gone fishing :)

well, the bags are half packed. besok just packing a few stuff jer. then a couple of stuff to do and voila..off we go to kansas city first to visit a friend yang had a baby dah berbulan and now baru nak pergi tengok. and on sunday..we will leave for minneapolis proper.

first time she did not resist taking pictures :)

adik jangan cakap lah..she is like my 2nd chance nyer model :)

to be so carefree and young :)

my whole body is aching. didn't know that swimming takes a lot out of you. and yes..i am taking swimming lessons..hehe. sean lah my teacher. ingatkan nak amik private lessons..but just kat the lake..i thought..might as well try try and alhamdullilah, i can float on my back and float on my front, albeit kena tutup hidung with my fingers...hehe..and i can tread water a bit..slowly slowly lah.. sarina toksah cakap lah...she was giving me pointers when all i wanted was for her to give me some space. sarah, she was in her own little world. swimming kat shoreline and for the most part..main pasir :) water was a bit cold, but once you get used to it, it was fun :) so mintak2 by this year i can swim..hehehhe. well, here are some pictures from last saturday nyer swimming at the lake and our friend kite surfing.

this is also the first time i have seen these flowers near the water.

this turn out to be very nice. caught a picture of the wave rolling in.


ladybugs berlambak...i think every year maybe the park ranges and wildlife ppl released a ton of these bugs :)

biasalah..banyak gambar..hehe. i'll let the pictures do the talking :) you all have a great week ahead okay. and also have a great weekend.

wahhh..abang, kak long best seh..dapat gi japan :) i bet she is so happy..hehe. oh i forgot, to become a consellor at her level is actually a big deal. nak nak when she is elected by the teacher. in my school, we had to have elections and the kids kena buat campaign..macam pilihanraya gitulah..hehe.

one flew on sarina's arm

the kite..high up in the air..it is like 15 feet long or more..sean said like 7 square metres.

here he is trying to take off.

to kak za, sriberry, hartini, nora, mey , missi and faisal, thank you so much for the doas eh :) appreciate it lots.

well, due to all the bad weather, we did not go camping lah. which is good sebab every night there were bad storms all around us. first night, i was okay lah..the second night, i was like, oh my god..it was getting on my nerves. i just went to bed after a while. on the third night, tu lah yang i guess the worst for us.

let's talk about the second night, where sean was very worried for the first time. there was this particular cell that was moving in our direction and the weather person on tv said that there was rotation and then annouced that there was a tornado touching down. and he said that the tornado was a mile and a half wide. that was an EF6 tornado, should it go through any town, it'll be like greensburg. that was what making sean so nervous, but alhamdullilah, it weakened once it got out of the Great Bend area. a town that's 60 miles of us.

then last night, there were rows and rows of storm cells going through this area. well, the past few nights were like that lah. we did however managed to go for a swim on saturday afternoon. the girls enjoyed themselves a lot. playing near and in the water. mak bapak diorang pun enjoy sama lah..hehe. then yesterday afternoon ingatkan nak pikenik kat situ lagi..while we were driving, sean pointed out to a cloud that was going upwards. what looked like a mushroom cloud. then sampai jer at the lake, we saw quite a number of ppl leaving. by then, it was about 3 pm. sampai jer kat campsite, i took out our food lah, and sean took out the weather radio. he and i saw the clouds on the horizon south of us and when the radio sounded, all we heard was the lake nyer area was under a tornado watch. belum sempat bukak makanan, drinks or even our camp chairs, sean cakap pack up. so pack up immediately and sarah started crying sebab she wanted to go swimming.

we had a friend with us, and he wanted to have sean launched his kite for him. he is a kite surfer, nanti i upload gambar dia. but sean told him, 'dude you have to go now. the storm is coming for us.' this guy pulak..alamak..don't get me wrong, i like him and he is intelligent, but when it comes to bad weather..ada ker dia tanya how long before the storm gets to the lake. sean said,' dude, it will be on top of us soon and best for you to get going.' and with that, sean said that we're jetting and sean drove fast trying to get back. which turned out to be fortuitous for us, becaue our area was put under a tornado watch and the lake was under a tornado watch and the warning came about an hour and a half later. before leaving, we saw the ranger driving up to the gate and i guess he is informing ppl of the impending storm. on our way out also, we saw everyone packing up.

anyway, i made a few videos trying to capture the atmosphere. :) more videos here and here :)

tornadoes...

well, due to the bad weather so far, we're stuck here. until tomorrow that is. the cats are stressed out because they are being cooped up again in the pet carrier.

well, yesterday, there were a couple of tornadoes west of us. and tonight, so far there are like a dozen already spotted west of us and one of them according to sean is moving our way. hopefully, by the time the storm reached us, it will have dissipated a bit. i love spring, but that's the time the tornadoes are active.

anyway, just a bit of an update.

camping trip :)

ingatkan nak update sikit kat blog yang terbengkalai ni..but penat seh satu badan. sebab semalam, i angkut tanah nak taruk kat my raised bed. lenkali, i nak suruh the guy yang deliver the dirt to taruk betul2 kat dalam box tu. ada baru amik gambar satu dua..but tak sempat nak download lah. nanti balik, insyallah will put all the pictures. balik tak balik pun mingkin hari sabtu, but if the others nak balik sunday pun best jugak lah. tak buang duit..hehe.

