The Year 2006

Its nearly the end of the year, so its time to take a short stroll down memory lane to see what we have been up to this year:

For Bianca, she started going to school and really stood out in class not only for her reading and writing skills, but her helpful attitude towards her peers and teachers. She's recieved a few awards, got really good marks/ comments from the teachers, and managed to speak and perform in front of the whole school with no obvious stage fright. Needless to say, she's given us a lot of proud parenting moments. This year we also started the 'girls day' routine that was always the highlight of our week. And it doesn't have to be an elaborate combination of activities like shopping or visiting new places to make her happy. Once we just shared some ice cream in front of the TV at home and that made her day! Obviously, quality time with her is the best way to make her feel loved and happy.

For Nico, he has grown up so much physically and mentally. Although many mistake him for a baby due to his size, he certainly makes up for it with his climbing, running and jumping abilities. He can even kick a ball around with so much ease I wonder if this was because of his exposure to the many games we watched on TV and live in the stadium. He has also made leaps and bounds regarding his reading and writing abilities. He's even begun to add numbers in his mind! He also makes us laugh a lot of times with his cheekiness and his own brand of humor. He has made so much progress in the toilet training department, he's begun to wear 'jocks' all day now.

For Chaz, work has given him the challenge of becoming a team leader early this year. It wasn't always easy managing peoples moods and balancing the resources, but he's done a pretty good job. On the home front, he's found his way around the kitchen a lot of times due to the cooking shows that continue to inspire him to experiment. Among the successful attempts are: pancit bihon, sushi, crispy roast pork, rack of lamb, and lots more. He was also seriously taken by the soccer bug, cheering on the socceroos on TV and even taking in some live games with or without the family. He even managed to watch a U2 concert with a friend on his first night out without the family! I'm sure that will be a highlight of this year for him.

For me, apart from looking after all three kids mentioned above ;-), I also took an interest in gardening. I liked digging in the dirt, taking out the weeds , and planting new ones. I can't say it was all success as the unusually dry weather and water restrictions killed some of the plants that I planted myself. However, a few plants did survive and even thrive despite these conditions. On the kitchen front, I also managed to find that elusive recipe for garlic prawns that I've tried in a number of cafes here in Adelaide. Thank goodness for a TV cooking show (The Cook and the Chef on SBS) , I was able to cook and serve this favourite dish of mine to my family and friends on Xmas day. On the hobby front, scrapbooking took a backseat this year. However, I did discover blogging which is essentially the same thing, putting memories down for future generations, right? Lastly, a recent and unexpected development was that I started working again a few weeks ago. Its back into an IT position on a part-time basis, filling in for people who are on holidays until next month. Funny thing is that this came just when I thought my IT skills were passé and was planning to do a big career change into education or childcare. Life does not always goes as planned, someone up there must have had other plans for me.

All up, our family has had an eventful year in 2006. We have a lot to be grateful for, a happy and healthy family first and foremost. We managed to spend a lot of quality time together as a family, not to mention with the old and new friends that made the past 12 months quite enjoyable.