So, fasting is good for you!

So did anyone else watch the Horizon programme about fasting, healthy lifestyles and the aging process?  The presenter carried out some research based around diet and fasting the conclusion of which was that 2 days fasting a week [5 days of normal eating and 2 days of 600 calories a day] is good for you as it encourages the brain/body to grow new cells, has a positive effect on your blood sugar and cholesterol levels and can reduce your risk of getting cancer [because of a decrease in IGF1; a hormone in our bodies that controls our aging/cancer risk].  This, in turn, increases our metabolic health and slows the aging process.

Of course as Muslims we already knew that right? We know of the health and spiritual benefits of fasting 2 days a week as it was one of the great sunnahs [practices] of our beloved Prophet Muhammed [peace be upon him] that we should all aim to practice inshaAllah [God willing].  So, if we ever needed an extra incentive to adopt this sunnah I hope this can be it, but with the right intentions of course!

***For those of you that are unable to view the programme on the above link try this one at You Tube inshaAllah.***

Finally getting stuff done...

OK it's taken us [well me] a few days to get into the swing of things this Ramadan...I was ill the week before Ramadan, then we decided - because of the long fasting day here in the UK - to stay up all night and then sleep from fajr until dhur. Well that was the plan and everyone did sleep until dhur...except me! For some reason I was waking up at 7.30am and couldn't get back to sleep so for the first few days of Ramadan I was sleep deprived [about 4 hours a night] and a little tetchy to say the least. Well, now I can manage to sleep until about 11am which is just enough sleep for me to back on track, alhamdulillah. So for the last couple of days....

Lego has constructed most of the buildings for his D-Day landing model - built to fit his ready made army, as you can see!:

We completed our Ramadan bulletin board thanks to the very talented sisters at TJ Ramadan and Mini Mu'min for their wonderful downloads:

We also spent an afternoon at Watermead Country Park and visited the Climate Trail:

They played on a dinosaur [with cargo nets, woop!]

Learned about recycling and our contribution to the ozone etc..

They climbed long poles...

Rode a polar bear.
We [yep, me too!] walked a rope bridge across the river [it was very wobbly and I didn't like it *pout*, lol]
Then we spent an hour or two sitting in a quiet spot by the lake reading Quran, skimming stones, fed the ducks and swans and did some sketching....what a lovely day. The swans kept coming up on the bank to hear the Quran and scaring Daisy lol!

And Sprite built this bubble blower from a Robot Kit [there was a bit of artistic license in play there I think, I wouldn't go so far as to label it a 'robot' but he's chuffed with it nevertheless].

And that's it!

FREE Mini Ramadan Kit

http://www.mini-mumin.com/RK.html

A few nice simple charts etc and an online childrens book about fasting and a lovely certificate to print at the end of Ramadan.

Printers & Salatul Istikhara

This is a bit off topic but I had to write as the power of salatul istikhara (the prayer for guidance) never ceases to amaze me. When you ask Allah ta'Ala for guidance and trust Him to give it, the answer to your problem just pops up from nowhere.

A couple of weeks ago my printer started to play up, I wasn't happy as I use it daily for our home education. Anyway, I limped on with it until it packed up completely. We didn't have the money for a new one so my hubby (bless him) got me one from the car boot sale...it worked in a fashion and also packed up. So, armed with a desperate need, I managed to scrape together enough money to buy a new one, I went to the shops and had a look at what was available.....I really wanted another one of the same make but it appears they don't make them anymore **sob**. I was really confused, so before I made any decision I said the words of Istikhara, and ended up leaving the shops for home.

A week later, I found myself back in the shops again. I really, really needed a printer and I had done my research and found the printer I thought I wanted...it was more expensive in the shop so I decided to purchase it online.....and I did. Seconds later, I had the urge to cancel the order....and I did. Then somehow (I don't how) I ended up on a website called www.fixyourownprinter.com and in the forums found the answer to my problems alhamdulillah. I was able to, with the advice I found, very easily fix my own printer which is now working better than it has done for many months not to mention the money I saved. Alhamdulillah, you can't go wrong when you place your trust in Allah, can we ever be grateful enough to Him?

I try and pray two rakahs of Istikhara every morning for the events of the day, and then specifically for any other matter that pops up...even if I just say the words... and it never fails. Just in case any one out there hasn't read them before you can find the etiquettes and recommendations of praying Istikhara here, the words here, and a video in Arabic here.

Prophet Ibrahim Lapbook

I just had to share this lapbook about the Prophet Ibrahim(AS) with you. It is a wonderful creation by my friends almost 8 year old daughter mashaAllah. The photos go from the back of the lapbook to the front for no other reason that I uploaded the pics that way and there are too many to chop and change at this time of night so bear with me...


