Amir Is Eleven

raising a tween (dictionary.com - a youngster between 10 and 12 years of age, considered too old to be a child and too young to be a teenager) is not easy. raising a tween eldest child is even more difficult.

amir's been topsy turvy to handle. he was easy and helpful one time. then he became difficult. then he turned helpful and easy again. now he's gone back to being difficult. currently, amir's difficult to handle. that's the word i keep going back to. at times extremely difficult, other times just difficult.

we let amir choose his birthday dinner spot. he chose japanese. the whole family loves japanese. we've been cutting down as a japanese meals can get super expensive. but its a birthday dinner, and its chosen by the birthday boy, so we make an exception.

during dinner, amir started asking for his present. two months ago, when asyraf got a pair of football boots as his birthday present, amir asked for a pair as well. that was to be his birthday present. for him to ask for another gift on his birthday, conveniently forgetting he received a present two months ago, was disappointing.

however, after dinner, as we sat down to have an ice cream dessert, i went into a shop, to get clothes for me. i saw a watch on sale, it was a bargain actually. amir begged and begged for it. we decided to get it for him. he was over the moon, profusely thanking us non-stop. we hope he would remember not to ask for early presents as he'd miss out on getting presents on the actual day.

amir is a test for hubby and me. the first son and therefore, the eye-opener. the first and therefore, the lesson and the teacher. we have a lot to learn and he teaches us a lot. we are still learning and he is still teaching us. one major thing he is teaching us, at the moment, is how bumpy the road as parents can be.

New Year 2014

2013 has passed wonderfully. i don't make resolutions, instead i make plans and wishes. syukur alhamdulillah, my wishes for 2013 was granted by Allah subhana wata'ala. on 15 aug, we moved to DP and on 23 dec, hubby began his 'working-in-kl' life.

2014 for me is to concentrate on the boys' schooling as three are now in primary school. amir have been selected as prefect for agama school, ariff is entering year one and akmal will be alone in kindy. our focus for the new year is healthier food and to cut down on fast food. we have stopped consuming KFC and McDonalds, Burger King (which we convince ourselves is healthier than McD hah!) will be next on the list. i'm still all for pizza, though. i'm trying to cut canteen food for the boys, but that takes effort from me and the boys. sometimes, they buy the same things i've prepared in their lunch boxes which can be very irritating. i know its purely the thrill of buying food. at least they buy just food and don't waste their money on sweets, ice cream and drinks.

as the boys grow more independent, i wish to travel more. i have a few traveling booklets started and hope to actually make them a reality, insyaAllah.

our new year's day started very late. the boys were still in dreamland at 9am. good luck to me trying to get them ready and out of the door in time for school tomorrow!

hubby and i made plans to get a few things in 1Utama…hubby more than me. we dropped three boys at the play area before making our separate ways to get what was on our list. mine didn't take too long, as the items i wanted weren't in stock while hubby was walking around, grumbling they didn't have anything that met his taste. but he did get everything he listed except one. akmal went with me, occasionally complaining that he was bored walking around, poor baby. lunch, as usual, was at chili's.

the boys have prepared their bags for school tomorrow, i'll get their uniform ready tonight. everyone's toothbrushes have been changed. my calendar is up, already filled with school schedules for the year.

may the year ahead be filled with love and laughter, good food and great company; may Allah guide us in our quest in becoming a better muslim, insyaAllah.

Post Graduation Getaway

we thought of taking the boys for dinner to celebrate asyraf's graduation. since hubby had his run right in town, around MATIC area, we decided to have the dinner in town and make it a night away from home. the nearest (and most affordable) was concorde hotel. dinner at HRC nearby completed the plan. surprisingly the hotel room's pretty big and was recently refurbished, so it was a pretty good choice.

after sending hubby to KJ to take the train to the starting point of his run, i took asyraf for tea at kfc (this was also to buy time). then we went to damansara to pick up the other three and made our way to the city centre. i left damansara at 5pm and got to concorde at almost 7pm, with all the closed roads and diversions because of the run. there goes the reservation at HRC. when hubby finished his run and got to the room, it was almost 8pm so we decided to have dinner somewhere else.

we took the cab to pavilion, had dinner at friday's and walked around a bit. it was a bit of a hassle to get a cab to return to the hotel. all the drivers refused to use their meters and wanted to charge a flat $25 when it cost us $5 the previous journey. so we walked to the monorail station near lot 10 and took the train back. it was packed to the doors on a saturday night but the boys enjoyed the train ride.

the next morning, we got up late, had simple breakfast (as the spread wasn't too great) and took the boys for a dip in the pool.

nice overnight getaway and a good way to celebrate asyraf's graduation.