kiddos & book storessss...

One of my kiddos favourite places in the whole wide world (in HQ's words) is the book stores. Everytime we are in a mall, my kiddos will ask to go to book stores. My kiddos love book stores so much I almost treat the book stores like my baby-sitters :-D.

Modus operandi:
- enter targeted book store
- raid for books
- look for places to sit
- sit and flip books while whispering to own selves or to each other

They are not choosers when come to seat arrangements... if they're lucky, they get decent seatsSometimes on carpetsSometimes on stacked booksSometimes on boxes
Even on up-turned baskets *smile*While Mama stand/ sit at nearby vicinity drooling over craft and cooking books... ahh... bliss. I will not leave my spot until I hear one or both of them shouting for me :-). Papa will be busy looking for his books or stocking up on MORE stationaries *shake head*

Sometimes the kids do indulge in other activities too...

- like peeking at another's book (ok if it's the book held by the other sibling, still ok if it's not)

- taking off shoes (ok if no shoe goes missing)

- snatching of books (definitely not ok if it's not among siblings)

- or terrorizing other book store readers (!!?!?!)

Talking about terrorizing other book store readers, the other day we were at MPH members/ reading corner. I was sitting on a single couch at a corner and the kids as usual lodge their butts on the main two-seater. They usually sit down nicely and flip their books, like this.

But that morning, I don't know what came over them... they were quite hyper (doughnuts in the morning?). They took off their shoes and climbed on the sofas, prancing to and fro the two-seater and the single seaters adjacent to it. Pretending to be pirates (their choice of books happened to be pirates this time).

And me the mama? Let them climb around like monkeys; I reasoned they were not disturbing other readers anyway. I was enjoying my books very much and hoped the kiddos will not get loud enough to warrant the librarian's attention.

A short while later, a nice young man came in (he's in his early twenties) and sat on one of the vacant seats, right in the middle of the route where HQ was climbing on in his pretense to be a pirate. I didn't give it much thought until... I saw HQ clambering ON TOP of the young man to get to the other side; definitely oblivious to his presence!

GASP!

The young man looked up, and looked kind of confused. The good thing was he looked like he was about to laugh.

Oh dear, oh dear.

I quickly went over and apologised, gathered my kids, retrieved their shoes and made an exit. Where to hide my face? *malu*

The kiddos? They grinned and waved bye-bye to the nice young man *slap forehead*

(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for boeyjoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without espressed written permission.

refashion: pants to memory bag

Back-dated project: Done many months ago, before CNY.

Remember this pair of pants? I cut it up and made it into a flouncy skirt, blogged here... So what did I do with the legs of the pants?
As they are in very good condition, I decided to do something with it. I made a sling bag for HQ.

I named it Memory Bag, as this pair of pants held many good memories for my boy :-).
For the strap, I attached a strap from his first drinking bottle... another memory to behold :-). Coincidentally, the colour of the strap matches the stitches beautifully.
I have this little blue iron-on plane applique in my stash... and it completes the look of the bag really well :-). Took this opportunity to practice sewing zippers again... The zipper opens to a lined interior, which was an Ikea cotton fabric.

My boy finds it spacious enough for many little dinosaur figurines, a small wallet, and a packet of tissue. Great for going out! So, that's how a much loved pair of khaki pants is loved again :-).
See my other handmade projects.

(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for boeyjoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

school?

Instead of rushing to finish up his brekkie, getting dressed and finally shouting "Quick mama, I'll be late for school!" like he always did, nowadays HQ has been dawdling. A lot.

Dilly-dally and giving hundreds of reasons why he shouldn't go to school *sigh*

I'm having stomachache
I'm having headache
I'm not feeling well
I want to poo poo (but didn't)
I'm still hungry
I want to finish my homework first (referring to his unfinished school books from his previous kindy)
I don't like the food in school

And this morning, he held on to the front gate (with both hands and legs with "ngan sap sap" (pitiful) expression), refusing to leave for school. When I asked him why is he not liking school, he told me he doesn't like his teachers anymore. They shout a lot.
"Are they shouting at you?" I asked.
He answered "No... They just shout at everyone to go in, to eat, to do this, to do that..."

