Still on vacation!

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll! I am kinda sorry I didn't bring my laptop because I could have been downloading and sharing photos as we go. Alhamdulillah, our other one is being repaired so I left it at home for A. Also I didn't really need yet another bag to keep up with, now did I?

I am having a great time but feel guilty being away from A. He got sick, Yousef the youngest got sick and Nurse Jeanna is nowhere around. Alhamdulillah. Insha'allah they are both on the mend and I guess this will make my market value raise even more, yeah? ;-)

My family celebrates Thanksgiving every year. I do attend as it isn't a religious gathering for my family, just about family and good food! So this year masha'allah they decided to have it in October so I could be present. We had it at my sister's soon to be opened restaurant, The Groovy Dawg Cafe. :-) It was great and so much fun masha'Allah. Zachary sang and played his guitar and Aaminah even joined in the fun. And yes, sisters, I know music is haram, I know stringed instruments are haram. My son isn't Muslim, he is a Christian, I just enjoyed spending time with him while he enjoyed himself.

My sons are huge masha'Allah! Such wonderful young men. I could really just go on and on about them. I love them so much and now it will be even harder to leave them. It's difficult because I love A so much and I love my sons and right now, those 2 things are in different places. Insha'allah it will all work out and please sisters make dua for us that Allah reunited us all soon amin!

OK I need to go. Just wanted to update, and thank my followers. Really I love knowing that people keep up with my life and that insha'Allah I have such a beautiful circle of sisters who love me for the sake of Allah swt as I love each and every one of you. We may not meet in person but we can pray for each other and beseech Allah to help and guide the others in times of distress and crisis.

May Allah bless us all amin!!!!

"Together we read"

A'salaamu alaikum ya'll! Umm an'Numan has started a neat project on her blog "A Muslim Child is Born". It's called "Together we read" and is designed to encourage parents to spend time reading aloud to their child and also insha'allah engage in related learning activities.

Alhamdulillah reading aloud with Aaminah (and my boys when they were little!) has always been an easy thing for me to do. We enjoy it so much and truly it is a great bonding experience and has helped my kids tremendously. My boys had large vocabularies from the time they were small and it helped foster a love of reading in them that lasts to this day.

Aaminah loooooves to read masha'Allah! One, two, three, four a night... that isn't enough. Even when she was tiny (just a year old) I would (I am ashamed to say!) hide her books after I had read them 3 times each! Really I would have had no rest. lol Now she has her favorites and I will "review" them here insha'Allah. :-)

She really loves "Kitty Up" by Elizabeth Wojtusik (illustrated by Sachiko Yoshikawa).



It is a pretty simple book with lots of repetition (great for little minds!). Here is an excerpt:

"Kitty up, kitty down. Kitty square, kitty round." Catchy rhymes, brightly colored pictures, lots of action; this makes a toddler classic! To be honest, when I first read this book I thought, um yeah kinda simple. Like my daughter needs to read the encyclopedia. haha Anyway it was an instant hit and its part of our daily repetoire now masha'Allah.

I would recommend this book for anyone with an infant/toddler, especially if that loves animals and really, what little person doesn't?

We haven't done any related activities yet for this; unfortunately I am not as creative as some of my other sisters and am still acclimating to being an insta-mom of 6 so bear with me insha'Allah!

Happy reading and ma salaama...

Liiiiiiive from Ajman! (Or...sorry it's been so long!!)

*Photo: I took this a few days ago. Is a really beautiful masha'allah! I wish blogger would allow me to post more photos EASILY. I have soo many to choose from!*

A'salaamu alaikum and hello!!!!! Sorry it's been such a long time. Aami and I arrive in Ajman, UAE on Monday September 28. Since then we have been acclimating ourselves to a new country and a new family. Masha'Allah everything has been going GREAT!!!

