Happy Teacher's Day

This is the card Ray made for her K1 teacher.


This is the outside. Words are supposed to be
"Happy Teachers Day"
(Er, Storm kindly obliged when asked to be a paperweight.)

Spot the errors?











This is the inside. Words supposed to be
"Dear Teacher Jen I like you very much
Love Rayzel"


I guess we really need to work on her writing.

The Chin Terrace Fall 2006 Footwear Fashion Show

And the first pair to come up is a pair of sandals with 2 inch high heels, dark brown soles and white crisscrossing straps. I could go on with details but I'm sure you wouldn't be interested. We are of course, all more interested in the model, who seems to be many sizes too small for the shoes!

He also seems to have put them on wrong, but ah-ha! Do not be misled. This is actually the RIGHT way to wear these lovely sandals! You can see from the confident smile on the model's face, as well as his stylish pose that the sandals are perfectly made for him. At least, so he believes.

It is unfortunate that with such a chic pair of sandals the model has decided to match them with such ugly clothes. Where is the matching Mickey & Friends T shirt to its shorts? That, also unfortunately, is something which the model's own mother does not know, although she has been searching high and low for it.

And now, to prevent him from falling and hurting himself (since he is not insured for this show), we shall ask him to take his precious chubby feet out of the sandals and put his Grandma's sandals back in the corner behind the front door.

Beauty Tips Chapter 1

For almost a year, I'd been having these red eczema-like patches on my face, on my forehead too. No amount of steroid cream could help, and my asthma doctor also said that IHO, it didn't look like the eczema normally related to asthmatic conditions. I didn't want to go to the National Skin Centre (no money, no time).

So I stopped using the Elomet, Cetaphil, moisturisers, and decided to seek some alternative method in the hope of finding a cure somewhere. The answer, surprisingly, was so fundamental that if I didn't see it on some Taiwanese variety show, I wouldn't have believed it.

I wash my face with only cold water. And I avoid washing it more than I can help it. If I have to freshen up in the mornings, it is only with cold water, and no facial foam.

And I also stopped using J&J's Clean and Clear, learning from my family physician that anti-acne facial foams tend to be more acidic in nature (and hence more drying on the skin). Both HL and I are now sharing this Shokobutsu facial foam with dunno-what-gel for sensitive skin. So far so good.

And while we're at this, the same goes for my hair. Shower in water no hotter than 38C. The higher the temperature of the water, the more natural oils you lose from your skin and hair, leaving it dry and lifeless. I usually try to adjust the mixer till the water's cool to the touch. Same goes for the kids, want to keep their skin and hair nice, soft and shiny. As a result we tend to shower earlier these days (otherwise it gets too cold for cool water), and we probably save more on electricity.

If I come across anymore tips, I'll be sure to let you know.

Watch out for the bugs!

1. The flu bug
We've been hit 3 rounds in the past 2 months. The first was most serious where everyone had high temps for at least 3-4 days each. The later 2 were not so bad, slight fevers but a long bout of runny noses and sore throats. And it's not over yet.

So drink lots of water and get lots of rest, all ye people.

2. The mossies
During the day it must be at least 40C, we're all just melting even by sitting under the ceiling fans. Everyone is sweating bucketfuls. Eczema alert! I dread to imagine how much worse it must be for HL who is in his aircon-less hall, in that thick thick, DARK-coloured uniform.

The bloodsuckers are out, attacking the kids especially, and ME. Everyone except my parents, who have gone to cool, cool Genting for another casino trip. Oooh... I am SOOOO envious. Wish I can go back to Penang for another round of pigging out.

Landed property tends to be better feeding grounds for mosquitoes, since fogging is less conscientiously carried out by the equivalent of "town council", and being nearer to the ground, easier for 'em suckers to reach.

And I seem to have lost my packet of anti-mossie patches. BUGGER!!!

Here is the Winnie the Pooh cake

Looks like this photo, no?

A good ex-neighbour of ours tried some of it yesterday and was blown away by the taste.

