I’ve been wading through hundreds of photos from our recent family holiday in Singapore and Bali. It was difficult choosing which photos to share, there were just too many fantastic moments. But like life, holidays can never be one hundred per cent high moments from beginning to end. There were highs, lows and also a few ho-hum days. After several cuts, I finally managed to pick my top five favourite highlights from our holiday in Singapore, which I think best sum up our holiday story, including all those precious in-between moments that tie everything together. #5. Flying from Perth to Singapore on Singapore Airlines We’ve been flying with AirAsia on most of our trips (they dominate so many routes in the region nowadays) I’ve almost forgotten what it’s like flying on a airline from the golden era of air travel. The food, the entertainment, the service. I kind of regret I didn’t treat myself to a few adult drinks on the flight… but then again it was probably wiser to stay alert on my...

No, I’m not done yet. I’m still sorting through our holiday photos. In the meantime, I came across these three gems. My two little show stealers who stole the spotlight at my brother’s wedding march-in while we were in Singapore. We snapped these photos when we were hanging around before the wedding, while these two superstars were waiting for their big show to start. I just love the progression of expressions in each photo. The second photo is just too precious for words. By the third photo, you can guess that they were getting into their weird and funny faces mode. Look at these snapshots and I dare you to tell me that it did not make you smile.

Phew! So we just got back from our two week holiday in Singapore for my brother’s wedding and an indulgent trip in Bali. Nathan and Grace played very important roles as the ring bearer and flower girl at my brother’s wedding in Singapore. So much to share with you guys. I have hundreds of photos to sort through and will post some highlights up once I’m settled in and back into my usual routine. But first, I have a very sad but important story to share. You see, our recent holiday ended with a bittersweet tone. We flew home on Sunday the 10th of May. Mother’s Day. We didn’t plan anything extraordinary for the occasion as the entire holiday had been exciting enough as it is. We just wanted a chilled out, drama-free journey home. After checking in our luggage, we wandered around the terminal in the duty-free shopping area. And then, something caught my eye. That navy-blue Longchamp bag. Just yesterday I had seen a fake version of it at one of the markets in Bali. It was a prett...

One of my favourite things about planning a holiday, is thinking about the little things to bring along to fill in any waiting times or gaps between activities… like a good book or magazine, a solid music playlist, colouring sheets for the kids, maybe even a small knitting or crochet project. For ages I had bookmarked this top recommended podcast called: Serial – an investigative journalistic series hosted by Sarah Koenig. I decided that this trip would be the perfect time to listen to this greatly talked about series. So I added it to the podcast playlist on my phone so it would all ready to go once we set off. I thought I should give it a quick test just to make sure it worked. So I hit the play button for the first episode in the series, The Alibi , to listen in for the first few minutes… and I WAS HOOKED. It is so good I tell you. The story just gripped me and wouldn’t let go. Here is the background on the story behind this series: On January 13, 1999, a girl named Hae Min L...

So I thought some of you might like to have a little update on how things have been since the big drama with our dear little Gracie’s accident that resulted in this gap-toothed smile you see above. I was pretty messed up about the whole incident for a while after it happened. I thought ahead of all the photos we’d be taking of her for the next few years… and that sad little gap in her smile. But like most things, we soon settled into the new normal. I read on a few forums of parents who had gone through the same thing that they eventually grew to like their child’s new gappy smile, that it gave their face a bit of an edgy character. Grace’s has a pretty edgy character anyway. So she has been carrying off her new look pretty well. There are a few other apparent changes in habits and lifestyle for Grace that came with this new look. For one thing, she has been doing drastically less of this . Some of her favourite foods like corn-on-the-cob are now a lot trickier to manage. And sh...

