Double celebrations

End of July. Marks a significant part of my life as two of my boys celebrate their birthdays one day after another. Khaleeq turned 8 yesterday on the 30th and Inche Azrul celebrates his 35th today.

As per customary in our little family, each kid would receive at least one present on every birthday celebration - so multiple bodies were actually counting the days to Khaleeq's birthday. ;) Khaleeq is now into Lego Hero Factory and Lego City series, while Khaleeda is in her Play Doh stage. Khadra is not very much into toys so she opted for a headphone for her iPod instead (turning into a teenager too fast that girl). Everyone got their choice of poison last weekend so the present section was pretty much sorted out, thankfully.

When asked about his day in school, Khaleeq said a few of his friends wished him "Happy Birthday" and he was quite pleased with that. He had also apparently invited some friends to Kidzania for his birthday party at 3pm yesterday. I hope none of the kids dragged their parents coz we didn't plan to have the KidZania party until later. Adoii la Khaleeq. Comel betul.

We had a quiet dinner last night with just the family unit and my sweetheart of a husband ran to tapau the usual suspects from Chili's to add on to our berbuka menu. He even managed to get Khaleeq the Baskin Robbin's ice cream cake for moreh later. Yeay, husband! Suffice to say little man is mighty pleased with his day, he even have another City package yet to be opened as at late last night. That'll keep him happy throughout the week, me thinketh.

After the kids went to bed, me and the husband had a little rendezvous with my sisters at Pelita SS2 for some Maggi goreng tak nak sayur telur goyang. A little sahur get together of sorts to mark my man's birthday. No definitive plans for today as yet. But we do have Jamoca Almond Fudge ice cream cake in the fridge along with 3 big candles and 5 small candles with Azrul's name all over it. We'll see la. Must be the age catching up. Hahaha.

Happy birthday dearests. You know that I love you and you.

-dillz blogging out-

And he's off

Just got back from sending Inche @azrulx at the airport with the kids. Thing is with the family unit, I have always been the organizer for our travels. One that thinks about checking in, visas, getting the meds stocked up and most importantly pack. Have you tried packing up a family of 5 into 2 (sometimes 3) suitcases? It does get a little complicated and you need to start doing it days in advance just in case you forgot something, you know. Even then, almost always I end up still packing til 5am on the day of our travels. Tak boleh nak buat apa la. I'm the Queen Procrastinator if you don't already know.

Letting him go on his own, well that's not entirely new. He has been away on business trips and several golf and F1 trips on his own before. But, going to the Holy Land. Ada sifat-sifat jeles sedikit di situ on my part. Thing is we have been talking about it for a while now. Been wanting to go, the two of us. Turns out the rezeki and opportunity came for him unexpectedly. By chance, no, by the gracious invitation of Allah swt. Logically it was a little sudden, he didn't go to any umrah kursus what so ever, the timing was for a week and he missed fasting in the month of Ramadhan just by a day. There were times when he was rethinking and questioning on the possible journey pun. But in the end, I'm so glad he took the step to accept the invite and went ahead with the travel plans.

As for his preps, everything came together quite nicely. He's been speaking to a few friends who've been and done the Umrah. I've supplied various books for him to speed read on his flight. ;) Yes, I already have a few. Last night, my dad gave him a crash course too - complete with another demonstration on how to wear the ihram. (Yes, he is too sweet) He is packing really light - a first for any of us. Hahahahaha. And last night I prepared his short solat recap points and the doa book. Ewa and Ema managed to squeeze theirs in as well. I have reminded him to translate the SMS and pesanan from friends into the book as well. I also took some extracts from the Travelog Haji and customized it for him. Sebak juga dada when I was preparing the doa for our family.

I shall miss him. We shall miss him. Khaleeq is already getting a fever. Hopefully not from missing his buddy boo. It's OK though. I know we will be OK. I also pray that we get to do this as a family unit next year. Insya Allah kalau ada rezeki.

Ya Allah, kau permudahkan segala urusan umrah Mohd Azrul bin Ahmad. Lindungilah beliau sentiasa dalam perliharaanmu. Amin ya rabbal aalamin.

-dillz blogging out-

Yang paling paling paling istimewa

How fast time flies. Sedar tak sedar it's already July the 13th. We have passed the half year mark about 2 weeks now and what do we really have to show for it?

As usual, my postings have been tardy and far in between. I really have no excuse for it. Just been caught up in life I guess. A lot has happened since my last entry. Even then I really wanted to write a lot more on life in general.

We've been pretty light on the feet this year - been quite to a number of places. Some for the first time,some a revisit but with a different experience altogether. In fact my husband would be embarking on his journey to the Holy Land tomorrow morning. Insya Allah. I wish him well on his journey, semoga mendapar Umrah yang mabrur Insya Allah.

Belum rezeki lagi for me to follow this time around. A little tied in the cuti department. I have essentially used / booked up all my entitlement this year. So hopefully tahun depan dapat lah saya jejak Tanah Haram untuk menunaikan ibadah, Insya Allah.

In any case, I've been reading up on "Travelog Haji" by Muhd Kamil Ibrahim. Came highly recommended by my girlfriends. I'm very moved by the doa he has at the end of the book. It's entitled Memohon Keistimewaan.

Ya Allah, kami mohon keampunanmu ya Allah. Kami mohon kerahmatanmu ya Allah. Kami mohon taufik dan hidayahmu, ya Allah. Ya Allah, aku telah dijemput olehmu untuk menunaikan ibadat umrah / haji pada (hujung tahun) ini. Aku bersyukur di atas segala nikmat yang telah Engkau berikan kepada kami sekeluarga.

Ya Allah, terimalah aku sebagai tetamumu Ya Allah. Tetamu yang paling istimewa, ya Allah. Tetamu yang paling paling istimewa. Tetamu yang paling paling paling istimewa, ya Allah. Ya Allah, jangan Kau bezakan aku dengan mereka yang lain. Aku tahu Engkaulah yang berkuasa memberi keistimewaan kepada sesiapa yang Engkau mahu berikan. Ya Allah, ampunilah diriku, ya Allah.

If you want it. Then ask for it. Insya Allah dipermudahkan dan dimakbulkan. Got to sign off now. I'd like to finish up my doa for Azrul to read at he Holy Land.

-dillz blogging out-