Almond Chiffon with Peanut Butter Whipped Ganache, decorated by Birthday Girl herself.

More cake view.

Aliya, surrounded by cousins.

What a hectic Sunday!

I know this was late since better late than never, I thought. I wanted to have a small do for Aliya’s grand 12th year birthday and called my parents, Mak and Abah and my siblings and a bunch of nieces and nephews. 13 of them grandchildren for my parents, counting mine.

Anyway. I said I’d bake a cake and make lasagne. Mak will bring lunch stuff and I’d cooked rice. And Mak came with buckets of food. From pecals to pisang to goreng and laukspauks. And I supplied rice. Well, I always always feel so inferior to her cooking, so we always get her to cook whenever she comes to the house. I know I know. *hangs head in shame*

So, we blew candles. 3 times and we hugged and we ate.

And Aliya turned 12! Yippee! Now I wish MrGart could take some time off and get her to get her formal first identity card. A cornerstone of adulthood.

Sigh! *feeling happy and restless all in the same line*

How time flies!

Wasn’t not too long ago that she was born, all wrinkly and wet, with hair sticking out and barely a whimper which through the first few weeks turned its volume up, really well?

And yesterday, the 9th January 2010, Aliya turned 12. Twelve yeard old.  Dua belas tahun. Typing it 3 times in different manners didn’t make it any easier to digest. My baby is 12 years old. Another year and she’ll be in her teens. This sure puts damper on my youthfulness (or not).

Well, I should report that Aliya is a really big girl now. She’s really tall and in a couple of inches, she’ll dwarf me. Now, instead of 4, I only have 3 shorties looking up at me. Hahaha!

Aliya is always very responsible to her brother and sisters and Ariz, especially adores her. In the absence of me, Ariz prefers Aliya and never the helper or Ayisha. She plays the role very well too which is really good to know as I do envision my children to be able to take care of themselves and among each other.

She’s in year 6 of school now, the most taxing of primary school right here in Malaysia and she’s feeling the pressure since her cousin, Norsyamsina  scored the coveted 5A. I told her to just focus on her studies and not get too stressed out. MrGart seems to think that my no-pressure strategy sounded fake. Sheesh!

Fashion-sense I think the past year I’ve been buying more tweens and more and more Roxy-ish styles for her. She loves that and now scorns what her sisters are wearing. She’s got this penchant for very abstract, swirly kinda designs and well safe to say, everything in Roxy. Jeans for her, I’ve been buying a heck of a lot too since she’s getting taller by the minute and outgrows them fast. She only wears jeans now and skirts are a major no-no.

She hit puberty too last month and that was a relief as she’s been expecting it like for a year, at least.  Yikes!

Anyways.

I plan to have a little do for her, invite a few friends, bake a cake and cook something up.  Unfortunately the house is in a ship wreck.  Our renovation is in full swing.  The walls dividing the 2 houses (we bought the house next door and making into ONE home) have come down and although my contractor/designer erected a wall with a curtain to prevent flying dust, there’s a film of dust everywhere.  I have a feeling by next month, the kithen’s closed.

So, I told Aliya that once the house is ready, we’ll do a doa selamat do.  And we’ll have her party then, when the house is insyaallah bigger and she can have more of her friends around.

In the mean time, Happy Birthday Aliya!

Daddy, Mummy, AYisha, Adani and Ariz love you so the very much!

School year here in Malaysia begins in January.

It’s that time of the year again.

The time when parents would be scurrying around with pens and folders in their hands, necks strained from peering to take a glance at their precious kiddos at school during the first days.

This year like the last, all of my Lil’Garties are going to school. makes me feel very ancient, seriously.

Aliya is now in her most stressful year, Year 6 and in September she’ll be sitting for her first major exam UPSR. Her cousin, Nor obtained 5A in hers and Aliya seems a little worried.
*am trying not to have a fit about it in January, though*

Ayisha hops over to Year4, in the morning session with Aliya. For once, both sisters are in the same session. This year, I aim to really hold Ayisha’s hands as she in need of constant supervision where Maths is concerned.

Primary education here sucks in that too much emphasis is given to academic excellence and if you’re not moulded that way, then you’re just an ordinary person, regardless if your outlook of life is far more enriching that the next 5A student. I digress!

Ariz is now in his Pre-Kindy 2 i.e. 5 year-olds. He attends the Bahtera Ilmu kindy , right here in the neighbourhood. I thought he would need a little more support in the first few days but he proved me wrong.

On Day 1, he refused to be sent to school by either of us, insisting to go with Auntie Manjit, out transporter. He reprimanded me when he saw me at school but went home with us anyway.

This morning on Day 2, he seriously told me not to be at the school ground. That’s it! My baby’s a big boy!! Sungguh la macho !*sigh*

In her line before entering her class. It’s 1 Beruas. Bukit Jelutong prides itself of being an environmentally and kayu-ish place. The classes are named after large hardwood trees.

Aliya’s in 6 Bakau. Ayisha is in 4 Mahang and Adani is in 1 Beruas. We used to have the girls in Dedali, Keruing and Resak. And apparently there’s a pokok named Jelawai. Mati-mati aku ingat Jelawat.

Adani meanwhile has the most change this year. Graduating from kindy to Primary School, the focus was more on her. And again, she over exceeded our expectation. She waltzed into her new class and immediately found her friends. At her KAFA, more of her friends. So, it has been a breeze.

MrGart thinks maybe tomorrow we can get back to work. Or go on a date, just the two of us, celebrating the year when the kids are old enough to not want to see them at the school. *sobs*

Adani in her class of 1 Beruas, SKBJ. She sits next to her friend from kindy, Iman and the boys in front of them are their friends from kindy too. So, Adani’s pretty much at home at this new school.

