Bersyukur sangat-sangat.................

Life has been treating me well lately. Syukur Alhamdulillah..........

Last Wednesday was the Hari Anugerah Cemerlang. Puteri was in the highlight and she was beaming ear to ear. (Mak dia pun sama la tu..... hehe) However, what came next was really a suprise. At the end of the ceremony, as usual, the school will anonounce Pelajar Cemerlang 2007 and other Cemerlang Kategories. Memang this is the highlight of the Ceremony la.....

It was a sweet suprise to know that Anastassia won the Anugerah Koko Cemerlang 2007 ..... I didnt even know that she was in the running!

Al in all, Puteri received 3 story books and 3 vouchers worth RM42. Boleh redeemla kat book store nanti. Anastassia pulak dapat certificate and a 12 inch trophy...... punyala besar trophy tu.... hehe (Mia pun ada dapat the same Anugerah and trophy but Mia got it masa std 6)

On Friday, there was another unexpected suprise. Remember in my last entry that I have a short term target for Anastassia? Well, she got called on Friday and its now 80% comfirmed that she's going to meet that target. Tapi ada lagi 20% to work on..... I hope she'll be able to make it.

UPSR results are already out. I was at the school to hear the annoucement. Results sekolah the girls sama macam last year. Although it is still good, we were a bit disappointed as our target of 105 was not met. Yang kelakarnya, last year when Mia received her results, I tak menangis pun, just air mata tu mengenang ajer. But this year, entah kenapa I cried. Sedih tengok girls yg menangis2 atas kejayaaan mereka... dan sedih tengok those yang hampa dan menangis teresak2 keraba sedih .... As usual the reporters were there too..... click sini, click sana.....

Sekolah Zaryff dropped this year to 48 students yg dapat 5A. I hope the school will do something about it to be ready for my Zaryff to take the exam..... hehe.....

I am so happy!!

Finally, exam results are out.

As expected Puteri got no 1 in class and in aliran. Her position in school for all 4 exams (March, May, Aug and Oct 2007), maintained at no 3, the same spot as in last yr. (She's quite dissapointed, and does not want to answer my calls) She is also the top malay student for std 2. Helena tau, dia frust because she aims no 1, tapi her Aug marks yg bawak total marks dia turun.

She's gonna get 3 awards this Wednesday, one for class, one for aliran and also best subject - BM. (bab ni pun dia marah sbb dia nak best subject for Science, tapi she got 88+100+100+99 for science, so yg 88 tu yg bawak turun tu)

Anastassia wont be getting any awards as predicted, but I'm very happy because after TURUN MENJUNAM in May, she's improving a lot. (Anastassia's results la yg paling critical among the 4 kids) Esp in the finals, which she got no 12. Tak apa I tell her, tahun depan ada lagi for her to put herself at the top 5 spot, macam dulu2.

Zaryff's result came out last week. Merosot from no 5 to no 9 in class, and aliran from no 8 to no 18. I lectured him for 2 mins (buat syarat), dia nangis (mengada) sbb tak pernah kene lecture, then mintak hadiah sebab science marks dia improved. Haha.

Mia punya response lagi best.

"Mama, you want to hear the good news first or the bad news first?"

mmm.... well.... no comments but siapla during the hols...... hehe

Mia spent the last 2 weeks of schooling singing for Farewells Gatherings (for 5th formers and year end activities) .... siap menang "Best Performance" pulak tu during School Concert last Friday. Tomorrow pulak ada cheerleading competition.

All in all, I'm happy, walaupun ada yg merosot, tapi to tell u the truth, Anastassia's improvements yg make me smile ......


This morning, I woke up with short-term targets for 2008. Takyah share dulu la.... I hope by April 2008, I can share the happy announcements for both Mia and Anastassia..... If they can achieve it, syukur.... if not, takde rezeki..... janji everyone has tried their best, esp me, in supporting them throughout. (ooo in case u're wondering, this is not academic related)

Helena is out! (ikut style Anastassia kat friendster dia.... :D)

The month of November

November started with the School Concert at the girl's school.

Anastassia acted in an English Drama titled Cinderella Revisited, dia jadi Prince. Pandai jugak budak ni berlakon..... She is also in the Choral Speaking. Unfortunately, Puteri's Choral Speaking in Arabic had been cancelled due to limited time. Frust dia, but then cikgu dia kata masa Anugerah Cemerlang nanti mereka akan perform.....

