Picnic At the Park

We are having some seriously great weather here in Texas right now!! No kidding!! After a really really long (never-ending it seems) and sorching summer, Fall has finally come to North Texas!! HOORAY for Mother Nature....I guess you haven't forgotten us..:) Just check out the bright blue sky...and did I mention...great cool weather?? :) Ok...'nuff said....

Following our usual Monday ritual, Ethan and I went to the Arboretum for some fall activities there and to meet up with some friends. He loves that place; he could run till his heart content, splash as much water as he wants, chase as many squirrels and birds till they are totally terrified of him (SIGH) and pick up as many bugs as he could find (EEEWWWWWW.....), what's there not to like! And as usual, Ethan gets to choose the "theme" for his face paint!



The past week was a spider and he wanted it blue...hmmm...a very creative mind.... As I wanted to take a good picture of Ethan, I told him he needed to stay put for a while like he does during "night night". Soooooo Ethan thought he might as well pose like he's taking his nap as well. So there you got it, a pretend napping position with a nibbled apple. Needless to say, the minute the shot was taken, he had taken off like lightning!!

Let's see what tomorrow will bring....I heard it's gonna be another great day...boy, can't wait to picnic again....on a negative note... my "famous" pumpkin bread took a "fall". For some reason, all the bread I made today collapsed after it was cooled. Hmmm...I guess no pumpkin bread to give out tomorrow when I meet the mothers....but I think I'll do it AGAIN later tonight...I really don't know what happened, it never happened before. Guess there's always a first....hmph!

Do Not Disturb : Art in Progress

It's funny how kids see things; all so innocent and so pure. Everything's beautiful or icky and even when it's icky, it's totally fascinating!! When Ethan is finger painting, he doesn't want help from mommy except for the cleaning up! *sigh* He's in total concentration of what he's painting and regardless how it looks, it's always gift worthy!! :)





Ethan was making a card for his grandpa(gong gong)in S'pore and this was one of the many he had done!! ehehhe...in the end he decided that he would give these paintings for his daddy instead while he made another card with stickers for grandpa!!

And for those who are interested, this easel from Ikea is great for kids Ethan's age coz it's the right height for them to reach and paint/draw/doodle at eye level. It's also a chalk board on the other side. A great "tool" around to calm a crazy kid.

Texas Summer 2006

This is what happened when you mix water with a little boy!! Yah...you get a water monster!! This summer has been a real scorcher and there are days that it's even too hot to go to the swimming pool at the rec center. So in order to "cool" off, we got a little inflatable paddling pool for Ethan to play in!! Just look at him screaming in excitement!! Oh yah...water...it's the way to go!!

At the Zoo

This was about two weeks ago, on a Monday, it wasn't AS hot since we went there in the morning.......


Oh yah....he loved those huge carps!! He would gaze at them FOREVER!! And when I told him that we need to move on, he told me to sit there with him!! Errmmm....fish...not very interesting....on a plate....maybe tasty!! *sigh*


Still staring at those fish....*sigh*.....he wanted to hold and kiss them but I had to tell him that they can't stay out of water...and he decided that the best thing was to hop in with them to give them a hug!! Hence no picture of that, I was trying to pull him back before he got into that tank!!!! He was serious!!


He went into the goat compound and thought they were cows....mini cows??? LOL Ok...there were lots of them goats and he wanted to chat them all up!! Probably asking them about their daily routine and food supply??? He does that with our dog too, would sit next to the dog and gestured about, chatting away, dog cared less...


I think those goats are really tame or pretty much so used to human contact that they didn't even flinched when Ethan approached them and hugged them *YICK* (oh yah, when he got to the car, he had a serious wipe down and change of clothes....somehow goat naturelle doesn't appeal to me)


Ethan had a hard time leaving the petting zoo but I told him he could ride the merry-go-round and have some lunch at MacDonald's if he would move along!!


He loved the merry-go-round but I was really queasy after the ride (motion sickness!). He was still holding on to his little monkey and was a little upset that monkey didn't get to sit on one of the rides! Ermmm....


