We started with our annual countdown calendar which the kids love. Bayan really got into the spirit this year
and I love how Maryam is old enough now to start 'getting it'. Each day we alternated between a quote and activity and a little "gift" (generally things that are useful or things that they need). For anyone who is interested here is what we did:
Day 2: New pencils
Day 3: Quote: "Ye are the stars in the heaven of understanding, the breeze that stirreth at the break of day, the soft flowing waters upon which must depend the very life of all men." ~Bahaú'llah (Star gazing, we have a telescope that was given to us ages ago that doesn't get much use... this seemed like a good occasion, of course laying on a blanket and gazing at stars would work too.)
Day 4: New toothbrushes
Day 5: "From the sweet scented streams of Thine eternity give me to drink o my God and of the fruits of the tree of Thy being enable me to taste. o my hope..." (Went to the Boost Juice Bar and had fruit smoothies.)
Day 6: Chapstick
Day 7: Quote: "Love is the light that guideth in darkness, the living link that uniteth God with man, that assureth the progress of every illumined soul..." ~ Ábdu'l-Baha (Flashlight tag)
Day 8:Chewing Gum
Day 9: Quote: "Cause me to taste, O my Lord, the divine sweetness of Thy remembrance and praise." ~Bahaú'llah (Sharing a homemade cake, talking about the Faith and playing with friends.)
Day 10: Hair ties and mini machiene
Day 11: Quote: "Be worthy of the trust of thy neighbour and look upon him with a bright and friendly face."
(We made cookies and brought them over to the neighbours and then invited them back for a playdate.)
Day 12: Quote: "Immerse yourselves in the ocean of My words, that ye may unravel its secrets, and discover all the pearls of wisdom that lie hid in its depths."~ Bahaú'llah (We went to a swimming centre with some friends. They had 2 $ entry, unlimited use of the pools, a free bouncy castle and wipe out style obstacle course in the big pool for the kids. They had a blast!)
Day 13: A gold coin
Day 14: Quote: "you should put forward your most earnest efforts toward the acquisition of science and arts. The greater your attainment, the higher your standard in the divine purpose. "
`~'Abdu’’l-Baha (We were supposed to make gifts and things for friends but we only wound up brainstorming ideas...)
Day 15:Special erasers and a pencil sharpener
Day 17: Quote: "The beloved Guardian says every pioneer who is going out of his community for pioneering is not only inspiring and useful to his future post but is also going to be a source of help and inspiration in his own community." ~The Universal House of Justice (More on this later)
Day 18: Stickers for making cards for friends
Day 19: A special treasure hunt with friends
Then for Ayyam-i-Ha!!! In the days leading up to Ayyam-i-Ha I had made about 50 gift tags, using craft punches a jewels, which we put to various uses over the next few days.
The kids knew that something special was planned for this day, something that Baba had to go out the night before and collect, something that they were not, under any circumstances, allowed to see. They had to stay in bed, or at best in their rooms. They did, and in the morning they got up to find their 'presents', as is custom, waiting for them on the breakfast table.
Over a breakfast of omlette and pancakes Anisa came up with the name Twilight and everybody, after tossing around a few other ideas, agreed that this would be perfect. So, Twilight, the playful cat, has come to join the family and the kids could not be more thrilled, especially as we have been petless for some time. I am glad that we were able to save the sweet thing from a less than stellar end and Mehran was thrilled that she was free. Win, win, win.
I stayed up way later than I should have and made wrapping paper for the kids lunches and sent them off with these...
We have been reading the story The |Ayyam-i-Ha Camel for years now and this year the children were visited by the camel each day.They were left a note which conatined a special "gift" such as generosity,gratitude, hospitality, service, etc with tips on ways to show it or use it during the day, she (the camel in the story is female) would write back about how she loved the ways they had used their gift before bestowing another, sometimes she left them camel kisses as well. While some may think that camel kisses are sloppy or disgusting, what with their tendancy to spit and all, the Ayyam-i-Ha Camel is quite different. Her kisses are made of chocolate (with the help of Hersheys) and are perfectly delightful. Just so you know.
While the older kids were at school, Maryam and I hosted some surprise visitors for an impromptu morning tea and later got busy in the kitchen making a plate of cookies to take to the police station after school.
We wound up having more delightful visitors after school and wound up making our cookie service drop just before dinner. We made a card to go with it, thanking the police officers for their service and courage in keeping our community safe and told them all about Ayyam-i-Ha.
