Buggy boxes on Art&Craft Tuesday

In an attempt to inject some sort of a routine to the boys' weekday evenings, I've started Games-book Mondays and Art&Craft Tuesdays since last week (the rest of the week has been er... sort of arbitrary for now...).


'Games-book' is the term I use for fun worksheets or work books.  Nothing serious, just some fun exercises to get the kids to settle down before bedtime.  I also hope that by calling Maths exercises 'number games', Yiyang would see them as fun exercises.  As for Yiheng, he attempted his first 'games book' recently; he found it so fun he refused to stop!  He finished the entire book in 2 days?! S$5.89 well-spent!


As for Art&Craft Tuesdays, so far, Mr Printables has been a saver!


This Tuesday, we made some easy 'bug boxes'.  Involved a little scissors-work (for the older one), some folding and pasting.  A simple, quiet, fun and cute craft to do.  Sweet results!

( ^ - ^)

The photographer makes the picture

Chanced upon these words on a photographer friend's facebook page. Actually, he's more like the father of my boy's classmate at childcare - Haha.

He very recently opened his own photography studio - it's only been a short few months and I'm already seeing all these awards that the studio is getting. It must be because he is talented and very passionate about what he does. Head over to Under The Stars now if you're looking for simplicity in romance!

Peiling

Yay! It's Lunar New Year again!

Paul likes to remind me that this is his favourite holiday of the year. I think it's mine too. Can't think of another occasion filled with more family gatherings/visiting, laughter, good food, junk food... and the list goes on.

He also never fails to remind me, in the hour leading up to midnight that x years back, we had spent those moments in the hospital welcoming little Yiyang to this world.

I know I will have many more years to exclaim this, but 'how time flies!'. He's no longer the infant we held in our arms but a lively, cheerful, bubbly and a total energy bunny (or 'piggy', rather) that he is today. May he stay healthy and happy always.

Love, ma.

Battles

In real life, we don't always get to choose our battles.

For the last week, the family has been battling the dreaded Hand-foot-mouth disease, which the kids caught in childcare. And Paul, me, grandpa, grandma have been battling two non-eating kids, who have been battling the excruciating pain of having many many ulcers in their mouth.

I don't blame the school, I feel they have done what they could. My boys' childcare covers a huge area, with 8 individual classrooms plus a dining hall, and an open-door playground. Compared to those which cramp little kids into small areas using bookshelves, I think we are lucky to have found this centre (just on the merits of the environment).

While I like to document our growing up moments (with hundreds of photos each month!) I figured it is too cruel to take pictures of their pain - so this is a quiet photography week.

The brothers were also kept apart in two homes last week, but alas, like most siblings in the centre, the little ones had passed it on to their older brothers and sisters.

It takes 7 to 10 days to clear, the doc and my internet research said, and there is no medicine to cure (!!). Yiheng has been on a liquid diet for almost 4 days now. He is so afraid of the pain that he does not even dare to give ice-cream a try. Yiyang, who was brave for the past 2 days and still ate, is beginning to stop eating. He too prefers liquid. He was moaning so much that I gave the poor boy some paracetemol tonight before sending him off to bed. Not even Ben 10 on YouTube and his new Bumblebee transformer toy (which I presented his today for being a 'brave boy') are enough to distract him from the pain anymore. Poor thing.

Yiheng should be well in another 3 days. Yiyang probably has another 5 days to go. Hang-in there, boys.

Buddy boys

When we were in Melbourne last September, and mum & dad were taking the kids out with me (while Paul went for his conference), I saw how tiring my parents got and said to them, "You better wish sis gets a girl next time." I secretly guessed that my parents had secretly wished that! Afterall, looking after two grandsons was totally new to them. They had two girls.

This past week I have been lamenting again, why didn't I get two girls instead. If I did, they would be beautiful, they would love to sing and dance, I could sew sundresses for them (apparently ruffled skirts are the simplest!), there would be less screaming, jumping, wresting, punching around the house, and I (and mum, and dad, and Paul) would have more sanity.

