 As-salamu alaykum wa rahmatullahi wa barakatuh. MashaAllah, I see some familiar faces and I see some new faces. It's so nice to see you guys. Alhamdulillah, welcome. So inshaAllah, we're gonna start today's program with story time. We have two books and we have two activities. So I'll tell you all about the activities after we start reading, okay, inshaAllah? So to begin our story time, inshaAllah, I'm gonna start with this book called Secret Recipe Box. It's written by Hilal Mosleh. So for those who weren't here last time, the way that I read a story, I will open up the page and I will read it, but before I turn the page, I will give everyone a chance to see it. So if you can't see it really good while I'm reading it, don't worry, I'll give you guys each a turn to see the page, okay? All right, Bismillah. Let's start. Bismillah, rahmanir raheem, secret recipe box. Early Saturday morning, I swing my legs off my bed, rub my eyes and grin. Today is special because I'll be seeing my grandma after a very long time. We are picking Teta up from the airport. Does anybody know what Teta means? Exactly, Teta is another way to say grandma. We are picking Teta up from the airport and helping her move into her new home. Here's the secret. Our new home is actually our house because we'll all be living together. I'm gonna ask Teta to teach me how to cook Palestinian food. My dream is to have my own cooking show someday. I try to practice in the kitchen at home, but my baby brother Sammy is always ruining my recipes. Does anybody else call their grandma something different than Teta? You call her nani, that's one. Nani. You also call her nani? We have a sito. Same thing. Same thing, sito, oshallah. Nanu, oshallah. Say it again. Mama. Mama, see there's so many names that we can call. Do you have another one? Mama. Mama. See, masha'Allah. Does he want it? Do you want to say what you call your sito? Nanu. Nanu. See, masha'Allah, there's so many amazing names to call our grandma. At the airport, Sammy wants to hold one side of the welcome sign I made, but I pull it away because I know he'll crumble the edges. We wait and wait, watching so many faces and suitcases zoom past. Finally, there she is. Her long dress swishes as she walks and her eyes light up when she sees us. Mama, Sammy, Teta says, you've grown so much. She holds us tight and kisses our forehead. On the way home, Teta peers out the car window. I point out the library and park on our street. The small grocery store where we buy our spices and halal meat, and the woman's gym where my mom exercises. What's that place, Teta asks, when we stop at a red light? It's this place that serves warm food for free, for those in need, Mama answers. I look at the long lineup of people waiting to get inside. Some of them aren't even dressed warmly. I shiver just looking at them and zip my jacket all the way up to my chin. At home, Teta pulls Sammy and me into her lap for another tight hug. I feel the small hard beads on her colorful dishdasha rub against my cheek. Dishdasha is another word for a Palestinian dress. After drinking a cup of mint tea, Teta pulls a faded wooden box out of her suitcase and runs her hands over the lid. All my secret recipes are in this box, she whispers to us, and some special memories too. I've been saving them for my grandchildren. How does what? How does the grandma hug so tight? How does the grandma hug so tight? Because she's so happy to see you and she has so much love for you, she just wants to squish you. Wow, my cooking dreams are starting to come true. I can already picture my popular Palestinian cooking show airing on the food channel. I quickly grab the box and hold on to it tightly. I don't want Sammy to think we're sharing this. At night, I fall asleep with the recipe box perched on the nightstand right next to my bed. I can't wait for tomorrow. I think it's glowing because it's extra special to her. So it's lit up, let's find out. The sun has barely risen when I wake up to the sound of shuffling in the kitchen downstairs. I grab the recipe box and I raise downstairs in my PJs. Sammy is following Tita around in the kitchen. Good morning, Mahat, Tita says. Shall we make some of my fame with this bread today? Yes, I say instantly rolling up my sleeves. Sammy jumps up too. My hair. I heard that Tita has white hair, yes. The white hair will glow on the day of judgment, inshallah. First we start by filling a bowl with flour, says Tita. This is just the way my mom taught me. I