Wednesday, December 31, 2008

A Day to Reflect and Look Forward

I always get very emotional on the last day of the year. During my younger days, I often ended up in tears, either a quiet sobbing next to my pillow or just watching the countdown on TV with streams of tears down my face. 

I mostly cried for the disappointments, pain and regrets I suffered that year. It was like a ritual that I had unknowingly started for myself. The tears sort of wash away the negative experiences and help me 'bury' them, so I could look forward to the new year with hope and positive energy.

As I mature, I don't remember crying on New Year's Eve anymore but it becomes a day of serious reflection. I simply look back on the year and relive the good and bad memories. It is a like a day of self-assessment - of how well I had performed my roles as a person, a daughter, a wife, and a mother. And as I take stock of my achievements and failures in each role, I plan my personal goals for the following 12 months.

Over the years, I learn to let go of unhappiness and look forward to opportunities to lead a more fulfilling and happier life in the new year. 

On this last day of 2008, I feel an amazing aura of peace and contentment. Perhaps it comes from the conviction, more than ever, that my life will be as good as I make it to be. 

Tickling Fun

I know in years to come, I will be thankful for having these types of photos. 




I have looked at them so many times and still, they never fail to make me smile. 

Ahhh.....  Kids can really bring on the sunshine! 

Tuesday, December 30, 2008

A Few Days of Pure Leisure



Early this month, I mentioned to E that I would really love to go away on a holiday without the kids. I just feel like I need one to recharge. 

Since we have no one to leave the boys with, I can't go with E. So perhaps I could go with my sister. Or maybe girlfriends. Or just do it alone. 

My sister couldn't leave due to work commitments. All the unmarried girlfriends can't make it either. The married ones are all with kids, so I didn't even consider asking them. 

I toyed with the idea of travelling solo. Hmm.. perhaps I can go to an idyllic beach and check myself in to a 5-star resort. Enjoy a few days of sheer luxury -  sleep on Egyptian cotton sheets without a wakeup call, feasts on buffets and cocktails by the pool, a daily massage and spa pampering. I could catch up on my reading, or just stroll by the beach and admire the sunsets. I could laze by the pool and sunbathe in my bikinis. And just doll up and look absolutely stunning! 

All sounds good, except for one big BUT! I know I will crave good conversations. 

I don't fancy striking conversations with strangers. I prefer more personal discussions and chats with people I like. What if I see something interesting and want to share with someone? There will be no one to talk to! I procrastinated. While my brain was still slowly processing the pros and cons of a solo trip, I mentioned that E could go on a holiday too, if he desires. 

Guess what? He thought about it for one second. Okay, maybe two. Checked with me again that I really don't mind him going and happily thanked me for being so sweet. The day after, he told me he had booked an air ticket to go visit Angkor Wat and will stay in a 5-star hotel! 

He has always wanted to go there. So I am happy for him that he gets to do it now. He left with his guitar, a book, and a fully charged camera. Three days have past and he will be back this afternoon. 

It may be a short trip, but I do think that it is a luxury to be away from the kids for a while and do whatever the heart fancies.  

In his text message last night, he said he is all ready to come home now. 

Though I can't leave for a vacation by year end, I'll probably still indulge in some spa pampering and spend a day on my own, just out and about. Without the kids. I dreamt last night that I was in Australia. Maybe that is a sign that I should revisit the land after 12 years. 

A Street of Buildings

We are now onto making arts and crafts related to buildings. 

Here is the first one which the boys made recently.

They suggested some shapes for me to cut out. The kids painted them. Let dry before they pasted the shapes to form buildings.


M used a marker to draw in the windows and doors and whatever else he fancied to depict a street. Chipsy was given the Crayola Twistables.


Whenever I look at photos of my boys holding up their artwork and crafts, it makes me smile. I love the way kids pose with their masterpieces. 


Notice the multiple suns in Chipsy's work. I held his hand to draw in two suns after his insistence and he tried to complete the third sun by adding the rays. 

Monday, December 29, 2008

Craft: Making Coconut Trees

Here is a little secret.... 

The walls in our home are adorned with the boys' crafts and paintings. So anyone who walks into my house will most likely think (1) these kids do plenty of crafts, and (2) we must be such lovers of trees and nature!  

We went a little overboard on the theme about 'Trees' lately. So here is another one.




I don't know why, but Chipsy has gotten the idea lately that I should hold his hand to draw stuff for him. See the blue cloud on the left. He insisted that I 'hold hand and draw cloud here'. 

