MamaBliss' Treasured Moments

I'm So Blessed & Loved!!!

2009-11-07T00:43:00.002+08:00

During my 4 days in the retreat in Kuching, I was missing my children a lot. They said, absence made the heart grow fonder, well, it's true!

On the last evening of the retreat, hubby sent me a text message that melted my heart instantly!

Little Missy, prayed for me to have a safe trip back home... isn't she a sweetheart? *sigh of contentment* I am so blessed and I feel so loved!

Messy Fun - Postman!

2009-11-06T00:33:00.000+08:00

It's been a while since I shared about a Messy Fun activity we've done. Today, we played Mr Postman!

We have two self-inking stamps and a few used/recycle envelopes and the kids just took it from there to have their own fun... it's amazing, that they worked on this activity for an hour!
The two kids working on their "job" as a postman... stamping away...
Little Missy being playful again...
Busy little Mr Postman holding two stamps in both hands...
We had a great time playing Mr Postman... after the stamping fun, we read the story book "Seven Little Postmen" by the Golden Book Classic

学华语 (Part II)

2009-11-05T00:00:00.001+08:00

Our progress in learning chinese is slow... sometime earlier this year I shared about my plans to teach the kids chinese. We didn't achieve very much till recently (about a month ago), hubby, decided that we MUST speak mandarin on every Monday, Wednesday, Friday & Sunday of the week. Even when the kids responded in English, we (hubby & I) continued to speak in mandarin to them.

It's been over a month now, and the kids are definitely picking mandarin up much faster and easier. So it's true that the environment plays the biggest role in nurturing the kids to learn their mother tongue.

We've noticed that both Tim & Little Missy are not resistant rather they are more enthusiastic to speak a few mandarin words in our daily conversation (albeit with an 'ang moh' accent, if you know what I mean). Other than speaking to them in mandarin, we've also made them watch their daily dose of Nick Junior & Disney channels in mandarin on days where it's a chinese day. We sing a lot of chinese nursery rhymes and it sure was more fun to pick up the language this way for my two kids.

I've recently cleared out a section of our bookshelf to contain the learning aids that I've made so that the kids have better access to them at anytime they want. Within the learning aid boxcontained a lot more Montessori's 3-part cards in Chinese.
Here's one of the learning aid that Little Missy is practicing on. The 3-part cards contained a picture/word board and matching picture and word cards. Through this exercise, the child will get to hear how the word is being read, it helps with eye-hand coordination, visual discrimination as well as a gentle start in word recognition.
Here's the 3-part cards on numbers & quantity which Tim practiced on.
After selling so many of the weather & day of the week chart, I finally made one for ourselves. I was more keen in teaching Tim about the chinese words than the days of the week, to be honest.
After using this chart for 2 weeks (kids really do learn through repetition), Tim, was able to recognize the word 晴天 (fine weather) and he placed it accurately against the weather of the day *beaming mama*

I am working on a plan to make learning chinese more interesting by adapting some of the suggested activities in the chinese storybooks as well as the workbooks I've bought from the Popular Bookstore. Hopefully, that will help the kids learn chinese in a painless way... *smile* will share more as we go along, so stay tuned!

All About My Kids & Photography

2009-11-01T23:29:00.005+08:00

I'm so back dated in my blog post that I don't even know where to begin. So here are some random pictures that I've taken of Tim & Little Missy, in my puny little attempt to learn to take better photos (you can tell I'm definitely an amateur hee).

I've been contemplating on getting a prosumer camera for a long time... for the very fact that I wish to take clearer & sharper pictures of the kids... so far, my Canon Ixus 860IS has served me quite well. My only qualms is that the shutter speed isn't fast enough as photographing kids who are on the move gets rather challenging for me.

Hubby has urged me to try using his Nikon D70s (DSLR) for a long time (as it's severely under utilized), but the weight and bulk of the camera simply turns me off. Hub suggested that I practice photographing the kids by using my current compact camera... picking up the tips and tricks of photography first before I take the plunge to invest in a more expensive camera.

