Winter is truly upon us..

The sun just rises as we reach school...


and the snow arrived in time for the holidays! mashaAllah.
I was surprised to read that even the Swedish public transport system has been caught out with the snow, and then the usual moans from commentators that it is Winter after all, what do you expect?!
Warnings today not to drive due to weather conditions, so put a stop to sledging as the nearest, walkable slope is not so great. Neighbours built a small 'hill' out of snow for the kids to have a go on. Also meant I had a go at making roti for MIL as shop for these is also a car journey away.

As time is short, just some pictures

Some sunlight appeared today, so despite sore throat, I took them down for some Vitamin D and very fresh, chilly air.

and some 'cocosbullar' S made fairly recently, and are v tasty, needs no cooking, fairly healthy as mostly porridge oats (well sugar and butter too) and a good one for little ones to help with. If anyone wants a recipe let me know and I'll translate it, inshaAllah.

S wanted me to take this one to show the speed of his rolling of the balls...


A 'mafs test'. created by H, and looks like it was M who did the answers.



and Hz, sporting just what he needs to retain those brain cells. ( Yes giving him a big, padded space suit to wear has crossed my mind!)

A typical day in the life of me..

Wake, feed, pray, eat , cajole, rush, drive, listen MP3 quran, drive, grocery-shop, feed, change nappy, eat, pray, drive, feed , pray, feed some more hungry mouths, help with homework/quran, pray, yell 'turn the computer off', prepare food, cajole to eat it, cajole to get them to bed, set timer on mobile to get them to bed, think '10 pm could be the best time to do drawing, spelling,maths, hanging on the exercise bar, chasing up and down, but we have to be up before 7 am tomorrow', grab some food, pray, type this, collapse in bed.

A quick, but warm 'Eid Mubarak!'

Things have been a bit disrupted round here as lst week Hz got his turn at the Acute department. Well actually the child department, the adult ENT department, the local dentist and finally the specialist dentist, 2 times. He was sitting in his highchair (strapped in, but the clip broke in the fall), when fighting big brothers rushed in and his chair got pushed over by accident. He has now lost 2 of the front teeth, and 1 is left in but pushed into the gum, so will have to come out. So we have a trip back to the dentist next week to see if the tooth is coming out itself or if they'll have to pull it- eek! This age, for all the kids has ended up with some accident or other. Alhamdulillah it's never been anything life threatening, but still quite a bit of blood and pain. I need a full-time bodyguard for him really. Having said that, this accident was not of his own making, and from previous post´s it is quite surprising it happened when he was 'safely' strapped in his chair, rather than himself climbing up and maybe having a fall. He had managed to tip that chair before himself though I caught it, so wondering if I should tell IKEA. Maybe my kids could safety test child products. If they passed this they'd be pretty reliable!

The leaves are almost gone..

and we did get a little bit of snow, although I'd call it sleet. Now the colour is left to the berries, mashAllah.

Do I need to comment, except there are now barely few places left to put things (like hot cups of tea) out of the reach of 1 year olds.



and when I think about throwing away/ putting away in the cellar the odd toys that have failed to be tidied into sets (or indeed have no 'set') I catch my DD playing an imaginary game with the items. Could it be true? Tidying up could damage children's imagination?! I like the sound of that...

S captured this photo on my phone of this brave baby hedgehog, out in daylight hours. (Mummy hedgehog must be waiting in the bush about to say 'Well, what time do you call this then?')

and finally. Last Sunday was one of those rare days when I felt things had gone pretty well on the child (and mum, see last point) nurturing scale. M had an islam class given by a brother (which is always good to have positive male role models), some time playing in the park (finding above wildlife), some card-making with great resources provided free of charge, and some excellent and reasonably priced homemade cakes.
Today we were unable to go again for some crafts and cake as Hz is ill, and so is MIL. I'm actually OK alhamdulillah, and regularly dosing myself with honey.The others are a bit disappointed as they wanted to visit friends and TOYSRUS. Oh that shop. Aargh its Eid soon so shall probably have to darken that shop's doors this week.
Still have to find time to write down some more deep/meaningful stuff regarding kid's, well how can I put it, upbringing, but as time goes by some of the issues are not as they were and I expect others will come up.

I am not ill, I am not ill..

All this hype over swine flu, I'm trying to ignore it. It's hard when you're getting invitations for vaccination s for your kids, yourself, spouse through the post over the past few weeks. I don't often watch the news (no TV still hurrah!) but do glimpse at the online newspapers. My elderly neighbours asked me today if we were going to have the jabs, and the answer I gave brought a tissue to one of their mouths. I know the power of guilt is being used to make us get it to protect the vulnerable but after discussions with friends and family, we decided to abstain. Midwives and paediatricians have said they wouldn't have it nor give it to their children. So as the headache and dry throat I have persists I hope it's just down to tiredness..
Anyhow here're are a few recent photos:




The younger ones entertain themselves while M has his running club and Hz entertains himself in the sink. I hope the interest in the dishes continues into the teenage years and later..

And Autumn moves into Winter....

We don't need to go far to enjoy it, the cherry trees have been really appreciated this year and continue for the moment to do so.
Soon they'll be like skeletons with only their bare branches, waiting for some snow to clothe them. Then perhaps inshaAllah become a fun game of 'cover your brother with snow' as those branches are given a good shake....
















So enjoy those last few leaf kicking fests/ fights/ general gauping at beautiful colours, I think it's time to wait for some snow....

Some autumn development..

A trip to a local forest/ nature centre gave us insight into which animals might be lurking in the woods. Here we examine tracks and faeces (assumed to be models). We managed to spot some real fox poo, red hairs and all stuck in.






and of course the beauty of the autumn trees, the fine weather recently has really been showing their full glory.


