Year-End School Holidays

this year's school holidays seem relatively better than last year's. last year i had a massive culture shock. it was the first time i was alone with the boys 24/7. it was the first time they actually had a holiday, able to get up late, sleep late (11pm at the latest), not having to go to daycare. there was times when i screamed so loud the whole street could hear me, i locked them out of the house, i cried, i locked myself in the room. it was horrible.

this year, it was better. the first week of school holidays didn't feel like a holiday because amir & asyraf started their 3-week holiday camp at the nearby mosque. ariff & akmal had another week of school to replace the kindy closure during the haze and during raja haji week. it was this week that i went out to get the first batch of school stuff.

the second week we went for a holiday and in the third week, amir & asyraf went back to their holiday camp. so three weeks out of the six & a half weeks ticked off with no screaming. during these three weeks hubby was still on medical leave so things were bearable.

mummy vs 4 boys only started in the fourth week of school holidays. it wasn't too bad as i had massive help from the iPods and the ps3. time seems to float by with them around. i would alternate between gadgets and outdoor activities (when the weather permits) and doing exercises on activity books.

a couple of times a week, i took the boys out to nowhere specific. we went to do a bit of clothes shopping, book shopping at the big bad wolf sale, pool birthday party, grocery shopping, finalizing school stuff, low-key things like that.

generally we stayed home, the boys playing in their playroom in the morning before moving to the tv room for some movies in the afternoon. usually after lunch they get a bit antsy and i get a bit pissed but nothing a kick-a-bout outside can't solve.

we've got a week left (4 days actually what with the holidays wedged in) before schools resume. we're pretty much done with preparing the school stuff, just need to get the boys on track with waking up, especially ariff & akmal who have been sleeping late everyday.

*can't wait for the next school holidays and the year-end school holidays*

Kitchen Appliances

i've always wanted a fully functional kitchen equipped with all types of appliances. my old kitchen was excellent, i had a huge island which i used for practically everything, from unloading groceries to cutting and chopping to feeding the boys to doing arts & crafts to even getting them to take their naps on it. it was the centre of action but i didn't have time to fully utilize it, especially for cooking.

so when we moved, i tried to transform the dream into reality, have a kitchen that i would use regularly…on a daily basis. and in order to do that, the lazy me needs a lot, and i mean a lot!, of kitchen appliances. my list is probably as long as the list of furniture for the whole house. of course, not everything can be ticked off due to budget constraints, of course.

for now, i've gotten these items. and they're very helpful. i definitely want more and the space begs to be filled but for now, i'm happy with what i have.

juicer
i wanted this for so, so long. i love fruits and juices. i'm not adventurous and don't eat a lot of types of fruits but what i like, i eat in massive quantities. i'm a very basic fruit eater - apples, oranges, grapes, strawberries, grapefruits, mangoes the like. i hardly venture out of my comfort zone. the juicer i bought is being utilized for just general juices but is being utilized regardless.

i was recommended a breville juicer but i couldn't find it when i went shopping. i got myself a philips instead. its easy to use, very fast, easy to clean and assemble (except for one part) and is very clean.

toaster
my eyes lit up when i saw this 4-slice toaster. morphy richards have a range of bright and attractive coloured toasters but the 4-slice was the deciding factor. we are bread-eaters and my boys are impatient. to be able to toast 4 slices of bread at one is wonderful.

kettle
this kettle came as a matching set to the toaster. nothing significant on why i bought this other than ariff wanted red appliances for the whole kitchen.

blender
i ordered this online when i saw it was from the same range as the toaster & the kettle. i'm still waiting for it to arrive, soon, hopefully.

mixer
i was torn between the stand mixer and hand mixer. to own a kitchen aid stand mixer would be totally wow but a hand mixer would be more practical as i hardly bake or need a mixer regularly. i would love to have one to complete the toaster-kettle-blender set but they don't sell it over here. so i opted for the k-mix orange.