I didn't even realised that my 4yo can spell the word 'tree' by himself. It is quite funny that he has the habit of writing the name of whatever he draws or paints. 

Sunday, December 28, 2008

Cooking With Kids: Pancakes and Pizzas

Making Pancakes

The 4yo was in charge of stirring the batter for making pancakes. We usually make a big stash at one go and freeze some. He loves it when I let him scoop dollops of batter onto the pan. Sometimes he gets to add chocolate buttons into the batter to make his favourite chocolate pancake.


Making Pizzas



The boys love to make their own pizzas. 

I use a great wholewheat pita that I found at the Jasons Market Place supermarket as the pizza base. Give them the Waitrose organic concentrated tomato puree to spread onto the base with a bread knife, plenty of grated cheese and apple baked or honey baked ham and whatever ingredients we are using to sprinkle. Bake in oven for 5-10 min depending on ingredients used and it's done! 

 

Enjoying a slice of the pizza he made. :)

The boys have been involved in a lot more cooking than these. Their repertoire so far include making their own sandwiches, helping to cook scrambled eggs and baking muffins and cookies. 

They always savour all experiences with enthusiasm and pride. My usual problem is the difficulty in urging them to be more patient while I prepare the ingredients. 

Once I announce that everything is ready, they will scurry off to wash hands and dash back to the table, stand at their designated spots and pounce on whatever that I have set on the table like hungry dogs!

Next is followed by a lot of 'hey, you got to spread this first!',  'not too much or it will be too sweet/salty',  'you can't eat these! they are still raw!',  'don't run away with the cheese! come back here!'  ... 

Which is why I have very few photos of my kids cooking. 

Saturday, December 27, 2008

All About Presents

Ever since E and I started dating, I always feel totally spoilt at Christmas. 

I still remember my first Christmas in London with his family in 2001, the year before we got married. I received 13 presents from him and his family! Out of which, five were from him. I would have been over the moon already if I were to bag three in a year, so you can imagine how far away into the universe I was by the time all the presents under the tree were unwrapped. And I was the recipient of the bulk of it. I thought it was only because that was my first celebration with them.

The following year, I scored 11. Again, I felt all squishy, warm and loving inside. And a little spoilt silly. 

It becomes a Christmas tradition in our household now to cover every inch under the tree with presents. The more the merrier. E loves to buy more than one present for everyone. So I get kinda infected by that generosity. This year, I get some incredibly thoughtful and awesome packages! As usual, he is really good at surprising with the most wonderful gifts. 


My current favourite. Just in time as my second bottle is down to the last few drops.

Ohh.. I love Dido. I have all her albums. She is the voice I listen to when I run on the treadmill. 


This is a big surprise! He enrolled me in some fancy cooking classes to learn some really neat stuff from professionals. If I like these classes enough, I can then progress to advance lessons on French cuisine. 

I can't wait! He knows my passion for cooking and secret desire to attend classes to better my skills. But the procrastinator in me never signs up for anything. So this present is the perfect catalyst that I need. The only problem is my waistline will be a real challenge to manage in a few months! 


And the other surprise from him is this compilation of my 2007 blog entries. I mentioned before of my fear that my blog may disappear one day in cyberspace (and of course we know it happened to many people before). So ta-da! He is just waiting for Dec 2008 to end before binding up the pages of the 2008 compilation. So thoughtful!

Read here for what I received for Christmas 2007.

My boys also received heaps of fabulous gifts from us, friends and family. Amongst them are gigantic Caterpillar remote controlled digger and dump truck, playdoh set, quality books, origami set, educational toys, clothes, piggy banks with money and a big ang pow. Totally spoilt! 


This was taken a week ago. Christmas came early for Marcus when we bumped into Santa. My 4yo was given a box of sweets which he saved specially for his papa. 

Friday, December 26, 2008

Christmas Tree Cookies



After baking my Christmas Star Cookies a few days ago, I was addicted and wanted to bake and play with icing even more. So I gave in to my cravings and baked another batch this morning at 1am. 

Thanks to my latte in mid day, I couldn't sleep. So instead of tossing and turning in bed, I figured why not just do something constructive, like baking some yummy cookies! 

Unfortunately, I was only left with green icing so couldn't do any more fun decorating. But I am contented enough to play with the silver babies and spent more time arranging the white and red stars. After focusing 1.5hr on the green tree cookies, I was sufficiently tired for bed. And very, very pleased with how my cookies turned out. 

