early wake up call

it's a rare occasion to wake everyone up in the wee hours in the morning, usher everyone (and everything) into the car, just to catch a plane and end up somewhere else entirely in just a few hours.

muka budak baru bangun

leaving on a jetplane

second air trip for these two

securing a ride

any guesses as to where we've headed off to?
=D

somebody was so excited to leave for holiday, that she even packed her own bags. HAHAHA. Dayana saw her Uncle packing and i think he told her to get a move on because when i came back that night she told me she had already packed her stuff.

at first i thot Kakak had helped her to pack but then again i never told her what to pack for the trip. so i took a quick peek into her Trunki and found out that Dayana's definition of packing was: to take out a bunch of her clothes from her chest of drawers (not even stopping to look whether it was hers or Dinara's) and made sure she packed it full to the brim. the only thing that she managed to pack right was to include hers and Dinara's swimsuits, haha.

when i repacked her things (with the proper amount of clothings for both kids), she took one look at the contents of the Trunki and asked me, 'mana cukup, Mommy?' O_o.

see???

a little bit of awesome

so... kut2 lah dapat ubah suai the current house or add onto it one day in the future, insyallah...

here are three simple ideas that in my opinion would help make my house a little more awesome. HAHA.
article from here.

1. Add a simple window seat to the landing of your staircase. 
staircase landings are almost always left bare. sometimes whenever i get the chance to visit other people's homes, i find that they would decorate the landing, but it would end up looking slightly cluttered.
i really wish i had a window seat in my bedroom.

2. Install dutch doors so you can watch your kids/pets without baby gates.
super idea! at least you know what you're children are up to behind those doors. my kids love to shut themselves in their room, and most of the time they're up to no good, bahahahahah. it beats having to install safety gates which almost always end up toppling over due to the kids crashing into them, or on the rare occasion that an adult in the household thinks that they're able to jump hurdles.
(bro in law tried that once, the whole gate came crashing down T___T).

3. Simple outdoor showers are perfect for beach houses and families who love going outdoors. 
another simple idea for the house. not that we have a jungle behind the house =D we have a pool but no proper shower outside (everyone would always end up trailing puddles of water throughout the house T_T).

happy birthday Uncle Amal

it was Uncle Amal's birthday last Thursday. so the bunch of us went to Empire to celebrate. oh sushi how i've missed you so=D

i guess that this is the new version of birthday cake - you get to sample different flavors, plus you get to satisfy other avid candle-blowers whose birthday do not fall on this particular day, LOL.

check out the one in turquoise going all out on one of the slices - which happened to be Uncle Amal's favorite flavor, oops (Irina, pavlova serai sedap lagi lah! =P~~~~~).

after dinner the kids wanted to have a go at the carousel, but they didn't want it to go round. we should call it 'merry-stand-still' instead of 'merry-go-round' T___T.
check out the birthday boy, btw.
i don't really know, but i think his definition of 'birthday' means current age minus 25.

and last but not least, here's Uncle Amal doing Dinara's 'trademark' peace sign while she forces her face into a smile for the camera. HAHA.

updated 28/3: and here's what Uncle Amal got for his birthday gift:

ok so the box was a lie. he got his very own go-pro.
(i remember last time we did the same thing for Norehan's birthday present last year, she kicked the box like it was nothing, when there was actually a Tiffany inside T__T)

saujana residency 2014

another year to be rented out by someone new. photos of the unit just before being handed over to the new tenant.
salute to the previous tenant who took good care of it for the past three years.

the living room

the kitchen and dining area

master bedroom

master bathroom

second bedroom

store room

crap i forgot to take photo of the second bathroom. oops.

all grown up?

not so soon, i hope!

my three girls

Sophia is 10 months old tomorrow! she's been standing up a lot now in her 'enclosed area', she's been toppling over countless of times, she loves hanging out in front of my tv just because she can 'hang' there, she's been watching too many reruns of Sesame Street (and loving it too), her two lower teeth are fully out and there's no sign of new ones, she still sleeps more soundly on her tummy, she knows how to whine whenever we annoy her, she has this habit of poking at things with her finger and end up tearing into the fabric (she tore a hole in her pillowcase as well as her playpen floor mat homaigod), and a whole lot more i can't recall at the back of mind. Pia oh Pia T__T.

