Lovely three days! Sooooo happy!

We've spent three wonderful days with Amira's new family. First we had a wonderful henna party at my mom's summer house in the country side. Then the wedding party on Saturday. This evening we met at the adventure park and enjoyed the wedding left overs and good company. MashaAllah it feels like we get along really well..

Hennaaaaaaa...

Most of you might not have heard the whole story of Amira and her dh, but I can tell you it wasn't obvious that her dh's family will accept someone who is not 'one of them'. It has been a long, sometimes rocky road for Amira and her dh, but Alhamdulilah it was worth it. I know she has a good husband who loves her, will take care of her and whose family already loves her too. I couldn't be happier! Alhamdulilah for everything!

When we were on the way home we saw a rainbow in the sun set.. it was amazing!

Many sisters have asked me what our finnish families and friends thought of Amira's wedding, so here's some of the best comments:


Amira's grandmother from dad's side (who said she was a wrong person in a wrong place in the henna party) did Debka for one hour and then said: I could have made some more, this is nothing yet


Amira's dad, who is not very fond of foreigners (to his mom, nette's grandmother): After this finnish weddings will feel like nothing . He did Dekba too, btw..

The groom's family went to get Amira from her dad's place and then drove across the town to the wedding hall.. So much noise :D

Amira's dad's wife: This is much better than Finnish wedding! People really know how to have fun! (Some of yall might guess, how Finnish people usually have fun and what it needs..)

My aunt: Turkish girls are so beautiful! Those colourful dresses and head scarves make them look much fancier that someone with a mini..

And the same aunt: This is awesome! Women just dance, and men serve tables and do all the work! This is not the way i thought Muslim men act..

The grooms ex-teacher: I feel like I was abroad! My friends have told me about Turkish and Arabic weddings they saw when they traveled, but now I've seen it myself and it's so much more than the stories I've heard!

The grooms mother who passed away a couple of years ago bought these glasses to be used in her son's wedding..

My parents have got used to our stuff already so they were not as surprised as the others, but they liked it a lot too. Mom gave extra points for table service - in Finnish weddings there's always buffet and people need to stand in queue to get their food! And the same goes with the cakes! She was very happy and said this is much better and faster way!

The wonderful wedding cake!

Everyone who I spoke with liked everything! I heard only positive comments! I guess that party changed some attitudes! mashaAllah!

Nader will be operated tomorrow

My little boy needs an operation :( . Nader has had his nose running or blocked almost since he was born. If he gets a flu, his nose will be running two months after the flu is gone. Usually it's been better in the summer. He has always been breathing hard while sleeping, and lately he has been snoring too.This spring he had an ear infection, and when we went to check out if it was healed after a few weeks, the infection was still there.



We had appointment with an ENT, and she checked Nader. She said that his ear is still not healed. It's not really infected either, so it doesn't need antibiotics.. It just has some liquid inside. They call it glue ear, because his adenoids are way too big so the ear air conditioning doesn't work.

His adenoids need to be removed and he needs ear tubes. His palatine tonsils are huge as well, and if they're not removed now, they will need to be removed sooner or later anyway. It's better everything is done at once so we don't have to think about it again and Nader don't have to go through the pain and stuff twice.


We were supposed to get a letter from the hospital about one week before the operation, but yesterday they called me and asked if we can go on thursday. We had a plan to go to Moomin world that day, so we had to change our plan. We left to Moomin world right away so the choldren wouldn't miss it. Nader can't go anywhere for a whole week after the operation, and 'sport' is forbidden two weeks, so we can't go to any action places any time soon.

It might be hard on Nader to take it easy for so long. I guess about 99% of his moves can be counted as sport, he is a really active kid mashaAllah. He is a strong boy and inshaAllah he'll recover quickly.





We bought tons of ice cream, ice lollies, chocolate puddings, spiced yogurts etc, because nader can eat only cold foods on the first days. He is exited.. For now. I'm afraid once he realizes why he needs to eat those, he may throw a fit and refuse to eat anything. I really don't know what to expect from him. He is usually not making problems when he is sick, but he throws fits for getting hurt and acts very dramatic sometimes, so his reaction can be pretty much anything. InshaAllah he will understand to not shout and eat his ice thingies nicely..

