Today,

- is my last Friday at the office. I have to work until Thursday next week. After that I’ll be putting on a totally different hat. One I’ve been dreaming of, waiting for, praying for, but at the same time one that makes me excitedly nervous.

- 2 of Shahril’s uncles are going for Hajj. Bila dengar Talbiyah, hati rasa bergetar, air mata terus mengalir. Semoga Allah menjemput kita menjadi tetamuNya dalam masa yang terdekat ni, InsyaAllah. Perkenankan lah doa doa kami, Ya Allah. Hanya Engkau lah yang mengetahui isi hati kami.

- Bibik’s going home for good. Kids have been told about this since last week as to prepare them. They are also told that they’ll be going to nursery starting next week. What they don’t know yet is, they will only go to the nursery for a week. We’re keeping it a secret still, until I don’t know, maybe tonight?

- Going for lunch with the girls at the office. I’m touched and honoured. Rasa perasan glamour sikit pun ada that some friends have asked to ‘book’ me for lunch next week. Thank you girls and guys! :)

 

I’m having mixed feelings. Ada rasa sedih, ada rasa happy, ada risau. Sending the kids to nursery makes me worry. Afiq & Mariessa can InsyaAllah cope. I’m not too sure about Adreena though. Muiz lagi lah. Itu lah yang paling merisaukan. Deep down I know (I hope), they’ll be fine. But i’m a mother. Worrying about my kids is what I do.

5 months old now. How time flies.

My thoughts are jumbled up at the moment. Apart from finishing whatever work I still have, I can’t stop thinking about the million things I want to do at home. Have to start planning. Have to start making schedules and lists for me and for the kids;

 

1. Daily activities with Adreena & Muiz while Afiq & Mariessa are at school.

2. Activities with Afiq & Mariessa when they’re home.

3. What to cook for breakfast, lunch and dinner. At least for the next 2 weeks or so. So we can shop accordingly. (I have to get that 1 hari 1 resepi cookbook).

4. Those new recipes I’d like to try but never had the time to.

5. My own schedule. – What time to wake up, how often do I iron (excited to try our new vertical clothes steamer – I take it as a ‘resignation’ gift from Shahril), how often do I mop (this, i dread. I don’t like doing it. Can anyone suggest a really, really good mop? Saw one at Cosway, quite fancy, not too sure how good though). Also to “include'” Shahril in the chores. Sidai baju has always been his favourite task, so let’s leave that to him among other things, of course. :)

6. Where to go on weekends. Hehe. I’ll be home 5 days a week now kan, so I have to go out to widen my horizons on weekends lah, ye tak?

And the list goes on and on. Do wish me luck, guys.

 

I hope I can be istiqamah and be the kind of wife and mother I’ve always wanted to be. InsyaAllah.

Rindunya hati, Masya Allah.

Jabal Rahmah on the background.

Mengikut sejarah, Jabal Rahmah merupakan tempat pertemuan semula Nabi Adam dan Hawa di dunia setelah sekian lama terpisah. Maka, ramai yang berdoa di sini agar dipertemukan dengan jodoh yang ditentukanNya. Doa saya, semoga jodoh kami berkekalan hingga ke akhir hayat dan semoga dipertemukan semula kami di Jannah. Amin.

 

I’m wearing exactly that to the office today. Have never done it before as I’d usually pair the jubah with a coloured tudung. Tak tau kenapa hari ni terasa nak berpakaian serba hitam. I started to love wearing like that then, and I love it even more now. It makes me feel liberated. Semoga ia sesuatu yang dapat berterusan, InsyaAllah.

“…Kemudian apabila kamu telah membulatkan tekad, maka bertawakallah kepada Allah. Sesungguhnya Allah menyukai orang-orang yang bertawakal kepada-Nya".

 

"…When you have taken a decision, put your trust in Allah. Indeed Allah loves those who rely (upon Him)"

[3:159]

 

On Friday morning, while most people were making a big fuss about the date 11.11.11, I was at home ‘nursing’ my nausea (among other things) which didn’t seem to lessen eventhough I’m already in the (much awaited) 2nd trimester. At about 10am,  I received a frantic call from a colleague…

 

A: Ainil, ko dah dengar berita belum?

