Thats the one!

I finally found the panel that I would like on my feature wall! But its from a site in the USA, hmm........ how do I get it? grrr...

Feature Wall @ Front

Found something like this and it is carved wood - painted. Was thinking to go with the wallpaper - so have to blend - I have ordered something less gaudy ( cherry blossoms) but cannot find the pic. anyway, the theme is nature. so there my hunt begins.

Wall paper

love these few styles..... but convincing hubby is a diffrent thing. He likes plain, very simple. We will go for the naturall hues like beige, creams, browns, very earthy.

The 1st one featured - I love the style - the colour would have to be earthy like the second one - we are thinking of using this as a feature wall into the lounge room when you 1st step in.

The new journey... the making of a new nest...

Its a good year ahead and also a fustrating one.

We have bought land and have decided to build a double storey house with Simonds, called The Amberlea.

We are given this FREE choice of starting EVERYTHING from scratch and having that is a big headache in itself but its also FUN, not so fun when your partner have to agree on different tastes and the lot. Buying an established home is easy- you like it or you dont. Everything comes with it. We did that and that was easy - the tough part is now selling that nest that we have been dwelling in for the past 7 years. From the tiles and carpet/ wall colours to the type of window coverings, be it venetian blinds, plantation blinds ( my fav!) or curtains or roller shutters, etc, I can see it all coming like a big ball of EVERYTHING. And thats just the windows!

We managed to settle on the type of house and now looking at the type of bricks and then the roof ( which we have agreed) We are going to go with Parchment Bricks ( from Austral) but we have yet to see houses ( confirmed) with that brick - its funny how we drive past every light coloured brick house and try to justify that is parchment. Great start already.

To make matters worse, we decided to go on shopping sprees and have gotten some furniture for a house that has not been built, and let alone having the land settled. - talk about organisation. And we are now cramping up our very cramped home with more than we needed for now. I again tried to justify myself.. hey, things will only get more expensive every year. typical Singaporean, trying to make myself feel better when we walked into Villa & Hut for a Chai Latte and landed up with $600 worth of furniture instead.

Next, we couldnt agree on the type of wall paper to use. Sigh, its going to be a long road. But seems like its going to be a fun project for now, looking around, so I'll enjoy it while I can and see how it pans out. I hope I'll have a Happy New Year!

New Year's Eve Surprise

That's right, pretty unexpected but it happened! There were past incidences of it happening before but none so deliberate as this.

My carer rang me up at work at 10.45am New Yr's Eve. She said Daniel said to tell you that he did a poo in the toilet. Really funny baby that one.

He asked to go to the toilet " want to go toilet do poo" I think he said something like that, he went, he did and after he told the carer, tell mummy I do poo in toilet.

Thats a start!! Good Year, Good News, even if its about crap :)

Christmas

Went to the St Thomas Anglican church and saw this - its actually a fantastic way to teacch the kids the true meaning of Christmas, there was a walk-through area for the display.

At a certain time, a play of the birth of Jesus; they even had a mini horse as a donkey for the play, its pretty cool.

Some people might not agree, but I want to teach my kid the meaning of truth this season and not some fat ole ficticious character that promotes materialism. Of course, we will tell Daniel about Santa and this orgins but let him know that its just some kind soul that evlove into Santa. Its scary to think that some kids cry when they found out that Santa is pretend.

Anyway, enjoy the true meaning of Christmas this season, Happy Birthday Jesus!

Christmas Decorations.

A windmill in the mini golf section of the church.. hmm...... reminds me of the phrase "what the is price of fish in the land of pluto on a cold sunday morning?" Something totally unrelated. But interesting...

Mini golf in a manger??

The Effiel Tower in Werribee?? This has found in the church & had a sandpit for kids to play with. Talk about creativitiy.

I had to laugh at this - coming from Asia, I didnt know thats how the Chinese celebrate Christmas as indicated in this display.

Look at the extend where some homes go to dress up their homes for Christmas! We know its a very expensvie excercise.

