Has it been that long?

Frankly, I got a shock when I saw my blog was last updated on Sept 28. Hmm, what have I been up to? I guess the answer is, nothing much. (haha)

I've been busy reading and watching TV, that's for sure. I hate to say this, but Mediacorp Channel 8 dramas just don't excite me the way they used to. Metamorphosis was good, but I seriously don't fancy those 'comical' types of dramas (if you can call them that) that they are screening now. Thanks to cousin S, I've finished the entire third season of Grey's Anatomy, and it was great! Eagerly awaiting Season 4 now!

I've not been in the pink of health and I'm sick of being sick! (Yes, I am still having that dang cough.) I resolve to cut off all cold drinks and heaty food, but I can't go without my chilli. Hope to have a better update next time.

The kids' school year is coming to an end, their concert is next week, followed by C's graduation 10 days later, and then Primary 1 orientation. Time flies and it'll soon be 2008! I can't believe it!

Not well.

I haven't been feeling well in the past week. I've got a hacking cough and about one tonne of phlegm (TMI? hehe) which I can't cough out. Doctor gave me a drowsy medicine, so I've not been taking it religiously. Hopefully, with the weekend around the corner, I will take it 3x a day!

In addition to that, I sprained my back muscle trying to carry R the other day. I have since been nursing a sore back, so that means, no golf for now, and no bending at the waist either! The back is much better now, but after prolonged periods of sitting/standing, the ache will return.

I guess all this is part of growing old. I can't believe how time flies. C will be going to Pri 1 next year, and she'll soon be a pre-teen. 2007 seems to have just started, but in the blink of an eye, it will be October next week.

I've also been hooked on Facebook which is really fun if you've nothing else to do. I've found some old friends on it, and it's really interesting how it links everyone to everyone else. It's really quite a small world out there!

Some things I'm looking forward to:

1) Some good ol' retail therapy at Marks & Spencer and VivoCity.

2) Shopping for the kids' winter clothes at Mothercare.

3) Catching a movie (881?)

4) Watching tonight's episode of 'Metamorphosis' and 'Ghost Whisperer'

5) Sleeping in beyond 6.30 am! (sleeping with meds is a really good feeling!)

6) Hopefully squeezing in an early morning swim here. The kids just love the lazy river!

Yay! It's less than half a day to Saturday now! :)

Winter in Korea!

Yesterday, we booked our air tickets to Korea! It'll be the beginning of winter when we get there, and I'm already feeling the winter chills just thinking about it!

We plan to spend a few days in Seoul, and a couple of days at a nearby ski resort and Everland, it'll mainly be a trip for the kids to experience winter and snow, and for us to chill out (literally or otherwise!)

If you've any 'lobangs' where to rent/buy nice winter clothes for adults and kids, have recommendations on where to go in Seoul, or can speak Korean, please let me know!

Uncluttering.

Finally we're doing it! Our garage sale will be held this weekend (15 & 16 Sept) at my place.

Date/Time: Saturday (2-5pm) and Sunday (10 am-5pm)
Venue: Seletar Hills area (TVC customers will know! If you wanna come but not sure, email me or leave a comment)
What's on sale: Toys, books, golf sets, miscellaneous stuff.

A note - many of the toys on sale will be in great condition. As a parent, I've been overindulgent. I feel much better now my kids' cupboards are so much neater with these toys gone and much neater. If you know of a children's home who would appreciate some of these toys, please let me know.

Hope to see you!

Happy Teachers' Day!

Tonight kiddos and I made some mini nutella cupcakes for their school teachers. They are indeed lucky to have great teachers at their kindergarten! Thanks to IG for the tips regarding the cupcakes, they turned out nice and yummy and heaty! :) I also love the cute paper cups I baked the muffins in - you can't see them from here, but they've got the cutest Japanese pictures on the base inside! In case you're interested, I got them from the Isetan Scotts supermarket (party section).


And here are some Ikea jars in which these muffins will go! Great use of scraps and my Prima flowers! :)Happy Teachers' Day!

Be still, my heart.

So, the shooting pain has disappeared and my heartbeat is (strangely) back to normal. So, I've cancelled my appointment tomorrow. It's strange isn't it, that when things reach such a state that you worry till you take some action, then it goes away.

