A blast from the past...

well..I realised how long it has been since i logged into my blog and it is all my fault..haha..blame it on being lazy. Well, i just came back from a week holiday..which was meant to be THE holiday I was looking forward to..but alas..it was disastrous! WEll..not everything was bad apart from the entire family being grumpy and spoiling my entire mood!! I am NOT going to dwell on that..but it was a great blast from the past! I got to show my kids and family my University which i enjoyed so much being a carefree Uni Student. So where was I? I was in Melbourne!

We decided to drive there so from Adelaide to Melbourne, it took us 10 hours because of all the stops and breaks we had to take in between. (normally it would only take 7.5 hours) Anyways, we reached Melbourne on Sat evening and we met a good friend of mine who was became our chaperone -a good one at it too!! So we spent 5 days in Melbourne before driving off to Apollo Bay for a one night stay and did a bit of sightseeing there and from the time we left Melbourne, i actually THEN started to enjoy my holiday. We did an 1 hr hike with the kids which was awesome..uphill, downhill, up the suspension bridge and climbed up the lightstation too! I was tempted to get all of us to abseil down from the high suspension bridge too if i wasn't preggars :) It was good cause both kids walked without asking to be carried and no fuss..so i guess they take it after us, loving the nature and hiking trails.

From Apollo Bay, we drove into a small town called Nelson and it was hilarious! CAn you imagine a small (and i mean really small) town with only 3 inns out of which 2 of them were fully booked so we rented a cabin log for a one night and as we walked into a pub for our dinner..we were of course starving and tired from all the driving so the only place we could find food was in this small, small pub! So there we were as we opened the door, it was full of Australians..and i mean Australians from rural farms who literally all stared at us as we came to realise that we were the ONLY ASIANS!! They must be wondering what the heck are these 4 black haired people doing here in this part of town!! Damn funny...Ironchef and I tried to just blend in but it was kinda hard to do so with loudmouth kids like ours!! Then came the time to eat and order our drinks..now to order the drinks, we had to get it from the bar counter so i innocently thought it should be alright if i went and got drinks so i did!! OH MY GOSH!! All these big blokes with long hair..bikey look a likes then all turned and stared at me!! I then realised how small i was and just meekly ordered my drink from the bartender!! As i got my drinks and headed back to my table, i realised we needed more drinks so i told Ironchef, it was his turn to go get them!! hahaa..

Anyways, all in all..it was really great to experience it all..practically playing the 'Spot the Asian Game"!! haha..after a nights stay, we then headed back to Adelaide..because we took the coastal route, it will normally take 12 hours back so we took more stops on the way back and made it back safe and sound..and of course, nothing is sweeter and better than being back at home :)

Some pics to enjoy from the trip:

A new Life...

I can't believe how long it has been since I've logged on and it is not that i haven't been surfing the net, in fact I have but I just find using my iphone alot easier and simplier than switching on the modem and laptop and wait for connection..yadda yadda..you get the drift! so me being lazy me..I just tend to sit on my coach and just surf with a click on my iphone :)

So, updates..well the major news in my life is..I am expecting a new life in me!! Yes, I am pregnant with my third and hopefully last child. I was expecting to be pregnant at one stage in my life anyways and knowing how fertile I am ..well it didn't take me TOO LONG!! so yes, 11 weeks and just 1 week more to my stable second trimester.

This pregnancy hasn't been too bad as well and pretty much smooth for me like my previous two..so i can be considered lucky. The only thing is my urge to keep sour food! Granny smith apples..i have never touched in my life is now like the top must have in my pantry! Finding jeruk here is worse than looking for gold here. I mean you can your basic ones but the ones i love can't be found here at all!! so..boo hoo hoo me..

I have also stepped down from my volunteering work because I was getting too tired trying to manage the kids and household and now with the change in my body, it aint helping. I may have managed to skip all the morning sickness but I still had this big hormonal change going on therefore I was always sooo tired..constantly wanting to sleep so I have decided to just take a break and take things at a slower pace.

well, here's to a smooth sailing ahead :) and hopefully I am able to start blogging more

My new volunteer work!

Ever since I decided to become a SAHM, my whole life revolved around my kids and well, i was getting abit bored! I actually feel embarassed writing this because it is meant to be the most respected thing to do but i really needed to find an avenue to do something else apart from just ferrying my kids from school to swimming lessons and piano lessons..etc!! There has to be more in life than just this!! I tried looking for some part time jobs around but alas the time just doesn't permit me to be as flexible as i'd like to be so i decided to take up a volunteer role in MENSA as their new Editor. I will be writing their monthly state newsletter which I thought would be ideal because I can actually divert my unused mental energy to good use :)

Although it is not a paid job but it will still look good in my resume so by the time I have both kids at school, I will then start looking around for a full time job again and hopefully by then gain some good referrals to enable me to open some doors.

For my first issue, I have decided to write about Lil Tinkerbell because she happens to be the youngest member in SA and I thought it would be good for her as well to have this newsletter as a keepsake for future. A momento perhaps as it is written about her and for her :) Although it is just a short write up but some exposure is better to none.

I have added a snapshot of the issue for all to see..enjoy :)

The rejuvenating short break

As mentioned in my previous blog, my lil short holiday turned out to be absolutely FUN! Not only were the kids well behaved throughout the entire 6 hours drive but even as we were there, they didn't cause me any grief as I expected them to be! It was just perfect and fun!

