Mommy's Next Step

Hi, assalamu alaikum.

To Gembira Loka Zoo of Jogja!

Yeay!

Three days prior to Eid El-Fitr my husband and I took our kids to a well-known zoo in Jogja: Gembira Loka Zoo.

It is quite close to my mom's house, about 5 km away West.

The day before we arrived in Jogja for Eid's holiday. We always celebrate Eid in my hometown.

My husband asked me about the things we would do during holidays. He wanted me to make a list of places we would visit while in Jogja.

Related article: Dare to Challenge Myself

"Family holiday must be memorable to kids. That's what they will remember about their childhood," that is my husband's motto.

Alright.

Then I chose for them Gembira Loka Zoo. And they all agreed.

First thing first. We had to bring a baby stroller for our toddler, Mr. Admiral.

We wouldn't have had enough energy to chase him running around the zoo. No. And we were fasting. So, it would be wise if we could bring a stroller.

Alhamdulillah, my brother had one. We borrow…

Halo, assalamu alaikum.

Alhamdulillaah, great days are here: Ramadan days.

This year's Ramadan we fast for about 13 hours. It's always like this here in Indonesia, alhamdulillah.

There are days when we fast for 14 hours a day when Ramadan comes in summer time in Southern Hemisphere. This is May, so it's autumn di Southern Hemisphere.

We thank Allah this is a sunny and cheerful Ramadan. Several years ago we had Ramadan on June. The weather was chilly. Alhamdulillah.

Related article: Windy and Chilly August

Ramadan has been 7 days now. Tomorrow morning will be Ramadan 8 insya Allah.

My sons have fasted for 7 consecutive days. They are really grown up now masya Allah. They have been fasting with less and less drama.

I also had no serious problem during these days masya Allah, except for one thing: I feel like losing energy too soon.

After Ramadan Day 1, I felt weaker these last three days. I hope it is because my body is still adapting to new habits.

I usually wake up at …

Hallo, assalamu alaikum.

We are in Ramadan now. Alhamdulillah. Ramadan Day 1 went well, alhamdulillah. No drama, just a little weaknesses, but everything ran well.

Mr. Inventor and Mr. Professor are off school for 4 consecutive days. Alhamdulillah, it's been a great way to start Ramadan.

This year is different for us because we have our Ramadan in our own house! Masya Allah.

After 7 years, we are able to buy the house we used to live in.

Back to Ramadan Day 1.

Unlike previous Ramadan, I didn't feel too hectic preparing meals for suhoor and iftar.

I said to myself and my family that we would have simple and humble menus. 😅😅

I mean I will not try to serve fancy meals such as kolak or es dawet or anything.

"No chill drinks, please," said my husband.

"Alright."

So, the suhoor night I cooked soto ayam. A very simple meal of Indonesian food which is rich in taste and easy to make.

Related article: Ginger, My Best Friend During Ramadan's Suhoor

For me t…

Indonesia' General Election 2019 has done. Too many conflicts before it couldn't stop people from voting.

This 2019 GE was different for many of us. Long before it tension in social media has always been high.

But, I'm here not to talk about that. I just want to share the cheerful things during the election day.
The tension was high, yes, true. But somehow we went to the voting venue with eager. Whether it to support our own choices or just had some fun doing a thing that we rarely do.

I went to the voting venue at about 8.30. I thought there would be crowd as usual. But I was wrong. Since the voting venue in my neighbourhood was splitted in to two, there was no long queu. Alhamdulillah.

I went with my husband who was also very eager to vote. This GE was not our first, somehow it felt like it was.

From the very first time I knew who to choose for president. Unlike voting for president, I just didn't know who to choose for legislative members. Actually I always do.

F…

Hi, assalamu alaikum.

 I was having a late dinner last night. My hubby bought me fried rice. We had a nice conversation that night as it was only us, the kids had gone bed.

 "I love this fried rice. Full of flavor. It has pickles, too," I said.

 "As long as there aren't any chopped bird-eye chilly in it."

Have you ever biten chopped bird-eye chilly in your rice without any prior notice? 

I have. And it was sooo awful. I needed to drink a lot of water to rinse my mouth. The cook cheated me!

Well, life is sometimes like that. It's full of surprises and lessons. Not only in everyday life, even in business.

My brother, who started his own men's fashion shop 2 years ago told me that it's likely being cheated when you run a business.

He was being cheated once. A customer canceled the order of quite great amount of trousers. And it was that bad because my brother didn't sign any contract with the customer.

Blogging as business has its own risks. I …

Hi, assalamu alaikum.

Spring is coming! For those of you who live in the Northern Hemisphere, get ready for this special season.

And here is another guest post from Education.com with spring theme. If you are interested in guest posting, please email me to: diah.d.arti@gmail.com.



Invigorate your little one's learning with this spring matching worksheet. For more fun and engaging learning activities, go to Education.com!

Hi there. Assalamu alaikum.

It's February now. One month has passed now comes another one.

Have you set your goal for this month?

I'm trying to do one this February, after reading an email from a fellow blogger. I love to read emails anyway. Especially the ones with personal touches, not just business emails.

I never set any specific goals for myself before. But today, I read the email and I'm touched with it and I hit reply button and I realized I had made a goal set.

I know it sounds weird but sometimes I need extra push from other people to make me a better person.

Okay. Let's see what my goals are for this month.

My first goal is to be more patient to my sons. Ah, this is every mom's dream, I guess. Many of them have succeeded, many others haven't. I'm in the second group of moms.

I have three sons. This year they will be 10, 9 and 2 years old.

For my first and second son, Mr. Inventor and Mr. Professor, I need to be more calm to them.

They are now in …

New semester has begun. The holiday has passed, now comes the busy school days.

Mr. Inventor and Mr. Professor have been going to school for a week. And they have gone back to their routines. Including routine play time with their best friend.

Those two little guys have a good friend who is also a neighbour of us. The friend, Mr. Familiar, is one year older than Mr. Inventor. He is in grade 5, while Mr. Inventor is in grade 4 and Mr. Professor now is in grade 3.

A Neighbour Who Becomes A Good Friend

As we are neighbours, I know Mr. Familiar's mom quite well. We even talk about our kids' behaviour, especially when there is something important. I have written about it here in Bahasa Indonesia: Dua Tawanan Saya.

They were not best friends from the beginning. But somehow someway they found similarities and became friends.

Later, Mr. Inventor spent less time interacting with Mr. Familiar. But, Mr. Professor did the opposite.
People say that when two kids play together, they play …