Happy Birthday Yesmin!! :) (a belated post)

My little girl turned 8 today! Can't believe how time flies...still remember her as a baby...still remember the day we welcome her to the world. She's our first child. Everything was unorganized, everything was a havoc, on top of that, she arrived 13 days early!! :P
This year, we didn't throw her a party. Instead, we promised her a trip to the Great Wolf Lodge (the only indoor water park in the Pacific Northwest), which we had wanted to go in the past Summer, but did not go. Anyway, we did have her friend Ellie came over to celebrate with us. The 2 of them have been having play dates almost every Mondays for a few weeks now, and so happened that her birthday fell on a Monday. She didn't want a cake this year (Thank God), instead, asked for an apple pie. So after school (Ellie moved to our neighborhood in the Summer, so they ride in the same school bus), we sang her birthday song and had her birthday apple pie with ice cream, opened presents, and the girls started to playing with the new toys right away. They had a good time, Yesmin said it's her "best birthday ever"...that's what she says every year!
We took her to Olive Garden later that night for dinner. She got to pick where she wanna go. She asked "why do they have grapes instead of olives on their sign, when they are called 'Olive' Garden??" I never even thought about that, unless that bunch of grape looking like thing IS Olive?! :P That is very typical of Yesmin. She's very observant when it comes to tiny details. Since 2, 3 years old, she has always like to search for the tiniest things on the ground. So, if u drop your needle in a hay stack, she might be able to help you! However, like her dad and Lucas, they don't remember WHERE they left their things!!! :/
Happy Birthday my sweetie pie. We love u bery bery much! :)

She and her new Totoro toy

Fried Rice

Jenny's fried rice top with tiny fried anchovies serve with red chili in soy sauce

Fried rice is my favorite dish to cook, when I don't know what to cook and/or when I am lazy. 2 days ago, I had one of those lazy days. I called Nd (Lee) at work with my usual whining tone

"I don't know what to cook for dinner!!!"
Nd (Lee) : Why don't u go order pizza?
Me: I don't feel like having pizza.
Nd(Lee): I'm very busy here. Just don't cook friend rice.
Me: Great idea. (Ding, ding, ding, ding - light bulb with smiley face on)
Nd(Lee) : U know I don't like fried rice!
Me: So, u wanna spend more money???
Nd (Lee) : s-i-l-e-n-c-e .... Just do whatever you like lah!

See, when it comes to fried rice, our family is split to half! Both dragons (Nd and Yesmin are both born in the year of dragon) do not like it. But it's Lucas' and my favorite! I love eating the fried rice I cook, 'cos I add a lot of ingredients, unlike those u buy outside, where they probably use one egg for 3 cups of rice, and the meat used are chopped to so tiny that it'd just get stuck between my teeth without even having to bite 'em! I used to put so much stuff in it that Nd complains that it looks like fried rice without rice! :P I also like to eat it with sliced red chili or cayenne pepper, in soy sauce. As for Lucas, he just likes to eat rice --- flavored/seasoned rice, and with the Sriracha hot chili sauce, or my mom's sambal belacan! Yesmin? Don't even mention fried rice to her....she's our typical American born Malaysian Chinese girl...pasta, cheese, pizza, meaty stuff!!! She only likes fried rice if we have my mom's homemade fried shallots. Unfortunately, we ran out of that long time ago, and we've been spoiled by my mom's home made fried shallots that we no longer like the store bought ones! :P

In the end, I compromised with Yesmin (who cares about what Nd (Lee) wants to eat right?? :P) that we will order pizza for dinner the next day. As for Nd (Lee)...he was glad that I included the Chinese sausage and used green beans instead of green peas....and conveniently, he didn't need to bring lunch to work the next day, b'cos there was gonna be some thing going on at work, and lunch will be provided --- all the better for me and Lucas! :P

Who knew you can blog so much about fried rice?! :)

Potty Joke??!!

If you have read my earlier post on "potty training," you'll know that potty training Lucas for his #2 wasn't easy. Anyhow, he's fully potty trained since those posts.

