INGREDIENTS
Serves 2 

- 2 cups of dry macroni or small shell pasta
- 1 1/2 cup of milk (2% or homo milk)
- 2 table spoon of flour
- 1 1/2 - 2 cups of shredded cheddar cheese (I used marble cheese and it's just as good)
- 1/2 teaspoon of dry mustard (can be omitted)

INSTRUCTIONS

- In a pot of boiling water, add a pinch of salt, add the pasta and cook until done (tender but still firm, not mushy)- Pour cooked pasta into a colander to drain
- Pour milk into pot and add the flour, whisk until well blended, no clump left
- Cook on medium heat, stir constantly (while stirring, it's good to break up any lump that formed, to ensure for smooth sauce.  I stirred with a small whisk and it helps with the smooth consistency)
- When sauce is creamy, add the shredded cheese and stir
- When the cheese is melted, taste and season with a bit of salt or pepper
- Add the drained pasta back into the pot
- Stir pasta and sauce until they are mixed well
- Serve immediately

You can top pasta with more shredded cheese if you like !  Enjoy

Here we are, almost 5 months since I wrote the post below:

http://www.tracycollin.com/2015/11/little-miss-picky-eater-kindergartens.html

I am happy to report lunch has been regularly eaten.  I also bought a cold thermos so Bee can take milk with her to school.  Her lunch is now narrowed down to only 1 main item, 1 snack and 1 fruit or veggie.  She has pancakes or waffles a few times a week, and in between them are sticky rice and meatballs.  It does take a little more time to make her lunch as we have to make them !  I wish she likes sandwiches, where I can just assemble them together and save time.  But in a way I am glad she isn't eating processed food.

For breakfast, I still make her pancakes !  2 eggs, a couple spoons of flour, milk and a bit of cane sugar.  Her sister and her would gobbled them up.  They each have a cup of milk to finish off the meal and breakfast is done !  Some day she would change it up and have cereals but for now, pancakes are her favorite.

For dinner, for a while, Bee only wants rice and cucumber and broccoli.  I was worried and asked my friends for their thoughts as they once struggled with food with their daughter.  My friends was telling me that Bee isn't getting enough nutrients it might hinder her development.  They suggest I keep a journal of what she's eating.  I decided to track Bee's food, of what she's consuming each day.  Turns out she drinks a lot of milk (lunch and after school) = lots of fat (just like my friends' kid), meaning she's filling herself up with milk.  She also eats a big snack after school.  Sometimes she would have a small bowl of chicken with udon (more like a meal than snack), sweet potatoes crackers, or 2-3 banana muffin after school.  She really likes banana muffin and I don't mind her eating it because it's made with healthy ingredients like oatmeal, banana and egg (recipe here).  But I need to limit it down to one muffin so it doesn't ruin dinner.

I want to encourage Bee to eat more at dinner time so I've been giving her a smaller snack and try to avoid milk before dinner.  She really likes steamed chicken so we now have it about 4 times a week.  Free range chicken steamed with skin on ! Bee would have the whole back side with thigh and the wings.  We also have 1 night with fish, one with shrimp or pork, and one where we either we go out or order in.  If we go out with the 3 kids, we usually have Nandos chicken :-)  as it doesn't take too long to wait for food and it's pretty tasty !  Order in is usually either Japanese or Greek and sometime we have Pizza !!!  When I was pregnant with Nolan, I crave pizza and pop all the time.  Even now at 3 months postpartum, I still crave them.  I try not to eat them often, like once every 2 months.

Sweet potatoes crackers (with chia and flax seeds), pandan sticky rice, cucumber and strawberry slices for lunch

Currently Bee eats meat and egg pretty much everyday, along with rice, fruits and veggies.  She has milk for breakfast, lunch, and after dinner.  I am still working on getting her to eat yogurt and pasta with sauce.  I also try to get her to eat peanut butter but she's just not in to it.  She likes cashew, pistachio and macadamia nuts so she'll have a handful of them here and there.  Bee doesn't gain a lot of weight but she did grew a little bit.  That counts for something right ?  She just turned 6 and about 35 lbs.  She is very slim but she's eating, drinking and sleeping well.  I figure her active life contributes to her slim-ness !  This girl doesn't like to sit much.  She skips and runs instead of walking.  She even play with lego standing up !  After school each day, her sister and her would get between 30 min. of play time where they pretty much like to run up and down a hill.  On sunny day they also play in our backyard for at least an hour after dinner.  On the weekend, we take them out to the park or indoor playground.  Our kids play so much so any fat they gained doesn't stick around because they burn them off !  Even as I type this, Bee is skipping from one end of the house to the other singing !