The very first thing that I picked up in basic photography is the 1/3-2/3 rule. Photographing the subject not by placing them right in the middle of the picture. So here's a picture I took of Tim when he was enjoying a morning game with his sister in my bedroom. I love that smile on his face... charmer!
Little Missy singing to us... she was standing against the window where the glare made her look very dark without flash. So I turned on the flash and took this pic but that didn't minimize the glare from the window quite well.
Tim was moving a lot as he laughed and played so the picture didn't turn out clear under no-flash photography... but I just couldn't resist putting this up because of his happy smile.
Little Missy being very curious about the lens of my camera... she made a 'mark' on the lens after this pic was taken o.O
Cheeky Tim, peering from behind the toy in his hand...
Monkey-see, Monkey-do... Little Missy, mimicking everything that Tim did... *smile*
Little Missy, wanting a piece of hubby's breakfast... :) can't block out the background much, need a better depth of field which this camera can't achieve... sigh...
On days that I feel a little more energetic, I'd bring the kids to explore different playgrounds that are around our neighbourhood. On this day, I brought the kids to a playground that took us approximately 15mins walk to get there. Tim & Little Missy simply had a hay-day...
This was how they played at the slide that day... not by sliding but by hanging...
He's such a happy kid... it rubbed off on me every time I watch him smile and laugh...
Little Missy playing with the gifts I received from the Divine Getaway... she had her tresses chopped off by her mama... I think she looks better with longer hair... so no more bob-hairdo for her from now on...

I’m A Mom : His Natural Defenses, My Peace of Mind

2009-10-29T00:36:00.002+08:00

[Please lend me your support by voting for me at the "I'm A Mom" blogger contest. You are able to vote up to three times a day. Thanks very very much for your help!!! J Sorry everyone, comments for this post has been disabled.]

I’m a typical mother, one who puts my children’s overall well being as a top priority. From their diet, to the shampoo they use and every single other detail of their lives, I always keep a watchful eye.

There were times when the kids fell ill and the pain that I experienced as I witnessed the pain they have to go through fighting those viruses and diseases – it was unbearable for me to see them suffer. I had secretly wished to be the one who was sick instead.

In order to have a peace of mind that Tim & Little Missy are happy and healthy everyday, I work hard to keep those natural defenses up. It has since been built into my system as a habit to ensure that they are properly taken care of from top to toe J

I’m a very busy mom, and to be sure that I am confident in my children’s well being, I keep a check list of what are they to eat, drink, use, wear, play in my mind all the time. I am blessed to have a great helper who understands my concerns and have been working alongside closely to ensure that all of the kids needs are taken care of.

A Child's Prayer

2009-10-28T14:15:00.001+08:00

One day after our daily reading of a bible story, Tim was praying...

Me : Ok lets pray and give thanks to our Lord.
Tim: Dear God, thank you for this day, please bless Timothy & Joyce with a new baby, in Jesus' name Amen.
Me : -_- *shudder*

Clothes, Shoes & Handbags... they start young...

2009-10-26T16:38:00.003+08:00

I wonder if it's a girl's thing... I know I love to hoard bags, shoes and clothes... I have a full cabinet of shoes to myself, whilst hubby shares his shoe cabinet with the 2 kids *grin* I have clothes overflowing into hubby's wardrobe...and not to mention the many handbags of different shapes, sizes and colours I have...

Recently, I've noticed Little Missy, really love the new clothes that I sew her. Even on days that we aren't going anywhere, she'll pull out dresses and insist on putting them on *faint*... I'll very often see her drag some of my handbags (obviously oversized for her) and walk around the house with them... when we asked her where she was going with the big handbag, she'll respond spontaneously, "I'm going shopping".... now you might think I taught her that but I didn't :P I suppose she might have picked this up whenever she was observing me... *scary*

Here's a video clip of Little Missy twirling happily with her dress at home even to the point of being dizzy...

I've also sewn her a new dress that she wants to put it on every time she sees it *faint* we have to resort to hiding the dress in the Daddy's wardrobe so that it's out of sight out of mind...