Anyhow, I'll do some of my own monitoring for a while before deciding the next step!

Photos!

Finally got down to uploading my photos! (Or should I say I felt up to downloading my photos! haha!!)

First off, a picture of the blouse I and my maid made!
The sleeves have elastic bands around them, but very loose ones. And I was quite undecided about the elastic at the bottom but due to my horrific cutting, the elastic helps to disguise the unevenness of it! At the end of it, I'm quite satisfied!

Next, some Hong Kong pics! Mostly taken at HK Disney (at this point, my sis & I had not yet changed cameras. These were taken by her.)

I've been having a sharp shooting pain up my left arm these past few days. Was telling my mum about it, and she thinks I may have a heart problem! I've always had a fast heartbeat (like 95-100 bpm even at rest!) so that may be reason for worry. Anyway, I'm headed to the National Heart Centre next week and we'll know for sure!

Update.

I'm back from Hong Kong! What an experience it was! It rained everyday when we were there, and on the day we went to Disneyland, there was a typhoon signal 8 hoisted! That meant the park closed early (about 3 pm) and we were stranded in Disneyland Hollywood Hotel, for fear that the public transport system would shut down! Photos to come soon!

Back home, I am trying out Simplicity 3887. Unfortunately, due to the extremely soft material I chose, the shirt looked a bit out of shape after I tacked (basted?) it last night. It has been sent to Sewing ER - my maid S - to sort out. I conclude that unlike its name, such patterns are not really that simple. LOL. I hope it will be wearable by this weekend. Lesson learnt - never use this kind of soft, silky material to make a garment that requires precise cutting! :P Will post a pic if it is presentable. If not, I will have to give it another shot using normal cotton!

That's all for now! This weekend I hope the weather holds up - we hope to visit the zoo! :)

Noteworthy.

Here's a pic of me & my kids taken at their school, for the school magazine:
Things to note:
1) Look at their smiles! This is their typical 'camera-smile'-fake and unnatural. I suppose it's a by-product of a scrapping mummy eh?

2) C's long socks. She loves long socks! So, I got here these from Cerisi and she wears them everyday now! (Not the usual ankle socks that school kids wear!)

3) R's contortionist legs. Their position looks weird right? He's like a little worm! Even his teachers always comment on how he sits in weird, contorted positions. Perhaps he should be a gymnast!

By the way, dd managed to get into St Nick's for P1 next year! Orientation is on 17th Nov. It's going to be a new chapter in our lives!

We're off to HK on Thursday! It's also C's real birthday, and Singapore's birthday! Happy Birthday to C & Singapore!

A Quick Note

I'm looking forward to my trip to Hong Kong next week! But before that, we'll be celebrating C's birthday on Saturday, followed by TVC's anniversary party in the evening! Quite an eventful weekend, wouldn't you say?

We're getting C an electric scooter from Kiddy Palace for her birthday, plus some erasers, mechanical pencils and assessment books. That's right. Assessment books! She is one strange girl sometimes! Well, as long as she's happy! She's also hooked on Super Princess Peach! Perhaps she will have unlimited privileges on August 9th, which is her real birthday!

Till my next post...ciao!

An ABC adventure

Check this out!

my daughter C

my son R

Get your own here.

I passed!

I passed my PC test today! yay!

I had a 20-question theory test, plus a 4-hole golf game which I had to complete in 28 strokes. I won't tell you how much I scored, but I passed! But, I realise I really need to work on my putting and chipping. So, that's what I'm going to do next, and aim for my handicap test next! (For that, I'll need 60 strokes or less for 9-holes!)

But for now, I think I need a new putter! :)

it's been eons!

That's right. Eons since I've posted. Nothing much to post I guess? *lol*

R came down with a bad case of cough/running nose/phlegm and just got well this weekend. He had a fever for almost a week, till the doctor finally relented and prescribed anti-biotics. That week was tough, he couldn't sleep through the night, and neither could I. The good news is, it seems he's finally night toilet trained! No need to wake up for night visits to the loo anymore! :)

New maid came last Monday. Well, she does seem to be a little slow on the uptake, and I just have to try to be more patient with her! Give it a few more weeks and see if the situtation improves. Changing maids is always such a chore and game of chance. I do hope it works out, both for her sake and mine. :P

I sewed a patchwork blankie for C last week too! It's made of kiddy retro fabric and is really colourful! Will try to get some pictures up of it soon... together with a dress I made for her some time ago. Next project - a quilt for dh, using Denyse Schmidt's Hop, Skip and a Jump pattern, from here. At least, that's what I hope to do. Still in the midst of cutting up the template.