Oh yah, at MacDonald's, got his first Happy Meal! Didn't even know that it came with a toy!! Hehehe...that's how often I eat there!! All in all, he had a great time at the zoo, he was really focused on what animals he (and monkey) wanted to see. He loves the sneezing pony(who sneezed a couple of times on him *geez*), the boring elephants (who just kept on chewing and chewing on grass??) and those huge pretty carps (which pretty much kept swimming)...oh well...

However I'm totally impressed with how Ethan behaved! He was very well-behaved, he listened and he followed my instructions! I was kinda afraid to let him "loose" in the zoo, afraid that for some unforeseen incident that he might run off, get himself caught in a cage where he was lunch for some hungry animal or something (ok...paranoia talking but still). But Ethan was so sweet and disciplined! He was more or less by my side and was even a little playful while still being careful! It was great, wouldn't mind bringing him back there again. We had a totally great day..:)

Ethan: First Day in School

"Hmmm....sure looks gooodddd."

"Should I???"

"Yah....why not! *chomp* *chomp* *chomp*"

Yup, it was my boy's first day at school last week. It was only for 5 hours and it's once a week. He gets to interact with kids his own age for a change instead of mummy all the time. He was alright while we were dropping him off at the school; all wide eyed and excited, squealing in his litted high-pitch toddler voice. It was all gggooodd...till we had to leave... We said our "enjoy", "love you" and "bye-bye"s and he looked at us, a realization in his eyes, boy, did he let it out!!! HE WAS BAWLING!!! His teacher had to carry him a little to comfort him while mummy decided to hide around the corner to pretend she had already left. It was miserable for me, they had to close the door in order for him to calm down and all I was left hearing was him screaming his head off!! I was so tempted to go into the room, get him and go back home. But I didn't, trying hard to convince myself that this is all good for him; get social skills, friends, education, blah blah blah....all the while, that little voice at the back of my head saying, "you're a terrible mother, dumping your kid there and walking away while he screamed!" Oh boy, all that GUILT!!!! Went home, cleaned the ktichen up (never had it been that clean!!), vacuumed, gardened a bit and just relax!!! BOY IT WAS GREAT!!!! All the guilt is still there but I felt I totally needed that alone time...:) And yesterday was Ethan's second time at school, he still screamed the minute he saw me leave, but he was ok after awhile. The best part was knowing that it's ok that Ethan was enjoying himself. Yes, he might screamed initially but he was having fun after that throughout the whole time in school and that's what count (yup, I called to check on Ethan and I saw him later when I picked him up, he was playing happily). So when Summer School ends and School Year starts, it would be twice a week....we'll see how he fares..*wink*

Sponge & Me

Here I am.....all lonely....no one except blankie.....
And then.................



ahhhhhh.......Sponge....me love Sponge...me best friend in the world!

Sunnies

Never did I realize but this blog has been up for more than a year!! Heheh...howtime flies! Anyway, one of my earliest post was a pic of my little boy (than less than 1yr) wearing his mommy's sunnies, this time I thought it might be funny for friends and family to see him all grown-up (a little over 2yrs), wearing his daddy's sunnies!! He loves wearing sunglasses. I guess he sees us wearing them all the time, he wants it too. He actually has a few pair that we'd bought him but he goes through them real quick (erm, he breaks them!). So as a belated B-day for this blog.......here this little rascal with his sunnies on!!! LOL

He was trying to keep those glasses on and trying to keep his "cool" but it kept on slippng off his bridge. In the end, he couldn't stop giggling coz he thought it was real funny that those things has a life of its own!!! :D

Vacation Pictures

There were so many of them so picking out these few were seriously tough. We went to Koh Samui, Thailand since it was my husband's hometown and also his brother still stays there. It's a real beautiful island except that it's really hot and humid, as expected!! So let me cut the whole long story and just show some pics


