Day 15 – IftarSince the beginning of Ramadan, the kids have been quite rowdy at iftar time. Between work, trying to get some sleep, prayers and making the iftar meal, I haven’t had time to feed them all beforehand, so they have been eating with us when we break our fast. The older kids stay […]

After days of stop start contractions and a false alarm, I was blessed with my fifth child, a healthy little girl, last Friday morning at dawn. I am feeling so very grateful, awed, achey, exhausted and overwhelmed right now. Alhamdulillah for the blessings of little ones, of helpful family, health, kind neighbours, good friends and this faith […]

After reading Twilight by Meyer and enjoying it and then reading the three sequels and hating them, I was both intrigued by her novel for adults and at the same time convinced I should know better.I read the book with a bias, which was that this woman really cannot write very well, but can sometimes […]

I called a friend a few days ago to catch up on a few things and found her super busy with her three little ones, all under the age of five. It kind of stopped me in my tracks. I remember when I had three under five and it seems like such a long time […]

It seems early to mention it, but we have only a month left to the most blessed month of the year. For some reason this has been on my mind for the past week and I have been thinking about preparation, both physical and mental. The Sahaba would spend six months of the year waiting […]

This little one has been off school with a nasty cold and temperature. Little Man is a foodie like me (okay, just plain greedy) and is the only other person I have met who doesn’t lose their appetite when they are sick. I spent the whole day finding him things to eat, including the packed […]

You might remember not that long ago we welcomed our fourth child, Darling as Little Lady calls her, into the world.  Well I’m slightly amazed that Darling is six months already.  Mash’Allah this little one has given me six of the happiest months in my life.  She has been an easy going, happy little sweetheart […]

My word for this year was shukr or gratitude, but I think it would be a pretty good word for life. Every now and again something happens or we hear about something that puts our life in perspective. Until then we get caught up in our anxieties, the little pity-parties that go on in our […]

Earlier this week we decided to make the most of the bank holiday and take the kids somewhere for the day.  Hubby had been busy all weekend, so he was up for doing something fun on the extra day off too. As we have a National Heritage family membership, we were planning to go to […]

It was the birthday of a colleague yesterday, so I made these for her and left them at the office to be handed to her with her gift. I really enjoyed making this card, she is very girly and very sweet, and I knew exactly what I wanted. The blue backing paper is from DCWV […]

I enjoy listening to TED talks when I am getting ready for work in the morning or cooking.  This one in particular caught my imagination: I like the idea that you do something for just thirty days with no pressure to go beyond that period and once you have done something for thirty dyas, then you […]

I was born and grew up in this city and unlike all of those that complain about England having gone to the dogs, I love living in this city. London must be one of the easiest cities in the world to be a Muslim in, or whichever faith you choose to follow. I feel comfortable […]

I was listening to this lecture on the Rights and Responsibilities of Marriage by Shaikh Hamza Yusuf and he mentions in the beginning of the lecture that in Arabic the word for home is “maskan”, which is the place of “sakina”. He goes onto explain that you have “harakat” (movement) and “sakanat” (stillness), therefore sakinah […]

The quote for Day 28 of Ramadan from my box of things to think about is: “No poverty is worse that ignorance, no wealth is better than reason, no worship is like contemplation, no goodness is like good character and no devotion is like restraint.” ~ Hassan Al-Basri (RA) Alhamdulillah, there is so much to unpick and […]