Recently I have not been so good at keeping up with my reading. But I am glad I have gained back the momentum. Thanks to Danial for bringing a series of 4 books called the echoes series. I think I started the 1st one last Sunday and now I am just beginning to read the third book. I really hope to finish all four of them before Danial goes back to his school this weekend.
These books are written by Jamilah Kolocotronis, an American Muslim author. Frankly speaking I have never heard of her or read any of her work. I am glad I get to know this writer because I like her books, so far. It's a refreshing change to read English novels based on Islamic perspectives. It's good to read something positive about my faith because I am tired of reading, watching, or listening to all the bad reputation of a religion which is very dear to me. I think we have to be practicing Muslims to feel and understand what I am talking about. There are so many hate sites on the internet. Sometimes they depress me but I am glad my faith helps me to sort my feelings. I definitely can relate to the books by Jamilah Kolocotronis .
Thursday, June 17, 2010
School Holiday Activities
I pray that Yasmin will win in the public speaking competition in Terengganu today. She also participates in the choral speaking contest. She left very early this morning, probably around 5am with a group of students. They stayed overnight at their school to make sure that they left on time. I hope Yasmin won't have any trouble without her name tag and her IC. She did send an SMS to Steve late last night but neither of us heard it because we were so tired and were sleeping like logs. While Yasmin was at her school practicing last night, the rest of us went to the theater watching The Karate Kid. The movie ended slightly after midnight and by the time we reached home it was 12.30am. When Steve finally saw the message and called her this morning, she was already on her way.
Last Saturday she participated in the spelling contest at M.S. Garden hotel which was organized by MELTA. There were 18 groups from schools around Kuantan. Hers was one of the four groups which was qualified for the final round and they got the fourth place. They were given the opportunity to choose either scientific or technological terms. In the first round all 4 groups chose technology but during the second one, Yasmin's group changed to scientific terms. I believe they could have won if they chose scientific terms from the beginning. Well, winning is good but it's not everything because the most important thing is their participation.
Before we dropped Yasmin off at her school last night, we stopped by our friend Zul's house to pick Danial from his camp. He joined a 3-day youth camp which I believe was also held somewhere in Terengganu. Steve sent him to Zul's house at 6am on Monday (14 June). I am not sure who drove Danial and his friends but they had to meet at that house. That was the second of a 6-part motivation-cum-character building camp. I certainly hope that that all my kids will be highly motivated adults with superb personality. Who wouldn't?
Last Saturday she participated in the spelling contest at M.S. Garden hotel which was organized by MELTA. There were 18 groups from schools around Kuantan. Hers was one of the four groups which was qualified for the final round and they got the fourth place. They were given the opportunity to choose either scientific or technological terms. In the first round all 4 groups chose technology but during the second one, Yasmin's group changed to scientific terms. I believe they could have won if they chose scientific terms from the beginning. Well, winning is good but it's not everything because the most important thing is their participation.
Before we dropped Yasmin off at her school last night, we stopped by our friend Zul's house to pick Danial from his camp. He joined a 3-day youth camp which I believe was also held somewhere in Terengganu. Steve sent him to Zul's house at 6am on Monday (14 June). I am not sure who drove Danial and his friends but they had to meet at that house. That was the second of a 6-part motivation-cum-character building camp. I certainly hope that that all my kids will be highly motivated adults with superb personality. Who wouldn't?
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
Hello Again
Hi everyone, I am back! There is so much to share but so difficult to compose. All of a sudden my passion for writing disappeared. In fact I lost interest in keeping up with the Facebook also. But for the past 2 or 3 days I have been checking my emails and messages from friends. I guess my mind is totally preoccupied with monitoring the development of our new home.
Let me see, I guess I will start with my eldest son came home for the school term holiday. So far we just sent him to Johor once, when he first registered there. From then on he came home on his own by the express bus. So far he's doing quite well in his school, keeping busy with many activities. Right now he is at his friend's house having a mini-reunion with his former classmates. It's hard to believe how tall he is now. By the end of the year, I think he'll be just as tall or taller than his father.
