Veli Çayı aka Taziye Ziyareti

a girl will always be happy to recieve at all times

I personally wouldnt say no to these flowers..

or these ones....
in fact..i wouldnt say no to any kinds of flower :0)
i just simply dont get flowers unless i go buy by them myself...:0)

Yup... my living room has live flowers right now...
Courtesy of the 10 moms and 1 teacher of Hatice's classmates as they were at my home on Thursday
for *veli çayı* (tea ) aka meeting as well as *taziye ziyareti* (condolence visit-of baba's death)

tortilla with doner meat filling..simahz style
(i made this up actually hehe)
Recipe in the
Zaim Ladies Recipe Blog


Humus
(a special request from my beloved)
recipe here

Kabak-Havuç Salatası
Recipe to be found in Zaim ladies recipe blog
at http://www.simahzaim1.blogspot.com/


Kısır
made from fine bulgur (fine pounded wheat)


slices of lemon with fresh mint on top... just in case there are peoplewho loves to drink their tea with a drop of mind n fresh mint (like my beloved)

a typeof börek with dont ask me what the filleng is hahaha i just made it
up again! hahahaah

a simple salad...
freshly diced tomatoes, cucumbers and mint leaves

and pickles....etc..etc... forgot to snap the pics :0)

A dessert.. Baddin's fav..

tart with vanilla cream filling topped with fresh kiwi,strawberries and berries..
topped with jelly(agar agar flown all the way from Malaysia or is it singapore?)... anyway...thanks kak Elle...ibu...KC and gang! :0) love u guys loads! what will i do without ur supply of our local stuffs?

I knew i had caught this epidemic virus where diarhoea and vomitting r a part of itz symptoms on Monday... In fact... i had fever that Tuesday night... and i begged Allah silently...

*Ya Allah... i will be having guests on Thursday... please..postpone this virus attack at least until they have gone*..

Alhamdulillah... despite not feeling too well... Allah had postponed the violent attack of the diarrhoea...and what do u know?? The moment the guests went.. (we also had a small lady as a guest after the momz tea gathering)...i practically spent the whole night going from and to the toilet...I accepted it coz Allah obviously had accepted my plea to begin with...being sick is a part of my test...

I was feeling quite ok in the morning... instead of just letting only halil go with thekids to settle the passport extention for my beloved n the kids... i joined too...as usual... we needed other papers ..and therefore only my beloved passport were able to be extended... no matter... we still have till 11 th june to renew the passport of the kids..my concern is the permanent resident renewal next m0nth..i cant say i am looking forward to going on ques for that... :0)


I have just realised something... Last year... i very rarely joined any *veli cayı* ...tea aka meeting conducted in turns at a parent's home...that was when hatice was in pre school of course... Nowadays...if i am honest with myself... i kindda enjoy going to these teas...no..i do not like taking a mini bus to school before we proceed to the place of tea... yes.. i practically dread when on those days i would have to return home with the kids using the school service...but i find the moms who join the teas are actually very warm and nice... mostly, they are sweet...i kindda enjoy having to get together with them.. chat about the kids' development and problems... and ask the teacher this and that...there are a few of moms of baddin's classmates that i can talk to almost on a lot of topics...the same with the moms of hatice's classmates... those moms who do not work...they usually join these teas...they are sweet as well....and most importantly... they are the humble friendly type even though in general they are rich.. (this is a private school after all)..

i was analysing them yesterday... when they came to our home... my home is no doubt small... there isnt any place on the walls... couch...chairs...etc..etc which has no stain...my home truly needs a major overhaul and renovation...but i saw none of them looked down on me..acting high n mighty (as some rich people do)... many tried to help me out while clearing the plates...etc... they looked at me warmly. ...i could feel sincerity in their hearts... which made the time spent on the food preparation (despite i was not feeling very well) all worth it...to recieve guests is a honour in itself... and to recieve guests who r warm... that is a blessing...i think i am looking forward for the next tea meeting in 3 weeks' time :0)
What is happening to me?? i am an anti social person.. why am i looking forward to socializing??? hmmm... this is an interesting development :0)

The thing is.... hatice will be together with the same classmates for at least (maybe more..am not sure of the system) ...3 years... so it helps to get to know the moms better so that we all can communicate with each other better ..to talk about our kids... THank God for the invention of handphones... each of us has each other's number...!
It was also heart warming when yassin was read for baba yesterday... and with the division of yuz...insyaAllah by the next tea time.. we will all try to finish the whole Quran.... dedicated to baba (my late dad in law)...

Life goeson... and i think..i have decided to enjoy it as best as i possibly can despite all the challenges

Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time..

