Mummy, you need to eat that!

One afternoon, while I was busy knitting a scarf and barely noticing what was on TV, Greg suddenly said "Mummy, you need to buy that." I looked up to see what he was telling me. It was a tv commercial, and it was showing a lady in a bikini showing off her well toned body. I realize it was the Xenical commercial and I smiled as I knew what was my son trying to tell me. What he meant was "Mummy, you are too fat and you need to eat this to lose all that weight."

I pretended not to understand and asked "Why do I have to buy that."

He sheepishly came and hugged my hands gently telling me "you loo wey." He had speech problems back then and what he meant to say was "you loose weight".

I acted puzzled and ask "why loo wey?" He quietly replied "you pat, momma." Until that day, I didnt' realize my son knew what was fat and thin. It was just so funny to see how he was trying to be diplomatic and not hurt mummy. Even at this age he knew to come cuddle up to me before giving me the "blow".

I've to admit this is the first time someone came and told me I'm fat and I didn't feel hurt or insulted. Wait till he is 15 and tells me that.. then he'll see what will happen.

Back to eating my keropok.

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My baby is going to Kindergarten

Today seems like another ordinary day, getting Gilly ready for school and finding out Greg has a slight fever. Gotta blame it on the crazy weather over this weekend. It was freaking 36ºF which sounds very cold but with weeks of 18-20ºF, 36ºF does feel warm. Now what do boys do when they think its warm? They refuse to wear their wintercoats and then... he catches a chill.

This isn't the biggie for mummy, I took him to Gilly's school. It wasn't his speech lesson today but to register him for Kindergarten. Yes, my baby is going to Kindergarten this fall. Another mom who was signing up her oldest child asked me if I was crying. I laughed and told her I can't wait to get out the champagne when he jumps up the school bus in August.

I don't know if I would really be jumping for joy or crying. I remember tearing up realizing that Gilly wasn't with me all the time anymore when she left on the school bus on her first day of school. Now Greg, for the past 3 years he has been my little best buddy always following me everywhere while his sister was in school. I really don't know how I'm going to feel. Yes, I've plans to start stain glass class and cake decorating class but not having my "baby" with me will be something I'll have to learn. For the past 8 years, I've put my life aside to attend to my babies. I guess I'll be on another journey again. For now... I'll enjoy the next 3 months I have my "baby" with me.

Gregory when he was just born.


Greg now

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My Saturday Surprise

I woke up this morning and when I went downstairs, I found this box in the middle of my kitchen. Greg had dragged it to the middle so that I could trip over it. I wondered who sent it to me as I didn't buy anything online lately. To my surprise I recognized the sender... yahoo.... must be food .. it was from Raymond See of MyTasteofAsia.

I wondered what goodies he sent and quickly I opened it.. Its just like Christmas!!!
Here is my loot!!














I'm excited to see the seafood paste as its Lent and that means every Friday I'll have to cook fish or shrimp. MyTasteofAsia has a very good selection of Malaysia food supplies. It helps alot of us who have not gone home for along time. My kids have fallen in love with our Mamee noodles. They just love snacking it and has since taught their kwai-lo friends to eat it. This past Christmas I ordered some of the curry paste and gave them away as presents. My friends were delighted as they just didn't dare venture into cooking our South East Asian cuisine. The paste helped alot. I'll post some of the dishes when I've cooked them.. my weakness is eating up the food before my camera can do anything...

Notes by Jane: I just tried the teh tarik and I love this version as its less sugar.

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Kids & their thoughts

My kids are now 7 and 4. Throughout these years they have kept us on our toes and very well entertained.

I've decided to write down some of their thoughts. Its just amazing how a tiny litle human can think of things.

My all time favorite....

Gilly was then 4 years old. While driving to preschool, she started noticing the houses that we drive-by would have 2 garage doors (3 car garage). One day she tells me she wants a house with 2 garage doors. I told her we don't have the money as only Daddy works. This went on for weeks. Another time she played at her classmate's house and noticed her friend, J had a walk-in closet. Again, she tells me she wants a walk-in closet in her room. I again told her we don't have enough money to buy a bigger house with a walk-in closet. I told her if she doesn't mind going to daycare and I would go to work then we can have a bigger house. She agreed at first until I further explained that I would have to stop her ballet lessons as I would be at work and she would have to stop preschool as she would be in the daycare from morning until almost night time. She then said "I want Momma stay home."

