A Gift / cookies

Add your touch to your gifts...:)..simple but cute!...


Delicious cookies..kids love them..




wish you all a lovely week which is full of achievements inshallah:)...

Middle Eastern Summer

What can you do in a really HOT climate? what activities can you engage your kids and yourself in such weather? I wonder...while feeling really hot sitting in front of the AC?

Enjoy the summer while you can!:)..

Have faith, and believe on your abilities...

Ya Allah...That was my reaction when I had this boy as a patient, about 10 years old, didn’t look at me. Actually he turned all his face away from me (and he did this with everyone), on one side, and he had one of the strangest speech problems I’ve ever encountered, oh and at that time I had just graduated for less than a year.
He didn’t have any problems with his oral/speech apparatus. But his fricative phonemes (sounds) (s,sh,f….) and many others were nasalised, meaning they were produced from his nasal cavity (nose)? They sounded very distorted, he has had this problem since he started speaking? He had very low self esteem, was introvert and I don’t think he ever made any friends, at all. I thought to myself, will this child’s speech improve?

I knew I had to do my best to help him. It affected all his life. I have seen him for a number of sessions. His dad wasn’t very cooperative, was annoyed as they came from one of the regions far from the capital.

The boy followed my instructions, and was keen to cooperate as I assured him he’d improve his speech if he practiced whatever I gave him to do at home. He was one of the few children who showed devotion to the sessions.

After around 4 sessions, his sounds were near to normal, I was amazed. I thought to myself, we made it. He started turning his head to me, with some eye contact. He’d raise his head when I asked him to. He had a tiny smile appearing on his face whenever I said I am proud of his achievement.

We started talking about his dreams, which he had none. He made it thanks to Allah. I had to discharge him, but he taught me many lessons. May Allah grant him success…

Who Cares???

Oh, she is surviving it so well. They all do but it is a matter of pretending they are not good at surviving this stage with all the high stress, the physical, emotional and psychological difficulties.

It is her 41 weeks, the baby is very happy to spend extra cosy time so close to his mummy. However, mummy is working full time, & she has been speaking to a father of a patient who was vocally abusive and tiring. She is doing great in front of the father & the patient, but the palpitation is getting worse, the back pain is unbearable, and the oedema is making her look a bit funny, especially with those big ugly shoes on.
Well, it is one of those really busy time, she has hardly had anything to eat since her breakfast at 7:30 am, oh it is 12:30 pm, there is a patient at one and it’s prayer time, so off she goes to pray, and then she has to see the other patient who takes an hour, a hyperactive lovely child that takes the remaining energy. 2:30, it is time to go home.

Well, she had the baby thanks to Allah. She gets 50 days maternity leave granted then she has to take her own annual leave. Than back to work, oh excuse me we don’t have breast feeding hour, and your patients are waiting and you got to get own with life, nothing exists as a part-time job, you’re neither the first mother nor the last one. And anyway , WHO CARES!..

It is very tough being pregnant alone, and it is tougher when the laws don't help, I’ve read somewhere along time ago that working mothers are more prone to deliver by a caesarean section. Personally I’ve seen it in the area I work at, the stress and fatigue you go through can drive you crazy.

Are we aiming to have ill-fitted mothers to work side by side with men, do same work as men, than take care of our kids while not considering the different biological needs? How can children be raised the way they should be when we are not being appreciated and taken care of???

Wish laws would change, we don't ask for a lot, but for extra appreciation and help. I guess it is different everywhere. But I really believe that we should think about women regarding this matter.

House maids??

Is it becoming compulsory to have a house maid in the Middle East, specifically in the Gulf region? If you don’t have one, you’ll be considered a superwoman who deserves whatever stress & troubles she is getting.
I have been thinking about it for a long long time, don’t get me wrong. I don’t blame women in our society for not being able to live without a house maid, or two , or even three at one time. It is a hectic society, social obligations and activities are too much to handle. We live in a very generous society with lots of social activities going on, we receive visitors to our houses all the time, and you are expected to make them feel they are in a five star hotel.
You’re obliged to visit your relatives continuously, for no reason, or for occasions such as weddings, funerals, child birth etc. So we are busy people you know..
Women are working in different fields such as men, and not much facility are given to mothers such as part-time jobs or breast-feeding hours. Moreover, we lack good nurseries and child care services that you can put your kids in whenever you are busy.
So what will be the solution for most women? Get a housemaid from one of the less developed countries such as Seri Lanka, India, Indonesia, Ethiopia and let her do all the cleaning, cooking, baby-sitting, even shopping???? Does it really make sense??? It happens, but it doesn’t make sense to me?? A person I know nothing about, who speaks different language with different religion, who might have problems I don’t know about, I pay her very low salary, and she’d replace me?
For the time being, I am concerned about so many things, I am studying, trying to find a solution with my kids but not interested on letting a person I don’t know to take care of my lil ones.Oh, and I love my home privacy, besides I love being able to dress the way I like at home...
I am writing this while (for the first time in my life) a part time lady is cleaning one of my bathrooms,I feel awkward on her presence between my family. Will it work for me,, or my mom & all family will insist that I should get a housemaid. What do you think??