After the running around between SKBJ, Tadika Bahtera Ilmu, Ad-Daris and more sessions in the afternoon and not to mention Aliya’s night tuition sessions, I fell asleep at the couch before it was 10pm. Sedih sungguh!

Hanis is my cousin, the youngest in my MakLang’s family.  Shaiful meanwhile is attached to cars and sun glasses.  Opps, sorry !! Is a looker and adores Hanis.

And last weekend, we the clan of Tok & Wan drove up north to help out and be there for the wedding.  A tiring event indeed.  We had a homestay for some and some took refuge at the nearby hotel but we all pulled our weight during the nikah ceremony, the tahlil ceremony and the main event i.e. the big kenduri when we had close to hundreds of friends and neighbours come to pay visit a visit.

Here’s Hanis is her resplendent nikah attire waiting for the groom for the put the ring on my finger ritual.  It was held at the new, huge and uper beautiful new Al-Bukhary Mosque.  There was a fountain and we later found the kids, all wet from the knee down.  Obviously they’ve been dipping their feet in the fountain.  Unfortunately, my only hero Ariz came up wtih his jeans dripping wet from the butt down! Sheesh!!

Adani, Annissa and Ayisha at the masjid’s compound.

These are the cookies that I made for the wedding, meant as doorgifts for close family and friends.  Her theme was silver and I was short of time, so I hoped that she was happy with these.

Alhamdulillah.

It has been quite a whirlwind, this girl of mine.

She’s passionate. She’s highly temperamental.

She’s kind to animals.  She’s intense.

She’s quick to smile.  She’s quicker to lose her temper.

Regardless. We love you just the same. Even more.

Ayisha is just the most vivacious girl I know. Her name is borrowed from the Prophet Muhammad’s (pbuh) wife, ‘Aisha (ra) who was known for her great personality, a joy to be with as well as a great scholar among many other great qualities of a muslimah.

Our Ayisha meanwhile is very bubbly, a joy to be with with her bright smile and her oh-so-wide eyes. But those same round eyes can turn to slitty, don’t-mess-with-me eyes in an instance, if things don’t go her way. I’m happy to report that those days are defnitely far and few in between these days.

She’s more agreeable and more accomodating these days, being easier and more able to reason with.

She’s grown taller but still as slim as always. She complains that no matter how much she eats, she never puts on any weight. I keep telling that most people would love her weight. Like me, for instance!

This year, she gets a phone all to herself and she’s busy texting and calling her friends more. Something she really wants for the longest time and we succumbed to it.

Ayisha is a cat’s champion. Always. If we’re away from home, she talks about missing Rexx and Bubbles and how she thinks Rexx is missing her too.

Ayisha dearie. Happy 9th Birthday! Mummy loves you very much.

btw, This is a belated entery as her birthday fell on the 1st December 2009. She came into our arms on the 4th anniversary of our wedding and that make sthis year, our 12th! WHoohoo!!

Our first time.

This is the ceremony to commemorate Aliya’s and her friends success to completing the mandatory Quranic study, demanded by Islam. All Muslims must learn how to read the Quran correctly, the pronounciation of the beautiful Arabic words and its related rules.

I’m so proud that Aliya at 11 years old completed hers so soon. Next year would be a hectic year since it’s her first big exam so, khatam at 11 years old was so perfect.

Each khatam student must bring a “bunga telur” (flower egg, or the likes). I am not great with creative flowery stuff, so this cost me RM94. Hahah, minus the 40 eggs that I boiled and placed inside each little pocket of the flower.

Here’s Aliya, in her graduation robe.
Note: All of MrGart’s pictures of Aliya were fuzzy, someone’s been playing with the camera .. good thing, I found Aliya and took this picture of hers with my phone, in a bad lighting, otherwise it’d be lost.

Well, it was a very well rehearsed ceremony, in a classy ballroom and ended with high-tea for all the parents.

This are all the khatam students reciting the last 10 surahs of the Quran. Aliya’s at the back with all the girls. When the students were walking in in a parade, it was so apparent that the girls were much much taller than the boys. Very significantly shorter. Seriously. But I guess, boys’ growth spurts will start when they’re prolly 12 and they’ll overshoot the girls soon. In the meantime, such short boys! *cheeky*

Notice all the bunga telur down at the stage. When it was all over, it was given to all parents. We get about 10, colourful ones.

Alhamdulillah. I hope that Aliya will now begin to read the Quran more frequently and will start to read the tafseer and understand the meanings of the Quran, now that reading it is a breeze to her. Insyallah.

So, Ayisha, next?

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Day nearly fell off the chair, laughing when I lamented this story to her just now. Not exactly the sympathy I expected. Duh!

Anyhow.

After a cooperative 11 nights (minus 3 nights) of tarawih with the kids at our local masjid, last night was most unbearable, to the point that I rotan-ed each of them once on their palms, once we got home.

Before you dial the TeleDera line, let me just share with you what happened.

You see, our masjid is friendly to kids. In fact, it has 3 different places for muslimat to pray. The main area is upstairs, air-conditioned and within the masjid walls. The second is a large wakaf, built very close next to the masjid, open-air with fans and curtains on the walls. Most women who are not to fit to climb stairs and mothers pray here, for ease to monitor their kids and it’s away from the main masjid, so if the kids run around a bit, the only people affected are the jemaah there. The third is a newly opened carpeted, open air terrace of the masjid, with a sliding door separating the men and the women. I like this as it’s carpeted and Ariz and Adani can do their stuff at the back and we would not be disturbing too many people.