dump the flour into the bowl and a white powdery cloud floats up and tickles my nose. Next, Tita says we add some yeast and salt. Then we slowly pour in some warm water and a bit of olive oil. I dip my hands into the bowl and feel all the goopy ingredients ooze between my fingers. I mix and squish everything together until it forms a big ball of dough. Tita tells me to knead the dough with my knuckles to make it soft. So kneading is when we massage the dough till it's a good consistency. Now Tita says with a smirk, move aside and let me work my magic. I look on an amazement as Tita rolls out the dough and then expertly spins it in the air until it looks like a flying saucer. We pop it straight into the oven and Sammy peeks through the little oven window to watch the dough balloon up. Has anyone ever seen that when dough is in the oven and it poofs up? It's kind of a cool thing to watch, isn't it? Sammy looks like he really enjoys it. This smell reminds me of the big clay oven my mom used in our village of Atil in Palestine, Tita says. She baked bread over a real fire and everyone would enjoy the delicious smell. But if they smelled the bread, did that mean you had to share, I ask? Of course, she replies. We were happy to. Our village was like one big family. No matter where we lived or what troubles we faced, we always found ways to share what we had. Tita rifles around in the recipe box and pulls out an old piece of embroidered black fabric. It has beautiful red thread sewn across it. My sisters and I used to sew these wonderful patterns on our clothes. The pattern represents each of us coming together as one to create something beautiful, something special. I look over at Sammy and I wonder if we could ever work together like that. Back in the kitchen, we make more of Tita's recipe using the fluffy dough. We spread an olive oil and sautéed mixture on some pieces of dough. We sprinkle halum cheese on others. Then we cover some of the dough with ground beef, pine nuts and tomatoes. Sammy is dropping ingredients all over the counter, but he has a huge smile on his face so I tell him he's doing a great job. While we wait for the oven timer to beat, Tita shows us some old photos of her village. My favorite is a black and white picture of Baba and his sister standing in front of an old olive tree. They look just like Sammy and me. We pull the different golden puffy breads out of the oven and impatiently wait for them to cool. Then we break off bits and pieces of each kind. Tita dips hers in hummus, but I like to eat mine plain. As we rub our full tummies, we look over at the piles of bread lining the kitchen counters. I think I made too much, Tita says. I'm used to sharing with a lot of people. Do you guys ever do that? Do you make too much food at home? Yeah. Never? Yes. Do you? Oops. Later as I help Mama scrub the dishes, I think about how Tita shares so much. Her secret recipes, her bright memories, and her tight hugs. The cold tap water runs over my hands and sends a shiver through my body. I remember the people I saw lining up outside the soup kitchen. I dry my hands and race to where Tita is sitting. Tita, I say. Your mom's bread filled your village with an amazing smell and she would share with everyone, right? Can we share our bread too? Tita grins. Without saying a word, she gets up, puts her jacket on, she knows exactly what I'm thinking. Who knows what she's thinking? Raise your hand if you know what she's thinking. If you don't, it's okay, we're gonna find out. Baba drives us to the soup kitchen. There's still a bit of flour on our clothes, but we don't mind. We ask the manager if we can share some of our bread and he says yes. Sammy and I hand out Tita's delicious baked goods. It looks like everyone loves them. The manager shakes our hands. Please come by anytime with more of your grandma's delicious breads, he says. In the car, I rest my head on Tita's shoulder and look at Sammy. I'm glad we're all together and I can't wait for our next cooking adventure. Look at her TV show now. What does it say? Tita, maha, and Sammy's Palestinian feast. It's no longer just mahas feast. Alhamdulillah. Did you guys like that book? Yeah. What is something that you think we learned from that book? We learned to share. Yes, we should share. We should share with everyone around us. What are some things that you guys do to share? Good, you share your toys? That's a good thing. So my dad gave me these black bags. Okay. And I had to offend some of my