İstiklal Marşı

I didnt have the mood to write for a long time....pc problem....hectic life... short depression (for unknown reason)...made me stayed away from writing... i finally wrote something...*So we Can be Safe?...i am not totally too happy with this article...unsystematic story telling... repetition of words... bla bla bla...but it is not so bad...if u r interested...please hop to...


http://www.mytzarticles.blogspot.com/

well.. u can see the link at the side bar on the right side of this blog anyway...

********************************************************************************

On another matter......

Dont get me wrong... i think the istiklal marşı ... the national anthem of turkey is nice... just listen to this tune...

When Baddin's teacher sent a piece of paper with the İstiklal Marsı...the Turkish National Anthem lyrixs for baddin to learn... i subconciously tried to *lose* the paper of the lyrics... i mean... come on!! What do i know of the Turkish National Anthem, eh? I have only heard it a few times!! and so....over the hectic course of the weekend...managed to misplace the paper hehehe(honest!!)

Then come monday and another note came from his teacher saying that Baddin had not learnt his lines and he should learn it...Haydaaaa...i really wanted to cry then...Halil wount be back till wayyyyyyyyy the kids' past bedtime.... I couldnt call him either... he was in a meeting... At that time... i practically was starting to get headache....And with Hatice's help...she managed to sing (she herself has not learnt the lyrics correctly)the rythm of the song....... and so... just like aliens...i tried to teach both my kids the song. lyrics...

As Hatice was doing her homework, i dragged baddin to the pc and prayed that imeem.com has the song for me to learn from (THANKS imeem!)... i got more confused!! The pronounciation and rhythm was such... i had no hope of learning the tune properly..I called Meşe..... Merve (meşe's daughter) picked up the phone... and i asked her help to sing me that song... My *wonderful* (not) turkish pronounciation... my ignorance of the rhythm of the national anthem...all added into one lead to my totall confusion some more...Somehow..i managed to teach baddin almost 3/4 of the song lyrics...

If my beloved has time to teach them...it will be great... but he is too busy... and the little time he has at home... he wants to spend it playing with the kids.... not teaching them the national anthem...

By Nationality.. my kids r turkish citizens... they live in turkey... they go to a turkish school...so...it is only normal that they should know the Turkish National Anthem... Hatice is 99 percent able to sing the song.. Baddin still has difficulties in the second paragraph ...which is normal coz i have difficulty catching n saying those last 3 lines as well....Here is the lyrics... and see whther u can follow the song n the pronounciation as welll :0)...pls click to the istiklal marşı below for the singing and the music..

Korkma,sönmez bu şafaklarda yüzen al sancak,

Sönmeden yurdumun üstünde tüten en son ocak,

O benim milletimin yıldızıdır, parlayacak;

O benimdir, o benim milletimindir ancak.

Çatmak, kurban olayı,çehreni ey nazlı hilal!

Kahraman ırkıma bir gül!Ne bu şiddet, bu celal?

Sana olmaz dökulen kanlarımız sonra helal....

Hakkıdır, Hakk'a tapan, milletimin istiklal!

Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time.

There is life

Under the snow,
Beneath the frozen streams
There is life…

You have to know
When nature sleeps,
She dreams there is life…

And the colder the winter,
The warmer the spring
The deeper the sorrow,
The more our hearts sing
Even when you can’t see it
Inside everything
There is life…Ohhh…

After the rain,
The sun will reappear
There is life…

After the pain,
The joy will still be here
There is life…

For it’s out of the darkness
That we learn to see
And out of the silence
That songs come to be
And all that we dream of
Awaits patiently…
There is life…
There is life…
Ohhh…

For it’s out of the darkness
That we learn to see
And out of the silence
That songs come to be
And all that we dream of
Awaits patiently…
There is life…

(There is)

There is life…
ohooohooo

Yes...there is life.... and my life centers around the life of my beloved and my two angels....there is nothing i won't do for them....sooo typical of a wife/mother, eh?

In school, next to the normal schooling, the school also have extra co curricular activities in which they call as *Kış okulu* (winter school) , *bahar okulu*(spring school), and *yaz okulu* (summer school)... it is where the students can choose a sport/music instrument/ etc they would like to join in... let say swimming or learning to play a piano and every saturdays, for one hour and a half, they will learn whatever they have chosen for a price of course.

Last semester, Halil decided to let the kids join the winter school...Hatice had always wanted to learn to ride a horse..... we thought that last semester, we would give her that chance... But i think amidst the exhaustion of learining to read and write, she simply refused to join the winter school coz that would mean that she would have to go to school on Saturdays...that was how tiring school was for her last semester...

