Joel & Jovan's World

Weekend Updates

2012-01-30T06:15:00.002+08:00

We had a hot weekend right across Sat to Sun. It was so hot that we just had to get out of the house.

On Saturday, the boys had their usual chinese lessons. after that i took didi for a swim while the other lazy two stayed home. Later on we went to Costco and then to Eugene's house. Went back late and continue our tvb marathon.

Joel's garden was drying up from the heat and i had to quickly water them.

Luckily mom's vietnamese mint is still striving under the hot weather. I got rid off the crazy thyme and cut down the rosemary and mint. might want to consider moving all the herbs to the front garden as the back is just too shady.

this is the vietnamese mint planting at the back garden.

Earle gave us a lemongrass plant to add to Joel's collection. I don't think he will want to eat them but we are having more plants now. The front part here is full of sun which is perfect. I got rid of some other weird plants before creating this patch. will be adding some flowers and my lemon tree soon.

This is my lil boy hugging on to his pringles even while asleep. Our shopping at Costco with one active boy running all over and one sleeping in the trolley.

Later in the evening we went to the park nearby. it is a beautiful park and we will make it a point to take them there often. they truly enjoy it.

isn't it obvious? :)

On Sunday, joel's bestfriend attended church with him. after church we head down to the city to see the CNY festival at Crown. there were lots of shops opened selling food and stuff.

we got lots of food, munching and just walking under the heat, running after the boys, screaming at them. so it was a pretty fun day.

Joel and Jules enjoying the kung fu show. we got them identical caps with solar powered mini fan. really helpful in the heat.

The lil boy knocked out again. too much sun and play. slept for a good 2 hours and didn;t want to sleep at night.

i baked some muffins and lemon bars over the weekend. yes, managed to slot some time to prepare some snacks for them. joel didn't like the lemon bars, i think cause i messed up. sigh.. never bake when you are tired and not focus. the filling over spilled to the crust and all i have is a big lump of lemon mess.
muffins were ok, did like them and i kept some for Joel's lunch box next week. i will be making fruit bars for him after this batch. Trying to give him as much home made snacks compared to store bought ones. Weekdays needs to be healthy eating and we will have some sinful treats on the weekends.

that's the weekends. boys are awfully tired today. hopefully they won't be cranky.

Australia Day 2012

2012-01-27T07:43:00.001+08:00

Like many other Australia Day, we did nothing :)
Australia Day fell on a Thursday in between working days, so nothing much we can do. We did have some friends over for lunch. Hubs cooked a lip smacking CKT(taiping style). yums!
I took jovan out to Bunnings to get some vegetables. Abit too late to be planting veges but i want to introduce responsibilities to Joel and not just let him play games.
I got cucumbers, tomatoes and some peppers for him to take care. Got an extreme heavy bag of potting mix and a basil plant (to replace the one i murdered). I dug some soil out from our small garden and started to plant. I have no idea what i am doing, but it was dirty, messy and yucky. I also got some fertiliser and used them on the plants.
Gardening is hard work. I hope Joel will have some fun seeing the plants grow and if he is lucky, he might get to harvest them.
Joel will be responsible for watering the veges and checking them to make sure they are alive.
Mommy's job will be to weed and buy new ones when it dies :)

I did alot of weeding yesterday till my legs and arms hurt but it just feels so good being in the garden, and just soaking in all the good weather.

Boys just played around, had alot of rest and fried chicken.

I found out my niece fell down and needed stiches near her lips. Really awful but last i heard from back home she is back to her usual self. Can only thank God for taking care of her and lucky it is not something more serious.

One more week and el will be going to school. We have made all the arrangements we need to and just hope they both will transition nicely into the new routine. Waking up is easier now. They have a good breakfast every morning and time management is getting better.
We will see next week when the actual drill starts :)

Happy Chinese New Year 2012

2012-01-23T05:12:00.005+08:00

Happy New Years to all friends and family. Never a better time for the Dragon year with the weak economy.

We didn't get to celebrate New Years with our family back in Malaysia. I am sure they must be having a good time with all the food and noise. It is a very quiet celebration for us in Melbourne. We spent our reunion dinner with our family in Point Cook. We still have lots of food but this time with more hyper and noisy kids to replace the sound of firecrackers.

Sharon and Brian kept a very beautiful garden in their home. Full of flowers and herbs, such a motivation for me to try to keep my few plants alive. :) Basil die under my care as well. sigh. i am really bad with plants.

The boys had a great time just running and playing outside. It is really wonderful to see them grow each year and playing so well. Soon lil baby will join in next year with the big boys.

Hubs made his usual belacan chicken this year and fried zucchini with the extra batter. We took some fresh rainbow trout for Sharon and the bak kua. It was just nice having a dinner with close ones and just enjoying the day. We left pretty late, all were zombified when we got back home. I am back to work and hubs have a day off.

Aunty June cooked the noodles, fish, steamed chicken, veges and pork trotter vinegar. haha. confinement food and CNY food. Brian made pork ribs. yums! eugene got duck and we got the fried chicken.

Eugene holding up the pork ribs while greedy hubs looks on.

soft drinks for el the whole day. celebration day afterall :)
everyone tucking into the yummy food.
no firecrackers in melbourne so just sparkles. Liam was afraid of the sparkles so only the 2 kor kor played with it.

how cute are all of them :)) love the lil smelly boys lots
Kids all going nuts in the garden. laughing non stop :)

****************
Before we went to PC, we head over to Gracie's birthday. She just turned 3 this year and such a darling as usual.

She had a birthday at Gourmet Kids, Malvern. It was a cooking party.

Getting all the kids prep up for the cooking .

Joel also joined in the fun. i think he is the eldest kid there.
mixing n mixing :)
They made cookies and this is didi's cookie.

el's cookie
both cookies made by the boys ready to be bake in the oven.

All of them enjoying the snacks while waiting for their cookies

No pics of the baked cookies and greedy el already ate his.

Everyone had fun and the party pack was so pretty. a lil spatula and whisker for the lil hands. So thoughtful and creative of Amie to come out with such an idea.

Didi knocked out in the car after that and we went back to rest.

Fishing at Buxton Trout Farm

2012-01-23T05:09:00.004+08:00

On Saturday we made a trip to Buxton for fishing. 4 families were there. Jules, Eugene, ray and us.

It was an hour drive for us and the weather was just spectacular.

Didi just couldn't wait to get his hands on the fishing rod. It was quite dangerous as the hook on the rod is jsut everywhere.
there are different level of difficulty in the farm. Mostly trouts and one lake for salmon. salmon is hard to fish while the trout is just too easy. The catch is, u need to buy what you fish and you can't return the caught fishes back into the lake.

Joel was the first to catch a fish. there was initially a much bigger one and luckily it got away. how to finish eating such a big fish.

Cheeky boy with his fishing rod

i made some sandwiches and there were dips and chips for the kids. all were happily munching on and running all over the farm
didi didn;t catch any fish but he managed to catch one towards the end and was happy after that.

We just sat and relax, chit chat with the ladies, had some wine and continue with more alchohol at Ray's house after that.

ray's house was massive!!!. had some more drinks, dinner and we head home. all tired out.
see how tired this lil boy is :))
pic before we hit the road back. we caught 4 fishes in total. we kept one and save the rest for Sharon.

nice outing, must definitely plan another trip.

I miss my buddy

2012-01-20T09:44:00.004+08:00

Year 2012, many changes to our family. New routines for the 2 boys and us.

One of the thing i don't miss is not being able to go back with hubs. We usually go to work together and back together. But with hubs current role, he needs to stay back and i can't afford to let my kids be picked up late, so it is just me and the kids.

I still wonder how i get my stamina and how i manage to keep up with the 2 active boys under my care for the few hours. Me and hubs usually split up the work of cooking, bathing. Now it is just me getting dinner ready, bathing them, trying to slot in some laundry work and cleaning up. It is really hectic but i try not to let the kids get to me. They can be so slow and have so much to say. So part of this new routine is my new ability to be extra patient with my boys. If they have something to tell me, i will listen and if they get on my nerves i try my best not to shout and just reason with them. Most of the time they will listen but takes a while to register in the brain that they need to undress abit faster and stop rolling around the floor naked.

Kids don't know what wasting time means cause time don't carry any weight in their world. That's how i love them :) so it really isn't about the chores and the additional work. But being alone. Not having someone to talk to while you are driving back or having that extra pair of hands around when you need it, just plain sucks. No matter how irritating my husband can be, it is still nice to have someone there.

So this is my routine.
6.00am - rise and shine.
6.30am- breakfast and lunch box packed
6.45- kids eat and waste time till 7.10am
7.10am - packed them in the car and go
7.20-7.30am - in 2 weeks time we will drop Joel first then didi at the daycare
7.40-8.45am- estimated time to go work these days in the crazy traffic
4.15-4.45pm- depending on days they have classes. leave for work
6.00pm - reach home and start getting dinner ready, bath kids, nag them, get them to thank God for anything, sometimes i get them to thank God that mommy is still sane. Funny how kids think. didi will thank God for his toys and food. Joel will thank God for the window and doors. i ask him why, he says so bad people don't come in. (trauma from ipad incident)
while they have their dinner, i will be having their fruits chopped up or some jelly for dessert.
7.30-8.00pm- time for bed. hardest point is to get them to stop chatting and sleep. one will ask for milk, one will ask for youtube on the phone. if they feel like being normal, they will ask for bed time stories. else they will just be doing their nonsense.
8.30-10.00pm- get household chores done and planning for the next day meals. get my facial done or just doing some light reading. Hubs will prepare dinner stuff for next day and i will just execute.

that's what i do every day :) hectic yes, tiring yes. But i love being a mommy and most of all i love seeing and spending time with my boys. So all worth it in the name of love :)

Baking weekend

2012-01-16T06:38:00.003+08:00

Finally a weekend where i get to do finish up my CNY food stuff. I finished the pineapple tarts and hubs finished the Bak Kua. The salty-sweet dried pork BBQ slices.

Easy to do cause Joel was away for the whole of Saturday for his sleepover. My boy really is grown up. He nows baths himself, dresses himself and does not want to come back.. sigh..

We wanted to pick him after lunch but the boys wanted more play time so we catch up for dinner and then went our to Jule's house. The played even more and we left late. Glad he had a good time with his friend but i was just missing him so much. I know it is just one night but i need to sleep with my babies :)

Poor Jovan misses his bro so much. He was so lonely and played by himself. He was extremely well behaved and quiet when we had dinner at Joe's place on Friday. I felt that someone kidnapped my son and replaced him with an angel. But once Joel is back, everything is back to normal.

I spend some time planning for the week and preparing Joel's breakfast/lunches menu. I will soon be busy doing all these when he actually starts school. I am starting to freeze burger patties, getting the pantry stocked with his lunch box goodies and i actually bought 5 different lunch bags and boxes. :) Hubs say i am crazy. Well, all these will die down after making his lunch for many years to come.

I am still continuing to make healthy breakfast for my boys and they seem to get the hang of it now. Wake up, put socks on, wash their wash, brush the smelly teeth and come down for breakfast. We will talk and tell story while i have my coffee and then go out. It is easy and calm by just waking up 15 minutes earlier. Makes heck of a difference!

I tried to make some dinner but Joel has specially requested the dad to make dinner from now onwards. sigh. mommy's cooking is really bad. I tried to make some ricotta cheese pasta for them, and it was so bad that i almost gag. yucks. I will never buy ricotta cheese anymore.

Hubs spending quality time with didi in the arcade.
Didi fooling around with my phone

no more pics plzzzz.. :)
my countless attempts in pineapple tart making. everytime it tastes different. sigh.
I am thankful for the cutter my sis got me. such a life saver. This time jam too wet. Didn;t cooked it dry enough.
but at least it didn';t get burn badly from the egg wash like last time.

