bismillah

just remember,
when the next time you cut your finger while cooking in the kitchen,
that your mom's fingers might got cut also while preparing meals for you...

Just remember,
when the next time you accidentally touch a hot plate, pot, or anything hot in the kitchen and burn your fingers,
that your mom your mom's might accidentally done the same thing while preparing meals for the family...

Just remember,
when the next time you feel so tired of managing the family for the whole day,
That your mom might got tired doing the same thing for you...

bismillah

i am grateful to Allah for giving me a place that I can call home
Alhamdulillah that I have a shelter from the rain and sun
Alhamdulillah that my daughter and son are safe with me
Living healthy and happy, warm at home

today we went to take a look at our next home-to-be. InshaAllah we'll begin the moving out from our current apt and moving into the new one soon.

we'd just left Nupac when the rain started to pour. We ran(pushed the strollers) as fast as possible to reach Toberman before Hajar and Adam got all wet. Alhamdulillah, Toberman was just at the end of the street and it took only couple of minutes to reach.

Alhamdulillah the apartment was nice albeit a bit smaller than Nupac's. The cheaper rent and paid utilities made it reasonable. Overall, the apartment needs some jobs to be done especially for the floor, it needs to be carpeted since it was very cold to step on with bare feet. Malays dont wear shoes inside their homes, right :) needs an extra heater to be installed in the hall, replace some old bulbs, and some other minor repairs here and there. Alhamdulillah, the landlord, Shalih has agreed to do all of the above, and we're grateful for that.

We went back home after Asr. Hajar was very happy with the trip since she got the chance to jalan-jalan and explore a new place, soon to be called home, inshaAllah

Bismillah

Alhamdulillah, sister Gjie and bro Abli came visited us last Sunday. It was wonderful to receive tetamu/guests at our apartment. Ehe..after about 1 month++ feeling like real 4 batang kara(sebatang kara x 4).. Hajar was asleep when they came, but not long after that she awake. Hajar was really surprised(i guess) to see a malay makcik and Hajar was just staring at Gjie for couple of minutes with serious,confuse look. It took quite some time for Hajar to warm up and run around the house like usual. She was excited to see other people in the house!(other than the same abah, adam and ibu everyday!)


the weather is a bit cold today and we are wearing sweaters in the house! ....

Alhamdulillah, we've got someone to sublease the apartment.InshaALlah we are moving out by the end of February. Hopefully the new apartment, which is bigger and closer to Masjid Umar al-Khattab will also be better for us. No bugs and less problematic. InshaAllah abah will be able to make more frequent visits to the masjid and attend every jemaah prayer.

inshaAllah...:)

Kita Bukan Budak Kecil Lagi...

Bismillah

Anak-anak kecil boleh buat apa sahaja yang dia mahu
Mereka masih kecil dan belum tahu erti malu
Tapi kita bukan budak kecil lagi
Tak bolehlah buat semua perkara ikut suka hati
Tanpa segan silu

Anak-anak kecil buat apa sahaja dengan ikhlas
Mereka masih kecil dan belum tahu meminta balas
Memang kita bukan budak kecil lagi
Tapi mestikah buat semua perkara ada udang sebalik batu?
Tanpa niat hanya untuk Yang Satu?

Anak-anak kecil boleh meludah selepas disuap
Tidak peduli ibu yang akan marah atau rumah bersepah
Tapi kita bukan budak kecil lagi
Tak bolehlah berlagak kasar tanpa batas
Kenalah berbudi dan cakap beralas

Anak-anak kecil boleh menjerit dan menangis sekuat hati
Tidak kisah jiran sebelah atau orang marah
Tapi kita bukan budak kecil lagi
Belajarlah berfikir sendiri
Sebab hidup bukannya lama
Takkan di akhirat nak hidup susah...

bismillah

They have grown up so fast
The apples of my eyes

The picture is a lil bit blurry as everyone was moving happily when the picture was captured. No matter how it is, I still love this picture.

Bismillah

Ibu bought a pink bike today! It's a used bike and the previous owner is a girl from Switzerland whos just graduated and is going back to her country soon. Alhamdulillah she sold the bike for just 20 bucks. Ibu's rizq.

Ibu was nervous riding the bike on the road since Hoover is a busy road. Alhamdulillah there's a bike lane, so it's safer. The bike's seat was quite high for ibu and ibu had to adjust it at the bike store. Alhamdulillah, it was done for free and ibu could get on the bike easier.

Oho..the bike comes with a lock and a pink helmet. The lady was very nice and generous!

Bismillah

Yesterday we had planned to go the Women, Infants and Children(WIC) office before we realized that the office was quite far from home and couldnt be reached simply by walking, which the only thing possible for us currently. FYI, The WIC is providing foods coupons for infants and children from the low income families so that every child gets proper nourishment. Since abah is not working, and ibu is a student, we are considered as a low income family and basically eligible to enroll in the program.
However, we'd to postpone our registration until we can find a transportation. The kids must come to the WIC office for the registration.

Then, an interesting event came up. Ibu saw an ad at the craiglist's website written by a person who offered help, basically of any kind, to those who needed it! The writer said that she(later we discovered that the writer was a woman) realized that her offer was unusual, but she wanted to do something to make her feel better.(she was having difficulty of finding a job within her field).So abah emailed her and told her that we needed a lift to do our groceries. Later, she called and agreed to take us to the Walmart. She also asked if she could bring her friend to record everything just to tell people that we could do kindness in many forms. We're fine with her idea, and were excited to meet her.