more wild flowers at the trail.

okaylah, i dah nak kena masak for dinner. barang makan and menu for camping pun belum plan lagi ni..hehe.

i suka this flower. similar to what is called the friendship lily..but rather small...nanti nak pergi kat another trail to get a bigger one :)

see you when i get back, insyallah :)

it has concluded :) and mother's day

well, that's what the letter said and Alhamdullilah..all is over for now. sean said that we still have to wait for a few more mths before we get the final notice. yeay! finally we can put the practice in hiawatha behind. anyway, for mother's day kan..i suruh sarina pergi amik mail. tau tau jer..ada 3 cards for me lah..hehe. from who else, dari dia lah..one card tu from all three of them. rupa2 nyer, she was hassling sean one night, sebab dia suruh bapak dia sain the card that she made for me. sarah pun ikut sain sama :) adalah dia tulis2..but this one card..alamak...sebak seh i baca. tak sangka anak i sorang ni very sensitip..hehe. dia tulis apa tau..she wrote:

kat atas ada illustration a beach and a sailboat..dia draw sendiri..something that said 'life without you'.

"Thank you,
Mommy, I know that a lot of the times we get into fights but everyday we think about you. If we didn't have you we couldn't have made life this way. We love you,

Love Sarina, Sarah ,Sean"

Huwaaaaaaa! termeleleh seh air mata. but petang nyer kan..dia buat perangai lagi...wahhhh...dia pulak nangis sebab kena spanking dengan i..hehehehe. oh she also made me a necklace..hehe...besar pulak tu the beads..dah macam sami buddah nyer tasbih kat leher diorang..hahaha.

cak! i'm here :)

on the financial home front, we have decided that it is actually cheaper to not use a landline at all. So we cut our phone but keeping the DSL and upgrading it at the same time. that leaves the question of having a phone at home kan. just in case sarina is by herself when she gets home from school like yesterday. ingatkan doctor nyer check up cepat..but took about 1 1/2 hrs. anyway, i decided to go with vonage. this online phone system. and get this, international calls are always not going to be that cheap, but with vonage, to call singapore is only $0.01 per minute. yep..that is right. so kak za, i will let you know if this works well. will get the adapter ke amende the call it in a few days. they said that the reception is clear and all that so we will see. 30 days risk free trial period.

this mushroom will go into sean nyer couscous tonight :)

oh get this, for a few years now kan, i have been trying to see if i can find morel mushrooms. back in 2005 i think, we found tons of them and the following year when we went back, couldn't find any at all. and after that, sean pulak didn't want to go to the place again. also because of the freeze, maybe that is why takder. so imagine my surprise, when i found one growing next to our house last week, and this week i found another one :) so missing the earthy smell. for your information kan, this mushroom is very much sought after for it's flavour and earthy aroma. kalau nak beli..mmg mahal. because it is not common. kena cari betul2 :) and even then it depends on your luck. cakap pasal cendawan ni kan..teringat pulak citer gila-gila dulu..'ayop anak tulakang'...hidup dia mmg lah susah, pastu kan satu hari, dia jumpa kulat kat pokok getah and started selling it. jadi orang kaya..very kelakar jugaklah komik tu :)

sibuk dia panggil i keluar bawak kamera..rupa2 nyer dia suruh i amik gambar dia panjat pokok. sarah pun try jugak..pastu sarina panggil suruh tolong. ask my, she said that sarah panjat pastu tak tau nak turun..dah tersangkut kat atas pokok..dah i kena keluar pergi rescue sarah.

ngantuk pulak biji mata ni this afternoon. ingatkan nak masak couscous for sean, but macam malas pulak. macam nak order pizza jer..hehe. but no lah, i think besok order pizza. and then kan, this morning went to the post office lah nak renew sarina nyer passport. found out that they no longer do it there, all because they did not have enough hours for it, so the passport issuing dept. took that service away from the post office here..punyalah leceh. now have to go either to sterling or minneapolis, ks to get it done. the one closest to us, salina pulak , have to make appt. and the earliest one we can do is on may 27th. by then too late lah..so we will see if sean wants to do it in sterling. kalau tak..pendek kata tak pergilah Canada after our minneapolis trip. maybe just stay and explore that area. so we will see this friday.

ni lah budak panjat pokok pastu tak tau turun.

wahh..two more days and kak za wil ne hooray-ing with the family eh..best nyer. nak buat popiah pun macam malas sehh..but have to do it maybe besok ker..nengoklah. i made a barter with this lady..she gives me her free range eggs, 2 dozen per week and i will pay in food stuff..hehe. boleh ler, buat popiah, epok2..and lauk kari ke amende ker..hahahaha. sarina loves scrambled eggs. sometimes dia mintak 1 egg sometimes 2 eggs. sean loves poached eggs. yang tak suka telur, any kind lah..is sarah. but now she macam dah nak jugak makan scrambled eggs. agaknyer nengok sarina makan, macam sedap gitu kan. hehhe. okaylah, i have to go and do something. :)

ni biasalah..memula jer happy2..but after hearing that we are going round the trail twice..terus melalak..hehe.

