Hartlepool beach

These are some of the photos at Hartlepool beach. We rarely go to beach here for numerous reasons, one thing the water is forever cold (even during the summer), the black sand (which fails miserablely in comparison to our white flour-like sand in Malaysia) and the people, some of them find staring at other people (especially us women yg pakai hijab) polite and acceptable.

Mula2 ihsan je yang nak mandi and main air, iman was reluctant. Farah pun excited macam Ihsan. Tapi bila lama2 Iman tengok his brother and sister were having fun, he could not resist the temptation anymore, so apa lagi, join inlah... Mind you, the water was freezing!!! Fatihah lepak jer dengan ailong.

Well, atuk and mai and uncles and aunties, enjoy the pics!

worrying wednesday

On Wednesday morning, with a few friends, I went to see Mrs Lyon again. It was settled. Our children are excluded from the christmas performance. Then it was decided that some of us would have to help out at the school. So, three times a week I have to supervise the children with with their project for creative curriculum subject. I had to teach them about India. Quite a difficult task to execute as I have left teaching for almost five years.

Yesterday, Ihsan told me that somebody kicked him on the way to school. The boy was in iman's class, while another boy, a year six student just watched and laughed. The one who kicked Ihsan is notoriously known in school. The other boy hit Iman with his lunch box. The other Malaysian children who were walking with iman and ihsan did nothing. I am really worried about this. This is serious bullying. Mrs Lyon was immediately informed and she promised to investiagte the matter. Ailong was also concerned and suggested that maybe Ihsan and Iman be pulled out from the school. Too drastic a measure, I should think. As a preventive step, on Thursday and Friday I walked them to school. The two boys were no where to be seen.

Anothet two fish died today. This time they were Farah's. She was quite upset this time. Baby is attacking the other fish, if this goes on, there'll be no more fish left.

troubling tuesday

Today a lot happened. In the morning, I received a call from Ihsan's headteacher, Mrs Lyon regarding his or rather our decison, not to join the Christmas performance. I was asked to see her at 3 p.m. I consulted a good friend of mine, ust midah, because her daugther also attends the same school. We decided to meet Mrs Lyon together.

At 3, we met her and she seemed concerned with my decision of not allowing ihsan to participate. I got the impression that she wanted ihsan to join in, citing the excuse that other Muslim children are doing it. You see, the main problem was the discrepancy between us muslims, some parents allow their children to take part in such religious performances (e.g Christmas, Easter celewbration) while others like us, do not. The meeting did not manage resovle anything as it she had other important matters to attend to. We would have to see her again on Wednesday. *sigh*

On the way back from the meeting, the three of us (me, ustazah midah and hubby) decided to call for a meeting for parents whose children are involved in the Christmas presentation. Tonite, most parents came and have unanimously agreed that their children cannot take part in religiously inclined activities.

On a different note, Iman developed rashes all over his body and he can't stop scratching himself throughout the night. Farah pulak, for the past two nights, has been coughing while sleeping and as a result, ermmm you guess it, muntah lah...Yuk slimey and yellowish substance..... Kesian princess ummi. The smallest member of the family, Fatihah has started coughing with a worrying deep crackling sound. Ihsan, so far, alhamdulillah... It's the weather. It's making everybody sick. Even kakngah...she is downwith a cold and sore throat.

Bad news. Another two fish died today. They were iman's. But he was too distrcated by his itching rashes to pay much attention to his dead fish. I'll have to fish them out and flushed them down the toilet. Yes, again....We found out who the culprit was, the one that has been attacking the fish in the tank. It was baby (Fatihah's fish). She has been aggressively attacking the other fish and something needs to be done. I might take her out of the tank. But where to put her? Flushed her down the toilet...ermm tempting! Tapi sian Fatihah kan, the fish is hers!

