Thursday, April 29, 2010

Like I live in a big city!

I was planning to write about something else today, but looks like i have no energy.. SubhanaAllah i spent almost two hours in a bus today! It's like we live in a large city lol.. Everything started when i got letter that they give me 10 times physiotherapy in a place on the other side of town.. It's about 15-16 km to go there. so, i've been there a couple of times. It's good mashaAllah. I'm happy that i get to go and may get some help for the pain.

So, in the same area there's a pharmacy, which is right next to the bus stop and inside. So I decided as i will be going there all the time, I will my paper for free medicine in that pharmancy. Then, a few days ago nader had his ears checked because he had infection in them a few weeks ago. He had a new infection and needed antibiotics. Alhamdulildh he didb't have pain.

So i was planning to take the medicine from the pharmacy the next day when I was supposed to have my next physiotherapy appointment. Then I was called that it was canceled.. so i thought that i'll take it on friday when my next appointment is.

One day before, today, i got a phone call. it was canceled again. so, now i had to go and get nader's medicine from a place which is 15 km away and it takes 50 min to get there. i had Ali here too, so i took the double stroller and let Ali and Deena sit. Nader said he can manage walking, and he was really brave and nice boy all day.

So we took a bus from the nearest bus stop and drove allll the way to the other side of the town. it took about 50 minutes :P . because it was so far i wanted to see what else there is. we got there and i decided to use the shops there too.. we usually never go in that area, so it was a good chance to check it out. On the way we saw a place where the people from church were giving out free food bags. We were offered to have some, but I didn't feel that I needed so I didn't wanna take from someone who needed it more. since this happened Deena was complaining that she needs cookies or she will die (the free food bags had cookies ) :P

I bought 3 full bags of food ;P subhanaAllah they were heavy.. It's good I had that double stroller. Ali was sitting on the other side and the other side was full of food :))) . We had also some potato chips, juice, chocolate, candy etc.. donjana has some party at school tomorrow so I needed to get her some goodies. Then we got nader's medicine and headed home. subhanaAllah, another 50 mins in a bus!. all the kids were quite nicely today! Alhamdulilah. Now i really need to rest! I feel like a truck that has been driving over me.

It's so funny. This town is not large, but still it takes like 100 mins to get to the other side of the town. standing in the bus, holding the heavy stroller really took all the juices outta me :P . i can't keep my eyes open and it's barely midnight..

Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Pea bag duck and Pippi-doll, with short drama and instructions :P

, photoslol i guess sooner or later all the parents hear the sentence "everyone has it, i'm the only one who doesn't!!!" donjana has been repeating that for two weeks now.

so now you're wondering what everyone has? hehe.. everyone has something that is related to Pippi Longstocking. books, dolls, videos.. donjana's class has been talking about PIPPI as a part of some culture project or something. they're making a small exhibition of all the stuff related to that character. the only thing we have here at home are deena's pippi-wellies. i didn't let donjana take them to school because it might rain so deena would need them. donjana was so sad because EVERYONE else brought something to school! so, i made her a Pippi-doll. it's very simple and i made it also kinda more correct islamically, the face is not complete ;)

here is some kind of pattern for Pippi Longstocking doll, with instructions. i didn't put any measurements because this can be made what ever size you want.









donjana made a cute pea bag duck at school. deena and nader wanted to have it for themselves so i made them own ones. the idea is not mine so i don't want to take credit for it. this is how i made them.




Donjana's cute, hand made pea bag duck ♥

Monday, April 26, 2010

A beautiful, sunny day at the luna park!




Salam Aleikum ladies!

Today we woke up for a beautiful, sunny day mashaAllah! I wanted to do something fun with the kids so i got an idea. Like every spring, the traveling luna park is in town. They bring it here for the 1st of May festival, but because we don't celebrate it nor we like the way it's celebrated here in Finland, I prefer to go there on another day. So, today was the day!



So I called Nadia, my daughter, in the morning and asked if she'd like to come with us and take Laila and Ali there. She got exited, so we dressed the kids up and left. YAY!

The kids were soooo exited mashaAllah! They all got to try different equipment (is that what you call all those things? :D ). Donjana was brave enough to go to one which is meant for adults and bigger children while I was busy putting Ali to a carousel. Ali was so serious riding his motorbike. He chose it over police car, fire car, formula, rabbit, squirrel, camel etc.. lol he is a MAN! mashaAllah!

