ramadhan

we'll have one more 'rookie' this year with 6 year-old azraf. My kids have generally been okay with the fasting part (of course hania gets a bit lembek the first day but otherwise it's usually smooth sailing). It's the sahur part that tests my patience :).

preparing the food is easy, no one is a picky eater, very simple hot food is the only requirement. Getting the kids to the table is the challenge. Amjad will wake up easily, but woe is me if he has to wait at the table. His goal is to minimize his awake time. Get up, eat ASAP, drink two gulps of water, and go right back to sleep. I used to insist he finished his glass of water, not anymore. Hania's goal is to maximize her pre-sahur sleep-time. Waking her up is a waste of effort. Papa will just pick her up from the bed, walk her to the table, prop her up on the table, push the plate to her, guide her hand to the food and she'll take her first two mouthfuls with eyes still shut. Washing her face just doesn't cut it anyway.

so it will be fun to see how Azraf deals with sahur. The kids have promised they will be better this year, we'll see.

we'll be off to KB later today, kids want to have 2 days of non-fasting play with the cousins.

Happy birthday!

ok, so the nia's birthday party post is overdue, and this post is still not it.

the kids are going through the net and finding out their Hijri birthdays.

Abah. 6 Safar
Papa. 17 Ramadan
Mummy. 12 Ramadan
Ibu. 15 Safar
Along. 1 Syaaban
Abang. 12 Ramadan
Angah. 17 Zulhijjah
Syakira. 25 Jamadil Akhir
Hania. 8 Jamadil Awal
Abang De. 2 Zulhijjah
Najwan. 29 Safar

site: islamic-finder.org

another visit to the clinic

dum! oh no! someone fell!
it turned out to be najwan who slipped in his haste to pee.
and oh oh oh oh, there was blood dripping from his head.
oh no, ibu was the only adult at home.
but amjad was quick to follow ibu's instruction to take the kitchen towel to stop the bleeding.
the bleeding did stop, so he had his bath, and then waited for us all to say our maghrib prayers, and we made the trek to the clinic.
dr aminah said it needed to be stitched as it would continue bleeding otherwise.
and najwan was such an angel. not a peep out of the little guy, not even with the first needle for the bius.
3 stitches, and he has a little bow on his head right now.

home economics

so last night papa was writing out the monthly allowance check for ibu, and also for tok ayah.

and amjad went 'why does papa give ibu money?'

so an impromptu lesson on responsibility.

I generally said, coz it's the husband's responsibility to provide for the wife and children, even when the wife is working. so better make sure you are ready to do that before you get married.

and amjad added he'd be better off marrying someone who worked with the government as there'll be a pension, just like atok and grandma. (hmm... wonder why not him...)
and then they got interested with the check pap wrote for tok ayah.

amjad: so we have to give money to our parents too?

ibu: *ahem, ahem* well, it would be good to do so.

amjad: when tok was alive, did she get money too?

ibu: yes. *ahem ahem* it would be good to remember that.

then we had a light conversation on how much money ibu and papa would get a month with 4 kids contributing a certain sum. so we joked that if we want some more, we probably need to have more kids.

and a humorous mention to them that that's why they need to work at their studies, and also to get good income, as they need to give money to ibu and papa. :)

and azraf chimed in that he'd also give blackberries to ibu and papa, papa would need one since he would also be retired by then and no more office-provided bberry.

seriously though, ibu and papa should be ok in our old age, so as long as they can live comfortably, and I pray that they will have that opportunity, and the future is bright for them.

He's done it!

Amjad khatam Qur-an last night.

According to the kids, ustaz made them all listen to Abang, and at one point Azraf pointed out abang's mistake (since he had pretty much memorized the surah lazim). The kids were as excited as Amjad, they were too young to appreciate it when Syira khatam. Towards the end, Amjad was a bit nervous. When he finished An-Nas, Ustaz read the doa khatam Qur-an.

Pulut kuning moden. We celebrated with pizza afterwards. yeah, I know, Ibu's supposed to do some pulut kuning, will buy the pulut for mummy to cook later today :).

Anyway, the pizza is impromptu, just so that the occasion was marked and celebrated right away.

He'll go back to Juz 1, we'll wait to do the khatam ceremony until Syazmi and Syakira's done. Syakira is reading juz 20, Syazmi 18. Hania 5.

Also to start on Arabic so that they have a basic understanding of what they're reciting.

But so exciting to have one child finished.