Year One Orientation

my third Year One orientation in three years. the first that i went to without hubby who had to work, the first that i went to with the boys in tow because our resident babysitter was on holiday, the first that i'll actually write about - don't know why i haven't blogged about the other two.

anyway, i was ready very early for this. it started at 8am but i told the boys we'll have to leave by 7.15am latest. of course, we left at 7.30am. we got to school 5 minutes after and i got a nice parking right in front of the gate. i came prepared, i brought along chocolate rolls for breakfast (but without water!) and fully charged iPods. but we were too early that the teachers were not even at the counters. they opened them while we were having breakfast and when i got to the counter for ariff's class, there were already 2 parents ahead of me. oh well, better than the number 20+ i got last year.

ariff was quiet throughout. he only asked a handful of questions, not at all like the ariff we know. we sat towards the back because i was not in the mood to listen to the teachers babble on and on. the boys were already hooked on the iPods and ariff was looking all pensive and nervous. when they called out for the students to line up according to class, i took ariff over to his fellow classmates. the class teacher (who was asyraf's year one teacher) and the assistant teacher went around giving the students their identification tags.

then the children went up to their respective classes and the parents had to endure hours of lecture. asyraf followed auntie lily to the canteen but i was preoccupied with something else and with akmal who refused to move (izzat malu lah dengan auntie lily *grrr*). when they got back, the first lecture was still ongoing, and by the time the second lecture ended we got totally bored and went up to the classroom for payment and registration. ariff's class teacher gave a brief introduction about herself, the payment and the forms/files that she distributed. payment was collected quite fast and i went down to ariff's classroom to pick him up.

ariff had to do an assessment, english and maths he said. according to him, he could answer them but emphasized on him being a good boy rather than the work he had done. oh well…its ariff. i hope the assessment wasn't too difficult for him to do.

since i never had an entry about amir and asyraf's orientation, thought i'd add some photos of them here…

Year-End School Holidays

this year's school holidays seem relatively better than last year's. last year i had a massive culture shock. it was the first time i was alone with the boys 24/7. it was the first time they actually had a holiday, able to get up late, sleep late (11pm at the latest), not having to go to daycare. there was times when i screamed so loud the whole street could hear me, i locked them out of the house, i cried, i locked myself in the room. it was horrible.

this year, it was better. the first week of school holidays didn't feel like a holiday because amir & asyraf started their 3-week holiday camp at the nearby mosque. ariff & akmal had another week of school to replace the kindy closure during the haze and during raja haji week. it was this week that i went out to get the first batch of school stuff.

the second week we went for a holiday and in the third week, amir & asyraf went back to their holiday camp. so three weeks out of the six & a half weeks ticked off with no screaming. during these three weeks hubby was still on medical leave so things were bearable.

mummy vs 4 boys only started in the fourth week of school holidays. it wasn't too bad as i had massive help from the iPods and the ps3. time seems to float by with them around. i would alternate between gadgets and outdoor activities (when the weather permits) and doing exercises on activity books.

a couple of times a week, i took the boys out to nowhere specific. we went to do a bit of clothes shopping, book shopping at the big bad wolf sale, pool birthday party, grocery shopping, finalizing school stuff, low-key things like that.

generally we stayed home, the boys playing in their playroom in the morning before moving to the tv room for some movies in the afternoon. usually after lunch they get a bit antsy and i get a bit pissed but nothing a kick-a-bout outside can't solve.

we've got a week left (4 days actually what with the holidays wedged in) before schools resume. we're pretty much done with preparing the school stuff, just need to get the boys on track with waking up, especially ariff & akmal who have been sleeping late everyday.

*can't wait for the next school holidays and the year-end school holidays*

Kitchen Appliances

i've always wanted a fully functional kitchen equipped with all types of appliances. my old kitchen was excellent, i had a huge island which i used for practically everything, from unloading groceries to cutting and chopping to feeding the boys to doing arts & crafts to even getting them to take their naps on it. it was the centre of action but i didn't have time to fully utilize it, especially for cooking.

so when we moved, i tried to transform the dream into reality, have a kitchen that i would use regularly…on a daily basis. and in order to do that, the lazy me needs a lot, and i mean a lot!, of kitchen appliances. my list is probably as long as the list of furniture for the whole house. of course, not everything can be ticked off due to budget constraints, of course.

for now, i've gotten these items. and they're very helpful. i definitely want more and the space begs to be filled but for now, i'm happy with what i have.

juicer
i wanted this for so, so long. i love fruits and juices. i'm not adventurous and don't eat a lot of types of fruits but what i like, i eat in massive quantities. i'm a very basic fruit eater - apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, grapefruits, mangoes the like. i hardly venture out of my comfort zone. the juicer i bought is being utilized for just general juices but is being utilized regardless.

i was recommended a breville juicer but i couldn't find it when i went shopping. i got myself a philips instead. its easy to use, very fast, easy to clean and assemble (except for one part) and is very clean.

toaster
my eyes lit up when i saw this 4-slice toaster. morphy richards have a range of bright and attractive coloured toasters but the 4-slice was the deciding factor. we are bread-eaters and my boys are impatient. to be able to toast 4 slices of bread at one is wonderful.

kettle
this kettle came as a matching set to the toaster. nothing significant on why i bought this other than ariff wanted red appliances for the whole kitchen.

blender
i ordered this online when i saw it was from the same range as the toaster & the kettle. i'm still waiting for it to arrive, soon, hopefully.

mixer
i was torn between the stand mixer and hand mixer. to own a kitchen aid stand mixer would be totally wow but a hand mixer would be more practical as i hardly bake or need a mixer regularly. i would love to have one to complete the toaster-kettle-blender set but they don't sell it over here. so i opted for the k-mix orange.

airfyer
10 years ago i really, really wanted a deep fryer. times changed and recently i really, really wanted an airfryer. its easy to use, good to prepare quick food for the boys, doesn't use oil, clean to use and relatively easy to clean. ok maybe the grill-net thingy isn't the easiest to clean, may become sticky but its not such a big deal when the food actually come out wonderful. fries are crispy and light and not soggy. nuggets perfectly browned (amir says they taste like mcd nuggets). fried chicken evenly cooked and comes off the bone just nice (if you use low temperature first followed with high temperature to cook the outer part).

i haven't tried it for anything else, apparently you can even bake muffins and cook curries but my main reason of buying the airfryer was to use less of the frying pan and oil and that's what i'm doing for now.

rice cooker
so this is lame. the fact that i never paid attention to rice cookers before. i got quite a few as wedding gifts and have been using them. those simple ones with silver-ish covers. kinda make me feel like i can't cook rice because there were times when they come out too watery. very malu okay, not knowing how to cook rice properly. then i decided to splurge a bit for a new rice cooker. kinda ex for a rice cooker but so far, its been lovely to use. if only it came in red. ok…still lame.

there's more on my list that i would like to get - coffee maker, food processor, new set of pots and pans, new sets of plates and bowls (are those considered kitchen appliances?).