Let kids be kids

During our east coast road trip a while back, we stopped by the Cherating beach to stretch our legs and get a glimpse of the beautiful beach before continuing on our journey ahead....the kids were soo excited to see the beach! 

Alyssa asked permission if it was ok for her to get her clothes wet. 

After a moment's hesitation, I nodded. Beaming from ear to ear, she jumped into the splashing waves and within seconds, she was fully soaked. Soon after, her little brother followed suit. And there they were, fully clothed, splashing happily into the salty waters. I could only watch in horror and knock myself on the head for CONSENTING them to mess up their lovely attire. 

Honestly speaking, I didn't think the kids would go further than getting their little toes wet. Or else I would have taken the trouble of changing them into their swimsuits first. But I was totally wrong. The damage was done.

I wanted to get them to stop. But then again, I decided not to.

I reflected upon a heart-wrenching article written by a mother who tragically and unexpectedly lost her toddler in a car accident. 

She begged all parents to let their kids just live in the moment. 

Little reminders like for instance it's ok if the kids sometimes don't finish up the veggies on their dinner plates.
She reminded other parents not to yell out their frustration at their small kids for not living up to that ridiculously perfect expectation that we adult have unfairly imposed upon our little ones.

Little things like that.
Let kids be kids and have fun.

Because life is unpredictable.

 Today they're here, in one split second, Allah can take them away from us. And we might have big regrets later for not letting them have that five precious minutes of joy. Sometimes we have to let loose and shut out that perfectionist voice screaming inside our head things like"OMG these kids are ruining their beautiful Levi's and I'm going to have a hard time with the washing up later! Quick, make them stop!!!"

Before we open our mouth and be that spoil-sport mummy, just remember: 

No-one will remember the messy washing-up afterwards...nor the tedious task of ridding the sands from the car seats & floor.

But the sound of the kids' laughter as they splash in the waves...

The joy glowing on their innocent beaming faces as they venture deeper into the salty waters...

Priceless!

THAT is something that will remain in our memory forever. Not regrets about dirty clothes:)

So let's count our blessings and thank Allah for giving us these beautiful children. Bite our tongue. Continue smiling. And let the kids have fun and get dirty once in a while. Trust me, it's good for their immune system anyway ;).

Homemade Sausage Buns

Yesterday I received a bunch of spring onions from a neighbour (Isn't that sweet of her?). Frankly speaking, I'm not a big fan of spring onions. Kalau makan mee sup or any dish where they sprinkle spring onions on top, I would be the first to separate them spring onions and 'curi-curi' put them in Hubby's plate....huahuahua...

So, erm... how exactly do you prepare a dish where you can chuck in lots of spring onions without having to subject yourself to that awkward 'springy' aftertaste? 

By popping the spring onion-sprinkled dish in the oven of course!!!

So I decided to make sausage buns and sprinkled them with collossal amounts of spring onions on top. The results?

BEST!!!!!!!
hihi

Here's the recipe.

Ingredients (makes about 8)

For bread:

- 250g bread flour, sifted

- 1 egg

- 25g softened butter

- 125ml fresh milk

- 5g yeast

- 30g sugar

- 1/2 tsp salt

For topping:

- Sausage

- Mozarella cheese

- Mayonnaise

- Chilli sauce

- Spring onion, chopped 

Method:

1) Mix the yeast, salt, sugar, fresh milk and egg in a bowl.

2) Add in the sifted bread flour and knead for 2 minutes.

3) Mix in the butter and knead until you get a smooth and elastic texture.

4) Cover and let it poof until double size (mine took about 2 hours).

5) Punch the air out and shape it into a long oval shape, like this:

6) Place a piece of sausage and wrap it tightly.

7) Cut them into 8 pieces and pull each of them over

8) Let it rest for another 30-45 minutes. Top them with mayonnaise, chilli sauce, spring onions, and Mozarella cheese.

9) Bake it at 160degree Celcius for 12-13minutes....

....and VOILA!

Hubsy and the kids loved it! Every crumb of it was consumed within 12hours after it was out from the oven. 

But guess what???!

My super-duper picky-eater kids put aside the spring onions on THEIR buns and 'curi-curi' put them on MY plate :P

To a Wonderful Dad :)

Before i was married to my husband, I noticed that he's a natural with kids. Chidren from all ages seemed to be attracted to him like a magnet. After i get to know more about him, I start to realize bit by bit that he is just the right father material. And that's when I decided that I am ready to move on to the next phase of life with this wonderful man.

