Thursday, 15 October 2015

DIY Thomas the Engine Costume

I'm so very excited about this! This year it'll be my first halloween with my two boys. Last year, M and I weren't together, and he celebrated it with my sister, who dressed him up as a cute tiger! He looked adorable, but I regret not being there for his first Halloween. So this year, I intend on making amends.

He's a HUGE fan of Thomas & Friends, he knows all the characters, all the songs, everything! and mind you he isn't even 2 years old yet -__- haha.

Ok, So I am not a crafty person in the LEAST. I mean I have made some horrible art over the years, I have been mocked by my teachers! LOL yupp, I was that bad. Hahaha.. So I promise this will be easy, if I can do it you can too!

I've gone ahead and built the actual thomas frame/shape out of cardboard box. I used a big 124 pampers diaper box (they are so versatile!! I use them for all sorts of storage - toys, clothes, etc)

Anyways, this is what my Thomas looks like right now:



I kind of played with it and didn't use any rulers or anything, no measurements no complicated business! I have to make another one for my nephew, who's 4 years old and can probably be involved in the making process too! What a great activity for young minds :-)


So here we go!

Step 1. Begin by taking a large pampers or huggies diaper box, and draw out the shape of the train, these flaps will stand upright. I've drawn out the lines with pencil on the box below. But I edited them for you so you can see. The Red lines replace my pencil lines, and the area coloured in red represents the area that will be gone (Don't throw away these pieces, they can be bent and taped to make Thomas's face later)! The blue areas represent what will remain as part of Thomas. These flaps will stand upright!
The pink side flap will also stand upright, and then the three flaps can be taped together. The side flap also referred to as the back flap will be where Thomas's little hood is.


Step 2: Here you can see my three flaps standing upright, I taped them together with duct tape (Masking tape would be better but I didnt have any) on the inside and outside. Then get another large piece of cardboard and put it over the back flaps to make Thomas's hood.



Step 3: Use the extra flaps that were coloured in red above, bend them (cardboard can be quite flexible, and unite them with more duct tape! Use as many extra pieces of long cardboard you need to make a big circle, the size of thomas's face!

Step 4:  Use a toilet paper roll, or paper towel roll to make thomas's funnel. Make sure to press out all the bubbles when taping things down. All of this will be painted, and the paint should go on smooth. 

Step 5: Part of step 2 actually, once the hood is on, use another long piece of paper to cover the gap. Place it in position ontop of the 2 side flaps and pencil out the shape of the hood. Once you cutt it out it should hold without tape, but tape it down because this will be painted later as well. Im referring to the red circled area below. 



Stay Tuned for the Painting & Thomas's face this weekend!! 

Wednesday, 14 October 2015

Islamic Lullabys

Okay so in my previous post I mentioned my favourite nursery rhymes. Truth is, I love singing them islamic nasheeds and hamds

A rendition of "Hush Little Baby" goes like this


Hush little Mohi, don't you cry
Mamas gonna sing you a lullaby

Hush little Mohi, pure and small
He created you, He created us all

Hush little Mohi, don't you fear
We're not alone when Allah's so near

Hush little Mohi, breathing so calm
He'll protect us, and keep us from harm

Hush little Mohi, calm and serene
You are a muslim, Islam is your Deen. 

(I often replace the last line with my sons full names,
You are a muslim, Mohiyuddin
or You are a muslim, Benyamin ;-)

Another night time favourite is, by Dawud Wharnsby Ali, a Canadian ^_^ nasheed artist. All his songs are good, but this one is good for the end of the day. Its titled

"What Did I Do Today?"

Oh the moon has come

The day is done
The night has covered up the sun.
I have stood so often before you to pray
But I wonder Allah, tell me, what did I do today?

Did I remember the words of Al-Fatiha?
Did I take time to thank you for all that I have?Did I call on you to guide my way?
Tell me, what did I do today?

I have whispered to you
As I made ruku
Subhana Rabiy'yal adheem.
But was my faith
Bright or grey?
Oh Allah, tell me, what did I do today?


Did I smile at my brother?
Was I kind to my mother?
Did I teach another something that I know
Or did my love of this world lead me astray?
Tell me, what did I do today?


Sami Allah hu liman hamida
Rabanna lakal hamd.
Sami Allah hu liman hamida
Rabanna lakal hamd.
La illaha il Allah.
La illaha il Allah.


Though I've bowed to you
with my face in the dust,
subhana raby'yal a'la
Did I turn to you
And did I obey?
Oh Allah, tell me, what did I do today?

Did I use my mind?
Did I use my time?
If I search my heart what will I find?
The light of your guidance is a glimmering ray,
Tell me, what did I do toady?
Oh Allah, tell me, what did I do today?

