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Showing posts with label Dania. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Dania. Show all posts

Thursday, May 31, 2012

Happy 10th Birthday Dania Jazmin

My eldest daughter is 10 today. TEN!! Double digits!! How is that possible. She's still just a baby. Before I know it, pretty soon she'll be going to boarding school, then university, then she'll be getting a job, getting married, having kids.....uwaaaa!!

This is way too soon for me.

The kids are away at their Grandparent's house and I miss them madly. Their Maksu has promised to take them for a movie today and also to buy Dania a birthday cake.

I still can't over the fact she's all grown up. Grown up into a beautiful, wonderful, amazing daughter that I'm so proud of.

Happy 10th birthday, Dania Jazmin. We love you so much.


Hugs and kisses,
Ibu.

Monday, March 26, 2012

My Last Haircut of the Year

Last weekend we went to my parent's house. We haven't been back in a while due to work and study commitments plus my nephew had been diagnosed with HFM (hand, foot and mouth disease) and was recuperating at my mom's place so I refused to take the kids there.

Since En Rashid had badminton on Friday night, we decided to go on Saturday. The whole day was basically spent catching up on stuff and playing cards with my parents. I won, hahahha...despite my dad's futile attempts to play dirty.

On Sunday, my mom took us (me and the girls) out for our haircut. The nearest shop was close so we decided to head to Subang.


This is Dina and Daria before their haircut.

Dina getting her haircut. When I asked the amoi how much it would cost to cut her hair, she said RM10. I bargained saying that Dina only needed her fringe cut. So the amoi charged us RM5 instead.

Daria getting anxious; do I have to cut my hair, ibu? Daria's hair is a nightmare in the sense, I could cut her hair today and next week it would be full and thick again. I asked the amoi to thin out Daria's hair at the back and make it short in front. Short enough that I didn't have to take her for a haircut for at least another month.
OK, this part I don't understand. It's not like she hasn't had a haircut before but Daria just lost it yesterday. She started crying, complete with tears running down her face, causing all of her hair to stick to her face. It took a lollipop to calm her down, even then she insisted in me holding her hand.

Here are the girls after their haircut. Not much difference actually because Dania and Dina only cut their fringe.

I got my hair cut also yesterday. Pretty dramatic one if you ask me.
On a good hair day, this is what I look like.....
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Hah!! But seriously...it CAN look that good.
On a bad hair day, this is what I look like.
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Yes...I look like a boy. Sigh....

Sunday, March 25, 2012

Snippets of the Past 2 Weeks

OMG...sorry folks..I promised a few people I would update on what's been happening at Casa Along but alas, some urgent matters need to be taken care off first. I'll just list down a few stuff as a teaser..promise, I'll write in full really soon.

1. Our train ride into KL. A great way for some family bonding and to tire out the kids real fast. Haha.
2. Dania and Dina's Bijak Sifir workshop
3. Our maid problem. Like...urghhh...seriously.
4. Work stuff...went through hell but hopefully everything will turn out fine. Oya, had to postpone my International Marketing mid term because of work...sigh..

Till then, stay chill my fellow peeps.

Friday, February 03, 2012

All Down For The Count

All three of my babies are sick. Boohoo! It started actually with Daria, we suspect she got food poisoning from the drink we bought at the night market. Actually it was more of the ice cubes that she chewed on, must have been made from unfiltered water.

So anyway, this was actually last week and for almost a week, she was vomiting and had diarrhea. Then as Daria was getting better, Dania got sick and started getting the same symptoms. She came back from school on Tuesday, complaining about a stomach ache. That night, she started vomiting and having the runs. So far, she's missed 4 days of school.

Last Wednesday night, Dina started vomiting. I was getting really worried, especially since Daria was just getting better. So on Thursday morning, both En Rashid and myself took the girls to the hospital.


Both Dania and Dina had to be put on a drip because they were vomiting excessively. They cried a bit when the nurse placed in the needle but only because their veins were so shrunk from the dehydration. But after a bottle of saline, they both felt better. Fortunately the doctor said that they could be released and stay at home, instead of being admitted into the wards.

As of today, Dania about 90% better. She still has the runs but she hasn't vomited since yesterday. Dina vomited twice today but I think it's due to the powder medication she has to take. So I've stopped that for now and tried to get her to drink chocolate milk instead.