All packed and ready.
bak kua also finished. 2 kg of minced pork. :)

Bad Luck weekend

2012-01-09T06:18:00.003+08:00

We did alot on the weekend. we went to the beach, attended a birthday party and did lots of food planning and preparation for the family.

New year's reso is to have healthy balanced meals for the family. especially now Joel is going to school, i need to make sure he has a good lunch box and breakfast. So i am adjusting that alarm clock 15 minutes earlier to make that extra effort for breakfast and myself in the morning. I have been successful in making balanced breakie for them since Sat.

Started with blueberry pancakes but Joel don't fancy pancakes, he only picked on the fruits. Didi just slurp on maple syrup..

Sunday i made simple ham and cheese sandwiches. But i sneaked in some finely chopped carrots and double cheese for Joel. he needs his calcium. he likes sandwiches much better.

This morning i made tuna sandwiches with tomatoes and a slice of cheese again. he finised half of it. Pretty good start since we never made any breakfast for the kids and it is just rush and go. But he won't have breakfast when he is at school unlike daycares where they served them breakfast, lunch and tea. So it is really up to me to make sure my boys have the best.

We went for Pi Pi catching on Sat. bad choice as it was not a good weather, there were no pi pi cause we arrived pretty late in the arvo and we had our car broken into while having dinner. not pleasant for the boys seeing glass everywhere and the ipad stolen. Lesson learnt for all of us. Not much of the pain in losing an expensive item but the hassle and literally the pain in sitting on pieces of glass. I vacummed countless times and still i can feel there are bits and pieces poking me somewhere.

Sunday, i woke up early and started my jam making. i process 3 huge extremely unfriendly pineapples the night before. the torns were poking me endlessly and it was hard work getting the flesh out. no wonder people pay more for pineapple tarts. They are hard work.

i cooked the jam in the morning, blend the pineapples and sieve the juice out to save on cooking time. Finished within an hour and let it cool. Still mushy but i will cooked it again next week before i start baking. packed it all in the fridge to let it dry out more. had a taste and it was yummy :) Just received the almond cookie recipe from MIL and can't wait to try that out. that will be our CNY treats.

after that attended a bday party, kids had so much fun and as usual didn't want to leave. we left in the evening and had our few pieces of caught pipi from the day before as dinner. Boys had rice and tofu with minced pork. Joel love pi pi and had a full bowl of pipi himself.

That's our weekend and more busy weekends to come.

Luckily Aunty Sandra brought a whole box of munchies for the hungry kids :)
Boys just busy eating. Not putting any effort to dig for pipis. It was starting to rain and we took the kids to shower and waited for the men to come back from pipi digging. luckily the manage to catch a small bucket of pipi.

the kids played in a little puddle of sea water. jumping, laughing and being kids.
it is amazing that they have no worries at all. my head was thinking about how to clean the sand out of them, get them all to shower in a toilet shared by everyone at the beach.. :)

Joel preparing for bday party. taking along his glow sticks and playing it in the bright afternoon. that's my silly son :)
generous yummy food and good company. what can we ask more for a better way to spend the day.

It was a good weekend despite the unfortunate break in. The kids had a good time and so did we just catching up with old friends. can't wait to continue my baking :)

missing our family back home and hope they are all doing superb!

Day at the Beach

2012-01-03T06:50:00.007+08:00

Our 2nd day for the new year was a scorching hot day. a high of 40C and it drove everyone nuts.

hubs took the kids out to the sea and we have a nice big tent borrowed from our neighbour.

the kids were very excited to go to the sea, we packed lunches, lots of cold drinks and junk food.

we went to a nearby beach at Chelsea. when we got there there was already a crowd just chilling out at the beach. i think we were the only people that is fully clothed top down. haha.

this time didi was the brave one, he paddled in the beach without fussing and even went quite deep with hubs and his cousins. Joel was the scared one and only played at the edge. he was just afraid to get wet and dirty.. wonder where he got that part of the genes from :)

they played and played and the water was nice and cold which helps cool them down. we spend a couple of good hours there and then went back home.

Joel running around the beach
Joel in his bath suit and ma ma well protected from the sun

me just hanging around the sea taking care of the boys

didi and his watering can

Jan taking care of didi in the sea
break time

ku ku can't resist getting all wet as it was just too hot
ma ma taking a pic in our tent. as u can see we are the only ones with the huge tent.
kids taking a break from the sea and the heat.
shua busy digging a hole and hiding inside it

didi feeding hubs chips
Joel in my sunnies

Shua deep inside the hole covered with sand

joel playing with his watering can in the sea :)

Earle gave us a grape tree over Christmas and we finally planted it. Thanks to shua for digging the hole to put the tree in.
he has been very good a digging recently.:)

didi busy painting at home.

we had a wonderful day with everyone yesterday. they will be going back tomorrow and we will be back to our routine life again. sigh...

First Day of 2012

2012-01-03T06:36:00.004+08:00

Jan 1st 2012 falls on a Sunday, and we spend this very first day of the year at church. Got the kids up bright and early, fixed them some brekkie and got them ready for church.

not alot of people at church but they managed to behave themselves and we then head for lunch after church. bought subway for the 2 joshuas and we took the rest for yum cha nearby.

didi pointing at the camera wanting mommy to carry him

kids enjoying their lunch

first family shot for 2012
and another :)
Ma ma and didi

Happy we got Ho Yee out for some dim sum.

New Years Eve

2012-01-03T06:08:00.007+08:00

We spent New Years eve with our family this year. We went to Point Cook to see lil baby and he is just adorable. How i miss carrying a baby and it has been pretty long since i carried one.

He sleeps soundly the whole time and is so tiny. It is such a blessing for Sharon and Brian to have a new addition to the family. Liam doesn't seem to be affected but it will be so nice to have all the boys playing and running next year.

We brought Ho Yee there as well to see the baby. As usual, we will packed lunch and the whole family ate together at Sharon's place.

Ma ma very happy holding lil baby. and he has a little smile there. such a cutie.

before we left, we took a picture just outside the house. A great family get together for all of us.

the kids like to snap pictures of Jovan crying cause they reckon he looks very cute with the sour face. I have to agree as well :)

we bought a ball for the kids and they have been playing outside every evening since.

hubs took the kids and Ma Ma for ice skating while i took Ho Yee back home. Ma Ma being a sports woman has got no issues balancing on the slippery ice.

The kids enjoyed the skating as usual.

didi didn't want to hold the glider anymore, he wants daddy to hold his hand as it moves faster that way

Luckily Joel still want to use it and is pretty happy with it.

Janice and didi outside the skating ring
my boys :)

we didn't stay up for fireworks and we didn't wait with the crowd in the city as well. All we did was just watch the kids play at home, have a nice time and slept. The best new year's eve celebration for the family.

Werribee Zoo Outing

2011-12-28T06:48:00.006+08:00

We took the kids out to the zoo yesterday. Weather was amazing but kids are not too entertained at the zoo, they rather be ice skating. :)

Got there early and the queue was already growing.

The boys were just busy clowning around, running all over the place.

While waiting for the safari bus, we just walk around and took some pics.

We took a walk and saw some emus. Shua as usual with his nonsense, trying to scare the poor emu away

some more pics of more emu with Jan
All excited to be on the bus in the start and then they got bored with the ride. nothing much to see as it was hot and most of the animals are under the shade.

funny faces
we manage to catch a photo of the giraffe up close.
after the bus ride, they were hungry and we got hot dogs for them
didi doing his epic face.
me and the boys. Joel looks abit scared here.

after the ride, we walked around the zoo.

this used to be Joel's fav during the last trip to the zoo and it still is.

me and hubs.
Shua and Joel sitting on Hippo watch boat.
in the lil hut with all the kids ;)
my lil boy growing up way too fast.

Hubs and Janice with a odd looking creation in the zoo.

The only females in our group. we really need to get more girls :)

we dropped by Sharon's place after the zoo. Sharon just had a baby. we have yet to see lil baby yet but both mom and baby are doing well :) Liam is now a big ko ko
Brian did an amazing work in the garden, all by himself. he really should be doing landscaping.

Janice, hubs and my bro slept when we reached back home. we had some steak and cakes and called it a day :)

Christmas Lunch 2011

2011-12-28T06:16:00.003+08:00

Merry Christmas to all. We had a nice lovely time with our family here.

This year we have the kids here and MIL, Ho Yee and we celebrated with Sharon's family and also Brian's mom. It was a big gathering with lots of food and joy.

Kids woke up extra early to open their presents. all happily tearing the wrappers and opening their toys.

All busy playing with the toys

We were all busy with the food preparation. Jan also helped with decorating the cookies. We made gingerbread shaped cookies the day before as the oven was booked for the turkey on Christmas day.

All the kids. playing games day after day

as usual, we always have a mixed Christmas lunch. Last year we had ikan bakar and this year hubs made salted fish fried mee hoon and MIL made wan tan mee (without the wan tans). so we had asian food and western food altogether.

Hubs made the Turkey, Sharon brough coleslaws, her famous potato salad, a ham for us (which we did not cut), cocktail prawns. There were also bbq sausages, lambs, mushroom. and endless of other stuff.

Brian doing the honour cutting the turkey while the hungry boys looked on.

Brian's mom made truffles and also brought pavlova over. all the kids were getting excited
Family shot minus hubs, Justin and the kids. Ho Yee enjoyed the lunch so much. She loves the potato salad and kept asking for seconds.
Didi and ku ku with their fav soft drinks. coke..

we had alot of leftovers the next day which we made into Turkey stock. MIL and hubs used it for alot of meals, frying noodles, making risotto, which is all so yum!

that is our Christmas for 2011 :)

Ice Skating @ Ice House

2011-12-28T06:09:00.003+08:00

Hubs took the kids for ice skating last weekend. They had so much fun they did not want to leave.

Didi was reluctant to try at first, but he then asked to go and also enjoyed it. Now ice skating is on their top fav list.

Didi was only playing outside the ring.

Joel enjoying his skating

all the kids having fun
I didn't go with them as i need to clean the house up for our Christmas lunch. Hubs took the tired boys to Costco while the bigger kids continued to skate.

This is how tired they played at Ice House :)

Another weekend for us

2011-12-19T05:44:00.005+08:00

My parents went back last weekend. Very sad that they are not here anymore but i think they spent some good quality time with the kids.

I sent them to the airport, and later took didi and Jan out for some shopping.

Sunday, went to church and later to Foresthill for lunch at Fridays. Took the kids for some games at Time zone and then hubs took them for laser skirmish. Joel also joined in the game but i don't think he enjoyed it very much as everyone was shooting him.

Joel with his gun

the boys
my bro and shua
Didi and jan and Ma ma just hang around the time zone area. Jan won a sour candy for didi. his face was just scrunch up when he pop it in his mouth.

Nice shot of didi and his cousin

we had a nice lunch, everyone was so full

having ice cream with Jan at westfield.
another shot of didi and shua

that's our weekend. will be taking the kids to the zoo next week during the holidays :)

Weekend updates

2011-12-12T06:16:00.003+08:00

My FIl and the maid left last Saturday night. This weekend my parents will be going back. Our house is slowly losing our very much loved visitors. The boys totally love the time they get with their grandparents, cousins and ku ku. I think the only present they wish for is for everyone to stay together.