favorite boys that they didn't understand what we were doing to store. Masha'Allah. Your dad gifted you a bag and you're gonna fill it full of things and gift it to the poor? Yeah, I'm actually absent to the poor. That's really nice, masha'Allah. I'm gonna go back there. You're gonna give a huge... Most of them come with a remote. You're gonna donate a huge monster truck with a remote, masha'Allah. These are great, great things that you guys are doing, especially during the month of Ramadan. Masha'Allah. That's excellent, masha'Allah. He donated $10 to Feeding America so they could help feed the poor. I can repeat it. My food, share everything. You're gonna share your food? That's a good one because that's one of our activities today. We'll talk about it in a minute. Yes, we could share our money with the poor people. So I'm gonna do one more today for this question. Go ahead. You donate your toys, masha'Allah. That's excellent. You wanna share one more thing? I have a question. You have a question? Okay, I'll explain, masha'Allah. Okay, one more. Go ahead. I like him with markers. What? He shares his markers. Masha'Allah. He shares his markers or his art supplies and that's what I wanna hear because we're gonna be sharing some of our supplies outside today. So I'm gonna talk to you guys what our first activity is today, okay? But we're gonna do our second story before we do our activity but I wanna talk to you guys about it since it's about the book. What we're gonna do are, this is one of my family's favorite recipes. They're called date balls. They're very yummy. I love date balls. Me too. Who likes rice crispy treats? Almost everybody likes rice crispy treats, right? You haven't tried it yet. Well, this is kinda like rice crispy treats but instead of marshmallows, it's got dates in it. Yes, we have to be very cautious or we have to make our own but we don't have to worry because I made them. So we're good, masha'Allah. So what you're gonna do is you're gonna be able to make these little kits. They're called date ball dowa kits, okay? Because we are gonna give them to our neighbor to teach them about Ramadan and about Eid. So we have this nice little printout and it talks about Ramadan. It says happy holidays and it teaches them about what we celebrate because we have a village, right? And Islam teaches us that the best of us are good to our neighbors as well, right? That the good amongst us are good to our neighbors. Sorry. Yeah? I think we're gonna use this to make it. We are. You can close it for now because we're in the masjid and we don't wanna make a mess inside. But we're gonna save it and we're gonna do it outside. So the first thing you guys are gonna do is you're gonna make two of these sets. You see? Two of these sets. You'll have everything you need in your box. Your mom or dad, whoever registered you got one. Exactly. They'll give it to you when we head outside, inshallah. So it has your cards, it has your bags, it has the cupcake liners, it has gloves. So if you guys don't wanna get messy, we have gloves in here and then we have the date ball mixture and the shredded coconut. The way that we're gonna do it is you get a piece kind of like Play-Doh and you roll it into a ball. Who likes to roll things into balls? Oh, it looks like all of you, perfect. Alhamdulillah. So after you've rolled into a nice ball, you're gonna roll it into the coconut and cover it. So it looks like this. Then you're gonna put them in the cupcake liners and put them in the bag, inshallah. Don't worry, me and the volunteers will be outside and we'll help you if you guys need help, inshallah. But I just wanted to show you before we read our next book. And then you can hand these to your neighbors, inshallah. So what if that book is a little too long? It's not. I read the longer book first for you. Do you have a question? Go ahead. Well, you know what? That's okay because I gave you guys probably enough for you to make some for yourselves as well. So you can make two for each of your neighbors, one for each side and then anything extra, you get to keep for yourself, inshallah, okay? We tried to make sure that you guys had enough leftover for yourself as well. If you don't have one, what? If your parents should have, don't worry, inshallah. Okay, we'll talk about it after, okay? Come talk to me, inshallah. So now, what's next week, you guys? What is this? Are you doing this next week? It's on May 2nd, inshallah. Inshallah, if we see the moon, inshallah. It's