I havent been able to find time to post stuff, primarily becoz, I have been  formating my syllabus for the summer camp. Its frustrating when you want to try and squeeze as many activities as possible but have to consider

• age difference in children
• skill difference in children
• Certain projects get carried far longer than others
• Certain projects dont actually help in building any skills but kids love it becoz it is fun.

I think I will be keeping the activity time as 2 – 2 1/2 hrs and now how do I manage to squeez two activities in there ??  Big question. Being a parent myself, I know how important it is that you feel the money you put in is worth it in the end. Children should learn a skill, enjoy building it and at the same time get entertained !

The last 6 week programe was jam packed with young and old ones, we had fun and it was really a sucess. 

Hmmm , lets see, I think primarily we can place two activities in a day. One would have to be the skill builder and one the ancillary activity.

I’ve noticed how most of the summer camps just treat kids as cattle and that really upsets me. When my own boys went for the summer classes to Al Nasr leisureland, it was a complete waste. They never learned anything there, they just ” hung around” the pool or the ice rink, ( not included although they had said it was a part of the deal, initially ) There were alittle more than 200 students !! I learned my lesson the hard way. No more packages for me. Although packages are economical, there is always a catch. That we find out after payments are made.   

I wish to keep smaller classes so that, while the kids do make a few friends, they learn a new skill and have someone giving them full attention. 

Anyways, its all a little bit of a messy so ONCE i have handled that, I’ll post some more

Till then ciao.

Do You know                                                                                                                                        

 What will be the first thing that will be asked from this Ummah هلتعلمأنأولمايرفعمنأعمالهذهالأمة؟                  

Five Prayers الصلواتالخمس  
Do You know…
Do you know what was the first prayer offered By Mohammad S.A.W هلتعلمأنأولصلاةصلاهارسولالله؟
It Was Duhr Prayer هيصلاةالظهر
Do You know…
Who will be the first one entering Jannah هلتعلمأنأولمنيقرعبابالجنة؟
He will be Prophet Mohammad S.A.W هومحمد – صلىاللهعليهوسلم
Do You know…
Who will be the first Ummah Entering Jannah هلتعلمأنأولأمةتدخلالجنة؟
It will be Ummah of Prophet Mohammad S.A.W هيأمةمحمدصلىاللهعليهوسلم
Do You know…
Who was the first one who say Azan in heavens هلتعلمأنأولمنأذنفيالسماء؟
He was Jibrail A.S جبريلعليهالسلام
Do You know…
Who first predicted the hours to be twelve هلتعلمأنأولمنقدرالساعاتالاثنىعشرة؟
It was Nooh A.S, who did this when he was on boat to find out the times for prayers نوحعليهالسلامفيالسفينةليعرفمواقيتالصلاة
Do You know…
Who was the first person who said SUBHANA RABBI AL AALA هلتعلمأنأولمنقالسبحانربيالأعلى؟
He was Israfeel A.S. هوإسرافيلعليهالسلام
Do You know…
What was the first ayah revealed from Al-Quran هلتعلمأنأولمانزلمنالقرآنالكريم؟
It was Surah Al-Alaq Ayah 1 اقرأباسمربكالذيخلق
Do You know…
Who first wrote with pen هلتعلمأنأولمنخطبالقلم؟
He was Hazrat Idrees A.S هوإدريسعليهالسلام
Do You know…
What was the last ayah revelaed from Al-Quran هلتعلمأنآخرمانزلمنالقرآنالكريم؟
It was Al-Baqara Ayah 281.. واتقوايوماًترجعونفيهإلىالله
Do You know…
What was the fist verse revealed from Torah هلتعلمأنأولمانزلمنالتوراة؟
It was Bismillah hir rahman nir raheem بسماللهالرحمنالرحيم
Do You know…
What is the most supreme Ayah in Quran هلتعلمأنأعظمآيةفيالقرآنالكريم؟
Its Ayat Al-Kursi ——-Al-Baqara Ayah 255 آيةالكرسي
Do You know…
Whoever says SUBHAN ALLAHi WA BIHAMDIHI hundred 100 times,
All his sins will be forgiven even if they are as much as foam of the sea منقال ( سبحاناللهوبحمده ) مئةمرهغفرت ذنوبهولوكانتمثلزبدالبحر..
Do You know…
Whoever will say LAILLAHA ILLA ANTA SUBHANAKA INNI KUNTU MINAZ ZALIMEEN,
Whenever he is in sorrow, Allah will take away all his sorrows
Just like he saved YUNUS A.S, when he was inside the fish..
Do You know…
The Prophet said منقال ( لآإلهإلآإنتسبحانكإنيكنتمنالظالمين ) وهوفيشدهفرجالله عنه, … كما فرج عن يونس عليه السلآم عندما قال هذه الكلمات في بطن الحوت قالعليهالصلاةوالسلامكلمتانثقيلتانفيالميزانحبيبتانإلىالرحمن
“(There are) two words which are dear to the Beneficent (Allah) and very light (easy) for the tongue (to say),
but very heavy in weight in the balance.
They are: Subhan Allah WA-bi hamdihi’ and ‘Subhan Allah Al-’Azim..” سبحاناللهوبحمده سبحاناللهالعظيم
Do You know…
Ibn-al Qayyaum R.A said: the things that make the body sick are: 
قالابنالقيمرحمهالله أشياءتُمرضالجسم الكلامالكثير النومالكثير * والأكلالكثير *                