"Where did you get such nice cake? As good as Creative Bake's!" She always orders Creative Bake cakes for her kids' birthdays. Her almost 3yo son, especially, loves Baby Bop, and at his 2yo birthday I saw a 3kg Baby Bop cake. It was yummy too, but I couldn't afford (nor can we finish) a 3kg cake!

So I guess for her son's next birthday at the end of the year, it'll be Prima Deli who has Barney cakes. Mine is from Bengawan Solo.

Happy Birthday Ruvie

Who is now sitting on my study floor saying, "Eh mamamam... Eh mamama..." to himself. He woke up this morning to Happy Birthday songs from Winnie the Pooh, Eeyore and Barney, and he loved them. We will be going for his birthday dinner at Crystal Jade Shanghai La Mian XiaoLongBao later this evening.

And we'll be collecting his Winnie the Pooh cake later from Bengawan Solo. When trying to decide what design to order earlier this month, I had been considering a Barney cake (official ones can be found at Prima Deli with a marzipan Barney pic, 10% off for UOB and HSBC card holders ). Turned out the little one prefers Pooh after all, because we bought him a Barney soft toy (granted it wasn't very soft), but he still prefers his Pooh bolster when he wants to nan-nan.

On a totally different note, Ruvie has lost loads of weight in the last year. All of my friends and relatives will remember how chubby he was when he was a baby (13kg at 10 months!) and now at 2yo, he is about 10.6kg, somewhere around his sister's weight when she was this age. So there you have it, breastfed babies will lose their puppy fat! And maybe, just MAYBE, he will be able to fit into the XL BrightBots which he outgrew at 6mo.

Now I need to go find something to satisfy my hunger since I know my family will never be able to "achieve" an early dinner.

Complain complain, life is so mundane

Update: The cake turned out rather eggy, and, somehow, not cheesy nor sour enough. I think I'll chuck this recipe out. Nothing beats Chantal's New York Cheesecake. But I also liked some other No Bake Cheesecake from the same site.

I am feeling rather bothered that I am bothered by the nitty gritty things of life. While some are talking about getting nominated for awards, others are discussing political issues and other more IMPORTANT subjects, like losing a loved one.

But here I am, stressed out because the kids are both sticky to me at the same time, my husband is in one of his Idon'tcareyousaidyouwouldhandleallthekidsissues moods, and the elder one is sick and I can't attend to her because I need to nurse the younger one to sleep and HE's refusing to let me go, and I HAVEN'T DONE MY LAUNDRY!! So MUNDANE... my worries seem.

I received an email from an old acquaintance yesterday, asking me how I am. I am so tempted to type all these words again, complaining about how I have so many little problems. After all, when people ask you "How are you?", they are really sincere and want to know how you really are, right? I've always felt obliged to tell the truth, in detail.

Thinking back, I've been pouring out sob stories to customers (closer ones), mailing lists and friends recently. In defence, I HAVE been ill the last 3 weeks, so bad I hardly even used the computer except for perhaps max 1-2hrs a day (now THAT's really little, ok). But again, it all seems so MUNDANE.

On second thought, what's wrong with being mundane? I am a stay-home mom turned work-at-home mom. My life centres around my family, my children. It was only because of my family that I developed the passion for all these parenting methods, which now are the backbone for my business. Breastfeeding, babywearing, EC, co-sleeping, all these came about because of my family. How else could I have the confidence to take over the store?

And routines are comforting (albeit my routines are not so fixed). Knowing the laundry is done, nobody is hungry, the kids are learning and growing everyday, everybody is healthy and strong... what more could make a mother satisfied? Surely anything else is only the icing on the cake?

I think I know where I stand now. I can do more to enhance my life, it is nowhere perfect, but at least I know that if I can at least fulfil the needs of my family, I know I have done my part as a mother. And from there, just like a child who knows his parent is always nearby to protect him and support him if necessary, I can go further.

And I have found a new recipe for lowfat cheesecake! Got all the ingredients, just need to find some spare time to make it! I LOVE baking!! Even my son can't wait to try it!