Here's Little Missy checking out her "new shoes" that were handed down to us by a dear friend whose daughter has outgrown all of them. The shoes were pretty new, some were obviously not worn before.
Little Missy trying on the shoes and parading in the house...
She loves shoes, clothes and bags just like her mommy...much of it must have been my influence on her... whoops!

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At 26 months she's already displaying a lot of independence and one of which is she wants to feed herself! Spare me a lot of trouble to be honest! *smile* While there is still lots of mess during her self-feeding, it's a good start at least she's enthusiastic about feeding herself...My Little Missy is growing so fast... *sigh of contentment*

Messy Fun - Newspaper Fun!

2009-10-19T16:32:00.002+08:00

Haven't shared much about the messy stuff we've been doing at home... reason being, we've been rotating all the past messy fun activities hence I thought there's nothing to share about... :)

But this time, we've done something totally spontaneous and un-planned... the kids decided that they'd like to be rubbish collector... hah... I know some of you might be put off then again... if the kids had fun, it didn't really matter much to me *smile*

We Are Progressing...

2009-10-17T00:44:00.003+08:00

Here are some updates on our learning at home... the beauty of schooling your kids at home is you can decide when you want to teach, what you want them to learn and how you want to execute the lessons to suit your needs, schedule and interest...

At the nursery level, things are kept really simple and easy for us... I remember starting Tim with the learning of colours when he just turned 2. It wasn't an exception for Little Missy either. However, the approach and method adopted has a slight difference.

Little Missy, is more tactile and she needs things that are more concrete where she could touch, feel and see all at the same time. So we started learning about colours with real things, followed by identifying the colours of colouring material such as crayons. Since she's so hung up about working on a workbook like her brother, I got her a colouring book to teach her colours. Though she doesn't get 100% of the colours correct when we ask her, she's getting there... *smile*

Sometime ago (when Little Missy was 20mths old), I sat down with Little Missy to go through Martin Jr's Brown Bear story book and somehow the video was buried under many many other videos I had in my folder... it was by chance I found this video... the idea is to get the child interested in reading through methods that the child enjoy most. For Little Missy, it's through songs... and of course the focused attention I have with her (read: bonding)...

I have no intentions to do anything very structured or academically driven with Little Missy at this point in time... just pacing out according to her learning interest and following her lead. Most times, we are still adopting the learn through play method.

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We've embarked on the journey in learning math using the Right Start materials. It was fun and definitely a novelty to Tim. As it is we have to first of all "unlearn" the counting method and get into the habit of using visualization to recognize the quantity.
On this day, we were covering lesson 3 - Quantities 1 to 5 and Matching. The popsicle sticks used were tally sticks where Tim is to tally the number of object against the tally sticks.

We also learn that 5 is a very interesting number... because it has a "middle".

As the lesson progresses, there are more manipulatives to use and the lesson gets more complex but definitely more interesting. As Level A was designed for children 4-5yrs old, we are taking it really slowly. We cover only about 2 lessons per week at this point in time.

We continued with the learning of phonics and reading.
Tim loves the Starfall phonics games. He could easily sit in front of the computer for hours but we had to give him a time limit to that lest he becomes a 'puter addict like mommy ;P Learning phonics through Starfall is one sure way to captivate the kids as the games are very interactive and fun.
We finally put the moveable letters into good use... we recently borrowed a book "I know an Old Lady who swallowed a pie". Very fortunately, I've found this great website, Making Learning Fun, that offers free printable downloads of learning aids based on the book. Here's a glimpse of what we did...

On days, when I just don't feel like preparing any materials, we'll do workbooks that I bought from the Popular Bookstore. That's the easiest for me *wink*

Beyond learning the academics, I am now working on building good habits into the two kids. One of which is for Tim to pack his own bed now that he's old enough to do a neater job.

"The mother who takes pains to endow her children with good habits secures for herself smooth and easy days; while she who lets their habits take care of themselves has a weary life of endless friction with the children." ~ Charlotte Mason

Worst Night Ever...There's Hope!

2009-10-13T05:23:00.001+08:00

I've been having migraine headaches since a long time ago that I can't even remember when it started. What I did remember was I consumed Panadols for headaches since I was in my upper primary school days... once pain hits the head it was Panadols that I reached out for first! I popped Panadols more than I popped candies! Over the years, it has became a habit which I didn't think it was too serious then.