If you have a picky or selective eater, try to track what they eat for a week.  This way it helps you to have a clear picture of what and how much your kids are eating.  It will help you see what they are consuming too much of or not eating enough of.  You can then adjust accordingly so they eat a variety of food each day.  At the end of the day, if your kids are active and generally healthy, don't fuss or stress over it.  When you fuss too much it will become a power struggle between you and your kid and no longer just about food.  I read it somewhere that there are a few things in a kid's life that they have control over, and food is one.  If we focus too much on getting them to eat this and that, meal time will become a power struggle and the kid might just refuse to eat to exercise their power !!!  I now try to relax when it comes to dinner time.  I would offer Bee food, usually she gets 2 options, and I let her exercises her rights and power by selecting what she wants to eat from what I offered.  It's been less of a struggle for us because cutting back less snack and milk = a hungry kid :-)  Sometime she would scream "can I please eat first I'm so hungry" !!!

I've been browsing for coffee table and sofa sets !  We're not buying anytime soon as we're waiting for Peanut to hit at least 2 or 3 year old.  Our white leather dining chairs have been decorated with pen marks and paint here and there so we know better not to buy anything right now.  Our furniture is practical and meant to be destroyed at the moment.  I can't help but dream of the day where my tables doesn't have plastic corner covers.  I like to do online-browsing just to get ideas of what I want.

Currently I don't really have a theme or a look I'm after.  If I have to come up with words to describe my taste I would say urban rustic.  Modern design with lots of wood furniture, clean lines, no curves or fancy work, just plain straight.

When buying I like to buy for longevity.  Furniture are expensive so you want something that last and doesn't scream a certain era.  The big ticketed items like sofa and table and accent tables, I like to stick to neutral solid color.  This allowed the piece to easily match up with anything.  To add colors and set the tone with the room, I like to spice it up with cushions and accessories.  These are usually not very expensive and with careful planning, you can change the look of the room according to season without spending too much.

Here are some ideas of living room set up that  I like.  I wish I have large living room with tall ceiling, exposed beams and lots of windows.  Instead I have a long narrow living room so I find it quite challenging to lay out the furniture.  So far it looks ok but I still need to play around with the set up.

A friend and I was messaging each other about our babies.  She loves staring at her baby girl and seeing her expressions.  While I love looking at Nolan and seeing my effect on him.

When Nolan is up from sleep, he would lay next to me kicking, staring into the ceiling and turning his head to me once in a while to see if I am up.  Usually his constant kicking would wake me up and I usually lay there for a good 10 min. with eyes closed.  It's an internal battle of waking up and kiss him or trying to sleep some more.  And kissing the boy always win.  I would turn to Nolan and whisper "hi Nolan" and he would responded with a huge smile that turns into a chuckle, and his two legs go into super ninja kick and arms flapping.  He's so happy to see me.  And it's not because I am his food or because he needs changing !  If he's hungry or has wet diaper, this boy would wail until he gets what he wants.  He is simply happy to see and hear me !  Happy that someone who loves him so much is gazing on him and he loves her just the same !  My kids first love is me, yup, their mother :)  I am the first body they lay on after they came out of me, the first face they see and the first set of arms encircling them, making them feel warm and safe.  This makes me think of my mom and reminded me that she was my first love and not to take her for granted.  I love her dearly.   

Friends often ask me, "what's on sale for kids clothes", knowing I'm always hunting for deals !  So for this month, since I have some gift cards to spend, I did some digging around and here are a few good sales happening.

Children's Place is having 50% off everything ONLINE.  Free Shipping on all orders !  Perfect time to pick up swimsuit or rashguard !  I once waited until closer to summer to buy kids swim wear and it was sold out everywhere.  Great time for summer dresses, hats and sunglasses too !!!

We picked up some fun colorful dresses and sunglasses !  The girls are into anything happy and rainbow :-)

Sunglasses are $3.25 (after the 50% off)

H&M is having 20% off their kids clothes.  I like their basic clothes line (under shirts, leggings, camis) because the quality is good and some are organic.  They also have super cute t-shirts and dresses this season.  H&M doesn't have too many of these 20% off sales so stock up on some basics if anything.  H&M is one store I don't wait for items to go on sales because they rarely do (for the kids clothes) and when they do, only few are left and most are babies sizes.

The link to their coupon is below.  If you don't have data on phone like me, save a picture of it on your phone and present to cashier.   There's no special code so just snap a picture of the offer in the link and show it to them.  It's only 1 coupon for customer but I've used mine twice already !  I don't know how they limit 1 per customer when coupon is on the phone :-/

http://www.hm.com/ca/la533-coupon-kids-print

Some items I picked up:

Cute spring/summer tees for $9.99 each

2 camis for $12.99

2 tank tops for $12.99

JELLY SANDALS from OLD NAVY and GYMBOREE

Our girls are into jelly sandals at the moment !  If you have girls that like sparkly stuff, Old Navy has some pretty cute ones on sale.  We paid $7.50 for each pair.  Gymboree has some cute ones too but they are $21 (or $15 if they have their usual 30% new items sale).  I bought the kids clear ones from Gymboree first only to discover cheaper ones from Old Navy, a week later, and just as cute.  

