Would You?

A set of 12 CD-size pictures of your precious ones.

For S$ 25

Would you pay?

 

Home Improvement

- Rain Clouds from our bedroom window -

It’s been raining for 2 whole days! The cold weather coupled with the festive mood saw us idling our days away. My chubby baby, with his skin so warm and soft, warms me up like a little piece of toast when we snuggled in bed.

I made a list of things to do beginning of my holidays and this week saw the accomplishment of most tasks.

We got a new tree this Christmas. A six footer! A bit huge for my comfort but Tian How likes it grand. The tree looked sparse and a little ‘crazy’ with the assortments of our old ornaments. Bought some new ornaments from IKEA and re-decorated it. Got some deco from Concourse too, so our home looks all so Chrismasy now.    

Painted clouds in yiHang’s room. Had to do it before I get too big. Now the boys want stars, moon and sun! Nope!  No more climbing and painting.

My sis-in-law gave us a box of puzzle for our wedding. I love puzzles. It was still in shrink wrap when YiXiang found it a couple of weeks ago. So I decided to indulge in my old time hobby and completed the 1000+ pieces Winnie the Pooh puzzle. Got in framed. It fits perfectly on top of our cosy bar table in the kitchen.

 

Bought these frames from IKEA. The glass are reflective so I have the framer cut non-reflective glasses and replaced them. The empty wall at the entrance of our home looks warm with the montage of photographs.

 

Shifted Tian How’s piano from my in-laws home sometime back. But it was in very had shape. Cost close to half a thousand for an overhaul. So when the bonus came, it got priority. Now its in perfect working condition.  

I have been practising some Christmas songs with my rusty fingers. Lessons will resume for yiHang after the holidays. 

The Jolly Postman

Theme : My Neighbourhood (Lesson 1, Activity 1)

Topic : Where Do I Live

For detailed Lesson Plans, Click here

Bought ‘The Jolly Postman’ a couple of years back when I was undergoing my teacher training. The story is about a postman going from home to home in a fairy-tale kingdom, delivering letters to familiar characters such as Goldilocks, Cinderella, etc. Every other page is an actual envelope, with a letter tucked inside. This book was highly recommended by my English lecturers from NIE. It’s costly – approximately $30+ but a worthwhile investment as the book offers many teaching points which can be use over many years.

This morning, yiHang and I tried to get hold of ‘The Jolly Christmas Postman’. We read the book review from Amazon.com. Explained to yiHang that we can get an idea of the content of the book from the review. Also, from Amazon.com, we get to see the inside of the book. Then we used the NLB Catalogue to locate the book from our local library. No luck at all. The books were either lost or for reference only. I called up BORDERS – the book is out of stock. Kinokuniya carries them at close to $40!

 

So we re-read ‘The Jolly Postman’ after tea. Ask yiHang about the names on the cover of the book. He has forgotten that they are the authors. 

We discussed many things apart from those listed in my lesson plans.

- The date chop on the stamps. Why the stamps need to be chopped? (To prevent re-use). What information can be retrieve from the chop (Date, Year, Time, Location)

- Difference between Advertisements, Letter and Postcards.

- What does “P.S” means at the end of the letter? Answer here  

- Vocabulary : “Conjoora”

- Sticker ‘Par Avion Via Air Mail’. When do we need this sticker.

Played memory games and took turns to ask questions.

Questions (Prepositions)

-         What is behind the Jolly Postman?-         Who is sitting beside Goldilocks?-         How many candles are on the cake?

Questions (Inference)      -         Why didn’t baby bear read the letter?-         Why didn’t the postman drink the tea the witch served?-         Who do you think lives in the Gingerbread cottage. 

  

Quick and Tasty Meals

For health reasons, I cook for my family every night (excepts Weekends and the nights when we visit my parents and in-laws) When I first started, I am desperate for QUICK and EASY recipes. One of the problems I faced is the need to cook a few dishes every meal for a balanced diet.

Over the months, I’ve improvised and created some easy and tasty meals which include meat and fish requiring no more than half an hour of preparation and cooking for a whole meal!

Here are some of the recipes. 

Miso Steam Fish & Brocolli

This meal complete with fish and vegetables requires less tha 30 minutes of cooking and preparation time. We usually cook this for lunch.

The boys love the Miso gravy. So, I will usually steam some brocolli when I am steamng the fish. Mashed the brocolli into their porridge/rice and top with the Miso gravy.

