This year's Christmas holidays is really nice. The best Christmas present I received was the news that my mum is recovering well after her surgery to remove fibroids and that the fibroids were not cancerous. I was holding my breath for the initial few days after the ops and only breathed easier after dad informed that she is awake and I spoke to her on the phone. With this thought that the worst is over, I happily left for a short holiday to the Grampians over Christmas and Boxing Day.
It was our 2nd visit to the area, this time accompanied by a different family. The Seahs had 2 girls, aged 6 and 5, and they got along very well with my 2 boys. While parts of Australia and the world had to battle serious climate issues such as storms, floods, bush fires and snow blizzards, we were really blessed this Christmas with good weather at the Grampians. We did hiking on different tracks to see waterfalls, pinnacles and lakes. KK is always walking ahead of us and enjoyed the challenging climbs over rocky surfaces most. My only worry is for his safety as he gets reckless and over enthusiastic sometimes. XX also did very well. Given his age and size, I'm impressed that he was able to walk and climbed on his own for 80% of the way. The other 20%, he got a ride on Papa's shoulders. The trails are not all smooth and flat, many parts requires us to climb upwards over boulders and rocky terrain. I find it ok but I don't think Granddad or Grandma could do it. After lots of exercises during the day, the children were hungry like wolves. We prepared picnic lunches and took turns to prepare dinner in our self-contained log cabin. We were totally well fed during that 3 days.
This year's Christmas holiday is an exceptionally long one. Because 25th and 26th fell on Saturday and Sunday, the following Monday and Tuesday were public holidays as well. We arrived home on Monday and on Tuesday, we slept late and decided after breakfast to bring the children swimming. Again, another lazy relaxed day. I think the rest of the week is gonna be like this. Even though the public holidays are over, many people are still on leave, forced or otherwise. Many offices shut down or have skeleton staff. My husband's boss has asked him to work from home this week as most likely no one gonna be around anyway. Even if anyone is physically at work, don't expect anyone in Australia to be really 'working' during the week between Christmas and New Year.
It's strange but I am enjoying this Christmas holiday a lot this year. I think it is because of Hubby's full time office bound job. For the past 2 years, he worked from home, so public holidays makes no difference to us. He's around all the time. But this year, I feel the difference. During a holiday, I don't have to wake up on time to get KK ready for school. Husband is around at home the whole day, spending time with us, doing activities together. There's no school or cirriculum for the children to rush to. We can drive somewhere, spend a few days there and enjoy the great outdoors. We go to a few friends' place to catch up, eat, drink and be merry. Hmm...this is life.
Thursday, December 30, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
A Year of Changes & Decisions
OMG, there's about 8 more days left to 2010. I say this every year but I can't help but want to say it again: How time flies! Looking back, we welcomed 2010 at our previous house with our friend Steven & his family from Singapore. Since then, it has been a busy year for our family. One thing happening after another. An eventful year with many changes and important decisions made.
Here's a recap:
We went back to visit Singapore in January. Upon returning to Melbourne, we decided to switch KK's school. (See story here.) By March, he started at his current school and soon after we moved into another property nearer to the school. Besides having to adjust to a slightly smaller and older house, we had to adjust to a new neighbourhood. Over the year, we familiarised ourselves with the road conditions, found regular places to shop, explored the local libraries and made a few new friends in the vicinity. The boys now have regular swimming lessons 10 mins away and XX was enrolled for kindergarten next year at the community hub nearby. Slowly, we got settled and more comfortable in our new environment.
This year, around June, Hubby started a new job as well. It means a change in the lifestyle we have gotten used to for the past 2 years. For Hubby, he no longer can work from home and has to commute to work, like many locals, every morning. It's win and lose for him. Though he no longer have the flexibility to sleep late or work in his pyjamas, at least now he doesn't have conference calls at 4am in the morning. He's also getting the local experience and network which is good in the long term. But for me, I can no longer count on his help around the house during the day. We rarely have breakfast and lunch together anymore on weekdays and I became the designated chaffauer for the kids, ferrying them to school, swiming lessons and medical/dental appointments. Hubby like to say I've had it good for the last 2 years, so now my holiday is over. Sigh, he's right.
My sister and brother-in-law came over to visit us in July. It was their first time visiting us since we moved to Melbourne. It was also World Cup season then and I had fond memories of watching soccer at 2am in the dark living room, wrapped up in blankets, eating nachos and drinking coke with them.
After my sis' visit, we decided to start house hunting. We'd found a good school for the kids and Hubby has got a stable job to secure finance. The time was right for us to settle down and have a place to call our own. From July till September, we focused our weekends searching the nearby suburbs for a suitable house. I spent a lot of time looking at real estate websites, shortlisting houses to inspect over the weekend.
Late into winter (September), we went on our first skiing holiday. It was not the first time we tried to ski but it was the first time that the whole holiday was dedicated to nothing but skiing. All of us took lessons, got into ski gears and had our first taste of skiing down the slopes of Mount Hotam, except for XX, who is still a bit too young.
