Project Birthday 2016 : Ryan's Birthday (201216)

From no posting to double postings in a day? You can imagine the kind of mood I'm in especially if I'm at my desk during lunch blogging :p

For Ryan's birthday we decided to go with Star Wars. Seeing that he's 7, I don't go want to go overboard with the deco. Ain't cool yo!!

I used Ryan's Darth Vader, Storm-trooper mask and Death Star Replica and lined it on the stairs for effect. I also printed some Star Wars inspired posters from online. How awesome that even though not a single cent was spend on all this, the look on my baby boy's face when he came down the stairs was as if I spend a million. Ryan was super happy with his little surprise. 

We bought some brownies from Secret Recipe and Banana Cake from Lavender to share with his friends @ Transit. Since Lan and I was not on leave on his birthday, we decided that it will be fun for Ryan to celebrate with his friends instead. He can't stop thanking me that evening. 

We went out on a family dinner that night, we told Ryan to choose his fave restaurant and he opted for Nando's of all things. Fine by me :) As long as he's happy, I'm happy.

This little boy accomplished so much in 2016, I pray that he'll continue to thrive and be happy always inshaallah. I love you so much abang, please always remember that.

Birthday wishes from Atuk. 

Project Birthday 2016 - Iman & Ranya's Birthday Celebration (121216)

I plan to blog more this year. For some reason I feel saner after I write, even on the most mundane stuff. As a start I shall start recording the "important events"  like birthday celebration, holidays and school stuff  that I've missed blogging about. A good reminder of things to be thankful about. 

Initially, Lan and I was not even planning to have any elaborate birthday celebration for the kids. We just wanted to opt for a simple dinner. However, my inner party fairy took over and we decided to throw a small get together on the twins birthday. At 7pm the night before, we were rushing around to get cake and deco's. I put a limit of RM30 on deco and surprisingly everything turned out beautiful. The twins wanted something "princessy and pink" - obviously. My deco job was made even simpler with all the princesses and pink stuff strewn around the house.

We bought a small cookies and cream cake from Baskin Robbins and I stuck a RM2 birthday banner from the cake shop. The tinfoil balloons cost RM3.90 each and the dolls, tiaras and castle is from Iman and Ranya's toy box. 

The cake stands are leftovers from the twins "early" birthday celebration in TCAZ sometime in November. I made it from some Styrofoam, wrapping paper and felt. The idea came from watching some cake making programme on AFC on dummy cakes. Took me about 15 minutes to assemble each stand. I got a lot of compliments on it despite the minimal effort. Goes to show that you do not need to spend loads of money to get awesome results. Just a tiny bit of creativity. 

The twins gorgeous princess dresses is courtesy of Atuk. Iman and Ranya were so happy, they can't stop smiling all day. I guess it is most little girls dream, to be able to dress in gorgeous dresses and tiara. I'm so glad that we were able to make the twins dream come true. 

I'm so blessed to have them. 

A big credit goes to Lan. When most guys won't even bother with all this little party details, he came with me to get the deco's and food preps and was even on chef duty minding the BBQ all day.  Best daddy ever. Alhamdullilah

Big thanks to my parents, my sis and bro in law and the twins Cik Thirah, Cik Nani and Maksu for celebrating with us. Despite being a small celebration, we all had so much fun. 

The twins birthday wish from Atuk. Saving this for them, hopefully they get to read this one day and realized how loved they are by many :) Love you Iman and Ranya, may you'll be blessed by Allah always....

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 :) 

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)

Happy 4th Birthday Iman & Ranya (12 December 2015)

My babies is now 4 years old. Can't believe how fast time flies, such bittersweet moment for me to watch them grow but at the same time wanting to freeze time and protect them in my embrace forever *sobsob*

Since we already pre-celebrated their birthday with the kindy mates, I didn't want to have any big celebration done. The twins begged me for a cake to cut on their actual birthday, so we had a small celebration with my parents and our siblings in attendance. Of all the themes they can choose from, the twins decided on the one that is not easily available in Malaysian stores -> "Doc Mcstuffins". There's Minnie Mouse, Frozen, Sophia the First etc but noooo they had to choose Doc Mcstuffins. One of the sales assistant was like "who? what? Princess Elsa nak?" hahaha

I found a set of Doc party hat in GM for RM6 and that is it, no cups, no plates, no nothing. I don't want to spend a lot of money on the personalize ones online so I DIY 90% of the deco and cake.

