Vegetables from my Garden

Back row: Spinach (left) and Bok Choy (right)

Front: Basil and Green Onions

These vegetables are from my garden!!!!! Yes they certainly are. We had stir-fry bok choy for dinner today and it was certainly delicious. I was surprise how much vegetables I had brought in from the garden.

If you are wondering what I'm doing with my garden, I'm trying out something new this year. Its called Square Foot Gardening. According to this method, you are more efficient at planting. My one patch of garden is a 4'x 4' and it has grids to help you visually plant better. Each grid is 1'x 1' and depending on the type of plants you want on your veggie patch, you can have from 1 to 9 plants in each grid. I've planted okra, green onions, tomato, bell peppers, cayenne pepper, dill, bok choy, spinach, lettuce, strawberries and some seedlings that I forgot to document.

This bottom patch was filled with bok choy, I know some people just pull out the whole plant to harvest but I decided to try just plucking the big leaves. I want to see if this work.. if not I'll just reseed on the same patch again. That's the thing about this Square foot gardening, you easily see where to plant more seeds as things are more organized. The guy that invented this system is an engineer.

Its very easy to construct this veggie patch. I got my hubby to bang in some nails and if you wish to try it out. You just need 2' x 6 x 8' lumber. Go to your local library and see if they have this book called "Square Foot Gardening". They give you detailed instructions and have a list of plants with the correct amount of plants to plant in one grid.

*please ignore the weeds... I do try to pull them out as fast as I can...

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Char Koay Teow at Asian Noodle House (Hoffman Estate, IL)

Whenever I go back to the northwest suburbs of Chicago, especially when I'm around Schaumburg or Arlington Heights. I would go about with my activities but one thing for sure, I would stop at Asian Noodle House at Hoffman Estate to pay Susan and her hubby Kevin a visit. Its a must for me to have my kick of Char Koay Teow. They cook it the Klang style which is darker than the Penang style. Kevin is from Klang and that's why CKT is how it is.. I love my Penang CKT but since I grew up in Klang, the Klang version is also something I crave. I was in Schaumburg last Tuesday and I made my stop at asian Noodle House. I did a carry out as I just finished lunch. I was all excited as I knew I was going to enjoy my dinner at home... unfortunately I got excited seeing Susan and forgot to say "add bak eu pok" hehehehe.. yes that sinfully fattening lard!!!! oh welll... I did enjoy my dinner...

My plate of Char Koay Teow

If any Malaysian that is visiting Chicago, don't just stop at Penang in Chinatown... Do stop at Asian Noodle House. They do have specials especially on weekends and just ask if they have specials as its not in the menu.

They are located at the intersection of Roselle Rd and Higgins Rd.

Asian Noodle House
844 N Roselle Rd
Hoffman Estates, IL 60194
847-882-9650

*Note* I've not been paid by Asian Noodle House... Its just a must stop for me whenever I'm up in that area and I figured some Malaysians who are out of town may like to try this place out. I know alot of out of towners shop at Woodfield Mall so this place is just a 5 minute drive from there.

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Father's Day

We celebrated Father's Day almost 2 weekends ago. I know, I know, I've been bad at adding new posting. We have been pretty busy running around but I did try my best to have my camera with me.


We didn't do much for Father's Day. I forced myself to not make Daddy do any work. He got to sleep in late (he woke up at 10a.m.) but by the time it was ready for lunch, all the pancake houses we packed and we didn't want to wait. We ended up at Culvers which made the kids even happier as they love Culver's custard(I dont' know why its custard, to me its just ice cream). Later Daddy got to grill himself a steak (another luxury for him as I'm not a beef/steak eater)... Now.. don't give me the lecture on why he has to cook his own steak... cos if I do it.. it will be well done and he likes his bloody!!!!! He had a day of not having to do almost anything but just relax..

Found Greg had come into our bedroom and slept on Daddy.

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What is up with Lia Sophia?

*Please note that this is my opinion*

On May 9th, my girlfriends and I were invited to a Lia Sophia party. I've never been to a jewelery party and was rather interested in seeing what they have available. I've to admit that since the babies, I've neglected myself and have not bought anything pretty for myself. So there we strut to the party house. To our surprise, it was only us 3 girls that were there besides the hostest's miserable few family members. It was only me and my gf S and we made sure K would appear at the party even if she was gonna be very late. Guess what... she managed to come even with all the chaos at her place. She was 1 hour late and our hostess was so nice to wait for K. hahaha... nice or desperate as S and I were the only actual customers there.

