Sab's wedding and Mochi's birthday

It has been a while since my SABians clan got hitched. Last month, Sabri got married to her 11 years girlfriend, leaving Fai the only one among us.. of course, no pressure dear. Actually this one needs to be pressured, because she is sooo workaholic ok!

Also that weekend was fun for me because it was Mochi's birthday! Got to meet my Ampang friends, it has been a while.

The kids had so much fun, must have bouncing castle for the girls' birthday next time! (>_<)

Always blessed to have these bunch in my life ♥

My Little Octopus

After my last visit to see Grandmom in IJN, we went to Putrajaya for Genius Aulad's Little Ihtifal.

Ohh.. that proud moment of seeing your baby girl on stage. I did not know what to expect. Turned out she was very brave and confident that it almost made me cry. Emo mom!

My baby.. here's to more on stage performance after this. In shaa Allah.. lepas ni Quran recitals/hafazan ok :) Make Ibu and Abi proud. Datuk and Nenny were there to support her as well!

Spot Khaira!

During the show, when Khaira looked at the crowd to find me, our eyes immediately met and she waved. Up until today, she proudly claimed that she immediately spotted me among the hundreds of people. May our bond continue until the end.

P/S: Khaira was the one wearing ballerina yellow dress on top of her pants.

There will not be a day

There will not be a day that shall go by without me thinking of you, Mak.

...

During the last months of the passing of my Grandmother, my aunt and family, my uncle and my uncle's friend have contributed so so much for my Mak. In fact, my uncle's friend was the last person to be there half an hour before Mak passed away, and stayed overnight in the hospital with Mak. He was not an actual family member, but he took care of Mak as if it was his own. Everytime we came, he would wash the dishes, do the laundry or even cook for her and to the extend brought Mak to kubur Datuk every now and then. Mak spoke so highly of him, it was only natural to approach him and thanked him for taking care of Mak all these while after kebumi yesterday.

"I wasn't the one who helped Mak," he said. "It was the other way around."

It turned out all these while, when he spent time at Mak's house, Mak taught him how to solat and mengaji. He couldn't thank her more. He said half an hour before Mak's passing, she was soooo happy, even made some donation and small talks to patients next to her bed. ... So, this morning, when I woke up numb, feeling more lost and empty than yesterday, his words made me able to get up to know that Mak had an easy ending and husnul khatimah, in shaa Allah.

Too soon, Mak.. You left us too soon, too sudden :(

Al fatihah to my Grandmother.

Love turned 30

Love turned 30 on the 22nd November. This year, MIL decided to celebrate it at home where she cooked bibimbap for us.

Hubs was craving for Fuel Shack afterwards. So, we had burgers for dinner.

And no bake blueberry cheese cake for supper. So easy to make, I will share you the recipe here.

No bake blueberry cheese cake

250g digestive biscuits (small pack McVities)
125g butter (quarter Buttercup)
500g cream cheese (Big Tartura)
1 can of sweetened creamer
3 teaspoons gelatin (halal gelatin can be bought in Baguz)
Lemon juice
Blueberry jam

1. Crushed the digestive biscuits, mixed with butter and put it as a base, chill
2. Mixed cream cheese, creamer, gelatin and lemon juice in a mixer. Put it on top of the base.
3. Serve the blueberry jam as its topping. I bought the ones in Baguz, and I don't quite like the taste of it. I would suggest to go for Tesco's blueberry jam.

Happy trying!

...


Worth mentioning for my keepsake that, before we went for dinner, we dropped by at Grandmother's and that was the last time I saw her alive in her own house. She was later admitted the next day due to pneumonia.

Lost

My grandmother was very dear to me. She took care of me up until I was 9. I came to visit her every weekend. I called her up every now and then. She shared my every stories, even puppy love moments without any prejudice. She knows everything about me, more than my mom.

Grandmother love.

Two Sundays ago, I went to visit her in IJN. She was admitted on the 24th November due to difficulty in breathing. Turns out she had a slight pneumonia. Apart from that, she was healthy. Not even being dripped.

However, considering it was her 4th time in IJN within less than a year, doc suggested to do angiogram due to her previous heart problem. The angio was scheduled to be on the 27th November, but later was postponed to 4th December due to her kidney was unstable. Angiogram procedure has an affect towards kidney, might caused the kidney to fail, hence, we obliged.

