Sleep over

 My little Olivia is sleeping at her best friends house , its her first sleep over!! I dropped her off and she didn't even look back! Come to think of it, I don't think she even realised that I gave her a kiss, said good bye and left.
I rememeber one of my sleep overs when we still lived in the UK. I packed my bags, was so excited. Played, then came time to eat. I loved my food and still do, so when my friends mom put SMASH on my plate, I cried and wanted to go home.How come her mashed potatoe not taste like my moms mashed potatoe? We played , then came time for bed. I cried and wanted to go home,so a  phone call was made and my dad came to pick me up.

So my phone is charged and I'm waiting..... Mabe she'll suprise me and sleep the whole night, she proberly will!!

And so the saying goes... 'Ah , they grow so fast ' and its true. But when she was younger, it certainly didn't feel like she was 'growing so quickly'. She would wake up at the crack of dawn ( we had those hadidas birds in our garden and every am at the same time they would screech). Most of the time she was awake but if not, then she was after hearing the calls of the wild!!She would come and lie next to me and fiddle and faff with everything. Poke her finger up my nose in my ears, pull my lips and annoy me so much that I'd just shoot up out of bed.

I would say come on , just sleep for a little bit more, but she never did.

Now, since she started back at school in September, she's a different Olivia. I have to set my alarm, otherwise she'd miss her bus. When she wakes she cuddles me and says ' ah its so nice, I'm so tired '
I've waited years to hear those words and I can't even take advantage of the situation because now its a mad rush in the mornings.

Yes, they grow up so fast.
So,yes I need to take more time to just look at them and see my little girls and stop ( even if its just for a while )and enjoy the moment!!

Ma, Ma, Mathilde!

Since 2 weeks, our little Mathilde is finally saying her whole name. She could say everyones... but not her own.
She's always called her sister olivia, well oliyia.  Olivia used to call herself, Li, then Oli, then Olivia. So I was quite surprised when Mathilde came right out with Olivia!  Mathilde used to call herself  Ma.

Lately she is trying a lot harder to articulate and try to say the word as best she can and she's doing a really good job!! Her face lights up when she realises that she said it properly and keeps on repeating over and over.

Yesterday she said 'mama, i go doctorrrr, i go doctorrr chow ' (thats her paed). It was just so funny and I was completely amazed at how she knew her drs name. Come to think of it, thats not a good thing for her or our bank balance!!!

So now when we ask her 'whats your name?' or 'comment tu t'appelle?' , she'll answer 'Mathilde' .

And never has her name sounded sweeter!!!

Galette des rois or Kings cake, if you prefer!!

 I know its a little late, but we did eat it on the 6th.

I'd promised Olivia that we would make a galette. So, when she brought it up again, we got cracking!! I prefer the ones made from brioche but because we needed to whip up one really fast, we made the puff pastry kind filled with almond cream.

And knowing Olivia , its not for eating, that she wants this cake but to find the 'bean' and be queen!

Let me explain... In France, it is tradition to make and serve this galette on the 6 January, the feast of the Epiphany, 12 days after the christmas festivities.
You then hide a small ceramic trinket inside the filling. Traditionally it was a dried bean to symbolise baby Jesus.
This year, we hid 2 almonds inside our galette. Whoever finds the bean in their slice, is crowned king or queen for the day.
In Britain the 12 night cake was like what we now call christmas cake. A dried  bean (for the king) and pea ( for the queen) would be baked inside, waitng to be found! If a man got the bean, he would be king and if women found pea, she would be queen.
If  a women found  the bean, she could choose her king and visa versa.

I love doing these little things with my girls. Olivia looks forward to it every year. She also enjoys stuffing the dried fruits, apricot, figs, dates  with marzipan and topping them off with a dried almond or walnut.

Mathilde is following in her footsteps with a love for baking and eating cakes, biscuits,anything really, especially if chocolate features in the recipe.
I now have the both of them with their fingers in the mixture, waiting anxiously for the cake bowl.  And me asking myself ' why do I do this??' when I see the state of my kitchen and the two of them, covered in choco cake mixture.

Oh, it was Olivia who found the almond but only the next day and only after picking up the pastry and digging around in the filling. So she was queen and come to think of it, she always is!

The build

Our build started Sep 2010. After so many ups and downs regarding building permit - all mistakes from our architect ( if you can call him that). Makes me sick thinking about the amount we paid him and the price he asked for the crappy work he done on the plans....ok deep breath!!

