Ramadhan 2015 Part One

alhamdulillah, we've reached the half-way mark for this year's Ramadhan. alhamdulillah, the boys have been great so far. other than amir's normal weak self for the first couple of days, complete with stomach ache and missing school and tuition, the boys have not missed a single day.

i've been cooking for iftar almost daily, except when hubby has his iftar outside. on those days, i get to have something quick and easy aka fast food! rice only lasted a week in our house. i had planned for rice for sahur so that the boys would last longer and be strong throughout the day but after a week, i ran out of ideas of the dishes to cook with rice and the boys can't look at rice anymore. we opted for bread and cereal instead and we're much better for it.

iftar would range though. i get a lot of excitement preparing iftar. although most of the time i'm just pushing myself as i'm too tired but the thought of preparing a table full of food for the boys drove me on. alhamdulillah, apart from a few days here and there, i've managed to prepare home-cooked meals the first half of Ramadhan.

first sahur - rice with daging & potato masak kicap, soup sayur & telur dadar.

iftar day 1 - baked pasta & baked chicken with leftover potato salad. the ever-present fruits, mango & grapes.

our usual kuihs - pulut panggang, onde onde and karipap. 3 types is usually a bit too much and would keep for sahur. 2 types is just nice.

sahur day 2 - kari ikan, samba telur & mixed veggies.

iftar day 3 in damansara - laksa for amir, pasta for akmal, lompat tikam for ariff, kari ikan and ayam panggang for those who want rice.

iftar day 4 - butter rice, beef curry, air fried chicken, hard boiled eggs and veggies.

iftar day 5 - pan-fried salmon, roasted potatoes and sauteed veggies.

iftar day 7 - kuihs to start, chicken rice as main, mangoes for dessert and air longan when the dishes have been cleared.

sahur day 8 - ikan singgang.

iftar day 8 - maggi soup by hubby and sardine rolls by me.

sahur day 9 - rice with petola masak lemak, ikan goreng and asyraf's ayam cili.

iftar day 11 - beef pies to start, beef sandwich as main and watermelon & mangoes for dessert.

iftar day 12 - mexican baked eggs and nachos with ice cream for dessert.

iftar day 14 - steak and veggies for the adults, buyers and fries for the boys. cakes for dessert because i felt like having cakes.

 

iftar day 15 - very thankful to helly's food republic who sent over nasi daging. asyraf wants to stick to plain rice so he had his with udang masak lemak from sahur earlier in the day.

iftar day 16 - simple rice, ayam kicap and soup telur for mummy and the boys.

Half-Year School Report 2015

receiving the school report cards nowadays are not such a stressful affair anymore. everything is available online so going to the school is actually a follow up rather than receiving news for the first time (and all the shock horror reaction after).

the first report card we received for the year was for akmal. the school had its parents-teacher day on the first weekend of the mid-year school holidays. this report card i was anxious to get. anxious because i want to be able to smile at least once while holding the boys' report books. alhamdulillah smile i did. he aced every single aspect that the school 'test'ed him on, all except one, bahasa arab. his class teacher asked us to speak to akmal's ustazah to enquire about his arab but we thought, never mind…its just 1 B.

akmal's teacher had only praises for him, alhamdulillah. he's performing extremely well, he gets along with his teacher and with all his classmates, he's very active in class, always shouting out answers, never afraid to speak and to ask, always participating. all in all, a very good year for akmal, to complete an excellent time in kindy. his teacher have 'booked' him for either the year-end concert or the graduation and we could not ask for anything more.

next came the other 6 reports in one go, all on the same day. 3 classes for 3 boys in agama school and 3 classes for 3 boys in sk. it was basically a 'meet the class teacher' session as we've received the sk results online a couple of weeks prior to the school open day and we've received the agama school test papers so they are not a big surprise, really.

i guess, i'm ok with their performances in both schools. they can of course, do better, you can't just be satisfied and not push, but i guess its ok.

amir's going up, his tuition helps. he's getting good results for all his agama subjects (because of agama school). he got surprisingly good results for arts (which we both did not expect at all) and for sejarah. his weak subjects are both the languages, bm and english. he needs to improve tremendously. the other subjects, maths, science, kesihatan, are ok, somewhat average and not something to be tremendously proud of.

as for agama school, he's not doing too well. he failed tajwid, again. he's been failing tajwid since last year and now he's added sirah to the list. nothing much he can do but read and read and read. he's doing good in agama school, he participates in a lot of activities - singing, nasyid, gotong royong, kem - but he needs to up his studies, if not all his participation won't be any good.

asyraf is quite extreme. when he performs, he really performs. he's doing really well in english, kesihatan/jasmani and the agama papers but performed really badly for bm and science. arts is not his forte at all, so we'll just ignore that subject totally. he obtained a lot of Bs this semester and needs to push those subjects to As instead.

for his agama school, he's been quite disappointing. at least last year he came home with a trophy for best student for arab, this year he's almost failing his arab. the rest are borderline Bs and Cs. he's too playful in school and it shows in his results. he's not as active as amir and not a prefect so he needs to rely on his results, which unfortunately is not the case at the moment.