So, tomorrow morning at 8 am we need to check in the hospital. The operation will start about at 10 am. If everything goes well, we can go home about 4 hours after the operation, so it should be some time in the afternoon inshaAllah.



Hang in there Nader habibi! ♥ mama loves you! ♥


May Allah subhanahuwata'ala bless and protect my little boy and let the surgery go well! Ameen

Please sisters, keep him in yalls duas! ♥

Quality time with the girls

Today Nader went with baba, so I had a chance to have some quality time with my two little girls MashaAllah. The weather was perfect again too!

I think it's important that the kids have some time alone with the parent(s) sometimes, especially in a big family. So dh took nader with him, they went somewhere by a river, fishing (again) and some other manly stuff lol.




The girls and i went to the adventure park, which is a.. big park with lots of activities, who would have guessed :D .



We had such a nice (peaceful) time. the girls tried all the things they could find, running, climbing, swinging, sliding..



We had picnic and grilled sausages.



I got a chance to read my book lol..




They got to feed squirrels, which eat from hand because they're so used to people.



They studied how to act in traffic in this mini town for kids (no houses, just streets and traffic signs lol).

Alhamdulilah we had a lovely day! Again!

So many reasons to say Alhamdulilah!

I spent a few hours alone at home today, and got a chance to think. You know, it's something that is easier to do, when you can actually HEAR your own thoughts ;). Once again I realized, how many reasons I have to be thankful for Allah subhanahuwata'ala.

You can be thankful for so many things, if you just look around you with open eyes, and most of all, open heart. It's all about thinking positive actually!

So I said Alhamdulilah for

♥ My aching back, because I have a flat spine disc.
- That means I had 44 years full of life and carried 6 beautiful, healthy babies.

♥ The sink full of dirty dishes.
- That means I have loved ones around me, to who I can cook.

♥ The full laundry basket.
- That means I have healthy kids, who get dirty while exploring the world, getting experiences.

♥ Little, dirty hands hanging on my clean shirt making it dirty.
- That means the kids missed me when they were away for the day.

♥ Sand on the floor.
- That means we are free to go in and out from our home when ever we want, and most of all we HAVE a floor to drop sand on, we have a house to live in.

♥ Small voice whispering in my ear waking me up when I just fell asleep.
- That means I'm needed, I'm somebody's safety place after a bad dream.

I could go on and on for a looooong time. There's always a good side in things. There's always reasons to say Alhamdulilah.

Alhamdulilah for everything!

GONE FISHING!

Lol I just had to use that headline. It's a name of an old hilarious movie, where two friends go fishing and everything that can go wrong, goes wrong. (Starring Joe Pesci, Danny Glover, 1997)



Aaarghh, this is not what I wanted to write.. But we were fishing today. Yeah! And I'm so exhausted. If you think you will find a deeper meaning in this post, you're on a wrong page.. Read yesterdays post instead. I'm too tired to write between the lines. I just want to tell yall about our fun day.

And the same time I'm watching Finland beating USA in ice hockey :P .

So, after Donjana finished school, we went fishing. Some of our friends came with us and they brought the fishing gear.


It didn't take long to get the first fish.. Actually we got many! Or not me.. But.. Us.. You know ;) ? DH and his brother bought even more fishes from some small boys who were there too. All the fishes were small though.


The kids were having a blast! They were play-fishing with some sticks and made 'food' of some dead leaves (=fishes) that they 'caught'. They were quite nicely and nobody got even their shoes wet! I'm impressed. I got a chance to sit and enjoy a book for a while alhamdulilah. (I didn't want to fight over the fishing gear.. My dad took me fishing always, so I've had my share and I can enjoy something else while others fish.)



Someone brought extra hooks with lines, so I made a small rod for the children of a stick so that they could try some real fishing too. Their worm got bitten many times, but they didn't have patience to let the fish swallow the hook. Hehe, they need some practice. I need to teach them inshaAllah.



