Going To The Dell

There's a place that we love to go to, just a short walk from where we live. We step into the parkland bush just off a rather busy main street, and we are immediately met with a sense of stillness and calm. It's one of the things I love about this area we live in. There are remnants of the bush, walking trails and wetlands. A lake, where there are ducks and frogs. Tall trees and wild flowers. Open grass areas and picnic tables. If you come to visit one day, I must bring you there!


The boys, their eyes sparkle with excitement as they stumble upon a fort, tall and majestic. They play pirates and make their little sister "walk off the plank". They chatter with the ducks, I kid you not. Both of them squatting on a big rock by the lake, making small talk like "have you had dinner?" "I had ducks in pancakes the other night but I won't eat you for dinner tonight" etc. It was so funny I wanted to cry!


My 1.5 year old toddled about in the grassland, intrigued by the plants, wild flowers, pebbles and the multitude of wildlife droppings. It wasn't very busy when we were there, just a couple of kids walking past after school, dogs on leash with their owners. And in amidst that stillness and the quiet enjoyment of the lovely lush surroundings, a crazy mother was yelling out to her children. NO DON'T GO TOO CLOSE TO THE EDGE, DON'T TOUCH THE POO POO, NO PLEASE DON'T TOUCH THE WATER, GAAHHH NO WE ARE NOT HAVING DUCKS FOR DINNER!!!


But it was great! A nice place to stretch out our legs, recharge the soul.

Here Kitty Kitty

I am SO in love with handmade. Anything handmade. But especially cute little girl's stuff. Isn't it obvious already? My poor boys, they go around in their K-Mart trackies and hand me down t-shirts. But little missy gets dressed up to the nines even on the rainiest, darkest, coldest days. Who says there's favouritism around here?

:)

(The boys do get showered with love in different ways!)

Anyways, this post is to point you over to this gorgeous site on facebook: Here Kitty Kitty. Stacie, a WAHM (Work at home mom - sounds crazy if you ask me) makes beautiful retro-inspired clothing and accessories that makes other moms like myself melt with jealousy, and husbands cringe with horror, every time she hosts a Market Night sale on her website. Thank goodness that doesn't happen too often.

So the spoils for the night: A cape for my little red riding hood ($30) and a matching bag ($25)! Aren't they gorgeous? *Happy dance* I could not wait to get them in the mail.





Hop over here to see some of my (meagre in comparison!) handmade creations: Hello Dolly, Super-E (sock monkey) and Ollie the Owl.

Happy weekend!

Sleeping Children

I love this picture of my sleeping babies. This was the last photo that I took in our previous home. It brings back lots of memories. Ask Lachlan what he remembers most in that house, it would be this last night that we spent, all 5 of us huddled together in the living room. That very room that he came home to as a newborn, that he toddled into his pre-school years and watched endless episodes of the Hi-5 on telly! It is precious. I'm glad I took this photo as it is how I would like to remember "the old house", forever.


I sleep with my babies, all of them. And I still do! Not simultaneously, just when they are babies. Well, it's nothing to be proud of, but it just felt like the most natural thing to do. I believe that there is no right or wrong way to let your children sleep. And believe me we did have many sleep battles (and still do!). So over the years, we have just learnt to go with it. Sleep baby sleep, and just let mummy and daddy sleep with you.


And we do get there eventually, believe me! Lachlan slept with us for years, even after his baby brother arrived. We thought he would never grow out of it! But he did. He sleeps independently now in his own bedroom and he did that just before he turned 5.

And Lucas. He was a darling! He was such an easy going baby. He is the one baby I slept the least with. He would go to sleep in his own cot. Until we moved him into Lachlan's bedroom, in hope that he would teach his older brother a thing or two about sleeping. That is when the opposite happens! He is now daddy's baby. My poor husband, he shares a teensy tiny IKEA single bed all 6 foot of him and his size 12 feet, with his baby Lucas, who isn't exactly quite a baby anymore, nor is he petite.

Aahhh this is MY baby. Isn't she just the most adorable thing in the whole wide world? Watching her drift to sleep is like a magical moment. Eyes fluttering. Chest breathing. Limbs getting heavier... and heavier... God, I love my children! If you don't normally sleep with your children, you should snuggle in with them one night. It is one of the most beautiful moments of being a parent.

