Photos - new ones, old ones. Part 2.

Helena still tak ada mood nak tulis, although ada idea nak tulis tentang what I come across after visiting one the Sekolah Berasrama Penuh (SBP) masa pergi tengok Mia punya Choral Speaking State Level few days ago.


So photos lagi la yer.....

Anastassia during her Khatam Quran last December..... Syukur Alhamdullillah...... Unlike Mia, in which we all siap buat majlis macam orang nak bertunang, Anastassia wanted to do it at rumah Ustazah, amongst her mengaji friends.....

Semasa Majlis Khatam Quran Anastassia.... Alamak, your tudung tak betul la, Pu3..... Mama pulak sibuk nak ambik gambar..... agih-agihkan food pack...... mmmm..... cian my princess...

Dah selesai, Majlis Khatam Quran, Zaryff sempat give his "monster look". Suka sangat dia buat muka macam ni.....

Anastassia with her best friend since std3. Although this friend of hers dah move to Klang, and then migrated to Australia last year, they still keep in touch via e-mail. Her visits back to Malaysia (twice a year) tak sah kalau tak jumpa. Its a must for them which either me or her mom will make it a point for the girls to meet up and have their girly-girly talk..... By the way, she won last year's Public Speaking Kebangsaan Level .... dahsyat tu menang at std 5, selalunya yang menang budak std 6.....

A nice girl, i was a bit heart broken when she moved away as Anastassia was really attached to her (and vice versa).



Mia and Anastassia. Bezanya hanya 2 tahun tapi kakak tu maturenya lebih sangat. Adik pulak lambat mature.... so buat masa ini, both of them tak siring sejalan lagi.... hehe.... tapi dalam pada tu, pandai they all keep secrets between them.... Haha..... kan dah kantoi dah dengan mama dia dah.....

Mia, preparing for nasyid. Ada competition apa entah. However, they won the 1st prize. As usual Mia is one of the solo singers.... Aii Mia, is that lipstick and blusher I see on your face..... haha. Elokla tu, konon tak hingin pakai bedak pagi2.... bila nak perform kan dah kena paksa..... elok sangat la tu...

Mia's collection of teddy bears in college. Ini baru this year punya collection.... presents from her seniors. Tak Helena sangka, masuk sekolah menengah..... she is obsessed with teddy bears..... Ingatkan dah takde budak kecik kat rumah, takdela soft-toy2 macam ni..... aii, macam2 kids nowadays.

Yesterday, Zaryff came home from school and complained to me.

"Mama, my teacher scolded me today" he said, looking at me for sympathy.

"Why, what happened" I asked.

"Zaryff tak lancar Sifir" he said, monyok muka dia.

"Why tak lancar?" I asked, and it came to my mind that I have yet to coach him on his timetable.

"Cikgu marah sebab I did not memorize my 4 time table" Zaryff explained.

"La.... kenapa tak ingatkan mama suruh ajar Zaryff?" I asked, feeling a bit guilty.

"Ala mama, Zaryff kan dah lancar Sifir 1..... cukup la tu...." he said.

"What? Sifir 1? Sifir 1 buat apa? Semua orang memang tau Sifir 1 macamana" I said.

"Eh, mama... Sifir 1 pun susah tau..... tapi Zaryff dah lancar... OKla tu...." Zaryff said, so proud of himself.

Mmmmm..........

Photos - new ones, old ones. Part 1.

I'm not in the mood to write, so let me share some pictures, some old... some new..... and let the pictures tell its own story.

This was taken some time back. Mia is now a Taekwondo Black Belt, Anastassia a Red Belt. However this is the only picture that I have of all of the kids in their Taekwondo outfit together.

Pu3 doing her split during a demo on Sports Day. She's good at her spilts, so much so that she was even asked by her Master to show her Black Belt seniors on how to do a perfect split during a senior class Taekwondo training! (which she is not in but she was at the centre tunggu her kakaks training)

Pu3 during Sports Day Taekwondo demo. Dia kena pecah papan dengan tangan. Anastassia also had to kick the papan into 2, tapi gambar dia tak ada sebab acara pecah papan ni diadakan secara serentak.

Anastassia, the Sports Captain of Rumah Kuning.

"Shhhh.... dont let Mama know that I'm using the laptop......"

Anastassia updating her Friendster...... I wonder whether she has finished her homework..... mmmm.....

Mia with her best friend, who is a fifth former from her previous school. This Taekwondo champ came to see Mia during the English Drama Competition which was held recently at college.

