twins' first school picnic and my ferrero rocher shake

the twins went on their first school picnic/outing yesterday, and they had a ball, alhumdolillah. they were excited and looking forward to it for days, and they were up instantly yesterday morning, all ready to go (if only they would wake up like that everyday). it was their first time to be out without us for most of the day, but i am sure they hardly noticed. m said he had a great 'adventure' :) may they continue to find adventure in all of life's moments. 

a left his water bottle somewhere, and he came and told me that 'please pray i get it back'. i love the fact that he thought of prayer. i encourage them to give thanks for their day before they sleep.. i will try tweaking this now by getting them to find one specific thing they are thankful for each night..

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their day-long outing meant that i was able to have a leisurely and scrumptious lunch (the highlight being a super rich ferrero rocher shake- i am still drooling!) with two lovely friends; alhumdolillah! it was a lovely time, and will most likely be my highlight of the month :)

goodbye, vitamin

i finished reading rachel khong's goodbye, vitamin. it was nice, a light, short read. the writing style was very stream-of-consciousness, which was a refreshing difference from the usual beginning-middle-end novels. also, i was particularly heartened to read about a 30-something character who is as clueless as a 20-something. she does not have a marriage, home, career and two kids. as someone who is forever bemused that i am no longer 23, and constantly wondering what i have accomplished in my twenties and thirties, it was nice to read about someone smart and good, but who doesn't have life all figured out and wrapped up in shiny paper.

twins catch up

i am not sure when this happened exactly, but the twins are little people now, with distinct personalities. a few months ago, m told me he did not want to dress like a anymore. i was heartbroken. together with the emergence of distinct personalities comes severe sibling rivalry. one twin is clearly more dominating and assertive, which works in his favour. as a parent, i am left reeling, wondering how to protect and empower the more passive sibling. oh, the curve keeps getting steeper!

i am very thankful that i separated them in school this year; i can see so much improvement in a. according to m's teacher, his academic development is progressing in proportion to his mischief! 

they started madressah this year, and they seem to be enjoying it and doing well. when i went to pick them up on their first day, their teacher said their english was excellent; still not sure if that was a compliment or not! now of course they speak in ld there. they have many friends in the masjid now, which makes going there a little daunting for me! until last ramadan, people were still telling me how good and quiet the twins were at the masjid.. unfortunately, all good things come to an end. now, everyone is surprised at how much masti (mischief) they get up to, sigh. 

their hifz (memorizing the quran) progress is also outstanding, mashallah. 

overall, they are healthy, happy and energetic boys. i wish for quiet at times, and wonder at their selective hearing, but otherwise, alhumdolillah. my next target: making them eat on their own, inshallah!

time in!

several months ago, i was shocked that i hadn't blogged in over a year! i went through all my posts on the twins, and i was so happy that i had some record of their growing up and my parenting journey. i immediately resolved to start posting again, so that i could read and reminisce as they grew older. 

and of course, months passed and i still didn't get around to blogging.

today is a new day however, and hopefully, i will be able to periodically keep up with the posts. there are so many things i want to say, to record, so that i can look them up later, so that the twins will have some notion of their early years.

i am currently reading goodbye, vitamin, which includes diary remnants a dad kept of his daughter growing up, which he shares with her when she is an adult:

Today, while I was trying to teach you to swim, you asked how deep the pool was. When I said four feet, you looked incredulous, and said, Whose feet!

...We'd asked you to be polite, so you said, "No more please, it's horrible thank you."

i want to be able to do that too. (i hope this blog is still around at that time!!) the things the twins say are simply marvelous, and i wish i could record all of them!  

apocalyse and station eleven

station eleven by hilary st john mandel was a very interesting read. mandel's writing is lovely, and i am definitely going to check out more of her books (so glad she has written several other novels!). i haven't read sci-fi and end-of-the-world books since i was a teenager, and station eleven was a good post apocalypse novel in the sense that it didn't focus much on sci-fi elements. having said that, i would have been interested in the book exploring further how the world went from here to there in such a short time. however, the book focuses more on individual characters, most of whom were quite engaging.

i am always struck by how fast technology is evolving, and the book underlined that as well. i have only owned a smartphone for the past six years, and yet, now it seems well nigh impossible to function without one. i went through school, university and a good part of my working life without smartphones, without whatsapp, facebook, google and wikipedia. my kids on the other hand, have yet to hold a camera in their hands; the phone is their camera, encyclopedia, radio and communication device all in one.

some days ago, feeling nostalgic, i took out my uni photo album and was looking through the pictures. i had to laugh at how itchy my fingers were to 'enlarge' everyone's faces :P