Little sweetie pie at 13mths old. See how much she has grown! Love her ever sweet smile - brightens up our day!

these are the Macarons I baked prior to the party. All nice and pong pong. I made them in mini bite-size so that there is enough to go around

I also baked a cake for our theme party. since all the babies are born in the year of the Golden Pig, I planted 2 hand-moulded edible MMF piggies on top of the cake - resembling Baby Girl Piggies and Baby Boy Piggies (see the crown col?)

the pigs were having tummy-time on the muddy hill...wahahahaha

Posing for babies born between 1st-7th Nov. Only Mischa and Zee Yann qualify..and these 2 girls are born on the same day, same year...how rare! Wonder if in future they will be sworn sisters or not! LOL
Do you spot something similar between the 2 princesses? Ans: 2 girls both with messy hair and raising up one hand each - not sure the reason why...

another set of babies and mummies

didnt manage to get a group pic cos the turnout was good! but the space was limited so couldnt find a good spot to take for all.

Today hubby and I attended Favian's school concert at the RELC International Hotel. It was a hectic week for me but I am glad that we got to spend an evening together with Favian.

This concert is actually for the K2's graduation. Next year will be Favian's turn to go on stage and recieve his graduation certificate :).

After weeks and weeks of practice and rehearsals, we finally get to see what Favian is going to perform for us.
He was involved in the dance named 'BEST FRIENDS'. And here's some shots taken that evening:

Macarons that is! Some pronounce it as Ma-ca-RAWNs, some say 'Ma-ca-hoons...
Eversince the baking thread (a thread in SMH forum) started the Macarons baking fever, I started to find out more about this tricky little cookie. It requires rather complicated steps to perfect it and famous bakeries are selling each for about S$1.50-S$2.00 each.

The most famous being the famous ones from Pierre Herme & Laduree costing a min. of $2 euro each. So it makes sense to learn some techniques and make them myself :)

My first taste of macarons were those from Bakerzin. I bought them to have a feel/taste of the texture before i attempt to bake them. And here's my several attempts before I finally got them right, and I am hooked!

*the most impt aspect of succcessful macs is the presence of the 'feet' expects call them. Thats the beauty of Macarons.

My 'virgin' macs:
Chocolate macs using Pierre Herme's recipe

In the ovens - came out total failure! Chewy like gums and no feet! This entire batch went down the chute! sob sob...

2nd attempt: Pink macs, batter 'resting' for skin to form:

hahaha another failed batch, but i added buttercream just for photo's sake. Like almond cookies

After this, i had 2 more failed attempts, no mood to take any pictures to proof until....
this 5th attempt:
This time I used the Italian meringue method. It is said that using this cooked egg whites method will make the meringue more stable.
Batter waiting for skin to form - i used 2 days old egg whites

finally can see FEET! Pong pong and huat huat in the oven.I was estatic when I saw the 'feet' appearing.

Close up view of the macs shell

Plain macs with nutella filling - too lazy to make any propose filling

This batch of lilac colour macs, succeeded with feet, but dunno why i didn't take pics of the completed ones. This is a shot of the macs when in the oven:

This batch also using Italian meringue recipe. Works well, but the 'dome' not there.

This was baked the same day as the above macs, but totally different texture and look, i think i used lessed egg whites for this. Looks more like a miniature hamburger.

These are my latest attempt. I tried another recipe posted by a fellow SMH mummy. It's easier than the italian meringue method and works much better too. Like the taste , nt as sweet as the previous batches i made. I added stronger colours for the coming Xmas season mood! *LOL

All puffing up nicely in the oven. The feet got so high that i was shocked. But after they were being removed from the oven, they do shrink a little and look more proportionate. Love this batch to bits.
Rose flavoured (with crushed rose petals)


Green tea flavour - this batch gave me a little problem, the feet became 'skirt'.

Close-up views of the macs




YUMS!!!!!

