Our Lunar 牛 Year 2009

Our Lunar New Year, has been an eventful yet quiet one... :) definitely a gastronomical one!!! Here's a chronicle of the events in summary...

Friday, 23rd Jan, Timothy, had a pre-CNY celebration in school where the principal and teachers put together a skit and some song/dance, sharing stories about the history of Lunar New Year...The teachers encouraged children to dress up in traditional samfu to join in the festive fun... the kids look extremely cute in those samfu... *smile*

Saturday, 24th Jan, We headed to the East Coast beach for some fresh air and sunshine... what greater place to have sand & water play than the beach? *grin*
And here are some of the treasures of nature I've found this time... lovely seashells... can't help but to stand in awe of our Creator - God...who's such a creative artist... look at the make of those seashells? Don't you think they are pretty? teehehe...
That evening, we started our feast of the new year... we had a family reunion dinner at my mom's place...
Look at this plate of 捞起... it's painstakingly homemade by my mom... the rest of the food were too yummy that I was busy stuffing my face - no free time to take pictures of them all...*LOL*...

Sunday, 25th Jan, 年除夕, We had a MEGA feast at the Roland Restaurant along Marine Parade... it's my first experience dining out for a family reunion dinner... the crowd came in hordes that I somehow felt overwhelmed... it was a complete full house and you can imagine the food being processed in a mass production style...The food was nevertheless, delicious... especially the 盆菜 but it was the company that mattered more... *smile*

Monday, 26th Jan, 大年初一, we got up real early and were fully dressed, all ready to make all those new year visits...
See Little Missy, being excited and happy about the Lunar New Year visiting... all geared up to make her first 恭喜恭喜wish to all the uncles and aunties...

Tuesday, 27th Jan, 年初二, we paid the National Museum a visit with Evelyn & Layla as it was free entry that day!!!
But it turned out to be quite a bad choice of place for kids...teehehe... the kids weren't interested in any of those Singapore History at all...and the adults couldn't listen to any of the audio description on the companion guide at all cos we were too busy trying to keep the kids out of trouble *LOL*...

The only saving grace was, a craft area was set up right outside of the exhibition hall... the children had approximately 10-15mins of fun at this little corner... making crafts of a little gold fish and a mandarin orange. Tim and Joyce were more interested in the scissors and glue than working on the craft *smile*

That afternoon, there were a lot of buzz within our block... a few lion dance troupes were going around the block, invited by some families to 采青 as they believe that by doing so it will bring them good luck and ward away the evil spirits...
It was too noisy that the kids couldn't take a good afternoon nap...so I allowed them to watch the lion dance where our next door neighbour had opened their place to.

Wednesday, 28th Jan, 年初三, we brought the kids down to the playground for a run... and it was exceptionally quiet... as most of the children have gone back to school... we were about the only ones at the playground... *happy*
Tim just can't get enough of climbing up and sliding down the slide... see the cheeky smile on his face?
While Little Missy, had her fair share of exercising those large motor muscles...

An impromptu play date was arranged later part of that morning...where Mommy Adeline, Little Caitlin, Mommy Ai Lei, Little Samuel and Mommy Joyce, Daddy CS and Little Cherrlyn came to our place...
We enjoyed the company tremendously... I am speaking for myself...so happy to have met up all the mommies after such a long lapse since Artful Lil' Hands last ended...

Where there is good company time is never enough... :) we chatted about homeschooling, preschool hunts, kids settling in school, about hiring domestic helper, shared about books we've read etc etc etc... so much to chat but so little time... *grin*

And life was back to normal today... Tim was back to school and the usual routine has set back in... what a wonderful 牛 year we had... *wink*

Back To School

Tim is back to school since Wednesday last week...after breaking for over a week due to mommy's indecision as well as being down with bad flu.

