Dear Joel…

​You are 7 now! 🎉

Here were some things that we did for your birthday this year :)

First, Mommy and Daddy prepared a little surprise for you the night before your birthday.. and you saw the surprise in the morning when you woke up :) There were balloons, donuts and Lego for your birthday presents…

After we celebrated you in the morning, we went for swimming together at Melton Waves. It was a really hot day (40-45 degrees) but we still had a great time swimming. We went for dinner at Sushi Train, prayed together, talked about what we love about you and your birth story :) We closed the day with a movie night at home.. we watched Happy Feet 🐧

The next day we went to watch 13 Storey Treehouses live show at the theatre and it was really fun! We also had another movie night on that day, watching Happy Feet 2 😁

The day after that, the celebration still continued.. It was Sunday, so we celebrated your birthday with other kids at Sunday School.. And after church, Mommy took you out for a lunch date ❤️ You chose to eat pizza and babycino..

We love you, Joel! We’re so grateful to have you in our family and to see you grow.. Hope you enjoyed all the celebrations and always remember how precious and wonderful you are! xoxo 😘 

November 2025 💚

​This month I started taking a break from Facebook and Instagram, and I’m happy to start sharing my life in this blog again :)

So we started this month with a Christmas tree! Haha.. Yes, we always put a Christmas tree very early 😄 (and some Christmas decorations too)

We also have a new neighbor this month.. so the kids made homemade cards to welcome them.. and they gave chocolate muffins for us, yum! 😋

I bought new book series for Glenn from Amazon, called “The Secret of The Hidden Scrolls” by M.J. Thomas and he loves these books so much!

If you’re looking for chapter books for your kids that based on the Bible stories, I really recommend this one 👍

The kids also started learning an electric drum as part of their music lesson.. Our kids somehow always prefer to learn music at home by themselves through the apps and they did really well so far :) They use Simply Piano app for the keyboard and Instadrum app for the electric drum..

Last but not least, this month is very special because our youngest, Levi, turned 4 🎉

His birthday was on Sunday so we gave him a surprise in the morning before we went to church and we also celebrated with other kids at church after that :) We took him for lunch at the restaurant that has a big playground inside.. simple but meaningful and Levi was so happy 🥰

We love you so much, Levi! We’re so grateful to have you in our family.. God bless you 💚

Blueberry Cheesecake

DM is not a big fan of cakes or dessert, so he only likes certain kind of cakes. One of them is cheesecake. So, I chose to make this one for his birthday last week :) Wanna try? Here is the recipe...

BLUEBERRY CHEESECAKE

Ingredients:

15 graham crackers, crushed

2 tablespoons butter, melted

4 (8 ounce) packages cream cheese

1 1/2 cups white sugar

3/4 cup milk

4 eggs

1 cup sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

Fresh blueberries

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease a 9 inch springform pan.

2. In a medium bowl, mix graham cracker crumbs (or Marie crackers) with melted butter. Press onto bottom of springform pan. Put some blueberries on the top of the crust.

3. In a large bowl, mix cream cheese with sugar until smooth. Blend in milk, and then mix in the eggs one at a time. Mix in sour cream, vanilla and flour until smooth. Pour filling into prepared crust.

4. Bake in preheated oven for 1 hour. Turn the oven off, and let cake cool in oven with the door closed for 5 to 6 hours; this prevent cracking. Chill in refrigerator until serving.

5. You can put some fresh blueberries on the top for decoration :)

The birthday boy :p

Blueberry Muffins Recipe

Last Saturday (27/4/2013) was my dad's birthday :) And kali ini aku kepikiran buat bikinin dia blueberry muffins (yang aku ambil dari buku resep anak-anak, hehe..) Lucunya, pagi itu aku harus bener-bener ngebut bikin nih kue karena mo kasi surprise buat dia.. Aku cuma punya waktu kurang dari 1 jam (pas dia lagi anterin my mom ke pasar) and thanks God semua bisa selesai right on time! Jadi pas dia masuk ke rumah, aku udah selesai pajang muffins ini di meja.. ada 13 muffins and masing-masing ada lilinnya, jadi ada tulisan "happy birthday" gitu deh :) Ini aku share resepnya ya...