Then... she starts telling me she wants another baby sister. Here we just had a baby boy (Greg) and there she starts asking for another sibling. I guess I'm not the only who was dissapointed in not having a baby girl.. but another this quick??? hahaha no way.... I laughed and told her "No.. only Daddy is working we can't afford another baby. Another baby means we need more baby food and diapers." She tried convincing me that since she doesn't wear diapers, her baby sister can have her share of diapers."

A few weeks passed and in the car again(it always happens in the car), suddenly the request of baby sister started again. I smiled and told her the same thing "Daddy is the only one working so we can't afford another baby". She was quiet for awhile and then came the sell -- "Mummy, how about this? You go have more husbands then we can have babies." I was shocked and tickled at the same time at her suggestion. She kinda got the concept of more people at work = more $$$ = more babies. She just didn't know mummy can't have too many husbands at the same time.

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Tinley Park Shooting - Why are people so dumb??

Yesterday, while driving out of our local library, my cellphone rang and it was my hubby. He asked where I was and when I told him I was just leaving the parking lot. He told me not to return home. Next came the shocking news which took me 10 minutes to digest. "Don't come home, there is a gunman driving around. Cops are all over the place and I can hear the helicopter. They don't know where is the gunman so just don't come anywhere near this area". My neighbor had called our house to warn us.

Wow... here in my car, I have 2 guests from NYC visiting. Boy they must think this place is worse than NYC... that was what I thought.... I kept driving while I was still digesting my hubby's call. I lived in a quiet neighborhood, how can this happen? I finally told my friends and my 2 little ones as they were in the car. I called a friend who lived nearby, to warn her about the incident.

Even at Costco, I overheard someone's phone conversation. Obviously that person too was warned not to return home. Its a sick feeling when you know you can't even go home to your own house. I was looking for cop car to ask if it was ok to even go back and that was 4 hours after the first 911 call.

Yes... I live in Tinley Park and the strip mall is named after my subdivision. Its just a few blocks away and this mall is only 2 years old. We were so excited when we first heard this patch of cornfield will turn into a mall... with Target coming in.... now.. its going to remind us that 5 people lost their lives in this insane/stupid attempted robbery. How can someone be so stupid to kill innocent people while wanting to rob a place???? Can't they just rob the place and walk away without shooting anyone??? Those were just ladies who most probably won't be able to overpower a big man!!!! I do hope they catch that heartless person and my heart, thoughts and prayers is with those innocent victims' family.

We finally went home at 3 pm and we got this city wide call from the Village. They were informing us about the incident. The ironic this was it was already in the news and on the internet. Too late Tinley Park Village, that call should have come right after the shooting incident not 4 hours later. That would have been more effective..... and why did they call us again at 3:56 A.M ???? Oh well... at least I know their phone announcement system works!!!!!

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My exciting morning

I was busy cleaning my 1st floor windows this morning. For someone who has dust allergies, I hate doing this as I will keep sneezing for hours. My little helper was nice to tear kitchen towels when I needed new ones. While working on my bay window, something brown dashed by our window. For a second, I thought it was a coyote as we do have sightings of them in our subdivision. But after looking at it again, it looked more like a German Shepard breed. Quickly I ran to my front door and called it. It responded which surprise me. Usually strays would run but not this one. I grabbed my dog's treat and threw it out. The dog jumped up and grabbed it. My dog got excited and started barking, we had to gate him as I didn't know if this dog was agressive.

After a few more treats, I made my son hold a treat and stand infront of the glass door. I ran upstairs and Googled our local animal control. We called and made a report and the lady on the phone told us one would be dispatched soon as the officer was just a street away at the local PAWs. It took them about 10 minutes to come and while waiting, I grabbed more dog treats and threw it out to the dog. I gave it some of my dog's food but stopped when I realized the dog treat was cheaper than my dog's food due to the allergies requirements. My stupid dog is allergic to normal dogfood so we have to buy the more expensive one... and funny thing.. I'm allergic to my dog!!!.... ok.. back to the lost dog ...

Dog coming for more treats

Finally the animal control officer came. With her sweet voice, she called the dog and it came cautiously. She gave it some treats and tried to put a leash on it. It walked away from her and came back to my front door. I saw all those as I stupidly ran to my driveway to let the lady know the dog was at my front door. I said stupidly as I didn't put on a coat... which I am paying now as I'm coughing more now.. I am recovering from flu over this weekend...

