Our Painted Lady Guests

Assalamu alaikom wa rahmatullah,

About a month ago I bought a package for raising butterflies.  The plastic, netted little butterfly house comes in the mail along with a certificate you redeem when you're ready to receive brand new little butteryfly larva in the mail.  Ours came around January 20, just cute teeny tiny little larva, or caterpillars.  We estimated they hatched about 2 or 3 days before getting to our house. 

They spent the next ten days eating and GROWING!!! They lived in the container they were sent in because all their food was in there, as well as the fact that we didn't want to introduce our bacteria into their habitat.

We observed their growth, and documented how many days they remained caterpillars before climbing to the top of the container to make cocoons.  Oh how delighted the kids were when suddenly, one morning, one caterpillar was hanging from the top! Within hours all 4 were hanging and making cocoons.  They stayed there another ten days or so until out came four beautiful Painted Lady butterflies.

They've been living in that big plastic butterfly garden that came with the original order.  I put a fresh slice of orange for them to eat from every few days.  They're so pretty to look at and fun to observe.  Since the outside temps are too cold to release them, they'll live out their life cycle in our house.  If we wanted to, we could have put nettle or thistle leaves to make a favorable environment for their eggs to hatch and continue the life cycle.  I'm not really up for that, so we'll just let them live out their lives and call it at that.  Our science curriculum had a great set of lab pages for this unit, so my kids got to observe and record all stages. 

 in the picture above you can see the four cocoons

 in the picture above the adult butterflies are having some orange juice

in the picture above, an aerial shot of the Painted Ladies

 

It's a great learning tool for the whole family! I highly recommend it.

I ordered ours from Insect Lore

Notebook Page for Studying the Prophets

Assalamu alaikom and peace!

During our studies of ancient history (Story of the World I), we came across the story of Prophet Musa (Moses) peace be upon him.  Thanks to the fabulous blogger over at Talibiddeen Jr, I found this awesome page that we can takes notes on and save for a future book on the prophets.  We can use this template for future studies of any prophet, and I'll have the kids file them in their Islamic Studies Notebook.
Here's the template: http://talibiddeenjr.files.wordpress.com/2010/03/isprophetsprophetfactfileorig.pdf

New path for my blog

Assalamu alaikom and peace to everyone!

After much thought, I've decided not only to keep blogging, but to improve it.  Insha'Allah, God willing, I want to continue with the home and garden blogs, and I want to add homeschooling to it, too.  I started blogging in order to log my own thoughts and journeys through life.  Since I don't want to start a new blog or commit to only one subject matter, I decided to make labels and categorize my entries so that you (and I ) can easily find entries of interest in the future.

I hope you enjoy reading as we move forward, and insha'Allah you'll get some benefit out of this!  I especially am excited to share my 'finds' for homeschooling.  After all, that's one way I got the courage and the materials to start my own homeschool :)  Please follow or subscribe!

Peace and LOVE!

Zein

follow up to 'new warm drink'

Alright, if the smell of vinegar has you running for the hills, then skip the 'tea'.
Just mix two tsps vinegar in a little hot water. Sweeten with a bit of honey.
Chug.
The end.

Or get the caplets of apple cider vinegar.

:)

new warm drink

Ok, so if ditching your beloved shampoo routine doesn't sound appealing to you, I'll give you something else to think about :) 

Apple cider vinegar has been used for ages for its health benefits.  After a quick search on Mr. Google,  I was so anxious to start chugging it by the gallon! 

Well, for now, I'm putting 2tsps of Organic undiluted apple cider vinegar in a mug of hot water with a bit of local honey.  It's quite refreshing and somehow filling.  My kids even had some and liked it!!

Give it a shot.  I plan on having this at least once day.  Maybe twice.  I read it was good to drink this half an hour before eating, but I am not that organized so I'll stick to having it in the evening after the kidlets have gone to bed.

Here are just a few health benefits of consuming apple cider vinegar courtesy of webmd.com:
reducing cholesterol
reducing weight
heart health
reduce some cancer risks
lower blood pressure
clear up acne
alleviate arthritis
... and more!

green topic: baking soda and hair

I've blogged about this before; I talked about not using shampoo to try to get healthier hair and reduce toxins being absorbed in the body.  I quit cold turkey at one time and washed my hair using a baking soda rinse followed by an apple cider vinegar rinse.  It was really hard at first.  My hair never felt clean.  It stayed oily.  I continued for a couple of months, and then I just had enough and felt like my scalp needed a good shampoo.

Several months later I, once again, was dissatisfied with shampoo.  My hair was falling out like crazy, moreso after a wash.  Tons and tons of hair.  And it was getting oily and thin feeling.  I decided to take another break from shampoo and got the baking soda out again.  Well, this time I did something right b/c I'm getting much better results!  One tablespoon to about 8oz water.  I pour it carefully on my scalp then rub and massage my head to be sure it got all in there :)  Of course this is followed by a good rinsing out.  Sometimes I put the apple cider vinegar rinse, but recently I've tried finishing off with a bottled conditioner.  I do that b/c my main complaint about using the soda wash is having dry hair.  So putting conditioner has been a good compromise.

At first I decided to use my organic shampoo once a week and use the baking soda on other days when I needed washing.  I did that for almost two months, and now I haven't used the shampoo in a couple of weeks. It's working out much better this time 'round so I'll be sticking with it.  My hair is coming out in normal amounts, and the conditioner is keeping it soft.

