Monday, June 15, 2009

Feeling good... praises to the Almighty

Just when I was beginning to feel a little bit down in the dumps, the Almighty knew best to brighten up my day by presenting me with joy upon joy.
Firstly, He granted us some sunshine. So warm and sunny it was that I happily hung our laundry out to dry under the sun and we spent time pulling out the weeds in the garden. I am, however, more wary of staying out when it's warm, i.e: high pollen content in the air. I must remember the consequences of exposure to pollen - horrible skin rash!

The great weather invited us to our second joy which was strawberry picking with some friends, followed by a picnic at our favourite park: Coombe Abbey (definitely where memories were made with the beloved and some precious friends, namely Mamasarah and Halwafy).
We are now going to have a strawberry feast this week, bagging home approximately 4kgs yesterday. After giving away a bucket to a neighbour, I joked that we'd be having ayam masak strawberry (chicken strawberry stew), sambal strawberry (strawberry chillies or chutney) and gulai strawberry (strawberry stew) the whole week! Chuckle!! Of course, it is in actual fact going to be more of: strawberry slush, strawberry shake, strawberry dipped in chocolate, strawberry tartlets, strawberry jam, strawberry shortcakes and strawberry tortes! Yum yum!




One thing about strawberries is that they don't always taste exactly the same. A piece may be sourish, while another may be lushiously sweet. Another attempt might prove in between while the next one seduces you even more! Little D announced yesterday that strawberries were his favourite fruit, but when I asked him how it fared compared to durians, he paused and said, "Well, durians are my favourite in Malaysia but over here, my favourite fruit is strawberry!"


Arriving home at 7.30pm, which is still early as the sun only sets two hours later, we were all knackered - ready for bed. We each showered, performed our solah and had a light dinner of left-over pasta from the afternoon. I was ready to hit the sack when the twins reminded me that they had to read their Qurans. Oh dear... I obliged seeing that Abang was excited as he was already in his final chapter of the Quran. Alhamdulillah, he has finally completed his reading of the Quran.
Unexpectedly, I was filled with a feeling of euphoria - undescribable and unexplainable. I didn't expect to be so overwhelmed over my boy's achievement but it just happened. I wanted to shout to the world - to close family members and friends, but I realised that there wasn't anyone around. People back home were still asleep at 10.30pm GMT (5.30am Malaysian time). I didn't want to scare my dad or sister, by calling them up too early; neither did I want to disturb friends with an unexpected beep on their mobiles while they were still in slumber. I thought of my friends in the UK, but quickly erased my text when I realised that I must sound like a crazy OTT mom, excited over nothing! After all, other people had their children complete the quran at a tender age of 7 or 8. And here I am, dubiously elated over her first-born completing it at the age of 11+. Big deal!
However, let me share why such feelings seeped through me. Even though the children go to the mosque to read their quran, they have completed their readings this time under my supervision - 100%. We started the journey at the beginning of 2008, and the journey has been beautiful. In my honest opinion, it didn't drag too long and the children were already familiar with the quran due to their previous experiences. My tajweed is not perfecto (and I'm dying to learn more!) but I have had my fair share of Quran and tajweed classes during school days (including those sleepy afternoon lessons during Forms 1 and 2 with 'ol Ustaz Dahalan) and also post-school days. The children are continuously asking about what a symbol means, and how the readings of certain areas should be - prompting me to search for an answer myself when things became vague.
We also shared stories of the different surahs and the significance of some stories. I attempted to introduce them to some arabic words and understand the structure of the language itself so that they would know where to pause, etc. I saw the twinkle in their eyes when they triumphantly recognised words and their meanings, or even names of prophets or even names of some friends or relatives! The repetition of certain phrases, such as in Surah Ar-rahman illustrated how beautiful the language of the Quran is, especially when they rhymed. Short and common du'as were marked for us to return to and memorise. It has certainly been education for us all!
In short, I retired last night with praises to the Almighty, for showering me with goodness and well-being. Upon reflection, His rezq certainly comes in various forms and shapes, and the best of them all is the gift of my Fantastic Four! May Allah bless us all always...
p/s: The house is also now more complete with the arrival of two wardrobes to hang our clothes up! No more living from a suitcase for us!!

21 comments:

Kak Teh said...

D, yes the sun is back and so is my hayfever. But I went to a friend's house yesterday and she had the most delicous strawberries with cream, lots of cream!!I can still taste them now and must remember to get some today woth lots of double cream, of course.

Kak Elle said...

nak strawberry sikit and alhamdulillah if the Almighty showered you wth his blessing:)

Ryehanna said...

1) Waaa...4 kg strawberi?? Bestnye!! huhu

2) Alhamdulillah. Tumpang gembira juga. :)

Mulan said...

waahh.. syok nya..!! 4kgs strawberry gitu..! kot dekat, boleh pos sikit kan..

Naz in Norway said...

Congratulations to your Abang. Of course you have every right to be proud of your boy. You can text me anytime :D
I once ate so much strawberries that I began to hallucinate...haha! It was quite hilarious.
Here strawberry picking starts in early August. So you guys are lucky to already get to harvest so early!

silversarina said...