Dog must have seen the Animal Control Office

I went back inside and stood at my front door... to kinda assure the dog its ok. It came and grabbed another snack from me. This time It allowed the lady to put the leash on. It did show its teeth at her but I guess her soft sweet voice did some magic as It allowed her to pat it's forehead. Next thing she said was "can you sit?" and the dog sat... hahaha I who trained my dog pretty good... never thought of tat command with this lost dog. At least we know the dog was domesticated. Hopefully its owner knows to call Animal control. I did put up a notice at my subdivision's forum and maybe the owner reads it.

Dog finally leashed and It's showing it's teeth.

Back to my window cleaning... what a nice break from a boring task....

p.s. in the midst of all the excitement, the amazing part is I remembered to take some photos!!!! Alleluia!!!

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Kaya made with Breadmaker

This is my attempt at making kaya with a breadmaker. I've to admit that its so much easier than the stand and stir or steam method. It was abit lumpy (not too bad) but I tried using the food processor to make it smoother.

This is my recipe:

Ingredients:

• 550g eggs (10 Extra large egg bought from Costco)
• 300g sugar
• 200g brown sugar
• 3 pandan leaves
• 600ml thick coconut milk (1 1/2 cans of chaokoh coconut)

Directions:

1. Beat eggs and sugar together for 10 minutes.
2. Strain egg mixture into Breadpan.
3. Set to Jam mode. Press Start. It takes about 20 min. to pre-heat.
4. Add strain coconut milk into breadpan once the padde starts stirring. (That way I know the sugar is all melted. Depending on your breadmaker, it will take up to 90 minutes to cook. Entire Cycle takes 1 hour 10 minutes.
5. Once the Breadmaker beeps, cooking is complete.
6. Press Stop and take out the Bread pan.
7. If texture is lumpy, transfer to a food processor and blend it to make it softer.
8. Transfer kaya to a refrigerator/freezer-safe container. Cover tight.

Note: I used brown sugar so that the kaya looks brownish. That way I didn't have to carmelize the sugar. Some have used just brown sugar or palm sugar.

Enjoy this recipe. Those who are thinking of trying.. try it... if you dont' like it, you can always toss it away.

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My Expensive Day

Wednesday, January 23rd 2008 turned out to be not only a cold day for me but an expensive one. I went to Costco knowing I should get another cordless phone. Although I love the Panasonic brands, I've given up on my 2nd Panasonic cordless phones. After time, I notice the keypads dont' function too well and somehow I get this "bleep" and I miss a few seconds of my conversation with person on the other side of the phone.

What did I get? A Vtech cordless phone with 3 handsets for $$59.99 as I had a $20 coupon from Costco. To my delight, I discovered that Costco now sells the Daylight Compact Fluorescent bulbs. I bought a 6 bulbs pack for $10 which is very cheap. I went home very happy and contented as now I've completed changed all the bulbs in the house to daylight bulbs.

Being a Wednesday, I dropped Gilly at the local Library for her Brownies and dragged Greg to Bed Bath and Beyond with my big envelope full of coupons. I was planning to buy a set of cookie sheets as I plan to bake cookies for CNY. I found my cookie sheets and while strolling by the small appliances, I saw 2 different brands of breadmaker. Cuisinart breadmaker for $129.99 and Breadman's for $79.99. Breadman's tag mentioned "Last One"... I found an associate and casually asked if they would give extra discount being the last unit and a demo. She told me yes and I further asked if I could use my 20% discount as well. To my delight she said Yes and said to mention her name. I usually dont' buy on an impulse but this was too good to let go. I grabbed that unit, it didn't come with a manual nor a box. I ended up paying $51 for this breadmaker. I've been thinking of getting one and now I finally bought one. Is it impulse buying??? I guess no as I've been pretty patient waiting for a good buy. As I'm typing this, my breadmaker is put to use. I'm trying out Kaya on the Jam mode. If it turns out good... I'll remember to add it to the blog.

When we came home after brownies, about 100 yards from my garage. I heard this "pop" sound and wondered what it was.... shoot... my windshield had a 2 feet crack. Looks like we will be replacing the windshield... OH NO... what a day... I've spent too much today!!!! Oh well at least I hope to enjoy my Kaya...

Till then....