But then, I know, only with you around I would enjoy more laughter, more tears, more memories, and for that I thank whoever up there for bringing the two of you into our lives. Would I give up any part of this for a little more sanity? Nope. This works just fine for now.

I also know I made the right decision to have 2 of you, even though it means double the craziness, 3 x exasperation and probably 4x exhaustion. Becos I can see that you are becoming loving brothers (most, er, some of the time) and good buddies. Just look at you.

You must grow up to be the best of friends, ok? And always have each other for love and support.

love, mum.

How Halloween turned out...

So, this was how the Halloween project turned out. The big boy woke up the next morning and asked if I really stayed up to make his Batman costume. I said, of course! and showed him the product of my sleepless night. Seeing his big grin, I'd say it was all worth it.

Yiheng's PlayGroup had no party, and he really wasn't the sort who would put on any 'costume'! So I made him a little monster wand using props from a YOG flag (actually the flag was in perfect condition; can't believe it cut out the flag to make way for One-eyesy Monster grrr...).

We were running late, but I'm so glad I managed to squeeze in some photos at the door (I'm sure Paul's car was already waiting downstairs at this point!). A few moments of fun before they were rushed out of the door. Such a pity there was no other soul around who could help take a picture of me with the kids!

That evening, the kids came back really happy, but mommy here sure wasn't so excited when I saw the amount of sweets Yiyang came home with! He had a full load in his paper-bag! For a parent who does not give sweets on a regular basis, it was a huge shock that the givers had not considered the effects of their 'treats' on the children! I was still so bothered by it the following day that I made it a point to tell the school that they should encourage givers to give healthy snacks - fruits, nuts, cereals, biscuits etc. I mean, There are so many options! I can imagine in Australia people would give away organic fruit bars or something... quality over quantity!! Now you tell me if you'll be appalled to see this:

Yiyang's load of 'Trick-or-Treat' 'goodies'!?!

Love,

PL

I'm a working mummy again

After turning down some job offers cos I cannot travel (sacrifice for the kiddos?), I picked 1 of the 2 non-travelling jobs I was offered, and am now back at work!

Before D-day, different friends asked on different occasions if I was excited to go back to the corporate world. Most of the time, I wasn't able to give a clear response. The feeling is really mixed.

I guess part of me was happy and looking forward to it - afterall, I've been thinking the education sector (no, I'm not a teacher!) is such a meaningful place to be (I started thinking this after having kids, along with feeling that jobs that go after money and profits have little meaning. I started looking out for jobs with NGOs... but they didn't work out.) The other part of me is worried that I won't have time to do stuff with and for the boys. But I was secretly thinking, how long can the hours be? After working 12-hour-a-day (or more!) jobs for the last decade or more, I should finally be able to enjoy some work-life harmony?

Perhaps it's too early to tell, but well, so far so good.

Besides it being a struggle waking up at 6.30am to prepare myself, so that I can wake #1 at 7.15am, #2 at 7.30am, and leave the house before 8 to get to their childcare by 8 and reach work by 8.30am (urgh!), it's been fine. And because I make sure I get to work early and on time I feel less guilty going back home on time to spend quality time with the boys. Afterall, we only get to spend about 2.5 to 3 hours together before they head off to bed. Time is such a precious commodity, especially so when you are a working mother with 2 young children.

Maybe that's why I'm also trying harder to be a good mummy... Oh, I made Yiyang a Halloween 'costume' instead of buying $2 hats/cape/wand from Daiso, a.k.a. the easy way out. So here's what I did between 11pm and 3am last Sunday night so that he could be Batman on Monday morning. By the time I packed up at nearly 4am, I was tired but really proud.

The costume was no-sew! The polysatin cape was obviously fraying 15 mins into my cutting it, but I didn't think the kid would be bothered. The only grey T-shirt I could find had a tag that said '6 years old' - bought in Perth's Cotton On last year during our trip... 派上用场了！！好开心。With lots of love, and lots of googling images, the whole package was done! I felt really proud, especially since the original plan was just to make a batman cape.

When I took this picture, I must have been imagining the big grin on Yiyang's sweet face when he sees this the next morning. :)

love, Peiling