Tic-Tac Name

Assalm alykom:

Here is a nice little game that I made for my children. We call it Tic-Tac Name.

Materials Needed to Make the Game

• Small tiles(usually sold in sheets with a lot of tiles on the sheet)
• Larger tile
• Oven cured glass paints
• Hot glue gun
• felt

Directions for Making the Game
Paint at least five small tiles with each name of your family member. As you can see, we did ours in Arabic. For mine and my husband, I wrote mama and baba. If you have friends over often, you might want to paint one that says friend or guest. Paint the lines on your larger tile with the grid for a tic-tac toe game. After you paint everything, place them in the oven as directed with the glass paint you choose. Do not buy air dry glass paints because the paint may come off more easily. After the tiles are painted, cured and cooled off, you need to glue a piece of felt on the bottom of them all. I used a hot glue gun and it is still sticking to the bottom of mine. Here is a picture of what I did:

This keeps it from scratching your tables and other furniture the kids may set the game on. I hope you enjoy the game as much as we do! It is actually a little harder to play and pay attention because I am use to x's an o's. Therefore, my attention is not as sharp when I try to see the names. Let me know how you do InShallah!

Tip #2 How to keep up with the socks

Assalam alykom:

Well, as all of you homeschooling mothers know, keeping up with your house duties can really be a challenge. Here is another advice that is part of the laundry. It might save you some time. Any time that you can save in homeschooling can be very valuable. I have six people in my family. Keeping socks organized as they drift through the laundry process can be impossible sometimes. I have been given the advice to pin them when you put them in the wash or wash them in a seperate bag. Well, none of these methods worked for me because it was to much trouble to pin them and washing them in a seperate bag was to much trouble for me to coordinate. Here is what I found works for me. When I take the clothes from the dryer, I right away remove the socks and place them in a designated sock basket. I do not worry about seperating and matching the socks at this point. Once a week, I have my two older children sort all the socks for the week. They make a game out of it sometimes and see who can match the most socks. After they finish matching, they each put them all away. This works great for us. We may still have missing socks, but at least those we could find are all matched up each week.

My mosaic Table

Assalm alykom:

After Doing a few mosaic pots, I thought I would try my hand at a coffee table. I had acquired this old coffee table from a friend of mine. It had quite a bit of dents and scratches on it. Therefore I really could not decide what to do with it. Repainting would be too hard. There is a thick load of varnish on top and the pedestal is a different color all together. I liked the look of the table and it was sturdy and good quality. Therefore, I decided to tile it. First, I mapped out my design. I used whole tiles, broken tiles and glass jewels. I glued them on the table with silicone glue. Here is how it looked after I glued them: I let the tiles dry over night and the next day I added the grout. I bought a nice cream color to match the tiles. When I added the grout, I noticed that I could not cover the sharp edges on the broken tiles that were on the edge. Therefore, I just removed them all together. Here is how it looked after I added the grout: Since I took the tiles from the sides and the original paint was two different colors, I just sanded the edge and the pedestal and painted it to match the tiles. Here is the result: I was really surprised how nice it turned out. Then, I got to thinking what if my four messy children wiped chocolate, spilled juice or their just plain dirty hands messed up the grout. So, after a little contemplating and research on the internet, I decided to paint several coats of polyurathane over the top. It turned out better than I thought! It is also highly durable. See for yourself: This is what I call a trash to treasure project. Someone gave me the table, and the tiles were leftovers from house remodeling. I am really enjoying it and would not mind trying another piece of furniture.

Mosaic Flower Pots

Assalm alykom:

This next project is quite easy to do. It is a little messy, but alot of fun. Here is what you need to do the flower pots:

• 1 clay terra-cotta flower pot
• Silicone glue
• Sanded grout
• Tiles, buttons, flat glass gems, shells, broken dishes, ect.
• disposable gloves
• A sponge
• a bucket

Directions:
Decide what kind of items you would like to have on your pot. You can use almost anything. This picture here is one that my children did and they used broken tile pieces and flat glass gems.
Please note that this project is very messy and is best done outside. To break the tiles, I put them inside an old towel and break them carefully with a hammer. After you get the right amount of tiles broken that you want, you glue them where you want with the silicone glue. If you have your children do this, have them wear gloves and be very careful of the sharp tile pieces. Let the glue dry for several hours. Now, you are ready to mix the grout. Grout comes colored. Therefore, you can choose the color to match your tiles. Make sure the grout is sanded grout. Mix the grout with water until it comes like a thick paste. It should be almost the consistency of peanutbutter. Make sure you have gloves on when applying the grout to the pot. Apply the grout with your fingers until you are able to push it into all of the spaces between the tiles. Do not worry if it is covering the tiles. You will wipe it off later. Let it dry for about 15 minutes. Then take a bucket of water and a sponge and smooth the grout off the tiles with the sponge. Do it very gently so you do not rub all the grout off. You have to keep rinsing your sponge off. I usually let it dry for another 10 minutes and wipe it again. I may do this several times until I achieve the look that I want. Finally I let it dry over night. The next day I will just polish the cloudiness off the tiles, and it is ready to put your flowers into it. You can use broken pieces of dishes, shells, buttons, ect. I have even thought of using legos on one for the kids room. The ideas are endless.



