November is Prematurity Awareness Month

November is Prematurity Awareness Month

Each year in November the March of Dimes campaigns for awareness about the seriousness of premature birth, the lasting impact it has on babies and families, along with opportunities for prevention. Get involved by engaging your Family Team, colleagues, and your community through creative activities and events.

Go Purple for Preemies is November 11 – 17. *Be sure to send photos of your creative splashes of PURPLE to Kordae Ortega during November! You can wear various shades of purple, put a purple bulb in your porch light, or commit to wearing only purple accessories for the entire month. Be creative!

If I could turn back time....

Well you can Daylight Savings time ends on 11/3/2013.  Please remember to turn your clocks BACK an hour Sunday morning (ie. 12AM Saturday night)

It's been awhile

It's been awhile since I've posted.  Wow  how time passes.  Well let's catch up a little shall we.

Q: Business is good, school is going well.

Mama Q: Well this year I lost my Father on July 18th :( He was the last parental figure I had left alive so that was hard.  I um, started back to school to get my masters and the credits needed to sit for the CPA.  I'm another year older but still in my twenties (for now).

Africa: Almost 8 and in 2nd grade now :) YAY!! She is doing super so far.

Khalifah: Is 3 and not yet in school, but ready for it.  I've been working with her at home though.  She is a quick study.  Last weight in she was 35" tall and 29 lbs.

Israfil: Is 1.5 years old.  He has taken to screaming his words instead of talking.  He yells and points or whines.  uggh But he knows how to talk because he lets words slip so I know he knows, he just prefers to squeal, yelp, yell and whine. Last weight in he was 31" tall and 26 lbs. I know him and Khalifah are more like twins at this point instead of being 16 months apart.


Well that's the news for today.  I hope to come back sooner and update more often :)

Breaking News**** Hilal Moon has not been sighted Ramadan starting 7/10/13

BREAKING NEWS!!!!

Ramadan 1434H will not be starting on July 9, 2013.  The moon has not been sighted.  Ramadan will start definitely on July 10th, 2013 as the 9th will make the 30th day of Shaban.  Please brothers and sisters do not start fasting or over eating tonight in preperation of fasting tomorrow.  

I repeat, the moon has not been sighted.  Ramadan 1434H does not begin until July 10, 2013!

Don't believe me start here.

5 extremely practical tips to prepare for a Productive Ramadan

5 extremely practical tips to prepare for a Productive Ramadan. 

So here we go:

Tip #1 READRead a chapter on fasting from any well-known Islamic Fiqh book. There are many in the market, but the most popular fiqh book is a book called Bulugh Al-Maram by Imam Ibn Hajr Asqalani (773H-852H) and it has the rulings regarding fasting from the major schools of Fiqh in Islam. If you find this book technical, I suggest you go through the bits you don't understand or not sure about with your local imam/scholar. Make sure you don't start Ramadan without you being clear about all the issues you normally are not clear about regarding fasting. This will save you tons of hours of confusion and doubt!

TIP #2 WRITEWrite down at least 10-20 pages of duas you want to make for yourself, your family/friends, and Ummah. This tip was shared with me by Sh.Muhammad Al-Shareef in a recent interview I held with him and I found it really useful. Do this exercise with your spouse and children and it'll be a great bonding experience. You might think it's hard to come up with 1 page of dua even, but really believe that you're asking the King of All Kings, Allah (Subhanahu Wa Ta'ala) and He'll grant you what you wish, so ask and never be shy or think "it's too much!".

TIP #3 FASTPractice fasting! Yes, practice to fast during this last month before Ramadan. If you want to avoid the headaches and hunger pangs of the first days of Ramadan, fasting during these last few weeks before Ramadan would get you physically & mentally prepared. Aim to fast Mondays & Thursdays during this month and do more if you can. Also, don't just practice fasting from food and drink, but also from backbiting, lying, looking and listening to haram and anything that will harm your fast.

TIP #4 PRAYIf you're not used to night prayer, aim in the next few weeks before Ramadan starts to pray at least 2 rak'ah of night prayer + 3 rak'ah of witr prayer either right after Isha or just before you sleep. This will help you overcome laziness during Ramadan from praying the taraweeh prayers or late night prayers.

TIP #5 DOWNLOAD5. Download our Productive Ramadan Taskinator! This is our very own hour-by-hour Ramadan planner, which helps you plan for each hour of Ramadan. It might be overwhelming at first when you first fill it, but keep filling it and you'll end up with a beautiful and practical Ramadan plan inshaAllah.

I hope these tips help you. Don't let them stop here though, pass them to your friends and families by simply clicking forward above OR sharing them with your friends on Facebook/Twitter.

P.S. More practical tips coming this Friday ;)

Sincerely,
Abu Productive

[Productive Teens - Part 1] How to Deal Effectively with Peer Pressure and Bullying - Productive Muslim

[Productive Teens - Part 1] How to Deal Effectively with Peer Pressure and Bullying - Productive Muslim:

'via Blog this'

Lupus Awareness Month!!! Help solve this cruel mystery!

Help Solve the Cruel Mystery of Lupus by Raising Awareness this May

Lupus is one of the cruelest, most mysterious diseases on earth -- an unpredictable and misunderstood autoimmune disease that ravages different parts of the body. Research shows lupus, which affects an estimated 1.5 million Americans, is more pervasive and more severe than people think, and has an impact that the public doesn’t realize.

May is Lupus Awareness Month and we can all do our part to raise awareness of lupus and show support for those who suffer from its brutal impact. The Lupus Foundation of America is urging the public to join them throughout the month to educate others and improve public understanding of lupus -- an important key to unlocking the mysteries of lupus.

The Lupus Foundation of America is working to energize the public and ultimately Congress to devote serious resources to lupus research. Without sufficient funding, research studies to find the causes of lupus and to discover new safe, tolerable and effective lupus treatments will be delayed and the search for a cure will be seriously impaired. You can go online to sign a petition asking Congress to provide more money for lupus research at lupus.org/petition.

The Lupus Foundation of America is also again asking the public to Put On Purple for lupus awareness by wearing purple and telling people why they are showing their support for all people affected by this disease. Put On Purple Day^TM will take place on Friday, May 17, 2013, and is one of many programs taking place during May.

There are many other ways you can help raise awareness of lupus during May. Lupus Awareness Month activities include social media, online and grassroots components and there are many tools available so everyone can get involved and educate their communities.

The public can learn more about lupus and ways to get involved in improving awareness of this devastating disease this May by visiting the Lupus Foundation of America’s website at lupus.org. Tools, free of charge, are available at lupus.org/awarenesskit.