Our holidays in pics!

Assalamu alaykum,
the almost 3 weeks out of school are now over. Kids are back to school and I am back to my normal routine. During the past 3 weeks we have been busy catching up visiting places we love such as the Natural History Museum, the Science Museum, the Transport Museum and of course more local to us, Discover!
Kids had the opportunity for the first time to ice-skate and to my surprise the younger one was the best at it! Mash'Allah :)
Days have passed by so quickly and I didn't have any time to stop and sit. There has been a constant use of the Internet. Kids have discovered new websites such as Education City and E-Learning.
Qur'an and Arabic has been on as usual and S. is almost at the end of Juzz Amma with recitation as well as tajweed. Mash'Allah tabarkallah!

Now I have been having big issue with my eldest to get him pray and sincerely this time I don't know what to do. I have tried them all but every time it is the same answer 'No'. I really need some help here. When I call him to pray he seems always too busy and too careless to think about praying. I have explained to him how important it is to pray and how much rewards he will have if he keeps up with his prayers. I haven't asked him yet to pray 5 times a day. Although when he used to be 7 he used to pray all his prayers no problem. In a way i knew things would change with years passing and I see others sisters struggling with their kids too. But what to do? I fear that by next year when he will be 10 he won;t be ready to pray his 5 prayers and that would make my life harder and bitter.
I need some tips to help him and help me to understand what I should do. Insh'Allah.
Please do make duas for my child.

for now
wa alaykum assalam
x

fajr time mash'Allah!

Chicken pie. Kids helped with the pastry. Comfort food for cold days.

Making an ice cave at Discover.

One of the many activities for the kids during the holidays.

Baby's making his very own ice cave using loads of glue! :)

The spoon activity. S. loves this one every time we go to Discover.

Baby dressed as a chick so cute mash'Allah!

My three boys, all dressed up to impress :))

'Suburbia' a new area at the Transport Museum

Some well-deserved rest after a day at the Museum

Ummi, I got lost! Where to now?

Beautiful coach, old style. Imagine it used to run in Oxford Street!!

So cute!

Baby gangster with his favourite drink...:)

Pure fun and sweating at the ice rink.

I enjoyed the most sitting warmly at the cafe' just above

the ice rink with a hot cup of choc.Yum!

S.pet, Hammy!So sweet and a very intelligent pet.

There is the time for this and the time for...

that!
Assalamu alaykum to all my readers,
we had the most beautiful past 3 days for a loooooong time!!!!
These past three days have brought so much joy, peace and I feel recharge and full of energy! Hamdulillah!
We have had a very busy year and I have been pondering over our progresses. What have we learnt? It all looked grey and gloomy until few days ago. It is now crystal clear and I am happy I had time to go out, see other sisters, reflecting over important decisions and gathering all my thoughts together!
I feel that the decision to put the kids to school for now it is indeed the right one. I see myself with too much on my plate and wanted to do too much it has always been a very bad habit of mine!
I am extremely organized mash'Allah but that in itself could be a good or a bad thing! Good when you have 3 very active boys and husband to look after! Bad when you have to stick to the schedule and leave no time to rest because you have it all timed! Hamdulillah!
My kitchen cupboards are organized, my wardrobes are organised and the kids' bookcase and files are but...I now feel the need to break the rules and get a back seat and just relax. I have a whole year to do that! I feel I need to 'schedule' my pleasure and free time, 'organize' my breaks and rest.
-I have my University to finish, not that a degree is something I desperately seek, just the pleasure of life! :) ;
-I desperately and I repeat DESPERATELY want to go back to study my deen inside out!!!;
-I want to learn some Tafseer and go back to tajweed;
-I want to go back to knitting and felting!!!
And so much more...
I see my kids had 6 years of great fun at home, tears and joy! They learnt a whole lot more that I could ever imagined them to! My eldest just turned 9 years on August and I see the changes in my little growing man!
He wants a bit of Independence, of course he is still too small for that...but where I was born and brought up we enjoyed the fresh air 365 days a year no matter what age! I was brought in a small village, we played with raw materials: stones and mud, leaves and flowers! I know ho to milk a sheep and a cow, I can ride a horse and collect the eggs from the chicken. Hamdulillah for those small pleasure in life! I see my kids stuck in 4 walls everyday. Homeschooling brought so much happiness in our home but at the same time I feel my kids need to see and relate with a different environment. So for this year, school will be! Insh'Allah! A big change that will open different doors...insh'Allah.