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Kueh Bakar

This is one of my favorite Malay Kuih that I used to buy from pasar malam (night market). The last time I ate this kuih was in Langkawi at 1996. I have to admit I never knew the name of this kuih but loved it. I once saw a photo of it in Lilian Chan's blog but there was no recipe. I got all excited when I saw photos of of this kuih at Raymond See's party which he gladly posted on mybuddies.net. I learnt that it was fellow blogger and now my sifu Gert who made brought this kuih to the party. I got more excited when she said she would post this recipe in her blog. I didn't have to wait long and finally got the recipe.

This is my attempt at this kuih and it turned out good. I guess I added too much green coloring (2 drops). I took it to church for a Singaporean lady to try and we do have a Malaysian priest there and he loved the smell of pandan, he said it was good. I don't know if my kuih was all that good or if they both had not eaten this kuih for so long that even a bad one would taste good.. hahaha... Enjoy!!

Here is Gert's recipe...
Ingredients :

• 1 1/4 cups of sugar
• 2 cups of flour
• 1 cup of pandan juice (6 pandan leaves + 1 cup of water - blended)
• 2 1/4 cups of coconut milk
• 4 large eggs
• 2 tbsp of melted butter
• 1 tsp of pandan paste
• few drops of green food coloring
• 1 tbsp of sesame seeds (optional)

Instructions:

1. Pre-heat oven to 325 degree F and greased a baking pan.
2. Mix all the above ingredients except sesame seeds until well combined.
3. Pour mixture into baking pan and sprinkle with some sesame seeds and bake until golden brown or skewer comes out clean when tested. It should take an hour.
4. Cool it down before cutting.

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Welcome 2008

Happy New Year!!!
I've had such a wonderful holiday season. We didn't go anywhere but spent all our hours just relaxing and playing with the kids. I didn't make Gilly do any math and they got to sleep late. She had so much fun for the 2 weeks that she was reluctant to go back to school.

We went for midnight mass and to my surprise, they both were wide awake. The next day, we went to my in-laws for lunch. The kids had a nice time playing with their cousins. Gilly and Greg are the babies in the family as my hubby is the baby of the family and he married late. I've learnt my lesson this Christmas... I'm gonna let the kids open their presents after midnite mass... cos we went to bed at 2am and Gilly woke us up at 7.30am.. just to open her presents... Lesson learnt!!! The kids loved their presents. We did get them a Wii and now I'm hooked.




Came New Year's eve, we went for mass and then stayed back for "Hot Pot" aka Steamboat. The food was good and eventhough we didnt' sign up for it, there was enough for people like me who didn't sign up.

New Year Day, we had dinner at my Sister in Law's. She had her kitchen redone and it looked beautiful. However as alot of us are allergic to cats, even with medication, I had trouble breathing. I would force myself to take deep breathes. That is why sometimes, I don't like going to houses with cats as medication isn't effective.

Kids are now back in school and I'm trying to get the Christmas decorations packed up. Hopefully I'll get them all done today...

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Merry Christmas & A Happy New Year

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Watch This!!!

I was laughing so much when my gf called and told me to check my email. This cute thing by jibjab is so funny. Only thing that makes it funny is when the people in it is someone you know. My kids were laughing so much when we showed this to them. My friend had added my kids' and her kids' photos into this video. It was so weird to see a 9 month baby doing the jiggle.

Note: You may have to click on the "Play" button twice. The first 3 kids in that is passing the ball are my gf's kids and then the later two (one tat is hanging on strings is Greg and the girl jumping is Gillian)

First one is Christmas Tree. Enjoy

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

This is the Office Party:

Don't send a lame Holiday eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

Disco Party:

Don't send a lame Starring You! eCard. Try JibJab Sendables!

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Breakfast with Santa

I woke up at 6am because my Gilly came and jumped on me. We tried waking up Greg and he too didn't give me any trouble. My kids were Angels this morning because we were having Breakfast with Santa at Nordstrom. We were on time as traffic was smooth... oh well there wasn't any traffic this early on a Saturday.. wow.... something I'm not used to when it comes to Chicago traffic.

Gilly and Greg insisted on getting their balloons even before we got to our tables. Greg asked for an airplane and Gilly got her snowflakes. After we got to our tables, the kids decided they wanted their face painted. Gilly had a cute reindeer on her cheek and Greg suddenly changed his mind. And we say girls are fickle???

