Happy Birthday Thuthi

Meet my younger sister Aminath Shifa and today is her birthday!

Happy birthday dear! May you always be happy. Maly made a card in the afternoon! She wants it to be perfect and is still working on it! So, I'll upload the card later. Yes, she couldn't finish it, so that's why she did give it to you today. 

Mom made kulhimas especially for you because it's your birthday. Yes, we all love you a lot and especially the rascals!

While you are in your fabulous twenties, it's amazing how Beebi is still stuck in his sweet sixteen! Isn't it??

Once again, wish you a very happy birthday and wish you good health, wealth and prosperity in your life. May you always smile and spread your infectious laughter wherever you go, brightening everyone's day and simply spreading the magical aura of happiness that you carry with you. 

It's amazing how time flies...isn't it? I remember the day mom brought you home from the hospital. You were just a tiny little bundle all red and whined all the time. I used to bawl like crazy if someone even touched you! I was such a proud big sister! And you know what! You were my first student! Remember how I used to teach you at home. I made a register and star chart like the ones my teachers had displayed in class and taught you so many things. I even remember singing song to teach you the directions! You probably wouldn't remember it because you were in preschool back than. 

Anyway, lets not go there shall we because I feel like a million year old mummy all of a sudden! I mean like the mummified mummies from the ancient times!

And this is from Mummu, "Iththi dhaa dhey thoooooo you!"
(Translation: Happy birthday to you)

#2 - #7 Because I've been very busy!

Firstly, sorry that I've been away for a while! I've been busy at home and at work and couldn't spare time for my blog but I am going to finish the blog challenge today with one long post! So get ready! 

#2 FIRST HOME-MADE MEAL 

We got married and rented a room from Hulhumale' and lived there for a month and then we moved back to Male'. Our first home-made meal was breakfast together after we moved. The roshi (thin round bread) and mashuni was really good and I was so worried that it would turn into a disaster because, honestly..I really didn't know how to cook. Of course I knew how to cook noodles and boil an egg! Apparently it was not enough! Well, that's what I thought until that very morning. 

I think my husband knew that it was my first time preparing dough to make roshi and you won't believe what he did. He woke up early and was standing next to me in the kitchen. Once I strained the flour, he took the bowl from me and poured oil, salt, hot water and kneaded it! Really!! He rolled out the first few roshis and then I took over and he was there helping me to chop onions and helping me out when I made mashuni even. Eventually, I realized that cooking was no big deal, you just toss everything in it was not such a complicated thing after all. 

We had breakfast together and we've had breakfast with each other and even with our kids several times in the past few years, but I don't think that both my husband and I would ever forget the first time we prepared breakfast together!

#3 FAVOURITE PRESENT

I received so many presents from him that it's hard to keep track of everything. Many nights he would pick me up from work and then just I reach him, he would present me a rose! He's is the sweetest of all! Back then I used to work in Ghiyasuddin School and since I worked in the afternoon session, I finished work at about 8 at night most nights. We used to have dinner together and then go for a ride. So before marriage I got many presents from him and I treasured them all. 

Let me tell you about a present that I recieved from my better half that I would never ever trade and would hold on till my last breath. It was in the year 2007 just a few months after my daughter was born. We rented a room because we couldn't afford a proper apartment back then because I was on study leave and I only got Rf 2999 monthly. My husband earned around nine thousand and we had to pay a huge amount for the plot of land that we bought monthly, plus for the room and my husband was studying. Oh and don't forget our little baby. So money was limited and we just barely managed. 

Yeah, we couldn't give each other than many presents like we use to but those notes I find in the toilet mirror and text messages I received were enough to make me happy. Besides, we bought the best of everything we could afford for our daughter so that was the most important thing for us so we were both happy with what we had. My parents helped us so much that we would never be able to repay them.

We went to the artificial beach and took several photos and headed home. We just wanted to walk because it was such a beautiful afternoon. On our way, we saw this shop were jewellery and other accessories were sold. We went in and looked head bands and little bangles for a our daughter. My husbands knows that I love bracelets, especially the ones with sparkling rhinestones. There was this lovely silver bracelet with a single flower in the middle. The flower was made of rhinestones and it was just lovely but I knew we couldn't afford it. However, I think he saw me touching it and even after putting it back, I kept on looking at it. 

We took some items for our daughter and I went to the counter to pay for them. And then my husband asked to wait and went back. Yes, he came back with the bracelet that I liked so much. Of course, I told him that I really didn't need it but he just looked into my eyes and said that he wanted me to have it. My heart over flowed with love and happiness and I couldn't say a word because if I did, I couldn't have controlled the happy tears that I was trying to hide from the shop assistant. 

Its not even real silver but it's the most expensive piece of jewellery that I have because it was given to me at a time that we couldn't really afford it. I love so so very much darling.

#4 THE ONE 

As I've mentioned before, I was teaching in Ghiyasuddin School when I met my husband. He used to come and help me to display my students work after the session too. He would pick me up after work and drop off at home every night.

One night, all teachers and other staff waited to decorate the school for the school anniversary. We were all busy and the decoration was almost done by midnight. I told my husband (back then my boyfriend) to sleep and that I would go home with my friends. It started raining heavily and there was no way I could go home. 

Just then, my husband called me and I was thrilled that he was checking on me. I was in for a real surprise when I answered the phone. He was waiting outside the school with an umbrella. Yes, he came to take me home because he was worried that I might not be able to get a taxi and go home since it was so late. 