So, two Sundays ago, after not being able to see her for three days, Grandmother looked a bit feverish. She craved for Cendol and after   having her Cendol, terus demam. I believe because it was too cold in IJN. Nonetheless, she was chirpy as usual. I fed her some porridge with she shared with Aisha, aunt captured our pics together..

..and that was it.

That was my last moment and my last picture with my Grandmother, whom I dearly called "Mak".

On Wednesday, mom and dad visited Mak and she was so happy. That night, Abang Mat spent a night in the hospital with Mak. She was so so happy. In the morning at around 1030 am, Mak insisted Abang Mat to go to the cafe for breakfast. Siap bagi RM50, belanja katanya. Because she was persistent, Abang Mat left for breakfast.

Around 10.45am, Mak went to the toilet with the nurse. After a while, the nurse called for her from outside of the toilet to no reply. When the nurse opened the door, Mak was trying to move from toilet seat to her wheelchair, clutching her chest. Nurse suspected she was having a major heart attack. The nurse managed to hold Mak before she hit the ground, but by then, Mak has left us.

At 11.08, I received a phone call from Aunt saying that IJN called, "Mak critical" was her exact words. (In actual, Mak has passed away and they waited for official statement from doc).

I rushed to IJN, only to discover that Mak has left us while on the way.

Doc tried everything, but did not manage to do anything. CPR 5 times to resurrect, last option is to cut her neck to inject some medication straight to the heart, but to no avail.

Right now..

I'm so so lost.

Al fatihah, Mak.

14 years anniversary

21st November was our 14 years anniversary.

This year I prepared a 3 course meal for Love. So, that Saturday, after we were done with our dishes and laundry, we left the girls at parents' and had our little date.

I cooked Love's favourite appetizer onion soup, steak for main dish and blueberry cheese tart for dessert.

We had a wonderful lunch and back massage at Reborn afterwards :)

14 years and counting, Alhamdulillah.

Onion soup recipe (From Masterchef's website)

1 tablespoon olive oil
50g butter
2kg brown onions, peeled and thinly sliced (chill to minimise vapours)
200ml dry good quality cider (I used Heinz Apple Cider)
1L homemade beef stock (Obviously I used beef stock I found at supermarket, Knorr)
2 fresh bay leaves, 2 thyme sprigs, 2 sprigs rosemary (I just used McCormick's mixed herbs)
8x1cm-thick slices of sourdough ficelle (Iggy's bread) or small baguette, lightly toasted
250g coarsely grated gruyere
100g finely grated parmesan

1. Heat oil and butter in a large saucepan over a medium low heat. Add onions, cover and cook for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove lid and cook for 30-40 minutes, stirring occasionally, until onions are soft and caramelised.

2. Add stock, the bay leaf, thyme and rosemary and season with salt and pepper. Bring to the boil, reduce heat to a simmer, simmer soup uncovered for 10-20 minutes or until slightly thickened.

3. Ladle soup into ½ cup capacity oven-proof bowls set on an oven tray. Sprinkle a little gruyere and parmesan onto the top of each bowl of soup. Top each with two slices of toasted ficelle then sprinkle with remaining cheeses. Place under a hot grill for 3-5 minutes of until cheese is melted and light golden.

Aisha's flashcards progress

By now, Aisha is 15 months old.

Similar to Khaira during her age, she is at a stage where she is learning hijaiyah flashcards. 

Although this time around I've learned that we should start earlier, I found it less easy to commit with the two girls. Love arrived from work around 9pm everyday, I arrived around 6.30 pm. So I was rushing like mad everynight to find time to teach Khaira and Aisha before Aisha fell asleep. But after she turned 1 and has a fixed sleep time, I became more discipline.

Back

Front

For Aisha, I tried a different set of flashcard which suits her personality more. The flashcards are from Little Qari.

These flashcards are equipped with images at the back to assist you on what to act to that particular letter so it would be easier for your children to memorize. 

Example; dzho for zikir.

She's still progressing so far. Able to pronounce a few letters, Alhamdulillah. I hope to be more istiqamah after this. 5 minutes a day in shaa Allah.