Yayy!My birthday month is here and I am excited! Can you tell? Can you tell?
Ms.A’s first day at school was really good and exciting. She was one of the two students picked to be the line monitor-she was excited about being picked and more excited because one of her classmates picked her. She is so serious about doing this job well.
My first day back at work was fun too. Its always lovely to go back after a break. I am well rested and as my regulars walked in, it was like a mini-reunion 🙂
Although I loved the holidays and the lazy days-that I had to fill up to entertain the brats, I am loving the routine even more.
This year, my plan is to be better organised with our meals, with our finances and with our life in general. My phone is full of reminders, but at least everything is in one place and I don’t double-book activities/events and then do the balancing act. The other thing that I am doing actively is, taking a back seat. I am learning to say ‘No’, instead of stretching myself too thin.
Speaking of thin, I still haven’t gone to the gym. Bik has made me responsible for his workouts too..Sorry Bik..hopefully next week will be better. B.U.T. I am eating healthy,so that’s a start.

I need a favour from you lovely readers.If you know of anyone that has worked on their own backyard and turned it into an oasis (of sorts) please point me in their direction.We have a fairly good sized backyard and at the moment its just dirt and weeds and all I want to do is turn it into my zen space.All advice will be greatly appreciated.

Hope you are having a good weekend..more soon.

Hooray! The school holidays are over and Ms.A is back at school.This year is a bit special,because she has moved to a new school.First day of Grade 3 and first day at the new school.I was a bit nervous and asked family for prayers,but she was all excited.She was out of bed at 6:30 am and getting cross at me for not waking up. Well,it was a little hard,specially since I had trouble falling asleep.
Morning started a bit rough-Ms.An woke up sick,but drop-off went off alright. The first day of school is special in our family and we all went to drop Ms.A to her class.As soon as Ms.An realised that her sister wasn’t coming back,all hell broke loose and SP had to take her outside and calm her down.
It was going to be my first kid-free day,when I wasn’t working and I was so excited,but I couldn’t possibly send Ms.An to daycare when she was sick,so we turned the kid-free day into Mum-daughter day- spent a leisurely morning at the café and now watching Frozen. Its so much fun watching the movie with a 3 year old.She notices things that I might not notice otherwise,laughs at things that look normal to me,like I said its fun.
All these days,I was tired of answering Ms.A’s constant questions,but to be honest,I am missing my little chatterbox today.I leave you with a pic of my babies that are growing up too soon 🙂

First off,a warm welcome and a huge thank you to all the followers. I am feeling the love 🙂
Australia Day weekend is over and the school holidays finish in 2 days too and as much as I love my kids, I will love them more,when I am not sorting their differences or balancing 2 play-dates in a day and organising countless meals and snacks through out the day, while yelling at them to tone it down.
We have made a conscious decision to eat home-cooked meals-both for health and budget reasons. Eating out is expensive..healthy eating outside is even more expensive and not as fulfilling So,I am cooking more and finding smarter and frugal ways to stretch the dollar.To be honest,I love frugal living…but that calls for another post,this one is about why I love cooking.

In the last year that I started working 3 days a week,our meals have been just sub-standard ..as per my standards. I was still cooking ,but I know I was just doing the motions,my heart wasn’t in it.I had one goal and that was to put food on the table. Quickly put together meals replaced the well thought out ones and a lot of times, those were also replaced by takeaways.

But,something has changed in the last couple of weeks..I don’t know if its my new kitchen or its the mounting expenses that come with building a house..but I have started cooking more.And I have started enjoying the cooking too.I am carefully planning the menu and enjoying creating the perfect combinations.
I love the rhythm of the knife on the chopping board and the tinkle of my steel spoons.The  step-by-step addition of ingredients reminds me of my chemistry lab and I am filled with a new  excitement to see how/what the end product will be. I find the whole process from start to finish,whether I am following a new recipe or just throwing one thing after the other into the pot,just so calming,so rewarding.Every step brings me closer to my zen state and I love the high that lasts for a good while,even after.
Today I made phulka from scratch,after the longest time and the girls gobbled them up without a fuss and SP dug into his meal with the happiest look on his face.Happy dinner time ,happy me 🙂