We cooked the fishes in a grill right away.. I must say alhamdulilah I'm allergic to fish, so nobody tried to make me eat some.. Small Finnish fishes are full of bones hehe.. Not my favorite food. And I'm not the only one who was happy that we brought some sausages and bread too ;).



We had a long and happy day alhamdulilah.

And btw.. Finland won 3-2! WE won!

Now off to sleep!

Awwwwwwww ... - Breakfast in bed ♥

Awww.. I got breakfast in bed this morning. The kids even managed to do it without waking me up.. Almost.. I wouldn't wake up unless Deena was shouting in the toilet wanting me to clean her up..

The breakfast was tasty.. I got salad, which had too much spring onions lol.. It was good and with the right food it would have been so perfect. Then I got a slice of toast - not toasted btw - and it had chocolate spread on it. Donjana had made it. There was also cookies with chocolate spread. Later i heard they were because everyone wanted to make something, and because Donjana made the toast, Nader and Deena wanted to make the cookies. Alhamdulilah they all didn't make toast, it would have been too much.. I got everything eaten alhamdulilah.


I also got a fridge magnet, a butterfly that Donjana had made in school. There was a card too, a white anemone card. inside it was a poem, which goes like this:

I pick up flowers,
I carry flowers,
the prettiest ones
I give to mama

It rhymes in finnish. it's a very old poem, I knew it since I was little so I think it's older than me. She has picked it up from the few options her teacher gave. It was written so cutely, with the spelling mistakes and all ♥.


I wanted to take a pic of us all.. It took like ten tries before we managed to get one photo that everyone's happy with.. Mostly because miss Deena was disturbed hehe.. Awww I love my little crew. Alhamdulilah for every day I get to spend with them!

Mother

Mother - what does it mean?

Tomorrow is a Mothers Day here. We don't celebrate it but it got me thinking. I was looking for the definition of a word mother, but wasn't happy with what I found. I ended up asking some experts.


♥ wikipedia says:

A mother is a woman who has, conceived, given birth to, and raised a child. Because of the complexity and differences of mothers' social, cultural, and religious definitions and roles, it's challenging to define a mother to suit a universally accepted definition.

Sounds like it's a lot to do with biology..



♥ a dictionary says:

a female parent.

ok.. so sterile and cold. So I went to look for some better definitions:



♥ Tenneva Jordan:

A mother is a person who seeing there are only four pieces of pie for five people, promptly announces she never did care for pie.

♥ Honoré de Balzac:

The heart of a mother is a deep abyss at the bottom of which you will always find forgiveness.

♥ Oscar Wilde:

All women become like their mothers. That is their tragedy. No man does. That's his.

♥ Margaret Culkin Banning:

She never quite leaves her children at home, even when she doesn't take them along.

♥ Sophia Loren:

When you are a mother, you are never really alone in your thoughts. A mother always has to think twice, once for herself and once for her child.

It's better to ask some experts, some people who have first hand information. I asked my children what 'mama' means? Here it is, with their own words. Just translated from Finnish. It's funny, they're all defining me, not a mother in general..




Deena, 5 y/o says:

♥ Wonderful!
♥ Cooks good food.
♥ Gives me exiting and fun things to do and takes me to places.
♥ Gives me hama-beads.
♥ I love mama.
♥ Mom's scarves are beautiful.
♥ Mama is lovely lovely lovely when we do something and when we don't do anything.

Nader, 4 y/o says:

♥ Mama is the best wonderful
♥ I hug and kiss mama!

Donjana, 7 y/o says:

♥ I love mama!
♥ My mama cooks the best food!
♥ Mama's heart is beautiful.
♥ Mama tells bed time stories!
♥ It's fun to make stuff with mama, crafts, trips and such.
♥ Mama comforts me when i'm sad and hugs me.
♥ Mama is so so so dear to me!

MashaAllah awww.. so nice words from them!

It's not easy to define mother.. It has a different meaning for different people.

I was trying to define mine as well.. And i don't know what to say. I love my mother dearly, she has always been there for me. She is the best mother in the world!

Thank you mother for being you!

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!

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