Back from "Kota Kinabalu 2013"

i got some photos from the boys' iPods. quite nice having 4 extra pair of eyes around…

alhamdulillah, it was a good holiday. the boys had fun, they saw many things new to them, they learned about east & west malaysia (especially about sunrise & sunset), amir learned to read maps, the journey not too tiring, the hotel was excellent. can't wait for our next holiday - when and where, heh heh.

In The Meantime...

Kota Kinabalu 2013

Asyraf Turns 7

after he ended his first year in primary school, asyraf finally turned seven years old. for 6 weeks, i could entertain the idea of having twins in the family, as ariff turned six a month before asyraf had his birthday.

asyraf's birthday celebration started with me singing him the birthday song in the morning and had to be put on hold when hubby had his attack. the plan for dinner was tentative, the plan for birthday present was totally put aside, there wasn't even birthday hugs and kisses going around that morning.

but as hubby started to feel better by the second half of the day, we made more concrete plans for a birthday dinner and present. while dinner would proceed, asyraf's birthday present had to wait till the next day when hubby felt strong enough for a trip to the mall.

as usual, we went over to chili's for dinner. a familiar place and the boys know what they wanted even before we left the house. usually we would ask the waiters to sing for the birthday boy but we weren't up to it that day. and asyraf didn't want the normal birthday dessert they brought, he wanted his cheesecake with strawberry sauce so we ordered that and sang quietly for him.

the next day, we dropped by setia city mall to get asyraf's present - ps3 fifa14 and added the lego batman game. asyraf was over the moon and was jumping around in the car on the way back. once we got home, we didn't see him at all until dinner time. guess he really loves the present. well, he loves it so much he even promised never to take off his glasses, so that's saying a lot!

asyraf izzuddin, you've been really lovely in teaching us the importance of being patient but maybe you can tone down the drama king act a little bit, yeah?

my seven year old footballer throughout the year...

Yet Another

twice in a year and twice 'almost', that makes it four attacks in a year. this is the worse so far that hubby's suffered. each time have been very draining, trying to ensure he is alright while keeping an eye on the boys. made even worse with the number of attacks that has happened this year.

this time, it happened while he was alone in the room. i was with the boys, preparing them for school, singing happy birthday to asyraf, which incidentally was hubby's last memory before it happened, hearing the birthday song. i waited for hubby to finish getting ready but he took so long that i started to get worried. i looked for him and found him on the floor. as i opened the door, he sat up, looking confused and couldn't speak. my first question to him was 'you kena lagi ke?' yeah well, not the brightest of questions but what can you actually say at that time.

i called for amir as i needed another pair of hands to get hubby to the bed. it was the first time amir's seen hubby post-attack. he remembers the incident in the car 3 years ago but the boys were brought out of the car before hubby came to. this time he saw how hubby was after the attack. and amir being amir, after helping hubby to the bed and his daddy was ok, left the room to cry. he told us last night that he was shocked and scared to see hubby unable to remember him, what day it was, why amir was dressed as he was, where amir was going. he couldn't understand why hubby couldn't talk and was acting the way he did.

much as i don't want to put a heavy burden on the shoulders of an eight year old, i prepared amir with the thought that he may need to be the one to take care of hubby, if i am not around. so i have been doing some reading to share with him.

epilepsy is a neurological disorder marked by sudden recurrent episodes of sensory disturbance, loss of consciousness or convulsions, associated with abnormal electrical activity in the brain. electrical activity happens in the brain all the time. a seizure happens when there is sudden burst of intense electrical activity. this intense electrical activity causes a temporary disruption to the way the brain normally works, meaning that the brain's messages become mixed up. this results in an epileptic seizure.

a person with epilepsy has had two or more unprovoked seizures, regardless of seizure type. there are many types of epilepsy depending on the age, seizure type, doctor's findings, family history and neurological history.

most doctors recommend that persons with epilepsy get adequate sleep. insufficient sleep or disrupted sleep can trigger a seizure. for persons with epilepsy, lack of proper sleep can increase their chances of having a seizure or increase the intensity and duration of a seizure. a seizure is an excessive surge of electrical activity in the brain that usually lasts from a few seconds up to a few minutes.

for now, both are on the mend. hubby rested a lot yesterday and amir had time to digest what he saw and what he will face. both are coping well, insyaAllah.

Year-End Party

ariff & akmal had their year-end party last week. ariff was especially excited to celebrate with his friends before they move on to primary school. akmal was just meh about it. he was more concerned about what he should wear to the party.

ariff asked if he could make cupcakes for his friends. akmal wanted to bring hello panda. ok…not so difficult for either, good for mummy.

they also made simple thank you cards for their teachers and gave them a small token of appreciation.

(yes…that's akmal's writing right there…)

seems they had a grand time at the party *thank you auntie lily for the pictures*

felt bad they had to stay back quite late after the party as amir & asyraf had their event at the SRA.

Hari Kecemerlangan Pelajar 2013

so many school events nearing the end of the school year. while last week was kindy sports day, SRA report card day and SK open day, this week is kindy year-end party and the SRA prize giving ceremony.

sending the boys to SRA (amir initially) was because i was working and did not want amir to stay at transit the whole morning, without doing anything. i wasn't too keen on sending to SRA but rather than wasting his time while waiting for school to start in the afternoon, i would rather he gain knowledge and learn and better himself. so it was a pretty last minute decision, sending amir to SRA. we found that it doesn't really tire him out and he benefitted greatly from going to SRA, therefore asyraf followed suit.

alhamdulillah, this year both showed good results in SRA, much better than their performance in primary school, honestly. on the last friday of the school year, we attended the prize giving ceremony where both received awards - amir for being the class monitor and best student in jawi, while asyraf for being the class monitor. hopefully getting the awards this year will encourage and propel them to do better next year, insyaAllah.