My New Digital Camera

Today went to John Little Mega Sale at Singapore Expo and at the hall right beside it was Sitex Exhibition.
Have been eyeing for a new digital camera which is slim and light.
Not that I do not like my Canon Powershot S40... I love it because of the semi-automatic function but it had been with us for six long years.
So I did asked Superpig whether I can have a new camera as my wedding anniversary, birthday and Christmas present. He initially refused as financially it may be a little difficult. I understand and I did not force him.

I must say that he is the best husband already.
He finally bought a Casio Exlim for me....

YIPPPEEEEEEEEEE!!!!


I love my Canon Powershot but I have an EOS for a better control of the function.
I love my Canon Powershot but I now have a slimmer and lighter Casio Exlim.

I just hope that the new camera will be up to my expectation.

THANK YOU Superpig... Muacks!

Superpig's update

99.5kg

Yummy dinner

Sorry ... forgot to take pictures of it.

Have been cracking my head to cook a delicious enough dinner for Superpig since his diet.
He is sick of fish soup, chicken soup and so on.
In order to motivate him to continue with his already succeeding diet, I have to do something real fast before he gives up.

What can you do with mince pork meat and lettuce?
Fried them together? Lettuce will be come limp and lifeless...yuck.
Knowing he must be craving for some kind of burger, I decided to let him have burger then.

Marinated the meat with steak seasoning and sesame oil.
Chop up an onion.
Heat up the wok and oil, throw in lots of garlic, throw in the chopped onion.
Once the garlic and onion "smells" nice, throw in the minced meat.
Fry till meat is cooked.
Prepare your lettuce, peel the leaves off from core, wash and drain.

How to eat?

Get a piece of lettuce, put the meat on it (lots of it, if you like) and then add in mustard.
Wrap the lettuce around the meat and then stuff it into your mouth.
There... he got his burger (without the bread).

His comment.... Good and satisfying.
Let him tell you himself when he gets the time to read this.

Donuts

Superpig had been asking for donuts since the start of donuts craze hit Singapore.

I tried about a month ago with a donut mix and totally failed in that attempt.

Then I chanced upon a baked donut recipe by Peony on a forum(which I will post later once I perfect it ... there are still somethings that need to be done as I changed a little from the original).

They tasted very good...strawberry flavoured.

And the lingering smell after the bake is simply heavenly.

Superpig had a tiny one and commented it was nice (that was all he had...and wanted more actually).

I personally ate two donuts and love it too.

After 8 Years

Thanks Pam for brigthening the photo.

After being married for eight years, the report card for our marriage says:
"Still happily married with equivalent amount of happiness and sadness"

I can only say that I love Superpig very much and no matter how he irritates and piss me off at times, I can never stay angry with him for long. We can get into a super huge (I mean HUGE!) quarrel but in no time I will be laughing again. I just cannot stay angry with him ... and he knows that too.

However, I can speak for him... I think he only hopes that I can be happier and less of an irritant.

Anyway, the actual day of our wedding is 23 November and both of us totally forgot about it when the day came and went. Both of us were quite busy, him with the coordinating of a particular Mr H's new album and me with preparing for the princesses' birthday, crocheting, sewing, housework (which is largely neglected hence the outbreak of rashes on Aver), worries of Aver's rashes and many many more...

I remembered it only yesterday while on MSN chat with Pam and totally felt like hitting myself real hard for totally forgetting about it.

So we headed of to Tampines Mall's Fish and Co. for our favourite Swordfish Collar. Since Superpig is on the Atkins diet, I get all the chips... (which I did not finish and I better not. Look at the picture below and you will know why.)

We could not get a decent picture of just the two of us cos Ash kept insisting that she wants to be in the picture.

Do I not look pregnant? And no... I AM NOT!

So after eight years, from two of us to now four ... Superpig, Super Mum, Super Gal and Super Babe.

There... our household of Supers.

