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Let the Games Begin! – Sports Day 2012

August 6, 2012 in Entertainment, Ethan, Exercise, Growing Up, Hannah | 1 comment

A couple of weeks ago, the kids had their annual Sports Day in school.  Both of them were equally excited about the event, as they had practised very hard for their events.  For Hannah, it was her first ever Sports Day and the first time she donned her yellow school t-shirt.  For Ethan, it was his last Sports Day in pre-school/kindergarten and he and his other K2 classmates were also involved in a fund-raising bake sale.

Each K2 child would be in charge of selling a single food item (30 packs each), and this was what I made for Ethan to sell:

Of course, a chunk of fun from this project came from the help the kids gave me in packing the cupcakes in their boxes, and errr….(not) threatening to eat them before the sale date.

The combo sign Ethan made for the Red Velvet Cupcakes.  They didn’t have space for one item per sign, so the kids had to share it.

…and here’s our first customer!  Such great support from you, Tess!  Thank you!

The event proper started off with the lighting of the torch a la Olympics style and then they had the march past of all the classes.

Say hi to my handsome boy here:

We had a pleasant surprise when it was Hannah’s class’s turn for the march past.  Our little girl was holding the class sign leading her class to the field!

She looked so determined and yet so cute at the same time!

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Little Pooh Bear’s Adventure with Ethan

July 12, 2012 in Entertainment, Ethan, Growing Up | No comments

It has come the time for Ethan and his classmates to embark on an exciting adventure with Little Pooh Bear in a very interesting project called Little Pooh Bear’s Adventure.  In this group project, each child would bring home a soft toy, Little Pooh Bear, on Friday. The child concerned would then treat Little Pooh Bear as his/her guest in their homes and bring him around just like how we would treat a guest.  The child would write about Little Pooh Bear’s adventures when he is with him/her and record it in a journal, which will be returned to school together with Pooh Bear the following Wednesday.

So last Friday, Ethan had the honor of hosting Little Pooh Bear at our home, and he was ever so excited!  He took him everywhere he went, and asked me to snap pictures of whatever they were doing or eating, and then he would diligently write down what happened in the journal.  At the same time, he would keep on reminding me to go print the photos for him to stick in his journal.

Sound like blogging, much? 🙂  Perhaps I will have a chat with Ethan on whether he would like to have a blog of his own soon. 🙂

Here’s Ethan reading his story of his adventure with Pooh Bear:

A House for Hermit Crab

July 4, 2012 in Entertainment, Ethan, Growing Up | 1 comment

If you’re like me, you would know Eric Carle as the famous author of that ever-so-popular children’s book, The Very Hungry Caterpillar.  He also wrote many other entertaining books, but The Very Hungry Caterpillar would be the most well-known.

Well, if you’re like me too, you would have enjoyed looking at the simple yet captivating illustrations in all of his books.

However, little did I know that those illustrations were also done by Eric Carle himself!  Yep, Author AND Illustrator!

And it was this same collage illustrating technique that Ethan was emulating when he recently created what I like to call….a Masterpiece 🙂

Basically the collage method involves painting, sponging and decorating pieces of paper and then cutting out the relevant shapes, and then layering them on top of each other to create a picture with different textures and shapes.

In this piece of art, Ethan did a picture with reference to Eric Carle’s book “A House for Hermit Crab”.

Some close-up details of the work involved:

And the final product, which this beaming proud Mommy had framed up:

This would be added to Ethan’s art collection, including his Rainbow Sky painting, which he did last year to raise funds for the Japan Tsunami victims.

Bird Watchers Reporting for Duty!

June 10, 2012 in Entertainment, Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | No comments

I first heard of the MY Garden Birdwatch from Bart, and when I broached the subject to Ethan, explaining to him what we needed to do to be part of the “bird-watching crew”, he got all excited and started counting down to the day we would do the count.

This Garden Birdwatch count is an annual activity where volunteers all over Malaysia would do a garden bird count at a specific time frame, and then submit the data to be included in the yearly bird count survey.  To get ourselves ready, I downloaded the bird pocket guide and the bird count sheet and brought it along with us on the date of the count.

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The kids got up bright and early and we decided we would do the count on June 2 2012.  Yes, they brought their binoculars too!

It was supposed to start at 9:00a.m. and last for 30 minutes, but our first count spot (i.e. at the swimming pool area) did not result in many birds landing on the ground.  Birds flying overhead are not supposed to be counted, according to the rules of the bird count exercise.

Then I happened to see some birds in the playground, so we headed there instead.  And our 30 minutes started at 9:05a.m.

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Ethan was very diligent and wanted to spot and count as many birds as he could, but Hannah was very distracted by the playground equipment.