Me: Berita apa??? 

Terduduk rasanya bila dapat berita yang memang tak disangka sangka. A dear, dear friend passed away while in labor that very morning due to birth complications. Her baby – her 3rd child, the first girl after 2 boys, didn’t make it too.

 

She was my ‘pumping’ buddies. I was pumping for Adreena back in 2010 while she was pumping for Luqman who is a few months older than Adreena. Our similar pumping schedule gave us plenty of time to talk about everything under the sun – juggling kids without a maid (I didnt have one then), pasal lecehnyaaaaa kena lipat kain…. issues of breastfeeding, breastpumps.. etc. She was a very easy person to like. In fact, there’s nothing not to ‘not’ like about her. Always smiling. Whenever I go to the surau to pump, mesti check dulu kasut dia ada ke tak kat luar surau. There’s just something about her.

 

I stopped pumping when I got pregnant in March this year. By then she had stopped pumping too. So, our ‘gossip’ sessions ended too. We seldom see each other in the office, she was seated at the other end and later transferred to another block. When she first found out about this blog of mine, she got very excited! Told me she spent days reading old entries. She loved it when I wrote about my children and told me I inspired her to write about hers too, so she can read about them when they grow older.. but she didn’t know where to start. I’ve never asked if she eventually wrote anything.

 

I last saw her a few months back. We bumped into each other at the printer (of all places. :) ). She was already pregnant then.

 

I last spoke to her sometime after Aidilfitri. She called just to catch up, and she was among the first person I shared my news of this pregnancy with. She was of course very happy for me and told me that her doctor had told her she’s expecting a girl, as she had hoped. That call lasted almost half an hour but I certainly didn’t think it was going to be our last chat.

 

The whole last week I thought of giving her a call, knowing that she’s due in November. I regret not picking up the phone to call her. :(

 

When I read her FB wall, it’s just amazing to discover that my thoughts of her is very much similar to what her other friends think of her too. Always with a smile on her face, an easy person to work with… and sangat2 menjaga silaturrahim. MasyaAllah… all the qualities I am very much lacking of. There’s a lot to learn from her.

 

I was told that there were sooooooo many people during her funeral. At the surau and at the kubur. Berpuluh2 kereta! Itu lah tanda2nya bila orang yang baik pergi meninggalkan kita, kan? There were a lot of people yesterday too, when the office organized a ‘majlis bacaan yasin & tahlil’ untuk arwah after work at the office.

 

It was heart breaking, but I think Allah has given her one of the best endings a woman can have. Mati shahid ketika melahirkan, di pagi hari Jumaat – penghulu segala hari… dan ditemankan puteri cahaya iman (Nurul Iman) di dalam kubur. Semoga roh mereka tenang dan ditempatkan dikalangan orang orang yang beriman. Semoga suaminya Hafidz dan dua anak lelakinya Ikhwan & Luqman dikurniakan kesabaran dan ketabahan untuk menempuh ujian yang sangat hebat ini.

 

You are and will always be missed, my dear friend.

 

Al Fatihah buat Allahyahrmah Rozi Hartini Binti Abdul Aziz dan puterinya Nurul Iman.

 

Her friends wrote about her too here, here and here.

Just before I went home yesterday, I received the news that one of Afiq’s classmates’ mother had passed away.

 

Berderau darah saya. Macam macam yang terlintas di fikiran.

 

I cried all the way home. I don’t know Arwah personally. We might have met during LC’s events, we might have not. But that’s irrelevant. The fact is that she had a son of my son’s age, and I could have been in her shoes. So I cried.. mengenangkan suami dan anak kecil yang ditinggalkan.

 

I know I’m not ready – dari segi dunianya.. apatah lagi dari segi akhiratnya.