Three quarters of the year had passed and I was wondering if I could move into a new house before the end of it. The search had not been successful. I didn't know it can be so difficult finding a house you like. But we were getting closer. By Oct, we were only searching in 2 specific suburbs. Then, a plot of land came to my attention. It was in the right suburb, had the right orientation and the price was alright. We decided on it within 2 days and our fate is set. We will be building our dream home from scratch instead. It will take longer but it's probably better, since we can't seem to find a right one yet.
Due to the changes in routines and focus on finding a house, I find myself having less time and less inspiration to do my patchwork and creative stuff. Though I did manage to make a handbag and some mini pouchettes recently after the land was settled. I haven't been very experimentative in my baking and cooking either, preferring to make simple dishes and use tested recipes.
As the year closes, I find myself looking forward to the next one with excitment. Next year, XX will go to kindergarten for 2 days a week. It's not a big change but I'm eager to see him take that first step into formal schooling. I'll probably get him to take Chinese lessons like KK as well on Saturdays. For KK, I'm looking forward to him having a fresh start with a new class next year. I hope it will be a good year of learning for him. As for Hubby and I, we'll be busy working on our new house. There's gonna be lots of decisions and pain (judging from some of our friends who built their houses as well) working with the builders to get the house up. I only hope there won't be any major delays and hopefully we can shift in by midyear.
So my new year resolution for 2011 is gonna be "manage my time better". Next year, I know I'll be even more busy. Besides the usual chores and routine, I'll have to drop by our new place every other day to check on the building process. If I hope to write more and learn more, maybe something new, I'll definitely need to manage my time better.
Here's a recap:
We went back to visit Singapore in January. Upon returning to Melbourne, we decided to switch KK's school. (See story here.) By March, he started at his current school and soon after we moved into another property nearer to the school. Besides having to adjust to a slightly smaller and older house, we had to adjust to a new neighbourhood. Over the year, we familiarised ourselves with the road conditions, found regular places to shop, explored the local libraries and made a few new friends in the vicinity. The boys now have regular swimming lessons 10 mins away and XX was enrolled for kindergarten next year at the community hub nearby. Slowly, we got settled and more comfortable in our new environment.
This year, around June, Hubby started a new job as well. It means a change in the lifestyle we have gotten used to for the past 2 years. For Hubby, he no longer can work from home and has to commute to work, like many locals, every morning. It's win and lose for him. Though he no longer have the flexibility to sleep late or work in his pyjamas, at least now he doesn't have conference calls at 4am in the morning. He's also getting the local experience and network which is good in the long term. But for me, I can no longer count on his help around the house during the day. We rarely have breakfast and lunch together anymore on weekdays and I became the designated chaffauer for the kids, ferrying them to school, swiming lessons and medical/dental appointments. Hubby like to say I've had it good for the last 2 years, so now my holiday is over. Sigh, he's right.
My sister and brother-in-law came over to visit us in July. It was their first time visiting us since we moved to Melbourne. It was also World Cup season then and I had fond memories of watching soccer at 2am in the dark living room, wrapped up in blankets, eating nachos and drinking coke with them.
After my sis' visit, we decided to start house hunting. We'd found a good school for the kids and Hubby has got a stable job to secure finance. The time was right for us to settle down and have a place to call our own. From July till September, we focused our weekends searching the nearby suburbs for a suitable house. I spent a lot of time looking at real estate websites, shortlisting houses to inspect over the weekend.
Late into winter (September), we went on our first skiing holiday. It was not the first time we tried to ski but it was the first time that the whole holiday was dedicated to nothing but skiing. All of us took lessons, got into ski gears and had our first taste of skiing down the slopes of Mount Hotam, except for XX, who is still a bit too young.
Three quarters of the year had passed and I was wondering if I could move into a new house before the end of it. The search had not been successful. I didn't know it can be so difficult finding a house you like. But we were getting closer. By Oct, we were only searching in 2 specific suburbs. Then, a plot of land came to my attention. It was in the right suburb, had the right orientation and the price was alright. We decided on it within 2 days and our fate is set. We will be building our dream home from scratch instead. It will take longer but it's probably better, since we can't seem to find a right one yet.
Due to the changes in routines and focus on finding a house, I find myself having less time and less inspiration to do my patchwork and creative stuff. Though I did manage to make a handbag and some mini pouchettes recently after the land was settled. I haven't been very experimentative in my baking and cooking either, preferring to make simple dishes and use tested recipes.
As the year closes, I find myself looking forward to the next one with excitment. Next year, XX will go to kindergarten for 2 days a week. It's not a big change but I'm eager to see him take that first step into formal schooling. I'll probably get him to take Chinese lessons like KK as well on Saturdays. For KK, I'm looking forward to him having a fresh start with a new class next year. I hope it will be a good year of learning for him. As for Hubby and I, we'll be busy working on our new house. There's gonna be lots of decisions and pain (judging from some of our friends who built their houses as well) working with the builders to get the house up. I only hope there won't be any major delays and hopefully we can shift in by midyear.
So my new year resolution for 2011 is gonna be "manage my time better". Next year, I know I'll be even more busy. Besides the usual chores and routine, I'll have to drop by our new place every other day to check on the building process. If I hope to write more and learn more, maybe something new, I'll definitely need to manage my time better.
