1st Monthly Couples Night at the Heides

Uyen and Jim had graciously volunteered to host our 1st monthly couples night. They took care of the main course, the Chandrasekaras was in charge of appetizers and we did dessert.

The night was a great success, in my opinion. The light and refreshing appetizers from the Chandresekaras were beautifully presented while the Heides set quite a high bar by serving a perfect Beef Wellington, paired with roasted potatoes and asparagus in shallots.

The kids(6 of them) behaved beautifully and played without any fuss. What else can you ask for?

Group picture taken by Tyler!

Alan and I

Cody washing up

Tyler and Sienna doing puzzles

Cooking with the Marker boys

The bigger kids and their tv addiction

They sneakily snuck up to the tv without us noticing

Flowers and cake decorating - final lesson

I can't believe another month has passed and i've finished my 2nd cake decorating course. So, as usual, for our last lesson, we spend most of our time decorating our final cake.

We did learn how to pipe a basket weave, which was surprisingly hard on the brain! And it turned out, we were expected to pipe a basket on our final project and i was like uh oh.. The super student that i was, i had already decorated the sides of my cake with flowers ahead of time!! As i ran out of time, i just used up all the flowers i had done so far in the class.

This was the cake i prepared for the class

So, in the end i decided that i'll just pipe the basket weave onto the top of my cake which apparently has never been done before and the teacher thought it was very cool!!

My final product - my old lady cake as Alan calls it..

I am once again the only student who finished their final cake in class.

7-11 bites the dust

For some years our local 7-11 has had a sign in the window offering the store as a franchise, so it was somewhat surprising when the gas station 100 yards from it put up a big sign saying 7-11 coming soon and the original store put out a a-frame noticeboard proclaiming they were still open.

Anyway the old store is no longer there, and is being pulled down even though it still shows up on the 7-11 website..

Neither one of these locations is correct
- Not sure Bing is that accurate

Removing the gas pumps
Not sure what they will put in next

Geocaching on Leap Day 2012

I haven't been geocaching for some time due to the weather, but as it was Feb 29th I thought I would go out and get my Leap Day 2012 badge..  Only 4 years to go until the next one..

My cache count is going up slowly

Key Lime Pie with Meringue

For our(hopefully) monthly couples' dinner, i was in charge of making dessert. So, i made something that i've been meaning to bake for a couple of weeks - Key Lime Pie!!

It was surprisingly easy pie to make, from the graham cracker crust to the filling and even the meringue(which i've never done before) was a piece of cake(or pie??).

I was feeling a little gleeful as the meringue turned into a golden mound in the oven. So, as usual, i goofed off!! Then next time i looked, my meringue was browner than i wanted! Arrrgghh....!!!

And then to make things worse, i stuck the pie in the fridge and my beautiful meringue deflated and wept! *sigh*....

My deflated meringue key lime pie

Anyways, the taste was actually pretty good. A little sweet and very tart! Maybe some adjustments next time. I need to do some research on meringue!!!

Jim, who is a big key lime pie fan, gave me a thumbs up despite the initial skeptism on the meringue.

Reading the Lorax

After a sleepover at the Chandrasomethings house, Tyler and Cody went to the reading of the Lorax at our local target store.

The Lorax book

It wasn't the best reading in the world, but the boys seemed to enjoy it and they liked their goody bags at the end.

On our way to the show

Check out that hat

Tyler is a Lorax

Flowers and cake decorating - Lesson 3

These are some flowers that i made from the 3rd lesson of my class. We used royal icing to do all of these flowers. So, they become really hard after you've dried them. I think i did OK in this class.

Daffodils, rose, lily, rose and violets

a better look at the lily

Chocolate near disaster

I've been melting chocolate to make desserts for a long time and i've always wondered what the fuss was about regarding the whole double boiler and having the water NOT boil but slow simmer. Well, i found out today because i think i was getting a little cocky!

Either overheated or seized chocolate

If you're reading this and you're attempting to melt chocolate, please be aware that those cook books really do know what they are talking about. Don't boil the water and make sure you keep watch to make sure:

a) the chocolate is free of water

b) the chocolate does not get too hot.

I was not a happy camper to have to remelt new chocolate and of course i ran out of my good chocolate. Good thing i had some other Ghiradelli ones in the fridge.

The one on the left is what it's supposed to look like.. smooth and homogenous!

Anyways, i was NOT ready to throw away 12 oz of my precious french chocolate. So, i looked up and tried to "fix it". I think i got close..

Added shortening to "fix it" and it sorta worked!

So, anyways what exactly is the end result for all these hoohah??

Chocolate mousse!!!

Even got to use my new piping skill!!

Let's hope it's good. It's currently chilling in the fridge, no, it really is chilling..

Update : General consensus is that the taste is good but the texture is a little off. Kinda grainy. Though it does get a little better when it's left out to "thaw" a little. 

I'll be less cocky next time and respect the temperature a little more!

My 36th birthday party

For my birthday party this year, I organized it at a small Japanese restaurant that served really good food but is not very well known. I thought I'd help drum up some business.

It was a tiny place and with 23 adults and 5 kids, they closed their business for the night! Yay! It's my dream to close down a restaurant for a private party!

I was happy to have everybody show up to celebrate with me!! Food arrive at a reasonable time and yummy as always though my request to wow my guest fell a little short, I felt.

Anyways, here are the photos!

Click for Pictures

Playing dress up with Siobhan

One of the things that i don't get to do is play dress up. Dressing up with boys is just not the same! While i was out shopping last weekend, i found some cute little barretts and got them for the two little girls in our lives - Sienna and Siobhan!

Since I got permission from Sabrina and we were babysitting Siobhan, i got to play a little dress up with a little girl tonight! She is like the best little girl, no fuss, enjoying getting her hair done and flirting with the mirror!