We have been taking turns bringing everyone around, so it has been very busy for us. But a good busy feel. I will definitely miss all them when we are back to our routine life. :(

didi has been very clingy to po po ever since she arrived.
Suddenly he became a baby.

i bake with the kids, let them have fun in the kitchen and they definitely enjoyed it.

took the monkeys to shoppingtown and they were clowning around while popo is shopping.

we haven't been going to many places, just nearby, grocerries and alot of meals time together. it is the most fulfiling time just doing nothing and enjoying company of loved ones.

hope my kids will learn more about family values and ties each time we get together. :)

Joel Graduation

2011-12-12T06:12:00.005+08:00

Joel has completed his kindy and no more daycare for next year. Still can't believe how fast time passes by and soon he will be off to school with a new routine and a new start in his early years education.

We took everyone except for Ho Yee to his graduation play on Friday. They were all very proud of him.

There is a courtersy photograph of him with a cheeky smile.

Proud Ma Ma :)
a pic of all of us. I think Joel has the most family members attending this event. both set of grandparents and his cousins and uncle.
busy opening his present from Santa while didi looking very sad and frustrated he did not get one.
a pic with Santa and Ms Alice
Joel's kinder teacher, Ms Toula which has help so much in developing his confidence.
my lil man with his friends

didi being very restless during the play
Joel played as a tree in the play.

He also did some singing in Chinese with a group of friends.

Proud hubs
Didi also has his play the day before. He sang a few songs and just wanted to dash out of the room to go back. that's the lil boy. going to the big boys room next year.. sigh. 2 drop off points for us.

another family shot :)

Family Time

2011-12-05T08:29:00.002+08:00

Sharon and gang came over on Saturday and we hung out the whole day.

I took my parents for the morning run, the tuition and the tennis. we had breakfast at tha Pancake Parlour while waiting for the boy's tuition to be over.

After that Liam came over and they brought a big box of mangoes and so many pipi. yummy!. we fried the pipi, had the leftover steamboat soup and just chit chat the whole day. the weather was superb and the company even better.

They stayed for dinner and we had some fried mee hoon. Liam was very tired but managed to play the whole day without his usual nap.
thanks to popo for the tupperware ice cream maker. we had orange popsicles for the kids

we also had a home made family portrait . nice :)

Kitchen Workshop Family Lunch

2011-12-05T08:14:00.005+08:00

We took both families out for a buffet lunch at Crown Casino on Sunday.

The name of the place is Kitchen Workshop. the food? ok only. i think the taste is decent but lack of choices, or maybe we are too spoilt with the buffet in MY.

After lunch, went back and we were so full that we skipped dinner. Made light snacks for the kids and sent them to bed.

we took lots of pictures at Crown.

Me and my very grown up bro. He is now taller than me.

with PIL.
Jan and PIL
Me and daddy

me n didi
the queue was very long so we just took more n more pics

all full from the buffet

didi dirty his whole sweater from the chocolate fudge.

wonder what's so funny .. :)
when i see the bigger kids carrying my kids, i do feel old but with a nice accomplished feel. i used to carry Joshua, Janice and my bro, and now they are carrying my kids, helping me take care of them. it is amazing to see them grow and mature. Love all of them lots. :)

I slept like a pig after the buffet.. i think i gained like a few kgs from all these eating spree

Joel Birthday Celebration

2011-12-05T08:04:00.008+08:00

My parents arrived on early Friday morning. I went to pick them up and they are so happy to see the kids.

Popo immediately played with the kids and smothered them with lots of hugs and kisses. The kids are now spoilt rotten by both set of grandparents.

Our house has never felt so full and happy. I totally love it.

It was Joel's actual birthday on Friday. We had a Korean bbq and steamboat just us family.
Started with the Korean BBQ.

Birthday boy in his comfy clothes. Can't be bothered dressing up as it is in our own house and everyone just want to be comfortable.

Hubs getting into action.
Family shot outside our house.
My house is now a hawker place. PIL build a outside cooking stove to cater for our Chinese cooking. So we avoid having to clean up so much inside.

Family having a good time, eating and catching up.

Popo busy feeding the boys.

so great to have mom here feeding them :)

Joel whacking the bbq beef.
Another family shot
with more eating
the kids were playing at the trampoline shortly after dinner. the trampoline has never been so heavily utilised.

Sizzling beef .. the kimchi was so good. we finished the whole tub
after having outdoor bbq, we went inside for more food.
we had the best steamboat soup. FIL put 6 chicken carcas in the soup. it was just so sweet and tasty. I lost count how many bowls i had

After dinner, we let Joel blow his cake again. This time i made a simple cheesecake but i forgot to line the tin and the whole biscuit base was stuck to the bottom. hehe
we put on the magic candle where it never dies. the poor boy was huffing and puffing trying to out out the candles
a family shot :)

Right after he blew the candles, the lighted again. :)
he had a good time with it but i think the cake was filled with his saliva.. yucks :)
Making a wish again.

more family pics
and more...
and more..

and that's it.
Happy 5th Birthday my darling Joel :)

PIL 42nd Anniversary

2011-12-05T08:00:00.004+08:00

Last week, we celebrated my PIL's 42nd Wedding Anniversary. How amazing is that? I really admire how they maintain such a wonderful marriage for such a long time.

We decided to eat out and not cook for that night. Took the kids to Sofias for their pasta and pizza meals.

Never a big fan of Sofias but got to let the kids have a try at it.

My lil didi was playing at the mini indoor playground with another girl.

My PIL, sharing their marriage for 42 years.. hope me n fatty can do it too.
Joel and his punching antics. Recently this is what he likes to do, punching and kicking..
Me and Jan girl, :)
A family shot outside the restaurant
Take 2 with didi looking at the camera this time.

Uncle Bung and his nephew :)

Random pics

2011-11-29T11:38:00.003+08:00

Some pics of the kids and our family during this visit.

Boys busy with the gardening.

Didi happy playing trampoline the whole time the kids are here

working hard.. :)

Joel monkeying around as usual.

Taking a pic with a shy shua outside the vietnamese restaurant

Playing with ku ku.
my cutie :)
very yummy vietnamese noodles at our next suburb.
kids playing outside when the weather is good. I think my tennis pole is going to be gone soon.
Janice taking care of Jovan. such a nice pic of them together
cheeky boy playing by himself.
Take 2 :)

Birthday Pics

2011-11-29T06:31:00.006+08:00

Some pics from Joel's birthday

Woke up early to prepare the sandwiches.

Took the cake out to thaw.

we got there super early, and there was another party there so we had to wait. sigh..

Benny took all the boys out to buy chips. so just some peaceful time before the party starts

Jan and Kong Kong & Ma Ma

The bowling starts immediately and the staff was giving the briefing to the parents and kids.

Joel looking very blur there
Joel and his friends.

Ho Yee was also there with Maria.

Then it was time to eat and cut the cake. there were lots of kids. crazy chaos!

kids all busy eating, spilling drinks, food and having their kids chats.

Joel excited blowing his cake. this was the second candle blowing as he forgot to make his wish. i wonder what kids wish for at this age?
Ready?
Making his wish.. :)

Then cutting his cake...

After the party, we went for Vietnamese food at boxhill. Kids everywhere, running and playing. Such a wonderful gathering.

Our God Son :) growing way too fast as well.

the 2 Joshuas. :)

Me with Jan girl.

Back home, Joel had a great time opening his presents.

with help from Ma Ma nd Jan of course

after that we fixed up the hotwheel ramp and the boys had more fun. Didi is the one benefiting from it all :)

That's it for now

Joel 5th Birthday

2011-11-28T06:25:00.004+08:00

We had Joel's 5th birthday celebration last Sunday at Boxhill Healthways. There were more than 25 kids, parents, close friends and family celebrating with this lucky boy.

I can't say that is is the most organised event I have done. The people at the place is no doubt the friendliest but also the slowest. Luckily we prepared some food as the kid's food came out so late.

With the help of my in laws, the maid and my niece, we managed to pull through a cake, sandwiches and muffins. Also with the help of my FIL and hubs, and the boys, we managed to lug all the drinks and party goods around. It was really a "gotong royong" style.

Joel was pretty much in his own world, happy playing with his friend like just any other day while I was stressing with all the prep. Joel enjoyed himself and that is the most important objective to meet. He enjoyed himself more ripping the presents and playing with his toys when we got back.

His actual birthday falls on this Friday. By then, both set of grandparents will be celerating his birthday again. He is really really blessed. This time in the comfort of our home. phew.. :)

Joel's cake was a labourous effort by my MIL, Jan, Maria and myself. It took me months to learn how to make a decent cake, how to get icing consistency and colours right. And also endless research on how to design a cake, store the cake, etc.. headache to the max.

It took me 2 days with all the help i can get. one day to bake and another to decorate.

I tried to bake a single layer of butter cake but it was too thin, so had to make another one and pile it on top.

Jan help with the little stars molded from pre made icing. we also roll the mushrooms into little Mario mushroom but i reckon the red is not RED enough.

the grass is made from wilton tip 233, difficult as the melts with the heat from the hand, i should have made separate bags so it will be easier. but piping the grass is so fun. MIL piped the whole cake and then pasted lil decorations around the cake too. the number 5 is made of oreo cookies and lil tic tacs on top.

those cars are not edible of course, i grab them off some dodgy internet site.

Taste of the cake? too dense i would say, overmixed batter. but still edible.

that;s the final product. MIL also made a flag to say Happy Birthday Joel so all complete and done.

no more parties for next couple of years.

We had lunch after that with Sharon and Suzzane at Boxhill. We sat separate tables as we had a huge crowd. I sat with the kids and Suzzane. Didi was so hum sup, just want to sit next to Lam Lam and smuggle so near to her..

See the cheeky boy.. sigh..

Joel was sleeping in the car with Maria. just knocked out.

Can't wait for my parents to be here this Friday. yay yay!!!

More pics later as it is all scattered.

No more routine

2011-11-25T05:19:00.003+08:00

What are the boys up to these days?

on a no routine ad hoc crazy schedule :)

Ever since the cousins and ku ku is here, they are having too much fun. sleeping late, waking up early cause they are looking forward for more play and missing daycare.

While i prefer they maintain abit of the routine, i do want them to cherish this time with their family. I can considered our family very blessed to have alot of people giving and sharing love with the boys. I don't think me and Benny as parents can show them the different levels of love and care they are receiving from their grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles :) SoI am very thankful to God for blessing our family.

While the adults are busy with the house, cleaning inside and outdoor, i totally find myself useless for once. I have literally nothing to do. I am going to find it hard getting used to the old life.

Me and hubs had some 'us' time. we had a nice massage in the city after work and we have more time to chill while the kids are taking care off.

The trampoline is going to collapse. It has never been so utilised.

The house has never been so filled with people and so alive. Hard to imagine only 4 of us live here. it was so empty before that.

The kids are eating us dry but we love them all and very happy to have them here. :)

didi being very chirpy and happy these days. He gets so much attention. :)
El totally into the big boy games. He is not well and we are keeping him home till he recovers.

They are here!

2011-11-21T10:11:00.001+08:00

the troops from MY are here.

been so busy getting everyone settled. weekend flew by too fast

this week is el's birthday party. going to be madness.

pics later!

Weekend Updates

2011-11-15T10:08:00.003+08:00

As usual, another weekend came and went just like that. This weekend we have our first batch of MY visitors arriving. and it will be a blast from that day onwards. Our house will be filled with kids, adults all old and young and we will come back home to a house full of life. I am very excited about it. I pray that they all arrive here safely and well.

Last weekend Joel attended Effie's birthday party at Ruffley Lake. Both he an Eugene followed us to church prior to that as I have duty there.

The boys had a good time until Jovan got lost. :(

Jovan wandered off to the hiking trail and we couldn't find him. Luckily an old woman and her son told us about him and hubs managed to locate him. It was the worst feeling in the world. Not knowing what happened to him and if we get to see him again or not. Apparently he was at the bridge looking at ducks. sigh.. i need a GPS watch for my boy. where do i get one?

After all the drama we call off our meeting with the Ips. we were suppose to go for exercise together but we had enough for a day.

