Happy 4th Birthday, Darling!

My little sweetheart turned four yesterday. Alhamdulillah... What a blessed date it was too, it fell on the day of Isra' Mikraj (27 Rejab) and coincidentally this year, it was Father's Day as well.

It's funny how the years seemed to have just whizzed past us, like it was not that long ago that I was pregnant with her, yet at the same moment I cannot remember life without her by our side, like she had been a part of our family forever and ever ...

Anyways, we had a simple 'do to commemorate the moment.

Of course, ada sedikit mkn2.

Then upacara membaca kad.

Akhir sekali, saat yg ditunggu2 Aisyah pon tiba, yakni upacara pembukaan hadiah. Hadiah pon simple2 je, from me, Hubs and Nek Mi Aisyah aje, but we wrapped things individually so that it looks like they were many, kasi dia happy lebih sket. Ye lah, celebrate birthday di kejauhan. Alhamdulillah nenek dia ada bersama this year, kalo x celebrate bertiga aje lah. Lots of books and stationaries.

Yg ni hadiah kesayangan dia, teddy bear yg baru je freshly self-made from the Build-A-Bear Workshop that afternoon. Will blog about this wonderful store later.

Inilah hadiah yg paling tertinggi dlm wishlist dia - Ballerina costume, sekali dgn ballet shoes. Yg ni ada 6 bulan dah kot dia memasang cita2 nak kan set ni kot, pengaruh cerita kartun 'Angelina the Ballerina' kat TV lah ni. Kalo psg YouTube yg ada org menari ballet, laju aje dia ikut.I think she is quite a natural at dancing, if I may say so myself, heh.

Happy 4th birthday my little Gummy Bear! May Allah bless your life forever and always :)

PS: nickname dia Gummy Bear. Dia slalu buat lawak ckp full name dia 'Aisyah-Nurzahirah-Saiful-Gummy-Bear'.

Bluessss

Bdn rasa x brp nak sihat. Byk punca nya, mungkin:

- Baru nak recover holiday gi Swindon baru2 ni (byk sgt berjalan kah?)

- Tp yg pasti hangkut beg2 berat tu ada sampai 6 bijik beg between me and Hubs and my Mom, x termasuk pushchair Aisyah, and also handbags sorg satu and also seplastik besar jajan; turun naik platform keretapi (siap ada change lg dkt Taunton)

- Maybe jgk kemas2 post-holiday tu la, especially tang hangkut 2 beban plastic besar mengandungi baju2 basah yg dah basuh ke dryer. Ni kes basuh baju yg pakai masa holiday lah ni. Nama je 2 beban, tp beban besar2 ok, hasil 5 kali basuh dgn mesin basuh kat rumah. Hubs keja, so aku volunteered gi dryer, sbb aku semak kepala kalo baju bertambun2 kat dlm bakul, x leh nak study. Dah basuh, dry, and lipat elok masuk almari baru hati lapang...

- Smlm aku start balik exercise regime. Baru bertrampoline selama 45 minit tp ada kesan kah sampai bdn sakit2 otot?

- Smlm jgk aku try minum balik air teh detox kat opis (smgt kan nak kurus... ye lah, mak aku pon dah tergezut tgk anak dia). Pernah dulu try mmg sampai demam2 jgk kalo minum air ni aiseh... Tu psl kalo nak try kurus, jgn buat semua nya in one go. Dah bdn x leh terima huhu

- Smlm kemas opis. Ye lah, seminggu tinggal. Baik punya debu. Mungkin debu masuk hidung

- Nak kata dasyat menjadi host layan emak di rumah adalah sgt tidak benar, sbb buat kerjarumah or masak2 x de istimewa nya, macam biasa aje. Malahan kerja bertambah ringan sbb my mom sentiasa tolong basuh2 kan dishes in the sink lah, tolong jaga Aisyah la, masak sama2 la.. hehe..

- A few days before gi Swindon Aisyah kena ear infection yg teruk, suhu sampai jejak 40.9C! Siap dpt antibiotik lg. Ear infection mmg x jangkit but maybe penat jaga org sakit kot, lama2 body pon kalah. Tp tu citer dah brp hari yg lps dah, x kan la lama benar nak sampai efek tu, so maybe cross off this one :P

- Cuaca UK pon sgt x menentu. Panas, hujan, panas, hujan, angin kuat2 plak tu.

Tp aku rasa sbb utama mungkin dek terkejut melihat the Blue Screen of Death di laptop Dell ku. Pg smlm elok2 bole buat kerja, tghari nya bila start asyik kuar screen biru kalo nak masuk Windows. Masuk Linux ok plak. Innalillahi wainna ilaihi raji’un. Susah hati la jgk, sbb org nak lekas2 siap at this stage, dia wat hal plak. Dah la 3.5 thn aku buat PhD ni, semua rely on laptop, mmg PC di opis x berusik sgt.