Anastassia, most left second row, doing one of her solo parts, in the State Level Choral Speaking Competition in which they got 1st.

Anastassia, seated most left, during the Bahas Competition which was held in March. She was the best debator.

Sweet Pu3 and boboy Zaryff during the trip to A Famosa.

Hope you guys enjoy the pictures......

Allergy Attacks

I have been allergic to prawns since I was 18 years old, and allergic to dust after I delivered Mia. However most of the attacks mostly caused me to have itchiness, sometimes, fever, sometimes flu. Only one occassion that it became so bad, masa tu kat KLCC that i kena masuk oxygen. At that time I was 5 months pregnant with Zaryff.

I always tell my friends, kalau I pergi rumah they all, and I started to sneeze nonstop, maknanya rumah they all berabuk la tu.... hehe

In November last year, we went back to MIL's house tidur overnight. Our room kat rumah MIL memang strictly our roomla, maknanya, no one will stay there if kita orang tak balik. I guess since everyone was busy with the kenduri we were having there, MIL and myself pun tak vacuum the room. The next morning, I woke up with very bad flu and nonstop sneezing, the same goes to Mia (who is also allergic to dust) and Anastassia selsema sikit2. However, the kids selsema sekejap aje, but in my case, without realizing it, I kena allergic attack yang amat teruk.

I had fever the next day and the rashes came. Then eczema, then gegata covering my entire thigh area. And I started scratching until it bled. And yes, I'm still having it now. Dah 5 months. I've had antibiotics, I've had numerous injections, and yes it disappeared, well a bit before it came back again, this time at other areas.

Sigh.

OK, malas nak ceta pasal allergy ni, let me update about the kids.

Anastassia and her team won the Choral Speaking State Level. They will now compete in the Kebangsaan Level which will be held in Trengganu. Hmmm.... I hope it doesnt clash with her UPSR trials.

Mia's school will compete in the Choral Speaking State Level anytime soon. Just found out that one of the school competing will be her "to be school", if dia tak masuk boarding school. And the girls representing choral speaking for that school will be her old choral speaking friends, the same girls she travelled to Kelantan and Perak for the Sekolah Rendah Choral Speaking National Level. Hmmm... tough fight la nanti.

Mia came back for the weekend last week. I remembered jotting down that she has improved attitude-wise in her studies few weeks ago. Ada semangat nak belajar compared to last year. Well, her change was a nice suprise. However, I was caught off guard with the 'new" Mia last Friday. She started to crack her books the minute she reached home. And she barely stopped.

"Banyak sangatke homework?" I asked her.

"Tinggal sikit ni, dah nak habis" Mia said.

Helena just tengok aje perkembangan terbaru ni. She didnt even glance at her laptop! Selalunya she would check her Friendster dulu. The next day I asked her again.

"Tak habis lagi ke homework Mia? Kata semalam sikit aje" I busybody tanya.

"Dah habis dah. Semalam lagi dah habis" Mia said.

"Habis, buat apa lagi tu?" I asked, memang Helena curious.

"Mama, I'm doing my notes. Ni baru chapter 3 tau, I have another 4 chapters tau. Form 1 punya syllabus belum buat revision lagi. Lepas ni nak baca Sejarah pulak, lepas tu Kemahiran Hidup, Science lagi. Geog? Maths latih tubi? Melambak2 chapters nak cover tau. Next year dah PMR, next month mid-term, mama ingat Mia sempat ke nak cover semua? Time cuti ni la Mia nak cuba cover ni" Mia explained in one breathe.


Wow, this is the first time I see her attack her books macam ni. Tapi naik rimas pulak. Ajak tengok TV pun dia decline..... However, Helena harap semangatnya yang berkobar2 itu akan stay sampai bila-bila. (Tapi sebelum balik tu, dia tetap berfriendster dgn kawan2.... hehe) Dan Helena harap, Anastassia dapat tempias semangat kakaknya to prepare for her UPSR. Which is 4 months away.............. Argh..............

Rush here... Rush there....

Mom celebrated her 60th birthday on April 1st. "Happy Birthday, Mama...." As usual, my dad would creatively make a prank on her. Why creative, hehe sebab every year memang buat joke on her, so Mama dah well preparedla everytime.... hehe.