Here is one of the house going all the way out decked out for the season, where I come from, shopping centres go to town with the decor but here, the houses do that!

We drove around for a while and stopped at some of the houses.

The nativitiy scene - a seldom seen sight these days - being overshadowed by Santa. Here is Daniel trying to do a Jump of Joy.

I think that Christmas is a special time to a child for so many different reasons; the presents that we condition them to get ( we teach them to expect gifts and then get ourselves worked out for it)

It is a special time as some families get together that time of the year and thats probably the only time we see everyone, and for some, the bright lights, the Christmas trees, and just the sheer hype of Santa.

Whilst we can enjoy the commercial side of Christmas, we can also embrance life that's given to us.

"For to us a Child is born, to us a Son is given, and he will be called Wonderful Counsellor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace."

Is 9:6.

For some, its time for a well rested break and some others to be with your loved ones, whatever you choose to do, have a Merry Christmas!

Graduation Day - Soccer Joeys

Daniel has graudated from the 1st level of Soccertime Joeys this term! I know its pretty basic stuff but we have seen a more social toddler because of it. The kids learn how to kick and play around toddler style. I know he cant wait to start the next level in Feb 10.

Healthy Truffles??

Doesn't really look flattering but believe, these truffles taste really nice! And they are 100% healthy too!

Simple ingredients:

1) Dates

2) Pecan nuts

3) Dessicated Coconut

That IS IT!

Guess what? No refined sugar! Talk about a sweet snack that taste that good!

All hubby did was to blend the dates and the nuts in his really expensive ($500) blender! - I think its crazy when he got it but it sure can do many things!

When this is done, it will come up as a big gluggy thing so you have to roll it in balls and roll it over the coconut - store in fridge.

Yum! Enjoy!

A week of joy - being home!

Its a grinning boy - knows his mum's heart - just happy to see water and be in Sunny Singapore!

There, living proof of child abuse! My baby is tired after a day of shopping! And I mean shopping hard!

Water Baby is joyful whenever he sees water!

Here's grandma looking at the cheeky boy trying to pose!

Hi Five with God Pa!

Trying his luck with the locals...

Finally, taking a BIG FAT SMILE with grandma!

And yum, who would miss a home cooked feast of seafood, crabs and prawns, etc.

And you wonder, why do I miss home?

Sugar & Spice... not very nice..

Let's face it..... we all LURRVE sugar. Cupcakes laden with icing or a warming HOT chocoloate or a muffin or scone with jam & cream. Yum, the list is endless.

Do you know how much sugar does an average person consume per year? According to this site,
http://health.usnews.com/usnews/health/articles/050328/28sugar.b.htm, 142 pounds of sugar are consumed per year ( compared to 114 pounds in the 1950s)

People are conned these days- high frutose drinks such as orane juices contain more sugar than the actual juice. I dare you to look on the ingredients listing, frutose will be top of the list and the actual juice would be measley 3% or so.

We are taught that is is ok to eat sugar, lollies, sweets and cakes. We are taught to love ourselves these days even if we are fat and unhealthy because people cannot cope with reality that they need to do something to help themselves.

Don't get me wrong, I love sugar too and too many a time, I get sucked in and tempted to eat cakes and have a sweet cuppa.

But I want to alert people to the fact that the amount of sugar we feed our little munchkins are a little too much. Think of the bar of chocolate doing through a little person's body, the amoung of sugar tolerance is lower than that of an adult, but yet, we feed a typical baby "orange juice in the morning, thinking its good, let your precious take a peice of white bread ( when broken up into simple forms, is only another form of glucose, - sugar) and then whipp up a meal of white rice, and then an afternoon snack of yorghurt ( the kind that companies promote as healthy and has "fruit" ( need I say more)

The whole day, we feed our little ones sugar without knowing it! And twhen the child is good, you give it an ice-cream! And how is that suppose to reward a child? by giving him/ her unhealthy stuff?