That aside, the structure of the house went up with no major problems, just the kitchen window that was looking up to the high heavens. Now that is sorted , roof should be going on next. Then its down to the nitty gritty and I'm sure this is where the stress begins.

Our builder has been great and has really done a good job. We are so happy that we decided to take them . They will also follow all of the sub-contractors that will be in during the next few months ( most of them were recommended by our builders), so we shouldn't have any major problems with the quality and they are used to working with one another.

Hubby left yesterday to go and finalise a few, well a few too many things!! I know he's stressed. He wants everything to be done just right and how we want, but its not easy trying to do this while we're at the other side of the world. He'll place the lighting, go over the doors, meet with the electrician, plumber and who ever else he can squeeze in. He'll be able to see the house and visualise our furniture and hopefully be able to place wall lights and  choose upstairs heating etc.

All this after checking it by me ofcourse!!

We're all missing him terribly and its only been one day.  I can feel its going to be a long week.
Olivias words before going to sleep last night were ' I still can't believe papa went away without us!'
He arrived safe and sound and will have today to relax and visit a truffle market, just 30 mins from his parents place. I'm glad he'll get to buy a dark, fresh, earth scented truffle.
Hopefully he'll be bringing back some homemade fois gras scented with truffle shavings, non of that store bought for us, thank you very much!!

Tiling, paint and bathrooms will be picked out when we go back in June or mabe April, if we decide to go back for Easter. So we have our work cut out for us. Its all extremely exciting but daunting at the same time. Trusting these people and  hoping that they get it right!

So far, so good.

Please help Mr locksmith!!

'Crap' as the door slammed shut!! I grabbed at the door handle shaking, cursing, knowing that nothing or nobody could do anything!! I checked my pockets but I knew I didn't have them... my damn keys!!
I had my phone, my card to get back into the complex but not that massive bunch of frikken keys.
How the hell did I manage that?
Then I saw my little Mathilde in my arms and was happy she didn't get locked in with the keys then this 'incident' was put into perspective.It didn't feel so bad, it could have been worse.
 No keys but I have little M. Luckily I decided last minute to put a jumper on her because we were just on our way down to the lobby and its been freezing here the last couple of days.

So off we went to ask the concierge for the number of a locksmith. He had two numbers and asked which one I wanted? Said I would call them both to see who could get here in record time?? Knowing that it was only 8am, I felt confident that atleast one would be able to come to our rescue!!

The conversation went like this
Me :  'hi '
Mr Locksmith   ' How can I help you? ' I'm like what is this, a joke or what??
Me :  ' I've locked myself out and can't get in'
Mr Locksmith : ' Ok when do you need me to come??'
Me thinking, is this a trick question??  I'm locked out now, but could you come tomorrow?
Me : ' I need you now '
Mr Locksmith  ' Can only make it after 9'
Me ' What! No, I can't wait that long, I have a baby ( well she's two but he doesn't know that)
Mr Locksmith : 'Ok I'll be there at 8.30'

So we waited, he arrived at 8:30 ( thats what I love about HK, if they give you a time, they'll be there at that time).  He sets all his tools out and takes out a little staple gun type thing and put a long pin in and starts working his magic. Not very quiet , so neighbours know that this silly women locked her keys in the house!!
Again he asked  'you locked your keys in the house? ' I said yes but really wanted to pin that little thingie into his eyes and  answer, no, I like waiting outside and paying someone 300 dollars to take 2 min to open my door!!

When the door opened, little M shouted hurray , bravo and started clapping!! She proberly just wanted to get in to watch Little Einsteins and have her breckie!! But who can blame her... well for the breckie part that is.

Lets just say thank dickens for locksmiths and lets hope its the first and last time I'll ever have to dial his number.

Home alone!!

On the 22 Jan, my dear hubby will be jetting off to france for a week. He's already stressing about going and not seeing us  ( we're not very good at being away from each other ) but skype will be put to good use. We're both worried how Mathilde might get upset by seeing her papa on the computer without being able to see him at home.
I know she isn't going to be impressed about not being able to see her papa - she's a real papas girl. As soon as he gets in at night she's stuck to him like glue.He always tries to get in before they are off to bed, so he can spend a little time with them before he puts them down to sleep and we all love it. I have a bit of peace because they are all over him and he loves that they're so happy to see him.

I was just thinking how great it is to skype.Thank goodness because before that when we were apart, our phone bills were SCARY.

