Cookie cookie! we love kooky cookies!

After inheriting some baking stuff from a lovely lady who had moved back to sunny Singapore.. decided that I shouldn't let all these ingredients go to waste and started experimenting.. Here are the fruits of our labour.. considering that all the ingredients are hand-whipped in the biggest bowl that I own, with a pass-me-down whisk that came into my possession back in Singapore and which the action of skilled whisking, was never needed in the last decade.

Tough work.. putting cookie dough onto the tray.

My valiant effort to make sense of the cookies.

And a special something for lil K

Whoever said that this update has a happy ending?

But at least, my biggest fan didn't have a care in the world whether it is shaped like an elephant or a messy choc chip chunk of dough. Cookie is cookie. Ahh... the past 2 years of watching Cookie Monster do his thing have not gone to waste.

Birthday Wkend Part 2! Dallas Museum of Art

Continued... The birthday weekend started the wk after actually, as there were a few to-dos during that same weekend. I had to take my driving test and also work a shopping trip down at the outlet mall to make some friends and their family members really happy.

We had dinner at Cool River Cafe, which honestly, was nice and cosy. While I did not take pictures as the lighting was so dim, here is a pic that I'd ripped off their website.
Cool River Cafe, Dallas

...The weekend after a quiet day of 29 Apr, we went down to the Dallas Museum of Art, located in downtown Dallas. It was my first trip to downtown Dallas (not counting the one time I took a detour with the schizo GPS which had led me there instead of that dinner party in Carrollton. Naturally it happened in my first 3 mths in Dallas when my internal GPS had not been tuned right yet).

Atrium Cafe, Dallas Museum of Art

Delicious quesadillas which K devoured. (I'm really glad that K is a happy eater)

A picture taken by K, the budding photographer

Papa Paul (pcube) with K at the little fountain

The Nasher Sculpture Center was our first stop as there was supposed to be a children activity on the weekend. That I read on the website. But what I had missed out was that that only happens on the 3rd Saturday of each month. Blah.

 A happy coincidence of a family portrait

The joyful child

Playing peekaboo

Walking off our heavy lunch, outside the Nasher Sculpture Centre's famed sculpture garden

Pcube & K, the denim-ed duo

Back at the DMA, we chanced upon this gallery and walked on in.

It was an interactive gallery where we were invoked to work with the materials at hand. There was a wall full of panels made up of different materials such as nails, cut-up pingpong balls, leather, suede amongst others. We are encouraged to touch everything we see. K did what she could.

There was a kiddy section where kids are encouraged to physically take part in imaginative play, beginning with this book by Antoinette Portis where it encourages the reader to take ordinary household items and transform them with their minds into a fantasy wonderland.

To further cement what is being illustrated in the book, the gallery provides boxes of various sizes so that we can get started straight away.

K only wants to hide in the boxes and play peekaboo.

We also did a play on the words. ;p

 Our lil elephant family

Found a book that has information that is really new to me... which got me thinking.. what is Singapore's equivalent? I am pretty sure I don't know all the answers..

Out of the small but impressive collection of art-related award-winning books.. I liked this the most.

The book is all about a lil girl's introduction to a few of the greatest artists and illustrations that identify each of their individual styles.

Shortly after, we went to Arturo's corner and played with some of the tools.. which are similar to what Montessori education provides so Kaylen was having an easy time with them.


An impromptu jamming session... featuring Kaylen on percussion!



Finally, a feature mosaic wall that I really like..

I'm really looking forward to coming back again! It was quite funny that while I was at the Information Counter.. there was a furious man who demanded that he gets his money back as the Dallas Museum of Art was 'rubbish' and 'a complete waste of time'. While we didn't have time to tour the galleries, I hope to come back to see what they have in store!

First time on the tricycle..

The Birthday Weekend! Part 1

Thurs 29 Apr was my birthday and who said it was just to be ONE day of fun... had a quiet one with Kaylen on the actual day since Paul was at work... We went for her gym class @ Gymboree, followed by an art session before heading to Maudee's Tea Room on Lover's Lane, off Preston Road. It was well known based on all the online reviews so luckily we got the last table when we arrived without reservations. It was lunch time and it was packed with well-coiffed ladies in Chanel-esque jackets and pearls and people in suits. It was a small establishment with possibly 12 tables in all and little space in between. A set lunch for one, a slice of chocolate fudge brownie, a lemon cupcake and an iced tea was abt USD30, exclusive of tips.

 I didnt think the food was fantastic but the service was great.

 Came home to some USPS post-its on our front door. Off to the leasing office to pick them up.

There were quite alot of packages, including a lovely vase of irises... from Caren & Jamie! muaks!

And a royal mail frm Pattie... muaks muaks!

Kaylen made some flowers in art class and so we add them onto the vase..

K posed with the boxes.

One of the boxes was our order from diapers.com. Hahaha.. pressies for K! :p

Happiness! A yoghurt maker from Serene & Casey! Thanks guys!

A pair of flats that I still can't bear to wear..

 A package from Singapore. I gawked after seeing the amount of shipping paid on this.

It came with a boarding pass greeting card. Beautifully written and decorated. Thank you Mavis, Mark & Ezra!

A gift from Caren darling.. Yes, this is my first orange box.

 Why is it that everytime I wear the orange top, I get to be adorned with something Hermes? ;p I am never throwing this top away.