Today, as Yesmin and I were going through her Chinese lesson upstairs, and Lucas was patiently waiting for us downstairs playing by himself, suddenly said he has to go potty. So, I took him. As we were in the bathroom, he told me this:
"Mommy, I am going to pee pee, and not poo poo (please excuse my word choice, I am merely quoting my 4- year old). I am waiting for my poo poo, it is coming soon on DVD and VHS!!!" ---??? ;)

I ALMOST HAD AN HEART ATTACK!!! :/

I'm fine, don't worry...nothing wrong with me medically. U see, Thursdays are my days to volunteer in my daughter's classroom, making photocopies, correcting the kids' work...etc. So, as usual, after Yesmin went on the bus to school, Lucas and I get home and get him ready for his preschool. I drop him at school, then drive to Yesmin's school to volunteer, and pick him up at 11:15am.

When I got there, it was about 9:38am. Met with the teacher who gave me and the other mom instructions on what she wants to get done ~ which was basically correcting some paper work and record them. So, I went on doing my job. After a while, I took a look at my watch which I have not been wearing for a week or more. 11:18!!! I literally JUMP up (everyone around there stopped to look what on earth this crazy woman is doing? ;P), stack the pile of books, hand it to the other mom and said, "I'm SO late, I need to pick my son up from school!!"...all the time thinking "HOW COULD I DO THAT TO HIM?! HOW CAN I NOT PAY ATTENTION TO THE TIME? WHY DIDN'T I SET THE ALARM ON MY CELL PHONE TO REMIND ME, LIKE I USUALLY DO??? WHERE THE HELL DID THE TIME GO???"...and all the time thinking what a BAD MOM I am, to be THIS late (though it takes only 10 minutes to get from Yesmin's school to his, 10 minutes IS A L-O-N-G time for a 4 year old!!!). I HAVE NEVER been this late for either kids...NEVER. At most I was late by 30 seconds - a minute between me walking through the front door to their school building and the teacher opening the classroom door to dismiss the class! WHAT HAVE I DONE?? I know the teacher is fine staying with him, no doubt about that, but how disappointed he would be when I get there???

As I was walking away from the class, I pulled out my cell phone wanting to call his teacher and let them know I'm on my way. I stopped right away! IT WAS ONLY 10:18am!! I HAVE 45 minutes MORE before I actually HAVE to leave!!! D-U-H!!!!

All because of the daylight saving we had on Nov 2nd! We sort of gain an hour....so if it was to be before Nov 2nd, I would be late. But now, today...I AM NOT LATE (stupid me)! We changed all the clock at home, and even in the car...but I've been forgetting to wear my watch, and had ASSUMED my watch was programmed to change the time by itself (it's a Casio BabyG, my old Seiko Spoon watch was programmed to changed by itself when it was daylight saving). Sure felt like an IDIOT, but I AM SO GRATEFUL that I WASN'T LATE!!! Phew.

Play-Doh!

When Yesmin was younger, I bought her a "Play-Doh" table, thinking it'd help "contain" the mess. Let me tell you, IT DID NOT (I recently donated THAT table!). I seldom encourage her to play with Play-Doh after that. Thinking back, I had fun playing with "Plastercine" when I was a child...and I believe my mom didn't like us playing with it too, because they are a hassle when come time to clean up! :P

When it was Lucas' turn, I gave up thinking playing with Play-Doh is a mess. I'm glad I did. I mean, why not? They are encourage to use their imaginations, and they are able to play for a long time, without whining "I have nothing to do" or " I have nothing to play with"!!! The kids have so much fun playing with it! Plus, we are lucky to inherit some molds and cutters from our neighbor, so we're able to "stretch" the time EVEN longer!

This morning, we didn't have anything to do. Lucas hasn't been playing with Play-Doh for a while now...so, he brought it out to play. He sat there for 2 hours or so ( plus the occasional walking to me asking me to get the Play-Doh out of the mold), just shaping, and making "noodles" and "cookies" for Tai Long's birthday (the villain in Kong-Fu Panda ~ don't ask me why Tai Long and not any of the heroes...he has a thing for villains most of the time! Wired )! When he was done, all I had to do was take out my vacuum cleaner (Thank God for the person who invented vacuum cleaners!) and suck up all the bits and pieces....ALL CLEAN! =) By the way, Yesmin has been "upgraded" to using clay instead!

I still can't believe he played with it for SO LONG!

The green and pink noodles

"Noodles"

The "train" that he MUST make every time he plays with Play-Doh

Baked...

Yesterday, I was in some kinda baking mood....maybe it's because of my newly purchased fabric! (yikeess...though I said I wouldn't dare start another hobby?! ---nah, I didn't, but I did purchased some fabrics but it's more of a back drop for my photos).

