Happy Father’s Day!! We tried to make it a good one for Vin, his first Father’s Day as the father of multiple children. First off let’s start with home-made cards: [[image:2012-fathersday07.jpg:Hearts from Yaya, People from Adik:center:0]] Mama helped by manning the sharp scissors to cut the string paper dolls out. Yaya wrote and decorated her own card (the hearts design) and was kind enough to write and decorate a card on behalf of her baby brother (the people design). She’s getting good at writing PAPA, no? On the backs Yaya wrote who the card was from: [[image:2012-fathersday05.jpg:YAYA:center:0]] [[image:2012-fathersday06.jpg:ADIK:center:0]] I think we may need to practise writing the “K” in Adik a bit more ;-). Now the food. Vin chose pancakes and hash browns for his Father’s Day brunch: [[image:2012-fathersday02.jpg:Blueberry pancakes for Vin:center:0]] [[image:2012-fathersday01.jpg:Chocolate chip pancakes for me:center:0]] [[image:2012-fathersday03.jpg:Hash browns err.. browning in the pan:center:0]] [[image:2012-fathersday04.jpg:Syrupy pancakes:center:0]] And a few presents: […]
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Allie’s 24 Month (aka Second) Birthday
It happened! Allie’s big day arrived – she turned 2 (years!!) on July 22nd! We were home from Maryland by then. Here she is, the birthday girl! [[image:allie690a.jpg:Hello! It’s my birthday today!:center:0]] * Mouse over the pictures for captions Another month and more developments! She now has eleven teeth (about as many teeth as a one year old!) but this is apparently normal for kids in Vin’s family (slow to teeth). Cousin Max (from the Maryland party) is 13 months old and does not have any teeth yet. Everyone’s been saying that she looks tall for her age but since we haven’t yet had her 24-month appointment, we don’t know yet. She went around saying “Hi Baby” for a while but has recently stopped saying that. She is definitely telling us long and convoluted stories (not using any words) and mostly getting her message across. She understands fairly complex sentences […]
Continue readingHappy Father’s Day! (Backdated)
This is a backdated entry in honor of Father’s Day. I managed to pick out some gifts for Vin (seen below) and Allie and Lily got together and sent Vin an e-card. In keeping with last year’s theme, Allie models Vin’s presents: [[image:allie638a.jpg:Take me out to the ballgame!:center:0]] Vin got to play in his Father’s Day baseball game, but Allie, Lily and I stayed home since Allie had slept in. Can you guess what Vin’s favorite baseball team is? [[image:allie633a.jpg:Toddler hat:center:0]] [[image:allie634a.jpg:Cubs dress:center:0]] [[image:allie635a.jpg:T-shirt with bear logo:center:0]] The bear logo is important as Allie loves all the shirts and hats that Vin and I have that have the actual cubs bear on it (and not just the “C”). She growls at it. So now she has some clothes that she can growl at when she goes to Vin’s games or goes to Chicago Cubs games with her Papa! And here […]
Continue readingThe one with the birthday cake
Since there has been a demand for cake, here it is!! [[image:allie330a.jpg:Let them eat cake!:center:0]] * Please mouse over the pictures for captions On Sunday, July 26th, we held a small gathering, a cookout and potluck to celebrate Allie’s first birthday. Guests include a few members of Vin’s baseball team (the team conveniently played their Sunday morning game at the local high school a block away), some of our neighbors, and a few friends. Even though it rained the day before, Sunday was a gorgeous sunny day. [[image:allie328a.jpg:Guests at the cookout with Allie in her high chair:center:0]] Vin played baseball then came home and straight away lit the grill and commenced barbecueing. Burgers, hot dogs and chicken were the meats, while I’d prepared a couple of side dishes.The neighbors brought food and drink as well as presents for the birthday girl! Allie also ate her lunch while everyone mingled: [[image:allie329a.jpg:Picnic […]
Continue readingZarin’s Visit
So Zarin (atukku!) spent a few days with us (May 16-22) during which time, I regret to say that even though I brought my camera everywhere, I didn’t take as many pictures as I should have. Too busy chatting and hanging out and eating. What to do? I haven’t had this kind of time to hang out with Zarin since our college days (and since Zarin came for the 10th Year reunion, that’s as many years since we’ve had the luxury of hanging out like this). We did plan some activities to do (other than hanging out!). On Saturday, we went to watch the Cincinnati Reds play against the Cleveland Indians (Interleague Play). Sorry Zarin, I borrowed a few of your pictures for this entry… [[image:zarin02.jpg:Zarin and Vin:center:0]] [[image:zarin03.jpg:Zarin in front of Great American Ballpark:center:0]] Alamak! See? Our camera is dying or something. Got red tinge to the pics! 🙁 […]
Continue readingSeptember Reading List
Books Read Kitchen Confidential by Anthony BourdainFruit of the Lemon by Andrea LevyWill Write for Shoes by Cathy YardleyThe Spy Who Came In from the Cold by John LeCarréChasing Shakespeares by Sarah SmithYsabel by Guy Gavriel KayA Spot of Bother by Mark HaddonThe Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood Books Bought Will Write for Shoes by Cathy YardleyA Year in the Merde by Stephen ClarkeThe Breads of France by Bernard Clayton, Jr. September has just flown by and somehow I ended up reading quite a few books. Although a few of them weren’t very large books so maybe I bolstered my numbers by reading smaller novels? 😉 Anyway, I started off by reading Kitchen Confidential, which is written by one of my favorite Food and Television personalities, Anthony Bourdain. This is his first book, the book that launched his TV career, since it contained such truthful and witty descriptions about how food […]
Continue readingPhoenix : Part I
In March, Vin and I took a trip out west to Phoenix, AZ to hang out with his cousin Becky and her husband Phil. Coincidentally, Phoenix is where the Chicago Cubs have Spring Training. And even more coincidentally, in March, they have Spring Training games against other teams that do Spring Training there! OK maybe not quite so “coincidentally,” we were there, taking advantage of Phil and Becky’s wonderful hospitality. 😉 We got to spend a lot of time with Becky, but only a couple of days with Phil (he had to go out of town for work, unfortunately). So before Phil had to go off to work, we went to a Cubs game. Phil and Becky lived in northern Indiana (close to where Vin grew up) for a long time, so we’re talking about a family of staunch die-hard Cubs fans, here. So here are some pictures at the […]
Continue readingBaseball Anyone?
What could be more American than baseball and apple pie? Why would a Malaysian girl even give a hoot? Because baseball is Vin’s obsession. (He likes apple pie too, and blasphemously, I don’t, but that’s a different story altogether). During the spring and summer months Vin eats, drinks, lives, and breathes baseball. During the off-season, he keeps track of the trades and developments in the Major Leagues. We started dating in August of 2000, and by the fall of 2001 (the first full baseball season, spring-summer of 2001), I could read a box score. And Vin and I had a long-distance relationship. Many baseball widows would probably reprimand me for encouraging this obsession but (un)fortunately for me, baseball means more than just something Vin is unnaturally fixated on. We met at a baseball game. What? What was I, the least-interested-worst-possible-athletic person in the world doing at a baseball game? Yes, […]
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