Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2017

this year's syawal was very low-key. all the preparations were settled way before raya. everyone's bajus we bought before the fasting month began, rendang was cooked mid-way through the fasting month, cookies were ordered in advance. and well, basically that's it. i wasnt going to cook, i wasnt going to dress up, i wasnt going to actually do much except well...eat.

the week before raya was hectic. with the delivery, amani's admission, my hanging out ouside the special care nursery for 2 days waiting for breastfeeding-calls and waiting for amani's ultimate discharge. she was finally discharged the day before raya and we were juggling 6 under-12s on raya eve.

we put the boys to work, though. they cleaned the guest toilet, cleaned the kitchen, vacuumed the whole of the downstairs floor, wiped every single surfaces, vacummed between the sofa seats and helped set up the dining table for guests.

it was drizzling on the morning of raya, i went down early and went into the kitchen immediately. i cooked beef rendang a couple of weeks before raya and i had to only heat them up for us to eat throughout the day. hubby helped make nasi impit the day before, they were thrown into the fridge to harden and to wait for it to be cut after he returns from aidilfitri prayers, as with the lemang he bought the day before. the only 'cooking' i had to do was to heat up the prepared & bought kuah kacang from brahim.

hubby and the boys went to the moque for aidilfitri prayers while i stayed at home to get amira and amani ready, as well as put the food (whatever that we have) on the table for us to devour.

when they returned, we took our customary raya family photo and had our salam-and-duit-raya session.

after we had a good meal, we went over to a neighbour's house. we hope to do more houses but we were still getting around with a new baby around so we couldn't this year. my family came over bearing food after lunch and hubby's friends dropped by towards the late afternoon. the kids were happily running around outside, after a month of very limited outdoor activities, they were super excited to be able to have a kick-a-bout in the garden.

i do miss cooking on raya eve and on raya morning, but i'll come back with a bang next year, insyaAllah. very quiet raya, actually. hopefully next year will be more hectic and full of screams and shouts and laughters, just how we like it.

Hari Raya Aidilfitri 2016

eid this year is super hectic compared to previous years. it fell during mid-week so i closed my kitchen early. no cooking for iftar and sahur from the weekend for me to mentally and physically prepare for my rendang and other raya dishes. haha...yes, it takes that long to prepare a day's meal.

i started cooking on the last day of ramadhan. hubby wanted his rendang for iftar. to go with that i made pulut kuning and hubby bought lemang. so for iftar to close ramadhan, we had a really, really heavy meal.

while i prepared the food, the boys helped me clean the house. after iftar, as the boys played fire crackers outside, i prepared half of my raya morning dishes, which is to be nasi tomato, ayam masak merah and dalca sayur.

i continued after subuh on raya day together with instant nasi himpit and kuah kacang. quite a bit but well, its once a year, isnt it.

on raya morning, hubby, amir and asyraf woke up early, had some rendang and lemang for breakfast before going to the mosque. quite a lot of their friends at the most that morning. i set the table with our raya morning dishes and got amira, ariff and akmal ready. when hubby and the boys came home we had our usual raya photo taking.

we went to damansara around lunchtime and stayed a couple of hours before hubby received calls that his friends wanted to come visiting. that went on until maghrib, before we freshened up a bit and went out visiting. we came home around 10pm, tired but had a wonderful eid with family and friends.

Second Mid-Term Break 2015

this year's second mid-term break felt like a prolonged holiday, what with the school closure due to the year six exams and then the haze. i have not had to iron the boys' uniform for the longest time…yeay!

on the first day of the holiday i made the boys change their bedsheets and duvet covers. i've been putting off doing them as i could not find the energy. seeing it was a sunny day, i quickly got them to bathe and put them to work. they changed their bedsheets and took down their duvet for me to bring over to the dry cleaners. then i shoved everything in the machine and, once done, got the boys to air them outside.

after lunch they were rewarded with the monopoly (which i had forgotten i bought). they played till hubby came home and took us out for dinner at a new mexican restaurant near home.

i took the boys out for lunch on the second day of the break. i had to get a couple of things at the mall and 1utama is always an obvious choice now that hubby is based nearby. i got them a new monopoly since the junior game doesn't really show them how to buy and charge rent on properties.

hubby was on leave mid-week so i decided to cook for aidiladha the next day. i wasn't planning on cooking as there would be no one to keep an eye on the boys. but since hubby was at home, and the fact that ariff actually requested for nasi himpit and kuah kacang, i decided to spend a bit of time in the kitchen. there was nothing in the pantry and in the fridge so we had to make a quick stop at jaya grocer on the way back from brunch at citta mall.

thursday was aidiladha. hubby, amir and asyraf went to the mosque very early that morning. they stayed on till late morning to see the cows that would be slaughtered on the day. when they came back we had lemang, rendang, nasi himpit and kuah kacang for breakfast.

then we made our way to damansara, stopping by the surau to look at more cows, since ariff and akmal didn't get to see earlier in the day.

on friday, we made a last minute decision to take the boys for a movie and sushi. i actually had to get a haircut and the car had to be washed, so we did all three at the same time. i treated akmal to a haircut and a hair wash to keep me company.

saturday was a surprising day. it was so bright and sunny in the morning, then became all hazy come lunchtime. ariff helped to clean the tv room while hubby did some diy work. asyraf's friend came over for a quick game of monopoly before the news that the boys' football training had to be cancelled.

sunday was still a hazy day. again, football training had to be cancelled but the boys were surprised by their coaches who dropped by the house.

we went to get victoria steak, which i had been craving for since forever. while at the restaurant, ariff received a special surprise from dato siti nurhaliza.

that's the second mid-term break in a nutshell. full of food and family time. now it seems that the break will continue for another couple of days due to the haze. i had plans the first two days which now have to be amended slightly. haze oh haze...