The sales person right away put on an necklace on us which I thought was weird as you don't really know who has previously worn it and if its clean. We shut up and just went about being "polite"

By the time the presentation started there was the hostess's mom, and us 3 gals.. pathetic??? My gf K was nice enough to volunteer herself to host a party since the hostess's sister has decided to sell Lia Sophia (i don't know what you call those ladies). K was allowed to buy one item for $20 (original price $100) if she does host a party. We all paid with our credit cards and K paid for that $20 for the host special.

Fastforward to yesterday... we finally got our jewelery... ahhhhh about 4 weeks later. On Monday, I called and ask S if she had gotten her jewelry. She said No and I figured we both are in the same boat. When we checked our credit card, we know that there was Lia Sophia trasaction. Now why weren't we getting our item??? K called the hostess to find out that she actually has the jewelery. Now how dumb can they be??? Don't they have the courtesy to call us and tell us its with her? All she needed to do was call one of us gals as we are always together. Not an apology ... nothing... We had to drive to her house and pick it up.

K went to deliver S her jewelry ... and to find out.. its the WRONG item!!!!! K had bought the $20 hostess special jewelery... and she found out it wasn't in the bag. So she had to call the hostess again.. to find out .. GET THIS.... Lia Sophia has charged you for that piece of jewelery but you only get them when you have that party. This in my opinion is NOT RIGHT, as consumer you should be charged for goods received when you get them. Not held like a BLACKMAIL with the condition you will get it when you have the party. That would mean if you decide to host the party say.... 6 months later.. Lia Sophia is holding your $$$$ for 6 months. Is that ethical???

The efficiency of the Advisor is another issue. Calls to the lady that was training our hostess's sister hasn't not been returned. K had to call customer service to see what was going on with our transaction. Not only that... K was suppose to host a party end of June and she was forced to submit a list of guest she inviting. She was told that Lia Sophia wants to make sure invites are sent out on time. Mind you if K is a dumbo and sends it out 1 week before the party.. then yes.. Lia Sophia is right.. but K is a party planner herself and always sends out invites 1 month ahead. I think that is right to do that, no.. she was told that invites would only be sent 2 weeks before the party. Now that would mean her friends only have 1 1/2 weeks advance notice. A lot of us have lives you know.. we just can't throw or push our plans aside for a jewelery party.

So ... for me this fiasco with Lia Sophia and its consultants were ridiculous to the point I just have to laugh it off as a lesson learnt. I guess I won't be going for any of those parties anymore. Serves me right for wanting a bit of an adventure.

**Updated on 6/26/08**
My girlfriend who received the wrong necklace... she just realize she got charged on her credit card TWICE for the necklace!!!! My other gf has decided to cancel the party and to return all her purchase. K and I did not get a white receipt, instead we got the carbon copy order form. We found out that without that white receipt, you can't get a refund!!!! What a whole bunch of crap. I promise that Lia Sophia will not get a dime from me anymore!!!!!!! I don't even want to deal with them. Lesson learnt indeed!!!!

12/19/2010: Dear readers, I have decided to close the comments on this topic. Its been 2 years and its time to move on. I've always stated that the company shd monitor their consultant as those consultant's actions does reflect the company image and NO!!! I've never been contact by anyone to rectify anything so I'm done.

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My First Garage Sale

I finally did something American. I had a garage sale over this weekend. That was why I was busy cleaning up my basement and even my garage. I told my hubby he owes me big time as I have even cleaned up the garage after the garage sale. My main concern was getting rid of the bulky baby items. I lined them out in my driveway and kept the tiny items inside the garage. I'm grateful that we had nice weather during the whole sale. I had another friend that came over to sell some toys. Granted we didn't sell like hotcakes but the mere fact we got to sit and chat inbetween people walking in ... it was fun.

A friend was shocked that I never had a garage sale before. I quickly reminded her that I am Malaysian and we dont' have garages back home or do we???

All the baby stuff lined up in the driveway. Kids woke up early for the garage sale.