The facts:
White sugar suppresses the immune system. It has been shown to decrease the vitality and number of white blood cells, the body's immune response to invaders. Sugar also depresses the body's energy field and makes your blood more acidic, both of which result in vulnerability to toxins, bacteria and viruses. Sugar feeds bacteria like candida and yeast infections.
Refined sugar is an extremely high glycemic food; it hits your bloodstream hard and can have severe impact on blood sugar, insulin levels, digestive enzyme count, weight, and the pancreas.
Refined sugar is in almost everything, and can be very difficult to avoid unless you are preparing all your own food from scratch. It creeps into sauces, salad dressings, preparations of meat and other products, and prepared carbs - whether they taste sweet or not (sugar is usually added to prepared bread and rice, for instance).

It appears under many different names: glucose-fructose, fructose, fruit sugar, corn syrup, high-fructose corn syrup (known as glucose syrup outside of Canada and the United States) and beet sugar are all heavily processed sugars which can be dangerous to our health.

Read more: http://naturalmedicine.suite101.com/article.cfm/sugars__the_bad#ixzz0Udn6sSUF

What is so ironic is when I choose to feed my child non sugar products, and refuse cake, biscults and the like, I get given the "look" from other adults - thinking whats wrong with this parent? Rather, thinking that hey, at least someone cares for the kid enough to make sure in their capacity that they eat well whenever they can.

Children get their taste palates from young - if they eat sugar, they grow up loving sugar, if they are not introduced to sugar, they never know what they are missing out on, which isnt much.
Eg: I brewed sweet barley water, and I love it, cuz I grew up on it. But my kid wouldnt have it - he asks for water instead.

Rather than compromise on my kid's health, I rather take the right step. It is proven, I am still sick after5 weeks ( I still eat alot of food, cakes, that I really shouldnt) and my son isnt. He got better in 3 days, and he eats really healthy ( which sort of makes me feel bad for not taking care of myself!)

Trying to keep your kids healthy are such a big task these days with the amount of advertising that they are exposed to. So good luck to us all!

BELATED BIRTHDAY PICS

I know its kinda late; but better late than never! I would look back and ask myself one day, how come I got that much energy? This is the KICK OFF to Daniel's 2nd birthday; a soccer theme!

I was cutting out that many balls for decorations that I was pretty over them for a looong time.

Here is Daniel in the morning, before the big event, trying to compose himself... or more like me trying to compose him while I ran around like a headless chook.

Every party must have..... a play / eating area for the kids. Soccer placements, and everything soccer.

OF COURSE! the cake too! Got this ice-cream cake from BREAD TOP ( Melbourne) they have franchised stores all over, so easy to find. I was lucky as this was their new product and to have one made would cost me much much more!

I had soccer candles bought for me to go with as well.

Strike a pose, mother and son before the guests arrive. and yes, a soccer jumper for Daniel.

Even the dog wanted a bar of the party; Cookie was whining the whole way through! LET ME IN!

Plenty of presents; this one I thought is cute. From 2 different people, the assocation seem to point to crocs! Daniel in a croc- suit holding a croc. hmmm... He sleeps with the croc every night now, and its big enough to cushion him from anything at the moment.

And of course - a game gone wrong, but oh well, everyone enjoyed themselves!
July 2009- Happy Birthday baby boy! xoxo Mummy.

Nature & Children

I am a city girl and have never thought abou to how to bring up my kid to admire nature; my husband on the contrary, grew up on a farm and absolutely loves flowers, leaves, bark, etc.

Now I can say that almost every morning, I give my son a choice to pick a flower, some weed or grass before his ride to his carer's place & am glad that he loves picking at them, getting himself in dirt then some silly computer game; I grew up in an era where computer was only beginning to take over kid's lives but hope it will not take over my kids' lives.

There is so much more to living - God's creation. The beautiful skies, clouds, water, trees, grass and the sound of birds. Its back to basics.

