Wordless Sunday: Home made Lemon Meringue for dessert

Hisham's 2nd Birthday Party

A small gathering just for the kids while the mummies and daddies were still at work.

My Precious

The Ugly Duckling cake 

 The Guests

 Canapes - Oreo Cheeseball and Strawberris and Cream palmier

 Balloons

 Red Velvet

This was supposed to be a Teddy Bear Oreo Cheeseball but errr...



Happy Birthday Hisham

Two years ago, as soon as I had finished my Subuh prayers, I went into labour and not long after that, a healthy baby boy was born into this world and as planned, we named him Hisham.

How time flies...without much notice, all my little babies had grown up and as a mother, I'm sure all mothers  out there would agree and would be very pleased to see their kids grow up to be Anak yang Soleh and Solehah, InsyaAllah.

What I can say is Hisham is more or less the same as his brother and sister. Actually, he's a combination of them both in both looks and character but at the same time, he's very unique in his very own special way. The obvious key difference being, even though he is already 2 today, I still feel as if he is still a little baby. Oh well, I suppose that feeling will never change whether he is 2 or 20! Maybe, I'll be kissing and hugging him a lot less when he becomes a big, hairy teenager and when he's in front of his friends but, he'll still always be MY baby...

Happy Birthday Darling. Mummy, Daddy, Tatak Rara and Baba Nayn always loves you. Muuuuaaaahhhhhhhhh!

Oh... and Happy Anniversary to my beloved Mama and Ayah.May happiness be yours forever, InsyaAllah. We always love you too.

Destroy-a-Box Day with Daddy

It's another gloomy Saturday. The weather has not been that bright out and with the Queen having just left the country and Mr President of the United States coming on Monday, most roads and parking spaces are still restricted pretty much every where in the centre of town. Having given up hope of a visit to the city centre, we decided to just stay at home instead.

Here's some pics of how we spent most of the day...

Hisham modelling for his big brother's helmet while the "blacksmith" takes some measurements

Ameera fully prepared for battle with her sword, shield and breastplate combo. Hisham's the maurauding barbarian with the extra large sword here!

Husayn with his specially-designed scimitar, self-made shield and knight's helmet

It all started when the kids started pretending to be pirates that morning. Daddy then came up with the idea of making all sorts of weapons and armour from an unused cardboard box and a bit of imagination. It was just so nice looking at them enjoying their Daddy's handiwork. I just sat back today and let Daddy have some quality time with the kids.

The kids were so happy as each and every one of them got what they wanted. Well, there's another few "new" toys for them to play with, without costing Mummy and Daddy that much money (a lot of sellotape though) but the most important thing was to see them so happy. Absolutely priceless!

I want to eat by myself!

Continuing on with what I am now calling "Hisham Week", here's more about my little boy.

He's nearly two and he still doesn't eat as much as other kids his age. He just relies on my breast milk as his main source of nutrition. If I'm lucky, he sometimes finishes a little pot of petite filous or maybe even a piece of cookie. Barely.

So, it's no surprise that whenever he asks for food I'll be so happy that he even bothered to ask in the first place, I'll let him eat his desired food, his way. Take this for example...

How much do you think actually got into his mouth???

Hisham's Lullaby

At the moment, this little guy is absolutely obsessed with Justin Bieber. Every time he wakes up or goes to bed, he'll ask to watch a Justin Bieber video.

Not wanting him to be hooked too much to video (Bieber or no Bieber), Hisham was given his very own special lullaby...

PS: The picture above was long after he got his lullaby. As we eventually found out, that particular song isn't actually the best lullaby. Hmpppphhh....

My Teddy!

As soon as I finished my prayers for the evening, Little Hisham came to me carrying an old brown teddy bear.  It's been a long time since I'd last seen it. It's not just any normal teddy bear. It was my first ever teddy (and gift/present) from my then boyfriend (now dearest hubby) when we started going out all those years ago.

Altogether now...awwww! Hehehe, I had almost forgotten about it until my daughter dug it out of her toy chest while looking for something in her room. Without any hesitation Hisham grabbed the old soft toy and loudly proclaimed that it was His now.

After almost 15 years maybe I should hand it over to someone else? Who better than my own son? What say you Mr. Hubby? Hehehe...I don't think so.

Wordless Saturday : In my Garden

 Yellow

 Pink Roses

 Lavender

 Sage

 Tiger Lily

 Potato

 Basil

 Tomato

 Flat Parsley

Coriander

Peas

Blueberry

Nice Weather!

As soon as Ameera finished her breakfast this morning, she asked me whether we could walk instead of taking the car to the bus stop. After a long pause, I said OK and got the kids ready - trying to get the two boys into the buggy can feel like mobilising a whole army division!

It has been quite a while since we last walked to the bus stop. Besides the cold weather, I've just been too lazy lately. Hehehe...but today, I had no excuse. The weather was so nice (even though there were patches of rain here and there) that I could afford to leave my bulkier jacket at home. It was just right for ME!

