goodbye 2013

so it's the last day of the year and it deserves a proper blog post recapping the year's happening but this is going to be a really short post because i haven't prepared anything. with less than three hours left, this is the best i could do. you'd think after having five days off over Christmas i'd have time to work on the blog. as much as i really want to,  i couldn't. i've been under the weather so i haven't got up to much except for rest, rest and more rest.

i couldn't let the day past without a short post so let's conclude this year with the photos below. they were taken two weekends ago when Sydney was hit by a heat wave. we couldn't go to the shops because of the last minute Christmas shoppers and we couldn't go to the park because it was just too hot. so we hung out indoor with the ac on full blast, watched episodes after episodes of Peppa Pig and we waited till the heat died down a little before we headed out to play in our own backyard.

in case you can't tell,  we really missed our pool that weekend.

it's been six months since i started this blog and i'm surprise i'm still going. i have really enjoyed keeping a log of all the memorable moments and sharing them with my little handful of 'readers'. hopefully i'll have enough courage and feel more comfortable to share this with more people in 2014.

Christmas 2013

Christmas dinner at one of Jim's aunty's place has been a tradition for the family for years. this year, they decided to change things up a little bit by having our family dinner on Christmas eve instead. 

everyone dressed in red and green to join in the festivities and we all brought a dish. there was ham, turkey, roast potatoes, two types of salad, cooked prawns, noodles, pavlova and trifle. the adults each got a gift from secret santa while the kids were all spoilt with a present each from the adults. unlike last year, boo is getting the idea of opening presents and he is getting really good at it. i think the practice he had at the beginning of the month helped too. he was overwhelmed by all the new toys. there's a fireman Sam fire engine, Thomas the Tank, more legos and more trucks. he was so overwhelmed, he didn't know which toy to start with. i think his favourite for the night was one of the caterpillar trucks because he abandoned the rest of his toys and pushed this particular truck up and down the hallway. 

the next morning, he was up bright an early (even though he went to bed later than usual). after breakfast, we let him open the rest of his presents. one from his best friend Lachlan, one from us and one from his grandparents. we bought him an inflatable pool which we're hoping we'll get to use this weekend, his grandparents bought him some new DVDs and Lachlan got him a Wiggles big red car. 

we had a little gathering with the Chans and the Chaus this afternoon and this boo received more presents. a pair of sunnies from Aunty Vivian and another Peppa Pig toy from Uncle Dennis. his Christmas haul is not huge but i do think it is more than enough for a two year old and we are very thankful that he is loved by all our family and friends. 

weekend (no) baking \\ xmas fruit cake

i was planning to make some shortbread cookies with boo this weekend. i took the butter out from the fridge yesterday morning and it softened in no time. with the temperature in the high thirties, we had the ac on most of the day so it seemed like a silly idea to have the oven on too. so the butter went back into the fridge. doesn't look like we'll have any shortbread cookies for Xmas this year. sorry boo. 

so instead of baking, i decided to get on with icing this fruit cake i made weeks ago. it will be gifted as a xmas present to Rosie because i know how much she loves xmas fruit cake. the recipe was given to me by Myfanwy years ago and i used to make it and bring it back to Malaysia for dad. he used to tell me if i was to make it and sell it in Malaysia, i'd make a lost with the amount of dried fruit i put into that cake. the original recipe has very simple ingredients but i've made some slight changes making the list of ingredients even shorter. 

cake decorating has become an annual affair for me. boo's birthday is probably the only time of the year where i get to "play" with fondant. whilst i'm getting better at decorating birthday cakes, i haven't decorated a xmas cake since i went to the sugar magic cake decorating class at the community college eight years ago. i have forgotten how much harder and trickier it is to cover a cake with white icing. because with white icing, any flaws become very visible. due to time constraints, i only managed a simple design like this one. i hope Rosie doesn't mind.   

ingredients \\

1kg mixed fruits

250g butter

1 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup Brandy or Sherry

1/2 cup water

1 tablespoon treacle

5 eggs, lightly beaten

1 3/4 cup plain flour

1/3 cup self raising flour

1/2 teaspoon bicarbonate soda

method \\

line a deep 23 cm round or 20cm square cake tin with 3 thickness of grease proof paper

combine fruit, butter, sugar, Brandy or Sherry and water in a pan. stir over heat until butter has melted and sugar dissolved. bring to the boil. reduce heat and simmer covered for 10 minutes. remove from heat to cool to room temperature. 

once the fruit mixture is cooled, stir in the treacle and eggs, followed by the dry ingredients. stir to mix well and pour mixture into the prepared tin. 

baked in a low oven - 150 degrees for 2 and 2 1/2 hours

once the cake is cooked, remove it from the oven and drizzle about 2 tablespoons of Sherry over the top and cover the cake with a few layers of foil. leave the cake to cool completely before removing it from the tin. 

carols in the park

last Sunday, we took boo to his first Carols in the park at our local park. Carols in the park is an annual event that's been going on for years and we've lived in the area for years too but we've never been. not even once. 

