15 Marbles

Ms An turned 7 yesterday!! As I am slacker blogger now, I thought I will share my Facebook post here and save it for when she is older.

Two eyes twinkling with mischief, a mouth that doesn’t stop talking or singing, two ears that have mastered selective hearing, two little legs that can’t sit still and two hands that are most eager to stretch and hug even strangers -Yes, that’s our MsAn!

Although it feels like yesterday that she came into this world, our little baby is 7 ! I was worried if I’d be able to love another baby, as I much as I loved MsA, but MsAn found her way into my heart, almost as soon as I laid my drugged eyes on her.. that first snuggle and she stole my heart, mind and soul.

Here’s wishing my little heart, my firecracker a very happy Birthday.

Dear Ms.An, MsA, Daddy and I love you so much – Your crazy giggles,vile tantrums, constant singing and everything you do , everything that’s you , completes our family in a way only you can.

A quick, wholesome, delicious Thai style chicken curry and jasmine rice- just what we needed last night after the long day.

This week, I set myself two challenges –

1) not spending any money unnecessarily

2) eating home cooked meals and thus sticking to the budget.

I don’t need to track our spendings to know that a big chunk of it is spent in eating out and takeaways. Even though I cook a lot, most nights that we have activities on end up being takeaway nights.

This dish helped me stay on track.

Cooking this dinner must have cost me $10 or $15 at the most. Here’s the breakdown:

Diced chicken- 600 gms – $6.50

Masterfoods Creamy Thai Chicken paste – $2

McCormick Slow cooker mild curry powder – $0( from the pantry – think I paid $1 for it ages ago)

Veggies – from the fridge -$3

Coconut cream can -$1.50

Jasmine rice – $1(?) – from the pantry ( I think it was $12 for a 10 kg bag)

Total cost – 14

We got 6 meals out of this – that’s 6 meals for $2.30 each!!!! Mind-blowing!!!

Best part – the kids loved it too!

The recipe doesn’t get simpler than this .

1. Heat some oil in a pan. Brown the chicken. Put it aside.
2. Fry some slice onions and capsicum in the same pan.
3. Add the Thai paste , the curry powder and the coconut milk, stir well to break lumps.
4. Add the chicken back in the pan & let it simmer for 5-10 minutes.
5. Add Brocollini and cover the pan. Switch off the heat & let it sit for 5-10 minutes before serving hot on steamed Jasmine rice.

Sending lots of happy cooking vibes your way ..

❤️

T

It’s been one of those weekends where I woke up happy on Saturday morning and that set the tone for rest of the weekend.

I am writing about this because i was miserable for the last week or two.. so miserable that nothing was cheering me up. Even when I was laughing, there was a niggling feeling that I couldn’t shake. Add to that a headache that just wasn’t going away. I reckon it had to do with my new diet.

Saturday morning started nice and relaxed..after brekky, puppy cuddles and a cuppa, we headed out for MsA’s basketball game.

After basketball, I had a hair appointment. Last year this time, I bit the bullet and got my hair permanently straightened. That decision was one that helped me save time & my sanity. It was time to get the roots done.

While I was waiting for the treatment to work it’s magic, I noticed SP’s missed call on my phone. I called him back and he disconnected. My mind started playing tricks with me..Maybe he was calling me to check if MsAn was with me. Maybe he wasn’t answering my calls now, because she was still lost and he didn’t want to tell me. Mind you, they were just two doors down from where I was . Finally, he answered my call and I was able to relax.

By the way, this is what SP and the girls were working on and that’s why they didn’t answer my calls.

I had bought a new book to read while I was there, but I forgot it at home. So much for planning. Anyway, 3 hours later I was happy with my silky smooth hair. Now, I am stressing about washing it & whether it will still be silky smooth.. fingers crossed.

Hair done, a happy me went shopping for some fish n prawns for dinner and cooked up a storm ( a tiny one! ) for dinner.

Sunday morning was spent on the couch with a cuppa & the cuddly puppy. The rest of the day went by quickly as we watched Peter Rabbit with MsA’s oldest friends . The girls have been friends since they were almost 2. It’s heartening to see how much the girls still adore each other. Their mums were my first friends here – people that I didn’t meet through SP – People that went on to be an important part of my inner circle.

Days like this remind me of all the things that I am thankful for and all the things that make me, me.

This last pic depicts my true state of mind right now – happy & content ❤️

Boy! She can talk – from nineteen to a dozen. “Where do you find all these words from, MsAn?”, I ask her and she just smiles.”My mind tells me to say them!” How do you respond to that ? You just look at her, shake your head and try to make sense of the world through her little mind.

Like the other night, we were on our way home, arguing about whether it was correct to use the word ‘draw’ or ‘tie’ for a match. Suddenly MsAn piped up – “Guys, guys..don’t fight. I can explain- A draw is a draw – you know when you draw a picture. And a tie is tie like you tie your shoe laces, a bow or something like that.” And that was the end of that argument because both SP& I and Ms were gobbsmacked!

When we are trying to tell MsA something good or bad, she has to have an input – so A Aadi, look I didn’t back talk to Mumma so I didn’t get in trouble. Like when Mumma said this you said that and then that- elaborate explanations that annoys Ms A. But this little chatterbox , carries on rallying for her sister, taking her nasty words in her stride.

MsA doesn’t like bread, so If I offer bread for breakfast,MsAn speaks on her sister’s behalf. ” Mumma, you know Aadi doesn’t like bread. She likes other things for breakfast but not bread!” Gosh! She doesn’t get tired of talking.

A friend lost his dad recently and MsAn was worried about his son, losing his grandfather. Then as if to cheer herself up, she said, “at least my grandma is there in heaven, surely she knows that we are family friends, so she will help his grandpa”.I didn’t know whether to look at her in wonder or to hug her tight .. I did both in the end.

And finally a funny one – wherever we go, MsAn has to go visit the toilet. I always ask her, ” do you want to go wees or Poos?” Lol! What is a mom blog without mentioning these things.. so anyway, her response to my question was – ‘ I don’t know, Mumma.. it’s always a mystery, till I don’t go to the toilet.. you’ll just have to wait to find out!’ 😳 I just brought her home after that!

I’ll have to come back with the story about the tooth fairy.

More soon

Xx

Trish