Hmmm…

What reaction do you have to this kind of statement?

things are kind of hectic at the minute. Will blog again soon.

Are we going green or am I turning into a tree hugger?

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more ramblings coming

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have a desperate urge to lie down now..

whew!

another tick off my list. Bathrooms are done! YAY! it sure does look neater and cleaner. Someone bought my old, unused cleaning stuff. YAY! So I can go straight to the green friendly stuff Someone also bought my unused sanitary pads and I’ve ordered my cloth pads. I love my mooncup any dads/men reading this, may feel grossed out now LOL I must finish reading my green living book too.

the kids old clothes need going through etc so I can store that and the “equipment” so the spare room can look less like a nightmare LOL I’d better get started

I sure hope they don’t say “cash only” for the petrol stations or they go on strike. sigh. What is happening leh..

Ok.. it’s true..

I have a lot more more STUFF than I had ever imagined. And this with regular clear out. HAHA

Folks do tend to give us three of everything, which in turns adds to the pile. But I’ve made a start on the next task now (given myself a fortnight). The kids room and the cupboards of the spare room etc.

After that, it’s our room. Then the landing. Then the kitchen. Then our office (need d’s help for some of this). Then the back last of all.

I gave myself a full year to complete the “reorganisation/decluttering”. Ideally I’d love to be done by before the long school hols at year end, but I need to allow for “daily life” and the fact that I need d to do a lot of tasks too. I can’t reorganise his comics/computer stuff, things he wants on bookshelves and all that or what clothes he wants to keep. He HAS to do that. I’ve given him a week for the baju etc cos there’s a gotong royong coming soon in our neighbourhood and the bulk items for charity bunch should be coming, therefore I can give em clothes, toys, books etc that we dont want/need.

He’s promised to put the bathroom cabinets tomorrow and fix some drawers. That way I can get settled with that, clear away more things and know what I have. Im hoping to free up some plastic drawers so the kids can use it too.

Doesn’t it sound tiring or daunting seeing what we have to do LOL But that’s why I gave myself a year and small goals at a time. Otherwise pengsan nanti! (faint).

ok, time to get the kiddies!

Tired but happy :)

Sorry for the brief AWOL from blogging. It’s been HECTIC

I’d like to say this: I”VE DONE IT! I’ve reorganised.. the playroom! I know it’s just one room and one cupboard out in the living room but it’s a goooooood start. and strange to say, it’s an very oddly satisfying feeling. It was daunting to get started so I started small. Then it gathered momentum. So I cleared and reorganised the playroom. I gave/sold off any surplus away. Since I got a label maker, I’ve labelled the boxes, plastic drawers, even their bookshelves! (d did laugh at my label making mania!) The kids no longer have any excuse not to put things away properly. (or rather I wont give it to them hehe). It was easier to clean and now.. no more surplus (well in the playroom anyway hehe). I’ve given myself a year to reorganise/declutter fully, knowing how much there’s to be done, inbtwn “daily life”. Admittedly, it’s feeling less daunting now, having reached one “milestone goal”. Let’s make sure the kids and I keep to our new found “labelled chaos” hehe.

I had planned to follow Jon and Kate (plus 8, them from the TV show)’s suggestion of putting a pix of the item on the box for those who can’t read, thinking that the Js can help “draw” the items. Then I realised that we’ve been slowly trying to encourage k to read since his alphabet letter recognition has improved so much so I figured the Js and I can teach him what’s on the boxes etc and therefore he can learn to read and tidy up at the same time!

so I went up to him today and said k, let’s look at this. What does this say? He read the label with no prompting. “Small cars”. My jaw hit the floor. The Js cheered! I cheered! He grinned. Later on in the day, we tried it again (in case it was a fluke), he read it for me again. Read it for daddy. He got hugs and cheers and he had a shy but happy smile. Later on in the evening, when it was clear up time, he read another label on the box- “Big Cars”. Another round of cheers! It was a BIG surprise for us but I love it! It’s like the time he answered j2’s question, “What is 1 + 1?” He said 2. When j2 asked him what is 2+ 2, he thought for a sec and said 4! Although that’s where we stopped, that was so cool Very proud of my lil man. I guess also he’s a very determined little fella who wants to be like his brothers. and because we are helping the Js with their homework and math or science wherever we go (usually using daily things to count or subtract etc), he will absorb it earlier I guess. Either way, having the labels is a good thing. the Js wanted to teach him what’s on there and it’s a great start

Not sure where I want to “attack” next but if d does the DIY he needs to do this weekend, then, it’s the bathrooms and our room I may even start on the kids room. But like that guy on Oprah said, take one cupboard/drawer at a time. It’s less tiring, daunting and you can do it inbetween all the other life stuff that happens. I can tell you one thing though, the spare room is definitely the LAST room that’s going to get “done” LOL it’s the dumping ground for now, till I finish what I can and move things around and out. Label machine here I come

I’m such a nut!