So, we’ve never prayed at the upstairs area and I thought since the kids have been exceptionally wonderful, we could give it a shot. Last night. We did.

I had a sackful of books for Ariz and Adani. And a bottle of air sirap too.

During 3rd rakaat of Isya’, Ariz gleefully ran through the saf towards me. I shuddered. He’s never done that downstairs. After Isya’ was over, the makcik next to me screeched, “Siapa la yang bawak anak ni. Ish”.

After a lot of stares and figger-wagging, Tarawih 1 and 2 went well. Tarawih 3 saw me running downstairs since Ariz needed to pass huge motion. Tarawih 4 was a little noisy, with Adani reading aloud a poem from Shel Silverstein with a friend and Ariz was in a discussion over t-rex and kamus dewan (brought to masjid by Asiah’s 4yo daughter).

Since the jemaah was doing 8 Tarawih with a tazkirah, the witir was done in jamaah too. That went well too.

The last single rakaat of Witir saw me seething. Ariz was running the full length of the upstairs area in what would be best described as “mengilai and mengelekek”. Sungguh menggangu konsentrasi aku and what was more annoying was that Aliya and Asha who were sitting nearby did not stop bubur-lambuk high Ariz. He was in a crazy mood and I snapped.

I stepped back, glared at Aliya and Ayisha angrily, tarik telinga Ariz and pulled him to the door and asked him in a murderous tone to stay there. I gathered our stuff and went to the door to find him NOT THERE. Geramnya. He was downstairs, tears streaming down his face, trying to find his shoes. The girls wanted to eat moreh but I said, get inside the car right now.

I gave an earful about being noisy and running at the masjid and also, the sisters, should be more responsible to stop their little brother or sister from being a nuisance like that. Excuses like, “Ariz tak nak” is simply unacceptable.

Coming home to MrGart who just got back from his bukapuasa at the office, I immediately instructed them to sit at the sofa, where I gave a lecture of how irresponsible for all of them to do what each of them did that night and how dissapointed I was last night at them.

I fetched the rotan and all of them received a lash on the palm.

Safe to say that, we will be avoiding the upstairs of the masjid till Ariz is at least 13 years old. So, we’ll be at the wakaf or at the terrace, if you’re looking for a mom and 4 of her kids.

I started blogging in 2003, shortly after the birth of Adani. So, there’s not much being written here about the days when Aliya and Ayisha were babies.

Anyhow, when Aliya came, we were staying with my parents but I sent her to a nursery near my office when she was about 4 months old. I could not get my mom to watch her since she was already taking care of my brother’s baby. *sulk*

When there were just the four of us. Baju pun matching lagi.

Aliya around 2 months old. Hmm, abaikan itu aurat dibelakang.

With Daddy dearest.

So, the days began by dropping her off at the Kompeni’s taska and often Lollies and I would chitchat and share horror stories. I knew Lollies from the UK but we didn’t work together then yet. But both Haziq and Aliya, being of the same age, were in the same care until they were about 4 years old.

The thing about the Kompeni’s taska is that the caregivers were so different from one another. KakTun was so caring and gentle. Nellie on the other hand scared me shitless. KakShidah was very gossipy but nevertheless very nice.

The principal KakDalilah still scares me, even when she’s been relocated and works as a receptionist in my building. KakTun is now the tea lady at our eS-Vee-Pee’s office and I get special treatment when I go to meetings there. Nellie, altough she knew I was scared of her, gave me special treatment at the Dispensary. Yay!

Like I said all the time, always be nice to everyone because you don’t know where you’ll end up and who you’ll be asking for help in the future, so make friends, people!

Well, Aliya as a baby had very bad separation anxiety and I had sorrowful mornings having to tear her away from my arms into KakShidah’s or KakTun’s or Nellie’s arms. All through the 4 years, I think I shed a lot of tears, doing this. Walking away from her, hearing her cry, just pained me to no end. I later learned that as soon as I turned away, the cries always stopped. But aku kan ada selective hearing.

So, it never got any easier. So, I’m very blessed now that the kids have Andes when Mummy’s making the dosh for our living.

Aliya cried buckets and wailed and screamed. But respite came to us in the form of a small, gentle Indian lady called Kamachi. She spoke oh-so-softly and has always been super-gentle to the kids. Aliya soon got attached to her and I was told stories of how Kamachi had to put a small towel on her head for Kamachi to even go to the toilet and the mornings when Kamachi’s on leave, I would cry too when Aliya cried in the not-Kamachi’s arms. Mornings became easier.

Fast forward 7 years.

Last Saturday was the Kompeni’s Family Day. Not personal at all as it was Kompeni wide which means that half of KL was there. I always make it a point to go, always looking forward to meet friends in the Kompeni I don’t see everyday. Yes, I am that positive or sicko, some would add.

We walked and I saw Kamachi and my heart leaped cos Aliya was with us. When I greeted her and pointed to her that this was Aliya, she melted. She held Aliya’s cheeks and kissed her, just like when Aliya was 6 months old. It was certainly touching.

Love has no boundaries, surely. It touches everyone and anyone and it never lets you forget.

Walaubagaimanapun, my ever so grateful daughter Aliya, looked completely tak-kenal and stood there, squirming. Well, I didn’t expect her to be melting and crying buckets, but ah well. Memang dia tak ingat pun rasanya.

So, there you go. That was the Kamachi in our lives not too long ago and I’m so grateful to her for all she’s done to Aliya, her love for her and her gentleness that got me to work sanely.

Thank you KAMACHI and Aliya, babe, can you at least show some emotion? Ish!

Tu la orang dah kata.

I never really agree to the notion of boys are a lot of boisterous than girls are, while I was doing my rounds with the 3 girls. That’s until I held Ariz in my arms.

