Dental Appointment

It has been 4 years since Harris lost his front permanent tooth.  On Tuesday I took him for a regular check-up at HTAA clinic.  Alhamdulillah, the doctor said she didn't need to do any "treatment" to Harris' other permanent tooth.  She's keeping an eye on it and will review in 3 more months.  I hope and pray that he will be able to keep the tooth for ever. It's sad enough to see him lost one.  He used to love biting the whole apple using his front teeth.  Since the accident, he learned to cut apples into small chunks.  I am grateful because it could be worse.  I keep telling myself that other people lost more vital parts of their body and alhamdulillah, Harris only lost a tooth.  Nevertheless, it makes me feel so vulnerable, small, helpless, etc. which is not a bad feeling at all.  Humans need to feel like that once in a while in order to prevent us from losing sight on who we are.  We'll have to continuously see a doctor until he reaches 18 years old when he can have a tooth implant.  Only 4 more years.  It'll be here soon...

Special Day

There is one special date which occurs every year since 2001 and today is one of them, 111111. I heard many couples plan to tie the knot today and some pregnant ladies have even made appointments to have Caesarian section! What a crazy world we live in. As a practicing Muslim I do not believe in any day or date to be special because each moment is special for as long as God allows me to breathe the air and live a healthy life. This morning was special because we had to get up at 4.30 to send Harris to his school. He needed to be there by 5.00 am in order to join a leadership camp trip to Kelantan. I guess by now he has already arrived at wherever that camp is supposed to be held. The schedule for the camp is quite packed and I really hope that he will learn something that will benefit him for a long time to come.Yesterday was special because I took Najla, Hannah, Yasmin, and Balqis to IIUM swimming pool. Yasmin learned how to swim when she was 4 years old and she could still float and perform some breast strokes. She told me that she has forgotten other styles. Hannah was excited because she managed to float after being taught by a few ladies who were there in the pool. Najla had a hard time learning but if we go often enough she might be able to do it soon. She has been bugging me to send her to a swimming class. I talked to the life guard and was told that her class will only start in March next year. I think Najla swallowed a lot of water from the pool because she had stomach upset at 2am. She woke up crying and said she needed to vomit. After several attempts, nothing happened. Luckily she felt better half an hour later. There are 2 things that she really would like to learn: swimming and riding a bicycle. Well she shouldn't feel so bad because I learned how to ride a bike at the age of 24 and only knew how to swim in my 40s :)

Danial came home for Eid Adha celebration last Friday (Nov. 4) and stayed until Wednesday. As usual we celebrated our Eid in my mom's village. It was a nice family-get-together time. All the other kids were at school on Wednesday and Steve was at work. Since I was on leave, I managed to bake 2 batches of my wonderful chocolate chip cookies. I was so engrossed baking that Danial almost missed his bus! Alhamdulillah we got to the bus station just in time.

Birthdays

The kids with Yasmin's BD cake (I forgot to take it out of the pan)

Yasmin just celebrated her birthday last week. She is the first kid to celebrate her birthday during the fasting month. So we didn't perform our ritual which is going out to eat at KFC or Pizza Hut but instead we ordered 3 pizzas (1 large peperoni, 1 large Hawaiian chicken, and 1 regular veggie lover)for breakfasting. Sorry Danial, you missed that one. Yasmin wanted to have a cellphone as a present. Steve almost gave in but hey I have the veto power. So she got a few novels instead. Not a bad deal considering the extra costs - money wise as well as health wise - that will be incurred by cellphones. I got my first cellphone when I was 40 years old, as a birthday present from Steve. So I think Yasmin still has many more years to wait (maybe not until she's 40) to get that little gadget.Well, we can not have what we want all the time.