Apapon aku bersyukur, sbb ujian ni dtg pada masa ni. Sememangnya sblm pegi Swindon hari tu aku dah back up semua sekali (syukur Alhamdulillah ya Allah!) – all the scripts, the graphs, the written materials, papers, etc masuk dlm external HD. Aku ni mmg sering alpa nak buat backup, so it couldn't have happened at a better time lah, Alhamdulillah... So dlm keadaan duit dan masa yg x brp nak mewah ni, aku ada option utk re-con balik PC opis, and move everything there. Tinggal x best kena work in the opis je la, unless aku nak type thesis using LyX on Linux (sbb kalo guna Open Office, then masuk Words lari plak formatting nya), or guna notebook kecik pemberian Faculty kepada aku yg dpt Christmas hari tu, but skrin dia kecik giler mmg konfem berpinau mata aku, and kalo aku menaip asyik la salah key sbb jari jemari aku x brp nak runcing, hmm.. else beli je la laptop baru, hadiah belated birthday, kan? Hehe.. tp aku dah malas nak invest in a new lapotp for PhD sbnarnya baik beli handbag, sbb tggal writing up je. Hopefully I’ll survive... We’ll see la camno.

Doa2kan aku ye. Moga cpt sihat, dan dpt menyiapkan kerja2 PhD dgn baik, serta dipermudahkan segalanya. Mungkin ini ujian, mungkin jg kaffarah dosa. Apapon, kena hadapi dgn redha, smg berjaya, Allahu Akbar!

Ten Quiet Days

Lama x bersiar raya...

Mcm2 berlaku within the span of ten days (since last entry). To all yg wished us Happy Anniversary, terima kasih byk2. 7 tahun dah kawen rupanya, Alhamdulillah,...

Ok patah balik secara consecutively. First off, sekolah Aisyah cuti half-term (seminggu) start minggu lps, so mmg x menang tgn sgt la kan bila dia ada kat rumah. Luckily, it was the Queen's Diamond Jubilee weekend jgk, so kebetulan satu UK tu cuti hari Isnin dan Selasa nya, maka ada la jgk hari2 aku ke lab, sbb Hubs bole jaga Aisyah kat rumah.

Selasa malam, attended jemputan kat umah Kak Mazni. Sempat berkenalan dgn fellow blogger dari Durham, Kak ZarinaBZ. Anak2 diorg bukan main ramah dgn Aisyah, mcm dah kenal lama hehe. Suka la Aisyah, sbb jarang2 ada peluang main dgn rakan sebaya Melayu :)

On the Wednesday (6/6/12), aku attended a conference and also presented a poster there. So di situ (and a few days before that) sudah harus lah aku busy kan. More on this one in next entry, Insya Allah.

Saturday, seawal jam 8.55 pg we headed to Swindon. Arrived around noon, checked in hotel, and went out to Oxford. Stayed in Swindon until Tuesday afternoon. It was part-holiday, part-mission. Our mission was to shop to meet and greet my parents yg dtg from Msia, and bring back my Mom with us to Plymouth. My Dad ada business to attend to, and dia hanya transit sahaja semalaman, but we will meet him again later once it is finished, Insya Allah. There will be another entry khas for this segment of jalan2, tp buat masa ni ita KIV dulu  and letak gmbr ni je ek huhu...

Alhamdulillah, things have gone pretty much back to routine. Hari ni membasuh, mengeringkan baju di dobi, melipat, mem-vakum rumah, mengemas, memasak dan mcm2 lagi di samping berbual2 dgn ibu tercinta. Aisyah pon dah start sekolah semula, and Hubs dah pegi keja (itu psl la aku terpaksa jd isteri, ibu dan anak solehah gitu hehe). Hopefully tomorrow things will return back to normal. Rindu nak pegi kerja and tulis tesis <--- ini jawapan x brp ikhlas hihi, tp kena sebut benda2 positif, so think positive, right? ;)

  

7 Years Ago Today....

Seven years ago, I married the man of my dreams ...

Oh Allah, we thank you that you have given us another year of life together.

We thank you for the love which grows more precious and for the bonds which grow more close each day.

We thank you for the happiness we have known together; for the sorrows we have faced together; for all the experiences of sunshine and of shadow through which we have come, up to today.

We ask for forgiveness for any failure on our part; for any times when we became difficult to live with; for any lack of sympathy and understanding; for anything which spoiled even for a moment the perfect relationship which marriage should be.

We ask to spare us to each other to go on walking the way of life together, and grant that for us it may be true that the best is yet to be.

To love forever 'till Jannah...

NB:

[1] This song feels especially close to heart because of what Hubs and I are facing now (with life and this PhD deal.

[2] Technically, 7 years ago yesterday (3 June 2005 we were solemnized. Tp belasah lah, sbb 4 June kenduri rumah aku, 5 June plak bertandang rumah Hubs. So kita kira 3 hari 3 mlm nya event lah ye).