When we first went to China in 1998 Alex went first and I followed. The first thing he done was get the phone installed.  We were away from each other for a month and it was the longest time ever!!
He would phone every day and we'd joke saying that phone bill would be sky high. After that month just before I arrived, he got the phone bill and so he phoned saying ah, i thought it would have been much worse, its R7000.
We knew it was a crazy amount but we knew there would be no more phoning because soon I'd be with him and we were really happy as we thought it would be much more.
Just after I'd arrived we recieved the 2nd part of the bill, gulp, yip it was the other half of the month. So a grand total of just under 13000.
I kept those receipts , but hey we'd only been together for almost 3 years so I guess we can blame it on young , crazy love!!!
But come to think of it, I think we'd still do it all over again, minus a couple of thousand of course. Nothing better hearing than voice on the other end of the line!!
So thats why I love skype, saves us a lot of pennies!!!Especially with a hubby like mine.

Should I stay or should I go??

Here in Hong Kong people are always coming and going. We arrived here in August 2009. We visited about 6 places and decided on the last one  here in Pokfulam. Lots of other people we know visited way more but in 36° and 98% humidity and lets not forget the jetlagged 4 yr old and hungry 6 month they kicked our butts and the agents into gear!!  We're not far from the city, have full see view one side and look out onto a green mountain on the other. Hubby could walk to work, just 10 min up the road, it was ideal.
 So why are we looking to move you ask.
Well, hubby has recently changed sites and is 1 hr away from home. He's been going back and forth for about 4 months now and has had enough!
Next year our rent will also go up by about 5000hkd so we'll be over budget so may as well start to look now.
Went to Kwoloon and visited 3 different buildings, skyscraper infront of skyscraper but thats how it is here.
Also looking on Hong Kong Island but just need to be close to a MTR and have bus access to french school.
Because rentals go up yearly , we have to move to find somewhere within budget. Its been 15 years we've been doing this and never has that been the case. The company regulations are different here and I guess you can't blame them otherwise they'd be paying one hell of an amount after 3 - 4 years.


Criteria are...
1 ) No smaller than what we have now 1400sf .
2 ) Pool and club house for the girls.
3) Dish washer ... not all places have. Seen some gorgeous places but no space to put one!!
4) Fairly new

If we went over to the NT we could have a 2000 sf and it would still be under budget but for now I'm still looking to stay on the Island.
But mabe next week that will change.

One thing's for sure is that when we do go back to France and go 'home' we'll appreciate all the space we have and our own garden.

Gingerbread house

This is the gingerbread house that we made from scratch. Quite impressive,  don't you think??!!!

Olivia and Mathilde decorated it. Well Olivia decorated and Mathilde kept dipping her finger in the pretty patterns. Then she started on the m&m's.
Olivia asked if I'd ever made these before with my mama, so I told her no. I said to her that from now on, every year, we'll make one then when she's older and if she has kiddies, she can show them.   I warned her that her kiddies would proberly also want to eat all the icing. So she answered that she would not let them, but she would squirt some on their fingers for them to taste!!

Now that that build is over.... lets go to another . Our house in France.

It was the night before Christmas.... well almost!!

I can't believe its the 24 !! I just reminded Olivia to put her slippers under the tree. Its a french thing. Christmas Eve the kids put their slippers under the tree and Santa fills them with goodies !! So off she went, when I returned to the lounge, the tree was surrounded by all of her shoes and 2 pairs of Mathildes. I told her that you're only supposed to put the slippers under and her reply was that she only has one pair of slippers!
She then said  'ah no, we must take some away because he won't be able to get all our presents under the tree.'
So she just moved them to the side of the tree so that Santa can still fill up the shoes and leave the gifts!!

So this is it, a final clean, don't know why I bother because 2 min later, house looks like 2 bombs have hit it!!

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas !
 

Its beginning to look a lot like Christmas.