Christmas 2008

I couldn't resist saving this photo when I chanced upon it. ^.^



Instead of hosting a party or BBQ like we did last year, we decided to attend a family Xmas lunch and another party in the evening of Xmas Day. That should be enough socializing for the festive occasion, leaving us enough time to open presents and spend time as a family. 

In the end, we didn't do any of that. Marcus threw up on Xmas morning and was so unwell that I volunteered to stay home with him, so E can take Chipsy to the lunch. They didn't have fun there either as Chipsy just wanted to come home 'to see Mama and Marcus'. We had to give the evening party a miss as well since I didn't want to bring along a coughing boy to someone's house. He was a little disappointed that he couldn't go out the whole day, but accepted my explanation like a good boy. 

That poor child was feeling so miserable that he didn't even want to open his presents. After much coaxing, he finally opened them all today when he felt better. 

At least we made it to The Line at the Shangri-la hotel tonight and celebrated with the Browns. Our second visit this month and fourth this year. That is certainly one of my favourite place for buffets.

 
Thankfully Chipsy is still all well and chirpy. Hmmm....  E leaves tomorrow for a 4 day vacation on his own, to a destination that he has always wanted to visit. So it will be just me and the kids till New Year's Eve. 

I am keeping my fingers crossed that Marcus recovers real quick before Chipsy catches anything from him. So we can look forward to an awesome countdown and a big feast.

JK Rowling's speech on Fringe Benefits of Failure and Importance of Imagination

I love the key messages in this speech, so I am keeping a copy for the boys to read when they are older.

Speech by JK Rowling at the Harvard Graduation in June 2008, on 'The Fringe Benefits of Failure, and the Importance of Imagination".

'.. so rock bottom became the solid foundation on which I rebuilt my life.'

'It is impossible to live without failing at something, unless you live so cautiously that you might as well not have lived at all – in which case, you fail by default. '

'The knowledge that you have emerged wiser and stronger from setbacks means that you are, ever after, secure in your ability to survive. '

'...personal happiness lies in knowing that life is not a check-list of acquisition or achievement. Your qualifications, your CV, are not your life, ...'

'As is a tale, so is life: not how long it is, but how good it is, is what matters.'

Thursday, December 25, 2008

I (HEART) This


"Way Back Into Love" in Music and Lyrics




I've been living with a shadow overhead
I've been sleeping with a cloud above my bed
I've been lonely for so long
Trapped in the past
I just can't seem to move on

I've been hiding all my hopes and dreams away
Just in case I ever need them again someday
I've been setting aside time
To clear a little space in the corners of my mind

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
Oh oh oh

I've been watching but the stars refuse to shine
I've been searching but i just don't see the signs
I know that it's out there
There's got to be something for my soul somewhere

I've been looking for someone to shed some light
Not somebody just to get me through the night
I could use some direction
And I'm open to your suggestions

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart again
I guess I'm hoping you'll be there for me in the end

Oh oh oh

There are moments when I don't know if it's real
Or if anybody feels the way I feel
I need inspiration
Not just another negotiation

All I want to do is find a way back into love
I can't make it through without a way back into love
And if I open my heart to you
I'm hoping you'll show me what to do
And if you help me to start again
You know that I'll be there for you in the end

Oh oh oh

Wednesday, December 24, 2008

Sand, Water and Octopus. And CROCs!

To Sentosa again. 

 
Started with sandplay at Palawan beach.

The boys watering the plants with their sand toys.



The first time the boys shared a big ice-cream cone. Such sweeties! 

That is the difference being a second child. When Marcus was this tender age, I would never have dreamt of letting him even taste the ice-cream. Now Chipsy is already taking licks after licks of the cone, savouring the cold sweetness with a mixed expression of pleasure and agony.

I know we are setting ourselves up for some future battles.

The real objective of the trip to Sentosa this time was to check out 'The Ocean's Greatest Masters of Disguise' at the Underwater World. E is a huge fan of the giant octopuses and squids, so of course we had to visit these amazing creatures. Even little Chipsy was so fascinated by them, spending a lengthy time observing and commenting on the octopuses' movements. He spent just as much time watching the Giant Spider Crab. He wouldn't stop asking 'Mama, what is the giant spider crab doing?'. 

And I had to take a photo of this. 
The green pair was Marcus' first. Now it is handed-down to Chipsy. Marcus chose the coral pair recently. His third. Papa bought his first a few weeks ago. I used to say to E when Crocs was first spotted on the streets, 'Laugh at me if you ever see me wearing Crocs.'  Hmmm..... now I am tempted. But still resisting. They just aren't ladylike enough... Soooooo not my style! 