You know how some days you just can’t be bothered doing anything and just want to settle down on the couch and do nothing? Well its one of those days for me today. Ms.An woke up at 7:45- that’s early for my holiday schedule.And she refused to snuggle up with me.All she wanted to do was wake up her sister! So,I did the one thing that would give me some peace and quiet,first thing in the morning- Switched the telly ON for her and let her eat her favourite snack for breakfast-A chocolate coated rice-cracker. As I said,I am too tired to fight the usual battles today. School holidays are tiring for us,mummies!
Here’s a pic of my rice cracker-loving gangsta-taken at 8 am this morning!

She loves her hat! Its like her security blanket! She hates it if I tie her hair.As soon as I tie her hair,she either pulls the rubber-band off or puts the hat on! Notice the Band-Aid? Well,this morning I got a grammar lesson from the little Miss.

MsAn- “Mummy,I got hurt!Put some Band-Aid on.
Me – OK I’ll get a Band-Aid.

Ms.An- No I want two.

Me- why do you want two Band-Aid?

Ms.An- Its two Band-Aids- Not Band-Aid!
Atleast now I know,she is listening when I automatically correct her. She is such a chatterbox and is soon going to beat her sister in ‘who-can-talk-the-most’ competition. Even her carers at the childcare have noticed,how much she is talking these days and how clear her speech and vocabulary is.At one point I remember talking to them about how worried I was that she wasn’t talking much or following instructions.

Ms.A also surprised me with this little nugget of knowledge yesterday-
Ms.A- Mum I have come to realise that Our brain is like a person and the body is like a dog.
Me- erm..how?
Ms.A – So your brain gives the order and the body follows.
Me-*jaw-on-the-floor* How do you know this?
Ms.A- Well,I did my own experiment- I said(thought) in my head,I want my leg to move.I didn’t do anything and it moved…on its own!
I am  pretty sure,I was quite clueless at her age. Now,I am going to hit publish before the lazy-bones me takes over 😀

Remember the mission,I wrote about in my last post? Well I did it. I signed up at the local gym. The last time I was member at a gym was when Ms.A was 2 yo. And I let most of my membership go to a waste.I couldn’t justify(to myself) spending money on child-minding,on top of the membership fees. I am not a morning person and by the time SP came home from work,I was too tired to workout.I know,I know!! I see them as excuses too,now..but what’s done is done.So the next time,I decided to get fit,I did it without the gym. Ms.An was a baby and it was easier to put her in a pram and walk,walk,walk! I exercised in front of the TV when she took her naps.I counted every single calorie that went into my mouth and lost 30 kilos.And then, life and excuses took over and I slipped back into my old ways and the weight crept up again.
I got back on the track late last year and lost some weight but with the move,holidays,and visitors,it was easy to just fall off the wagon.
Anyway,to keep on top of it,I signed up for the gym..my plan is to workout atleast 3 days a week to start with- I have even decided the days,instead of leaving it open,as I always do.
I have started counting calories again..and hopefully,this time,I will beat the weight,for good.
Why am I telling you this,you may wonder..Simply because putting it out there,makes me accountable.So,I had to write and seal my commitment.
Have a good weekend everyone 🙂

“I must write“,I tell myself. I must write,before the blogger’s block sets in again.I must write,its been a week since my last post. Blogging in your head doesn’t count..Put it in words,so you can read it later and smile- this is the internal dialogue that runs on repeat in my head,as soon as I sit in front of the laptop.
Our modem stopped working last Friday and when we did get a spanking new replacement,I was busy testing a pattern for a crochet designer. Both the girls have their own pair of fingerless mittens now and I want one too! More about that in my next post.
Other than that,we have met friends,every single day! Oh! the joys of summer holidays. Playdates galore.The girls are exhausted,as am I..but the week is nearly over. I have a mission to accomplish tomorrow..fingers crossed,I can do it.. you will hear about it here,one way or the other.
More soon..

