While a lot of people think I’m sort of supermum who’s able to cook, clean, sew, knit and blog despite having 3 under 4, I cannot take full credit of it coz the bulk of it is thanks to good ol’ Mr. Tv. Honestly, without it I really don’t know what I’ll do. While on most days, things pan out for themselves…on some days, the kids can be more than just a handful that only the tv can divert their attention long enough for me to do something ie cook, hang out the laundry, etc.

Which brings me to our ever growing mountain of DVDs. It’s bad enough we (the adults) have a ton of DVDs of our own but now with the kids taking over the tv, their pile is growing into a mountain too!! O.o Our recent purchase included Toy Story 1 & 2, and Nemo. Needless to say the phrase ‘To infinity and beyond’ is the main phrase of the day. Ask the girls anything and they answer me with this. *shakes head* The only thing that would make it all perfect would be to actually own a decent home theater system.

But this wont be happening any time soon, in fact, to even get some home theater system speakers is not our list. What we desperately need is a decent sized wall cabinet so we can store our DVDs in plain view instead of putting them in boxes and in the tv cabinet which is at the moment, considered minute! *sigh* Time to start stalking the furniture stores….

Reading that makes your mouth water right?

Are you drooling yet? lol I bet you’d be if you’re a huge dark choc fan like I am. When Arnotts launched this new flavour, I told Ted and we MUST try them out but each time we go out, I always forget to get these! Thankfully this time, it was on special so I grabbed it.

Sadly, it was not as good as I expected it to be. I don’t have to go out and buy phenphedrine coz I won’t be stuffing my face with this. I felt that it didn’t really have enough of the rum and raisin flavour. Felt as if I was eating choc raisin Timtams. Either way, I’m glad I gave it a go….but wont be getting it anymore though. I think I’ll stick to my good Old Jamaica Rum n Raisin Dark Choc….that is OH SO YUM!!!

It all started the day Arianna got UTI and then everything and everyone went downhill. The cold weather is not helping one bit so we were all cooped up and indoors over the long weekend. Arianna passed her cold down to KR then I got it slightly, and then Ted who copped it the worst and now on antibiotics, and Brandon is just having a snotty nose. Needless to say, we are a lot of really sick people. But the good news is that we are on the mend!

I wonder if its coz we didn’t take our flu vaccinations that we are getting it this bad. MIL thinks that we did but we haven’t so we’ll have to play along. It’s not that we dont want to tell her stuff but at this age, every single thing big or small stresses her out. And especially if its related to the kids so we really dont want to worry her so anything she asks, most of the time it’s ‘Yes, Mum’.

Being sick and stuck in the whole weekend was no good (especially with the long weekend) but despite the crappy weather and sickness, we managed to make a trip out to Suzie’s and met AJ and UJ before they returned home to Malaysia. It was a rather short trip for them but I’m sure they made the most of it. It was nice to meet up at Suzie’s place and Roger cooked us lunch! It was delish!!! You’re a lucky woman, Suzie. Although there were no other kids there to play with, the girls had fun nonetheless. But I couldn’t say the same for Brandon! Poor bubba was just all over the place and besides himself. I totally blame the sickness. He was just so cranky and would not go to anyone else but me. And he also slept most of the day in my arms. I thought my arms were going to fall off at one point. >.<

Today, we are all much better but still not 100%. We are all still sniffly but no more fever around. I wish it would just go away already…..*sigh* I hate being sick!

I recently got a letter from one of my friends that I got to know through my penpal days and we’ve been writing to each other for at least 5 years. So we are pretty good friends. Life for her in Chicago hasn’t always been good but I was so glad to hear that she is doing well at the moment and is taking one day at a time.

But the happy news was not only about her but about Max, her only son!! I was so touched to be on her list of sending graduation announcements even though I am so far away. I am so proud of Max and what he has achieved seeing what he had to go through. Good on ya, Max….your Mum is most proud of you, you done well dear….

Congratulations hun!!

I used to think that it was easy to buy presents for people but I can honestly tell you that the older person gets and the longer you know them, it just gets harder!! For me personally it’s even worst coz my shopping is mostly limited to shopping online for Ted’s presents because I normally use my Paypal account to purchase things. And shopping online may not always be the best thing but for me, it’s the next best thing.

Ted loves reading and although he loves gadgets, he hardly ever buys anything for himself and I thought that it would be a pretty nifty idea to get him a NextBook. I may have to start shopping real soon so that the gift arrives on time….and that’s the only reason I don’t like shopping online. You can never be sure of postage. But I really hope this one arrives on time!