“You have to be quiet so the birds won’t fly away!”

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Ethan checking against his bird watch pocket guide on what kind of birds those were…can you see them in the background?  They were actually rock pigeons!

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“Let’s see if I can see more birds from up here!”

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We spotted quite a lot of Eurasian Tree Sparrows, and also a very pretty Olive-backed Sunbird, but too bad, I could not get a good enough picture.  You can see an array of awesome bird shots Bart captured during his bird watch session with his sons!

The day after the bird watch and bird count, Ethan wanted to submit the survey results.  He had read from the website that we are supposed to enter the data online and submit it all online.  So I let him do it…and he was only too happy to oblige!

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We hope to do it again next year! 😀

Boys and Girls Come Out to Play on World Play Day

June 6, 2012 in Celebrations, Entertainment, Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah, Parenting | 1 comment

What I envisage is not an event or series of events, and not something that entails expansive and expensive preparations (or expensive presents). The essence of PLAY is childlike. It is what all children do naturally. Therefore, a WORLD PLAY DAY should be a day of total attention to each other, from generation to generation. A day when children and adults do what they want to do. A day that is relaxed and emphasizes human interaction. We do not need to stop the world for a day. We play in our own place, home, school or work place. Perhaps I am describing an attitude rather than an activity. A day that is FUN, shows adults and children in interactive situations promoting the healthy growth of each other in simple, self-motivated activities of their own choice. If everyone in the world can do this on the same day each year we will have a WORLD PLAY DAY.
– Dr Freda Kim, Founder, World Play Day

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Before this year, I had not even heard of World Play Day.  So it was a great surprise and experience to all of us when the kids’ school decided to organize an event in conjunction with World Play Day this year.

World Play Day is celebrated on May 28th each year, and it’s a day where kids and adults alike dedicate to the art of play.

Sounds like fun, yeah?

Not even the hot afternoon sun could dampen the spirits of these beautiful kids.  The celebration of World Play Day started with some warm-up exercises, which the kids were all to eager to participate in.

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It was then followed by the singing of the official World Play Day song.

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And then the fun began. 🙂

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Batik Beach Family Day

May 8, 2012 in Celebrations, Entertainment, Ethan, Funny Moments, Growing Up, Hannah | 1 comment

Hannah woke up with a big smile, and with big brown eyes, she asked me, “Mommy, is today the day for our Family Day?”

I said yes, and she smiled even more. 🙂

This year, instead of the usual Mothers’ Day and Fathers’ Day celebration in school, we had a Family Day celebration in Golden Sands Hotel outdoors instead.  So 2 Sundays ago saw us all making a trip to Batu Feringghi.

The kids were, of course, excited about the whole thing, because part of the program was a play session in AdventureZone!

The event was themed Batik Beach Day, so I got them all to dress up in batik attire:

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Weather that day was slightly threatening, and we were treated to intermittent showers during the event.

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Nevertheless, we all had a lot of fun, as can be seen in the pictures I managed to capture below:

Getting ready for…

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Every Limbo boy and girl
All around the Limbo world
Gonna do the Limbo rock
All around the Limbo clock

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Jack be Limbo, Jack be quick
Jack go under Limbo stick
All around the Limbo clock
Hey, let’s do the Limbo rock!
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Initially, our little princess was feeling restless and rather sleepy…

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…but soon warmed up and participated in the fun activities (although some were quite haphazard LOL)…

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Daddy also participated in the tug-o-war on the beach…look at Daddy go! 😀

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The tug-o-war event was divided into 3 categories: Daddies, Mommies and kids… let me just say that it’s not very flattering to be pulling hard on a rope when you’re dressed in a sarong pareo.  Good thing Daddy forgot to use the zoom on my camera 😛

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We then adjourned to AdventureZone for a little while (no pictures, sorry!) and then moved on to another fun activity which we all enjoyed: The Sand Castle building competition.

It took some practice to get the ratio of sand to water right in order to erect structures on the beach.  The kids had a blast helping to collect water, pat the sand into buckets and then create our sandcastle.

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We had no plan in mind whatsoever what to build, but ended up creating a fish-shaped castle.  Can you see the fish? 😛

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It was a truly fun-filled Family Day and the kids especially had a whale of a time!  We were all exhausted but everyone enjoyed themselves 🙂

“Tried & Tested” Squishiest Playdough Recipe

April 27, 2012 in Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting | 5 comments

Ethan has been complaining that the playdough I have been making is becoming too crumbly.  Sometimes he will say it’s too soft!

Well, that’s when I chanced upon a very interesting Playdough recipe from How Does She?.  It claimed to produce the squishiest Playdough ever.