And there is Little Puffer saying goodbye.

No more nuts!

I am officially not allowed to eat peanuts from now onwards.
I had mentioned in earlier post that Aver's rashes were healing with the California Baby cream however, a few days ago the rashes came back.
The rashes were red and it looked infected.
Went back to the doctor and was given 3 days of oral antibiotics and also a stronger steroid cream.
I was kind of upset as he finally with this third visit confirmed that Aver has eczema.
On the brighter side, he said that he had seen cases with worse condition on the baby's face but as the baby grow, the condition improve. (Quite assuring ...)
However, being a pessimistic idiot, I came home feeling kind of down and thought real hard what could have triggered the rashes.
Then it dawned on me... PEANUTS!
Not that Aver were fed with peanuts, I ate them and I nurse her.
So it got into the milk which got into her body.
Hence the rash....

So all peanuts has been cleared from the house...given to my mum (another nut addict!)

I have been tagged (My first...)

I am so honoured to be tagged by Pam of Dreaming Reality.
Then I am suppose to tag another five people... which can be kind of a challenge because I do not know who is reading my blog.
Anyway, I will answer the questions first then I will try to get five fellow bloggers.


W H O . W A S . T H E. L A S T . P E R S O N
1. You hung out with?: Superpig and princesses
2. Saw you cry: Superpig (he was the one who made me cry... boo hoo hoo... but made it up with baking supplies)
3. Went to the movies with you?: Superpig and Princess Ash (think it was "Open Season" before Princess Aver was born)
4. You went to the mall with?: Superpig and Princesses
5. You went to dinner with?: Superpig and Princesses (We just went a few hours ago)
6. You talked on the phone to?: Superpig (I asked him whether we should bring Princess Aver to the Paed as her rashes came back with a vengeance)
7. Said ‘I love you’ to you and really meant it?: Superpig
8. Made you laugh?: Princess Aver (was playing with her "Snappity Snap" with my hands in the car on the way home two hours ago)

W O U L D . Y O U . R A T H E R?
1. Pierce your nose or tongue? Nose (but it will never happen... I am still plucking up courage to get another pair of ear holes pierced)
2. Be serious or be funny? Funny
3. Drink whole or skim milk? Whole (actually, I would rather not drink any... not much of a milk person)
4. Spend time with your parents or enemies? Parents or actually parent, my mom... (sorry, dad... I will spend my time with you when my time here is over)

D O . Y O U . P R E F E R.
1. Flowers or candy? Flowers (Daisy, my favourite)
2. Gray or black? Black
3. Color or Black and white photos? Colour
4. Lust or love? Love
5. Sunrise or sunset? Sunset (Could be due to my pessimistic nature... Sunset = end of the day, start of darkness...)
6. M and Ms or Skittles? M and Ms (I prefer chocolate than sweets)
8. Staying up late or waking up early? Staying up late.

D O . Y O U . P R E F E R.
1. Sun or moon? Moon (The Sun is too hot for me... I will melt)
2. Winter or Fall? Winter (I like it cold so that I can snuggle up to my love one... that is you, Superpig...hint hint...)
3. Left or right?: Right
4. 10 acquaintances or having two best friends?: Two best friends (I am at this point where I realised that my "friends" are causing me some heart pain but I am glad that I have met a new friend, Pam)
5. Sunny or rainy?: Rainy (I love to run out into the rain. Used to do that when staying my mother-in-law's place (a landed property) and no one can understand why)
6. Vanilla ice cream or chocolate ice cream: Chocolate ice cream


A B O U T . Y O U
1. What time is it?: 11.23 pm
2. Nickname(s): honey pudding, ling ling (to Superpig)
3. What is your birth date?: 7 Dec
4. What do you want?: Just want to be happy
5. Where do you want to live? Where my Superpig and Princesses are (I don't care where as long as I have them with me)
6. How many kids do you want?: 4 (Yes, I am crazy... I am not giving up on the number just need to work on the finances and time)
7. You want to get married? Of course... already am married to my biggest love


