15 Marbles

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 🙂