Here's hoping my babies get well soon.

Wednesday, February 01, 2012

Dania's School Clay Project

The other day, Dania mentioned about her Kajian Tempatan project she had to do during CNY. Apparently, she had to create a cave out of plasticine, following the instructions in her text book.

I tried googling some videos on how to make a cave; most of the videos I found used paper mache and were too complicated for my limited creativeness. So I called my brother to help.

This is what they finally came up with.

It cost me approximately RM60 to buy all the stuff for her cave but looking at the final result, was so worth it. My brother helped a lot, in terms of the design and layout.
The frame of the cave was made out of polystyrene and then covered with balls of plasticine. Dania helped roll bits of plasticine into balls while I helped my brother cover up the polystyrene. The bushes were actually leaves from the trees in my mom's garden, taken with permission of course. The grass was fake grass, bought at the art shop for RM7 per piece. Initially we wanted to create the grass using plasticine, but figured that would just take up too much time.

Dania also created the "boulders" using grey plasticine and the stalactites and stalagmites using orange plasticine. My brother helped arrange them around the stream and pond.
En Rashid complained that the cave looked too "boxy" but actually we ran out of plasticine. My brother wanted to use something to create a roundish shape for the top of the cave but we were worried that the polystyrene might not be able to hold the weight. So a "boxy" cave it is.

Which was just fine, because Dania got A+ for her project!!

Go Dania!!

Tuesday, January 10, 2012

Another Milestone...

I should have blogged about this when it happened but I guess I was still in some kind of denial.

Dania...has entered the realm of womenhood.

Auww, shucks!!

OK, Dania came her first period last week. She announced it very "matter of fact"ly and with no crying on her part. Unlike her mother, who felt like throwing herself on the floor, screaming "Why...why....why is my baby growing up so fast?!!"

She's nine. Nine, ok!!

Isn't this too soon?

*Sob.

Wednesday, January 04, 2012

1st Day of School

Today I took leave since it was Dania's and Dina's first day of school. Normally, I wouldn't be too worried but since Dania was now in Standard 4 and Dina in Standard 2, that meant they had different schedules and wouldn't be going to the same school at the same time anymore.

I had booked the van for them since early December but I was still worried that there would be hiccups in terms of getting the kids to and from school on time. Fortunately the van lady, whom we had used last year, was rather efficient. She admitted that the first day was a matter of getting used to the routes of picking and sending back the kids. But in the end, the girls got to both schools on time and were back home when they were suppose to be.

I asked Dina if she missed seeing her sister at school and she laughed. Hah!! I guess it's true, distance does make the heart fonder.

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Quick Getaway

The clan is back from a quick getaway on PD. It was a last minute decision to go. I was basically having it up to here with work (pointing to my delicate nose) and the kids were getting restless with one week of holiday and nowhere to go.

My boss had been talking about the Legend Waterhomes ever since she took her kids there. So in the end, I decided to try it out and booked their 3 days 2 nights package. I booked the hotel that had the private swimming pool in the room because knowing En Rashid and myself, we would be taichi'ing each other to go take the kids to the public swimming pool.

Since PD is only 1 hours drive from BBB, we had lunch at home first. I had some errands to do that morning so it was after 3pm when we finally set off for PD. We arrived around 415pm, a bit late because someone was going the wrong way. And had a faulty GPS. And wouldn't let me call the hotel for directions.

Once we had arrived, check-in was a breeze. We had one of the rooms that was overlooking the seabed. The girls immediately noticed the floor "window" as we walked into the room.

Daria was a bit comprehensive of the window. She refused to step on it at first since she thought she might fall through it. She even yelled if any of us stepped on the window accidentally. Hahaha, so cute.

But the main attraction was of course, the in-room swimming pool. The girls shrieked (I use the word appropriately) with joy when they say it. Immediately, they changed into their swimming gear and plunged in.
The 3 of them practically became mermaids in the pool and would have stayed in there for hours. We finally dragged them all out when it was time to get ready for dinner.

Since the package only included one dinner meal and we were still rather full from lunch, we decided to head out instead. It was drizzling but luckily the hotel provided each room with a mighty big umbrella so we didn't get that wet as we walked to the hotel lobby.

