A new addition !

It’s the end of the Easter holidays sigh. Feels like it just flew by, I didn’t even get to spend much time with the kids because I didn’t take any time off work. The kids are excited about going back to school though so that’s a good sign.

The tiniest watermelon

Saitaomei is the 开心果 in the family, sometimes when I’m supposed to be telling her off for something naughty she did, I end up struggling to hide a grin or laugh instead. She’s just so funny and cheeky that I can’t help but laugh. Sigh sad that my baby chipmunk is growing up.

Whereas this cool and calm Saitaoha is showing more 大姐风 lately. I think she’s growing in confidence which can only be a good thing. We’ve been exercising together a lot and it’s something that I now enjoy doing together with her. Today she requested that we have a kids yoga session so we had an ommmm session together.

We celebrated Jo’s birthday the way we know best, by eating ! I hope her birthday brings her good health and happiness. It makes me so worried that my sisters aren’t in the pink of health and my parents have all these ailments too. Sigh signs of growing old, it brings me so much fear and I am really worried about the family’s general health. I think we don’t have healthy lifestyles and habits and it’s going to take a lot for us to change, but we really have to !

I am so happy with the arrival of my nephew!! It’s been a while since we’ve had a new addition to the family, Saitaomei declared that she’s no longer the baby of tbt family but she’s still the baby in Australia haha. So thrilled for my brother and sister in law, they are such deserving parents and everyone should have the joy of having a child. Yes raising a child is not easy and there are lots of sacrifices involved, but I feel the joy that a child brings to a family outweighs all the stress and hard work.

The baby is sooo cute 🥰 I am utterly in love and wish he was here so I could give him cuddles. I hope my brother sends us lots of photos, he doesn’t seem to be good at doing that though 🙄.

The end of the Easter hols signals the start of a busy period at work and a busy school term for the girls. I think the rest of the year will be jam packed for us but I’m determined that we will work hard and also play hard at the same time! I’m going to find the joy in working hard and also the reward in overcoming challenges and achieving milestones both in work and in life ☺️.

Autumn weekend

Ah pa commented today that it feels like we skipped autumn altogether and jumped straight into winter. The temperature has dropped the past week and we also had the category five cyclone that hit the Pilbara region and brought rainy weather to Perth.

I have to admit that I’m loving the cooler weather but not loving the kids starting to get sick again. This is what gets me down the most during the cold season, the family getting sick including myself. Luckily Saitaomei wasn’t too bad and apart from bad coughing at night, she was generally fine during the day.

I thought that I wouldn’t be having Teawoks so soon again, but Saitaoha really wanted to have kolo mee! R and I ordered a laksa to share and it was pretty good, so good that …

we made our own laksa the next day ! It’s been a while since I’ve cooked laksa for the family, I can never get it quite right and always need R to help me season towards the end. Maybe we’re all missing home ? But this made me feel nice and warm inside.

Bringing the kids to the playground and having a picnic on Saturday because the rain finally let up! We were supposed to go to the beach but the weather dashed all plans. Summer is over and we haven’t been to the beach oops.

Happy girls who need a haircut. Luckily their hairdresser aka papa gave them a trim the next day.

Saitaoha tells me that she wants to go to Disneyland. I’m definitely bringing the girls in a few years, Shanghai or America, hopefully in 2 years ? I want to make sure that we have ample time and can travel in comfort !

Watching Jinny’s kitchen inspired me to make sushi/kimbap for our Sunday night dinner. Kids were delighted since they love sushi, my Ah ma and I were happy too since we both love Japanese food.

It dawned on me that I’m glad that I find pleasure in cooking, because if I see something nice in a tv show most of the time I can try making it myself, and I can also satisfy most of my own food cravings. It also makes me feel happy when I’m able to cook for the family and can cook together with Ah ma!

One of my favourite things to do during the weekend is going over to my parent’s house by myself in the afternoon and pottering about their kitchen (indoor and outdoor) prepping and cooking dinner. After a while my parents who are usually resting will come out of their room and Ah ma will chat with me, sometimes cook her own dishes, if the kids are around, ah pa will be busy cutting fruit for them, or else he will head out to his beloved garden and start watering and tending to his plants.

Then dinner time will come around and we will all sit together at the dining table and have a nice home cooked meal. Simple pleasures that I never take for granted. This is my favourite kind of Sunday to end the week.

The Easter long weekend is over, it was fabulous in every way and the kids enjoyed their staycation so much. Saitaoha even thought that the Easter holiday was almost over because we managed to pack in so many activities and family time that it felt like a very long time. Needless to say she was delighted when she realised it was only the start of her holidays.

Thankfully they ate well despite it being fine dining, R and I certainly had a good time and it was nice having different explosions of flavour and a nice glass of wine after a long time. We used to love going for degustation dinners but those days are long gone.

They enjoyed the Alice in wonderland exhibition a lot and the adults had fun too. It was a good idea to watch the movie (I tried to read them the book but it was too cheem) before hand so they could completely immerse themselves in the exhibition.

The Madhatter’s tea party was a favourite segment and we went twice.

Dabbling in creative art in non other then the art gallery. The girls love art and drawing so this was right up their alley.

I love their creativity and imagination. Who knew they could build a castle out of these blocks.

My idea and Saitaoha executed it. She’s a bright child 😍.

Playing with art in the streets. A child’s imagination knows no boundaries, it’s a pity that our creativity becomes stifled once we reach adulthood. Or maybe that’s just me.

There was oodles of noodles throughout the long weekend. The kids couldn’t get enough and asked for more noodles when we got home!

The hotel was nice with a wide spacious lobby and best of all a heated pool!

Another Easter holiday gone by and my children change before my eyes. How I will miss these glorious days.

Hop hop happy Easter

My big girls 😍. April is off to a good start with our visit to a new playground last weekend. I’ve realised that I get really grumpy when we’re not doing anything over the weekend, it makes me feel as if I’m not giving the girls good experiences and adventures outside of school.

I’m not a great mum most of the time, too impatient and bad tempered. But I do try my best to make sure they have a fun and happy childhood, I want them to see the world, experience different cultures, see new things, just like what my parents did for us.

My latest obsession is about getting them their own bedrooms. Saitaoha is such a neat freak and looks after her own things so well, it feels wrong that she doesn’t have her own space. Sigh this is a work in progress but I hope I can let her have her own room soon.

The start of the Easter holidays has been good, we went out shopping after work on Thursday, something we haven’t done for a long time because we’re usually tired after work and school and just stay in on school nights. We didn’t buy anything and didn’t have anything to buy haha, but it was fun just window shopping. The kids had their second dinner of nuggets and chips 🍟 and enjoyed it very much.

It’s going to be really busy at work after Easter , but I think I’m finding my groove and it’s nice to know people around the organisation now, I think I’m settling in. I’m determined to have fun with the girls this Easter holidays though and have lots of things planned for us. Woo hoo to a fun Easter break.