I think I can still find the picture of me in this top with your Birkin purchase back in Feb! ;p I'll upload to this post once I get all my pictures organised!

A bewildered child.

A Day of My Life.

This is today - 8 Jun 2010

7.30am Internal alarm goes off. I cannot sleep for more than 5 hours each night now.

7.35am Morning routine - the usual brush teeth/wash face routine. Spread peanut butter on honey 7-grain bread. One slice. A cup of illy coffee using the slightly cracked Bodum double wall french press. Black, no sugar. (ok, sometimes I'm lazy and opt for Supermix 3-in-1.)

7.45am Sat at my laptop and checked Dallas news, relishing the quiet moments. I heard some whimpering..the lil one is up.

7.50am Trudged to the fridge and pour out the cold milk into the milk bottle. Opened the bedroom door and as expected, arms stretched out and a whiny voice accompanied those woeful eyes 'Mummy'... Quickly changed her diapers and clothes while she drank her milk.

8.00am Popped the Char Siew country style ribs into the toaster oven and switched it to the maximum, 30 mins. A quick change of clothes.

8.15am A lil cajoling to get K out of the bed. As she pulled on her shoes, I spread another layer of char siew marinate and tuned the timer to another 30 mins.

8.25am We were finally out of the house! As we drove past the Mustangs of Las Colinas - World's largest equestrian sculpture, she started to cry as she recognised it was the way to school. Didn't want to go to school. Oh no... here we go again..

8.35am Reaches school. Crying becomes louder. Carried her into the classroom. Kissed her goodbye and left.

8.40am Chatted a lil with the school staff. Met a fellow Singaporean mummy. Chatted somemore.

8.50am Started up the car. Headed to the petrol kiosk.

9.am Full tank at USD2.48/gallon. Random thoughts on the recent report which stated that due to the surplus of oil (??!!!??), the prices will keep low in May/ Jun. Wondered why the gargantuan oil spill hasn't affected global oil prices. Or at least in USA where I am super 100% sure, are the biggest consumers of fossil fuel with all the huge guzzlers I see on the road. And of course, how they really like to rev off at the first sight of green, step on the oil to overtake just the one car when the next traffic junction is just 300m away and the lights had already turned red.

9.30am Started on the treadmill at the gym in my estate.. Moved on to weights.

10.25am Rushed home and cooked the char siew for another 15 mins. Cooked a veg dish and prepared the hub's lunchbox to go.

10.45am Paul left the house. I put in the laundry and heated up my lunch (Leftover from K's dinner yesterday). Egg noodles, cabbage and minced pork. And a slice of the char siew. Yumms.

11.15am Cleaned up. Put K's clothes into the washer. Back to the laptop to do some research on our upcoming Philly/NYC trip.

11.35am Out of the house to pick up the lil one.  No crying when I arrived.  I peeped for a min through the sliver of glass on the door. But why was she sitting on the potty by herself so quietly? K laughed when she saw me. Her little friends came up and called her name. She became protective, hugged me around the neck and said 'My mummy'. Teacher informed that she didn't eat her lunch.

12pm  We left school and went to Einstein Bro Bagels to grab a light lunch for her. She didn't like her strawberry cream thin bagel. I loved my skinny latte though.

12.30pm Played a little. Took out the laundry from the wash and popped them into the dryer. Loaded bedsheets to wash, with K's help. Gave her yoghurt and strawberries since she didn't have much at Einstein's.

12.45pm Vaccumed the house. The thick carpeting in the house made everything dusty. Wiped the carpet dust off most surfaces. K did some colouring on her own.

1.20pm Time for her nap. Brought her favourite library books into the bedroom. 'Cookie Angel' and 'Where's Wombat'. Read to her dogs. I read my book.

2pm Finally fell asleep. I transferred final batch of wet laundry into the dryer and continued with my book. Gradually fell asleep.

5pm Woke up. Changed diapers. Turned on some piano music on my ipod. Prepared her afternn fruit snacks. Today we have strawberries and blackberries. Her favourites. I ate an orange. Prepared dinner.

6pm Dinner time. Cooked noodle with soy-marinated chicken breast, spinach & prawns. Started preparations for Paul's dinner (Garlic-pork chops) to leave for overnight. K helped to beat an egg for the marinate. Cooked another batch of veg for Paul's dinner tomorrow while K ate a banana.

7.30pm Finally, kitchen is clean. Time for Kaylen's shower.

8.15pm She played princess with her towel draped around her. She learnt some hand gestures with the song '1-2-3-4-5, Once I Caught A Fish Alive' and showed them off to me. Her lyrics to the song were just '6-7-8-9-10' all the way to the end until 'The little finger on my right'. She realised her version was edited and made me sing. Five times.

8.45pm K helped to fold the laundry.

9pm Finally allowed her to watch some tv while I got her milk ready.

9.30pm Brought her coloring books and special markers into the bedroom. We colored together and talked about school. She loves the teacher but 'pushed a friend'. She had been 'pushing a friend' for about 4 weeks now. I told her she must apologise to the friend and not do it again. She nodded her head and said she understood. We sang some more songs.

10pm She whined alittle about having to put away her coloring books but offered to help me switch off the lights.

10.05pm Knocked out. I got up to finish up the book and decided to update the blog.

1.00am Paul finally reached home and wanted food. Quickly put together some dried noodles, fish cake, crabsticks, prawns & bok choy.

1.20am Heard K in the bedroom. Went to pacify her and fell asleep myself.