We took our chance with the first OK looking restaurant we saw. It turned out not be such a bad choice. The kids had fried mee, which they didn't finish because according to them, it was too spicy. And I had specifically requested for it not to be spicy. However, hubby and I had a good meal; white rice with mixed tomyam, siakap cooked 3 rasa and kangkung masak belacan. Adding in all the drinks and what not, it came to about RM44.

Eventhough it had stopped raining, the kids were too tired out to do anymore swimming. So after watching a bit of TV, they fell asleep pretty quickly.
Look at who conquered most of the bed (it was a King bed). Ambik ko, terkangkang terus!!

The next day, the kids were raring to go swimming again. However, En Rashid and I wanted to go get breakfast first, so we made some sandwiches for Dania and Dina and took Daria for breakfast at the hotel. OK, before you ask, the package only included breakfast for two. Kids (ages 4-12) cost RM37.75 per head for breakfast. And knowing Dina, she would only eat one bowl of cereal and a glass of juice and that would be it. It would have chapped my ass if I were to pay that amount for a bowl of cereal!!

So we left the room for breakfast but took the fat crapper with us (Min, I can't stop calling her that!). I must say the breakfast spread was quite disappointing. For starters, no nasi lemak. They only had porridge which is basically hospital food, so yucks! They had a good salad bar though and made a mean omelet. I liked the omelet!
Good omelet!

Daria had some sausages and potato wedges. here she is thoroughly enjoying her cold, cup of guava juice.
They had special plates and cups for children, which I though was pretty smart.
One of the two buffet counters. Daria kept on asking me to bring back the big boat on display.
Hah, no longer afraid!!
Low tide in the morning. Where's all the water, ibu? And the fishies??

Nevermind, while waiting for the fishies to come back, I'll just do some painting over here. An elephant is purple, right ibu?

It rained mostly during the day so we didn't do much. Watched TV, played games, slept. Since it was a Friday, En Rashid went out for prayers and brought back lunch. This was also Dania and Dina's dinner later in the evening. Don't judge!! They were fine with it.

The dinner buffet was slightly better. They had sate, curry mee and white rice with various dishes. I liked the peanut sauce that came with the sate. Also the curry mee was no bad. En Rashid became a fan of chocolate covered fruits, thanks to thw\e chocolate fountain they had. Oya, the chocolate they used was dark chocolate, so yummy!!!
Someone sure is enjoying her ice cream!!
It took 10 shots before I finally got one of her licking her ice cream. Hahaha, thank god for digital cameras.
En Rashid, full and NOT thinking about work. I hope.

The next day was check-out day. The girls woke up extra early so they could squeeze in as much swimming time as possible. We took them to the outdoor pool, so that they could swim while we had breakfast at the pool cafe.
The hotel had 2 pools; one for the kids with slides and all that and another for adults.I must say the hotel took great pride in their facilities, everything was kept nice and clean.
A reluctant look given when asked to leave the pool. Nevermind adik, we'll come back again soon.
Here's the room we stayed in. Ignore the mess. The beds were super comfy and the pillow super plushy.
From the bedroom, you go through the kitchen to the bathrooms. The kitchen had a microwave and plates and utensils. The bathroom was split between the toilet and shower room. The sliding door you see opens up to the in-door swimming pool.
The buggies that took hotel guests to and from the hotel lobby to their rooms. Mighty useful especially if its raining or when you want to check-out with your bags of crap.
Tired but happy. The girls really enjoyed themselves so I would say the quick getaway was just what we all needed.

Now, it's back to the real world. Next week is mid terms!! Argghhhh...plus finals for the kid's kafa school.

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Sports Day

Last weekend, Dania and Dina had their school's Sports Day. Unfortunately for them, they both were unable to qualify for any individual events.

"Memula Kakngah masuk 70m, dapat #4, lepas tu 100m, dapat #5."


"Berapa orang lari sesama?"


"Lima."

Alahai...nevermind la my girls. I was never much of a runner myself (still not!). I was more into team sports like netball, basketball, badminton and volleyball (though I sucked at that...heehe).

The Sports Day was held on a Saturday for those in Std. 1 - 3 and on Sunday for those in Std. 4 -6. I think it made sense to break up the classes like that because, really none of the parents wanted to stay beyond 12pm.