Hugs of Energy

Is it only me, or it is everyone.I really believe that hugging my loved ones gives me energy to move on..specially hugging and cuddling the little ones.
We think we hug kids because they need it, but actually It does us wonders as well..We need it....I am in Love with hugs..:)

Cyclone Gonu

A cyclone that hit Oman on 06.06.2007, it was devastating,alhamdulilah there were warnings long before and leaves were given during those days for most employees and all schools, so thanks to Allah, death was not very high,but the country was terribly affected in general.

My son was seven months, the rain wasn't stopping, our house was surounded by a fast flowing flood that takes everything on its way, it was raining continuously, the water reached the last step of the house (I was at my parents' house as my hubby was out of the country). It is a single-story house. I wore my Abaya, I thought it was our last day.I only thought of my little boy I am carrying. I only wanted him to survive.But just when the flood was making its way to the inside our house, the rain stopped...subhana Allah..we survived the cyclone, most of the people survived,,some houses were flooded to the roof of the third floor,some houses demolished as if they were never there once...the capital looked at those days as if it was in the sixties and seventies,but destroyed...

a reminder of how short this life is,and nothing remains the same...

Libraries..

I enjoy taking my kids to the Shaikh Issa National Library in Bahrain al hamdulilah. It has a beautiful children’s section and my kids adore it. I think libraries are crucial part of children’s life & they should be introduced to reading and learning through play at young age. I am sorry to say that libraries are the missing part in Oman. Inshallah soon we will have at least one, I hope.

I could not get a proper photo of the library. However, it is part of the Al-Fatih Mosque, which is so beautiful, I got this picture of the mosque.



It is named after the Islamic character Muhammad Al-Fatih son of the Ottoman Sultan Murad II. He conquered Constantinople, Istanbul now. Prophet Muhammad (PBUH) mentioned this long before “"You will conquer Constantinople. Its commander is the best and its army (that will conquer it) is the best." And of course, Al Fatih is the name of the known mosque in Istanbul.

I got loads of books on introduction to Islam in different languages. I got them because I want to contribute on conveying Islam to non-Muslims I meet every day. I just feel I lack courage although I am really keen to do so. Anyone with an advice on this?



Now, this is a simple home project I did with the great help of my little boy mashallah,out of formulae cans :D.. I love doing these kind of work with my little boy, he enjoys it, gives him confidence and we get to bond more & more :)…try it with your kids:)

Kunafa, dessert from the Middle East

I made Kunafa, or as it is called in some region Osmalia (derived from Othman or Ottoman, as I would guess it might have started at the time of Ottoman Empire, correct me if am wrong)

You need:

A packet of Kunafa+ melted butter (about a cup I guess): break the kunafa in smaller pieces and mix it with the melted butter, some use ghee but I like the smell of butter.

For your middle sauce (cream) you need:

One and a half cup milk

Half cup of cream

About 4-6 tsp of cornflour

Sugar, rose water (optional)

You mix the ingredients and then cook them in low heat till the sauce thickens, keep staring it with a spoon so it doesn’t form lumps.

And of course you should have made your syrup earlier (sheera), I don’t use a specific amount to make it, use water and sugar and balance it depending on how much you want it to be- either very sweet or not.

Now, put half of the kunafa on a baking tray, squeeze it. Then add the sauce in the middle, then the other half of the kunafa. Bake it in your oven for less than 15 minutes or till it is golden.

When you take it out of the oven, add the cold syrup, otherwise if you like it dry, let it cool first then add the syrup. Add pistachio on top or as you like…now I leave you with the photos..:)

This is before baking it..

then after taking it out of the oven

Paper Craft

I have been feeling a bit sorry for myself lately. This is because I have had so many hobbies which I loved and was good at but never improved them. Some started when I was really young, at school like drawing. I was a good one in this according to people who saw my drawings, especially my art teachers. However, for some reason I seem to have been easily affected by outside inhibitors, who would say I am clever in school studies and should only focus on that. At that time I thought it was the right decision, but I know now that it never was.

Hobbies are what keep us sane. They drift us away from the daily busy routine, they are passion for a thing you are good at.

Anyway, I have done this lately and thought I would share it with you. I got the idea of the flowers a very long time ago. Unfortunately I can’t remember where I saw it. The photos are clear and shows what you need and the steps:

my final work..