My oh my....

How on earth am I going to be able to update what's happened in the last 7 month?

I created this blog mainly to keep track on the boys' progress and now with so much development, happenings, laughter and joy that has passed, I am going to attempt at doing so....I told myself "better update the blog before they become teenagers...and more so before I forget my login and password!"

Okay, here goes....

* Umrah *
My parents in-law joined, Amil, the boys and I for mine & kids inaugural Umrah trip in April / May 07. It was such a wonderful trip and am so blessed that things went as smoothly as possible, Alhamdulillah, and that we all as one family were able to perform the Umrah. The place left such a positive impression on the kids that Umar will once in a while say "I miss Makkah, can we go back to Makkah, and also to Jeddah and Madinah - I miss the toys, the masjidil haram..."....and as for Musa, whenever he sees KLCC Twin Towers or any mosque he will say "Kaabah, Kaabah"... No doubt it was very hot during our time there, around 43 deg. celcius, but Allah swt protected the children and us, and we were able to have such a fulfilling time. Another highlight was the many, many, Camel rides that we took, especially Umar (until he became almost dizzy!) at Jabal Rahmah (where Adam a.s. and Hawwa met up again after a long time of being separated)

* Kids Birthday *
I stuck to my guns - the boys didn't have a birthday party this year. Instead just a quiet gathering with the family. Thank god they forgot last year, although Umar did ask for a magic show for him and his friends. So the solution? I arranged for the Magician "Hassan" to perform at Umar's pre-school, which was an absolute delight and excitement for not just the kids but teachers too! As for Musa, well he was thrilled enough at being able to hold the knife, blow the candles and cut the cake on his birthday... and since he was so into Elmo, we gave him a tickle-me-Elmo toy, which admittedly made me laugh more than the kids!

* Singapore Trip *
Killing two birds with one stone, we turned my business trip into a family holiday during our trip to Singapore in July 07. I was pleased to be one of 4 representatives of my company, Linfox, to collect Frost & Sullivan Award for "Best Logistics Service Provider - FMCC for Malaysia". One night of this, then the rest was yahoo, fun, fun time with Amil & kids. Highlight was definitely the Singapore Zoo - kangaroo feeding, polar bear feeding of real live fish (really left a lasting impression on Musa, though Umar and I missed it coz Umar had to go to the loo) and the impressive Siberian Tiger - aiyoh, puts Malaysia Zoo to shame, sigh.

* National Zoo Malaysia *
Ok, so this zoo pales in comparison to the Singapore Zoo, but still provides us with much joy and entertainment on a Sunday morning. Umar fave animals are the ant-eaters & snakes, whilst Musa is the Giraffe (though this scared the pants of Musa because it came up so close and was flicking it's tongue - my mom thinks that he had a fever after this because of shock by the Giraffe, the doctor of course said it was food poisoning..hehe), Elephant and Zebra - he loves the African safari animals...

* Nemo, Dory & Fuzzy *
I am amazed that Nemo (the fish given to Musa by Naelah's mom-in-law) is still alive since joining our family on 26 Sept 07. He came home with us that day in a plastic cookie bottle, which Musa insisted to bring into his cot bed during his nap time. A few days later, Amil and I bought Dory & Fuzzy, to keep Nemo company, but after a few fights later and ultimately Fuzzy's death (he was the cutest and smallest and only lasted one day), we had to separate Nemo & Dory. So now it's fish feeding & aquarium cleaning routine that keeps the kids happy on a daily basis. Of course I ensured that it was going to be a small fish (actually RM1 for 8 - but we insisted on only buying 2. My mom says that if any more die, we should still have credit for the balance 6 that we didn't take home..hehe)
and minimal fuss because at the end of the day it is me who has to look after them...