I've shared earlier this month that I've decided to pull Tim out of school after our bad experience on the first day of school... after a week or so of deliberating and discussing, hubby and I decided to send Tim back to school to see if he is really adverse to school... and since we need to pay up for the term, we thought we just might as well stick it out for this term till March.

The past week, Tim has exhibited less and less resentment towards school... and he came back speaking a few words of mandarin... I was totally amused!

First he started calling me "妈妈" instead of mommy these days. Another incident - he had his room all messed up with toys one afternoon and when I said it's time to nap, he blurted "收玩具" (keep the toys)... I remember the chinese teacher Mdm Ong, sang a 收玩具song on the first day of school and I figured he must have learned it in school.

Both hubby and I felt that it wasn't such a bad idea sending him to school afterall...given his lack of a chinese environment, this just might be a good place for him to pick up the language... but I know more has to be done by me at home... well, I shall work something out soon...
This week, Tim, came back with some crafts that was done in school... much of it was assisted by the teacher in putting everything together... I am amaze at the dedication of these teachers... I guess, it is more important to have teachers who are patient at this stage as the kids are still young... all the 3 teachers in the class have exhibited this great virtue.
A Lunar New Year card and a star Tim brought back from school this week... :) at least, I know he is doing something constructive in school other than play...*grin*
I wrote a short note in the blue book to the teacher in-charge, and am glad that she responded with positive remarks about Tim in class...

Today, I have a very enthusiastic Tim who can't wait to go into the classroom... perhaps I should seriously consider letting Tim continue after this term...but first let me go deliberate some more...

Sew Sweet...

I have thought about sewing something for Little Missy that caught my fancy quite a while ago... but having to put everything together took me a while to "crank up" my procrastinating butt...

It all started with this outfit that Haley's little girl, Emily, wore on that day we visited the SAM...
The outfit on Emily, was great... and I later found out that it was bought from the UK... so it got me thinking... with all the patterns I have at home, perhaps I could put something together for Little Missy...
The outcome was something similar... I found a polka dot fabric that matches the green floral fabric... This is my "creation" with a mix and match of patterns... *smile*... the pants is something I had to talk about too... teehehe... I saw in a japanese pattern book some time ago but it didn't come with the full-size pattern so I had to modify another pattern of a bloomer to create this pair of pants with leg cuffs... the end result was satisfactory though it took great efforts to put on those leg cuffs...

I've recently discovered this wonderful website that offers free patterns for baby's clothes... here's a similar pattern for the pants with leg cuffs... it's named Pumpkin Pants... check out the rest of the patterns that's available on the site too... one of my to-do items is the bloomer with ruffles...the instructions are in Japanese language though, but given the step by step picture guide, it shouldn't be difficult for those who have basic sewing experience *grin*

Too bad the outfit I sew is a tad too big for Little Missy at this time... I guess, in another 6 months the attire should fit her nicely... ;)

Sew happy!~

Domesticated & Finesse

It's been a while... a loooooooong while since I last baked a loaf of bread... over the weekend, the Gardenia bread we usually consume ran out and I decided to bake ourselves a loaf... since I have the ingredients sitting on the shelves collecting dust and are running close to expiry...
I have always enjoyed a loaf of herbal nut bread... and decided to bake this loaf once again. I remember spending about $3+ for a Gardenia's Country Loaf and this loaf that I baked tasted just as good...teehehe...

It was even more gratifying when I spread a thick layer of home made kaya to go with... oooh *salivate*

I should continue experimenting some more bread recipes since Adeline loaned me a wonderful book of bread recipes... I think the next bread I'll try my hands on baking is the Rosemary Focaccia... stay tuned... *wink*

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Anyone heard of Jill Lowe? She's quite a reputable image consultant here in Singapore. I was privileged to be invited to an event hosted by a ladies group from my SIL's church. Jill Lowe was the speaker of the evening...and the group of us had a wonderful time of learning from Jill.

She's a petite lady with tremendous poise and finesse... she has a great sense of humour and she's a devoted Christian... loved her session so much it gave me the urge to want to sign up for one of her lessons... alas it's a wee bit too pricey...