I ran out to meet him and he crossed the road to meet me. I was a bit drenched but grinning from ear to ear because that was the exact moment when I knew that he was THE ONE. You see, he came to pick me up in the middle of the night because he cared about me and I knew that he would always look after me and never abandon me. 

#5 OUR SONG 

When we dated, we used to chat a lot on MSN. We also met from a website called friends forever...I think! He used to listen to "When I dream at night" quite often. We listened to this song together too. When Dhiraagu introduced dedicating song service, my husband used this service and dedicated this song for me. 

What you have to do to dedicate a song using Dhiraagu and dial a number, if you want record your message and choose a song from the available list and enter the precipitants number! Even though I've listened to Mark Anthony's When I dream at a night a million times, when I answer the call and get the message that Ahmed Shaz has dedicated this song for me, it's like I'm listening to this song for the first time!

#6 MEETING MY FAMILY 

Nope, I never worried about my family not liking him because I knew that they would love him. Yes they did and even my parents approved. You see, he is very clean and near all the time. He always looks as if he just walked out of the shower and got dressed! He is tall and so darn handsome plus, he is soft spoken and awfully nice to everyone. So how could anyone ever hate him! 

#7 A DATE WITH AHMED SHAZ 

Yes, we still go out on dates even though this is the ninth year that we've been married and tenth year together! And the best part is, nothing much has changed about our dates! We usually go to Dine More because we love submarine sandwiches. Some times, we go for a long ride and buy some peanuts and a coke bottle and sit near Dharubaaruge, jetty or the beach and share our bottle of coke and eat peanuts. He may be soft spoken but I love his sense of humour and every minute with him would be fun. Yes, together we have so much fun and I'm never bored when I'm with him. I eagerly look forward to go out with him because we get to go out by ourselves once in a blue moon nowadays! YES!!! KIDS!!! But the time we spend with our children is priceless and we are so happy to spend time with them. Any way, when they grow up, we can start going out again and I'm sure it's just going to be great! What we eat or where we go really doesn't matter as long as we are together, that's all that matters. 

AND A VERY HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO MY DARLING HUSBAND! 

Yes, today is his special day! Oh yes! I will tell you all about his birthday celebrations soon!

#1 First Picture

March 2005

Aw! Look at us! So young! Sigh!

Okay! Snap out of it! We  are not that old!

And the important thing is, it feels like we've just gotten married last year and we are about to celebrate our first anniversary!

Drum roll....

Reality throws us back a hundred feet when we see our daughter  jumping on the sofa and our son chasing his own shadow and bumping his head on dangerous corners!

Meh!....Life!!!

But we are so glad that we've made it so far. We've been together since 2004 and this is our the tenth year together. We got hitched on 2005.

This photo was taken in 2005. For my husband's birthday I wanted to gift him a photo of us in a fancy frame and of course a very romantic poem was written by me as well. I didn't want to tell him why I wanted to take this picture and I told him that I just wanted a picture of us together. Oh yeah, I gave myself away when I smiled when he  looked at me. He chose to hide the fact that he knew I was up to something and played dumb! I love you so much. 

Now when I look back, I remember missing him so much when I was at work, texting him every morning and every night! Those were the good old days! We were so smitten that we got married after one year of dating. I still do miss him when we are at work and now we don't have to send text messages at night! Instead we spend some time before we sleep catching up on each other's day and simply talking before we sleep. Yeah, we are happy just like we were in those days...it's actually happier now that we've been together  for so long and created a family together. 

So I believe you'd want to know what happened to the birthday gift...right! Well, I've put it in  box and hidden it because I don't want it to break! When my youngest turns 15 perhaps, all the photo frames would be dug out from it's hiding places and displayed like they used to be! 

Before We Wed - 7 Day Blogging Challenge

So I'm going to try this and I invite all my bloggy friends to try this as well.There is no better way to dig up the treasure chest of sweet memories! Well it's there and I can tell you it's over loaded and six men had to sit on it to properly close it. From the day I knew that my darling shared the same earth as I do to today has been a great journey and this treasure chest is brimming with so many years of cherished memories. With hectic schedules and kids, we don't go there as often as we should! I may not blog everyday but I'll try the seven tasks for sure! So visit my blog for updates and I'm starting on task number one people!

I came across this from: http://vanillahousewife.com/before-we-got-hitched/

Missus V came across this from: http://chasingadaredevilandtwins.com/2014/03/04/before-we-wed-7-day-blogging-challenge/comment-page-1/#comment-999

Thank you Kayla for the great idea!

Chiffon Cake

Have you ever tasted chiffon cake? I have and it is really delicious. If you have not, you should seriously try Saushan's chiffon...they are just out of this world. It's very soft and once you take a bit, you'd feel like the heavenly piece is melting in your mouth. Of course, you'd want more and more!

For my son's first birthday, I asked Saushan to bake a chiffon cake and decorate it with icing. I even sent her a sample picture and she said the cake would be ready. However, it didn't turn out so nicely after all. What actually happened was that Saushan made Pocoyo like shown in the picture but it was a bit bigger and it was too heavy for the chiffon cake. As a result, Pocoyo sank into the cake and there were cracks all around it. Yup, by the time we reached the studio to take birthday photos, it was about to collapse! But still we decided to fix it a little bit and take pictures.

So we took pictures of the cake first. As the photographer was about to click his camera, Pocoyo' arm fell off. So he bent down and tried to insert the arm into its place. Meanwhile, my husband and I were combing Mummu's hair and getting ready for the photo shoot etc...you know...the usual last minute checks! 