When we had Alyssa, our lives totally changed. The sleepless nights, the breastfeeding woes, nappy-changing and the endless uncertatinties that we faced. Both of us had no first-hand experince on taking care of a baby, and it definitely was not as easy as we thought. 

But my husband was determined to be a hands-on daddy. During my confinement, every night without fail Alyssa would cry for hours, and only fall asleep after cuddling her in our arms. The moment we put her down, she would start screaming. To make matters worse, Alyssa had problems with latching. I had to wake up every 2-hourly to express milk to feed my baby. I was totally exhausted from chronic sleep deprivation. Compounded with hormonal instabily, I was at my wit's end. I would burst out crying for absolutely no reason. I realize I was suffering from post-partum blues. I needed help. And my pillar of strength was my husband. 

He would wake up many times at night to feed the baby and change her diapers. He would stay up all night to cuddle our baby just to make sure she sleeps. Even though the night before he was on-call at the hospital,with no sleep for the past 36 hours. Even though the next morning he has to set off for work before 5.30am, and return after 6.30pm. It was not easy, but he sacrificed his own sleep just so that me and Alyssa could have ours.

Thank you S, for being the best daddy and husband that I could ever ask for. I couldn't ask for more. We love u lots! Happy Father's Day!!

KL's Farm In The City

Last weekend, we took our kids out for another outing with Hidayah's family at Farm In The City in Seri Kembangan. Just like the name implies, its a combination of a farm/mini-petting zoo with a 'kampung' ambience right in the heart of the city. Just perfect for the kids! :)

The best part about this place is that you can feed the animals as well as pet them. The kids (and us too!) had lots of fun feeding and touching the animals up close and personal. Surprisingly, the animals were very tame and friendly! The staffs were cheerful and pleasant too.

The farm opens from 10am-6pm (weekdays), and 9.30am-6pm (weekends). Its closed on Tuesdays, except for school holidays and public holidays. Fees are RM30 for adult (Malaysian nationality) and RM25 for kids below 12years. Children who are less than 90cm tall gets to enter free of charge.

In front of the entrance. The place is stroller-friendly, which makes it very convenient for family with young kids.

Alyssa insisted on wearing her headscarf even though the day was hot. She would make a big fuss whenever we try to remove her headscarf! Haha...(i'm proud of you darling).

The schedule for main activities. Don't miss out on the animal feeding & show!

 What did the fox say? (apparently he didn't say anything!)

You need to be at least 90cm tall to have a go on the pony ride (none of our kids qualified for that yet though).

That's Alyssa's Papa petting the raccoons!

Feeding the fish and swan at the pond

If you look hard enough, you can see a porcupine in this picture...

 Isn't the Marmoset monkey cute?

Alyssa just LOVES the rabbit farm!

...but freaked out after being 'attacked' by a group of hungry rabbits :)

 ..catching 'longkang' fish. The fish was so fast, we didn't manage to catch any   :(

 At the birds' sanctuary.The birds are so tame, they will literally feed off your palm!

BIG tortoise (yup, they love kangkung!)

Check out the expression on Alyssa's face.....priceless!

Aren't we cute? :)

Clockwise from left: Azkiya (Dayah's eldest daughter), Alyssa, Aufa (Dayah's second daughter), and Dayah's nephew (not sure his name)...peace!

Azkiya is not afraid of the goat :) 

...group photo with Hidayah's family...say cheese!

To those family with young kids, this place is highly recommended for you. I think it's more exciting than taking the kids to the zoo, as they get to feed and interact with the animals here. In the farm, most of the animals are free to roam about safari-style (except for a few which are enclosed in their sanctuary).  

Be sure to bring along lots of water as it can get hot during the day. And I recommend going early as I notice that as the day progresses, some animals tend to ignore the food being shoved upon them as they have been fed by the visitors who came early (perut sudah kenyang maa...). Don't be afraid to bring along your kids' stroller as they have a convenient stroller-track. And bring plenty of snacks/energy bars to keep your kids alert and perky throughout the outing! :)

Unplanned Udang Galah Road Trip

A few weeks back, we brought our kids 'balik kampung' to visit my aunt Mak Teh in Temerloh, Pahang. The tranquil kampung environment was just the break we needed from the hustle and bustle of city life (if u consider Ipoh busy enough!). We called up our old friends Hidayah (who works nearby at Klinik Kesihatan Maran) and her hubby Fauzan over to join us overnight at Mak Teh's house.