This is a stepping stone that I did in my garden. It was very old and looking like it could go in the garbage. So, instead of throwing it out, I tiled it! If anyone needs any help once you start. Just make a comment in the post, and I will be happy to help.

Tip #1: The Laundry

Assalm alykom:

I decided to offer a tip each week or so on my blog. These tips are related to my ability to maintain my religion, homeschooling, houseduties, my children and my sanity. I found in the beginning, homeschooling can be quite overwhelming with all my other duties as a wife and mother. I have found a few tips along the way that have made my whole homeschooling experience much easier. Therefore, here is the first one:



The Laundry
Laundry can be quite overwhelming in a large family. It is even more so when you homeschool. When I first started out, I always found myself with laundry all over my living room. Half of it folded and ready to be put away. The other half would be waiting for me to have time to fold it. Then, there was the mounds of it in the garage still waiting for me to wash. Something had to be done. I could not keep going like this. What I first did was lower my standards about the laundry. It was never being put away because I did not like how my children would put it away. Well, after lowering my standards, I put my children to work with the laundry. My washer and dryer is in our garage. I found a laundry sorter at Wal-mart. My son is responsible for sorting his clothes according to color. My older daughter sorts hers and her sisters. I sort my clothes and my husbands. After the clothes go through the wash, I fold them and put them in a laundry basket. My children then pick up their baskets and put the clothes away themselves. My son does his own, my older daughter puts hers and her two younger sisters' clothes(they are all in one room), and I put my husbands' clothes and mine. Now, I no longer have clothes waiting to be folded and put away. I try to do one load a day and the children put them away about every two to three days. The clothes are not always put away they way I would like, but at least they are not all over my living room. They are also learning to be responsible for the house duties. I had another problem and that is with matching up sock for six people. I will save that for tip #2.

Jesus and The Da Vinci Code

Assalam alykom:

The Da Vinci code brought Jesus to the mind of millions of people worldwide. The book sold 40 million copies and the movie made millions in the first day alone. Churches worldwide are presenting their versions of decoding the Da Vinci code. For Muslims, this is a golden opportunity to present what Allah says in the Quran about Jesus. You can read more about what Allah says about Jesus in the Quran here.
Here is a couple of questions related to the Da Vinci code that a person might ask himself or herself. "Was Jesus married?" If he was married, how would that affect a Muslims' belief in him? Listen to these beneficial lessons on this very subject from http://www.loveallah.net

The Da Vinci Code part one

The Da Vinci Code part two

What do others think of your homeschooling efforts?

Assalm alykom:

While homeschooling is becoming more popular and common, it is still considered out of the mainstream. Therefore, people might find it odd that you have decided to take up this life style with your family. My husband travels to a variety of masjids throughout our state doing workshops on Islam. The children and I sometimes travel with him. I like to go with him because it avails me the opportunity to meet different people. Actually, when I meet someone new, they are the ones who usually ask about my children and where do they go to school. I think that this is because parents are really becoming concerned about what kind of education their child is receiving, what kind of role models they are looking up to and what kind of people they are socializing with. Here are some of the comments I get:

Some people look at me as some kind of super woman. They tell me: "I could NEVER do that" "How do you do it with four kids" Well my advice to them is it is not for everyone. It is difficult and it has become a "lifestyle". There is a great deal of sacrifices. You sacrifice your time immensely. You sacrifice a "truly" clean house. The list can go on. Therefore, I never tell someone oh you can do it it is easy. I do find it difficult. However, I have found that I am getting better at this lifestyle, and it is getting easier for me.

Another comment I get is that "I could never do that because I am not educated enough." I have a business degree in marketing, and I still feel I am relearning all the things I new before. My advice to them is that if they really want to homeschool, you should try the state funded virtual schools. These are very easy to follow, and there is always guidance from a teacher, and accountability with mandatory state testing. Another route for those who are not confident, would be to buy a boxed curriculum. These companies who offer this, also sometimes offer teacher support for an additional charge.