This morning started out nice..Ms.An came to our bed and snuggled up 🙂 Ohh!I miss those snuggles. She loves having her own room,since we moved to this house.I remember having a hard time moving Ms.A out of our bed. I remember setting up her room,getting her all hyped about it only for her to come right back to our room 🙂
With Ms.An,it has been a breeze,so much so that I didn’t even realise it ,until the other night,when she said to me,”Mummy,I tired” and I started walking towards my bedroom and she tugged at my hand and said..”No my noom” awww my little heart loves her little noom room.
Anyway,as I was saying,she came to our bed and snuggled up..and I woke up smiling 🙂 And there were more hugs and all the excitement to go to kool(school) and everything went downhill from there. She wanted to wear her Spiderman Pjs to childcare today and I said no. We I compromised that she could wear her pajama t-shirt but would have to change the shorts to pants but all hell broke loose. She cried and screamed and finally SP managed to calm her down and brought her downstairs.Then,the next battle started-the hair combing one! She screamed and cried her eyes out again! Finally that was done,more cuddles and kisses later,she was ready to get in the car.
Drop off went smoothly,although she was a bit disappointed to not see her favourite carer Ms.M in the room. But she loves going there now and has formed bonds with all the lovely ladies there,so she did wave good bye happily.
Ms.A went along to drop her and chatted non-stop on our way back,till I had to tell her to stop, and not talk till I didn’t finish my coffee.
10:30 am- I took the first sip of my coffee and aaaah! bliss..just like that,all is well again 🙂
I feel human and can face the world..but..hang on! I hear Ms.A nagging in the background..hmmm..its going to be a L.O.N.G. day!!!

Hello everyone,

Happy New Year!
2015 is the year of change 🙂 We are in a new home,a home of that’s our own and for the first time in so many years,I feel settled and grounded.And so its only fair that our virtual home,gets a permanent address too-one that’s not based on my mood of the day,one that I don’t change on a whim,as I have in the past.Over the past 8 years(!!!),I have changed so many blog names,I have lost count of them,just to list a few-
The very first one was- My Sunshine,started in Feb 2007,just before Ms.A was born.She will be 8 in March and that’s how long my blogging stint is 🙂
Then,I tried anon blogging as the GypsyMumma- We were making a big international move,my life was turning upside down and it showed on my virtual life.
As my life took more crazy turns,my need to disconnect from the real and yet stay connected with the virtual grew and that lead to the start of ‘Life with Peachy Pipette’
As life settled,I went back to My Sunshine again and revived my craft and recipe blog,Crafty Maa..:)
But a difficult pregnancy,mood swings and just dramas in life pushed me into Anonymity again and the Suburban Mumma was created.That was my most favourite anon blog,but as time went by,I felt like I was writing about someone else’s life and so I went back to My Sunshine(s) ..with an extra S this time to accommodate the newborn Ms.An,who btw,hates being called a baby now and is a big girl now superhero now.Blogging was a bit slow,as I adjusted to life as a mother of two,juggled a weekend job,a travelling husband and then battled a dark phase. And then the dark clouds started to disperse and amazing things started happening- SP landed his dream job(knock on the wood) and we started building our dream home and finally moved in there( double knock on the wood) 🙂
Life as I know it is good now and as I said,2015 is the my year of change! I have a good feeling about this one..Its the year to reflect on the lessons learnt in the past,its the year to make the most of today,its the year for chasing dream,its the year for creativity,but more importantly its the year of permanence and so a permanent virtual home was  created “15 Marbles”
I hope you will visit and hang around,share a cuppa and catch a glimpse of our life in our happy place 🙂
Before I stop,my wish for you is- May the New year brings you all that you wished for and much much more! May all your happy dreams come true and may all your nightmares stay at bay!

Happy 2015!

Here’s wishing you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year from ALL OF US here at the Sunshine House 😀