Playgroup

The best part about being a stay-at-home mum is to NOT stay at home with your kids at all.

Really, what do you do with 3 kids five and under everyday, all day under the one roof! Let me tell you, I have tried this and it is not good! I must tell you, it is not by choice that we have to do it this way. But having a kitchen reno going with trades people coming in and out, we'd rather have someone home at all times. And who would be a better person than THAT stay-at-home mom and all her little lambs that will sure to follow, every where she goes. Or not.


So today, glorious weather and NO trades coming in *yippeee* We went to playgroup. Little explorers run free with the wind and growing through play. Look at that big carefree smile on her face (and the unruly hair), it screams happiness!

Hello. Goodbye. Hello.

Hello blog. There has been a very long pause. I don't know, I seem to have lost that momentum. And I'm sorry for the lack of fore-warning, or at least a notice that says "BLOG PAUSE" or something like that. But I want to thank you all for coming back to check on me. I know that because just the other day I received an email from my sponsors, Nuffnang, to tell me that they will be advertising on my blog. Gasp, my blog! So that's how I know that there must still be sufficient traffic coming through. Thank you also for the encouraging notes and heartfelt messages. I definitely feel the love, and hope that I could return them by blogging again.

How have I lost it? Hmmm.... it could have all started when our lives got a little topsy turvy (a good kind of topsy turvy) when we moved to this amazing place we now call home. I counted 50 steps the other day taking my laundry to the line. And back 100 steps. If I did two loads of laundry, that would be 200 steps and then another 200 steps to retrieve them. I love it! It gives me extra pleasure in eating that piece of chocolate afterwards. And then we decided to rip out the beautiful slate tiles because they gave our socks holes and feet calluses. My new kitchen is being installed and I'm cooking on a portable electric stove in the laundry. Totally uninteresting!

Then I lost my stay at work from home hubby to a little shop near by *happy dance*. I am happy that the business is growing and just NOT sustainable in this very home. Along with it went the computer with all my precious photos. I don't have a printer in this house. Nor do I have any envelopes, stamps or even sticky tape!

My three precious are definitely keeping me on my toes. On some days, they drive me insanely up the wall. Yet, the little things they do, like big sloppy open-mouthed kisses could send me over the moon. You wait, I will do an update on them real soon and that's a promise!

I thought I'd leave you with a photo of our brand new PhotoBook office:

Pop by for a visit, coffee is on us!

PhotoBook Australia
Shop1/475 Burwood Hwy
Vermont South VIC 3133

Making Gnocchi

Someone told me you can never have too much mash potatoes. Only too little gravy!

So that is the trouble. We never usually have gravy with our mash potatoes. And when I do make mash potatoes, I forget they are meant to be a side dish. NOT the main meal. And I end up with a whole heap of leftover mash. My husband loves them! I know... he pretends to transfer the leftovers into a clean glass container, only to lick the spoon and the OTHER bowl clean. He eats them for lunch the next day. Or a pre-dinner snack.

So today, before he got to my leftover mash, I quickly turn them out onto my stone bench. With a pinch of salt, an egg and just enough flour, I knead them into a soft potatoey floury dough.

I made gnocchi. Oh, I meant we. We made gnocchi.



Everytime he sees me working on my bench, he would ask "what's that mummy?" and "can I help?" Before I could even respond to that, he has taken the little foot stool out of the bathroom and climbing up onto the stool so he could reach the dough.



He loves it, he loves getting his hands (and face) dirty. So, I admit. The flour on the face was my doing. One for the camera! He he he! But I didn't even have to. Before I knew it, this little man is covered in flour!



He made Twisties shaped gnocchi. Oh so cute! And that's exactly what he had for lunch today.



Mmmm.... Twisty gnocchi with burnt butter, garlic and sage. Delicious!

The 'Transformation' of a 5 year old!

Lachlan, for his 5th birthday, requested for 20 or so of his kinder friends, to bring their energy cubes to his Transformers Birthday party. And THAT is a lot of energy packs crammed into the longest 3 hours of my entire life! Phew!