Old Navy basket style on the left and Gymboree stars style on the right.

The girls have been wearing them around our yard digging, climbing and playing hopscotch in them.  So far no blister or cuts.  We had a pair a while back and they last through all the stomping and all the rain.  I like that they can get really dirty from all the dirt in our yard and when sprayed off with water, they look as good as new again. 

Gap has 40% off everything last week, watch their online page for this kind of sale again, as they should have a repeat soon.  I picked up 2 dresses for the girls as I really like deep shade of the blue !  it's a nice break from all the pink and purple don't you think ?

 I'm quite happy with all the kids purchases last week.  We are set for summer and I didn't spend very much.  Thanks to all the sales and gift cards :D

Us earlier on in the day, playing at the playground, petting dog, enjoying lemonade and hunting for eggs.

Maureen's voice sped through my brain, cut through over 10 years of stored memories, "the little sh*thead thinks he can get away with it!"

Mo, as we dearly call her, was telling me how her son was trying to get out of trouble, to which I don't remember the exact details.  I don't know why I remember that exact phrase, perhaps it perfectly described how she felt then and I stored it away for day like today.  My two kids were exactly, I'm afraid to say, that.

If you know me I rarely curse since 15.  But sometime, just sometime, when you feel so crazy frustrated, angry, annoyed and amused all at the same time, a curse word seems to be the only word that can express how you feel, to take the edge of it, to release some steam.  That's me today ! I looked at my two kids rubbing their shirts on the wall in the changing room at the pool.  I told them not to touch the damp wet walls and they decided to rub their shirt and the arms of the shirt on them, to see how wet those walls are !!!!  I moved them away only to find their newly washed feet stomping on a muddy pool of water on the floor.  "Muddy puddle mommy" they chanted !  More like gross murky water left behind from the people before us. Then they refused to put on their pants because I forgot to pack their undies.  I told them I am sorry and that we can put it on when we are home.  We need to put on pants to go out.  They reluctantly let me put on their pants then the little one unexpected yelled "haha daddy will like to see my bum bum".

After I changed them and moved on to me, before I can slip my t-shirt pass my head, the eldest one goes, "can we go out now ?  Daddy is outside".  I told her they need to wait for me.  In that 2 minutes, they bent down to look outside the changing room, jiggled the door handle, pushed each other, and rubbed their body on the door up and down.  Whatever the hell happened ?  I didn't give them any sugar.  Sure we had lemonade made with honey at 3:30pm but it is now 9pm, surely it must have gone through their system already.  If not the 1 hour in the pool must have worked it off.  Where do they get all these energy ?

When we were out of the changing room, I told them to wash their hand since they touched everything in the room, including the floor !  While washing their hands they asked why there are so many hairs in the sink and then attempted  to touch them !!!  WHY ????  WHY ???????????????

My patience at that moment is running on negative.  Screw cleanliness and let them be dirty.  Seriously if they want to touch slimy foamy gross hair balls in the sink and want to jump in brown questionable puddle then go ahead.  I don't care any more!  

After they "washed" their hands, I asked them to dry their hair under the dryer.  They started to fight over who should use what while I put my head under a dryer to dry mine own hair.  When I turn to the side to talk to them, all I see was them inching away from me, walking out of the changing room.  They really know how to pissed me off.  I rushed out after them, asking what they think they're doing, they chirped "WE don't know English !  We only understand viet-tamese !!".  What little shi*theads!  No more swimming for you for a month.

Then the little one pulled down her pants, in front of a room full of people, and turned her bum towards C, saying "look daddy, no underwear !  mommy forgot!"    

All these happened in a span of 15 minutes.  15 super long minutes.

I jotted down this post on a notepad that night.  As I complete this post today (the next day), we are whispering "I love you" to each other over a sleeping baby.  Yeah, there are crazy moments with these kids for sure and surely it doesn't stop here.  However they are pieces that make up our beautiful complicated relationship.  

In a house where scenes from Frozen movie are being acted out everyday, I was preparing for another Frozen party.   As I type this post, scene of "Elsa, Elsa, are you in there ?  "Go away Anna" is happening in our bathroom, with one kid on each side of the door.  Perhaps Bee sensed we're overloaded with Frozen hence she asked me if she can have a Minion party !!!  Okay....Minions it is then !  Those yellow pill-like looking creatures are so darn cute.  Bee do bee do bee do !!!!!!  I welcomed a break from all the pink :)

We talked to Bee about her party and she wanted to invite all her friends to come = whole class.  This is my first time planning a party for school kids !  I was a little nervous thinking of entertaining a room full of little munchkins running around and meeting their parents.  First thing I did was scouting out a party place.  Those kid themed jungle gym are fun but none near us let us bring in our own food.  They have pizza and hot dog for kids and Bee doesn't eat those.  I don't want her to starve on her birthday !  We decided to rent out a room and gym in a community center close by.