This is a frequent question" I am afraid that my child would not be getting the social interaction that he or she needs." I have not found this to be a problem with my children. My children are very friendly when they meet new people or are with their friends that they know. Involving your children in activities such as sports, girl or boy scouts, or after school/weekend programs in masjids can help develop their social skills. I am trying to improve this myself, but have not found the appropriate activity. This next year, I plan to be more aggressive in finding something my children will enjoy, Inshallah.

One last frequent comment I have heard is that the quality of education is not good for homeschooling. Parents many times tell me that their children are very smart, and are in gifted programs and that homeschooling will not facilitate their child's education. I think personally that is changing. Colleges and scholarship programs are seeing that the placement test for homeschoolers are high, and they are recieving a quality education. Many colleges, such as Harvard, are allowing homeschooled students into their programs.

I think a lot of these questions I get are based on myths about homeschooling. I would love to hear what people think about your homeschooling efforts.

Tile trivets

Assalm alykom:
Here is yet another tile project. When we moved into our present house, there where many left over tiles from remodeling that was done from the previous owners. Therefore, I am always looking for craft ideas to utilize what I have. This one can be a project for the child of any age.

Materials:
Tile of preferred size
Paint brushes
Glass paints that require baking in the oven

Directions:
Just make sure the tile is clean before painting. Make sure that the glass paints you use requires baking. This assures durability. I have put our trivets into the dishwasher many times and the paint is still there. If your child is young, give them examples and ideas to paint the trivet. Otherwise, this is going to be a 2 minute project. Once your done painting and baking, use everyday on your dining room table. The ones I have are a permanent fixture on my table. Here are some that we made: You can see with the last one made by my then three year old, that the trivets can be according to the age. For the smaller tiles, if you put a piece of felt on the bottom, they make great coasters. I hope you enjoy making these as much as we did!

Happiness

Assalam alykom:

Happiness: This happens as a
result of internal and external
needs being met.







We live in a world that is instant and on the go. We have instant messaging, instant check out at the store . ATM machines that give us instant money. We haveinstant coffee, soup,lemonade,tea ect. We as society at large are wealthier than those 50 years ago. There is more technology and more of a variety of things to buy. There are nicer cars, computers,clothes,houses...........the list can go on forever. However, are we happy as a society? Are we really enjoying our lives? If you were to look at the news, you may wonder about that. The drug companies are selling more antidepressants medicine than ever. The psychiatrists are also busy with counseling those who are sad and discouraged. Divorce rates and single parenting is at a all time high. However, there is hope in Islam for happiness.
I found this set of lessons very helpful in over coming sadness,frustrations, anger, and stress. It also taught me that part of my happiness is derived in pleasing Allah and accepting what He
decreed for me. I hope you will listen to these beneficial lessons.

Happiness (Radio Program) Buy the entire Series
1. Elements of Happiness 2. Faith-Based Happiness 3. Heart Drives	4. Trusting Allah 5. How to Trust Allah 6. Taming Your Sadness

Before and After

Assalm alykom:

I good place to get wooden things to paint is at garage sales or thrift stores. Many times you can find good quality sturdy pieces for very little money.

This first piece I found was only $1.50 at a thrift store. Since it was painted blue, I had to put several coats of Kilz primer over it to cover it up. Here is the before shot:
After applying several coats of primer, and then letting it dry, I just painted it white. Then I painted designs and the Arabic Alphabet and numbers. My girls love it when I put Arabic on their things because they feel it is specilized to them. Here is what it looked liked when I painted it all.

This next piece also only cost $1.50. It is a very handy shelf. I liked it because it is a large shelf and has knobs on it to hang things. I also had to apply several coats of kilz to paint it white. Here is how it looked before I painted it.

I painted it white after that and then painted the designs on it. Here is how it looked when I finished.

This last piece I found at a garage sale for $2. There was two of them and I got both of them. This was the best find because they where already primed. So, all I had to do was paint them. I painted the girls names on them in Arabic and they again really loved that. This one is a smaller shelf, but it also has the hooks for hanging all their little girl things.

Here is the close up picture with their names. So, next time you pass a yard sale in your neighborhood, do not pass it up you may find a useful item to paint!

clip boards

Assalm alykom:

In my homeschooling, I was always having trouble with pending papers. If I assigned a paper bin for each child the papers ended up lost in it all. I tried folders, but we would forget about what was in them. Therefore, I came up with these clipboards. We have the papers clipped to them so we can always see them. They also have their names in Arabic so it is personlized. I made little ones for my toddlers. They have pending scribbling that they need to continually work on. Also, they feel included in the program which is very important.