He is one transformers (and voltron) mad kid, thanks to his hand-me-down transformer toys from his daddy's days. He loved them to bits. So for his birthday cake, he wanted you guessed it right, a transformers cake! And gee, that was a little mind boggling for me for days as I was cracking my head, thinking what this cake would be or if it has to "transform" or not.

So 25 kids (including some siblings) or so went hunting for toy soldiers who went missing on a mission to fight the deceptacons (I made that up). Kind of stole the soldier hunt idea from another party we went to earlier in the month. And then, they saved aliens from a frozen ice block. The kids were divided into 3 groups. It was a race to melt the ice with little bowls of warm water that the kids took turns scooping, walking or running to, and pouring over the ice block. The first group who manages to free up the alien wins. I would have made 10 frozen blocks of ice if I knew how entertaining this would be for five year kids. Thank goodness the weather was warm enough for this game. It was so warm that the buttercream icing on the cake was literally sliding off the cake!



Speaking of which, I am so so so in love with this chocolate cake recipe by Nigella Lawson. It is so super moist, so ultra decadent. You can find the recipe here. Click click. The cake was a simple rectangular chocolate cake covered with red buttercream. We make a lasting impression with our parties, and I am sure the kids would be bouncing off walls when they got home that day with all that red food colouring they had with the cake. Not to mention all the lollies from the pinata. Sorry moms and dads! For the autobot logo, I looked for images on the web, printed one out on an A4 page and cut the shapes out. Then I used it as a stencil to cut out the shapes on rolled out fondant icing. And yes, it did "transformed" to nothing, as each piece get cut and eaten off.

So 2 parties down, and 1 more to go........ I hope someone left an energy cube behind, because I will need it muchly. Lucas turns 3 next week!

(Top photo: Lachy pictured with this kinder teachers who were so kind to pop by for the party)

Birthdays and more to come

Crazy is what I would describe the last couple of weeks. And that is an understatement. There seem to be things popping up to-do everywhere. I hope by the end of next week, things will settle down a wee bit. Another project awaits us... but more of that to come.

I can't believe my little girl is 1 year old. I am a mother of a 5 year old, a soon to be 3 year old and a 1 year old! My precious babies are growing up way too quickly.

Lily's birthday was a huge success. Having 3 kids around your knees doesn't quite go with throwing big parties especially when you're doing all the catering and entertaining by yourselves, but luckily for me my guests were really easy peasy to please. Some even brought along some delicious party food. We had about 50 people, young and young at heart.



I am so pleased to say that I made this cake myself! I'll let you in on a little secret. (It is no secret anyways haha!) I have been eagerly, waiting, wanting, yearning for a girly girl cake. No choo-choo trains, pirate ships, blue or green dyes. Just sugar and spice and all things nice! Uhmm... actually just sugar, lots of it.

It's a two tiered vanilla butter cake with a fondant icing, some farm animals: a chocolate cow, a pink pig, little ducks in a pond, a wooly sheep and since it was Easter, 2 bunny rabbits in crocheted dresses. Oh no, I have not gone mental enough to weave dresses for animals on a cake, I bought those two bunnies from a little shop, they came on a skewer that I thought would be perfect to keep those 2 cakes stacked atop one another. Everything else was hand crafted.

To keep to the easter theme, the little ones went on an easter egg hunt in our garden. We had such a good time, but before the day is over, I was already planning for our next party...



...to be continued.

Our House - Part 2

This is the front of the house. This is the long drive way leading to the front of the house.

And this is a little boy on his scooter, zooming up and down the driveway and getting our mail.

But there's no mail today.



But guess what? We have snails living in our letterbox. One of the many rotating inhabitants we share this house with. Snails eating our snail mails! Quite literally.

Lachlan will get the mails usually, and Lucas, those snails. Errgghh...

(Gaaaahhhh.... I hate my own voice on videos!)

Yes Ma'am!

I have a blog detective. She has been checking on my blog every SINGLE day and counting the days I have NOT blogged. Awww... we know you are our number one fan! So this post is for you.






So here are my troop, oh how they've grown. It's funny how I don't realise how big they've become (although they're constantly under my brow!) until I find last winter's coat and put them on. They've become 2 inches shorter!