Too much talking, Too much sleeping, Too much Eating  
Do You know…
Jabir reported that the Prophet, SAW, said, ‘Whoever says منقالسبحــــاناللهوبحمده.
Subhan-Allah- al-Azim WA bihamdihi (Glorified is Allah, the Great, with all praise due to Him),
will have a palm tree planted for him in paradise.” Reported by Tirmidhi
Do You know…
Juwairiyah bint Al-Harith (May Allah be pleased with her) reported, from the Mother of the Believers:
The Prophet (PBUH) came out from my apartment in the morning as I was busy in performing the dawn prayer. He came back in the forenoon and found me sitting there. The Prophet (PBUH) said, “Are you still in the same position as I left you.” I replied in the affirmative. Thereupon the Prophet said, “I recited four words three times after I had left you. If these are to be weighed against all you have recited since morning, these will be heavier. These are: Subhan-Allahi wa bihamdihi, `adada khalqihi, wa rida nafsihi, wa zinatah `arshihi, wa midada kalimatihi غرستلهبهنخلةفيالجنة. من قال سبحان الله وبحمده عدد خلقه ورضا نفسه وزنة عرشه ومداد كلماته ثلاث مرات سباق مغري إلى الجنة

WORDS OF WITSdom!!

 I don’t know if these are really signs or just the workings of a very creative individual. Either way, they’re fun! 

 Sign over a Gynecologist’s Office:

 ”Dr. Jones, at your cervix.”

 In a Podiatrist’s office:

 ”Time wounds all heels.”

 On a Septic Tank Truck in Oregon :

 ”Yesterday’s Meals on Wheels”

 At a Proctologist’s door:

“To expedite your visit, please back in.”

 On a Plumber’s truck:

 ”Don’t sleep with a drip. Call your plumber.”

 At a Tire Shop in Milwaukee :

“Invite us to your next blowout.” 

 At a Towing company:

“We don’t charge an arm and a leg. We want tows.”

 On an Electrician’s truck:

“Let us remove your shorts.” 

 On a Maternity Room door:

 ”Push. Push. Push.” 

 At an Optometrist’s Office

“If you don’t see what you’re looking for, you’re at the right place.” 

 On a Taxidermist’s window:

“We really know our stuff.” 

 At a Car Dealership:

 ”The best way to get back on your feet — miss a car payment.” 

