Thankfully, it is only walking distance away so there is no more school traffic to deal with, long waiting times in the car or even finding the perfect parking spot near to the school. You love mhendi and are always asking me to draw some kind of car or helicopter on your hand with mhendi whenever you see that I am about to put some on. We decided to take a gas stove for the first time but it failed miserably (pretty much setting itself on fire and melting it’s own hardware). I hope the coming year brings with it more stability but equally lots of joy and happiness In sha Allah. It’s also been so nice since school has opened up again for events to see you participate in Sport’s Day, Science Day, UAE National Day celebrations and so on.

I feel guilty for not having made a handmade card this year (as birthday tradition goes) as all my craft supplies are still in the cargo boxes but I did get a card nonetheless. I have found it especially helpful when it comes to advice regarding raising Muslim tweens and teens!

Giles lives with his wife, Victoria, a children's clothes designer, and their four children by the river in Oxfordshire. We made the move from Dubai to UK just last month, so your birthday is the first big milestone we are celebrating after Eid! To the children, that day is a happy blur of school and playdates, singing and dancing, supermarket walks and library stops, bath time, story time, bedtime. Little Z is especially enjoying running through the heaps of fallen leaves on the floor and hearing the crunching sounds as he walks on them.

We are currently taking it slow but this year I hope you can learn them all and begin the Qaida soon In sha Allah. I also love that I get to have adult chat with colleagues again on a daily basis, something that I didn’t have as much when self-employed as a content creator in Dubai. You love to draw and colour and I often find you deeply engrossed in your colouring book, surrounded by crayons and markers. We drove into Southampton and there is good bus, rail and ferry links from around Hampshire and beyond.

Having only been a month since the move, and as we are still living in limbo at your grandparents house, I haven’t had the chance to be as organised as I normally am with your birthdays, even though they are a small affair and celebrated at home. With UK staycations on the rise this summer, we’re staying close to home and exploring fun things to do in. When I asked friends with more than one child which book they'd recommend on this subject, the one that came up time and again was this one. We got to celebrate Eid with the extended family, and you were definitely overwhelmed at first with just how many members of the family you were surrounded by but are slowly getting used to it and have learnt majority of their names. She talks openly about her mummy, who she dearly loves, and how happy she was living with her maternal grandparents before she was put into care.

The stray cat in our neighbourhood becoming besties with my boys who are absolutely smitten with the cat and have named it Feline. I was transported (via tornado) to Oz and watched this marvellous musical in all it’s technicolour glory!We ticked off all of our Dubai Bucket List items before the move to the UK, including eating Shawarmas and drinking Cocktail Juice. I pray Palestine gets freedom, there is ceasefire as soon as possible and find solace in the knowledge that the thousands of beautiful souls that are already lost are on their way to Jannah In sha Allah. Muslim Kids TV is not only a platform for children to look into a screen and absorb visual information. I have had a brief look at the other reviews and noticed some people felt unhappy as the book is about a boy and the baby also turns out to be a boy, so perhaps it will feel less relevant if you have a little girl and are expecting another girl, but i imagine it would still be helpful as it is a nice story and can be used as a way to introduce the idea of pregnancy and babies to young toddlers regardless of gender.