In the mini workshop, Jill shared with us about colours... the 4 seasons palette... and how colours work wonders on each of us as they often sends a message "wirelessly" - as described by Jill, to others about us... the colour of the blouse that I wore that day was completely wrong on me... *blush*...it's a green that belongs to the Winter palette and Autumn palette suits me best; olive green would have been a better option...hmm... now I'd seriously need to look into what are the colours I need to get for myself in order not to look like I'm badly coordinated...

I must say, it takes work to look good and feel pretty... for a lazy person like me, I guess it'd take me extra efforts to achieve the level of finesse that Jill talked about that evening... as the chinese idiom goes "there is no ugly women in this world, just lazy women"... ;P and I happen to belong to the latter... eversince I became a SAHM, I hardly even bothered about putting on make-up or dressing up... perhaps it's about time for me to re-look at my habits and take efforts to try to look good, well at least for my hubby... teehehe...

Sew Colourful!

Recently, I was in the mood to sew some fabric flowers after being inspired by this tutorial... it's amazing how addictive sewing such fabric flowers can get...
With a pin added at the back such fabric flower makes lovely embellishment on a simple tote bag, t-shirt or even a journal cover...
This is a Dainty Daisy bag that I've created recently... to make the plain looking bag a little more interesting, I've attached a fabric flower pin onto it... this shall be my bag for casual occasions...charming!
Here's a glimpse of my next giveaway... go here to get a full picture of it and participate in the fun! *smile*...

Fashion Emergency

Notice the colours Tim had on his outfit is just like the superman's? This was certainly not my idea... ie. the colour combination! *LOL*

He dragged the t-shirt and shorts out on his own... and because we were in a hurry and hubby said we must allow him to make his own choice (if it's not a life or death matter)...so whether it was a wise choice or otherwise, we just let him be...

I still can't help but laugh at the way that Tim was dressed that day when I see this photo... *LOL*

On the side note, we were off to check out a childcare centre that day... and to our great surprise, Tim felt totally at home when we stepped into the centre. It was like "heaven" to him, with all the Little Tikes' cars to ride on, all the toys to play with, all the friends to mingle around...it didn't matter even when daddy and mommy wasn't in sight... he was totally oblivious to where we were... enjoying his time with the teachers and kids... he was a totally different person when I brought him to school last week... hmmm....

Now I can't wait to find that 'prize' location for our venture...it's such a torturous search... well, that's another story...

Homeschool vs Mainstream

Since I've mentioned about pulling Tim out of school I've received a question by many concerned mommies if Tim was going to be homeschooled and if I was serious about homeschooling Tim all the way through PSLE... 

I must confess, at times, I do feel inadequate and wonder if I could really do a good job at guiding Tim in his preschool learning years... but there were also times, I really relish on the one-to-one time I have with Tim... outing, chatting, reading, doing craft work or simply doing nothing... I love the times I could just be there with him to watch him grow... such is the joy of having my child by my side all day long...

But recently, I've also been a little concern if my selfish need of being needed is doing Tim any good in his development and learning years... would he be better off being in school learning the ropes and getting started in his journey towards the primary school... hmmm... 

I wanted Tim to enjoy his childhood, in his preschool years...which is the reason why I like it when I introduce learning opportunities to him in a very slow, gentle but fun way... nurturing his love for learning is far more important to me than the results of his learning... my recent conversation with MANY mommies, reminded me the cruel truth of our times now that kids are no longer able to enjoy learning at a pace that's within reach... rather they are being placed in a pressure cooker... forced to learn as quickly and as much as they could. I don't know about those who are already in the system, but I can already feel the stress... and wonder if the stress is at all necessary... why do we want to kill the interest/love for learning at the very onset of the learning years of our wonderful kids? 