Packed and ready to go:

Princess Hayley's 1st birthday~ this is a long-back dated post. Becos' hub jus got a new camera, all the pics were in his camera and i had no time to upload them! Finally.... Here's some pics to share -pardon us for not being able to take pics for everyone there except of Princess Zee Yann cos she was sitting right beside Mischa

This is Princess Hayley - sorry sweetie, uncle did a bad job in getting a good pic of you. I promise to 'steal' your pics from elsewhere..kekekeke

Princess Mischa. hehe first time tying ponytail for her...quite funny but cute! did the hairbow last min prior to the party cos realised that I do not have any bows/clips made in a pair for her! Wahahaha...


This is Princess Zee Yann - she is a few hours 'older' than Mischa but she can walk steadily already!


A group pic: everyone looking everywhere.

After the party, we went to Toys R' Us and got Favian his belated Birthday present and since it was early, we went to the Labrador Park to catch some breeze and let the kids play.




Later on we went to Mt Faber to meet my parents and had a short walk to see the Jewel Box. The Xmas decor was so nice! We had a drink and it was so expensive! ButI will come back with hubby again one of these days :)


sleepy and cranky princess....we headed home after that

WOW...i didn't know that collecting Hello Kitty merchandise can be an addiction. Recently I have added quite alot of stuff to my humble collection. Now i dream of designing a display cabinet for my new home....maybe a Kitty-fied kitchen? I m sure my dear hub will freak out!

My recent finds:
Love love love the HK die-cut box with handle. When i first bought it, hb thought i was gonna use it for my coming good friend's wedding dinner. Of course not la! I could'nt resist the cutie look and knew that i had to own it nomatter what! Inside contains snacks.

There is a Hello Kitty lucky draw (LD) recently held at Kaikai (chinatown). It was my first time playing the LD and it was really exciting.
This was the poster for the LD:

I was hoping to get the Grand prize- a HK rotating sushi tray - more like a conveyor belt (like what u see in Sakae sushi) so sweet and unique! Sob sob, but no luck. If you know of anyone/anywhere selling, pls let me know!
The ladies all go mad the moment the LD starts. Everyone were stuffing cash notes of $10 & $50 to the cashier just to make their draw...the lady boss must be laughing in her heart and later smiling her way to the bank.
These were my prizes, nothing great, but I love the 2 die-cut plates to bits.

* I dunno why, but by just owning & looking at these Hello Kitty stuff simply put a smile to my face and makes my day! I hope Mischa loves HK as much as I do - then i will have plenty of excuses to buy more HK stuffs!

*UPDATE(10th Dec 08): I finally got my hands on the rotating sushi tray! Yay!!

This post is to update Mischa's growth since she turned 1!
Her 4th lateral incisor is finally out. It has been such a funny sight to see her with 3 bottom teeth and the 4th one decided to make it appearance days before her actual Birthday.


Till date this is what this little terror has achieved:

Gestures/ things Mischa can do:
- clap hands
- knod her head (means saying yes or want something)
- tap my chest when she wants to nurse
- walk with support ( still not confident to make her first step unassisted)
- waves goodbye
- 'friend-kiss'
- gives a peck on our face when asked to 'kiss' & ends with a 'pop'sound
- hugs when prompted to
- mimics adults' actions
- point to the correct objects when prompted
- recognizes Daddy/Mummy/ Ah Gong/ Popo/ Ah Ma/ Gorgor/ Godpa/Hello Kitty/Ball/ etc...
- taps her chest when we asked 'where/who is Mischa'

Words or sound alike Mischa can say:
- mama
- papa
- popo (maternal grandma)
- ma' (paternal grandma)
- ball ball (refers to ball & balloons)
- 不要
- milk milk
- mum mum (meaning food)
- pao (when wants to be carried)

Time really flies and to keep a sweet memory of Mischa's growth for the past 12 mths, here's a slideshow of her random pictures for the year:

Today we attended Karen's new born Baby Raeanne's 1st Month celebration. some of the pics taken :
The boys: Favian and Ryan in the background engrossed in his games

That's Vera, she has grown so much and is becoming prettier!

Princess Mischa...her ever so 'cool' looks

The 'limelight' for the day - Princess Raeanne. The flowery hairband is from ME!