The photographer took several pictures of the cake from different angles and said, "Okay, I think we've got a few shots of the cake. Are you all ready!"

I looked up, saw his face and had to use every ounce of self control that I had! Even though I did not want to laugh out loud, my lips were not obeying me at all. The corners kept on stretching, forcing me to smile when I didn't want to and laughter kept on bubbling up inside me. I was about to explode so I turned around and then I saw him in the mirror. I took a few deep breaths and looked at my son but still what I saw was demanding me to laugh because it was really funny!

The photographer had icing smeared across his lips! Seriously! He did bend down to attach Pocoyo's arm and then he must have gotten icing on his fingers and may be, licked his thumb! I really don't know whether he tasted the icing or what really happened!

Soon everyone noticed that he had icing on his lips and we were trying our best to not laugh! I can tell you that it was tough! You see, this involuntary smile kept on rippling over our face and we tried to hide it and whenever he spoke or when we saw his face, we just couldn't help ourselves. But I swear, non of us laughed! Well, not in front of him any way!

Finally, I think he saw himself in the mirror and he muttered something and wiped his mouth with a tissue. 

By the time we went home, the cake had collapsed but it was so yummy. Since the cake was a mess, Saushan baked a second cake for my son for free and it was gorgeous and super delicious. But I have to admit, I prefer Saushan's chiffon cake over butter cake. 

If you want a very delicious and beautiful cake for your child's birthday party, you should contact Saushan. She's one of the best cake makers in Male' and Pocoyo cake didn't turn our so well because it was a chiffon cake and since it was really soft, the big guy sank in. Saushan later told me that she realized that the cake couldn't s support a heavy ball of cake (Pocoyo) much later. She should never have listened to me! 

Here are some of the cakes she has made, aren't they nice?

 

This is Saushan's page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/cakesmaldives?fref=ts  

Check out her website: http://www.hedhika.com/
And here's her contact number: 3326133 or 7934485

To finish off, let me give you some advice... if you accidentally get icing on your fingers and even if you tasted it accidentally, make sure that you wipe your lips properly!

I love you

 

When my daughter tells me that she loves me, I tell her I love her this much and stretch my arms out! And then she would jump and excitedly inform me that she loves from here to there (pointing from one side of the room the other side). I think this is something that we all do. We tell our children that we love them to the moon and back because we really do.

I was helping Maly with her homework one night when she asked me what the last number was. I explained to her that there isn't a last number and that numbers are infinite. She was very curious and asked many questions. 

That night, after having dinner and brushing her teeth, she lay in bed and called out to me.

After a pause and with a smile on her face she said, "I love you mummy".
"I love you too sweet heart", I said.
"How much?" she asked.
"Hmm, my love could fill this house from top to bottom", I said proudly thinking that she wouldn't be able to outsmart this time either!

But I was wrong!

"I love you till the last number!" She said and looked really satisfied because she knew that I couldn't top that.

My little genius! I love you to bits.

I gave her a hug and told her that I too loved her till the number. Yes, our love for each other is infinite. Our hearts would remain forever entwined because no one could take our place no matter how old we grow. I would always be her mom and she would always be my daughter.

Motherhood is a tough journey but it's these special moments that we get to cherish in our hearts that makes all the tiredness and hard-work worthwhile at the end of the day and I'm loving every minute of it.

Sealed with endless love

My dearest darling son,

Today you've turned 1 year 8 months. You are growing up way too fast and I really can't keep up with. Why don't you slow down for while, because mommy likes to hold you, tickle your tummy and throw you in the air because you like it so much. You know, when you grow up, I can't hold you and carry you around, or thrown you up and catch you just in time. 

Right now, you don't like to brush your teeth
and you are very picky with your food. I mean, its not safe to trust weird mushy stuff that we call food, right. Well it's ok, you just take your time and I'll be here with you. Will move on to gobbling up those chicken wings from Mary Brown when you are ready. There's no need to rush at all. 

Do you know what I would remember most about your childhood? I would remember our special bed time routine. Every night, right after you we are done with dinner, I brush your teeth and you make a big fuss. Next I powder you little booty, armpits and face. You are just adorable that I could dress you up forever and ever.

Next, we switch off the lights and you cuddle up in arms and look straight into my eyes. By now you would so sleepy that your eyes would droop but still your arms reach out and touch my face. And that's when I have to kiss you fingers one by one and the biggest reward I get is the beautiful smile that spreads across your face illuminating pure happiness. I love the way your cheeks dimple. Next I kiss your toes one at a time and your face, cheeks, eyes and forehead. All I have to do next is gently rock you in my arms and you would fall asleep. I sure will miss this the most when you grow up and I love you and will keep on loving you till the end of time.

I'm really happy and proud that you are growing up. I always pray that you and your sister would become responsible citizens of whom everyone would be proud of. I just hope that you would be happy with whatever you choose to do and I'm sure that you will also love me till the end of time.

I'm sure you'll read this letter one fine day and wonder why I wrote this. Well, I'm sitting at work and I have about 10 minutes left before I head home and I don't know...I just want to post this letter here so that you'd know when you grow up that even when I'm here at work, you are always in my thoughts and most importantly, in my heart! I wish I could be with you all the time until you are ready to fly on your own.

Yours loving,
Mommy.

Precious Drawings

What does your children do in their leisure time? Mine love playing games on their I-pads and watch cartoons. I try to limit their time with the I-pad and TV, but with my busy schedule and everything, it's not that easy. Besides, what else could they do. When I was small, I used to play in the garden all the time. Nowadays we live in small apartments and we barely have enough space to keep our belongings. A garden would be just one potted plant hanging on the out door unit of the AC. Well, most of the time! 

