Till we meet again

Kak Nab's family was to depart from K Intan and Ust Khairul's house. So we met there to bid farewell. Indeed we will miss them. Farhan and Ammar will miss their good friends. We will miss persons who were very helpful. When we arrived here, on one occassion, Ust Khairul described that abg Rasul as a person who helped so many people. Indeed he was. To many and to us too. 

“May the road rise up to meet you, may the wind be ever at your back. May the sun shine warm upon your face and the rain fall softly on your fields. And until we meet again, May God hold you in the hollow of his hand.”

Getting together

21st February was Farhan's birthday. But there were so many other reasons to get together too.  One of it was appreciating Kak Nab, Abg Rasul and family who was to go back to the home country. It was also an intention long overdue that we wanted to invite friends especially those residing nearby to come to our house, partly to appreciate friends who helped us in so many ways.  

Farhan had turned 7. This is a significant year indeed. He had to start learning to pray regularly, to fast and to learn basic obligations as Muslims. We pray that our children will grow to become obedient good Muslims. The celebration was also for Ammar that we did not have time to do it for him on last November. Since the talk about the birthday came up, almost every day he drew a birthday cake with both his name and his brother's on paper. Thus both names were there on the cake. That was the second cake that I decorated, and the third was for K Nab. Not so pretty, but it went well to the tummies ;-P

We also got special cup cakes from Aunty Idah. 

  

Pluralisme

For several days I actually waited for Dr Asri to talk something about this:

Pluralisme Agama: Politik, Fanatik Dan Realistik

Really admire his scholarship and manner of discussion.

Of the unrest

We are really sad with the sickening unrest in the middle east countries. This could be a great lesson that this is the ultimate end of countries which leaders prone to think that the power that they hold is of their birth right. They are willing to do anything to preserve their power at the expense of citizens' life. Is this the public interest matter that they are talking about to justify the deprivation of those of the individuals'?

What makes us more saddened is the name of Islam that they carry to justify their actions.

Have we learned not from the history? It repeats again and again.

May justice for the citizens prevail. We pray to Allah to show them and us the right path in life.

Fruits and vegetables for the kids

How to get the kids to eat their fruits and vegetables? It may not be easy. But being creative a little bit with the way of presenting it always work. For example yesterday, while preparing for dinner and the kids were playing games in the computer which we place in the kitchen, I prepared this. In seconds after admiring it for a while, it's gone.

And they requested another:

And another:

And next:

And the one prepared by Farhan:

Of the anniversary

The twelfth day of the month is our anniversary. It comes to 9 years already. 

I baked a chocolate cake and for the first time I decorate the cake on my own. 

If cake and its decoration is the yardstick for a good wife, I may lack of it.. judging from the not so pretty look of the presentation ;-)

Whatever it is, I thank my significant other for the way he is.

This lyric that I sent him once about 10 years ago is still relevant:

"Mungkinkah dikau miliki

Hati emas murni suci

Inginku menjadi sahabatmu

Hingga akhir hayat nanti"

     

First day kinder for Ammar

Today is the first day for Ammar going to kinder. Before we had brought him to the class twice. One's for the orientation couple of months ago and the other for the parents' interview session last week. At both times he seemed having fun and so eager waiting for the class to start. For the first two weeks, the class is held twice a week only for 2 hours. On Monday, it's 12.45 - 2.45pm. On Thursday, it's 9.00 - 11.00 am. For the rest of the school terms, it would be 3 hours each session on Monday, Wednesday to Friday. 

However, contrary to the impression given before, today he really gave us difficult time. He wanted me to stay with him. He refused to join the classmates unless I stayed behind him.  It ended up with Ainaa, the lil' girl, who was with me, dancing while listening to songs, playing with the toys abundant there and clapping hand together with the big kids.    

Will update with photos if got time later.

Cup cakes

Another cooking activity with the kids. To keep the kids entertained, especially during the school holiday might not be an easy job. So cooking with them is a good activity. To keep things simple, we just bought the all-in-one packet express cup cake.

It costs  about $4.00 only. It comes with the cake mix, chocolate frosting mix, paper cup and the colourful thingy for the decoration. It makes 12 cup. And they finished into the tummy within an hour from the start of making.  

Pizza making

This was the first attempt making pizza. 

The kids really enjoyed decorating the pizza.