now that boo is old enough to stay up a little later past his bedtime, we decided it was time we start this new tradition. the carols were scheduled to start at 7 followed by fireworks around 9. boo has never watched fireworks before so we want to be there long enough to enjoy some xmas carols and to watch the fireworks too. 

we arrived around 7:30 and got ourselves a decent spot. there were face painting stations set up by the local church groups dotted around the park so while the in laws minded our spot and watched the carols, boo got his face painted. he also picked up a purple balloon sword and a glow stick after that and i spend the rest of the time chasing him around the park. 

when it got closer to 9, the crowd started to move towards the oval where the fireworks take place. we moved with the crowd and got ourselves quite a good spot. right in front of the fireworks display. this boo was a little confused when the fireworks first started but he soon caught on and was able the rest of it. i actually spent half the time watching the fireworks and half the time watching the reaction on his face. 

i'm so glad we made it to the park last Sunday. it was the most "convenient" way to watch the fireworks at such close proximity. there was no camping out for hours before the fireworks start to get a decent spot and after it finished, we got home pretty much straight away. whilst the display is not the most extravagant one, it was good enough for us. maybe when this boo is a little bit older, we will consider taking him to the city for carols in the domain. 

boo's birthday party

it took us awhile to decide on having boo's second birthday party at a play centre. at the age of two, he is full of energy and is always moving around and i think his peers are the same too. rather than hosting a party at home for him (where we may not be able to invite as many of his little friends), we decided a play centre would make this little cheeky monkey happier. besides, it also means the food and entertainment for the kids are all taken care of. win win really. 

we're so glad all his friends could make it to celebrate this special day with us. this boy was well and truly spoilt with all the presents he received. from different types of trucks to lego sets, to Peppa Pig backpack and activities books and lots and lots of nice outfits too. 

i'm not sure if he will remember his second birthday party when he gets older but at least we have some photos to show him. i wish we could have taken more photos at the party but to chase after a toddler in a crowded play centre and take photos of him and his friends was not easy.  

my first solo gig - boo's second birthday cake

i started planning boo's second birthday cake a couple of months ago. at the time, he was into Pororo and Friends so i thought i'd make him a Pororo and Friends themed cake. i got my cake decorating master, Myfanwy, to help me with the figurines in October. we made three figurines together- Pororo the penguin, Crong the dinosaur and Petty the female penguin. we talked about the design and i was all ready to make a Pororo and Friends theme birthday cake. 

when his birthday finally came around, he started getting less excited about Pororo and more obsessed with Peppa Pig. partly because he has just been to the Peppa Pig live show at the Sydney Opera House two weeks ago. so, a day before his birthday, i decided to make him some Peppa Pig cupcakes for our mini celebration at home. he was so excited when he saw those cupcakes. the next day, Jim suggested to me that i should change the theme of birthday cake for the party to Peppa Pig. with only four days till the party, i had to come up with the design, make the figurines and start planning on how i could get the cake done in four days. 

so, on Thursday, the first thing i did when i got home from work was to bake the cake. i took a day off work on Friday to complete the top tier and to make all the figurines (the house, the sun, Peppa and George). i also covered the cake with a layer of chocolate ganache and coloured a kilo of white fondant into blue to cover the cake the next day. on Saturday, i covered the bottom layer of the cake and i put all the components of the cake together.  

i'm quite pleased with the result. this is the first time i've completed all the components of a birthday cake by myself - with a lot of SOS text messages to my cake decorating master, Myfanwy, no less but i did it on my own. perhaps i've missed my actual calling to be a cake decorator and it's time for a career change?!? 

daycare xmas party

daycare had their xmas party last friday and all parents were invited. i was very excited to attend because this is kind of our first "school" related event and i was also looking forward to seeing boo interacts with his daycare buddies. 

the party started off with the kids "singing" 'jingle bells' and 'rockabye a bear'. all the kids were meant to be sitting at the front to "perform" for the parents but they all ended up sitting on our laps. after the songs, everyone went to the playground where there were face painters and balloon makers. boo got his face painted with a red back spider and he also had a purple sword. he was having a ball running around the playground waving his sword and pretending to be a pirate. while he runs around the playground, i got to catch up with the other mothers and the educators.

before the party ended, santa came and gave all the children presents. i thought this boo would freak out when he sees santa but he was fine. he happily accepted his present from santa and he even thanked him. 

the party felt like a conclusion of his time as a baby in the babies' room as he moves to the next room in the new year. how time flies. when he first attended daycare, he could barely speak and was still on all four picking up dirt and germs but 12 months later, he's running, talking and singing. i wonder if he'll do a little performance for us in next year's xmas party? 

boo's second birthday

boo's actual birthday fell on a weekday again this year, so we didn't managed to do much with him. last year, work was not as busy so we were able to take half a day off to take him to the aquatic centre for a swim. 

we couldn't let his birthday pass without any celebration so i made some Peppa Pig cupcakes for him and we had a mini celebration at home. 

the grandparents picked him up from daycare earlier than usual and took him to the shops to let him pick his own present. this boo loves the garden so much, he picked a gardening trolley set. below are some photos taken on the day.