The Deco: Super simple but the twins loved it. I used readily available table cloth and trinkets in my house to minimize spending and got some helium balloon from GM which cost a small fraction than if we were to purchase it in party shops. The twins were grinning from ear to ear, awesome how kids appreciate the simplest gestures...

The balloons came in the pack of 5, but Lan and I decided to only use 3 and keep the remaining two hehehe. Made the whole deco even more festive :) 

Ice cream cake made by moi. OMG I think I'll just bake the cake the next time. Don't get me wrong it tasted good and looks presentable, but it took me 2 days to complete the process and once it is out of the freezer, it melted within 10 minutes, so it was super messy. Thank god the twins loved the cake.

Clockwise: Party packs and birthday cake banner ( I designed the label myself and printed it out), store bought party hats and plain paper cups with Doc Mcstuffins stickers I bought for RM0.60 per sheet. So much cheaper than the paper cups ones sold online. A little creativity will bring you a long way :p

 Happy babies...

A hug and presents from Abang. They fight all the time, but they are fiercely protective of each other...

 Our tetamu terhormat :p 

Finally, Ranya got the Baby Alive she wanted. The twins received a pair of Nerf Guns, a makeup table (which Lan hated), new wardrobe for their Barbies, Princess Legos, Stationery set, a cash register and new bags for school. Alhamdulliah murah rezeki my babies....

Ohhh not forgetting the gift from their Pak Long : Their own giant bubble set to play with at home. I think we shall start our own giant bubble business at home after this. Hahaha

Alhamdullilah, thank you Allah for blessing me with these two angels. They have made me a better person and also made Lan and I better partners. Mummy, love you very much Iman and Ranya. I pray that you'll grow up into intelligent and solehah young women, who one day will change the world for the better, Inshaallah. Amin

Our Birthday in Hijrah

All of us knows our birthday in accordance to the Gregorian calendar but not everyone (myself included) knows our birthday in the year Hijrah. I only know of Ryan's birthday according to Hijrah calendar and that is only because I was praying for him to be born on Muharram but he came 3 days too late. Anyway found this app and thought I should document this in my blog for easy reference in the future :) More post coming soon...

The one on turning another year older.....

I'm turning 32 tomorrow *inshaallah*

I don't know what to feel really? Happy (Yes), Excited (Yes), Grateful (Yes), Tired (Yes), Sad (Nope) Mixed feelings all around....

I know I'm blessed for what I have in my life and the things that I've achieved so far, but I want to do so much more. So much more of what? I'm still figuring this out. Sometimes I can't help but feel like I'm missing out. Hmmm... maybe I should make more travel plans to get out of the rut. Or is this just an excuse to go for another long holiday? hehehe

Anyway, I'm addicted to this song called "Conqueror" from one of my current favorite TV show "Empire" by "Estelle and Jussie Smollet". The lyrics totally reflect what I'm feeling at the moment.

Life is like a big merry-go-round,
You're up and then down,
Going in circles trying to get to where you are.
Everybody's been counting you out,
But where are they now?
Sitting in the same old place,
Just faces in the crowd.
We all make mistakes,
You might fall on your face,
But you gotta get up!

[Chorus:]
I'd rather stand tall
Than live on my knees,
'Cause I am a conqueror,
And I won't accept defeat!
Try telling me no,
One thing about me
Is I am a conqueror,
I am a conqueror!
Ooh oh

Got a vision that no one else sees,
Lot of dirty work, roll up your sleeves,
Remember there's a war out there,
So come prepared to fight!
You never know where the road leads you,
Not everyone's gonna believe you,
And even know they're wrong, don't prove them right.

Project Birthday 2014

PART 1 : The Party

We decided on a more low key birthday celebration for the kids this year. However, Ryan desperately wanted to celebrate his birthday with his friends so we asked his teachers permission to hold a small party at the kindy. Thank god his teachers was up for it :)

Since Ryan, Iman & Ranya's birthday is just a week apart we had a triple celebration (as always).My challenge was to merge 3 themes into one celebration or in this case one CAKE. I went to Nadibakes and she came up with this : An Elsa, Jake and Tinkerbell cake. Cute, huh?

The munchkins can't stop smiling when their friends started singing them the  birthday song.

So cute.

Cutting the cake together-gether.

My babies with their teachers and friends.

