Another sad story

I don't know how long this will last, but I hope my kids especially Husayn, will get over this really soon.

A few days before the departure of his best friend for good to Malaysia, he has been even crankier than ever. He wanted to see his best friend everyday but at the same time, gets into quarrels with her. I think he knows that he's going to miss her so, that's why he's been acting so weirdly.

Yesterday, I woke him up early in the morning and put him straight in the car wearing the same pj's he was wearing when he met his friend last, without even bothering to brush his teeth. With both hands holding two packets of his favourite yogurt (one for him and one for his friend), he excitedly ran into Nadeen's house to give the yogurt to his best friend. Unfortunately, she was too busy playing with Ameera in the house who had ran faster than him towards Nadeen.

Leaning backwards towards the wall, he just held the yogurt and refused to give it to her. With tears welling up in his eyes, he walked back to the car and stayed in there until we headed to the airport.

Arriving there, Husayn just sat in his buggy keeping a distance from the girls, Nadeen, Ameera and their other friend, Alyssa. He just watched the girls playing and was being extra clingy with me.

He refused to give everyone hugs and kisses and refused to cry or even say goodbye.

At home, there was still no sign of crying or anything. Just a sad face and short but meaningful sentences that came out of his mouth once in a while. Ameera didn't go to school that day and Alyssa stayed with us to play for the day.

Later in the evening, I had a feeling it was about time everything came to a head. Suddenly, Ameera screamed out loud...

Mummy! Husayn
pushed Alyssa and didn't even say sorry!

I asked him why but instead of answering me, he just burst into tears and didn't stop crying even after Alyssa told him that it was OK.

Last day out with Nadeen

I've tried to talk to him and he said while crying continuously,

Husayn: I want to play Hide and Seek with Ameera but she doesn't want to play with me!
Mummy: It's OK Husayn. You can play with Mummy?
Husayn: I don't want to. You're not a kid. I want to play with Ameera.
Mummy: It's OK Husayn. Don't be sad OK? I'll talk to Ameera. Why are you crying? do you miss Nadeen?
Husayn: NO!!! I don't. I just don't have my best friend anymore and nobody wants to play with me. I don't have friends anymore!
Mummy: Please Husayn. Don't cry. It's OK. Mummy's here, Daddy's here and Hisham too.
Husayn: No! Hisham is not grown enough and I want to play with Ameera!

The conversation went on and on until he fell asleep with tears still coming out of his eyes. The rest of the evening, he was so gloomy. After we had our dinner he just asked to go straight to bed. Before he dozed off he said again,

Mummy, can we go to the airport tomorrow? I want to play with my friend.

Obviously, it's impossible to record the original conversation...

Good Bye

Just dropped off my dearest neighbour at the Airport. Somehow, I felt SO sad. Another good friend who I consider as family has gone home for good to Malaysia. My kids were so attached to them as I often dropped them off to be taken care by Kakak Ija. The kids played with Nadeen who is the my friend's daughter, ever since Husayn was small and untill Hisham's nearly a year old now.

I don't know what to say, seeing my kids sad, make me sad too. I know they will miss Nadeen and Ija a lot as they meet each other almost every day. I just don't like this moment. It breaks my kids' hearts and mine too. Looking at Husayn's face make me even sadder. He might have acted all cool and composed - not crying or even showing his sad face.

But I know, very soon he will ask me to bring him to his best friend's house to play and I just don't know what to say. I don't want to think about it. The saddest point today, was on getting home after sending them to the airport. Husayn walked straight to the kitchen looking very sadly at the toys they were playing together for most probably the last time yesterday and he said in soft and sad voice...

Mummy, Nadeen's not coming back......

I was like..................................................................

We've had enough of this. Maybe it's about time for us to plan for our going home sooner rather than later. Maybe. But I just don't know when.

To Sarahah, thank you for the friendship, thank you for all the help you gave, thank you for the time we spent together and last but not least, thank you for all the nicest things you've done for me.

To Ija, you are like a sister to me. Thank you for everything. Tak dapek Kak Nana nak balas jasa Ja..huhuhu.... Tak sempat jugak nak celebrate besday Ja ngan Hisham sama-sama..heheh sapa suruh balik awal??


