Musing in the bath

Liem, musing in the bath: Who knows more, Daddy or Mummy? I think Daddy. Why does he always say he's one step ahead of you?

Toys that appeal to boys

On the back of the packaging for a Transformer that Liem likes called Ironhide:

"The only thing Ironhide loves more than his two big guns is one even bigger gun. His entire life has been devoted to the study of weaponry. The louder the bang it makes, the more he likes it. Peace is his ultimate goal, of course, but he believes lasting peace can only be achieved through force of arms."

That's how to appeal to boys, of course...

Catch up with Sui Hoon

It was a mad weekend. Saturday - Damon's birthday party. Sunday - swimming 8.30-9; Mother's group birthday party 9.30-11; lunch with Sui Hoon and family 1pm in Chinta Ria, Cockle Bay Wharf. It was lovely to catch up with an old classmate, see the kids, eat some yummy food...

Joint 6th birthday party with Mother's group

Ahh...it's been wonderful to watch this lot of kids grow up. Liem was very hungry since he had his swimming class before the party. After everyone else had finished and left the table, he was still eating...hahaha...

Damon's birthday party

Spiderman is in. There were five Spidermen at this party. Liem now wishes he could dress up as Spiderman too...

Happy 6th Birthday, Liem

Transformers are in. That's all Liem wanted for his birthday, Transformers. And he got heaps of them too. Cupcakes (with icing and beautifully decorated not by Mummy - phew!) with his classmates and with the kids at after school care. Cake and fruit with Grandma and Grandpa who came bearing heaps of cool presents for Liem. Dodgy penmanship again with the icing pen, Mummy!

Spreading peanut butter

It's sometimes a continuous struggle trying to get Liem to do things for himself. I have to continuously remind him to put his dirty plate / bowl / utensils into the dishwasher. I have to nag and nag to get him to empty out his lunchbox every day. One Sunday night, while making lunch for Monday, I can't find his lunch box. Found it eventually in his school bag (with a moldy half eaten sandwich inside - shudder!). Turns out that on the Friday, I was in Canberra for a symposium and Daddy forgot to nag Liem about emptying his lunchbox. Anyway, here's some photos of Liem spreading peanut butter by himself.

I'm in love with meatballs

One weekend, I'm wondering what to cook. I ask Liem what he would like to eat, he says, "meatballs". I have NO IDEA how to cook meatballs so I make it up. Minced pork, flour, egg, salt, pepper - roll into balls, cook in oven until done. Liem LOVES them! He tells me, "I'm in love with meatballs" and eats VAST AMOUNTS of the meatballs. Well, I'd better not forget the recipe so I can make it again next time...err...uh oh...too late...

Mummy doesn't do icing

Liem's school had a cupcake decorating competition for a charity thing. Students bring in cupcakes that they have decorated, and then they get to buy each other's cupcakes for 50 cents each. Here are pictures of Liem helping to make the cupcakes, they smelled heavenly when they came out of the oven and looked beautiful too.

Then came the disastrous part...the icing. Too much water = runny icing = sprinkles that roll off the top of cupcakes instead of sticking = HUGE mess all over the place. I tried drawing faces on the cupcakes too with an icing pen but those pens are actually harder to use than I anticipated. Anyway, here are the results and needless to say, Liem didn't win the prize for best decorated cupcakes. Mummy just doesn't do icing.

Hot pot or wok pot?

It's been so cold lately....Khiem has been making us hot pots for dinner using our electric wok. Liem says they should be called "wok pots". Very yummy, delicious and warm, cooked right at the table and eaten straightaway. Ah....lovely...