We had a long table as we had a big party. Our party consisted of 7 adults and 12 kids and we sure had a nice time. The kids enjoyed their breakfast and were good to finish all their food. Halfway through the meal, Santa walked in the cafe and Greg ran to greet him with a big hug.
After our meal, the kids got to take photos with Santa and they each got a Santa mug with candies filled.

*Spoiler for kids*
This is our 2nd time having Breakfast with Santa. This Santa has "visited" Nordstrom annually and I am spoilt by him. I've never seen such a "REAL" Santa as this Santa. He has this Rosey looking face with his natural white hair and beard. Having seen him, I don't get excited when I see other Santas... He has this Magical aura that makes me think he is real.

A man walked by in the shopping area and he told me "There is one Santa downstairs that looks real, you should go down and look for him". I grinned and told him "I know who you are talking about cos we just had Breakfast with him" Oh... well... I've taken some photos of him and the kids and I didn't know which one to chooose as the kids were looking in 10 different directions.. so you guys get to see all of it.... Enjoy... And don't you agree he really looks real with his rosy cheeks??

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Delimas Curry Chicken

This week has been a very busy week for me. Cooking our meals has become a big chore as I've so much to do with driving the kids around and getting ready for Christmas. I'm now in my max speed knitting as much as I can. We have been having alot of spagetti and ABC soup for our dinners. I've been craving for curry chicken and remembered, Raymond See of MyTasteofAsia did send my some free gifts and one of them was the Delimas Curry Chicken Paste.

I quickly got the chicken and started to cook and boy..... it was so easy and quick. I didn't have to cut any garlic or pound any spices. I just needed chicken, potatoes and the paste.. and that was it. It looked delicious and it tasted delicious too. I am glad I did buy more of this paste in my last order. I am planning to give these paste away as X'mas presents to some friends who don't know how to cook curry but loves curry. I now know I'm giving away a nice and delicious present.

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Three Little Pigs & Polar Express

We had a very nice weekend despite the bad weather. My kids' God mom had gotten us tickets to the Chicago Kids Company's Three Little Pigs Performance. The day started out bright and sunny and as we got out of the house, it started snowing. We weathered the snow and traffic jam and quickly sneaked into the theater to enjoy the 2nd half of the show. The kids loved the performance, and to my surprise Greg was jumping and laughing and clapping and singing along with the actors. Gilly however who was still interested in the performance kept her "cool" composure. The actors were very talented and their voices were beautiful. It was hilarious when they rapped and danced hip-hop when they story was about the Three Little Pigs. It was the kids first "live" theater show and I am planning to take them for the next performance of "Goldilocks and the Three Bears".

When the show ended, we had a chance to take some photos with the actors and Greg to my surprise ran up to the wolf and "hit" the wolf. He did that twice and I didn't know if I should reprimand him or laugh at him. I guess he isn't afraid of the Big Bad Wolf. By the time the show ended, it was snowing pretty hard and we all drove through the crazy traffic to Matsuya for sushi and my favorite Katsu Don. It must be at least a year since I've eaten katsu don. We stayed the nite at my friend's place as the storm had changed to ice rain. When we went out at 9pm go do a carry-out, I did my slide so that I would not fall.

The next day, we missed mass but was in time for CCD. We bought lunch and went home to rest. Shhh!!! the kids slept at 2am so they were tired but they didn't know what was in store for them next. At 2.45pm, we got the kids into the van and the next thing they realize we were parking in the Train Station. I had booked us 4 tickets for the Polar Express. The village annually rents a few coaches and kids would go on the Polar Express. We went all the way to North Pole (Joliet) and hunted for Santa Claus at North Pole. When we found him, he followed us back to Tinley Park. In the train we sang Christmas Carols and Santa Claus mingled with us. He gave the kids a bell and the kids had fun eating Santa cookie and drank hot chocolate. Greg who loves trains got to sit on the Metra train for the first time and he definitely enjoyed his train ride with Santa.


We sure had a fun and busy weekend and I had trouble waking Greg up this morning. Even when I pulled his pants off.. he just jumped and snuggled under his sheets. Only when I told him that it was my day to volunteer in his class that he did jump out of bed.

We are going for "Breakfast with Santa" this coming Saturday at Nordstrom. I'll keep you posted with photos.....