4kgs of strawberries.... bestnya , boleh buat gulai lemak strawberry dan teh strawberry :)

Alhamdulillah anak2 D pintar dan itu adalah kurniaan Ilahi yang tak ternilai.

Take care dear!!


( btw, thanks for the book and souvenir yang D berikan melalui maklang, baru dapat bulan lepas . )

rad said...

d,
Alhamdulillah & congrats to abang2 (both kan?) & you too. Im glad to share their proud moment hehehehe...

D said...

Kak Teh,
Hope you'll recover from hayfever soon. It's a REAL test, eh? :) Yes, we're also having the strawberries with cream! Slurpp..

kak Elle,
If only I could share the strawberries with you in Spore! hehe. Next best thing is to have you over here and kita gi picking sama-sama!

Ryehanna,
Tulah, 4kg banyak kan? Dah berlima mengutip, mestilah banyak! Tu tak kira berapa kg yang kitorang dah makan! LOL!

Mulan,
Hehe... jauuuuuuuhlah sis! Jam je boleh kot? ;)

Naz,
hmmm... gotta get your mobile no off you after this! LOL. Yes, usually strawberries are around July over here but I guess some start early? The ones in my patch aren't ready to be harvested yet!

Kak Rina,
Sorry kiriman sampai lewat! Alhamdulillah, kita bersyukur dengan kurniaanNya...

Rad,
Actually when I wrote this, only my eldest Abang khatam. But yesterday evening, the other one pun selesai - Alhamdulillah. Thanks!

Nadia said...

love this k d.....

my journey with the quran with alhuda has also been very educational..i think you would love it...get into root words, the different branches of words from those root words, the deeper meaning of a word (like yash'oroon, which is merely translated as perceived, but when delved into..is very beautiful)...
my kids also tak khatam quran lagi k d...:D my oldest is almost 12 and tak khatam lagi..but it's ok..my focus is not on khatam...bec some ppl khatam and then never open the quran again...nauzubillah.

i hv them read one page each and i read the english meaning for thwt they hv read...try dulu buat more than one page tp with 3 kids...ahhh tak larattt......by then end of it my patience is usually gone..so i limit to one page..but often (skang ni tgh nak reclaim balik consistency)...the hadith that says..allah loves that which is done constantly even if it be a little..that is my motivation :) bec i really tried to do a lot and then I'm burned out...with homeschooling byk cantu..so i hv learned to curb my ambitions LOL....less stress (theorywise) lol

Ms B said...

wanted to text you last night but i was still at the office. i think it was a sweet journey for them as they had you along.

ala, KT still looks bad. she can only survive in sterile environment, so we need to meet her in operating room/theatre. apparently it's a natural cure for her hayfever.

ps: sambal strawberry? sedap tak? *grins*

mrswongjowo said...

1)Bestnya lot of strawberries..last Friday we went to Cameron Highland to buy fresh strawberries...can you believe it? fresh strawberries susah nak dapat due to school holiday? Lucky you kat sana can enjoy them...
2)The joy of being a mother! Your kids khatam the Quran..the major exam results, the day you sent them to boarding school...the first driving lesson...there will be lots more or 'the first'...ALhamdulillah I am proud to be a 'mama'!

maklang said...

Nak jugak strawberry tu cikit...

Alhamdulillah you are well showered with happiness...

Take care!:)

Ummi to Hamzah said...

waaahh sedapnye 4kg strawberries!i loved the fun moments to strawberry picking especially peeking over its leaves in search for the sweet hidden one's.kak D please do share ur recipes to the desserts u mention u plan on preparing with strawberries in this entry.tq!

n.i. said...

best nye strawberry picking... the kids enjoyed picking them during our last trip to Bandung :-)

i really do respect you for having doing all those things with the kiddos...

Anonymous said...

Sis,

Lama tak jenguk blog akak.

Tahniah atas 'buah' kejayaan anak2 atas usaha gigih akak. Moga anak2 membesar sebagai muslim sejati.

p/s: buah strawberi tu buat saya terliur nak makan. Haha! Kampung saya di Kundasang, Sabah pun ada strawberi tapi byk yg masam dari yg manis ..

take care ya!

Anonymous said...

sis, lupa nak letak nama - Dyg

Basyiraa Zahra said...

Semoga puan dan anak2 sentiasa dalam rahmat Allah. Gembira selalu.

jooli said...

Assalamualaikum,
I 'attack' strawberries with trepidation: selalu masam. But AHS (and I got invited as well) was given father's day's treat last weekend & huge s'berries were generously served (+ milk, cream, ice cream). I really attacked them.
Spring or summer yet over there?

lilinbiru said...

alhamdulillah.

Dilip Mutum said...

Congrats to your son. It's a big achievement - something I have yet to achieve.

BTW, where did you go for the strawberry picking.

ida said...

Salam Ukhuwah..

it was a very gud achievement...congrats!!.
...ur experience is sooo useful to people like me.. (still struggling to be a good parent)