Ingredients

1 slice cod fish (I usually buy my cod fish fresh from wet market. 3 finger-thin slices cost about $12 – $15)

Ginger – shredded

Spring Onions (cut 1-inch long)

Miso (Japanese Soya Bean paste - Bought mine from NTUC Bishan / Thomson) 

Method

1. Place a slice of cod fish on top of some ginger and spring onions in a bowl. (The ginger helps to rid the fishy smell and the spring onions prevent the fish from sticking to the bottom of the bowl)
2. Spread a thin layer of miso on the fish. Steam for 10 minutes. (The Tefal steamer is a real helper. While steaming the fish on the top tier, I will also steam some broccoli on the bottom tier.  
3. When the fish is ready, pour the water that has accumulated in the bowl (really sweet tasting) into a small frying pan / wok. Usually this is not enough to make the gravy so add a little more water. Add in another ½ teaspoon Miso into the water. Bring to boil. Thicken with ½ teaspoon of corn flour. Pour the gravy onto the fish
4. Using the same pan / wok (minimize washing), add a little oil and stir fry ginger until light brown and crispy.
5. Sprinkle the ginger and spring onions on top of the fish before serving.

Action Packed.

The past week has been overloaded with fun.

Thursday 7^th Dec

The bunz went to the airport with their grandparents where they met YiYi and Uncle Vernon Yi Cheong who were catching a flight to Penang. While they had fun watching planes and munching onion rings, I have the luxury of taking a good long undisrupted afternoon nap.

Since I am looking more presentable with my new haircut and proper maternity, I joined Tian How for his networking session at Pan Pacific Hotel. I missed the last one because I could not bear to see myself in the mirror.

Was leaving for supper when yiHang called and told us between sobs that he has a severe ear ache. We rushed home and brought him to A&E. There was only 1 doctor and the queue moved slowly. He was whinning all the way, “Ouch! Ouch! So pain!” but the pain ‘disappeared’ the moment we got into the car and headed home. Reached home at 1am! Sigh! Kids must get sick at these wee hours where hospital charges are at their highest!

Friday 8th Dec

Tian How was on leave. Had planned to take the kids to the zoo. Since yiHang has an ear infection, we decided to keep their activity level low and ran some errands instead. Brought the kids to Tampines IKEA. Huge. No problem getting a parking lot but waited close to an hour before we could tuck into the delicious meatballs. yiHang enjoyed himself thoroughly in the play area. YiXiang sobbed pathetically because he was ‘too short’ to join his big brother, and finally slept in the pram.

 

Thier Christmas deco is worth the trip down. Picked up some candles and deco for our tree.

Managed to squeeze in time to frame some pictures and order another set of cushion covers before heading to my parents-in-law for dinner.

After dinner, we visited the bunz’ great-grandmother. So happened, their cousin, in fact, their one and only cousin, Gerald was there and they had a great time playing together. 

Saturday 9th Dec

It was yiHang’s best friend, Dwight’s birthday. The bash was held at a bowling center in Yishun. Look at the BIG boys trading Pokemon cards.

Sunday 10th Dec

I was exhausted with all the outings and took the morning to rest and recuperate. Went to the JL Sale and bought the baby stuff – Cute mittens and tiny rompers. Not forgetting nappies, bottles, towels, cotton buds, liners, diapers, etc.

Ahhh … once again embraced by this warmth sense of motherhood.

As usual, a stop at the bunz’ favourite, TCC for milkshake and cakes before heading home.

Monday 11th Dec

yiHang has been bugging his PaPa to bring him to the Discovery Centre. “Saw the advertisement in Kids Central – It’s really fun. Got games”. Tian How took half a day leave and after lunch we headed to the Discovery Center. The 3D show was impressive. Took a bus tour to SAFTI MI, followed by coffee and Kaya Toast. The exhibition was more suitable for school going kids but the bunz had fun building cities, trying for a role as news reporter who spoke an unintelligible language and teasing the robot, Little George. They were terrified by bomb simulation. yiHang got all worried and commented that we better not take the MRT henceforth.

Sumptuous dinner of my mom’s curry chicken. And the bunz tugged into bed with their Kong Kong, one on each side.

Tudesday 12th Dec

Visited a child care for YiXiang in the morning. Quite undecided. Sigh!

Had a lunch date at Globetrotters with our new relative – my sister’s husband’s brother’s wife. OK! Yvonne for short. As usual, their priority was having fun in the playroom instead of their food.

And that is not all. For the rest of the days till Christmas, we have a couple of playdates to attend, some gatherings and parties to organise, more outings, more shoppings, ….

Yes! We are fully booked!

Potato Print gift tags

Did potato printing with the boys today.

Chop! Chop! Chop!

Print! Print! Print!

The kaleidoscope of colours and shapes are turned into gift tags for this festive season.

 

:: Tips ::

Noticed what nice shapes I’ve got onto the potatos? Forget about carving them! Use cookie cutters. Got the idea from this site. (which also has other interesting and simple Christmas craft ideas)

Also, I used a big paint bucket (available at Popular) with different compartments and brushes for each individual colours. The boys were told not to mix the colours.

That’s how we managed to produced these simple, yet bright and attractive gift tags.

When yiHang was younger, I didn’t bother with potatoes. Simply give him some paper and colours and VIOLA! Masterpeices.

 We did these last year.

