My craft projects so far...

I thought I just list the stuffs that I had made for the last month and what I will be doing for the up coming months.

Finished...
1. Crochet coin purses
2. Buckwheat pillows for friends' coming-soon babies
3. Zippered pouches for Aver's childcare teachers as farewell gifts

Going to ...
1. More crochet coin purses for upcoming Teachers' Days
2. Polymer Clay food magnets for upcoming Teachers' Days
3. A few blouses for myself
4. A few dresses for the princesses
5. Tag blankies for friends' coming-soon babies

Last day

Today marks the last day of childcare for Aver. We sent her to school for the last time but joined in their little outing for the first time.
The little ones took a walk down from their little hill and up another hill. They went about picking up leaves, twigs, seed pods and others. They really seemed to enjoy the trip to the park.
We left her at school for a few more hours before bidding goodbye to everyone. When we returned in the afternoon, it was a bittersweet farewell to her teachers. There were hugs and kisses. And her first teacher, Ms Akimi, started to cry. Because she teared, I did so too. She was her first teacher and the few that had been there watching her grow from a young toddler to now a three year old. I know I will miss her too because her love and her attention to the children is the best.
Before we go, Aver had to bid goodbye to the auntie there. The nice auntie who cooks and cleans, she also help with the children. When Aver whines and cries in the morning and no one can handle her, auntie is always there to hug her tears away. Of course, before Aver left, she asked auntie for biscuits... This is something she will do eveyday when we go home.
This change is for her health but I know I will miss a few of the staff there and hope Aver will have some good memories of the place.

Changes

Life is about dealing with changes.
Life is about facing the challenges.
Life is about making decisions.
Life is about believing your abilities.

We are now at the stage of our life that there are changes occuring to our normal life. We are on our way to a new home. That is blessed by the Lord.

Aver will be attending childcare for the last time on 31 May 2010. She will be attending nursery at a nearby church in end of June.

These changes are the two major ones on top of the rest.

Putting on the armour of Christ and with the constant prayers, we will face the challenges with courage and strengths.

Snap Purses

Thanks to Serene, who had ordered the crochet rose hair ties, I started planning for the up coming Teachers' Day gifts.
I had always wanted to do the little snap purses but because I do not have a wide variety of fabric, so it will not turn out as cute as those that I had seen online. So I decided to make one out of yarn. Searched the net for a pattern but yielded nothing but nice pictures of other crochet snap purses.
Since this weekend is the examination prep week, I am home bound with two princesses, one is still nursing her asthma (although not whizzing but has to be under close obersavtion) and the other is having a battle with her revision. So I started to try out in my own and I made one!
It is really simple looking... will improve on the pattern and then add on the designs, such as buttons, lace flowers, crochet flowers...

Here is the one I tried this afternoon.

A&E

I never thought I would enter A&E again...
Today marks my third time in life and it is because Aver has an asthma attack.

She was whizzing since yesterday evening and was given her ventolin puff.
Usually, after the puff she would be able to breathe bette and sleep better.
However, yesterday she snored very loud and she had difficulties sleeping.
This morning she went out with her daddy and sister and returned with a high fever.
gave her annother dosage of puff and her whizzzing did not improve.
At 2.30pm, she cried and complained that she cannot breathe.
Sensing something is wrong, we zoomed down to KK Hospital.

I was dropped off at the A&E entrance, took a queue number.
There were like 20 over in queue waiting and the wait can be a good thirty minutes to an hour of wait.
Went to the staff and told him that Aver was having some breathign difficulties.
He immediately skipped the queue and told the staff nurse that she needs attention immediately,
In the next minute, we were ushered into the room and doctors were summoned. And I could hear the urgency of the nurse's voice.
When the doctors came, a string of questions were asked.
While answering all the questions, my other brain was thinking about Superpig.
He had went to park the car and would be expecting to see us at the waiting area of A&E... but I got no time to think of that... I had got questions to answer.
Ash was stanfing beside me kind of scared to see her sister being attended to.
Then there was the phone from Superpig and I went out to fetch him in.

