Happy Birthday Fatin

Happy Birthday to my not so little niece Fatin who turns 12 today!

Ballet Concert

Here are the photos from Iman's ballet school concert. We managed the above photo before too many people arrived.  
 

I am not too good with Iman's hair and with Sitty sick that day I managed a bun which fell apart just before the show started. Luckily we were seated behind Santhi who had all the accessories and she kindly made Iman up quickly.

 

Pilgrimage

Aplogies for not posting for a week but Ayden has not been very well and to be honest I have just been exhausted by the end of the day. We did have Iman's ballet school concert in the weekend and I yet have to post the pictures - Suisse Maman, I need your technical expertise!

Today was a big day for the Taib family with my parents and my nephew Amin leaving for the pilgrimage to Mecca. Amin looked very smart in matching outfits with my Dad. It's a big trip for him being his first Hajj. Aside from the religious experience it will also be the experience of being amongst 2 million other pilgrims from all over the world and all walks of life. My parents are familiar with both Mecca and Medina having performed the Umrah on several ocassions but this will only be their second Hajj. Insyaallah they will all perform the Hajj comfortably and trouble-free.

Both Mecca and Meddina are now fairly modern cities. I think both have Starbucks. Amin is looking forward to having Movenpick icecream in Mecca. I also gather that shopping is fantastic and can rival most western cities. I think they now have a Next and a Debenhams! I am fortunate to have gone on Umrah on 3 ocassions. On my last trip in 1999 I enjoyed shopping at the traditional Arab markets - not that shopping is a priority when visiting a holy city. But with so many shops around what can you do! Our hotel overlooked the Holy Mosque. I had a view of the Holy Kaabah and I was fascinated that that the city never slept with people contantly streaming in and out of the mosque. I managed to take some pictures of the mosque - will have a root around for them.

Ayden having a hug from my Dad at the airport waiting room. (Note the location - we do not have that lovely wallpaper in our house). They will be away for a whole month and will be missed by all the grandchildren especially by Ayden and Jack.

Making a trip to Mecca, especially the Hajj has always been an emotional one for our family. Pictured below is my paternal Grandfather, Dato Haji Mohamed Taib who made his pilgrimage around this time 33 years ago. Tragically for us he had an illness and very sadly passed away in the holy city and was buried there.

Afternoon Outing

We live so far out of town that I don't normally go out after four in the afternoon as not to interupt dinner and our evening routine. But this afternoon I had the office opening of prestigious law firm Cheok Sankaran Halim to attend. Their new premises was ideal for the event with the reception held in the foyer of the building. They had the JIS orchestra for entertainment and Sheraton catering with very yummy eclairs. What struck me about the afternoon was how very refreshing to go to such an event and not to have the presence of the Brunei paparazzi. They even had a proper photographer just like pre-blogger days!

The picture above is Hanna with our friends Shanti and Pat. I am not putting this note anywhere near it because on this short post I have managed to delete the picture four times so it is staying where it is. Guess serves me right for showing off to Shanti how simple and easy this is!

Happy Birthday Liz

Birthday wishes to Grannie Liz McCarthy celebrating her birthday today. We hope you have a lovely day.

Barney's Out

At bedtime this evening Iman announced that she doesn't like Barney anymore because it's for babies. And she also said that Hanny Manny doesn't really fix things and is just a moaner! I don't really know what the Hanny Manny thing is about but Barney!!! I guess what do I expect she has been watching Barney for over three years. We know all the songs (well Donncha and I think we do - pizza...pizza...everybody loves pizza....- we get it wrong all the time).

Iman now prefers to watch Higgleytown Heroes, Little Einsteins and whatever else appears on Nick Jr and PlayhouseDisney. She also said that she likes "High School Musical" a bit! I guess this is when the real fun starts.

At least Ayden and Jack are a few years away from moving on to more educational shows like Spongebob and PowerRangers. So in the meantime we will still enjoy the favorites Barney, Dora, Thomas, Noddy. And even that we will probably never get the words to those songs!

Bond Between Brothers

It's not always hugs and kisses between Jack and Ayden so it was a surprise when I took the camera out to take some pics of the two playing together when Jack gave Ayden a big kiss. Poor Ayden is often pushed and pinced by his "big brother" but it won't be too long before Ayden uses his weight to his advantage. And even more bad news for Iman and Jack, Ayden's front teeth appeared a few days ago and already he has been keen to try them out!

Think It's All Over

It has been exactly two weeks since Jack had his last feed from me. After four years and ten months of breastfeeding I think I can finally conclude that this chapter of motherhood in my life is over.

I am very proud to say that I successfully breastfed all three children. Iman and Jack were breastfed during my last two pregnancies and subsequently all three children were breastfed together; Iman with Jack and then Jack with Ayden. Iman and Jack loved feeding together often holding hands even when Jack was very young but Ayden did not enjoy feeding with Jack and usually took the opportunity to have a swipe at Jack so I did not prolong tandem feeding the two boys.

