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!

More art...

I like this; so whimsical. Is it the naive style? Not sure myself.

Got Khadijah an easel, acrylic paints and three sets of mounted canvas last Saturday. Lucky for me there are a few art supplies shops in Taman Melawati which are barely five minutes' away. There is an art institute there hence the many art supplies shops.

She hardly wasted her time to start a piece - of wifey and Hajar but still unfinished. Now I understand why good art pieces cost a bomb! Artistic people just do not bow down to pressure. They take their time to be in sync with their creative juices, don't they?

Charcoal on paper

I turned 41 less than a minute ago...It was just a not-so-quiet dinner at Thaba with my family, my parents, sister and hubby and nephews and niece - cake with candles included. Looking forward to lunch with wifey later today...

In the mean time enjoy Khadijah's pieces!

A party that was

Ib had his birthday party and wifey and I are so relieved. It was a hectic but pleasant week for the both of us after failing to persuade Ib out of his self-planned weekend. You see, his and his siblings' exams started this morning and obviously having a party for him would mean that the last-minute-pre-exam-prep-night is out of the equation! But we eventually relented and let him have the party. It was late nights for mum and dad, though...

Wifey doesn't belive in catering since she wants her touch, exclusively, in the party's spread. So from rolled fondant to curry had to be from her kitchen. She had to give in at some point and asked my work partner's (Superwomanwannabe) maid to fry noodles and ordered roti jala from Kak Jie. I on the other hand had the easier task - party packs (abandoned this idea after Superwomanwannabe suggested tees painting) and decor (how convenient!). I did more than that, though - our maid and I prepared vol-au-vent (it was dead easy [thanks to youtube tutorial]- bought pastry from Bagus, rolled it, cut it with scone cutter and chucked in to the oven) and mini meringue cases for summer fruit pavlovas (left over from wifey's choux pastry egg whites). Easy as it may sound but we had to sleep at about half three a.m. the morning of the party!

The D-day itself was even more chaotic. Three visits to the loacl supermarket and a visit to the nerest mall was my department whilst wifey was holding the fort at home with the help of our maid and a part-time helper.

Whilst scouring for white tees for the kids to draw/paint on and bring them back, I came across plain mugs and decided to organize mug decorating activity for the kids. Tees painting can be quite messy for the younger ones and some of the kids might end up with tees not their size! The kids really had fun decorating the mugs!

One thing which I was supposed to do which became a surgeon's (superwomanwannabe's hubby) job was to come up with the pinata! Ib came back from school Friday evening and told me that SW's children were making one for him and this I verified with SW and had some truth in it....! Lo and behold...Mr Surgeon himself had to finish one after his kids did it halfway....He slept at 6 a.m the day itself to finish it! It turned out lovely! Thanks J**!

It was fun...good turn out and good company. We are glad Ib insisted he had the party!

HAPPY 8TH BIRTHDAY IB!

B'day Boy

Food

Mini Pavlovas

Baked Macaroni

Croquembouche

Cuppies

Sophia's painted mug

JoJo having a go

The dragon pinata

Mug painting/decorating

Ib wants a party

Ib's turning 8 this 17th and he wants a party. He wants to celebrate it with his classmates. So, mom and dad are frantically organising one for him! It'll be one hectic week ahead for us.

Invitation cards : printed; menu/food/drinks : mum's job; party favours : my department (haven't started); pinata (yes he wants one - this will be about the only party game which I agreed) : my department; decorations : my department; cake : from mum's kitchen (he wants Arsenal dragon themed cupcakes); that should be it, right? - it'd better be!

Until then.....

Another anniversary of birth

Wifey turned forty one almost eight hours ago..Exactly a year ago, the above pictures were supposed to be posted BUT I procrastinated; so shoot me : ). BTW ignore the U in FOURTY as it was a mistake by the bakers. Those were the cuppies I surprised her with last year together with a handbag.

What did we do for her birthday, you ask? It went uneventful, as usual...Not not really, wifey baked brownies and I ferried Khadijah to and fro her tuition class and later exercised my lungs on the boys to get them study...(the last I checked this word did not exist in their dictonaries).

What was supposed to be a surprise prezzie for wifey became public knowledge a few days before her birthday; so there I presented her with her current dream kitchen gadget (which she has made in no uncertain terms that she wanted it here; truthfully, I would have gotten her anyway even if she had not disclosed it as I'm the happiest person on earth when she decided to take on baking - an activity which I have been hinting that she'd take up for the past 10 years!) a couple of days ago after I arrived from Kuantan.

Presenting her new toy (in white, though!) which she did not defer using nor hesitate in making my every ringgit worth spending (he he he); we had vanilla and carrot cupcakes 3 hours later - - - - -

Oopsie...I have not wished wifey Happy Birthday...So dear wifey.....

"Semoga Allah mencucuri rahmatNya, memurahkan rezq, memberkati segala perbuatan, menerima segala amalan, panjang umur....Selamat menyambut hari kelahiran ke 41"

Happy Birthday Yeop

Just came back from a surprise dinner for my bro-in-law, Meor a.k.(affectionately)a. Yeop at Intai Intai....