To the whole family, I'm sure Malaysia you'll get the warm welcomes you deserve back home. Thank you for everything and you guys will definitely be missed so much. InsyaAllah, we shall meet again soon.

I'm not sleepy!!!

A video of Husayn......

Full of surprises. He can be so nice, cute, innocent, loving, caring...you name it. But you just don't know what else he's capable of.... hehehe.

I have 3 girls???

Beautiful family! So you have 3 gorgeous girls...?

I don't mean to brag, but that particular compliement is what I normally get when I'm out and about with the kids. The last time I heard this was actually last night when this guy came around to promote Airtricity's new electric supply services.

My husband decided to switch to the new service and so, to formally accept the offer we needed to sign a few documents. The minute that guy came in to our house, all my kids (as usual) were so excited and tried to show off their invidual talents to the visitor. Yet, that same line came out of the guy when he saw all of my kids.

Thanks, but there is only 1 girl.

Hehehe.... I could see the guy's face drop as he apologised a few times. Feeling guilty about making this young guy worried, I told the guy that it was OK.

Everyone keeps telling us the same thing.

I know, I am proud to have such a beautiful daughter and sons. I don't know whether it's a good thing or bad thing. I just find it funny. My husband does ask people whether our boys really look like girls. Maybe because they have my big eyes and sweet smile. *wink ...wink... just like me..

I just think positively, but for my eldest son, he doesn't like it when people say that to him.

There is this one time in a library, when he wanted to do colouring and had to share crayons with other kids. This one girl said to her mum,

Mummy, I gave that little girl a crayon to share...

I just smiled from afar but Husayn was obviously hurt and cried out and said,

I'm not a girl Mummy!

Ever since I had Ameera up until now, whenever I go out, I never fail to get compliments about my kids. I am so grateful for that. But this time, I am still grateful although it's just funny because most of the time I have to correct people and see the guilty looks on their faces.

I wrote this entry last week and somehow forgot to publish it. Well, yesterday on the way back from picking up Ameera, I met this Malaysian Chinese lady and we had a chat for a while. Ameera and Husayn were running around and the lady said...

Lady: 1 Jantan 2 perempuan ka????
Me: Smiling... No... 1 perempuan 2 jantan
Lady: Haiya.... solly..solly... muka manyak manis macam perempuan

We laughed together...hahahah...!

What do you think?

One month to go

Oh well, time flies so fast and I don't even notice it. It feels just like yesterday that my baby Hisham was born and now, he is 11 months already. I was so busy and tired yesterday, I didn't even have a chance to write a post about my Hisham.

Somehow, he still looks like a baby. Still no teeth. So, he might just be celebrating his first birthday without having a single tooth!

I just can't wait for his first birthday though. I haven't anything planned yet but a nice summer birthday party in Ireland would be nice for a change. Just in case you guys were wondering, both my other kids were born in the winter so, we've always had cold weather parties which are so not nice.

Anyway, apart from that. On the same date as my Hisham turned 11 months old, my dearest friend Farah became a new mommy to a beautiful little girl. Even though we went to the same college, we have just been so close over the past 7 years.

After all that we've been through, I can say she is not only my friend but more of a sister to me. I've told you I am not a good poet or writer, I don't know how to describe my thoughts for her but one thing's for sure, I'm so happy for her and hope our friendship will last forever!

Wishing fields of cotton candy for you...and your new little ray of sunshine. Congratulations on the arrival of your new baby girl!

Ooo and yeah Farah, I have a story for you today. While in the kitchen after talking to you on the phone, Ameera told me something. You see, apart from own sister, Ameera is very attached to Farah. Like an Aunt who was always around ever since she was born. Here's how it goes.

Ameera: Mummy, it's a good thing you don't have anymore babies.
Mummy: Why?
Ameera: Because, if you have another baby he will make more of a mess.
Mummy: But I thought you said you want a baby sister?
Ameera: It's OK Mummy. Titie (that's what Ameera calls Farah) said I have a sister now.
Mummy: Who?
Ameera: Titie said her daughter is my sister so I don't need anymore sisters because I have one already. But, I think Titie won't love me anymore because she has a new baby.
Mummy: ???