 

When someone  dies, it serves as a reminder that sooner or later, our time will come. Tak kira tua, tak kira muda, tak kira yang sihat ataupun yang sakit. Takkan tercepat atau terlambat mahupun sesaat.

 

Setiap yang bernyawa akan menemui ajal, dan sesungguhnya akan disempurnakan ganjaran kamu pada hari kiamat. Sesiapa diselamatkan daripada neraka dan dimasukkan ke dalam jannah (taman/syurga), maka sesungguhnya dia telah beruntung. Dan kehidupan dunia tidak lain melainkan kesenangan yang memperdayakan.

Everyone shall taste death. And only on the Day of Resurrection shall you be paid your wages in full. And whoever is removed away from the Fire and admitted to Paradise, he indeed is successful. The life of this world is only the enjoyment of deception (a deceiving thing).

Al-Imran 185

 

Semoga kita berada dalam golongan yang beruntung, InsyaAllah.

 

Al-Fatihah to Alif Q’s mother. Semoga Allah mengampunkan dosa-dosanya dan meletakkannya di kalangan orang-orang yang beriman.

If I could skip one day, just ONE day of the year… today would be it.

 

Al-Fatihah…

 

 

 

 

 

(Best tak tajuk? Hehe)

Sejak dulu lagi, saya ada satu habit yang saya rasa agak pelik, iaitu kalau saya susah nak tidur, saya akan terbalikkan posisi tidur saya (kepala di kaki katil, kaki di kepala katil) dan selepas tu InsyaAllah saya akan tidur lena.

Errr, sebenarnya ada 2 lagi habit saya kalau saya susah nak tido. Dulu lah, skrg dah tak lagi.

1. Saya akan baring dgn kaki saya ke atas dinding. Maksudnya kedudukan kaki saya 90 darjah dengan badan saya. Bila saya fikirkan balik, heran juga mcm mana saya boleh tidur dgn keadaan mcm tu.

2. Saya akan baring di bawah katil. Tapi pinggang ke bawah saja yg di bawah katil, pinggang ke atas di bahagian luar katil.

Aaaaaanyway, point saya bercerita pasal habit tidur ni adalah: Dah 2 malam saya perasan Adreena buat benda yg sama. Dia demam dan selsema skrg ni, jadi susah nak tidur. Tiap kali saya letakkan kepala dia di atas bantal, dia akan pusing pusing pusing.. sampai kepalanya di kaki katil, lepas tu dia tidur lena. Untuk menguji teori saya, bila dia dah lena, saya betulkan balik kedudukan tidur dia. Sekali lagi dia akan pusing pusing pusing, sampai kepalanya di kaki katil, lepas tu dia sambung tidur. :)

Pernah tak anda notice habit anda dibuat oleh anak2 anda?

P/s: saya pun menaip entry ini dgn posisi tidur terbalik. Seisi rumah demam, batuk dan selsema. Sungguh menyiksakan.
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device via Vodafone-Celcom Mobile.

Hope it’s not too late to wish everyone

Selamat Hari Raya

Maaf Zahir & Batin

(or as Mariessa would say it: Maap Zahid dan Fatin!)

 

 

Ya Allah sesungguhnya waktu dhuha itu dhuha-Mu
Kecantikannya kecantikan-Mu…Keindahannya keindahan-Mu
Kekuatannya kekuatan-Mu…Kekuasaannya kekuasaan-Mu
Perlindungannya perlindungan-Mu…

Ya Allah jika rezeki masih di langit, turunkanlah
Jika di bumi keluarkanlah…Jika sukar permudahkanlah
Jika haram sucikanlah…Jika jauh dekatkanlah

Berkat waktu dhuha
Kecantikan-Mu keindahan-Mu kekuatan-Mu kekuasaan-Mu
Limpahkan kepadaku segala yang Engkau telah limpahkan kepada
hamba-hamba-Mu yang soleh

 

 

The ‘situation’ at work is surprisingly taking a sharp turn, which looks promising.

But I keep thinking... How do you mend a broken heart?

 

 
Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device via Vodafone-Celcom Mobile.