Yes, like the rest of the kids...my daughter is inseparable from her I-pad but, she likes to draw and spends a considerable amount of time drawing this and that. Let me show you some of her work... 

She drew this last year when she started reading. She was able to read three letter words.. I don't remember the exact date but I was very impressed because she would always draw a picture illustrating what she learns. I think she's a visual learner.So when I have to prepare for a unit test, I make sure that she draws a mind map of the entire topic she's learning. When I prepared her for her fisrt social scinece test, she drew the uses of water, water sports, characteristics of water and etc and I found out that it was really easy for her to remember everything.






She drew this last year. Back then Ainy used to live in an apartment near our place. I just love this because she has included minute details and it is so colourful. Of course, we don;t live in a green field and there isn't a creek, river or a pond in between our houses! Maly is just very creative! Oh and the bug you see near the pond is Maly's friend, "LADYBIRD"...she says!







This was also draw last year. According to Maly, the drawing shows Maly and her little brother. She started writing on her drawing soon after she started reading. I didn't bother about the mistakes back then because she was learning and as she started writing paragraphs and reading more books, she eventually corrected these simple mistakes.

And this is one of my favorite! She says that this is a "Rainbow Dinosaur!" Isn't she creative!



She drew this one day and gave it to me. I was really touched so I brought it work and have diplayed it in my cubicle.

According to her its me and her of course. The thought bubble shows me and Maly is in my tummy. Oh and don't mistake that 'I' for a 'W'...she have used a fancy font, that's all!

Now this drawing shows bugs, animals, fish and humans living in his beautiful world together. That blue figure with the bow tie on it's head, yeah...that one! It's a blue human! And she is so right, sin;t ti? I mean, we should live in this beautiful world in harmony. Why fight? Why kill animals! Why can't we just live happily understanding each others differences?

I think you can guess that she likes the cartoon, "Frozen". This picture shows Elsa and the Snowman! She drew this last night.

When I see my daughter drawing and coloring, I see Leonardo da Vinci at work! Hahaa! I bet it's the same for every mother. Perhaps Maly would grow up and be a great artist. I make sure that she has different coloured A4 papers, pencil colours, crayons and markers are within her reach at home. So that even if I'm not around, she could draw instead of wasting her time.

Yes, she has drawn on my brand new bed sheet, and you should see the black hole on my wall and don't forget the butterfly and space station on the adjacent wall! I really don't mind them. You see, she'll be all grown up soon and then my walls would be bare! No one would scribble on them and I think I would miss that. I know, Mummu can scribble now and he would decorate my wall for a few years more when Maly is done, but every night when they sleep, I realize how quickly they are growing up and I feel that I'm not getting enough time to be with them. And I wish that I could grab a magical remote and slow down time or may be pause for a few more years until I get enough. Naa! I don't think I would ever get enough of love and time with them because I'm greedy when it comes to love. Who isn't?

These drawings are very precious because they show how she feels and great talent. If anyone asks about my most valuable assets, these are some of them and I'm keeping these drawing with me forever. My collection is going to grow as Maly grows up and of course, my son would be contributing his share soon. I can't wait.

Sanitary Napkins

Have you ever been embarrassed when you picked a packet of sanitary napkins in a shop? I know, this could be a topic that most girls wouldn't want to talk about but let's talk about this...shall we? I remember when I was a teenager, I went to the shop with my mom and they would wrap up the box or packet of sanitary napkins in a newspaper so that people wouldn't know that we are taking home sanitary napkins! But I have a feeling everyone would have known! 

Every woman would get their monthly periods and what is there to be ashamed of? Seriously? And why do boys and men snigger, laugh and make fun of the females when they see us buying sanitary napkins! I'm sure their mothers, wives, sisters and even their daughters would be needing them on a regular basis!

Okay! Hold it! I'm not saying that women should let the entire community know that they've gotten their period! It's personal and no body has to know. However, it's not something we have to be ashamed of! Really! We are biologically programmed like this! It's not because we have a disease or something! 

I remember when I was a teen I went to the shop to buy sanitary napkins. Back then this teasing thing was even worse than now! When we got our periods we were extra cautious because if a guy knew about it, they would laugh and make fun of us! My mom was busy cooking so I went to the shop near our house. This shop is run by two women who are close friends of my mum. When I entered the little shop, there wasn't anyone else in the shop, so I quickly told the woman that I wanted sanitary napkins and please pack it in newspaper! I wanted to get out before anyone else walked in, so I asked her to hurry too!

Just as I finished my sentence, a guy walked into the shop followed by another neighbour who happened to be my mom's friend. You wouldn't believe what the shopkeeper and her mother did! They told the guy that I was there to buy sanitary napkins and I've asked them to pack it so that no one would know! I wanted to vanish into thin air or hoped the ground would swallow me. I was so embarrassed and wanted to cry. But I didn't want these women to know that they've hurt my feelings and I was embarrassed. So I informed them that I didn't want to buy sanitary napkins from their shop and walked out.

Yes, I did cry a river when I got home. I never thought a woman would humiliate me like that and if I were the third woman who entered the shop with that guy, I would have said something because I can't tolerate such behaviour from grown up women. I would have given them a piece of my mind instead of watching a thirteen year old girl get humiliated for buying sanitary napkins.Then again, people are different isn't it?

The next day, this woman asked my mum to fix her dress! And she had the nerve to smile at me as she entered our house!!!