On the 1st week of April, went to see Mia perform her Choral Speaking peringkat Daerah. It seems that after 6-7 years without any Choral Speaking Competition for Menengah level, finally pihak Jabatan/Kementerian started it again this year. They won 1st prize, but seriously speaking, I really thought that Anastassia's sekolah rendah Choral Speaking team was much better. I hope Mia's teacher will make additions in terms of solo performance and sounds to their script. Barula ada ummph and for them to give a tough fight for peringkat Negeri. Having said that, it was much much better than last year's performance that Dato' Hishamuddin went gaga over.

On Friday, went to Mia's college again. This time for "THE" event of the year - English Drama. Mia jadi Ketua Side Show. She didnt win, but her form menang overall drama for Junior Play. I found the English Drama last year to be more captivating. I was very fascinated by last year's snow scene. However, this year's head judge was a head turner, Zahim AlBakri.

Anastassia is busy practising for her Choral Speaking and Robotic Competition. She was also asked by her teacher to recite a poem after assembly. 2 kali dia miss sebab demam and tak datang sekolah. I thought tak payahla Anastassia recite, lagipun she's still weak from her fever and kerja pun melambak. Rupanya her English teacher insisted. And again she was praised for her gaya and emotion when reciting it. Entah bila dia prepare pun, Helena tak tau, tup2 dok kena puji by teachers.

Semalam, she came back from school, she said she was asked to do Pidato again, kali ni Dato Seri Najib's Cup. Alahai..... tak habis-habis...... tapi sayangla if nak let go kan.... I have to monitor her to ensure tak ganggu her pre-UPSR exams.

Pu3 pulak lain ceritanya.

"Mama, mesti mama marahkan?" Pu3 said as she entered the car. Helena memang jemput the kids on Wednesdays after koko.

"Kenapa pulak ni?" I really get nervous if she starts the conversation like this.

"Mama, tadi cikgu suruh kita audition Pertandingan Cerita Nabi Muhammad S.A.W kat RTM. Nanti masuk RTM1" Pu3 said.

"Mesti mama marahkan" Pu3 said again.

"Kenapa mama nak marah? OK la tu" I said, dalam kepala pikir, apalah dia nak hint ni.

"Ye.... Mama marah..... sebabkan kita cakap cikgu yang kita taknak masuk" Pu3 cakap while looking at me, trying to read my expression.

"La.... kenapa taknak masuk?" I asked.

"Ha, kan betul. Mama marah...."

"Mama tak marah tapi rugila kalau tak masuk. Bukannya senang nak dapat chance macam tu"

"Tapikan mama, manalah kita tau nak buat apa. Lagipun kena hafal tau, mana sempat nak audition hari Ahad." Pu3 explained.

"Ala Pu3, nanti cikgu ajarla. Mama pun boleh tolong...." I said, a bit frustrated.

"Mama marah, Pu3 tau...."

Sigh........... I explained to her that in school she has to grab all the opportunities that come her way. Itula gunanya pergi sekolah. Bukannya untuk belajar semata-mata. I told her apa yang lepas tu, lepas la. But in future, she must be ever willing untuk masuk whatever activities or competitions.

Its not easy being a Mother

Life has been a bit challenging for me lately.

I am not really into sharing anything that is in the negative here, only happy moments and memorable occasions. However, just to share that there are some issues that Anastassia and I have to work out. I just dont know what to do, sometime I feel like I'm failing her. A family friend, who is also Anastassia's tuition teacher suggested that I bring her to see our family GP. Mmm.... yela kan, should have done that. Maybe ada kaitan with her journey into adulthood.

Few days ago, Pu3's teacher announced that Pu3 got no 1 in class and in aliran. (I got the info much earlier, tapi cikgu baru announce) Dulu Pu3 belum streaming, so dulu tak perasan sangat siapa best student. However since they started streaming tahun ni, nampak betul competition between the girls. Pu3 said 2 of her closest rival cried after hearing the results. (Thank you cikgu, sebab belanja Pu3 for her good results!)

La.... budak2 sekarang ni, benda macam tu pun get upset. They are still in the top 5, so should be okay la kan. Tapi sebenarnya Helena rasalah kan, some of these kids will get a bashing from their parents if tak dapat the desired results. Pada Helena, although I motivate my kids to get the top spot, kalau tak dapat tu, takdela nak marah sangat. Cuma kasi nasihat if ada yg careless. Infact kalau takde careless apa2, I would just say tak ada rezeki....

Semalam, borak2 dengan Pu3,

"Mama, bila Pu3 boleh pakai baju kakak Mia yang kebaya tu?" Pu3 asked.