And that was fine.

Until he turned uhmmm let’s see. I guess 4 last February 14th.

Ariz now is most destructive and prone to self-inflicted injuries after naps and especially between 8 to 10pm. Remember the 3 bloody incidents. Arghhh!!

And he’s a lot more talkative too. He talks back too. Sikit-sikit “Tak nak kawan dengan Mummy”. “Mummy tak cantik pun”. “Nanti Iz letak Mummy kat luar”. Grrr !!

But he’s really funny too.

These days, I make it a point to call him by his full name. Normally with a murderous tone when he’s ruffled Ayisha’s hair, or punched Adani at the back or ran around with Aliya’s book in hand.

So, in bed, after we’re done reciting the doa tidor, ayat kursi, the 3 Quls, we’d normally chat and when I asked his name, he proudly said. “Ahmad (Ar)Iz Zuhayr“. *Ah well, he’s still a little pelat and he still calls himself Iz, instead of Ariz. “R” is not that easy to pronounce, hokeh!

And I asked him my name, and he said “Azrina” and when it comes to Daddy. He said “Ahmad Daddy Zuhayr”. What??

Eh, bukan la.

Betul! Ahmad Daddy Zuhayr! *repeat 3 times with escalating tone*

Apa-apa la labu!

This is turning into a photo-blog since panjangla pulak if nak tulis sebijik-sebijik.

Ariz trying his luck climbing up a coconut tree. *nasib baik tak nampak tangan MrGart propping him up*

We went in a group of 41 of MrGart’s office and there were a couple of young trainees who who doing a lot of photo shoots and they were jumping and pose. So, this were the girls’ attempt to emulate. Kakaka!

MrGart and his lovely model, Adani. A natural photogenic and a camera lover. She really loves to pose. *risau gak ni*

The morning. One of my favourite pictures. Looks peaceful and they’re at ease. The sea looked calm, the kids looked err busyuk but they all look at ease.

Before breakfast and just after Ariz woke up, obviously pining for Mummy and not in the mood to pose.

Adani. The model. She now hates her layered hair. Sigh!

One of the snorkelling sessions. This was at the resort’s jetty waiting for the boat. The kids were all wet from mandi laut at 1pm when everyone else was berehat. Tu yang berkilat semacam aje tu. Ariz especially discovered that the life jacket was a great floatation device. Duh!
At the Marine Park. All of these underwater pics were taken by Aliya. Ayisha and ALiya had a blast, snorkelling non-stop. This trip was truly theirs to own. Mummy, kena ikat dengan Ariz dok tepi je .. habis seluar aku masuk pasir.

Aliya, underwater. Enjoying it tremendously.

Ayisha, a natural swimmer.

And that my friends, were snapshots of our wonderful island holiday. We stayed at Wisana Resort, a locally run resort. And the beach was exclusive to us. Was told that the Berjaya beach was shared among 10 resorts. Tapi the sights of flesh, tattoos and beer cans, just didn’t agre with me. Mrgart went for mencandat sotong and came back, exhausted from puking. Yikes ! But the huge sotongs they caught tasted super sedap, goreng tepung. Fooh and then lebih tu, buat sambal sotong for nasik lemak. Foohh!

We had fun.

Being the only boy and a rather mischievous one at it has a little snag in that the sisters will soon tire of his rough games and they’ll retreat from him.

So, these are his current best friends. A bunch of stegos, t-rex and triceratops. A bucketful of soldiers. Semalam aku terpijak sorang, rasa macam nak bercabut tapak kaki. Grrr!! Eh, macam cerita Toy Story la pulak.

Opps, jangan lupa, Ben10 and HeatBlast and FourArm always keep him company. Especially those nights when Mummy was catching up with missed episode of grey’s at midnight.

He, by the way, talks to these friends and that never fail to amuse me. At least he doesn’t do like this blogger’s 5yo son. Aisey, Dilla something. Now dah lupa.

Apparently, she found his found alone, spender-less on the king-size bed with a HeatBlast in hand. Suspicious, she asked and he replied. It’s like a trampoline. Referring to his test1cles. I leave it to your imagination, tuan-tuan dan puan-puan.

I, if you must know, was laughing so hard, ppl must have thought I’d gone bonkers. I guess boys are a curious lot. I’ve caught Ariz “experimenting” with his and quickly made a mental note to mrGart to have a little talk. MrGart has never obliged. Ceh!

I’m back! We’re back from Pulau Redang. Arrived from KT at midnight and Aliya &Ayisha were up till 1am, finishing up homework and Adani was crying this morning for some unfinished coloring homework. I then had to call up Teacher Badri to warn Teacher Jeya to be “kind” to her today.

Have tonnes of pictures, some remnants of my horribly disfiguring heat rash and 4 very happy and tanned kids.

Tapinya.

Am swamped with work, right now. So will need to excite you guys later la.

Ciao.

*macam cicak kudung*

These were taken last weekend. Tapi tak cukup sorang i.e. the Lil’Garty1, sebab she’s gotten quite concious now about her pictures being taken, sbb takut x cun. *nyampah*

Ayisha on 2nd day, before she went it. She’s so skinny these days, aduhhh! Aliya ran away, refusing for her picture to be taken. Hmmpph!

Inspired by Roti’s experience in her ESQ’s training, I vowed to go myself. But since moolah’s a little short, I figured I’d send in the girls first. Insyallah, kalau ada rezeki, I will go.

So, early Saturday morning, MrGart sent Aliya & Ayisha who were actually excited to go. Either the uneventful school holidays were boring them to death or they’re just genuinely excited. Heh! I didn’t sit through the parents’ session that morning as I was teaching a Baby Shower Cookies Class at CakeConnection. I should blog about it cos it was one of my lively classes with 9 students. It was certainly fun and the cookies decorated by the students were just stupendously gorgeous.