After this incident I thought about what happened and I realized that there was nothing to be ashamed of. So I just looked straight and walked home with sanitary napkins in my hand. Sometimes I ask the shopkeeper to keep the polythene bag and just walk out! If anyone tries to ridicule me, I just raise my eyebrows or simply ask them what was the matter. Yup, this made them uncomfortable and they would look away!

Several years later I went to a shop with my friend and I took a packet sanitary napkins because it was new brand I just wanted to check it out. My friend also took a packet to check it out. Once we came out of the shop, my friend confessed that she would never have touched a pack of sanitary napkins if she were alone! I was really curios and asked her what she did when she got her monthlys' and she said that her maid would get them for her. She is married and she is an adult but still she felt uneasy to even touch a box of sanitary napkins in shopping marts!

Last year during Ramadan my younger sister was standing in queue to pay for a pack of sanitary napkins. A middle aged bald man was standing behind her and he was sniggering like a moron. When she turned, he smiled at her slyly and she said that the shop assistant who happened to be a very young girl looked uncomfortable. When she turned back, she heard him giggle like a girl and this annoyed her. So she turned around and pointed at the pack she was holding asked him, "Haven't you seen this before?" The shop assistant laughed out loudly and the middle aged man's eyes remained glued to the floor after that. Serves him right!

I think people are not so ignorant anymore and most girls would just walk into the shops and come out with their arms full of sanitary napkins without feeling shy if they wanted to! I would and you all should because there is nothing wrong about buying them and let the baboons laugh if they want to! 

Ainy's Birthday Party

Maleesha and Ainy

Firstly, let me start by introducing Ainy. She's my daughter's best friend. Whoever have said that little girls are made of sugar and and spice and everything that's nice must have known or met a girl like Ainy because that describes her from head to toe!

They've been in the same class in preschool for four years and I'm sure you can imagine how chummy they must have been. On her birthday Maly called and they talked on the phone for a while. After she hung up, Ainy called again and they chatted for a long time. Her birthday party was on Friday and Maly was so excited. 

So from Sunday to Thursday, the first thing she would ask me every morning was, "Mom, is today Friday? Can we go to Ainy's birthday party?"

And every morning I had to tell her that it was not Friday and she had to wait for a wee  bit more and she would look dissapointed! So to cheer her up, we counted the number of days together. Oh yes, it did work and she would get ready to go to school in a more cheerful mood because she was looking forward to Ainy's birthday party. 

When Maly was in Play School, she used to come home and tell us about Ainy. I was really glad that she had a friend in class. A few days later I met Ainy's mom and apparently, Ainy spoke of Maly too! 

Ainy and Maly are so different. Maly is boisterous and Ainy is quiet. However, when they've been best friends in preschool. I suppose opposites do attract after all. 

I remember the first time I saw Ainy and Niam. It was the orientation day back in 2010. The Principal, preschool coordinator and the teachers met all the parents and kids in their classroom. Niam and Ainy were sitting near us but I don't suppose she would remember us because we were strangers back then! Ainy was so chubby and cute. She looked like a little doll. And Niam looked like a teenager! I thought, "What a young mother!" She hasn't changed a bit and still looks like a fifteen year old high school girl. Seriously! She can wear a CHSE or Villa High School uniform and attend classes and no one would have any idea that she is an impostor.  

We (Niam and I) used to dress up Maly and Ainy in identical out fits for special days. It was so much fun. I really miss calling her up asking about misplaced notices from teachers and preparing them for special days.

Ainy and her mom (Niam)

Like Ainy, Niam is also soft spoken and really nice. She has the biggest heart of all and she's one of the nicest person I know. I never thought that someone like her would be so kind to someone as simple as me. Because in real life, people of her status would never look at people of our class twice and Niam is just the opposite. If there were more Niams', I tell you...this world would be a more happy and beautiful place for all of us to share and I'd always pray for her to be happy and prosperous forever and ever.

Last year, towards the end of the year, Maly and Ainy went to the same tuition class and this is exactly when I knew what a lovely friend Ainy was to my daughter. Maly's tuition teacher told me how Ainy looked out for Maly all the time. She was like her guardian angel and I was so happy that this little angel had been there for my little girl all this time. So, Ainy was not just Maly's best friend, from that moment on wards, she became a very special girl for me as well. 

So you see, Ainy's birthday party was something we both looked forward to because we've missed Ainy and Niam. Maly wanted to get some fairy wand thing for Ainy and my husband had to search all the shops in Male'! Finally Maly agreed to buy something else! Lucky him!

From morning till the afternoon, she kept on asking me, "Mom, is it time to go the party yet?" Yes, finally it was time to got to the party and we had a blast! Well, at least the kids did! I had to chase my one year old hyper ball in the party! Maly had fun with Ainy and  her old classmates from preschool. The kids had super fun and that made my day.

Happy Birthday Altho

Altho is now almost as tall as his brother in laws!

Yesterday was my younger brother's birthday. He just turned 18! I remember the first time I saw him. He was so tiny and red! When I peered into the tiny cot, he lazily stretched his arms and legs. I wanted to pick him up but didn't because he was so tiny and I was scared! He was so adorable. 

I remember the taxi ride to the hospital. We were so excited to meet our little brother. My sisters and I, plus my uncle's wife and their two kids, and my step-grandmother and her two kids got into just ONE taxi! Let me help you to illustrate a fine image of all of us in the taxi for you. Have you seen Yoosay's drama where he takes the tourists to see the zoo? Oh yes, that's exactly what it was like in the taxi! The taxi driver just looked at us his eyes nearly popping out. At the back, there were 2 adults and a teenager (me) and 4 kids. In the front seat sat my sister Shifa and Beebi! On the way, we were all talking at the same time because we were so excited and the little ones would whine or shout! 

