Make healthy choices

My husband and I have a couple of indulgences in the house that Adam is not allowed to have. 1. Decaf coffee for me, and 2. Diet Coke for my husband.

Scene 1

Adam: Mommy, nak susu..

Mommy: Ok jom..

Adam: Mommy, letak honey

Mommy: *honey dlm susu? where did he get that idea?oklah letak je*

Adam: Mommy amik sudu, letak.

Mommy: ok nah..

Adam: Ha...susu honey, coffee adam...

Scene 2

Adam: Mommy, air gas

Mommy: ha?Adam nak aie gas ke?

Adam: Ni, air gas Adam *tunjuk his bottle of fruit juice*

Mommy: oh yeke.....

Adam: Adam minum air gas *drank the juice, then buat muka mcm minum air masam*

Adam: hmm masam air gas.

Scene 3

Adam, Mia and I just got up, cuddling in bed.

Mommy: Adam, Mommy bgn dululah ye..Mommy nak buat coffee.

Adam: Coffee Adam?

Mommy: Susu honey ke?

Adam: Ha ok...coffee Mommy, coffee Adam. Kacau Mommy, kacau Adam (kacau dgn sudu). Minum Mommy, Minum Adam.

* few minutes later*

Mommy: nah adam..coffee Adam.

Adam: letak honey?

Mommy: A'ah..dah letak honey..

Adam: Ha yes...

Sekaya House

Continuing with yesterday's theme of Seeking the Wild, I chose a small 'nature spot' for us. This nature spot can be anything from a pot of herbs on your windowsill to a riverbank in the middle of the jungle. For us there is this small little playground about 3 mins walk from our house. There are lots of greens around, a small safe playground and most importantly, Adam loves this place. We only stumbled across this little hidden gem recently and ever since then he has been asking to go there every time we went out. It is close and safe enough that i can easily take both of them there even without my husband around.

We try to spend as much time there as possible, maybe a few times a week. Sometimes we go there on the way back from playing at the children centre, sometimes in the evening after Daddy comes home from work (summertime is great for this because there's sunshine until 9.30pm).

On our latest trip to the playground...

Mommy: Adam, let's make a house for the squirrels.

Adam: *pondering* Yay! Sekaya House! jom... (he calls squirrels sekaya)

Adam hard at work making his Sekaya House

You know, when I suggested the idea to Adam, I was fully prepared for him to not fully grasping the idea of making a house out of the toys of the Earth. I thought maybe he'll just take some sticks and stomp around, that would've been good enough. But I underestimated the creative energy of a child. All I showed him was how to clean the leaves out of some sticks to build the border of the house and he then took charge of the whole project.

The leaves = 'Mommy sekaya sleep here'

The cherries = 'Sekaya eat this, sekaya eat'

The flowers = 'Mommy go amik flowers. Sekaya nak flowers'

Two boys came over curiously watching us building this house. One of them accidentally stepped on some of the sticks;

Adam: No! No! Sekaya House!

the boy: *looked down* Oh, okay...

Then they started helping us too..hehe...

I'm proud of Adam, I am.

p/s: Does anybody know any spot in the UK (preferably near London and reachable via public transport) where you can swim in clear river/lake water? I am really craving for this (hence our recent trip to Serpentine Lido and Memorial Fountain, but they're not quite what i'm looking for yet). If you know a place please leave a comment, i'm desperate!

to my brother Hilmi, imi ingat tak last year klong pegi tmpt imi..masa otw nak ke airport naik train, kite ade nampak satu big riverbank ade org tgh mandi2 sungai?best sgt tmpt tu wlaupun ternampak skejap je while the train stopped..sampai skarang teringat2 tmpt tu...

Seeking the Wild

We've always loved going to the parks with the kids but recently after reading Soulemama's The Creative Family I'm feeling even more inspired to connect with nature and as she put it; 'seeking the wild'. We may not be able to go camping or to the beach right now but like she said, do not let your financial or geographic position stop you from enjoying nature.

So often we can get caught in the grind of daily life that we forget to be fully present, be mindful and enjoy the simplest things in life. Like the warmth of the sun of our faces, or view of the green grass in front of our eyes. But sometimes if we just be still and be present, we can see how beautiful it all is...and how blessed we are...