So... should I feedback to the teachers not to shout so much? *sigh*

The thing is, his teachers' feedback is he stopped fussing the moment we left him in school. And when his Popo goes to fetch him home, he is very relunctant to leave his school.

He will be doing his homework and tell his Popo "I must finish my homework first."
He will be reading one of the books from the shelf and declare "I want to finish reading this book first"
He will be playing blocks with the kids
He will be watching teevee with the kids
He will be sharing biscuits with his friends
and tells his Popo to come back and fetch him later...

And he will ring me up sounding very cheerful and happy, announcing to me what he did in school and what homework he's doing at the moment. He does sound like he likes school... so... why didn't he want to go to school these few mornings?

Nowadays - very difficult to get him to go to school, and very difficult to fetch him back from school.

My funny boy... what's up eh?

(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for boeyjoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

alice in wonderland

After our visit to the wonderland, we made our way to the cinema.

The thing is, when we tried to book for tickets the night before (Saturday night), all the reasonable seats (in terms of distance from the screen) in Mid Valley were taken for the time slots that we wanted to watch. We didn't want to spend too much on Gold seats so we also looked for seats at Berjaya Times Square and KLCC.

In the end, we settled for IOI Mall. Not too far from MidValley. And the seats were beautiful, at mid section, row F :-D. Hubby went to collect the tickets before we had lunch at Esquire Kitchen. 2 adult tickets and 1 child ticket. QQ being below 3 watched for free :-).

Update: It's not IOI Mall we went to... alamak, how did I get that wrong??? It was actually Cheras Leisure Mall! Guess we didn't go Leisure Mall as often that's why subconciously type IOI Mall... hahaha!

This would be our kiddos' first time going to the cinema :-).

QQ fell asleep in the car, stay asleep when we made our way to the restaurant but quickly woke up when our food arrived... hahaha. She slept for about 20 minutes. After lunch, we made our way to the cinema and waited outside. HQ was the safe-keeper of the tickets :-). The kids were impatient but still obediently waited as they knew there's something exciting in store for them. I know I will miss their excitement, their insatiable curiosity, their eagerness to try anything new, and *smile* also their dangling feet when they grow up :-). When it was time to go in, we bundled the kids up in thick sweaters, cardigans and socks. The kiddos were pretty excited munching popcorn and waiting for the movie to start. But when the screen lighted up, they found it too loud. I myself felt the sound extremely loud for kids; HQ covered his ears throughout the movie and hubby cupped QQ's.

The kids were angels and sat through the whole movie without fussing. Verdict? HQ didn't like the movie. I guess he already had this assumption that the movie is happy, lively and bathed in bright pastel colours (like how the original Alice in Wonderland story is; meant for kids).

What we really watched was the adult version of Alice in Wonderland. Alice was all grown up and had to tackle adult problems; the movie not so happy anymore. All dark and gloomy. With ferocious Bandersnatch and menacing Jabberwocky with looks that could kill. I will not be a party pooper by being negative and all but I'd say the movie is more fitted for kids 7 years old and above.

QQ on the other hand said she loves the movie, loves the cinema, and loves to come again... maybe she was very impressed by the large screen and the movie special effects :-).

HQ's favourite character was the Mad Hatter (because he was so kind - Mad Hatter saved Alice 2 times!) and QQ's fav was the Cheshire Cat :-).

My poor kids were soooo tired after the movie they promptly fell asleep on our way home. If there's any movie suitable for kiddos next time, maybe we will plan for another cinema trip again. This time, I'll do enough research :-).

(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for boeyjoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

we went to wonderland

We planned to bring the kids to the cinema sometime ago, and we thought the release of Alice in Wonderland would be their perfect first cinema experience :-).