Blueberry Muffins

Muffins make a delicious dessert. The blueberries make the muffins extra moist and yummy. They pop while they cook to make great bursts of colour.

You will need:

50 g unsalted butter

250 g self-raising flour

1 tsp baking powder

75 g caster sugar

finely grated zest of 1 lemon/orange (optional)

250 ml plain yogurt

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

250 g blueberries/raspberries

12 cup muffin tin and muffin cases

How to make?

1. Preheat the oven to 200 C. Line a 12 cup muffin tin with muffin cases. (kalo pake kayak punyaku, gak perlu muffin tin)

2. Melt the butter in a pan, set aside. Sift the flour into a bowl, mix in the baking powder, sugar, zest. Make a well in the centre.

3. Mix the yogurt, eggs, and cooled melted butter together in a large jug, then pour into the dry ingredients.

4. Add the blueberries. Mix until just combined, but don't over-mix or the muffins will be heavy.

5. Spoon evenly into the muffin cases and bake for 20 minutes, or until golden and springy. Cool in the tin for five minutes.

Source: "Get Cooking!" book, by Dorling Kindersley Limited, 2012

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!! ^o^

Little Candles: Making Bday Pancakes!

Ini dia liputan kegiatan Little Candles di bulan Maret 2013 :) Seharusnya kita adain kegiatan ini hari Sabtu yang lalu, tanggal 9 Maret, pas aku ultah.. but karena mo ada acara lamaran di rumah, jadi kita pending deh ke Sabtu kemarin, tanggal 16 Maret..

Ada 6 anak yang dateng ke rumahku dan aku ajarin mereka bikin Pancakes.. Tadinya mo ajarin mereka bikin from scratch, but karena takut kelamaan (hehe..) akhirnya pake pancake mix aja deh.. jadi mereka tinggal campur pake telor, air and abis itu belajar cara masaknya :)

The girls in action ;)

Sempet ada beberapa yang gosong, haha.. but it's ok, namanya juga belajar :) Seneng juga liat Justin uda bisa mulai ikut bikin kue, biasanya dia cuma bisa ngeliatin and ikut makan doang, hehe.. So precious ngeliat perkembangan anak-anak :') Nah, setelah semua pancakes udah jadi, mereka juga belajar nge-dekor.. ditumpuk jadi kayak kue ultah, trus dihias pake syrup, buah strawberry, lilin and ice cream.. Mereka langsung gak bisa nahan diri gitu pas liat ice cream, mo langsung dilahap, huahaha.. but untung aku tahan, jadi masih bisa sempet foto-foto dulu.. fiuuhh.. (^^')~

Nyumm... nyumm... nyumm...

Selain bikin pancakes, mereka juga sempet main beberapa permainan lainnya.. But aku cuma sempet fotoin Justin and Claire yang lagi main Lego :) Seneng liat anak-anak main beginian, or main permainan2 jadul lainnya.. soalnya zaman sekarang kan kebanyakan mainnya iPad, Tab dll.. sekali-sekali mereka perlu diajak main beginian, bagus buat latian motorik and jadi lebih kreatif + bisa lebih bersosialisasi juga, hehe..

Justin ternyata demen difoto, hihi...

Great job, Claire!!

And then terakhir, yang bikin aku seneng juga, yaitu birthday wishes yang mereka tulis di white board... so precious :) Tulisan and kreasi anak-anak banget ya... i love it!!

THANK YOU LITTLE CANDLES...

I LOVE YOU ALL SO MUCH!!!