 Outside a Muffler Shop:

 ”No appointment necessary. We hear you coming.”

 In a Veterinarian’s waiting room:

“Be back in 5 minutes. Sit! Stay!”

 At the Electric Company:

 ”We would be delighted if you send in your payment. However, if you don’t, you will be.”

 In a Restaurant window:

“Don’t stand there and be hungry, Come on in and get fed up.” 

 In the front yard of a Funeral Home:

 ”Drive carefully. We’ll wait.”

 At a Propane Filling Station,

 ”Thank heaven for little grills.”

 And don’t forget the sign at a Chicago Radiator Shop:

“Best place in town to take a leak.”

July 5th .. yeah its been 11 super fantastic years .. with its share of bumps, humps and plenty of fun along the way. Whatever else I opt out for in another life, I still want the same husband and children. He is super duper great and they are just awesome. As always, we dont celebrate. Just to make it different, we treat the kids to a movie and dinner or something similarly excieting.

Much against my wishes we saw Terminator ~Salvation. Not all that fun for me, I prefered Transformers. Loved the movie. I would have prefered Ice Age 3. I am a sucker for any and all animation. 

Dinner was  Chinese at MOE. Twas lovely. Me and my adorable family. Just so perfect when everything underneath is going topsy turvy. Troubles come in 3’s. Got two, waiting for the third one.

The boys made these lovely drawings for us. The photos dont do justice to the sweet thoughts put in.

on my 11 th anniversary, Bilal age 10, Sawaab 8, Eman 7.

This one is from Bilal. His dad is his star, and yes his dad is pretty slim too.

It made me happy to see that my children identify muslim women with Hijaab. This is from Bilal. Ofcourse, He has stated why my face is "yellow"

my little Sawaab has his heart for his abba, he made us origami caps and horns. He also gifted back to me the Ikea coloring set I GOT him coz he felt art supplies would make me happy. awwww sho shweet.

eman thanked abba for helping us keep the house clean ! wow ! He took forever to draw all the details of the house, garage and courtyard !

Sawaab arranging his alphabets

I feel amongst all the activities that I generally experiment with kidz, children enjoy sculpturing the most. Perhaps its one of the only activity that helps them with touch, feel, see and shape abilities. There is a sense of an achievement everytime a young one manages to make a model of a fish or star or anything remotely simple. It is incomparable.    

Either it is entering double digit or its boredom or its being hooked on to the tube thingy, but I can sense Bilal is drifting away from his art retreat.  I feel he has to join us by his own will and need and not becoz I would want him to, so we did’nt force him but the boys and I had a good time with salt dough. This time, I almost made 1 1/2 kg. Part of it is stored in an airtight container in the fridge. 

I gave Eman a free hand at whatever he wished to do. However I did not want them to use cutters and shapers this time. They rolled and punched and egged on the dough. I think we can continue this next week too, coz we have plenty of dough on us still. I made alphabets. Eman’s octopus was the cutest.

Can u spot the octopus ? He managed to make sandwiches, pizzas and burgers too

table full of designs

honest results visible : ' this ' by sawaab

Last week sam was in Libya, Algeria etc and that really left us feeling abit low. I have let the kids completly enjoy the  initial outlet, the kids desperately wanted after the exams, last two to three weeks and now it has started to fade off. They are getting restless and need some form of constructive routine. As such we have been sleeping at the wee hours of the night/morning and having breakfast at lunch !!

 Playstation ~ computer games and Cartoons are the only agendas in their lives at the moment.  These kids have really had to bury their heads in alot many books this year and thats why I felt it was ok to let them just “Chill out”.

Hopefully they will be getting into a better schedule with activities and sports shortly. Till then, I am going to relax too.