The itinerary was first to visit MidValley Centre Court, as an intro to Alice in Wonderland, just to rouse the kids' curiosity :-). While we were walking towards the Centre Court, the kids caught sight of the giant mushroom and made a run for it. There were the colourful mushrooms, or were they toadstools? But what's the difference?
Giant mushrooms, lighted within. The ambience was very surreal and fairy-tale like. HQ's expression tells us that he must have spotted something really gross :-PQQ taking picture with the HUGE mushroom in the background. I was wondering if the mushrooms were hollow or solid; I tapped on one, it was hollow as expected. There's giant flowers too, with man-like faces.
The yellow one looked so kind...
And of course, the backdrop and Mad Hatter's tea party.
Hubby caught me taking piccies with QQ :-D
And the Red Queen's lawn with many supposedly plant-shaped animals, but of course these were not real plants. Our Little Princess has to touch each and every one of them *shake head* Look at the glee... :-)
And before leaving, she asked to be photographed as the butterfly... not tall enough, so here's the solution... LOL!
We then went for lunch, followed by the movie. Will blog about this in next entry :-).

(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for boeyjoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

funny faces :-D

(C) Copyright Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originaly published for boeyjoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

Happy Birthday, Mama Patch!

“It’s Mama Patch 1st Anniversary!
Check out their finest handmade at http://www.mamapatch.com
Join as a FAN at http://www.facebook.com/mamapatch “

This month, Mama Patch celebrates its 1st birthday and is having a giveaway. Lots of wonderful prizes to be won! To participate, hop on to their webpage for more info.

papa

I better say something to salvage hubby's position as the "18 hou Papa" or before he becomes so sad and can't sleep for a week... Hahaha

OK la... my kids are actually very fond of their Papa. They love playing together and hanging around with their Papa; watching teevee, washing cars, having meals, many more! Even when he works on his lappie at home, they love to play around him. But kids being kids, they are very direct in their words la... and therefore saying things that they do not realise may hurt their Papa. When Papa is away for work overseas, they miss him a lot ma... so hubby, don't be sad ya... :-).

(C) Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for boeyjoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

*piang*

This week is a school holiday and HQ has been complaining about the homework that he has to complete before school starts - 17 pages altogether! *pengsan* I don't remember having so much homework during my school days *shake head*

He didn't want to work on them during the previous weekends, and I let him since he still has one whole week to complete them.

Come Monday, I was in the office when I received a call from HQ. He proudly announced to me that he has finished his BM homework (6 pages) and Mathematics (2 pages). Very good! :-D. I actually bought a stack of dinosaur stickers from Daiso earlier and plan to give it to him that night, just as a way to encourage him.

HQ: Mama, I finished all my Bahasa Malaysia homework already. Now I'm going to finish my Mathematics homework.
Mama: Very good! Seeing that you're such a good boy, I bought something for you :-).
HQ: What is it mama?
Mama: It's a surprise. You will know when we come home tonight.
HQ: What time you coming home tonight?
Mama: 8 o'clock.
HQ: Why so late?
Mama: I have to wait for Papa.
HQ: Mama, you don't wait for Papa la... You come home first, let papa come home by himself la...

*piang* Papa's heart broke...
......................................................................................................................................................................

Popo has been coming to sleep with us for the few days that hubby was away for business trip to Jakarta. The kids were happy to have her around and excitedly showed her their "treasure box". But I felt bad for my mum as she doesn't sleep well in our home and actually gets not enough rest; still have to look after the kids the next day. The kids did missed their Papa and had been asking when he will be back.

Papa is now home so Popo need not come over. Last night, when we were in our bedroom getting ready for bed:

QQ: I miss my Popo.
Mama: It's ok. You will see Popo tomorrow.
QQ: I want Popo to come and sleep with us.
Mama: If Popo come and sleep with us, Papa will have no place to sleep.
QQ: Let Papa sleep in the airport la...

