My cliched weekend

Khadijah fed me with this song when it first came out and have been listening to it ever since.....And I really liked it the first instance!

Weekend was, as usual, hectic....Spent most of the time with, you guessed it right - kids. Saturday was a Swan Lake marathon with Hajar whilst Sunday was Incredibles' turn. Almost memorized the script to both.

Yusof and Khadijah went to watch The Sorcerer's Apprentice with their cousin, Afiq, at Wangsa Walk, and they had fun. Yusof's main reason for this outing is basically to bond with his cousin; which I think was very thoughtful of him. This time they went without us save that we dropped them and picked them up.You could see the animated looks plastered all over their faces when I picked them up. I guess it's time to slowly let go of my kids now that they are now almost 13 and 16 respectively...but of course within set limits. I remember, when I was 12, I used to paint Batu Pahat Town red all the time...supermarkets, bookshops, magazine stalls, friends' houses, library (whatever happend to neighbourhood libraries?). I have been psyching-up myself to face this very day. Well, it's all about trust and whether you have taught them and equipped them well, innit? I did quite well I must say, not a single phone call was made from myphone to check on them.

On my personal end, my grandiose plan for Sunday was shot to bits...Well, Man proposes God disposes. Insya Allah it wil be done slowly....

Normalcy reigns...

(picture : courtesy of Khadijah)

I can heave a sigh of relief now that normalcy has crept back in to our lives . It's my first posting of the year..I haven't blogged about our not-so-new addition..Neither have I corrected the misrepresentation of this blog...These two were actually the main obstacles which have stopped me from continuing to diarize my account of our lives for posterity..

So, the year has been horrible...- passing on of my beloved and only sister, being conned, maidless etcetera. I however have accepted this with utmost redha. I'm moving on with life and deal each day as it confronts me. I'm deeply humbled....

On the brighter side of things....Alhmdulillah, by God's grace, He has given us good health, good life as a whole and His abundance of Baraqah, kept us within permissible line and constantly reminded us of our duites and obligations to Him...What more can one ask?

Keeping my fingers crossed thatPraying that I will have the time to update more often.....

Salam Ma'al Hijrah

Another year has come to an end....

"What have I achieved?" is indeed the routine question....I really have to sit down and make sure that my set goals are achieved next year.

Anyway....here's wishing all of you out there "Salam Ma'al Hijrah" and may this new year be a better one in all aspects.

We are closing the office early today to allow everyone to take their time to reflect and to join in the making of both the du'as communally as well as ushering the new year.

I shall leave you with the du'as.........

Maksudnya: (End of year du'a)

"Allah SWT berselawat ke atas penghulu kami Muhammad SAW, ahli keluarga dan sahabat-sahabat baginda dan kesejahteraan ke atas mereka.
Wahai Tuhan, apa yang telah aku lakukan dalam tahun ini daripada perkara-perkara yang Engkau tegah daripada aku melakukannya dan aku belum bertaubat daripadanya. Sedangkan Engkau tidak redha dan tidak melupakannya. Dan aku telah melakukannya di dalam keadaan di mana Engkau berupaya untuk menghukumku, tetapi Engkau mengilhamkanku dengan taubat selepas keberanianku melakukan dosa-dosa itu semuanya. Sesungguhnya aku memohon keampunanMu, maka ampunilah aku. Dan tidaklah aku melakukan yang demikian daripada apa yang Engkau redhainya dan Engkau menjanjikanku dengan pahala atas yang sedemikian itu. Maka aku memohon kepadaMu.

Wahai Tuhan! Wahai yang Maha Pemurah! Wahai Yang Maha Agung dan wahai Yang Maha Mulia agar Engkau menerima taubat itu dariku dan janganlah Engkau menghampakan harapanku kepadaMu Wahai Yang Maha Pemurah. Dan Allah berselawat ke atas penghulu kami Muhammad, ke atas ahli kelugra dan sahabat-sahabatnya dan mengurniakan kesejahteraan ke atas mereka

Maksudnya: (New Year du'a)

Allah SWT berselawat ke atas penghulu kami Muhammad SAW, ahli keluarga dan sahabat-sahabat baginda dan kesejahteraan ke atas mereka.

Wahai Tuhan, Engkaulah yang kekal abadi, yang qadim. yang awal dan ke atas kelebihanMu yang besar dan kemurahanMu yang melimpah dan ini adalah tahun baru yang telah muncul di hadapan kami. Kami memohon pemeliharaan dariMu di sepanjang tahun ini dari syaitan dan pembantu-pembantunya dan tentera-tenteranya dan juga pertolongan terhadap diri yang diperintahkan melakukan kejahatan dan usaha yang mendekatkanku kepadaMu Wahai Tuhan Yang Maha Agung dan Maha Mulia.

