Hello November!

The clock ticks very fast and without realizing we enter into November already. I can still remember we (read: the Nz gals minus our hubs) were so busy doing our last minute checks before we finally flew to the land of the middle earth, on this November two years ago. November last year I was so busy with my back-to-back pitching while at the same time attending the umrah course and tried to finish reading the book, so that I am well-prep for the spiritual journey. Alhamdulillah everything turns out well, though I had a very bad stomach cramping on the 1^st day we landed on the Holy land, the very same day we completed our 1^st umrah wajib. Frankly I couldn’t remember the details now, blame it to my laziness, I should’ve documented my journey right after I got back to Malaysia.

But a lot of things happened after that, I went to Terengganu for our GPMM retreat 4 days after I came back, then come January 2017 I moved to a new unit and tried to cope with new things and responsibilities, Idlan went to a boarding school, well so many other things happen that somehow change the routine and environment within our little family. Go visit Idlan every alternate week (I cooked nasi lemak sotong/ayam goreng rempah each time we visit him, sweet tak mama haha), listen to the arguments between the middle and younger brother each time they berebut the handphone, Irfan with his new-found sentences and non-stop questions which at times made me amazed with his milestones, hubby busy with his weekend training, I got a pneumonia for a week+ after we came back from Langkawi that made me went to the clinic twice for nebulizer (while hub was away from home, sedih ok) and just two days ago I got a jab due to severe senggugut pain that I had for the first time in my life (so tragic that I thought I had a fibroid or cyst kind of thing, or maybe the IUD got displaced and moved to a wrong position, and the pain and contraction was so severe mcm sakit nak bersalin that I couldn’t do anything for the whole day except lying down on the bed on a supposed-to-be nice weekend). 

So that’s what happened and is currently happening in 2017, and pejam celik now we’re in November already. Idlan has done with his final exam, alhamdulillah he did it quite well this time, as compared to his 1^st term. ‘Well’ does not means he got a straight As (he got D for Maths ok, turun menjunam from a B that almost made me screamed at the phone when he made the revelations that day haha) but he recorded a major improvement nonetheless, which was a huge relief. At least we knew that he’s happy, he’s on track, he’s coping well, and he loves staying there. His hafazan is also very well on-track, now on the 10^th juzuk. Alhamdulillah Allah terangkan hati dia and eases his journey to become a huffaz. So for what he has achieved thus far, I always tell myself that I must not complaint when he didn’t get top 10 in class, or scored straight As in the final exam. His challenge as ‘budak tahfiz’ is tougher, and I just adore his spirit and perseverance in pursuing this. Moga terus istikhomah anakku :)

Irfan Faris is also doing very well in his speech department. Some may not knew that he once saw a speech therapist, has attended a few therapy session before I slowly (read: purposely) start postponing his session and finally decided to disappear just like that because he has shown major improvements and a mother instinct told me that he doesn’t need one anymore. Allow me to recall few of his sentences that made us laugh, or even mad at him. That tiring moment when we ‘hiked’ uphill towards the famous Sky Bridge in Langkawi and stopped few times to catch some air while complaining penatnyaaa, he uttered ‘kenapalah korang penat ni, Irfan tak penat pon!’ Well he tak penat simply because myself and idlan yg bergilir2 dukung dia dlm hutan tuh, ofcoz dia tak penat mendaki!! And there was another moment when Idlan and the other brothers walked fast ahead of him inside the Oriental Village, obviously he was left behind and suddenly he screamed….”abang-abang tunggulah Irfan, abang-abang janganlah laju sangat!” I was like OMG how on earth he got that kata ganda ‘abang-abang’..bijaknya :p So that’s my Irfan, my miracle boy who once fought for life due to severe laryngomalacia.

my cheekiest lil' monster

Ok don't be fooled with that sad-looking face, he's not tired at all trust me!

the middle and younger brother, they can become best friends and turn into rival in split seconds!

Now u know siapa yg letih, tgk muka si abang yg mencuka tuh :p

Irfan has taught us a lot of things, that hardship won’t last, sadness won’t last, and that nothing lasts in this world. Time shall passed that one day you’ll be thankful to Allah for things or challenges that happened to you. Insya Allah with His will.

So now we have less than two months till we parted with 2017 and welcome 2018. I foresee this whole week the middle and younger brother must be busy sharing and comparing their final exam results, my mom is busy preparing some simple hantaran for my adik’s engagement day next two weeks, come Dec we’ll be going to Legoland and Melaka (again!) to celebrate though the results are not out yet (thanks to their mama yg sgt baik hati janji macam2 before exam :p) and soon after 2017 is over.

Alhamdulillah for everything Ya Allah. I am thankful for all the good things that happened to me and my little family. May tomorrow be better than today, may we always remember you and do not neglect our obligations, and may we always be grateful for all the rezeki and nikmat that you have conferred upon us. Amin ya rabbal alamin.

our obligatory shot - hotel's mirror!

1st pit stop, before reaching to that 'precious' Sky Bridge..haha

Cheesy Chicken Fritters

Cheesy chicken fritters:

2 pcs chicken breasts (diced), 1/2 cup flour, 2 eggs, 1 cup mozarella/cheddar cheese, 1/4 cup mayonnaise, diced capsicum, salt, black pepper. Can also add fresh chillis, diced carrots, shredded potato, onion, etc to your likings.

Pls try, they are so yummy!
Suitable to freeze as well.

GP 21 Days Fitness Challenge

Just a small effort towards a better and healthier lifestyle, so i decided to join this fitness challenge organized by another unit in my division. Not really to challenge myself or to reduce more weight, i just hope my cholesterol reading gets better, and the body fat % shows some reduction at the end of the program.

So 2 weeks had passed until it was launched. We had salsation, piloxing and tabata to date. Some were done after office hours, some during lunch hour. I noticed i need to take enough calories during lunch so that i can keep and sustain my energy level till the end of each exercise session. There was one day where i almost lost my breath and felt lack of o2 after the 1-hr piloxing session, lucky i didn't collapse haha.

Anyway, need to remember that for a balanced lifestyle it will always work at this ratio 80% eat: 20% exercise. To practice the 'eat clean' habit is easy, but to stay istiqamah like forever is the hardest, agree? I admit i fail at this part, for i cannot live without cakes and chocolates :p I can take wholemeal bread or Belvita biscuits for a week and forget about my usual nasi lemak dose, but to forgo cakes and chocolates is like to transform myself to a wholly different person altogether.

This is my body reading, for personal record.

25.9.2017:
Body weight: 51.1kg
% fat: 29.1
Visceral fat: 2
Muscle: 28.1
Body age: 32
kcal: 1147
BMI: 19.5

2.10.2017:
Body weight: 50.2kg (i think because i puasa the day before)
% fat: 28.8
Visceral fat: 2
Muscle: 28.2
Body age: 31
kcal: 1134
BMI: 19.1

 So the program will end next week, but we're going for a short holiday next week. Holiday means makan-makan and breaching your strict adherence to eating clean. Konfem takde harapan nak menang lah nih! :)

But again we also need to remember, you are what you choose to be, if you want to be happy, do what makes you happy.

Conversation with kids

#1. My eldest holler me late this evening.
He: Mama esok dtg tak?
Me: Ala taklah, kan baru je blk dr cuti. Nx wk boleh outing. Kenapa nk mama dtg..rindu ke?
He: Takdela..dtg ajar Maths ke mcm aritu. Td blaja theorem pitagoras.
Me: Emm idlan tanyala kengkawan lain yg terer tu, ada kn..tanya diorang yer. Nnt paham la tu...
Me: Ok mama! (sounds cool n relax as always)
* This has been circling my mind quite a number of times. Probably one of the cons of sending him to boarding school, i cant be there for him at all times. But on a positive note, he will learn to be more independent, responsible n survive on his own. Sedih. Full stop.

#2. After the younger two were done with their Maths revision tonight.
We talked about so many things, from syaitan to iblis yg refuse to obey to Nabi Adam, how iblis promised to sesatkan manusia and heret us to neraka, syafaat Rasulullah, how Allah destroyed kaum Luth and their belongings, few things that they read in their Science book but were actually already explained in Quran like bumi beredar mengelilingi matahari, bulan beredar keliling bumi, mlm dan siang, how Allah made gunung sebagai pasak bumi, sungai mengalir n suburkan tanaman, hujan turun dr awan utk suburkan bumi and finally tercerita pasal satu laut yg mama dh lupa nama dia tapi air dia ada 2 color yg slightly berbeza dan ada garisan pemisah antara keduanya. I googled n showed them the pic and they were both awed n blurted out "hebatnya Allah!" Haa kannn mmglah Allah hebat semua Dia dh explain dlm Quran dan ada jawapan. Esok bila dh besar bole baca tafsir..memcm korang jumpa nnt!
Firas: hishhh kalo firas citer kt kawan ni mesti derang x percaya.
Me: Kalau nk kasi derang percaya, firas kena quote surah apa ayat berapa lah 😅 Nah cuba igt nih 🙃
#conversationwithkids

Things change, life goes on

Last night after Isya' hubby said...rasa sunyi plak rumah nih.

Firas said..rindulah abg idlan takde.

Asked Irfan..where's abg Idlan?
Then we helped him to answer...abg idlan pegi asraaamaaa.

So now when we repeat the same question to him..he will answer...aaa aaa maa!

Mama rindulah kt Idlan. Mlm td ok je lagi, tp bila solat pagi nih..aduhai sayu plak bila teringat.

2017 - Idlan, Form 1, time flies!

My last post was about his trial xm, and tomorrow he's going to a boarding school already, a completely different phase of life i must say! Cpt masa berlalu kan.

2016 was truly a blessed year for us the whole family. Though we didnt go for any overseas travel, Allah has bestowed us with so many great things i couldnt mentioned enough.

Idlan performed well in his upsr and psra exam, one of the best gifts he gave to us apart from being a very obedient and responsible 'abg sulung'. For this, i am very thankful to Allah for He chooses us to be the parents to this lil boy, and ofcoz to his other siblings.

Firas also ended his Year 2 in style, made way to the stage again together with Idlan. He recently told us he wanted to go to Oxford, i was like wowwww this guy knew the existence of Oxford U!!

Ammar had his kindy convo, and now in Year 1. He literally cried almost everyday n refused to enter into Kafa during the Dec's orientation that idlan n ustazah had to pull n carried him inside, but alhamdulillah no drama whatsoever on the 1st day of school last week. Lega mak!!

Irfan Faris my miracle baby is no longer a small baby. Alhamdulillah he grows well and healthy, and looks like he is completely recovered from laryngomalacia. His vocabs increases from mth to mth, i think i shouldnt worry much about his speech.

We ended 2016 with me n hubby went to perform our 1st umrah. All went well for us, and kids who were left here with nek umi and atok at Ampang for 12 days.

And finally on career side, i am now again undergo another round of job rotation, new unit new team bigger roles n responsibilities.

As i have always remind and tell myself, i was at my weakest point in 2015, but Allah has picked me up and blessed us with lots of good things in return after He tested us with Irfan's sickness. For that i must not forget Him, and must always put my faith in Him, in whatever undertakings.
I hope i can stay istiqomah in improving my relationship with Him, apart from always doing the best for my family n company.

Alhamdulillah terima kasih Ya Allah. Allahuakbar.