Dadda Cool

L1 and his dadda, they're like joined at the hips! They have this wonderful relationship that is different from mine and L1/L2. L1 could be very engrossed in something like watching Thomas or playing with his cars... and all of a sudden, where's dadda??? where's dadda???? He'll run upstairs to his office, or if he's not there, he'll run to the front of the house just to make sure his car is in the front porch. If he's not home, he'll need some sort of explanation like dadda went to the post office or to see a customer etc. He MUST know! He is very emotionally and physically attached to his dadda. Most boys his age would go looking for their mommies. L1, however... is his dadda's little boy. Dada showers his love and attention, abundantly. (I shower him with scolding and nagging, just as opulently!). He is the one to run to when the batteries run out. He fixes little broken cars. He builds soaring lego skyscrapers. He gives him his bath. He tucks him into bed.

We are truly blessed, dadda works from home. As busy as he may be, he'll always find time to come downstairs, to sooth the crying baby or to lend a hand with poo patrol. If I look like I'm tangled in sticky tape, a pair of scissors will magically appear in front of me. Or if I'm about to have a nervous breakdown at the end of the day, he knows to shoo me off to the gym.

I love dadda. He's so cool.

Karen Cheng

This is Karen Cheng.

She lives in Perth, Western Australia, with her husband and her two sons, Sean and Callum. I stumbled upon her blog, snippets of life a little more than a year ago, and I must say I've become a big fan. She is inspirational, she is passionate about life and she writes beautifully. She is artistic, she's funny and she's got a great sense of style. In fact, she is the reason I started my own blogging. She gives me ideas on what to do with my own two boys, and what the hell to cook for dinner! So thank you Karen, if you're reading.

Last year, Karen won the Best Blog Design in the Blogger's Choice Awards 2008. She came second in the Best Parenting Blog and was runners up for Best Blog of All Time and Hottest Mummy Blog! I must say she very well deserved all those awards and she got my vote for yummiest mummy of all time! :)

Well, she's up for the vote again for 2009 Blogger's Choice Awards. I know who I'll be voting for. Hop over to her blog for step-by-step instructions on how to vote.

Christmas Festivities

I can't believe it's that time of the year already. About this time last year, we bought a christmas tree for the very first time. As kids growing up, my husband and I have never really celebrated christmas. Sure, there's eating (and lots of eating!) and an odd christmas party here and there. But we've never really REALLY celebrated. We've not exchanged presents or given presents. We never understood the true meaning of christmas. To this day, we still don't! Now we owned a christmas tree and two darling boys, it's about time we found out don't you think? O.o

The other day, our playgroup had a christmas party. It was held in an indoor activity and play centre called YoYo's Playland. It's like a massive GATED (I like this idea!) fun house. There was a generous play area in a centre, with a huge inflatable slide. There were padded play equipments, cubby houses, push cars and this really cool roller-coaster-ride-on-thingymajiggy.

On to one side, there's a super play structure with a huge cyclone slide, more super-duper slides, trampoline and a ball pit.

Just look at the face of this boy, magic! We had loads of fun, burned off mega calories (L1, not me).

Even babies get their own play area and play equipments.

Verdict: Super cool. Would go there again.

YoYo's Playland

108, Lewis Road, Wantirna South 3152.

03-9801 6488

Darn, I didn't get to sit on Santa's lap!

Santa came early

L2: Hmmm.... I wonder if he's for real?!

Blue or pink?

I'm terrible at keeping secrets...




But I'm so happy I can't contain myself! Heeeeee....


NOPE it's not me!


*hugz*

Good Morning

L1 woke up at 7 this morning, 2 and a half hours earlier than he usually does. We did some things we've not done before. First, I let him spread butter and strawberry jam on his toast for the very first time in 2.5 years. We had brekky on the kitchen bench.

Then, we baked some banana and date muffins. I let him peel and mash the bananas. We had to go through 4 huge bananas before we had enough to fill 1 cup! Some ended up on the floor, most went into his mouth and there were some on my hair. He put little patty pan cases in the muffin tray and helped mix the batter. When we've finished, I felt like I've eaten so much and it's barely 8am! Now we're just sitting on the couch watching Thomas the Tank Engine. These days I hardly spend such quality time with L1 it just felt so good.

Ta-ta, we're getting ready for a christmas party. Santa will be there!

Photobook Christmas Promotion

Have you ever thought about making a REAL book as a special christmas gift? It could be a memory book for mom from your childhood years, collection of photos from a recent getaway for your loved one or even a simple coffee table book of combination of photos and text. It's just such a creative way to share your love this christmas.