"Mama rasa end of the year, la..... sekarang belum boleh lagi. Baju tu cantik kan? Kakak Mia pun pakai sekali je" I said.

"Tapikan Mama, Kakak Mia pakai masa std 3, Pu3 kan sekarang std 3, so Pu3 boleh pakai sekarang la" Pu3 explained.

"Kakak Mia dulu gemuk.... awak kurus" selamba I said.

" Eh eh..... Mama.... Tak baik cakap anak Mama macam tu tau????" Pu3 looked at me in shocked with her big specky eyes.

Alamak.... terkantoi Helena.

"Errr.... tak la, dulu2kan Kakak Mia badan dia berisi, sekarang tak lagi" I said terkedu kena tegur anak sendiri.

"Yela Mama, tapi still tak elok cakap macam tu pasal anak sendiri tau" Pu3 lectured me.

"Yela kan. Mama tak perasan tadi" I answer, cepat2 nak tukar topic...... hehe


Its obvious to everyone who know us, siapa yang rupa Helena, semuanya cekiding and kurus. (like me, once upon a time, hehe) and siapa yang rupa hubby, will be the ones with the flesh. Mia was born the lightest, but she was a chubby toddler and is the montel child sampai dia in kindy.

In std 1, she lost 10 kg in 6 months and she maintained her weight sampai sekarang. Infact, whenever she's at home, she will wear her size 14 tshirts which she used to wear when she was 6years old! Can you imagine? Hehe.....

Note to Mia : I hope you tak stumble upon this entry..... hehe.....

More competitions!

As mentioned in my earlier post, most of my time lately has been attending to Anastassia with her back-to-back competitions.

However, let me first share the kids March exam results.

Mia has improved tremendously in this exam. This year Mia became closer to a studious Perak girl, and this has made my Mia more studious too. And it confirms my beliefs that it is important to have the "right" friends for our children. Moreover she has passed the 'adjusting and blending" in college. She is a different Mia this year, more mature, more focussed to her academic abilities.

"Congratulations Mia, you have more "A"s than before. You have definitely improved" I said, patting her back.

"No Mama, I'm not satisfied. I am still weak in Maths and Sejarah" Mia menggeleng kepala, sulking.

"Tak apala, at least ada improvement. Your target tu tinggi sangat dulu. Now with your results, okayla for you to aim 9As in your next exam." I said.

"mmm..... gerammmmmla, Mama....." Mia mengetap gigi, still tak puas hati.


Anastassia had fever during exam, I was called to pick her at 10 am on the 2nd and 3rd day. I did not expect much from her. However, she managed to get highest in Penulisan...... which is unbelievable. I guess it has something to do with the nonstop coaching she got for her Bahas, Syarahan and Pidato competition... hehe..... As i told the teacher who coached her (BM teacher), Anastassia dapat tuition BM free.....

Puteri........ mmm...... I sort of neglected her during the exams, as I had to concerntrate on Zaryff and Anastassia who was not well. But then.... what can I say, she got no1 and became the best student for std 3 again this time round...... (During exam, memang dia belajar sendiri..... she still continued to study even when I asked her to rest)

Zaryff...... alamak, his results dropped slightly....... I vow to really mengadap dia for his May exam..... *sigh*



Last Wednesday, I accompanied Anastassia and her teacher for her Pidato DiRaja Competition. Wow...... tercengang jugak Mia tengok. Pidato ni terbahagi kepada 2. The first part is the normal pidato which the students prepared earlier. However the 2nd part is the Pidato Spontan. The student kene berdiri atas stage, was given a topic and was given a minute sebelum mereka start berpidato. Memang susah. Anastassia got the topic "Ibubapa memainkan peranan penting dalam memupuk perpaduan kaum di kalangan anak2".

Out of the 12 patricipants, only 3 of them, Anastassia included managed to give a full 3 minute pidato. The rest could only stand up the stage waiting for the bell to ring before saying "Sekian, Terimakasih". Kesian. Yela, berdiri aje atas stage tu terkebil-kebil tak tau nak cakap apa. Tapi its a good exposure for students, and from there memang nampakla Anastassia tak gugup langsung and tak ada masalah bercakap dihadapan orang ramai. And memangla tak sia2 cikgu BM dia preparekan Anastassia on this, masa school holidays hari tu. Must be good in General Knowledge.

It seems dalam Public Speaking pun ada macam ni.