Last week, we played with salt. The boys not only made signs and alphabets but they also enjoyed making things with it. I could see sawaab making improvements in his spelling, but unfortunetly there was little to no progress in Eman’s case, it saddened me to see, how desperately he tried and kept trying. There is immense zest in this little fellow to “try” and try he does only he constantly looks at my face for reactions.  He excels with just a little encouragement but perhaps I am the one who really needs to practise more patience with him.

All you need is a large tray, some salt and a few pieces like twigs, combs or plastic knives. It adds a whole lot of fun to an afternoon.

abba I miss u, by sawaab .. message for his father by sawaab

He has written his name : as emna where as it is Eman !

struggling to read and write

Bilal, taking it a step ahead. Blowing to make designs later using a straw too.

Remember I told you in an earlier post, how people here in Dubai, dont mind dumping perfectly good and intact stuff out ! Well, here are another two of my latest finds. They are two paintings… thats right .. original pieces of someones work !!!!!

This one is an oil paint I think.  I like the way, the painting has a border of the same flower pot divided on the frame. Frame looks like Mdf and has a rough paint finish over it.  But it is a very beautiful painting and whats more, it is signed !

wud u want to dump it in the thrash ?

This one has a wooden frame and the painting is created to look aged with a couple of dark lines drawn in halves. And a little paint kinda scraped off on the right corner. Its beautiful, the little teddies have such cute expressions.

bunch of cute little teddies having some fun.

Whats more, both frames and painitings are in excellent state without even a scratch !

Heres a close up.

the close up.

Someone out there must be “deadly” at Scrabble.
(Wait till you see the last one)! 

PRESBYTERIAN: 
When you rearrange the letters:
BEST IN PRAYER

ASTRONOMER: 
When you rearrange the letters:
MOON STARER

DESPERATION: 

When you rearrange the letters:
A ROPE ENDS IT

THE EYES:  
When you rearrange the letters: 
THEY SEE

GEORGE BUSH:
When you rearrange the letters: 
HE BUGS GORE

THE MORSE CODE:
When you rearrange the letters: 
HERE COME DOTS

DORMITORY: 
When you rearrange the letters:
DIRTY ROOM

SLOT MACHINES:
When you rearrange the letters: 
CASH LOST IN ME

ANIMOSITY:
When you rearrange the letters:
IS NO AMITY

 
ELECTION RESULTS:
When you rearrange the letters: 
LIES – LET’S RECOUNT

SNOOZE ALARMS: 
When you rearrange the letters: 
ALAS! NO MORE Z ‘S

A DECIMAL POINT: 
When you rearrange the letters:
I’M A DOT IN PLACE

THE EARTHQUAKES: 
When you rearrange the letters:
THAT QUEER SHAKE

ELEVEN PLUS TWO: 
When you rearrange the letters:
TWELVE PLUS ONE

AND FOR THE GRAND FINALE:

MOTHER-IN-LAW:
When you rearrange the letters: 
WOMAN HITLER

ummmm have been wondering .. .. ..

1. When dog food is new and improved tasting, who tests it? (to be given a thought)
 
  2. If the “black box” flight recorder is never damaged during a plane crash, why isn’t the whole airplane made out of that stuff? (very good thinking)
 
  3. Who copyrighted the copyright symbol? (who knows) 
      
  4. Can you cry under water? (let me try)
 
  5. Why do people say, “you’ve been working like adog” when dogs just sitaround all day? (I think they meant something else)
 
  6. Why are the numbers on a calculator and a phone reversed? (God knows)
 
  7. Do fish ever get thirsty? (let me ask and tell)
 
  8. Can you get cornered in a round room? (by oneseyes)
 
  9. Why do birds not fall out of trees when they sleep? (tonight I will stayand watch)
 
  10. If corn oil is made from corn, and vegetable oilis made from vegetables,then what is baby oil made from? (No comments)
 
