Simple Bee Farm - father-and-son camping trip

I bought a livingsocial voucher for an overnight camping trip to Simple Bee Farm recently, hoping it would be a nice bonding time for the boys. Yup...boys only because well, it's too rugged for princesses.

So last Friday evening, Daalin and Joe went to Seremban to spend a night with Ah Mah and Ah Kong first. Joe had a good time playing chinese chess with Ah Kong.

Ah Kong also gave him a golf lesson the next morning.After lunch on Saturday, they made the drive to this farm which is located in some remote corner in the state of Malacca. They got terribly lost and arrived after more than 2 hours of driving. Seems it's the norm to get lost.Joining them for this trip was Brandon and his dad who made the drive from Yong Peng. It was great to have a buddy to make the trip much more enjoyable. They tried honey sticks......and sampled scoops of honey!I'm surprised at Joseph's bravery to do this...At night, they barbequed their own food and I believe this is Joseph's first barbeque experience. He thorougly enjoyed it and sounded really excited when I spoke to him over the phone. Daalin said it was nice to be in a rustic laid-back environment - a good change from city life. There was no hot shower. They bathed by pouring cold water over themselves. At night they slept in tents and the next morning they had a simple breakfast of fried mee hoon and hard boiled eggsThey relaxed on hammocks......and played badminton.There was also a small variety of other animals like rabbits, goats, chickens...Again, I'm surprised that Joseph dared to hold the rabbit. The rooster that woke him up...And this is an empty orang asli hut. Overall it was a good experience for both father and son and cousin and uncle. Next up, they are planning a visit to a kelong. It will be another boys outing because princesses need their comfy beds and hot showers!

My baby is growing up

Until recently, Joseph was very picky with food.

But now he eats most things and his latest discovery is Ramli Burger!


He has also progressed in his reading...


Thanks to hand me downs from his cousins....Geronimo Stilton is his current favourite!


We're also very glad with his swimming progress - he could swim after the third lesson!

Now that he can swim and cycle....maybe we can start thinking about triathlons!

Holiday fun in Yong Peng

It's been a lovely simple school holiday with one theme - spending time with family and friends!

On Monday, I took 3 kids to Ikea. They older 2 had a good time practicing spiderman skills in Smaland while I went shopping and bought 6 pairs of pants for the girls (it was only RM9 each at Brands Outlet).

Tuesday - they went to Evan and Marissa's house for a playdate while I went to work.

Wednesday - they went to Nat and Abby's house for a playdate while I went to work.

On both days, they didn't want to go home!

Thursday morning - Joseph had an extra swimming lesson. (I'm glad to say he's progressing well and can do the freestyle pretty well now.)

Thursday evening - we drove down to Yong Peng, making THREE toilet stops along the way because they wouldn't all pee at the same time!

I think the kids just love having playmates of about the same age. We leave them to play until they decide they want to sleep.

Saturday morning - they made a visit to the goat farm.
Joseph happily fed the goats while Joy whined about wanting to go home.
Goat milk ice-cream is 'the' thing to tar pau. Not cheap though - RM29 for 3 tubs....packaged to look 'atas' like Haagen Dazs.

Joy thought Isabel would like some too so she had like a drop of ice cream to taste.

What I like about the 'kampung' is doing stuff that we can't while in PJ.
Here we cycle on the roads in the housing area whereas in PJ, we cycle in the tennis court when nobody is playing.
Next holiday....we're planning to rock the island!

Isabel is 4 months old

Isabel is 4 months old already.

She's still petite - 5.6kg (only!!!) and 63 cm long.

Joe and Joy love her to bits!!! and I love it when she greets me with her smiles.

65 years young

We threw a surprise party for Nana last Friday! Well at least it was intended to be a surprise. But my very honest kids kinda let the cat out of the bag. Nevertheless, it was still a night of surprises as the guests arrived one by one because she had no idea I invited many of her good long-time-no-see friends.

Hui-Wearn kindly baked a very nice, yummy two-tiered butter cake with white chocolate ganache and raspberries.
I catered from Luscious Treats again. This time we had shepherd's pie, chicken lasagne, lamb meatballs with minty yoghurt sauce, mashed potatoes, banana crumble, peach trifle and carrot cake with cream cheese.

I also ordered yam cake, seri muka and peanut mochi from Aroma Nyonya. Joseph loves their yam cake!
After dinner, Joseph recited Psalm100 followed by a short time of worship. Then Ah Ku did a magic show and finally Joy did a dance!

I could tell Nana was delighted beyond words.
I thank God Nana doesn't look (nor act) her age. Serving in Children's Church keeps her youthful.
And I pray God will bless her with many more years of good health and strength!

Rapunzel no more

I cut Rapunzel's hair this morning...

That makes me the witch!!!
But Joe kindly said that it was actually the prince who cut her hair. Well according to Disney's movie Tangled that is.

Now I'm off to trim and tidy up that uneven end.

February at a glance...

In the blink of an eye February is almost gone. I've been mentally writing this post but never had the time to put two hands to my computer keyboard. Not to mention I've been so slack at taking photos of the kids.

