All In A Year

Hellooo… it’s been a while, hasn’t it? Well, needless to say I’ve been caught up with Christmas stuff, enjoying the tail end of the holidays with my family (hubby’s on leave)… all in the midst of riding out some mild flu bug (we’ve each taken our turn at being hit!) Thankfully we still had a lovely Christmas.

After the euphoria of Christmas (it’s always “the” peak of the year for me) things are slowing down and I find myself in a reflective mood what with today being New Year’s Eve. I’m not going to write down my thoughts because there are bits here, bits there and just about everywhere! But I am going to share with you two photos which speak volumes of how much has changed in this one year.

My kids in Jan 2007

My kids in Dec 2007

We’ve travelled some distance together, my kids and I. And I’m more mommyfied than I was 12 months ago! Yet we’re still only at the beginning of our journey… tomorrow we’ll embark on another adventurous year ahead. One that may be insane and filled with many unexpected turns but you can bet it will be anything but dull!

Happy New Year everyone!

This Is What Christmas Is All About.

 

Luke 2:8-14 (King James Version)

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were so afraid. And the angel said unto them,

Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger.

And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying,

Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men.

Ten more days… and just in case I don’t get a chance to post till then… here’s wishing you a very MERRY (and Blessed) CHRISTMAS!

WFMW – No More Fishy Business!

Sometime ago I threw away a whole bag of frozen dory fillets!

Just before the throwing incident, I had patiently defrosted two pieces of the big fillets, lovingly sliced them and after that coat them with eggs and breadcrumbs before deep frying them (hey, I followed a recipe closely!) I had also taken great pains to whip up a Chinese sweet sour sauce just to go with it. BUT… to my horror when I took my first bite, it tasted FISHY! Really FISHY! Being somewhat new to cooking then and it being the first time I cooked Dory fish, I simply leaped to the conclusion that all frozen Dory fish are fishy. So I threw whatever pieces of frozen Dory fillets I had left from the bag I had bought into the bin!!

Then there were other times I threw away fish I had cooked (again because of the fishiness) thinking the fish had gone bad. It’s only recently that I realized what a doofus I am was!

My dear mom (God bless her) pointed out to me that all I needed to do was to rub salt and pepper onto the (thawed) fish and let it sit for about 20 minutes before doing anything else.

I’ve been doing this ever since and let me tell you, there has been no recurrence of me throwing out any fish! I’ve successfully eradicated fishiness from all my fish dishes! It worked for me. I hope it works for you too. Just a point to note, do not skip the step of letting the fish sit for about 20 minutes. It’s critical!

(However this is not necessary if your recipe already involves coating your fish with pepper. Like my simple salmon/cod fish recipe but best to still let fish sit with seasoning for a while first.)

Now head on over to Rocks in My Dryer for more tips.

Simple Joys

Kids LOVE bubbles! I dunno what it is but they simply LUUURVE bubbles. It’s one of those things they never get tired of. Bizarre but true.  

So a year ago we bought a bubble gun, just keep pressing and presto! An endless stream of bubbles to keep the kids thrilled! As our luck would have it, the first one we bought was fluky, didn’t work. Can you imagine my poor son all excited only to have his bubble burst (that was the only bubble that burst that afternoon, poor thing!) And with our luck rolling at that time, when hubby went to return it at the store he had bought it from for a new one, they had run out of stock! So when dozens of them stared at me a week later at a nearby mall it was with trepidation that I chose one carefully, walked over to the cashier and paid for it. Once home, I held my breath when I opened and tested it secretly in my bathroom (I didn’t want to disappoint my son twice!) Thankfully it worked. Phew!

Since then we’ve had quite a number of fun times with the kids. It’s very useful during rainy days (literally, wet rainy days). I just bring them down to the covered void deck and it can easily keep them occupied for half an hour at least. However recently I discovered quite by chance that my kids are more thrilled when they get to blow the bubbles themselves (thanks to other moms and kids who share at the playground!)

So today, almost a year after the bubble gun hoo ha, I brought my kids outdoors armed only with simple no frills bubble blowers and some bubble solution. They had a ball of a time. Blowing bubbles for themselves and trying to catch them with the bubble blower. Even my 20 month old Little Missy can blow bubbles on her own now. While there’s no doubt the bubble gun is great fun and can give us endless streams of bubbles, I’m learning we shouldn’t overlook the simple stuff. Sometimes (or more) they can even outdo the fancy stuff.

P/S: I found that it’s better to pour a little of the solution at a time into a shallow small plastic plate for them to dip their blowers and not spill the solution.

Wordless Wednesday - Mommy’s Slippers

Click to view other Wordless Wednesday(s).

My Parents Are Here

It’s been a craaazee last week. Hectic, chaotic at times, exhausting at all times (craaa…ze…ee) but thankfully most of it was fun too!

My parents came down (from Malaysia) for their regular dose of “grandchildren” (Woo Hoo!) and hubby was on leave for 3 days. As you can imagine all of a sudden there’s almost double the number of human beings in our (not so big) home during the day. I could hardly walk about without bumping into someone or stepping on toys! When it wasn’t that we were out with the kids, we visited the zoo, Vivocity (a huge mall that’s very fun for kids), yum cha at Chinatown, well yes we basically roamed Singapore. Somewhere in there we brought Hubby-jr for his weekly speech therapy session. (There will be no traveling out of the country this hols for us what with all the scheduled speech therapy sessions.)

Anyway, speaking of my parents, they are simply wonderful and one of the major reasons I’ve stayed sane as a stay at home mom. Being retired, they visit every two or three months and ever since Hubby-jr started school, they schedule their visits to coincide with the school holidays. That’s the time I really appreciate the extra help especially in entertaining my two little ones! And my parents make wonderful playmates for my kids. They love playing with their grandparents and yes they love poh-poh (grandma) and kung-kung (grandpa).

So each time my parents visit, I get a semi-holiday (that’s as good as it gets being a stay at home mom!), it’s like having full time babysitters for 2-3 weeks! I get to sleep in a little more in the mornings (grandma wakes up naturally before 7am anyway!) I get to go out kids-free either alone or with hubby. My mommy takes over cooking. Really, what more could I ask for?

Do I wish they’d stay for good? To be honest, no. I love my parents, enjoy them even and if they had to I’d let them live with me but that’s different.

3 weeks of bumping into each other is just about right. Sometimes there’s even some friction towards the end. We’re use to our own space (my parents and I). We need our space. I go back to my routine, they go back to theirs. I get my kitchen back (omigosh! I can’t believe I said that… but it’s true!) And momma goes back to hers. I get the whole house to myself again when the kids are napping and they have their cosy home in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia.

But for now, we’re enjoying being together. It’s almost divine. It’s not just the help and company. It’s their company. It brings me back to the comfort, safety and love I felt growing up in my childhood home.

I guess that’s why I too want to build “a home” for my children. A place where they’ll always feel welcomed, comforted, safe and loved.

P/S: Now hubby’s back at work, my parents have brought the kids out and I have the house to my self. Hmm… (muack) lovely!