Materials needed:

*Ceramic Tile
*Glass Paints
*Acrylic Paints
*Strong Glue(I used hard as nails)
*Picture Hook
*Wooden laundry clips



Directions: Clean the tile. Paint your design on the tile. The glass paints that I use require a short time of baking in the oven. Once you do that the paints cannot be scatched off. While the tile is baking and cooling, use the acrylic paints to paint a design on the laundry clip. If you paint it a solid color and then want to paint a different color like I did, you must wait for the first color to dry a little or the colors will mix together. After your tile is completly cooled and you laundry clip is completely dry, you can glue the clip to the bottom. At this point I glue the picture hanger on to the back too. This will allow you to hang it on the wall, Wait 24 hours for the glue to dry before you hang it.

Crocheting

Assalm alykom:

After my now ten year old son was born, I learned to crochet. This was before the popularity of the internet. I just went to the library and checked out all the "how to" books about it and got started. It was very simple for me and I find it a very relaxing craft. I have crocheted up to this point alot of things, blankets from yarn to lace made from thread. I even recently started the hobby of beading and even crocheted a nice bracelet from wire and beads. With children, and little spans of a large mount of time, I like to stick with small projects. I recently checked this book out of my local library. It has a lot of nice small projects that are just right for me. One of the projects was a little purse made from scraps of yarn. It was a great project because I could finish it in about an hour and a half. With three daughters, I had to make three purses. Here they are.








My girls really love them. They are so easy and quick that they would be great for gifts as well. If you do not know how to crochet, you can do like me and head to the library. However, there is so much on the internet to help you. Here is a nice link to help you get started.

If you liked this project and would like more ideas like it, please join my yahoo group here:

Painting Wooden Crafts

Assalam alykom:

My children go to the workshop each month at Home Depot. They so far have made many nice things. This is a free workshop on the first Saturday of each month. I have listed it on my blog before and you can read more about it here. One thing that the workshop provides is a nice wooden project to paint when you get home. The last workshop was a nice wooden tool box. It is a great piece for holding books, toys or whatever.


This one I painted for my son.









This one my eight year old daughter painted








And, this one my four year old daughter painted.









This one I painted for my girls. In Arabic, it says,"our books" on one side. The other side says, "we love to read."





Here is a list of materials:

*Wooden object (The craft stores have many unfinished wooden pieces. You can pick small pieces such as birdhouses and small boxes for around 1 dollar)
*Paint brushes different sizes
*Kilz water base primer
*Variety of colored Acrylic paints
Directions:
Depending on the piece, you may have to use a little of sand paper to smooth it. Apply 1 coat of Kilz to your piece. Let it dry and then apply another coat. This allows you to paint colors or even white paint onto your wooden piece. If you apply the paint directly, it will absorb into the wood. After the Kilz is completely dry, start painting your designs with the acrylic paint. Let them dry for at least 24 hours before you start using them. Enjoy!

So, what does a homeschooling mother do over the summer?

Assalam alykom:

Since I am in K12, I have the summer off from school. That means time for me to do all the things that I say I never have time for because I am homeschooling.




After the school is finished for us,
we take a family vacation.
The passed two years we have
gone to Gatlinburg ,Tennessee. We rent a cabin and stay in the mountains. Here is a view from our cabin. The kids really enjoy it. There is the Smokey Mountain National Forest. You can spend days there just walking through the trails and endless waterfalls.


Here is one of the water falls that we saw.

After vacation, the next thing that I do is clean out our study room. I throw out all the old papers,broken crayons,dried up markers without lids and reorganize the room. The next thing I do is began to organize my house and do the deep cleaning. During the school year, there is really only time for surface cleaning. The last thing that I do is try to find time for myself. I love doing crafts. I usually take the summer as an opportunity to do my craft projects. I hope to be posting them over the summer. Many of them are kids crafts. As far as the studies for my children, they work in more detail with my husband on their Quran, Arabic, History and Islamic Studies. I am having them work on their multiplication tables. There is not much time to work on these during the school year. I am also having them write letters to a pen pal. I think this is good to keep up their writing skills. In Shallah, I will be posting my crafts soon. So, keep checking back.

Highlights Magazine for children

Assalm alykom:

As a child, I use to get the subscription for this magazine and I loved it. Now as a Muslim, I tend to be selective about what my children read. Sometimes getting these magazines you have to edit alot of what you do not approve. Therefore I tend to stay away from magazine subscriptions. I remember with this magazine, my favorite thing was their hidden pictures. When I came across their website, I found you can print these out from the website. From my previous posts, you know my family loves the I Spy books. These hidden pictures are very similar to the I Spy. You can find them here in the Parents' Corner. There are some stories, crafts and of course the hidden pictures. I hope you enjoy them as much as we did.