TOGETHER WE MAKE A FAMILY

The father was on afternoon shift on Saturday so he decided to bring us out for a while. We went to Sarah’s The Pancake Café for breakfast and really love the pancakes. We ordered 4 different types and were indeed delicious. Then I decided to surprise the kids with a little treat. We went to Toys’rus and bought some games. I can’t take leave during the June holidays so I thought of getting for them games so that they can play together at home during weekdays. Then it was home sweet home with just me and the kids for the weekends.

IMAN KIDDOLYMPICS AND FAMILY CARNIVAL

Since this year is Alhan and Aryan final year in preschool and will be our final year to attend a preschool sports day, we made our way to Hougang Stadium on Sunday morning. The twinnies begged us to bring them and never mind that they had to wake up way earlier than usual. They had macdonalds breakfast in the car and upon reaching, they were handed over to the teachers. The students were seated according to their branches and were happy to mingle with their schoolmates. Just a friendly race under the scorching sun and of course were awarded with medals for their participations.

PRIMARY 4 PARENT VOLUNTEER

Adriana’s form teacher whatsapp me, asking if I would like to be her class parent volunteer. So I thought why not since this will be my first experience and also she must be needing a helping hand. So I applied for half day and kept mum about it. She was surprised when she saw me in the school foyer in the afternoon. Her classmates greeted me with much sincerity. They didn’t give me a tough time and in fact they naturally asked me for assistance when needed. The outdoor activity at the Road Safety Community Park might be a little tiring but I had a wonderful time mingling with the primary 4 students.

MOTHER'S DAY 2015

On Saturday afternoon, the husband brought us to Wilder located at Jalan Kledek as a form of mother’s day celebration for us. We went there with no high hope but the food turned out to be surprising good. The primary students actually bought flowers from their bookshop whereas the preschool students made cards for me. I shall wait patiently for you kids to bring me out and foot the bill in the future!

The following day, we spent the first half of the day at parents and the second half of the day at in laws. Fair and square celebration for both mothers!

ALHAN & ARYAN MOTHER'S DAY CELEBRATION IN IMAN KINDERGARTEN

Took some time off from work to attend a short mother’s day celebration at twinnies’ pre school. Some dancing, singing, games and prize giving to sum up the small event. This is probably the last one that we will attend and definitely will miss such occasions. Our twinnies will be graduating this year!

ROYZ ET VOUS SPECIALTY COFFEE

When you have too much on your plate and things go wrong, the partner with his armour and make it right for you. Thank you cheering me up and I am back to my usual self. Amusing much on how we actually recommend this place to someone but we never tried before. It was a last minute decision to make a stop at Bali Lane since I was on onsite job. So there we were at Royz Et Vous Specialty Coffee especially for the smoked duck breast, grilled meltique beef and of course the halal lussory red wine. Price wise might be a little more but worth the taste.

FIX CAFE

At times you have bad days and at your wits. The days you feel down and suddenly sadness strike in. He felt my silent and took night off from work. Whenever I tumbled, he is there. Always has his way to keep me sane. He constantly get involved with my thoughts and gave me the upmost support.

Since I ended work much earlier and in town area, we decided to try out Fix Café at Hometeam Clubhouse located at Balestier. We had smoked turkey ham and cheese naanwich, chicken meatballs in mushroom cream sauce, churros with cinnamon sugar and chocolate dip, donuts with salted egg dip and latte and cappuccino by the pool side. The total cost was surprising quite a bargain. Thank you for bringing the smile on my face again.

AQIL’S P1 PAL DANCE SHOWCASE

I reported work later than usual to attend Aqil’s P1 PAL dance showcase. This is his first performance for his primary journey. Even though it was a short and simple showcase, it is nice to see parents streaming in and the seats were all occupied. Despite ever had quite a number of performances before in his preschool years, I could still see the shyness in this boy of mine.

APRIL FOOL NO MORE

First quarter of 2015 has gone and now April is coming to an end. I was pretty occupied with the kids’ studies. Penning down their individual topics, sorting the schedules to have one to one session, even resort to self study and make own question papers to test at the end of each lesson. Then I was a little under the weather and had to turn down this month meet up. At times I worried too much and I think too much. I didn’t push the kids to their edge or expect high scores. In fact they do have the time to turn the house upside down. They have their time out of the house and let loose. Gadgets are consider privilege which they are not addicted to. It was a challenge when I conduct revision will all 4 on 1 table. Questions from each level coming up and requesting for assistance. Therefore I had to plan out which topics to cover and timetable for each individual for better focus. Indeed it is more manageable and have fair share of ample rest as well.

