Amri is 8!

Though he is still a bit confused - why just 8 years old when Year 2 is already over? He insists that he is 9.


He had a small party earlier at daycare, with Ben10 cake. Poor boy, he wanted a birthday party at home but I did not feel up to it. So we just had a birthday dinner









Birthday boy and his birthday icecream








Helping Cu Nan finishing dinner








An innocent post with Aunty Cik








Tuck in!

More school holiday programmes

Since people are asking, here are a couple more....

Swimshark School Holiday Swimming Lesson
Venue : Pusat Akuatik Shah Alam
Time : 9am and 5pm (err..not too sure), every Monday to Friday
Contant person : Shahir/Marilyn
Contact no : 012-3912513

Smart Reader TTDI Jaya
1. Craft Workshop (4-10 yrs old) RM25
2. Kids Cooking Workshop (4-10 yrs old) RM30
3. Intro to ABC (3-6 yrs old) RM30
4. Drama Workshop (5-12 yrs old) RM35
Contact no: 016-6842834



I think I have a lot more scattered around in my already chaotic house. But by the time I managed to wade through the mess and actually come across anything, the holiday would be long over.

School Holiday Programme

More than ten years ago, when I was still single and working at a Japanese factory, I was always baffled when, come school holiday season, my colleagues would start planning their vacation with military like precision. The three moms and one dad in my department were always gloating about the fact that their departments had two singles who could take over the workload. Our manager was single too but too scary to be counted in. In between the vacations, they'd be busy planning for the children school holiday program, from swimming to ballet to summer camp. Or, if none available, the kids would be carted off for a fortnight stay in kampung with their grandparents, with maid in tow. Of course, packed with loads of activity books that the kids were supposed to complete during their holiday.

I always marveled at the buzz during that period but secretly told my ignorant self to just take it easy when it was my turn. My kids could spend all day playing outdoor or watch tv all day if that is want they want.

Now I know.

I definitely do not want my boys to watch tv all day. It is too dangerous to let them play by themselves outdoor. Playing indoor is dangerous to my bank balance, the boys seem to break everything except the wall.

So, I found myself doing exactly whatever my seniors then did. Scouting for holiday programme, arranging vacations, balik kampung trips, intensive mengaji class etc. With military precision. My seniors at the jap factory are now enjoying kids free days (and empty nest syndrome for some). I'd better enjoy this while I still could.

Here are a couple of good holiday program near my place:

Sri Kayangan Language School Holiday Programme
Address: Jalan Opera U2/L, TTDI Jaya, Shah Alam (above Big Food Restaurant)
Period : 24 Nov 2008 to 19 Dec 2008
Time : 9am to 3pm
Activities
Weekly - Tae Kwon Do, Swimming, Yogakids, Computer, Cooking Class, Art&Craft
Daily - Quran/Moral Study, English Conversation, Speech & Drama and a lot more
Fee : 8 yrs and below RM480, 9 yrs and above RM650 . 10% sibling discount. Fees inclusive of food, material & weekly field trip
Contact : Aisha Zanariah Abdullah 016-2831002
Transport can be arranged.
My boys attended this programme last year and for some reason, preferred to converse in English for the whole school holiday. They still kept the art& craft project till now.

Akademi Qurra - Pusat Bimbingan Al Quran & Fardu Ain
Address : TTDI Jaya shoplot, above Pasar Mini Lina (cant remember the street name)
Activities : Daily Quran/Qiraati, Fardu Ain, Intensive Solat, Bahasa Arab
Fees : Rm70
Contact: Ustazah Roslina 019-3401053 (one of the most wonderful teacher that I know of)


Have fun.

My little dancer

Yesterday morning, hubby & I went to q-dees for the final parent teacher meeting this year. Adam had done unbelievable well. We just ignored the straight C's for his Mandarin. But the rest was great. And Teacher Azira mentioned that Adam loves dancing and enjoyed his concert training tremendously. He likes signing too. He has a bestfriend - Syafiq, and always shared food with him. Bless you, Shafiq dear. It is not easy for Adam to make friends on his own, always in the shadow of the very outgoing Amri. Must remember to invite Shafiq & his parents to Adam's birthday party next January.

I am so happy that Adam is no longer the introvert quiet mouse that he was 11 months ago. He now talks a lot in class, sometimes playing a goody two shoe - telling Teacher Azira what his classmates are up to, and volunteers for almost everything. Am also happy that he is developing his own personality, instead of trying to copy whatever Amri is doing at any given time. He finishes 4 1/2 of his english readers (out of 8) which i think is good enough for a four year old.

Before we left, Teacher Azira commented again that Adam could really dance and he has no stage fright. Okay....could be from following me to all those aerobics/hip hop & belly dance classes.

This morning, we were at q-dees again for their fun fair. Adam was excited to go but became dissappointed when he noticed none of his friends were there. Especially Syafiq. Muncung 14 le cik tembam nih. But he did joined the games , albeit unsmilingly. The games were conducted in 4 different classroom, managed by 4 groups of teachers. Every time we entered into a classroom, the teachers would commented how good Adam danced during the concert and how fast he picked up the step. Flawlessly.

Then I entered the principal office for next year reenrollment. The principal gave the same statement. And so does the admin manager there, adding that Adam should be narrator next year since he loves the microfone so much.

