the best days....

The best days are those days that the kids wake up thinking that it’s going to be a day of workbooks, numeracy, writing.....they slowly do their morning routine and make their way to the table, and then.....you tell them...put your shoes on kids, were going out! And the real excitement begins when you tell them that you’re going to their favourite science museum where there’ll be plenty of hands on activities, a planetarium and a huge dinosaur head. When you’re a child, what can be better than news like that?

harvest

although this relationship has been a rocky one, and although we didn't get to spend much time together, we didn't bond very well or hit it off immediately, i know it's going to be a long term relationship (between myself and my allotment that is).

we didn't get a lot of anything, but we did get a little bit of everything, Alhamdulillah.

archery

a great sport, a sport that requires a great deal of skill and patience.

the kids got really stuck in, and those of us who couldn't get stuck into the archery, got stuck into other things instead.

friday.

friday. a blessed day. a day full of remembrance of Allah and going to the mosque. a day of reciting the Qur'an. a day in the week that rounds up the days of the past week and prepares us for the week to come. a day that we call Jumu'ah.

what better way to start this blessed day with freshly made bread, fresh jam and fresh local honey and a hot cup of coffee.

perfect. Alhamdulillah.

:: weekending ::

the honey show was the highlight of our weekend. we saw live honey bees in action, the kids enjoyed searching for the queen bee. there was fresh local honey on sale. they rolled beeswax candles. the gardens were great, there were fruit orchards and vegetable patches, the kids got to do lots of forest foraging, discovering, finding, playing, and the bonus was that the sun came out, Alhamdulillah.

it was definitely a place that fed the mind and nurtured the soul, Alahmdulillah.

we've been discussing bees ever since we got home that day, we've learned so much but there is definitely a lot more learning to be done.

i'd like to end this post with a little reminder for all of us:

'And thy Lord taught the bee to build its cells in hills, on trees and in (men's) habitations..... there issues from within their bodies a drink of varying colours, wherein is healing for mankind. Verily in this is a Sign for those who give thought'.(Translation of Quran 16:68-69)

In addition, the Prophet (PBUH) said:
'Honey is a remedy for every illness and the Qur'an is a remedy for all illness of the mind, therefore I recommend to you both remedies, the Qur'an and honey.'(Bukhari)

space frieze

this has been a work in progress for long time now! but finally alhamdulillah we've got it on the walls.

the components of this frieze have been ready and sitting at the bottom of the drawer for months, the kids kept nagging me to put it up, and i kept telling them that we didn't have enough blue-tac, well it's true we didn't (uh-hum), but finally we got there, and it looks brilliant.

most of the planets are made from paper plates, and the larger ones are cut out from cereal boxes, the stars in the background were happily done by my kids who couldn't beleive that they were being allowed to splatter paint everywhere.

we will keep adding to it, inshallah, moons need to be added, may be some shooting stars and perhaps a rocket, and don't how long it will take us to 'completely' finish it, but for now, i'm just happy that it's up.

eid

:: happiness :: family :: food :: presents :: morning prayer at the mosque :: food :: visiting people :: laughter :: brownies :: excitement :: overwhelming :: food ::

just some words that remind me of our day.