Another RARE weekends.....

Quite a lot of things that worth a mention !!

I've been longing to make a "proper" bento if not really a very nice bento for the boys without restriction factors during school days, such as "to be able to withhold our warm temperature"!! This simply means home bento is the best idea !! Usually with the busy events & lazy bugs biting during the weekend, it's really hard to find time to accomplish this task! But this past Saturday, i liked what i cook for our lunch !!!

Hubby got some "sashimo" / the above fish from Cold Storage at very good bargain!! It has always been a 'hit' whenever the family dine at any Japanese restaurant. But maybe due to my lousy frying skills, the boys weren't as fancy as we had initially thought!! Anyway, huby & I do enjoyed eating them!! The moulded rice has been mixed with salmon furikake & there were also other fillings within the rice!! And i had finally finished the last batch of disney animal seaweeds i brought back from Japan!! Though the bento nearly fulfilled the complete criterias of having carbos, protein & veggies, nevertheless, i had expected the boys to give the lettuce & cherry tomato a pass!! Kids never like those anyway....so they were there just to please my camera, haha!! Btw, those brown strips in the triangle silicon cups were "wo lai yeh's yuk kon"/bbq dried meat which was the 1st attacked by the boys !!

This morning, huby finally managed to pick up the courage to send his boys to the long postponed SUNDAY SCHOOL (btw, they should have started since 5 years old) !! I have yet to question him why?? Maybe his grandpa visited him in his dream & gave him a hard knock on his head, bwahahaha.......!!! I personally reckoned that the 1 & a half hour session is a tad long for the kiddos, i'm just very afraid that the boys would soon become very bored of it & hesitate to attend!! And i bet my MIL would be very happy that the grandsons had finally officially on its' way to embrace the religion....she had been hinting & pestering huby to fulfill this obligation of him!!! As Ash Wed, Good Friday & EASTER is approaching, this was their first assignment in the class today !!

For non-christian, these are PALM LEAVES....(the boys told me so, haha) which are used to wave at Jesus on his journey to be crucified....somethg like that lar (as i'm not catholic, stories picked up from huby)!!

I'm glad the boys gave a pretty good review to the start of their sunday class & the fact that they took the effort to colour the leaves after returning home proved their positive attitude...**proud** !!

To reward them after the class, we visited for the 1st time the newly opened IOI Mall Extension mainly for lunch actually!! The boys picked PapaJohn pizzas & the food was pretty good except that we found the portion a bit too small !!!

Then...then...then, DAISO (the RM5 shop) has begin operated since Saturday (28/3) and i knew my visit to IOI mall will never be complete without a visit to it though I didn't really expect much since my bento gear collections are pretty huge already!!

Guess what, the place was "people mountain people sea"....so damn jam pack!! I was even more surprise to discover that the range of products in this branch has more varieties & more extensive than that of The Curve!! So, of course i didn't came out empty handed !!

Without much a do, here you go:

don't you also find these corning wares SO SO SO pretty?? they are not just pretty outside but also quite taxing in weight, so i presume d quality is good !!
and each cost only RM5.....dang !!

Though i saw many new items here which were not available at the other branch during my last visit there, unfortunately there were not many bento related accessories!!! Most of them i had already owned. Anyhow, below were some of my picks!!

i like the 'red bowl' for soup/rice, nice !!

While i was busy at the section for 'silai aunty', the boys were with their dady at where they were meant to be!! They had their pick of items as well !!

And for the longest time i had been looking for those "transparent case" to house the boys mountain of car toys!!
See their range of ferrari cars below & aren't they looked neater this way ??!!

Finally i end this post with yet another snack bento for the boys tomorrow..... simply because:
~the water chestnuts were super sweet & juicy so i had them added into the konyaku jelly &
~the frozen corn seeds were shockingly FRESH & SWEET, i never expected frozen food to turn out so well. just microwave them a little & add some olive butter with a pinch of salt, they tasted like those we get to eat from the Nelson corn!!
at the bottom is a pack of MILO chocolate nougat !!
the colour combination also pretty awesome, rite ??

