haj preparation

11 more days... okay, that's getting a little bit worrying.

not that I'm not looking forward to going for haj, it's the preparation part that's getting a bit worrying.

last sunday, we had the taklimat perjalanan. As they were showing the scenes of pilgrims checking in at kelana jaya, it dawned on me, this is for real, we are really going.

during the tea break, we got talking to a couple who seemed to be around our age. their bedroom was already full of stuff, which they haven't managed to pack because they have not collected the bag from rayhar yet. we? ummm... we haven't even got around to buying stuff.

so monday, we collected the bag at rayhar. then we went to mydin and bought pretty much most of the clothing stuff we need. the kids had fun shopping for their stuff. later that night, we went to guardian to get more stuff.

I also got a haircut. which later included a dandruff treatment. after 20+ years of dandruff-ridden, it felt a weird kind of nice to be dandruff free. no more really really itchiness catching me at unexpected times.

as I was going through the stuff at home, it suddenly felt like preparing to go back and live in a dorm again -- this high probability that the room-mates will have stuff similar if not identical to mine, and thus the urge to tag the items. haven't tagged clothing items since leaving mrsm!

and the nearer the day comes, the surer I feel there'll be buckets of tears from yours truly upon leaving the kids behind....

countdown

we have the flight date already -- check-in 9 Nov, flight itself is a little past midnight, and coming back Dec 23. According to the agent, still unconfirmed, but I hope changes won't be major like Kak Mas -- her flight changed from 25 nov to 5 nov!

Tons of stuff to get done. Papa is going to Dubai tonight, until Tuesday, presentation for a major project. Next week is the last week of class, on Saturday Azraf has his Ihtifal and Graduation day, the haj taklimat is on Sunday. Then have to finish all the gradings and submit all the grades in. I'm going to worry about clearing up the office later.

The kids are having their final exams next week.

And have to decide on the menu for the doa selamat.

haj 1429

alhamdulillah, have received written confirmation we are going for haj this year.
flight plans not known yet, should know by next week.

have to go, nia is pushing all the right buttons to make najwan scream.

Third time lucky!

We first hustled Azraf to the dentist for his first tooth extraction in April after we noticed his permanent tooth was already out. Dr Salwa took a look and said the milk tooth wasn't budging at all, and she said the permanent tooth would push to the front and loosen up the milk tooth and then it would be ready for extraction. She didn't want to have to inject Azraf and after our experience with Hania, oh yes, definitely no injection if we could avoid it.

In June, after MUCH persuasion we managed to get Hania to the dentist to extract her tooth. The previous visit, she was literally screaming when she was bundled inside the car. So Azraf also had his second visit with Dr Salwa. Nope, not loose enough. (and in Hania's case, that particular visit made her feel a little less terrified of the dentist).

This Wednesday (8 Oct), Azraf was playing with abang and he got kicked in the mouth, which knocked his tooth loose. So we hustled yet again to the dentist, with Azraf also knowing this time this was it -- he was finally going to get his first tooth out. I guess it's hard being the last kid in the class who still has all his baby teeth.

When the dental nurse called his name out, he rushed inside the room and right away went up the chair and smiled eagerly. The nurse was surprised :).

A little spray, and Dr Salwa has his tooth out. One more growing up milestone.

Azraf is eager for the next visit, he very proudly sported his cotton-filled mouth :). The person who seemed that wasn't a fun visit was Najwan who saw it all.

Hmm.. looking at the date -- he has to choose his dentist aunt's birthday -- happy birthday uda.

ramadhan so far: sahur

azraf has managed 7 full days -- or is it 8? bad mom, I know, but he's supposed to fill in his ramadan chart himself, so ibu got a bit too relaxed about keeping track.

Amjad and Hania have been going strong. And Amjad has been keeping to his words, getting him up for sahur is now no big deal, a little shake-shake and he's up like a shot, he'd go eat, pour his own drink, and go back to sleep. Hania is our side entertainment. Days she'll be like a zombie until she's halfway through her plate, and days she'll be little miss perky (but usually more zombie than perky). she eats as much as Amjad during sahur since she's too zonked out to realize how much I've put in her plate :).

Azraf is the story this year. The days he did not fast were the days he just did not (or could not?) get up for sahur. There were days he even took his food in bed with eyes closed and ibu feeding him. Only good thing was that he'd munch and munch without complaining until it's all eaten up. This week, no more of that, he's graduated to the little table -- not by his choice obviously. I think he'll be ready to join us at the main table next year :).

Ibu -- counting the days when she no longer has to wake up at 4:30 to prepare sahur. And no sleep after that either. But aghh -- not ready for raya yet though!

ramadhan1429: azraf's first

first sahur, in kelantan.
waking azraf up was papa's job. azraf was woken up and started to cry, he didn't want to eat, he wanted to continue sleeping. but he wanted to fast. so made him took his pediasure, that was all he would take.
and he managed to go on until 3 pm! impressive. if only waking up is easier.

second sahur, at home.
as usual, had everything ready before waking them up. this time, he was a bit more gentler and azraf had his sahur with no incidence. pretty good.
but he only managed up until 1, after he got back from school. it's okay, it's only training.

third sahur.
azraf refused to get up. so we left him upstairs. then, when everyone except kak ngah was done (no surprise there) he got up and went downstairs and insisted on having sahur.

it's 7:02 pm, another 19 minutes to go. so far, so good. I dare say he will make it today. he's been feeling the pangs but right now, he's watching syazmi playing computer games so time should pass a lot more quickly for him.

mummy bought otak-otak for abang de's first full fast.

