see the falls!

Yusuf checking out the falls @ night

@ Bird Kingdom

@ Bird Kingdom looking at the fish

Tryin to get the parrots to talk

Brothers playing soccer

A childhood isnt complete without being swung around in circles like this!

More soccer!

Wooden Mesjid Blocks

I bought these blocks today from a fellow homeschooling Mom who has her own business.  MashaAllah the boys really enjoyed playing with them and I love when they enjoy toys like this to get their imagination active
 = )
Check out the website... click here.

Black Creek Pioneer Village

Yesterday Yusuf went to Black Creek Pioneer Village with the homeschooling group.  Ibby and I stayed home because with this pregnancy my health hasnt been that great and my back isnt in the best condition.  But alhamdulilah for homeschooling friends that took him along with (on the school bus!).  Honestly having such an awesome group of homeschoolers is really encouraging to continue our homeschooling journey = )

Rules for Mothers with Sons

MashaAllah a really well written article.
When I was pregnant with Yusuf I wanted a girl SO badly! But Allah swt knew what was best for me and I couldnt have ever imagined how much I'd love being a Momma to boys!  People keep saying hopefully baby #3 will be a girl, but honestly, in the end, Allah knows whats best and I'd be just as happy with another boy <3
Click here.