Harris was cutting his BD cake

They got to eat out at their favorite restaurant

Last month was Harris' birthday. I didn't get the opportunity to be there with the kids because I was busy playing tennis at the inter-varsity tournament in Malacca. We only managed to enter the quarterfinal round but we had a great time. We got RM200, two weeks unrecorded leave, and most importantly we had a chance to meet with friends from other universities around the country. Anyway, this entry is not about the tournament but it's about Harris' birthday. Sorry, I digress. Where was I? Oh yeah, I was not home when the celebration was taken place. However, I left my camera with Steve so that he could take some photos for me to see when I got back. Of all the places that he could have taken the pictures, he took them in the middle of the mess! That's why I had to crop the first 2 pictures (if you guys noticed :)). I guess that shows how creative men are ;) Like I said earlier, I was not home ( for almost a week) therefore my house was in a shambles. At night they went to have their regular birthday dinner at one of the Pizza huts in town.

Blessing in Disguise

I never thought I would see the day that Harris can actually sit for hours to read! I am so grateful and excited that it finally happened. Danial and Yasmin are definitely crazy about reading and Hannah is beginning to follow their footsteps too. Sometimes Hannah reads while walking and I hope she will not fall doing that. Anyway, back to Harris. He is so addicted to the computer games and it really worries me. A week ago he did something that was really upsetting to me and I banned him from the games for one whole week. I guess out of boredom he started playing outdoors with my neighbor's son everyday after school. Then at night he picked up a book by Anthony Horowitz's the Power of Five series and he fell in love with it. He finished the Evil Star in 4 days! For Harris to be able to read a 240-page book that fast is really a record time! If Danial or Yasmin did that it would not be unusual. It is so true that computer games are really stealing our kids' valuable time. I do not want to be left behind so as to go against the technology but I guess everything has its draw back. Though his one-week ban has been lifted yesterday, I am pleased to see that he still read the 3rd book of that series last night. He told me that Horowitz is definitely his favorite author for now. I even took a picture of him reading (below) as a proof :)

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 ;)

Trip to Petrosains

Yasmin and Harris went on a trip to "Petrosains" in KL on Saturday 7 November. That was the weekend after they finished their final exams. I wonder why Danial didn't go. Anyway, they left the school around 6:15am so our whole family had to get at 5am to get ready and send them to school. I realized that most of our time is used to ferry our kids around or to care for all their needs. It makes me understand more of what my parents have gone through. Understanding comes with appreciation...

Harris and friends

Lining up to get on the bus

Parents sending off their loved ones

My “Jewels”

Danial:

My eldest just finished his trial PMR. I hardly saw him studying or reviewing his studies at home. Every time I asked him whether he was ready, his reply was “Insya Allah”, We’ll see when the results are out… I just bought him 3 or 4 novels recently and he finished reading them in a flash. Right now I think he’s rereading the newly acquired novels or sometimes he reread his old (or very old) ones. I don’t know what to do. I wish there are people who live around here with tons of novels which he likes so we can swap books. At the rate we are buying, we will have trouble storing them soon. Selling them as used books? Out of the question because he wants to keep them all! He still goes to a guitar lesson every Friday afternoon but I have never heard him play guitar at home. He keeps playing piano whenever his mood strikes. He goes to the “surau” most of the time when his father goes there for Magrib or Isyak prayers. He does his chores without grumbling (turning dry laundry right-side-out, washing dishes, and sometimes throwing trash out). He had attended a 2-day camp (Saturday-Sunday: 12 & 13 Sept 09) near Pantai Sepat. It was for form three students who will be sitting for their PMR in October

Yasmin's Certificate

Yasmin:

I just convinced her to open her own blog (http://yasmin128.blogspot.com) last week because she loves to scribble. She picked up reading much later than Danial, I think when she was in standard 4. She used to just sit in front of the TV every time she got a chance. I used to get upset with her about her TV habit. She loves to draw and we enrolled her in the art class at Da Vinci. She’s very good at drawing Japanese cartoon characters. It must be from watching those shows on TV! We sent her to piano lessons for 2 years but I never heard her playing after she stopped attending the classes. She wants to learn how to play a violin but I am skeptical to send her. Besides I don’t know where to send her for that around here. She loves to eat cereal and milk that’s why she has strong and beautiful teeth. I used to “fight” with her a lot. Almost everyday I had something to complain about her. I think because our characters are so much alike that we repel each other. Recently we have become better friends. She does her chores too (turning dry laundry right-side-out and washing dishes) but sometimes with grumbles. Last Thursday we had “iftar” at her school. Before the breaking of fast we attended a simple ceremony in which the school gave certificates to students who performed well in their UPSR last year. Yasmin was one of the recipients. Actually the gifts were from Yayasan Pahang but delivered to students by the school. Each of them received a certificate and RM100, so Yasmin can buy her own “baju raya” :)