The day before the party we made a chocolate rice krispies cake together.  I really wanted to order a cake so it's less work for me but Bee said she wanted a rice krispies cake like Lovebug, but with no icing (fondant).  In keeping with the theme, Bee brought out the minions she got from Kinder eggs and used as cake topper.  We also went and picked up yellow and blue cupcakes from Cassia cupcakery.

Such good little helper she is !  She made a K with pink marshmallow on her cake  and helped me with dividing candies and folding the candy treat boxes.

THE MORNING OF:

They turned into zombie while waiting !

Bee and Love were soooooo excited for the party.  They woke up at 7am, got dressed and ran around the house; sliding in their socks and screaming.  They kind of annoyed me but C reminded me, when was the last time I'm excited like this. and the only recent one I can think of was the day I get to meet Nolan.  But it was different.  I realized as adult we don't get excited anymore :-(  kinda sad.  So I let the kids scream and yell and do whatever they want !!!  It's a special day for them, yes not just with Bee, Love felt it's her party too.  Top it all off, it's SUNNY !  no rain !!!  Thank God !

Once arrived to the community center, I went and set up our lunch room while the kids went to the gym.  They had a lot of fun playing in there.  The bouncy castle was most popular !  We had 1 hour in the gym and 1 hour in the activities room for lunch.  I felt it was a bit too short but the center was quite nice and let us stayed over half an hour later.  Many of the kids asked if they can go back into the gym :-(  I think I would go the jungle gym route next time just because they can play longer.  I have 1 year to convince Bee to like pizza !!!  

Couple of things I learned as a first timer school party host.  Book early !  Whether it's the jungle gym or community center or a hall, book the place as early as you can for a better room selection, date and timing.  Bee's party was on Easter Sunday long weekend and the last weekend of spring break. A double whammy :(  We expected more but had a total of 12 kids and a few babies.  The room we rented has no kitchen so we have to plan food accordingly.  We went with pizza and KFC (for Bee).  Snacks were kettle popcorn, chips (variety case), and a large tray of fruits (if you have time, make your own fruits tray as it's fresh and cheaper), and drink were water and a case of different type of juices (40). 

Fruits for the hungry happy kiddos !

If you're planning for something like this, keep in mind that kids don't eat much food !  They're distracted and high on energy so they eat little but drink a lot !  I also noticed they ate a lot of fruits and popcorn !  For 20 adults and 12 kids, we ordered 6 large specialty pizza, 3 medium pepperoni for the kids, and 30 pieces of KFC.  We had about 1/3 left over of food.  Snacks, drinks and dessert (30 mini cupcakes and 20 rice krispies squares) were just right, with little left over.

I'm glad it's all over and done !!!  The kids got their parties, we hosted the best we can and don't have to plan for any birthday party for the rest of this year !  Yay !  Anywho, details of the decor are below.  The cake stands are from Ikea and Homesense.  They are great investment as you buy once and you can reuse for all parties.  The minion toys are borrowed from my friend Judy = no cost !  I believe you can pick up same ones or similar ones at Walmart or Toys R Us.  Have fun decorating and if you need an opinion on your party plan feel free to email me !

WHERE TO BUY: 

- Yellow tissue paper for yellow buff ball, Dollar Daze, $1 a pack (1 light yellow & 1 yellow)
- Minion Happy Birthday sign, Dollar Daze, $3
- Yellow polka dots popcorn/treat box, Dollar Daze, $2 for 8
- Blue polka dots napkins, Dollarama, $1.25 a pack
- Minion table cover, Walmart, $3
- Minion paper plates, Walmart, $3 for 8
- Minion treat bags, Walmart, $4 for 8
- Minion cupcake liner, Michaels, $4 a pack

GOODY BAG: 
(I might forego this next year, as I feel it's so much work finding and filling these little bags.  I think we will get them to make something instead and send the kids home with something more useful/meaningful)

- Crayola crayons, Walmart, $2 a pack of 24
- Playdoh, Walmart, $1 for 1 (1 blue and 1 yellow color (minion color))
- Minions pencils, Walmart
- Blue polka dots candy box, Walmart (Grandview), party section, $1 for pack of 8
- Jelly Belly & M&M Easter Eggs (to divide into blue Walmart candy boxes), Costco
- Baby MumMum for babies, Walmart