Then we were wheeled to the X-ray room for a lung x-ray.
I said 'we' because I was sitting in the wheelchair with Aver on my lap.
Kind of weird ...

Thereafter, into the observation room... and we were there for the next 3 hours.
Two more rounds of ventolin puffs,,,
condition seemed stable to go home but if she starts to get breathless again, she has to go back to the hospital.

And one note on A%E on Sunday... it is crazily crowded and noisy...

Up till now, sitting at home, I am still suffering from the hustle and bustle in there. I am getting giddy ...

"Mei mei, you got to cover with blanket, okay?"
"You too, mummy," whispered Aver to me when I carried her to her bed in the room at 12 midnight.
It warmed my heart, smoothed out my tired bones and cleared my messed up brains.

Rememebr to give your little ones a hug and a kiss no matter how tired you are or how frustrated you were with them. They only have you and they trust you to be ther for them.

I love you my little darlings... no matter what is ahead of you, Mummy is here behind giving you the encouragement and the wall to lean on when you are tired.

Crochet Rose Hair Ties

I made cute little hair ties for my princesses.

FOR SALE

Each one is about an inch in width.

Will cost only SGD$1 each.

It is good as goodies bag filler for a little girl's birthday for her girlfriends.

It beats filling in with sweets that will spoil the teeth.

Drop me an email if you are interested.

Rustic Lilac

Rustic Blue

This is also a little step into my dream handmade shop.

Will be very grateful for your support.

Thank you very much.

New Clothes for the princesses

These are long overdued pictures of the new clothes I made for the girls for the Chinese New Year.

The first set were wrap dresses for the girls... they were intended to be the same. However, after making the piece for Ash, I realised that I did not enough of that fabric for Aver.


The second set were blouses ... Aver's blouse was very long and it could be worn as a dress instead. This time round, I made sure I cut the fabric properly so that there was no wastage and had enough for both pieces.

Although I had told myself to start the sewing early, I did not managed to do it. Hence, I managed to finish the new clothes on the eve of Chinese New Year. On top of that, I also finished cleaning the house at that time.

Somehow, after so many years, I had not learnt my lesson of starting early so as not to pile all up at the last moment. Now, should I start planning for their birthdays...

It's Sports Day at school

Ashlyn's school had Sports Day today. This year she was not participating in any of the races... it is expected as she is not atheletically talented. However, she has a job to do. She has to serve and that is just as well.

I caught her taking a break with her classmates and munching away at her biscuits. She seemed to enjoy herself.

A little spree

I got a logico set over a spree from a local mothers' forum and we waited for another month to collect it as my Superpig had no time to collect it.

Once I got it, I quickly take a look at it and started on it with Aver.
Although the set is in Chinese, it is based on the same concept of the original German version (which will cost me two trips to a lasik operation!) Aver finished the first book in two sittings and she loves it.



After logico, we did a little reading.


These few days, I started to feel the anxiety. Something is eating away at my head. Next year, Aver will be in kindergarten 1 and she is ready for it. She is still so much like a baby. I am losing sleep over it and it irritates me a lot.

Valentine's Day

it came and went with a bustling of activities as it happened to fall on the first day of the Lunar New Year. So it was a good excuse for Superpig to not celebrate V-day and since we had all the visiting to do, I did not nag him for a celebration.

He took a day off from work the Friday before that weekend so that he could pick up Ash from school, since her school had an early dismissal due to the Lunar New Year celebration and mine dismissed at the usual time. He went shopping in the morning after dropping us off at schools.

He was so excited shopping and bought clothes for the girls. He was sending me sms-es and calling me to update on his shopping and it irked me that I was at work and not there. So I dropped him a hint to shop for my V-day's gift.

And he bought... (humble gifts from a humble place)

but I love them all as they are all useful things. I especially love the seaweed cutters which I had stopped myself from buying the last few times I was there. Other items include, shoe stands for freeing up space in the shoe cabinet, black chopping board with measurement to allow precise cutting of my maki, laundry bag for my fragile clothes. See how useful his gifts were?

Of course, he also gave me this thing that I am using now to blog... my laptop. It is a gift to cover for all 'gifting' occasions in the year 2010. I don't mind... as long as he continue to give me humble gifts from the humble place that suit my humble needs.