My sisters and I were really happy and my parents were also very pleased with new addition. We used to play with him, feed him and go for long walks! How time flies! Now he is taller than me and has beard too! Luckily doesn't grow his beard! YET!  

I'm really happy that he is all grown up and proud too. No matter how old you get , you will always be our LITTLE BROTHER! And we love you so much.

+248980071......Who are you?

Yesterday my husband received a text message from this number +248980071 and it said that he had missed a call from this number and please call as soon as possible. 

I know, it sounded really funny! We laughed and joked about how considerate whoever this person was asking him to call them back since their call (which he never got) was missed. 

And I got a text message from the same number about an hour later! Now this was weird! I mean, I felt as if someone was watching us and sending us text messages! Yeah, I'm probably watching too much of Pretty Little Liars! 

The message that I received said, "We have an important voice message for you, call this number now +248980071 to hear it."

Of course, I knew it was a hoax but felt strange because I got the text soon after my husband got a message from the same number. So I just wanted to check whether anyone else had received a text too and updated my status on Facebook.

Apparently, we weren't the only target! Almost all my contacts on Fb had received a text from this number. According to Rifu, the number can be traced to some state in Africa and we mustn't respond or call at all! And Azu said that her husband showed her how such mass text messages could be sent from the internet. So some guy or girl some where in African is definitely using some sort of program to text all the Maldivians!

I even felt a bit envious because some of my friends have been getting text messages for a couple of weeks now and I got just one yesterday! They even got missed calls too! And worse, some of my contacts were told that they were going to get $ 5000, and they just had to send their bank account number!

I wonder who it could be! It could be just one guy or perhaps a group! What is the point of sending gibberish text messages, I mean...who is going to fall for it! We all know about such tricks and I'm quite certain no one is going to fall for it! Why waste their precious time and energy sending text messages to all the Maldivians! 

And how did they get our number! I mean every single MALDIVIAN'S number! There is hardly anyone who hasn't received a text or a missed call from them! Or is it just us or have they been texting the whole world too!

I'm really curious now and I really want to know who this person is!!!!

Guess Who?

My students posing for a photograph! 

On Sunday our academic year started. This year I'm teaching a new batch and there are about 99 students! Oh yes, I am excited and at the same time, SAD TOO! Yes, you heard me right. I miss my students (Batch 13, Gr 1 & 2). 

To start off and to get everyone moving and talking, I usually use this ice breaker, Guess Who! I don't have the link or remember the website form which I got this idea, sorry! I googled for an ice breaker and came across this 3 years ago and I've been using this since then. Any way, this is one of the best ice breakers I've used so far and my students enjoy this game and I achieve my goals every single time! 

I usually print names of famous people the particular group would know! For instance, if the students are teenagers and if I am meeting them for the first time, I would use names that they could guess easily because if the names I choose are unfamiliar, the aim of conducting this activity wouldn't be achieved in the end. Students are suppose to talk and break the ice.If they can't guess and gets stuck some where in between, the conversation would die out and there would be nothing to say.

Let me explain how this game is played.

Firstly, I stick a name (printed on A4 sheets using masking tape) on their backs and ask them to find out who they are by questioning others. So they stand up and move around the classroom.

Here are some RULES that they have to follow! 

Rules:

1.  Can't give a clue! 
2.  Just ask questions! 
3.  Answer has to be "yes" or "no!"

Some questions they could ask are:

1. Is it a man or woman?
2. Young or old? 
3. Famous? 
4. Singer? Actress? Millionaire? Aristocrat? Maldivian? 

Most of the time, when they see their friend's back they get some idea  and I hear them asking, is it a footballer or a singer...etc!

Some names I've used this year include:

Wayne Rooney, Christiano Ronaldo, Ali Ashfag, Mariyam Unoosha, Shahkruk Khan, Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerburg, Barack Obama, Queen Elizabeth, Suneetha Ali, Priyanka Chopra....etc.

If you are wondering whether they were able to guess all the names, yes! They did! And those students who got the Ali Ashfag and Christiano Ronaldo's names were super excited and bubbling up like they were actually meeting them! And in no time, they are up, roaming around the classroom, laughing away happily as they help each other to guess the names on their backs! 

I hope this activity would be useful to someone out there!

The Missing Chapter of The Ugly Duckling Story

 

It was a glorious sunny morning somewhere in the woods. All around, the animals, birds and insect were waking up. Mothers hurried to feed their young where as the others, lazily stayed in the nests, borrows or wherever they were. Everybody seemed to be enjoying the cool breeze and the warm sunshine freshly spreading over the landscape except a certain swan who seemed to be quite anxious as she quickly scanned the entire area.

As she sat hidden behind a bush, other animals who lived in this area walked past her greeting their neighbors. She sure was not from around this area! What was she doing here? Why was she so worried?

Her eyes continued to scan the entire area and suddenly, relief swept over her face as she saw something that must have interested her. She relaxed and settled down more at ease now. Her eyes remained on her new found interest and she remained on the spot. It looked as if she was waiting for the right moment.

The swan's eyes were fixed on a mother duck who sat on her nest. She looked so happy and cheerful as she waved at other ducks. She left her nest and joined a group of her friends who were already in the pond. As they happily quacked away, the swan came out of the bush and looked around carefully. It looked as if this swan up to something! 