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.

that boy thing

no idea if it's really a boy thing.

so azraf was sitting and talking to ibu.
najwan was sitting beside him, he suddenly got up and stood with his back to abang de.
we continued talking.
suddenly, 'pot' and gleefully, najwan sat down again.
sungguh kurang sopan.

and this has to be a boy thing --

najwan was lying down after finishing his milk. me, on the 'net. and he volunteered, 'jen main pepet.'

alamak!

and abang de was sitting, najwan came by, and abang de got mad 'jen tak malu, ibu, adik pegang pepet abang de.'

*sigh* it is the stage though.

more on hajj

so as per letter received, we went to the tabung haji office to process our hajj passports.

as the lady was scrolling down computer list, she said 'still on standby right?'

so we said yes. I asked when would we know for sure, she said towards the end of ramadan.

so we went through all the process. She counted out the 10 small-sized pictures and 2 visa-sized pictures, checked our particulars, had the passports printed and pasted our pictures and then put on the protecting sheet. then we had our thumbprints checked on the mykad system and then we had to put down 4 prints. we didn't get the passports though, they kept it.

anyway, then all done, she got up and went to a box, and came back with 2 stainless steel bracelets (gelang haji), and asked us to check our particulars etched there. After checking it, we passed the bracelets back to her, and she said, oh, keep it, it's for you to wear in kelana jaya. and we went blank. kelana jaya? wasn't that the haj trip? so she said, you have an 80% chance of going, and then she asked us what package we're going with. so we said rayhar. and she said, hmm rayhar's bags are purple, so I'm going to give you the red ones, you'll get the purple ones from rayhar. and she also gave us an armful of books on hajj.

I asked about when would we actually know since there's the leave application to do, so she said the last week of ramadan, we should get the flight details already and we can get the letter issued so that the HR can start the leave process.

I'm now like, this is more yes than no, not a mere standby but make arrangements for going. Now it's like you want it so much and it looks so 'yes' already but you're just so afraid to grab it coz Allah might have other plans for you actually.

Have started to prep the kids though... and also the mummy next door!

fasting

the kids are fasting.

no, it is not yet ramadan, but the kids wanted to fast for rejab. I know, wow! it has taken me 30+ years to actually fast in rejab that is pure sunat and not qada'.

last monday syakira fasted. today thursday hania fasted. Impressive!

and the girl who had a hard time keeping her eyes open for sahur last ramadan last night did not require much effort waking up, munched without much fuss on her french fries, drank her milk and went back to sleep.

she was ready for iftar at 6:50 pm, although iftar was at 7:30.

when there's a will...

hania's teka-teki

buah apa paling berani.

give up? ibu give up?

buah pisang lah, sebab jantung dia kat luar.

and the 'l' is misplaced to

every weekend there's a person seeling jackfruit in BA. when we pass her, najwan would always request 'nak nangkel' and the others would burst into laughters 'nangka lah adik.' so he would dutifully repeat 'nangkel'.

ohmigosh, drawing a blank, he has 'l' added at more words but brain going into shut down mode.

hajj 1429

we got a letter to go in and process our hajj passport -- signature and thumb print. we also need to bring in *14* passport-sized photographs, white background, and 2 slightly bigger sized photographs for visa purposes.

that would be on 29 july (tuesday).
the hajj intensive course is on 6 & 7 Aug at the masjid negara.

we still haven't received any letter that we're going, but this is a step nearer, insya-Allah.

we also have finished our sunday haj classes. when we started in march, 18 weeks sounded like a long time, and suddenly it's like -huh, over already? it ended with forum perdana on saturday night and qiamullail later that morning at 3.30am. I didn't go to the forum as there was a wedding, so Amjad went with papa. And only papa went to qiamullail as najwan was running a temperature last night and he was sleeping fitfully and kept wanting to be held as he kept complaining he was cold. we got a set of kain ihram for papa and telekung set for ibu.

of course the kids, even hania, became very curious -- why is papa getting a towel?

side note: as I'm writing this, hania is singing and azraf is complaining 'kak ngah nyanyi nanti hujan.' not that it bothers her a whit.

the problem with 's'

more najwan speak.

smajid! smajid kistal!
spater.
spatik.
speto peto.

translation.

masjid! masjid kristal!
plaster.
plastik.
sos tomato.

amjad used to have problems with his s at this age too, of a slightly different kind.

e.g. scooter -- cooster

pen drives

no kids post.

but just grumblings. sure, I'm happy to have pen drives, I can fit in lots of files in one drive, and since it's physically small, I can put a few of the min my handbag with no noticeable effect.

and there-in lies the problem.

ok, which drive is it in? this one? hmmm no, this one then, hmm no...

oh shoot, it's in another pen drive which is in my office. ok class, you guys just hold on while I go get it.

aghh!!! where is that pen drive?

etc etc etc

najwan and solat

when the others take their wudhu', he insists on taking his wudhu' too. actually, sometimes he just does it on his own. when we hear the stool being dragged to the sink, that's najwan taking his wudhu.' he does the whole thing -- face, hands, hair, ears, legs except tertib :).

his solat will depend on his mood. if he feels like following others for the whole 3 or 4 rakaat, he'll do the whole thing. sometimes he'll just do one, sit for his tahiyat and gives the salam and 'dah, adik solat dah.' sometimes he'll pray on his own.

mummy has 'banned' him from solat jemaah @ #43 coz the kids all burst out laughing.

he's getting much better though. abah likes to take him to the surau.

last night, he decided to say his isya'. he was only wearing his pajama top and diaper.

kak ngah: eee, tak tutup aurat.
najwan: ha-ah, solat kena tutup aurat kan.

and he proceeded to do his solat :).