On the homeschooling issue...

It has been awhile since I have updated on homeschooling. It is still a rather fuzzy area for me. Time is not on my side. I had my lesson plans out but then... oh well, I am going to stop giving myself anymore excuses.

Just last Monday, Aver was sick and stayed home. So I tried to do a little of handwriting practice along with vocabulary.

She is now on the topic of 'things we wear'. We did the following:

1. English Vocabulary flash cards

2. Identifying the items from the word book.

3. Handwriting practice (which the photo will show you what she had done.)

In reference to the earlier post on the 'Seven Minutes Trousers'...
It is a direct translation from Chinese of a 3/4 pants or tights.
Sometimes, it is rather interesting how the Chinese translate.

I like Tine's idea of a pattern for a pair of pants that can be completed in seven minutes. I would love to havesuch a pattern.

So all my friends who responded... a handmade gift will be in the brew soon. (Once I get the house cleanned and the clothes sewn for Chinese New Year...)

I will get in touch with you soon.

Make a guess...

What does 'Child Seven Minute Trousers' means?

...

To make it more fun, there will be a handmade gift waiting.

Last Day of 2009

Let's do a little review plus 2010 resolutuons.

1. I had neglected my sewing so from tomorrow onwards I will have to set a project list and check it off when I complete each one.
2. I was determined to set my spiritual walk with the Lord right and from tomorrow onwards I will continue with a stronger conviction.
3. I had put in too much time at work and tired myself out hence neglecting my health and indirectly neglecting my family so from tomorrow onwards I will learn to work within my time allocation.
4. Due to lack of time I had allowed my body weight to go a little haywired so from tomorrow onwards I will set aside time for some homebased stretching, toning exercises.
5. Due to the need to lower my weight, from tomorrow onwards I will have to be more selective on my food.

• However, I am not giving up on this coffeeshop version of Black Pepper Steak ... it is cheap and yummilicious good!

• Neither am I going to give up on my Salmon Sashimi... and Ash has taken a liking to it two years ago and she has been vying with me for it.

The above five points will be enough to keep me on my toes so I will not add in anymore.
Basically, the Lord had given me two precious princesses to love and to nurture so I am going to ride on His Strength and His Wisdom to parent them.

So I will place my life on the Lord's Teachings and Promises and will put my blessed family above all earthly things.

How about you? What do you plan for the new year?

'I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.'

Remember this and trust me, this promise has carried me through many many trials.

Christmas will be here...

in 3 days, and I have yet to get my good old faithful tree out.

Although, I feel christmasy but I am not in the mood to bring out the tree.

I think this year, I will concentrate on the true meaning of Christmas.

Oh heck it... I may just bring the tree out tomorrow... and have a little christmas lights in the house and still let the children know the true meaning of Christmas.

It had been a hectic year and it will be an even more hectic 2010 as I have to prepare Aver for better homeschooling curriculum and Ash will be in Primary 3, which requires more guidance in her work.

For now, I am crazily preparing Christmas gifts :)

I love the feeling of giving and sharing whatever talents the Lord has bestowed upon me.

I hope those who receive my handmade presents will love (like) it too.

And Merry Christmas to everyone out there (who still click into this little space of mine...), let's rejoice that God had given His only son to us to save our lives and to cleanse our sins.

The Hollywood Dinos Show at Jurong Birdpark

Watch this...

Enjoy it...

However, if you are expecting the same effect for Hollywood Dinos in Jurong Birdpark, FORGET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We went to the 'show' yesterday afternoon, all excited and eager to experience the 'more than real' dinosaurs and blah.. blah... blah....

BUT....

It is a big disappointment!

The area is small and it takes about 45 minutes to complete.

There is a walking dinosaur... oh yes... but not robotically controlled but a poor guy in the suit trying to walk (like the real dino!) And, 'he' does not come out often as Singapore weather is too hot for 'him'... 'he' wil most probably suffer from serious heat stroke.

The guide also sucks!!! Okay, I forgive him as he is a teenager doing a part time job but well ... he possess a 'part-time' attitude.