Using the soda has also made me aware of how many products one could use on a baby.  Considering our skin is our biggest organ and absorbs everything on it, I was motivated to clean the kids' heads/hair with soda as well.  There is absolutely no need for harsh shampoos for little ones.. they don't have as much oil production and hormone issues as grown ups do!  Give it a shot :)

I used to be different

I used to be different. Did you know me then?
I wasn't old.  I was young.  I was pretty thin.  I had free time.  I used to feel bored, sometimes. 
I loved learning French.  I loved it so much I majored in it.  I loved it so much I spent 5 months studying abroad soaking in everything I possibly could. 
I used to listen to music really loud in my room.  Sometimes the same song over and over and over.  Sometimes I would write down words to my own songs in my spiral notebook.  Or poems. 
I used to be different.  Did you know me then?
I used to rearrange my bedroom furniture at night, and if it was too late, I'd sketch out how I would do it the next day.  In my spiral notebook.
I'd make cakes and brownies for my parents and brothers.  I used make cakes to take to school in junior high after band competitions.
My best friend and I would take a pan of brownies to my room and eat practically the whole thing.  We had an agreement. She got the outsides, I got the middle.
I used to be different. Did you know me then?
I used to ride my bike around the block, go the movies, and hang out with my friends for hours.
I didn't like crafts, I didn't like to shop, and I didn't read much for fun.
I hadn't thought much about the world, about politics, about education, or about the purpose of life.
I am thankful for where I am today.  I am happy where I am today. But I used to different. I am happy there are people around who knew me then.

Beginning of December

Assalamu alaikom wa rahmatullah,

We've got one week left of our first trimester of homeschooling.  It's come along really well, alhamdullah, and we're all looking forward to a break ( in a good way, not because we're sick of school).  I'm still giddy each time a new perk of homeschooling comes my way.  They keep rolling in!  In general, the attitudes are improving, stress is decreasing, enthusiasm for learning for the sake of learning is growing.  They're finding teachable moments on their own and are acting out on what they learn. Masha'Allah, it's been an eye opener for me because I had never given education this much thought before.  To suddenly have taken matters into my own hands has widened my scope of knowledge about learning, about my own children, and about how things can/will work out in life.  And all of that blends perfectly with something I've learned about myself in the past few years.  I've learned that I enjoy questioning why we do things or follow any given trend, and I've felt liberated by realizing I don't have to follow the expected or 'normal' way.  The beginning of that was when I looked into my faith and decided to start practicing.  I learned about the true religion and learned how to set old cultural habits aside.  The religion is pure, culture is not.  And now with education, family, growing, shaping, learning. It's great.  It feels more natural.

I was expecting a period of 'detoxing' from the old way we were used to doing school. Happily, we didn't have any rocky moments.  I think we transitioned into homeschooling easily, and they're eager to work in the mornings, alhamdullah. 

I'm also very appreciative of 'quality' toys and books that have been gifted to us over the years (many from Mom; thanks Mom!).  Wooden blocks, wooden puzzles, classic readers, and hand puppets are on such a different level than the commonplace plastic out there.  I can say this with confidence after 4 children and 10 years of experience.  I now refuse to get 'junk' books for the littles to read and opt for quality storylines and language.  Sure, an occasional one comes home from the library, but I will not buy them. 

We've added two huge items to our homeschool.  The first is a set of bookcases I've been dying to have for almost 10 years.  We bought three of them and lined them up in our schoolroom.  Books are organized by age level including a whole section for preschool activites (like the wooden puzzles, lacing blocks, board books, and hand puppets).  There's a whole shelf for library books since we bring home about 30 each week.  The Arabic reader books are visible and look more inviting than being tucked away in someone's room.  Maryam has even pulled some out and started to read them! Great addition to our Arabic curriculum.

The second item is a Listening Center I set up.  We've had this CD player with speakers (looks like an old fashinoned tape player, but it's not) for years, and I've used it off an on, mostly in the kitchen.  Well it took up a lot of counter space so I banished it to a storage cabinet for a few months.  Till yesterday!  I set it up in the corner of our TV room that has the lounge seat and side table.  It is easy to use and has a remote.  We brought home about 5 Audio Books (books with accompanying CD) from the library and set them up there.  The girls fell in love with the idea!  They can now sit down with a book and CD and follow along!  It is downstairs which is away from the schoolroom  in case anyone wants to use it during the day (which Maryam will).  I don't forsee any conflict with having the TV in the same room b/c we only watch the TV for one hour a day.  So I'm looking forward to using the Listening Center! (I wish I did school sitting on the couch under a blanket!)

Thanks for reading!

Peace and Blessings this Eid!

Assalamu alaikom

Tuesday, November 16, 2010, is Eid ul Adha.  It's the holiday signifying the strong faith and commitment that Prophet Abraham, peace be on him, had to our Lord.  He was willing to sacrifice anything God asked him to.  For his strong faith, Allah gave him a ram to slaughter, and that is one reason we do that on Eid.  The meat is distributed and shared with families who need it, and only some is usually kept for the family who had it slaughtered.

At this time, millions of Muslims are in Makkah performing Hajj.  It's a trip we all want to take at least once in our lifetime.  It's a blessing for them to make it, as it cleanses their sins and gives them a fresh start in life. 

Over here we tried to increase our worship the last few days.  I shared a lot of history and stories with the kiddles about the significance of this time of year.  They got some presents, I put up some festive decorations,and we all look forward to an early morning prayer service followed by BRUNCH!

Cute Muslim Mamma Images

Assalamu alaikom

Some friends of mine started a website Easel And Ink where women from around the world put their graphic art on display.  They've come up with cuuuute stuff! Here are a few: