Ben&Gwen

Izani got this Ben10 Colouring book in a party goodie bag one day.
He opened the first page of the book and went, "Eyeewwww... love hearts!!"
His siblings started crowding around him to see and I heard them all expressing disgust one after another.
"What??? Ben&Gwen???"
"Why are they hugging??"
"and what's up with her tummy??"
"eyeeewwwww... are they married??"
"Eyewwww"
"Eyewww"
Ilham finally took a look at it, and being the eldest, tried to tone it all down by offering an explanation, "I think Ben just gave Gwen a piece of cake and she's so full that's why her tummy is like that. And she's happy and is hugging Ben to say thanx"
They were quiet for a bit until someone said
"You know if Ben married Gwen, it's like abang marrying aliya"
"eyeeeewwwww!!!!" they all went.

No offence to Aliya, coz she's a gorgeous girl, but marrying your cousin is. just. eyew.

Who came up with this picture anyway?? sicko.
I can never watch Ben10 the same way again.

First of Ramadhan 1430

If you've read my blog in previous years, you'd know that my first day of Ramadhan usually ends in chaos. I would usually still be cooking when the adzan maghrib is called.
Well, guess what, this year I was all ready!! I actually got to sit at the table to break my fast :) yay!
What's different?
This year all my kids helped out.

I got Ilham and Ihsan help me make the samosas (Ilham made the potato ones, Ihsan made the cheese ones). I laid everything out on the kitchen table - the samosa leaves, a bowl of water (to soften the leaves and act as glue to seal the edges), the cheeses and curried potatoes at different 'stations'. I showed them how to carefully peel the samosa leaves, how to position the filling, ow to fold it into a neat triangle, how to seal it and how to arrange then neatly in tupperwares. I now have enough samosas to last me .. maybe 3 days.

Anis helped me peel garlic for the sambals (sauces) and bumbu (spices) for chicken rice. She also helped out in miscellaneous tasks as in taking out required ingredients from the frdige, and re-arranging the samosa in the tupperwares because somehow her elder brothers do not have the aptitude to 'arrange neatly'. She also helped prepare the salad to go with the chicken rice we were having, and helped me make air cincau (grass jelly drink).

Most suprisingly, though, was Izani. I guess watching everyone help out, he wanted to help out too! His motor skills are not adept enough yet for folding samosas, and it took him forever to peel one clove of garlic, so I got him to do something I knew he'd enjoy thoroughly. I got him to pound garlic and ginger with the mortar&pestle.
You should have seen him, sitting cross-legged on the floor, holding the mortar with both hands, just pounding away. After a few minutes of pounding while sitting down, he decided to do it while lying flat on his stomach. I kept asking him if he was okay or if he needed any help, but he said he was doing fine. At one point Anis asked if she could try pounding and he possessively said "No! I do it!". He did quite a good job, actually. I only needed to pound it a few times more to make the ginger&garlic finer, but he definitely did most of the work. While I did the actual cooking, he went upstairs and fell right to sleep!



At the dinner table, everyone was so proud of their work. They pointed out to Taufik which dish they helped make. (I had to point out to Anis which dish had her garlic in it).
Alhamdulillah.
Perhaps I could have them make murtabak today.
tee hee.

Ramadhan Kareem, everyone!

Izani's Itsy Bitsy Spider

At last...
Somehow this video couldnt be uploaded into Yootoob. I kept getting "Uploading failed". I almost gave up totally. Then today I visited salt&vinegar, and discovered vimeo.
Thanx PB!


Enjoy :)

izani spider song from elisa taufik on Vimeo.

School Searching

We are pretty sure that we'll be moving back home by this December the latest.

So now, we're starting to search for schools for our children.
Ilham will be 12 (Year 6), Ihsan will be 11 (Year 5) and Anis will be 8 (Year 2). Izani will need to go to a Taska.

Personally, I would like my kids to go to an English-medium school.
It's not that I don't want them to speak Malay, but it's because I want them to have an easier first few months of school, without going through class not understanding lessons or instructions, or worse, being teased by their friends for not being able to speak Malay. I want them to be able to feel confident in a new environment. I want them to be able to make new friends.
Furthermore, Ilham would be taking his UPSR (a national level exams, not unlike SATS). I dont know how much of the syllabus he has to catch up with, but I think his pace would be slower if he has to do the catching up in a language he doesn't really grasp. At least if the classes are in English, he only needs to be up to speed with the topics, not the language, right? If I don't have to worry about the other papers, at least I can concentrate on helping him with the Bahasa Malaysia and Agama papers (less work and worry for me. Yay!)

I would also like my kids to go to an Islamic Integrated school, the kind that combines the national curricullum and the religious curricullum.
When Ilham was in Year 1 for the 6 months before we moved to Saudi, he had had to go to the national school in the morning, then on to the religious (KAFA) school in the afternoon. I had to pick him up from school, rush through lunch, then poke and prod him to change into his KAFA uniform and walk to school. Even though the KAFA school was practically at our doorstep (my mom's front gate is right in front of the mosque's gate, where the school is), I still found the schedule pretty tight. I can't imagine what it was like for kids who lives a little further away from us. By the time Ilham came home from KAFA, he's pretty pooped out and just wants to play. He would be too tired or too fed up with anything to do with school for homework.
I think having the religious lessons incorporated into their regular school would be less of a hassle, for the kids and also for me. I don't have to worry about two uniforms, two school bags, two schedules, two exams..
The religious school is not compulsory, but I would like my children to at least have the basic knowledge of the religion they are practising. I am ashamed to say that even though we are living in Saudi,(which is supposedly the epitome of an islamic country), my children have had very little religious education because they go to an international school that is not allowed to have religious classes by the Ministry of Education.
We do our best on our own of course. Apart from the Qur'an lessons three times a week by a Pakistani imam, most of their religious lessons were informal. We've taught them how to properly perform solat and the recitations involved, we've taught them how to properly fast and the rules about it, we've taught them the components of umrah/hajj and its significance, we try to instill Islamic values as much as we can, and point out the greatness and wisdom of God in our every day life and activities but these were all done by example and by doing. There were no notes, no reference books, no lapbooks. If you ask my children to list out the five pillars of islam, the six pillars of faith, Allah's names and attributes, the 25 messengers, the obligatory steps in solat, they wouldn't know. If you ask them to take a test, they would fail. I want their knowledge to be complete, to be at elast at par with other students who have gone through formal religious classes.

So, in conclusion, I am looking for an English-medium Islamic Integrated School.
Preferably within driving distance from our current house in Kelana Jaya (assuming we don't move elsewhere).

Unfortunately, most Islamic Integrated Schools are way over on the other side of the Klang Valley, in Gombak, Bukit Antarabangsa and Ampang.
There are only 3 on this side of the Klang Valley (that I have found):
Integrated School Shah Alam (ISSA - http://issa-primary.com/)
Integrated Islamic School Kota Damansara (IISKD - http://iiskd.org/index.php)
ITQAN Integrated Islamic School (ITQAN - http://www.itqan.com.my/index.htm)

ISSA currently only accepts students up to Year 5.
ITQAN somehow doesn't teach Islamic or Qur'an lessons (?).

So my best bet right now would be IISKD. It has a primary school *and* secondary school. I don't know how much they'll cost me, since my queries via their website have gone unreplied.. :P
Perhaps I should call them.

If you have any information on any other schools around PJ/Damansara/Taman Tun, please do drop me a line ;)

"If you like it, save the rainforest"

Anis was going 'round the house singing "If you like it, save the rainforest", over and over again.
I thought that she had developed a love for the environment.

We were listening to the World Chart Show on Radio Bahrain when I realized that she was singing the chorus to Beyonce's Single Ladies.

tee hee

That song makes me wanna bop and jiggy.

p/s
Have you seen the Envirosax(r) at Living Wing? They are *SO* cute!! I want one!!! I want four!!!

Izani is 3!

Izani turned three today.
I had taken a video to show you how much he has progressed in terms of his speech, but it's taking forever to upload into Yootoob, so I'm just gonna write about his progress.

This boy talks alot.
Sometimes you can understand him, sometimes you can't. I am pretty amazed at his understanding of the applications of certain words and phrases though.
Like he knows how to use 'because'. He knows when to use "You're so mean!" and that it's the opposite of "You're so nice".
The other day he was arguing with his dad and he said "You're so mean!" and Taufik said he won't take him to the pool and he retracted and said "You're so nice, ayah. I want to be your friend".
tee hee.

He has quite a good memory too.
During our vacation in Oman, we played the shopping list game where everybody take turns to recite the shopping list before adding their very own item at the end of the list (thus making the list longer and longer as the game progresses). Izani joined in and he not only understood the rules of the game, but he could remember most of the items on the list, (even the unusual ones, like MountainDew) albeit some not in order.

He is somewhat toilet trained.
He only wears diapers for bed and during long journeys (just in case). So far he has been very good at holding it and telling us when he needs to go. Yesterday he even went himself. He climbed up the toilet, sat, did his thing, grabbed the sprayhose thingy, washed himself, climbed down, dried, flushed and ran out quickly from the bathroom. I only heard the flush and saw him running out when I realized that he had done it all on his own.
The other day he had an accident, though. We were at a friend's house in Muscat. I had brought him to the toilet the moment we arrived, but about an hour later the bigger boys came complaining that Izani peed in his pants. Apparently he was playing with a bag of ice. I never knew that affected your bladder somehow. But oh my god the embarassment!!! I wanted to die. I had to wash off Izani and apologized profusely to the lady of the house. :P
He still has the habit of taking off his clothes whenever he wants, though, and now that he's not wearing diapers, it's worse , coz he'd be dangly all over the house. I had bought him tiny underwear (which he correctly calls 'underpants') but he seldom wears them.

I can't wait to send him to school in September. I think he'll love it.


Happy 3rd Birthday Izani!!

Anis is 7 :)

Anis had been counting down to her birthday since about a month ago. She had made this calendar at school. It had her drawing of the four seasons and a month-to-month tear away calendar stabled on it. She had been crossing out dates and reporting to me "its something-something more days to my birthday!".
Even then, I still forgot to make some cupcakes for her classmates on the day, and I forgot to plan a party.
I didn't forget to wish her though. That was the first thing I did when I saw her in the morning. She was all smiling and excited, humming tunes for an upcoming school production.

Even though Taufik was out at the customer's office from 9am till 4pm that day, he managed to squeeze in some time to make Anis a birthday card before he came home.

I thought that was really sweet of him. :)

I asked Anis what kind of cake she wanted and she said she wanted a chocolate cake and that she loved the walnut brownies I made last weekend. So I decided to make a brownie cake, in a round pan, slap on some whipped cream and arrange some marshmallows as decorations.



We had to wait for her to finish her dinner before we could cut the cake (because or else she'd be full on cake) and it took her forever! I had time to come upstairs, check on messages and read friends' FB statuses before she came up to tell me she was done with dinner and we could cut the cake.
She liked how the marshmallows look, but didnt like to eat it :P Izani, on the other hand, would happily help eat other people's marshmallows.
I cut up some leftover brownie-cake and put it in a tupperware for her to take to school the next day.

I hope she feels as special for the rest of her life like she did on her birthday.

Happy Birthday and I love you, little bear!

Preparing Myself - Leaving the kids

I've been preparing the kids about being away for us for 10 days since the day we decided to go for Hajj (about 2,3 months ago). I consulted them on who they would like to stay with. I told them why I needed to go and why I couldn't bring them along like when we were going to Umrah. I briefed them on what was the acceptable and expected behaviour at someone else's house (make the bed, clean up messes, help wash dishes, take care of your own laundry). I told them to pray for my safety after they solat. I also told them that their dad is going to come back home with a surprise (bald head). They keep urging to me to tell them what it will be, but Taufik and I said it wouldnt be a suprise if I told them.

Izani had been watching me pack these last few weeks and he's been asking me
"Yee goin?" (Where are you going?) and I've been telling him I was going to Makkah and when he says "I wan go makah" (I want to go to Makkah) I would tell him "You will stay with Auntie Ana, and I'd tell him he'd get to eat currypuffs and watch TV and watch Ben10 and Dinosaurs and he was happy with the response.

So yesterday we sent the kids to Kak Ana and Ahmad Shah's house. We spent about 3 hours there, assuring ample time for the kids to know the family and their kids, telling them how to prepare Izani's milk, what my kids like/dont like to eat and such. Kak Ana and Ahmad Shah have been helping to take care of people's kids many times before, so I was assured that my kids will be safe.

When it was time to say goodbye, Anis and Ilham came and hugged me tight. Ihsan, however, was bawling his eyes out. He was asking why he could go with me, he promised he'd be good and would hold tightly to my hand so that he wouldnt get lost. I tried to explain to him why I thought it would be dangerous for him to come along, but yet I was also reluctant to tell him of all the dangers coz I was worried if he would think that his parents would be in danger. SO I tried to appease him by telling Ilham to let Ihsan play with the computer. Ihsan finally calmed down after Taufik gave him 10riyals for pocket money. hee hee.

Izani ...
was totally hunky dory! He kissed me, hugged me and said "I laf yew bodha" (I love you Bonda) and went back to eat his carrot. When I was waving the kids goodbye as we drove away, Izani was all smiles and waving at me "bye bye, bye bye!".
Sheesh.

I didn't cry.

Until it was time for bed, and I was checking my alarm on my phone and saw izani's face on the screen saver.
dang.
I lay in bed looking at the empty spot in between Taufik and I where Izani usually sleeps, and I could almost feel him hugging me and his tiny peck on my lips as he would say "goo nite bodha, i laf yew bodha". I could smell his lotion and powder on my pillow.
I lost it then.
I asked Taufik whether he thought the kids would be asleep then. We had been re-packing our bags so it was almost 11:30pm, so Taufik said it'd be too late to call.
*sigh*

I called them at 9am this morning.
Izani was still asleep, only Ilham wanted to talk to us. Ihsan and Anis was at the computer and couldnt care less.

hokay.
One less worry on my mind.
Now, concentrate on hajj!

Anis the Scarecrow

I don't really 'celebrate' Halloween. It's not in my culture (nor religion) and I don't really believe in it. I also don't like the idea of giving children cavities. I mean, how is it that you tell them "not too much candy" on other days, but then shower them with candy on this one day? No wonder they're confused.

Every year towards the end of October though, kids in KeyStage1 (ages 4 to 7) at my children's school gets a letter that they get to wear costumes to school on the very last day of the very last week. The idea of going to school in normal clothes itself excites the children, what more costumes! So for a few weeks in October, I get bugged with costume ideas and whines about why they cant go to school as this, or that.
I try to play it down, make them wear their normal clothes and tell them they are a librarian or an army guy in covert operation so they must be disguised in plainclothes. Last year Anis wore her lacy kebaya from bandung and I stuck a fake plastic crown on her head and told her she's a Malaysian princess.

This year Anis wanted to be a princess again, because (whine) "But Hanna's going to be a princess!!!!". I balked at the idea. I mean.. I dont want her to stereotype herself. I actually thought of getting her a hardhat and make her go as a drilling engineer. But I'm too lazy to go look for a small hardhat.
So looking at stuff I had around the house and her existing clothes, I suggested to Anis that she could be a scarecrow. She was excited enough to not bug me everyday with her "What can I wear? What can I wear?".

She went to school today looking like this:

The overalls, long sleeve t-shirt and hat were all from her closet.
I cut up square pieces from remnants of the baju kurung & dress I made her (I swear, I wont mention it again), and sewed them on the overall and tshirt with exagerrated stitching to look like patches.
I cut up strips from yellow plastic bag, tied them on rubber bands to create 'straw' bracelets for her hands and feet. The same strips of yellow plastic bag were also used to line the hat to make it look like it was filled with straw.
This morning I braided her hair, put some foundation on her face, and drew the scarecrow smile, eyes and nose.

She was so happy!
As I watched her walk to the bus, her friend Hanna was dropped off by her dad. I could hear her scream excitedly to Hanna, "I'm a scarecrow!!"
I hope she has fun in school.

son sleeping solo

Taufik was still on holiday on saturday while the other kids had to go to school, so Izani got some precious one-on-one time with his ayah


Somehow I feel like Izani is growing up faster than my other kids. Perhaps it's because he has older siblings to teach him stuff. I think he talks faster and better compared to my other kids when they were his age, and he is also more physically adept (he can put on his shoes on his own, even knows how to switch and put the right one on the right foot) compared to the others.

What is most obvious at the moment is he is sleeping seperately from me at an earlier age than the others. If you can recall, it was a battle to get the older ones to sleep in their own room. With Izani however, he was the one who initiated the move.

One night, we were in bed, he asked "I wan seep, iham hoom". At first I thought he meant 'home', and I kept telling him we were home and that his abang Ilham is home as well. He kept insisting "Iham hoom!" till he was almost crying, when I finally realized that he meant he wanted to sleep in Ilham's room.

So we let him.

The first few nights, he'd be playing instead of sleeping. One night he even managed to convince all his siblings to wake up and watch TV. I woke up to find all four of them sprawled on the sofa in the TV room, and they all blamed Izani for 'making them watch TV'. I told them to be firm with Izani and say No the next time he asks. They also got nagged about it everytime they complain about being sleepy during the proceeding day.
He doesn't make them watch TV anymore, but sometimes he does bug them to play or read him a book, but I just told them to go to sleep and ignore Izani (for I know how they can sleep like a log and ignore distractions when they want to). Sure enough, after a while, Izani would fall asleep as well. It's kinda cute watching Izani pull up the covers up to his chin and repeat "goo nite bonda, i love you" after his older siblings.

So nowadays I have my bed and my husband all to myself. tee hee.
I can't help but feel sad sometimes, though. I miss having Izani sleep beside me. I miss getting a little hug from him in the middle of the night. I miss his tiny kicks to my back or tummy or face. I miss his squeaky snore. I miss him nuzzling under my armpit for comfort. I miss reaching out at night to hug his tiny purring body.
I gained a good night's sleep, but I feel like I lost my teddy bear.

*sigh*
Kids grow up so fast, don't they?

juvenile jiggy-ing

My kids dancing to the new radio:


I don't know what they ate to make them so hyper that night.
And Izani was just his normal cheeky self.

Panic! not at the dancefloor

Today was my first day as the bus monitor ever since the school year started. It being Ramadhan and me having to wake up at 3am to prepare sahur for everyone and only go back to sleep at 4:15am after fajr prayers made me worry if I could wake up again at 6:15am. On other days, Taufik would be the one waking up the kids and I'd wake up at 6:45 to prepare Anis' lunch box and braid her hair. Today I have to get myself ready as well.
My anxiety had me dreaming that I woke up late, didn't shower or brush my teeth and dragging my kids in their jammies to the bus. So the moment some sunlight seeped through the curtains of my bedroom window, I shot up and checked the time on my handphone. I saw it was 6:45am. 6:45!!! Dayumm my alarm didnt go off!! Or it did and I didnt hear it!! Or maybe I heard it and I switched it off in my sleep!!!
ohmygod ohmy god ohmygod I ran to the kids' rooms and woke them up in a frenzy. "wake up wake up wake up we're late we're late you've gotta get ready for schoool! Anis you just brush your teeth and wash your face and get ready and go down and have breakfast Ilham and Ihsan you have time to shower (coz they are skipping breakfast)". I half-screamed instructions as I myself reached for my toothbrush.
Ilham woke up hair all disheveled looked at the clock with one eye and said "It's okay, we still have time"
"*You* still have time. I have to get ready and then make anis' lunch" I dismissed him , and added "Go go go!! GO brush your teeth!!".
While searching my wardrobe for a decent outfit, Taufik asked me from under his pillow "What are you late for?"
"I'm the bus monitor today, remember.. it's already 6:45!!" I answered.
"It's not. It's 5:45. Cuba tengok jam betul-betul", he said (asking me to look at my watch carefully).
No. Way.
I went to look at my watch and lo and behold.
It *was* 5:45. Not 6:45.
oooops.
"You guyyyssss...." I grinned sheepishly at the boys who just came out from the shower, "I made a mistake. It's still early.. Sorry!".
God bless my kids, they didn't complain a bit.
They put on their uniforms. Ilham combed his hair then got back in bed. I heard Ihsan turn on the computer. I heard Anis get in the shower and taking her sweet time, then after awhile, I heard her switch on Cartoon Network.
Me, I went back to bed, of course.
Only to be woken up at 6:15 by my alarm.
heheheh.

My Kids' Holiday

Today is the first day of school.
Finally, some time for myself .. :)
Now I have time to tell you about how our holiday went, and don't have to wrestle the computer away from people who wants to play runescape.
Let's start with how my children's holiday went, shall we?

10 out of 14 cucu-cucu kustamang

They were really happy to go back this year coz mokciknab's kids were around. I almost didn't recognize Adam coz he looked so different from the last time I saw him. He's taller and leaner now.
We picked up our nieces and nephews whenever we can and had sleepovers as often as we could. You should have seen the ruckus we made every time we took the whole bunch of kids out for a meal at a restaurant. Everyone would take a second look at us and I am sure they were wondering whether all of them were Taufik's and mine coz they do look almost alike.
There was only one air conditioned room in my house so when they were sleeping over there, everyone crammed into that one room. Macam duduk setinggan.
My kids enjoyed themselves very much, though :)



Ilham is really curious about the dynamics of relationships nowadays, especially that of my parents. He had a lot of questions about why my parents are together but not together, why he has a step-grandmother. He absolutely adores his Ki and Wan Shereen, but he's just curious as to how it all happened. Sometimes when I get tired of fielding his questions and am scared that I would accidently let my guard down and he could see my residual bitterness, I would just tell him to ask Ki himself. The last night we were in Malaysia, he did. According to Taufik, he sounded a little rude and got told off for it (by Taufik). I hope Ki knows that he's just asking out of curiosity and not malice.
I wonder if he's old enough to understand the complexities of human relationships.



Ihsan just wants to have fun. And what fun he had. Both he and Ilham got to snorkel for the first time in their lives. We were actually worried how he would do since we had only been swimming in concrete pools before, and not in the open ocean. I buddied up with him while Taufik was with Ilham when we went to our first snorkelling spot, which was near a lighthouse and the water was relatively deep. He struggled a bit at first, trying to get used to his flippers and life jacket, but after a while he was okay and enjoyed himself immensely. He counted how many Nemos he saw. We also got to swim with turles! Ihsan would patiently watch the turles eat sea grass and the moment it showed signs of surfacing for air he would be the first one to chase after it. For his efforts, he got to touch a turtle's flipper. (Actually, you're not allowed to touch the turtles.. *sheepish grin*). The next day we went snorkeling without life jackets (in shallower waters of course) and he was doing quite well. Maybe next year we could try scuba diving ;)



Anis had been complaining about not finding things in her room and she sits really close to the TV when watching it, so we suspected that something was wrong with her eyesight. So one of the first few things we did when we got back home was getting her eyes checked. Turns out that her right eye needed 1.25 lenses and her left 0.5, so we ordered glasses on the spot. She got her glasses a day before we drove back to Alor Setar.
She had wanted pink plastic frames but her brothers said she looked like Betty Suarez so she decided on something that was similar to Taufik's glasses. That didnt stop her brothers from calling her Ugly Betty for a few days, often reducing her to tears. I told her that I think she looked really cute and smart in glasses. Don't you think so?
Taufik taught her how she should always have her glasses on so that her eyesight doesn't deteriorate and how to take care of her glasses. She's quite good at it too, she always finds a table or some kinda ledge to put her glasses on when she goes to sleep or shower.



Izani just wants to try and do everything his older siblings do.
When we got Anis glasses, he wanted one too, so we had to buy him a cheap pair of sunglasses (which he eventually broke). When his brothers climbed trees he tried that too. He even tried to snorkel, but gave up when he discovered his head would get wet (Somehow he has this fear of getting his head wet, which makes bath time a scream fest).
One of the other first few things we did when we got home was go see the dentist. Ilham had a tooth extracted and the doctor gave him a gauze to bite on to control the bleeding. After Izani got his own teeth checked out, he didnt want to get off the chair and pointed to his brother and said "I want I want". We finally figured out that he wanted a gauze to bite on, just like his brother, and the friendly dentist obliged.

More stories later :)

Good Behaviour Chart

About a year ago when Ilham and Ihsan became old enough to do chores, I decided to put up a Star Chart as a reward (thus motivation) system to encourage them to complete their chores. Each chore that is completed well (keyword: 'well') will be rewarded with a star, that could be converted into money that could be spent on anything they want, be it books, toys, trinkets on our travels and what not.
For disobedience (i.e. not listening to me, disrespecting, hitting), I used the naughty-spot/time-out method.

As three of them got older, I think they have outgrown the naughty-spot method, so to keep their behaviour in check especially during the school holidays when tension runs high and opportunities for conflict is aplenty, I have decided to introduce the Good Behaviour Chart.

left: Star Chart, right: Behaviour Chart (click for a bigger image)

Each of them gets an initial 10 points on their chart (Because I believe that they are essentially good). For each bad behaviour (Starting a fight, hitting, not listening/ignoring instructions, screaming, etc), one point will be crossed out. The person(s) with the most good behaviour points at the end of the week will get a reward: They get to choose where we eat during the weekend.
We have only been using it for a week plus, and last week Ihsan chose to eat Roti Telur at Madina Restaurant. This week so far, nobody has gotten their points crossed out yet, but it's only Sunday so we'll see.
I think so far so good. My kids have started to think twice before they do anything, and it only takes a "Do you want a point off?" from me to keep them in check.

Oh man.. now that I've written that all down, I think I sound like some military matron...
*hangs head in shame*

Too Many Ideas

My mom-in-law has this phrase "Banyak akai", which is actually "banyak akal", which literally means "too many ideas". It is often referred to a child who can't seem to sit still, which is exactly what Izani has become.

I am sure Ilham, Ihsan and Anis were as crafty as him, but perhaps I was not as aware of it because I didnt spend the whole day with them. Therefore, I was also spared the frustration of having to clean-up after them and closely monitor them to make sure they don't get into another mischief.
I can't leave Izani alone for even 5 minutes. I went to the toilet this morning and came out to discover he had ripped off the box cover of a borrowed CD. While I was downstairs cooking and his older siblings were engrossed in Hanna Montana, he had thrown all his hot wheels (and something else, we dont know what) into the toilet bowl and flushed it. Because the toilet got clogged, Taufik decided to throw away all of my kids' small toys (poor kids!). I give him a bowl of cereal to eat in front of the TV because he wanted to watch teletubbies and I go make my bed and the next thing I know, the whole living room is covered in cereal. The other day I had to use a tweezer to take a spring out of his nose!

Now Izani's current obsession is taking off his clothes and diapers.
HORROR you know !!!
It started with just him learning to take off his clothes. He'd be running around with only his diapers on and I'd be chasing him yelling "shame shame boy! shame shame boy!". It turned into a game. Then he started pulling the diapers down a bit so that his dickie would stick out. It was funny at first. But then he learnt how to rip open the tabs. He'd be sitting quietly and the next thing I know he'd be nekkid!
He'd still be watching TV, or doing whatever, but he'd be nekkid. The other day I had to wash the sofa coz he had an 'accident'. I will not go into details for fear no one would want to come to my house or invite me over.
This morning.
This morning was the last straw.
He had actually ripped open the seams for the diapers (don't ask me how! Coz the seams are like sewn or something! It boggles me!) and the gel stuff came spilling out.
Eyyyyew okayyyy?????
And do you know how difficult it is to clean up those gels thingies?? I cant wash it out, coz they absorb water. It's like filled with pee and yellow and all so I can't possibly touch it. It's like, really tiny and gets into carpet piles and sofa crevices.
*shudders and screams in disgust*
By hook or by crook, I had to clean them up. I used the small broom thingy and also a vacuum cleaner then sprayed disinfectant all over the place.

While I'm typing this up, I've gotten up and checked on him for, like, 10 times. Last I checked, he was fiddling with the red, white and yellow audio/video connectors on the TV. When he saw me coming, he dropped what he was doing and ran to the sofa and buried his face in the cushions.

Other mommies are making their house safe for their kid. I have to start thinking about keeping my house safe from my kid.

Pening bonda...

cheeky little devil!

Ilham is 10!

Today is Ilham's birthday :)

10 years old is like a milestone in a muslim boy's life. He is expected to perform the 5 solat (prayers) daily and properly and dilligently. We have been teaching Ilham how and when to do this for the past few years. Alhamdulillah he has memorized most of the surahs and recitations, especially the tahiyat (spelling?). He asks and joins his dad for solat jamaah whenever his dad is home. I have to ask him how he's going to do it in school though.

In other areas, I think he's grown a lot since the last year. He's taller and lankier. He eats as much as his dad now. He's grown to like curries :) and is more adventurous when it comes to food. He's at least willing to try new things.
Sometimes I think he's still immature in his thinking. He still talks nonsense and goes off tangent in conversations, which just exasperates me sometimes. Don't get me started on how easily he gets distracted and the stuff he gets distracted with. (No prizes for guessing where he gets that trait from).
He's getting to be very good with his hands though. He has made models of trucks and ships and tanks from pieces of paper and old toothpaste boxes, most of which would be left lying around and destroyed or thrown in the bin in anger by me at one point or another. I really should put them in the display case, but he keeps wanting to play with them, and I let him coz I think he can always make another one.
He's turned into a very responsible boy. I could trust him to look after the younger siblings. He's even good at changing Izani's dirty diapers. Alhamdulillah.

Well, he's not perfect, but he's my boy and we love him to bits and are proud of the acheivements his made, no matter how big or small.

Happy Birthday Ilham!!

(and Happy Birthday to his godfather, Wal a.k.a. Grom Airiss too!)

And I just remembered ... Today is also Nael's birthday.
(Nael - zan's eldest boy)
Happy Birthday 5th birthday Nael!!!

Not So Good Morning Teacher

*pulls hair*

Today the school is having a virtual school day.
That means that the kids are at home, doing school work from home, work that was given to them yesterday or from sites online.
Why are they having a virtual school day?
Because that big dolt from the land of the free is here for a visit, and since our school is right next to the embassy, for security reasons, they have decided not to have kids in school today.
So who has to be the 'teacher' for the day?
Yup.
Me.

Since 7 o'clock this morning, I think I have screamed at them at least 3 times.
Once to make them brush their teeth and have breakfast.
Once to tear them away from the TV (that I turned on to stop Izani from disturbing them) and to start doing their work.
The last time was at 9:30am, at Ilham, because since 8am I asked him repeatedly to show me his homework diary and it took him one and a half hours to finally show me it, coz he kept doing 'other stuff' (he wanted to follow his class schedule to the T - first french, then science, then math, then literacy). When I finally gave up asking and rummaged through his bag for his homework diary, I saw in it that he had a literacy homework that was supposed to be emailed in before 9:30am. It was already 9:30 am and he hasnt even started!!!! arrrghhhhhhhh
sometimes I just want to strangle that boy.

It has only been two and a half hours.
I still have the rest of the day to go through with them.
God Help Me.

This is why I don't think I can ever homeschool my kids.
Or be a teacher.

Izani is 2!

On the occasion of Izani's 2nd Birthday today, I present to you:

Izanish Dictionary - Special 2nd Year Edition

ayah n dad
abahn n "abang" , big brother usually followed by sun or yum
anish n Anis, his big sister, usually preceded by kakaq
appo n hippopotumus
ahs v "ask", used to ask for milk.
awan v "I want", his polite way of asking for something also see nawan
baa n bye
bubba n baby
bubbye n bye bye :)
bus n bus
but n derrier, backside
bunder n "bonda", mom (me)
cane n crane
car n car, often said with gusto
cat n cat
chee-qun n chicken.
chocot n chocolate
cooties n cookies
digger n excavator, bulldozer, diggers. Accompanied with a hand digging action.
drint v, n drink
feet n feet
fits n "fix", used when something is broken
fish n fish
go v go
hen n hand
iron n lion (he can't pronounce 'L' that well)
kakaq n "kakak", big sister, usually followed by anish
kengkoo n "Thank You"
koo-wah n "kuah", gravy for his rice
mah-dee n "mandi", take a bath, usually said as an order to his elder brothers and sister. e.g. "mah-dee!"
mama n mom, used when he wants something especially his milk. also see bunder
me n me, usually accompanied with one hand help up
mun adj "mine"
moose v move
nawan v "I want" said repeatedly. Used when he really really wants something. also see awan
nas n "snap", as in Crocodile
noe n no
noes n nose
nowan v "I dont want", often confused with nawan
oh n an exclamation of realization, sometimes followed by otay
otay adj okay
ought adj hot, often repeated 3 times, as in "hot hot hot!"
ouchy n .. is an ouchy, any kind of pain, felt or inflicted.
peas n please, as in "bunder awan wotar, peas?"
pie-duh n spider
shoos n "shoes", anything he wants put on his feet, including other people's shoes.
soo-shoo n "susu", milk, said with a lilt in the last syllabul.
seep n sleep
sun n "Ihsan" , usually preceded by abahn
trut n truck
tie-*roar* n tiger
uh-gain v "again", as in repeat, either sing, or dance, or read.
wotar n "water"
yum n "ilham", usually preceded by abahn

He can also string words into a sentence now. See if you can have a go at translating these sentences:

1. "bunder, awan cooties"
2. "kakaq anish! moose! moose!"
3. "abahn yum, abahn sun,.... mah-dee!"
4. "uh-gain uh-gain, pie-duh"

Alhamdulillah, Izani has enough books and toys to last him till the next year, but he would like to see other kids have the same joys of reading as him. So, he would really be happy if you could help his favourite clown, Dr.Bubbles, set up a library for an orphanage in Machang.
Come let's help Izani help Dr.Bubbles spread some love around!

The kids' holiday schedule

at the risk of sounding like a military school head master, here is the holiday schedule for my kids:

Time	Activity
8:00 - 8:30	Wake up, brush teeth, shower, dress, make the bed
8:30 - 9:00	Have breakfast
9:00 - 9:30	Clean-up after breakfast, arrange shoes
9:30 - 10:30	Math Exercises
10:30 - 11:30	Ilham/Ihsan play PS2
11:30 - 12:30	Ihsan/Ilham play PS2
12:30 - 1:30	Lunch, clean-up after lunch
1:30 - 3:00	Reading, Jigsaw puzzles, Arts&Crafts or Baking
3:00 - 3:30	Ilham/Ihsan play PS2
3:30 - 4:00	Ihsan/Ilham play PS2
4:00 - 5:30	Play outside
5:30 - 6:00	Shower, dress
6:00 - 7:00	Watch TV
7:00 - 8:00	Dinner, clean-up after dinner
8:00 - 9:00	Free activitity (aside from PS2)
9:00 - ?	Time for Bed

I think that works out well.. I can cook lunch while they play PS2 and cook dinner while they play outside. I'll find an activity that requires minimum supervision for 1pm to 3pm on Wednesday (coz that's when Americ@n Id0l is on).
The schedule is not set in stone afterall.. I am willing to make compromises..
Now I just need to come up with acitivities for the 1:30pm to 3pm slot..
Today I was thinking of having them draw pictures and writing stories.
Tomorrow we're gonna bake a chocolate cake which I'm going to bring to the Tajweed Class.
Day after.. hm.. maybe a little reading. Or crafts with balloons (coz the spider that Anis made has shrunk! so we need to make one to show to lollies).
Wednesday more drawing pictures and writing stories so I can watch AI in the meantime.
I still need to make cookies for spring fair, so maybe that'll take up one/two days.
What else can we do? Any ideas?

Where's Your Nose?

This is a game that Izani loves to play :)



tee hee !