All the kids except Ali went to a big swing carousel. First Nader was a bit concern that he'll fall off of it, ut he ended up loving it! They all enjoyed it so much mashaAllah!

Next thing was the jumping cars! The kids had a blast! Ali + Deena and Laila + Nader, two couples, were lucky to have two steering wheels in their cars lol.. I wonder what would happen if real cars would have two as well.. I'm pretty sure that men would go nuts! :P

Of course there's also a traditional horse carousel in all this kind of places. As expected, Deena had to ride a horse. It's a must for her every time we go there! Ali and Laila chose a carriage.. Laila said it's for Cinderella.. Of course. She is such a romantic girl and loves princess stories mashaAllah.



While Deena, Ali and Laila were in a horse carousel Nader wanted to be a flying saucer pilot lol! He loved it! MashaAllah!

While I was waiting for the kids I was playing with my camera. Front lcd is so cool ;). When I took a pic of myself, other people thought I'm shooting at the kids :D .

Everyone got a chance to have fun alhamdulilah! Even Nadia and I went to one thingy, which is called Waltzer. We asked a class room mate of hers to watch the kids so we could go together. YAY! I haven't got that experience in a while.. In a few years I would say..

There was also a show, where a man rode a motorbike on a string up to the Giant Wheel. Another man was hanging under it in a metal swing. The kids liked it and were really exited.




Before we left we went to the Giant Wheel all together. Nader the Man was spinning our 'basket' all the time really fast. It was so funny, like he had to show his muscles and man power mashaAllah. He was the one who didn't actually want to go to the wheel, but when the time was up we had to tell him to stop spinning so that we could step down from our 'basket'.



After all the fun we bought some candy floss and started walking to the bus stop. Alhamdulilah we didn't have to wait too long. waiting is not actually so much fun with the kids..

Everyne was hungry, so before going home we took the kids to eat hamburgers to Hesburger, the best local burger restaurant. The food was really tasty, like always mashaAllah. Not so healthy though, but it's not something we do every day so it's not so bad :P . And of course the kids had to get a chance to play a bit in Hesburgers 'sea of balls' before we headed home.

It was a long, fun day and we got home exhausted. Nader had to throw a little fit in the bus on the way back. I guess his day is just not complete without one.. He wanted to sit alone in the other end of the bus. We told him he can sit alone near us, but he wasn't happy about it. He wanted to go and sit between strangers so far that i wouldn't see him. I didn't let him, so we had a 'concert' all the way back home. But the rest of the day was really nice! :D

Alhamdulilah for this kind of lovely days I get to spend with my loved ones! ♥ InshaAllah there's many more to come!

Thursday, April 22, 2010

Children are such a blessing!

I love all my children so much! It's amazing how there will always be enough love to share, no matter how many kids there is! I have 6 of them, so I should know.

The older three already live life on their own, so they're not around every day. Nadia has a family on her own. Amira is getting married this summer, and Samuli.. He just doesn't feel like hanging around with his mom anymore. .But the younger three! They are hanging on my leg.. 24/7! And I don't know what I would do without them! Who would I be?


MashaAllah Donjana is the first child i had together with dh, so in a way iI started from the beginning when i had her. Samuli was already 8 that time, so they had a big age difference too. Before i got pregnant with her i had a miscarriage, so me and dh were feeling so blessed when we had that lovely little baby girl!

I enjoyed Donjana's baby time sooooo much..
My older kids were helping me a lot so I could spend hours alone with her, feeding her, playing with her, telling her stories or singing to her. . I think that's why we've always been so close. She learned pretty soon that she is special, I think she took everything out of being the baby of the family.. And I'm happy that she did. After all, she was the youngest one only for 2 years and 2 months.

Donjana has a hot temper, but she was never too difficult alhamdulilah. Now she is already at school, on the first grade. MashaAllah she is a good student. Often she tells me when some other pupil has been disturbing the class or kids have been teasing someone or such, and then she says: but mom, I was just nicely sitting by my desk, I don't do those things. And she loves her Arabic and Islamic lessons. Alhamdulilah they have them at school. She loves reading too, and often reads her 'Children book of Islam'. MashaAllah mashaAllah she is a lovely girl.

So, then came Deena. Already the pregnancy caused more problems to me than my other pregnancies, so I was expecting her to be all FIRE! And she is. MashaAllah she is hot tempered, but she calms down easily too. This was quite clear to the whole family since Deena was born.