How was my experience overall?? I had mixed feelings... I learnt how sentimental I am. Being the last minute person I only got to the baby clothes Friday at 11pm. By then I was exhausted and being determined, I tried going thru a few boxes of the newborns... Oh boy... I didn't expect myself to react the way I did. I thought I would just recollect the times when my babies wore those clothes... How wrong I was. I've long ago given away alot of girl baby clothes to my sister so I had to deal with Greg's baby clothes. There I saw the cute onesie that I was forced to go buy a week after delivering Greg. We realize we didn't have many boy clothes and couldn't make ourselves let him wear pink onesies.. hahaha... So when I saw that onesie... I went "oh... I remember you.. I was forced to go out and buy you"... then tears started rolling .... then I reached out for another and again I started tearing...

I would turn around and ask my hubby if he remembers those outfits. He was busy running between basement and garage and I realize he sat down(it was nice of him to be supportive when I was a basket case). Then came this tiny little dress.. and tat was it.. It was Gilly's first little dress... I started crying and I then decided it was just too much for me. Those boxes has been in there for 4 years and another few weeks won't kill us. I'll have to go thru those clothes this week for a friend who is having a baby boy. I will make sure I will be fresh and not exhausted when I dive into that pile again

Other view of the driveway

During the sale, a lady bought this green push cart... as she carried it away, old memories of Gilly, pushing that cart and chasing Shan (our shih tzu) in our then 660 sq ft. apartment, flashed thru my mind. Another lady bought our exersaucer and as I said bye to the exersaucer, I recollected how much I hated buying that exersaucer for Greg my 2nd child. I didn't believe in exersaucer or walkers but was desperate enough to buy it when Greg refuse to be put down. He wanted to be carried all the time that for a week we had to do carry out as I could not cook. Its just silly but those toys do have alot of stories behind it. We had another push toy that had sentimental value. It was given by hubby's friend's wife. I didn't know her well then but she later became the kids' Godmother and a good friend to us. She happened to be there at the garage sale to see it go bye bye.... She even remembered that toy.

Little green toy next to Greg was used by Gilly to terrorize the dog!!!

We dragged the old crib out and were determine to get rid of it that we just put a Free sign on it. hehehe... I asked my hubby if he wanted to take it down to the basement again... He was smart enough to say "lets just get rid of it."

Isn't my garage clean??

I gave Gilly a little table for her to sell some items. She got all excited and managed to sell $13 worth of things. I think she did sell more just mummy didn't give her the money when she needed change. Shhh... please don't remind her.

We ended the garage sale at 3pm and took the kids for ice cream after dropping off some toys at Goodwill. The weather started getting bad and I was so exhausted that I took a nap. During my nap I heard siren but I ignored it until Hubby came up to tell me the tornado siren is on and I better get my butt down to the basement. We sat huddled in the basement for good 45 minutes until we couldn't hear anymore siren. We were lucky that the tornado missed us by a few miles. It hit Richton Park and University Park. I'm glad it happened last weekend and not the earlier weekend as we were at University Park for Gilly's ballet recital. I crawled back to bed and slept until 10 when Hubby came up to remind me to eat. Yes I forgot to eat!!!!! Even after chowing down some fried rice, right away I went back to bed. Now its just time for me to start sorting the stuff I want to send to Goodwill, to church, to a friend and trash.

My girlfriend blogged about what had happened to her 5 year old after they left our place. If you have time do stop at her blog to see what happened. Its just so funny that I still laugh about it until today.

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Greg and his hatred for Ebay!!!!

If you didn't read my entry yesterday, we finally bought the Wii Mario Kart yesterday. The kids were so excited that they finally got their Mario Kart. However just before dinner the kids got into big trouble for fighting (yes, those push, kick and hit fights). They were sitting miserably at the dinning table thinking they had to eat white bread for dinner as punishment. When I told hubby that we have 2 mario kart and he suggested selling one on ebay. Greg threw a fit thinking we were selling his Mario Kart because he was naughty. As the Malay saying goes.. "siapa makan chili dia rasa pedas" (english: whoever that eats the hot pepper, is the one tat feels the heat/burn". He was balling like crazy... We were laughing at how he reacted and this did go on for awhile. So here are the photos to show how IMPORTANT a wii game is to a 5 year old.

Click on the photos to see his tears.