When we got back, the boys wanted to decorate the Christmas tree. Abit early but let them have some fun indoors.
Muffins i backed for Effie's birthday. I bake lemon and chocolate muffins but only the chocolate one turn out nicer.
Dinner at Toorak with Ips. our boys play very well with the 2 sisters. I like the 2 girls alot.
the lost boy. Having our usual Sunday dinner at Cinta Raya. Love the fried soft shelled crabs there.
Joel at the Si Chuan restaurant. it was buffet style. Restaurant too dirty for my liking.
all the decorations are at the bottom cause of their height. haha
Finally up and done. I managed to get the Christmas present before last week as they were on sale. So quickly wrapped them out before the boys sees it and under the tree it went
the 2 nottis in action.

Joel birthday is coming up and the preparation is driving me nuts. More updates when our visitors arrived :)

Birthday Parties

2011-11-07T10:45:00.004+08:00

Weekend came and went in a blink.

The weather has been really beautiful and the kids had a good time.

On sat, they had their usual classes and I had my time in the house to clean. I cleared up some stuff for donation to the Salvos and when i dropped some of them off, i felt so heavy and sad that my babies are all grown up and won't be using all their baby things. Everything they owned brings back good memories for me. But we need to clean up the house and stop keeping rubbish. So hopefully someone else will have good use for those things.

I managed to drop by the Chemist, got our usual stock of vitamins and i made it in time to the post office to collect my facial stuff. yay! i got my skII moisturizer and some mask. started using it immediately and immediately felt good about myself. :)

In the afternoon, me and Joel laze around in the hot weather outside our trampoline and just lying around enjoying the sun. It is nice to spend that quality time with my son.

In the evening we had dinner with 3 families at Westfield. Food was OK but service was bad.

After dinner, we had ice cream and me and hubs enjoyed some drinks before calling it a night.

Joel and his crazy sunnies. Party pack from Grace;s bday

didi too.
me n joel having fun at our backyard

big boy jumping around.

on Sunday, we head to Ray's party. before that we pit stop at Warandyte and had breakfast by the river. it was a beautiful place to have breakfast and just enjoy the scenery.

After brekkie, we took the boys for a walk along the river. they wanted to feed the ducks and we throw some leftover bread. Apparently the ducks there don't eat bread and we were told that we need to get special seeds for them. oh well, we better remember that the next time.

my 2 heros enjoying the nature treat.
after that we went to Ray's party at rarenbears. the boys were so happy climbing and running all over the place.

After the party, we took didi for a hair cut.

Hubs and Joel walk on their own and got the fruit ninja game on kinect. super addictive game. I was playing it and sweating like a monkey after that. great workout!
we had dinner at Cinta Raya again and that's it for the weekend.

Joel has been misbehaving at the daycare lately. calling everyone stupid.. sigh.. it is from the Smurf cartoons that he has been overdosing on during our Canberra trip. We are trying to correct him and hope he will be a good boy again

Melbourne Cup Day

2011-11-02T12:57:00.005+08:00

Melbourne Cup day and we are back from our Canberra trip. I washed the car in the morning and it was so good using the pressure cleaner to wash those disgusting bugs juice off the car.

after that, did some housework and then got the kids ready to go down to Costco.

We had brunch at Gold Leaf and then on the way to Costco, they saw the FunFair. Sigh.. it has always been there and they always wanted to go so we let them have a play. we got the Costco membership buy 1 free 1 and they had unlimited rides there.

didi is not crying just showing some funny face.

funny mirrors

Joel very happy there. he sat all the rides and the mini roller coaster by himself.
didi was very scare of most of the rides. he bit his lip while on the bumper car and there were some blood. he was really terrified of the the bumper car one.

giving me a kiss on the merry go round.
more rides for joel

joel love the bumper car. not scare at all

that's the caterpillar ride that joel sat countless times.
they enjoyed the jumping castle the most. both of them. climbing up and down and just refuse to leave.

they had a good time and we had to drag them out of the place as it was getting late and we still need to complete our shopping.

So we shopped at Costco, bought all our stuff and went back. They had a nice bath in the tub and played some more.

Met up with Sandra Ip and family for dinner and that's our long weekend!

Canberra Trip Day 2

2011-11-02T12:23:00.005+08:00

Woke up bright and early and head to our Malaysian Embassy for passport making. we had breakfast at the hotel again and Joel wanted to eat in the train.

Luckily they were nice enough to let us take our meals inside the train to eat.

Boys having fun eating. Joel feeling much better today.

there were alot of people making passport on that day. we were number 7. We took the passport pics and drop the application then head off with the kids to have ride around Canberra city.

we went back to the same lake when we were there to make didi's passport. everything is still the same as 3 years ago.

but this time the boys are bigger and they have so much fun now.

my lil Joel knows how to take pics of us.

hubs bought some bread for them to feed the ducks. they were very happy throwing the bread.

They got tired and we had ice cream after that.

then they wanted to feed the ducks again and we bought another pack of bread. Joel even fed the duck from his hand.

After that we went for lunch at some noodle house. food is very bad in Canberra.

we went to the Canberra city point to walk around as it was still early. Dropped at BigW and the boys got some toy cars. Then we saw some canvass shoes for sale and we got them each a pair.

went back to the embassy to collect our passport. it was done by 3.00pm

one photo outside the embassy

our drive back. i snooze again as it was just too good to sleep after lunch.

after a long drive we stopped at Albury for our dinner. nothing was open. so it was pub food for us.
boys entertaining themselves.
playing with their hotwheels.

the food is really bad....
Joel's passport. see how much he has changed.
and my passport. which i hope did not change much. haha.

we only arrive home around midnight. it was a long drive. the kids watch their smurfs and then slept nicely in the car.

when we got back they were still sleeping until the next day.

A boring trip but good family quality time.

Canberra Trip Day 1

2011-11-02T11:46:00.004+08:00

We went to Canberra over the weekend, taking Monday off to renew both my passport and Joel's.

We took a drive there which lasted for 9 hours inclusive of stops.

Left on Sunday morning around 8.30am. both me and joel were not well but we still had to continue with the trip as everything is already pre-planned. So packed lots of medication, water and make sure the car is filled with pillows, blankets and the kid's shows.

Hubs downloaded alot of cartoons for them but the one the love most and repeated it the whole trip is Smurfs! haha.

We did a pit stop at McDonalds for lunch somewhere nearing Albury and then we switch driver for a while and i got too sleepy and hubs took over.

we finally reached Canberra around 4pm, all feeling very tired.

Checked into Quality Hotel at Dickson and clean up the kids. we had dinner at the hotel itself as we were all too tired to go out. Food was ok only, didi hardly ate and Joel was running a fever every 4-5 hour interval.

Slept at 7.30pm and that's it for day1.

the hotel had a old train serving as a cafe and decoration. Joel loved it and kept running inside out of the train.

all the boys inside the train.

Dinner at the hotel, boys still very active despite the long drive

Joel giving us a nice smile.

the boys were very excited about the whole trip though it was boring with not alot of activities but i guess they are too young to understand. but it was really fun playing with them, just spending the quality time with them.

they were always saying silly things and lauging over small things. it was really nice.

Happy Halloween

2011-11-02T11:29:00.003+08:00

Kids had a dress up day at daycare last Friday to celebrate Halloween.
Very cute to see the kids in the creative wear.

Hubs permanent Halloween costume for the whole month. He has a hairline fracture which requires him to wear a cast for the whole month.

Joel cried when hubs told him he is a robot caused he was scared.

The kids were dress up as well Joel being MasterChef with his accesorries, a mixing bowl and a wooden spoon.
Jovan is a pirate. hand me downs from Kor kor's costume last year. Also a gift from Kai Ma :))

Weekend Updates- Concert and baking

2011-10-25T11:19:00.003+08:00

Been busy lately hence the late updates.

We had a nice weekend last week. We will be looking forward for a long weekend coming up soon.

On Saturday, i tried my pineapple tart baking using Kai Ma's recipe. I know it is not CNY yet but this is the only thing that the boys like. The pastry was really nice though hard to handle as it was very crumbly but after baking, it tastes so nice. Pineapple jam is a nightmare! took me close to 2 hours stirring to get it dry and even after those long hours, it was still too watery.

Which explains the soft jam even after baking. But the pineapple was nice and yummy as i used fresh ones and really melt in the mouth. total yums! finished within a day.. too fast. and they want some more. :)
On saturday itself, Jovan went over to his friend's Gracie's house. He was so brave and behaved so well there by himself. When i picked him up, he was sleeping peacefully in Gracie's room. such a lovely sight but kinda sad my son prefers his friends at such a young age..

we took the kids for the Melbourne Kids orchestra. The theme was clowning around so they had a conductor dressed up as a clown.
it was really entertaining, though i am quite afraid of the clown. But this clown is super talented. demonstrated a range of instruments and kept the crowd laughing.
the 2 boys are not really into the whole music thing. especially didi, running all over and was clowning around in his own world.
Joel insist on taking pic with the double bass instead of the clown. let's hope he don't ask to learn this thing.
didi wanted a pic with the clown. :)
joel and his friends
a pic outside the building
on Sunday, we went to church and the usuals
lunch at boxhill
masterchef in action making pizza.
the 2 chefs in the house. weather was extremely hot. had to take the boys out for ice cream

my little joel loves making pizza dough. he was punching and then he was happily throwing all the filling on top. :)
didi only concentrated on eating his ice cream and making a mess on his face.

great weekend overall!

Birthday Parties

2011-10-17T06:42:00.003+08:00

We are going to have a series of birthday parties to attend in the following weeks to come.

Last week, joel attended his friend's party at Docklands. He had alot of fun. The party was held at Monkey Mania and it is really a place to unleash the monkey in all the kids. The playground was large with heaps of space for the kids to run and play. The party area is a little small but they are only catered for the kids. The party boy had a pirate theme and also a dance with a life sized monkey mascot at the disco room. Yes, kids these days have their mini version of a dance floor. starting young.. :)

Jovan was not very well. he has a cold again. and this time with a tummy bug. He wet his pants at the party and i had to go buy him pants, underwear and socks..

Saturday, we had lam lam over. We went on a shopping treat and joel now has the xbox kinetic. pretty cool as no controller required but some readjustment to our rumpus room as it needs space for them to jump around and for the device to detect the players. It works by moving your hand, feet and body as the controller. The kids had a good exercise and play with it.

Hubs cooked CKT and we had lam lam's parents over for dinner. extremely tired after that.

SUnday we met up with Foebe's family for japanese buffet. Super yummy but didi didn't eat anything. poor baby.

Hubs is home with him today. hope he gets well soon

Pirate theme

Joel on the pirate boat having his snacks
poor didi.. wet his pants and had to wait in the toilet for so long
having lunch at friday's. i had a nice margaritha and felt soooo good after that.
the big monkey mania playground
didi and Gracie. his friend at daycare
didi and me at fridays.

more activities this weekend.. so tired now..

A lil bit on Joel

2011-10-14T07:00:00.003+08:00

I am very pleased with Joel's behaviour for the past couple of days. He has shown improved attention and attitude in the daycare. the teacher was commenting on how bright and good he was. I noticed he is more polite as well, he tells his daddy thanks for dinner, and he sometimes teaches us a lesson or two about being nice. I am very proud of him.

He is back to the gentle and good natured boy. I think the weather played a huge part in someone's mood. My kids are generally more chirpy when the weather is good. I promised them i will let them help me wash the car with the water pressure gun. Provided they don't shot each other, as it can be quite painful. So we will be having some fun this weekend.