ALHAN & ARYAN BELATED 6TH BIRTHDAY @ IMAN

A surprise celebration in school for Alhan and Aryan since their 6th birthday were exactly 2 weeks ago. They didn’t encounter any clues as the collection of the double A birthday cakes and the purchase of KFC snackers as goodies bags were done after they left for school. Their form teachers also sealed their mouths and put the twins up front but they insisted that it’s not their birthday. The teachers played along and told them to take care of the class while they stepped out for a while. They were speechless when we entered their classroom and suddenly turned shy. All of us recite doa, sang birthday song, blowing the candles, photo taking then the twins distributed the cakes and goodies with smiles on their faces.

The 4 kids had their custom birthday celebration at school on their final year in preschool as a form of farewell memories and this year will be our last celebration in Iman Kindergarten.

WESTGATE WONDERLAND

The Term 1 March school holiday is here with 6 online assignment for the P4, 6 written homework for the P1 and a project each for the K2. I was on leave for 2 days coincide with the husband’s off days. I made sure their school uniforms were ironed and school shoes are scrubbed first. We didn’t have any plans except for heading to the west for free play. It was a day for the east to meet the west. We went to Westgate Wonderland for the small scale water play and climbing sessions at the tree house. They played hard and enjoyed themselves. They were laughing and perspiring as well.

The rest of the days, they were given access to the gadgets because on normal days, they were only allowed on Fridays and Saturdays. The past 2 days, I have been busy with planning and sorting out the 2 primary schoolers topics to be covered. It can be stressful for me to divide my time especially having 4 students in the house but I shall persevere.

ALHAN AND ARYAN AT 6

We are so proud of Alhan and Aryan for being independent and without any hitch since then. Adriana forms the family in 2005 and Aqil completes the family in 2008. A year later in 2009, God gave us not 1 but 2 gifts. Thank you God for trusting us to bring the fraternal twins, the first twins in our family tree.

The third and fourth turned 6th on the 16th and we went to Swensen’s at Changi Airport and thank you for the 2 firehouse on the house. We then let them free to choose their presents at Toy’r’us. Every simple things satisfied them. Happy 6th Birthday Alhan and Aryan, all of us love both of you lots and lots!

ONE DIRECTION ON THE ROAD AGAIN TOUR 2015

I paid $404 for One Direction tickets when it was released on June 2014. It was a secret that I kept for 9 months. My only daughter is a fan of One Direction. I can totally relent to that because I was into Take That during my time. So on 11 March 2015, she was still clueless until it was revealed when we reached Sports Hub. Before we queue up, we bought the merchandise first and the tshirt cost a freaking $50 and then she wanted the bag and had to fork out another $30.

She was excited and full of smile. Never mind that it started late, but we both sang with our hearts and danced together. She’s team Louis while I’m team Zayn. We both enjoyed and had good time together. We reached home at midnight and amazed that the babe was able to wake up automatically when I switched on her room light at 6am. But feeling guilty as she ended school at 3.30pm on the following day.

AQIL AT 7

The second child in the family turned 7th on the 16th. The baby who arrived to complete a girl and a boy in the family. I surprised him by turning up at the pick up point when he returned from school. While the first at tuition centre and the twinnies at school, both of us just spend the time on the bed, blasting the aircon, cuddling each other and watched horror movie online.

Then on the 20th, we went to Fish & Co at Changi Airport for the elder boy birthday celebration. His present came in the form of Samsung tablet, something which he totally deserved it. He had progressed well and changed for the better. He has become more brotherly now and at times acted as if he is the eldest. We had no qualms with him when come to studies and we are sure he will excel in that.Happy 7th birthday Aqil, keep up the good work!

OUR 10TH

A decade of being husband and wife! Thank God that I found you and keeping me sane! Thank you for being forever patient and accommodating!

Looking forward to our couple trip at the end of the year. After weighing the pros and cons, we changed the destination. A little sad but there is always next time. Excited much on our expedition to four countries. I have started to google around and taking down some notes. Hopefully we will pull through. Happy 10th to us!

PELOTON COFFEE & JUICE BAR

Since the kids logistics are all on track, we can take a breather for a while. So I took some hours off and we went for a short date at Peloton Coffee & Juice Bar at Changi Village. We had roast beef and onion salad, turkey ham and cheese salad, banoffee ice cream waffle and milk cookies ice cream sandwich. Not too bad and some discount for coming on off peak timing.