While catching up on old stories, suddenly Fauzan casually mentioned, "Korang, nak tak esok kita pegi makan udang galah dkt Laban Chondong...." 

           ..........and before we knew it, the next day we found ourselves packed in our faithful old Honda CRV, embracing ourselves for a 180-km roadtrip to Leban Chondong just to eat udang galah! Owh, and we dragged along our kids too (3 hyper-active toddlers and 1 baby). Yup, we're dat crazy!!! Did i mention that we LoVE adventures? :)

\

Along the way, we stopped by Pekan for some cendol and rojak at Hamid Cendol....yum yum!

Check out Daniel's drumstick! *chomp!*

The journey took us about 4hours (with many pitt-stops along the way). Finally we ariived at our destination. It turns out to be R&R Leban Chondong. There are many stalls selling udang galah, but many recommends the one at the end, which happens to be attracting the largest number of customers. 

The iconic udang galah statue in front or the R & R

can't wait to dig in!!

The udang galah came in different sizes, from C (smallest) to A+ (REALLY big!). The price of the dish will depend on the size of the prawns. We settled down with B+ sized prawns.

Yummy udang galah!

Kedai Makan Mak Ngah

...tido kekenyangan.

We arrived back in Temerloh at night. All in all, it was an enjoyable trip. We all had fun, and having friends who are "same head" (sekepala) with us makes the trip more worthwile. Would we do it again? Definitely!

   

The Escapade

Confinement's over (FINALLY)...so its bye2 to 'pantang' food & etiquettes...and not to forget MIL's legendary 'air akar kayu'...definitely not gonna miss THAT.

So what does a mother-of-2 do as soon as she embraces indepence day? Celebrate of course!

Since 2 of my siblings' birthdays happen to fall within the same week, we decided to make it a tripple celebration with my family. 

We booked a 2-bedroom suite at Best Western Primer Dua Sentral in KL. The rooms were very spacious, with a chic modern interior. And like any family with young kids, the highlight of the getaway would of course be... 

....the pool! 

That's Alyssa having a splashin' time with the two birthday girls. She just LOVES the water!!

...doesn't she look innocently happy? :)

 :) 

the infinity pool overlooks a breathtaking view of KL city...This pic was taken during sunset...Subhanallah, all praise to Allah for the little things in life that we sometimes take for granted.

...tired but feelin rejuvenated after the swim

....and baby Daniel was kind enough to sleep throughout the whole time so that his Mama can swim puas-puas :) 

Thank you, Hubs, for planning this escapade. I don't know what I did to deserve this, but it definitely makes me feel alive again! 

The Other Sibling

When I was pregnant with Daniel, Alyssa started showing a whole new behaviour trait - posessiveness. She was fiercely posessive over me and would cling on to me like nobody's business. Even her Papa was not spared from this realm. All hells would break loose if Papa so much as laid a finger on me. Papa thought her antics were cute, and would bug her by engaging her in a tug-of-war over me. You can imagine how she reacted to THAT. Needless to say, she did not find it as amusing.

DON'T mess with ME!!

Secretly, I was worried how she would cope once the new baby arrives. Would she be able to 'share' Mama with Little Brother? Or would she see him as a threat?

So how did we prepare our little girl for the big day? Going cold turkey was out of the question.  I realize that inevitably my whole focus of attention would shift once this little baby arrives. So we started dropping little hints. We brought her along with us to every antenatal visits, where our friendly obstetrician was kind enough to show her what her 'adik' looks like in mummy's tummy. We repeatedly told her that she has to be a 'good kakak' to her 'adik'. We invited her to pat and kiss the baby. Meanwhile, I took it easy on other chores so that I could spend extra time with Alyssa. Time stood still as we played together, read story books, sing& dance to her favourite tunes, watched her favourite Barney show over&over, and strolled in the park together. Every moment spent together was priceless, and it made us bond closer than ever before.

Now that Little Brother is here, Alyssa seem to accept the fact that she has to share Mama with her 'adik'. Though it may not all the time be rosy. Sometimes she would break into a tantrum especially when she is lacking attention, but nevertheless, I am proud with the way she is coping. And I always count my blessings that I am surrounded by family and in-laws who never fails to shower her with all the love that she needs.

Oh well, better enjoy this moment before Alyssa and Daniel teams up to create double joepardy in the house!