  11. What should one call a male ladybird? (Nocomments)
 
  12. If a person suffered from amnesia and then was cured would they rememberthat they forgot? (can somebody help )
 
  13. Can you blow a balloon up under water? (yes u can)
 
  14. Why is it called a “building” when it is already built? (strange isn’t it)
 
  15. If you were traveling at the speed of sound and you turned on your radio would you be ! Able to hear it? (got to think scientifically)
 
  16. If you’re traveling at the speed of light and you turn your headlights on, what happens?
 
  17. Why is it called a TV set when theres only one? (very nice)
 
  18. Why do most cars have speedometers that go up to at least 130 when you legally can’t go that fast on any road?
 
  19. If drink & drive is not allowed why the hell they have parking in Bars?

I received a mail from one of my English cousins and after having a real laugh at the hilarious little story that followed, I realized that although I am not biased towards any one religion, nationality or region, we are still quite bound in these prejeduices, we get influenced by media, even when we are saying one thing, deep rooted in our thoughts, are those of what we believe.

Gujrat is a state in the west wing of India. People are very humble, culturally inclined and traditional. (like in many other parts of India ) I completly enjoy their sense of colors. Personally, I have close friends and family friends from there, so it is easy for me to see where the joke is going !

Most Gujrati people have large or small scale businesses because they are extremly good at calculations and have an excellent business sense.  I think the joke here is talking about one of the many families settled in the US but still follows the same traditions of typical guju, as they are pettingly called. Gift giving is traditonal in India and in most cases, carried too far. One gives it to please others and at the same time it is expected as well from the other end. One makes a real fuss when not given a thought full gift when a relative returns !!

Here goes :

A family in Gujarat was puzzled when the coffin of their dead mother (Ba)
arrived from the US . It was sent
by one of the daughters.

 The dead body was very tightly squeezed inside the coffin, with no space left in
it when they opened the lid;
they found a letter on top addressed to her brothers and sisters:

Dear Chandrakantbhai, Arvindbhai, Smitaben and Varsha ,

I am sending Ba’s body to you, since it was her wish that she should be cremated
in the compound of our
ancestral home in GUJARAT .

Sorry, I could not come along as all of my paid leave is consumed.

You will find inside the coffin, under Ba’s body, cans of cheese, 10 packets of
Tobler chocolates and 8
packets of Badam (peanuts) please divide these among all of you.

On Ba’s feet you will find a new pair of Reebok shoes (size 10) for Mohan. There
are also 2 pairs of shoes
for Radha’s and Lakshmi’s sons. Hope the sizes are correct.

Ba is wearing 6 American T-Shirts. The large size is for Mohan.

Just distribute the rest among yourselves.

 The 2 new Jeans that Ba is wearing are for the boys.

 The Swiss watch that Reema wanted is on Ba’s left wrist. Shanta masi, Ba is
wearing the necklace, earrings
and ring that you asked for. Please take them off her.

The 6 white cotton socks that Ba is wearing must be divided among my nephews.

Please distribute all these fairly.
Love Smita.

PS : If anything more required let me know soon as Bapuji is also not feeling
too well now a days.

In preparation for the holidays, we had done a few “rules list”. We had it printed and pasted. It is really the usual kinda list that helps children focus with what needs to be done instead of ‘expecting’ them to do the “right ” thing when they dont know whats to be done.

I have realized, often we ‘assume’ that the child will understand, but we forget that we take it for granted at age 35+ but the kids are still only 9 yrs and how much did we understand at that age ??  Children need to be given specific tasks.

SCENARIO 1:

Example, when I ask the boys to clean up their room. As much as they would really want to, they attentively go back in and start playing with the first toy that they are supposed to pick from the floor … and another 2 hours later, the same scenario is repeated !

THEREFORE SCENARIO 2:

However, when I yell out,

sawaab – all toys from the floor to be placed in the baskets .

Eman, all clothes in the laundry bin

Bilal, make all beds …

The effect is Immediate and extraordinary.