That night when she was born I was quite weak. I had lost some blood and they told me to stay in bed. I had Deena next to me. It was a private room, so there was no other company. Not that I needed that anyway! And something amazing happened. She gave me a biiiig smile, just like that! I tell you sisters, it wasn't just her face movements from pain in stomach, like many people have said. She smiled! I know it! Even her eyes were smiling! For a moment I thought she wants to say something. She looked like she knows so much more than me! MashaAllah my beautiful little girl!

Her temper was so funny.. When normally baby wakes up in the night, she first makes some smaller noises and later cries. But Deena.. She woke up screaming! No warnings beforehand. Hehe.. It was cute, but sometimes not so much fun.. The whole house was easily disturbed if her bottle wasn't ready!

She truly is my sunshine mashaAllah! And it's quite easy to notice that she is the middle child. The syndrome is so clear.. She needs attention. After that some more attention. When she got that, she asks for a little attention. Etc. She needs to have more than others from everything! Alhamdulilah she is not that kind who keeps repeating about the same thing, once she sees no result she gives up.

She doesn't like dolls, she prefers soft toys. And she loves drawing so much! And she loves to help her mother, f that doesn't include cleaning up her own mess in her room! I can't believe that she is already going to pre-school in the autumn!
MashaAllah she is really a sweetheart.

Deena was only one year and 3 months and barely learned to walk before Nader was born. It was kind of hectic time in my life. My older kids were not much helping me anymore. Nadia had her own family and Laila, my granddaughter, was born already, and Amira was busy with school. Samuli spent all his time skateboarding.. I had my hands ful with laundry, cooking, cleaning.. Three small kids and teenagers.. SubhanaAllah I survived!

Nader was quite an easy baby. He didn't even co-sleep like the others, he learned to be in his own bed since he was little. I thought he will be a very easy toddler too, but little did I know..


I think first he followed Deena's behavior, but then he realized he can start something on his own. Before Nader I must say I didn't have much experience of tantrums. Almost all the kids have one sometimes, but none of my kids had had a real problem with it. But this boy.. SubhanaAllah he was only 7 months old when he showed it the first time! He was sitting in his high chair and I was feeding him. He wanted a spoon and when he didn't get it, he threw himself backwards almost out of the chair.. He shouted maybe 20 minutes.. That's when I knew I was in trouble..

Nader has got tantrums everywhere we go, and he still does it sometimes. Nothing helps. I've tried shouting, ignoring, taking his attention somewhere else, blackmailing, corruption, taking toy away, some charts and stuff.. Nothing helps. So I let him shout and show him he can't get his way, then after a while I ask if he wants a hug. If he does it's usually over, but if he doesn't I try again later. He is 4 years old now, he should be over it soon inshaAllah, isn't it?

Well.. Nader is not only a trouble maker. He is a very sweet boy, who loves hugs and kisses. He loves running games, action, and all kinds of sticks.. and Ninja Trutles, Spiderman and Batman. Often I spend time with him when the girls are busy with their own stuff. He seems to love his mom very much mashaAllah.

I told earlier that he was easy to put down to his own bed.. Well yeah.. He was - before he learned how to climb out of his crib when he was 1 year old. Since then he was practically co-sleeping and he would still like to be. I put him to his bed every night, but he is always next to me when i wake up. It's a bit annoying, but I know I will miss that some day.. Seems like he will be my last baby. I'd take one more though inshaAllah.


We're often busy with house work, cooking, cleaning, or some of our own stuff, but we should always remember that the kids are small for only a while. Little laundry, dishes or dust balls don't run away if we make them wait. They stay forever, but the kids don't. It's so easy to tell the child: ''I don't have time now''. I must admit I do it too often. My kids ask a lot, so sometimes i just have to. But I really try not to. Some day they may stop asking, or go ask someone or somewhere else.. I still remember the feeling when I was young myself, and tried to explain something important to my parents and they didn't listen.

That's why I try to give my kids as much time as possible. I love to do all kinds of things with them! Taking them out to play, long walks in the nature, taking them to different playgrounds etc.. It's fun to do some crafts with the kids, or play board games, or just be together doing nothing special! I hope they remember that some day and do the same to their own kids. And inshaAllah when we're old they will remember us and give us some of their time.


Children are such a blessing! MashaAllah!

Tuesday, April 20, 2010

Welcome to my world!!!

Salam Aleikum wa Rahmatullahi wa Barakatuh!