Another troubling news. I received the much awaited nerve wrecking mind boggling sleep depriving temper flaring email from Diane. Die lah.... nervous giler. InsyaAllah everything will be okay. Please dua for me...

mundane monday

Nothing much happened today. Iman was off school because he was still feeling poorly. Farah and Ihsan went to school as usual. Ihsan was a bit concerned about his Christmas performance. He wanted to be a part of it and yet at the same time, he knew it was religiously innapropriate for him to join. After careful consideration and some private talk with me, he decided to tell Mrs Clarke that he will not be joining the performance. Good boy!

On Wednesday, Farah will attend her Autumn dance festival in Spennymoor and she's extremely excited about it. She is involved in her class performance and she plays the part of a leaf, dropping from its branch. Last night, she showed Ailong and I her dance movement. It was soooo cute.

I learned how to make karipap pusing today and Ailong was quite pleased because after 11 years of marriage, this was my second attempt. The first was a complete failure. Well, better late than never right! This time around, the expert (kzu) came to the house and skillfully demonstrated the fine art of making it. My attempt was commendable.

Winter is here. The days are shorter and the nights are longer. The days are gloomy, wet and cold. The weather is really depressing.

weekend blues

Last Friday we picked up Farah from Anna's house. She was ecstatic and couldn't stop talking about her tea party. She told us that she fed Anna's horses and cat and had a lovely time there.

Another fish died on Friday. This time it was Farah's. But suprisingly, she was not really upset. Maybe because she was still excited about her tea party. She talked so casually about her dead fish called Melanie (all her five fish share the same name) with her friend who came to visit. I expected her to start wailing the minute she found out about her fish, instead she asked for a cat. The next day, kakngah helped her to take the fish out from the tank. Then Farah flused it down the toilet.

Last saturday nothing much happened. Ailong and I went to Sunderland to buy some pyrex. The kids stayed home and played games. They looked extremely bored. Iman complained that he was not feeling well. He has a fever. So, that night he slept with us. Fatihah was also getting worse. She has been coughing throughout the day.

Sunday was another bleak day. We didn't go anywhere and did some winter cleaning. It was really tiring. Iman was still sick. Some friends came over for tea.

Tonite, I guess it's Farah's turn to be sick. Dia muntah habis duvet and selimut. She was coughing throughout the night. Kesian princess babah. Alhamdulillah Fatihah looked settled tonite and iman did not seem to have a temperature anymore.

lagi pasal baju

Earlier, I mentioned that iman and ihsan have to wear customes that depict a character from a book. Ihsan could not find his dark vader cape, mask and sword, so I cajoled him in putting on baju melayu and kain sampin as jeng jeng jeng...Hang Tuah. He looked confused and asked, "but why?', people will laugh at me". Then I explained Hang Tuah was a legend and infamous Malay warrior and to save me from giving a lengthy explanation, I just said, "well, hang tuah is like Robin Hood.". He nooded his head and looked please. Well, that settled it then.

Hmmm iman is another headache. First he said he didn't want to wear anything but when he saw Ihsan wearing his custome, he changed his mind. So, I went searching for his dracula cape. It was hidden in their closet. I handed it to him and .....he accidentally ripped it. I was really really annoyed. I had to sew that plastic cape in my attempt to salvage it. Then he put on black trouser and top, and you could tell from the look on his face that he was really pleased with his custome.

Farah, on the other hand, was an angel. She woke up, washed herself and straight away put on her pink pyjama, then ate her breakfast. It was one of those mornings when she did not make any fuss or throw tantrums. Fatihah was still sleeping and oblivious to her surrounding.

Buaian oh buaian

Teehah was a bit crancky today. Well, she has been restless for a couple of days now. She refuses to go to sleep during the day and we (me and kakngah) have to dukung her all the time. I guess she is feeling a bit under the wheather, she has blocked nose which makes it difficult for her to feed. Tonite, her sleep is also unsettled because of her constant dry cough. I hope she gets better tomorrow.