A week or so ago while we were in the car, I asked Shahril whether we should bring the kids to watch Kungfu Panda 2. Afiq overheard us from the backseat and asked, “Mama.. bila kita nak pegi tengok Kungfu Badak?”

 

Apa lagi… seminggu lebih la tu jadi modal Ayah dia nak menyakat! :D

 

 

So, dengan penuh excitednya, we went to TGV Cheras Selatan on Saturday morning. Lucky I made online booking a few days earlier as the line was really really long!

 

Mariessa was entirely clueless about going to the cinema, this being her first time. Macam2 dia tanya:

Cinema tu apa Mama?

Kenapa kalau nak tengok Kungfu Pada.. kita kena pegi tengok kat ‘tei-ko’ (Jusco, interchangeably with Tesco) ni? Kenapa tak boleh tengok kat rumah?

Kenapa Mama bawak sweater Kakak?

Kenapa Adeena tak boleh ikut?

Kalau tengok Kungfu Pada kita boleh makan pokcorn eh Mama?

 

Belum apa2, Mama dah pening.

 

Masuk aje dalam tu, alamak! tengah preview Harry Potter. Member apa lagi kan?? Pucat terus la muka! Kata nak tengok Kungfu Panda, apsal keluar citer seram? (seram bagi dia lah kan?). Duduk kat seat dia, muka cuakkkkk je. Dah la on the screen citer seram, keliling gelap pulak tu. I let her be. Kang kalau cuba nak comfort dia, lagi dia jadi takut. So biar dia settle herself down dulu.

Lepas habis preview Harry Potter, preview Puss in Boots pulak. Baruuuuuu lah bercahaya sikit muka dia (saya jeling2 tengok dia). Then baru lah dia bersuara, “Mama, Kakak tak takut!” Maksudnya sebelum tu takutlah tu. Heheheheh.

Dah habis takut tu.. apa lagi.. bertubi2 la soalan keluar. “Mama.. kucing pun boleh cakap eh dalam movie ni? Kakak tak takut kucing tu!” Heran jugaklah saya dengan statement tu.. padahal kalau tengok kartun kat Disney Channel pun, haiwan mana yang tak boleh bercakapnya, ye tak?

Unlike Afiq, Mariessa ni tak suka tengok TV sangat pun kalau kat rumah. She prefers books. Reading (style dia la).. colouring… So I was a little concern she might not enjoy the whole thing.

She watched the movie quietly for the first 20 minutes or so. . Lepas tu dah agak restless. Bangun kejap.. tengok orang2 kat bawah… tengok2 orang kat belakang. “Mama.. lagi best duduk kat atas ke… kat bawah?”. “Mama… kenapa semua orang suka nak tengok citer ni?”

Then, dia complain sejuk pulak. Lama2 saya riba & peluk dia. Diam lah sekejap… after 10 minutes… “Mama.. kakak nak tido lah.. tapi bising sangat!”… “Mama tak bawak Milo kakak eh?”

 

Anyway, as expected, the movie was very, very entertaining. Meriah sungguh dalam cinema tu pun. Afiq clearly enjoyed himself.Gelak pun kadang2 terlebih panjang dari orang lain. Orang lain dah habis gelak.. tiba2 ada sorangggg je dalam cinema tu belum habis gelak lagi! :D

 

One happy boy. Hilang terus demam!

Mariessa tak nak ambik gambar ngan poster tu. Tak tau la kenapa.

Nak cepat punya pasal, kepala Po pun tak masuk! Hehe

 

Dah jauhhhhhh baru nak. Tu pun sebab dapat cekak rambut baru!

 

Probably when Kungfu Panda 3 is out, our little angel No 3 pun boleh join sekali.

(judging from the ending of the movie, macam ada sambungan kan?)

 

 

This morning, while I was getting ready for work, terdengar Afiq dengan Mariessa bersembang.

Afiq: Kakak, hebat kan hari tu kita pegi tengok Kungfu Panda!