That said, on the shopfront we're starting to think about what good stuff to order from the CHA Summer releases! Just too much lovely stuff going around! Let us know what you like!

Shopaholic TV addict fell off (or isit on) the wagon.

Looks like I fell off the blog wagon! (Or as Seinfeld would guess, is it 'on' or 'off' the wagon?)

I've been rather busy with lots of things, including trying to piece together my Barcelona skirt (not working out well cos I think the material I bought was wrong), practising my golf swing (the more I practice, the worse I get), watching TV (Spell Cast, Supernatural, CSI Las Vegas, etc, etc), and sleeping a bit too much.

I'm feeling rather relieved and happy today, as I have just booked C's birthday party venue! She is quite excited about planning it, getting goody bags and all that fun stuff! Me too!

A thought has been floating around in my mind. Are there such things as 'cheap' hobbies? Maybe it's because I'm a shopaholic, every new hobby I go into seems to involve a fair amount of shopping. I wonder why?

Tonight, I'm meeting some old friends for dinner. We got to know each other at our former workplace, and we've known each other for 8 years now. It's always fun when we get together and I'm really looking forward to it.

And after dinner? The Ghost Whisperer beckons!! :)

ETA: We're headed to Bintan again next weekend! Pray for good weather for us, please! :)

Spiderman 4

Here he is (look at bottom left):

(sorry for the grainy pic, taken from L's hp camera...hehehe!)

Project Runway

heheh...that's how I would like to describe my first attempt in recent years in sewing something for myself! Using Amy Butler fabric and a pattern from Skirt a la Carte, here it is:


By the way, the book is also available in Kinokuniya, where i grabbed it at 20% off last weekend. The finish of the skirt is far from perfect, and I basically 'winged' it at certain parts due to my lack of understanding of Japanese. Anyway, I must say I am rather happy with my effort!

On to other things, I had some frustration dealing with some of TVC's suppliers from the US of A. Delayed shipments, incorrect email addresses, lack of responses, voicemails... I am glad that I managed to get something done last night/this morning, although it meant I had to be awake from 4 am!! Now that everything's settled (more or less!), I'm really looking forward to next Saturday's Open House!

Fun & Fit Friday!

It's been a while since I've posted here. Last Friday was the kids' kindy Fun & Fit Day, where they had a chance to display what they had learnt in school as well as participate in some fun telematches orchestrated by the teachers! The event ended off with a pancake-decorating session which the kids enjoyed thoroughly!


In the afternoon, we hopped over to the Navy Open House. It was preview day, and considerably less crowded than when it is open to the public! Here is a pic of the kids with their life jackets onboard RSS Vigilance:


We also found a new golf school for C & R, since the last instructor for R didn't work out. Their first lesson is this Saturday! :)

New interests.

This weekend, something happened! I developed an interest in some new hobbies!

Golf. Dh bought me a golf set this weekend! We started out bringing R for his first golf lesson at Keppel Club, and on Sunday, when we went shopping to kit him up properly for his next lesson, guess what we bought instead? A half-set for me! These aren't the newest clubs in town but hey, I'm not a pro either. And besides, they look great :) I actually played about 15 yrs back, and now I'm starting again! My first golf lesson is next week, with a Tobey Maguire look-alike :) Well, a cute coach is always an incentive! Dh is the happiest I'm picking the game up, he's been bugging me for a couple of years now!

Sewing. OK, I can't say I've done much about this. I probably last sewed 10 yrs or more ago. But when your sister is crazy about sewing and keeps buying lovely fabrics, a new machine, and pattern books, how do you stay neutral? I've got my eye set on this pattern:


I'm taking over my mum's sewing machine that has just been serviced and repaired, and I hope to be able to post my first work soon!