My Lilypie will soon be 1, Lucas 3 and Lachlan 5! How time flies...

So yes Madam Detective, I don't blame you for missing these gorgeous faces. I know you miss their smiles, their laughter, hugs and kisses. I am saving them all until we see you again soon!

I want to apologise to all my loyal readers, who has also been checking up on me. No particular reason why I haven't blogged as much as I used to. At the end of each day (if there's such a thing!) I plopped myself down on the sofa, lazy and uninspired. Gorgeous faces they seem to be, they're little energy zapping bunnies.

On a more positive note, there's a LOT happening. Socially, there seem to be birthday parties every weekend in April and oh, did I mention we will be throwing 3 birthday parties in successive weeks? The home business is blooming wonderfully and soon I will be losing my wonderful SAHB work-from-home husband to a little shop nearby. AND the house! We're enjoying it.

XOX

An Unexpected Visitor

So yes, we do have a swimming pool in our backyard that we share with a multitude of other organisms!

The water has been gorgeous, blue. Icy, even at the height of summer. There's this solar thingy, but it doesn't "heat" the water up one bit. Probably just takes the edge off the iciness.

The boys LOVE it so so much! Lachlan wanted to have a pool party for his birthday. It's just that, I had to explain to him, his birthday would be late autumn. I didn't think anyone would come in their bathers, let alone jump into the pool with him.

Anyways, just a couple of days ago when the boys jumped in. Something else had already jumped in....FIRST. A little green frog that reminded me of first year uni lab practice! Uggggghhhhh..... Lucky I didn't jump in with them, else I would've jumped straight back out.

There was something else that I noticed that day, the pool somewhat turned green. Gaaahh, what's happened to resort style, crystal clear water overnight? Now I've got swampy ugly muck in my backyard with a frog??? I quickly googled "green pool water" and found out that there was a full-scale algae bloom in my pool. Awwww.........just bloomin' beautiful.

The rain must have brought these little buggers with it. Now here's what we have to do to reverse it. Sounds like a bloody science experiment to me, frogs and all.

Our House - Part 1

Over the next few weeks, I hope to be putting up pictures of the house. Mind you, the house is not new, it's almost 30 years old! But like a good wine, I think it has aged quite beautifully.

Now, I'm going to have to do this in a few parts. One, because I need the photos to actually look good to impress (teehee!) ie. minus the mess. Two, I can only do THAT much tidying up at the one time and taking the photos before it gets messed up again. Three, it will keep you in suspense. Four, there's no four. Don't worry, I will still be showing you the psychedelic, low hanging lamps from the 80's that we try not to bang our heads on, and everything as is, when we moved in.

We have not renovated, or done anything to the house. We simply moved in and unpacked.

Let's go from back to front! The rolling lawn, that was quick to impress. But when one has more time to ponder on how gruelling mowing the lawn can be........

So tip no.1 on buying a house, do it quickly before the hubby changes his mind!



It's always handy to have a lemon tree, especially one as established as this. Only problem is, they all ripen at the same time! So tip no.2, come and say hello to me during the lemon season, I will have a bucket load of lemons to share with you.

You can see the fenced pool area on the right, and the back facade of the house.



This is a fully covered patio, where we will be having lots of alfresco dinners in the warm summer's nights.



One of the things about this place is the well established garden, there is so much green. But it takes no genius to figure out, a big garden means a lot of hard work maintaining and time. Thank goodness, we have our parents to help out every once in a while. And it helps having a hubby that doesn't mind sweating it out with the lawn mower.



More pictures to come, so stay tuned!

Lego Lad

My first born child is almost 5 years old. He goes to kinder this year.

I get asked all the time when we go out together, why isn't he at school? Is he cutting classes? Surely this charming young lad, often very very suave with the ladies (especially grandmas) is of school age. No, he goes to kinder. 3 times a week, only 3-4 hours each session. Every other time, he gets to hang out with his mom. His poor mom!

Often when I potter around the house, picking this up and that, I would come across many of his interesting creations. A Lego police speedboat, with wings so it could fly and fold out tyres, so it goes on land. A rotorcraft house, so you can bring it with you on holidays (I like that!). Vehicles that change into robots, and robots that transform into humans. Space crafts, space shuttles and rocket ships.

