Our Travels

Today was my 6 year old's sports say at school from grades 1 to 3. The school sent emails over a week ago encouraging parents to come support our kids on sports day. I had marked it down to make sure I didn't miss it. I dropped my son as normal then sat in the car and played with my phone until it was time to go to the sports field to watch the kids play. It was a well organised sports day with stations well laid out by the time we got there and they had pre-picked teams the week before. The kids were tagged with stickers like name badges to remind them and to show the supervisors which teams they belonged to. Once the teams were sent to which station they started at off went the sports day. So we parents basically stood on the side lives and cheered on the kids. Well this fob mother wasn't quiet, I was shouting like I was at the Olympics. And not just for my son...for all the kids whose names I knew. Anyway in my son's team there was this one boy who was distracted ...

Having fun at the ANZO Christmas Party in Muscat Intercontinental Hotel Gardens We won the gingerbread house at the party. And we ate it at home lol

We're definitely back now. I dropped my son's friend off home and was driving home with Tau. I slowed down at the lights and then I saw the car in front of me rear-end another car so I hit my brakes and put my hazard lights on to warn any car behind me. I looked in my rearview mirror and I saw the car behind me was about a hundred metres back so I relaxed thinking phew they'll see my hazard lights on plus we've all slowed down for the red light. Well a few seconds later the car behind me hits my car! I think the driver must have been distracted (like on her phone) or whatever not to have seen my gigantic car had stopped with hazard lights on. Am thankful for big cars cos the plastic bumper on mine was damaged and the other car's hood and parts got pushed back. Thank God no one was hurt but now awaiting the faulty driver to call me to see her insurance about fixing my car!!

Tau started back at school yesterday. Now he is Grade one. When we arrived, his best friend was already in class and some of his other mates from last year were there too. So immediately he sat on the mat with the others and didn't bother to say goodbye to me. I had to go to him to say bye. I got the class schedule and it was swimming day yesterday so I went back to school 2 hours later to drop off his swimming gear and the teacher commented that he was doing really well as if he had always been there! phew...is all I can say. I was expecting him to hang onto me a bit longer like he did in Wellington. During our time in NZ I put him in Year one there so he could spend time with his peers. I guess because they were all new faces he wasn't too keen for me to leave. I stayed for about 10 minutes the first morning until he was comfortable but after that he was okay except he kept complaining that he didn't want to go. So I'm relieved that he's happy to return to his sc...

We've had a long time away from home spending it with loved ones in NZ. We arrived in NZ met up with Mum there at my older sister's place then we went to Wellington to catch up with my inlaws. We had a fabulous time with all our families. Mum got to catch up with a lot of her siblings and family. Most precious of all is we got to spend quality time with my mother-in-law who had terminal cancer. My six year old son had an awesome time with his beloved nana before she took a turn for the worse. We left NZ at the end of July and came home with my two boys.  One week here in Muscat and we received the dreaded call from NZ that my kids beloved nana was now weak. We got on the next flight back to NZ with my husband and made it to nana's side while she could still talk and had some of her strength. We had a precious three and a half weeks with her before she passed away peacefully at home surrounded by her loved ones. It was an emotional month for the whole family but what was m...

My son spent a week with his grandparents in Wellington and I picked him up today from the airport. It was so good to have my baby back in my arms and with me again. I know he had an amazing time with his grandparents and he loves every minute of it. His mouth was going a hundred mph as we drove home. We passed a small cemetery and he said, Mum look it's where dead people live. I said well they're dead and they're buried there it's called a cemetery. He asked if each person had a cemetery and I explained that individual plots were called graves. He asked but what are those things with words on them...oh those are headstones. I then added remember I told you when we die our bodies turn to soil again? He piped up, mum when you die I will bury you in the dirt. Me trying to stifle my laughter I said; that's okay. Then he said; well actually I will put you in the guest room on the bed there. Hmm let's explore this, why would you do that sweetie? Well then you...

