Fall Festival

It is Fall and during this time, a lot of towns across Long Island would have their own Fall Festival. There are food, music, stuff for the kids to play, hayride and pumpkin patch.

A nursery in our town has a mini Fall Festival with pumpkin patch, pony rides, mini petting zoo and other activities for children.

We took Olivia there and she had a great time. First, we went for the pony ride, which she loves.

Then, we looked at lots of pumpkins but we didn't buy any...:)



Off to the petting zoo, where she said "Hi" to the goat and checked out the duck with a mohawk, chickens, a pig, a pony and some rabbits. If the goat could talk, she would be having a conversation with it. LOL...



All in all, it was a good outing and Olivia thoroughly enjoyed it.

A surprise harvest

When my mom was here during the summer, she was burying cut up vegetables, fruit peels etc in the little plot of soil in the backyard to nurture the soil.

A couple of months ago, I notice a plant growing on the soil. I could not figure out what kind of plant it was, so I just left it to grow by itself.

The plant kept growing and growing and became a huge bush. The soil underneath the plant was bulging and I suspected that something was growing under there. So, the other day, I decided to dig it out to see what it was.

To my surprise, I found potatoes under the roots! It was a potato plant. Now, I have potatoes, quite a few of them. The skin is so thin that I accidently scrapped the skin off some of the potatoes with my shovel.

I'm so pumped. This has given me the motivation to plant more vegetable next spring/summer.

Now....what can I cook with all these potatoes......

Cili Padi

Remember this tom yam instant noodle from Thailand? I love it when I was in Malaysia and I still love it now. I don't eat it as often anymore because it's not a very healthy food, very high sodium content. :)

Since moving to the US, I don't have as much craving to eat supper here compared to Malaysia. Not sure why, perhaps the dinner portion here is bigger. Sometimes, I consciously choose a healthier alternative like milk or yogurt.

Anyway, the other day, I was feeling a tad hungry in the afternoon, so I cooked a packet of the noddles. I was eating on the kitchen countertop so that Olivia could not see what I was eating (she wants to eat whatever I'm eating). She saw the noodles anyway and kept saying 'pasta, pasta' (she thinks all noodles are pasta).

I didn't want to let her have it as it was spicy but she kept pestering me, so I gave her a bit of noodles (without the soup), hoping that the spiciness would stop her from wanting more. Well, I was wrong....she wanted more.

The noodles without the soup is also spicy, so I'm surprise she can tolerate it. I guess that's the Malaysian in her. :)

The "No" Era

"Do you want water?"
"No"

"Come take a bath"
"No"

"Come put on your shoe"
"No"

After playing outside for a while, "Let's go inside"
"No"

"Give Daddy night night hug"
"No"


Heeeeelp me!!!!!

1st new pair of shoes since....

giving birth to Olivia. When I was pregnant, I was wearing flat shoes since they are more comfortable.

After I went back to work, I found that most of my shoes, at the end of the day, became very tight. I had read that sometimes, after pregnancies, your feet will become wider or bigger. My normal shoe size is 6.5. I tried looking for new shoes but 6.5 was a bit tight but 7 was a tad too big.

Eventually I stopped looking and continue wearing my flat shoes until they are all worn. Last week, Kohl's was having a sale (aren't they always having a sale??) and I decided to check out the shoe selections there.

I was delighted when I found a pair that I like. It only has a very low heel, which I like and is brown in color. I tried it on and it was quite comfortable. For me, comfort is the utmost criteria when it comes to shoes. The next best thing was the price. With a 20% discount coupon, I only paid $25 for the shoe. Yipee!!






Not bad eh?

No, thank you!

Do you see what's wrong with the flyer above?

I found this on the windshield of my car a week ago, advertising for tutoring service. However, after I had read through the flyer, if I had a child who needs a tutor, I would not use his service.

The error is on the 2nd paragraph....."weather or not your child is.......Big mistake there for a certified english teacher.

The morale: Be sure to spell check your document before distributing to the public.

I like to be nakey

Children this age like to take their clothes off. They'd rather be naked if we let them.

Daycare is closed, what did we do?

This past Tuesday was Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish new year. As Olivia's daycare is Jewish based, it was closed for 2 days. I took a day off to watch her. So, what did we do?

First, we went to Babies R Us to get some essentials like wipes, sippy cup & organic crackers. On the way into the store. Olivia hopped on this car ride.



On the way out, she went flying on this plane.


Then, we went to The Source Mall. It's a good size mall with lots of stores. I chose this mall becasue there is a carousel on the ground floor. It's quite a popular place for moms with children to hang out. There is also a Carter's store and I had planned to buy fall and winter clothing for her there.


Olivia went on the carousel and the train. We did some shopping and had lunch there. Before we left the house, I had told Olivia that we are going to have rice for lunch, so at around noon, she started saying 'rice rice'....hehe.


Then, before we left, she went on the carousel one more time. I'm glad that we got to spend some quality mother daughter time together. Just the two of us.

Birthday party packages

As Olivia's 2nd birthday is approaching soon, we have been looking at birthday party packages offered by the various establishment. When we went to Olivia's little friend 2nd b-day party at a gym where the little tots can run and tumble around, we thought it was a great idea.

So, there are 3 options and each location provide everything from invitations, pizza, paper goods, goody bags to the birthday cake, including experience coaches to host the event.

1. Orly's Treehouse (20-30 minutes drive from home). It's a very nice establishment. The cost for the party for up to 12 children is $449. EEKKK!! *Blood suckers*

2. Olympian Gymnasium (5 minutes from home). This is also the same place where Olivia's friend had her party. It's $350 for up to 15 children.

3. Gymboree (5 minutes from home). The deluxe package cost $424. Hubby went to look at the facility and he didn't quite like it.

Which one did we choose? Knowing that I'm a tight wad, I'm sure you know which place we went for....hehe.