Iman was a keen feeder - she did not have any solids until 8 months - and eventually weaned at 2 years 11 months. Ayden weaned himself at 11 months preferring the bottle. And as for Jack he would still be on my breast today if I had encouraged it.

I loved feeding the babies. There was the parctical side of not having to wash and stearilise bottles especially in the first few months but there was also the satisfaction of nourishing them from your own body. But saying all that I can't say that I will miss it. I enjoyed it but am also relieved that I've done my part and its over. It's now great to reach for a diet coke or coffee and not be racked with guilt. Plus it's nice to elbow Donncha at night when he's around and get him to make a bottle - he's had it easy for too long !

Chef for Hire

Maria really enjoys cook books and as she mentioned before, sometimes we even get a meal or two cooked from our library (it's getting that big !). Our next door neighbor, a published chef in her own right has finally got around to starting her own blog to share recipes for her adoring public. I will be taking bets on how long it will take her to publish her second recipe. Please click on the link to the right to access Jasmine's blog

Ayden's Moving

In the past few days Ayden has started taking more than a few steps at a time and making real attempts at walking. It's wondeful to watch him get excited with what he can do. Of course with walking his curiousty is extended to a new level and our Ayden loves to explore. When he first started to crawl he discovered his sock drawer and would constantly pull out his socks and throw them on the floor or the drawer next to it. Our Sitty initially took time to match the socks again but after a few weeks even she saw that there was no point.


And here he is attacking the keyboard which is a must when he comes into the study.

My Surprises

Donncha when he get's a chance on his trips will always bring back small surprises for Iman and Jack. Jack is now starting to say "Where surprise?". And of course Iman is our Queen of Surprises. Poor Ayden is left out for now but he will catch on to it soon.

Unfortunately on his last trip to London poor Donncha did not have much time to shop and did not get the kids anything except for some white M&S school socks for Iman. She had such a long face! - (But Donncha you will be happy to know that every morning since she has started wearing them she has said how much she loves her new socks!)

Not usually the norm I was the one to be most surprised from the London trip with three new cookery books. I love my cookery books. I'm not the world's best cook and I don't cook everyday but I do cook - maybe not much from the books themselves but I do refer to them. Though I have been reminded that the Lebanese book is not a coffee table book. Donncha's home tomorrow and staying put for the rest of the week so I guess one evening will be Lebanese - will be posting pics.

The Power of a Munster Shirt

All good plans come to nothing when you set out to arrive in a country for meetings immediately after landing but are transferring in Mumbai and travelling Air Mauritius. So, Sunday evening and night was spent sitting in Mumbai airport while a late plane and complete power failures in the airport combined to leave me landing in Mauritius 7 hours later than expected.

So straight to the bank and directly into a meeting with the GM and senior chaps convincing them that the unshaven chap, in jeans and a rugby top could be trusted and they should agree to work with us.

A first for me then - I was able to shower in the bank before presenting to their wider management team - I was probably beginning to show signs of wear at that stage....

As for my continuing review of the underbelly of the world's hotel offerings..... I'm glad I'm not spending a lot of money to come to stay in this resort - you know the type... all the boxes are ticked but yet, the place has no athmosphere. As usual with the resorts outside of Asia, the cover band was terrible..... if I hear 'Leaving on a Jet Plane' once more.......

Football Funday

Donncha and I went to a friends' house for dinner Saturday night. We only met this couple recently and really enjoy their company and conversation. Too much cos we did not get home till very late. I'm not used to staying out late anymore and felt terrible on Sunday morning. And it wasn't like we could take it easy. Donncha had to pack for his brief trip to Mauritius and we had promised Iman that we would take her to the JIS Football Funday especially as her cousins Hazim and Hariz were participating.

Unfortunately we were late and missed Haris in action and by the time we got there I had to drop off Donncha to the airport leaving Iman and Jack at JIS. I had all intentions of picking up the kids and heading home immediately but in reality I never get my way anymore. They wanted to play, eat ice cream, face painting, henna, watch more football - the lot really. Jack was not keen on the face painting at all - there was one guy there who was really good and I wanted Jack to have a tiger or monster done but he wasn't interested. Iman wasn't keen either and settled for hairbraiding and henna on her hand which turned out quite well on her.

Trick Or Treat!

We had our first ever Trick Or Treat in the compound yesterday. Obviously Halloween is not celebrated in Brunei but it is now thanks to our friends Dora The Explorer, Higgleytown Heroes and many more. But no complaints, it's fun to dress up the kids and they love being in "scary" costumes.

Iman wore a pirates' dress that Donncha brought back from Ireland and Hanna bought her the eye mask. Jack chose not to dress up for the occasion saying that his costume was ida bagus meaning not good.

He would have looked great in his Count Dracula outfit but we shall have to wait another year to see him (or Ayden) wearing it.

The kids made their way up to my parents house for their treats. Zahra made a great witch especially with the purple handbag. Ika looked the part all in white as a pontianak and Fatin was simply Fatin - wacky!