odds and ends and happy mother's day to all mommies out there :)

wahh..dah lama jugak tak update. nak update dari satu hari ke satu hari...tapi apakan daya, banyak kerja kat sini. bukan kerja apa..hehe..buat kerja rumah lah. biasakan, housework ni i buat when i have the mood. sometimes kan, kain baju yang dah cuci bertenggek2 kat dalam bakul..sampai seminggu kadang i tak lipat2..hehe. dulu kat rumah lama, ada extra room, main lambak kan jer kat atas katil tu. saper2 nak pakai baju..terus gi bilik tu...hehe. i ni pemalas jugak lah kalau nak dikatakan..especially tang lipat baju. so now, mood baru..schedule baru..pagi2 bangun, i tak baring2 lagilah.

for what most ppl here considered an eye sore, i love this flower. the dandelion..tapikan kalau cik sriberry nak amik gambar nanti, dia akan pakai bunga danderimau..hahaha

sean pergi kerja pagi2..i terus bangun and do all the necessary housework. so by the time 9.00 am rolls around, dah habis seme. and i am liking it. so how come since i have finished my work that early i takder time to blog pulak? hee hee..segan pulak nak cakap..hahaha

actually kan i tengah kemarok nengok citer hantu kat youtube lah.. that so the past nine days kan..i watched these thai movies and citer seram indonesia yang lama2. dulu time kecik2 nengok wahhh seram..but now time i nengok..geli hati pulak ketawa. nak nak citer sundel bolong lah..citer ilmu penangkal lah...but the thai movies seram jugak lah nengok. die nyer effects bagus tau.

ni lagi diorang tak nak :) sebab takur this weed will spread.

that day i dapat nengok citer puaka tebing biru..best jugak lah. kak za, this one must see tau kak za...but kalau you tak nak tengok dulu takper..nanti insyallah thanksgiving, kiter nengok citer seram ni sesama..macam nengok wayang last year..hehe. both of us nengok citer cermin hee hee! pastu my daughters pulak tak leh tido..hahahaha. and then since we have the DVR..kira macam TiVo lerr...i have been recording shows that i wanted to watch..apa lagi..parked my bum kat recliner..and i can spend hours watching them..bak kata mak nyer kak chom, 'zenzeres'..lah bende ni..hahaha.

tulips taken at a park in salina

also kan..tengah pms sekarang ni..so mood up and down lah. we are also broke..hehe...asyik asyik broke jer eh kiter kat sini ni..actually kan..it's not so bad, but this week kena refund one of sean nyer ex patient nyer crown..tu yang boring tu..hopefully, no more of this nonsense lah eh. inflation is coming, everything here is expensive..pergi grocery kan tak sah kalau you do not spend a minimum of $30 each time. wonder how the others are coping kat sini..yelah lower income ppl. kesian jugak nengok.. but then kan..these are some of the ppl that drive big SUVs..yang pakai minyak bergelen2 lepas tu complain gas mahal. tulah..dari dulu ada desas desus suruh beli kete kecik tak nak...ketawa kan kiter lagi ada. really some of the reasons why these ppl buy these SUVs, or kalau kat sana diorang panggil MPVs kan...was because, kalau ada accident, they said that they will demolish the smaller cars..boleh gitu..and these are the same ppl that are good drivers really.

lawa tak rumah ni eh..this is an ant hill...saw this while hiking.

mana2 pergi sekarang everyone is bitching about the gas prices. tukarlah kereta. and now, the american car companies pulak.. seme nak bengkrap..macam kiter..hehe. tu lah, apa ingat minyak senantiasa ada ker..the pick up trucks down here, i tell you..diorang buat their everyday nyer transportation. and these are not the small blue ones yang kat singapore yang ada yellow light tu tau..ni besar gedabak..like a small bus pun ada.

i was also thinking, at this time last year, all i blogged about was the practice. how miserable we were and so on so forth. this year i noticed that, i am finding out that my blog tak lah se sensasi dulu..hahahahahha..which is rather refreshing really :) tak lah asyik nak marah2 jer kan kan kan... :)

tengah drebing2 nak gi salina..saw these cowboys rounding up the herd :)

anyway, wishing happy mother's day tu kak za..bestnyer kak za...orang singapore datang visit.

kepada orang singapore, namely, my brothers and sister..you all tak nak datang jengok i ker kat sini..hahahahahahahhahaha...

happy mother's day tu..cik sriberry...itu wasimon kiter buat date ah..but bila i tak tau lah..tup tup i ada kat depan pintu you :)

tu kak chom..selamat hari ibu :) abang kasi apa prezen kat kak chom...li and mairah..kasi mak apa ah?

tu khaty, sweets ( you got cat right..jadilah tu eh :) ) nad, mey, nora, swiftlady ( for foxxy) , leilanie and the rest that i have not mentioned here...happy mother's :)

okay gambar still gambar2 bunga sebab i am still in spring mode :) for more pics pls go here :)