I could not ASK for a better husband. Alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah, alhamdulillah! He is sweet, kind, supportive and understanding. Say masha'allah tabarakallah please. :-)

I have so many experiences to blog about but soo little time! My observations about life in UAE, I have already 200 photos and I started a new job. Really a total life change except I am of course still a Muslimah, a mommy, a wife, a sister... all that stuff. :-) But the details.. all different now.

Our flight was interesting, to say the least! I had written an email about it and I might amend it to post on here. It was funny and a bit stressful but sooo worth it in the end masha'allah.

My job... that is worth a post or two on its own! I am a KG teacher here in UAE at a British curriculum school. I won't of course post particulars about my students by name and I won't post photos but I will tell about my experiences working in the Gulf for others who might want to follow.

One big change has been mine and Aami's eating habits. My husband is a verrry healthy eater and of course it is rubbing off on us! Alhamdulillah. We eat whole foods, fruits, veggies and some meat of course. Aami and I have had a cheeseburger from Hardees and a chicken sandwich at a local mall but otherwise are eating "clean and green". ;-) I think that phrase can apply to sooo many things!!!

Anyway here is a sample of what we eat:

1. Hummus. Fresh, cooked at home. Abdu made the chickpeas and instructed me on the rest. Grind your chickpeas with a little water and salt and garlic. About 5 cloves, peeled. This is your base. Lasts for a week in the fridge. When you are ready to eat, jazz it up! Add spices (red pepper and cumin are favorites) some chopped tomatoes and cucumbers and then finish it off with a good drizzle of olive oil. YUM.

2. Fool madammas. This is fava beans (fool) cooked and mashed (madammas). So simple and yummy plus is healthy! We used canned beans btw. Take a tomato or two, chop it finely. Add some chopped garlic, onion, and cumin, red pepper, and fragrant spice mix (cinnamon, cardamom are in it) and fry lightly over low heat for a few minutes, stirring often. Soften the tomatoes this way. Then mix in the beans, heat thoroughly. Remove from stove, mash with fork. Drizzle with olive oil and serve with thin pita bread. Once again, YUM. Aami loves this, sans the pepper.

3. Fresh fruits. Self explanatory. :-)

4. I made veggies tuna salad today. Chopped cucumbers, grated carrots, and finely diced onion mixed with tuna and a judicious amount of mayonnaise. I put Aami's into soft white bread bun and put Abdu's into whole wheat pita. It was really good!

5. Tea. Yes this is a food group/meal. :-) Tea with milk and sugar, yum. Add a plate of biscuits (lightly sweetened crackers) and you are good to go!

6. Packed lunches. Sometimes leftovers (like chicken and rice) but just for Aami. Here lunch is a LIGHT affair. I usually take some bread (not sliced white) and spread a bit of peanut butter on it. Did the same with a a fruit and nut pancake I made too. Of course yoghurt is always a winner! The other teachers at the school exemplify Arabic hospitality so each day I get little bits and bites of their food. Yum. I will reciprocate insha'allah soon!

OK so this is just an idea. Light, healthy, big on fruits, veggies, and salad. Light on the meat and of course Aami has milk. Those who know me know I am WEIRD about drinking any milk other than what I am used to so... I haven't ventured into "shelf stable" milk territory yet. :-)

Oh I drove. I was nervous. I did a good job (masha'Allah). It wasn't trafficky. lol Anyway I need to start driving myself to school but I don't like round abouts!!! I also don't like feeling incompetent. Sigh... insha'Allah I'll master it soon. Make du'a for me. Really please.

OK I have sooo much more I want to say but it's almost 3 am. I am not longer jet lagged but I woke up and thought... hmm good time. Aami doesn't like sharing my time alhamdulillah so is easier for me when she is asleep. :-)

I will start to write regularly because I really want a log of all my experiences; I don't want to forget them! So insha'Allah you should all see a huge spike in my writing now. Pleae make du'a for my family and I that Allah blesses us and makes things easy for us, amin!!!!

Ma salaam,

Umm Aaminah