Every time Mum comes for a visit, she will coax me into getting a small garden started. And for most times, I will be very excited about it and would have many plans in my head about how to get a nice herb garden going or a small veggie patch. Sadly, the last 2 times Mum started the garden for me, they both failed and died on me!! Yes, I have blue fingers…..

Here are pix of the last ‘garden’ Mum started for me :

The new pots all set up in the corner of our balcony.

Arianna checking out the new corner. She’s 2 yrs plus in this photo and Mum wanted to train her to water the plants. It worked out for awhile until she started pouring water all over the place!

So I’ve since given up on gardening and even got Ted to take down all the gardening stuff. But I still have a glimmer of hope IF I stick to hydroponics coz at least I dont have to water them. And that suits me just fine.

The one thing that I always look forward to is starting the countdown to the flight back to Malaysia. It is the one thing that I can’t wait to start and the moment my tickets are booked, my countdown starts. For the record, I have to say that I am blessed to have a really wonderful husband who doesn’t have anything against me going home for visits despite the fact that every trip we make, it does cause dent in our finances. Of course this also means that he won’t be able to get those ATV Tires…at least not just yet. He knows which is more important.

As a matter of fact, he too looks forward to going ‘home’ coz nothing beats a holiday where the people live to eat! lol Me? I live to eat but cook to live – if I can avoid it, I avoid it at all cost!! So much for my cooking skills…

Do you know much hearing this makes me miss home? Ted occasionally says this to me coz like me, he misses Malaysian foods but not as much as I do since I grew up on it. The last few times we went back to Kulim, we have been lucky enough to go out at night by ourselves after the girls had gone to bed. It was good to be able to spend some private time together and I have my Mum and Sis to thank for that. I feel really blessed that the girls were able to settle well in their temp new environment relatively fast. We were there for 3 months, you see?

Anyway, the times that we have gone out at night, we normally find ourselves driving to the closest Nasi Kandar restaurant. Nasi Kandar is a typical Malaysian type of food which is available 24 hours a day. It is basically plain white rice with eaten with curried dishes which range from chicken, mutton (goat) and beef, and also some seafood like prawns and squid. I dare say that it is staple food!

How cool would it be if we could open a franchise here in Merrylands and have all the nasi kandar and teh tarik (tea with milk) we want at any time? That would be so excellent, I’m drooling just thinking about it! lol Over here, the closest nasi kandar restaurant is in the city and (it’s no surprise here that) it is EXPENSIVE! I guess when you are unique and running in the world’s favourite city, it’s bound to cost an arm and a leg. Sadly we have not been there although I’ve often wanted to. O well, one can dream….no?

Not too long ago I posted on my FB status about wanting to be a fly on the wall at the homes of 2 of my friends. One because she has a big family (7 kids – Lod bless her!) and I’d love to see how she handles her (not so) little tribe and how she is able to sew, knit, quilt and making up PDF tutes for us when she has a family to care for. I’m in awe really. Here I am with just 3 kids and I find that these days, I have to sacrifice one thing in order to do another. A fantastic example is me choosing knitting over house work! lol Of course this explains why my home looks like a hurricane had blown through. But then again, it always looks this way. HAHAHA!!

Yes, I have to shamelessly admit that I’m no good at housework at all. The one thing I wished I didnt have to do was housework….cooking, I can still deal with but housework…ugghh, if I can put it off, I normally do. So my home is generally an ok home. I try to keep it tidy but with 2 toddlers around, it’s not easy. Hence during the day, it’s pretty much a warzone of toys strewn all over the place. And it’s only at night that I *try* to tidy up to have it all strewn all over again the next day.

That said, I have to admit that Arianna has a bit of OCD in her. Not much but at least I’ve seen her put her books and toys away to where she found it. And it has to be at the right spot as well. And you can’t move her toys away from how she has arranged them or hell hath no fury like a crazy little girl!! *shudders*

The other home I’d like to chill out at is the home of the owner of one of my online shopping shops. She’s got fabrilicious fabric and magazines and ribbons and omg, everything related to sewing really!! lol Also she can cook up a storm. I am also in awe of this woman who runs a super successful online fabric shopping store all on her own!! No one to help her, just herself. With her ever growing customer base, I really taking my hat off to her! That’s one super mom right there.

O be be like these women would be my ultimate dream….what’s their secret?