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This damn craze of Wii !!!

We have had our Wii system since December 2007 and I've to say our kids don't get to play with it too much. Our house rule is no TV on school days that means no TV, video games nor computer. Even on weekends they sometimes get their TV priveleges taken away for being naughty during the week. We only have Wii Sports, Mario Galaxy, Pets Dogs, Cars and Cooking Mama. I've seen the Kart a few times months ago but never bothered to buy them... until a few weeks ago. Trouble is, they are never in stock!!! I don't understand how dumb Nintendo gets with a limited production that gives rise to scalpers that double the prices of the in-demand items.

Yesterday, I saw the Target sales ads and decided to stop there on our way home from church. It was about 1.30pm. Lo and behold, there was one miserable box left. Yes one lonely box which got me excited. I thought lady luck was on my side.. until I got to the sales assistant. He glanced at me and I said I needed help on the Wii aisle. He told me he would get to me soon. He was attending to 2 customers and when I glanced to see if he was still busy.. this lady told me "He has 2 people ahead of you". I said I know.. then when he came to where I was standing, this lady again turned around and told me... "I was here first", then when the guy asked me what I needed I told him Mario Kart. She quickly told him and me "I wanted the Mario Kar and I was here". I just smiled and told her, "yes if you are here then you should get it first. I know how hard it is to get it". It got me irritated on the way home how bitchy she was. That kinda spoilt my mood for the day but its OK... I went to a party and had fun there.

Today, I was browsing on the internet to see who in this world has a Mario Kart available... and to my surprise ToysRUs said they have stock.. so I called and asked and the lady told me they had stock. I asked her if she only had one or two and she said "oh.. we have alot". I quickly told the kids to get into the car. For the first time in their lives, I have 2 most obedient kids!!!! I had to get them from the garage to help me close the windows and get the dog caged. hahaha.. weren't they quick for once???

We arrived at ToysRus and yes.. they had 3 on the shelf and about 5 more behind the counter. We grabbed one and the kids asked for an extra wheel. Before paying for the item, I made them promise not to ask for any new toy for 2 months as this past week we have gotten them the extra remote/nunchuck and cooking mama game. They promise (I wonder how long this will last).

I decided to head to Costco to fill up the van with the ever so cheap gas ($4.09/gallon) and ran to get myself the umbrella base which weight 65lbs. hahaha I had to get the guy to help me load it to my van. We casually browsed thru the aisled and to our surprise they had Wii Mario Kart and it was $6 cheaper. Like a dumbo.. I just grabbed one of the empty box and went to the counter. They did have stock and I just decided to grab an extra one... I thought I could sell the one I got from ToysRus to my neighbor... now my hubby thinks he should be a scalper as well hahahaha.. we shall see....

As for that bitchy lady... why stress yourself up... your kid won't die without a Mario Kart and the ugly side of you won't have surfaced. I now have 2 Mario karts.. thanks to you silly desperate woman!!!!!! Now.. the quest for a wii Fit for Mummy dearest

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Boxes! Boxes! Boxes!

Do you buy new things and keep the boxes thinking one of these days when you move you need the box. Or think when you sell your used things on ebay, you will need the original box to ship out the item. I'm embarass to say, I'm one that does that.

When we open our new purchase, I would ask my hubby to drag the box into the basement. He would happily do it and literarily take the box down. Is the box arranged so it kept in an orderly manner? NO.. its just "dropped" in the basement. We had this big mess of box... until today.

This morning at 6.30, I decided to just go down to the basement and get hubby to bring up heavy itmes from the basement to the living room. I ended up getting annoyed with the sight of the boxes that I strayed away from my original plan and started clearing up old cardboard boxes. I sorted out the styrofoams and plastic bags and flatted out the boxes. When the kids woke up, without breakfast(shhh!!!) we loaded the minivan with flatten cardboards. This went on until 10:05 a.m. when we realize that we had a play-date at 11 a.m and better go brush our teeth, drink some milk, get dressed and rush to the recycling center.

Boxes from Basement

I'm glad the kids woke up and helped as it was pretty tedious to sort out the boxes and its packing materials plus dragging it up stairs to the 1st floor then drag them to the garage and then to the minivan. Tiny hands and feet but they were were a BIG help.