Here are some shots taken eariler in the month when we decided to detour to the Melbourne Botanic Gardens when the weather was good enough that afternoon. It was well worth it, Daniel enjoyed himeslf staring at ducks.

Dogs & Babies

Here is Daniel trying to pose for me so he can see how he looks on the camera!
I think its great to mix babies and animals, it gives them lower levels of animal allegies when they grow up, teach them how to treat other beings and train them to love them as well.

Here's some information on dogs and toddlers:
http://www.todaysparent.com/toddler/article.jsp?content=20031111_133217_4312&page=1

Research results found that children raised in homes with at least one pet were actually less likely to develop pet allergies than children without pets. Children raised in homes with more than one pet had a greater decrease in allergy development.
Read more: http://infant-toddler-health.suite101.com/article.cfm/children_and_pet_allergies#ixzz0U4aVPKUV

Just have to be careful not to leave animals and kids on their own, and train the kid NEVER to go behind to hug the dog even if he means well! I'm lucky that my Cookie is trained well enough by past owners, but I still wouldnt push it. As for NANA, shes a push-over and anything goes. Still, nothing is guaranteed.

Hard work does pay off, your kid will grow to be more tolerant.

Mooncake Festival

Its been a while since I've blogged; it seems that various virus has taken the better of my immune system & made a mockery out of me lately... too tired, too cranky, too sick and the like. anyway, I'm back now, still sick but here!

Mooncake Festival! Yum yum, the mooncakes and the lanterns, make me miss childhood days where we used to walk through dark alleys with those lighted characteristic paper lanterns in various shapes, fish, rooster, I remember they used to sell animals in every Chinese zodiac, and I always get a dragon one from my late-grandma without fail every single year! Those were the days when we stay by the corners of the house and play with candle wax and compare each other's lanterns unil someone's got burnt!

Now, I am passing on this tradition to Daniel - hopefully he will enjoy it as much as I did and soak in the Chinese culture ( whatever there is here..)

Happy Mooncake Festival!

For anyone who wants to know what Mid-autumn festival ( or mooncake festival) is about, log on to: http://www.chinavoc.com/festivals/Midautumn.htm

Giraffe Cafe?

NicE ambience yea? Its called Giraffe Cafe. http://www.cafegiraffe.com/

We visited a really nice cafe on little lonsdale street, look at this cream brulee. Yum...

This is Giraffe cafe and due to my demanding son, I couldnt be snappy shot happy and take many photos but this link proivdes more insight. http://food4love.wordpress.com/2009/03/14/cafe_giraffe/

I must say I love the decor - its a place where lovers meet - and girlies hang out, the place is plastered in cute stuff - from postcards, collectable mugs, mags to homemade coasters, jugs as decor.

Here is Daniel having a ball as well. I will have to head there again one day - this time, girls only and no kids!

Last minute getaway - Torquay

It was a last minute decision to head down to Torquay Caravan Park - we packed out bags and stayed for a night in this cosy looking cabin - it was cosy alright.

Here is Daniel looking up " Gee, I can get accustomed to this!" I had to bring his little chair, of course.

We went to this river that was right next to the sea! it was ironic- havent seen that before -but it was really beautiful.

Daniel enjoying the scenery.

We were hiking up to this look-out on the beach and here's Daniel again posing this time. Hard to get toddlers to pose these days!

There is Daddy & son..... enojying the serenity of it all.

Bedtime stories from mummy in the cabin.

Sunday morning dose of organic museli and milk.. only the best for the best! I had processed Woolworths brand pancakes on my part!

Here is trip 2 to the beach after breakfast again. Funny to see a swimmer in the middle of winter, but strange things do happen.

Daniel had this HUGE sand-pit called the beach. He kept on pointing to the sand and saying SANDPIT! and was really nice when he said BYE BYE waves when we left.

Back to the playgrounds before we left - it was short. Too short I reckon but it breaks the monotony somewhat. now, what I need is a whole week of decent sleep.