As-salaamu'alaykum wa Rahmatu Llahi wa Barakatuhu

As some of you know I homeschool my nephew Abdullah who is 4 years old. AlhumduliLlah, so far everything is going well, and it's amazing to see his progress, tabarak'Allah. It is unbelievable how much time and dedication it takes.. even if it's just teaching a 4 year old! I truly admire those sisters (and brothers) who homeschool their children and pray Allah makes it easy for them, rewards them for their effort, and makes their offspring of the righteous. Ameen.

... I can't begin to imagine how much it takes to teach more than one child, at different levels!

Recently I did a unit on monkeys, what fun! I've added some baking time in our week, because he really enjoys it and it's a great way to get some math in, so I'd like to share an awesome Monkey Bread recipe we made. It really is great.. even the adults enjoyed it.

Serves: 8 -10 Monkeys

2 1/4 cup (18 oz) flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 tblsp instant yeast
:: Place above in a bowl, mix together.

300 ml (10 fl oz) buttermilk
2 tblsp butter - melted
1 egg - beaten
:: Mix together, add to dry mix.

:: Knead dough.
:: Place in lightly oiled bowl, cover, allow to rise.
:: Cut dough into 1" pieces.

1/2 cup pecans
1/2 cup sugar
1 tblsp cinnamon
:: Place pecans onto bottom of greased bundt pan.
:: Mix sugar and cinnamon together.
:: Roll dough pieces in sugar-mix, and place in pan.

1/2 cup butter - melted
2 tsp water
1 cup brown sugar
optional: 1 packet pudding mix - any flavour
:: Mix above together, pour over dough.

:: Bake at 350 F until golden brown.
:: Cool slightly before removing.
:: Enjoy!

Note: I made the dough ahead of time, Abdullah did the rest. Older children can make the dough themselves. I know some people just buy refrigerated biscuits (you'll need 30 ounces), I'm a 'from scratch' kind of person.. so it's up to you. As well, the dough itself makes lovely dinner rolls! (It makes approximately 25 rolls).



Additional Monkey Fun:

:: Sang to "Itsy Bitsy Spider tune" - Abdullah thinks the monkey version is great, and only sings this one now.

"The itsy bitsy monkey climbed up the coconut tree,
Down came a coconut and hit him on his knee - Oww!
Out came a lion a with his mighty mane - Annnnndddd
The itsy bitsy monkey climbed up the tree again."

:: Math: Connect The Dots (for older children: 1-60)
:: Craft: Monkey Puppet - print it out on card stock, have them paint/colour the images, and let them cut it out. When I taught kindergarten, I was surprised at how many children don't even know how to hold a scissors, let alone be able to cut something.. so provide them with the opportunity to learn, and explore. Children at age 3 can handle it, but make sure to never leave them alone with scissors.
:: Physical Activity: Monkey See Monkey Do (like Simon Says) - this is great outdoors, where you copy what the leader does.
:: Reading: Fortunately there are a lot of stories about monkeys!, like the famous Curious George, check out your local library.
:: Science: Curious George Clips - this is an excellent site!

That's a little of what we covered, use your imagination in making up other activities and have fun with it!

If you try out the recipe please let me know what you think, or your version of it.. I know there are many out there.

Labels: activities, recipes

As-salaamu'alaykum wa Rahmatu Llahi wa Barakatuhu

I truly love animals.. I do, and the more I learn about them the more fascinated I am at how Allah has created such astounding creatures, subhan'Allah.

With all the incredible creatures out there, I have a great fondness for goats! Yes.. goats.. you read right. (Stop laughing.. I never ever claimed to be 'normal'). Which is why out of the many petitions I would have liked to share with you, I've chosen this one.

Please, please sign it. (yes.. this is me begging)

Got My Goat

It's about a new drug (called ATryn) that comes from the milk of genetically modified goats.

Scientists in New England have developed transgenic goats that posses a human gene. This gene makes the goats produce human proteins in their milk, and this protein forms the basis of the ATryn drug.