Dinara just had her passport done recently at the Immigration Department in SA. they take your photo ON THE SPOT - they have all these cameras mounted at each counter, so all you hafta do is smile and hope you look cute. cool eh? bahahahahhaha. i think they do this because the photos people bring to the counter don't fulfill the criteria (cannot see ears, bahu senget lah, baju not dark enough of a color, things like that perhaps). it sure was a hassle to take a photo, Dinara simply didn't trust the officer there to smile properly for the camera T__T. i dunno if this new method applies to other places, you might wanna check first before going.

one thing the elder two kids love to do in the morning when i drive them to school is they never fail to fight over who gets to sit in front, grrrr. take turns pun tak makan saman. i'm just gonna dump them in the back at this rate.

here's a story i just have to share about Dayana =P. i was browsing through one of her school exercise books yesterday, she had Bahasa Malaysia homework (suku kata) that she tried to complete on her own. so while there were some minor silly mistakes such as 'tigi' instead of 'tiga', or 'kurusi' instead of 'kerusi', or 'baja' instead of 'baju' (grrr) the following mistake had to take the cake:

otepes!

bahahahhahaha, i couldn't help laughing, i'm sorry X___X
i give her brownie points for creativity *high five*

receipes i wanna try

taken from the 27 Healthy Versions Of Your Kids’ Favorite Foods online article (hey, that doesn't mean that adults can't eat them =P).

i have yet to try these three recipes so i'm posting them here so that i won't misplace the information when i do get the time to try them out in the future.
*salivating already at the thought T___T*

Carrot French Fries

recipe from here

Cuisine: Lunch
Serves: Makes 5 servings
Ingredients:

1 pound fresh carrots
2 teaspoons oil (coconut, olive oil, your choice)
½ teaspoon kosher salt

Instructions:

Peel carrots into thick slices or cut into strips of desired thickness.
Toss slices in oil and salt.
Bake at 450F for 10-12 minutes, or until desired crispiness is achieved.

Creamy Greek Yogurt Mac n Cheese

recipe from here

serves 4-6

8 oz. (about 2 cups) elbow pasta (I used whole wheat)
8 oz. (about 2 cups) shredded cheese (a sharp cheddar is great)
1/2 cup plain greek yogurt (I love Chobani)
2 cups fresh spinach
salt & pepper, to taste
1/4 tsp. onion powder
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Cook the macaroni according to the package’s instructions (about 8-10 minutes), until al dente.

Place the spinach leaves in the bottom of a strainer, and pour the pasta over top to drain and wilt the spinach. Save about 1/2 cup of the pasta water. Return the cooked macaroni and wilted spinach to the pot.

Add about 1/4 cup of the reserved pasta water to the pot, and stir in the cheese until melted. Stir in the greek yogurt, onion powder, garlic powder, salt, and pepper, until smooth and creamy. Stir in the remaining pasta water to thin, if necessary. Serve immediately.

Portobello Mushroom Pizzas

recipe from here

Cook Time: 25 minutes

Yield: Serves 4

Ingredients

4 large portobello mushroom caps
3 Tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup cherry tomatoes, sliced (or 1 large sliced tomato)
2 cups shredded mozzarella (fresh if you can find it!)
1/2 cup fresh basil, chopped, plus extra for garnish
salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

Drizzle portobello caps with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Sprinkle a handful of mozzarella onto each mushroom cap, then top with a few slices of tomato and a sprinkling of basil. Then finish with another handful of mozzarella. (YAY CHEESE!)
Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes, until mushrooms have softened and cheese has melted. Garnish with more basil and serve immediately.

pray for MH370

9M-MRO
our thoughts and prayers are with the passengers, crew and families of flight Malaysia Airlines MH370.