And he talks to himself, in his imaginative play. In R-O-B-O-T like sounds. So sci-fi.

My first born child, he builds houses and space crafts. Perhaps one day, it will become a reality.

Hello Blog!

OK, so I think I am back. I have taken a rather extended hiatus from blogging. There has been quite a lot happening over the last couple of months. Buying a house, selling a house, moving house and now, renovating a house! But I could safely say that we have ironed things out, and on the right track back to our normal routine. It has been a smooth sailing adventure, but hey, packing and unpacking boxes is not too much fun when you're up to Box No. One Hundred and Twenty-Two!

Moving house takes up SO MUCH of your time, it zaps up your every last bit of energy, it's like a never-ending marathon. Whatever bit of time I have left, I thought it was only fair that I spend it on my children. I must admit though, inspirations have been hard to come by and I am struggling a wee bit (I think) to think about what to blog about. Maybe there are just SO MANY things I don't even know where and how to start!

How about this: We are so madly in LOVE with this place! The kids are crazy about their own little rooms (OK, except Lily), the space to run wild, the big gum trees! Oh it is so so green here, I absolutely love it! We stretch out our arms and legs, and there is SO MUCH room to streeeeettcchhh (and also SO MUCH HOUSE WORK!!) Oh yes, I absolutely love it! Haaaa......

And have I told you, we share this house with a gazillion of other living beings? We find 2, 4, 6 and 8 legged creatures of all shapes and colours and sizes, I feel like we're in a freaking museum of entomology!

Here to greet me on my kitchen window sill early in the morning...


Hello Mr. Mantis :)


Ugghhh... I'm not a big fan of 8 legged creatures! This orangey number is apparently a baby huntsman and she's already the size of Lily's palm. Gaaaaahhhhh!!

Often there will be a row of cockatoos sitting on the fence outside the window when the kids ate their breakfast. And one night, we heard hoot hoot, hoot hoot and we thought it was one of the kids snoring. But there he was, Mr. Owl perched on one of the gum trees.

Maybe I should start charging rent.

The Omnitrix

I remember those days when sugar crafting was completely alien to me. And now I'm crafting mysterious watch-like alien device out of sugar! By the way, this is a birthday cake for a Ben 10 themed party.

For those who don't know, an omnitrix is a device worn by Ben 10 that is used to transform him into some kind of alien form (I think).



It was Nigella Lawson's old fashioned chocolate cake recipe, an old favourite and lots and lots of ready rolled out icing.



Disclaimer: No person(s) were transformed into aliens in the making and the demolition of this cake.

Check out some of the other cake creations that I've made in the past. Click click.

The Middle Child

This is Lucas, our second born child. Some people say, he has the middle child syndrome. He craves the family spotlight, the attention seeker. He is LOUD. He is boisterous, adventuresome and somewhat destructive.

He wants to be independent. He picks what he wears. This is his absolute favourite shirt of all. His "Party Shirt", I picked from a $2 rack at the second hand kid's market. He NEEDS to wear it every time we go out. And here, he paired it with a pair of RED ugg boots, in the middle of summer.

Just imagine him, sitting in a supermarket trolley wearing his red party shirt and his red ugg boots! We do get a LOT of attention!

So the middle child phenomenon, is it true?

Lily Jade @ 9 months

My baby girl is 9 months old, can you believe? She is at this SUPER CUTE age, I wish I could bottle her up and keep her this way forever! She's full of smiles and giggles, constantly exploring the world. It doesn't take much, even the simplest thing keeps her happy. She loves her fruits. Throw her a nectarine or an apricot, she sits on her chair munching her fruit for ages.

Over the space of one month, Lily's development has PROGRESSED at lightning speed. And she has all her aunts and uncles, grandaunts and granduncles, grandma and especially grandpa, to thank for that.



She is 8.5 kgs. She has grown 3 teeth and she looks so cheeky when she smiles. Just one of her top incisors has grown and it's so freaking huge, it is so scary to feed her. Just what happens when she has two?