Wifey made the cupcakes above...heavenly and sinful Valrhona Chocolate Mudcupcake. Yumms...I'm stuffed!

Wishing Yeop also known to his nieces and nephews as Papa Yeop a very Happy Birthday!

Will upload more piccies when free.

Mak's birthday

It's mak's birthday today.

HAPPY 66 TH BIRTHDAY MAK!

LOVE FROM ALL OF US.

Umar's 5th birthday

I'm still busy......But I have to wish my dearest Umar a happy fifth birthday today.....

"My Dearest Umar,

May your life be filled with people who love you for who you are and with barakah from Allah swt......

Loads of Love : DAD"

Compound Fracture and Yusof's Birthday

Ib had a compound fracture on his right thumb.....Warranted a 40 minute operation for axial K-wiring (in layman's term - inserting wire like "kebab" skewer through his thumb [this is exactly how the ortho surgeon described to us) about 11 pm last night.

It is Yusof's 10th birthday today...Sorry son, we have been bogged down because of Ib's injury. Will make up to you very soon! HAPPY 10th BIRTHDAY DEAR YUSOF!

Will post when time permits.

You mean there's more to come?

My daughter turns 13 today......"Happy Birthday my not-so-little baby!". But look at her birthday wish list here.... Wifey and I decided to let her organize a small do with her close friends at *bucks (her fave coffee joint - she takes after wifey when it comes to coffee! LOL!)today as her birthday gift...(dad & mum will be watching and supervising nearby though!).

I kind of miss those days when our conversations went on like:-

"Dad can I have the barbie which twirls and sings?"
"Can you piggy-back me please?"
"I want to hold your hands so that I won't get lost"
"What do you think? xyz or abc?
"Yes, dad"
"I promise dad"
"Will you read for me?"
"Don't tickle me"

Get the idea?

Raising a teenage girl can be a bit daunting but manageable (we are still hanging on and toughing it out AND the best thing is that there is so much to learn! Enjoying every minute of it!).

This is the age when the opposite sex just surfaced in her life out of the blue and peer pressure sets in. We had a very scary roller coaster ride a couple of months ago but thanks to Allah, it's all pink and rosy now. But that's not the end of it is it?

Wifey and I have this attitude now...."take one day at a time" and "smell the roses along the way". After all, parenting is a life long journey!

One short of forty

I turned one year short of forty six hours ago ...and very proud of it!

As usual my birthdays are like any other normal days. I like to keep it that way. My first birthday card was given last night about 9 pm when I sent my accounts assistant home and it was signed by both my secretary and her. Thanks J*** and In***. It was totally unexpected.

Today is also the birthday of my brother-in-law! If you are reading this, which I doubt, "Happy Birthday and many happy returns". He has cancelled his trip to Langkawi with his family together with d-i-l and m-i-l as d-i-l met with an accident last weekend.

D-I-L will get discharged today if everything is ok. Wifey and I are supposed to bring him home since we have a "lorry" (this is what I call my MPV - friends have jokingly asked me to upgrade to a mini-bus ever since wifey is pregnant with no. 5 and seriously they have a valid suggestion; we need a bigger vehicle!!!!)!

NB : Thepicture is taken fromwww.betterphoto.com and the copyright of Khawla S. Haddad whose website you can visit here

La fête d'anniversaire/عيد ميلاد الحزب

As in any other events, Ib's and Umar's birthday party was not spared with glitches...

We told the bakers that we would pick up the cakes at 9 sharp so that we could pick up the currypuffs at Mak Jah's at half nine! When we arrived, there was only one cake in the chiller, which is Ib's Beemer cake and the T-Rex cake was no where to be found! The pastry chef arrived late and her staff could not find the cake....She finally arrived at five past nine and sauntered in to the shop unperturbedly despite the noise my four kids were making and the fact that an agitated father was ready to pounce on her! She made her way to the kitchen and came up with a cake which was as clean as a hound's tooth. She had to start the icing from scratch! She had the cheek to say that she was busy finishing the cakes which some customers ordered the day before and scheduled to picj up much later in the day...Where's the logic here? We ordered a week ago and scheduled to pick it up at 9 a.m! Confrontation would not solve anything and I had to endure a ten minutes' of "why dad this" and "why dad that" plus "Dad, I'm thirsty" "Dad I'm hungry" despite the breakfast mom had provided them an hour before. Lucky that a "sharp" staff offered my kids hot milo and buns on the house! Got the cake and heade for Mak Jah's and guess what? The curry puffs weren't there! Apparently the owner was told by a staff that I would come about 10 a.m. I made that staff write 9.30 in the diary and did he bother checking the diary? Typical... The owner led me the way to a house where the curry puffs were! It was ready all this while......Imagine my time wasted. Finally evrything was done by close to 10 a.m. Drove rather frantically to Isi Rimba as my invitation card says from 10 a.m.

