Thursday 25 July 2013

The calm before the storm


It's that rare (I cannot stress how rare) moment before the kiddies wake up and I have a tiny bit of time to myself - the calm before the storm. It's also the first days of the holidays and he, I'm up at 6:37am. Well, earlier, but that's the time now. So many many things need to get done in the days ahead. I need to find a few more shipping companies; pack what we want to ship and what we're going to take with us on the plane; arrange an MOT; sort out other household affairs and make a baby blanket.

For now though, I'm going to enjoy this moment of calm before the baby - who is stirring- fully awakes.




- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Ramadan Journal Days 11 Iftar/Evening; Day 12 Prayer/ Mercy; Day 13 In my Kitchen; Day 14 Now Playing and Day 15 Me


I've missed out a lot of days! My hubby came back from Pakistan on Monday after being away for 22 days and it was the last week of term and my last week at school. It's been a crazy, emotional week and it's not even Friday.

I haven't taken a "In my kitchen" picture yet. It's full of boxes and things we want to take to Au Dhabi with us.












Friday 19 July 2013

Ramadan Journal: This happened today and Grateful for

I usually end up falling asleep when putting the kids to bed and that's why I end up posting two Ramadan journals together. The kids actually fell asleep before i did tonight.

As it happened, something did happen yesterday. Actually two things. First tickets to Abu Dhabi were emailed to me and the second was a phone call from my mum asking me to rescue her from my daughter who was crying her eyes out whilst my mum took her around M&S. My daughter has developed a clingy-ness to everyone. It doesn't matter if there is already someone with her but if someone makes a move to leave the room she will start crying her little eyes out. And I mean at-the-top-of-her-lungs-till-she's-red-in-the-face crying. This makes doing anything difficult. I didn't even need to call my mum to find out where in M&S she was. I could actually hear her crying from the second floor when she was on the ground floor. No joke!

As for what I'm grateful for: my son - who is such a good older brother. He's so loving towards his little sister and when she was crying her eyes out in the car today and I was at the end of my tether, he started playing peekaboo with her. He's a darling.









Wednesday 17 July 2013

Tuesday 16 July 2013

Ramadan Journal Day 6 and 7: Workspace and White


I forgot to take a picture of my workspace and was supposed to do it today and I forgot again! I have the memory of a goldfish. So instead I'm posting a picture of my son's workspace.



As for the white, lilies are my favourite flower. Especially white ones.



Sunday 14 July 2013

Amber teething necklace update

Birdie has been wearing her amber teething necklace since Friday afternoon and believe it or not, it seems to be helping her! She back to sleeping properly and is MUCH less fussy. Result!

Ramadan Journal Day 4 and 5: What I'm reading and what I'm crafting

Since my daughter's teething was getting so that she couldn't sleep properly, I haven't had the evenings to myself much. Hence I haven't had much to read or craft. When I do read, I usually have two or three books going at once unless I am particularly engrossed in one and I concentrate on the one. I was averse to eReaders until about two years ago following a conversation with a friend's friend regarding Kindles. Now I have far too many books on it to count which is just as well as I had also once earned the name "girl with books to the ceiling" at one point. Anyhoo, here are the books I'm currently reading both in paperback and electronic versions.

As for my crafting, I'm trying to make a baby blanket for a friends impending arrival. One panel of it is complete. I have 10 more to go! The crochet bow is a brooch I have made for my son's teacher. I hope she likes it!








Friday 12 July 2013

Ramadan Journal Day 3: On my table

My table is a mess. It has all sorts of stuff my son keeps putting on it. Every now and then it all bugs me and I go through a phase where I have to tidy everything and so I cheated and put some of my things on my husband's bed side table because he's away and his is much neater. Then I thought I might as well take a picture of the mess anyway. So here's both.









Thursday 11 July 2013

Ramadan Journal Day 2: Prayer

I came across the idea of the Ramadan Journal through The Harlequin Tea Set blog and thought I'd jump onto the band wagon too as I've been wanting to do something similar for ages. It started last year by the blogger Nielouphar Abdurahiman of Creating Memories but I have only come across it this year.

I missed Day 1 and am trying to document Day 2 on my phone without waking up Birdie (I'm also not quite sure how to insert a photo from my phone). I only really came into praying after a particularly bad time in my life. It wasn't something we were brought up with though my mum made sure we went to Quran classes to learn how to read it. I didn't actually learn how to pray till I was about 12. From then until the age of about 30 I prayed sporadically and more because I had to rather than because I wanted to. Now it's more of a case of wanting to. I don't always get to say all five in a day what with work but I try. This month I aim to try harder and get more out it

Wednesday 10 July 2013

Teething Round 2

I've already been down the teething route so I thought I had it all down to pat. I was wrong. Chunky monkey, also known as Birdie because she likes to open her mouth like a little bird whenever we eat something, is so very different from my little man. She's had high temperatures, sleepless nights, grumpiness - the lot. And still no teeth.

As I was complaining about it in the staff room a colleague suggested I try amber teething necklaces. I had heard of them before but thought them too much of a safety hazard. However, I'm at that stage where I'll try anything as she's really suffering and I need my sleep now I'm back at work and hubby is away. Plus, if they do work as all the sites I've researched say they do, they're safe as long as they are used as they're supposed to. Amber is a resin, not a stone. Something I learnt yesterday and works as a natural analgesic when warmed by the skin. I'm still not entirely convinced but I've ordered one from eBay so let's see.