SCHOOL "OUT" - Christmas Village

20.12.2012 evening, we made a trip to Christmas Village at Singapore Flyer Skydeck. Jo had brought the kids there in the noon and they loitered and waited for me until evening came and I joined them for the evening fun ! Been reading posts blogged by some mummies from Singapore Mum Bloggers about this event. So here we are !

Probably this is the tallest christmas tree you can ever find. Spot Santa and his reindeers soaring high !

A closer look here.

We are at the Christmas Village !

My lil' shepard chasing sheeps,

while mei mei is having fun on the horsie.

Fly, Reindeer Fly !

Ready to soar across the Singapore skyline with Santa, on his sleigh !

Spot the Angels, Snowman and Pandas

and walk through Dazzle -Me - Pines ! Glittery and sparkly !

The Christmas village will be here from 17th Nov 2012 to 1st Jan 2013.

Open Daily from 12.30 pm - 10.30 pm
Non peak hours : 12.30 - 6 pm
Adult : $6
Child (3-12 years) : $4

Peak Hours : 6pm - 10.30 pm
Adult : $12
Child : (3-12 years) : $8

I presented my Passioncard during the peak hours and got my tickets at a discounted rate for $5.

More details to check out at www.xmasvillage.com.sg

Merry Christmas to all !

Christmas Orders - Personalised postcards and boxes

For the past two weeks, yes I have been busy with my angels and snowmen ! I completed this order for Angeline for her colleagues. Have made half of the cookie holders to personalized postcards so that she can pen her message behind the cards and stick it on top of her gifts for the receivers.

These are the mini holders.

To show you the hard work behind these beautiful crafts, especially to some of you out there who wonder why personalized gifts cost slightly higher after enquiring from me ? Hope this clears your doubts. Apart from being special as it is personalized, all parts of the assembled snowman/angel is pieced together piece by piece from scratch after cutting them out.

These are available in DIY sets if you want to make the cards yourselves. Will be launching the DIY sets as well for next year !

Cheese Biscuits Bombs

When I first saw the pic posted on Groupon FB page. I told myself, I need to make this. It's simply irresistable especially if you are a cheese lover.

I managed to find the recipe from www.ohbiteit.com. It took me quite some time to find the can of Pilsbury grands flaky layer biscuits. Silly me thought that it was a tin of biscuits which can be found on the biscuit shelves. I searched everywhere until one fine day, I went to Jason Supermart and again, was told by the staff that they dont carry this. I almost left the store when I decided to detour to the freezer section where the cheese and butter are. And I found what I wanted ! I was delighted of course ! Finally, a stop to my long search !

Pretty simple. One can can serves 8. To note that the can is pressured sealed. Hence, please be careful when u opened it. I got a fright though with the can suddenly "popped" opened.

I bought a block of mozerella cheese block. You can buy your favourite choice of cheese. Cut it into small cubes and wrapped about 2-3 cubes per dough.

After sealing them, glazed them with olive oil,

sprinkle the oregano or Italian herbs mixed with grated parmese cheese

and baked in the oven till firm and golden brown @ about 180 - 220 deg. Be sure to eat it piping hot if you want the extra ooze of cheese flowing out ! It does not taste like biscuits but taste like fluffy bread when it's hot !

I am thinking of trying to make the dough myself from scratch for the next round ! Happy baking !

Heart melting moments

These simple little gestures from our 4 year old lil' buddy, actually moved me. He is picking up from us as he probably noticed how we took care of him with total loving care. I hope to document down all these so that, he can read it when he is older and yes, he has alrady started reading this blog.

Just last evening, I was scratching my back and Xav saw. He came to me and asked me :

Occasion 1 : Mummy, what happened ? Is your back itchy ? I scratched for you ok and he came over and start scratching for me.

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Occasion 2 : Mummy, you have got a cold, you must wear this (came to me with a pair of bedroom slippers), so that you can keep your feet warm and recover faster !

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Occasion 3 : One morning before I left for work, he saw that I had blisters at the back of my ankle. I told him that my shoe "bit" me, which resulted in the blistering. I thought he could have forgotten all about it. To my surprise when I return back home in the evening after work

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Occasion 4 : One evening, I apologised to buddy for misunderstanding him in the morning. The poor boy got a real, good scolding from me for I didn't know the trash pack was opened by daddy and not him. This was our conversation.

Me : Xav, am so sorry for scolding you earlier in the day.

Xav: (Jumped onto me and gave me a hug )

Me : Xav, why did you hug me ?

Xav : because mummy is sorry..
 

Me : will you forgive me ?

Xav : yes yes, I forgive u ok ? (Pat on my back)

Never be afraid to say sorry to the little ones, you never know how big their little hearts can be ! Yes for this, Im grateful that he learnt to be forgiving.

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Occcasion 5 : Recently, I went to remove a cyst and was stitched up again. I was then walking around with a big plaster under my chin. Xav saw the big plaster and knitted his eyebrow, followed by "Mummy, what happened ? And what came from him next was a kiss from him on my plaster and he told me "mummy, I give you my powerful kiss so that your wound will heal faster". Tell me about it, will this melt your heart ? Yes, this powerful gesture coming from this lil one certainly melts me.

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Occasion 6 : This time, it's not the daddy and mummy. But it's a tiny wheeny tiny creature that he spotted while we were cycling in the park. He spotted some baby snails on the wet ground and he went "Stop ! Stop ! There is a snail", as we went past. Well, we reversed back and he stooped to the ground level and told me "mummy, I don't want the snail to be squashed by the bicycles (he meant the cyclist). I helped him to pick up the snail which was in the middle of the cycling path, and placed it by the side of the path. He told the snail "you are safe now" and said goodbye to the snail.