Recently joel is coming home with torn pants.. sigh.. i have just thrown 2 pants away and now a 3rd one. what do they do in the daycare!! fight a war? Joel is very particular about pants that are torn and socks with hole. He refused to wear them, so i have to now go and shop for new pants- again! maybe i have to stop washing them so frequent then they will last longer. but i can't stand seeing my son wear the same clothes for more than 2 days. Fresh clothes always make them smell better and helps conceal their sweat smell. :)

Daycare will have dress up day on the 28th. I have been trying to think of all the costumes Joel will like. Someone is already going as policeman, so i told him to go as a Master Chef :) and he agreed. I also managed to find a chef hat and apron for him.

Didi will be a pirate. leftovers from last last halloween. haha. i think if there is a girl, there will be endless choices.. it will take me months to decide what to let them wear. :)

master chef with a pirate sword :)

love you to bits my lil man!

Weekend

2011-10-10T08:04:00.002+08:00

We are completely exhausted from our weekend.

We had alot of activities and were hardly at home. On friday, we had Jules over for sleepover. the boys were playing so much and so well. Occasional squabbles but nothing too dramatic.

Boys slept at 10-ish and woke up bright and early the next day.

Hubs took them for breakfast at HJ and then for their classes. After their classes, he took them for 1.5hour of swimming at Nunawading. They were really so happy!

and i stayed home, baking my lemon tarts. I modified the recipe from a tart pan to mini muffins. Didn't quite work out as the lemon filling was very watery compared to the lemon turd recipe i cooked the last time. So it burnt at the sides and i had to make a new one. This time following the recipe tediously. The pastry i made turned out very nice and golden brown. The filling is much lighter and super sour. :)

I took this to Suzzane's place for our korean bbq. They all like it so another success!

the shortbread pastry
the baked lemon tart.
and it came out nicely from the pan!!! yay!! recipe is from joyofbaking.com :)
we took the boys early to Suzzane's place for place, lots of food, ice cream, soft drinks. all the kid's fav. they had their sausages and dumplings and were playing the whole time.
the best part, they did not disturb us at all and i had a nice time just eating slowly and chit chatting. like i didn't even have kids. haha.
they played with the lantern, watch movies.
Jules and Joel with their spider man lantern
So it was a great nice. Jule's parents picked him up and we left shortly after that
Next day, way too tired, slept in and met up with Earle and Christine for lunch. Later visited our friend who opened a daycare at Narre Waren. Very far but nice to have a comfortable car for traveling around. Makes us less grumpy.
Her daycare is very big and has a nice comfortable touch to it. We had some chit chat, the boys played at the daycare and then we went to Ikea Springvale to buy the mattress for our visitors in Nov. After Ikea, met up with Sandra and her girls for dinner at Malaysian Garden and back home.

everyone was so tired, we have been out the whole day, boys were tired. quickly bath them, push the bins out and lights off! I am happy the boys didn't pull a big fuss as i know they are still tired. With this great weather, no excuses to be grumpy, right?

Well, love our weekends. and love that car!

Our New Ride

2011-10-03T06:01:00.004+08:00

Our car is here. It is so nice and comfortable to go anywhere now. We do not have to cramp and limit the bags in our car. :) And it has more power than the old yaris. Love it so much!

The boys love it just as much. We are planning to get the portable TV for them so they will be entertained during long drives. Still looking

We had dinner with Joe and family on friday night at GW.

the boys being very cheeky during dinner. Joel was very tired. he seems to be more and more tired these days.

we met up with Sharon and family on Saturday at Costco. Had a nice breakfast at the docks and the 3 boys were holding hands and having fun.

we have not been to Costco for some time and just in time to stock up on the basic. the boys were grumpy the whole time there as they wanted a toy and we did not want to buy for them.

Nice to see them growing up nicely.

After their Mandarin class on Sat, i manage to bake a pineapple upside down cake. very yummy and sweet. I got this recipe from joyofbaking.com which has video on how to make cakes/pies too. Perfect for newbies like me that needs visual assistance.

But I have to say my cake has improved a great deal since the first time i started baking. The cake this time is so nice and fluffy, like outside ones. So, i am very proud of myself. First time i brought cake for Earle and Christine to try as it is now presentable.

Unfortunately, noones eat cake in the house, including myself. The kids do not have sweet tooth but they do like the lemon tarts, so i will make those again this weekend.

We took the boys to church last weekend. Daylights saving is no fun as we lose a good hour of sleep.
the 2 brothers playing very well together in the park. Recently, Joel is in his emo phase where he is so sensitive and cries at small things. I do hope this is just a phase. Running out of patience with the lil boy.

Jovan is sort of potty train. Finally! he doesn't want the nappy but forgets and wets himself sometimes. yesterday night he insisted he wants to go toilet, at 2 AM!!!!! i told him just pee in the diaper.. but he won't have any of it. i should be happy but i am so tired and sleepy. sigh.
Both father and son wearing the same pattern shirt. Jovan using the chopsticks as a gun.

we were having lunch at Malaya Inn after church.

Me and my eldest boy. i should really spend more time with him and stop babying Jovan.

We went to Bunnings after visiting Earle and Christine. Hubs bought the wheelbarrow and some household items. I bought a water pressure cleaner the other day. We went back and started using it on the BBQ pit, the car, the windows and the floor. I was tempted to give the boys a bath using the gun. haha. The boys love playing with it, it has a gun nossle and they have thrill seeing it blast through everything. I guess they can wash the car for me now. Best thing i bought, it washes the car so well. I do not need to take it for a wash ever!

We had a simple dinner at home and slept at 7.30pm. somehow still not fully rested. that's our weekend!

Sickies and sickies again

2011-09-26T11:19:00.003+08:00

Last week my dear didi fell sick and I was almost there as well with fever and chills that lasted for a day. Then i got hit with another wave of fever and chills on a Friday. Pop 2 neurofen and got better instantly. Went home and had my lemsip and immediately i was OK. I did all my house chores, washed the car, mop the floor, folding and ironing.. the usual Friday routine.

then on Saturday, both hubs and Joel got sick. Hubs was in terrible state. Went to see a doc and doc says it was viral. But the silly doctor didn't look at Joel's throat and told us he is fine and just need rest. I gave Joel neurofen and he wanted to go for his class, so we dropped him and quickly went for an inspection. Rush back to pick Joel up and his fever was back. In the evening and throughout, it gotten worse. We had to administer neurofen every 4 hours for him

Come Sunday, all weak and tired. Hubs was feeling better but Joel still have the high fever and the shivering. We stayed home the whole time and i did some baking as I was so bored. I was well and after that continue with more gardening and weeding. I guess it was a good idea to move to this house cause I am able to keep myself occupied the whole day.

Today hubs stayed with Joel at home. Took him to doctor's again, our usual turnstall square one and immediately doc prescribed antibiotics as it was his tonsils problem again. The other doctor was no good as he did not do a thorough check.

My poor boy had temp up to 40.3C. sigh.. poor boy.

my Lemon Tassie. the pastry didn't look good but it taste really crunchy and nice. the filling was nice and creamy with the lemon sourness. i love anything lemon! i think pretty decent for first attempt.

My best friend's wedding

2011-09-19T08:57:00.002+08:00

Have been missing from any updates recently. I went back last weekend for my best friend's wedding. I took off at Friday night and got back on a Sunday. I lost my voice after that for 3 days but had the best time catching up and laughing with my oldest mates.

It was definitely a great night and i wish the happy couple all the happiness in their new journey as husband and wife.

Been busy at work and just this weekend, my dearest didi got viral fever. He is still very sick, weak and losing alot of weight. It was also the weekend where we were suppose to have a mini lantern party with the Teos but unfortunately Peter was unwell and added to didi being sick, it was cancelled.

I made a chocolate butter cake which the family will be eating for some time. ;) abit too sweet for my liking, i still prefer the plain butter cake i made the last time. But Joel loves the chocolate icing and i think he was my only customer in eating the cake. haha

On Sunday Joel did a mini presentation at Church. I was so proud of him. he was brave and though he did not speak it too clearly but i think he did a fab job. Well done my lil boy!

I will have to be on carers leave tomorrow to care for my didi. My poor poor boy. hope he gets well soon to enjoy the fantastic weather.

Us with Jean.

And one with the beautiful bride :))
I stayed at my Sis's and played with my niece and nephew.
they are both growing very fast too
Joel's art work of us. haha. guess who is who
My butter choc cake
didi playing at church
Joel with the Kids Club gang :)

Updates

2011-09-09T13:48:00.003+08:00

Have been busy lately with Benny being sick.

Boys have been good and is very hyper these days.

saturdays are jam packed with activities and we are now into Movenpick ice cream :)
lil one loves the strawberry sorbet
Move the toy chest to the dining area. Just for fun

Celebrated fathers day last weekend.
and also Eugene's birthday party
They all had a good time
my lil boy growing too fast. still struggling with the potty training :(

This weekend will be crazy!

Food weekend

2011-08-28T12:50:00.002+08:00

We had alot of food on the weekend. Hubs made his fantastic prawn mee and we had a couple of friends over for Sat and Sun.

Joel's friend Jules came over after Mandarin classes and the boys played like crazy. His parents picked him up later at night and Joel was already knocked out.

I did some baking on Saturday. It was actually fun and i enjoyed it alot. I made the easiest cake in the baking world - butter cake! :)

I am lucky it turned out pretty ok and was quite tasty. I might just add some raspberry for Joel's birthday cake in Dec.

I cut down on the sugar and did a little icing on top. Lemon icing, really yummy but because i did not have enough sugar and lemon, the icing was drastically reduced.

This was how the cake looked when i took it out of the oven. abit bruised on some corners but nothing icing can't cover.

My little mixer. not a Kitchen Aid but still does a pretty decent job. I have to make sure the butter is really soften next time. Had to mix quite a fair bit for the entire thing to be smooth.

This is the recipe i tried:

•125 g (4 oz) butter, very well softened
•1 teaspoon vanilla extract
•1 cup caster (superfine) sugar
•3 eggs
•1 1/2 cups plain (all-purpose) flour, sifted
•1/2 teaspoon baking powder, sifted
•1/4 teaspoon bicarbonate of soda (baking soda), sifted
•1/2 cup (4 fl oz) milk
1.Preheat oven to 150° C (300° F). Grease a 20 cm (8 in) round cake tin and line with non-stick baking paper (sides and bottom).
2.Place the butter, vanilla, sugar, eggs, flour, baking powder, bicarbonate of soda and milk in the bowl of an electric mixer (fitted with the paddle attachment). Beat on low speed until combined.
3.Increase the speed to high and beat the mixture until it is just smooth.
4.Spoon mixture into baking tin and bake for 1 hour 5 minutes or until a cake tester inserted in centre comes out clean.
5.Allow to cool in cake tin on a wire rack for 5 minutes. Turn out onto the wire rack and cool completely.
6.Serve plain or spread with basic icing.

So very happy with my first homemade from scratch butter cake. it is abit densed cause i mixed it too much but i think it is edible.

We checked out Joel's birthday venue today after church. it is really nice and cosy. when i saw it, i immediately like it. One big corner for adults to mingle and have a snack and another big area for the kids to have a game of bowling. Perfect. The place is old with the vintage bowling screen but we totally love it and most importantly, Joel loves it!. so venue is complete.

I recently got my iphone 4. Very fun device. The old phone is now in Joel's custody until i go back to pass it to popo.

Did i mentioned the weather is really great!. we had a nice play at the park and a walk around Koonung trail. the boys enjoyed it alot. Good time to be outdoor and just enjoying the sun. we will be going for our usual swim next week.

Sandra called for crab night but we already made plans with Sandra 2. :) i really wouldn't mind some crabs but next time!

Weekend Updates

2011-08-16T11:17:00.002+08:00

We had a busy weekend last week. Can't believe how fast it came and went.

