So I’ve finally gone and done it – I’ve launched a new baby/ toddler t-shirt line at my blogshop site!
Choose from a range of charms to personalise on your very own necklace-tee!
Do pop by and I’ll be happy to hear your feedback ! Contact me at skhor.a.hit [AT] gmail [DOT] com
I realise I’ve indulged myself over the past 2 months in terms of buying reading- and stationery-related items. Pretty notebooks, good design and great magazines are definitely my weakness. I must qualify that I didn’t buy everything myself – some were very thoughtfully gifted to me over Christmas or made complimentary because of my writing contributions. Just because I was slightly appalled and amazed at the same time with the stash that I accumulated, I decided to make a ‘My favourite things’ Stationery/Book collage for the month:
What are your favourite things?
I was very impressed by Littlelam’s drawing yesterday. I didn’t realise that she’s improved so much with her psycho-motor skills. I gave her a pencil and paper and asked her to draw a picture, then when she completed her sketch, I handed her some paints and went off to the kitchen to cook dinner.
When I came back, this is what I saw:
A beautiful painting of ‘Littlelam and Mommy’ (I’m the taller one, she’s the one in the green skirt.) And she didn’t even spill the paints!
Painting analysis or explanation, according to her:
Mommy and I are holding hands. We are in a park, there’s a pond. There are many clouds in the sky, and it is raining (indicated by the dramatic vertical pencil lines above our heads). See I draw a border. (apparently she hasn’t painted past the pencil border she’s drawn around the edges.)
As to the question of where is Daddy? She says, “Daddy is at work! Haven’t come home yet.” Heh. Ah, the joys of being a SAHM.
My dear tomboy-at-heart childhood pal recently discovered that she didn’t have a girly pouch like many other girls, and so decided to assemble her own. I thought it was hilarious and practical at the same time, so I decided to have a look at the contents of my own pouch:
Embarassingly fat, pink, Hello Kitty pouch
I’ve just realised, to my horror, that I think what I have isn’t really a girly pouch, but a bag organiser. Albeit a very cheap one that only cost me $2 (from Daiso, where else!). And, another horrifying realisation is that practically everything in this pouch is PINK! argh! And I don’t even like pink! Anyway, this is a really good exercise because I just realised that I’m missing several important things that I should be carrying around but am not. Here are the bizarre contents of my pouch/ bag organiser:
The Kate Spade wallet & Agnes b Cardholder don’t really qualify as part of the girly pouch I think? But yes, I stuff it in there anyway!
And, what is glaringly missing is my Watsons pocket TISSUE PAPER PACKETS! I MUST have at least 2 packets in my bag at any one time. Tonight it’s not there because I’ve used them up! I also realise I probably need more make-up items and some Panadol and Antihistamines in there!
I’m tagging everyone else who wants to do this – leave me a comment and link to where you’ve posted yours! 
Something fun and simple I did with Littlelam after we found some rocks during a walk.
ROCK PAINTING
Step 1) Select a smooth-ish rock that you would find acceptable as a paper-weight.
Step 2) Use either acrylic or poster paints to paint on your design. I did simple stripe pattern (easier for kids to follow) and helped her to draw a happy face on the other rock. Poster paints are safer for young kids, but it washes off with water. Acrylic will stay on.
Painting different coloured stripes on Mr. Rock
Step 3) Leave to dry, and add a coat of varnish especially if you are using poster paint.
Miss Smiley Rock and Mr. Striped Rock!
GLITTER-GLUE ARTWORK
Step 1) Get a piece of drawing block paper that is not too soft or too smooth.
Use ready-made glitter in glue - tube form
Step 2) Allow your child to squeeze globs of glitter glue anywhere she likes on the paper.
Eww, purple globs!
Step 3) Fold the paper in half, with the globs on the inside. Open it up and you’ll get a symmetrical ‘butterfly’ pattern of glitter glue!
*Tip: Watch out for the oozing glue on the sides, so it may be good to do this craft on some newspaper or a plastic sheet.