There goes my busy weekends & i hate to wait for another week to be able to do another posting!! i'm desperately dying to finish off the final episode of my japan visit, i.e. my virgin ONSEN (naked hotspring) session !!! LOL LOL LOL, stay tune lor.....

Bento week # 22

Since posted the boys' series of bentos a month ago with the mom ranting & rafting about her discovery of his little boy Scot refusing to eat & rather suffered the hunger pangs, i have sort of figured out the causes/reasons/rationale behind those ' little drama ' !!!

This little boy has, for his life been a more picky eater compared to his kor-kor, Sean. Since he doesn't "LIVE TO EAT", he is obviously LESS appreciative of food or in other words he is not the "wai sik" type!! And his eating patern is base on NEEDS absolutely....yes, he "EAT to LIVE instead".....as opposed to his parents, *wink* !!!

So after into much talks, persuasion, discussion & consultation (wtf..... like big project pulak...), i could sort of grasped the 'root' of the problem. It appears that those short 20 minutes of the recess time was TOO PRECIOUS to him that he was all willing to forgo his food ....... just for the sake of some 'FREE play time' !! Being such a hyper kid that i knew of him, i don't doubt this at all. It must be pretty hard that he has to be confined in the strict class room environment!! Furthermore, it's really shocking to see the teachers walking around in the school compound with a 'CANE' on top of the pile of books that she was carrying ......as if it was one of her 'teaching tool' :( Being the parents, we can only hope that our kids would not often be the victim of the cane!! Having said that, i can sort of relate to the kids' feeling of restriction & the desire for freedom..... yet on the other hand i would very much like to welcome the enforcement of 'discipline' into the boys' life, what a dilemma ehh??

While the boys related their stories to me, i was made to understand that Scot usually refused to remain seated at the allocated seat in the canteen, thus missing his meal (as their meal was served on the canteen table). Instead he prefers to bring his lunch box to other common areas (flag area/pathway/walkway) and join his little cronies that brought their food from home & did not subscribed to the school meal package!! They were as if having a picnic on the floor, an idea which i'm delighted to receive!! But but .....wait, kids being kids, i can truly understand my son who would not be obligated to sit & eat his meal!! This is especially so when he gets extremely excited PLAYING !! His big brother did 'tuk pui chek/poke his gold finger behind Scot's back' and said Scot used to run around during recess time & i can absolutely picture that!!

Run... chat...push...giggle...run again...bull shit...absolute freedom.......there goes his 20 mins easily !!
and i strongly believe that's how he missed his meal !!
the sad part is, being at primary school level, they are suppose to be entrusted with a responsibility of taking care of themselves during meal time, yet my "well-taken-care-of" boy was just not ready for such huge responsibility yet!!
i truly hope that this phase will fade off soon....bcoz that little tummy really needs some food (even if it's not nutritious type....i.e. canteen food) to sustain the long 7 hours of schooling.....my poor boy!!

Anyway, the above scenarios happened more extreme during the 1st 2 months since school started & as time goes on, i began hearing that Scot sometimes would ate either few mouthfuls of his canteen meal or selective dishes in his bento box....depending on what tricks mummy had used !!! Soon.... as he is more & more willing to take canteen meal, i tend to reduce the size of his bento portion too!! Mostly i would slot in some "add-ons" such as fruits, desserts or other side dishes that could go well with or substitute his canteen meal !!

"strawberries, edamame, cheese cube, marshmellows & baked kamaboko with ham & cheese"

"oranges, fried chicken meat balls & french beans"


"ham sandwich, 1/2 egg, banana fritters & green apple slices"

"leftover food (veggies, meat, milk & egg mixture) quiches"

Here are some of the SATURDAY BREAKFAST meals at home :

Yeah....my dearie SCOT... while i was busy snapping his food, he volunteer this pose, paused & insisted that i snap this photo, arghhh.....he just knows his mom well !!

Btw, he eats well at home under our supervision !!!