Sam always says the same thing to the boys, clean the lounge room and they look around thinking, the louge room already looks great.  However when they are given specific instructions, and assigned chores, it makes more sense, not to mention productivity hits great heights.

eg: Eman, pick all wrappers and throw in the trash bin

Bilal : tidy the dining table & do the cushions on the couch ..

Sawaab : Vaccum the carpet  

Voila .. we sit back and reap the many benefits of having a chore chart ..

Oh and by the way, I dont wear horns on my head, not that, ’THAT’ stops my boys from hating me for it. Hey they do get their ice creams and playstation time after all that effort is put in !

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Please refer to this site of :

          
http://www.quranflash.com/en/quranflash.html

 This software is amazing and free download. It has English and Arabic traslations. It can be placed as desktop too. Not to mention the numerous benefits of reading and listening to the Holy Quran. Immense effort has been put forward to make this software and it is clearly visible. Please spread this to all your Muslim friends and relatives and neigbours too.

May we all follow the righteous path of our beloved Prophet (May peace and blessings of Allah be upon him) . Ameen

READ THIS DUAA FOR BETTER LIFE

Allahumma- inni-ala-Zikr-ika-wa Shuk-rika-wa-husni-ibad-atika.

There is no word as beautiful as Allah.
No example as beautiful as Rasulallah(SAW).
No lesson as beautiful as Islam
No song as melodious as Azan.
No charity as meaningful as Zakat.
No encyclopedia as perfect as Al-Quran.
No prayer as perfect as Namaz.
No diet as perfect as fasting.
No journey as perfect as Hajj.

It is said that when the angel of death is taking the rooh (soul) out of the body of who passes away….it is the most painful experience.

They say that when the dead awake on Qayaamat, the effect of the rooh being taken out will still be there.

Therefore, ALLAH has told us to recite the Ayatul-Kursi after every Farz salaat and it is stated that whoever recites this, their rooh will be taken out as you would take out a strand of hair from a pile of flour. How light would that feel, MashaAllah!

May Allah save us from any sort of pain and may He let us die with Imaan in our hearts and save us from the Azaab. Aameen.

A common “MISTAKE” that we do very often these days is that we talk during Azaan.  

The Holy Prophet(SAW) said, Stop doing everything during the Azaan, even reading the Quran, the person who talks during the Azaan will not be able to say the Kalimah-e-Shahadat on his/her death bed….

That is how severely wrong it is to disrespect the call of Azaan, which we take very casually. Please let us remind ourselves, our children, family members, relatives and muslim friends and neigbours of this fact.

“”" The simplicity of Islam. Be humble, be caring, be forgiving, be kind, be generous, When we have fear of Allah in our hearts, how can we go wrong ?? This message came from a dear sister and It had me thinking, ’how many of my dear muslim brothers and sisters really follow the simplicity of Islam. We have also been influenced by the rat race, the constant ” wanting “, the materialistic world and then again, the fear that we will be left behind if we dont accept the changes of the modern society. Please read on and tell me which of the travellers questions are yours and then tell me if your going to follow or have you been following the simple answers given by the Holy Prophet ?  “” 

Oh and as for me ? .. I keep the  “fear of Allah”  in my heart and most of the times, everything falls in the place, the times when they dont, is the time when I get influenced by the worldly wants ” Never the less, I am trying and keep trying my best efforts. While I may not be perfect, I believe that trying my best to practise the religion I love so much and I am proud to be born a Muslim. I hope and pray to ALLAH that he will accept my best practises and will keep me from the hell fire, inshallah.

A traveler once came to the Masjid of Prophet Sallallahu-alayhe-wa-sallam (PBUH)and ask few questions. 

It is so unfortunate that we turn to any and every source of relief for our pains except the ONLY ONE that can heal permanently. Quran Pak has all the keys, all the answers to all our problems yet we prefer to take the ” worldly ” solution. May we all turn to these surahs in times of need and otherwise too. Ameen

SURAH’S OF THE QURAN