They're doing this christmas promotion - 20% off all photobooks until 15th of December, 2008 for shipping to Malaysia and Singapore only. However, if you're in Australia and would like 20% off, just ask me nicely. I'm sure my darling brother will do a thing or two for his little sister. Plus, there's free shipping!

Just use the code - XMASGIFT at checkout, and you'll get 20% off.

This sure beats the christmas rush at the shops!

Mid-week tuna pasta

I love cooking quick and simple recipes, using healthy, fresh ingredients or pantry items. Having two boys, I am short of time. I usually keep a can or two of tuna in the pantry, along with canned corn kernels, 5 bean mix and baked beans - an aussie essential. I have pasta of all shapes and sizes, I usually buy the ones with lots of holes and ridges in them like rigatoni, macheroni and spirals as I find that the sauces would stick better or that the veggies would hide between the grooves making it more difficult for tiny fingers to separate them!




This week, I made one of our all time family favourites. Tuna pasta with roma tomatoes and pantry essentials. It takes me 30 minutes tops to prepare and cook. What more, I have leftovers that I put onto a baking dish and cling-wrapped, ready to be popped into the oven with some grated tasty cheese for tomorrow's lunch. These days Lachie has become extremely picky with his vegetables, but I still try to put lots and lots of veggies in most of my cooking, hoping that this would encourage him to eat them.

Ingredients:

500g Rigate (or pasta of choice) - cooked in salted boiling water until al dente. Drain.

1 medium brown onion, chopped finely
2-3 cloves garlic, minced
2-3 stalks celery, chopped finely
250g cherry roma tomatoes
425g canned tuna in vegetable oil, oil reserved
1 can corn kernels
1 can 5 bean mix
A handful of oregano leaves


Saute onion and garlic in 2 tablespoon of reserved vegetable oil until soft. Add celery and roma tomatoes. Cook until veggies are soft. Add in corn, beans, tuna and drained pasta. Stir and cook gently until pasta is warmed through and sauces are evenly distributed. Season to taste. Serve topped with fresh oregano leaves from the garden. The sauce for the pasta will come from the roma tomatoes, but if you find that it's a little too dry, add 2 tablespoons of tomato paste and a splash of water or stock.

Here's a mid-week meal idea for you! Enjoy!

Me time

Every now and then, I'd do something really random and sometimes drastic. I woke up this morning thinking I really need to do something with my hair. The long dreary weather over means my long limpy hair so OVER. I dropped the kids off at my inlaws (thank goodness for that!) and off I went to my hairdressers. Ooh, it's such a feel-good day!


Chop, chop, do you like it?


My darling Lucas had a little snip snip too. It was getting a little bit too long and he was starting to look like a girl, with his girlish features and all. Look, isn't he mommy's little boy??

Look up and smile

This is Venus, Jupiter and a crescent moon, appearing as a smiley face tonight.

Missed it? You'll just have to wait another 5 years...

Eat your heart out!

Most people have Monday blues. I rejoice! Monday means Tuesday is just around the corner. Monday means I don't need to cook dinner for the next two nights. Wooohhooooo!!! This is what we had for dinner tonight:


Spring rolls.


Home-grown (yep 100% home grown) Kai Lan or Chinese Broccoli.


Chicken, vegetables and cashews. (Oh, the cashews were scattered on the top only after this photo was taken).

Chicken and pork balls, with sweet and sour sauce on the side.

Tender, juicy steak with ginger and spring onion.

Spicy Chilli Prawns.

You ripper! This is what you get when your inlaws are ex-restauranteurs! And you don't have to be jealous of my BIG hips ok! =)

Berry Ice

Mmmmm.... I never thought we'd be this crazy over icypoles. It is seriously so easy to make. Not so very long ago, we made some yummy mango icypoles. It was such a treat for Lachie.

Last week, I bought 3 huge punnets of strawberries from the Caribbean Market, just because they were so cheap! Only did I realise later that day that we have to EAT all these strawberries like right now right this moment. The last time I let Lachie eat a whole punnet by himself, he had strawberry poo for three days! OK, that's another post altogether.

Strawberry surprise icypoles

500g Fresh Strawberries, washed and hulled.
250g (1 cup) Unflavoured or strawberry yoghurt.
1 cup Apple juice

Whizz everything together with a handheld blender and pour into moulds. Freeze. I'm thinking this would be such a great way to freeze fruits, the ones that got left behind in the fruit bowl. What's next? Orange ice?