The concert was a success. Walaupun concert berbayar tapi memang berbaloi la.... everyone had fun. Parents came in droves, with atok and nenek tagging along. On the same day, there was an art demo, whereby 3-4 selected students akan duduk kat bilik Pameran Seni and melukis the whole day. Apa yang dilukis akan dijual and the kids akan dapat hasil jualan tu fully.

Anastassia was chosen to become the artist but due to her involvement with the drama, she only managed to finish one abstrak painting. The painting was later bought by a parent for RM35. Anastassia yg mula2 frust sebab tak dapat join kawan2 dia melukis, merasa a bit excited to receive cash money for a painting that she did. The parent told the teacher that she plans to have it framed.

On Saturday, Anastassia masuk bowling competition..... she has improved a bit but of course tak boleh lawan the pros..... I am now thinking of sending Zaryff and Puteri for basic bowling lessons....

After the bowling tourney, got a call from Sir (Taekwondo) that Puteri can go for grading again this month. What??? 3 gradings in a year is unheard of..... mmm.... is this another Mia in the making..... I asked Sir, tak cepat sangat ke.... esp knowing Sir, who unlike other Sirs, tak suka kasi kids grading cepat2..... Sir kata, Puteri is ready, she's a Super Girl..... (hmm.... macam tu ke...)

On Sunday, as I was packing Zaryff's school bag, I saw a yellow letter addressed to parents. Bertuah betul budak ni, dia simpan aje. Apparently Persatuan Renang Negeri nak buat ujibakat on Saturday - 3 Nov (dah lepas....). Although I have yet to decide whether I would want the kids to join the State Swim training, there's nothing wrong in just participating and see how my kids fare compared to other swimmers right?

After the call I made to comfirm Zaryff and Sabrina's chess class schedule (Zaryff hari2 merengek nak pergi chess class), Helena pikir.... mmm.... boleh ke I handle semua ni???? (Kids boleh handle for sure, esp cuti sekolah ni. )

Hi there!

Wow...... lamanya dah tak update blog ni.... I didnt even have the chance to wish you all Selamat Hari Raya...... and Maaf Zahir Batin....... Its still not too late eh?

So pada semua rakan bloggers. Helena ucapkan Selamat Hari Raya Aidil Fitri, Maaf Zahir Batin jika ada yang terkasar bahasa dan terlepas kata.....


What shud I write? There are many things to share.... from Raya preparations, the Raya itself, how the kids raya sakan, zafry's pool party on the 4th of raya, kids preparing their exams during puasa and after raya....... the results...... our dear angkasawan who just came back yesterday.....

mmm................

I was very very busy during puasa month, hence the loooooonnnnnngg silence. On top of that, I was trying very hard to prepare the kids for the final exams which was held a week before Raya. Kesiannya pulak tengok they all melepek and tak larat nak baca buku after buka puasa. Bila Helena tengok Anastassia lebih cergas selepas sahur, I changed her belajar time after sahur everyday.

However, the mission for the kids to study didnt go as well as planned. Sob... Sob...

Results are out, cant really say much about Anastassia, total marks improved tapi tak tau her position in aliran yet, itu yg critical tu..... Puteri as usual scored highest in every paper...... Zaryff's marks are not that good, his teacher said that since the papers are tough, budak2 tak dapat score.... mmm entahla... or maybe the teacher is just trying to be nice.... nantila tunggu dia dapat no brapa kali ni.

The current topic for the girls sekarang ni adalah school trip. The girls school menang Anugerah Cemerlang Kebangsaan, syukur...... after 3 years of hard work trying to grab that trophy. Zaryf's school also represented the State but since this is their 1st attempt.... ofcourse la tak menang.....

One of the prizes is the hadiah lawatan murid = RM100K. So semua students from Pra-Sekolah to Tahun 6 dapat pergi lawatan....... everything FOC. The kids are looking forward to it.

Zaryff's school was also in the news several times this month, tapi bec of our angkasawan. Zaryff was frustrated as his picture tak terselit kat gambar dalam paper tu..... hehe.... i told him, next time try to stand near your Guru Besar.....

Zaryff turned 8 on October 16, the 4th day of Hari Raya. We had our Open House on that day at the Villa, and petang tu buat a pool party...... The kids had a blast at the pool. And obviously Zaryff enjoyed himself tremendously.....

This weekend there's gonna be a School Concert at the girls school, Puteri will do her Choral Speaking in Arabic.... Anastasia will be in the Choral Speaking in English and she will also take part in an English Drama whereby Anastassia will be the prince, trying to woo Cinderella.

