Guitar Amps

Last week the in laws came back for the Cheng Beng prayer. One of my nieces brought along with her a guitar to play along with my eldest daughter. My girl on the piano. Unfortunately the guitar sound was too soft to compliment the piano. The guitar was drown by the piano. My girl was asking me what can they do about it coz our piano is the acoustic piano where we can't adjust the volume. I told them, next trip, get your dad to buy for you the guitar Amps then your guitar sound can be louder. :)

Preparing my mind for a simple and cheap birthday meal

This year we are extra tight financially especially towards the end of the year where the rainy season is here. Rain is no good for our business. Rain is no good for my birthday too. :( Knowing our financial status, I cannot ask for anything expensive. No wasting money for non essential stuff like facial therapy or foot reflexology which I used to get on my birthday in the previous years. I love beef especially beef steak. I did not have it on my last birthday. I think we were short of cash also then. I wanted to dine in a fine restaurant this year and have my beef steak (no money issue set aside, spend first, worry about money later :P) BUT hubby has to work on my birthday till after dinner time. Okay lar, I shall forgo my craving for beef steak. Not pregnant so no reason to fulfill that craving. I will ask for birthday supper then...2 pieces of roti canai kosong with a glass of teh tarik. No need to hear hubby grumble about the meal price after paying. :P Most importantly, it is the thought that counts and the company I'm with on my birthday. :D

Cycling during School Holiday

The school holiday is coming! One of the mommies in FB told us that her school holiday calendar is packed with activities with her children. But most of the activities requires money which we do not have much. The only school holiday activity that I have in mind is cycling. Since I am so used to waking up at 6am to get the children ready for school and driving them to school, I plan to use that time to cycle. I think I will drag my eldest girl along to accompany me. She loves cycling too.

Very Minimal Profit

Last Sunday my family and I had lunch at hubby's internet cafe because he has some end of the month account that he needs to settle. So, I packed Nasi Lemak before church and went to his shop right after church. I got the chance to look into his income and expenses worksheet. To my surprise, his profit is very minimum; not enough for our minimum monthly expenses. His salary derives from the profit. There is a month where his profit is below RM50! And he never once told me about it. Now I know why during those "low income" month, we have to sell our gold to pay for our credit cards bill. He just told me that he do not have enough cash to roll. Arghhh! This makes me want to go back to work and earn my RM3k salary every month. But I can't. :( I have 6 kids now and the youngest is only 5mo. :(:(

Generous In Laws

I thank God that He blessed me with generous in laws. They spoil my kid with junk food and ice cream which they hardly get from his parent, they are good cook, good baker, loves to go for food hunt and bring some back for us home to enjoy, bring my children to the beach, shopping etc. And before they return to their respective home, they will bless my children with a small token for them to go buy more ice-cream! God bless their soul. :D

Belated Fullmoon Celebration

Thanks to my Singh BIL, we did have a fullmoon celebration for my last baby. Thanks to his generosity, we did not feel much pinch spending for the party. We used up all my baby's angpow money though. But it is ok, we are happy and our guests were happy too. Most of all we are able to bless others. That is the main reason for this celebration. To bless those whom have been supporting us in prayer, kinds and encouragement. I feel like having another celebration party when my baby turns one year old. I love the fellowship and having so many people around the house. :)

Postponing Fullmoon Celebration

After I gave birth to my 6th child, we decided to have a fullmoon celebration since he is our last. Since MIL was not around on the day he turns 1 month old, we decided to postpone till MIL is back with us, that will be when he is already 2 months old. When he turned 2 months old, I am still not fit and I don't think I can cope with the food preparation and clean up so we decided to postpone the celebration till he turns 1 year old. Furthermore, we are on a very tight budget this month because hubby just upgraded his computers which cost more than 10k.

Money drop from the Coconut Tree

In my kampung, we can sell one coconut, without peeling it off at RM1 per coconut. One day, we can collect around 2-3 coconuts, that is RM2-3. Let's multiply that by 30 days. That's RM60-RM90 per month. That's free money BUT it is first come first serve basis. Our neighbour will come to hunt for the coconut too even though the coconut trees are in our house compound. They claim that their grandfather planted the coconut trees even though some of them are planted by hubby's dad. So I let her collect lar. Whenever the coconut dropped when I'm out of the house, I'll go pick it up. I won't wake up early in the morning to race with her to see who can get hold of the coconut first. I'm not greedy.

RM100/month to help banker brother

It is very tough to work as a banker these days. Even though you are not in the sales department, you still have to do some sales like credit card and insurance. If you don't meet the quota, either you will be demoted or terminated. That bad, huh?! This is what one of my BILs is facing right now. Since I stopped working, we dare not commit to buying any insurance. As and when we have some extra money, we will invest in gold for our future. But when the BIL came to us and plead our help, we have no choice but to help him and buy the insurance for our youngest at RM100/month. Thank God after 3 years, we can get back 50% of the amount paid and most probably we will cancel the policy by then.

My sister

I appreciate the guest post, Jewel Rodgers

My sister and I have never gotten along as well as I’d like for us to, if we’re being honest. I love her to death but she’s really headstrong and I have a really hard time being okay with that – when she gets argumentative with me I always argue back which isn’t always the best idea. I recently got Hughesnet at home and it’s actually been really nice – we’ve found that we’re able to email with each other and do it totally civilly. I think it has something to do with the fact that we can’t really argue via email – there’s no interrupting each other or anything like that! I love my sister so much but she and I have always sort of been like oil and water. Most of the time we’re good but when we’re bad we’re really, really bad so it’s worth avoiding at all costs if that’s an option, you know what I mean! It’s not fun for anyone when we’re fighting about something.