Kakak: Ha-ah kan. Sejuuuuukkkkkkk tempat tu!

Afiq: Panda tu kungfu dia very good kan?

Kakak: Ha-ah! Tiger tu pun terror kan? Kakak lagi suka tiger tu! Dia kawan dengan Pada tu kan. Tapi dia pun hebat!

Afiq: Masa Panda tu lawan2 tu pastu dia lompat tinggi tu pastu ada letup2 tu.. whoa! hebat kan?

Kakak: Yessssss!!! Tapi kan, dalam cinema tu gelappp kan? Pokcorn tu pun sedaaaaappppppppppppppppppp!

Afiq: Pastu last last tu bapak Panda tu kata anak dia hidup lagi kan? Nasib baik!!!

Kakak: Ha-ahhhh.. Nanti next time Deena dah besar Deena pun boleh ikut kita tengok mubi kan?

 

It amazed me how they can have a conversation yang nadanya bersambung sambung, tapi jalan cerita nya takde kesinambungan langsung! Hahahah. Nampak sangat their focus is different kan? Afiq was into the story, Mariessa (except for the tiger who obviously has made an impact on her) was into everything else but the movie! :)

 

 

Tigress: I hope this turns out better than your plan to cook rice in your stomach by eating it raw, and then drinking boiling water.

 

Tigress: Where's Po?

Mantis: How can we lose a guy that big?

 

 

 

 

 

Po: The only thing that matters is what you choose to be now

 

Mariessa loves asking questions. I love that about her. Afiq asks a lot too, but Afiq is much, much more easily satisfied than Mariessa. With Afiq, I can explain something, he’ll accept the answer and try to digest it on his own (probably that’s what a 6-yr old does?). Most of the time he’ll come back to me after a few minutes if he’s still in doubt. With Mariessa it’s different. She asks and she expects a satisfactory answer pronto! Until she gets it, she’ll just keep asking.

 

I am now having a difficulty trying to explain to her why sometimes Mama cannot perform solat. We usually perform solat Maghrib berjemaah, so it’s of course very obvious during the time of the month when I can’t. So far I’ve tried these:

 

1.

Mariessa: Mama, kenapa Mama tak solat sama2 ni?

Mama: Mama cuti sayang.

Mariessa: Cuti? Solat pun ada cuti? Kakak pun cuti lah!

Mama: Kakak takde cuti lagi, bila girl dah besar… baru ada cuti.

Mariessa: Tak nak lah.. kakak nak cuti sama Mama.

 

 

 

 

2.

Mariessa: Mama.. kenapa Mama tak solat?

Mama: Hmmm.. Mama tak bersih, sayang. Mama tak boleh solat.

Mariessa: Ohhh… Mama go lah mandi! Nanti Mama bersih lah!

 

 

 

3.

Mariessa: Mama, kenapa Mama tak solat?

Mama: Mama tak sihat, sayang. Mama tak boleh solat

Mariessa: Kalau Mama tak sihat, kenapa Mama tak pegi clinic? Nanti kan doctor bagi ubat, Mama sihat lah!

Mama: Hmmm.. Mama sakit lain. Girl dah besar je sakit macam Mama, tak boleh solat.

Mariessa: Tapiiiiiiiiiiii… kalau sakit, kita kena lah doa kat Allah! Nanti Allah bagilah kita tak sakit dah. Kalau nak doa, kena lah solat!

 

Haaa… So how?

 

Anyone can help me with this? She’s only 4, so it’s not yet time to tell her all the glory details ye tak? That will probably scare her! :). But at the same time I don’t want to mislead her too. Help, please? :)

 

Punyalah takde idea nak letak title. Another random post. Takde cerita menarik lah sekarang ni. :). (Tapi kan, selalunya kalau org kata “saya takde apa nak cakap….” lepas tu mesti dia cakap berjela2 kan? Hehe.. Let’s see…)

 

A dear, dear friend lost her father on May 17th. Al-Fatihah untuk Abah Aba. Semoga rohnya ditempatkan dikalangan orang2 beriman InsyaAllah.