I hope these photos inspire you to seek the wild too ;)

p/s: Photos taken at the gorgeous Princess Diana's Memorial Fountain. Those of you in London, this place rocks! mari2 kite pergi ini tempat ok...Those of you in Malaysia, omg this place reminds me of Sungai Gabai..ok, it's not quite as wonderful as Sungai Gabai though..i miss Sungai Gabai!

Father's Day weekend

How was your father's day? Hope it was great...Oh I miss my dad...he was the best father in the world..sigh..

Last weekend we celebrated Father's Day at the Serpentine Lido, in Hyde Park.

Adam had a wonderful time...

with his best Dad in the world...

Great place..we do recommend it..perfect for an outdoor party..

the playground is really safe and you can just let them roam and play..

You can swim in this lake in the Lido ( but not other places at the lake) . The water looked kinda murky and there are ducks swimming in it but people seem to be swimming anyway..the view there is amazing..

I'm so grateful that summer is here. We're trying to enjoy summer as much as we can...it's the perfect time to go out and enjoy nature.. It feels so good let loose and just play like children. It's like reliving childhood through our children eyes, where everything is wonderful and magical. even simple things like having our toes dipped in sand..

Mia @ 5 months

Really? 5 months already??

- She's rolling really fast all over the place.

- err..she fell off the bed once :( my bad. nasib baik jatuh atas my pile of fabric...

- she loves to hear singing. Esp the Miss Polly and Hokey Kokey song.

- She's got the cutest smile.

- She loves getting a massage. and a bath. She'll give you a huge smile if you give her either one.

- her no 1 entertainer is...Adam of course. He'll dance, sing, play his guitar, kiss her, give her his toys, he'll try all sorts of things to make her happy. If nothing works he'll just wait patiently holding her hands while she's crying. Then he'll call out for Mommy or Daddy ' Mommy!/Daddy! Kung Mia...Mia angis...'.

-she's all chubby and yummy now.

You know, it's only been 5 months but already I can't imagine what our lives was like without her. Her beautiful round face, that sweet smile, those little toes. How did I sleep without smelling that intoxicating baby smell?

Mia, Happy 5 months birthday! We love you like crazy!

Little by little

Yesterday I set up this - Art Wire, a neat idea from this book. Basically just a piece of string ( I used leftover yarn) and these cute little clothespin from Portobello. Adam went crazy over this "Mommy nak snake!!! (anything yg sepit2 semua jadi snake, don't ask me why)'. He kept climbing over his kitchen to try and help me clip his art here. I want to set up the same thing on my sewing wall too to put little pieces of inspiration but i can't put thumb tacks on the wall here so that'll have to wait.

As you can see the ideas from that book are really simple but makes a difference. I'm committing myself to trying them out, one at a time.

Ok this one isn't from the book but i thought it's about time this iron board got a cover. probably it'll motivate me to iron more. or not ;)

Mia's curduroy pants

I made this using an Ottobre pattern (you'll see a lot of these i'm afraid. there are 40 patterns in 1 issue!). I am loving these pants! they look really cute on her and really girly! (suddenly I remember a certain curduroy with polka dots that I saw next to this fabric...hmm...when can i go fabric shopping again....)

the pants matches Mia's blouse I made earlier. Adam has a pair of brown curduroy pants too. You know, I bought that brown curduroy fabric to make pants for my husband...how did I get distracted into making these..hmmm...when will i ever learn to sew for adults if i keep getting addicted to sewing for those little toes, scrumptious as they are?

and now for a random photo from my day yesterday;

I sat next to the window to knit...and then this little boy came and covered me up with his quilt. Oh how sweet. I was able to knit probably 2 rows only before somebody screamed for my attention but, it was really nice anyway to have that precious little pocket of time to sit and knit...

I started this knitting project right before i gave birth to Mia - it was my 'labour room' project..as if i had time to knit in the labour room! hehe...i've recently taken it out again and i'm glad i did..knitting is so soothing..although, Mia probably would grow out of this already by the time i finish it..