Then there was an entertainment by another group of teenagers. They did try their best to hype up the trail but seriously, it is a very very feeble attempt. They knew it also but really did try their best to put up their smiles. The most ironic part, one of the girls said, "I hope you enjoyed the entertainment and is all hyped up for the trail." (Yeah,... right... DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Big time!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

And then off we go into the caves... blah blah blah... duh duh duh...

Then you get led to the little enclosures where the sponsers tried to sell you their stuffs... another big DUH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Really... the whole trip from the time you park your car to the time get back to your car should take an hour or an hour and a half....

oh.... by the way, you are not in the Bird Park at all, it is off the side of the park. Consolation... you get to see the spoon bill bird... one kind only....

So, unless you get the tickets for free ... I really do not suggest that you spend the money for this so-called show. I rather you spend the money to enter the Bird Park itself. The latter is more worth it.

I have photos... but sorry... I am not in the mood to put it up here as it really SUCKS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

If you are offended after reading this post, I am sorry but this is one time that I am totally disappointed and after watching the video I posted up above.... it just gets on my nerves. The organisers think that we are stupid fools and can be easily fooled.

Polymer Clay Desserts

I tried to use polymer clay. I love the may products I saw so I went out and bought some clay plus a new (cheap) oven toaster for all my crafts needs.


I tried it out yesterday near to midnight... I just had to try it because I cannot stand another night of sleeplessness. You see, I have this bad habit. Whenever I need to learn a new thing or to design something to sew, I will go over it in my head until I am familar with all the steps before I start on it. So this polymer clay thingy has been on my head for three to four days and I slept with it in my dreams, woke up with frustrations when I cannot figure it out, went back to sleep again and the cycle went on for nights. I could not sleep properly. And since I had a birthday party coming up, I cannot embark on the polymer clay project...


So I gave it a go yesterday and I still need to get to know my oven a little better to get the right result (in other words, not burning them!)

My First Try... Donuts

Second try... Cake

Next up... Chocolates

Tell me what you think.

04 December 2009 , Homeschooling continues in the evening.

We started lesson with a quick flash card on the theme 'My Body'.
I picked a few words, showed it to her and asked her to pick out the word that I said.
Well, the ability to link the written word to the aticulated word is still not there so it requires more pratices.

This day, we learnt the vowel 'o'.
Aver is able to make the 'o' sound and identify the 'o's in each of the words in the writing sheet.
Then she moved on to practice writing it and has no problem with it.

After writing the 'o's, she practiced writing the letters that she learnt in earlier lessons.
Her tracing skills improved and her written letters looked nicer now.

After all that writing, I gave her brain a little memory work out.
I showed her the picture below for about 5 seconds and then cover it.
She was then to pick out the characters that she saw in my picture.
She was able to do it.
Then I showed her my picture again for another 5 second.
This time round, she was to place the characters that she picked out at the correct places.
She did well for this round too.
I learnt this from her enrichement lessons that she attended earlier in the year.


Then we proceeded to shapes. I had different shapes in different sizes and colours.
Here, she was to catergorise all the jumbled pieces into shapes.
Next time, I will get her to do it in sizes.

And, to end it all... READING TIME!!!

She had enjoyed her lessons so far and she will even go to the kitchen to get the red marker and then come ask me for lesson.

Aver's homeschooling continues and it is picking up speed slowly.
This is because I have kind of forgotten what I had done with Ash when she was younger, so I am cracking my head as I go along. This is just me growing old...



The second lesson comprised of flashcards, learning the letter 'i', and reading.
We started with word flashcards on the theme 'My Body'.
Then we proceeded to doing a few activities from a particular preschool activity book.
Next, we learnt the letter 'i' - the phonetic sound of it and writing both the capital and small letter 'i'.

She was then to identify the letter 'i' from the words and also from a jumble of letters.

Thereafter, she revisited the previous letters that she had learnt, 'a' and 'e'.
Here, she was to identify all the capital letters of 'A', 'E' and 'I'.

After all those hard work, we settled down to read and then it was sleeping time.