Oh wow, am I surprised that so many people have already asked to be invited to my blog? And I only started yesterday ;) . I hope I don't disappoint you all.. I don't know if i really have that much to say.. Anyway, I am happy to see that so many are interested..


Yesterday when I started, I collected quite a selection of different posts, so yall can see what this is going to be about. All about kids, baking, knitting, gardening and reading.. And Islam, my way of life. So when you enter here, start from the bottom of my posts hehe.. Besides this, there is already eight of them! :D Not because I was exited when i started this :P . Or maybe I was after all! Jazakillah Khir Kristie for putting the pressure on me ♥ I love you sis!



Take a look at my purse and what's in it. That's a good way to get to know me better :D .




tuna pie! my favorite!






this is something that can be done sooo many different ways and it always comes good. i never measure a thing, so yall have to try your luck if you want to try this. the under part (what you call it?) has only butter, white flour and a drop of cold water.



the filling has two cans of fresh cream (=soured cream, it can also be one can fresh and one normal cream), big cup of grated cheese, 2 eggs and spices.. and a can of tuna of course. instead of tuna it can be also shrimps, smoked turkey, veggies , for example tomato slices, etc.. some of the cheese can be replaced with feta cheese.

roll-cake (swiss roll)

i made kääretorttu today! it's very simple and you can fill it up with many different ways!

here's the recipe:


3 eggs

1 dl sugar

2 dl white flour

1 tea spoon of baking powder

(some vanilla if you like, but it's not a must. i use 1 spoonful of vanilla sugar)
½dl milk or low fat cream




whip eggs and sugar. mix the baking powder to the flour and add to the egg-sugar foam. mix well and then add the milk/cream.

place baking paper on oven tray and fold from corners (about 30cmx40cm) spread the dough on paper and bake in 250○C for a couple of minutes until it get a little colour

then place a piece of baking paper on the table (bigger than the cake lol) and whip some sugar on it. take the cake from the oven and turn it on the sugar coated paper so that the top side comes under. remove the paper that was under the cake in the oven
spread jam on the cake (you can also add whipped cream or cream cheese (like philadelphia) or butter cream or mashed fruits or berries). leave about 4 cm from the other side clean. roll the cake using the paper under it. make as tight as you can. put to the refrigerator for a while.
cut to slices and enjoy
as special addition you can add whipped cream, sprinkles or candy on the slices.

the worlds best cake recipe

nader was teaching me how to bake a cake, so here are his instructions




''first you put some flour.. and sugar.. and eggs.. and strawberries.. and chocolate.. and macaroni''




''then you put more and more.. and more.. and more.. put so much that it doesn't fit in the pot and then all the dough falls out and you can eat it. it tastes good. if you cook it it doesn't taste as good. but i still like it''




''it's ready, but you can't eat it because it's mine. or do you want a piece? ok. i give you. but small piece. and don't drop it on the ground. you have to put it back after you've eaten it... ''


bon appetite :D

i love photography!



i'm such an amateur :P




but that won't stop me.


i like photographing so


i sneak around with my camera anyway.



sometimes the result is just blahh.


but sometimes i get lucky.


i like to take pics of random things.


oh yes, i said random..


or what do yall think?


i'm pretty sure you agree..


if not before, but after seeing this you will :D.

.
i may never be a professional, but i will be trying mashaAllah.

you like teddies? i like teddies!

and the young ones love them! so i have made crocheted teddies to my kiddies and some others too.



it all started from this. i wanted to make a special gift for little Ali so i just started something.. it was about midnight already.. 6 am i was done. after this everyone has wanted these teddies.. orders come from door and windows. but i have one problem.. i've got only two hands.. there's just not enough time to make as many as i want.



if ali got one, nader has to have one too, right?



and the girls as well..





and this one went to a very special little girl. it wears hijab..

my dear hobby: knitting.. and a bit crocheting too..

salam!

i just love knitting! i have to have something to do with my hands all the time. can't watch tv or something if i don't knit.. here's just a selection of my stuff.. kinda boring.. this is maybe 10% of my work on the last few years, but i guess it's enough to make yall bored :))



this is the latest stuff i made for the kids this winter..


i also made new hats for them all.










socks for a little newborn




a box of love to a sister




the kids 'needed' new socks too. (don't ask how many pairs they have!)






hmm.. so many pics and i didn't post half of the pics i wanted.. anyway, the rest should be enough to bore yall..