"a piece of sushi rice, some pesimmon & dark berries"

OOH ya....i think this was the last meal in these 2 TOMICA CAR lunch boxes before SEAN LOST his box.......this poor boy got nagged by his mom for a whole week, i tell you !!!
I was damn pissed, upset & heartache that i ended up writing a long letter (together with the photo of the lunch box in colour) to the school principal seeking his kind help to locate it back....i know i was betting with luck.....boo hoo!! And I clearly known that i'm super 'kiasu'....so damn petty but ....what to do, that was what my mind wanted to do at that very moment!! But actually i was putting this request as a secondary point in my letter that has other primary issues to attend lar !! Anyhow, i'm glad that the assistant principal did entertained my request & personally gave me a phone call to talk about it.....then i forget about losing the 30ringgit, **grin** !!! Since then i never let the boy use the box & let it collect dust!!
"spit on those parents that allow their kid to bring home things that don't belong to them"

"various pasta meals as it was one of Scot favourite"



Soba mee but it was clearly a wrong idea as i don't have sauce bottle in proper size so the soba soup got spilled & dirty his bag & books!! ** no next time **



"mini sausages & crabsticks pizza with grapes & baby mandarin oranges"

That's some of the boys' bentos recently !!
Hope you don't get too bored with my rantings.....LOL !!

Btw, we survived our EARTH HOUR tonite (back home around 8:45 after dinner & had a night stroll around our 'taman'....the 30-45min went past so fast) !!

Have a good Sunday tomorrow!!

1st Pregnancy TAG !!

I find this tag interesting & easy so i'm giving it a go this time!! thanks Annie for sharing your stories & for tagging me!!

1. WAS YOUR FIRST PREGNANCY PLANNED? Yes

2. WERE YOU MARRIED AT THE TIME? Yes

3. WHAT WERE YOUR REACTIONS? Initially it was a shock but soon happily receiving it as a GIFT of GOD.

4. WAS ABORTION AN OPTION FOR YOU? Absolutely never thought of it

5. HOW OLD WERE YOU? late 20s

6. HOW DID YOU FIND OUT YOU WERE PREGNANT? A test from the pregnancy kit & later confirmed with a gynae visit

7. WHO DID YOU TELL FIRST? Parents & in-laws

8. DID YOU WANT TO FIND OUT THE SEX? Of course. Despite the gynae kept pointed to me the sign of the 2 'birdies' but i still can't figured out the shape from his lousy monitor. So, i was still 'hoping' that it would 'miraculously' turned out a pair of 'loong foong thoi'....(haha, greed eats in me!!)

9. DUE DATE? 1st week Dec 2002

10. DID YOU HAVE MORNING SICKNESS? No

11. WHAT DID YOU CRAVE? Spicy food as usual & cold drinks

12. WHO/WHAT IRRITATED YOU THE MOST? Serious break-out on the face that nearly caused me into depression!!

13. WHAT WAS YOUR FIRST CHILD SEX? Twin boys

14. DID YOU WISH YOU HAD THE OPPOSITE SEX OF WHAT YOU WERE GETTING? Yes, i had wished for a boy & a girl

15. HOW MANY POUNDS DID YOU GAIN THROUGHOUT THE PREGNANCY?
a whopping 23 kg!

16. DID YOU HAVE A BABY SHOWER? Nope, never heard of such thing at that time....haha (it was just not a practice here)

17. WAS IT A SURPRISE OR DID YOU KNOW? Yes, of course

18. DID YOU HAVE ANY COMPLICATIONS DURING YOUR PREGNANCY? Luckily no.

19. WHERE DID YOU GIVE BIRTH? Assunta Hospital

20. HOW MANY HOURS WERE YOU IN LABOR? No labour as it was a planned ceasarean. I was told that the whole procedure only took less than 45mins...

21. WHO DROVE YOU TO THE HOSPITAL? Huby

22. WHO WATCHED YOU GIVE BIRTH? Gynae, paediatrician and nurses

23. WAS IT NATURAL OR C-SECTION? C-Section

24. DID YOU TAKE MEDICINE TO EASE THE PAIN? Yes, Post surgery pain killer for nearly 2 weeks bcoz i'm a person very vulnerable to pain, LOL

27. HOW MUCH DID YOUR CHILD WEIGH? 2.65kg (twin 1) and 2.3kg (twin 2)

28. WHEN WAS YOUR CHILD ACTUALLY BORN ? 11th Nov 2002

30. WHAT DID YOU NAME HIM/HER? Sean & Scot Heng

31. HOW OLD IS YOUR FIRST BORN TODAY? They are 7 years old (by year)

SEAN kor-kor

SCOT di-di

kor-kor kissing di-di

Anyone feel free to do this, please go ahead !!!
The End !!