Joel had tennis, swimming and we his friend overnight. The same Sat, we had friends over for steamboat and Eugene came n play.

Sunday too tired for church, so we took Jules for his soccer class and Joel joined it as well. The boys had a good time at the park, enjoying the weather and just playing the whole day.

the weather is changing again and we should be seeing more sunshine soon. Joel is showing signs of unwell with this change so we are having him check with the doc tonight.

Jovan playing by himself at the Box Hill primary school playground

Boys having fun in the playground
round and round..
we had yum cha with the boys and they ate like a horse

Happy 3rd Birthday Jovan

2011-08-07T17:13:00.005+08:00

Today is didi's actual birthday. He is now 3 years old. How he has grown.

We we all still tired from the flight back from MY, manage to meet up with Teo family for a birthday lunch for didi at La Porcetta.

Later, dropped by Earle's place and they gave didi a lovely card and lollies for both boys.

At night, had a simple dinner and got a cake for didi as he asked for it this time.

Sang a birthday song and all of us had cake together.

didi eating his birthday cake.

Yum!

my 2 pride and joys. love them super lots!

the boys in my life.. :)

At eugene's house. He got a nice hot wheels toy from them .

Lunch with a not so well Eugene. But the boys had a good play.

Back to work tomorrow. :(

Back To Malaysia-Taiping/Penang

2011-08-07T16:42:00.014+08:00

We spent some time in Taiping/Penang this trip back.

As usual, the boys had alot of fun.

Lots of food at taiping and we took the boys for a hair cut at our usual Taiping saloon. The boys enjoyed a nice hair wash, total relaxation for the family for a cheap price.

we had a day trip to Penang for food and swimming. The boys love swimming at the condo and just didn't want to leave.

Joel saw this at Penang and i had to take a shot. He wants to show this to his friends. haha

at Taiping Lake garden with Kong Kong.

We visit 3rd Aunt at Taiping at their newly renovated place. Joel had a allergy reaction from the dog. It confirms that we can no longer have any pets ever.

Boys and Sam Yee po

Boys and Maria

Spend time with Ho Yee and very happy to see everyone well and healthy.

sayang Ho Yee popo.

The 2 boys in their fav bat man shirts.

we had a family dinner at Matang before leaving back for KL. The food is amazing!

superb mantis prawn. Look at the size!

my Joel..

Joel's step dad and mom dropped by the Penang condo. It has been 3 years since we last saw them. Joel got hot wheels from kai yeh, and Jovan as well. We had dinner with them before leaving for Taiping.

Having a nice swim at the Penang condo.

Shopping at Gurney Plaza. Boys enjoying their frozen choc Swensen ice cream

Family shot outside the Super Hero shop

Joel wanted to take pic with bat man. it will be for his show and tell.

Lunch at some coffee shop in Penang. the oyster egg is so so good!

We had the best ever beef pork noodles.

Typical hot, and crowded coffee shop but good experience for the boys.

Outside the condo.

didi playing with his present from kong kong and ma ma. totally engrossed in it.

Back to Malaysia-Birthdays

2011-08-07T16:03:00.011+08:00

The main reason why we are back this time is to celebrate my dad's 60th birthday. It was a birthday lunch with his old friends and family.

Dad all happy reaching this milestone. :)

Me and baby Andrew.

Joy was sleeping when i got there.

The Tey sisters. my super sis organised this whole event single handedly and managed to pull a great speech to entertain everyone. It was really nice to meet all the old familiar faces and spend this time with them. Thanks to my Super Jie!

Thanks to popo for the yummy Thomas cake

Before our relatives head back to Segamat, we had another early celebration for didi. Popo bought a nice thomas cake for him from Secret Recipe. It is so yummy and rich with chocolate. Thanks to the popo for everything!

Didi had gifts from Yee Yee and popo. Popo got him a floating Thomas boat which he has been taking for swim time. Yee Yee got him a Cars2 car wash, shooting swim toys for the boys, and lots more which i lost count. Kong Kong and Ma Ma got him a Thomas train set. Didi is enjoying his toys now in melbourne.

Thanks again!

Back To Malaysia

2011-08-07T15:57:00.008+08:00

We went back to Malaysia for 2 weeks. Just got back on Saturday morning and everyone is still recovering from the 8 hours flight.

The boys adjusted better to the afternoon flight from Melbourne to KL compared to the night flight back. We have to keep in mind to book only afternoon flights next time.

Hubs went for his Redang trip right after we landed in KL. Me and the boys skipped the trip as it was just too tiring to expect another 8 hours of car ride for them. With one of them sniffing and showing signs of falling sick, i sent my bro instead of us to the trip. It was a better choice as my bro now found his life passion - diving.

We spend some time in KL, celebrated dad's 60th birthday. Met up with relatives from Segamat and is happy to see how grown and good the kids have became.

Spend as much time with my Joy and Andrew and still find it is too little. Joy has turn into such a beautiful girl. I am so play with her and hear her call me Yee Yee each time. As usual, me and my sis will pamper ourselves with facial or massage when I am back. Managed to spend quality time with my dear sis again. this time we had facial and pedicure. nice...

We went back to Taiping as well for 3 days. Spend a day trip at Penang to see dad's condo. The boys love the swimming pool. They swam alot this time at yee yee's place, dee pek place and at Penang. Jovan loves playing with Janice alot. Both Janice and Joshua played very well with the boys. i think the boys had never played so much before.

The rest of the days are spent with having lunch, dinners, shopping and just spending time with family. Managed to meet up with Connie for a while and Reen for dinner.

The boys are very sad to be back home in Melbourne. They missed everyone back home alot and so do we. sigh.. it is hard each time we go back and we have to go through the emotional rollercoaster ride again. It does not get any better each time we face farewells. Now that the 2 boys are abit more matured, it is harder to coax them. Again, it makes me think hard about our choice here. It will be so good to have the whole family together. decisions.....

Having lots of fun playing with cousins

my lil Joy becoming very cheeky these days

enjoying a meal at Chillis with cousins.

All the cousins. :)

Ku Ku and the boys.

Swimming at dee pek's place

feeding the plants. :)

Enjoying play time with their cousins

Didi loves Jac boy alot. Always sneaking out to see him

Playing piano with 5th uncle.. :)

Swim time at KK with cousins.

didi stepping on ants

Joy and Joel

Last minute shopping

2011-07-17T14:06:00.002+08:00

Boys attended a party at Hungry Jacks and had a good time there.

We went to Costco later with Sandra and Diana together with all the kids. Tiring outing as the kids were all over the place. Giant trolleys and giant goods being lugged around, not fun at all. Plus a didi that took a bit too long making big poo in an overcrowded toilet.

Violet followed us back as she still wants to play and Joel has been having a lot of sleep over lately with his buddies. Jules stayed over 2 nights and we had Foebe n Esme over yesterday an today Violet. He is more of a social butterfly than both me and Benny combined.

Joel having fun at the party

Didi just in his own world

Cupcake tower. Quite a good idea and it is clean too

Boys having fun eating lollies and cake

Violet playing with Joel on the way to city. Didi as usual a outcast

Totally pengsan! We will be in redang same time next week. Woweeeee!!!

Mandarin Class updates

2011-07-13T07:51:00.001+08:00

Joel is doing very well in his Mandarin class. he is able to recognise 6 characters! yay! out of a million characters.. hahaha.. but it is a great start for 2 weeks and he loves it so much. The only reason why he wants to go daycare is cause he can attend Mandarin class after that. such a funny boy.

Yesterday his friend Jules stayed over. The boys had so much fun and Jules is very easy to take care. so it is all good. Hope he can stay over often and Joel won't be so bored.

Can't wait for the weekends..:)

Nestle Mud Cake

2011-07-10T17:03:00.002+08:00

Today we had yum cha with Earle and Christine after church. Boys were still very tired from yesterday's outing and were cranky during lunch.

After that we just stayed home and weather was wet and cold. Best time to experiment on my cake making. I tried a simple Mud Cake recipe from the back of the Nestles Melts. it was very simple but as usual it will be unusual for me not to have mistakes.

First, the baking tray i used is too small. There was no space for the cake to rise and cook properly. But overall it did turn out decently with a slight slope. Haha.

The chocolate glaze ask for cream and I did not have any. So I did a buttercream frosting instead. After my last flop with icing I manage to be more careful this time. Make sure butter is soft at room temp, and have it mix till a nice consistency for me to work with.

After the cake cooled, the best part I believe in baking is icing the cake. It was fun and I manage to cover the disaster spots with lots of icing. I tasted the icing and it was perfect! I can continue my icing decorating with more confidence now.

I just need to work on baking common sense and getting adjustment right.

Well I think baking is a good activity for indoors especially when you can have a nice cup of hot coffee and some homemade cake after that.

That's our weekend and going back to Malaysia in 2 weeks time.

Joel lil date

2011-07-09T20:12:00.001+08:00

My little boy went to Transformer with Chantelle today. Though the show was not very suited for him but he insist he likes it alot.

Jovan was sick last week with a viral fever but is back to normal now.

Joel has been attending mandarin lessons recently and seems to like it alot. I am quite sad that he wants to continue as it means rearrangement to our work schedule. But we can't say no to an eager child.Joel and his very pretty friend.

The kids had lots of fun today. We have been out since 10am till 8pm. I think we are can survive our 2 week hectic holiday by the rate we are spending our weekend.

Test

2011-07-02T20:42:00.001+08:00

Test blogging from the phone. Love iPhone

Weekend activities

2011-07-02T15:17:00.005+08:00

i read about doing a frozen buttercream transfer on the Internet. and i tried to do it but failed. Image above explains it all. haha. it is actually quite funny. but coming from someone who never bake a cake and tried to put normal sugar for icing, i think i am lucky i survive to even get a shape out.

some of the things i missed:

1. i do not have a mixer!!!! i was doing the mix of butter, copha, sugar with my bare hands and a wooden spoon while watching The General's Daughter. How ridiculous is that!

2. to top the big mistake, the copha was not soften. i didn't know how to soften the darn thing, it was hard and my icing just can't be smooth. i stopped when the consistency was ok but there were still pieces of copha in it that won't mix

3. always research the colours before hand. i had all rainbow colours from the safeway but i didn't know bright red and blue is something that is not easy to make. i almost pour the whole bottle of coluring and the red still look pink!. i need to try with Wilton or Americolour red. they say it is much better. sigh..

4. i think it was hard to pipe cause my icing was screwed up in the first place. so i had to use a knife to smear the colour into place.

why didn't i just buy ready made icing? well. i wanted to try it. i wanted to know the steps. that is what happen when you are a technical person. you need to know the knitty gritty.

well.. i get the idea know. the next day the image was able to peel properly, except for the black icing which is expected cause it was not a solid consistency type. the image just look like someone puke on it. haha. But I won't quit so easily and I quite enjoy the whole experience. joel had a bite at mario's foot, i think the overdose of colouring made it taste bad.

the good thing is i have a cake shop near my office that sells all the stuff i need.

saturday came and we had the usual tennis. we decided to let joel try out the mandarin class at doncaster east. i hope he doesn't like it cause it is such a pain to send him to classes 3 times a week. sigh..i know an extra language is good but i so prefer him to learn something fun. with technolody so advance , we might never need to learn any language except for english in the future. :)

after going through the not very impressive place for his mandarin class. i am seriously not very keen. the fees are crazy expensive and the place is so tiny. so i hope he will get over this and tell me he don't want to learn.

we went for the toy sale and hubs bought this silly nerf gun. they are so huge that i am getting a sore eye from it. and all the bullets lying all over the house. so irritating.

and i bought a mixer!! i tried it immediately and it was sooooooo easy... i cream butter and sugar within minutes... i found my best kitchen helper.

i made low fat chocolate oat chip cookie. they taste pretty decent despite having only 2 tablespoon of butter. it uses apple sauce to replace most of the butter. it taste chewy and moist but i think i will give the traditional cookie recipe a try next time.

one cookie is only 46Cal. how nice :)

see what i mean by sore eye.. this is really nuts. they are still playing and hubs is like being a kid all over again. boys.. :)

the daycare took some wonderful pictures of didi at the toddlers room.

looking at these pics kinda make me feel sad. like i am missing so much of my son's daily activities cause i am at work. i wish i can spent my time playing with him, giving him cuddles and kisses throughout the day.. it is a challenging world these days. if i ever have number 3, i really hope i can be home more spending time with them.. nothing can replace this time warp once it passes by..

plsss.. let me hit a lotto.. :)

Cars 2

2011-06-26T14:15:00.005+08:00

Sunday was the day we brought them both for a movie. They were both awake way to early for a Sunday morning asking about their cinema trip.

i had to drag myself up, got them cleaned up and changed and waited for hubs to get ready. I made our Sunday brekkie, beetroot and apple juice, packed their cookies and water. then off we go to Foresthill for our show.

they boys were hyper and excited.

i got them 2 mcqueen set but then should have gotten mater instead as Cars 2 is more about Mater. it was an ok sequel to Cars. The were happy about the show but started to get restless towards the end.