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Thanksgiving Dinner

This year Thanksgiving is just among us 4. I didn't want the hassle of too many people and decided to have a quiet dinner. I guess I'm too Malaysian and not having the zest in celebrating Thanksgiving. I remember last year he told me that we should get at least a turkey as the kids are starting school and he thought Gilly would feel left out when the kids talk about their Thanksgiving meal. Alright, I dragged myself out to Dominicks and got a Oven Ready Turkey Breast. Something simple and easy, and the kids had a good time. This year, it just became automatic that we would go get the "Easy" turkey. Maybe one day I'll try the whole turkey.

This year Thanksgiving day is also our wedding anniversary. Its been 8 years and hubby was nice to surprise me with a nice bouquet of yellow roses. He remembers that I love yellow roses. I guess we had our romantic dinner with 2 candles named Gilly and Greg. For some of you, we have 2 wedding anniversaries. We got married in front of a Judge in November then in March we had our church wedding so don't get confused if you hear me mention wedding anniversary again in March.

One of my girlfriend, Katherine, did invite me to her place when she found out that we were not going to go to the in-laws. But I just wanted it to be us 4. Thanks Katherine for the invite, it made my day knowing you do care for this silly Malaysian Chinese woman.

Back to dinner, we had our "dinner" at 2.30 pm.. I know its a weird time but by the time the food was done... we just couldn't resist the food. OK... don't laugh at my mismatched plates, I'll try to go to Linen N Things and get better utensils for next year. Lesley and Gert, do remind me when there are good sales.


We have since finished our turkey and have still alot of cornbread stuffings and sweet potatoes. I guess we will still be eating it for the next 2 days.


Here are some of my photos from our dinner. Greg must be really growing cos he didn't do his "gobble gobble gobble" chant anymore. He usually does that before he bites into a piece of turkey.

My rascals before digging in

I'm done.

Andre Rieu is starting on PBS... gotta go watch him play and imagine myself as good as he is... what a dream... hahahahaha.. ciao

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Hit Me One More Time!!!

My 4 year old boy and 7 year old girl are fighting alot these days. Gilly has become more physical as she would hit her brother if I'm not near her. I've caught her hitting or kicking her brother. Two nights ago, the little one came running to me, crying that his sister hit him on his face. I finally told her I'm just gonna let her hit her brother and not punish her. I told her that all she does by hitting him is to teach him how to hit. One day he will grow up and be bigger than her and then when he hits her, she has to bear with it as she was his hitting teacher. She was quiet for a long time and knew to go read her storybook to stay safe.

It was Greg's bath time and I told him he was allowed to have his bubble bath. He enjoyed himself and had the whole tub to himself. The next night, Gilly asked if she could have her bubble bath. I told her No because Greg was given the privilege of bubble bath as he got beaten the night before. She didn't kick a fuss to my surprise. However, my little rascal realize what was happening.. and next thing I saw him egging his sister and I could hear her screaming... He was bugging his sister and saying "Hit me one more time! Hit me one more time!" He figured out that if Gilly were to hit him then he gets to have another bubble bath.

Luckily he hasn't heard Britney's song "Hit me baby one more time".

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My crazy day

My daughter has taken upon herself to be the board of censorship. Last night, she showed me a birthday invitation that she had received last week. Yes last week and her reasoning for not showing it to me was "Mummy, I'm not going to this party because I have to go to the Tree Decorating event at the Brookfield Zoo". I was surprised and yet tickled to see her reasoning. Oh Yes... I rather go to the Zoo so I don't need to show you this birthday invite. Knowing if she had no other events she would jump to any invite and shove the invitation card on my face. I just had to call to RSVP to the boy's mom and apologize for the late RSVP too.

I realize that my baby, who is now 7, has learnt to show me what she wants to show me. Hence becoming a censorship board.

Yesterday, seem to be a busy day for me. First I had to see what was in my Gilly's huge bulging bag. Yes, she took upon herself to lend her teacher 2 of her Enid Blyton books which were hardcover. Plus bringing her photo album to school for god knows who to see. Imagine, her bag which is almost as big as she is when its empty whatmore when its bulging heavy. I had to remove all her books and told her to think about which book she wish to loan her teacher and take it another day.

Greg had a mild fever and he loved me so much, he had to run upstairs to come puke at me. Yes, he was watching TV downstairs and ran upstairs pass the powder room to come vomit on me and the carpet. Later I asked him if he knew he was going to puke when he ran upto me. He said YES... golly gee.... I asked him why didn't he run to the powder room which was nearer to him.. he just shrug and gave me a blank look. Puking on Mummy must be a thrill thing to do when one is sick. Thank God for Bissell SpotBot which makes my cleaning easier.