Wahai Tuhan Yang Maha pengasih dari mereka yang mengasihi dan Allah berselawat ke atas penghulu kami Muhammad. Nabi yang ummi dan ke atas ahli keluarga dan sahabat-sahabatnya dan kesejahteraan ke atas mereka.

Over Cendol.....

Am I back with a vengeance blogging? I really don't know...I have been putting off blogging as I need to do some housekeeping for this blog of mine...Currently it is really misleading and tweaking it is so time-consuming. Let's see whether I can keep the momentum going, time-permitting.

I have 3 hours to kill while waiting for Khadijah sit for her MARA entrance exam at a quaint little place in Seremban...Haji Sharif Cendol. This could be the cendol near Sembilan Supermarket which we frequented almost every Saturday during school term sold from a mobile stall with the ice manually shaven. I'm devouring my second bowl now! The cocunut milk is not too creamy and the coconut palm sugar syrup is sweet enough and no after taste for the cendol bits. This place is running on a full house even though it is only half three in the afternoon. I'm sharing the table with a couple from Hongkong! Everybody seems to be having a version of Haji Sharif's cendol and mee rojak! My bb is acting up hence no pics can be uploaded now.

I have just been told that Haji Sharif used to operate from a mobile stall near A&W/Telekom...and not near Sembilan Supermarket.

Three paragraphs is good after a three-month-hiatus? I think so too.

SELAMAT HARI RAYA AIDIL FITRI

Sempena Hari Raya Aidil Fitri yang mulia ini, saya sekeluarga, ingin mengucapkan ucapan SELAMAT HARI RAYA & MAAF ZAHIR DAN BATIN. Kepada anda yang akan memandu balik ke kampung masing-masing, pandulah dengan cermat dan selamat semoga selamat sampai ke destinasi anda, Insya Allah.

In the mean time, stay focussed with your ibadah during, what's left of, the month of Ramadhan and we can only pray that we will meet again this beautiful month next year!

Enjoy my all-time favorite Raya advert (I much prefer Raja Ema version but alas embedding is not allowed...But click here to watch it!)

Sweet 15

Khadijah turned 15 today. We had a small celebration last night after her iftar. We ordered pizzas and wifey baked her a carrot cake...

My only advice to you dearest sweetie.....always remember Allah in whatever you do and insya Allah everything will be just fine and taken care of for you!

And...don't grow too fast, dear baby!

This and That

Khadijah's piece

Khadijah's piece too

I now fully fathom what the hype is all about - Revenge of the Fallen! It was freaking awesome (to borrow the most over-used phrase by my kids). Dad was indeed awestruck despite some reviews that it lacked substance. Well I paid to be entertained and entertained I was.

Comments from my kids :-

Khadijah - " Josh Duhamel is hot"

Yusof - .....stoic.....

Ibraheem - chatter..."Prime"...chatter..."Best"

Umar - giggle....giggle "It was funny the insect decepticon" laugh..laugh...

Mum - "Action packed!"

I was lucky to be able to get tickets for Sunday night show without any fuss...When I collected the tickets last Thursday, I even managed to get for Mrs N 6 tickets! The kids enjoyed the show very much and now they are sleeping soundly dreaming of their hero Mr Optimus Prime. I bet you they will be harassing me for the DVD from tomorrow! It will never end, I tell you.

Khadijah has started her art lessons with Janiz who's quite impressed with the rate that Khadijah is picking up drawing techniques. Janiz is teaching her figurative art - on proportions in particular. Khadijah has also started volunteering at SPCA. She's beating the system at home since cats and other hairy pets are not allowed at home as Ibraheem is allergic to fur.

Yusof's major exam, JSLA (Junor School Leaving Assessment ) is coming up quite soon...And true to his form, he is only flipping through the books like, now.

Ibraheem is hand-washing his clothes daily (flooding the house in the process) distrusting the results that my trusted-14-year-old-front-load-washing machine produce. He is still diligent but showing some signs of deterioration which needs to be closely monitored.

Umar has progressed from his Qirati to Quran. He loves to read; pretty enthusiastic that we have to bear listening to him reading everything loudly; food labels including!

Hajar is turning fiercer by the day..We think that this is her natural reaction to survive in a male dominating household...

Ah...another busy week ahead. Breathe in breathe out! Looking forward to Half-Blood Prince the movie. Hoping to catch this with the kiddos.