We had a great Raya. Mia came back from college and all the children enjoyed each other's company to the fullest. Takde gaduh2 pun. Walaupun Raya, Mia tetap berkepit with her school books, yela.... exam immediately after Raya.... what to do....

This year was the 1st Raya yang Helena TAK buat apa2 kuih pun..... hehe the kids complained bec they missed my chocolate chip cookies.... tapi what to do, with maid tak ada, keje melambak. And this is also the Raya which we did our shopping last minute!...... We only managed to buy Raya clothes on Thursday..... the day yang malam tu, orang dah nak tgk anak bulan! hehe..... tak pala..... janji semua sempat beli.....


Sorry if my entry kelam kabut...... kepala still serabut lagi ni.....

Musim Sakit

Chicken Pox

I did not share much about the demams yang the whole family kena last week.

It was bad. I was on MC for 4 days. In fact sampai sekarang pun I dont feel quite fit, my body still ache and my throat is still sore. After the batuk and demam for a month in May, it was really frustrating to fall sick again, all because of the dust caused by the renovation at the house.

Whilst I was hit hard because I'm allergic to dust, Anastassia had mild fever and didnt go to school for a day, the same goes to Puteri and Zaryff.

As I thought everyone was getting better, last Thursday I got a call from Puteri's teacher asking me to pick Puteri up from school as she was having red spots on her palm. Since there was a HFM (Hand Foot n Mouth) case a month before in school, they werent taking any chances about Puteri's condition.

Went to the family GP who also found red spots kat tapak kaki and in the mouth. Puteri was suspected to have mild HFM as she was not having fever.

On Friday, Zaryff complained of headaches. Tapi Helena buat tak layan bec the week before dia complain the same thing and tak pergi sekolah and spent 24/7 depan tv and main computer games....... So I insisted Zaryff go to school.

As I fetched him at 12 noon, I saw him monyok menunggu kat guard house, rupa2nya he was still having his headache. I asked him to break his fast immediately in the car (guilty sesangat la tu) and prepared lunch for him as we reached home. He slept right after.

That night he showed me red spots kat tapak kaki..... but sebab tak banyak, i didnt bring him to the clinic.

On Saturday, more red spots kat tapak kaki, but since tempat lain clear, still did not go to the clinic.

On Sunday morning, his hands and arms and buttocks penuh dgn red spots, and banyak yg membelon macam nak pecah. His spots are different from Puteri's, tapi yg kat tapak kaki tu sama.


Yesterday, after having blood test, Dr kata its chicken pox. And after discussing with Dr, it looks like Puteri pun maybe bukan mild HFM tapi mild chicken pox. (Tapi heran sbb spots dia kat hands, foot and mouth aje. Red spot dia pun hanya red spot, yang mengelembung macam Zaryff cuma ada 2)

But it made sense la. All my kids ada chicken pox vaccination. So IF kena chicken pox pun, it would be mild. Itu yg buat semua confuse tu.

Mia was exposed so many time dengan kawan dia yg kena chicken pox, pernah tidur sebilik masa they were in Trengganu, kawan2 dia yg sebilik (theres 6 of them) semua menyangkit kena chicken pox, except for Mia.

Mia balik last weekend, I hope dia tak menyangkit and I hope Anastassia pun tak menyangkit...


Mia came back for the weekend

I really looked forward to having Mia back. I missed her so much as I didnt got to visit her since puasa started as kita orang semua demam.

The first thing Mia said bila masuk kereta was :

"Mama, malam ni buka kat hotel tak?"

"Ha? Buka kat Hotel?" We would make it a point to open fast at a hotel at least once every year, and with all the kelam kabut I totally forgot that since Mia is in boarding school, this weekend would be the only time we can do it as a family.

Suddenly my handphone rang.

"Helena, this is Alice from ABC123 Hotel"

"Hey Alice, whats up?"

"Just to let you know that we have vouchers for you and you can collect them on Sept 25"

I was already smiling. Due to my line of work, I would always get vouchers from the hotels that I normally frequented and have business with, most of the time the vouchers will be given during puasa month.

"Thanks Alice, your call ni memang betul la good timing" I laughed.

"Ala Helena, bulan puasa kan.... mesti you want to come over for berbuka kan?"

"Alice, is it possible for me to collect the vouchers....... say ....... tomorrow?"