(Trying to convince myself not to go near a Crocs store.)

Tuesday, December 23, 2008

Christmas Star Cookies


I made a batch of these Christmas Star Cookies today. Mostly as giveaways to neighbours. 

The boys were supposed to help cut out the stars, but in the end, I was left to roll and cut all the 28 stars myself. The kids decided they wanted to play Lego instead. Hmmph! 

This is the first time I have done any icing on cookies. My goodness! The icing took forever! But the fun of sprinkling the Christmassy coloured stars and silver sugar balls sort of made it all more tolerable. I used only half the dough today. I will probably make Christmas tree shapes decorated with green icing and more silver goblets for the remaining dough that is still sitting in my fridge.

Instead of the usual Christmas cookie recipe, I decided on a butter cookie recipe which I think will be more palatable to young children. At least the ones that these edible stars are intended for.


Ingredients:
185g soft unsalted butter
125g sugar
2 large eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract
350g cake flour, plus more if needed
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt

Method: 
Cream butter and sugar until pale, beat in egg and vanilla. In another bowl, combine flour, baking powder and salt. Add dry ingredients to butter and egg, mix gently to form dough. Halve the dough and wrap each half in clingwrap, rest in fridge for at least 1 hr. Roll and cut. Bake for 10 - 12 min. Cool on rack before decorating. 

Makes 50 - 60 cookies. 


All Christmasy!

This shall be an all-in-one post about our Christmas preparations. 

We did plenty more this year since the boys are older. Lots of crafts, a bigger tree with tons of ornaments, some baking and a heap of presents.

Here is a second Christmas card by M for the grannies. He drew in the tree first with pencil before decorating it with glitter glue and stickers. It will arrive post-Xmas but you all (and grandpa and grandma too) get to see it just in time. The first card is in the post already, together with a box of goodies. 


Of course, little Chip wanted to make his own cards too. But he did use a little help to squeeze the glitter glue and make the swirl which he loves.



I snipped some coloured papers for the boys to make gift tags. I love how they turned out! 


Here is M's artwork in his replacement lesson two weeks ago. The teacher for the class is from a different venue so that was her first encounter with him. She seemed so pleased with him as she told me 'he knows what he wants to draw and how he wants to colour his work.... he is so independent for a child his age... he was the only 4yo in that class who didn't need any help in the drawing... he has a natural sense of what colours will work together ...'



A Santa Claus craft that the boys made. It was so funny to watch them squeal with delight when it was done. After a few days on my walls, both Santas are now in separate parcels destined for different continents. 


Snowman crafts. They looked at an illustration from a book we have to get on with the craft.



And now a little about our new tree. 

To me, nothing works better in offering an instant Christmasy feel to a home than having a gorgeous tree adorned with pretty ornaments and captivating lights. 



So this year, we gave our smaller tree to my sister and bought a much bigger one. A good start to the holidays already! 

Once we decided that the colour theme for the tree would be red and gold, I went on a mission to look for deco that I could fall in love with. It didn't take long. I settled for a combination of some plain gold goblets and a handful of intricately designed stars and bouquets to complement our existing collection. Instead of a store bought star, we voted for a home-made one which E and the 4yo were roped in to work on. 

I can't be more pleased with the tree this year. Almost all the presents are under the tree now, except for the few large ones which we will take out tonight. I just hung the stockings by the boys' beds. This is the first year they have a stocking each. How exciting! 

Read here and here for Christmas baking.

Monday, December 22, 2008

Sticky Gluey

Nothing beats a bit of gluey hands-on activity when it comes to pacifying a bored toddler in my home. 

All I need to do is announce in a hyped up, all enthusiastic tone 'Hey! How about we make this really beautiful xxx?' and whip out a glue stick, some materials and he will run towards the Ikea chair like an excited pup.

So you can imagine the stash of crafts we do on a weekly basis. 

Chipsy did a simple Black and White Cow collage a few weeks ago when we were on the homeschooling theme about Cows (read previous post here). To complement the learning, he looked at lots of illustrations and pictures of cows, read 'Click Clack Moo' and learnt about the parts of cow, uses of cows, what 'calf' means and a few other interesting stuff about cows.

He was given squarish papers as I verbally instructed him how to use the white vs black squares to construct the Cow. I drew in the features later, guiding his hand.