Van stacked up with flatten boxes

Oh.. boy... we sure filled up the car. By the time we went to the recycling center, the back of the minivan was filled with flatten boxes. Now, now... don't say I'm abusing my kids... yes, we only had cereal straw and milk for breakfast but they had a heck of a play date. We went to our friend's house and the kids played for 30 minutes. Then we went to McD for lunch as we were starving and they kids got to play at McD for whole 2 hours and 30 minutes!!!!! I'm glad the kids got to play as they are kinda sick of playing with just their sibling. Its hard on them when they are so used to seeing their friends in school everyday and to not see any kid unless there are playdates. Hopefully we will have more playdate and that would give the kids something to look forward.

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My New "Toy", an Outdoor Stove

We recently bought an outdoor umbrella from Costco. I decided to go back to Lowes to look for a umbrella stand that matches my patio set(click here to read about it) which I bought last year. There I waltzed into Lowes thinking I'll only be spending the most $50... haa... which fool would believe that would happen to me???

I happened to walk by the outdoor grill section and decided to say "hi" to this outdoor stove that I've been eyeing for the past 2 summers. Fall came and went and this outdoor stove never went on sale. A sale assistant told me last Fall that this stove would never come down in price. I was so dissapointed... until yesterday. My little visit to the stove showed me a yellow tag.. it said "Clearance $95. Was $119". I couldn't believe my eyes, as I never expected it to be in sale. I quickly ran to the shelves to see if there was anymore stock and there stood one!!!. I quickly ran and grabbed a cart and got the assistant to help put it into the cart.

Why was I that crazy to buy that stove??? Firstly I wanted an outdoor stove to fry my Salted Fish and not stink up the house!!!!! Secondly, it has 21,000 btu that means the fire power is huge... yahoo... I can try frying Char Koay Teow and Tai Look meen...hmmmm.. do I have the talent of a Hawker??? That is yet to be seen.. oh... and best part... the grate where you place your pot.... its reversible, you flip it and the bottom part is made to fit a wok.

Its called ...*drumroll*... Char Broil Outdoor StoveTop. If you want more info, go to go to Char Broil's site I was too excited and couldn't wait for hubby to come home. I decided to install it myself and it was pretty easy to follow the instructions. However do becareful with the final part which is installing the Control Knob in Step 6. You have to make sure the "dot" on the knob is at the OFF level. That will ensure a smoother installation. Its not design default if it doesn't go in properly.. its because we have to make sure the dot is at the correct angle. I figured this out while 2 men(I shall not name names) tried to help thought it was design flaw.. hehehe ahem ahem.. ... but all it took was one smart or stubborn cookie to figure that out... Because it something to do with propane tank and it was me that did the installation, I didnt' take any chance, I dragged the stove out to my driveway and stood good 10 feet away while my hubby turned it on for the first time. I'm proud to say my hubby still has all his hair and eyebrows. Phew!!!! If not malu only....

BTW.. They didn't have stock for the umbrella stand... and I ended up with a more expensive purchase than planned... *excited giggles*. I've not cooked with this stove as I've a busy weekend and I'm working on my weekend project. I'll take photos when I cook on this stove.

my lovely stovetop

*update*

I showed my neighbor who happens to be a vietnamese couple my new stove. I helped the wife call all the neighboring Lowes to see who still has stock for this stove and none did. I told her to go back to the one where I bought mine and just try to see if they could get a good price for the "display" unit. They went and did what I told them to do... shhhhh..... they managed to walk out of Lowes with a $5o-something stove. What a bargain.. a display unit that has never been used!!!!

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My Gorgeous Clematis

2 summers ago, I decided to plant some clematis and bought those cheapo tiny pots from Home Depot for $8 each. Those 2 tiny plants has blossom to these two displays which I brightens my morning when I look out of my kitchen window. I chose the purple clematis and Gilly has staked claim that the multicolored one is hers. Gardening is still new to me and I'm still experimenting with my plants. I trimmed one back last year and it has not bushed out as good as the other.. but I still love its lovely display.

I'll say if you are patient person, just buy those small plants and you will still get the stunning display a clematis would give in a year or two.