ariff is, well, ariff. he's doing good, considering. he still can't keep his momentum for a long period of time and it shows by looking at his test papers. he would perform very well in the first part of each paper but starts to decline halfway through. that shows he's not paying attention anymore and is starting to get bored. its really unfortunate for students like him, who is not so keen on classroom learning, who wants to be outside and learns more from doing things with his hands than absorbing things that the teachers and text books give. alhamdulillah, we realise this about ariff and is not pushing for marks, rather we look at his performances from term to term, year to year. however, having said that, his maths is a great concern to us. he's been going for extra classes for bm and maths and maybe he needs more classes and more revision. while we know he's not keen on classroom learning, we don't want him to fall behind so we need to give him help and support.

ariff's results in agama school is not too bad. he's getting the average Bs, Cs and Ds and is reading well. his good at memorising all the ayat that his ustaz have given him, which is more than we ask of him. he's already moved on from iqra' to quran although not at such a fast pace but its ok, he's there. he's reading and he's learning. he would probably need an ustaz to come to the house to help him to read the quran if he were to qhatam when he reaches year 6.

off studies, the boys are pretty well-known in both schools. amir is active in sports and other school activities, so the teachers recognise him. asyraf is slightly drowned because there are just so many good students in his year (i've heard that asyraf's year is somewhat of an exceptional year where students are all high performers), hopefully he'll be able to push himself to be recognised and acknowledged. ariff is well-known for being helpful, sometimes he helps without being asked. that's not necessarily a good thing because it can seem like he wants to do things that he's not supposed to. he likes to volunteer to send books or items from class to class or to the office or to a teacher, that's just him being a non-classroom student who likes walking around outside the class.

so that's my boys…pretty average, nothing to shout about. hopefully they'll do better in the coming exams, the coming months and term and years, insyaAllah.

Week 20 - Half-way Mark

alhamdulillah, i've crossed the half-way mark of my pregnancy. this visit was shorter than the previous visits. i thought that the last name drop was at 2pm so i picked up amir from school first. it was at 1pm actually so i was an hour late to drop my name. need to adjust my timing for the upcoming check ups then.

i was the last to be called in, not having to wait a long time. i apologized to my gynae, i really got the timing mixed up this time. she asked me about my health, mainly about the breathing difficulties i had a month ago. with sere tide nightly, its become more manageable. i used to wake up at night, gasping for breath. but now i take a puff before going to sleep and its worked wonders.

unfortunately for amir, who came wondering if his new sibling was a boy, the baby was facing downwards the whole time, he would not budge. so gender could not be determined. my gynae asked us to prepare for a girl much to amir's dismay. he did get some consolation in seeing the baby moved and jerk the entire time. very active, just like asyraf.

alhamdulillah, everything looks in order, the due date ranges from 29 october to 3 november from the scans done during all the check ups. i much prefer october and somewhere between akmal's concert and graduation would be perfect, so that i can attend both.

Preparation for Ramadhan 2015

i sat down to discuss the upcoming Ramadhan with the boys recently. i want to instill good, calm values within them since young. i want them to not go overboard with food but go overboard with their good deeds. that's the basic of Ramadhan. i know its not what i or hubby grew up with but that's what i want the boys to bring into their lives. but we'll see if what we discussed actually materialize after the holy month.




for starters, niat is important therefore everyone must aim to fast the whole month. whether we can or we cannot, there are things that are beyond our control - our health, for example, sometimes do not permit us to fast in Ramadhan. we should not push ourselves if we face health issues but at the starting point to aim for the whole month is enough and should be applauded. the boys were very good last year, ariff fasted 20 days for on his first try. amir missed 2 days while asyraf missed 1. asyraf missed on a day that i did not wake up for sahur while amir misses were most disappointing as he broke his fast in school without telling us.


i am not against pasar Ramadhan but i do realize over the years, the pasar Ramadhan have been terrible. food quality have dropped, prices were exorbitant, choices limited, sellers open and close their stalls according to their own schedule. while i do have some pasar Ramadhan favourites, i would like the boys to not have to depend on them. we may go for the occasional kuihs just to make the table look nicer and to have sweets to break fast with but no meals from the pasar. unless of course i am so tired and can't think of anything to have for iftar.


i don't want the boys to postpone Maghrib prayers. unlike normal dinner, one tend to break fast slower and with more food, making oneself tired and lethargic to perform the prayers. therefore i have suggested to take our wudhu before iftar, have a light kuih after the call for prayers, a glass of plain water and then perform Maghrib prayers. we'll have our full meal after prayers. i am hoping to keep this throughout the month but i am putting much hope, maybe since the boys are still very young and can't control their stomach.