And I couldn’t wait to try it out.

This recipe had one ingredient I did not have in my original Playdough recipe, and that’s cream of tartar.  Cream of tartar helps to smoothen the texture of mixtures in baking and cooking, so I assume that was the secret ingredient.

With this new recipe, the kids could also choose their Playdough color, which added to the excitement.

You will need:

1 cup flour

1 cup water

1/4 cup salt

2 tsp. cream of tartar

1 Tbls. vegetable oil

Food coloring (I used 4 drops, or mix two colors to make a new color!)

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How to do it: Just mix everything together in a pot and stir well.  Cook it over medium heat on the stove, stirring constantly till it thickens and forms a Playdough paste-like mixture.  It’s all edible so it doesn’t matter if you use your good ol’ cooking pot.

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Remove from the pot and place on a plate to cool down.  My kids wanted neon blue for the first batch, so that’s what they got.

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Now, let it cool down for about 10-15 minutes and knead it to the consistency you like.  It is absolutely SQUISHY and SOFT and kids just love to work with it.

Ethan happily announced, “Mommy, this Playdough is WAY better than the one you made the last time!”  🙂

I had some flour left, so I made another small batch of orange playdough.

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Guaranteed smiles, guaranteed fun!

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Going crazy with creativity, and the kids will TOTALLY, absolutely LOVE you for it! 😀

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Happy weekend, everyone!! 😀

Easter Eggs with a Twist(y Thread)

April 11, 2012 in Entertainment, Ethan, Hannah, Parenting | No comments

A few days before Easter last week, I decided to try out a craft idea I saw on the internet recently.  I could not get the Easter Egg Garland out of my head and since I had all the *ingredients* ready, I roped in the kids to give it a go.

I made the starch mixture about an hour before craft time, to allow it to cool down, and then proceeded to demonstrate to the kids.  Just look at them having a blast.

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It turned out to be rather goo-ey and sticky, but I reassured them that it’s okay and they could wash their hands afterward.  Ethan wanted to do everything himself, but Hannah asked for my help.

This is Ethan’s first attempt…a little bit loose on the winding, and he decided to redo the whole thing again later.

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…and the finished product, all being air-dried.

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The big one is the one I made.. LOL.

Unfortunately though, the 2 smaller ones’ balloons shrank before the threads could properly dry out, so we could not get a nice egg-like shape.

The next day, I removed the balloons from the structure and the kids were overjoyed with their creations.

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There was a problem with mine though; I found it very difficult to remove the balloon from inside.  Perhaps there was too much glue stuck on it. 🙁

Monopoly Without Monopolizing

April 2, 2012 in Entertainment, Ethan, Growing Up, Hannah | 1 comment

Every time Daddy comes back from a business trip, Ethan and Hannah would eagerly await his return.  It is still unclear as to whether they look forward more to seeing him or if they look forward to the goodies he brings back for them.

A few months ago, when he returned from one of his trips, he brought back a board game that Ethan had wanted for the longest time: not the regular Monopoly, mind you…but Cars Monopoly!

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It states clearly on the box that the game is to be played by kids 5 years and over only, but because Hannah also wanted to play, we told her she could play only under adult supervision.

Well, fast forward a few months later and now, we can see that it is one of the most-loved board games both Ethan and Hannah enjoy together.  Hannah would request that we play with her, and now she understands the rules pretty well.

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It’s not just mere entertainment though, this game teaches:

  • Taking turns
  • Counting (and moving your piece accordingly) – Hannah can now do it independently
  • The names of all the Cars 2 characters which are on the board
  • Money handling
  • How to lose gracefully
  • How not to brag when you’re winning (well okay, we’re still working on that)

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  • Counting out the correct amount of money to buy the particular car parking space – a very good skill to have, in preparation for the future, i.e. buying stuff
  • Saying “Please” and “Thank you” where money is exchanged

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In short, I have nothing but good things to say about this game, which after all, is proving to be so much more than just that.

Why, Why, Tell Me Why?

March 20, 2012 in Entertainment, Ethan, Funny Moments, Hannah | 1 comment

Some time back, when my kids kept asking us “Why?” for every single thing, we taught them this silly rhyme:

“Why, why, tell me why?
Because the sky is so high”

What we had not expected was that Ethan and Hannah, who are very keen on rhyming words now, would create their own take on the rhyme and made it their own.  Check it out…amazing how they could form a perfect rhyme all on their own!

Their version goes:

Why, why, tell me why?
Because the sky is so high
In the month of July
I want to eat pie
But I don’t got (have) enough money to buy
So I cry!

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