On one of our morning walks to school, April 2015 When Nathan started his first day of school, my heart was filled with misgivings and unease . My biggest worry was about all the other children in his classroom and what they would be like. Would they be friendly? Would they be kind? Would they be nice? Would they respond “Yes you can sit here!” And “Yes you can play with us!” My own first experience at kindergarten was far from terrific. I was made to sit at a table with a pair of very clique-ish girls who were downright mean and unkind to me. It was definitely not just one of those once-off acts of thoughtlessness or coolness towards me. It was outrightly wilful nastiness, condescension and deliberate exclusion towards me.  I remember dreading going to school every day because I had to face those two girls. I felt completely powerless and didn’t know who I could turn to. I didn’t know it at that time, but I was actually a victim of bullying. But I did learn one fact that...

“Aaaarrrggghhh!!! I don’t know anything about boys!!!” That was the first response I received as I was congratulating a girlfriend who was expecting a baby boy. It was not the first time I had heard this phrase from first time expectant mums of boys. “What is it like having a boy???” , they ask as they clutch at me in mild panic. My usual response: “I love it! Boys are just so much fun!” Now please don’t get me wrong. I have both a boy and a girl. And I love them both to bits. My baby girl is the quirkiest, funniest little person in the world. But for this post I just want to put in a word out for the boys. And what is one everyday fun thing about having boys around? This. #littlesuperhero Plus they’ll train up a whole team of heroes to stand together with them. Or at least one really awesome little sidekick. #bigbrothersarethebest Masked superheroes. Sword fighting warriors. Soldiers on horses. Knights in shining armour. Pirates. Robots. Firefighters. Police officers. Astro...

So over the Easter long weekend, the time I should have spent blogging was spent in self-inflicted torture attempting to learn this piece on the piano. I haven’t played a proper full piece on the piano in ages (unless you count the simple renditions of ‘Twinkle Twinkle Little Star’ and ‘Baa Baa Black Sheep’ I sometimes play for the kids). Don’t ask me why I decided to do this. I was happy enough listening the song on repeat mode on my phone and music player. Something about extra long weekends that just tip you over that bit further I suppose. And now that I’ve started, I’m finding it pretty hard to stop. And it will probably take a while. I really am that rusty. Then after I am done with this current obsession, I will need to get started on packing for our trip to Singapore. So this is probably an unofficial way of telling you guys that I’ll be going on a bloggy break pretty soon. I might schedule a few posts along the way… or not, we’ll see. Just keeping things casual. Toodles!...

Holiday season is almost upon us here. I actually should be busy frantically running around trying to get a million things done before then. But I’ve just recently been down with a very sniffly cold… as well as the procrastination bug. So I’m borrowing some big happenings from my hubby as a space filler in the meantime… Presenting, The Big Father & Son Date: Octonauts Live! Depending on what stage of life you are currently at or what part of the world you currently live in, the word ‘Octonauts’ could either generate a “Oooooooooooh!!!” or a “Huh?!?! Octo-what???” . But over here in Australia, the Octonauts are huge. Especially with the two to five year old crowd. Particularly boys. Including ours. Credits for this whole Octonauts date idea goes one hundred percent to my hubs. He was the one who found out about the event, decided on making it a date, bought the tickets and everything. Well, my job was to pack the snack box for the boys. On the big day, Nathan was just quiver...

We’ve been keeping ourselves pretty busy so far this past summer both indoors and out. With the weather slowly taking a cooler turn, I expect to soon start bracing ourselves for more indoor time. There’s always a risk of getting cabin fever being stuck indoors together all day. But by keeping those little hands and minds occupied, the days can fly by just as quickly as in summer. Here are three sensory play ideas you can try out at home to keep you and the little ones busy…   Make your own play dough and out together a big ice cream feast (I like this play dough recipe from oneperfectdayblog.net)   Sensory tray with an assortment of materials to explore different textures (I also like to include some tongs and utensils for practicing motor skills)   Shaving foam or soap and water messy play (I throw in some toy dishes and sponges to extend the play into a washing up exercise) ***** Some tips on how to deal with the mess that comes with messy play Sensory pl...