Gosh!

I did not noticed that I had one son that is musically inclined. True, he sings a lot at home but so did Amri during that age. To think that I only had two boys to pay attention to. What do I do now? Adam did ask me some time ago whether he could have a drum set for his birthday. But I was thinking about Amri at that age, whom changed his interest almost weekly.

I'll wait and see first.

Rest, recuperate and rambling

SOX Audit was over. Did much better than last audit but still, not good enough.

I am exhausted and stressed out.

I need a break. Something to put my internal system back into its track.

A cardio kickboxing session would be nice. (kick the auditor would be better)

Anyway, since juggling is my main job description nowadays, I'll settle for a few laps during the boys swimming class tonight.

Or maybe not. First, I'll need 3 pcs of 50 cents shilling for locker. And i'll be using outdoor pool while the boys are at indoor pool. I still could not get over the anxiety of leaving 4 years old Adam at 6 feet pool (or more) no matter how good his instructor said he is. The way I see these two rascals pushing at each other...oh no...the instructor will need a few pairs of eyes all around his head to make sure they are not trying to drown each other. Wonder if they will let a non student swim at the indoor pool...

*Sigh*

I'll just grab a book then and curl up somewhere at the poolside.

I'm thinking of taking up aikido. Perhaps after the outstation business trips season is over. Want to join?

It is only 9am and yet..

Please God....help me go through the rest of today. It is early yet but already I feel like throwing a big tantrum.

The microwave died on me just when I was rushing to get breakfast going.

My blackberry refused to start up after I left in on the charger the whole night. Was there a power surge or something?

I have a SOX audit this morning.

I had less than 3 hours sleep.

My laptop failed to detect LAN connection so I have to rely on wireless network.

So help me God.

Pizza online

I had a busy day. The big boss was out of town and so did the bogger boss at home. What is it with these two guys? I felt like they were planning their travel itenary together just for the fun of seeing me in the deepest trouble I could find myself in at any given time.



Since I had to rescue Adam from his daycare and be at home before Amri arrived from school but none of my report were completed yet, i decided to work from home. If I were to work from home, I did not want to spend the 'home' time looking for dinner and get drenched in the process. Plus, I needed to finish up quickly before we had to go out again for the boys swimming lesson. So i ordered pizza online. Clever me.



Only that, it rained heavily. It took me an hour to reach home. Pizza delivery only took 20 minutes. Fortunately, I've already paid the order by credit card. So the pizza boy left it on my doorstep. I must admit, it was rather a happy occasion to reach home and found a box of pizza smiling at you right on your doorstep.

Reunion 2008

To sum it up, we had a great time!

This time round, the reunion was 90% organised by hubby, while I just helped out a little bit here and there, thanks to my chaotic schedule. Anyway, hubby did just fine on his own. It was a smaller crowd this year and we opted for potluck. Which we all agreed was a good option because we ended up with huge varieties of yummy foods. Add to the fact that we were picnicking by the poolside :)

A big thank you to all that participates and very sorry because we were not able to give out vehicle pass to everybody. Priority went to those with babies/toddlers and who brought heavy food. Mind you, we even had a watermelon, still uncut by the end of the day. Thanks to Erma and hubby for handling the registration and collection. Thanks to May/Azlan for the bagful of pressies. All kids ended up with one pressie each :)

Due to one of the organisor too busy to think up of suitable activities, the reunion ended up as a makan a lot + sembang a lot session. All kids (except Amin's tod) were safely in baby pool so the parents were left in peace. Amri, Adam and Irfan refused to enter baby pool and opted for adult pool instead. which caused quite a commotion when the other children started to follow. I didn't know how other parents did it but all kids were back safely into baby pool after a few minutes. All except these 3 boys. Grrrr. But since no other kids attempted to join them again so we just let the three boys enjoyed showing off their half baked swimming skill.

We had trouble to get the kids out of the pool and enter the drawing contest though. But they were out eventually. After 4 hours inside the water. Gosh...these kids!

Anyway, we had loads of FUN. It was so lovely to see you guys again. Lets do another one soon. Something like this. A combination of pools and plenty of food. Perhaps somewhere where we all could drive and park right beside the pool. Bukit Cerakah is great but to carry the loads (kids+ food) on foot is pure torture. Lets get a beach resort instead.

For anyone interested to organise a small get together at Bukit Cerakah, the rental is pretty cheap. Pool (baby + adult) is RM200 and poolside (2 pondoks with powerpoint & fan) is RM100. There is also a cafe nearby for extra food/drinks. Changing room & toilets are horrible though.

Amin, Xanna & Intan....dont forget the photos, ok.
Sis May, thanks for the foods & watermelon
Edi & wife, we love the nasi impit
Whomever brought the mee....it was lovely. Adam ate twice.
Xanna, the choc cake was heaven
Amin, the pudding was just perfect on a hot day
Kak Azi & Nelina...you guys missed a lot..hehe

Kids at baby pool

My genius senior, Erma - volunteering as treasurer for the day. Thanks, Erma












Amin & family. Next time bring swimsuits ok.

Mr Organisor and his corporate gang






Organisors










Adam & Irfan











Yummy foods