But recent years, the migraine headaches just increased in frequency and intensity. The pain just got worst and Panadols didn't quite work on me anymore. The painkillers that were prescribed to me were much stronger. I knew I can't go on popping painkillers like candies anymore as over the years I've realized I need to seek alternative help that are more natural and not rely on painkillers as these are only symptomatic remedy and I'm not having the root of the problem eradicated.

This evening, I felt a nagging pain in my head, I knew a migraine headache was brewing... (the doctor's advice to me previously was to stem out the full blown of migraine by quickly taking painkillers)... I tried to be gung-ho this time and decided to refrain from the painkillers.

Instead, I took a cup of Camomile tea to try to calm my nerves and hoping that this might help me doze off sooner than the full blown migraine hits me.
I chose external remedies by rubbing medicated oil to try to stop the pain... within a span of an hour, I rubbed the medicated oil more than 5 times on my forehead, temple, back neck and behind my ears...places where the pain was coming forth...

Two hours later, the pain just got more intense and I was battling with the pain in my head... I could feel the throbbing, stabbing and pounding pain and I must admit I was losing the battle. I pleaded with God to have mercy on me at this point and was at the verge of wanting to have my head removed immediately because the pain was unbearable.

While my body was exhausted, I could feel my eye lids were totally heavy and unable to open but I was kept awake by the pain.
I finally succumbed to reach out for the Extra Strong Panadol because I simply can't take the piercing pain of the headache anymore... an hour later, the pain DIDN'T GO AWAY... while I've already stomach the drug into my body!
Before I drifted off to sleep, I made hubby paste 3 Salon Pas on my shoulders and at the back of my neck, that helped to relief some of the strain that was causing the headache...

Many people were very concerned about my headaches as it happens almost once every few weeks... there were times I was hit by migraine once every other day...sometimes even with severe vomitting (though rare). I knew something has to be done and it has to be done fast!

I've toyed with the idea of TCM but such treatment has to be consistent and frequent to truly see the effects...also it doesn't come cheap these days too. Being a SAHM, time & money are rare commodities to me...

By the blessing of God, I've found a remedy recently, that works naturally on my body and given the frequency and consistent usage I believe I'll have my migraine problem plugged. It's hydrotherapy combined with aromatherapy. It's backed with scientific and medical research. It's at my own convenience & privacy as it's installed in my home (it's like having a personal masseuse or even a chinese physician at home). It helps to improve the blood circulation in my body (所谓通者不痛,痛者不通), and massages my body that helps to stimulate all the 320 acupoints simultaneously. In addition, with the natural remedy through aroma therapy oils... I've finally found an alternative way to solve my health problems.

Will share more about it next time... :)

Simply Homecooked - Table for One

2009-10-13T04:08:00.001+08:00

Tuesday is the day that I always look forward to...simply because it's my "off-day" of the week. Off-day from all mommy duties! *smile* It's also a day when I get totally lazy too... so on such off-days I'd either have brunch or just settle for something simple during lunch.

However, today, I felt a little more energetic and was into making something special for myself. Pasta Aglio Olio has been my all time favourite... and I made myself a plate of it this morning...

I've all the ingredients ready... the beauty of preparing homecooked food is you add anything at any amount you like *grin*... I love portabello mushrooms and prawns...so these are the must have's in my pasta :) added chopped garlic, tomatoes, chicken ham and red cut chilli.
Being a diabetic, I try to consume staple food that are whole wheat (as the body takes a longer time to digest such complex carbohydrates ie. it doesn't turn into sugar in our body immediately)... so the pasta I used today is whole wheat... this takes a slightly longer time to boil but it is just as tasty!

Stir-fry the garlic and red chilli in olive oil for a while, then add in mushrooms and prawns followed by the rest of the ingredients (including pasta). A pinch of salt to taste and stir-fry for a while more before serving.