After Pidato, I rushed her to the other part of town for her Choral Speaking Competion. Lega the teachers bila tengok Anastassia sampai. Apa taknya, she is one of the main speakers! hehe. She arrived just in time.

During ther performance, memang nampak dia all out. Her teacher puji dia kat Helena. Later when I told Anastassia that she was superb, she said "Kita menangis masa tu, Mama. I really got into the character". (Anastassia jadi Mak Si Tanggang, who was frustrated with her son yang tak sedar diri)


So now, more rehearsals and practise for the next round........

Mia and Anastassia

A lot of things happened for the last 3 weeks. Let me just share the ones that concerns my eldest 2.

Mia

Mia turned 14 on February 22. I sent her, a Secret Recipe's Muddy Chocolate cake and a couple of Domino's Double Decker Chicken pepperoni pizza on Sunday for her to share with her dormies and kakaks.

Mia seems to enjoy her 2nd year at college esp since dah ada 1st formers. Hehe. She said she's not into the 1st formers, takdala nak ambik adik angkat or nak garang2..... banyak lagi important things to attend to, she said. On the adik angkat, she said that having 3 adiks at home pun is more than enough! (Haha. Memang Helena tau dia pening melayan kerenah adik2nya)

Mia also seems to be more focused in her studies, syukur. Sejuk rasanya, , I really want my kids to study atas kesedaran sendiri, without having me to nag.


Anastassia

This child of mine is really busy. Dulu masuk Bahas competition, then bowling, and then syarahan. Now cuti sekolah ni everyday pergi sekolah. She has to practice for her Pidato DiRaja competition, Choral Speaking AND Robotic.....

I do pity her as she is the type yang cepat penat. Is it because of her small built? Kakak Mia dulu lagi tiring schedule dia but she can handle it. I started to give her vitamins early this month.

We (the school and I) found out something recently. That Anastassia is really at ease with standing in front of a crowd and talk. Tak de rasa malu, takde rasa tension, takda rasa gemuruh.

And end Feb, as the Ketua Pengawas, she was asked to give a speech during a function, which was attended by the Pengarah Pelajaran Negeri, pegawai2 Jabatan Pelajaran, Guru Besar2 from other schools and other para jemputan. TV3 came, reporters too. (It was shown on TV and was in the papers)

The day before the function, I asked her.

"Anastassia, have you practised the speech that you're going to give tomorrow?" I asked.

"Ermmm" Anastassia responded.

"Anastassia????" I asked again.

"Ala, mama, nak practise apa. Just cakap ajela....." Anastassia said sambil buat muka boring.

"Eh you better practise, ramai VIPs datang tau, TV3, reporters, nanti buat malu aje kalau tergagap2 atas tu."

"I know what I'm doing la mama, dont worry about it" Anastassia said, while sambung buat homework dia.


On the said function, Anastassia was the first to berucap, then the YDP PIBG, Pegawai Jabatan Pelajaran, Pengarah and then Guru Besar.

When her name was called, she walked up the stage confidently, gave her speech confidently, smiling at the VIPs when addressing them, malah siap berpantun lagi. Her voice was clear and loud. She looks like a pro up there. (Bab2 public speaking in bukan senang, kan, esp for a child that age)

Later that day, I asked her.

"Anastassia tak rasa tension ke cakap atas stage to a hall full of people, ada VIP, ada reporters and cameraman?

"Duh?..... nak tension apa?" Anastassia reponded shrugging off her shoulder.



I remember that I always try to get Mia get involved in activities that require her to speak in public. Being a prefect, dia selalu kena bercakap kat mike infront of the school. And nampak okay aje Helena tgk dia bercakap atas stage. (during her primary days)

But Mia doesnt seems to warm up to my suggestion. She did tell me once that although she doent mind public speaking, its not what she likes to do. "Its just not me, mama" But this child of mine understand that it would be important in later years to be good in public speaking. And being Mia (yang selalu dengar nasihat mamanya) she is in the debate club in college.

However, Anastassia seems to embrace public speaking naturally. Helena takde encourage sangat pun. (Not as much as how i pushed Mia) Having a loud voice is another plus for her. I still remember her English teacher said when she was in std 3. "I would always ask Anastasia to read in front of the class. Her voise is so loud, its like she's using a microphone". And seriously speaking, suaranya yang kuat tu memang tak padan dgn her size. Hehe.

And it got me thinking. Each child has their own strengths, own specialities. Each child is different. I knew this before, but I understand it now.