Friday, August 29, 2008

My Merdeka Episode

This week is the final week before the Holy month of Ramadhan. My plan was just to sit back & relax for I know Ramadhan will be a little bit occupied for me. What more with my 2 elder girls have started fasting & my helper is going back home for Raya holiday 10 days before Syawal.

HB was around from Monday to Wednesday. So was still busy doing errands to the bank, buying groceries at hypermarket & even the wet market (I was able to excuse myself this time, he went with his friend).

Wednesday evening, I was sort of looking forward to Thursday. HB would be away even though for only 2 days, still the time to myself. Do not have to worry about his lunch & dinner. Simply make do with whatever I cook for the girls. Sometimes, my helper will play chef in my kitchen. HB does not eat my helper's cooking.

OK. Still Wednesday evening. I fetched Wardah from school & she was so excited telling me about how she was selected by her teacher to represent her class in a
Pertandingan Pakaian Kreatif Hari Kemerdekaan which would he held on Friday. Friday! Only a day to prepare...

I understood why the teacher chose her. Besides her girly self, I won the jackpot too. This I gathered from what Wardah told me about her teacher's remark - "
Mama Wardah kan mesti kreatif..." Hahaha... Yeah, right! ;-) Perhaps she was also aware of me as a stay at home mom. Pandai Cikgu. ;-)

So, this was my plan. Wardah owns this
kebaya nyonya which she has outgrown but still can fit the sarong. Thought of using her white baju kurung uniform for the top & the sarong for bottom. Simply make do with any big flag as a shawl. Hmm.. was that creative or what? Not at all!

I needed to improvise. I could dress her up with lots of
Jalur Gemilang which would make her look more like a clown, I think. Definitely I am far more creative than making a laughing-stock out of Wardah. So, I came out with this marvelous idea. My plan was to make Wardah wear the colours of the flag instead of wearing the very flag.

I was to cut out a crescent & a star (bear in mind, 14 points...
susah tu) & paste it onto her baju kurung. For her shawl, I bought 2 ribbons, red & white. At first I was rather hesitated to make the shawl. The thought of sewing it in less than a day... But glad whilst driving home I visualised my glue gun hibernating in my drawer. That would do the trick! The problem was the white baju kurung. The background to the royal colour is blue not white. Was contemplating whether to dye the old uniform blue or get one new plain blue baju kurung for her.

Thursday afternoon. I sent off Wardah to school & at the same time fetched Yasmin home. Yasmin was all smiling entering the car & announced.

"I volunteered to take part in the same competition like Wardah..."

WHAT? Seriously I was speechless. OK, I know it was a good thing that she volunteered but with half a day notice?? These girls were really testing their mom's creativity not to mention patience... Grrrr! It showed how tensed I was with her news that I missed the junction to go to Balqis's kindergarten. Hahaha!

I was very glad though to find out that Yasmin had planned what to wear. She chose to wear her
lehenga & skirt which she wore last year during Sunway Pyramid Ice Merdeka celebration (my girls used to be active in ice skating). Thank you Yasmin for taking the burden off my shoulders. But the lehenga is sleeveless and kind of short. It might suit the crowd in Sunway but in her school, hmm... I doubt it.

Again mama has to be creative... At 230pm, I sent off Yasmin for
mengaji & went out to JJ. Well, I tried Tesco first (malas nak keluar jauh konon) but didn't find anything that agreed to my creative mind... hehehe. Alhamdulillah, at JJ I got Yasmin a long sleeve white baby T (wanted to get short sleeves but I think long is more elegant) & a plain blue baju kurung for Wardah. Not exactly the blue but that was the best I could get.

Later in the evening I found out from Wardah that she had to model on a runaway to parade the
baju kreatif. Good thing that I got her a better one. It's not that she can't use the baju after the competition. Another pair for her mengaji collection ;-)

OK, this was how I prepared the red & white striped shawl. I also made a red & white striped headband for Yasmin.


I sewed each end to a band for Yasmin's headband


What do you think?



Yasmin with her classmates



Yasmin & Wardah far right during a Merdeka celebration performace at Sunway Pyramid Ice last year

Now, Wardah with her Jalur Gemilang theme.

Today, Yasmin came home with 2 prizes. She was the 2nd runner up. Another prize was for a Merdeka Quiz which she obtained the 1st prize. Wardah on the other hand, was awarded a consolation prize for her fifth place. No matter what, I am so proud of both of you!! Love you! Mmmmuuuah!

Yasmin & Wardah, what is important here is the meaning of Independence. True that we are celebrating our 51st nationhood this Sunday, 31st August 2008. But what do you understand of being independent? Readers, care to share...

"HAPPY MERDEKA DAY"

12 comments:

Banshee Creative said...

Selamat Menyambut Hari Kemerdekaan :)

you are one creative mum hehe

wahh your girls looks sooo proud to wearing your "Creations" :)

Waterlily said...

Ja

wow! You really are very creative dear. And your daughters must be very proud to have such creative mom.

Selamat menyambut bulan yang mulia bulan Ramadhan, selamat berpuasa and selamat hari merdeka too!

Cheers.

Dalam Dakapan Ibu said...

Ja,
If my children were to come home with the news macam tu.. maunya pengsan Kak Ja! Dah lah tak creative, ayoyo...

Kudos to you for making them the bajus and creative sesangat in making the whole outfit especially nice!

Anyway, Selamat berpuasa to you & your family :)

jabishah said...

Hi Lia,
Tx dear. They better be proud!! After such a short notice they should.. hahha!

jabishah said...

Hi Waterlily,
You know, while I was gluing the ribbons Wardah made this remark about her going to do exactly like what I did when she becomes a mom. At first I was like so pleased hearing her saying that. Tapi... eh baru nak masuk 8thn dah fikir nak jadi mak!! Hahaha..

jabishah said...

Hi Kak Ja,
Hehehe... tx. Mmg rasa mcm nak pengsan pun. Tapi cool je depan diorg. I have to play along lah. To them, mama is a creative goddess. Hahaha!

Anonymous said...

Congrats to the creative mummy & girls!

Unknown said...

Oooi, pandailah this mommy. So pretty all of them look in their costume.

Lizamurni Lokman said...

wah....mmg creative la u nih.....and your girls look so pretty...

jabishah said...

Hi a&a's mom,
Thank you... hehehe. So, it is true that's lehenga. That one a friend bought all the way from India & my... was it cheap!
Hugs to your Abs.

jabishah said...

Hi Lian,
Hahaha! Thank you. Pening juga tau nak fikir their costume... But it turned out OK lah kan? ;-)

jabishah said...

Dikny darling,
Creative? Hahaha... bakat terpendam kut. Menuntut drp Nanie. Hehehe!