The verdict was simply YUMZ~

I'm A Mom: Being a Protective Mom & Tips to Boost Our Kids' Natural Defences

2009-10-12T15:00:00.004+08:00

Being a protective mom, I’ve always been fussing around my children a lot… ensuring that their meals are taken care of on time, having my eyes peeled on them to make sure they are safe while playing at the playground. Keeping the environment at home clean and neat. Always cautioning them about crossing the roads, climbing up the furnitures at home etc… it seemed like an endless long list of worries, that’s just me having my “protective mom” mode on all the time during the time that I am awake.

Hubby said I’m being over protective towards the children which might stifle their growth. I need to learn to let go and not be too over anxious however, there’s one thing that I’ll not compromise on that is their health and building up on those natural defences.

Ensuring that the environment is clean is of utmost importance to me. Building up the good habits, in the children, of washing and cleaning up after themselves was something I’ve started early. Opportunities of running and playing about in the playground to work on those large motor skills and exercising is another big thing for us. Afterall, exercise and keeping a healthy body is the fundamental of building up those natural defences.

Being a mom, it’s not a 24/7 job, but it’s a very fulfilling career J nothing beats watching and growing with my children… I will certainly not give up being a mother to my two children for the world.

Home Learning Updates

2009-10-05T22:05:00.003+08:00

Sometime ago I shared about my plans in helping Tim learn how to read... I've finally seen some fruits of my labour... both the Reading Made Easy program and Explode the Code have worked very well for us...

Tim is now able to read by blending the sounds of the letters and forming the words on his own without our prompting. Of course, being able to read independently is still a long way down the road... but I am truly very pleased with his achievement thus far.

Here's a short clip I managed to capture last night as it was too impromptu that I didn't expect Tim to be so engrossed in reading...

Following last night's reading game, I pulled out this phonics/reading resource that has been sitting on the shelf for a while. "Now I Am Reading" is made up of 10 small booklets of readers - it's a progressive reader that can be easily executed at the comfort and pace of your child's learning abilities.

I Sat down with Tim to read the very first book and he was ok with most of the words except he tends to get stuck in between the picture and words ie. he would read based on what he saw on the picture and not the words... I guess, we'll have to go slow instead of pouring him and overwhelming him with all the beginner readers... I am just an anxious parent you see *smile*

This was the booklet we read this morning... about a Fat Cat...
This is the objectives of this particular booklet.
Here are some other resource I've prepared to supplement his learning to read... these are Montessori's pink series - phonics cards that I plan to help Tim learn how to read and spell through the use of moveable letters.
Made these moveable letters and was very thrilled that I was able to find the appropriate box with sufficient compartments to put all 26 letters individually *pleased*

We finally received our package for the math program last week. It's none other than Right Start Math. Both hubby and I love this program. It's the right way to learn math ie. not through counting, rote, flash cards nor huge amounts of workbooks but through manipulatives, visualization and math games that help the child understand the math concepts.

The package came in a huge box and it weighs 6.4kg in total. Go figure the shipping charges but it's all well worth it!!! I am so excited about this program hope Tim will be as excited about it *smile*

Love Her Smile

2009-10-05T17:18:00.003+08:00

Little Missy has the sweetest smile that never fails to melt my heart... though she doesn't smile much in front of the camera, she is usually a happy little girl.

She'll often amuse us with her dances (just twirling round and round till she gets dizzy) and her singing (usually sung out of tune or with the lyrics all mixed up) I am just thankful that she's able to keep herself entertained and at the same time being the life of the party...
She's now 26 months old, and she's picking lots of stuff from her brother... I am not about to start anything academic with her as she's got a totally different style of learning... would have to put on my thinking cap to make some plans in helping her learn... since she's not going to school next year...

I'm A Mom Blogger Contest

2009-09-29T17:59:00.003+08:00

It's been over 3 weeks since we last had the video shot. Today, the website is made live!

I would be eternally grateful if you could lend me your support by casting a vote for me in the "I'm a Mom Blogger Contest". It's truly for the fun of it *smile*

And if you are on Facebook, you might like to join the Dumex's fan page to get updates on loads of informative stuff about building the natural defence of children; as well as contest and freebies to be won :)

I'm A Mom: Imagine I'm Not There All The Time

2009-09-27T15:36:00.001+08:00

To me, the worries and concerns of a mom started not after my kids were born, rather it began way before I was expecting them. I could still remember how I’ve packed up on those folic acid and other supplements before and during my pregnancy then.