Christmas Present from UK

We had an early Christmas celebration this year because my SIL and family who is living in UK came back for 20 days. Unfortunately they have to leave before Christmas Day due to the flight cost. They are actually on the plane now. My children were so excited to meet them, some for the very first time because they last time they came back as a family was 7 years ago. My 5.5yo son is are happier because he got plastic model cars from their English cousin during the gift exchange. Hope to meet them again in 2-3 years time.

A Fun Night Out

Guest post written by Bernardo Graham

Every once in a while my siblings and I like to get together and go bowling. My husband and I set our home security alarm (more info) and head out for a night of fun. We meet all of my siblings and their spouses for a night of friendly competition. We really enjoy going to this classy bowling alley that is about ten minutes away. This place has been open since I was a young girl. It has become a family tradition to go bowling at this alley and just enjoy a night out with family. Our children now tag along with us to enjoy this fun family experience.

When we go bowling it is usually the whole entire family plus friends that participate. We have to rent at least two lanes and split up into groups. Usually we make it boys against girls and have the loser buy dinner afterward. Bowling is one way that our family gets to enjoy their time together, no matter what the weather is like outside. It is one sport that truly brings us together as a family.

Hp Charger Needed

My dad is now recuperating in the hospital. He just went through a laser surgery to remove gall stones from both sides of his bladders. We will visit him shortly after hubby arrived home from work. And I just got a call from my mom asking me to bring my dad's hp charger. I wonder whether he needs cell booster antenna too.

I am praying that he will have a speedy recovery. If not, no motorbike ride for my boys. hehehe.

Loosing My Hair

I am not losing my hair due to pregnancy but I am loosing my hair due to the school holiday! There are 5 more weeks to go! I sure need the best hair loss products by the end of the school holiday.

It is very challenging to keep the house in peace and in order and at the same time getting my all 3 school going children do some academic exercises before the new school term begins. Oh ya! I have 1.5yo that needs my attention too.

No Angpow for Dad's Birthday This Year

This year we had a mini birthday celebration for my dad at home. Previous year, we would just bring dad out for a dinner. This year, it is a little bit special coz my dad wants to treat us instead of us treating him on his birthday. He did not even want to accept our birthday gift or Angpow. He told us to keep our money and invest in gold bullion or whatever for our future coz he have enough to last him for a lifetime.

You see, just a few days before his birthday, he strike 4D! That's way. LOL.

Electricity & Water Bill for CNY

Every year after Chinese New Year I waited for the utility bills with fear and trembling. hahahaha.

This year the bills are higher than previous year because the weather is extremely hot and the air-conds were used almost 24 hours a day.

The electricity bill is triple the normal monthly bill and the water bill is almost triple too. No buying testosterone cream this month. LOL.

Unfortunately this year the family did not contribute to paying these bills unlike previous years. But we are fine with it because God has blessed us financially too.

RM20 for Dragon Dance

We paid RM20 for the Dragon Dance team to come to our house on the 3rd day of Chinese New Year. Cheap right? I only have to write one proactiv review to pay for this special service.

Actually RM20 per family. Since I am married to a big family, we don't feel the pinch when we need to spend a lot during this CNY. The blessings of having many children. ;)

This year is the year of the Tiger. Go produce more cute cubs. :D

Night Owl

Those days I used to stay up late to catch opps and earn some USD for my family. Due to late nights and lack of sleep, I hunt for the best eye cream for wrinkles. To which I can afford to buy.

These days I stayed up late to entertain my 8mo baby who is a night owl. Then when baby has fallen asleep, daddy comes home and I have to entertain this big baby too. Drinking with him and listens to him sharing about his day at his shop. I usually ended up sleeping at 2.30am and having to wake up at 5.30am to get ready for school.

I hope that my body can adjust to this new routine soon.

No Time To Eat

In a few days time, I will have no time to eat and no time to bathe. Seriously, it happened to me 2 months ago when the maid was not around, MIL not around and hubby working from morning till midnight.

My time was fully occupied to washing, cleaning the house, tidying up the house, cooking, laundry, blog assignments and attend to my 3 children and a demanding infant. Due to all this often I have no time to eat and bathe. Almost took the appetite suppressant so that I won't feel hungry. ;)

But got nagged by my mom and concerned blogger Mommies that I MUST eat because I am breastfeeding, my baby needs my milk. Then only I make sure I eat but it was like the speed of the light; chew, chew, chew, swallow. :D

Now you know how I lost weight eh. ;)

Not Enough Sleep

I have been sleeping late lately; as late as 2.30am and waking up at 7am in the morning. Those days it is common that I sleep during that hour because there was online job to be done. I need to be awake at that time to talk to the US advertiser. Now there is no more job for me but I am still awake at that time. It is not because of my baby but my BIG baby.

Hubby has been working full day since last week and due to it, we only got the chance to talk face to face like half an hour in the morning before he leave for work and if I wait up for him to come home after work; that is past midnight.

I hope I won't develop dark under eye circles like hubby's. They surely does not look nice. :(