I was lying in bed last night thoughtful as usual when I started thinking about fathers day just gone. I thought of how it's almost meaningless to me due to losing my father at 5 years old. Then I was flooded with memories of my father's last moments. I remember being woken up by voices weeping, crying loudly, in Samoan it's best described as laueega: A loud cry filled with anguish and emotional pain. The cobwebs cleared as I realised the crying was coming from my mother who was leaning over my father on their big four poster bed with other women of our family around. They were all doing something to my dad. I didn't understand why there were so many people in our bedroom. My mum was pushing down on dad's chest over and over and also blowing into his mouth all the while pleading and begging dad in this pain filled voice to not let go and not to leave her then. She would talk strongly then her voice falters to loud crying as if speaking louder would keep dad alive...

Summer is here in Oman. It's now past 40 degrees heat once again. Some days are super hot with dry heat and some just plain humid with heat. Today we made it to the pool at the club we're members at and enjoyed a good swim there until 11am. The pool is cooled which helps so when you're in the pool it's pleasant but if you decide to sit on the side...you'll just swelter. I had a lie in while hubby was up with the awesome twosome. When we got back from the pool I made chocolate muffins for the nagging 5 year old! Hubby and bubs are now at the shops getting some veges as we're low on them. Master 5 is knocked out and I'm trying to de-clutter, cook kids dinner and look I'm blogging instead eek. Ce la vie. School is out in two weeks and we're off to visit family down south where it's winter. I think we'll get a shock coming from this heat but am sure we'll be fine. Can't wait to see mum and catch up with family we get to see. yay.  ...

This is probably a lot of people's struggle and I'm one of those. I try to be active all the time and join different fitness classes to spice up my exercising life and just to stay fit. OK notice I said 'I try' cos I think I take months long breaks in between. I've been doing yoga and I love that until the blimin yoga teacher announces she's leaving which sucks and puts me off. Still looking for someone else in town to go to. There's another awesome yoga instructor my friends go to who's on holiday so will go to her when she comes back. I'm so inspired now I really want to be good at it. Ommmmmm. I've started working out at the gym following some programme the husband is on now. And well I've impressed myself by going hard out. It is really good and time focussed that there's no time to wallow in self pity and think I dislike gyms so yep am hoping that six pack will show itself soon through the family pack I'm carrying around:) choo...

Gee I told myself to make more effort at this and well just ain't happening. kaea kele. Just tried to make a sua i'a as in I bought the yummy fish and put it in pot with onions, garlic and water. Rummaged through the pantry for my usual coconut cream stash only to find none...aaargh. So the sua i'a is stuck at supo i'a. I probably make this once a year...anyway am going to enjoy eating the yummy fish nevertheless and less calories without the cream...eio after she stuffed her face with a chocolate chip muffin.

So I have sons and didn't know about the Frozen movie until I saw friends post youtube videos of different people doing covers of the songs from the movie. When it came on pay tv I had to rent it and watched it with my 5 year old. Needless to say we were hooked. We must have watched it about 3 times until it got cancelled. I was so impressed with the movie. My son enjoyed it and we sung along in funny ways to the songs until he told his boy mates about it and an older mate told him it was a 'girl' movie. I told him it's not really and we talked about it then he was okay again about liking it! What I loved was the fact that the sisters saved each other as for once it wasn't about a prince's kiss that saved the day. I liked that it changed the usual fairy tale ending of prince saving the girl but instead that the girl(Elsa in this case) can channel her power and strength and save herself and others. Also Anna's determination and belief in her sister that she ...

Time flies when you have a lot on. My kids other grandparents came for visit for two weeks and it was great having them over. It was also baby's first birthday and Master 5's Easter holidays. We stayed put and just spent time with the folks around Muscat. It was fantastic. I value the time my kids have with our parents and I love that their bond grows stronger each time.  Pepeboy's first birthday went really well. A lot of our friends went away for Easter so the few that were in town joined us to celebrate pepeboy's 1st year milestone. He had his usual naps during the day and so I planned the birthday to when he woke up at 4pm. So 4pm baby was on top form as everyone arrived. He had loads of fun and all up we had about 10 kids two of which were babies while the rest were Tau's age group. So to keep them busy we played pass the parcel, musical chairs and this awesome idea I picked up at another party where you buy those noodle spray cans. Hand them out and it's...