I went on a day trip to Alor Setar on Monday to catch up with Aba. Spent the day bersemmmmmmmmmmmmmbang tak habis2. It was really, really great. Thank you ber, for the hospitality. Tengok2 tiket untuk pegi Kuching k? Hehe

 

Hui, tak tau la bila last time saya tengok sawah padi. Syok! Ni betul2 kat luar airport. Saya suruh Aba berhenti kat tepi jalan semata2 nak ambik gambar ni. Tambah pulak dapat tau ada orang tu hari tu, pegi Alor Setar, tapi tak dapat nak tengok sawah. Muahahah.. Kesiannnnnnnnnn En. Pirate. Rasa bahagia bila kiri kanan dok dengaq oghang cakap loghat utagha. Bila balik KL, eh tersasul loghat utara pulak.  Echeh.

 

 

On Saturday, saya try buat orange cake ni… selepas tergoda tengok kek tu di blog kawan saya, Ina. My first attempt at frosting a cake. :) Tu sebab ambik gambar sipi2 je tu, tak la horror sangat nampaknya. The cake itself is really really good. And nak buat pun terlampau senang. Alang2 cerita pasal cake ni, baik la saya terus tepek resepi dia kan…  Terima kasih tak terhingga pada Ina. This one’s a keeper!

(Saya copy paste terus from Ina… with a little modification )

 

* Resepi kek ina amek dr my resepi..

Bahan-bahan ( loyang 9 inc )
1 bji buah limau
1 cawan minyak
1 1/2 cawan gula halus – Resepi asal was 2 cawan. Ina suggested 1 1/2 je, saya pun letak 1 1/2 je. Just nice. tak manis sgt.
3 biji telur
2 cawan tepung gandum*
1 sb baking powder* ( *diayak bersama )

- yang ni saya tambah sendiri : about 1/2 cup of toasted almond nibs – put in the bowl together with the flour

Cara-cara
1. Cuci buah limau,potong dan buang biji dan urat putih di tengah2.Potong lagi buah limau kecil2 bersama kulitnya sekali.
2. Masukkan kedalam blender bersama,minyak,gula dan telur dan kisar hingga halus.
3. Tuang bahan yang dikisar kedalam mangkuk dan masukkan campuran tepung sedikit2 sambil dikacau sebati.
4. Tuangkan adunan kedalam loyang yg beralas dan gris.
5. Bakar pd suhu 170C selama 40 min hingga 1 jam atau hingga masak.

yg cream cheese frosting plak

a) 125g cream cheese pukul smpi gebu dgn 30g butter
b) then masukkan 1/2 – 1 cup of icing sugar (yg ini leh adjust ikut manis sndiri tau), pukul lg smpi gebu jugak
c) masuk plak 1tsp of air, pukul smpi sebati

Haaa.. see? Sooo easy one! Tak yah guna mixer pun. Blend aje. Mula2 saya sgt ragu2 lah kan nak bubuh dengan kulit2 buah oren tu sekali… Takut pahit. But surprisingly, rasa pahit sikit pun takde.

 

On Sunday pulak, saya buat mini donat. Gambar tak yah letak la kan, dah banyak kali ulang tayang. Tapi kali ni separuh daripada adunan tu, saya buat pau goreng. Ada setengah orang panggil Burger Malaysia. Haa.. yang ni boleh letak gambar. :)

Crispy on the outside, soft on the inside. Chewah!

One thing I notice kan, selalunya kalau on weekend saya ter rajin nak buat apa2, tiba2.. mesti ada orang nak dtg rumah. Contohnya, 2 minggu lepas saya cuba buat pau sardin. Tujuan utama ialah nak test steamer yang Shahril baru dapat free. Hehe. Tepung Pau yang saya beli berkurun lama pun dok ada dalam kotak lagi. Nasib baikkkkkkk belum expired. Tapi saya lupa nak ambik gambar. Alhamdulillah menjadik.. separuh saya letak inti sardin, separuh lagi letak inti kaya untuk anak2.