Sick hubby/kids and the reorganising/decluttering train..

It’s a Monday for sure. Why?

D’s got a nasty cough/sore throat/cold/fever. We have to keep a close eye on him, since we’ve had so many dengue cases too. J2 has got a cold/slight cough. K’s nose is running but he’s relatively ok. J1’s mouth won’t stop going. (but that’s normal haha).

I’m going through the “art supplies” and colouring books and things in the “locked” playroom cupboard LOL This was my goal today. I’ve sorted out one cupboard. I need to take out the TWO big boxes in the “locked” cupboard etc and I’m gng to empty them, then use the spare plastic drawer thingys from upstairs to store things. Easier kan? Im moving their drawing/writing things around, so pretty much everything they need is in the playroom, leaving the living/dining room for our crap and yes, I’ve re-arranged furniture yet again LOL I’ve put things into neat piles, ready to transfer to the cupboard in the playroom but there’s three kids who are sticking their noses in and going “‘ooooooooo”, screwing up my “organised” piles.

we are fixing a new alarm system but the guys van broke down, they rescheduled till tomorrow. Guess I’m not the only one having a crazy day

Called the paper recycle fella to come and get our piles of old mags/newspapers tomorrow am. May even have stuff for the bulk items for charity fellas. I’ve been fairly consistent with the decluttering/reorganising tasks. It is true, a little bit each day does help and doesn’t seem as daunting and trust me, I’ve got a LOT, LOT, LOT to do.

btw Happy birthday to Amer

What is a tiffin carrier?

This is Wikipedia’s explanation.

I had kinda promised Jeri of the Organising Heroines set that I’d try and find more versions of Tiffin/food carriers. She had done some prelim research of her own as it were. Bento boxes etc.

Arent they cute?? Lemme see what I can find.

These stainless steel ones are the most common. Usually comes in a set of four tiers, or a “tall” one where you usually put soup or liquids and it also comes with a shallower dish where you put something else”. Here, you can get a range but not sure if you can find stuff online. There’s the nyonya type, usually porcelin or decorated. Cute plastic ones. Mini ones. I should go and take pix of these (will try not to get arrested). Anyone else can find or not?

Check this out: Even Amazon sells them! Some stuff for kids here.

Anyone else can find any? Heaps of Pix here:

Back to you, Jeri

Meal plans, fish cakes and other things

I know J from NZ has been doing it, it saves shopping time/cost too.

Cook ahead of time, freeze is another way to do that.

we aren’t all like this lady from the Fixing Dinner show LOL although some of her ideas are prob useful where it can be applied here. I do LOVE my slow cookers (yes, mum gave me two, two different sizes) and I use them very very often, I’d be stuck or even more frustrated without them I tell you! What else? my steamer, rice cooker, breadmaker. I’ve prepped meals (usually dinner) using the slow cooker, then prep the veg to leave in the steamer and soak the rice. Just switch on nearer the time. It’s a lot easier that way also, cos can do it in the am, or when kids in school etc and then just switch on

anyway, Im making a start on the meal plans and going for a fortnightly market shop (for fresh veg/fruit/meat). Im going to do more homemade burgers and oven baked at that. Tried the “cheat” sardine fishcakes.

How did I make that? Well, open two cans of sardines in tomato sauce. (hehe) Mash em up. Take cold mashed potatoes, mix it together. Season if you want or add anything else you want. If it’s too “wet”, add some flour. Then line up three plates of flour, beaten egg and then breadcrumbs. make a ball, roll in flour, then egg and then toss in the breadcrumbs. Put on a greased (sllightly more oiled than usual) baking tray and flatten into a patty. Keep going till you have finished the mixture lah.

Oven preheated at 200C-220C. Usually takes 20-30mins depending on the size of your patties (dodgy! dodgy! hehe) and you do have to flip em over half way. But it’s really nice and it can be frozen in batches so that you can just pull it out and warm it up in the oven.

we had it with a nice salad the other day. but you can have it with anything you like or as a burger too! You can do it with white fish, salmon, tuna. It’s all up to you.

Hmmm… what other things? I’m trying very hard NOT to eat out. Even if we have to go out, I’m trying to get into the habit of eating at home, then going out. Restricted time.

Ok have to go, I think the kids have probably destroyed their bathroom now (they get to play in the shower every day after school). LOL

Another item to add to the list

I forgot to add:

use less plastic bags, use canvas/linen/cloth bag for shopping etc etc

Instead of plastic food containers that you get from places you “tapau” from, use tiffin carriers. I’ve been doing that and it’s been very useful!

Cash instead of credit cards.. or did I mention that already?

Hmmm.. what else..

More on the change on lifestyle thing..

Thanks to Kin and Su for responding to “tagging”

Kin also tagged some others, let us see. Some more tips included that I hadn’t thought of too.

Go check em out. Would love to see AiLian, Jenn and Min respond