Bento week # 20

Some asked if i no longer doing bento
Some commented so long never see my bento updates

i'm drowning in guiltiness !!!

The answer is of course i'm still doing bento but it has obviously gone a different direction now with the transition the boys faced from attending kindy to the primary school since beginning of the year. Time was also trying very hard on me lately bcoz i had a super paranoid huby that 'forced' me into spending more time on the boys' homework & studies!! As much as he was happy with my blogging & bento life, he has no choice but to pressure me in foregoing my precious time spent on these 2 hobbies, as his boys' education is above anything !!! To a certain extend, i even felt 'stress' from the pressure he enforced albeit in an indirect mode!!!

I wasn't sure if it was officially a 'problem' but Scot has been reluctant to eat in school, for reason i've yet to ascertain despite much effort!! The same problem was not heard during his time in the kindy. His teacher as well as the 'cook' aunty used to tell me & my mom how many bowls of noodles/porridge both my boys ate. So meal time was never a worry.

Now that in their primary school, we enrolled the boys in the school meal for RM40 per month. With the school preparing meals to them (same way like in their kindy), apart from not wanting them to face much different from their life in kindy, i also do not want the boys to feel left out if they see their friends eating school foods & they are not.

At the same time, i would also prepared a light bento (mostly snack) :

- just as "add-on" should the school meal is too light or;

- serve as an "option" should the food on that particular day is rejected by their taste bud or;

- serve as "tummy-filler" during the 30-45mins after school
(with the traffic congestion during dismissal time, plus extra time spent searching for the boys who would run around & the journey travelling back home, my mom said it could easily takes this long to reach home before the lunch is serve) By then, it could already be 2pm or later.

I thought in that way, i need not have to worry about their meal. However, my recent discoveries proved me wrong. For the past whole month, everyday after work without fail, i would diligently question my boys separately what was the food served on that day. When both boys told the same answer, it means there was no lie. Next, i would asked if they finish the canteen food. Luckily my boys were franked in this regards (much to my surprise), they would tell how they disliked the food hence, did not eat them. Sometimes, there were also other excuses/answers provided. Then obviously i expected them to have eaten their bento instead but to my SHOCK, Scot DID NOT also touch his bento !!! It means this fella has been starving his little tummy from 7 in the morning until 2 in the afternoon, a time when he would whacked a whole big plate of rice !!!

I'm fine if the bento came back intact but they finished the canteen food. But it was not so in my little Scot's case!! My heart really broke into pieces when again & again i came home to receive the same news. Sometimes i would rather he be not so frank....sigh!!! Kakak has been assigned the critical task of checking their lunch box first thing upon reaching home. Anyway, his big brother Sean would there to protest should he hears any lies from his little brother!!

Usually i would check Sean's comment & most of the time he would says:
" Neh Scot lar, he said he is full so he push his plate of food to me " and Sean whalloped them at times, slaphead!!

I felt extremely bad with what Scot has been enduring, i wonder if the food by the canteen COOK was really that SUCKS !! I wonder if Scot was not feeling easy with the adjustments he has to endure!! See the poor fella is getting more & more skinny as compare to that MEATY Sean !!!
I need not have to tell who has rounder face, do I??

Anyway, with the restrictions faced in the current situation, i don't have many choices in the selection of food for the boys' bento!! Anything too cheesy, too milky would not be tolerable. Anything is to be consumed fresh is totally out. Time endurance is an important factor. That maybe why my bento also sucks in taste lately.....

To combat his recent problem, during bedtime, i would even threaten them & began telling 'liar stories' on how his stomach would be visited by all the worms & insects if there are no nutrients, and how his stomach would started to break if there are no food for it to work which leads to gastric and such....LOL LOL, terrible liar mom !!!