However, later on we decided not to proceed with our plan because we couldnt take the kids along since we didnt have car seats! Its the California's law that small kids must be secured in a car seat while riding on a car. Initially abah suggested that ibu go to walmart alone, but ibu didnt feel comfortable for going out with a complete stranger, even with a woman. Well, basically the main reason for us to go to the walmart was to claim ibu's passport from the customer service after ibu carelessly dropped the passport in the store. So, the plan was canceled and inshaAllah a better option will come.

Later on yesterday, we went to the Doheney Library because abah wanted to borrow some books. We took the tram and got down at the first stop on campus. then, we put Hajar and Adam on the twin stroller before headed to the Doheney Library. The weather was nice, the campus was beautiful and lots of students were on campus. We went to the library, abah got the books, and we went back. On the way back though, while we're undecided whether or not to visit the University Village, the stroller's wheel was suddenly broke apart. We were very surprised and dissapointed and still in shock when suddenly the second wheel broke. Two of the front wheels broke, and the stroller was no longer working! We were in trouble. We took Hajar off the stroller because the wheels on her side that were broken. Adam was still on the stroller because he was asleep.

Uhuhu..we walked back home with the broken stroller. Abah pushed the stroller with Adam on it, while ibu walked with Hajar. Hajar was very excited to get the chance walking on the sidewalk. She was 'talking' along the way with joyful and cheerful voice.

Alhamdulillah, what a day..

Bismillah

once an infant,
now a fast growing, active toddler,
healthy and bright,
enthusiastic and kind

once the only child,
now the older one,
a loving big sister
to the cute, chubby brother

she's Hajar
and her brother is Adam

they are our children
the hope for the future
to become righteous children
whose duas send their parents to heaven

Bismillah

This morning, it was started just like usual. We wake up for Fajr without Hajar as she usually performed jemaah prayer with us. Then Adam wake up, smiled broadly, did his bubbly, baby talk, and then cried when he got bored. Hajar was still sleeping soundly under the comfy blanket. It was cold out there and this made the bed was so hard to resist.

Ibu had to get up early this morning since it was Monday! and ibu got 2 classes today.
Uhu...ibu was so very sleepy during the class. Ibu was fully awake just for the first half an hour,
and 'tidur-tidur ayam' for the rest of the class. Erm...morning classes were just not meant
for ibu. Ibu needed to practice staying awake while sitting in an air-conditioned room for more than an hour.

Btw, yesterday we didnt go to the Islamic Center. We'd no transport! Uncle S's car was sent
for routine service and uncle S wasnt able to drive us to the ICofLA. Poor Hajar and Adam had
to stay home for the whole week. However, it was raining during parts of the day and maybe it was a good thing we didnt go out, so that Hajar and Adam didnt get caught in the rain.

We bought a used laptop for Hajar. It was $30 and a 1999 Vaio. The laptop is still in the very good, working condition. Ehehe hajar ended up not getting the chance to play around with it much since ibu was online using the vaio.ehehe..

bismillah

Today we had to leave the house for several hours because the apartment needed to be carpeted with a new carpet. the old, green one was just too old and might be dirty and dusty for our little prince and princess.

Alhamdulillah the management gave us another apartment to stay while waiting the works at our apartment to be done. It was a single apartment and pretty nice. There was no heather, though and ibu got quite cold after 2 hours of waiting. The faucet's water was also ice cold!

Abah bought us breakfast at the McDonald as we hadnt ate anything for breakfast. We stayed up late last night and were having a late morning also :). We hadnt prepared to go outside when the manager knocked on our door telling that they wanted to start the carpeting soon.Uh - oh. Ibu had to rush bathing Adam and poor hajar, ibu was ran out of time and hajar didnt took her bath this morning. And off we went to the transit apartment.

Around 1230pm, the guy who dropped us at the transit apartment came back and drove us back to our apartment. The apartment was quite messy with everything was out of place. As for the carpet, it was blue and thicker than the previous one. Alhamdulillah, this new carpet makes the apartment looks nicer and brighter. No more gloomy, green, old carpet :).

By the way, Hajar and Adam got their toys and the twin stroller today. Alhamdulillah, both of them enjoyed playing with the toys and ibu sure they're having lots of fun. The stroller was quite bulky and heavy although people said it was among the lightest one. Ehehe..abah'll have to figure out how to carry this stroller when we go outside next time.

Right now, everybody was asleep as everyone got tired after the long day.The toys were still scattered all over the apartment and Hajar slept between her toys :) How cute, MashaAllah!

Bismillah

One thing worth noted here, Hajar has been calling her father 'abang'(which means brother) instead of 'abah'(which means father) =). It was cute. Ehe, may be she heard ibu calling her father with 'abang', so she followed ibu.

Right now, Hajar no longer drank the Dutch Lady 123 Honey flavored milk as we ran out of supply. We've been giving her the whole milk and she likes it! She usually asked for one bottle after another. Ehehe, yesterday she finished one gallon per day.Oops, guess we have to reduce the frequency of her milk time :)

We also bought a dvd-vcr combo for Hajar and Adam last week. Hajar has been watching the children's movies, cartoons, nasheed, children songs, and lectures!. We hope this will help with her learning through audio and video, and ease her of boredom of staying at home the whole week!

We love them!