She was! She quickly made her way towards the nest and placed something in it and went back to her hiding place. She waited for the mother duck to return to her nest. 

When the mother duck returned, the first thing she did was lovingly admire her eggs before she sat on them. She didn't notice anything. The swan who was watching the mother duck looked pleased. She remained hidden behind the bush.

Before the swan flew away, she looked at the mother duck who sat on her nest one last time. It looked as if she wanted to tell her something, but perhaps she wasn't brave enough!

As she flew she hoped and prayed that her friend who was shot by a hunter two days ago would be happy with the home she has chosen for her egg. Her friend's last words were to find her nest and give her baby egg to a family who would take care of him. She felt guilty and sad but there was no way she could carry the egg to her nest which was so far away. She had already put her nest in danger by leaving the nest for three days. She had to hurry home!

"I should have told the duck", she kept on telling herself.

But she chickened out in the last minute. What if nobody wanted the egg! She wanted to get back to her babies too!

"When the eggs hatch, no one will notice the difference!" She told herself.

SHE WAS WRONG!

If she had known that they would call him Ugly, she wouldn't have left the egg in that nest. She thought the mother duck would love the little duckling like her own even though the duckling was bit different.

~ THE END ~

NOTE: After reading The Ugly Duckling story, Maly asked me several questions!

1. Who put Ugly Duckling's egg in this nest?
2. Why?
3. How?
4. What happened to Ugly duckling's mother?
5. Doesn't she love him?
6. More questions....etc

And I made up this story to answer her questions, so this story is dedicated to my daughter, Maleesha. I try my best to give her an answer instead of saying I don't know so that she would think and be creative! But sometimes, she's too smart and my bluff just doesn't make sense to me even!

I never wondered about how a swan's EGG ended up in a duck's nest when I read this story even when I was little!

DID YOU????

BEST BIRTHDAY EVER!

Yesterday was my birthday! Yes, my tenth 21st birthday! Oh yes, you heard me right! Oh come on, don't give that look. As my husband says, from now on I'm going to be forever 21!

        

So here's what happened yesterday (18th January 2013). When I woke up, happy birthday mommy was written on the wall. It was a joint effort by my daughter and my husband. Of course, Mummu even contributed by running around the room! 

I received 2 special text messages from Shifa (my sister) and Beebi. Too bad I had to change my phone, I really wanted to save the text messages and Beebi, you made me smile...after all you are forever sixteen so no one can understand my forever 21 issue more than you, isn't it?

In the morning after breakfast, I was informed by Maly that her daddy was going to buy my present and then she realised that she was not suppose to tell me and then whispered, "You are not suppose to know, it's a surprise for you." 

Hahaa! Of course I promised to keep her secret and as I waited, I prayed that I wouldn't get toy! Don't laugh, here me out! Maly did ask me two days ago whether I liked toy guitars and when I said no, she looked crestfallen! When I asked why she looked so sad she said, "If you don't want a guitar, then I'll have to play my guitar all by myself! If I buy a guitar for your birthday, we can play together! We'll have super fun Mama."

NOW HOW CAN I SAY NO TO THIS!!!!! 

So I got my gift and suddenly found myself floating in cloud nine! Oh yeah! I got my wish! Finally I got a phone from which I could use Viber, Instagram and all the other applications that everybody has been using! Thank you my darling husband, you are the best and you always know what exactly I need! 

As I was checking my phone and downloading stuff, Maly came and whispered again, "We'll buy a cake in the afternoon, don't tell anyone, it's also a surprise!!!!" 

Once again, I promised to keep her secret! I'm really good at this! Seriously, I didn't tell a soul! 

My husband wanted to go and get the cake alone, but Maly insisted and cried! Yes, finally they went together and I don't know how he brought the cake home, with Maly sitting behind  him in the motor cycle! He's just amazing! He must have balanced the cake on his lap while Maly sat behind him and held onto him for dear life and rode the motorcycle home in the heavy traffic! I love you darling! 

So we cut the cake and enjoyed ourselves! 

My daughter made a card for me, but she was too busy planning my birthday party (just for family) that she couldn't colour it and I'm not suppose to take a picture of it until she does. So photo to be uploaded soon!

And then my friends insisted that I should give them a birthday treat! So we met today at Petays and had lunch. Saushan brought this lovely cake! Yes, it was yummy! Too bad Niam couldn't come, I missed her  

Meet my friends! They are just super cool. We all have something in common! CAN YOU GUESS! Each of us have a 6 year old boy or a girl. Our children studied in preschool together! We have so many happy wonderful memories and we plan to stick together even though our children has gone to different school's for their primary education. You guys ROCK! The cake was out of this world delicious and as usual, we laughed a lot and had a super duper lunch. Thank you friends! Love you all.

   

Cake by: Saushan (Best baker in Male')

And lets not forget Facebook, thanks to Zuckerberg...so many friends and family members and students wished me. Some birthday wishes were so nice, I love you all too and I'm glad that I'm some of your favourite English teacher.

So turning 21 for the tenth time is not so bad after all! This is one of the best birthdays that I have had so far in my life and thank you everyone. You all have made me happy and I'm blessed to have you all in my life. 

The Helpful Shop Assistant

When was the last time you went for shopping? Yesterday, last night or did you just finish  your daily shopping spree? 

Last night I went for shopping with my husband. We were looking for some stationary and school wear for my daughter, plus clothes for my son. We went to this shop that sold foot gear and school items like bags and lunch boxes and I met this shop assistant that I would NEVER EVER forget!