I have a history of having short-lived hobbies (save for things like reading, and shopping. LOL). Scrapbooking is about the longest-lived hobby I've had so far (2 yrs and counting) and I hope I will stay the course for my new hobbies ! What's your longest lasting hobby?

Finally.

Finally I have uploaded the pics from my camera! Enjoy....

You can see more at my Flickr account.

While waiting for my Flickr to upload, I decided to blog about a movie I saw yesterday. Music and Lyrics is a wonderfully romantic and funny flick, and I highly recommend it to anyone who has lived through the eighties! It's super fun and romantic!

ETA: why are my pics so pixelised!?

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Sasha!

Here are 7 quirks or interesting things about me:

1. I can't sleep without something covering my legs.
2. I am paranoid about my hair.
3. I only eat KFC's coleslaw with whipped potato, never alone.
4. I love scaring myself silly with scary books or movies. All time favourite: The Ring. (Japanese version)
5. My maths sucks. Really. (Now you know why I take so long to total up bills for TVC)
6. I can't draw a straight line, even with a ruler. It's always tilted up or down for some reason!
7. I think (or am quite sure) I'm addicted to the internet.

Hoo-yah!

Have you ever watched the movie G.I. Jane? I watched it for the first time today, and I really enjoyed it! Typical underdog-does-well movie, with an excellent performance from Demi Moore!

The plot was a bit contrived, but everyone needs mindless movies sometimes right? If you ever need a movie that's gritty, inspiring and exciting, try this sometime. Warning : some parts are a bit brutal (it is Navy SEALS Special Ops training after all)!

"Hoo-yah!"

The Garden Gang.

Do you remember these characters?
They are part of the GARDEN GANG, a series of books by Ladybird. I remember reading them when I was young, and being amazed it was written by a 9-year-old girl, Jayne Fisher. I always wanted to be an author, although my writing skills have definitely been dulled by the years of corporate paper pushing and policy writing. haha!

C borrowed the book "Penelope Strawberry" from the kindergarten library and I was so happy to see this book after decades! Hope this picture brings back fond childhood memories for you! If anyone could tell me where I can find this series of books in Singapore, please let me know.

Thank you.

(this is going to be the 5th time I try to post this!)

The Fontwerks event is finally over, after months of preparation! I can't say I'm elated, because I do feel a tinge of wistfulness now that it's over! Relieved, I definitely am! We had our share of glitches and near-heart-attack-moments, but fortunately for us, everthing turned out well at the end of the day!
We could not have done this without the belief and trust of our customers, family and friends. I am so grateful for your support! I just wanna say, "Thank you."

"I'm so excited!"

A mix of excitement, nervousness, stress and anticipation all in one - that's how I'm feeling right now. It's been a busy week, preparing for Fun with Fontwerks! and all. I'm really crossing my fingers and toes for it to turn out well. It's something I never thought we'd actually manage to pull off, and it'll be here in 2 days!

Today, I also did my Parent Involvement Group (PIG) session at the kids' kindy. And C's teacher was so nice as to let her pink group go for the Mini Pancakes cooking session! That sure made my day (and C's)!

Here's the recipe for Mini Pancakes (recipe makes approximately 6 medium pancakes):
(Time taken: 30 mins with a group of 5 kids. Probably just 15 if it's you and your kid :))

Ingredients:
125gm self-raising flour
50gm sugar
1 tsp vegetable oil
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
Method:
1) Mix sifted flour and sugar into mixing bowl.
2) Create a 'well' and pour in lightly beaten egg. Mix well.
3) Add in 1/2 cup milk and 1 tsp vegetable oil and mix well.
4) Heat up pan. Spoon mixture onto pan and cook till golden brown.

Voila! To add flavour, sift some icing sugar over the finished pancakes, or serve with ice-cream or maple syrup!

A gracious society

Singapore is a gracious society...no, really! Here's my story:

Yesterday, while shopping at VivoCity, I received a call on my handphone, from my family doctor's nurse! She told me that I had dropped my wallet, and someone picked it up, found the doctor's receipt and called the doctor to locate me! The finder had left her mobile number for me to call her back, which I did, and it turned out she was in the exact same shop (in the kids department) less than 3 metres away from me. Nothing was missing from the wallet, and I was really grateful! Imagine...cancelling my credit cards, remaking my identity card, driving licence etc would have been one big tedious task!

