Ramadan Mubarak!!

Asalamualikum and Ramadan Mubarak!!
I miss my blog! We have been pretty busy with a new addition to the family mashaAllah (a cousin, not a sibbling! lol). Along with that excitement we worked really hard to prepare for Ramadan to inshaallah make it extra special, specially since for the first time in a while, I am not pregnant or nursing and Yusuf is mashaAllah at an age where he can understand and enjoy more.
Here are some of the things we have been doing:

Good deeds Jar.  We have done this before but this time to make it different for Ramadan, I have told Yusuf that he is responsible to keep track of his own good deeds.  I showed him where the rocks are and whenever he does a good deed he can put a rock in himself.  The goal is to fill the jar up this month inshaAllah!

This is Yusuf's area.  I bought this awesome calendar from a friend - check out her blog here.  I filled each pocket with a sticker and an activity.  And every few days we have a surah to learn about and a dua to memorize.  We also got this awesome check list from little explorer - check it out here. 

 I also put some Ramadan books (some which I even found at our local library!) on his desk, he has some binoculars to find see the Ramadan moon with that he made, a lunar cycle chart, some duas, surah Qadr, and a fasting wheel.

Some flower garlands I put at the boys room and our room as well

Lights in our hallway

New pajamas that I gave the boys on the first night of Ramadan

Lights in the boys' room

We also have plans to make trays for our neighbors inshaAllah.  Maybe well bake some cookies or something.

Yusuf is also going to fast for a couple hours everyday inshaAllah.  He is older now and sees all of us fasting and wants to be apart of it. Yesterday he fasted for almost five hours (he had a long nap which helped).  I obviously wont be too strict but we will try to encourage him as much as possible.

The day before Ramadan we all sat down n had breakfast together and had a family meeting.  My husband and I went over what Ramadan is, how it is special and what kind of things well be doing.  We told him how we are lucky to be alive this Ramadan and how it is a gift and like a guest.  I noticed Yusuf really felt our excitement which in turn made him excited.

In Ramadan our schedule gets turned upside down! We go to the mesjid and stay late (get home around 12:30am), then sleep in in the morning and have a nap everyday.  Im a big advocate of taking kids to the mesjid.  I notice how much Yusuf LOVES going and Id like to believe its because we take him so often, especially in Ramadan.  I dont feel like kids get the full feeling of Ramadaan unless and until they get to attend taraweeh.

And I feel that the more they go to the mesjid the more they learn how to behave properly.

May Allah swt keep ours and our children's hearts attached to the mesjid.
May He accept all our ibadah and efforts during this month,
May He help us to make the most of this month and be productive as possible, Ameen.