GUESS??
i took this shot candidly... can you make a guess wat the boys are thinking?

hmmmm..... this is what i think they're thinking.. :D -> click here..



i forgot to bring along my cam tat day... i took these pictures off the gang's photo cribs.. meet our pride and joy, all grouped together for a photo shot of their first ever raya together!...

till we meet again next yr or hopefully earlier eh...! ;)

GOODBYE SYAWAL 2008..

We had a mini open hse for the family on Sat.. and i got a sweet surprise from Aunty Nur.. she gave me a bouquet of flowers all the way from South Africa (so she says..)....

loved it!.. thanks Aunty Nur!!

and thanks to the family who came and enjoyed the food... and of coz, thanks to Mak, i've got mee siam to serve that day and my now mastered Shepherd's Pie.. dunno wat we'd do without her!! :D


Then on Sunday, we went beraya with the SP Gang.. our last visitors for Syawal 2008. As usual, it was a kecohrable affair esp since Ayu's around.. hahahhaa.. :D



plus, now that the kids are all "grown up" - we can see all their silly antics..
1. Fauzi - the emo boy - he's got his own merajuk style which we found too cute!
2. Adam - the SNAG - he's like the only "grown up" amg the kiddies and he takes a freakin long time to warm up to all of us.. apparently, he only does this with us! hmmm.. i wonder y?!...
3. Eshan - the social butterfly - the name says it all.. and u'll know y when u see him.. ;) hahaa...
4. Adawiyah - the smiley one - always smiling whenever she catches us watching her..
5. Akid - the fearless one - so far, he's let anyone of us to carry him and he's the only one amg the boys who's not afraid of the little tortoise


anyways, since our love nest was the last order of the day, it was juz apt that i serve dessert, thinking that ours was the 6th and last hse, i'm pretty sure food will be served at every hse - WRONG!!... ours was the 4th hse. Only Ayu served a variety of food. Ani served kuih. Skipped Bai and Naz's hses and Ms Sinus - like me! tot that ours was the last few hses and we'd be too full to eat anything - only cooked noodle soup.. kwang.. kwang.. kwang...


howell!.... wat to do??..... dessert it is at our love nest.. and wat better way to try out my long awaited apple crumble!!... hehehee.... thanks to Oven Haven, i got the apple crumble recipe i needed... thank u SOOOOO much!!...


Of course, my apple crumble din look anything like hers.. but taste-wise - PASS!!... :D al-hamdulillah..



and before they all left, Sahiril wanted to take a pix with the Liverpool boy for posterity as well as for "luck" for his Liverpool team.. i'm not sure how well Liverpool did that day.. but Eshan sure gave his winning smile - thanks to Naz's prompts... ;)


so yeah.. that basically wraps up our Raya this year.. not that we did much Raya-ing.. hehehe...

BAKING FRENZY..

the baking frenzy mode is here again... i'm not sure why... but i'm damn happy abt it!.. hahaha... :D

first there was the Butter Orange Cake i did for a colleague who kept treating us to lunches.. this was the most simplest and easiest cake EVER!!... i didn't know butter cakes were simple!.. i would have juz done this whenever i feel like having a cake! baaaah!


then there was the Apple Custard Tart i made for another colleague who self-invited himself and family to our love nest!... hahahaha... since we were at home all day, i tot i'd give this a go... and since my throat was recovering from the sore-throat, i highly depended on the them to tell me a review...


though it looked horrendously looking like a rib-cage, it was superbly delish!... so say my colleague and family as well as the 2 boys in the house!!... i MUST work harder at my presentation skills!.. hahahaa...

and juz last nite, after being inspired by Oven Haven's rendition of Banana Crumb Muffin on Mon, i had a go at this very easy-to-do muffins!... but of course, my rendition is anything BUT gorgeous!... :( i think i overbeat the banana mixture coz it didn't puff up - dome or cone! :( it burst out of it's seams and the crumble was hmmmm.... let's juz say - CRUMBLING!....

but once it was done, my still sore throat was itching to have a try... oooooh!.. laaaa..laaaa.... sedaaaapnyeeee!!... yaaa ampuuuun!!!!...... u have to have it while it's piping HOT lah!.... but the crumble that was crumbling down the sides of the cup was too sweet and not that crumbly as i would have liked... i dunno y!...


n oooooh!... finally, my quest for apple crumble is over... juz wait and see... i can't freakin wait!!!

