Flower Pot Dirt Cake

This is a great dessert. It is so easy to make. It does not require any baking and it is delicious. I like to take it to someone's house as a gift. If you have guests over, it makes a great conversational piece. I made this one when I had some family visiting. The oreo cookies look just like dirt. I have seen variations where they put it in a sand bucket and serve it with shovels. Here is the recipe:

1 package of Oreo cookies(I use the generic from Wal -Mart. They work just fine).
8oz. package of cream cheese
1/3 cup of powdered sugar
1/4 cup of soft butter
2 packages of 3oz. Vanilla pudding
12oz. of cool whip
1 large flower pot (I use a plastic one)
Decorations: silk plants

Line flower pot with foil. Blend the Oreo cookies in a food processor to make crumbs. This is what looks like dirt. Mix pudding according to the directions. In a medium bowl mix cream cheese , butter and sugar with electric mixer. In a large bowl blend this mixture with the pudding. Fold in the cool whip. Put one layer of the cookie crumb mixture in the bottom of the flower pot. Then, put a layer of the filling. Alternate until the pot is full ending with the cookie crumbs. Make sure you have enough cookie crumbs so you do not see the filling. It should look just like a pot of dirt. Chill for several hours. When you are ready to serve it, insert the flowers. Lastly, enjoy it!!

Is there blessing in pain?

I was watching the news the other night and they had a toddler on a segment who could not feel pain. She could not be left alone in her house. She had to always wear a helmet and body gear for fear she would harm herself. This started me thinking because I have a toddler. When she first discovered that she could climb on the couch, she had no fear. After she fell a few times she learned to be more careful. She loves to play with our cat. At first she would do anything to him. She would pull his ears or his tail. She learned very fast that he has nails and sharp teeth. She now is a little more careful how she plays with him. If she could not feel the pain all of these actions could cause her grave injuries. After seeing this girl on television, I realize that Allah and His Ultimate Wisdom gave us the feeling of pain as a protection for us in this life. Allah also gave us another blessing associate with pain.

Narrated Abu Sa'id Al-Khudri and Abu Huraira:
The Prophet said, "No fatigue, nor disease, nor sorrow, nor sadness, nor hurt, nor distress befalls a Muslim, even if it were the prick he receives from a thorn, but that Allah expiates some of his sins for that."


This hadeeth is a huge encouragement for us when we are experiencing pain. Whatever the reason the pain, whether it is from sadness or sickness, and the extremity of the pain is not of concern. It is all a cause for removal of our sins InshAllah. Therefore, if we are experiencing pain we should realize the ultimate benefits of it all.

A beautiful Riddle

Well we finished our last unit in composition today. This is the last poem for my son. This poem style they taught has to be a riddle. See if you can guess it!

I am black, brown, green and gold.

I say Oh people Allah's rope you should hold.

I guide people to the straight path.

I save alot of people from Allah's rath.

I am friends with Ramadaan.

I always turn the minds of people on

What am I? The Quran!

The Hajj.............. a poem for help with writing

The K12 cirriculum has the children starting with cursive writing in second grade. My son complained that he did not want to practice each day. They had him practice each day with phrases and sentences . I did not care for what they had him write. Each day I would find a joke or a riddle and made him write this. He became excited about it and was more eager to learn a new joke. When the Hajj season came I sat and wrote for him this poem. Each day I would have him write a line or two. Well my daughter is in second grade this year, and I will have her write this

coming up soon. Inshallah this poem is something you find helpful in homeschooling.

HAJJ

The Month of Hajj is soon to come

To Mecca the people will begin to run

Around the Kaaba they will make Tawaaf

Then, to Arafat they will be off

On Arafat the people will stand

Then the next day Eid Aludha will begin

In the Eid morning together we will pray

Then the rest of the day it is eat, run, and play

Now it is off to Moozdelifah where the pilgrims will stay

Their stop in this place is until the next day

The next place is Mina where the pilgrims will go

At this stop is the Jammrah and pebbles they’ll throw.

The tenth day of Hajj for the pilgrims is busy indeed

But for the rest of the Muslims it is the Eid.

The pilgrims are busy to Mecca they return

They have the hopes that all of these good deeds they will soon earn

One of these acts is sacrificing a sheep

Then they will trim their hair with still the hope of good deeds to reap

Again the pilgrims will make Tawaaf

Then running between Saffa and Marwa they will be off

On the 11th day of Hajj back to Mina they will go

For the next three days at the Jammrah they will throw.

The Hajj for the pilgrims is coming to an end

They are hoping that Allah accepted it all from where they began

There is one more thing that the pilgrims must make

It is seven more times around the Kaaba for Allah’s sake

Back to their lives the pilgrims return

Hoping Allah accepted all that they earned

He is a poet and I did not know it

In the k12 curriculum, we are working on poetry in the composition section. They have a workbook called Writing in Action. They have the children do several exercises then they have them do the writing. I think writing is the most dreaded thing for children to want to do. This workbook makes it somewhat fun for them. I am really impressed with it. It really teaches the child to become a good writer. This last lesson was making a metaphorical poem. The lesson had them go through and think of different metaphors. For example "The night sky is like.........My son put a monster" Another example is "A traffic light is like.........My son put a boss" From one of these examples my son had to write his own poem. Here is what he wrote:

The Car Boss

The traffic light is awake day and night

It thinks that it is the governor

It does not let the cars go any further

It stretches out its big hand

to stop the cars from passing her land

Having a Little Fun

"The Prophet Muhammed said that smiling in the face of your brother is Charity."

Homeschooling can be strenuous at times, therefore maintaining a little fun and laughter is essential for it to have success. Here are some fun things that happened to us this week.

My seven year old daughter came up with this cute riddle:

Where do flowers sleep?
Answer: A flower bed Ha, Ha,



My three year old daughter has this story: We were doing a art project involving painting. Of course my three year old was involved with the whole process. After we finished we went to eat lunch. While we were sitting at the table my three year old proceeded to tell her father that mama said a bad word today. I asked her, what did I say? She told her father that I said the word "Paintbrush" and that was a bad word. Well we were all laughing so much but she was really serious. Well, I am very careful now when I say "paintbrush" around her.



This week my son had to write a silly poem for his composition. He did a really nice job. We all laughed a little with this one.

The Robber

A hen went looking for food.
She was so rude.
She went past the gate.
She took a fisherman's bait.
She went to the beach.
She took a man's peach.
She went to a roof.
She took a horse's hoof.
She went to the moon.
She stole a balloon.
She went to a person who sings.
She stole his rings
Then she ate all those things!!