What do YOU think should the answer be here???

This is how my son eats!!

I have 3 kids, but when they were babies nobody liked to eat anything else except for my breast milk. But, when I first tried weaning with Hisham, I thought it was going to be different. I wrote a post about his first time weaning and I was hoping this time, he will be like other normal babies eating home, healthy, cooked baby food and will grow bigger. But I was wrong. He only enjoyed it for the first day and that's it.

However, I still try and force him to eat so this is what happend and what I have to deal with everyday.

at home



outside

Happy Birthday to my Other Half

I wanted to post this entry on the day it self, but due to an internet disruption I couldn't even log on. It was my hubby's birthday last weekend. We didn't have a big celebration or anything as we're still in a recession. But as usual, I'd bake a cake for him and this time he chose to have Blueberry cake.


While he went to send Ameera to her gymnastic class, I quickly decorated his cake that I made the night before for his surprise. I only had around 45 minutes to clear up the kitchen and at the same time finish his cake.

It's just a simple one, well it's the thought that counts, isn't it?

So to my beloved husband, you know I am not good to write you any nice poem or say any romantic things but you know I love you so much and will always do. Enjoy this especially from us!

NTL- Internet disruption

Oh my GOD! It's been almost a week. I still don't have my internet connection. I wanted to say NTL S**** but at this moment I am not sure whether it's because of problems specific to my area or the service provider itself.


On the way to sending my daughter to the bus stop, there were a few UPC vans with I think, more than 10 people trying to fix the problem down the road from us.


I'm not sure what's going on around the area, but it's really crap. It's not that I have important things to do online but it's like a routine for me. Checking my emails, Facebook, my blog, Malaysian newspapers etc. etc. The list is endless actually. In short, I just feel that I'm not connected to the outside world.

Well, technology. Can't live without them, can't live with them.

Another visit to Farmleigh House

Remember my post a few days ago? The post was basically our "discovery" of a nice big public estate in the middle of the city centre? Well, we were so happy to explore it were back there again the following weekend.



This time they had Japanese Day on. Somehow, because the traffic was so bad I totally forgot to take any pictures on the way in. Hehehe. We were stuck about almost an hour just to get in the estate. By then, it was nearly 3 o'clock when we got there. We still got a chance to join in the Origami demo that they had on and, because there were so many people, we decided just to go straight to the same spot as last week to start our picnic. As one might expect, as the theme was Japanese Day they had lots of things Japanese in the estate for the day. They even sold a good selection of sushi in the food market that day.

Husayn's just pretending to know what he's doing...

The weather was so nice that day so, I didn't even want to move at all as I enjoyed eating all the food brought by my friends and I in the sun.

Well, to be honest, I've uploaded most of the pictures from the day on my Facebook account already but do enjoy these ones anyway. Hoping the weather stays like this for a while, at least for the rest of summer.

My First Library Card

Believe it or not? He doesn't even know how to read but he has his own library card. Yeay!

After few times of promising to Ameera finally, I managed to bring her to the library for only the second time. This time though, I registered her for her own library card. Well actually, everyone had their own library card made. Husayn and I, as well as my anxious Ameera of course. She kept saying she wanted to have her own card and borrow books every week.

She loves to read books SO much. Now, as she can read by herself, I think it's a good idea for me to bring her to the library and encourage her to read even more. I know back home in Malaysia, some kids as small as 2 or 3 years old already know how to read. But here, I find that the focus is not on getting the small kids to read. It' s quite good in a way.

If the kids are really geniuses, why not? Over in Ireland, the teacher won't force small kids to learn to read that early. They prefer that the kids grow naturally without forcing them to study that hard and master a particular book. What they do is, they encourage the kids to learn how to master their reading skills using the Polyphonic-reading method. I'm not sure about it myself either. But, I think it works! Well, for my daughter at least.