Back on our great past 3 days! We had a wonderful 'eid. Prayed at one of the biggest Mosque in London and enjoyed the company of a dear sister and her family mash'Allah. We had a meal out and the kids for the first time in years received no just sweets and books as usual, but toys! Mash'Allah! Uncles and aunties have been pretty generous, hamdulillah!
The day after we were invited over to a really nice party. Kids played all afternoon, jumping on and off the bouncy castle while mums were having the most delicious BBQ and cakes! Yummy! Of course kids ate too :)
Today, we were at another party and guess what? More bouncy castle, cakes, BBQ, and great company!Hamdulillah! Chatted with a really nice sister. I relate so much to what she was telling me about homeschooling and having no support, help or appreciation. She felt lonely and needed not just encouragement and support but financial help. Her husband was of the idea that school was the best and never thought of given her money to buy books and materials for her kids. After all homeschooling is expensive! She left homeschooling as she had too much stress and pressure. Now her kids are at state school and she feel happier as she knows her husband is the responsible in front of Allah for the education of the family.
I myself took a great responsibility for my kids; i tried to do my best for the past 6 years and hamdulillah I see the results in my kids but I am also too aware that if my health is no good for a while my kids are all alone! And Allah knows best.

This year 'eid have been a real time for me and family to spend some good quality time together, for the kids to celebrate with their friends, and for me specially to lighten up the heavy weight I had on top of myself for too long! And hamdulillah!
There is a time for everything, for me and for my family, for homeschooling and for school...a time for this and a time for that.

wa alaykum assalam
x

Just pics...

Assalamu alaykum


I have been not too well lately and decided to stop homeschooling and start our holidays. I thought to homeschool the boys throughout the summer but I had to stop 'cause of my health. I would have to slow down anyway as the boys will be busy with the free courses I registered them to. Hamdulillah and certainly Allah is the best Planner, la hawla wa la quwwata illah billah!!

So here are some pics of our past week or so. Hope you like them.

And for now happy summer holidays to you all.


Wa alaykum assalam

Last on the right. S art work

Canary Wharf Building
Watching a hockey game

Trying out a new sport

A. 99 names of Allah rocket

S. rocket

A. wrote a book for kids ages 3-4 about Tawheed

Leaflet about Tawheed for non Muslims made by A.

S. poster about Tawheed 'Who created us?' 'Who created everything?'

A new visit down the sea

Finally a sandy beach

Tiles anyone? Or maybe some potatoes?

Assalamu alaykum,

I am feeling quite relaxed this evening.My exams are almost over, two down and one to go! I did well and so far I received only one of the two exams outcome and I passed! Mash'Allah wa hamdulillah!

So this evening, after a long day in central London sitting in a big hall with lots of other students, I decided to sit and rest a bit. Just browsing around and catching up with others' blogs and forums. Kids are in bed reading their books. Baby is fast asleep and the house is quite! Just what my brain and body need right now.

This week has been a very hectic one for me and family all. My preparation to the exams took all my time and that meant little homeschooling and lots of fun for the kids! Not much fun for me that I took my course books literally every where we went!

Following are some of the activities in pics.

So now all I have to do is 'the List':

-kids attended a workshop in the British Museum about Islamic tiling and produced some nice tiles, hubby joined too for the first time!;

-We took our potatoes out the ground and made a nice summer salad with them, really delicious!;

-one more picnic in Regents Park, kids enjoyed the weather in the playground.

Quran and Arabic was on as usual and we carried on using the tafseer booklets. We are also re-reading the stories of the prophets and S. is joining in with Qs. and As. quiz.

Swimming and wrestling has carried on as normal and soon they will have an exam to check their abilities in both sport. A new tournament is on the horizon...

For now it's about it! Happy home education to all and enjoy the weather! :)

Great weather for a picnic

Kids tiles up on their bedroom wall
Some more tiles from other children and adults too ;)
A.'s tiles, before you ask the red one are roses not hearts
and the blue dots are not baloons but leaves!

S.'s tiles some flowers and leaves

In the process...

Almost there...

Summer salad with freshly produced, home made potatoes Freshly out the ground

In the end we took the potatoes out!