I love christmas! There I said it. I'm sure if there was something like an AA for christmas freaks, my husband would send me. I love the smell of tinsel and the delicate decorated glass baubles.
Since we've been together we've lived in 6 different countries. Lesotho - our 1st christmas together so bought our first tree and all the decorations.  Then China where we had to buy another tree because other one in storage in france. So another tree and all the decorations. Then back to france where we finally didn't have to buy a tree or decorations but who can resist buying decorations - not me!
Then Switzerland where we could still use our decorations but again had to buy more found some really beautiful pieces there.
Then it was back off to south Africa where once again had to buy another tree and decorations. Didn't take the tree from SA but packed up all my deco and was shipped off to france in our container.
So here we are again, another christmas and because we never travel will all of our belongings, guess what me need.....
So yes the house has been decorated since 2 weeks and it looks lovely. Even more excited now seeing our little girls eyes sparkle when they look at the tree with its twinkling lights. Our 1st tree was very colour coordinated  and everything in its perfect little place. Since Olivia has been able to decorate it always seems to be more fun and this year is no exception.. They wanted colourful lights and  most of the branches have more than one decoration on them but I love it like this and they do too so I guess thats what really matters.
So this week the count down officially started with the opening of the advent calenders. They open them as soon as they wake up. I know choco isn't good so early in the morning but hey, its only this one month and the look on their faces is priceless when they see their special little choco .
Today we had our companies annual christmas party. Olivia loves them, she gets to see her friends and gets pressies from Santa.
Mathilde wasn't keen at all on getting her gift from Santa , she found the buffet far more exciting and less scary than the giant man dressed in red.
All in all we had a good day and we're just getting started!!!  

Happy Saint Barbara

Saint  Barbaras is the patron saint of miners,artillerymen and a few others. She is invoked against thunder and lightning and all accidents arising from explosions of gunpowder.
So why am I telling you this and how do I even know about this Saint. Well because of my husband who works in underground civil engineering therefore blasting and causing explosions. 
Every year on the 4 December they always have a ceremony where this saint  is placed in the tunnel to protect all who work there. I find it funny but also respect that they still follow traditions like this.
In Switzerland they really made a big thing of the whole ceremony what with them being quite religious. Today in Hong Kong they'll be celebrating the Saint Barbara,which also means a few glasses of red too many.
I really respect the work that my husband, my dad and all the other men and a few women do. Its far from easy. Its far from the 9-5 job. But to tell you the truth, my husband would become seriously depressed if he had a job like that. And I'd become seriously depressed having to live with him being seriously depressed.The work conditions are far from ideal infact they can be quite harsh. Hot, wet, sometimes humid, dark, noisy.
 The projects that they work on are always one of a kind , never been done before so new techniques and new ideas have to implemented. And ofcourse everything has to be finished by... yesterday.
So here's to all the so called 'miners' out there Happy Saint Barbaras Day! 
    

Flower Market Kwoloon

Today decided to take my mom - who arrived one week ago - to the famous flower market. We took the MTR from central to prince edward station and took exit B1 and walked down Prince Edward Rd West.
The weather is ideal now to get out and about.
We then reached a 4 story shop filled with christmas decorations where we stopped in our tracks. So we done some decoration shopping, running after Mathilde inbetween who fell in love with every snow man she saw!!
After that bit of retail theraphy, we headed down Yuen Po st  for a more aromatic and visual encounter. This place is small but each little shop is packed with brightly coloured flowers. You can find whatever you're looking for from flowers, to seeds to vases and stones for decoration and the prices are very good. A little further down is the bird market where I must go with my hubby as I want to buy one of the beautiful lacquered bird cages- for decoration only- so his hands will come in handy!!
Next we headed towards Tung Choi Street which is known  as the Goldfish market and I bet you can guess why?? Yes, full of fish and anything fish related. They also sell puppies and kittens - little M was in heaven!!
The fish are all placed in their bags and hung up. When you see them all together its like a beautiful coloured canvas. I must admit, I did feel sorry for the poor little things!!

All I can say is that we will be back.

GASTRO !!!

