a blessed moment...

we went to visit dhada osman's family at bukit jelutong last weekend. nadia nasira loves going there and enjoys the attention her aunty mimi and her family gives her...so does my son who loves to run around the house.

there was a radio in the dining hall and the kids were pressing all the buttons. i told mimi to turn on the cd player as i already know what cd was in. it was sura yaasin recital. immediately, both my children asked for the yaasin kitab. then, nadia nasira told us to off the cd player as she wanted to read the yaasin.

i said to her... sayang, read surah fathiha for dhada osman. she read....

it was trully a blessed moment for me as her mother. she had memorised almost the entire surah. we had been reading to her and also helped her memorise the surah for sometime. nanni does that sometimes after she prays her daily prayers while we used to do it during bedtime just before telling her bedtime stories.

though i am proud of her ability to memorise the sura, i really hope that as she grows older she would internalise the meaning of the ummul kitab.....

nadia nasira's first day at school

nadia nasira has started pre-school at genius aulad!!!

we had planned to send our girl to a pre-school since i felt she is quite matured for a three year old. we thought it would be a good idea to send her where playing cum learning is the essence of pre-school. we looked up for a few around the neighbourhood.

my main criteria for the pre-school was that it has to be islamic based and taught in english. i feel that exposing my children to an islamic background at a tender age is very important for them to have a sense of belonging to the religion. islam being taught in english is even more important.
when i was a little girl, i went to Quran reading classes at the madrasah which didn't include aqidah or fiqh or sirah lessons. i would rather my children learn the islam, the way of life concept from this age then them learning it as a subject in school. i couldn't relate to islam in school since it was taught in malay as i come from more of an english and tamil spoken background. i studied it only as a subject. it was until my university days when i did my minor degree in islamic revealed knowledge in english did i fall in love with the religion.

all of us have been talking about going to school to nadia nasira to mentally prepare her. she seemed excited about everything related to going to school i.e. the school uniform, school bus, friends, snacking with friends and etc. her brother was as excited as well and wanted to wear her uniform so much that we had to let him try it. the one thing nadia nasira didn't realise was that she will be in school alone until she goes home to nanni's. i guess going to playschool where mummy was always around didn't do any good.

we enrolled her for a month's trial. the day finally came. we sent her to school on the first day as we were as excited as she was. i wasn't prepared for the drama afterwards as she had always been so excited about going to school. she was put in class 4 yathrib together with 4 year olds. her teacher's name is teacher hana. she clinged on to me, very confused and slowly joined the other children for the morning assembly where they read almost all the doa that i have taught her. one thing that was familiar to her. then they read their pledge that sounds something like this.... i am a caliph of Allah, i will help myself to be good, i will help others to do good and i will help to make the world a better place for everyone. they also sang some songs that nadia nasira had already know from her playschool.

when it was time to go into the class, she was already comfortable. i whispered to her that i was going to buy kuih and left. i had my breakfast peacefully but my heart was very heavy that i had left her. i called my mum and couldn't help but to cry. my mum would as usual advise me to be strong and related to me what her mum advised her when my mother was worried about my brother who used to walk to school. Allah who had taken care of your child in your womb will take care of your child anywhere, so pray to HIM for her safety.

after about an hour, the principal called me because nadia nasira was crying frantically...nak mummy.... i hurried to the school and there she was crying and crying. she had a temperature as well. i asked her why was she crying and she said, mummy takde!!! i took her off the school and since her grandmother had dengue and nadia nasira also had a high fever at the same time, i told the principal that we would send her next month.

i am hoping that she would slowly but surely settle down with the idea of going to school. this time, i am going to put her on the school's transport and wave bye bye!!! we will see what happens next....

they were good friends that morning.... all excited....

she couldn't smile anymore....
she stood at the entrance and simply looked around....

then, she hid in the playhouse looking at the children during the morning asembly... a little later she joined them....

she was a happy girl until mummy left her....