U N I Q U E
1. Nervous habit: Talking non-stop but not making any sense
2. Are you double jointed?: No
3. Can you roll your tongue?: No
4. Can you raise one eyebrow?: Yes (with much difficulty)
5. Can you cross your eyes?: Oh yes... I do that a lot to Princess Ash and Superpig
6. Do you make your bed daily?: No (If I do, I will not bear to sleep in it and I will end up in the living on the floor)
7. Can you draw? Yes (refer to previous posts of my drawing of butterflies)

R A N D O M
1. Which shoe goes on first? Right
2. Ever thrown a shoe at someone? No
3. What is your craziest experience ever? Tried to kill myself (yup... depression...don't worry about me now. I am seeing life in a different light and also have found ways to make myself happy)


F O O D
1. Do you twirl your spaghetti or cut it? Cut
2. Have you ever eaten spam? Yes (an ex-colleague shared her spam sandwich)
3. Favorite ice cream: Chocolate Ice cream by Walls (I think)
4. How many kinds of cereal are in your cabinet? Cheerios, conrflakes, Cocco Crunch, Honey Stars... okay, 4
5. What’s your favorite beverage? Milo ... thick thick (oh... I so need one now)
6. Do you cook? Yes (So far have not managed to poison anyone yet... that is an achievement already)

IN . T H E . L A S T . M O N T H . H A V E . Y O U ?
1. Bought something: Yes (quite a lot of things, to be exact)
2. Sang: Jesus Love You (Lullaby to Princess Aver)
3. Been hugged: Yes
4. Felt stupid: Definitely (banging head kind of stupid)
5. Missed someone: Yes
6. Danced crazy: Yes (swung my arms and legs ridiculously to tease my princesses)
7. Gotten your hair cut: No
8. Cried: Yes
9. Lied: Yes (not to Superpig...can't seems to lie or keep anything from him at all)

Okay... I have completed mine.

Now five other bloggers:
Ellena of "Cuisine Paradise"
Jean of "Rice and Soup"
Tracy of "A Beautiful Life"
Jessie Chua of "Jessie Culinary"
Mel of "Once Upon A Time"

So copy the questions and answer away....

Diaper bag with changing mat

I had sewn this for a friend whose birthday just passed.

And I totally love it...I love it more that the first diaper bag I made for myself (blah!).

I am and will be making more of it.

It opens up with a changing mat.

Best ... the whole thing can be washed.

Edited : I notice many visitors coming to this page but have no idea where you are coming from and sadly everyone left without leaving a note. I hope someone will enlighten me and let me know who you are so that we can share our interests? (05 March 2008)

Ash's acheivement

It started out with a simple goal...not allowing ourselves to use the fact that Ash is a year end baby as an excuse.

So, we will always set aside time to teach her academically. I started with flashcards then proceeded to reading, learning through play, lots and loys of reading. When she started K1, I tried to teach her what the school taught till now preparing for primary one.

People deemed us as academically driven parents but we are not as she has many activities on weekends which do not invovle academics.

We believe only in on thing, if she can then we should not let it to waste.

Since the school holidays has started and I need to keep her occupied, Ash has academic work to do and also fun activities lined up.

Gave her an English and Maths SA1 papers from a top girl school and we were totally blown off with what she produced.

The Mathematics Paper

The English Paper

Okay, we are really proud of her but yet again what we are not so sure she will do as well when she goes primary one next year. She is a very easily distracted gal and that is the one weakness that will cause her downfall.

Superpig's update

100kg

Another to try the Atkins Diet

Met up with Superpig's friends last weekend.
He told them about his current diet and why he decided to go ahead with it eventhough it can be rather challenging.
He explained to them what the diet is about and how he had gotten use to the "no carbo" diet.