Hubby shared with me a video link and the discussion was about "Is Primary School Too Tough?" There are 3 parts to it... and I am sharing it here with all of you... everything that's discussed in there is my exact sentiments... check them out...while I continue to mull over if we should homeschool Tim all the way to PSLE *smile* 

"Is Primary School Too Tough?" - Part 1

"Is Primary School Too Tough?" - Part 2

"Is Primary School Too Tough?" - Part 3

First Day of School

It was the first day of school for Tim...and for me as well... there was so much anticipation and excitement culminating throughout the past weeks... that we have had high hopes that Tim was going to enjoy school...

We didn't have any problems getting the little one out of bed, as he's always an early riser (wakes up around 5am every morning the past few weeks *faint*)... we had breakfast but I found myself hurrying throughout the morning... first I was pushing Tim to finish up his breakfast quickly, then on our way to the school, I was rushing him to walk faster... it wasn't quite a pleasant experience... I must admit and I suddenly recall why some of my friends chose to homeschool their kids...
Probably it's the first day of school, the teachers didn't seem very prepared for the new group of students they were assigned to... one word summed up the one-hour session this morning - CHAOS!

To add to the problem, I had a boy who didn't want to sit by the table after 30mins of playing with blocks, with a video blasting in the background... and the teachers speaking at the top of their voices to draw the kids' attention...parents/grandparents/helpers moving up and down trying to keep the kids still, it didn't help a bit...

Tim looked bored and began throwing tantrums, even with me being next to him, he was ranting about going home... I was at my wits' end... and had almost wanted to walk out of the classroom with the kid... the teachers tried to help but to no avail...with so much attention given to Tim, he just cried even louder *roll eyes*

I was totally relief when it was time to go home... and I've been thinking... did I really made the right move by sending Tim to school at all... hmmm...I've even toyed with the idea of withdrawing him from the school totally and continue with my homeschooling him and to resume the Artful Lil' Hands playgroup...

Have to deliberate on this matter seriously...

Birthday Boy!~!~!~

We had a simple celebration at home with Tim last evening... had wanted to have a small celebration at my mom's but my niece, QiQi, is down with flu and so is Tim (he's down with viral fever since 2 days ago)...

We promised Tim to blow candles and cut cake and so in spite of him being ill, we bought a real tiny little cake, sang him the birthday song and ate cake at home... *smile*
He was all smiles and blew out all the candles excitedly in one puff *wink*... Little Missy shared the fun of singing the birthday song and eating the cake with us...
That's Tim enjoying his piece of "Forest Fantasy" by himself...
We were so privileged to have great friends such as Mommy Joyce...who made a special trip to our place to deliver Tim's birthday gift! Tim was so thrilled with this set of FastLane toy that he started playing immediately after hubby had it all fixed up.

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Meet our "Powder-Puff Boy"!!!
Tim is so grown up that I sometimes forget that he is but only a 3-yr-old... and what does a 3-yr-old boy like to do? Being mischeivious naturally... *faint*

I was busy-ing with Little Missy as she was throwing a fit of tantrum and while I was fussing over her, Tim, had his mischief-mode on... he picked out the powder puff and started powdering his face... and in the event he had the powder container knocked down... you can imagine the mighty mess he's created with that.

Without uttering a second word, hubby, placed Tim at his naughty corner... as this was the second time he had the powder container knocked down onto the floor... I can't help it but to laugh at the state that Tim was in (with powder covering his face and entire t-shirt) and quickly whipped out my camera to take a shot of him... this is proof of his mischief...

My Very First Custom Made Order...

A supportive friend of mine, heard about my customize sewing service recently and without second thoughts, she placed an order for me to sew a simple tote for her...

She gave me some description of the fabric she liked and a picture of a bag that she wanted me to sew for her...and off I went to grab some fabric and started drafting the pattern for the tote.
The end product wasn't too bad the colour combi seemed to fit well *satisfied* and it's reversible... *wink*

I have another order of a bloomer set to fulfil... looks like I am going to be real busy... *smile*