Another Nasheed can be done in both arabic or english, it's the all famous 

"Tala Al Badaru Alayna" in arabic first

Tala al badaru alayna
Minta niyatil wada
Wajaba shukaruu alaynaa
Ma da alillahi daaaaa

Ayuhal Madaru shufina
Jitha bil amaril muttha
Jitha sharof til Madina
Marhabannn ya khair ada

O'  the White moon rose over us
From the valley of wada
And we owe it to shall gratefulness
Where the call is to Allah

O' You who where raised amongst us
Coming with a word to be obeyed
You have brought to this city nobleness
Welcome best callers to Gods Way

And then I absolutely love zikr! I do it with my kids all the time, simple ones like

  "La ilaha illalala, La ilaha Illalla, Muhammad Rasoolullah alayhi salatullah"

Or longer ones in english and arabic like
SubhanAllah, wal Hamdulillah
Wa la ilaha Illalla Wallaa hu Akbar
Wala howla wa la quwata illa billa hi aliyul azeem

Glory be to Allah, all praise is due to Allah
There is no God but Allah, Allah is Great
All power and might belong to Allah, the most High, the Great!

The most important of course are the Quls. Especially the last 3. Alhamdullilah I recite them over my sons daily and nightly. I believe in hasad and I know its very real. The Creator of the world tells us that He has also created harm, and then has taught us how to protect ourselves. So why wouldn't we make it part of our routine? My mother recited them with me nightly, and even now if ever I'm afraid, I just recite them and I feel safe. So if you can do one thing with your children, recite Surah-Ikhlas, Surah-Falaq and Surah Nas over them daily and nightly! 


Nursery Rhymes


Whenever I dreamed of being a mom, it always included singing beautiful songs for my babies. Any song that had a sweet melody, I'd make a mental note and say to myself, I'll sing this for my baby one day! The beautiful thing about nursery rhymes and really any song you sing for your child, whether you have a good voice or not, is that they will love it. They love YOU! As you are, every imperfection you see in yourself, your children only see you as perfect. ^_^

So sing for them!

Some of my favourite nursery rhymes to sing for M & B are:

Hush Little Baby

Hush little baby (i like to replace 'baby' with their name, ie. bennie) 

Hush Little Bennie, don't you cry
Mama's gonna sing you a lullaby.

Hush little Bennie, don't say a word,
Mama's gonna buy you a mocking bird

If that mocking bird won't sing
Mamas gonna buy you a diamond ring

If that diamond ring turns brass
Mama's gonna buy you a looking glass

If that looking glass gets broke
Mamas gonna buy you a billie goat

If that billie goat won't pull
Mamas gonna buy you a cart and bull

If that cart and bull falls over
Mamas gonna buy you a dog named rover

If that dog named Rover won't bark
Mamas gonna buy you a horse and cart

If that horse and cart falls down
You'll still be the sweetest baby in town

^_^ Hands down my favourite lullaby! If my over-active naughty little 7 month old instantly falls asleep to this, I can guarantee it'll work on any baby! Give it a Go~

For when they are up and active, my most favourite rhyme is

"Five Little Monkeys"

Five little monkeys, jumping on the bed.
One fell off, and bumped his head

Mama called the doctor, and the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed (do a no-no finger wagging, they LOVE it)

Four little monkeys jumping on the bed,
One fell off, and bumped his head

Mama called the doctor and the doctor said
No more monkeys jumping on the bed..

continue til 1 monkey is left :-D

During bath time,  my favourite song is 

"5 Little Ducks"
5 Little ducks went swimming one day,
Over the hills and far away

Mama duck said "Quack quack quack quack"
But only four little ducks came back

4 little ducks went swimming one day,
Over the hills and far away

Mama duck said "Quack quack quack quack"
But only three little ducks came back

this continues until

1 little duck went swimming one day,
Over the hills and far away

Mama duck said "Quack quack quack quack"
But NO little ducks came back

No little ducks went swimming one day,
Over the hills and far away

BABA duck said "QUACK QUACK QUACK QUACK"
And all the little ducks came back!!

Sometimes I like to say Mohi came back or Ben came back, especially when singing it with my 21 month old, he finds that hilarious.

Introduction

Hi There!! I've tried making blogs in the past, and somehow I can never keep up! I suppose I've never had the motivation. But here I am, mommy of two! and I realized I need a place to store and share all my memories and secrets/ "tricks of the trade" ;-)

I have two boys,  M & B. M is 21 months now, and B just turned 7 months! They are only 14 months apart and I have what you'd call "Two under two"

-- Just realized, blogging as a mom with 2 is going to be a bit challenging, but it'll be fun and worth it in the end! Before I could type 2 under 2, my little one woke up and it was a long night from there.. So 14 hours later, here I am, continuing! haha :-)

So let the blogging begin!!