My mother in law has gone in for a masectormy, she found out she had early stage breast cancer. Last Sunday, she asked me how to say urinate and poo in English. She doesn't speak too much English and living all these years in Chinatown she could get along fine with just speaking Chinese. I spent 2 hours online trying to find chinese words and its english translation. Just simple words like thirsty, painful, cold, hot or fever, urinate and No.2 which one would say to a nurse. I finally did print them out in a 4 x 6" card and laminated it. Sent it to my brother in law and hopefully he didn't forget to take it with him to the hospital. At least with that card, she could point at the english word which is next to the chinese words she needed to express. Now don't laugh at me for taking 2 hours to come up with 10 words. I don't read nor write chinese so it was pretty challenging for me. Luckily I had friends who were online that checked on my task.

I pray things will go smoothly for her. I guess breast cancer research has advanced so much these days that one knows their chances of recovering is higher. She just has to stay overnight and doesn't have to have radiation because of her age.

That's part of my crazy day ... and I managed to blog as well in the midst of all the chaos..

Adios

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Improved French Bulletin Board

I improved on my bulletin board eventhough I told myself that was it. I wasn't going to work on it again. But knowing myself that somehow the board needed something I couldn't help myself. I dragged the board to a friend of mine (she lives in chinatown) who is very artsy.. and she gave me her constructive critique and suggestion. Hey.. she even sponsored some supplies (knowing she has endless amount of craft supplies). I've added more batting to make the board look more plushy plus just tiny paper flowers added more dimension to the board. I did find a cute Hello Kitty photo and printed it on those T-shirt transfer papers and iron it on the cloth. I am not too happy with what I did with the Personalized name as I didn't get it and the ribbon to align properly (hate to blame it on 11.30pm, last minute work but I guess I was getting too tired and reckless). I do hope the little girl loved it as its one of a kind present!!

We were at the party this Saturday at one of the suburb Park District. For some overseas friends, we have Park Districts (kinda like Town Council that runs special programs or facilities for their town residents. You can rent their facilities for parties and this one happen to have a huge carousel and climbing thingy (similar to McD's playland). The kids had fun as they had the carousel to themselves and could run between rooms to either play on the carousel or climby thingy... They play for 2 hours and our kids sure did have fun.

We did drive by this forest preserve that does fence in some elks. This township is named after some Elks and I guess that is why they do keep some elks in the forest preserve. The kids had never gotten near an elk and were thrilled when dad told them to gather some leaves that had fallen on the ground to feed the elk. At first, the elk took few steps back but when he or she saw the kids reaching out with leaves, it timidly walked towards them and ate off their hands. Greg was giggling and ran to get more. I had to remind him to slowly walk towards the elk as the running will scare it away. They fed the elk a few more times until the elk walked away. The kids were dissapointed and we told them the elk was most probably full. They understood and jumped back into the van saying "we will come feed the elks again".

While we were in the neighborhood, I decided to drive by our old apartment, we stayed there for almost 2 years until we had our house built. It was a tiny 660 sq.ft apartment, eventough it was rental and it was tiny, we sure had good happy memories there. Hubby did say, "why bother going back there". I told him it was a nice reminder of how we all started our lives as a family. PLUS.... there is this playground near the apartment that has an awesome slide. Yes... this slide is so cool as its not a flat metallic slide, its made of rollers so when you sit on it.. the rollers will roll you down and Gilly would make some sound and with all that bump.. you make a bumpy ahhhh sound. Even Greg who was sleeping by the time we got to the park got all excited. He loved making the bumpy ah ah ah sound too. They got to play for 5 minutes only as it was getting cold. Sorry, I forgot to take any photos of the kids on the slide. I know somewhere in my archives I do have a photo of Gilly on it. Maybe one day I'll hunt for it.

Until then, have fun friends.

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My First French Bulletin Board

I just made my first French Bulletin Board also known as Ribbon Bulletin Board. Its was pretty easy to make and this will be a present for a 7 year old girl for her birthday. She asked for Hello Kitty things and as I could not find a nice Hello Kitty Fabric, I managed to find Hello Kitty Ribbons. Should I start selling them in future??? I hear they usually retail U$40.00.

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