My 27th Bday :)

Last Saturday (March 9), I celebrated my 27th Bday (wow... I'm old! LOL!) And cukup special sih, karena ini merupakan my last bday as a single (yes, I'm getting married soon :)) and also my last bday in Indo, I think.. :p

Jadi hari Sabtu kemarin, selain rayain ulang tahun, DM's parents and family also came to my house.. buat lamaran ceritanya.. but karena both of our family ga ada tradisi macem-macem, and tanggal married pun juga udah ada, haha.. jadi yah mungkin lebih tepatnya kayak acara silaturahmi keluarga kali ya, wkwkwk.. ngobrol, ngomongin planning ke depan, and lunch bareng :)

Dapet banyak bday presents juga.. but yang paling special of course kado dari tunanganku yang ganteng dan baik hati (hahaha.. harus dipuji dong, biar dikasi kado lagi nanti, hihihi.. :p) Meskipun I really wish he was here on my bday, but udah cukup seneng bisa dapet kado ini dari dia (yang udah dititipin jauh-jauh dari Aussie.. thank you!) He gave me charms..

Lucunya, pas pertama buka nih kado, aku blom ngerti apa maksud dari charms ini.. maklum ga terlalu ngerti soal perhiasan, haha.. But kemaren ini aku sempet mampir ke Pandora, and pas di situlah aku baru ngerti kalo ternyata setiap gandulan-nya itu ada artinya.. kayaknya misalnya bentuk pesawat, DM pilih itu karena dia tau aku suka traveling.. or bentuk buku, karena dia tau aku penulis buku and suka baca buku juga.. begitulah kira-kira, hehe.. Pas tau meaning-nya jadi berasa makin special deh :) Thank you!!

Selain itu, bday kali ini juga special of course karena kehadiran orang-orang yang special juga, hehe.. I got bday surprises from all of my besties :)

1st, dari gerombolan Natasha, Fiona, Yuliani and Devie.. Abis makan bareng di Lobbie Lobster (new resto), aku ikut mereka ke PI.. and pas di sana, mereka kasi surprise.. and so special, soalnya itu bday cake bikinan Natasha and dia begadang ampe jam 2 pagi (plus jadi ga bisa bangun ke gereja besoknya, haha.. oops.. :p) So yummy! I love Red Velvet! Thank you ladies... :)

And 2nd, from Amelia, Elvira and Nouyya.. Kemaren tepatnya, haha.. Mereka ajak aku makan di Warung Pasta.. Trus ternyata setelah makan, mereka juga uda siapin kue and kado.. Kadonya so special deh.. Mereka bikin sendiri soalnya :) Kayak tempelan foto-foto, tulisan-tulisan mereka, dihias, trus dikasi frame.. Udah aku pajang tuh langsung di kamar, hihi.. Pas juga kita duduk deket spot yang ada statement about friendship gitu, jadi bisa buat foto-foto deh :p

Thanks all for the love and friendship.. I love you all..!!!

♥ ♥ ♥

There's nothing on this earth more to be prized than true friendship.

- Thomas Aquinas

His Special Day :)

I don't know why beberapa minggu ini kondisi fisik aku lagi gampang nge-drop banget.. Sekitar 2 minggu lalu aku sempet sakit, and today aku sakit lagi :( Padahal aku ini orangnya jarang sakit lho.. This morning aku masi bisa paksain diri kerjain bbp house chores (nyapu, angkat jemuran, nyetrika baju, panasin makanan, beresin belanjaan dari pasar) but after that, udah teler bener.. rasanya gak pengen ngapa-ngapain nih.. gak pengen makan, gak pengen tidur.. (duh, koq malah jadi curcol gini ya, haha..) jadi mending aku nyantai duduk di sofa aja deh sambil nge-blog :p

Anyway, hari Rabu kemaren (27 Feb) was DM's Bday.. Aku sebenernya udah siapin and kasih kado ultah buat dia tuh dari bulan Desember, pas dia ke Jakarta, hahaha.. But dia gak boleh buka sampe 27 Feb kemaren (biar bikin penasaran :p) Thank you for being honest and patient.. :)

So, yah.. akhirnya kemaren ini dia udah boleh buka, and ini dia isinya.. Handmade Bday card, dasi sama kemeja yang di tangannya aku jait and bikin inisial DM (D for his name, and M for my name) pas banget ya nama aku depannya huruf M, wkwkwk.. I got this idea from my mom, dari film Korea yang dia tonton tepatnya :p Mungkin maksudnya biar tiap kali dia pake tuh kemeja, he will remember my name.. LOL!