May 2nd. So are you guys excited for it? Yeah. Yeah? So we have two things that we're doing today to kind of get ready for Eid. One is the kits we're gonna give to our neighbors so that we can share, and the next thing we're gonna do is do a little Eid decoration. Next week on Saturday. Next week on Saturday, I'm gonna be seven. You're gonna be seven, masha'Allah. That's a very good age. It's the age that you start praying. You should have a celebration. All right, inshallah. We're gonna start with our next book to get ready for Eid next week, inshallah. It's called Tis the Night Before Eid, and it is written by Yasmin Rashidi. Do you guys know that she's my friend? The author of this book. Yes. I know her from when we were young. Tis the Night Before Eid. She did a very good job, masha'Allah. Do you still know her? I do. I still know her. Do you still see her? I still do. See her. Okay, we're gonna get started. What do I do when I begin? Masha'Allah. Thank you. Bismillahirrahmanirrahim. Tis the Night Before Eid. Ramadan has gone past. It's days filled with blessings that fly by too fast. Fast. They fly by so fast. They go too quickly by. The last iftod has been eaten, dishes packed away, and tomorrow will feast to celebrate Eid Day. Teraweeh has now finished. At home we will stay. No more trips to the masjid at night time to pray. That one makes me sad. I love Teraweeh. I don't want to come to you again. It's so nice to come to the masjid. Yes. Well, for Teraweeh we'll come next Ramadan. But we'll come back to the masjid, insha'Allah. For other reasons. The house has been cleaned. The clothes have been pressed. Mama says Eid's the day to look our very best. We all size is a week. Do we? Yeah, but this week we're gonna give a little money or a week. So your family has different traditions. Desserts have been baked. Ma'amul is so sweet. We can't wait to dig in to such a tasty treat. Ma'amul, Ma'amul has dates in it, kind of like our date balls we're making today. Eid clothes are laid out on the dresser with care for an early morning to make it time, to make it on time for prayer. We kids are all sleeping, snug and warm in our beds with visions of presence dancing around in our heads. The pictures look pretty. Yes, they're so vibrant bright, colorful. We fasted so wonderfully for 30 days straight, not eating till sundown, then breaking fast with a date. Who knows what they're saying? We talked about it earlier. The prayer. Allahu Akbar. They're doing, well they're doing the adhan. We did it with the spear. Mama in her hijab recites her last line of the Quran sent down to mankind as a sign. It does. The whole book rhymes. Yes. I like rhyming books. Baba in his thawb stands once more to pray, begging Allah to bless and guide his family's way. Ramadan has ended, but its spirit lives on, in hearts cleansed by mercy and the words of the Quran. It got stuck on me. The night will go quickly and then we'll come dawn when sleepy eyes open and tired mouths yawn. But right now we all sleep, tucked in our beds tight. I'd mubarak to all and to all a good night. Yes. Very observant, masha'Allah. Yes, they realize when they see the moon. They look happy. That's them on a day. They look very happy, alhamdulillah. Who's excited for Eid? Me. Oh, masha'Allah. It's very good to be excited for Eid, alhamdulillah. And it's also very good to appreciate and love every day of Ramadan. That's a very good question. So I knew about it because she posted and so because she's somebody I know. And I mean, in general, I will buy any book that is supporting Islamic authors, alhamdulillah. So I bought it. Okay, insha'Allah. So because Eid is coming up, we like sometimes to put up some decorations, right? Yeah. So we're going to make these Eid banners. And you can't see it now because it's very bright in here, but they're actually going to light up. You can see it. Good. You guys want to make one? You can hang it on your door, on the wall. Yeah? They light up. Okay. That's so nice. Alhamdulillah. You can decorate our rooms. You can decorate downstairs. You can talk about it with your parents and see where you guys want to hang it, insha'Allah. But we'll make these nice Eid banners. So this, to make this one, we're going to get into paint. Okay? You guys want to paint? Yeah. Right? For moms and dads, there's actually a video tutorial to give you guys a heads up on how to do it. It's a couple minutes long. You can find it on the MCC link. You just click on the activity and