Yes, the title says it all!! Our little M started with a fever last week. So off to Dr Monday. Here in Hong Kong , unlike the drs I've been to in France, everything is so kiddie friendly. There's a friendly , brightly coloured waiting room full of toys to keep your sick little ones entertained and mabe also pick up something they don't already have.
So 1 nasal swab later, its not the influenza A - which is apparently going around - phew!! So now proberly just a viral infection .
Day 2 no fever but day 3 fever whole day. Suppos every 4 and 8 hours, my tired and sore bummed little girl is a real grump!! Phoned dr to make another appointment for thursday because Typhoon Megi was fast approaching and predicted to hit Hong Kong Friday. Wednesday night she starts vomiting and you who have kids, know the rest.....
Finally Thursday came after a long sleepless nights and numerous sheet changing episodes. Gave her the anti vomiting medicine but it doesn't work. Arrive at Dr, conclusion gastro collect different anti vomiting meds and I think I need to have shares in this practice!! I thought south africa was expensive when it came to medical care but Hong Kong is the cherry on the top and a bitter one at that!!
All of us moms know the drill for fever ,vomiting , coughing  but when it happens you still always have a doubt, well i do anyway!!
So we try the new meds work a little but she still vomits, so that night at 11 off to hospital I go because I don't see her getting any better.
Saw the dr that was on duty said 'ah she's not seriously dehydrated, you can take her home and carry on with meds ' hello, did you not listen to anything i just told you!! I told him that i don't want to take her home, just to bring her back tomorrow am in an even worse state. So OK, admitted to hospital. No private rooms available in paediatric ward, only double room. So I ask if possible to have a private room in another ward? When M was hospitalised in May, they had no rooms available in paeds so put us in post op ward - which was great, no screaming kids, no thoughts of catching whatever the other kids have. So we got the exact same room as last time, even the nurses remebered her, but please lets not make this a habit!!
They put numbing cream on her hands and we wait 1 hr. Afterwards go to paed ward where they'll set up the drip and i think to myself, boy am i glad we're not here after seeing and hearing all those poor little kids. So my poor little girl is layed down, then all of a sudden out of nowhere all these nurses come in and each one has there place - makes me think of tiny little ants!! They ask me to wait outside but I tell them no I'm staying. M who's been sleepy the whole day uses her last bit of energy to cry and show that she's not happy! I calm her best i can and everything goes into place no problems at all and yes, I'm relieved !! I was expecting screams of terror because when olivia was almost 2 she was admitted to olivedale in joburg for a gastro and put on the drip and i can still hear her screams and see her little face with a look of  'what are you doing, mama do something!!!'
So off to our room where we sleep until 6 o'clock.
So Alex takes off work to see to Olivia then when he picks her up from school they come to visit.Mathilde isn't vomiting but is still very weak and not eating or drinking but was happy to see her papa and sister!! We finally left the hospital Saturday night and were both so happy to get home. Today is Tuesday and she's eating and drinking but still tired. Have a Halloween party on Friday for olivia and her friends so trying to persuade hubby to take afternoon off work to help out!! So happy all this is behind us, until next time that is!!

Back to school

After 2 long months of summer holidays our little O started back at school today. And not just school, CP, cours préparatoire!!
Since one week she's been saying ' can you believe it mama, i'm going to be in CP'
No my little Olivia, i can't , sob! sob! She's been counting down the days and crossing them off her calender each morning and today was the day!! So up at 6:05, yes she's an early riser, just like her papa. One pancake with cinnamon and sugar and a glass of cold milk. M is still fast asleep so I can be with O , get her dressed and talk about this big day.
She's come a long way since she started school. I remeber going to get her after her first day and seeing her sobbing and eyes so red, and this was 4 housr later. For her fist year she cried almost every day and the drive to the french school was the longest ever - especially in joburg traffic. But luckily those days are long gone and i have a happy little girl who loves going to school and happy litlle girl = happy mama and papa!!

Its official...no more nappies in the day!!

I just want to say a BIG bravo to our little Mathilde who is now a potty happy little girl!! It all started getting serious when we got back from France at the end of July.
Already she would say 'mama pee pee or kaka ' when she felt the need and when she had a dirty nappy, she would start walking like a little cowgirl and pull at her nappy to take it off.
So I bought her some litttle panties - which by the way shelooks really cute in  - and everyday she wears them. When she needs to go she shouts pee pee  and runs to her pot.She sits and we all have to watch and wait.....ta dah, bravo and she's so happy. She even takes out the pot and pours it into the toilet - with a little guidance from mama ofcourse!! So here we are, well on the road to my little girl growing up and a lot more exciting times ahead!!!

Today I've finally done it!!

After years, 5 and 11 months to be exact, I've finally started a blog. I wanted to start when our eldest daughter Olivia was born, but anyone who has their first baby knows that time is not a thing you have on your hands when a baby comes along, let alone the first!!And come to think of it , I still have no time!!
So here we are, many countries and another little girl, Mathilde who is 20 months, later  and yes...this blog.
Let me tell you a little bit about my family. We've been living here in Hong Kong for 1 year now, husband was transfered here for work from South Africa.
I stay at home and take care of our girls, olivia 5 who was born in Switzerland  and mathilde who was born in South Africa.