Selain itu, pas hari Rabu itu, aku juga lagi iseng mo nyoba resep kue.. Jadi sekalian aja aku bikin "Oreo Pudding Cake" itu, trus aku tancepin lilin and kirim fotonya ke dia deh.. but kuenya aku yang makan, haha.. *peace* (^o^)v

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DM!

Let me tell you what God said next.

He said, “You’re my son,

And today is your birthday.

What do you want? Name it:

Nations as a present? continents as a prize?

(Psalm 2:7-8, MSG)

We will experience so many things together this year.. challenging, but also exciting :) And aku berdoa supaya kita bisa tetep kuat ya dalam lewatin semua proses (termasuk dalam menjalani LDR ini, hihi..) and hubungan kita bisa menjadi berkat buat banyak orang.. I will always keep you in my prayer.. and let Jesus be the Center of our relationship..!

See you in about 2 more months!! Yippie!! ^o^

Yay! Kemejanya pas! Hehe...
(Fyi, DM is a great nanny.. you can contact him if you need help.. LOL *promosi* :p)

God bless you and keep you,

God smile on you and gift you,

God look you full in the face

    and make you prosper.

(Numbers 6:24-26, MSG)

Angel Cake For My Angel ♥

My Angel?! YES! Who is My Angel?! Siapa lagi kalo bukan... my Mom! :)

Yesterday (23/9/2012) was my mom's 53rd Bday.. and seperti biasa, aku mulai mikir.. hmm.. mo bikinin kue apa ya kali ini?! Kayaknya bosen bikin cheese cake mulu :p And aku tiba-tiba kepikiran satu kue yang aku pernah dapet pas aku bday di Amrik, kamu bisa liat di post aku yang ini: (My 25th Bday!!) namanya Angel Food Cake.. kayaknya seru aja meaning-nya.. Angel cake for my angel, hehe..

Tadinya aku berniat begitu and mo bikin ikutin resep yang di SINI, but karena waktu and bahannya agak terbatas (apalagi kemaren hari Minggu, harus ke gereja dulu dsb.) aku akhirnya prefer bikin ikutin resep Sponge Cake dari SINI, but dikasih dekorasi Angel, hehe.. Agak mirip-miriplah, sama-sama soft teksturnya :p And abis itu aku tinggal tambahin icing sama hiasan.. Thanks so much buat ci Rina yang udah mo bantu bikinin that cute little angel yang aku taro di tengah-tengah kue.. I love it so much! Ampe sayang buat dimakan, masih ada tuh dia di kulkas, hihi..

So, ini dia hasilnya! My parents and sodara-sodara yang pas lagi dateng ke rumah pada nyobain.. and thanks God semuanya bilang "Enakk..!!" hehe.. but mereka gak bisa makan icing-nya terlalu banyak (maklum orang tua semua, bahaya kalo makan kebanyakan gula :p) Ini aku share resepnya ke dalem bahasa Indonesia ya, plus beberapa tambahan dari aku juga..

CAKEBOSS SPONGE CAKE

Bahan Kue:

4 telur

2 cups gula pasir

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup susu full-cream

1/4 cup mentega yang gak asin (tambah garam dikit)

2 cups tepung terigu

2 tsp baking powder

1/4 tsp garam

Bahan Icing:

1 1/2 cups icing sugar

3 tbs mentega yang gak asin (dihalusin)

1/2 tsp vanilla

2 1/2 tbs susu full-cream

garam sedikit

Bahan Dekorasi:

Fresh Berries

Hiasan Angel, Flowers, mutiara, dll...

(kreasi kamu sendiri deh, hehe..)

