Ho Hum...

Ramadan in this town sucks. Ramadan in my house is nice, but draining since I feel this bizarre obligation to cook too much for iftar. I have thought about going to a nearby town to catch some lessons or taraweh every so often, but would want DH to come with me. I have talked to DH about it, he is too busy with his work and his health isn't good... He doesn't worry about it.

I have started to come to the conclusion that DH's problems are verging on a disability. No, really. I don't know when it happened, but his ability to work or help around the house is going down. More and more I have to do the things for his job with him. More and more he is behind on the paperwork because he is tired. How do you balance your responsibilities in a situation like this? He is the man of the house, and Alhamdulilah he has a job and masha'Allah he is still able to work. But, I know that more and more things are swinging towards me doing everything... But doing everything his way is sometimes a big strain... I mean, if it's my responsibility now just let me get it done my way. Sheesh. But, I think many marriages are this way in truth. DH will tell you that if you are helping someone then just shut it and try to do what they want, that way you are really helping them. I guess this is a good point, but hard to put into practice. Especially because I am a fly by the seat of your pants artsy type and DH is a triple backup for safety engineer type.

*BIG SIGH*

In other news... Fasting for me just commenced today (when it really started Sat here). The baby was having a big nurseathon going for the past few days, but with some serious fluid intake and hilba (fenugreek) the milk supply seems to have caught up, masha'Allah. Sooo, I am fasting today. I will fast every other day, insha'Allah. I think the cumulative effect is what has caused me problems while nursing and fasting in the past... That and my bad habit of not drinking enough water. We will see. I wouldn't be so gung ho about it if I hadn't missed almost every Ramadan since I got married due to pregnancy/nursing. I have some serious making up to do already, better to cut it down if I can, insha'Allah. I think I will be like a sister I knew while teaching after I am done having kids. She just fasted two days every week to make up for all the fasting she had missed. She never bothered to really figure out exact numbers, she was just shooting to do as much as she could. I like the idea.

So, for other nursing moms out there... If you are fasting, please do your best to drink as much as you normally would during the entire day in the evenings. I have been drinking from a nalgene bottle so I can watch myself and know I am drinking enough. Sadly, I am finding myself in the bathroom more than usual, which must mean that I am normally nowhere near drinking enough. As for the food part... No worries for nursing mom's there because you have to be seriously malnourished before it affects your milk. Check out The Imam's Daughter on my sidebar for more info about fasting and pregnancy/nursing.

Ramadan Craft

So here is the post I have been promising about my Ramadan project!!! Insha'ALlah there is still time to do one for your house if you like it.

Felt Ramadan surprise calendar


To get started you will need:

1 yard of 54 inch wide felt. 2 36 inch long 3/4 inch dowels. 8 pieces of 9"x12" felt. Number and letter stencils. Paint and brush for stencils. Glue gun (or good fabric glue). Wooden decorations for the end of the dowels. Whatever other little things you want to decorate the finished product with.

It is helpful to have a rotary cutter and guide... But of course scissors will work too. And you can buy numbers and letters in felt... But I am too cheap to do that!LOL

First:

You cut the 9x12 pieces into four 4 1/2x6 pieces for the pockets.

Second:

Square up your main piece of felt, making it about 34 inches wide. You will clip off the excess at the bottom later. Then, fold over the top and create a pocket for the dowel (an inch will do. Just glue it on the edge.

Third:

Stencil on your lettering across the top.

Fourth:

Lay out your pockets in rows of five alternating colors as you go. It is helpful to use a yardstick or some straight edge to keep you in line as you glue.

Fifth:

Once you have all those pesky pockets glued stencil on all your numbers.

Sixth:

Now you need to trim off the bottom leaving enough room for the lower dowel pocket. Make that pocket the same way you did the one on the top. Then, put the dowels through and glue on whatever you choose for the ends on the top and bottom dowels. Now they are snug in place.

Finally, add your decorations where you think they are needed and place a string on the top dowel to hang it. Then the fun part... Fill it with a little treat for every day of Ramadan! I will be wrapping mine since the pockets are open, but you could just glue a little velcro to the pocket if it suits you better:)

Happy Crafting!!! Insha'Allah someone will find this useful. If you make one of these or a date chain just send me a photo and I will post it, insha'Allah.

Tagged by romerican

This is a tag I was actually thinking I might start, but Romerican beat me to it!!! It's a good one too! What's in your purse?

My answer... Not much, but I have a diaper bag too, so ha ha. Here is what was in my purse when I got tagged: My phone, wallet and keys (pretty standard). The wallet itself is a cavern of receipts, insurance cards for all six family members, my IDs, cards for the four different accounts we have (which have the account written on the back since otherwise they all look the same), my zoo passes, Sam's card, and if I am lucky some cash. It has no family photos I am noticing... Since the kids are always with me I guess it never occurred to me to carry photos. You want to know what my kids look like? Here, that one climbing on the display over there.LOL

The other stuff... A book on Waldorf education by Rudolf Steiner. My digital camera (which was not in the picture since I took the picture with it). Originals of the keys for some of our cars since I need to make extra copies (we make tons of copies since we both have a tendency to loose keys). Layla's bracelets that she insists on wearing but takes off after a couple of minutes in the car. A netflix movie for the kids (Duma to be exact). And that's it.

I guess I don't look like a very useful mom type since I have no Kleenex or lip balm... Medications... But all of that is in the diaper bag. Now if you wanted to read a LONG post I could tell you what's in the diaper bag!LOL

I tag... Surviving, Honorary Arab, and Umm Ibrahim (if you dare!!!).

Check it out!

Arab American inspired shirts... Too cool. My fav? Well, it's between
"Yallah, Bye" and "peace/salam"... And when the kid's sizes come DD definatly gets Egyptian princess!!!LOL Of course I still heart my "Make Chai Not War" from Hijabman.

Just so sad...

Steve Irwin died while diving in the Great Barrier Reef with sting rays. It is strange how people are reacting... As if they knew him. I heard some college students talking about it at the grocery store, they weren't cracking jokes or anything, they were sad... I really respected that guy. He was an amazing personality. I watched The Crocodile Hunter with the kids all the time. At least he died doing what he loved.

It's that time of year....

Ramadan is coming. I have a new calendar project in the works, but here are the things I did last year.

Ramadan Surprise Calendar

Ramadan Date Chain

And check out this little article on why you should plan for Ramadan.