I was busy counting the number of new characters in this sequel and the amount of cars i need to potentially buy for the boys.. and there were heaps of them.. sigh..

After the movie we went for some games at the arcade. hubs favourite place.

the boys also like it alot. they like the shooting duck game.

they played alot of games there and didn't want to leave.

Joel is pretty good at this one. i find all this utterly boring and a waste of time.

we had lunch at nandos. i don't like eating nandos but it is the only one nearby that we can eat and then go for bowling.

My 2 boys had more chips as usual. they always over dose on the chips and then later they will say they are too full for the chicken. This time we made Joel finish the coleslaw and chicken before he can have more chips.

the 2 brothers had a game of bowling. Joel score 110 and Jovan 68. Joel had 2 strikes and a spare. haha..

didi doesn;t know what is happening. he dropped the bowling ball twice and almost landed on my foot. phewww..close call.

hubs collected his free beer and free hat after bowling and we head to Earle and Christine's house. Passed the bottles of wine to them and the super hot chilli. Hopefully Earle will have more luck than us in planting this super hot chili.

Didi is still sleeping but the boys had alot of fun this weekend. I really don't know how to keep up with them. I mow the lawn with our pusher and started to pack for their daycare bag. stuff all Joel's show and tell items and replenished new clothes in their bag. the clothes were starting to smell stale.

another load of laundry and that makes it 3 loads since friday. I had all the covers and jackets washed as the weather was just too good to waste. I try to avoid the dryer as much possible cause i am a cheapo.. haha, it also drains the durability of the clothes. so whenever mr sunshine is out, i have to take advantage of it..

that's the weekend. fish and chips night. we replaced the chips with celeriac. the whole family had way too much chips this weekend. Almost each meal had chips. feeling real sick from it. and it is Masterchef night, so everyone can have a early dinner and watch their favourite show. yay!

More Birthdays and home cooking

2011-06-25T18:08:00.006+08:00

This week, i found some time to make some easy cookies for them. I wanted to do this next week but there was a good 1 hour to spare before Joel's tennis lesson.

I prepared the dough with my 2 chefs. They helped me mix the butter and sugar, pour flour into bowls and also help eat some of the butter too. and we don't have a mixer so everything is by hand. and boy is that a good exercise. my hand is still numb.

while i was busy with the dough, hubs was making pizza again. this time he had nice teriyaki chicken on top of the pizza.

we had a nice meal before Joel's lesson. i had to put the dough in the fridge for a good couple of hours before making any cookies out of it.

while waiting for joel lessons to be over, Jovan had a good time at the playground.

and did i mentioned what a beautiful day it is. we have been deprived of such good weather since the cold winter hit us. such a good time to be outside enjoying this.

after the lesson, we head towards hawthorn for lunch. Joel had a birthday party nearby there.

we had a nice lunch.Joel appetite is crazy. he had 2 slices of pizza and oreos and chicken rice.

we were the first to reach the place and the boys went beserk there. it is a huge playground with tons of toys in a secure place. they just can't stop climbing and running and playing.

didi was busy exploring the place and jumping on the bouncing castle.

my boys were getting tired from all the activities.

i didn't manage to catch any pictures after this as didi was busy sleeping in my arms. this place is not bad for having a party. but abit too noisy for me.

it was good catching up with old friends and seeing their kids grow. kinda makes me feel old.

we were all tired but after a nice shower, everyone was reenergised and they wanted to continue the cookie making.

i rolled out the dough in the fridge and they went nuts with the cookie cutter. hands everywhere busy trying to make their favourite shapes.

before getting the cookies into the oven.

factory still busy producing more cookies.

the first batch i baked was not cooked enough. i used wholemeal and cut the sugar by half. i didn't want the boys to have such sweet snacks and i minues the frosting as well. it still taste decent. and they still ate alot of it.

the last batch was turning black as i was busy doing something else. the boys easily ate half of the cookies. i manage to store a box of cookies from this which will be our cinema snack tomorrow.

hubs made pizza from our lunch leftovers. it was really yummy. he put radish on it as well which gives it a nice crunchy taste.

this is tomorrow's breakfast. look at how beautiful the baby beetroots are.Kinda wasted juicing it when it will taste so good eaten. but hubs bought too many so i had to juice them tomorrow.

yum!

and potty training didn't go so well. jovan manage to do big poo at home but at the daycare, big challenge. and he still can't hold his pee properly. so it is still diaper for now. but he still wants his undies.. i have washed like 5 undies just this morning. so just to ease the frustration and minimise the laundry, i convinced my lil man that he needs to wear the diapers until he is ready.

Cars 2 tomorrow. boys are so excited they can't sleep. and we will be watching kung fu panda thanks to my company cheap tickets! yay!

New Dishwasher

2011-06-22T09:00:00.001+08:00

we just got our new Bosch dishwasher. very excited and happy with it. So new and washes everything so sparkling clean and nice.

now we need to get rid of the old one. it is still working, anyone wants a free dishwasher? :)

Potty Training

2011-06-22T08:58:00.001+08:00

Didi has made his big business on the toilet bowl! twice!!
and.. he has asked for the underwear!!

wow! i can;t believe it but i am extremely excited and proud of my baby (no longer baby anymore)

still at the early phase of potty training so i will expecting alot of accidents from now on.

Weekend of Food

2011-06-19T13:32:00.005+08:00

Our weekend was spent with alot of food preparation and usual kid's activities. Joel is getting more adventurous in the kitchen with close supervision from hubs.

Above is a picture of him on Friday helping us prepare fried rice. He is actually using a knife and cutting mushrooms. I don't really approve of him using a knife so young but hubs say it is fine.. Already his back is turned away when Joel is cutting the mushroom..sigh...

I definitely don't approve of this, so before this picture is taken i was behind him holding him and his hand while he is stir frying shallots and garlic. One fall is all it takes.. way too risky.

I must say he is quite good at all these cooking business. He even does the preparation very carefully and take instructions very well. Much better than mommy of course.

On Saturday we had some friends over for assam laksa.. yes, hubs actually cooked this amazing dish from scratch, using only the best ingredients to produce my super favourite meal.

As the boys don't take this dish, hubs made pizza together with them. he taught joel how to make the dough from scratch as well. we manage to skip any form of junk food for the boys this weekend. We usually let them have fast food like mcds on the weekend but Joel said he don't want any junk. I am impressed my nagging actually worked on them!

The boys having a little hide n seek in our overcrowded pantry.

The pizza dough all done

Our lil master chef busy rolling the dough into a nice circle. but he didnt manage to get it nicely rounded

little bit of a heart shape but we left it as it is as this is what he prepared and kids love eating they own self prepared food.

This is half of Joel's pizza. they both finished up the pizza. Joel finished 3/4 of it.

I was busy preparing the condiments for AL.

Before we started on this, we had a long day as well. Joel had his tennis and we went for swimming after that. Only manage 6 laps this time.. running out of stamina as we have not been swimming for a month. We still have not manage to get a slot for Joel but me and hubs are slowly teaching him how to kick, put his head under water. He manage to kick holding on the board now and he also manage to put his head under the water for a short period. It is a start for now. Swimming is essential for kids so i really hope we have a slot for Term 4.

The super soup. made of mackerels and alot of yummy stuff. stock has been boiled for some time with the fish bones and hubs made the belacan paste the night before. The whole house was filled with belacan scent until the next morning.

i had so many bowls i lost count. it was so good, especially when the weather is cold. everyone like it alot! We had a good time just chit chatting and the boys entertained themselves, playing hide n seek, fighting with their golf sticks and watching tv. the 2 brothers seem to hit it pretty well these days. can't blame them, they only have each other to play with for now.

i bought joel a new leather boots. so cool that i wish they had it in adult sizes.

my lil boy posing with his new boots before heading for church. we had a good session at church and after that we went to Earle and Christine's place where they cooked a feast for us. a very nice Italian meal. the boys were very comfortable there which is a good thing.

me and my lil didi. it will be popo birthday tomorrow.

Didi is still struggling with the potty training. he did half of his big business in the toilet bowl yesterday. why not the whole thing???! that is so weird. but i really hope he will at least do the big one in the toilet and we are trying all sorts of encouragement to get this phase over the line.

I am pretty glad we don't have another baby right now cause there is just so much to enjoy with the boys are this stage. i can't imagine missing all these while taking care of a baby or being pregnant. We will definitely need to do more planning before we jump into number 3 :)

Joel is invited to another birthday party from an old friend and i have already booked Cars 2 tickets for them. they are both very excited about it. Yay!

Black Bean peanut soup

2011-06-17T09:08:00.002+08:00

Made this superbly nutritious and yummy soup day before yesterday. Feels so good having a nice bowl of warm, homemade soup on a cold winter night.

The recipe usually ask for black beans only but i added peanuts as well.

Black beans are very good, high in anti oxidants and according to my mommy good for hair. which i really need cause the last thing i need is to lose my hair and be bald. yucks.

so easy to make, dump everything in slow cooker and next day the family have nice soup to drink.

boys had some of it with Salmon yesterday night and managed to finish everything. so i am happy.

i am going to make some dang shen and red date tea for hubs tonight. going to have assam laksa this weekend .. yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!!!.. i am going to have like 10 bowls of it.. yum yum!

Shopping Treats

2011-06-16T12:45:00.001+08:00

I love shopping during lunch breaks. I got myself my long waited swimsuit and super cheap clothes from 5bucks.. oh my!!!!!

was so happy shopping till i forgot to eat..

Happy Day!

Grooming

2011-06-14T17:13:00.004+08:00

I was reading an article about grooming and i must surely say i am not doing most of the basic grooming stuff for women.

1. trim hair every 6-8 weeks- failed. i think i cut 6-8 months more like it

2. facial, 3 step cleansing - I do that every night and a mask on weekend.

3. Eyebrows - failed.. bushy eyebrows. haha

4. facial hair (under the arms, legs, etc) - I do this for sure. i can never stand having facial hair. i think only men are allowed that.

5. Styling - shoes, clothes - failed for sure.. hahaha.. i just find what is clean and available. I love high heels but it doesn't help when i need to carry the kids or grocerries.

6. Nails - failed. my nails are like men. short and not fashionable

7. Makeup - failed. never bother with any makeup though i wish i had more time to do it.

So i guess if i don't even do half of my grooming, does that make me more of a man than a woman? that sux....