We picked the girls up at 7pm and MrGart brought us to Al-Rawsha, Jalan Damai, Ampang for dinner for a bit of kebab and chicken madan (eh tak sure pulak la). Food was good but I was so in love with these never-seen-before bottles carbonated drinks. We ordered strawberry and pineapple and they came in unopened twist caps bottles. I twisted it and hurt my palm. Aliya then figured out that you need to press and twist. Duh! But it was good. Food’s great, I love bread and kebabs. The kids didn’t each much, they just wanted to play at that spin-a-round swing.

Anyhow.

On Sunday, I snuck into the hall during the parents’ session and I had such an awesome experience in what short time I was there. It was lively, energetic but most importantly I felt the grace of Allah and it was certainly deep. And it was just an hour. I’m not a cry-er but the minute I went in, I felt a little sebak.

We shopped a little at Sogo, since we were at Maju Junction (my first time ever there) and Ariz conned me and made me pay RM103.80 for an Omnitrix. Grrrr!!! We then, broke and hungry left for my parent’s at Gombak.

Lepak, makan nangka yang gemuk-gemuk and super-succulent, courtesy of pokok nangka yang sungguh renik yang berbuah dengan sungguh ganasnya. Foohh … meleleh air luur.

I digress.

Well, we came home very late, lepas hantar nangka gemuk-gemuk kat GartRed. Lepas tu tidooo.. Penat.

Not my state of mind, dear .. it’s the weather!

Or rather that was Fina’s excuse for not attending the official gathering 2 hours ago. The excuse I bought and made my own. Hehehe!

Right now, thunder clapped in Bangsar and Adani in her 4th phonecall to me today reported that Bubbles, the cat has just came in the house, all wet from the rain. Hmmpptt! Guess B.Jelutong rained earlier, eh? Somehow, although I feel that Bangsar and Shah Alam are not all that far apart, when it rains, it never seems to rain at the same time.

I’ve sat in car drenched from the rain and 20 minutes later, arrived at BJ all sunny and bright.

I’ve driven home, eyes squinting from the glare of the evening sun to a pouring, thunder-clapping and lightning touching the earth at BJ.

Anyhow.

We’re back home now and I’m at work. We spent 4 days up north and it was hmm rather uneventful. I made 6 batches of sugar cookies for a total of 200 cookies due this weekend. And my finger is burned for holding too many hot cookie trays. *ouch*

So, while the cookies were taking shape in the freezer, we took the kids out to movie. Failing to get tickets to the NightKatMuziumBukanNegara, we managed to get 4 tickets for us, gals to watch Hannah Montana and 2 tickets for the boys for Terminator.

Hahah. MrGart gulped fearing that Ariz would look for me but I assured him that it’s robots, mean robots in high tech bikes and guns and lasers, Ariz’d be okay. I also purposely did not tell him which cine we were in, fearing him come and hand Ariz over. Haha

So, us, girls, 3 popcorn buckets and fizzy drinks sat down peacefully in a hall full of teenage and tween girls. Hardly a guy around. Aliya was excited and Ayisha was trembling with excitement too. Adani was so eager to just get away from Ariz, Adani’s perennial tormentor.

The movie began to a chorus of ooohhhs and ahhhhsss from crazy, fanatical girls. Everytime scenes like this came on,

I’ve had to roll my eyes to a bunch of comments of the girls next to ours about the guy’s so cute, Hannah’s really pretty and all the other girlish-ly comments on tweens can make. *uwekss*

All 3 sisters enjoyed the movie tremendously. I was only looking forward to the “climb” song. That was pretty good. All in all, storyline ain’t unique at all, but it did sell well cos it’s Hannah Montana!

BTW, Aliya & Ayisha have officially kicked Daddy from using their bathroom. It’s off limits to Daddy now. It’s theirs!

Yesterday was the beginning of a 2 weeks school holidays for the kids. And I can vouch that the bickering and the restlessness set in very early, even on Saturday. Hehe

Mimi & Farah, Aliya’s bestfriends slept over the night before and Adani & Ariz fought for Aliya’s attention. Ayisha wanted to be included as well. In the end, I concluded that our house may not be the perfect place for sleepovers for tween girls. Too much distraction.

Did I tell you that Ayisha failed her Math paper this PKSR1 ? You see, this took me a lot of courage to write because I felt seriously like a failure myself when I saw her paper. The only consolation is that she can do the addition or subtraction or multiplication or division BUT she completely does not understand and unable to resolve the problem. So even if the calculation is right, it’s all wrong since that’s not what the question was asking. Sigh! *termenung kejap*

Anyways.

We are driving up north on tomorrow night as MrGart has a work engagement on Thursday and we will bunk down at my auntie’s at Alor Star for a while. We should be back on Saturday. The girls have been pressuring us to take them to Genting Highland. But in light of the current non-cash-rich situation we have been for a long time now, that’s a little too over the top for us.

We may just go to one of those theme parks, the top in THEIR list is Sun-way Lag-oon. Hmmm We’ll see.

Apart from that, nothing much is planned. The girls are slated to attend the ESQ for Kids session on the 13th June and we’re going to Pulau Redang on the 19th June. So, I hope the kids will not be too restless until the 19th JUne.

Yikes!

The weekend was 2 real hectic days for us. Ceh ceh ceh .. macam AJK pulak bunyinya.