Monday, December 13, 2010
XX Turns 4!
After being haunted by "Is it my birthday yet?" questions every other day for the last 3 weeks, the day finally arrived when I can say, "YES, it's your birthday today!" Happy Birthday to my dearest XX!
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| The pirates landed on Marshmellows Chocolate island |
We had a little party yesterday for the little boy. I wanted to have it at the coastal park nearby, where I envisaged the kids running around, playing at the playgrounds and we adults have a beer and BBQ chicken wings in the midst of nature. Unfortunately, Mother Nature wasn't very cooperative yesterday. After a whole week of monitoring weather reports, I still couldn't really tell if it was going to be a fine day. On the day itself, I gazed at the sky and couldn't find any blue amidst the thick clouds. Well, it'll probably be cold, but maybe it won't rain. I was still holding hope one hour before the party is supposed to start. Then it started to rain. We decided to hold it at our house instead.
So it was a mad rush as we unpacked the things that we had already packed from the car and set up the BBQ at home. All the guests were informed and luckily it wasn't a problem as our home not much further. Despite the last minute decision, it turned out to be a wise one. The weather was freaky that day. At times it was cold and windy, then it poured, then sunshine for about 10 mins, then it poured for 5 mins and stopped. It stayed like that for the whole day. What kind of summer is that? Then again, 2 years ago, when we celebrated XX's 2nd birthday, it was also pouring cats and dogs. That was the wettest day of December 08.
Regardless, XX had a great time. Compared to 2 years ago, he is now much more aware of what's going on. He knows it's his party and he looks forward to it. He has also associated "birthday = presents". He knows he's getting a birthday cake and he knows to blow the candles right after the birthday song. He even knows how to make a "V" sign when posing in front of the cake. And it didn't take him too long to tear open the gift wrappers (with help from a few friends) and start playing his presents.
I managed to keep the tradition of making a birthday cake for him for the 3rd year. It wasn't by choice though :p. Because of the anticipated summer heat and outdoor venue initially planned, I suggested having a pyramid of donuts instead to substitute a birthday cake. We even bought a half dozen of Krispy Kreme donuts to sample. In the end, due to a lack of planning, we were delayed in ordering so dear o'mummy became the back up plan. And I'm happy I did it. XX gave me the idea for the decoration as I was grocery shopping. He loves marshmellows. As I eyed a pack of disposable decorating nozzles and piping bags, he haggled me into buying him a packet of multi-coloured marshmellows. A bright idea came to my head and I put the nozzles back to the shelf.
The chocolate frosted butter cake recipe came from a baking book I bought recently called "Easy Home Baking". One of the cake turned out a little burnt at the bottom and sides and I wished they were taller. But after I cut off the brown parts, the inside was buttery and soft. The cake also 'grew' taller after I combined the two layers and sandwiched some marshmellows inside. Coupled with the chocolate frosting and the colourful marshmellows on top, I think I scrapped through this time in terms of presentation and taste. There wasn't any cake left overnight.
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| XX playing with one of his birthday gifts. |
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| Mini-golf set from us |
My only apologies were to the little guests who may have been pretty bored at my house. Besides a big green backyard, which they cannot use because of the on-off rain, there was little space inside the house for them to play. There was only 1 television and on that day, the Wii handsets decided be low on batteries. Especially the girls. One of them asked me if I have Barbie dolls.... err...I have Transformers, Bionicles and Bakugans though. The older girls entertained themselves watching movies and the boys were happy chasing each other and gate crashing the girls' pretend tea party. Yet, somehow, none of them asked their parents to go home early. The party started at 11am and ended around 5.30pm.
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| KK and XX's favourite gift - the Nerf gun from Bradley |
To all our friends who came, hope you all had a good time. XX and us certainly enjoyed the company. Thanks for your presence and presents!
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Is it time to change school yet?
I think we have been moving around too much. Our 8 year old seemed to think that changing schools IS the norm! He has been bringing up the subject of changing school next year several times already and what are some of his reasons? It's been 1 year already! I'm bored of the school's playgrounds. I want to make new friends.
Come to think of it, since he was 4 years old, his average duration of stay in any one school was about two years.
Each time he changed his school environment, he had adjusted really fast and really well. But did it give him an impression that he is supposed to go to a new school every year or two? I remarked to Hubby I think we better settle down soon before our son develops a "school-trotting" mindset. Hopefully we'll be able to stay long in this current school until he finishes his primary years.
Come to think of it, since he was 4 years old, his average duration of stay in any one school was about two years.
- K1 - K2 (S'pore): 2006 - 2008
- Prep - Grade 1 in Cairnlea (Australia): 2008 - 2010
- Grade 1 - Grade 2 in Seabrook (Australia): 2010 - present
Each time he changed his school environment, he had adjusted really fast and really well. But did it give him an impression that he is supposed to go to a new school every year or two? I remarked to Hubby I think we better settle down soon before our son develops a "school-trotting" mindset. Hopefully we'll be able to stay long in this current school until he finishes his primary years.
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