Goodbye 2016 and Welcome 2017

2016 - The highs and lows

2016 is ending soon. It has been a pretty bittersweet year. There's plenty of good things but a considerable amount of confusion, disappointment and heartbreak thrown in the mixed too. I guess that's just life...

Anyway we managed to do quite a bit of road trips to different location this year, starting from PD (with the in laws), Penang, Cameron Highlands (with my parents) and Morib. Alhamdullilah after 2 years of waiting (long story) we managed to have our winter wonderland trip to Korea early December 2016. It was a fun trip for the children and I enjoyed myself too.Will post pics and travel tips in my travel blog soon (yeah right). Travelling with small children is quite an adventure, stress inducing too but we insist on doing it anyway....

Ryan, Iman and Ranya have been doing well too. They've acquired new skills during the past months and have become more independent. I'm so proud of the 3 of them and all their progress. Plenty of things to improve too especially on my parenting habits and the kids listening skills but that will be a continuous work.

Academically, Ryan have had a good year in both sekolah agama/kebangsaan. Alhamdullilah, he managed to maintain in the top 5 position throughout the year. We also managed to keep to our resolution to be "relax" when it comes to school. We made sure that his homework are done, do simple verbal revision on a weekly (sometimes monthly) basis and also enrolled him in football and swimming classes. Ryan being a boy (and due to his sensory issues) has an attention span of a gnat. 

The sports activities helped him release his pent up energy which allows him to concentrate better. Very rarely will we ask him to study in the morning, what I'll usually do is let him run around the garden until his energy is at manageable level, after which I will start tutoring him. So far it have worked quite well :) We've had a blessed year and for that I am grateful. 

But with the smiles, will come the tears too. I recently went through a loss, I was quite heartbroken about it but what doesn't kill you will make you stronger, kan? Inshallah Allah knows best. 

Here's to hoping for a better year and the will to start writing regularly again. 

Must be old age....

Selamat Hari Raya 2016

What do you know, it is already the second last day of Ramadan. Last day of working until my one week Hari Raya leave. Gosh I can't wait.So sick and tired of office already :p

Anyway, I would like to take this opportunity to extend my apologies for any of my wrongdoings which are done intentionally or by accident.Selamat Hari Raya and Maaf Zahir dan Batin. I wish all of you a happy and joyous celebration with your loved one. Take care and safe travel. Au revoir!!!

Loadsa love hugs and kisses.
Muhammad Azlan Ab Malek
Farhanna Mohd Hanif
Muhammad Ryan Daniel
Iman Khadeeja
Ranya Fatimah

A million things to be grateful for....

I cant believe I went through another month without blogging, especially on my favorite month, May being my birthday month and all :p There was a period of time when I can't go a week without at least an entry. Nowadays weeks can go by without a single update.

Some people would probably concluded that the writer's block is mostly contributed to the fact that I have nothing interesting to write about. I'm fully aware that 95% of my blog entries/Instagram and FB posting are about my kids.. Actually plenty of "interesting" things is happening @home and at the work front. Not all particularly positive. I guess my need to filter those happenings does limit postings :p Whatever...

Anyway I had a great birthday celebration. Nothing fancy, I watched movies with the kids, ate ice cream and had fish and chips for lunch. What I've come to appreciate is that though I may not necessary have the "big" things, I am thoroughly blessed with the little things. I just need to be continuously grateful :) Alhamdullillah. 

Accepting that, makes me easier to please. Even the sight of my tomato plants blooming can put me in a good mood for the whole day. Ahhhh.... the joy of being older and wiser (haha like real)

Anyway there's another thing to be grateful of today....

Alhamdullilah for another chance to celebrate Ramadan. May I become a better Muslim than I was yesterday. I'm aiming to make small but consistent change for the better. Semoga Istiqamah. Wishing everyone a blessed and fruitful Ramadan. Inshaallah :) 

Life is a Beach...

It's is Friday evening and the LONG weekend is just around the corner. Obviously I'm in no mood to work anymore. Productivity is outta the window.