She loves to crawl to where the big boy's toys are. And often you would find part of Buzz Lightyear sticking out of her mouth or Lightning McQueen smothered in her saliva. She loves to stick her bum up high in the air, with her feet and hands firm on the ground, like in a downward dog (yoga) position. She pulls up on furnitures to stand, and sometimes couldn't get herself back down and calls out for help.



Thank you grandpa for teaching me how to clap hands and wave bye-bye.

Thank you grandma for teaching me twinkle twinkle little star.

Phaik Gunn Kor-Poh for teaching me how to blow. Kim-kim for splashing hands and kicking legs in the water. Aunty Yee Ling for blowing kisses. Ching Yoong "che-che" for teaching me how to say "che-che". And everyone else who has cuddled me, talked to me, nurtured, taught and showed me so many things in life. Most importantly, thank you for teaching me how to smile.



She oozes happiness, everyone just can't get enough of!

Camping at 'The Prom'

Over the Christmas holidays, our family went for a camping trip at the southernmost point of the Australian mainland, Wilsons Promontory (affectionately known to Victorians as 'the Prom').

Day 1: Yanakie Caravan Park

31 family members, a convoy of 7 cars packed with tents, camping equipments, food supply, 7 pitched tents, 4 camp sites and 2 cabins. Well, we sort of went "camping". When we stayed very comfortably in our very well heated cabin, the rest of the family were freezing their butts off in their tents!

The drive from Melbourne to Yanakie was quite pleasant. The kids were well behaved and Lily slept most of the way there. We settled into our cabin, while the rest pitched up their tents. We spent the day just relaxing and lounging around the camp site, exploring the caravan park and its surroundings. The boys watched boats being pulled to the docks and released into the water and dug on the sand in a near by beach.

Day 2: Wilsons Prom and Mt. Oberon



The drive from Yanakie to the Prom was interesting. Blackened trees amidst bursts of fresh green eucalypts, the views were simply breathtaking although what's left behind was a sombre mood, a memory of the "Black Saturday".

Early on the morning of Sunday 8 February 2009, the day after what is now known as Black Saturday, a dry lightning storm passed over Wilsons Promontory and a bushfire ignited. Lightning struck a gully just north of The Cathedral, a mountain at the north end of Sealers Cove on Wilsons Promontory's east coast. This bushfire burnt 25 200ha over five weeks, close to 50% of the national park.

We saw some wallabies and kangaroos along the way.

What we did on day 2 of our trip amazes me, up till today. Some of us still shook our heads in disbelief! We hiked up Mt. Oberon, ALL 5 of us! I had Lily (8 months) in a backpack carrier, Lucas (2.5 years) managed a third of the hike on foot and the rest on alternating shoulders of various strong gentlemen. Lachlan (4.5 years), well HE DID ALMOST 100% of the hike (up) on his own. It was 3.4km each way, with a gradual moderate slope.

Photo credit: Top photo was taken at the peak of Mt. Oberon, panoramic views of the prom. Second photo, on the way up to the top. Both taken by an uncle (Thanks Uncle Yeoh!) :)

We did not bring our camera as our hands are already full as you can imagine!

Squeaky Beach.

Exhausted but not defeated and very VERY hungry, we got takeaway fish and chips and headed to squeaky beach for a picnic. Wrong move. When you put a 2.5 year old and a 4.5 year old in a beach with sparkly quartz sand that squeaks AND fish and chips, you end up eating very VERY sand peppered crunchy chips. What a cute name for a beach don't you think? It was because of the squeaky noises made when you walk on the sand. Squeak, squeak!



Day 3: Whisky Bay

There are so many beautiful beaches at the Prom, and we love them all! Day 3 was spent at Whisky Bay. Here are some snapshots of the kids...



It wasn't her first touch of the sand, but here Lily had her first real taste of the sea! She rolled in the sand with the gentle waves, ate fistful of sand, and then another. She splashed her hands and feet in icy cool water (the water is still very cold although it was a rather hot day) and had sun kissed nose for a couple of days. (But she is still very VERY fair, just like her mummy who tried so terribly hard to get a nice golden tan. Did not happen!)

Day 4: Home sweet home.

End.