I have to admit that today is the first time I opened this blog after I wrote the last entry. As soon as I opened it, I realized that Yasmin's blog is not accessible anymore. I have to ask her later what she did to it. I know she likes to write but I guess she just doesn't want to share with others. Her trip to Pulau Redang today has been canceled because all her friends who are supposed to go have other commitments to fulfill.
Harris is going to take his UPSR exam this year. I just found out that he's the type who likes to study in a group, kind of like his mother :) He's doing ok with most of the subjects except for the Malay language (the writing part). I do not really believe in sending my children to tuition classes but when he asked to go for Malay subject Steve and I had to agree. So we enrolled him in the tuition center beginning the first week of May. Unfortunately he only managed to attend once due to his involvement in many other school related activities. Last weekend he missed it too because he attended a holiday camp at his school which he really enjoyed.
I do not expect all children to be the same but Hannah is quite different from the others. She seems to be so scared and sad majority of the time. I wonder if I was like that at some point in my life. It has been so long ago that I was at that age, I obviously forgot how I was like then. One thing for sure, she loves to draw pictures. Sometimes I gave her a hard time for "wasting" too much paper but then again she might be the next Monet or Van Gogh. She always remember to give me cards which she drew on her own for my birthdays and mothers' day.
Najla insisted on following me to work and I guess she must be bored because she's asleep near my table. She was bugging me to go to the cafe but I refused. We both ate rice before we left the house this morning. So what's the problem Najla? She has been complaining to me that one of her friends had given her a hard time at the kinder garden. She said the girl told the others not to play with her. That's mean! I am not sure how much is the truth but for a kid that age, that sort of incident means a whole lot. If it happens to me, I just slap the woman's head! Just kidding ;)
Let me see, I guess I will start with my eldest son came home for the school term holiday. So far we just sent him to Johor once, when he first registered there. From then on he came home on his own by the express bus. So far he's doing quite well in his school, keeping busy with many activities. Right now he is at his friend's house having a mini-reunion with his former classmates. It's hard to believe how tall he is now. By the end of the year, I think he'll be just as tall or taller than his father.
I have to admit that today is the first time I opened this blog after I wrote the last entry. As soon as I opened it, I realized that Yasmin's blog is not accessible anymore. I have to ask her later what she did to it. I know she likes to write but I guess she just doesn't want to share with others. Her trip to Pulau Redang today has been canceled because all her friends who are supposed to go have other commitments to fulfill.
Harris is going to take his UPSR exam this year. I just found out that he's the type who likes to study in a group, kind of like his mother :) He's doing ok with most of the subjects except for the Malay language (the writing part). I do not really believe in sending my children to tuition classes but when he asked to go for Malay subject Steve and I had to agree. So we enrolled him in the tuition center beginning the first week of May. Unfortunately he only managed to attend once due to his involvement in many other school related activities. Last weekend he missed it too because he attended a holiday camp at his school which he really enjoyed.
I do not expect all children to be the same but Hannah is quite different from the others. She seems to be so scared and sad majority of the time. I wonder if I was like that at some point in my life. It has been so long ago that I was at that age, I obviously forgot how I was like then. One thing for sure, she loves to draw pictures. Sometimes I gave her a hard time for "wasting" too much paper but then again she might be the next Monet or Van Gogh. She always remember to give me cards which she drew on her own for my birthdays and mothers' day.
Najla insisted on following me to work and I guess she must be bored because she's asleep near my table. She was bugging me to go to the cafe but I refused. We both ate rice before we left the house this morning. So what's the problem Najla? She has been complaining to me that one of her friends had given her a hard time at the kinder garden. She said the girl told the others not to play with her. That's mean! I am not sure how much is the truth but for a kid that age, that sort of incident means a whole lot. If it happens to me, I just slap the woman's head! Just kidding ;)
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