Above is pics of the hotel we stayed in while on Koh Samui. It's the Nora Beach Resort and Spa at Chaweng Beach. Let me say this about this hotel, if you've any young children, this is a good place to be. Coming from a place where child friendly places are part of life, we take it for granted that vacilities attaining to it is an everyday thing. Well, Koh Samui, although a tourist place, does not really provide a lot of kid friendly place, you usually improvised what you have and most of the time, it's not safe for the child. So considering that this hotel gives attention to couples with children, I'm totally impressed!! Both my husband and I love it!!! It's got a big kiddy pool as well! Impressive!! On top of that, it's also a spa, which makes it REAL adult friendly. You can enjoy yourself in peace knowing that your child is also enjoying himself! There were many other activities there as well but we didn't have the time to indulge ourselves that much since most of time is spent with relatives. We had a villa (an upgrade!!NEATO!) and it was fantastic!! It had a small private outdoor courtyard attached to our villa that includes an outdoor shower (if you wanted to use it...*ahem*). A big bathroom with a huge jacuzzi tub AND another shower with a skylight and a rainshower shower head! Cool!! As you can guess being there is definitely one of the biggest highlight for me!! Six thumbs up (me, Ed & Ethan). Oh yah, did I mention that it was by the beach too...:D


Some home cooked food prepared by my sis in law. We had our dinner outdoors, al fresco style, despite the heat and humidity, it was truly enjoyable! Now I'm thinking of adding a dining set outdoors on our sideyard, but I think the Texas' heat is a little too much!! heehhe...


And here's some street food at a central market. Most locals do their groceries at an outdoor market but it was closed by the time we were there, except for the food stands which was fine by my husband..:) He went there for the desserts!!! LOL

A few pics of Ethan enjoying himself at the beach. He wasn't too keen in playing with the sea water but he was crazy over the sand!! He ended up picking handfuls of sand and throwing at the sea, himself and finally at us, coz he thought it was just funny to see us running from him!!!Of course, he was also slathered in about a gallon of sunblock!! Well...he was topless and rather fair, didn't want him to get sun burns!

Any Other Place

Just came back from Singapore and Thailand with an almost 3.5wks of vacation, welcoming the peace of this moment. Everything's so hectic back home, it's always a rush, even when it's not. Some people might think my mindset is laidback, well, not really, it's just that it would be NICE to, every now and then, stop and smell the roses! I seriously think this idea is lost in the sea of rushing here and there!!
Now that almost everything's back to "normal" and settled, I'm beginning to feel a little homesick. I think me feeling that is mainly coz of Ethan. He seems so lonely without his cousins, aunties and uncles. On the other hand, he's also less crazy and definitely more manageable. I think the heat got to him!! Plus he was teething as well!! So everything IS crazy!
Thing's so laidback here that I feel that I need to get out of here, any where seems better than here!! LOL I guess the grass is always greener somewhere else! Now if I can merge the best of home and here, that would one great place to be residing for sure. Meanwhile I would just have to settle for the "peace' and "quiet" of Dallas. Oh yah, did I mention that Ethan's "suffering" from major jet lag and extreme neediness!!! *sigh*

PS: More posts on this vacation later...:D

PC problems!!

Ok...life has been a standstill for me. It was one thing after another. First it was the screwy cable connection and we got that fixed....eventually. Then comes (the very next day!) the wireless router; which means, I didn't have any connection STILL....thhheennn..eventually got that fixed, that took a little longer coz Linksys needed to send us a patch to have it fix. And now, my laptop doesn't have enough memory!!! I think my laptop is about to perform its swan song....*sigh*...it have served me well...but according to Ed "there just wan't enough memory to do all the stuff I was doing". Meaning, I "killed" it. Right now it's so slow that I could bake some banana bread, cook dinner, bathe Ethan and get back to where I was before I started all those chores and it's still uploading....*sigh*... Basically I sucked the life out of my machine... Ed says that he could add more memory but it wouldn't help much since it can only help sustain it for a little longer before I encounter the same problem AGAIN!!! I feel so helpless....I know I would have to give this machine up for a better faster one but I just can't part with it!!!! AARRRGGHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Meanwhile I'm still using Ed's pc and hating it...this is seriously messing me up! Let's hope that we can find a better solution when we get back from our vacation. Oh yah, did I mention that I'm crazy enough to sign up for a cooking class while I'm vacationing in Thailand! Yes I'm insane! And for some reason unbeknownst to me, I can't even upload pics via blogger either!! Yes...the pc gods are against me....LOL I guess I would just have to accumulate the mass and wait for an oportunity.......*waiting* *waiting*

Spring

Been crazy all this while...first my internet cable connection went berserk so had to call the company to make an appointment so that they could come in (whenever IT'S convenient for THEM even though we are the PAYING CUSTOMER!!). And when he did come, he took 3.5hrs to fix it while cursing under his breath...erm.....I still could hear... Errmmm...he said he couldn't figure out what was going on with the connection (he couldn't get it to connect). Oh well...whatever. So to make a long story short, I'm back.

