Winter is truly upon us..

The sun just rises as we reach school...


and the snow arrived in time for the holidays! mashaAllah.
I was surprised to read that even the Swedish public transport system has been caught out with the snow, and then the usual moans from commentators that it is Winter after all, what do you expect?!
Warnings today not to drive due to weather conditions, so put a stop to sledging as the nearest, walkable slope is not so great. Neighbours built a small 'hill' out of snow for the kids to have a go on. Also meant I had a go at making roti for MIL as shop for these is also a car journey away.

As time is short, just some pictures

Some sunlight appeared today, so despite sore throat, I took them down for some Vitamin D and very fresh, chilly air.

and some 'cocosbullar' S made fairly recently, and are v tasty, needs no cooking, fairly healthy as mostly porridge oats (well sugar and butter too) and a good one for little ones to help with. If anyone wants a recipe let me know and I'll translate it, inshaAllah.

S wanted me to take this one to show the speed of his rolling of the balls...


A 'mafs test'. created by H, and looks like it was M who did the answers.



and Hz, sporting just what he needs to retain those brain cells. ( Yes giving him a big, padded space suit to wear has crossed my mind!)

A typical day in the life of me..

Wake, feed, pray, eat , cajole, rush, drive, listen MP3 quran, drive, grocery-shop, feed, change nappy, eat, pray, drive, feed , pray, feed some more hungry mouths, help with homework/quran, pray, yell 'turn the computer off', prepare food, cajole to eat it, cajole to get them to bed, set timer on mobile to get them to bed, think '10 pm could be the best time to do drawing, spelling,maths, hanging on the exercise bar, chasing up and down, but we have to be up before 7 am tomorrow', grab some food, pray, type this, collapse in bed.

A quick, but warm 'Eid Mubarak!'

Things have been a bit disrupted round here as lst week Hz got his turn at the Acute department. Well actually the child department, the adult ENT department, the local dentist and finally the specialist dentist, 2 times. He was sitting in his highchair (strapped in, but the clip broke in the fall), when fighting big brothers rushed in and his chair got pushed over by accident. He has now lost 2 of the front teeth, and 1 is left in but pushed into the gum, so will have to come out. So we have a trip back to the dentist next week to see if the tooth is coming out itself or if they'll have to pull it- eek! This age, for all the kids has ended up with some accident or other. Alhamdulillah it's never been anything life threatening, but still quite a bit of blood and pain. I need a full-time bodyguard for him really. Having said that, this accident was not of his own making, and from previous post´s it is quite surprising it happened when he was 'safely' strapped in his chair, rather than himself climbing up and maybe having a fall. He had managed to tip that chair before himself though I caught it, so wondering if I should tell IKEA. Maybe my kids could safety test child products. If they passed this they'd be pretty reliable!

The leaves are almost gone..

and we did get a little bit of snow, although I'd call it sleet. Now the colour is left to the berries, mashAllah.

Do I need to comment, except there are now barely few places left to put things (like hot cups of tea) out of the reach of 1 year olds.



and when I think about throwing away/ putting away in the cellar the odd toys that have failed to be tidied into sets (or indeed have no 'set') I catch my DD playing an imaginary game with the items. Could it be true? Tidying up could damage children's imagination?! I like the sound of that...

S captured this photo on my phone of this brave baby hedgehog, out in daylight hours. (Mummy hedgehog must be waiting in the bush about to say 'Well, what time do you call this then?')

and finally. Last Sunday was one of those rare days when I felt things had gone pretty well on the child (and mum, see last point) nurturing scale. M had an islam class given by a brother (which is always good to have positive male role models), some time playing in the park (finding above wildlife), some card-making with great resources provided free of charge, and some excellent and reasonably priced homemade cakes.
Today we were unable to go again for some crafts and cake as Hz is ill, and so is MIL. I'm actually OK alhamdulillah, and regularly dosing myself with honey.The others are a bit disappointed as they wanted to visit friends and TOYSRUS. Oh that shop. Aargh its Eid soon so shall probably have to darken that shop's doors this week.
Still have to find time to write down some more deep/meaningful stuff regarding kid's, well how can I put it, upbringing, but as time goes by some of the issues are not as they were and I expect others will come up.

I am not ill, I am not ill..

All this hype over swine flu, I'm trying to ignore it. It's hard when you're getting invitations for vaccination s for your kids, yourself, spouse through the post over the past few weeks. I don't often watch the news (no TV still hurrah!) but do glimpse at the online newspapers. My elderly neighbours asked me today if we were going to have the jabs, and the answer I gave brought a tissue to one of their mouths. I know the power of guilt is being used to make us get it to protect the vulnerable but after discussions with friends and family, we decided to abstain. Midwives and paediatricians have said they wouldn't have it nor give it to their children. So as the headache and dry throat I have persists I hope it's just down to tiredness..
Anyhow here're are a few recent photos:




The younger ones entertain themselves while M has his running club and Hz entertains himself in the sink. I hope the interest in the dishes continues into the teenage years and later..

And Autumn moves into Winter....

We don't need to go far to enjoy it, the cherry trees have been really appreciated this year and continue for the moment to do so.
Soon they'll be like skeletons with only their bare branches, waiting for some snow to clothe them. Then perhaps inshaAllah become a fun game of 'cover your brother with snow' as those branches are given a good shake....
















So enjoy those last few leaf kicking fests/ fights/ general gauping at beautiful colours, I think it's time to wait for some snow....