See, I'm quite sure if I'd dropped my purse in another crowded shopping centre, in another country, I'd have lost it for good! So, I'm glad I lost it in Singapore! (lol). Must be more careful though!!

Good mail day!

Thanks everyone for your concern! My foot is feeling much better after my experience at the Chinese sinseh, which was what I would describe as "near-childbirth-pain"! Thankfully, my ankle was not fractured, as suspected, as I am able to walk 70% normally now :)

Can you believe dh has not reached Taiwan yet? It's been 3 days already! I can't imagine being at sea for so long, without a break. Well, I hope this makes up for it :P

Had a good mail day today! Lovely goodies for TVC arrived. Can't wait to play with them. Hope to get them uploaded over the next couple of days, but this is really bugging me! Grrrr.

Fun with Fontwerks takes place next Saturday. Time sure flies! I can't believe it's going to happen for real!!

Sprained!

DH left for Taiwan today. He'll be gone for 3 weeks, and I've already given him my shopping list!

In other news, today I sprained my foot! I took some cough medicine before taking a nap, and when I woke up, one of my legs was 'dead'! In a futile attempt to balance myself, I landed on my ankle (ouch!). Now, it hurts like hell and I have to walk super slowly. The Chinese sinsehs were all closed today, so I'll have to find one tomorrow. Bah! I hope I can still manage to visit Centrepoint though. I'm just dying to visit the new Robinsons.

Stuck at level 55 of Weffriddles. Any hints appreciated.

And last but not least, Happy Birthday Mum!

Weffriddles....

....has taken over my life. That's all I have to say.

Catching up.

Two posts in a day! Am I catching up or what? Firstly, I wanted to upload some pics of a mini-album I did. I meant to submit it for a mini-album challenge, but the deadline came and went before I knew it. Nevertheless, here it is:

(Cover inspired by Ali Edwards, album using AC and Fontwerks papers.)

Next, I wanted to share with everyone some stuff I bought this weekend! Was in need of some retail therapy, so here are pics of *some* items I got

1) An old hardcover storybook from a garage sale nearby: $1.00

2) A Crumpler camera bag : $104
3) Some vintage buttons - $30.00

Add these to a James Patterson book, Marks & Spencer chocolate, and Shu Uemura make-up, and I definitely spent too much this weekend. But I'm one happy gal! And that's priceless :)

ETA: Sis introduced me to this game.
WARNING: Do not click the link unless you have nothing better to do!

Shiny Happy Faces.

Report on school bus ride. Everything went GREAT! (except for the bus driver getting a bit lost.)

I went home at about 11.25 am to wait for the bus with my camera! After pacing up and down for about 20 minutes (yes..in almost noon sun :P) the long-awaited bus came into view! When the bus door opened, the kids piled excitedly out of the bus! They were shiny with sweat (I wonder why?) and smiling with happiness! Everyone said the ride was "fun" and "good". A was even able to give directions to the bus driver who lost his way inside the estate. :) Let's hope the enthusiasm lasts!


Cheers to the kids! Hip, hip, hooray!

PS: If you're thinking of getting a 4D number, how does '5411' sound?

A blast from the past.

C & I have been under the weather for a couple of days. She with stomach flu and me with a throat infection. I hope we both get better, tonight we have a dinner with dh and his colleagues at Bottle Tree Park. I went there for a recce a couple of days back, and it's a lovely place. Hope the food's good!

I realised I haven't been uploading any pics to my blog recently. But here's a blast from the past. Last year at this time, we had just about ended our Canberra/Gold Coast trip. Here's a pic from the 4 kiddos at play at Brisbane airport.It's been only a year but they seem to have grown! Although A & R still wear the same clothes, E's hair is longer, and C has most certainly outgrown those clothes. heh! On other fronts, between now & then, TVC was born, and it's taken me to places and people I never thought I'd go and meet. What an experience it's been!

Serendipity

One of the definitions of "serendipity" is "good fortune; luck" as defined by dictionary.com. I love this word, mostly because it sounds cute and lively (if you know what I mean)

I experienced some serendipity in my life recently! Following up from my school bus post, the bus uncle informed me that he'd be chartering a new bus for the 4 kiddos and 2 more from the same area, which means, travel time is almost halved for them! Cheers to Uncle Lim!