THE BRAND NEW YEAR

I can lean back after the arrangement has run smoothly now. Everything is in place just as planned. I fine tune for the morning schedule. I did some pilot testing from waking up at 5am, then tried 5.15am on another day, then 5.30am and lastly 5.45am. 5.30am and 5.45am are perfect, the earlier time if I want whip something or needed longer time to cook and the later time if I just give cereals or biscuits for breakfast. They requested for different menu on each day so I try my best to make their meals not on often repeating mode.

I will wake Adriana up at 6am and this girl takes almost 15 minutes to get out of the toilet. So by 6.15am, Aqil will be in and out within 10 minutes. While they got dressed, I will lay their breakfast at the dining table. Then when they were eating, I will continue my round two of getting ready. I will do a final check on them, like their wallets, watches, bags and uniforms. We will be at the pickup point prior when the transport arrive at 7am. After they boarded their bus, I will either walk to the bus stop to get to work and be an early bird, or if the husband is around, we will go for breakfast together. Alhan and Aryan start school in the afternoon and their transport will arrive at 1.20pm. They are under the care of their grandfathers. So the preschoolers are off to school, pristudents will return and they will united at 5.30pm. There are no activities during the weekends except for madrasah on Sundays. Probably one or two family outing in each month except we will play hard during the school holidays. So this will be the mundane programme for this year.

MADRASAH 2015

It was another milestone for Aqil. His first madrasah lesson at Jamiyah and his sister forth year. After his 3 years of basic knowledge in Iman and besides his ngaji, this will be his next level of ukhrawi. We were nervous and worrisome for nothing because he gave thumbs up and said,”best”! In fact he is looking forward to every Sunday. Here to best of both world!

SCHOOL 2015

2015 school commence on a Friday. This is in fact my 6th Friday that I’m on leave. We opted for transport for the 2 primary students this year. Thinking of the weather and also the hassle of carrying 2 school bags while walking to and fro. Also for the sake of safety and ample rest for the folks, we made this decision. Unfortunately a day before school reopen, the driver said he could not pick up our kids because it is not within his location and his bus is full. Instead he passed us around to call other drivers which of course rejected us. My ever patient husband was so furious. Of course we know which driver to call since we were given the list of drivers with the location that they covered. We had filled up the form during the orientation and a week before I called to check and he said he have yet to call up parents to confirm on the timing and pick up point.

On the first day, we send Adriana and Aqil to school. I walked with them up to the hall. We then went to the office and brought this matter up. We addressed our frustration and the staff said will look into it. After that we went for breakfast before coming back again for recess. We managed to see Adriana who pretended not to see us. Then came Aqil, who was full of smile. He was happily eating and drinking. His buddy brought him around and we left with peace of mind. Next was to pick the twins up from my parents’ place and got them ready for their final year in preschool. The twinnies are in K2 this year. Also the year for their primary one registration in which they are looking forward. Thankfully this is their last year in Iman because there is a steep hike in their transport fees and also increase in their school fees. No change in their schedule therefore enjoy the last moment.

On the second day, I sent the P4 and P1 students early so that I can walked with them to the school hall. Then we returned again for their recess. The elder boy seemed to adapt to his new phase of education very well. We left after seeing him playing with the rest of his friends. Then the call came and issue solved. The driver called and said he received a letter from the school. What a miracle that he informed me of the pick up point and timing. The good thing is their transport will also fetch them even if they have CCA and remedial and now all go according to plan.

On the third day, the 2 primary students boarded the bus to school. It was also my last day of being a spy. This time I brought the twins along who monitoring with envious. We were caught by surprised and relieved that the second born said he loves his new school. Both of us were there to give moral support and witness the kids on their first 3 days of school. I truly enjoyed every single moment of the 6 days I was away from work. Even though I cleaned, cooked, got them ready, entertained them, it just fill with happiness to see the 6 of us bonding together. So now back to work, back to reality.

GOODBYE 2014

After working for only 2.5 days last week, same goes for this week. So on the eve of new year, we had late lunch cum early dinner at Ayam Penyet President at Century Square. Then we walked to Tampines One as Aqil remembered that I promised that I will allow him to shop at Smiggle when he enters primary 1. After discussing with Adriana, she agrees to cut her hair short and off we went to a neighbourhood hair salon. Time to bid farewell to 2014 and thankful that all of our targets met. Looking forward to a brand new year with new routines and goals so hello 2015!