Yesterday, he came home and told me that his friend,F (who is also on the big size catergory) has started on the diet too.
After hearing from Superpig and also his brother (whose friend mentioned it before), he decided to read up on it and gave it a go.

Hope both of them would be able to meet their goal of weight lost.

Children

My memory is actually quite good but I have a feeling that it is failing me nowadays.
I know I only have two kids in the house, an almost six year old and an eleven month old.
However, it seems like I also have a thirty-something kid.

Ash had to go to school for her P1 Prep Class and she was taking her time to finish up her milk.
Superpig was getting a bit impatient as she was going to be late for lesson.
As Ash was about to finish her milk, he stomped off to the toilet.
He insisted that he would need to clear his bowel.
I told him that Ash was ready to go already.
But he threw a tantrum and said that he had waited very long and now he needed to clear his bowel the second time. Since she was already late he can continue with his business.

Haiz...

Seems like there are three kids in the house rather than two.

My Three Kids

Superpig's update

Latest buzz from his diet...

101kg

that's after dinner but before the visit to the toilet

Keep dropping...

California baby's Calendula Cream

I am not their official advertiser and no... I am not paid to do this.
Anyway, when there is a good product why not share it with others.

If you all have noticed from the pictures I posted of Aver, she has been suffering from skin irritation for almost 5 months now.
Red ugly rash appeared on her right cheek and it started to get big and looked badly infected.
It was under control with steroid cream, Neoderm but kept coming back when the temperature goes up.
Then two months later, two small patches appeared on the other cheek.
After that, her arms and legs also started to sprout rashes here and there.
Other then the creams given by the doctor, we had to keep the temperature down with the air-conditioner turned on.
Temperature down, expenses up...

Then I finally got my hands on this California Baby's Calendula Cream.
Had been diligently putting it on her affected areas.
It has been a week and the rashes are improving.
So I have stopped the steroid creams for now.
The rashes are no longer that red and infected looking.
It look like they are about to heal.

On top of that, we smear her with lots of Dermaveen moisturiser and aloe vera gel to soothe the itch.

So if your child or yourself is suffering from eczema, why not try it out?

Dieting Update

Upon the last update of the diet, Superpig's weight went back to 103kg.
Why?
I'm not sure.

However, he did not give up at all.
He persisted on his "no carbo" diet.
I must say that he is determined to win this battle with his weight.

As a wife, I support him all the way.
He has done quite well and I can see that his big tummy has started to shrink.

So his weight now ....

102kg

Another project with hook

Here's another project that I completed awhile ago.
It was a pair of booties for a one month old baby.
She is my sister-in-law's brother-in-law's daughter... (confusing? Had been thinking for a long time how to phrase it.)



And isn't she a cute little one?

Mushroom Beary

Here is a bear that I crocheted yesterday.
There are the rest of his face to complete.
Why the name?
Cos he looked like a mushroom for most part of the day till I assembled his limbs.



And he guards over Aver when she naps.



Any comments?

How about me losing weight?

Well, I did mention in the earlier post that I do not need to lose massive amount of weight but I still need to get some off me.

Ash's observation and comment about my body...

Ash said, "Mummy, your tummy... I can see your tummy."
I replied,"Yeah... I know."
Ash went on,"Mummy, don't you think youshould lose a little weight too? I can see your tummy coming out everytime."

Children can be so blunt...
but it sure make me wake up.

Update on Superpig

Today is the third day that Superpig is on the Atkins diet.

I must say that he sure have a whole lot of determination.

Although he looks a little grumpy but he should be able to get over it soon.

His energy level is low but he claims that he is alright.

He has been visiting the toilet more often then his usual morning and night visitation.

And he finally understood that he can eat as much as he want as long as he doesn't consume anything that has high carbohydrate.

So he went and bought 1.5 kg worth of Ba Kwa (barbecued pork slices)



He started out with his weight at 104kg (yes... he is that massive)

This morning he is at 102.5kg!