Since I barely baked anything over the Summer, when the berries were all fresh, plump and juicy --- we gobbled 'em up quicker than I could take out my mixing bowls! I decided to make Yesmin's and mine favorite Blueberry Scones. Yum. Then as my hubby was on his way out to bring Yesmin to Chinese class for the 3rd week in a row, asked what was I gonna bake? ----He only like blueberries FRESH, not in anything else (fussy, fussy, fussy!). Hence suggested me making his favorite Popovers! Like I said, I was in some kinda baking mood + he was taking her to Chinese class 3rd week in a row... So, after the scones, I made his Popovers! :)



As requested by my sister, here's the recipe. I believe I copied it from Martha Steward's:

Blueberry Scones

2 C All purpose flour
3 Tbs Sugar + more for sprinkling the tops
1 Tbs Baking powder

3/4 tsp Salt
6 Tbs COLD unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1-1/2 C fresh blueberries (you could use dried ones too, if fresh ones are not available)
1 tsp grated lemon zests
1/3 C+ one to two Tbs heavy cream, plus more for brushing tops
2 large eggs, lightly beaten

1. Preheat oven to 400F. Line baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, sift flour, sugar, b. powder, and salt together. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter till largest pieces are size of peas. Stir in berries and zests.
3. Using a fork, whisk cream and eggs. Make a well in the center of the dry ingredients, pour the cream/egg into the well. Stir lightly with the fork till dough comes together.
   
4. Turn dough onto lightly floured surface. Knead few times to mix well.
   
5. Pat dough into 6" square, about 1-1/4" thick. Using a knife cut into four 3" squares. Cut those squares into halves on diagonal to get 8 triangles. Transfer to pan, brush tops with cream, and sprinkle with additional sugar.
6. Baked till golden brown, about 20-22 minutes. Transfer to rack to cool.
   

Popovers (from Williams-Sonoma)
3 Tbs unsalted butter, melted
3 Large eggs
1 C milk
1 C All purpose flour
1/4 tsp Salt

1. Have ready a standard 6 C or 12 C popover pan or a 12-C muffin pan. Lightly grease the pan with 2 Tbs of the melted butter.
   
2. In a deep bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk and the remaining 1 Tbs of melted butter until foamy. Beat in the flour, and salt until smooth. Do not over mix. The batter should be thin. Fill each prepared cup 2/3 full with the batter.
3. Place pan on the center rack of a cold oven and immediately turn the temperature to 375F (190C). Bake the popovers until they are puffed high, deep golden brown and dry to the touch, 35-45 minutes for standard size, 25-30 minutes for the miniatures . Do not open the door for the first 30 minutes, or they would not rise fully.
4. Serve popovers with the jam of your choice.
   

I freeze both the scones and the popovers. Heat them in the microwave and then lightly toast 'em on the toasted oven. Enjoy! =)

PURPLE!!!

If you know me, you might know that I DO NOT LIKE PURPLE! Nothing against the color, just DO NOT LIKE IT, that's all. about 2 years ago, the neighbor across from us gave me a little pot of violet. This neighbor is an elderly couple, very very sweet couple (no, I'm not saying that just because she gave me a pot of plant). They treat our kids like their grandkids. But of course she doesn't know I don't like purple...and when she gave me the plant, it wasn't in bloom, so I was wondering what color it'd be. I placed it on the window sill above my kitchen sink, so that I don't forget to water it and hence kill it! It bloom last year, and it's blooming now...though I already know it's a purple (and the shade of purple that I'd dislike most if it were to be on a paper, clothing, wall color, ribbons....whatever else that isn't a creation of Mother Nature) flowering plant, but I don't think for the past year, I've stopped to really looked at it....and I'm glad I did this time...

Look at the amazing sparkle that comes with the purple! Isn't THAT AMAZING??? It's as though Mother Nature knows I don't like this shade of purple, and have sprinkle these sparkling dust on to it, to catch my eyes! I mean, I HAVE NOT seen any other flowers that is as sparkling as this one before! I still don't like the color purple, I don't think I ever will...but I am thankful that Mother Nature created this for the rest of you who likes/love PURPLE...especially this sparkling one!! :)

A Confession of my Obsessions!! =P

I confess: I am obsessed/addicted with a couple of things....magazines, books (mainly books on cooking and baking, crafts), papers (this obsession started after I join the scrapbooking frenzy! :P). I can totally see myself obsessed with fabric next! Not that I know how to sew~I'd like to learn to sew if given the chance, but I wouldn't dare start another hobby now! :P But some of the fabrics that I've seen lately are just so fun, interesting, funky...kinda like my papers! Talking about the papers that I have, I could probably wall paper a room or two! :P Hope my husband isn't reading my blog! :P Let just say that what you're about the see, isn't the only ones I have...these are just the ones that are neatly shelved! I have books and magazines everywhere else in the house... ;P hehehehee...

