Paris Walkabout
These few days have been a lil mundane, although the lil man woke up this morning with a puffy left cheek from a bug bite. Thought about our lil Parisian adventure a month n a bit prior... Just a lil bit of a peek into our days of wanderlust.
Rest stop at Laduree
Foliage engulfed building
Pretty Shopfronts
Books at Collette
Random garage door
Maison Martin Margiela
Eiffel in its twinkling gloryLabels: Europe 2009, Paris
The Lil Cook
Whenever we see the progress reports of Kayden in Daycare/School, it will always feature him in the home corner cooking.
And sometimes when I am watching some random cooking show on cable, ala Jamie's Home, he would sit next to me whilst I commentate on the ingredients and the steps taken to cook a particular dish. And the cutest thing is, he will regurgitate most parts of the recipe back to his Daddy the next day.
So on this particular evening, I was feeling kinda lazy but yet I wanted the kids to have their homecooked dinner. And when I get lazy, I cook pasta. Simple and filling for my active boys.
After giving them a choice of either cream or Bolognese base, I asked Kayden if he wanted to help out. =) After all, Darien and I did talk about wanting the kids to learn to cook n be self sufficient before they are teens.
Child LabourHis eyes lit up and just went "OK!" So I set him up with the task of grating cheese. And he did it with such finesse. *whilst helping himself to the parmesan as he grated*
Being really carefulHe then helped out a lil with the cooking like putting the cheese into the sauce and then chucking the pasta into the mix.
Tucking in
Even Jake got into itWe finished off by adding some avocado on top and voila! Dinner is served!
A pat on the back and he was happily chomping into his food. =) It was an experience that he repeated to his Daddy when Darien got home from work that night.
I think we will be doing this again soon! Labels: Cooking, Kayden
Flats Notion
P:I need a new pair of heels
D: No You don't. You're pregnant.
P: I reserve my rights to wear heels even though I'm preggie.
D: This is not about rights. This is an Occupational Health n Safety issue, Baby.^__^Labels: Lemmings, ramblings
Kayden Speak #294856
On finishing the jelly beans without my knowledge:
P: Kayden, where are the jelly beans?
K: I finished it already.
P: Hmm how come you didn't ask mommy if I wanted some? That makes me very sad. *fakes a sad face.*
K: Don't worry, Mom. We'll go and buy new ones tomorrow k? *pat me on my knees*
P: Who's gonna pay?
K: Me. Must buy blue ones and green ones.
Boys were holding onto our iphones and Darien asked for his to be returned by Kayden.
D: Kayden, can Daddy have my IPhone back?
K: Ok wait.
D: Quick.. I need to put it in my pocket.
K: But if I return it to you, how am I going to play my checkers HUH HUH HUH???
Lord, we laughed our heads off when he said it! It was just hilarious.
The day before the boys went back to school, Kayden was talking to Jake in the car.
K: Jakey we must go to school tomorrow.
J: Uh huh
K:You cannot cry, huh? Must be a good boy. Carry your own bag, ok? Then we go see Lao Shi.
Gosh, this kid is growing up way too quickly, man! =) Some days he makes us laugh, other days he amuses us with his lil bits of wisdom. I can't believe he is turning 4 soon!
Me? I just wish time will stand still for a lil bit cause I like my boys at this stage.
Life is just lovely being so simple.
Labels: Kayden, Kids Talk
Building Woes
Owning a home in Australia has always been a dream for us.
When we first signed the contract for the plot of land that we bought in Melbourne, we had such big dreams for it. Oh how eco friendliness it should be. The layouts of the rooms. The plans for the landscaping. The potential dream of perhaps moving in when the kids are older.
And whilst the house is clearly taking shape, dealing with the builders has been such a nightmare.
It is said that you have to be onsite to see the construction take place but circumstances have not allowed us to have that ready access cause we are 7 hours away.
First off, every building project has its hidden costs. In our case, it was the cost of rocks removal that we bore. Plus the top up from the loan that we had to incur due to the financial crisis. So when they say you only need a stipulated deposit, it's a lie. ALWAYS have extra funds.
Secondly, due to the nature of the land. (NOTE: Always buy a flat piece of land!!) we couldn't get the bigger construction firms to build our house. With a 5 metre drop in the front, it was going to cost us a fair bit in the excavation stage. And so none of the display homes would work in our plot.
Thirdly, the company that we hired, has been nothing but trouble. They create unnecessary situations where it not only held up our project but they made such false accusations when they cannot contact us. They seem to have a perpetual need to hold the stages in this building project, which means that we pay more interest than we should to the bank.
Their only credit is that that house is quite well built and the finishings are really decent. They've also kept the work site really clean. And so far, no complaints from the neighbors.
But it has been really exhausting dealing with them. Dodgy Bastards, they are. We caught them invoicing us twice for the completion of a stage BUT in actual fact, it has not been done. There were things that were meant to be installed but they were not there.
Sighz, with all these nonsense, I am quite certain that we will NEVER build another house in this lifetime. I am, however, quite excited to finish up this project so that we can move on to another phase of pain, renting. =)
Exciting times, y'all.
Labels: House, Rant
Jones the Grocer
The boys love going to Jones for their cheese platters and milk shakes.
We love the food that they serve and it reminds us of our brekkie joints in Melbourne.
So it's our usual breakfast haunt on the weekends.
Ahhh... If only time doesn't pass so quickly.
Back to the grind tomorrow! School's a-starting!
Labels: Boys, Jones the Grocer
Haato-ing
Haato at Ridgewood Cl is one of our favourite hangouts.
Their sorbets are tantalizingly delicious!
Anyway, here's a pic of two of my boys! Isn't Jakey looking more n more like his Daddy?
Labels: Haato
