Confessions

I send my kids mixed messages by taking pictures of them when they do naughty things.

Ibby with corn starch on his face.

Oh The Places You'll Go!

Dear Ibby,

Today you were supposed to do your homework.  You haven't done your Canadian Curriculum in almost a week.  You need to practice your writing and your math.  Just as you finished your Arabic homework, we were supposed to move onto something else and you asked me if you could take a break.  I said no.  You then asked if you could just quickly go read your book and promised it would be only five minutes.  It took a lot from me to say yes.  The I-must-prove-I-can-keep-up-with-the-curriculum Mom in me started to come out but I (literally) took a deep breath, and let go.  I let go of the expectations and stresses, and said yes.  

You broke your promise.  You were longer than five minutes.  But its okay my baby, I forgave you.  It's okay that you took longer than five minutes.  Its okay that you took longer than ten minutes.  Actually its so okay that we never even opened any other homework books today.

As a second child of three children, sometimes your accomplishments aren't as acknowledged as they should be.  But this one is big.  This one deserves a big recognition.  You have been reading for maybe about a year now, but only a handful of words.  But now, now you are really reading.

You're reading so well that you completed a whole Dr Suess book - Wacky Wednesday- yesterday.  And Dr Suess isn't the easiest of books to read.  You even told me how he talks really funny and doesn't always make a lot of sense.  

You reading makes me happy.  But first and foremost, Im proud of your determination.  Your love and passion to learn.  Im not always the typical mom who sits down and reviews flashcards and phonics  [note:  I said not always because sometimes I have those freak out moments when I frantically try to catch you up to the standards].  So because of my somewhat laid back approach, it really truly amazes me when I see the payoff.  When I see the magic in your eyes when you've decided you want to learn something, put your mind to it, and get it done.  Just like you have with reading.

You were so so proud when you finished the book yesterday and my heart just burst with love for you. I hope and pray you take that drive and apply it to many aspects in your life.

Ill leave it to Dr Suess to finish this letter up...

I know you'll go to great places inshaAllah,

Keep it up!

Momma is so proud of you.

Love and duas,

Always and forever,

Momma

The Tongue

When they stick their tongue out while concentrating. <3

Blocks

Dear Yusuf and Ibby,
Right now you're playing with wooden blocks. You're making towers and cities and driving your toy cars around. You've made up some challenge that includes keeping score with checkers pieces.
One day you'll think this is baby game and will no longer be interested.
Please don't grow up too fast tho. I love watching you play.
Love,
Momma <3

'SuperStrike'

The boys love making Lego n sometimes they make some really cool things. I told them I'd start taking pics of what they make to post them on the blog so they can look back at it.

Brave Boy

A brother, a sister and peanut butter cookies.

Sibling Love <3

Ibby's Lego Class # 5

Ibby made a T-Rex.

Lego Class

Alhamdulillah Ibby is really enjoying his Lego class.

I cant figure out how to rotate the pictures.... :/

Ibby - MathUSee

Ibby started MathUSee recently.  Mashallah he is really eager to learn.  :)

Ibby's Lego Class

Alhamdulillah we have enrolled Ibby in a weekly Lego class. We felt it was important for the boys to get some individual time so Yusuf is not enrolled.  The boys are very different, Yusuf is very outgoing and talkative.  Ibby is more of an introvert and is reserved unless and until he knows a person well.  Inshallah this is beneficial for him and gives him some time to shine without being in the shadow of his big brother.

Ta

Alhamdulilah we have a regular Quran teacher coming to our house now to teach the boys.  They really like him and are benefiting mashallah.  Ibby has started letter recognition and writing as well. He really puts an effort into writing (and drawing) which is different for me since Yusuf never really had much of an interest for writing, drawing or colouring.  Its funny how two kids from the same family, same household, same environment can turn out to be so different.  :)

Sorry its sideways, and the quality of the pics aren't that good recently.  I'm going to start using my camera again since my phone doesn't take good quality pics.

Good Deeds

We traced Ibby the other day... can you tell he wouldn't stop moving?  We coloured it and have been putting good deed cards around it which alhamdulillah has encouraged him to practice those deeds.  

We got the set here from Learning Roots.

Lego Sorting

Today one of Ibby's work box activity was to sort lego onto matching pieces of paper.  He ended up only sorting a few and then he went ahead and made a castle instead. which was fine with me.  As long as he is doing something which stimulates his brain.

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.

Markers

Ibby made it clear to us that he was not into car painting. But, today Yusuf coloured a picture to send in the mail to my parents... and as usual, Ibby was trying to copy. So I got a big bristol board and let him go crazy on the kitchen floor.. which is exactly what he did! He LOVED it! He really enjoyed taking the lids on and off. He loved taking the green markers out of the marker bag... and he definatly prooved that he loves colouring a lot more than Yusuf ever did!

He got some marker on his skin and the floor.. but its washable.. and the mess was so worth keeping him occupied for a good 20 minutes!

Car Painting... with Ibby

I was really excited to do car painting with the boys...since Yusuf loved it last time.. and since Ibby loves cars and coping Yusuf, I thought it would be a hit.

I tried so hard to convince him that it was a lot of fun (the painting in the picture was done entirely by me).
As you can tell from the look on Ibby's face, he was not impressed.....