Fairy Wonderland party!!

Most of my weekend was spent baking for 2 kiddies parties. That is beside the cake that I made for the women's day function. Now, like Nazrah, I'm feeling the strain in my back!!

Both parties were for one year old children, one boy and one girl. The boy's mom wanted a cake in the shape of a car as well as a chocolate mousse cake for the adults. And the girl's mom wanted fairy cupcakes as well as fairy wands. The cupcakes were very pretty with sugared butterflies and edible glitter sprinkled onto the icing. The fairy wands were made with biscuits in the shape of stars stuck to a bamboo skewer.

Fadia, the little girl's mom, had received quotes from various venues for a party. The prices ranged from crazy to absolute insanity!! LOL!! Hence she decided on doing everything at home with the same theme at a fraction of the cost. She purchased little fairy figurines to hang from the ceiling, stuck butterflies to the walls and hung fairy lights too!!

Fadia's sister made the birthday cake. A beautiful fairy castle!!

The tables were adorned with pink place settings for each little girl as well as marshmallow sticks, chips, sweets and other yummy goodies!!

And the birthday girl was dressed to suit the theme too!! Little Zahrah, as pretty as a fairy princess!! I wish I was a little girl again!! LOL!!

With a little improvisation and a lot of planning all moms can certainly pull off a party most children can only dream of!! Happy planning!!

Women's day function

Every year, the madrassa that my children attend hosts a function for the ladies, commemorating Women's Day. This year was no exception. The theme this year was the importance of the Holy Quraan in our daily lives. An old topic but certainly not an exhausted one, as we need to be reminded of this constantly!!

The program started with a 11 year old boy who has learned 13 chapters of the Quraan by heart already. His recitation was so powerful and melodious, it brought me to tears!! Then we were introduced to a 78 year old woman who had just completed reading a Surah and had progressed to the Quraan, Masha-Allah. Bringing home the adage that one was never too old to learn or to seek knowledge!! She went into a rendition of how she made her intention of learning to read the Quraan and how she followed through with it.

Then the different grades made an appearance on stage giving us insights on A-Hadeeth, Nazms and beautiful recitals of different Surahs in the Holy Quraan. Aqeedah's grade recited Surah Feel and sang the song 'I think my mummy is amazing', a beautiful song depicting the day dreams of an orphan girl!!

My friends Gadijah and Ruwaydah had a good time too. It was exactly what they needed to inspire them and keep them heading on the right track. Lunch was served, consisting of lovely mutton akhni, as well as pies, samoosas and cocktail pizzas!! I had made yummy cupcakes as well.

Ruwaydah posing for the camera!!

Gadijah giving a big smile for the camera!!

History lesson

Last night while preparing supper I received a history lesson from Ghaalietha, my youngest daughter. I was totally impressed!! The following conversation ensued between the two of us.



Ghaalietha: Mummy, how do you spell Ansaar's name??


Mum: A, N, S, A, A, R. Why do you ask?? (Ansaar is my younger brother)


Ghaalietha: Oh, that is the same way you spell Ansaar, the people of Medina.


Mum (raising my eyebrows): That is correct. They were the people who helped the Nabi (pbuh) and the first muslims when they fled Mecca.


Ghaalietha: Yes mummy. Did you also know that the Nabi (pbuh) went to Ta'if to tell the people not to worship idols?? But they didn't want to listen to him and threw him with stones.


Mum (very impressed now): Uh huh, their actions made the Nabi (pbuh) very sad.


Ghaalietha: When he was leaving Ta'if he prayed to Allah to forgive them because they were ignorant.


Mum: That's right sweets. What else do you know??

Ghaalietha (quite boastful now, LOL!!): The Nabi's wife's name was Khadija, she was a business woman who owned four companies. She only trusted him to run her businesses for her.

Mum: Do you know what the people of Mecca called the Nabi (pbuh)??

Ghaalietha: Ummmmm, I can't remember.

Mum: He was called Al-Amien, the most trustworthy.

Ghaalietha: The Nabi married Khadija when he was 25 years old and she was 50 years old. She was older than the Nabi (pbuh) mummy!!

Mum (laughing): Yes she was but they were married for a long time and she fully supported the Nabi when he received his Nabuwat.

Ghaalietha: What's that??

Mum: When Jibreel (a.s) appeared before the Nabi (pbuh) and asked him to read, in the cave of Hira. These were the first verses of the Quraan to be given to him.

Ghaalietha: Oh yes, but he answered that he could not read.

Mum: That's quite correct.

Ghaalietha (quite exasperated now!!): Is there anything you don't know mummy??

Mum (laughing): Of course there's things I have no knowledge of, I certainly don't know everything!! Speak to mummy in a few years time and you won't be saying the same thing!!

After she had gone off to bed, I sat and reflected about her growing up. From baby to age 8, she has really grown in leaps and bounds!! Too fast for my liking, if I had my way I'd probably want her to stay this age!!

What have you done to me??

by Shahieda


My life has suddenly changed,
the last few months have been a blur
How did this occur???
What have you done to me??

I look forward to every new waking day,
with a glow of joy on my face
How I long to visit your place
What have you done to me??

My mind is in a turmoil
The feelings that rage inside,
are very hard to hide
What have you done to me??

I've waited so long to feel this way,
I hope I get to tell you soon,
It won't take too many moons
What you have done to me!!

for A-H

Eisteddfod, Mitchells Plain style!!

Last night I attended Mitchells Plain Primary Schools Eisteddfod. What a colorful performance by all the learners who participated!!


There were about 4 schools taking part and Meadowridge Primary, the school my kids attend, were one of them. It's Aqeedah's last year on primary school and she practiced very hard for her performance.


