I have been trying to keep the kids busy during the summer holidays and returning to Capel Manor Gardens was an easy option for us. We visited last year and it was not too far way (all five of my children get car sick), entry was very reasonably priced considering we are a big family […]

I hope I don’t sound like a complete git trying to give anyone party tips, but I thought I would pass on some of the ideas I have used and some of the things that have helped me money.The basket of bangles is basically full of bangles that I and my sisters don’t use. I […]

I sometimes worry that I do not do enough with my children, especially as I work full-time, I am sure I am not the only one. I usually manage to fit in an Arabic lesson, a bedtime story, some play time and lots of “talk time” discussing everything under the sun with them whilst I […]

My husband returned from Pakistan on Thursday, much to my relief and delight (“Salaam, nice to see you, here are the kid’s – I’m off to sleep for the next two weeks” – only joking). I feel like life has found it’s balance again and that things are how they should be. He came back […]

I don’t know if it was hunger, or whether exhaustion caused it, I think it was probably just due, but yesterday I had one of my intermittent rages (my husband braces himself for an outburst every three months or so). I had had a long day and carried home some very heavy shopping which left […]

I have quite a tight budget when it comes to clothes buying (London is muchos muchos expensive to live in), but I try to make sure my children are always dressed well. Little Lady in girly jeans and pretty tops or if she gets changed before I get home, in party dresses. The boys in […]

I haven’t had much time to myself in the last few days, but hubby was kind enough to take me and mum to Ashford in Kent to do our Eid shopping, which is one hours drive away from here. We visited the designer outlet there where the shops sell branded clearance goods. I am not […]

Today was my last day at work before my maternity leave begins. What a relief. I’ve had weeks of sweltering in a glass office, feeling sleepy and overheated and trying to appear professional and not the hot, sticky, sleepy mess that I have been feeling. I spent my last day trying very hard not to fall off my […]

I loved how the dresses for the wedding turned out.  Fashionista originally wanted to go for hot pink, but took one look at this dress and decided she had found the one.  After hunting all over London (Green Street, Ilford Lane, Southall), she found this in Birmingham.  We made a second trip with her to […]

I usually plan trips with my children to places I think they will learn something from as well as enjoy: museums, the zoo, castles, somewhere that has beautiful scenery. In recent timers, my older children have mutinied and decided they would rather stay at home than see one more old house or castle. This half […]

Threw the second of my bi-annual Eid parties yesterday…and I think I may have to re-think the whole idea. In a previous post (http://www.happymuslimmama.com/2007/10/eid-party.html) I wrote about how much I enjoyed the party for Eid al-Fitr. It was an opportunity for Hijabi’s to network and to let their hair down, and an alternative to Christmas […]

I first wrote about Imran Khan in 2011, here, when I came across one of his speeches, unfortunately I can’t find it now, but it was unlike anything I had heard from a Pakistani politician and just blew me away.  I wrote again in 2013 of my disappointment when IK lost the elections in Pakistan, […]

Hubby’s job as a removal man means he comes home with all sorts of things; some valuable, beautiful or useful and others random junk I have to decide what to do with or lug down to the charity shop. This week he came home with an ironing board, a TV stand, a big bag full […]

Alhamdulillah, there have been some great suggestions for books to read and inspire in response to the craft give-away.  Crafts pack are on their way to the following sisters for their suggestions: Umm Z from the Maldives: One of my all time favourite books is Little Women and the sequels Good Wives, Little Men and Jo’s […]