Yes, I'm sorry if I've disappointed you...I'm not going to talk about shopping. I don't hate shopping but I go for shopping when I have no choice at all! Nope, sorry...I'm not a shopaholic!

Any way, back to the helpful shop assistant I just referred to at the beginning...he is a foreigner, perhaps he is Bangladeshi. I don't know him that well. He speaks Dhivehi (our mother tongue) fluently and I would say he's not one of those annoying shop assistants who breaths down your shoulder as you browse through the items and definitely not the sort of shop assistants who are too lethargic to lift their bottoms from the chairs and when asked whether a certain size was available, would careless mutter, "Every item available are over there, just check them on your own!"

This happened about 7 years ago. We were newly married and we were looking for a shoe for my husband. We were just browsing and then we came across a very nice shoe and we were checking it out when this helpful chap appeared by our side. I bet he must have been observing us for a while and couldn't contain himself, so he came over to help us out!

Helpful Shop Assistant: "That's a very nice shoe Sir". 

My husband: "Yes, it is. What can you say about the quality of this shoe? For how long can I use this?" (He prefers durable items and like good quality shoes). 

Helpful Shop Assistant: "Oh Sir, it's made in China!!!!! See the sole of the shoe, it's very strong, and it would be very easy to polish this shoe as well. Even after months, if you just polish it up, it would look like a brand new shoe!"

I looked at my husband, you know trying to warn him and the helpful shop assistant must have gotten my signal as well. 

He tried to promote the shoe with such passion that for a minute or so, I almost thought that this nice gentleman standing in front of us actually did own the factory where the shoe was manufactured! Seriously! His eyes were glazed as he went on and on about the product being the best shoe that they have important to Maldives. And my husband happened to be holding the only shoe of the kind made, EVER! It was the ONLY shoe important to Maldives from CHINA that year from this particular company where only one shoe was manufactured of this quality!

I know! CHINA!!!! 

May be we had a neon light which was only visible to him lit on top of our heads saying, "DUMB and DUMBER!!!" We didn't want to buy the shoe of course, so my husband kept it on the display shelf. 

The lovely shop assistant was so determined to sell it to us, that he finally yelled out with all his heart, "Sir, this would NEVER EVER break! As long as you use it, it would remain in 100% perfect condition".

We quickly walked out of the shop because we could hardly contain ourselves. Yes, as soon as we were out on the pavement, we laughed out loud! And I kept on laughing and laughing..eventually my husband stopped, but I laughed for the rest of the night....you know like...I stopped after sometime but the minute I was reminded of the incident (which was like every 5 minutes) I'd start again. No, it was not intentional...I found the whole promotion bit genuinely funny and laughed all night. Even after years, when we needed a good laugh or wanted to share a joke, we recall this incident and successfully manage to entertain our friends and in my case, my students most of the time!

I'm not surprised with the fact that he's still working in Maldives or the same shop. It would be hard, or I'd rather say, impossible to replace such dedicated shop assistants who put so much effort into promoting the items being sold in the shop. May be he was new when I initially met him because last night, he did promote the lunch boxes that I checked out but didn't go beyond extreme levels of human imagination!

Meet My Son....Mishaal

Dressed in Maldivian traditional wear.

Today I'm going to introduce the cutest boy I know! Yes, it's my son and he is one and a half years old. I think if you've been reading my blog, you'd know his name is Mishaal (Mohamed Mishaal Ahmed) and we call him Mummu.

In 2011 towards the end of the year we learnt that we were pregnant. Oh yes, we were excited! Firstly, Maly was 4 and half and both my husband and I had discussed about a second child quite frequently. It was like a dream come true for us. We were even more happy that our daughter was so keen about the baby that she sang to my bump every night!

Little bundle of joy <3 br="">

Mummu was born in ADK Hospital on July 16th 2012. It was about 9:50 pm. When the nurse brought him to me, his eyes were wide open and he was sucking his thumb. Of course, we fell in love with him the minute we knew that we were having a second baby, but holding him in my arms was like multiplying that love times 1 million. My heart over flowed with love and happiness. 

  

     

He was so tiny at first but so adorable. His first word was "dhatha" (sister) and he started walking at around 15 months. He likes to play hide and seek. When I pray he would watch me with a naughty smile on his ace. When I'm about to finish he would know, he would then run and stand behind me. The minute I give salaam, he would then shout "THAAAAA". He is actually trying to startle me and every time I do get startled! 

When my son starts laughing, you'll join him naturally because its so cute that you resist but laugh out loud with him. Sometimes I don't have to put much effort to get him started, all I have to do is just turn the other way and suddenly look at him. If you want to make him laugh, just show him Bubsy Baby (phone application). Like Talking Tom, Bubsy would record what you say and when you touch Bubsy's tummy, Bubsy would fart! Mummu finds the farting bit hilarious! Seriously, you should see him bubbling over! No matter how many times you show it to him, he would crack up every single time!

Today I've come back to work after my annual leave. I've been with my children for almost a month and I'm missing my son so much. I miss my daughter too, but I dropped her off at school and went to pick her up as well but Mummu was asleep when I left this morning and I haven't gone home today. Perhaps, that's the main reason why I'm missing him so much today. I've been with him 24 seven for quite a bit, no wonder I miss him and I'm quite certain that he misses me just as much!

Children bring so much joy and meaning into our lives. They give us purpose and something to look forward to. Like all the mothers who breath the same air as I do, I also love my children with all my heart and cannot even a minute without them (now that I know them). The most valuable assets that I have are my children and I believe that they are blessings from Allah and I am grateful that I've been blessed with two wonderful children.