Pure Morning

It is 5:52 a.m. It is Ramadan.
It is my little son's birthday, and he is 5 years old today, mashaAllah walhamdulileh.
There is a thunderstorm outside (those that know me, know this is my favorite). Thunder cracking across the sky, sounds just overhead. Lightning flashing through the blackness, in instants flickering through the drawn blinds of my room.
This is beautiful.

I can't believe my son is 5 today. He seems so grown up, so changed from last year. I can't believe the leaps and bounds in maturity, sensitivity and knowledge he has gained, mashaAllah.

Preparation...

InshaAllah, our official homeschooling journey begins September 8th.

I want to supplement the curriculum with Islamic Studies on our own. I have several books - some owned, some library. No plan, though - no systematic order of progression - and that's what bothers me.

I just realized I have about 2 weeks until the official start date. That SHOULD be enough time for me to get organized if I can buckle down.

MashaAllah, we have a school room. Our toddler has been moved into my son's room, so her room will be our school room inshaAllah.

I have almost all our supplies from the online school - books, materials, loaner computer. I have a couple empty plastic drawers, filing crates & hanging folders. My son's tall bookshelf (filled with random stuff that could be organized elsewhere) I'm thinking about moving into the school room. I haven't decided yet how I'm going to organize all this stuff. I still need to receive the scanner from the online school, and we still don't have a printer. Our budget is pushed to the edge, so my husband said he's going to "do some research" about finding a printer. I know he's not looking forward to having to buy the expensive ink cartridges. We've done without a printer now for about 2 years - maybe 2 1/2. But now that we're starting school at home, I think we're really going to need it.

Especially because I want to supplement with a free Islamic curriculum, if I can find one. And it will probably require lots of printing. I know there's tons and tons of resources out there for Islamic lessons and teachings for your children - but what I'm really looking for, in order to be organized, start simply, and not be overwhelmed, is ONE curriculum. Complete with daily lesson plans and a big picture curriculum goal with directions exactly on how to get there. :)

I know Kinza Academy has an Islamic homeschool curriculum - for purchase. My son does attend a weekend Islamic school. He has some simple books from there, so inshaAllah until I can find the solid curriculum plan I'm looking for I can use those.

I'm being called away now, for a bike ride....

Ramadan Kareem!

Change

Today there's a chill in the air...it makes me sad because I have to face that summer is almost over. Words cannot describe how much I love summer. I love Fall too, but for its bittersweet, gothic melancholy that pensively twists your heartstrings... Summer I love with its shiny, lush, luxuriant engorgement and peace.

Filled with love

of our world and the people in it -

our constant fragile balance

of beauty and tragedy,

happiness and sadness,

frenetic passion

and silent, somnolent calm.

Beta Waves

I love the time laying still before you sleep - how the mind flashes with pictures of memories and moments throughout your life. It's like being able to live through a lifetime again, in a few seconds. And still, those same feelings are there. It's really there, your experience, nestled inside your brain. I love how crystal clear these snapshots are. These precious seconds. Alhamdulileh, mashaAllah.


I really should write these stories. *sigh* One day, inshaAllah. I really would love to write them. But I need enough time and space to concentrate. I get so lost, so completely carried away by writing. And I need to be here. I am needed. Walhamdulileh.

Firelight

cold crystal snow chipped
winter'd afternoon

excitement rises
in the blood
in the bones

melting through the icing
round the skin

Babies Are Hilarious

Just a nice warm fuzzy, here.

I've been reading my latest National Geographic issue (I love that magazine) cover to cover - it's an entire issue on China - a fascinating place. This morning as I read, sipping my coffee, my daughter, a 1-year-old baby, mashaAllah, squatted next to me for 15 minutes, "cleaning" her mini-highchair (I call it her baby-seat...it's what we use for her to eat in...a travel-size highchair) with a wad of toilet paper. The toilet paper slowly disintegrated into a few fuzzy puffs as it scrubbed and scrubbed, being ripped and shredded by these furiously working little fists. She worked energetically, complete with her tongue between her teeth, sticking out from the corner of her mouth (for added concentration). Every once in awhile, she would look up at me with sparkly, wide eyes, searching for approval. I would squeal, "Good job!!!" and she went happily back to work.

When she was finally satisfied with her efforts, she put up her arms for me to carry her. As we were exiting the kitchen, I found a raisin on the floor, left-over from her 15-20 minute feast prior, when she was curiously pinching each little raisin clump between tiny forefinger and thumb.

"Here," I said, picking it up. "Have a raisin." (I'm not one to shy away from raisins on the kitchen floor.) She opened her mouth like a baby bird, and I plopped it in, her big cheeks bulging from the sides as she began to chew.

It was a job well done.

MashaAllah. Babies are hilarious. SubhanAllah. :)