Double *PIANG*

(C) Lee ei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for boeyjoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without expressed written permission.

refashion: dino on leash

HQ is a big fan of dinosaurs, especially the big and mighty tyrannosaurus. I have been looking for a dino picture to be appliqued for a very long time, but was not satisfied with what I found.

Until one day, I chanced upon this:It was a t-shirt that I saw in The Mines... but it's adult size and quality not so good. I thought of replicating it, so I quickly snapped a picture :-).

This is what I produced:In the process of applique, I lost some fingers and a foot (not mine! The dino lost the fingers and the boy in the picture, foot). The details were sooo tiny the parts litereally went missing (torn away). Not skilled enough and I hope to do better next time :-).
Details: When I presented the appliqued t-shirt to HQ, he was overjoyed! At the end of the day, I think that's what most important :-).

See my other handmade projects.

© Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for boeyjoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without express written permission.

quick lunches: angel hair pasta & meat sauce

I cooked this meal for lunch last Sunday, which was similar to this one. Instead of blanching some leafy vegetables, I threw silvered carrots into the meat sauce instead.On a good day, HQ is able to finish one heaping rice bowl of this dish (white bowl in the background) :-D.This black bowl portion is mine… yummy!Healthfreakmumy blogged about one really yummy saucy noodles sometime ago using pickled vegetables. I would like to try replacing the carrots with this pickled vege one day :-)

© Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for boeyjoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without express written permission.

on our own :-)

Last Saturday (13 March 2010) was my first attempt bringing my 2 kids out ON MY OWN, and one kid didn’t go missing we all came back together unscathed! :-).

Hahaha... maybe that's no big deal for some of you mummies, but it was for me. To tell you the truth, I have only brought one kid out on my own before, and that's to the neighbourhood grocery store. Even that made me nervous :-).

Both kids were down with a very stubborn fever since 4 March (plus flu and cough), and upon checking with the pead (8 March 2010), it turned out to be a mild ear infection for HQ, and possibly a revisit of pneumonia for QQ. The pead suspected the same virus, but both kids reacted differently to it. So last Saturday (13 March 2010) was a follow-up check, and I brought them both to the hospital ON MY OWN (ishh... must repeat this again :-)).

Upon reaching, first thing I did was to buy 2 huge doughnuts from Starbucks to keep them seated. They ate and watched telly while waiting for our turns. I forgot to note that sugar means hyperactive kids!

Long story cut short... HQ's condition had cleared. QQ had to take another 2-day-course of Prednisolone, and continue with Ventoline and Seretide for another month. After the consultation, I let them both help themselves with the toys and books at the doctor's waiting area while I went to pay the bills and collect the meds.

Upon returning to fetch them, QQ lost one shoe. One pigtail undone and hair in a mess. The place was in a mess too, thanks to them. Although they're really noisy, I was relieved to find them seated next to each other playing some kind of dinosaur war games. After retrieving QQ's shoe and retied her hair, I invited both to leave for home. Both told me they wanted to stay awhile longer. I chatted with the nurse for awhile and invited them to leave again. Both protested.

I unleashed my ultimatum weapon:

Mama: Ok then, I'll go home myself then. You can stay here and play all you want.

HQ: OK! You can come and fetch us home later! *happy*
Mama: Oh, no... I'm not coming here again to fetch you.

HQ looked at me wide eyed, while QQ the smart-aleck suggested:

QQ: We can walk home!
Mama: Do you know the way?

A pair of parents there looked at me in disbelief but HQ is smart enough to sense that I'm not joking. He quickly started to pack the toys back into their respective containers and whispered to QQ to do likewise. I was laughing inside... LOL!

And so we made our way home, uneventful, but it was fun to have both kids to myself. Overall they were angels, holding hands and looking after each other, while being mindful that mama is close-by.

Too bad no pictures to note the significant achievement (for me it was!), as I was busy trying to grow another pair of eyes behind my head keeping my eyes glued on the kids.

© Lee Pei Yi. All rights reserved. Originally published for boeyjoey.blogspot.com. All images and text cannot be republished without express written permission.