The Bukit Jelutong Karnival was held at the padang 2 blocks away from our house throughout the weekend. We’ve had a karnival almost every year but this year took the cake as it was significantly bigger with corporate sponsors particularly TM. There were many many white tents and there was a huge air-conditioned domed tent hosted by TM where there was a stage for activities.

Saturday.

We set out early. Had Mee Udang Banjir. Delicious! And wandered about. My excursion was cut short as Ariz saw a Kuntum mascot, then a Blue Hyppo and then a clown! Sigh. Even Teacher Badri couldn’t calm him down. He just wanted to go home. I obliged.

Aliya, Ayisha and Adani were freely going around meeting friends and playing games and stuff. I looked around and there were a lot of boys and girls, of whom I’ve seen them grow and I feel somewhat contented that this was why we chose Bukit Jelutong. The camaraderie was real and the community is so alive.

Neighbours and friends were abound. This is akin to Ramadhan at the Masjid. The air os festivities and the air of familiarity. And the venue was very very suitable. Apart from dekat rumah I ler. The newly built d’Bayu has great impressive toilets, I learnt. And because it was sited at a slope of a hill, it was instantly bayu-ed i.e. banyak angin.

The padang where the football matches were held. Saturday we had the MBJ United International Football Tourney 2009 for the Under-7s to the Under 14s. BTW, MBJ stands for Masyarakat Bukit Jeluong. Apt, isnt it?

Our very own Under-11 won. yay! I’m waiting for Ariz to be mature enough to participating before calling myself a SOCCER MUM!

I saw Koreans, Brazillian Football School, Vietnam or Laos and some other international schools participating. And all manners of coaches, many of them sporting huge huge pot bellies. Hahahah.

Sunday saw the many veteran matches for residents. MrGart spent the whole day at the field, plotting his fellow neighbours how to win. Hmm, they did win 3rd place, but not without injuries.

I was in blue tudung, sitting out waiting for MrGart’s tug-of-war event, with friends and beighbours. They girls have just spent a small fortune and had to sit out with us since Mummy’s completely dried up (money-wise).

Saturday night, we milled about there again, for performances and fireworks display. The weather was cool and kids were running around on the field, under the moon. Parents chit-chatted as usual.

There were a few Shuffle competition and I stood gaping. Fooh .. these boys sure have such hairstyles these days. Ruffled hair, highlighted and some have red hair. Hmm. BUt they shuffled well, I thought. Ariz was all eyes. The girls too. *rolls eyes*

Ooooo .. Sheikh Muzaffar, the astronaut was here too, for a few hours and I got to ogle and drool over him in person but not close enough to shake his hands, for fear of ter-hugging him. He’s really gorgoeous in person, no touchup!

Sunday morning, I was out at 7:30am with Ras for the Taichi, Line Dancing, Aerobics and Poco-poco. And I had BLAST!

Taichi was subdued and I was sweating profusely. Aerobics was great but the poco-poco was the best fun. We twirled and we whirled and we stepped and we spinned. The instructor was great and the participants were very cooperative. The Line Dancing was all over the place for us, non-line-dancers so we just danced freesstyle in the middle of the stage. It was truly fun.

BTW, I emerged from the 2 days of karnival, tanned and penniless. I had 4 new tudungs (damages best left unknown for fear of MrGart’s volcanic eruptions) and I spent a small fortune on some supposedly original crocs at half the price. For me and each of the girls. A neighbour was selling off her grown children’s toys and she;s known to inly buy original ones. Grab grab grab. I even got an IKEA kiddie round green table for RM45. Hahah. A steal, really!

So, to those *points to Combi & Elisa* who are still mulling over where to stay, consider BJ. Disclaimer: I welcome any commision.

Life resumes after I got back from Sing-ka-poh Friday night. Funnily the Changi seemed a little quieter than normal. There were less ppl around. Much less than I’ve seen Changi ever. Even KLIA. The Lounge was deserted. On my flight back, in the Biz Class, there were about 4 passengers. Hmmm .. takut nak travel ke?

At KLIA, we had to pass a temperature screening booth but these nurses in masks only were interested to screen you if your eyes were blue/green or grey and your hair was not black. Otherwise, you’re free to go and spread the germs! Hmm .. Discrimination tak habis-habis.

Anyhows.

Ayisha did have an athma attack on Tuesday night last week. Dr Rasool asked me to be alert anytime she complains of shortness of breath. Apparently if you have a family history, you’re at risk at all ages. Hmm I thought once you sail through childhood with no attacks then you’re fine. Hmm. Allergies too. Did I tell you that after Ariz weaned himself off me 3 months ago, he’s had 3 allergic reactions that needed Zyrtec intervention immediately? He’s never had any allergic reaction while he was on the breast. Now I’m feeling about him weaning.

Anyhow.

We were back at the clinic straight from the airport as Aliya was teary-eyed and coughing with headaches. She has very low pain threshold, even headaches will make her cry non-stop, but not whining, just sad tears. Found out that she has throat infection and apart from that was okay. The weather these days are seeing people and kids fall sick all the time. Adani and Ariz as usual, tried to fish for attention and tried to sound sick. Ish bebudak ni!

Well.

Today is super-hectic. I have a long list of things to do today and blogging ain’t in it. But hey! A girl’s gotta unwind. HOKEH?

Ayisha asked me what’s the difference between Orang Utan & Orang Hutan?

I said that Orang Utan is an ape, from the monkey family, large and hairy and very like you when you’re grumpy. hahahahha. *mummy ni!* Orang Hutan is someone who lives in a hutan! Okay ka?

Then I was reminded of Ariz. He now has this penchant for reading encyclopeadias and factual books. He’s not into storylines like the girls. He loves to flick through my 2inch thick of History of the Ages (from the Ice Age through to the Modern World) and finds much excitement looking at pre-historic animals and dinosaurs and mammoths and animals with at least 5 syllables to their names.