Who's the pretty girl?

Hello cute stuff!

Let's comb it a little more

Smile!

All that dressing up is tiring!!

Dinner with the Krouts

It's not often Alan invites somebody home. But on Tuesday, Nicole and Toby(who used to work with Alan) came to visit and i made dinner for all of us. (i didn't think 5 kids at a restaurant was a good idea for me, i'd probably get a nervous breakdown!)

As they have a tight schedule, i had to make sure that dinner was executed with precision(which doesn't always happen in our household). I served Lasagna with caprese salad and garlic bread with fruits and ice cream for dessert!

Dinner was served on time and the Krout kids couldn't have behaved any better and dinner was done at 6:47 pm! And we had a good time catching up with Nicole and Toby.

The Krouts!

Nicole her lovely kids.. unbelievably polite!!

Promises of repeated visits were made, let's hope we don't have to wait another 8 years for the next reunion!! :)

I got a baby!

OK, don't get too excited. It's just little plastic one.

Somebody brought in a King Cake for Mardi Gras at work and was telling me about the baby in the cake. Of course i was slightly intrigued. I made everybody else cut the cake ahead of time because getting baby apparently means the person have to get the cake next year!

But alas.. guess who got the baby?? Me!! (ok, secretly i was quite excited). If only i can do the same with lottery!! 

Me and my baby!

Here's a picture of a King Cake..

Tyler finally reading on his own?

So, it's been 8-9 months since Tyler started Kumon. When he started, he didn't know his ABCs but since then he has progressed quite quickly thru his phonetics and started working out the word. However, he is usually reluctant to work it out himself and prefers that we read to him.

This week, Alan and I were surprised that he took initiative to read a book on his own. I mean, he always looks at books and makes up words. One day we heard him reading and when we looked over, he was sitting on the sofa reading a book we got from the library out loud! And when he doesn't know a word, he tries to work it out and failing that, he comes and asks us!

I can read..

I know Alan was probably writing his own novel at 4 but i'm sure i didn't even know my ABCs!! So that makes me a proud Mommy!! More trips to the library then!

p.s. I also want to thank my friend Irene for inspiring me with her brilliant son!

Happy Birthday to my nephew Daniel!

Happy Birthday to you Daniel!

Once a year I get the chance
To wish you birthday cheer.
It pleases me no end to say,
I wish you another great year.

So happy birthday to you Daniel,
From the bottom of my heart.
And may your good times multiply,
Till they’re flying off the chart!
May this year be a year full of new adventures for you!!!

love from your KuKu, KuChang and cousins from the USA!

When one iPad just isn't enough..

Sometimes one device is not enough..

Time to dig out the cruz reader !!

Washington's Birthday with Siew Gin

The kids both had the day off school today in order that their teachers could celebrate Washington's birthday or perhaps more likely buy cheap stuff in the sales..

We took the opportunity to meet for lunch and see Tyler eat 'Fish eyes'

They are salty mummy !!

Let me go, I want to see the fish !!

Sunday Dinner - Scallop Angel Hair pasta with Arugula

It's been a few weeks since i made Sunday dinner. I was given recipe by my friend and thought i'd give it a try. It used quite a few ingredients that i've always wanted to use like scallops and pine nuts and arugula and of course lemon zest!!

It turned out OK, but Alan commented that it was nondescript but i thought it was not bad. Shredded parmagiano reggiano did give it a kick up one notch. Addy who is our honorary taster thought it was good and the kids thought it was excellent! :)

And in a hurry to eat, i didn't take a picture but i did find one on the web:

Mine looked just like that with less arugula!

All in all, not a bad meal as the whole family ate it and it something else new that we've never done! :)

Flowers and Cake decorating lesson 2

The second lesson of my flowers and cake decorating class was a little frustrating for me as i was struggling to master the flowers using royal icing. I think i know what i won't be doing much after i'm done!!! I even came home and practiced and still didn't inspire any confidence in my friends!

My primrose

We did a few flower that night - apple blossom, primrose and some rose buds.

But i will not give up!!! :D

Anne's Birthday Party

Anne had a birthday party this weekend and we were treated to an all-adult party! And since all our friends were going to be there, we had to get ourselves a paid babysitter for the first time since we've been back from the Philippines!! We got Cody's teacher from the daycare, so we didn't have to worry!

Anne's party was at Cafe Aion, which turned to be in the same old building that once was Burnt Toast(i was broken hearted when they closed), where i've always wanted to have a party! Cafe Aion is of course more polished looking now than Burnt Toast but still reminiscent of the old creaky building charm.

Anyways, it was a good night out with friends!!

The girls all glammed up!

No kids = happy alan and siewgin

Alan had to carry his drunken wife.. not really.. i had to walk..

When I grow up I want to be like Addy

We have many friends who claim they are trendy.  As you can see from this picture Tyler is convinced that Addy is the most trendy..

Check out my new haircut hat
Now I am just like Addy

The Mills Family - Nesting since 2003

Siew Gin chose a personalized canvas family tree for her birthday and I put it up a few days ago above the piano in the house..

When will they fly the coop?

Big Boppa

Tyler and Cody were playing with the big boppas so I grabbed a few action shots of the boys with their new haircuts..

Ready to bop

And they all fell down !!

Check out my new haircut

Where did Tyler's hair go?

Boys haircuts

Cody and Tyler needed a haircut, so we took advantage of haircut wars in Broomfield to score a reduced cost haircut.

Tyler was the model of good behavior as he got his hairuct, Cody on the other hand was sick, and took it out on his parents and the lady cutting his hair by crying and squirming.  At one point there was two people holding and 1 cutting.

Tyler getting sprayed,
Cody collecting money

Cody is in there somewhere !!