Overnight in Kuantan

hubby had an assignment in kuantan. he wanted all of us to come with, so off we went to kuantan. i wasn't really looking forward to the boys missing two days of school, and being cooped up with the boys in a hotel room while hubby works, and missing two days of laundry. but looking at hubby's schedule, i thought maybe following him would not be such a bad idea.

we left for kuantan after breakfast at around 8.30am. the traffic was horrendous especially on nkve but after that it was better. the boys fell asleep once we're on the east coast highway and woke up energetic once we got into kuantan. hubby had a meeting at lunchtime so we waited for him as we could not check in just yet. the boys were antsy and it was probably the longest hour in my life.

once hubby settled his meeting we went for lunch and then checked in. it was a good idea getting a hotel in town rather than by the beach. hubby worked for a while once we got to the room and the boys entertained themselves. we went out for early dinner at teluk cempedak just to show the boys the beach. the wind and waves were quite strong that evening but the food was nice. the boys had second and third helping of rice.

the next morning hubby left very early for his assignment. the boys woke up after 9 and we had a leisurely breakfast. our room faces the pool so i thought it wouldn't be nice not to bring them for a dip. we had to run in and out of the pool though, as it started to drizzle a couple of times.

once hubby returned we went back up to the room, had a bath and checked out. we had a quick lunch at the mall in front of the hotel before making our way back home. we wanted to avoid the evening rush hour and made it back in time before it started.

Amir Turns Nine

amir's birthday is very early in the year. usually we have a small family dinner or a small cake-cutting at home because we're still buzzing from the going-back-to-school stuff.

amir, again!, wants dinner with his uncles and aunties at, again!, chili's. we thought…not after two years in a row. so we planned a surprise barbecue instead. for now, the date is still pending, so another entry on it when it finally happens.

amir is an avid manchester united supporter. his favourite player is robin van persie. he wants to wear the number 20 all the time. i feel a bit bad for him supporting united when they're on a slump but he looks like he's sticking with them.

amir loves scribbling. he loves writing messages - either in his notebooks, on pieces on papers, on his iPods. he's pretty good at drawing and he can write loads and loads of messages.

amir at 9 feels like a grown-up amir fighting with a child amir. and that is majorly tiring. on one hand he is this big brother trying to get his younger brothers in line and on the other, he is this big brother forcing his younger brothers to listen to their abang long. on one hand, he goes around wanting to help his parents with household chores and on the other, he is this whiny boy picking on his younger brothers, making them cry. on one hand, he is this elder brother wanting his younger brothers to open up to him and tell him things and on the other, he is this boy running to his parents to tell on his younger brothers to get his way.

his football skills is getting better but his counting skills is still bad - he still count using fingers. his bed is nicely made up every morning but his school bags are full of crumpled papers and gross food. his hair is always in place but his breath smells. he is on two opposite ends. sometimes we would scream 'stop it!' to him, other times it would be 'thank you!'

amir will soon be a tween and then a teen. guess how he is now is nothing compared to what he'll be then *cries!!*

amir on his way to become a 9-year-old…

First Week of School 2014

its been a week since school resumed. kinda weird starting school on a thursday but good actually, since i noticed most parents only took leave on the first two days of school, thursday & friday. and that gave the first full week to us stay-at-home parents to drop by during break time.

first day of school was tiring. i never spent 7 hours in school before. it started with a quick drop off at BiCDC for akmal, then i was at SRA for 3 hours in the morning. got home to prepare lunch and prepare the boys for school.

then it was SK in the afternoon. i didn't intend to stay too long but when we got to SK there were so so soooo many cars, we had to park so far away. the thought of walking back to the car then coming back and parking still so far away and walking back to school was worse than actually sitting in the canteen waiting for ariff's recess time. then i thought, well, since i'm here, might as well wait to see asyraf and then amir to have their break. lo and behold, it was already 4.30pm and i've spent 4 hours in the canteen.

the second day of school was much better. i dropped the boys at SRA before making my way to BiCDC with akmal. since i didn't get to see him in his new class the day before, i wanted to send him but he said he could go in on his own (oh no my baby *sobs*). i went for a quick breakfast before making my way back to SRA for ariff's recess.

good thing SK starts later than usual on fridays so i had time to make the boys rice with ayam kicap and soup telur for lunch. and after sending the boys to SK it wasn't a long wait before ariff comes out for his recess.

this week is more easy going. ariff's gotten used to school, he's easy going, pretty relaxed, not at all interested in buying food in school, asks for simple roti nutella or roti butter in his lunch box for me to bring. there's not many parents around during recess and i've gotten the right timing to avoid the crowd when i send and pick the boys up. and akmal's gotten back his nap time routine during the afternoons, alhamdulillah.