By putting human genes into goats, bio-engineers are turning helpless animals into mere drug factories. Fewer than 10 out of every 100 animals injected with the human gene while still in their mother's womb will be able to produce the altered milk. The other baby goats bred for drug production are killed immediately. What's more, some "successful" transgenic baby goats develop severe birth defects that scientists don't understand.

.. things like this make me sick! The whole process is cruel (which makes it unIslamic in my view) and they don't even know how safe it is for humans! Yaaay..

Labels: help

As-salaamu'alaykum wa Rahmatu Llahi wa Barakatuhu

Jazaki'Allahu khair Nadia for motivating me to get this blog going again. Sorry everyone for my absence.. I had been busy planning the Fair, as most of you know.

Ahh the Fair, to sum up it up... it was definitely a roller coaster ride! With every idea/plan an obstacle or two followed, but with a little patience and determination Allah opened up ways that are just unbelievable, subhan'Allah.


Right from the beginning we ran into problems finding a venue. I'm still in shock at how little help we received from almost all Islamic Institutes we approached, which says a lot about the ummah. There was a time when the Masjid was used for everything, and to help everyone. AlhumduliLlah, Allah sent us better. An organization P4E, who help new Muslims among other things, permitted us to use their premises, and helped us throughout the event. Please support them in any way you can.

Our adventure carried on right until the day of the event, where the whole morning it rained its heart out, and plans had to change.. set-up had to change! I had to fit exhibitors, a whole jumble sale, bake sale, pool table, air hockey table, a few other things and a 17 foot jumpy castle under one roof!.. let us not forget where that leaves the bbq! But Allah is the best of planners.

AlhumduliLlah, everything went great. Not as I planned it, but as He planned it. In all, we managed to make enough to purchase every Spanish Islamic book available, and extra for dawaah material, to go towards the Islam In Colombia project.

Thank you so very much to everyone who kept us in their prayers, for those that helped with the planning, to P4E, to all the wonderful volunteers (tabarak'Allah), to my dear sisters who sent in bookmarks, to those that took the time to bake some yummy goodies for our bake sale, to the great vendors, to those that came out to support us, to those that let others know about this event and project, and to my family who helped with so much.

May Allah Most High shower His blessings upon you all, reward you for your good intentions and deeds, and grant you success in this world and in the next. Ameen.

With so much to keep me on my toes, I'm very thankful for the time I had to meet so many wonderful sisters,... a fellow blogger, Maryam and one of the sisters from the OSP blog. Tabarak'Allah! Maryam.. thank you soooooo much for all your help, and being with us throughout the day (right until clean up). I also met a sweet sister from Colombia! AlhumduliLlah.



AlhumduliLlah, the rain paid us a visit only in the morning, and the rest of the day the bbq table was the place to be! Jazak'Allahu khair to the brothers that helped with that.

This is a display of the Islamic Spanish books we are to purchase, for the Muslims in Colombia. It was displayed in a way that people can actually choose the book they would like to send. It also has a little about Colombia and what brother Dawood has accomplished thus far.


The bake sale! AlhumduliLlah, we actually had a sister come back to the event just to pick up more baked goods. Thank you to all those that donated such wonderful goodies.


One of the many games we had. You get three attempts to get 'food' into the monkeys mouth, kind of like Bean Bag Toss, and of course win a prize. I'm sorry Adikbongsu, I couldn't get a picture of the golf game for you.


Sassy Apple cotton candy! (Need I say more?) Absolutely delicious! I'm a huge cotton candy fan, so this was a must-have. Insha'Allah my Eid will be like this..hehe


One of our exhibitors table, Muslim Child. Some of the others include, Salsabil Boutique, Thinkers Recourse, Pepperberry Jewelry. (These are the only ones I know who also have an online store - check them out!)


AlhumduliLlah, I ran the face painting table. It's my latest 'art fascination'..and I am just lovin' it! Here is a picture of a little dalmatian (tabarak'Allah) willing to pose for the camera.


Ah yes.. that is a 17 foot plus giraffe in the building! Subhan'Allah I was so happy when it fit! The children were thrilled, it kept them busy for hours.

That's it..
A lovely day.. with all its ups and downs. I pray we are able to continue to help the Muslims in Colombia and others, and that Allah purifies and accepts our intentions. Ameen.

Labels: help, love