I told ailong to buy a buaian for her but then how and where can we find such a thing. I have noticed a few so called buaians at carboot sales, but most looked dirty, used and unkempt for. Some were quite okay but they were too expensive for second hand items. No value for money.

Masa masa macam nilah got me thinking kan best kalau duduk kat Malaysia. You can get any types of buaian that suit your preference. Paling paling kurang pun, pakai kain pelikat aje. But the most important thing is the tempat nak sangkutkan kain tuh, you know, the besi tu lah. I don't think they are available here. But I could be wrong you know, maybe they are sold somewhere...who knows. Ermmm rumah mai ada buaian ke? Yes?

non-uniform day at school

For the past few days Farah, ihsan and iman had been telling me that this Friday (12.11) is their non-uniform day. Farah will have to wear a pyjama to school, while iman and ihsan have to depict a character from a book. Ihsan wanted to wear his dark vader suit while iman ermmm he has not decided on what to wear. Farah has been very clear which pyjama she wanted to wear and had chosen her favourite pink pyjama. The two boys, always take things for granted, only tonight have started looking for their costumes. I am quite annoyed with their attitude. Dah pukul 8 malam, iman and ihsan masih lagi tak jumpa baju apa yang nak pakai. Esok pagi mulalah kelam kabut.

Tomorrow evening Farah has been invited for tea at her friend's house, Anna who is a good friend of hers. Her mother has been kind enough to send an invitation card and she even volunteers to pick Farah from school and send her home after the tea party. Farah, apalagi so excited lah. She can't stop talking about it. Anna seems like a nice girl. I reminded Farah not to eat any meat, sosej, burger etc and I even told Racher (Anna's mum) that Farah is a vegetarian. To our luck, Anna's family also does not consume meat as they are strict vegetarian. However, they have a dog at home and I have explained to them that Farah is scared of dogs to make thing simple. Rachel promised to lock her dog in the garden. I hope everything goes well for Farah. I am still worried though.

tulip

Ni salah satu gambar kat tulip garden in Amsterdam. Cantik kan? Actually I was trying to upload images onto my blog, so ni kira practice lah ni. Not bad...not bad at all for a novice blogger like me. But the picture was supposed to be at the center, somehow it didn't turn up the way I wanted it to be. Never mind, practice makes perfect.

pet fish

The kids have been asking for a pet fish for quite some time now. Ailong tak tahan dengar hari hari mintak pet fish, so last weekend we bought them 11 small tropical fishes. Punyalah seronok. Fish tank dah dapat, ailong ambik from freecycle. When the tank was washed and cleand, we put all the fish in plus the gravel and some ketam batu inside it . Boy, they were thrilled to bits. Farah jadi cnn sekajap, she went round the neighbourhood telling everybody about her fish. So, almost everyday ada lah visitors (their friends) yang datang nak tengok fish. But yesterday, one fish died, semua sedih and their friends pun datang nak bagi last respect to the dead fish. Farah was not really upset because the dead fish was not hers, it was kakngah's. You see, masa beli ikan tu, everybody had to choose one fish. Farah took 5 gold fish, ihsan had two stripey fish and iman took two black fathoms. Kakngah chose the smallest fish and I bought a Gaurami (not sure abt its name though) for fatihah. Everybody was pleased except for ailong because it cost him 22 quid.

I took the dead fish from the tank and flushed it down the toilet. Kejam? No....

First try is the most difficult

This is my first attempt to post a blog entry.The idea of setting up a blog was instigated by the desire to describe the daily events in my children's life to their grandparents in kampung and also because of my son.. My eldest, iman was fascinated and thrilled with the idea of having his own eversince he saw his friend's blog. He has been pestering me to teach him to create a blog page. Well, I got me thinking. I don't have any knowledge whatsoever to create a blog since I don't fancy blogging. I do enjoy, however, reading other people's blog like a good friend of my, D. I promised him that today after school, I will teach him. So help me God.