Anyway, we were reading a Two-Can Animals & Planet book one night and we’re at the Apes and Monkeys section. There was a picture of Orang Utan and Spider Monkey. And he took them in with keen interest.

So, when Ayisha asked about the Orang Utan. He loudly proclaimed that “Mana ada orang utan? ORANG MONKEY MONKEY HUTAN la! Macam SPIDER MONKEY”

[edited to reflect Mummy's failing memory, as highlighted by MrGart]

Errkk .. no amount of convincing him will do. So, we’re stuck with Orang Monkey from now on. Sorry Orang Utan, just bear with us a little longer.

People can only see so far, the rest of Allah’s will.

This week has been crazy. Really crazy.

Last week’s been crazy too, but not as crazy as this week. Work has been a pain. I’ve been swamped and didn’t have time to blog properly, which was unusual for me. The kids have been rather well-behaved considering exams were over. But we were slightly more edgy and get upset easier.

This week, we have it all sorted out. I have a sudden trip to Singapore (am writing this in MAS Lounge) and MrGart has a golf time with his buddy today. Work has been crazy since Monday and I put in more hours than I normally do.

Then just when we thought things were falling into place, Ayisha complained of chest pains and difficulty in breathing. She didn’t look so good so I let her off school. I was on leave yesterday and I gave her ventolin as she was coughing a bit. She slept all day long and I completed my 120 milk bottle cookies for Farida.

By nightime, she wasn’t getting any better and MrGart took her to the clinic as I was packing brownies for Ariz and Adani’s Teacher’s Day do today. mrgart called later to say that the nebulizer didn’t work and she was referred to DEMC.

Off we all went, cookies left at home, untied.

The Emergency doctor ordered a chest x-ray cos her chest sounded tight. He needed to rule out pneumonia. Alhamdullillah the chest x-ray showed mild pneumonia and she needed to be on the nebs every 4 hours. The rooms were full, so we needed to come every 4 hours.

We came at 6am, groggily.

But this morning, Asha seemed okay and I decided to continue with trip (as if I can cancel it la kan?).

BTW she just called to report that Ariz has been bulllying the little Rexx and she sounded really “herself”. HMmm..

Anyhow. Need to get to my Gate now. I love the Lounge when it’s less ppl around. I literally curled myself on the sofa. Bliss!!

Ciao people. Lion City, here I come. Hmm sapa nak ajak I dinner malam ni ha?? screw dah balik mesia.

Exams is over, folks!

Err only if you’re between the ages of 7 and 12 and schooling at Buikt Jelutong. And DAY, your ACCA is still not over yet. *hugs*

Anyhow.

Am so glad that it’s over. I don’t have to keep reminding (or rather shrieking to) the girls why are they watching TV and not holding a book. Or chase Adani & Ariz out of the sisters’ room. Sigh!

Insyallah they will do well. *sedapkan hati*

Meanwhile. We’re almost *pinches fingers* this close to getting the keys for our new abode err next door. And I’m thinking hard about the rooms’ arrangement.

Aliya is big enough for her to need privacy. From us and especially from the prying and nosey sisters and brother. I think she is brave enough to sleep on her own these days, provided that her room is decorated just straight off IKEA’s pages.

Ayisha may need to bunk in with Adani instead now that Aliya needs time to herself. Next year kan nak UPSR. I know both Adani and Ayisha play very well together, especially on their specialised topic of “alienating ARIZ”.

Adani has been pining for us to move her toddler bed to the girls’ room. BTW, she was there for a few months but walked in the middle of the night, every single night to our bed that we moved her back. Now she wants out. Pening! And her toddler bed. Hmm .. kena tukar tu.

Ariz. Talks about his room, his bed, his pillow and his everything but sleeps bawah ketiak Mummy. So not yet la. Maybe a play room just for him, for his cars and dinos and his many herds of animals and trucks and stuffs.

We’re also talking about converting the other kitchen into my Cookie Studio. Fooh .. bunyi mengancam siutt!!!

Last week we dropped by uninvited to Ninuk’s newly renovated place and ooohhh-ed and ahhh-ed. I love her renovation ideas. *must copy*

Hmmm itu la sahaja angan-angan di siang hari ini. Jom zuhur!

This is one of the recent picture of Aliya. Lucky she’s sitting down and not standing next to me. That would certainly put a new meaning to “short” and “stout” to me.

Anyhow.

Aliya is really tall now. I think she’s only about few inches shorter than me and when we walk arm in arm, she’s at par already. She’s also wearing my pants (the sporty, stylo jogging pants which I no longer wear due to uhmmm excess inner capacity) and been seeb trying on my shoes and all.

She also gets a lot of phonecalls these days. Most of them are from Mimi or Farah or Azmina. Her classmates. These days, when the phone rings, we no longer get excited cos we know it’s always for her. And she carries her hand-me-down handphone everywhere now.

Which I check every now and then. The ones she calls and the ones calling her. The messages and all. So far, it’s still very girlish and all.

Aliya is really showing off her true character these days. She’s the cool chick. She’s not the talkative type, but rather the stand at the side, head tilted and scrunches her face, summing up the situation. And peole will always ask her what she thinks. Ala-ala wise la kot. *musti gene aku la tu*

And dressing wise. Hmmmm .. she doesn’t like skirts. She doesn’t like flowery stuff. She doesn’t go for pinks anymore. She loves jeans and because she’s slender and slim, she looks great in them. I think she looked like me when I was her age. Slender and her posture is straight which I so love. She loves long-sleeved t-shirts the most, especially ones with damask designs or swirls, but never flowers. She loves the type of shirts which is short-sleeved but has an inner sleeve. see picture. get it?