This is the family tree of the Prophet Ibrahim (as)

This is a pop-up Kabah and glued around the bottom are small matchbooks with facts about the Kabah on them. The minarets at the back are stuck on with sticky pads which give them a 3D effect, ingenious mashaAllah.

This is another pop-up with three idols and on the top is are several tabs with the story of Ibrahim (as) and the idols.
Here you can see the Ibrahim (AS) and the Idols pop-up closed at the bottom with a 3D scroll at the side with ayats 91-92 of Surah As-Saffat. Above that you can see Ayats 75-79 of Suarh Al-An'am written on a sheet that A designed on a desk top publisher and then applied a transparency to.

Two scrolls; one of Ayats 43048 Surah Maryam and Ayats 52-56 of Surah Al-Anbiyaa

Here are two pictures of the 'Khaleel ullah' heart mini book(one open & one closed) with Ayat 4:125 on the left and on the right an explaination of what 'khaleelullah' means.
Below is the inside of the 'Allah saves Ibrahim from the fire' shape book detailing the story inside.


A picture of the whole 'the miracle' page of the lapbook.

Part of the puzzles page this is a challenge for people to make as many words as possible using the letters contained in the name 'prophet Ibrahim'. Also on the puzzles page is a jigsaw puzzle of the Station of Abraham, quiz questions and a wordsearch.


Here is a page explaining why and who first built the kabah with photographs.

This is 'The Great Debate' page detailing the converstion between the Prophet Ibrahim (AS) and Nimrod using speech bubbles and and an introductory and conclusive paragraphs.

This mini-book is beautifully decorated using pastels and tells the story of the spring of Zam Zam.
These 'Great Sacrifice' pages detail the dream received by the Prophet Ibrahim telling him to sacrifice his son which is typed in a 'thought bubble' that comes from a man sleeping in his bed and the story of the sacrifice which is on the inside of a sheep book shown open in the top picture.

The next few pics tell of the birth and childhood of the Prophet Ibrahim with the tea stained map and the scrolls on the sticky pads making them look 3D.




This lapbook was made of 3 Document Wallets and has 8 pages (one of which is an 'about the author' page that I haven't included for obvious reasons), the following pic shows the lapbook open showing just some of it's pages. The bottom pic is of the lapbook all closed up with a cover page designed on a desktop publishing programme.

Tests all round.....

We started this week joining in some of the new free swimming sessions and although I love the idea behind this initiative I do (just a little) begrudge the kids having to share the normally quiet pool with loads of other children. They have been used to sharing it with just a few select friends but commented this week about how manic it was and that they couldn't swim properly. Oh well!

Other than that DS1 started a project on the Animals of Africa that we purchased from www.currclick.com for £1.38. It's a complete study unit that he can read and work through himself, some of it is way too easy for him but he is really enjoying it mashaAllah. A friend of his is doing the same project and they have spent some time studying together awwwww ;0) This is what he has done so far....
By the way, if you like lapbooking and you have not already done so it is well worth registering at currclick as they have a weekly free product for you to download which are usually good mashaAllah.

Other than that we, among others mashaAllah, sacrificed some time and learning this week to help out a dear sister and her family that are going through a difficult test at this time. This has been the focus of our week really and the kids have learned such a lot through this experience mashaAllah. They have learned that any of us could be faced by a difficulty at any time and as an ummah we have to work together to help each other out inshaAllah, they have learned about putting what they want on a back burner in support of the greater good mashaAllah. Some sisters looked after kids so others could go and help, brothers also helped when needed and supported their wives in whatever they could do to help. SubhanAllah, it has been a week of reflection and I hope we have all learned something from this family whose faith has only been strengthened by this test, I pray that Allah (swt) grants them the best of this life and allows them entry into Jannah without reckoning inshaAllah.

As the weather has been sooooo nice we have also spent lots of time in the garden and are going to be spending some time planting seeds and stuff (better late than never my old dad always said) in the next week inshaAllah. The kids made a habitat for wood lice and have been observing their behaviour and learning about what they eat etc., They also spent two (or was it three) whole days playing at a friends house and still they want more - this morning they all spent a lot of time and energy trying to convince me to let them stay for another day..... will they ever choose school work over play, lol???

Swimming and sports as usual with madressah in the mornings. The kids have been doing citizenship this week at madressah with a brother, and they have really been enjoying the male input mashaAllah. They are developing a love for Quran and Islam mashaAllah and I pray that this continues and grows inshaAllah; DS2 announced he wants to be a shaykh and hafiz when he grows up mashaAllah be idhnillah. Although my 6 year old seems to be having real problems with memorisation of Quran - any ideas greatly appreciated.