Best Prawn Mee in the world

2011-06-14T17:03:00.003+08:00

i can't believe the best prawn mee is in Australia. Right here in our house. haha. I really have to admit that hubs made the very amazing prawn mee next to PIL's one. He made that superb sambal from scratch and had the whole house sneezing from it. but it was so worth it.

We couldn't find kangkung but beans sprout will do. We had some friends over and everyone had seconds.

the boys had their usual pasta. they still love it until now which reminds us to make another batch of pasta sauce.

Joel's new sweat shirt.

This is our fab prawn mee.. yum yum.

now i want to eat assam laksa. haha

Cleaning routine

2011-06-13T08:15:00.003+08:00

Recently I have been changing the house cleaning routine. I can say my house is not the fanciest or neat one in the block but i do try to make sure it is clean.

I do my laundry at least 3 times a week. I make sure i have their clothes changed frequently and smelling fresh and nice. I can't stand stinky clothes soaked with house cooking and kid's sweat. So i rather sacrifice on the water bill and my energy to make sure it is done properly. That's just me. My sis has an obsession with clean toilets. hehe. Everyone is different.

One time i hate most is changing sheets and comforter. It is a pain when we have all the different size of beds and i have to figure out which is which. I try my best to change them twice a week but it is just too much. So it is just once a month for the sheets but pillow case will be frequent. So this long weekend, i had all the sheets organised, ironed out so i don't have such a hard time finding them. I even had alot packed away for Salvos.

One thing i don't look forward is mopping and vacumming. It used to be so easy in the little hut. Just that Saturday it took me 2 hours to vacum out the ceilings, rooms,.. i almost fainted when it is all done... sigh.. and it amazes me how women is able to multi-task so well compared to men.

I know this applies mostly to people without the luxury of having a maid.. which i so miss. i rather spend my time playing with the kids than cleaning but it still needs to be done. So i am training the boys now to contribute and clean so we do it together. not easy as it takes double the time to get things done but at least it will teach them about responsibilities and cleaning up.

there a few things the boys do in the house to help out:
- Joel and Jovan throws rubbish in the bin.
- Joel likes to fold clothes. not correctly but he can be taught
- Jovan likes to hand vacumm the floor
- Both boys are hygenic, they wipe their mouths after meals.
- Joel puts things back where he got them
- Joel reports mess and dirt to me.
- Joel wipes the table after dinner.

Not much really, and i still need to check to make sure they do it properly but it is really funny seeing them do housework. Well.. hopefully they will still be as enthuastic when they are older.

Queen's Birthday Long Weekend

2011-06-12T17:05:00.009+08:00

Updates of events on our long weekend break. We are enjoying our long weekend in the company of good friends and family this year. As any other year, we did not plan for any outings but just stayed back and spent lots of quality time with the kids.

That's my little hero.

My lil boy calls this his "yau yeng jacket" (stylish jacket). I had some quality morning time when hubs took them all for tennis lessons. I had a chance to clean up, both indoors and outdoors. I just kept cleaning non stop and then stop to prepare for the cake making.

I told the boys it was Joy's birthday. and knowing them, they want to eat cake whenever there is a birthday, so instead of buying, i decided to make one. Just for the fun of it and teaching the boys some culinary skills.

I am not much of a baking person so my cheesecake is obviously non baked. i just searched for the first recipe i see and starting taking notes of the ingredients.

Simple cake with digestive biscuits as the base, cream cheese, and Jello on top. Joel wanted a strawberry cake with sprinkles. This is the first time i am buying sprinkles for him. I bought everything low fat.

The boys had a go with mixing the cheese, vanilla essence and sugar. while mixing they also ate quite a bit of cheese which leaves very little filling for me to put on the base.

Joel likes to cook alot. He always wants to get involved in mixing, preparation and any cooking activities. I guess he got that from hub's side of the family. Didi is just into eating and making a mess.

The cake was finally done and i set it aside to harden and continue to make the jelly.

Joel decorating the cake with the strawberries and also eating a handful of them while doing his job. After that is done, i poured the jelly on top gently and let it set in the fridge for 4 hours. that's it. How easy is that!

We had steamboat with our ex coll that night. Hubs bought lots of yummy stuff for our dinner and we had such a feast. It was really yummy. everyone was so full from it. love steamboat when it is cold..Joel and Jovan picked those kiddo fishball. Only Joel ate them while didi just had noodles with fish.

i forgot to take a pic of the full cake cause the boys were bugging me to serve them. So the jelly was not even hardened properly and i had to feed the hungry boys.

The cake turned out ok but my biscuit base was way too thick. haha. check that out and the cream cheese filing was abit too thin thanks to the snacking chefs. need to cut the biscuits down next time. Overall it tasted pretty alright, i think it taste more like biscuits and jelly. haha but my boys goggled it down and ask for seconds. i will try something else next time with them. Cooking with little kids can be pretty interesting (if i stop fretting about the mess).

next morning they had more cake with sprinkles.

My little boy only wants jelly and sprinkles. we had a late night together watching TV and i iron a whole load of bed sheets. i don't usually do this but it really makes alot of difference having them pressed out and lined out properly in the cupboard.
.

then i made my weekend routine juice. the beet root was so beautiful with the green apples. Just had to take a pic. This is our usual juicing amount.

Makes a whole litre of beetroot and apple juice. i topped it with flax seed oil to ease the absortion in the body. then me and hubs shared this as our Sunday brekkie.

After church we went to Docklands Gold Leaf to meet up with our relatives from MY. We were early and i shopped for alot of goodies at Cotton On. Again can't help buying stuff for my Joy.. :) love girly stuff. and bought alot of winter clothes for Joel. that should last for some time.

bought this jacket for him as it is really cold these days. My lil man has really grown. Everytime i need to buy him a size up, i just have a mix feel of dread and pride. He has really matured into a sweet, kind and sporty boy. Alot of confidence and always willing to share. I am really proud of you my Joel! Just the other day at the day care show and tell, Joel was so adamant in going up to talk, even without bringing anything to share. He was so comfortable up there and just can't help smilling inside out. No regrets changing daycare as he has learnt so much here.

the boys gobbling down the dim sum while waiting. they were so hungry they finished up 5 plates of different dim sum on their own.. nuts..

the boys and their cousins, Jerome and Jaime.

We took them to Costco for shopping and we were there for at least 3 hours i think. they were very happy to be in Costco. haha. lil Jovan was just busy being a monkey

we bought some books for the kids and they were happily playing and reading them while we waited for the adults to shop some more.

Joel decorated his book with stickers on the outside.. haha.

we dropped by Mandy's place to pass her the cranberries and were so dead tired when we got back.

Fed the boys dinner and hubs bath them.. and then our all time family favorite-Masterchef time.

What a weekend. thank goodness it is a holiday tomorrow.. pheww..

Pumpkin Puree

2011-06-05T17:18:00.003+08:00

Hubs made pumpkin puree for baby Effie. it was really simple. Just grate a whole butternut pumpkin, cook it a little them put it into a blender and start blending.

the pumpkin was so sweet and nice. and the colour was great. The whole process takes 30 minutes and i think it is a worthy time investment to make sure baby get fresh made food. :)

this will go into the freezer until it is picked up. Hubs say the pumpkin is only able to last for 3 days after being thawed. i really wonder how those heinz baby food stay so long in the jar.

Le Mans Go Kart

2011-06-04T16:43:00.007+08:00

We went for go karting today at Le Mans Go Kart, Dandenong. We wanted to let Joel have a try before deciding for his birthday party venue. The distance was pretty alright from our place but i doubt anyone will go that far for a birthday party. Luckily Joel will have his cousins and ku ku here during his birthday so it won't be that sad for him.

we went for the double kart and bought a round of the daytona track for Joel. The boys had to put on a head net before putting the helmet on. Looks so funny on them.

Joel and hubs taking a pic before the double go kart ride

my boys.. :)

my lil man putting on the helmet which is way too big and heavy for him. i rode on the kart with didi while hubs went on the other with Joel. the kart was pretty slow and didi was pretty scare. joel prefer riding on his own kart anytime..

didi didn't wanna take the head net off even after the go kart ride

the boys fooling around while waiting for Joel's daytona ride.

didi tried to have a go on the daytona track but he just don't know how to operate the kart.

my pro racer.

all ready to go but only Joel had a run on the track.

didi struggling to take the helmet off

did i mentioned what a beautiful day it was.. we have been missing such good weather for so long.Joel went for 10 laps and he drove very well i must admit. he does have a talent in go karting. haha

everyone was so hungry after that, we went for our yum cha and the boys gobbled down alot of food.

me and didi, enjoying his jelly.

i tried to cut hair for the 2 boys but failed badly so i had to rush to eastland and took them both for a proper cut. Hubs stayed back to cook curry laksa for Eric n family. a

the boys were very well behaved when i took them out. they had their hair cut and i took a shot at having my hair cut with both of them with me. and to my surprise we all survived my hair cut session. that is of course bribing them with ice cream. :) i might consider taking them for more adventurous hair do next time.

Eric and family were already there when i got back and we had a nice dinner with them. hubs made the most yummy curry laksa ever! i had 2 bowls. way over the calories for today..

and we have decided to go with his birthday at Le mans. will enquire more when the time is near. Joel really loves it. so i guess birthday should be about him than us. He also said he want a Mario cake. that will be hard to find.

Losing weight

2011-06-01T07:59:00.005+08:00

I have always had problems with my weight since young. Heavy bottom, thunder thighs, you name it.. then came kids and the problem became even bigger. Joel had me put on more than 28kgs.. imagine that!!! and while i was struggling to keep the scales right, then came lil Jovan. As much as i adore my 2 boys, i just hated looking like a huge whale.

With Jovan it was slightly better with the breastfeeding and i almost made it to a healthy BMI.. and guess what, Jovan wean himself but i didn't wean myself from the amount of food i used to take to curb the hunger pangs.. then my weight just kept on climbing and climbing till i am considered obese. haha

Then i realise i needed to do something about it. I can't blame it on the kids but only my laziness and my gluttony for this obesity.

I started doing the easy and stress free method of dieting. Counting my calorie. Yes, it is an extremely slow method which gives very little comparison since the first day i started. But recently my clothes started to fit again and i guess is working in its small little way.

It is amazing what you can eat and what not when you are on a diet and i am more conscious and picky with the food i put inside my body now.

Again, this is not for vanity but for health purposes. It is about adjusting the way of living and eating and showing a good example to the kids. I stopped buying all forms of junk food and that is actually where all the calorie piled up from. I am not completely banning my kids from junk, i still exercise freedom in their choice of food but i want to make it a point that junk food is not a normal part of our diet and they can only have it under special circumstances. So that is when we put in extra effort to cook them healthy homecooked meals, eat less outside, more of soups, steamed and grilled food for the family.

Back to my diet,... it was very hard initially. Everything i put inside my mouth has heaps of calories, especially after eating a mcdonalds burger i realise i can't have anything else for the rest of the day! but i kept to it with alot of patience and will power. I still allow myself to indulge in some evil food but i made sure i kept to the limited calorie a day. so since 2 months back when i started i managed to lose 7kgs!!! but again, i can't see the difference cause it is so gradual but i feel great, lighter and i have more stamina to do more outdoor things. It is easier now to select what i need to eat and what not. It is also easier for me to gauge the estimated calories. So the calorie counting is really base on estimates, cause every food, method of cooking will differ in the calorie count. I used this iphone software, My Net Diary and log all my calorie for the day. It has a great database but i always put in abit more for estimating calories then the exact count. I still got a long way to go till i hit my ideal weight.. hehe.. so it has came to a point where eating less is not making me lose much weight.. and i need to depend on good old exercise to jump start the fat burning factory.

I can never go back to looking like this ever! but i know i am doing something good for myself and also for my family by eating right. .Taken a long long time ago, so long i can't remember the date anymore