Mainly Martha Stewart magazines on the bottom and middle shelves arranged according to month and year! The one and only top shelf belongs to my husband for his guitar magazines. :P

Other magazines

My 12x 12 papers

Other papers that fits into my drawers.

Before and After...

This is our guest/office and recently was honored with a additional name "Jenny's craft room". It is very confusing, especially when I'm telling the kids that I'll be in THAT room, or when Nd's looking for something, and I have to tell him to look in THAT room.
Before...
Before we gave the extra name of "Jenny's craft room", I was never motivated to get it cleaned, nor organized. It was also the "dumping room." Every time we come back from shopping (I'm not talking about shopping in the mall...but more like Target, Home Depot - that kinda shopping), we'd chuck everything on our very nice formal dinning table. Then when we invite friends over for dinner, guess where all these things go?? You're right! The Dumping/Guest/Office room!!! After the dinner, all the things that were dumped there, remains there. Only when we have guests coming to stay over, that's when I scramble to chuck everything in the closet or our master bedroom (there goes my secret).Over in the Summer, we wanted to get Yesmin a study desk that she can use in her room. Nd suggested that I should get one for my scrapbooking/crafting too! (What a smart husband! He was tired of seeing my scrapbooking stuff in the formal dinning room) I search high and low for the perfect desks. All the new ones rarely have drawers, so I looked into Craig's List. It was so difficult to find one that goes with the rooms...finally, I found this lady selling 3 of them. One bigger than the other 2. There were 3 drawers each and in excellent condition. They were made of wood, which means we could paint them or stain them! So, I bought the bigger one for Yesmin and the smaller one for myself! And both desk only cost me $80!!! Yiippeee. So, we stained and painted over the Summer. Added matching shelves, and wall cabinet from Ikea....
After...

~"Ta-Da!!!"~

NOW, I am motivated to get the place CLEAR OUT once and for all! :) In fact, Nd is planning on constructing a Murphy Bed (wall bed), as this queen size bed takes up WAY TOO MUCH SPACE! I can't wait for that to be done, but I know it will take a while, as IT IS a BIG project from him. When that is done, I wish to put a folding table in there, that way, the kids can do their art and craft in there while I scrapbook! :)

~My official scrapbooking/craft table!!~ :)

~The so-called office~

~Storage space for my scrapbooking/card making magazines, stamps, inks, photos, cards..etc~

~One of my very well organized drawers~

Happy Halloween!!!

We carved the pumpkins the day before Halloween. Both of them were really excited about getting into the pumpkin. They had fun "cleaning" out the pumpkins. Lucas loved scooping out and stirring the seeds. Yesmin got to design and carve her own pumpkin (I did some "touch ups" for her after that), while Lucas told me what kinda expression he wanted his Jack-O-Lantern to be.
On Halloween, the kids could NOT wait to go trick or treating...It wasn't easy to make 'em sit on the porch for photos, but they did...otherwise, they would not get to eat any candy! =P

If you're wondering what costume they were wearing, Lucas was James the Red Engine, and Yesmin was a blue butterfly that looked like a fly.

We went out with a bunch of the neighborhood kids, they are around Yesmin's age or older...boy, I really couldn't keep up with them, especially having to bring Lucas along, whose costume was still too long that I have too keep on pulling it up for him before he trips over! The kids were as though they were on a "Halloween Amazing Race" mission!!!! Sometimes they even forgot to say "trick-or-treat"....and I wonder if they sometimes remembered to say "thank you"!!! Some neighbors did asked what they had to say first, before giving out the candies! :P Yesmin was really sweet...some house had many steps, so knowing that Lucas was way behind all the others, she sometimes would get one for him, or shared hers with him. She's definitely a way much sweeter sister to him than he is a sweeter brother to her. Hopefully, he'll learn to appreciate her SOON. :)

Yesmin's winking Jack

Lucas' surprised Jack

My little ghost I traced from the picture it came with the carving tools.

I got this for Nd. Of course she wanted to try it on! ~ That's my girl! It's hilarious! Reminds me of Robin Williams! =P