My children’s health and overall wellbeing is of utmost importance to me. I remember how paranoid I was whenever there was a flu pandemic going on or even the recent H1N1 flu that’s happening, I tried to keep them at home or we won’t venture to places where there were huge crowds. Avoiding such places at all cost.

The kids were rather blessed to be healthy and happy. However, things took a different turn when Tim was being sent to school earlier this year. He began to fall sick at least once every month and often bring back flu, cough bugs and other viruses that spread like wild fire at home. So the two kids were playing flu and cough bug tag literally every month and my purse was drained dry because of those medical bills. At that time, I often wondered if I had done the right thing by sending Tim to school, exposing him (and indirectly Little Missy) to viruses and germs that his body wasn’t ready to fight against.

Since then, I’ve decided that the prerequisite of having a strong and healthy body is to build up on those immune system. So that even when I am not with them I don’t have to wonder or worry about the dreadful flu and cough bugs or even worst some other unknown viruses they would be exposed to.

On a daily basis I ensure that their meals are home cooked and pack with nutrition. While we don’t consume organic food, I still believe that the kids’ diet should consist of loads of fibre (vegetables and whole wheat snacks), vitamin C (a wide variety of fruits and freshly squeezed juices), essential fatty acids such as Omega 3 & 6 (fish & cod liver oil) and probiotics (cultured milk), and these are exactly what the kids are being fed everyday.

On days that I have to leave them in the care of my family or helper, I am no longer worried nor anxious because, today, I am proud to say that my two kids are healthier. They fall sick lesser and are definitely happier…

Simply Homecooked - Moon Cake Making Craze

2009-09-26T09:22:00.004+08:00

Some four years ago I put my hands into making a batch of snow skin moon cake... it was my first attempt... I still remember vividly how excited I was and imagining how well the moon cakes will turn out :P much to my dismay, the snow skin turned out too thick and what we ate was a mouthful of snow skin and not the filling *eeewww*.... And hence, I didn't try it again... for the fear of wasting money and time...

This time, I was inspired by MamaSeah after her sharing of a very simple snow skin moon cake recipe. I decided to do a quick research on the various snow skin moon cake recipes that were out there on the internet... found a few tips here and there and in no time, I made my very own snow skin moon cake!

This is in fact, my second batch of snow skin moon cakes in 3 days... hubby gave me the thumbs up that this batch was better than the earlier one. The skin was much softer and the filling taste better with melon seeds added into it.
A full egg yolk in almost everyone of the snow skin moon cakes that I've made...

Here's my recipe (modified from various sources).

Ingredients -

500gms Phoon Huat Premix Fried Glutinous Rice Flour (糕粉)

60gms Hong Kong Flour (usually used for making 包子)

50gms Fried Glutinous Rice Flour (for dusting)

110gms Shortening

200-225ml Ice Water

2tbsp Fresh Milk

800gms Lotus Paste

50gms Melon Seeds

18 Salted Egg Yolks (optional)

*500gms of Fried Glutinous Flour made 18 medium size snow skin moon cakes

Method of Preparation

(Salted Egg Yolks)

- Drain the liquid out of the salted eggs

- Add 2 tbsp of oil onto a plate

- Place the egg yolks onto plate and steam it for 10mins

- Set it aside after it's cooked

(Moon Cake Skin)

- Rub shortening into flour mixture till it looks like coarse meal

- Add Milk & Ice Water a little at a time till you get a soft dough that doesn't stick

- Cover & leave the dough in a cool dry place (or refrigerate it) for up to 30mins

- Scale & Weigh 35gms per portion (depending on the size of your mould; you've got to trial & error on this)

(Filling)

- Mix lotus paste with melon seeds

- Scale & Weigh 40gms per portion (including egg yolk)

(Assemble)

- Wrap each portion of filling with a portion of snowskin

- Roll it into a ball

- Press it into the mould

- Smoothen the base of the moon cake

- Knock it out of the mould

- Chill before serving

We Were @ the Pasir Ris Park

2009-09-22T17:08:00.002+08:00

T'was a beautiful sunny day yesterday, a perfect day for some good outdoor fun... decided to bring the kids to the Pasir Ris Park... we did not know what to expect as it was our first visit to the place... have heard and read so much about it... but because it was quite a long ride to get there have procrastinated on the visit.