Initially, I had planned to just drop off the girls at school then head back to catch up on my sleep. In the end, I ended up staying until the whole thing finished, which was around 1130am.

I missed seeing Dina participate in her event because the teachers had initially set up the games near the student tents, instead of the parents' tents. Plus, Dina had told me she was in the beanbag event, when actually she was in the drag-the-ball-using-hulahoop event. I had only realized she had finished when later on she came up to me, showing the medal she got.

"Wah, you got a medal! For what place?"

"Fourth!"

Alahai...nevermind. At least you had fun.

Dania participated in the "big shoes" event (terompah besar). Luckily I was able to spot her out from among the crowd. She was just about to start when I saw her and sprinted across the field to take her picture.
Her team was the first to go. I think there were like 3 teams of 3 and the last person had to run to the finish line with the ball. Dania's team showed great teamwork and they were the first team to reach the 1st checkpoint.

Excuse the excited voice in the foreground. Just another mom being in the moment for her child.

Unfortunately, they fumbled on the transition part and fell behind. In the end, they got fourth by a slight margin.

Eventhough they didn't get first place (or second or third..hehe), the important thing is they learned the concept of teamwork and had fun in the process.

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

A Lot To Write About

1. My new nephew, Shayen Iman.
2. The girls' sports day.
3. Outing to i-City.

I shall find the time....soon.

Saturday, July 09, 2011

Report Cards

Today En Rashid and I went to pick up the girls' report cards at the Kafa school. Luckily Dania reminded me, if not we would have both forgotten.

We headed there around 1030am. In the newsletter, it said to be at the school from 800 - 1100. Hmm..as always, last minute.

We met up with Dina's teacher first. Alhamdulillah, my not-so-little girl is doing well. She got 100 for a few subjects while the rest were over 90. Overall, she got #3 in class. Her teacher said her quran recital was fine, just needed to practise more.

It was, unfortunately, a different story with Dania. If during her 1st semester, she got #1, this time she got #6. The worst part is, her marks for all her subjects had declined dramatically. Some from 100 to 75! Even her teacher mentioned, that Dania liked to play around in class nowadays and at times failed to pay attention.

I'm disappointed. Only because I know my daughter can do better. Even her Sek. Keb. results had declined (from #3 to #11).

I don't blame her 100% though. As a parent, I know I can play a bigger role when it comes to my children's education. It's not just enough sending them to school and making sure they do their homework. I should take advantage of the fact I have no classes until September and sit down with them as they do their work. Make sure they really understand. Make sure they do enough exercises.

I know some moms out there will tell me to chill out. Getting a B is not the end of the work. That's not the point. If I know Dania had worked really hard but still got a B, I would have been proud of her. The fact of the matter is, she hasn't been studying much and it has shown. She's been watching way too much TV, spending way too much time reading story books instead revision.

Their next exams are in August. I hope Dania works harder (and I hope I can be there for her more) and gets better results.

Friday, June 24, 2011

When The Big Cat's Away....

..the little mice conquer the bed!!

Sabar je la...ibu nak tido mana? Haiii...sleep tight, my sleeping princesses.

Wednesday, April 27, 2011

Sibling Rivalry

Dania and Dina usually get along fine. They play and study together and they have their "secret" meetings in their rooms (usually it's to decide which Disney princess to imitate for the week). However lately I've noticed that they've been fighting more then usual. I think it's because Dania is entering the "tween" age group while Dina is still in the kids segment. I think I can relate; I remember hating my brother when we were that age. Urgh, everything he did annoyed me.We would fight a lot but my guess is that fighting with a brother is totally different than fighting with a sister. I wouldn't know for sure, I have no sisters to call my own.

A few days back, I found this note lying on my study table. Apparently, the girls had been fighting again. My eyes welled up with tears when I read the note.

"I am sorry kaklong but when you don't like me I don't no (know) you say what to me. [heart] Dina."

I asked Dania about the note and she just sighed. I asked her what had Dina done but all I got was the usual *grumble..grumble..grumble*. I asked her if she still loved her sister and if they had made up yet. Fortunately she gave a positive answer to both questions; not that I was doubting it anyway.