She loves layered look these days. Her hair is very wiry and straight length hair makes her look hefty, so this haircut is pretty new. Layered and it makes her face looks even longer.

But one thing my anak dara still does is twirl her hair. Now that her hair is short, we no longer find her in the mornings, finger stuck in the twirled hair. A habit she started when she was a baby and has never seem to be able to shake it off. Hehe!

Tomorrow is Labour Day. I feel labour-ed enough today though. So, we’re looking at a particularly long weekend. yay!

Nothing much planned.

I have cookies to make and tudungs to sew and books to arrange.

I have excess fat on my girth needing a jog and a twist.

I have girls and a boy who are restless and needing a distraction. A cheap distraction’s the best. Ooh. You remember the Nik NurMadihah, the girl who scored 20A in the last SPM. I received a txt from Shah Alam Library inviting us to the LIbrary for her talk on Sunday at 8:30am. There! Cheap and informative.

I think we need a pool trip this weekend. Maybe early tomorrow morning, once we all wake up and before the hot sun shines.

I think I need an Orange Glow Chiffon Cake or maybe a Chocolate Souffle Roll with whipped cream filling this weekend. Oh oh oh, I know. A Cordon Rose Cheesecake with strawberry toppings. Or a Pavlova with strawberry topping. Or better, a tiramisu. Hmm .. decisions. decisions. decisions.

I think to think how best to get Ariz to get his haircut. Or not. He looks rather cute with his long hair. If only it’s not as itchy.

I think this weekend will be fun, family-fun. Insyallah.

Hope yours will be too.

Since famy kinda tagged me on this and I’m still planning my report, I guess, there’s no harm in doing this. Right ?

Thr33 Things Tag

The Three Names I go by
-Nonche
-Ina
-Gart

Three Jobs I have had in my life
-Counter girl at McD
-Executive here at KompeniLetrik
-Trainee at Skegness Pleasure Beach

Three Places I have lived
-Kuala Lumpur
-Peterborough
-Manchester

Three TV Shows that I watch
I do watch more than 3 shows actually, but if I had to pick then they would be:
- Desperate Housewives
- Brothers & Sisters
- Grey’s Anatomy

Three places I have been
- dalam negara: Pulau Langkawi, Sabah, Sarawak, all over lah but wanna go to Redang.
- luar negara: US of A, 10 countries in Europe in 28 days, Thailand, Singapore.

People that e-mail me regularly
-boss
-Big Boss
-the girls

Three of my favorite foods
-coffee
-i don’t love food that much.

Three things I would like to do
- read more books
- master the dslr and take lots of pictures
- learn to paint or sketch

Three friends I think will respond.
- Nagai
- Moshie
- Butterflutter

Things I am looking forward to
- the day I can leave the KompeniLetrik
- the day we’re membesarkan empayar ke rumah sebelah
- the day the house keeps itself clean for more than 10 minutes.

There!

I couldn’t help myself but worry incessantly everytime I pick up the papers these days. Yesterday, I got even more worrisome.

The swine flu outbreak is super-scary, with the rate it’s propagating and of course the lack of cure. Yikes!

Anyhow.

At the home-front, the kindy Ariz and Adani go to is closed for a week, starting yesterday. Very immediate. They were containing the spread of the hand, foot and mouth disease in the school. I seriously appreciate the long letter they sent out to parents explaining their rationale for closing the school down even when there are a few cases todate instead of waiting for 7-8 to make that decision.

So, Adani and Ariz are at home, probably at each other’s throats over which channel to choose and who gets to hold Bubbles the cat. Me, I can rest easy in the mornings cos it’s just me, myself and I need to get ready for work. Normal days, I need to get both of the showered, dressed, hair-tied and bundled downstairs. So, I’m early today.

Last week, while I was waiting for Ayisha at the school, the teachers announced at the assembly that all pupils who are sick and feverish to stay at home. HFM is rife too at the school. The teachers blared on the PA system that cleanliness should be the utmost concern. No sharing tupperware of water bottles. Wash your hands.

Aliya came home saying her class of 38 was reduced to 26 cos people are dropping off, feverishly. Yikes! I pray that Allah protects my family from this test. Last night, all of the were sneezing and oozing clear snoots. A round of Actifed. Must get more supplies today.

Anyways. My throat seems a little scratchy today and my voice keeps hoarse-ing every now and then. Hmm. I need coffee.

Btw, a bizarre thing happened yesterday at the Bukit Jelutong Toll Plaza. A car stopped and a woman stepped out hurriedly. Hmm. She then started to bend down and look under cars, not hers, but others. I was like “EH?, biar benar makcik ni.”

Then I saw them. 2 or 3 kittens were running and jumping about. *terbeliak mataku*

They must be hers. All cars stopped. Even the PLUS girls helped to look for these kittens. But I didn’t see any caught. After a few minutes, the line started again. I couldn’t see where the woman was by now.

When I passed the tollbooth, after the bar was lifted, my eyes buldged when I saw a scared brownish long-haired kitten cowering in the middle of the other Smartag lane and cars whizzed past her. I thought I saw the woman by now.

I hope the kitten is okay.

The weekend before last, MrGart’s office had a BBQ for his office staff. There were games and foods and more games.

The location was superb, near a lake and the amenities were great.

However, while the adults were watching a “tarik tali” event near the lake, these were what my kids were doing.

The plates of flour were from the “find sweets in a plate of flour” game for 6 to 8yo which Adani refused flat. She said that no way she was gonna stick her nose into a plate of flour, for sweets?

Well, she did that well afterwards, huh!