During the "blackout", I made quite a number of loaves with my spanking new breadmaker. It's been great!! Further post on that. On another topic, we are going back to Sin & Thailand next month...hmm...I know I know...in the midst of every epidemic; HFM disease, Bird Flu, Sars (ok...old story already) and what nots. I guess we just need to be more careful and cautious.



So this is my lil' guy at 22 mths. He's now picking up EVERYTHING he sees to give it to mommy...he's just too funny! He's also pick up a new job. He's the official family welcome wagon! Each time he sees someone, he says "Hiiiiii", quickly follows by a "buh bye".....LOL He's also taken a passion in saying bye bye to everything; his current fav are "bye bye car" and "bye bye ball".....hehehehe...he's one silly boy!! Can't wait to get back home to celebrate his 2nd year B-day!!!

For Pins and Chair

One thing I like about Ikea is that they have this spacious kid's area filled with a bunch of kids' toys and furniture (obviously their products), we usually let Ethan "loose" there, he loves it!!! Of course, getting him to move on is tough, he usually puts up a fight. Sooooo to make things easier, we usually get him a toy from Ikea (noooo....we are not spoiling him, we already have the intention of getting him one before we "set him loose" and it's USUALLY, not ALL THE TIME!). This time it's a hammer and pins thingy. We don't know the exact name for it but one thing is for sure, ETHAN LOVES IT!!!! He can play with that the whole day!! It's amazing!!! He would knock them in, turn it over and start all over again..take a break, start the whole thing again...it's crazy just watching him do it!! hehehe...he's got so much focus (when he wants too)!

So I decided to capture moments of him with his CURRENT fav toy. The pics didn't do him justice, well, I guess there's so much still photos can do...hehehe.. He would be sitting in his little red chair, resting or banging away on the pins!! LOL He's such a sweet little boy when he's with his toy!! Two cheers for Ikea! Ingenious toy!! :D After 2 months, Ethan's still playing with it, but now he's takng the pins out and trying to put them back....funny lil' boy

Lil' Architect

We had bought him this box of Legos some time back but all Ethan did (back then) was throw them around and left them all over the place. Ed and I decided that we just need to keep it away and give it back to him at an "appropriate" time. Meaning when we get over tripping at every corner of the house!!!! So anyway, one day Ed left the child's gate unlocked in the dining room (there's where we had "hidden" the box of Legos), Ethan went in, saw the box, brought it to the living room, tipped the box upside down, and poured every single piece of Legos out of the box!!!! By the time we had "discovered" his discovery, Ethan was happily sitting on the floor, constructing with his Legos blocks!! He was so contented, intent, peaceful and happy that we thought it was better to just live him as it is....he was just too adorable.

Now this Legos obsession took on a life of its own. Day in, day out, all Ethan did was sit there with his Legos, "building", thing is, he would only build one direction, upwards. Now we all know that these infant Legos are not the most secure things in the world!! It was "stick" till a certain extent but he was building it so high that it would keep toppling down!! And Ethan would get frustrated and smack the rest of his "skyscrappers" down as well!! So to discourage his frustration and encourage his "patience" (or lack thereof!), I had to make sure that his buildings don't fall down by looking for loose placements and holding them in place, so inadvertably, I had become his "foundation".

Here's my little architect trying the build the "tallest" legos block possible!! Meanwhile I'm trying to take pictures and PRAYING that those blocks don't collapse!!!! But he was so adorable when he's so intent that I had to take his pics!! LOL

Been Out.....with the Flu!

First off....HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR>>GONG XI FA CAI>>>>ETC, ETC, ETC.....all the rest of the good luck wishes....I don't know many...sorry..:)

Spent my first day of chinese new year RECOVERING from flu!! Been having it for two weeks and in the last week, the darn bug decided to go full blast! I was so sick that I could barely get out of bed! Yah..it was bbbbaaaddd...definitely one of the worst flus that I had ever had! Note to self: Next year, GET FLU SHOT even if husband STILL doesn't!!!