curious kids

what shall i say? they found the eye-masks in one of the old party packs. they were looking into the tv screen to catch a glimpse of how they look in it.

jeruk mangga

mouth watering....

i have never eating any jeruk (malay pickles) in my last two pregnancy. that is a lie. oh well, just a bit of jeruk betik muda in the first two months and it was forgotten. i couldn't resist this time. i wanted mango pickles. i looked for one that is made in the exact form that i liked and found it at the Giant. i left the kids in the car with the maid (who falls asleep immediately after i leave although i told her not to. thank God, i always ask her to lock the car.) and ran in to get it. 500 gm is about RM10.00 which barely lasts for a week. i have already spent RM20.00 on it and quite worried about the vinegar they used in preserving the pickles.

so, i looked up the net for the recipe and made it myself. it was the simplest thing to do and since i have a maid to help me cut the mangoes (i am very lazy, you know), i plan to make some more.

mango
lots of sugar
salt

i plan to add some apple cider vinegar the next time i make it just to give it a tinge of vinegar taste.

anyone has any other suggestions?

jusco's kids playland

it had been so long since we took the kids out on their favourite weekend outing. the jusco's kids playland. nadia nasira's most favourite outing apart from the visit to ipoh and aunty mimi's house. i took her there since she turned one and i can see her progress in appreciating the different activities since then....

talk about my son!!! this place was one of his first outing when he was born. he was barely 2 months when i brought him there. he loves the place as much as his sister. we can see it from the look on his face and the clip below.

dengue fever...

my mum in law fell ill while she was in penang. she was taken to clinics a few time and she looked really bad even at her nephew's wedding.

my husband took her to their family doctor in KL and instantly, a blood test was done. the test results show that the blood platelet is very low and therefore, could be a suspected dengue case. she got admitted and several blood tests were done. the platelet were going lower and lower but the results still shows dengue negative. we were worried... what else could it be? she was transferred to the HDU and the doctors were playing wait and see game when we thought they should have administered some antibiotics. the doctors knew better, i suppose.

finally, it was dengue positive. everyone's reaction was in irony, alhamdullilah, thank God. she got better and the platelet rose higher. she got discharged and i insisted that she stayed at my place. i cooked for her whatever she wanted and it was fun. her sister, ju came down from penang for a few days and it was merrier.

i wish she had stayed at my place much longer. at least, until she was much stronger or the wave of dengue fever subsided. apparently, almost the entire row of houses where she lived had at least one dengue victim. i could have cooked for her and all she had to do was to supervise the maid and children while i work.

i thank God that my mother in law came out of it well and good, i thank God that my husband was around when she was sick and i thank God it wasn't my children. nevertheless, i still worry since everyone is still exposed to dengue....

weddings in penang....

we had a few weddings/engagements in penang last year and we look forward to a few more this year. my husband was the second to marry among his many many cousins. so, i bet i will look forward to a few weddings evey year. i like that because i get to make stops at my owm hometown each time.... that's bonus!!!

this time, it is the wedding of my mother in law's youngest brother's second son.

we stayed at aunty ju's newly built house. it is a beautiful house that signifies aunty ju and her husband's achievement and their retirement hub. since the house is being done up, i didn't take any pics of it. will surely do when we go again in may... there is a wedding coming up as well.

here are some pics of nasir's cousin's wedding in penang....

junaidah's valekaape

my younger brother and his wife are expecting their first baby anytime soon. we are so happy for them. i must say that this baby is the most looked forward baby in both the families since the couple has been trying to have a baby for sometime....

all praise to Allah and i am proud of the couple who must have endured pain and frustration in the process. i am also proud of both the parents and siblings who never stopped praying for the blessings.

here are some pics of the my sister in law's valekaape ceremony. it is like a baby shower but in my culture, it is more of a doa selamat. there is a recital of doa, feeding of sweet rice and putting on bangles to the mother...

daddy, the cook...