So yesterday Littlelam declared, “We haven’t gone to the airport for very long, right?” I took it to mean that she misses the mum-and-daughter extended lunchdates we used to have at Changi Airport Terminal 3 before she started school last year. Those were good times; me taking the train without having to pay for her fare and taking a leisurely lunch at one of the many F&B outlets. She used to just love the big spaces, and simply sitting on the benches, watching the ‘big red fan’ (it’s actually an installation art piece) or browsing through a toy shop. I have to qualify that she’s never been running around screaming and disturbing other passengers or playing with trolleys etc. And she’s strangely never taken to the viewing gallery with the planes – maybe it’s too dark! Anyway, I do think there is still a need to respect passengers’ space even though T3 is branding itself differently (ie: lifestyle/consumer/shopping) than other airports.
So while this is an overdue ode to T3, I must thank the people behind this lifestyle concept, for giving SAHMs like me a great place to chill (literally) and hang out with our kids with minimal crowd/ fuss and access to clean toilets.
And of course, gimics like these that can entertain kids for hours and give us some much-needed respite:
Creating her own woodblock artpiece.
I’ve moved a couple of old blog entries from my previous blog, which is now in disrepair and gearing for a direction change. Looking back over the years can bring bittersweet memories, at the same time it often brings a chuckle.
Go down memory-craft lane with me at my ART, KID’S CRAFT and PORTFOLIO pages.
Littlelam somehow got it into her last towards the end of last year that she wanted to fly a kite. After much searching in vain for a kite, my friend finally gave me the recommendation to go to SKP at Simei. It’s quite the hidden treasure trove of cheap goods as it’s a wholesale/ party-supply shop and I found really useful kick-knacks and storage-items like mini ziploc bags, decorations, bakingware and old-school toys! Of course I managed to get a simple butterfly-shaped kite for Littlelam for only $7.
Fast forward to last Saturday – we FINALLY went kite-flying after being thwarted constantly in December due to the bad weather. I couldn’t have asked for more – the sky was blue, it was windy and none of us were sneezy. So we headed to Marina Barrage armed with some quickly-chopped carrot and zuchinni sticks for a healthy snack.
Walking up the curved pathway to the rooftop garden
Littlelam attempting to help the kite up!
And it's UP! after several attempts!
So high it's only a dot!
Besides the curvilinear roof garden for kite-flying, there are other spots to explore at Marina Barrage. Kids were running excitedly through a waterplay area with fountains:
Fountains at the waterplay area
There is also an indoor gallery chronicling the development of Singapore’s water catchment and ‘4 Taps’ strategy. Also heaps of interactive displays in the gallery for the kids to play with while learning about sustainability and water as a precious resource.
Interactive displays
After getting rather sunburnt (cos only Littlelam was coated with SPF50+ sunblock), we headed to good old unhealthy McDonalds for lunch. That’s where my carrot sticks came in to save the day – something to ease my guilty conscience and make up a ‘balanced’ meal!
Carrots sticks with Chicken McNuggets and ketchup! Yum!
So here I am blogging when I have a tonne of work to do. But I had a look at my little blurb on this blog which reminded me that this blog is a platform for me to also express my thoughts and views — which are part of who I am. Read the rest of this entry »
I think this was the busiest Christmas- New Year season I’ve ever had in my entire life. Ok, maybe except for the time when I was 17 and in charge of the carolling programme in church.
The flurry started in early-December when Littlelam and I made Christmas cards, using an old potato that had sprouted:
Step 1) Select an old, sprouted potato (to reduce waste!)
Step 2) Cut potato in half, and etch out the desired shapes on both halves.
(Here’s where the kids can help out)
Step 3) Put paint on the newly made 'stamps'
Step 4) Get the kids to print on colourful paper.
Step 5) The end product!
An alternative, cheap way to make great wrapping paper:
Step 6) Make multiple prints on large sheets of paper for homemade wrapping paper!
Then the next batch of madness was when we (or more accurately, I) baked a humongous batch of rather disastrous Christmas sugar cookies that refused to hold their shape. But I didn’t have time to re-bake another batch for Littlelam’s entire class in school and her teachers, so I just had to salvage the situation by decorating and ‘packaging’ everything nicely!
Then when Christmas week came, we were busy with parties/programmes/weddings every single night till the New Year. *faints*
In the midst of it all though, I’m very thankful that we did manage to spend time with family and friends, and not just in the stuffing yourself silly and exchanging presents sort of way. There were many moments of shared joy, pain and also the remembrance of the real meaning of Christmas – that Jesus is truly the Reason for the Season.
So while this has been the busiest Christmas, it has also been one of the most thankful Christmasses I’ve ever had.