while i don't want to splurge at the pasar Ramadhan, i know this is probably the only time we see all sorts of kuihs up for offer. we're pretty 'safe' in our choices and we don't but extravagantly when it comes to kuihs, so for this, i'm ok with the pasar Ramadhan. we usually have about 2 types and they will either be karipap, ketayap, seri muka or onde once. those are our normal kuihs and we don't venture away from that list. however, i'm going to try to keep most of the kuihs for dessert, after Isyak. i don't ant the boys to spoil their iftar with all the kuihs out there and miss out on their main meal.


one item i really, really can't see, can't have much of during the fasting month is rice. i just can't and i get bored easily with rice. we have made a decision to have rice only once a day, either for sahur or for iftar, but never both times. there will be some days when rice can't even make it to the dining table.


alhamdulillah the boys are excited to face the holy month of Ramadhan. they are scared and anxious, of course, mostly scared if they get hungry and thirsty and tired but they are excited. insyaAllah, we'll make it a good full month this year.

Sports Day 2015

akmal had his sports day over the weekend. only kindy sports day is the only one we attend nowadays. the primary school's sports day is not something we enjoy. which is good that they have selection process in the weeks coming up to the actual event and only those who are in the finals would be required to attend the official sports day.

akmal's a happy trooper as usual. he loves all the activities at his school. he's been practicing day and night. days, mostly. i draw the line at running around at night, especially after he's taken his shower. they would be having a traditional games theme this year. akmal and his 6-year-old school mates would  have to do 3 traditional malay games in his event.

i went to bicdc with akmal and ariff that morning. hubby came a bit later as he had to send amir and asyraf to a football tournament. the event started with the children marching from their classes to the parking lot and a torch run from the next door surau. then it was the sports day pledge and doa recited by the children, before parents were asked to adjourn to the specific areas.

the 6-year-old's event was at the back of the school. they lined up according to class. they had the gunny run, walking on coconut shells and traditional bowling. it was fun looking at the kids showing of their talents and the parents and teachers supporting on the side.

come akmal's turn however, the string that was attached to the coconut shell went loose. so he had to stop which the teacher tied them back. he was quite upset about it but made up by running really fast. good job akmal. i can tell he was not too happy as he kept asking his class teacher who messed up the coconut shells when it was his turn. awww…a lesson for you baby boy, not everything comes easy.

hubby and ariff left immediately after akmal's event to amir's football tournament and i stayed on for the prize giving ceremony. akmal came home happy with his trophy and some breakfast we bought before leaving school. he fell asleep right after filling up his tummy and slept quite long at that. guess the weeks of practice and the eventful sports day took a toll on him.

Week 16 - Good News

alhamdulillah. the test results from the previous check up came back after a week. everything's looking in order, low risks for all the tests done. low doesn't mean none so the praying continues for a healthy baby and a smooth ride for the next 20 or so weeks.

alhamdulillah too my sniffles have all gone and the itchiness, while if left red marks, have disappeared. i've entered my second trimester and things are looking up now. i have shook off the laziness, i have began cooking again. which is good because the fasting month is coming up and i have plans to cook throughout the month, insyaAllah.

however, my doctor was (more than slightly concerned) when i said i was having trouble breathing, especially late at night. she looked through my records and saw her nebuliser prescription during my previous pregnancies, although they were during the third trimester. she said we can't afford this now and upped my ventolin with seretide.

the visit to my gynae is more on a happier note this time. not too tense as last time. the boys came to see their new sibling this time. it was extremely noisy and they didn't know where to look and what to look for. ariff kept saying he can see the baby's hair. amir kept asking if it was a boy. asyraf was more interested in all the equipment in the doctor's clinic. akmal only wanted his iPod. ok…no more 6 people visits.

Week 12 - Up For The Tests

when i first visited my gynae for this pregnancy, she had a lot to say. more than all the earlier four pregnancies combined. her lengthiest subject was the risks. due to age factor, the risks were higher. she brought up subjects of the many complications, to the mom and to the baby. she gave me a timeline where specific tests would be done. the first was at the 12th week.

this test is called fts - first trimester screening. i would screen for risk of down syndrome mainly but others as well. i went to her clinic first. she did the normal scan but took a longer time looking around. her area of concern was the baby's neck, to see the thickness, i think. it wasn't easy to get a good reading as the baby was jerking up and down.

with that reading, i was asked to go to the lab to get a blood test done and to submit a printed copy of the scan. the queue at the lab wasn't long, i was second in line. but they had to take a couple of tubes of blood so that took a bit of time. the results would be out in a week's time and, if required, most tests must be done before week 14.

we managed to skip through the baby's body while scanning this time. the doctor hinted at something protruding but it was too soon to tell. she did keep a copy of that scan, just in case she as right.

as for me, i've been having some discomfort. i had the sniffles that wouldn't go away, so the doctor prescribed zyrtec to be taken for 10 days. i also had itchiness on my chest, which the doctor said was fungal infection and gave me cream to put for 14 days. other than that, it was mainly fatigue and extreme laziness. i haven't had other problems - no morning (or afternoon or night) sickness, the pain in my hips have gone, nothing major, other than simple ol' laziness.