Life has been good in the past month though I have to say it was truly exhausting. The hubby, who has just been promoted, has been so busy at work that we don't usually get to see each other much on weekdays. So it's been a case of me, myself and my three kids from Mondays to Fridays and trust me, even though I've taken solo parenting skills to the next level, I do get lethargic every single day. In fact, I've been dozing off recently when I try to blog at wee hours - which is my precious me-time in between the baby waking up and crying for Mama. Yup, it's definitely a sign of weariness. Or old age. Or both.
Nonetheless, I have this immense sense of satisfaction from it all and the best part is I now have a place to call home and a kitchen of my own. That means so much to me and I count my blessings every day to be where I am in life now. In February's "Happiness is...", it's about getting into the rhythm of things, easing into the new environment and enjoying each day as best as I can.
The girls have also stepped up to help when it comes to meal preparation and household chores. For now, they are starting from the simple tasks including plucking leaves of vegetables, beating eggs, washing dishes, cleaning tables, hanging clothes and so on. I am hoping that they see it as a fun, bonding activity more than a burdensome chore and if they ever start to complain or whine, my reply will be "If no one is here to help Mama, then maybe we should consider getting a helper". Which, by the way, always works because these two girls are very reluctant about that thought and so they will spring into action and become my best assistants. They might not be doing such a great job in many tasks, or in fact any of them, but the least is they have started to take on more responsibility and that is something heartening to me and what I wish to encourage more of.
During the CNY period, we also hosted not one, but three steamboat sessions for our family and friends! Yup, we are big on steamboats and the generous hubby will go all out to make sure that everyone is happy and well-fed. He is the seafood expert in the house and so he will buy and prepare the fresh prawns, crabs, fish, oysters, abalone, sotong etc while I do the other important stuff, you know, like taking out the plastic wrappers from the crabsticks and arranging all the balls and washing the vegetables. Haha. Well, at least I did some handmade meatballs too which gives me a little credit I guess.
So while the romantic couples celebrate Valentine's Day with candlelight dinners, cute teddies and red roses, we had a date in Sheng Shiong at midnight (along with our sleeping baby) because we had a gathering to prepare for the next day. We didn't get each other any gifts and I don't remember we wished each other too. Right, so unromantic of us. Still, gifts of love has never been our strongest love language and for someone who craves for quality time, I think that grocery shopping date did us pretty well too.
Making hawaiian 'pizza' has also become our well-loved activity recently and I love how the girls can do it themselves after I give them the ingredients - bread, ham, cheese, pineapple, ketchup. All I have to do is to airfry the bread (for recipes and airfryer review, go here) after that and ta-dah, lunch is served! Yup, and I'm just very happy that my airfryer finally has a space on the kitchen counter and has been put to good use nearly every day.
Okay, it seems like this post has a lot to do with food and here's a no-bake Oreo cheesecake that I stayed up till wee hours to make so as to celebrate the birthdays of two beloved friends. It was a little sweet but the cake was all finished by the next day so I reckoned I did an okay job. Cheers to friendship and to being able to find like-minded mums who understand how I feel, especially on days when I need an listening ear.
More food posts? Yeah, can't miss these out. The 14-month-old boy is becoming more and more independent and guess what? He likes to self-feed! Be it rice, udon, noodles or macaroni, he likes them to be placed in his bowl so he can feed himself - if not with spoon and fork, then with his bare hands. This means that while I just need to keep an eye on him and help him to scoop up those that dropped out, I also have a huge mess to clean up after every meal. Yup, his table, the floor, his bib, his clothes, his arms and legs will all be filled with sticky rice grains and small bits of meat and vegetables. Still, I take it as very good sign that he likes to eat and is happy to eat too! Oh, and I call him the Fruit Prince because this boy eats every fruit and eats quite a huge chunk of it. See? He doesn't even like this watermelon cut up and would prefer to eat one whole slice like that. So yup, I let him do so and it gives me that precious five minutes to gobble up my meal too. Woohoo!
I'm trying to make the most of our Friday nights even though the hubby can't usually find time to join us for some fun. We had a picnic, we listened to a live band performance, we also started having our own Friday Movie Night in the comfort of our cosy, peaceful living room. See how our living room looks like here. Yes, I let them stay up till past midnight when it happens and I cherish how I get to bond with the girls while the baby sleeps in the room. I even buy some junk food just so we can indulge sometimes and to be honest, it's a form of release not just for them, but for myself too, like a "Hey, I survived the week, let's party!"
While we do love our new house very much, we still make it a point to go for family outings too. In February, we watched The Ant and The Grasshopper (read our review here) and ended up enjoying it more than I thought we would. Credit has to be given to the hubby, who accompanied us even though he doesn't really have a penchant for theatrical shows and who helped to carry the baby out when he started being cranky halfway through the show. We have more reviews and giveaways from I Theatre coming up, so stay tuned!
Can I just say I laughed so much when my son became a mushroom head? Oh yesh, I did. It was simply hilarious and he seemed to sense the moment and laughed with us too (before he yanked off the mushroom, that is). Awwww, I love how being a mom comes with all these surprises and how little things can bring about great joy in our everyday lives.
Life at home with the kids can make you feel a little cooped on some days and that is when you need to loosen up, let your hair down and just enjoy the moment. To celebrate our Valentine's Day, we had an impromptu dance session, shabu shabu steamboat and the hubby and I also managed to watch a movie on TV after the kids slept - before he had to go back to office to work. No gifts, no cards, no flowers - but my heart is full and I'm thankful. P.S. The big girl has taken up international dance as a CCA and I feel glad to see that she is enjoying it all. She always comes back to enthusiastically show us all the moves she has learnt, so the little sister and I follow her lead and become her enthusiastic students too, in the hope that it will spur her on and also just to have some fun together as mommy and daughters. Never be afraid to dance like no one's watching, my dears. Happy Valentine's Day and thanks for letting me know that I will never be lonely! #ahappymum #valentinesday #mumof3 #lifeofasahm #lifeathome #thisiswhatwedo #justdance #dontcarewhatothersthink #cherisheverymoment #neverlonelyA post shared by Summer Goh 🌞 (@ahappymum) on Feb 14, 2017 at 10:55am PST
Lastly, we have also been dancing a lot because the big girl, who is taking international dance as a CCA, is always very excited to show and teach us her dance moves. Yes, she's the one who introduced me to Meghan Trainor and in return, I showed her Justin Timberlake's performance at the Oscars. Can't stop this feeling! I sure hope I can continue to dance with these two darlings for as long as I can move my arms, lift my feet and wiggle my hips.
Yup, we are definitely getting into the rhythm and this marks our month of February. I'm hoping we can continue to make the best of every day and every moment because life is just too short, don't you think so? Hope you had a great month too!