it'll go straight to the YouTube video just to help you while you're helping the kids, insha'Allah. But for you guys, I'm going to explain, insha'Allah. You're going to get these bags. And in this bag, you're going to have all of the things that you need, insha'Allah, except for sand, okay? The sands are going to be on the tables outside. We're going to be very careful because it's paint and it's sand and we want to make sure our clothes stay nice, right? Especially for mama and baba, right? We want to keep our clothes clean. So what you're going to do is, we're going to use the spoon and you're going to only put half of a teaspoon of sand into the paint. You're going to close it. You're going to shake it up, okay? You're going to shake it, shake it, shake it. And what that does, is it makes the paint look like metal when it dries. Do you see it? Do you guys see it? It does? Thank you. Yeah, so you guys are going to try, yeah? So when you add the sand, it makes it look, and it feels cool too because it's thick, it's bumpy. So once you've mixed it all up, the sand and the paint, you have this special paint brush. Do you see the paint brush right there? Yes, but it's not a normal paint brush. You're not going to go, yes, you are going to dab at it. So you're going to go up and down, up and down on top of it, okay? So you go up and down like this, and then, I'm going to explain then I can have a question, okay? You're going to go up and down and you're going to cover all of the white, all of the white on your designs. If you do that, you let it dry for a few minutes, inshallah, it'll have this metal look, metal effect, okay? So that's step one. We're going to paint and let it dry. While it's drying, we're going to get out our twinkle lights and our vines, and we're going to stretch it out. If we stretch it out, the twinkle lights are going to be way too long. So you're going to carefully fold them back and twist it. This is why I sent the video appearance because it might be a lot of steps, but I will be out there, so if you need help, don't be shy to ask, inshallah, and I've prepped the volunteers as well, inshallah. But you're going to get your long, look, see here? The twinkle lights, and you're going to make it go back and forth till it's the length that you want it, and you're going to twist it. Twist it together like this. Who can twist? Show me your twists. Show me. Good. You're going to twist it so it sticks all together. Then you're going to add the vines to it. You have two different vines because we want two different kinds of leaves in some color, right? And you're going to add it and twist it onto your twinkle lights. Once that's done, you have the string. It's kind of hard to see. Why is the string kind of hard to see? Because it's thin. Because it's thin? Why else? And clear. And clear. Good. Light makes it look like a see-through. Exactly. It's like it's floating. Perfect. It's thin. It's clear. And the light makes it look see-through. So it almost looks like it's floating. Very good. Mashallah. With that string, it's in your bag. Be careful. Because if it falls, we might not be able to find it, right? When you get this string, we have scissors on the table. You can cut it. And you can tie on your little shapes, OK? Just double knot it. Just like you double knot your shoes, OK? You don't have knot shoes? You don't know how to tie shoes? Have you guys ever tried to tie a knot? You know how to tie a knot? OK. You know how to tie a knot? Very good. Good, OK. And if you don't, we're all here. So we can all help each other, right? Alhamdulillah, we help each other. And then once that's done, you're all done. My shapes are going all over the place. But you're all done. That's true. You can try that in shalom. OK, is there any questions? You forgot your question. What's your question? You're going to make it now outside. You're going to have all this stuff with your mom, OK? Good question. So when we go outside, you just stand up and you go straight through those double doors. Do you see where I'm pointing? The doors are open right there. When you walk out, you'll see all the tables set up. So we don't have to go very far. Once we leave the Masala area, we just go straight out those doors, and it's right there. Is there any part of the sand on the way? Like, both of those are picked up. Want to see where they come? Come closer. Yeah, there's some sample ones. There are two if you want to see. All right. All right, can't wait. Bismillah.