The trimmed clematis which is now climbing higher

Gilly's clematis

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Last Day of School & First Day of Summer Vacation

YIKES!!!!!!!! Today is the last day of school for Gilly.... Yahoo for Gilly and Yikes for Mummy... hahahaha.... Yes I start my 24/7 job as a referee. Both my kids will be home all the time and they have started their "fights"

I love the fact we have not too much schedule to adhere and basically have all the free time in the world. We can get up late and not rush anyone out of the door. We have swimming lessons planned, a week where Gilly goes to Brownie camp and activities signed up at the library. I do have a busy Wednesday where I have scheduled all my piano lessons. Midweek where we dont' have to reschedule anyone if anyone decides to go on a long weekend vacation. We are pretty upset we dont' get to go back to Malaysia but hopefully we can plan one end of the year or next year. Better planning.. no more procastinating!!!!

Gilly getting on the bus at 8.30 am

Gilly getting off the bus at 10.30 am

We have an annual tradition we do each year around this time of the year. The next day after ballet recital, I cut Gilly's hair shorter. No need for her hair to be bunned up so its all snipped up. Gilly who is a free spirit loves long hair but dislikes combing or tying her hair. Its just more practical during summer to have her hair short since its hot and sweaty. So.. this is what I've done to her hair. Yes... I cut her hair myself.. hahaha... Surprisingly she will not like her hair cut but when its short ... she loves the lighter feel to it and doesn't complain.

Gilly with hair shorter by 2 p.m

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Ballet Recital

Gilly has been dancing ballet since she was 4 and this is our 4th ballet recital. I decided from the beginning to send her to a proper ballet school instead of the park district program. I thought the consistency of a proper dancing school would be good for my active soon-to-be-tomboy. Oh... boy... I didn't know how expensive it would get. The monthly tuition fee isn't all that bad, its when its recital time that it can get pretty expensive. Not only were the tickets $18/person, this year Gilly had 2 costumes and they cost $60 each. Yes this mummy here who usually not spend $20 on an outfit at Target paid $60 for each outfit. My girl better dance GOOD!!!! Oh... there are also photos from photo sessions as well. Luckily those cost $25/costume...

This weekend, we had the recital. Yes its a 2 day dance recital and I'm happy to say Gilly did dance well. She has learnt how to smile during the whole dance routines. I've to say, she has improved from last year. Her outfits were cute, black/red was for her tap dance and a gold/yellow outfit was for her ballet. I've to say I'm quite relieved that she isn't advance yet. Her teacher helper had 13 outfits and that meant her mom had to shelf out almost $800. As a mom, I did watch with amazement how these 8 year olds can remember 2 dance routines and dance without fear or shyness. I don't think at that age I would have dare dance on stage. I've learnt its OK to watch her dance with tears in my eyes. I should be proud of how she has progressed and how pretty she looks.

This is the only time in the year Gilly is allowed to have makeup on her. I remember the 1st year I had to go for a stage makeup and hair workshop. The instructor told us to put on as much make up as we can as the make-up need to last 6 hours. Funniest thing she said was "to know how much is enough, when you are done putting the make-up on, show her to Daddy and if he freaks out ... that's the correct amount". For her age, they require minimum of mascara and eye liner, lipstick, eye shadow and blusher. The older girls would require false eyelashes and when that time comes, I won't know what to do as I've never used one before.

I got to spend 6 hours of Saturday chaperoning the girls. It was a nice time getting to know each girl and having to see the whole production from behind the scenes. Its not easy taking care of 150 girls. As the girls are getting older, its easier to watch them. We had arts and craft to keep them happy. They didn't run around as much as they did the last 2 years. I remember my 1st year, I had to come home and take 2 tylenol (panadol) as I had a headache from doing headcounts... and I had 2 that could not sit still. Only this year we had to learn to do quick costume change as the girls now had more than 1 costume... and there were 3 girls that had 4 costumes. I do look forward each year to helping out at the back. I better enjoy myself, in a few years Gilly would be big enough that I don't need to be backstage anymore.

Enjoy the few photos I took of her in her outfits, no video and photography allowed in the concert hall. We are expected to buy the DVDs.. $35/act.. and there are 2 acts!!!

Gilly in Stock Marker Crash costume

Gilly with her sidekicks

Gilly with her 17 tap dance buddies.

Gilly and proud Greg. He kept shouting and clapping for her when she was dancing.

My Future Prima Ballerina ?

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