Anyhow, as a mother, i can only try, try & try again....giving him a simple bento to encourage Scot to eat. I'm going to show a whole list of the simple bento for the boys & you tell me if they r really such dampening to the appetite !!??

Chocolate bread slice alternating with butterscotch bread tied up in a gift with cheese slice, with quill eggs & baby mandarin oranges!! **too bad untouched too **
Btw, i bought these 2 TOMICA lunch boxes recently from NST's booth at Desa park city Waterfront....that was a lovely place to stay man ....!!

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Fried rice la

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Sweet French toast, gummy sweets, almond chocolate & baby mandarin orange!!

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The above green box was obviously for SCOT as i've purposely slipped in 2 bbq driedmeat sandwiches for him with loads of other tummy fillers!!

Unlike the below blue box which was meant for SEAN, i didn't gave him the sandwich as i knew he eats canteen food, just some 'extras' !!!


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more snacks here

sausage, kiwis, fried fillet & car shaped rice

dipping biscuit sticks, seaweed rice crackers & edamame

yoghurt drink, grapes, fried fillet & macademia nuts

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At one point, i felt so unmotivated until i had to resort to making SUPER MINI SANDWICHES like the below.....it was only a triangle sushi mould (now....am sure u know how small it is)

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Even, yummillicious cakes like the below also were not appreciated. A customer bought them to our office last Thursday & each of us had 3 pieces. I only dare to take a bite of each, can die if i eat them all. So i cute them into smaller pieces for the boys but also untouched. They were only whacked after their piano & drama _ speech class which ended at 9:15 on Friday night. The class started at 7:30 pm, a time their stomachs said too early for dinner so they went to the class empty stomach too (as they ate their lunch quite late)


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That's THE END of the snack bentos for the boys !!!

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I'm sorry if i had already blurred your vision with the bento marathon above!!
But i'm not about to finish yet. As i really dunno when i would have time & energy to post these if i don't skali do it now.....continue posting more bentos photos for you to drool.....

I'm way far out from calling myself a bentoist as i don't follow the rules at all.
No recipes, no instructions .....no tutorials!!
All i mind was to make FUN with bento then post them up here (lest there are ppl who appreciate them)

Again, these are ADULTS BENTO (not for my kids, ok!!!)


Easy peasy LYCHEE Fried rice with "Ah Pek" & "Ah Moi" (fishballs & taufu skin) sitting on a pool of ladies fingers


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Yam rice with sweet & sour meat ball, some filamen sticks & flower egg sheets!!
Some macademia nuts (thks unc.Bob for this) & raisins as appetizer!!



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Sweet potatoe rice, weiners with brocollis!!
a buffalo wings & some curry potatoes on a pool of stir fried cabbage!!

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Macademia nuts + raisins + lettuce = GREAT SALAD
Bitterguard chickens to go with the moulded rice
I was clearly seen clearing off my DENBU (the pinkish thingy on the pooh cheeks)

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On days i needed more GREENS .....

This time, i'm really ending this super long bento post !!!
Hope i've contributed some ideas there.....

Happy Bentoing !!!

Orientation, Primary School Begins & Bento...

There will be a super long 'rojak' updates next, so better get this fix first.

We being the 'new parents' to primary schoolers finally had the FEEL of what it tastes like.... of the "havoc morning rush for school" !!

I had initially doubted & got angry why our "cleber govt" imposed such an early time to begin the primary school session, but after giving a thought over the time an ordinary working 'slave' (as if i'm not) needs to report to work (which is like around 8-9am), i turned wiser & be more acceptable of this routine!

Gotta got up latest by 6a.m. & got myself ready in 25 minutes. Then hopped over to the boys' bed with uniforms and started to give them 'ALARM' with my noisy voices (helo...morning boys...wake up edi...going to school...yr friends waiting to see you...bla bla bla...)

By the time i finished changing them, they would have been woken up...then gotta dragged them down to brush teeth (a very quick one though), wipe their face to freshen them, comb, drink a cup of either honey/milo/water!
Very quickly they will be asked to put up their socks & shoes while i had my final pack of things before leaving the house amidst the dark sky still at 6:50 a.m.....crazy !!!