Both of my kids actually suprised me when this spring school, they excitedly begged me to let them join the bahar okulu.... of course... i told them that i would discuss it with my beloved coz...well.... to be frank... it is not that cheap... it is 350YTL for one student (every saturdays for 13 weeks)... and 2 kids?? 700 Ytl!! That... i cant say is cheap... and my beloved said yes... and with *sibling discount*... i only paid around 635YTl... phew!..still..it is a lot of money... considering the minimum wage in turkey is 435YTL....i just simply cant imagine how people can live with only 435YTL to support a family... that is too low...May Allah help them...

That was the easy part of course.... and well well... Hatice decided to join Badminton...while Baddin was keen on Football...it would have been easier of course if both join the same sport... the timing would be perfect too.... But i knew that wouldnt be wise... they need to expand their own wings and definitely they should not be under the shadow of each other...they should join the thing that interests them most to gain the best benefit...

Hatice... why badminton? Well... mainly i think she sort of once or twice played badminton at the summer house in sapanca... she loves it...and most importantly.. her 2 best friends r also thinking of joining badminton... and sooooo badminton it is...she is joining the badminton session for pre school, grade 1 and grade 2 students...

Baddin? he is a runner...he lovesssss to run...but he has difficulty in working as a team... and he needs to build his self confidence.... he needs to learn to be competitive..so when he said football..i was more than happy to comply even though his class teacher strongly suggested him to join basketball to strengthened his finger muscles...i want him to learn to be competitive in trying to hit the ball as well as running to get the ball which he truly loves.

But there is a catch to all these of course.... the catch is... on Saturdays... Halil is mostly not at home.... so who has to send the kids off to school? Of course their beloved anne hehehehe

and the best part of all....Hatice's badminton session starts at 9am till 10.30am...baddin? his is from 12.30 noon till 2pm...

.. that means we have to leave home by 8am and reach home only by approx 3.30pm! That is basically one full day staying at school....

I dont mind, really...i'd do anything so that they can develop themselves as best as they possibly can...even if i have to stay long hours at school...

And we had our first session of Bahar okulu....I think it was good... it was quite fun...except the part returning home from school... coz that was the time the mini busses are mostly busy and packed with passengers... the traffic jammed.... it really gave me headache.... But the kids had fun during their badminton n football session... who am i to spoil that for them by saying.... *u cant join the sports coz i cant send u??*

And so... every saturdays.... my kids and i will try to enjoy ourselves in school :0)

hatice with her two best friends; elanur and merve

the coach at the beginning of the session..


You must learn to hold the badminton racquet properly...



Hatice with her new racquet...



Lunch time at 10.30am...i brought their lunch from home..

ribbon shaped pasta cooked with mushroom, hotdog and fresh tomatoes..

ice tea bought from the school canteen..


playing with the green board while waiting for baddin's football session to start

2 siblings at the football sort of field..

baddin playing football..

his face was as red as a beetroot by the end of the football session... hehehe

and he was begging me to take a taxi instead of a mini bus..

Sorry son... i will go bankrupt if we take a taxi every saturdays...so mini bus it is for us :0)

Baddin is the shortest boy in the session... i think he is the only pre schools student in the session.. the rest are from the first grade and the second grade hehehe

so he truly need to work hard to get the ball from the bigger boys..

There is life in each child....we just need to find ways to bring that life out of their shells..

I dunno if this will bring the life that exists in my children...but i am trying..that is the most important thing of all...trying... :0)

Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time..

Empty Nest Syndrome

2nd day of school..3 cousins waiting for the school service..


And off they went!


The first day of school.. hatice entering the first grade and baddin the pre school (both attending the same school)



with the uncles and aunties and cousins... That guy climbed on top of the entrance of the school to snap pics hehehhe

The balloons being released saying farewell to the previous school session and welcome to the present school session..

I shooed them out of the door by 7.35am. I was ready with my trackbottom n windbreaker…Only my shoes were left to be worn. I waited with them downstairs…Keremcan non stop telling met his and that as baddin was basically sitting n even lying on the floor…sleepy..and Hatice…? On her feet watching me chatting with keremcan… for some reason, she was nervous.

7.45am… the school service came. They left for school and i….off to achieve my resolution…to lose weight within 7 months…and off i walked….slowly…but determinedly…with my mp3 on…lulled by the Surah Yasin n surah Al Rahman..(halil’s fav surah)..