Party favors for their friends. We decided to go with the Pirates and Princess hemes. The best part of the day was the reaction from Ryan's classmates when they received the gifts from us. It was so sweet. Some came to me with the sweetest smiles and thanked Lan and I for the favors. Worth every cent I tell you :) Alhamdullilah

Ryan chose the gifts for his friends. Again we managed to avoid the "junk food" route and gifted the boys with crayons, puzzles, lego and Pirate cookies. For the girls we went with tinkerbell cups, puzzles, pirate telescopes and princess cookies.

PART 2: The Staycation

We wanted to close our 2014 with a short gateaway. However due to the unreliable weather and time constraints we decided to choose a resort close to home (30 minutes away from home to be exact) for our staycation on 20/12/2014. Sunway Resort was chosen because of its strategic location and good review. Alhamdulliah the kids had fun.

Check out our hotel review : Press Here

Ryan chose to have his birthday dinner in Fullhouse. I was quite reluctant because I've read a not so encouraging review of it online but I was proven wrong because all the food that we ordered was delicious :)

Later we all had ice cream as a treat for the birthday babies 

The celebration continued on Sunday, where we met up with atuk and nenek for their birthday lunch in Sari Ratu, Subang Parade.

 Yes it was as good as it looks :)

We sent the twins home with their grandparents and  watched The Hobbit movie with my little man. He was really into it and is now obssesed with my LOTR picture book. Yeay I have a fellow Middle Earth fan at home. 

All 3 kids are very happy and I thank Allah for giving Lan and I the means and time to celebrate their birthday together. Alhamdullilah, I am very blessed :)

The one when my baby turn 5...

Happy 5th Birthday to my very own SUPERMAN, Muhammad Ryan Daniel. In just a blink of an eye, my gorgeous baby boy have grown into such an extraordinary young man. I thank Allah everyday for blessing me with you, Abang. You make mummy and daddy proud everyday with all of your developments and achievements.

Thank you for being such a good big brother to your sisters and for taking care of them in school. I know they're currently driving you nuts, practically hanging on the back of your shirts at school (figuratively and literally haha) according to your Teachers you will still play with them instead of ditching them to play with your friends.

So dear Ryan, Mummy wish for you all the goodness in the world and May Allah keep you in his good graces and bestow upon you Iman, Intelligence, and Love, inshaallah. Mummy, Daddy and dedek love you very much, always remember that. 

P/S: I'm saving atuk's messages on FB here in my blog, so that one day when you're older you can read this and know that you are loved by many.

Hugs and Kisses,

Mummy (201214)

Happy 3rd Birthday Iman & Ranya (121214)

Last Friday was Iman and Ranya's birthday. I decided that it was high time for a mother-daughter outing with my princesses. I bring Ryan everywhere with me once he started walking, but I've never done any solo outing with the twins. I was nervous but Alhamdullilah everything went well despite not having another set of hands to help :)

We didn't do anything fancy but I can tell the twins enjoyed the outing very very much. They have mummy at their beck and call so they behaved very well the whole day. We went to the bookstore and got some books, had our lunch at TGIF and I treated the twins to a sundae instead of a birthday cake.

The past 3 years have been a "test" on so many levels. The twins taught me a lot than I ever did them. My girls has made Lan and I better team players :) Only people who've been through our experience would understand the kind of physical, mental and emotional challenges that come with raising twins. There are days which were very very difficult but we're lucky that the good days overrun the bad ones. Lan, Ryan and myself are so lucky that we're blessed with Iman and Ranya. 

They brightened up my day with their cheekiness, intelligence and super duper cuteness. I  pray that Allah will protect them from harms ways, and bestow them with his good graces and make them grow up into solehah, intelligent, beautiful young ladies. May they become faithful servant of Allah, obedient daughters to Lan and I, caring sisters to Ryan, loving grandchild & nieces to their grandparents, uncles and aunties, excellent students and a respectable member of society one day inshaAllah (Amin Amin Amin)

Iman Khadeeja and Ranya Fatimah, if you ever read this in the future, please know that I love you very very much, even on the days where we may have our disagreements and you may not like me very much, I will still love you and will be there for you forever, InshaAllah. I hope you like your birthday present :)

 Atuk's birthday wishes for the girls. Alhamdullilah, you girls are surrounded by people who care and love you very very much.Please remember that and always pray that Allah bless atuk and nenek with long healthy life and happiness :)

Loads of hugs and belly kisses.

XOXO

Mummy