The show started at 19:00 with the grade R learners doing their routine first. I must say that Eastville Primary's learners looked too cute with their beautiful costumes. Their routines were well organized and well executed. Some of the other schools routines were unorganized and one could see that they hadn't practiced much. Their costumes weren't very eye catching too.

There were a few comical moments as well, one girl's shoe came off during her performance, but she remained straight faced and continued as if nothing was wrong!! LOL!! Good for her!! One of the older boys wore a pair of shoes that were way too big for him. What made it even worse was that he was standing in the front row!! While he was busy doing his routine I found it difficult to stifle my giggles!! He looked like Charlie Chaplin only the hat was missing!! LMAO!! Uthmaan just eyed me with a look that said, 'Don't embarass me mom!!'

Aqeedah's class performance was last on the list, I had no idea what their routine was going to be like but I hoped it was going to be different. Each grade had performed the same songs and routines allocated to each. As Aqeedah's group took to the stage everyone went quiet!! They wore black leotards and black three quarter skirts with bright ribbon stitched to the bottom. The dance they were about to perform was a cross between Italian and Austrian. Every second girl had a white handkerchief in her hand.

The music started and they executed their routine. My eyes were on my little girl the whole time!! The way she held her head high, the precise way she went about doing her steps and the enjoyment she experienced just being on stage. I realised right there, that she wasn't a little girl any longer!! She had grown into a beautiful young lady and I was so proud of her. She reminded me so much of myself at that age, only she was more confident!! I sat mesmerised and was ecstatic when the dance ended, clapping hard and shouting her name!! Once again,Uthmaan eyed me, but this time he covered his ears too!! LOL!! I can't help it if I get so excited, after all it's not everyday that you get to see your daughter on stage!!

Nonetheless, the event came to an end and we patiently waited for the conveners to announce the winners in the different categories. Meadowridge had won a total of 7 silver diplomas and 1 gold!! Eastville scooped up all the gold diplomas, their routines were spectacular!! Aqeedah's group had received a silver diploma for their routine!! YAY!!

There's clarity in sight

Today is a new day filled with endless possibilities and abundant blessings!! Allahu-Akbar, Allah sure is Great!!

I normally tell this to everyone who feels down in the dumps, like I did yesterday, it's time for me take my own advise. So today I'll blog about something more positive, like the day we travelled to Montagu Springs for the afternoon. What an amazing place it is to relax and just chill.

My cousin Shaheema and her family had booked a cabin to celebrate her mom's 50th birthday. We were invited to join them on the 27 July 2008, which suited us perfectly because it was a Sunday. My kids and I slept over at Nadia's place seeing that we were going to leave early the morning. Montagu is about a 2 hour drive out of Cape Town, a most scenic one too!! Well, we didn't get to leave early as planned because we stayed up too late the Saturday evening!! So by the time we were out on the road it was already 10am, meaning we would only arrive at about 12pm, just in time for lunch!! Soos regte slamse nuh!! LOL!!

The new cabins that have been erected at Montagu recently are absolutely luxurious!! The decor is out of this world and the atmosphere of being high up on mountainous terrain just adds to the feel of being secluded. There's underfloor heating in all the cabins as well as being fitted out with everything you could think of. The only things you needed to bring along was your clothes and food.

Aunty Faeza had sugared some koeksisters on our arrival, so yummy!! Mika-eel and Uncle Issie made a fire and started braaing the meat while the ladies chatted away in the stunning kitchen. The kids had made their way to the hot springs on our arrival already!! We wouldn't see them till they were hungry!!

The ladies then decided to try out the sound system that was available. Did we have fun!! Nadia and I ended up dancing to Mika-eel's surprise!! LOL! He certainly doesn't see that happening everyday. Then it was Shaheema's turn, by the time I was done, I was completely out of breath!!

I'm convinced Aunty Faeza decided to play 'peekaboo, I see you', with this photo!! You can imagine my reaction when I viewed it!! Side-splitting stuff!! LOL!! The adults ended up playing 30 seconds, a game sure to bring out the best in people!! Depending on the explanations given though!! LOL!! Suffice to say the ladies ended up winning, sorry guys!! We just can't help it if we respond well to pressure!!

By the time it was time for us to leave, I was so stuffed, I could hardly move!! I certainly tend to overdo it when the family gets together!! Nadia and I decided that we definitely returning to Montagu for a weekend!! It's an awesome place to get away!! And after my experience yesterday, I certainly think I deserve it!!

Here's to making new memories filled with laughter and loved ones!! Just in case you're wondering where the pics of the guys are, they were too busy getting their hands dirty. And we were having too much fun to notice, but Shhhhhhh, don't tell them I said so!!

Confusion's the order of the day

My head seems to be so full nowadays!! I seem to be living in a limbo, with my thoughts touching on everything in a haphazard way!! Confusion seems to be the order of the day and I seem to be walking around in a daze too!!

What has brought on all this turmoil?? To be quite honest, I have no idea!! I suppose it's just one of 'those days' where I find myself thinking about life in general. Where I'm heading, what are my goals and what am I doing to achieve them?? These are the thoughts running through my mind recently. Could this be the reason for my confusion?? Am I doing what's needed to make progress?? On closer examination I have achieved many things but then why do I feel so unfulfilled and disorientated??

Yesterday I found myself dawdling around the house and although I had a birthday cake to finish for a 3 year old, I took my own time getting it done!! I normally take an hour to finish the decoration and so forth but it took me 2 hours to finish!! When I had finished the cake, I sat in the sun reading a book, which allowed my brain to focus on one task. But not for long though, my spirit felt uneasy so I put the book down and did something else.

I don't like feeling this way, it's such an out of control mode it scares me to bits!! God help me, I need to find some peace soon!!