It's not until we've seen it for ourselves, we wouldn't believe the size of the playground. It was GIANORMOUS!!! Tim and Little Missy were frozen for a while... they stood with amazement not knowing where to begin *LOL*

I like this playground much better as oppose to the one at the West Coast Park. It's more (young) kids friendly I thought... and the bright attractive colours... that's a real draw no kids would ever resist wanting to put their hands in it... the kids had a wonderful time at the playground running from one play area to another... too spoilt for choice just couldn't make up their mind which one to be at... *wink*
Little Missy was being Little Miss Fussy yesterday... couldn't bear with a little sand in her sandals... wanting to be carried most of the time as we walk through sand pits *faint*
It's a great park, alas, there wasn't any fast food restaurant nearby. Even the vending machines were out of drinks... so be sure to BYO drinks and food if you plan to visit the place.
I thought this was quite a sweet little scene... while waiting for lunch to be served, Little Missy decided to give her cousin a kiss to show her affection *smile*

Oh how we love the outdoors!!!

Parenting With Confidence

2009-09-22T17:01:00.002+08:00

Since last year, we've (hubby & I) been trained as facilitators of the Parenting with Confidence (by Focus on the Family) workshop ... it was only last Saturday, we were given an opportunity to run the workshop to a group of enthusiastic and young parents... :)

We were very encouraged by the turn up as 80% of the participants were expectant parents... reminded me of us when we attended the workshop as a participant some 4.5yrs ago (before Tim was born)...

Where parenting is concern, it's never too early to get ourselves prepared *wink*

Our Bakery :)

2009-09-14T15:24:00.007+08:00

Today I decided to do something simple with the kids... didn't want to prep any lapbook materials so I grabbed a book and read to the kids a story about Pretzels... :)

Walter the Baker by Eric Carle (one of my favourite authors for children's books)

After reading the book made a little bakery using some printed element and a brown paper lunch bag ...
There... one of the proud "owners of the bakery"...*smile*I tried to roll the dough myself but half way through the process I became lazy and also the kids were hovering around me looking eagerly wanting to put their hands into the dough...so I dumped everything into the bread maker... and let them watch the machine roll the dough instead *grin*
While the bread maker was doing the work I made Tim help me with the baking sheet...
Once the dough was ready, the kids just couldn't wait to start making their pretzels... they were busy patting, rolling, squishing & squashing... not really into making pretzels to be precise but they were at it for over an hour!!! Great! That means they were away from the TV for over an hour *happy mama*

They made an enormous mess at the balcony... there were flour, dough and baking soda water all over the floor... poor helper of mine had a huge task to clean up the aftermath... *shudder*
These were the pretzels I made instead... not really good at rolling the dough it's either too thin or too short... not sure how it worked but i managed to make 10 out of the entire lot of dough...
After 10 mins of baking, the dough came out nice and crispy smelling very good... I dipped them in melted butter and cinnamon sugar and topped them with crushed almond and chocolate rice... I thought the pretzels looked more like doughnuts here *LOL*

Oh well, not too bad for a first attempt, I suppose. Hubby said it tasted good though the pretzels were a little tough, guess I might have worked on the dough a tad too long...

Gotta start thinking of what to do for homeschooling next... stay tuned for more updates... *wink*

Simply Homecooked - Mac & Cheese with Ham

2009-09-14T00:08:00.004+08:00

Recently had a MSN chat with Mama Seah and she gave me an idea to work on a new recipe for the kids... Mac & Cheese... must confess that I didn't know what Mac & Cheese was when she mentioned... guess am not quite a western foodie *smile*

With a quick googling exercise, I found myself a perfect recipe to work on the Mac & Cheese. I modified it a little by adding chicken ham as I thought that will give interest to the overall taste... as I don't think I like it plain with just macaroni and cheese... (can't live without meat)...I toasted the chicken ham in the toaster oven for 5-6mins before cutting them into pieces.