Not going anywhere far this weekend. I think I've used up my "jalan-jalan" quoata for the first half of the quarter :) Inshallah major travel plans end of this year, so we're saving up and preparing for that trip. Praying hard that the preparations goes well.

Sometimes, it is nice to just stay home and do nothing, especially during weekends. Days are just too hectic of late. I feel there were times when I do everything at once but enjoying none, I'll just end up feeling stressed out at the start of the week, which is so counter productive for me.

So this weekend I plan to take it easy with some just some plans with family and friends. Other than that I plan to stay home and slug around :p Check out the blog updates of our trip to Port Dickson and Penang. Both road trips was to the beach. I guess you can call 2016, the year of the "beach holidays"- Like real, especially since it was just this two trips so far :p

But our little family do have a preference for the sun, sea and sand that is why we always end up going back for more. Alhamdullilah for the opportunity to spend time with my love ones. May we are blessed with more rizq to see the world together...

Road Trip 1.0 : Port Dickson
Road Trip 2.0 : Penang Island 

H O M E M A D E

One of my main concerns about Ryan and school is RECESS TIME. Other mother's worry about exam results and I worry about food. Talk about priorities ;p 

After seeing him having to fight for the makcik canteen attention on the first week of school, I vowed to prepare Ryan's bekal for both sekolah agama and sekolah kebangsaan. So far I've managed to fulfill this self impose torture 95% of the time (haha). 

I didn't bother with the elaborate Bento lunches because :-

1. It won't survive the journey from home- transit- school 

2. My boy eats very little and I do not want to waste with 6 varieties of fruits and veges 

3. I'm lazy :p

I will usually cook the night before and reheat the dishes in the morning

 I love sandwich cutters. It will make an otherwise boring meal look super interesting :) 

On the days when I'm busy or lazy, I will just throw in some ready made waffles, pound cakes or fruits into his lunch box . We still give Ryan pocket money, so the idea is for him to always have food in case he didn't get the chance to buy from the canteen

One thing that kept me going is Ryan's reaction, He always has something nice to say about the food that I packed for him, which makes the hassle worth it. Just imagine in 2 years I'll be preparing 3 sets of lunches *faint*

Things that matter Part IVV

As much as I hate to think about it, I know there will come an inevitable time when we won't be receiving sweet birthday postings from my dad anymore. I hope and pray that Allah grants my parents and parents in law a long and healthy life (InshaAllah) but in the meantime, I make it a habit to document this sweet messages for Ryan, Iman and Ranya's reading later on. 

The 3 of you are so loved by the people around you. Don't ever forget that and always be grateful. Love you babies....

 Print screens from Atuk Hanif's FB for Ryan's 6th Birthday (201215) and Iman and Ranya's 4th Birthday (121215)

Just one of those days...

At this moment, I just want to go home, crawl into bed and pull the comforter up my head. Work is such a chore sometimes, actually I've been having more and more "home withdrawal syndrome" of late. Maybe it is a sign? A sign for what? I'm not sure myself....

I know I just came back from Port Dickson, but I am in a desperate need for another holiday :) #drama

Hotel and food review of our Johor Trip on December 2015 is finally up. Hopefully, will be able to blog about our PD trip real soon. 

• Foodpedition Johor
• Hotel Review: Somerset Hotel
• Hotel Review: Legoland Hotel

Whatever, enough ramblings for the day. Have a good weekend everyone...

Ryan's First Day of School 2016

Technically we're already in our 3rd week of January 2016 but I'm not gonna miss the chance of updating my blog on one of my babies biggest milestones - Ryan starting standard one :)

Alhamdullilah all went well... Ryan is making the transition quite smoothly and we're slowly getting use to the new schedule and activities. It is a bit hectic for me, having to do a bit more in terms of supervising homework and even having to start preparing daily bento boxes (that is another story for another post) but I'm going to preserver. Anyway, you want to know what I find weird? I did not see a single kid crying while sending to his sekolah agama and kebangsaan. I guess most of the kids are already used to the experience having joined preschool before. 

So much is happening at the moment, some good but most pretty testing. I'm just praying that Allah will give me patience to go through it all :) Have an awesome long weekend everyone...