By the time we reached there it was quarter past 10 already and there was Ra**an and his family already helping themselves in the stream. What an embarassment for us!

We started the party with the stream first as we wanted all the kids to arrive before the singing/cake cutting/games...Food was served piecemeal basis as suggested by Kak Heart of Isi Rimba - which was a brilliant idea....At least the guests had a go at all of the food whipped by Kak Heart herself - Chinese Fried Rice, Bee Hoon Goreng, Coleslaw, BBQd chickens sausages and fish, nuggets, fruits and pudding. We brought along packet nasi lemaks, roti jala and curry, kueh koci and curry puffs.

The kids had fun in the stream and did not bother to eat at all apart from junk food! The kids were really looking forward to the cakes, though...Strawberry and blackforest cakes!

Khadijah helped (but got distracted a lot of times while helping me) me made a Pinata out of samll box decorated with blue and white crepe paper. Considere buying one....but one costs RM70 from this big toy shop...Mmm...it was an easy way out by the Treasury department would surely gave me ahrd time if I did that! In the end I spent RM8 for the Pinata. I smiled after it was mutilated by the kids thinking how much I had saved!

A few of our guests left about 1 pm since some of the kids have exams the following day. We continued with two more games of relay in balloon blowing and tug-of-war. I think everybody had fun.....Most of the guests left about half two and my immediate family stayed on until 4 pm....And the thunder roared thereafter! Perfect timing!

Honestly, we definitely will go back to Isi Rimba...The place is great, food is above my expectation and Kak Heart is a gem! I don't have qualms to recommend friends this place...If you are looking for a fuss free birthday parties, try Isi Rimba!

Trying to sort the kids out in to two teams which took ages for me to do. I wonder how teachers manage 40 kids in a class????

My auntie who's such fun to be around with my mum

Eagerly waiting to blow the candles

Nicking the fresh cream from the cake

The only blew with one breath

What a mess Umar!

Mum and Dad cutting the cakes. Notice my latest hairstyle....very easy to maintain

Yusof with all his might hitting the Pinata which I made

Ib having a go. It took about 15 rounds of hitting (3 hits each round) before the Pinata gave way

What a leeway for Umar by the person who controlled the rope

Superwoman's daughter having a go

Tug-of-war in the stream

Prizes enough for all the participants

Isi Rimba

The hut which will be the centre of the party

Drove up to Isi Rimba this morning with my three boys to send the bday posters to be put up at the entrance of Isi Rimba.

Have a glimpse of what Isi Rimba is all about.

The shallow stream which is the most upper part of Kemensah where the "resorts" are.

The main R&R area

Birthday Invite

Yeayy..birthday invite is finally ready.

What do I do without my sis! Thanks a million!

HAPPY 6th BIRTHDAY IB

HAPPY 6TH BIRTHDAY IB

No cakes, fanfare, confetti etc etc....It was just a birthday wish/kiss/song this morning after breakfast.....!

Happy birthday my dearest perfect melancholy (as in on of the four personalities in Littauer's book) Ib!

LOVE: DAD

May Birthday Galore

May and August are the busiest months in our household in terms of birthdays. Wifey (she celebrated her 39th when I was away. She actually called me to ask me to wish her a happy birthday which was unlike me coz I remember birthdays and important dates. Because of the time difference I was a bit confused plus my time was fully occupied with ibadah), Ib and I (mine will be later this month) celebrate our birthdays in May whilst Khadijah, Yusof and Kauthar (our late daughter) have their birthdays in August. That's left with Umar who's a January baby.

Birthday celebrations for us are always private affairs confined to immediate family members. Except for one which we threw for Khadijah and Yusof when we moved house seven years ago - it was really a 2-in-one kinda thing (housewarming plus birthday).

Ib has broken the tradition though since last year. He actually asked for a party! We organised a mini party for him so that he could invite his closest friends which came up to about nine kids. It was themed Power Rangers and boy they had fun! He has asked for one again this year. Wouldn't you if dad and mom had given their greenlight last year?

He's turning six on 17th May and as usual, parties and the kids stuff (apart from cooking) is my portfolio. I really didn't have the time to organize one before I left...So there I was, over last weekend frantically arranging for food and venue! I had a picnic in mind but that was left as that i.e. NO ACTION......!

Drove deep in to Kemensah last Sunday (10 minutes' drive from home) and found this eco-friendly resort called Isi Rimba and were were greeted by the owner who led us on to his wife, Kak Heart who organizes parties, campings etc. This is exactly what I had in mind - an adventurous party for Ib! They'll be catering the food - a barbie with fried rice and fried mee hoon and dessert plus the decor! Basically we just have to turn up with cakes (cakes because Umar wants a party too!), extra clothes and towels! They have blocked about 5 huts and a bamboo chalet for us to use and of course the stream! They are also throwing two water games and a 1/2 an hour river-trekking adventure up to the water fall (if our guests are up to it).

Yeayy...problems solved! Till Sunday and Ib and Umar just can't wait for it....(me too... - sheepishly).

Ib's small party last year