 

Nak citer apa tadi sebenarnya? Oh… yang saya notice tu. Saya baruuuuuu je letak the first batch of pau dalam steamer, tiba2 sorang kawan telefon tanya ada kat rumah ke, kalau ada dia nak datang bawak wife and baby yang saya belum pernah jumpa since diorang ada kat Bangi masa tu. Langkah kanan sungguh, Alhamdulillah. TQ Amri for coming!

 

Sunday baru2 ni pulak, tengah2 menggoreng burger malaysia tu, tiba2 adik bongsu saya telefon bagitau dia nak singgah kat rumah saya sekejap, nak ambik barang. Selang a few minutes, another friend called to ask if she can drop by.

 

Arwah Ummi selalu kata, tetamu tu rezeki. Saya seronok bila ramai2 orang kat rumah saya… tambah2 pulak bila saya tengah buat experiment masak memasak ni. Kalau tengah malas, orang nak datang kan haru, tak tau nak hidang apa? :)

 

Cerita terakhir… (kan dah kata dah.. panjang jadinya kalau merepek ni)

 

Dah setahun setengah si kenit ni.

Sekejappppp je masa berlalu kan? Perangai pun dah macam2. Cakap pun bukan main dah. Antara kita faham tak faham je. Suka mengajuk orang. Pagi tadi saya tengah duduk nak minum, dia dtg nak duduk atas riba saya (mmg pe-el dia dah skrg ni).. Abang & Kakak belum mandi lagi masa tu, so saya pun nak suruh la pegi mandi. Adreena dah siap mandi, lawa dah.

Mama: Kakak… go mandi please. Pegi sekolah!

Adreena: Tatak…. kolah! Apit… tolah!

Ada pulak skrip tambahan tu! Kakak memang dia panggil tatak.. Abang Afiq kadang2 dia panggil Aba.. Kadang2 dia panggil Apit. Ikut suka dia je.

 

 

 

Dah hampir2 sama besar pun dengan Kakak.

 

Oklah. Sekian.

 

 

 

The card Afiq made for me on Mother’s Day. :)

 

 

 

Was going thru  pictures from the camera and found this:

 

They must have been playing with the camera and Afiq took this shot. I love this picture!

 

Afiq was showing me some of his Aikido moves. Adreena didn’t want to be left out. :)

 

Adreena demam + batuk + selsema, so I came home early one afternoon and brought her to the clinic. Tak nampak macam budak demam pun kan?

When the doctor checked, her temperature was about 38 degrees masa ni.

 

The latest ‘output’ from my kitchen.

When I was about 10 or so, my sisters used to make this cake every Eid. Back then we didn’t have the mixer, so either Akak or Ngah (I cant remember which of you yang rajin buat kek ni. Hehe) would whip marjerin + sugar guna sudip kayu until dia kembang. :). Not long after that, I took over the task every Eid. Macam kek wajib untuk raya, for us. It became easier of course once we bought the hand mixer and my youngest brother Fikri will be my ‘official’ hand mixer guy. :D

 

It has been a few years since I last baked this actually. Entah kenapa, even masa Raya pun dah tak buat kek ni lagi. Tapi baru2 ni, asyik teringat. Mungkin sebab rindukan Ummi. Rindu nak berramai ramai kat dapur 443. Dari dulu, rumah di kampung tu… besar ke sempit ke.. dapur la jugak jadi tumpuan bila semua balik. Nak makan dah tentu kat dapur… nak bergosip pun kat dapur. So, dari rindu tu.. terhasil lah kek ni. :). The kids liked it so much, Mariessa is demanding that I bake another one for her to bring to school for her teachers.

 

Mariessa: Mama, Mama tau tak.. hebat la sekarang!

Mama: Hebat? Apa yang hebat?

Mariessa: Birthday teacher kan Mama, semuaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa hari ni! Mama buat lah kek ni lagi, Kakak nak bagi Teacher, kesian Teacher semua birthday, tapi takde kek pun!