It has only been three days.



All the way... Superpig!

(I have intended to put up Superpig's fat picture up here but he refused to give me the rights...)

Superpig on Atkins Diet

We went to find out more about this Atkins diet thingy from Pam and her husband yesterday afternoon.

Basically, carbohydrate has to be eliminated from the diet and exercising must come in.
After the sharing session, Superpig seemed convinced and for myself... I will only go on partial diet since I am still nursing and I do not need to get rid of massive amount of weight.

We went for dinner and thinking that since Superpig will start the next day, he should enjoy lots of carb for the night. However, he surprised me by starting on the programme immediately...no rice and no finishing up Ash's kway teow...

Way to go Superpig....

But when we reached home, he mentioned that his tummy felt full but his arms were weak... withdrawal symptoms from no carb. Then a two hours later he was hungry and went in search of food. Tried as he might, there seems to be nothing he can eat. Suddenly, I felt kind of sad for him and almost wanted him to stop (talk about determination!)

Then I decided that I have to grant him the utmost support he can have. I steamed egg with minced meat (but I was over zealous... I steamed 3 eggs...) and he enjoyed it.

Today for breakfast, he took fried fish soup only... no rice, no noodles ... and we ate roti prata. ( I felt kind of bad eating that in front of him.) To make it worse, Ash offered him a piece of her prata... Superpig did a little exercise ... shook his head and said NO!

Way to go Superpig....

Ash's Primary One Orientation

Went to the eldest primary school for her Primary One Orientation.
Kind of cute to see her in the school with all the other little girls.
More interesting is that she is stepping on the same place that I stepped on when I was in Primary School.
Entering the school make me feel like I am a little primary schooler all over again.
Brings back quite a bit of memory ...
Other then the sense of nostalgia, there were more important things to do.
Filling in all the necessary forms, signing up for the bus transport, finding out more about the after school care that is ran by YMCA in the school itself, buying of books and so on.
Most importantly, we had to have enough money for all the purchases but... Superpig forgot to bring his cheque book! Thank goodness I bought along enough cash...

The breakdown of the expenses...

1) Paying for miscellaneous stuff of school - $60
2) School books - $145
3) School Bus - $220
4) School Uniforms -$90
5) School Shoes - $20
6) School bag - $70

Total $605

So... as we sweat it out trying to get all the things, Ash was in the class with the parent volunteers and big sisters. They also went to tour the school grounds and even had a recess (we caught her in time to give her a dollar to go enjoy herself).

Ash's concept on money

Ash went on an exercusion the day before with her school. They first went to a primary school to have firsthand experience of life as a primary schooler then they went off to Changi Airport Terminal 3.

When I went to fetch her from school, I wanted to peek into her coin pouch to see how much she had left.

Ash immediately said,"Mummy, there are many coins inside. You will be very rich!"
She brimmed from ear to ear.

I looked at her puzzled ...

Then it dawned on me... more coins = more money.

She was given 2 one-dollar coins and was left with seventy cents (made up of a twenty-cent coin, 4 ten-cent coins and 2 five-cent coins). So in her young mind, she went with two coins but came back with 7 coins... hence she has more.

Guess I need to spend some time on the concept of money.


Take a peek at her diary entry of her excursion here

My eldest has graduated!

Today is the graduation concert for her kindergarten. It is kind of early though as there is another two more weeks of school to before it marks the end of her preschool years.

Although Ash did not have a big part in the concert... she was simply a "passerby", she did a great job.

She was so serious before walking up to the stage. Her mortar board was about to drop but she kept herself steady and the board stayed on her head till she went off stage.

At the grand finale, where the all the pupils sang and danced, Ash put in her best and she performed very well.

Between Superpig and myself, we agreed that she is the best attitude "passerby".

I am proud of her. And I would say that she is one of those who behaved well too.

So today...

My eldest has GRADUATED!