February started with all of us still in the Chinese New Year mood. I let the kids stay up late on chap goh meh to watch fireworks from our balcony.

February - Isabel turned 3 months old and finally outgrew the newborn sized diapers. Yup...she wore newborn sized diapers for THREE WHOLE MONTHS!!! At 3 months, she weighed a mere 5kg and measured 62cm - the tiniest of my babies so far.

At 3 months and 1 week, she rolled over so I had to pack up the bouncer and migrated her into the (14-year-old) playpen.

She's a lot more responsive and smiley these days. Oh and her butt is finally a wee bit more meaty. Sleepless nights are still a norm for me. Some nights she sleeps 12 hours (with dreamfeeds of course) but her 12-hour stretches are from 11pm to 11am! It's not too bad because it gives me time with the Joe and Joy in the morning.

February - I went back to work. Just 4.5 hours x 2 days a week. It's good for my sanity and makes me feel like I have a bit of a life.

February - I lost a bit more weight and can fit into my regular pants though a bit snug. I'm now down to 51kg. Just 1kg to my ideal 50kg weight. I've also started pilates. It's a 10-session beginners package. My aim is to tone up my abs and hopefully 'repair' my seemingly-permanently everted navel.

February - Joseph is finally liking school. He no longer whines about going to chinese school but actually said, "School is not so bad after all". He likes computer lessons because the teacher teaches in English. I guess that's the practical thing to do because you can't call the mouse 'lau su'. He also likes PE and going to the library. Juara Cerdik did a good job in teaching him to read. So he loves it when they are let loose in the library and free to pick anything they like to read.

I've been telling him that he's lucky to be going to a good school with air-conditioned classrooms and toilets that are cleaned SIX times a day!!! Kids these days are so spoilt. When I asked him if the library has air-conditioning, he say, "yaaahhh....." with a look that said "abuthen....this kind of questions also you need to ask....?"

February - Joy is already asking how long more she has to wait till we make Isaac. She thinks I'm a rabbit!!! Right now...I'm living and loving one day at a time.

La Joyeux Bistro

**update on 3Feb2012 - there's a current promo if you want to try...

It may be CNY, but my side of the family has ang moh tummies. So instead of the usual CNY fare, my brother brought us to this pork-elicious place in Taipan USJ. We ordered most of the recommended dishes...
The pork knuckles were really good! Indescribably crispy and yummy!
Forget Tony Roma's. If you can't make the trip down south across the border, come here for real baby back ribs.We were so busy devouring all that porky goodness that we forgot to take a family photo. Nevertheless, everyone (even Ah Chor who claims to eat very little) enjoyed the meal thoroughly.

Earrings for my princess

Two days before CNY, we were back in Seremban already, and while the boys went swimming, Joy went window shopping with me and Tua Um.

As we walked past Poh Kong, I asked her if she wanted to have her ears pierced. She nodded and said ok. (We had talked about this earlier so it wasn't really a spur-of-the-moment-thing).

So we went in, she sat down at picked out the flower-shaped earrings then waited patiently as the gun was prepared. At this point, she started to feel apprehensive and asked me to hold her hands.

I held her hands as the guy sprayed ethyl chloride on her ears and then with another lady (one person, one ear) they held the guns to her ears...one, two, three...bang! And it was done! Very efficient! Joy didn't cry but was rather shocked. She held me tightly and said, "Too pain, mum..." but was quickly comforted by looking in the mirror. When she got home, she happily asked everyone, "Do you notice something different about me????"

Joy turns 4...and other updates

I've been rather slack in updating this blog.

We started the year with a 14-day fast and prayer. I skipped the fasting part because I'm breastfeeding but managed (by God's grace!!) to go for the 5.30am prayer in church for all 14 days....with all 3 kids and the last 5 of those 14 days were without Daalin (who went to India for a work conference).

Every morning for those 2 weeks, Joseph got up cheerfully at 5am and walked while I carried Isabel and Daalin pushed Joy in the stroller. I'm rather pleased with his enthusiasm for waking up early and obedience in going to bed early at night.

Isabel reached her 2-month milestone on the 5th and I did the 'customary' hand and foot print thingy. She's growing well - put on 1kg in the 2nd month compared to merely half a kg the month before.
Joseph is adapting to school slowly. He still doesn't speak because he thinks that everyone speaks chinese and BM except him. As for homework... it's so darn brainless at this point that I get Joy to help him.
Joy celebrated her 4th birthday yesterday. I bought a round vanilla sponge cake, cut it into a no.4 and iced it with the tub of mascarpone cheese that had been in my fridge. She then had fun decorating it.Hui-Wearn very kindly baked her a Rapunzel cake.
She was delighted, and it's just too pretty to be cut.
So now that she's 4-years old, she's agreed to finally ditch the potty and use the toilet.
So Joseph can be relieved of helping me to pour her pee and wash the potty.
Last night, we went for dinner at Halia @ Sime Darby Convention Centre. I bought Groupons so it was RM107 for 4 persons instead of RM68 person.
It was also a celebration for all the January babies - all 4 generations!
Blessed 4th Birthday Joy-Anne!!! We love you lots!!!