Well, putting in that bit of effort was all worth it. Look at the kids (Husayn actually has had a haircut if you hadn't noticed - maybe more on that later). They're just so happy to be out and about. Actually, they've been asking me to do so for quite some time so understandably, they were quite excited about the whole thing. Perhaps it could be my new routine for the summer.

A litlle video of the return trip later that day - while waiting for Ameera's school bus to arrive

The Royal Wedding and Educational Hello!

Hope it's still not too late to wish a Happy Mother's Day to all mothers out there. We in Ireland had celebrated it already so, it's easy to forget. I hope all you ladies had a good one!

In Europe, well at least in the UK, the royal wedding vibe is still in the air. Every magazine or newspaper or news on TV is still talking about it. As for me, I'm not that fanatical about the whole thing but living here, in a a way forces me to blend in with the environment and get excited about it.

I watched the wedding live on TV and as it had been a long time since I bought a magazine of any kind, guess what? I spent a whole €3 on a copy of Hello! magazine just to catch the finer details of the wedding..

Despite having to listen to my husband's constant complaints whenever I buy or read this type of tabloid/gossip magazine, this time he surprisingly took of the magazine before me (while I was busy with something else), quickly had a look through and finally said...

Yang, this magazine is actually quite good. It's very educational.

Hmmm...he appeared interested with analysing what the King of Sweden looked like and how he or his wife was related to the Duke or Earl of so and so in England but like reading a good book, I didn't want to ruin the experience and limited my look at the magazine to just a few glances every time my husband showed me something he thought was interesting or there was a particularly beautiful picture.

For example, this one...

It really caught my attention and made me feel a bit poyo for a moment...ahaks! If you can't see clearly, the bottom right corner of the above picture is of Malaysia's own Yang Di Pertuan Agong and the Raja Permaisuri Agong or for those of you not familiar with Malaysian monarchy, the King and Queen of Malaysia who attended the wedding.

Hehehe...suddenly I felt like I was very close to home...hehehe glamer gitu orang Malaysia!

Other than that, seriously there are lots of beautiful pictures, the latest wedding fashion and the most important thing, there are lots of information about the royal family, royal history and old royal wedding pictures going back to the Queen's own wedding. Like my husband said, it's actually quite informative.

And even a special message from the happy couple to me hehehehe...

Cool isn't it? Would you like to read a copy? Seriously, it's well the €3 spent to buy it. I know there will be more magazines, books, etc..etc covering the wedding but for the moment, this should do me. Eh, and what about a movie about William and Kate? Hmmm... I know it's sounds cheesy and the movie looks a bit B grade to me but hey, I seriously don't think I'd be bored with it. Give me more Royal Wedding stuff please. Hehehe...

Rachel Allen's Crumble Cake

When I went to the Rachel Allen cookery demo recently, the menu was tailored for spring/summer. Everything was designed to be light and refreshing. She had Potato and Leek Soup, Grilled Tuna and Mackarel with Pea Guacamole, Salsa Verde and for dessert, there was Rhubarb Crumble Cake.

I did make more or less my own version of the grilled fish  but I don't have any pictures to share of this as I was too hungry to think about snapping pics and had a stab at making a crumble cake. Well, I liked the crumble so much that I made it twice in the week after the demo. I was too lazy too use fresh rhubarb (I was eager to skip the preparation involved with using rhubarb) so, I substituted it with some canned fruits instead. First, I used peaches and on the second attempt, I used pineapple and a dollop of blueberry jam as a sort of counter-balance to the pineapple's sharpness.

The verdict? Both cakes tasted quite nice and fresh but my husband preferred the one with the pineapple/blueberry jam combo which I served with some vanilla ice cream. Hmmm...absolutely perfect in this kind of weather (and definitely ideal for sunny Malaysia too). The cake is very simple and easy to make. I highly reccommended it if any ofyou guys are out of ideas or if some visitors decide to drop by on short notice.

Oh, and by the way, here's the recipe (click on the photo for a bigger, more legible version)...

As Rachel Allen would say, Happy Cooking :-)

Mummy's Little Helper

As most of you know, this is Hisham. He's going to be 2 soon, and he is such an independent boy. Well, constant requests for my milk aside, of course (urrgghh). Remember when I wrote about Hisham preparing his own bath? He just loves to do everything himself and help me around the house. OK, maybe it normally ends up the other way around but still, I know that all he's trying to do is help. It's the thought that counts, right?

He loves playing helping with the broom. He can normally be seen in the kitchen trying to sweep whatever he can. He also vry helpful with the clothes - folding all the clothes when I'm just about to start my own routine.

Added to his already long list of chores, while I was busy washing the dishes this morning, I caught him "helping" out again...

The laundry wasn't even dry yet! Well, I know he was just trying to help. Hehehe...

Good Boy. When you're all grown up and can do your own thing, don't forget to help Mummy with the same things that you're doing here,OK?