"Alamak, tak boleh la Helena, our GM belum sign lagi"

"Oh yeke..... because my girl balik from asrama this weekend so I was thinking of using the vouchers either today or tomorrow, but maybe tomorrow la kut....."

"Helena, memang tak sempat...... mmm....."

"Ye ke......"

"How many of you Helena?"

"How many of us?"

"Yes, how many of you yang nak datang berbuka?"

"Mmm.....7 kut...... kenapa"

"Make it like this la Helena, vouchers memang confirm tak sempat, but you tell me when you want to come over, it's my treat"

"You're kidding right.....?" Terperanjat Helena because although I always get free makan, but it was always when I was dining with Alice's boss (Alice is still new, in fact I've never met her), but never with my family.

"No, I'll just put you under my account, you'll be my guests....."


We went on Saturday night, the food was fabulous, the best compared to previous years, the spread was never ending, and..... its free!! hehe............

That reminds me, I plan to give a token of appreciation to Alice sometime today.....

The First Week of Ramadhan

Bulan puasa menjengah kembali. Kali ini a bit tiring sebab tak ada maid, furthermore my dad buat renovation - upgrade all the toilets in the house so penatla kena mop and berkemas everyday for 2 whole weeks.

1st day

Zaryff wanted to follow me to Pasar Ramadhan. Dia nak Rangka Ayam Goreng (or whatever u call it), so I bought one and let him carry it. Then I continued cari the dishes for the family yang telah diorder awal2.

Dalam membeli barang2, i stopped and nak mintak Zaryff tolong pegangkan plastic yg ringan2. And punyala terperanjatnya as I saw him munching, with one hand in the plastic bag!!!

"Zaryff! Kenapa Zaryff makan???? Kan Zaryff puasa????"

"Zaryff lapar sangat.... Zaryff lupa......"

"Zaryff, mama nak tanya, Zaryff sengaja makan ke, Zaryff tak sengaja?"

"Zaryff tak sengaja mama....."

"Betul ke? cakap dengan mama betul2."

"Betul mama, Zaryff terlupa...."

" OK kalau terlupa, keluarkan balik apa dalam mulut tu. Jom kita pergi kumur mulut"

I dragged him to the nearby toilet (nasib baik it was very2 clean) Zaryff kumur mulut, siap buang air kecik lagi......

"Dah mama..."

"Come, I need to buy Tau Foo Fah for Puteri"

"Mama....."

"Apa?"

"Zaryff haus...... sebab makan ayam tadi....."

Sigh.............. However, I just told him to be patient, lagi satu jam nak berbuka.......



2nd day

ALL of us demam and batuk2 because of the dust at the house.


3rd & 4th day

Because the dust was so bad at the house, we stayed at the Condo during the weekend.

And that weekend i realized betapa PENTINGnya a microwave especially time bersahur. Argg... Mengada ke Helena? But seriously, to heat the dishes one by one without a microwave is really driving me nuts!

Mmm..... looks like we need to get one for the Condo.


5th day

As usual the kids left for school at 6:40am.

At 7am, got a call from Anastassia from school. "Mama, kita terpijak taik kucing. Kena kasut. Banyak sangat....."

Sigh................


6th day ( yesterday)

Spent the afternoon watching TV with the kids. Watched Jangan Pandang Belakang and CH77's The Sextuplets and the Twins........ Best sangat......

Still busy.....

As I'm still so very busy, do enjoy the pics below.

Puteri and Zaryff having fun at the Taman Basikal during the hols.

Zaryff and Puteri, as usual spent most of their time together during the hols.....

Puteri with her "Kalam al-Jamae'i" group representing the school in a JQAF competition. (That's Choral Speaking in Arabic). Bangga rasanya tengok pelajar2 Tahun 2 berchoral speaking dalam Bahasa Arab. (They got 3rd placing.) Thanks to Pak Lah's brilliant idea to implement JQAF in SK schools. (Puteri is seated no2 from left)

Zaryff practising with his Sir to prepare for his first grading.

Last Monday, Zaryff officially received his Yellow Belt from his Master. He was grinning ear to ear that day.....

Puteri, who made her family and her teachers proud with her August results. Pictured here trying out a new swimming suit.

P/S : Anastassia won 1st place in another Art competition, Puteri won 1st place in a Science Quiz competition, Mia went to Putrajaya (again) to perform infront of VIPs and Zaryff soiled his pants in school again. (arghhhh....)