Musings About A Day Out

This morning, dh and I brought the kids to Sentosa. We hadn't been there for a while, so it would be fun, especially when the new Sentosa Express has just started service.

We set off bright and early and reached Sentosa at about 9 am. It was blazing hot, as usual! We started the day with a ride on the ridiculously expensive (to me) Carlsberg Sky Tower , then had a break at The Coffee Bean and Subway, before embarking on the Luge ride. It was very fun, although the sky chair ride back up was really really hot! Anyway, we arrived back on mainland at about 11.30. Some pictures from our day out:


I think it's important sometimes to sacrifice our own interests for that of the kids. I would have much preferred to spend the day at a shopping mall, but the kids much prefer spending their day at such places! It was good that dh came along, I think after the year he spent Down Under, ironically I think the kids and him are closer.

Anyway, we'll be chatting with Kah-Mei at 10 pm on The Scrappers' Loft. I think it'll be fun!

School Bus

I made the decision to put the kids on the school bus for the journey back! I'd been deliberating for the longest time, as the journey is quite long (about 40 minutes). Then DH said something that struck me, which was: "I don't want my kids to grow up in cotton wool." Which is true!

This shuttling routine is quite tiring and tedious for me, as I reach work about 9, but have to leave about 10.55 again to fetch L's maid then the kids, drop them at home, buy lunch, and reach back to the office at about 12. It's disruptive to say the least, although I always appreciate the opportunity to catch up with the kids' teachers.

Anyway, with C going to P1 next year, this fetching routine (no pun intended) will only get worse. So why not start now? With 4 of them in the same bus, at least there'll be company in 'misery'. I think they will enjoy it though, once they get over the initial adjustments.

D-day is 2 April. I think I'm as nervous as them! LOL

A quick & easy LO!

I find I hardly have the stamina/creative juices to do an LO that requires layering, or tons of embellishments. I do love such LOs but I just *can't* do it. Here's a shot of an LO I did in about 20 minutes. Sorry for the bad lighting, but the Hambly overlay just caught the reflections of the ceiling lights from any angle! Grrrr.....
By the way, the Cyan ink on my printer is low, hence the reddish temperature of the picture! But it's ok, I like that it brings out the florescence (is there such a word?) of the light sticks.To quote a source of inspiration of mine, "It is ok" .

Should I?

...go swimming or not? The kids have swimming lessons at 4 pm today. I know they always enjoy me going into the water with them, but I dread the initial cold, and subsequent dry & fibrous hair, and of course, my lack of sunblock. I should have brought my camera so I could get some good shots of them to scrap about, but I didnt. I should have brought my book along too, but I didn't. I still have a couple of hours to mull over it. Hmmm. Life is full of trivial decisions like these, isn't it?

Something else on my mind. Should I get these JCrew pants? I got a couple when I went to Anaheim and love them to bits. I think I could do with one in each colour. LOL. What do you think?

Nice things

Hands up, those who love nice things! A couple of nice things to blog about today. Firstly, a big thanks to I, who made me & my sis these lovely felt boxes. I think they are too nice to use!
Next up. Another love of mine. Iso Peas. Have you heard of them? I loved eating them as a kid, and recently re-discovered them. I had about 15 mins to spare on my parking coupon today after going to the bank, so I dropped by NTUC to pick up some groceries and my iso peas. I also picked up some more dark chocolate with almond to try. But really, nothing beats Ritter Sport Dark Chocolate with Whole Hazelnuts for me. Here's a picture of the iso peas. It's a bit sweet, a bit salty, and crunchy and nutty all at once. Try it next time!

This is a Mario Story

This is a story written by Chelsea today. All grammar, paragraphing, spelling etc. is 'as-is'. Enjoy!

"This is Mario.
Mario is doing -
racing, and after -
that Mario go to school
and after that-
mario go to sleep
on pillow."
I'm so proud of my 5.5 year old girl! I think it's quite a commendable effort at a story! heehee perhaps she has inherited Mummy's literary inclinations :) She even folded it into a book-like structure with a cover and title!

ETA: Chelsea told me that Ryan told the story and she just helped to write it down! :)