We crossed over 3 borders from South Australia to Mildura and Mildura is situated in Victoria and the next day, we decided to take a lil tour at this place called the 'Orange World' where we were given a truck ride around the Orchard full of oranges and that place was situated in NSW so from Vic, we drove across the border to NSW so yes, it was just good.

One thing which Australia has and I love the most is the blue sky and white clouds, so I couldn't resist snapping away pictures of the beautiful blue sky.

Take a look at these..

The most important thing at the end of the day is that the family is together and we just spent that quality time together on the road and i guess it makes everything worthwhile! Don't you think?

A weekend away...

Too much has been going on and i find myself in a rush everyday to get things done so last week, I decided to stop everything from gym to going out and just stayed home to chill out! The result ---BLISS!

I find that not going to the gym has given me the extra time to do housework, time to actually surf the internet, time to bring my kids swimming and time to just be myself in my pyjama pants lying on the sofa with a nice cup of coffee! I enjoy this time..

And come Monday, Ironchef is bringing us away for a short holiday to the countryside..actually to coincide with his business trip but heck, I am looking forward to just getting away for a change! No emails, no boring monotoneous routine, no school! haha..just me and the kids away in a motel where i dont have to worry about cleanliness and homework!

A glimpse of the lodge we are going to be staying in:----

My Lil Rascal is turning into a boy..

All this while my lil rascal has been the baby of the house and he still is but the day we said goodbye to nappies made me realise that THIS was going to be the LAST time i will walk down an aisle full of baby things. I won't be walking into a shop full of baby things either..cause my Lil Rascal is now a boy!!

No more wet wipes!! No more Nappies!..sigh..and to admit i kinda miss those nappy days...heck, at least i get away with shopping cause i don't have to stop whatever i am doing just to rush to the toilet so that he doesn't pee in his pants... and did i mention the times..when we were in coles getting our groceries..just the two of us and there i am with a trolley full of goods and he had to.."mummy..i need to pee..NOW!"..Gosh..i could have won like a gold medal for sprinting..as i had to abandon my whole trolley in the middle of any god forsaken aisle and carry him to find the nearest toilet i could get him into!! Phew..yes..that is my shopping life now..ever ready to make that quick dash to the toilet whenever he needs too..i must admit i am better at doing this now..cause i force him to go to the toilet before we GO anywhere so i don't have to abandon any shopping carts!

I am glad i waited till he was ready to take his own step to being a boy..cause it only took me 1 week for him to be comfortable enough wearing his undies and leaving his nappies behind for good. I mean i remember the drama i had last year..gosh!! He was crying, half naked running around the whole house like a chicken without a head looking everywhere for his pampers (partially cause i hid them away from him) I must say though..that 1 week i took training him involved putting his green ikea potty permanently as a statue in the middle of my living room and did i mention i had to put newspapers all over it as well so that his pee doesn't drop onto the carpets?? yes..the pains of potty training and the constant nagging that would have me beat an 80 year old granny as well! i think like every 5 mins..i had to ask Lil Rascal..do u need to wee?Do you need to pee? until he and I were both sick to death by the end of one week! I think i grew so tired of asking at one stage that i was like..whatever! hahaa..but then i came back to my senses again and started the ball rolling again with nagging him!

Anyway, after one week of nagging and my house turning into a war zone..he was nappy free and as of last week, he has stopped nappies at night too! an adorable sweetie I have..who just amazes us! I can't stop pinching his butt cheeks now..they are like the tiniest most adorable butt cheeks i have even pinched!! ahha..i know i sound like a paedophile..but i am NOT!! I am just a mum who is in love with her son! haha..

well..cheers to underwear and the start to his boyhood!

my NEW daily routine!

It is funny how one change of event will eventually affect the whole entire family! Before Lil Tinkerbell started school, we all used to wake up late in the mornings and everything was so nice and laid back but eversince she started school, we have somehow created a whole new family routine:-

7:00am: My Ironchef is normally the first one up in the household! followed by either myself or lil Tinkerbell and lucky last will be my lil rascal.

7:30am: Breakfast for the kids and packing Lil Tinkerbell's lunch box. (she normally has sandwiches for breakfast and lunch)

8:10am: The whole family leaves the house together to send her off

8:45am: Lil Tinkerbell starts her school and normally we walk her to her classroom together with her class teacher and classmates.

9:00am: We leave school compound and Ironchef drops me and lil rascal off to the gym.

9:30am : My class aerobics start

10:30am: It ends and the world starts with just the two of us..me and my lil young boy hand in hand walking back

12:00pm: Prepare lunch for us both and have our meals

2:00pm: We have to get ready to leave the house and catch the tram to pick Lil Tinkerbell up from school. By the time we walk to the tram stop and get our act together, it would be just nice.

3:10pm: Lil Tinkerbell finishes school and starts chatting away about her day in school while we walk to the tram stop and catch the tram back to our place.

4:00pm: We reach home and I prepare a lil snack for her to eat and she will rest abit before she starts her homework

5:00pm: Homework time.

6:00pm: Kids watch their cartoon while Ironchef prepares dinner.

6:30pm: Kids have their bath and then dinner thereafter.

7:30pm: Lil Tinkerbell will continue her homework if she still has not finished otherwise she will just play and rest.

8:30pm: Sleeping time for the kids and freedom for the adults! Nice catch up time for Ironchef and myself about the day or just being able to watch TV and surf the internet.

11pm: Bedtime..ZZZz

This routine has been like this for the past 4 weeks now but of course if Ironchef gets off work early then it changes altogether cause we don't have to catch the tram bla bla..

Such is Life......