 

* Teacher’s birthday = Teacher’s Day. Hehe

Afiq, after 2 slices of the cake:

Afiq: Mama.. terlampau sedap lah kek Mama buat ni!

(needless to say, I was up in the air lah kan, kena puji)

 

 

Shahril, taking a slice.. makan2… senyap…..

 

Me: sedap tak?

Him: Hmmmmm.…. rasa macam kek!

(Yup, back to the ground!). :P:P:P

Shahril and I celebrated our 7th wedding anniversary on Sunday, Alhamdulillah. That is if you can call going fishing together celebrating lah. :) Cliche as it may sound, it was exactly how I wanted to celebrate it – spending quiet time together reflecting on the last 7 years together. Of course what makes it more wonderful was that we managed to catch 3 ekor ikan tongsan and a few more ikan talapia. Yay us!

 

 

 

The 2 of us… May 1st 2004.

 

The 3 of us.. 2005

 

The 4 of us… 2008

 

The 5 of us… 2010. :)

 

To my beloved husband.. Thank you for the 7 wonderful years together. Thank you for truly accepting me the way I am, during my good times and especially during my moodiest, grumpiest, ugliest times. Thank you for telling me that everything will be all right when I didn’t think it was possible, and thank you for always reminding me to calm down when I was boiling with emotions (which is often, given that I am a very emotional person. :D) and thank you for keeping my feet on the ground whenever I crazily thought I could fly  (which is often too, me being emotional, ambitious and all that). Thank you for lending me your ears when I needed to vent out,necessarily AND unnecessarily, thank you for lending me your shoulders for me to cry on with reasons and half of the time without any, and  thank you for telling me what I wanted and needed to hear and sometimes what I didn’t want but needed to hear anyway. I am forever blessed to have you in my life.

 

I love you, Abang.

Mariessa’s birthday comes exactly one week after Shahril’s and Afiq’s birthday comes 2 weeks after Mariessa’s.. so understandably, Afiq has been very anxious waiting for his birthday to come. He got upset too a few times, not understanding whyyyyyy his birthday comes so late after Ayah’s and Kakak’s.

 

Afiq: Mama… KENAPAAAAAAAAAA Mama lahirkan Abang dulu masa sixteen?? (referring to 16th of April). Lambat sangatttt lah Mama, nak tunggu sixteen!

 

When Little Caliphs threw a birthday party for April babies short 3 days before the 16th, he even refused to acknowledge that he was included as one of those celebrated ones, saying “Birthday Abang sixteen… Hari ni belum sixteen lagi. Abang belum six lagi, Abang masih five!” (Yes, he said MASIH). :D

 

So 16th finally came. Berseri2 bangun pagi tu. We didn’t plan anything for the day, so in the morning I asked him what does he want for his birthday.

 

“Abang nak………………. Hmmmm…. Abang nak adik boy lah Mama”.

 

Aiyak. Why lah dalam banyak2 benda.. he’s asking for something I cannot buy at the store? :). But I thought that was very sweet of him. It took me a while to find the right answer to that.. but I finally told him we’ll keep on praying.

 

Afiq at 1. Of them three, he was the most difficult for us to train on the car seat.

Once (about this age), frustrated that we ignored his crying, he took his shoes off and threw them to the front!

I always had to bring spare baju as when he stopped crying je, he would definitely throw up on me. Every single time!

Garang little boy.

 

During his 3rd birthday party.

4 year old Afiq and 2 year old Mariessa.

Last year, right after his Myringotomy & Grommet op just a few days after he turned 5, in his baju ‘hensem’.

 

Ayah surprised him with a new bicycle on his birthday, this year.

 

(He got upset yesterday after falling a few times, still trying to get use to the bigger bicycle.. I told him with practice, he’ll get better. He answered, “Baiklahhhh… Abang akan terus mencuba!”)

 

Happy 6th Birthday, Sayang Mama. Semoga membesar jadi anak yang Soleh… yang boleh membimbing adik2, InsyaAllah. We love you soooooooooooooooo much!