We are pretty proud of his kindness to this baby snail and be thankful that he showered us with his love and be hopeful that he will be as kind towards other people or animals that needed the love and care.

Fish'em up !

It has since been 3 years when I had this kit made. Recently, I duplicate another 10 bags for a busy bag exchange. I added in additional twines just in case the twine tied to the stick wears out. I bought another pack of magnets from most of our favourite store, Daiso.

Additional twine. I thought it fitted nicely into the colour theme for SG50.

I printed out the instruction manual and cut them out with Lawn Cuts - Snitched Journaling Cards.

Note that more ways of playing with the kit has been added.

Personalized stamping of "Handmade with Love By Serene" using Averyelle clear stamps and created my name with Studio Calico roller stamp, right at the back of the cards. I loved how it looked - clean and simple.



This time round, felt letters were used as I bought quite an amount from The Paper Stone Store as I am lazy to cut and glue one by one. So those stickers helped save me a lot of work and time !



Photo credit to Mummy Janet

Updated 30/8/2015

This was one of the mini projects on hand that I wanted to do - DIY fishing game to make learning more fun for spelling of colours.

For younger toddlers ;
- They can learn colour sorting. Sort the foam fishes according to the 9 different colours.
- Recognition of  letters
- Use as math counters
- Sensory play when Styrofoam is poured in.

For preschoolers,
- They can fish up the fishes of the same colour (For instance, Orange ) and arrange the letters to form the name of the colour "O.R.A.N.G.E)
- The foam fishes can also be used as counters for counting.
- Form your own colour pattern.
- Make your own graph sheet and mark your own Rainbow fish graph !
- Be creative and utilize the kit in your own creative way !

Materials needed :
1. Colour foams / mini foam letters A-Z
2. Mini brads / mini magnets
3. Twines
4. Styrofoam beads (Can be omitted)
5. One chopstick or a plastic rod
6. One round, flat magnet

Method :

1. Cut out the desired shape you want on the foam. You may wish to plan out how many colour fish you want. For instance, orange (6 orange fishes), red (3 red fishes), green (5 green fishes )
2. Stick the mini letters on each fish.
3. I found some mini brads in my craft box. Just the right size for the little fish ! They can be the eyes for the fishes and also at the same time, it allows the magnet on the rod to attract them to "hook" up the fishes !

                                       

I changed the brads to more colourful ones. Updated 30/8/2015

4. Poke through the foam

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Look Mummy, 2 wheels !

My buddy here has been gliding happily on his Kettler balacing bike for a period. We took the opportunity to get him try riding on two wheels since daddy is not working for two weeks.

He took up part of a morning to learn the riding with two wheel and guess what when I asked daddy how did he fare, is he coping well ? Yes is the answer, but he carried on further "Behind the success of riding the wheeler was cries and scoldings". Reason being, our buddy here is too lazy to ride !! But anyway, the scoldings and rewards spurred our lil' buddy on and YES, HE DID IT ! It's a new milestone for him @ 57 months !

I took him down to the pavement below our block to practise last sunday as daddy is not feeling well. Initially, he kept telling me "Mummy, I can't " or "Mummy, I need the power drink or else my legs are not powerful enough"

I was like ... don't try this with me because it doesn't work ! I told him to use his own way or whichever was taught to him by daddy and I walked off *laughs* and true enough, he used his own way, and he got himself riding and he was so happy that he could do it !

Guess what's his reward ? Two packs of trashies ! =P Here's a short video clip on his riding !

SCHOOL "OUT" - I'm a rock climber !

Rock climbing is one of the excellent sports to develop a child's mind and body. This SCHOOL "OUT" period, we have checked out THE ROCK SCHOOL for a session !

Other benefits include :

- Development of eye/hand coordination, muscle strength and flexibility.

- Teaches them how it feels to be successful on their own.

- Gives a child a higher level of self-esteem, and confidence.

- Great family bonding time as it can also involved the entire family to participate together.

- Most importantly rock climbing is fun.

- It teaches them the importance of dedication, focus and preserverance.

- A physical activity keeps your child healthy.

Our session was "Hire - an - instructor", a one-on-one session with full climbing guidance and instruction as he went higher on each step.

When we first arrived, Xav was introduced to the fun climb in the interior of the school to start him off.

The interior is an air conditioned, fun and safe environment with the paddings and mats. Xav learnt the basic climbing techniques as well as get hands on on both top-rope climbing and bouldering!

After two rounds, this lil' man here is all ready to start his first official climb !

Briefing Session

Trying out his first step

Doing great !

Next he was taught what to do when he is tired and needed a rest. It's to hold both hands on the rope infront of him.

Resting position

Reaching SLOPE

I can spell S.L.O.P.E !

Next, he was taught to straighten his legs and push himself away from the way to make his way down.

Learning to come back to the ground

Good try !

Then, he started from the ground again and advanced up. Next aim is to reach to HILL.

Made his way up swiftly !

I can see and spell "HILL" !!

A break before conquering the MOUNTAIN

As he went higher, his esteem and excitement went up at the same time as he would shout down to me "Mummy, I can see the word MOUNTAIN ! I'm as high as the MRT tracks ! "

I could see his confidence from here ! No fear at all as he advanced up the wall.

All the way ! You go, Xav !

Reach the PEAK !

Hurray ! I made it !

The blue wall next !

 A test of his endurance and determination

No fear ! I'm enjoying it thoroughly  !

This was the part on the pink wall that he lost his grip ! Think he was pretty exhausted by then. Despite that, he didn't express that he wanted to give up. The instructor then told him that he will assist to "swing" him back to the wall and he shall continue from there.

The exhausted Xav

Almost there !

Though tiring but an awesome experience !

I'm surprised indeed by his high endurance and he he totally loved it to the max ! We'll be back for Double up and sweat it out with daddy !

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