The washing machine wouldn't complete a cycle which reminded me I hadn't cleaned out the drain in ages. So I did the usual cleaning of the drain and filter and of course it was full of sand, dirt, hair, coins, hair pins and a screw! I cleaned the barrel and the rubber lining and was shocked at how filthy it was. Totally disgusting. I remember trying to clean it before and was so put off that I thought surely it was time for a new machine. Then I remembered lovely Google! I googled how to clean it and wha laa, I found detailed instructions and even videos on how to maintain a washing machine and all sorts of models too! I found one using home goods like chlorox, and vinegar and I went to town with it all. After doing the 4 cycles just to clean and remove the smelly odour from the machine it was done. Then we concluded that we needed the service guys. After many calls around Muscat we got through to the right people. After the week-end the guys arrived and found the motor was b...

Our little cutie is eleven months and has started walking. It's such a beautiful stage to observe. He's a determined little guy but once he was confident with standing it took off from there. One little step a day for three days lead to 3 steps to nine steps. The past three days he's been getting up all on his own from crawling and just walking up to 20 steps now. So so cute and such a joy to see. At his playgroups there are babies his age and older that can't pull themselves up yet. The moms look concerned for their own when they see my pepe boy doing his thing but all babies are different, some develop faster in certain areas than others. I do play a lot with my baby on the floor and do activities that strengthen his little body. We celebrate his little feats and maybe that helps him develop as he does. For example I've always liked to play throw and catch soft balls with my babies and that's one game they learned early and fast and enjoy a lot. And when I ...

So after all that excitement and some swimming to prepare for the challenge our friend who was supposed to register our group of three went a few days later with the form and was told registration was closed. The spots were filled within 24 hours. There goes that challenge. We were all disappointed that we missed out. They don't do waiting lists either. Oh well there's always next year!

I'm writing this down so I don't back out. There is a 4 km swim from an island off Muscat called Fahal island to PDO beach in May and well I've decided to take up the challenge and do it. I've never done this before and would love to do it. I wanted to run an half`marathon and then was told that it's not good to do so within 12 months post-op so later to that for now. So swimming it is. This is where I'm at. Started yoga again after eating my way through the holiday and trying to get back into a fitness routine. So I have to make time to train for the swim. And I have about 6 weeks to go. I have three friends that are also keen to take up the challenge and two of these friends have been training and are doing well. Needless to say I've yet to start training...positivity I can do this. Contact PDO if you're willing to do the swim in May, 2014. Fahal swim here I come.

Routine We came back from our holiday and I went into responsible mum full throttle. As we were all jet lagged we were all in bed by 8pm which was a beautiful start. We arrived around 2pm and walked into an empty pantry, empty fridge(both) and decided to be pro-active I drove straight to the nearest grocery store and bought all the necessities from milk, bread, fruit, vegetables and the like. The following day I went off to the bigger supermarket to get the rest of the groceries. The good thing about this is then the transition home is smooth and well it felt like we never left and that my friends is how you settle back home after going away on holiday. An empty fridge always makes me want to hop back on the plane and back to where we came from with a full fridge plus the room service at the overnight hotel we stopped at! So it was a good start to the week. On top of that, on Saturday Master 5 had a playdate with his bestest friend so we went around to our friends for awhile before w...

Back in Muscat after 5 weeks in Samoa and New Zealand. Had a nice enough time catching up with family.  Yesterday ABA had a cultural food fair so made pani popo (sweet coconut buns) for the Samoa stall. We shared a stall with Australia, NZ and Fiji. There are lots of Aussies at the school so they came out full force with loads of food and Fiji and I had a little corner to sell kokoda(oka-lime cooked raw fish and kasava) and pagipopo for ours. I'm glad to say that I've aced the recipe off samoafood.com. I divide it even further to make 24 buns instead of 12 so I do 2 doughs and end up with 48 buns which is great. It's the right size for people to buy at the fair to 'try' and not be filled by one whole Samoan sized bun. So of course for us we need 3 of those little ones heh heh. Anyway my son used most of tokens to go buy it from our stall! So I guess it's nice that he likes his mum's baking! Otherwise I had spring rolls and meat dumplings in Korea. My littl...