God plants dreams

" i want a small house with a huge front and backyard for my guests."

it was a bold proposition that i made when i was praying to God this morning while in the midst of cleaning my daughter's milk bottles. having been living in australia for two and a half years, in a rented flat which we're sharing with a dear polish lady, i got used to living in a small house with limited storage. the constrained space was not really a problem to us as we can always make do with the littleness of what we have. however, we are a growing family and we're thinking of conceiving a second child next year. the space suddenly takes an ascend up the priority list. it was also the time, despite the market's gradual correction on property prices, when real estates are on its highs (the bubble might have already burst... but it's way too slow to feel it). it's too expensive to invest. too much over our budget.

but here i am, praying a house with yards around it. "i must be dreaming!", i have to remind myself. this is God whom i'm asking. i should be more confident to ask this from Him. He plants dreams, by the way.

and if he so ask why such dauntless claim, to that i will reply:

a small house so that i don't need the whole weekend to just do housekeeping ;-)

so kaela and her soon-to-be sibling (s) can enjoy running around the house, just like when i was growing up in a village

so that i can invite our growing list of friends without doing it in batches and cooking dishes for every group

it's all up to Him, really. He plants dreams. He provides.

coffee, milk and so much more

we're easy. a coffee for me and milk for kaela, and we're sold out! 

we spent our sunday lazing around in the morning and taking a nap after lunch. and just before i stepped in the shower after the siesta, the little toddler was up, in  high spirits and saying, "hi". 

kaela joined me to my afternoon sunday day-out. we headed to the library to borrow some books for our nightly reading.

not far from the library is my favorite coffee shop - the emporium coffee. we stopped by to have my most needed sip of the day while kaela had her milk delight. it was a splendid time!

 

across the coffee shop is the westfield mall where we window-shop on weekends (and always just buying coffee or going home empty-handed but more memories to tell tatay kitt). kaela was over the moon for a while when she saw the minion plush toys. the next minute she was dying to leave the pram, wanting to grab the fluffies!

in the mall, the giant christmas tree is already standing tall and grand. kaela couldn't miss not posing for a souvenir. it's always love at first sight every year!

what else could we ask for our sunday! it was perfect.

having less is more

i'm very sensitive about buying stuff. call me stingy, but this habit has taught me a lot through the years. we have a tiny home with no storage room, so you can imagine that incessant shopping and hoarding is not an option. it's the same principle i practise on kaela. we've learned to improvise the toys. to make things do. if she's bored with the usual toys, we add flavor to it by using other tiny little things we find in our cupboard.

life is simpler! i refuse to spend most of my time on weekends doing just chores. having lesser things we own means lesser to clean and keep, and more time to spend with kitt and kaela. it's a win-win!

despite unappealing to adults, she's fascinated with plastic bags, hangers and papers.

old nappy plastic and paper bags, we're in to it!

on weekends, i bring her to the mall across our street. we would hang out at the different rides, along with other children. kaela would always say hi to other kids (she's very good at that!)  we just love our time together!

oh jacaranda!

it's spring and the purple color of jacaranda tree stands out among other things around. it's like a vision of paradise! we just heard the mass at st. patrick's and we're on our way home. how can you not stop and appreciate the beauty of nature (that being said, the tree and the three of us)? it was a breezy late afternoon and traversing this area was just heaven. 

kitt, my dearest, you look so gwapo with the trees!

kaela is growing up so fast, isn't she? but she'll always be my little doll.