Cara Membuat:

• Kocok telur dengan mixer selama 4 menit. Jangan ampe lewatin step yang satu ini pokoknya!
• Tambahin gula dan terus dikocok selama 4-5 menit sampe ringan and halus. Tambahin vanilla dan diaduk sampe kecampur rata.
• Dalam mangkuk lain, campur semua bahan yang kering (tepung terigu, baking powder, garam) Trus masukin ke dalam adonan telur tadi sampe rata.
• Dalam panci, panasin susu dan mentega dengan api kecil, sampe menteganya mencair. Masukin ke dalam adonan, diaduk sampe rata.
• Tuang adonan ke dalam loyang kue yang udah dilapisin mentega and tepung (biar gak lengket).
• Panggang di oven dengan suhu 325F (sekitar 162C) sampai matang (sekitar 30 menit) atau  coba tes pake tusuk gigi, kalo udah kering berarti udah mateng. And kalo udah mulai harum alias kecium baunya, itu artinya bentar lagi jadi, hehe..
• Setelah itu, keluarin dari oven, diemin dulu aja skitar 10 menit.. abis itu baru dibalik.
• Campur semua bahan Icing sampai rata, dilapisin ke atas kue yang udah jadi tadi.
• Trus, tinggal dihias deh :) Done!!

Selain itu, aku juga kasi another gift for my mom.. I made a scarf for her.. soalnya tiap kali dia liat aku bikin scarf ini buat orang laen, dia selalu "mupeng" gitu alias kepengen, hehe.. Jadi aku bikinin dia juga deh, and langsung dipake buat ke gereja kemaren ;)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MY DEAR MOM!!

YOU ARE MY ANGEL

THAT GOD SENT FROM HEAVEN...

and

I LOVE YOU! :)

Handmade Presents ♥

Akhir-akhir ini lagi sukaaa banget sama semua yang serba homemade and handmade.. kayaknya seru aja yah kalo bisa bikin semuanya dari hasil karya sendiri, hihi.. Meskipun butuh lebih banyak effort, trus harus mikir and belajar juga, but pas liat hasilnya tuh rasanya lebih special dibanding sekedar beli jadi.. apalagi kalo buat dijadiin presents or gifts.. so special!!

Jadi, hari Sabtu yang lalu (18 Aug) my Pastor (PJ) ulang taon and kesempatan bagus nih buat siapin kado handmade karena dia termasuk salah satu orang “penting”, haha.. So, aku coba mikir-mikir.. hmm.. kasi apa yah?! And muncullah 2 ide ini :)

1. SCRAPBOOK

Udah lama banget gak pernah bikin scrapbook, bahkan udah gak inget kapan terakhir kali bikin, hahaha.. but I think this was a good idea! So, gak pake mikir panjang, aku langsung ke book store buat beli bahan-bahannya (aku banyak pake bahan daur ulang), cetak foto-foto dia, bikin malem itu juga, and… selesai!! Sengaja gak bikin yang ribet, soalnya waktu itu cuma punya waktu 1 minggu and aku harus mintain tanda tangan + bday wishes dari semua temen-temen gereja.. Wuah, akhirnya bisa selesai juga right one time…! ^^

2. BIRTHDAY CAKE

Nah, rencananya pas hari Sabtu itu kita mo datengin rumah dia and kasi surprise.. Tadinya sih mikir, beli kue yang udah jadi aja, karena aku juga udah bikin scrapbook segala macem. But tiba-tiba berubah pikiran, haha.. kayaknya lebih seru kalo bikin sendiri :p So, I decided to make BLUEBERRY CHEESE CAKE! Nyuummm… jadi pengen lagi, hihi..

Resepnya kamu bisa liat di sini nih:
http://marcellaflaorenzia.blogspot.com/2011/09/strawberry-cheesecake.html
cuma beda buah and toppingnya aja, diganti jadi Blueberry.. and honestly, susah bener nyari buah Blueberry di sini, ampe udah muter-muter ke banyak supermarket.. but akhirnya ketemu juga di Farmer’s Market.. harganya emang agak mahal, aku pake 1 box sekitar Rp 40.000,- but worth it koq rasanya, asal jangan keseringan aja, hahaha..

So, yah.. semua surprise-nya berjalan dengan lancar.. And I, personally, feel the joy after making and giving those presents.. Memang gak gampang to have a simple life di kota yang serba modern and serba instant ini.. kalo tinggal di desa mungkin lebih gampang.. but I wanna learn and I want to improve my skill.. Seperti yang aku pernah bilang: gak semua wanita dipanggil untuk jadi wanita karir, but semua wanita harus bisa berkarya :)