As of my current situation, still sick, coughing my lungs out but on "active duty" (Ethan duty that is). Ethan's got a little runny nose but that's about it, he's as happy as a lark...really doesn't bother him. He's a happy toddler....as long as he gets his way!

Couldn't get any of my chinese new year cookies done, nor was there any reunion dinner cooking! It was soooooo upsetting. I've never not able to make CNY reunion dinner since I have my own home... this is the first! Not that Ethan would notice (he was happy with his store-bought roast chicken!). But there's 15 days of CNY, so I'm still deternmined to get some baking done..*cross fingers* as soon as I can stop coughing for at least half an hour!!!

Meanwhile, just wanna wish everyone a good one this year...and happy dog year...:D woof woof...

Lil' Rocker

That's Ethan, all decked out in his favorite cap and his "electric" guitar! His daddy knotted up the strap so that Ethan could "carry" it instead of dragging that poor instrument around. Ethan llloooovvvveeessss music and each time he hears ANY music, he would drop whatever he's doing, runs to the source, stands in front and starts to dance. So when he got this guitar, he was totally impressed by it and carries it around! And with his cap, he does look like some alternative musician!! LOL!

Bath Time Fun

Water + bubbles + 20 mth year old boy =



Yep...Ethan tends to get a little crazy at bathtime! Oh yah, his "cap" is actually his water bucket but he likes to take it from us and wears it on his head!! Like I said, he's a little goofboy!

An Unusually Warm November Day

As most Texas' residents would know by now, there's no such thing as accurate weather forecasts, especially when it comes to Texas' weather! We'd been having such hot days (IN WINTER, NO LESS, averaging 80Fs daily) that only the a/c is operational!! So when you're given lemons......make lemonade!



Took Ethan to a neighbourhood park with a brandnew swanky playground. COOL! He enjoyed it. He was a little apprehensive about the swings(and still is!) but he loved the slides. Well, he always love the slides.... And he found this really bouncer thingy. (Don't know what it's called). Basically you stand there and moved that "bouncer" with your movements. He was totally tickled! They had all kinds of things, an area for babies/toddlers and a slightly modified and bigger area for the bigger kids. They also had this musical walls and it makes different noises when hit. Plus it's facing a stream, really nice. There were ducks and geese but we didn't have any bread, so just had to contend with looking at them. This place is really really awesome, they obviously took into consideration of entertaining kids of all ages.


Yum Woon Sen/Mysore Beef/Sambal Water Spinach/Pulut Hitam/Chicken with Tofu and Green Onions/Masala Okra/Choco and Green Tea Melting Moments/New KitchenAid

Some food I made over the course of last week...And yah, my new buy of the month!!! My spanking NEW KITCHENAID STAND MIXER. I LOVE IT! It was about time I retired my old mixer too. Plus now I can make my doughs using their dough hook instead of by hand (way too tiring and time-consuming).
I made the Choco and Green Tea Melting Moments with the new mixer too and it was wonderful! Compliments to Ching's recipe. It was easy enough for me. :D However my cookies never quite browned??? Odd. But it was ok...it's the taste that matter! HA!
As for the Mysore Beef, I got the recipe from KC which is a simplified version( as I understood) of the original Mysore Beef recipe from Banana Leaf Temptations, which I also have the book. I kinda combined both recipes and made it to my liking.
My husband does not like Okra/Lady's Fingers....well.....TOO BAD!!!!!!!! :D As for the Yum Woon Sen, it was his request. He just felt like eating that. I think you eat it with Lettuece on the side, at least that is what he told me, although he eats his like a wrap. Hmmm....doesn't really matter I guess, it's up to personal preferences.

Meanwhile have to rush off to take care of little rascal..this time, runny nose... *sigh* Don't quite know how he gotten that?????

Monkey ESCAPES from the zoo!!!

Ethan decided that the pumpkin patch was the way to go....ermmm...I don't think he realised that it doesn't turn into a carriage!! :D He's just a cutie! While we were at the Arboretum (and MAN, was it packed!), he just went stir crazy...so the only thing we could do was to let him loose....ON the REST of the people there!!!