So glad we did this.
Day 2:
Was a bit of a rush in the morning, as the kids had school and I had to work. We did another "sharing present". I saw these stacked boxes at Christmas time and almost bought one, thinking that they would be perfect for Ayyam-i-Ha, but somehow I just couldn't bring myself to pay $12 for them. My neighbour bought a few and knew that I liked them so when they went on clearance she wresteled her way through the throng of post Christmas shoppers and grabbed one for me (less than 3 dollars, I might add) without even asking. We were away, but she knew. Bless you Ali.
After school we raced home to collect presents and cake for our annual, Ayyam-i-Ha gift exchange with friends, quickly whipped up one more "homemade" jar and drove into the hills for more Ayyam-i-Ha fun. I love how Maryam insisted on holding Leila's present the whole way there.
The kids in each family took turns handing out presents to everyone.
Haleh made a fabulous cake which all the kids wolfed down. And we had lots of time to play.
Day3:
We have had bills coming out of the woodwork lately and the kids have so much stuff that Mehran and I really don't want to just give them more for the sake of giving them something, but they love gifts and I love giving them things so, with the quote: "The best thing to spend on your children is time." in mind, without spending a cent or adding to our clutter I made them a lucky dip bag with coupons (the advent calendar one went down really well) and put in things that I knew they would love: computer time, exchange for one chore, late night movie, lunch date, breakfast in bed, etc. The kids took turns pulling the coupons out of a gift bag. This went over really well. Bayan, as luck would have it, pulled out almost all of the computer time. He was super thrilled.
I told the kids before we started that whatever they pulled out was what they got and that there was no double dipping, but that they could and may actually need to exchange a couple coupons. For instance Maryam pulled out a late night movie (which was not gonna work for her) so she did a trade with Ruhi
After our lucky dip we scarfed down some leftovers, so much for my plans for a special, five course,
Ayyam-i-Ha dinner, but the girls had Bollywood dance practice and I had about 300 cookies to bake for the community Ayyam-i-Ha pool party I was helping to host the next day. I arrived late to drop off the girls as a friend had agreed to take them to the city for me so I could get started on the baking, (Thanks Haleh) so we swapped kids and I raced home with the intention of getting straight to the baking. The boys (Bayan and his sweet friend) were brilliant and totally entertained themselves thanks to one of the computer coupons. Maryam had other plans witch included me laying beside her while she drifted off to sleep...three times, but we are used to that around here. So the baking started at 7:15 and finished at 10:45. When the kids returned from Bollywood there were many taste testers to help determine quality and size so I knew I was on the right track and once they went to bed I started wrapping the cookie parcels up to give as party favors at the end. We brought a couple extra plates for the adults to enjoy as well.Day 4:
The older kids got up a little later than intended, but that was ok because Maryam, my trusty sidekick, was up at 5 to help me finish wrapping the favors for the pool party, (Oh, and FYI, sticky tape does not stick to crepe paper - learned that the hard way) it also gave me time to organize their final gifts and a quick treasure hunt as well as to write the note from the Ayyam-i-Ha camel (who was too tired from the night before to do it herself). They got their first and only individual gifts today and they were so excited. Mostly it was just clothes for the older girls (which is what they wanted) a gently used pram for Maryam and a couple of outfits and Bayan got a shirt and science kit. I loved how he was grateful even for the shirt, as clothing doesn't really count as a "present" in his book and he was over the moon about his science slime kit.
Before they had breakfast they had a treasure hunt to complete for one last thing: new thongs (flip flops), even these they were thrilled about. Check out the smile. Bayan needed some new boy ones anyway as he had been wearing Ruhi's old Hello Kitty ones into the ground. Hello Kitty was long gone and they were black so'he felt they were socially acceptable but wow was he thrilled with an actual boy pair. I love how he brought his science kit along for the treasure hunt.
The pool party was lovely, less people than we had anticipated, but the weather was a bit cool and some poeple, sadly, called in sick. We had snacks and swimming and a bbq and were going to do some games as well, but the kids were so happy in the water (heated pools) that we just left them to it.
The boys enjoyed a cookie picnic while waiting for the party tables to arrive.
The little ones enjoyed playing chasey among the trees.
Ruhi was super helpful and, when she wasn't in the pool, was busy keeping Maryam entertained.