So, back to the Blanchardstown Library. I like it here. Not only can I bring Ameera and Husayn, they don't even mind if I brought along baby Hisham here as well. The place has this little corner for smaller kids to play and entertain themselves where you don't have to be worry if they're making so much noise. Just bear in mind though, if your baby cries his head off, you should feel a tad bit guilty yourself and do please bring him/her out of the library.

Heheheh...So here we go, after Husayn did some colouring and Ameera chose some books, we headed home to enjoy the story books.


This will definitely be our weekly routine for the rest of our lives, I hope. Well, definitely until Ameera can go by herself that is.

Farmleigh House - Easter Break

I've been here in Ireland for more than a decade. Yup. A third of my life. I never had a chance to explore the whole of Ireland yet. Well, to be honest, not even the whole of Dublin.

When I moved to Blanchardstown, I've had this nice neighbour. An old lady who lived with her deaf-mute son. She is extremely friendly and if by chance we bump into her we can't just stop at Hi and Bye. We'd be stuck in front of the door at least for about 10 minutes. Hehehe... She's just so nice and friendly. She not only gave my kids presents for Christmas and Easter as well as Halloween, she would also tell us everything and inform us what ever she knows.

This includes letting us know about this one nice place called Farmleigh House and Estate that's just a 10 minute drive from our house in Dublin's famous Phoenix Park.


On the Easter Sunday itself, I Googled again for any exciting events for the day. I found out about plenty of free activities in different places which were being held for the kids to enjoy (as well as grown ups). Farmleigh had lots of events on so, as I've never been to Farmleigh before and as it was very near to my place, we decided to go there. It just didn't occur to me that there was a nice, beautiful yet secluded estate at the end of Phoenix Park.



With some picnic preparation we enjoyed the sunny but quite cold day. During the day, there were lots of activities held for kids such as magic shows, story-telling and Easter Egg hunting. Unfortunately, as everyone had the same thought as us, the places for these events were limited. We decided not to do the kiasu thing so, we enjoyed ourselves playing on the grounds instead. We were rewarded for this as the kids managed to meet the Easter Bunny!


Besides that, there was a food market where they sold gourmet foods, drinks, vegetables, fruits, flowers and plants.


We got a spot right in front of the Farmleigh House for our picnic and let the kids enjoy the open space. It was just so lovely.




After that, we decided to explore the estate. We went to the farm where there were a few animals and later to the back of the house where a live band was performing for the day. And then we went into the maze (more like a secret garden but maze sounds more interesting!)

Right before we left the estate, we stopped for a cup of coffee in the Coffee House within the nice estate and had an ice cream on the way back. Overall, it give the place 2 thumbs up. We will definitely go there again!


Just as a tip, if there are any events on the day, traffic might be heavy, but don't worry. There are surprisingly plenty of parking spaces at the very back of the estate especially for visitors. So don't be turned off if you see lots of car going in there. Your time won't be wasted.

The Trim Hot Air Ballon Fiesta

I was just too excited and can't wait to tell you about this event that we went to. I know, some of you might read about in my hubby's blog already as he 'always' has the time to update it. Well at the very least, he will find the time to do it. But, I choose to write about this anyway as I think this is the first ever Hot Air Balloon fiesta that was held in Ireland.


It was around a 45-minute drive to the event from where we live. It's such a nice area which is totally different from where we live. The site for the Fiesta is situated in Trim, Co. Meath and is beside Trim Castle. The castle is where the movie Braveheart was shot and beside it was a very big open space with lots of other activities to do.

Picture courtesy of my husband

The weather unrotunately, was not that good. It was really windy and it rained for few times so, they couldn't really fly the Hot Air Balloons. Fortunately, instead of getting in the basket of the Hot Air Balloon, we managed to get inside the balloon itself. Cool isn't it? Hehe...

We missed the all-important face-painting session but there were plenty else to do. So, here's a round-up of what what we did...

The reason why I was on that ride as well! Hehehe...

My Hubby and the kids even got a chance to play mini golf over there. Although, as you can see Husayn was not very good at all in this sport, but he was determined to finish it until the last hole.