no matter what i cook for the kids, nadia nasira loves when daddy cooks.... and what does he cook? french fries, nuggets and sausages!!! their mother who is a health freak when it comes to her children can only shake her head.


the pics below are self-explanatory as to why they love it when their dad is at the stove. they get to sit on the kitchen counter stools at my wet kitchen table (which is their forbidden area) and eat while watching daddy cook.

saisaki japanese buffet

i read on khine's blog about the buffet lunch at a japanese restaurant.... me being pregnant and the fact that i am passionate about japanese food, i couldn't resist the craving. so, i suggested to my girlfriends that we have our next lunch-date there. i crave for japanese food even on the days i wasn't pregnant. well, it was a good pick for such a variety at a reasonable pricing.

the delicious food, cosy ambience and great company make me look forward to our next date. we chatted and chatted until the buffet time was over. we left with our usual hugs, laughing about sherry's mum's getting a pick up line....

we also took photographs as usual and when we took the second shot outside the restaurant, sherry asked, why are we taking photographs in KL?

dhada osman

my children never knew their dhada quadir (my father in law). they (more like my first born) only know dhada latif (with whom both are closest with), dhada osman and dhada hanif. on the 19th march, dhada osman passed away on his way to the mosque to perform the friday prayers. may Allah grant him the rewards of a shahid, amin.

nadia nasira doesn't understand the concept of passing away. so, i explained to her that dhada osman has gone to Allah and we are going to say bye bye to him. nadia nasira kissed his forehead and read surah fathihah for her dhaha osman. it amazed me when i saw her read surah fathihah with such seriousness. it is as if she understood the significance of it.

when she saw her auntie mimi couldn't contain her tears, she asked me why is auntie mimi crying....i explained to her that auntie mimi is sad that her daddy has gone to Allah. this little girl went over to auntie mimi and said that, auntie mimi, don't cry. mummy will bring him back later. she came back to me and told me to bring him back. auntie mimi was so touched by what she heard that she stopped crying and smiled.

i told my little angel...it is ok baby... Allah will take care of dhada osman.

the story of the prophet (saw)

one day, when my husband was away, i was putting nadia nasira to sleep and i heard a tiny voice with her thumb in her mouth, mummy, i want king arthur's story. her mat salleh daddy tells her the story of king arthur and his daughter, princess zara. the part that makes me upset about the story is the fact that the queen had passed away!!!! does she understand the concept of passing away? well, the story is totally about the king and his princess' life.

oh well...since i am upset about the story, i told nadia nasira that mummy will tell her another story and she can wait for daddy to tell her king arthur's story. so, i said i will tell you the story of the prophet. she said, don't want. i said, i will tell you a story about the messenger of Allah. she was agreeable to it. i used to let them listen to the story in my car read by Yusof Islam. so, she is familiar with the term messenger of Allah.

the story goes like this.... (told with the choices of words that are familiar to her)!!!

once a upon a time, there was a boy. his name is muhammad. muhammad was born in mecca. his father's name is abdulla. his mother's name is amina. his grandfather's name is abdul mutalib (she laughs when i say abdul mutalib...sounds funny to her). his uncle's name is abu talib.

muhammad's father is businessman. he goes to many places on business trips. one day, he got sick and went to Allah (passed away) while muhammad was in his mother's stomach (womb). muhammad stayed with his mother. muhammad is a very good boy. he loves his mother and listens to his mother. when muhammad was 6 years old, his mother fell ill and went to Allah. muhammad stayed with his grandfather, abdul mutalib. his grandfather went to Allah when muhammad was 8 years old. after that, his uncle abu talib took care of him.

everyone likes muhammad. he is very polite. when he was older, he helped his uncle to take care of the animals in the farm (nadia nasira would say...no...animals at the zoo). he became a shepherd (nadia nasira would say...no...a zoo keeper). the story would end here and the discussion whether muhammad took care of the animals at the zoo or farm and whether muhammad is a zoo keeper or shepherd would continue until we become quiet and she falls asleep....