It is such a simple activity to do, and yet we have so much fun putting it together. Homeschooling is truly more enjoyable and satisfying than I had initially expected it to be.

~~~

Another recent collage is the Rainbow Fish. After we read the 'Rainbow Fish' book, he was given all the cut-out scales, including the shiny ones made of aluminium foil to glue onto the fish body.

This was followed by several nights of reading 'One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish' and a few other books from our home library related to the theme. We looked at beautiful illustrations in Eric Carle's Animals Animals and learnt about the parts of fish, in addition to singing 'I caught a fish alive' umpteen times. 



Saturday, December 20, 2008

Pride




'Mummy, look at this! Would you like to take a photo of this R-torvator and my big smile?'

How could I resist? 

He loves to make up some fancy names for his inventions. So what does an R-torvator (he spelt it for me) do? 

According to him, 'it smashes the rocks so the diggers can dig the rocks and put them in the tipper body of the dump truck.'


Just Me and Marcus

On some weekends, E and I like to spend a couple of hours bonding with just a boy at a time, instead of our usual family weekend routine. He may take Chipsy out and about with him, while I plan other activities with M. And in the midday, we swap kids or meet up somewhere in town for a family activity of some sort.

So a fortnight ago, that was what we did. I took M to the library for an hour or so, before we settled down for a lovely lunch of sushi. 

He always enjoys our library trips, though he tends to settle for the first few books he picks up and is happy to leave real soon. I try to encourage him to browse the shelves, take his time to make his selection, and spend some time reading in the library.

I am also trying to teach him how to decide for himself if a book is interesting or boring, if the illustrations are well-drawn and captivating etc.. Basically, to learn to critic for himself rather than just plainly accept everything as good.




We lugged back 9 books in the end, which he finished within 2 days. Now he is just re-reading some of his favourites before we return to the library this weekend for more.

Last Saturday, M spent a couple of hours with me alone again. So off we went to his replacement art lesson, followed by a leisurely lunch before checking out an art studio near home. The sheer pleasure of holding his little hand and chatting as we stroll is just too precious. 

Now I am toying with the idea of taking him for a day trip somewhere, just the two of us. Maybe even a cruise to nowhere! Wow! I can imagine how he will be totally blown away by the experience. 

Friday, December 19, 2008

Intensive Week of Playdates

It feels like a crash course on social skills for the kids. The boys ended up with 5 play dates in 8 days.

Last Friday: 
My sis came over and the boys played with her 2 gals harmoniously for close to 3 hours. It is always lovely to have my mum or sister pop over. I just love our bonding time which we spent doing nothing else but talk. Even when we are just sharing mundane details, it is still so enjoyable. 



This Monday: 
I took both boys to Alexios' house. He is Marcus' classmate who lives just 5 min away by cab. According to his mum, Alexio mentions Marcus most often at home and Marcus is also the only classmate Alexio has ever invited over. Being our second time there, the boys needed no time at all to warm up. Once they pulled off their shoes, they headed straight to the toys. Not once did they stop to check where I was for the whole 3 hrs that we were there. 

It was also great for me since I got to sip a nice cuppa, mostly undisturbed, and get to know Alexio's mum. I couldn't resist peeping into the bedroom/playroom a couple of times. All I saw each time was a scene of my boys being totally engrossed with the mountains of toys Alexio and his brother have. Marcus played mostly with Alexio who is 5, and Nicholas with 3 yo Ellis. 




Just before we left, Marcus warmly invited Alexio over our place to play with him. Aww... I love it that they are forming friendships. Definitely something that I would highly encourage. 


Wednesday: 
Boys had 2 hrs of sand play with 3 Japanese neighbours at a playground nearby. There were so many kids that day that my boys ended up interacting and playing with many more kids. 



After a brief but frustrating attempt to make sandcastles, Marcus gave up and began writing words on the sand with a big stick. That drew lots of attention from all the adults who oohed and ahhed over him, even more so when they realised he is only 4 yo. 


The attention he attracted spurred him on to write lots like 'Muck' (in Bob the Builder), police, car, bus, taxi, etc..  I was too busy watching Chipsy, so only took one photo. 

Chipsy was the social butterfly who mingled with every group. He even went ahead to tickle a really pretty 7 y.o girl who later returned the gesture. 





Thursday: 
We met up with Karen, Emma and Ethel at Jacobs Ballas.



The fearless boy slid down the long and winding tunnel slide over and over. 

Here was Marcus touching up the fort that daddy made. All it needed was a stick.

Marcus on the way up the molehill.

Tomorrow: With one cousin again. At our place.  

LinkWithin

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...