After enjoying the fiesta, we had a nice walk to the castle. We didn't get in the Castle itself but maybe next time. We still managed to have a good stroll around the town for a while though.


The weather was getting windy and colder, so after a cup of coffee and sitting on the hay bales (which were surprisingly really comfy) we decided to go home.

Where to start?

I don't know where to start. Emmm...I've been so busy for the past few days. Today is the last day of a long Easter school break. Two whole weeks. Sad, but at the same time, relieved. I loved it because I don't have to get everything ready early in the morning and have to get out of the house right after that, to send my daughter to school. BUT, it also meant that I would be very busy with my kids.

I'm not complaining. Entertaining them is not hard work but you do need lots of energy, money and it also means that my normal routine of doing things is disrupted as well as everything else in the house!

Having Ameera in the house is very handy. Whenever her brothers, Husayn or Hisham need anything they can absolutely depend on her. She is a very good sister and daughter. However, as she is bigger now she needs more exciting things to do to entertain herself. She never sleeps during the day. She wakes up early in the morning at 7am no matter what time she went to bed the night before. I'm not sure where she gets all the energy but she just doesn't know how to have a rest!

This restlessness is not good as as she is around her two brothers during the day for two weeks. This means their normal sleeping routine no longer applies. With the kids awake, I can't do my normal things like cleaning the house, doing the laundry as well as all the other house work. That's OK but the most important thing to me is that I haven't had my 'ME' time (like sleeping in the morning) for the past 2 weeks. Argghhhh! Hehehe... Ah well, in the end, I do love having all my three kids around me all the time. So, I'm still really looking forward to the next summer holidays.

As the weather was not that great in the first week of the holidays, we've decided to just stay at home doing arts and home-based stuff. After that, I've planned so many things for the kids but somehow due to unavoidable circumstances, I just managed to complete only a few things.

So, what have we been doing over the break?

• A trip to the Trim Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in errr...Trim, Co. Meath


• A visit to Farmleigh House for its Easter weekend events


• Blanchardstown Library


• Portmarknock Beach (kids only)


• A visit to Farmleigh House (again!) for Japanese Day


• Doing lots of grocery shopping


• Garden shopping


• Art work at home


• Watching TV, movies and surfing internet


• Staying at home, lazily

I'll try to post an update with all the stuff that we did above. But bear in mind, it might take a while as I need to re-adjust my routine back to normal again.

Pretending to be rabbit for the Easter break

Easter Break - Free things to do !!!!

I should have posted this earlier but due to unavoidable circumantanses, I obviously wasn't able to do so. My brain is as frozen as the ice outside. The weather is so cold. Even with the heating on.

Where is the Sun? And, the heat that comes with it? I don't want to complain but I need it so badly so that at least, I can make my self feel better. Weather, school holidays etc..etc... I just just can't have any ME time alone. I don't even have the time to sit properly in front of my laptop. So, apologies if this post is slightly belated.

Fortunately, Easter is still here. Not that I celebrate it or anything, but for those who do or those who are in the same boat as me i.e. have energetic kids and nothing much to do, while not wanting to spend lots of money to entertain them, I think these few events might help.

In Dun Laoghaire, there will be The Mad Hatter’s Tea Party. So, why not join the party? Most of the shopping centres are closed anyway. It's free, just bring your hat!

Or, you could go to Ikea. During the Easter weekend they'd have loads of competitions and giveaways.

If you want to go further afield and would like a bit of journey, why not go to Meath specifcally, just near Trim Castle. This time of the year, they'd be holding the Trim Hot Air Balloon Fiesta along with a mini funfair for the kids. They'll be face-painting and balloon modelling. Warning: You might have to bring some change for the rides though.


Tip: You might want to park a bit further (maybe beside The Trim Castle or the nearby housing areas) if you don't want to pay for the €5 parking fees closer to the entrance of the site. Oh, depending on the weather, bring along your wellies!

Honestly, I think there will be few more events around that cost close to nothing. But, I think these options would be more than enough. Well at least, for me because it didn't cost me anything to bring the kids. Errr.. well, apart for the petrol for the car and food that we brought along.

Anyway, Happy Easter and enjoy you guys!