COMMUNICATE!! COMMUNICATE!
i think both me and Dearest need to go for some communication course together coz it seemed that we've been miscommunicating with each other too often!..


urrrgh!... it's exasperating, i tell u!!!!!!.....


niways, i'm having a mini open hse for my family this sat... thank god Mak agreed to help cook for us. If not, i DIE!!!!.... as it is, we can't even decide what to serve and prepare for the day!.. kwang.. kwang.. kwang..


the day after, we're gg out with the SP gang for our round of Hari Raya!.. hmmm... also wondering if i shld cook/bake anything... since ours is the last hse, i dun think can cook anything lah.. so how gang, any requests??...


oh!.. Eshan's having fever - AGAIN!.. i tot his fever went off oredi.. and I got the fever from him!... but yest, his temp went UP and still up this morning... but luckily, he's not looking sickly - still playing around and dancing-prancing around!... hmmm...

BLARDY IRRITATING!
i'm getting irritated with a particular someone, by the day!...


i think it's rude, it's abrupt and certainly NOT impressive!... freakin' weird-ass!...


oh!... my aunty decided to pop by yest after a 7wks hiatus!.. 3 freakin wks - of waiting and freakin out for a while!... but *phew!* thank god she's here now...

emiliAduka BER-RAYA..
it was a memorable Raya coz anything that can go wrong, WENT wrong!.. the only thing that was good abt this Raya was, i had a full and complete Ramadan.. al-hamdulillah... ;)


anyways, the day started off with Eshan waking up the same time as moi and so, going to the bathroom without him tagging along with me was inevitable!... in the end, both mother and son took a bath together.. hhahhaa...


and then, he couldn't fit into his baju kurung!!... goodness gracious me!!!.... i freaked out pretty bad thinking that after all the $$ spent, Eshan will not be donning his first full set of baju kurung!!.... siap dgn songkok u!....


in the end, we had to cut away part of the thread that was holding the button area together.. wat a relief when the baju finally went thru his big head!.. ahhahaha... :D

after all that fuss, Dearest decided then to put on his Silver baju instead of the black one coz it was nicer for the first day of Syawal!... grrrr... so, he was the odd ball out!...


by the time we were more or less ready, we were already running pretty late.. but we just had to take that one shot of family pix on the first morning of Syawal!.. hahaha... :D

and so, we arrived blardy late to the first house where all my paternal side were gathered!... haaaiiizzzz... by the time we reached, i lost one of the brooch of my shoes and 2 of the family were leaving.. luckily managed to still meet them along the corridor and found my brooch on the way home without first falling like a nangka busuk along the way!!... kwang.. kwang.. kwang..


over at my parents' hse, the maternal side gathered.. and had a round of photo session with THE woman in the hse! Photos can be found at my Multiply.. ;) The bibiks were all excited to see Eshan in his baju, samping and songkok!.. but he was more interested to eat and play than taking pix with them!...


we also tried taking the 2 kenits in the family to take a pix together.. but this was the turn-out instead..

eleh!.. malu2 kucing konon!... :p

after a nap and a full stomach, it was off to the in-laws.. and MY oh MY!... MORE food!!!... seriously, i think i've gained all that i've lost! (if i ever did lose any in the first place!!)... Eshan had a ball eating all the goodies.. but one thing i'm proud of, my son will seek my permission if someone (other than Dearest, myself and my family) tries to give him any food.. he'll not eat it if i say NO.. and he won't cry too! ;) tat's my boy!!... so, at least i can kindof control his food intake without looking sooo much like a control-freak mummy... hehehehe..


so tat's my first day of Raya.. an eventful one indeed!.. next year, we'll def have to wake up very early and be more coordinated with our baju!... hahhahaa...


btw, Eshan's reached 18mths last Fri and had his last jab.. he weighed at 12.14kg!!... acc to the charts, that's at 95 percentile growth!... without realising, he's grown that much!!... gah!... nurses said it was good wt.. so, i need not get worried unneccessarily.. kekekkee...



ps: i have to jot this down.. i think Rancour sucked during the Raya show!... wat a disappointment!... the songs they sang was embarrassing to say the least and the singer faltered during the song Sesuci Lebaran at the end!... gaaaah!.... apadah!...