Here are the boys putting on their shoes

Scot got very annoyed with the flash & mommy shooting him .......kakaka

here's the zombie look of Sean

And a 'force' smile from Scot.....haha

By the time we defeated the terrible traffics & settled at the school compound it was nearly 7:20am though the entire journey approximately 7km should only took us 10mins to arrive!!

The bell rings at 7:30 sharp.

Here are the boys gushing hurriedly into their classroom.............like 'tai kor' coming.....

apparently eager to meet their friends!!

How are they doing in school???

See below ...... it was Scot. What do you think happened?? Crying??...whining??

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... NAH ...

He was just reluctant to be snapped by the camera!!

But too bad, blame it on having a blogger mummy lor.......LOL.

My monkeys WERE (according to my judgement) indeed monkeys of the class......!!
Both of them just couldn't care less, thus walking & running about in the classroom disturbing their 'gang' of friends (as if they have known for ages) while i can see other angelic boys & girls that sat quietly on their respective chairs. Apparently the class teacher was busy handling the parents over the students' affairs on the first 2 days of school & can't bother much !!

Scot seen transforming his new pencil case (bought from HK, Disneyland) into a "gun-like toy" & started playing it as one with his classmates!!
The teacher has arranged the boys to seat next to girls for obvious reason we all know. And my Scot was placed at the last row of seat which i would have to 'talk' to his teacher one day (if the need arises), should he ever behaves like a monster at the back, he better be transferred to the front for a good watch by the teacher!!

I really sympathies the quiet & shy little girl who sat next to him lor....hopefully this monkey won't bully her so much.....sigh !!!

Here's Sean ..... looking a little more innocent than his cheeky lil brother but certainly not much better !!!

Being still a new comer plus given only an allowance of 20minutes for recess time, i got really freak out thinking of getting my boys to queue & buy food for themselves!! As if there will be earthquake if another 10 more minutes are given for the recess time......at least 30minutes should be more appropriate lar!
So being the 'kiasi' mom, i signed up for the meal package for the boys. RM40 per month per head. Each kid will be given a number which will be sticked on the table where food will be served when the kids arrived at meal time. The menu list of the meal has quite a lot of varieties too, much to my pleasure.

Hence, i should be spared of preparing bento for them i thought. But after the first 2 days, even my mom also advised me to keep 'some snack' in their bag as their meal time is 9:30 in the morning, and by 1:30pm when school finishes, both of them were screaming in hunger!! Yet, my mom said they would still have to bear being caught in the heavy traffic jam for at least 1/2 hour before reaching home for lunch around 2pm.......poor boys!! So having some simple snacks in their bag at such time would certainly ease their growling stomachs!!

But it would be tough to think of what food that still made good snacks after enduring at least 5 hours in the lunch box!! So for the time being, i could only think of bread so i made use of the various bread cutters newly bought recently!!

A Milo wafer, a peanut butter & kaya wholemeal sandwich in stitch shaped, 2 cubes of cheese & some sultanas in the little container !!!

The next day has similar snacks too ..... but this time using the mickey shaped seaweed as decor!! Ooh ya....the Madagascar bento set (by Tupperware) was newly purchased from
Peggy (LaundryAmah)!!

Ooh ya, the boys attended a holiday camp of 10 days in their new school during the school holiday. It was more like a tuition & revision actually. I'm glad that the boys' language skills in Bahasa were very much brushed up in this camp. Especially with their current 'kakak' that only speaks bahasa to them, the boys' picked up the language pretty fast surprisingly this time around. After the 10 days lesson in school, they came back kept humming in a bahasa song!!

check out what they sang !!!
i was hidden behind at the kitchen when i captured this video of the boys in action !!!

So far so good, i'm very much pleased with the environment & atmosphere of this brand new government school of 2 years!! All i hope is that the teacher would be patience enough to guide & teach my hyperactive & naughty boys!!

Seems a good start, no cry, no tears, no fuss.....**someone beaming in pride**....hehe

Happy Schooling boys !!