airfyer
10 years ago i really, really wanted a deep fryer. times changed and recently i really, really wanted an airfryer. its easy to use, good to prepare quick food for the boys, doesn't use oil, clean to use and relatively easy to clean. ok maybe the grill-net thingy isn't the easiest to clean, may become sticky but its not such a big deal when the food actually come out wonderful. fries are crispy and light and not soggy. nuggets perfectly browned (amir says they taste like mcd nuggets). fried chicken evenly cooked and comes off the bone just nice (if you use low temperature first followed with high temperature to cook the outer part).

i haven't tried it for anything else, apparently you can even bake muffins and cook curries but my main reason of buying the airfryer was to use less of the frying pan and oil and that's what i'm doing for now.

rice cooker
so this is lame. the fact that i never paid attention to rice cookers before. i got quite a few as wedding gifts and have been using them. those simple ones with silver-ish covers. kinda make me feel like i can't cook rice because there were times when they come out too watery. very malu okay, not knowing how to cook rice properly. then i decided to splurge a bit for a new rice cooker. kinda ex for a rice cooker but so far, its been lovely to use. if only it came in red. ok…still lame.

there's more on my list that i would like to get - coffee maker, food processor, new set of pots and pans, new sets of plates and bowls (are those considered kitchen appliances?).

School 2014 Preparation

i always like to start school preparation early on during the year-end holiday. one is, well, i like to see my list getting shorter and shorter. two, i might miss out a few things and it takes forever to get things here and there (that one missed-out item takes longer to be settled than the long list of things). three, i hate the following up (sew on badges, labeling books, wrapping books) and i procrastinate (tremendously!) doing them. so, considering those, i started really early this year.

uniforms were first on the list because they were the most to get. this year i had to get 9 white shirts, 6 blue pants, 15 (yes fifteen!!) sets of baju melayu, sampings, songkoks, track bottoms, socks and belts. those are just part A. hubby and i went to get them in the first week of school holidays because the boys had activities. better for it be just us to get that many stuff. luckily, the uniform were sold nearby the stationeries, so i got them too - colour pencils, pencils, erasers, sharpeners, pencil cases. 6 sets of each (extra pencils, erasers and sharpeners). ok, so part A and B settled on the same day, yeay!

the day after, we spent looking for shoes. 7 pairs this time. 6 white pairs (2 pairs each) and a black pair for amir, who have been appointed a prefect. we also grabbed school bags, only 5 bags first because we couldn't find a second bag for amir & asyraf. surprisingly FOS had good school bags. got ariff's and akmal's bags there. amir & asyraf's second bag we only managed to get this week. i brought them along to choose this time around - asyraf easier than amir who was a bit particular and didn't like most that he saw. part C done!

then came the part i don't like - sewing on badges. i sent to the wrong place this time. cost more than double the normal place. and they took longer to get them done too! i'll definitely go back to the old place next year. i like the different coloured hangers for different boy.

unfortunately, the school bookstore started selling books really late this year, 15 days before the school to be opened! extremely late for my taste. and they had a lot of books not in stock. if you want to start selling so late, at least make sure you have enough stock. everyone's fighting to prepare everything in that short time. i went on the 2nd day the bookstore started selling and less than half of the year 3 were ready. i really don't want to go back until school starts, so i guess the boys need to start off the school year with incomplete set of books. lets hope they re-stock quickly. i managed to get sports t-shirts on the same day, though.

so 2 weeks before school is to resume, i've settled uniforms, stationeries, bags and three-quarter of the books. big relief as the boys have prepared their bags and kept them nicely in their wardrobe. on to the first day of school…

DP#23 (05/12/2013)

the last room in DP is finally settled. yeah, there's the guest/gym to be looked at but for now, that can stay as it is as it has yet to be officiated. so i would consider the wet kitchen as the last room. and this week its finally settled.

i got the electrical items i needed - blender, hand mixer and rice cooker. i also stocked up the dry goods from the supermarket and containers for the dry goods. once all three have been ticked off, the kitchen was up and running. i do feel its kinda plain with just black and white. i need some colours to go up. my cath kidston apron and tea towel are providing that at the moment.

oh excuse me for being a wee bit too organised...