From Kazasker to Bostanci…from Bostanci …towards Sahilyolu..all the way to Caddebostan…with a 5 minutes break to read a newspaper...(n watching the people on mountainbikes with envy…Halil..PLS PLS BUY ME A BİCYCLE!!)straight into Bağdat Caddesi…..into Migros for some shopping..and with all the heavy plastic bags containing my shopping…i walked home….

From 7.45am till 10.45am…of walking! And I was fasting too!!
Naturally, by the time i reached home, i could barely step on my feet.. as i was cooling down on my bed…with the fan turned on facing towards me and i chatting with my mom on the phone…..i was thinking that i had overdone the walk…at least not while fasting….and by 2pm…the zaim ladies went to visit Funda’s mom to convey our condolences (Al fatihah) for the death of Funda’s auntie….that done… and by the time i reached home, it was time for Hatice n baddin to come home from school…

Oh yeah… my empty home syndrome has started….!! Both my kids r in school.. Nur Hatice in grade one while Sabahaddin in pre school….and that was my recollection of the second day of their school day! I havent had the chance to do the crazy walk again ever since..(though i am planning to)… but i had not done non stop walking each day…from going to the kid’ school for things to setle..to the daily chores outside…. Trust me… my feet r never the same again…..ouch ouchhhh sakittttttnyaaaaaaaaa And they say that having no kids at home means that i have plenty of time to kill…hmmm…

But i am glad and Thankful for one thing though…. Both Hatice and Baddin loves school. Hatice is still in the shock of having to do homework everyday while baddin is in the discovery of pre school life is so much fun!

I have also discovered that i like my newly freedom. I dont feel depressed that my kids r in school. There is no need to hang on to them .. they need to grow n expand themselves… and i need to do the things i need to do… will i achieve losing weight within 7 months’ time healthily? That is for all to see…i do not want to go back to malaysia for a visit next year in this weight..i want to go there as a chubby person..not as obese as i am now. I also need to attack the kitchen..scrub the floors (though i have a lady who comes to clean the place once in 2 weeks)… attack the wardrope… too many things with so less time… n i can barely update my blog as i used to…

My life is adapting…into this new phase. ..the phase to rediscover what i wanna do…to reacquaint myself with the simah i know (hopefully wiser) that the simah before the kids.

The kids r adapting too. Baddin especially is learning to eat on his own..to eat what is served at school…(though occasionally they do serve pizza n burgers)…learning to discover himself..to socialize in the real sense…not hiding under his sister and mine’s shadow…Hatice will undertake the process of learning to read this first few months in school. We will see how soon she will learn…my prayers r with u both…

But most importantly, i myself have to learn to fiinsh all my work before 4.30pm coz….after the kids come home from school…i need to put my total energy on them…This week has proven to me that there should be a discipline and timetable in some form to smoothen the day…so every school days.. my kids r stuck to this Schedule…:

4.45pm – 5pm…
*.the kids will reach home, put their shoes inside the shoes closet, put their bags inside their own rooms, wash their hands and faces and change their clothes

5.05pm…
*dinner time

5.50pm…
*Praying time

6pm…
*homework time…Hatice is given homework everyday so far.. the length depends on the homework..it could go on till 7.45pm….. baddin has homework only during weekends but on normal days as he too demanded homework like the sister …i often made up mock homework for him..mainly to improve his writing skills..

7.30pm - 8pm…..
* Free time! This is the time when the kids r free to do what they please…to watch the dvd… to play.. ..(with an inclusion of Maghrib prayer somewhere)

8.30pm…
*Bath time!

8.50pm…
*Supper… mainly fruity yogurt or puding or dessert or fruit coctail in syrup accompanied with fresh milk (kena la minum susu..kalau tak nanti ketot macam mak dia hehe)

9.00pm
*Bedtime! With Yasin listening on the Mp3 every alternate days…

and guess what? Though the homework time is a stressed out time (i hate homework n so does Hatice n she does her homework like a snail… and i had to come up with stuffs to keep ker concentration intact coz she has one very short concentration span esp when exhausted)….i find myself enjoying these hours spent with them. … just me n them… my focus on them n nothing else…i couldnt do that last year….

My kids r learning n growing……n now i am able to do things i didnt have a chance to do with a kid or two tagging along… Alhamdulillah… despite all the obstacles….our life is a bliss… n i am blessed ….
To check out my kids’ first few days of school…. Please hop to:

For my daughter’s blog:

http://www.haticeveokul.blogspot.com/

for my son’s blog:

http://www.baddinveokul.blogspot.com/


OK..OK...stories of Ramadhan and the food here coming up in the next entry..tungguuuuuuuu!! :0)

Thank You for hopping by...Hope to see u again the next time..