Rudolph Puzzle Piece

It’s ME DAY today. I needed a break from the bunz. Yeah! And this is only  ONE day after battling with the two rowdy energetic kids. Made arrangement to meet up with Linda for some shopping and lunch. Before leaving home this morning, the kids and I painted the jigsaw puzzles with brown acrylic and left them to dry.

Linda picked me up and we headed to Bellysima to check out their maternity wear. We bought some bargain pieces before proceeding for lunch at Sake Sushi. After which I went for my hair cut. Followed by tea and manicure and pedicure before battling the strong wind and rain to get home.

Almost five when I reached home so that left us an hour to assemble the reindeers. yiXiang helped us to stick some eyes and mess up the place. yiHang commented that Rudolph’s nose is not shining so we sprinkled some red dust which gave it a beautiful glow.

Didn’t want to make them into brooches and pins. So we used the reindeers for pop-up Christmas cards.  

Instructions :

Rudolph Puzzle Piece

Pop-Up Cards

 

Angel Craft

We managed to do these in the evening. Forgot the halos. Need to get some strings for the top too.

They will make meaningful greeting cards and attractive ornaments.

On the reverse, we pasted this cute poem:

*****

This little angel is special you see;
Because he is a part of me.
His wings are my hands,
His body my feet,
And on the tree he’ll look very sweet.

*****

Ref : Handprint and Foodprint angel craft

 

Don’t say Xmas!

 

“…little boy who noticed the huge red-and-green sign spray-painted on a department story: “Happy ‘X’mas.” And he wondered aloud about the ‘X’. Why was it X-mas? And finally, in a forlorn voice, he asked his dad: “Did they cross Christ out of Christmas, Daddy?” And the father had never thought of it that way before, but finally nodded. “Yes, Son, I guess they did.” And it makes you think.”

From Voice of Prophecy ,“You can’t ‘X’ out Christ’

Christmas Crafts

Gosh! It’s the first day of yiHang’s school holiday and already I am exhausted screaming, shouting at the rowdy boys by mid day. While they are taking their naps, I quickly surfed for resources and ideas on Christmas crafts. Will keep them occupied for a while. And help preserve my sanity a little.

Here are the sites. Will update with photo once we make them.

Christmas Crafts 

Pop up Christmas Card

Wax Resist Christmas Cards

Christmas Crafts for Kids

Angel Handprint and Footprint

Rudolph Puzzle Piece 

Easy Christmas Cards Ideas

Homemade Playdough 3

Read Homemade Playdough 1 & 2 

I did a 3^rd batch of play dough and improved further.

I doubled the ingredients to make more. Store some in the freezer for future play. The dough was a little too oily thus I suggest keeping the oil to 2 tablespoons. I omitted the vanilla essence as the dough smelt good enough to eat and the little one could not refrain putting some in his mouth.  

Here’s the recipe again. 

• 2 cup plain (all-purpose) flour
• 1 cup salt
• 4 tablespoons cream of tartar
• 2 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 2 cup water with food coloring added

The last batch of dough was lumpy as the flour was not mixed properly.

To solve this, I use a mixer to beat the mixture.

I stained my fingers and nails as I kneaded the food colouring into the cooked dough. So this time round, I separated the batter into a 3 portions, pour in the colourings (Red, Yellow, Green) before cooking them.

Also, stir over low heat instead of medium heat as the dough gets burnt quite quickly.  

Here’s the improved method:

1. Put all ingredients into a large mixing bowl.
2. Use a mixer to beat the batter until a smooth texture is achieved.
3. Separate the batter into a few portions and add in the colourings.
4. Stir over low heat until the dough forms into a ball.
5. Allow to cool, knead until smooth.
6. Store in air tight container.

It’s not that difficult really. Try it!

 

yiHang prefer to create things from his imagination. I prefer some guidance. These were what I made last year. Got the step-by-step instructions from  this site.  

 

Build Sand Castles

 

“Bil San Casel”, the little one suggested.

So off we went to the beach for an hour of fun, shaping sand and chasing waves.

maternity Wear

All about

Looking Pretty.

Feeling Happy. 

These couple of weeks, I made do with clothing that hardly accommodates my bulging tummy. I looked horrible. And felt terrible.

Pregnancy is no excuse for looking sloppish thus I made it a point to dress up and doll up the last two pregnancies. But I have been feeling sick and thus not in the mood for make-up and dress up. Also I gave/sold all my maternity wear and it does not make economical sense to invest in any since this is surely definitely going to be my LAST pregnancy!

Last week, Mums and Babes was having a sale but I didn’t have time to shop and to my greatest disappointment, the sale was over when I went back with hubby this evening.  I managed to convince myself that spending a little to look good and boost my confidence does make sense, so I hopped over to Mum R Us. “Do you have anything cheap and nice and would still olook good on me after I deliver!?” I was ushered straight to the budget corner. Hey! I picked up 3 pretty tops at about $20 each but lavished on a dress. 

Next. A haircut.

I badly need to

Look Pretty.

And

Feel Happy.