And so, here are the basic ingredients I've used in this dish.
Ingredients - 1/4 cup + 1 tbsp butter, 1 tbsp plain flour, 1 tbs Worcestershire sauce, 1/2 tsp mixed herbs, 1/2 tsp paprika (optional), 1/2 tsp white pepper, 1 tbsp Dijonnaise Mustard, 1/2 cup Japanese Bread Crumbs, 1 cup cheddar cheese, 2.5 cups milk, a pinch of mixed spices, 4 slices chicken ham (cut into pieces).

I didn't add any salt as I think the cheese is salty enough... you might want to add 1tsp salt if you like. I can't find any Cayenne in the supermarts around my neighbourhood so I substituted with paprika... not sure if that tasted the same as what's said in the original recipe though *smile*

Watch this video on how to prepare this dish... the video enticed me into trying this in fact :)

And here's my Mac & Cheese...

This Mac & Cheese tasted great when served hot as the cheese is still cheesy and smooth...but once cooled it turned dry and hard... on the whole it was delish... I love the cheesy taste and the aroma of the cheddar... try it, it's nice!

Our Homeschool Day

2009-09-12T16:42:00.003+08:00

I'm really happy that after a month's of lazing around I've finally gotten my act together to work out something for the kids to learn and have fun... am rather ill disciplined the past month as I've put too much emphasis on my handmade business... I've since slowed down on my handmade business to focus more energy and concentration in the kids' learning... *smile*

I enjoyed the "productive" days we had recently working on the lapbook based on the book Angus Lost. It was so much fun...and I thought I've picked up a lot of stuff which I didn't know previously... oh how I love homeschooling... *LOL*

Beyond Angus Lost, we read other books and included some activities to make the entire lesson more interesting and fun.

Here's a video on the snippets of fun we had while learning the past week... *smile*

Homeschooling Updates!

2009-09-09T17:35:00.003+08:00

More updates in Homeschooling Fun... be sure to check it out :)

We Love the Outdoors

2009-09-09T16:20:00.002+08:00

We were once again back to the East Coast Park... today we didn't go to the Polliwogs, instead we went cycling. This is in fact the kids' first time cycling out of home :)

Little Missy was thrilled that she could ride on a bike by herself and won't have to fight with her brother over who was to ride on the bike first ;)
We were really happy to have Caitlin join us on our outdoor fun once again... it's the school holidays this week, but we don't really see a lot of people at the East Coast Park today... so it was nice and easy for the kids to cycle up and down without fear of getting bumped into *smile*

The two older kids were very proficient in their large motor skills and hence they were way ahead of Little Missy... while I had to pull Little Missy as I stroll along the pavement cos she's unable to paddle forward *faint*
Didn't take a lot of pictures today as I was busy chatting with Mommy Adeline... I simply love play dates... teehehe... yes, I do have vested interest when I arrange outings for my kids... *grin*

Reading to Little Missy

2009-09-07T16:09:00.004+08:00

Being a lover of reading, I'm quite happy that I've raised 2 readers at home... though they can't really read the words on the book just yet, they've developed the habit of picking up a book and thumbing through it...

I started reading to Tim since he was a few months old; it was only recently that I started to read to Little Missy "seriously". She has exhibited more readiness in being read to for a longer duration... whereas previously she could hardly sit still for 2secs... *smile*

I was introduced to Shirley Hughes quite a while ago... I love the illustrations and love the simple everyday life that's portrayed in the lives of the characters in the book. It's very heartwarming and definitely close to heart to the kiddos...
I was happy that Little Missy took to the stories of Alfie, Olly and Lucy & Tom quite well as compared to Tim. Perhaps the stories were a little more "girly"? We borrowed a few from the library as most of Shirley Hughes' books are out of print... so if you wish to read it to your child, you might find them in our libraries.

If you are interested to buy some of Shirley Hughes' books you might want to search the Home Library, Angie Maniam, carries quite a few of those books :)