Harris at the dentist

Harris:

Last Wednesday was a very memorable day because the date was 09-09-09 (9 Sept. 2009) and at 09 am Harris had an appointment to see a dentist at HTAA. We arrived 15 minutes late because I had trouble finding a parking space. We ended up parking at the housing area behind the hospital. It was quite far so we had to walk really fast. Poor Harris, he was fasting too. Finally at 9.40am the process began. Harris’ pain threshold is very low so he was groaning and screaming most of the time. It was hard for me to watch him in pain and not being able to do anything. It was over at 11.30am. I am very pleased with Harris’ changed in attitude towards reading. He used not to like it as much as Danial and Yasmin because he was always playing the computer games or watching cartoons. He did read bionicles books but not other novels. Since we bought Alex Rider series, he really sits down and read! I never thought the time would come so soon, but I am happy. His temper has improved some too. He used to be upset a lot more and screamed at us all the time. Now he is more “patient”. He’s doing better in school too. Wow, Harris is growing up! He lost a tooth on Tuesday night. On Saturday (12 Sept. 09) Harris performed in a sketch at his school during the “musabaqah” competition. He played as Abu Lahab or Abu Jahal. He likes performing arts.

Hannah:

She lost 2 teeth- 1 Wednesday (9 Sept.09) and 1 the day before at about the same time Harris lost his. Of all the kids, she’s the most sensitive, cries a lot and sulks so easily. Sometimes she drives all of us nuts. She can really stay up late but she can’t get up in the morning. We have to drag her out of bed or sprinkle water on her face. She loves to draw so much and she’s also enrolled at Da Vinci art class. She’s taking a piano lesson with me but she hardly practices her piano at home. She would rather draw greeting cards for us. She likes to read also but not at the same level as Danial or Yasmin yet. She’s so afraid of any creepy crawlies, and she definitely got that from me! She would really love to learn how to swim but we have to wait until MPK pool is fully renovated. So far she hasn’t broken any of her fasts yet. She is so flexible that she can lie on her tummy, arch her back, and touch her chin with her toes! She should enroll in a ballet or gymnastic class. But nay… they wear skimpy clothes. Best of all, Hannah is a very loving daughter.

Najla:

How could I be upset when I found out that I was pregnant with her? Since Najla is the youngest, she’s the most adorable and very smart. There were so many instances that she would say something that would catch me by surprise. She is a very confident person probably because she gets hug a lot. So she feels very secure about herself. She’s adorable when in good mood but terrible when she throws one of her stunts. On Saturday she was really mad because I didn’t take her to the store to buy her “baju raya”. Just like any kids, we can’t afford to make any promises unless we are so sure that we can fulfill them. She loves to draw pictures and she folds the papers, and gives them to us as greeting cards. She just enrolled in Da Vinci class last month (or was it in July, I don’t remember). She loves to read as well. She has been nagging me to register her at her brothers' and sisters' school. Last week I went to the school to get the registration form. I was told that the school’s priority is to accept 7 year-olds. Since Najla will only be 6 years old next year, she will be on a waiting list. I hope Najla won’t be so upset.

Harris’ Qiam

Harris had “qiamullail” last Thursday night (7 May 2009) at his school. Steve sent him around 6pm and he stayed overnight at his school. The program was over on late Friday afternoon. Steve brought him back around 6pm.

Harris Joined Al Irsyad KRS

Harris joined his school’s “Kedet Remaja Sekolah” (School Youth Cadet). Starting from last Saturday he has to practice marching from 8.30 am until 2.30 pm (of course with a few breaks in between!). If he is selected, he will be going to Kedah in June 2009 for a course to be promoted to a sergeant. Way to go Harris! I hope he will be successful and become a highly disciplined person.