Back home and grandmother unpacks a multisensory stock of spices from Pakistan....

H decides to write down his verdict on Hz's behaviour..

is there not an electrical appliance that can escape his interest? (he'd made some steps out of the drawers he had managed to pull out, mashaAllah)

Some bits from the surface..

Some (almost) instant gratification autumn decoration making, inspired by Itto's blog. MashAllah one not to miss for lifting the iman, creative homeschooling, and seeing how it is to live a world away but have so much in common....
These poor little rosehips were at the receiving end of a post-argument, pre-menstrual needle, and even had a bit of a tangle with Hz's interested paws...


The new place for schoolbags, coordinated nicely doncha think?


and the wires fascination continues.



The new map of the world has been holding some interest, esp populaton density figures!

There's a lot more on my mind but so much to do depite MIL being here, so hope for some time to air it inshaAllah.

Swine flu Vaccination

We've had permission slips and appointments sent home for the children to be vaccinated against swine flu. S wants to have it as he doesn't like the idea of having flu (who does?), H and M don't want to have the 2 jabs. I haven't been following the latest news about Swine flu for a while so am quite unsure how safe the vaccine is, and if it's really necessary. What's your opinion?

From Summer to Autumn..

Is it just me or has blogger just got more annoying? I try to delete photos I've posted erroneously and it doesn't let me by just clicking on it and pressing delete. I try to write text for the photos and it comes out blue and underlined. I try to move photos around the post, it doesn't let me. I then enter the unknown of 'Edit HTML' which does the job but somehow seems a step backward.
Anyway! as I sit here, in my cold living room, with the rain and blustery wind pelting the windows, I take this opportunity of procrastinated photo-uploading, to appreciate the change of seasons. Feet adorned with fluffy socks, I accept theat summer is OVER. It is time for ferreting around in the cellar cupboards for winter clobber and trips to the shops (groan) for new jackets etc where hand me downs just aren't going to do the job.
So here are some snapshots from my phone (Allah knows best where the proper pics are on my computer).


At the end of August we went to Stockholm, hurray, out of Skåne. Here is our 'little red house' about which Biryani makes regular requests to return to and 'climb out the windows' which is how the kids decided was the way in and out of the cabin (Dukes of Hazard eat your heart out).


We only went for 2 nights, but I had to wash Biryani's clothes as the wait at reception was too long for her poor bladder (it had been over a 6 hour drive).



There is a lake in the distance which M was v keen to swim in, and so DH was also obliged to enjoy a freezing dip. This is a ski resort in the Winter.

Stockholm old town, just before it poured with rain.

and back home, Hz catching a late afternoon sunbeam.


The 'flower mountain' on the way to one of the favourite parks in our area.



Biryani

with umbrella, now deceased, partly due to blustery outing we had today.


Some autumn colour at the zoo, it's full glory not shown by the picture, I just couldn't stop looking at those red leaves..

5.58 a.m.

is when my eyes were first open today and they are willing me to let them shut. I had a 7 a.m. washing slot and I wanted to get it in before the little ones woke up. So after Fajr prayers and getting the boys up for school I raced down to the cellar. It was probably a little before 7 a.m. when the machines got going but I hope the neighbours will forgive me.... Why? you might ask, would you want to do washing at this mad time, but the heating is being fixed in our block and I don't have a tumble drier so have to use downstairs, and I think everyone else is doing the same so there's no decent slots and and oh I'm getting bored....enough of Swedish laundry room talk...
These blog posts are getting fewer and further between, and I spend much brainpower trying to work out how I can make more efficient use of time. It seems increasingly hard to come by. What is the reason?one word: Hz
Today he manged to climb into his high chair via the stool and sit himself in it quite nicely. The other day he managed to tip the IKEA high chair down, which thankfully I was near enough by to catch it, and it hadn't been one of my lax days where I'd not bothered with the belt. He does this thing of rocking back and forward in it, and often falls asleep this way (sounds a bit Russian orphanage, but really, he likes it). So he rocked so violently that the whole thing fell forward, despite the legs being designed to give stability and trip up unsuspecting adults as a side effect.
He also manages to pull himself round the kitchen whilst in the chair to check out things like the knives in the sink.
First proper 'emergency' trip to the doctor's last week (inevitable (he's a male)) was when he'd pulled the stone attachment to the barbeque on to his finger and cut it, breaking the top bit of his fingernail off. In the end the nurse wasn't too concerned and now I've given up with the plasters as he just pulls/ bites them off.

Things I can't do when he's awake (without major stress)
go on computer
cook
sew
fold washing
tidy up
wash floor
make phone calls
and it goes on


Things I can do, unharrassed, when Hz is awake:
wash up
hoover (though he gets scared of the noise)
play with him

yes in an ideal, romantic, totally unrealistic world, playing with him should be what we are mostly doing. My trip to the park was in hope of some play and a safer environment than the kitchen appliance laden home, but ended in a trip to the doctor's .
I know it's a phase, I know it's no fault of his and it's normal and it's a test of patience, but the words NERVOUS, BREAKDOWN, no , no, no,
but S replied to one of my (joking) statements:I paraphrase 'But the orphanage won't cope with this behaviour'

Hz, I love you and that's why I'm still sane..

Eid Mubarak!

So much to write, so little time! It was prayers, pressies and funfair for Eid day, and a trip to the Animal Park on Monday.

A bear, yes they have them in Sweden. This zoo has mainly animals native to Sweden.
M was a bit cold maybe?!

Biryani appreciated this outing the most I think...