[3] Please forgive my awful audio editing skills. Nak cpt. Did it in less than half an hour

 

The Queen of My Heart

Seperti yg dijanjikan, introducing, the Queen of My Heart, Queen Aisyah Nurzahirah... :)

Byk kesilapan setting pada gambar ni. Ni lah akibatnya bila 5 minit lg nak tutup pagar sekolah baru nak keluar rumah (rumah dlm 50 m je dari sekolah). Ralat plak x sempat nak suh budak kecik ni berceloteh, kalo x, dpt la rakam Tuanku bertitah ala2 gaya the Queen's speech kan. Tp nak buat mcm mana, org tu lah fashion stylist dia, org tu lah jg hair stylist dia, org sama lah jg nak direct photoshoot (photoshoot la sgttt!), then org sama jg lah jd chaffeur dia ke sekolah. Nasib baik gi sekolah jalan kaki je, dpt la pangkat chaperon, kalo bawak kereta dpt pangkat supir plak hehe. Ayah dia pon terlibat sama, tp kita bg bapak dia bahagian mandi dan penyediaan breakfast, hok x glamer tu kasi bapaknya lah x pe :P.

Pegi sekolah lak, tanya2 cikgu, katanya x bole amik gmbr dlm kelas sbb ada budak2 lain. Dah agak dah, UK ni kerek sket bab2 camera ni. Sedihkan nak amik gmbr anak2 sendiri bersama kawan2 nya pon x bole selagi x de written consent drpd parents yg lg satu? Tertekan.

Tp sbb dah x de sgt gmbr, letak je lah gmbr2 td. Ada tu siap termasuk tgn tuan direktor lg, tp belasah lah.. Oh ye, tu la crown yg bertungkus lumus kitaorg buat smlm. Ok x? X de gempaq pon, tp jd lah.

Suka la hntr dia gi sekolah td, the atmostphere was very meriah. Mak pak budak semua sporting2, rata2 semua budak pakai baju bertema merah, biru dan putih. Ada yg siap celoreng muka lg dgn face paint gambar Union Jack di pipi. Yg perempuan, x sah ckp la, semua pakai dress and feeling2 princess diva gitu semua hari ni. Ramai jg yg buat crown from scratch, it was so exciting to see. Ni yg rasa mcm nak turut sama berada dlm party diorg nih hehehe...

Lps hntr Aisyah aku usually balik umah kemas2 dapur etc. Then dah siap tu baru keluar ke sekolah. Td sempat keluar serentak dgn Hubs, and on the way tu lalu sekolah. OMG, there they were beratur amik gmbr kat luar kelas. A sea of red, white and blue and happy, happy faces of the children. Cikgu2 diaorg duk ajar sebut, "Your Majesty", dgn "Queen Elizabeth" kuat2. Mcm nak sambut Queen dah aku tgk hehehe...

Ok just in case anyone is wondering, the wand comes from Claire's at GBP3. The dress tu rezeki terpijak and I got it for GBP2.50 only, percaya ngakkk? Kalo online busuk2 pon aku tgk GBP12 dah, so Alhamdulillah sgt2. The sash aku buat drpd ribbons we got from Haberdashery (kedai fabric), and the crown, beli foams from kedai Poundland je, as the name implies, costing only GBP1 utk 6 kpg foam (mmg nasib baik sgt sbb ada red, white, blue dlm tu, also green, pink and black). I cheated a bit, and pakai cekak rambut yg lebih2an kat rumah ni utk buat frame crown tu, kasi tegak dan keras atas kepala. Aku lilit cekak tu dgn 1 meter ribbon, also bought from Haberdashery. Everything stuck together pakai fabric glue ajo. Kasut tu mmg kasut sekolah dia la, from M&S. Hair 'do, tiru pesen video ni bawah ni, it's called Double Twistback. Aku suka channel dia ni kat Youtube, dan kerap jg mentelaah style2 yg senang heheh...

Okay that's all the summary for today. Balik nnt x tahu la mcm mana rupa lg the lil Queen tu, berserebeh dah kot, dgn masam2 sket, sbb hari ni diorg ada outdoor games, then followed by a picnic. She's staying for lunch as well, and they're having Coronation Pie, so in lieu aku bekalkan dia Vege Farm Pie. Hope she doesn't fell left out. Aku mcm over-excited plak kali ni sbb it's an excuse to dress up, satu, but mostly becoz dah pernah kena dulu dgn Aisyah, aku terlupa dress up kan dia masa World's Book Day hari tu. Aisyah langsung x nak pakai costume2 wakaf bila sampai kelas. Puas cikgu pujuk, asyik masam monyok je. Td pon ada jgk a few budak2 yg parents dia barangkali terlupa or malas nak prepare, so dah jd adegan nangis2 x nak masuk kelas. Especially yg anak2 perempuan kan, inferiority complex tu lebih.

So all in all, ni second time kot aku wat something crafty for Aisyah's school event. Last term buat Easter Bonnet, if you guys remember.

Okay have a good weekend all!