I'm a lucky girl

It's not any special day but over the weekends, dear hubby made breakfast, lunch and dinner. Oh, how I love him for that :)

Cooking is not something I enjoy. I learn to make omelete and instant noodles when I was 9. My cousin taught me that in case no one was home to make lunch or dinner. She also taught me how to cook rice and my main duty was to pluck the roots off the beansprouts every weekend and I hated it! I cringed every time I see her buy beansprouts from the wet market.

When I was living with my granny, she was chief cook. The only time she ask me to help in the kitchen was to wash the dishes, clean the stove or pound the chillies, dried shrimps ( I hated pounding). She's a great cook by the way. I love her 'loh bak'(soya pork stew), 'mi hoon kueh' (flour dough soup) and 'mi suah teng'(rice noodle soup) and many, many more.

Later when I moved in with my Uncle's family, I realised how lucky I was to have granny in charged of the kitchen before. Uncle's wife was not very good when it comes to cooking. They are mostly very bland.

And then I met my dear hubby. We were 18 and I was invited to his mom's delicious home cooked food very often. It was in his parent's home that I learn how to prepare more ingredients and a little more cooking skills. My mom-in-law is not only an incredibly good cook but also a very patient teacher. Alas, I do not have the patient nor talent in that area but managed to learn the very basic stuff. I'm just lucky dear hubby inherited his mom's talent and has the passion to whip up great tasting dishes every now and then.

I cook because everyone at home has to eat. Dear hubby cooks because he is inspired. The boys and I are very lucky indeed :) We get to eat all types of cuisine gourmet meals right in our home.

Even breakfast can be special in our home, like having the 'Toad-in-the-Hole'. BTW, it didn't only looked good but also tasted so, so, so fabulously yummy!

Recycle your Tank Tops

I was going through my clothes in the wardrobe and weeded out some short tank tops. Once upon a time when my tummy was still flat, I loved them. Now, the extra ' fatties' flopped out when I put them on and it's kind of obscene to me wearing them at my age. They are still in good conditions and I can't bear to throw them away. And then suddenly, an idea hatched and I became obsessed in turning them into bags :)

1) First remove tag from old tank top.

2) Turn top inside out and line the 2 sides together. Pin the bottoms together on the dotted line.

3)  Sew straight through the bottom.

4) Turn it right way out and ta-da, you've got a new casual hand bag!

You can add a brooch or sew an applique of your choice on it for a different look.

I've turned 2 more tank tops into bags.

Try it, it's SO easy!

Teacher vs Russell

I've been busy with volunteer work in the boys' school again. I help out with the weekly Math Mom and Learning Mentor programs. I enjoy motivating the children and watching them improve academically and emotionally. I also help out in ad hoc programs like chaperoning on excursions and manning the booths during Chinese New Year period and will be helping out with Racial Harmony Week next.

I started volunteering when Russell was in primary one. His teacher gave the class a form each for their parents to fill up if anyone of us wanted to be parent volunteers. Russell was excited at the idea of me getting involved and I thought maybe it would helped me get to know the school and teachers better. Whenever we were in school together, Russell would not fail to tell his friends (whoever we walked pass) and teachers that I'm his mom and I'm a Parent Volunteer! LOL...so cute right?! I know most of his teachers pretty well and they gave me feedback very often too.

I stopped volunteering when I started working part-time in the children's library across the road from my home. The teachers and I communicated less and trouble started brewing during Russell's Chinese lessons. When he was in primary 2, he had weekly Chinese spelling test. He was supposed to learn about 8 -12 new characters each week. There was a time when he told me there weren't any spelling test after school on test days. And that went on for about 2 weeks. On the 3rd week, I was waiting at the school gate for him when I bumped into his classmate. I told him how lucky he was for not having spelling test for so many weeks. He looked at me with a puzzled face and told me they had Chinese spelling test every week! I was shocked and surprised that the Chinese teacher didn't inform me why Russell hadn't been doing his tests. I met up with her the next day and she told me why she stopped demanding work from my defiant boy.                                   *Pls click on pix for larger image.

He really scare his teacher with that crazy move! Russell feels embarrassed about his action now when I retell this story. But it made Jonah laugh whenever he remembers it.