My dear girls. I know you won't understand now but I sincerely hope you both grow up to be the best of friends. I hope you continue to love each other and support each other, no matter what. I hope you both know you can come to me whenever you have problems or just need to talk. I hope you both know how much I love you.

Now stop fighting already!!

Saturday, April 02, 2011

Full of Hot Air...Sort Of

A few weeks back, there was a Hot Air Balloon Fiesta in Putrajaya. We had missed last years' show so I was adamant in going this year. The fiesta started on a Thursday so I planned with En Rashid to take leave that day. The kids were on school holiday so rather than bersesak2 with the weekend crowd, we planned to go on the 1st day itself. That was until En Rashid later found out he had to attend a workshop. Since I really didn't want to miss the event, I dragged my parents along instead.

The main event was the hot air balloon ride. On the website, it mentioned that the rides would be from 8am until 11am. Thinking we had plenty of time to catch a ride, we headed out from my parents place at around 8am and arrived at the site around 830am. Imagine our dismay when we found out the tickets for the morning sessions were all sold out!! Apparently they only allocated 300 tickets for each session. Peh..melepas la peluang nak naik balloon. I had been on one when I was in the states (a birthday present for En Rashid) so I wasn't all that disappointed.
  
Some of the balloons as seen from the parking lot. A lot of them had already flown off as the organizers were expecting late morning rain.
The Darth Vader balloon!! I took pictures of it as it was about to take flight.
My mom and the girls looking at the rides schedule, disappointed. That was until we saw that the balloons were tied down and only went something like 20 meters up into the air. My dad was like, "I thought we got to at least fly around a bit." Yeah right, for RM10, you get to float around in the basket..that's all. Heee.
So in the end, we headed to the extreme zone. Once I saw the zorb ball, I was like "I need to try that!" It was fun but damn tiring. Both Dina and me were sweating when we finally crawled out of the ball.
Dania trying out as a hamster.
Seeing how exhausted we all got playing the zorb ball, my parents decided to pass. So we headed to the extreme bike section. I've forgotten the name of this type of bike but they have a website. My mom asked the guy in charge how much the bikes cost; I think they retail at RM4k - RM6k, depending on the type of bike. It was fun though and my thighs got such a workout, it's amazing I was still able to walk afterwards. 

Next we headed towards the horse rides. Both Dania and Dina chose a horse and got on. It was RM12 for one round of the track. A bit of a rip-off if you ask me. 
I really wanted to find some activity for my parents to do so I dragged them over to the segway section. I even paid for their rides before they could protest. Heehe. Here's my dad being the dotting husband he is.
And here's my dad. mom and Dania getting ready to ride off. They only had three segways available for each trip, so I passed. Furthermore, Dina couldn't ride one as she wasn't heavy enough so I stayed to keep her company.
                                     

The three of them apparently had such fun that my dad quickly looked up the website to find out the price. Let's just say you can get one of these for the price of a Kancil!!

Wednesday, March 30, 2011

Cloud Watching

In the car, on the way to the bird park last weekend.

Dina: Ibu, do you see that cloud? It looks like an elephant.

Me: Really? What else do you see?

Dania: I see a leg wearing a sock!

Dina: I see a bath tub!

Me: Bath tub?!

Dania: I see a teddy bear!

Dina: I see a llama....with big eyes and small face...and looks like a ghost. And beside it, the elephant eating a lollipop.

Everybody: ??????

Sunday, March 27, 2011

The Girls' Hair Saloon Trip

Last weekend, I took the girls for their monthly haircut. Seriously, its like they have weeds on their heads. They could get a haircut today and by next week, complain about their hair already in their eyes.

So last week, my brother brought us to his friend's saloon near my mom's house. Dania and Dina went first and were done in no time. Then it was Daria's turn. The last time I took her for a haircut, she freaked out and cried most of the time.

This time was so much different. I guess from watching her sisters, she understood the concept that the hairdresser wasn't going to attack her with the scissors.


Uncle Alex was very good with Daria. When he wanted to cut her fringe, he told her to close her eyes. "Close your eyes, close your eyes adik."
Initially the girls complained that the short haircuts made them look like boys. But now it's kind of growing on them.I like it, especially since I don't have to worry about hair in their eyes anymore.