Finna's PINK Blog

Usually, Phebe would be taking her afternoon naps when our part-time helper is at work at my place, and I can get my ironing done too. Last Sunday, she woke up earlier than usual and proceeded to lie on the sofa while we carried on with our work.

At one point, the aunty proceeded to clean the ceiling fan above the sofa, then Phebe said to her in mandarin ...

Phebe : "Aunty, 你小心!"

Aunty smiled and said, "哦"

I was so touched with her words of concern to others and I told her so when we were alone

Phebe and I were having a conversation when we drove passed her school.

Cannot remember what was the topic, I asked her about something and she replied, "Are you dreaming?"

Once again, I was stunned with her words!!! :-X

Welcome & Happy New Year

Our very first session for 2009, Mummy CE started the welcome session by getting the first child picked a name tag and wishing that child a Happy New Year and this carried on to the last child.




Observation : the children generally have problems shaking each other's hands, ie
- one child stretched out his/her right hand and was received by the nearest hand, ie the other person's left hand (and vice versa)
- so parents prompted, telling the children to cross over his/her hand, to shake the other hand; and the children literally cross both hands and shook both hands at the same time!!! Very comical but eventually, they did get it right


Expressing Feelings via Facial Expressions 脸部表情

Video 1 - Click here [Phebe showing her anger 怒]

Video 2 - Click here Phebe showing the 4 basic expressions 喜，怒，哀，乐. But her 哀 not too good]



Conducted in mandarin, Mummy Chia led the 1st session on the theme Drama. She explained that there are many ways to express feelings. One such way is through facial expressions. Just by looking at the person's facial expression, you will be able to tell how that person is feeling without him/her speaking out. (eg Mummy's glare or nod) She went through four basic expressions, ie 喜,怒,哀,乐 and she got the children to volunteer and tried out the various facial expressions. This was fun and the children loved it


Expressing Feelings via Vocal Expressions 语气

Video 3 - Click here [Mummy Chia demonstrating sadness 哀]

Another way is through vocal. Without looking at the person's face, and just by hearing his/her tone, one can also tell how he/she feels. (eg Mummy asking the child to get something done, the 1st time, 2nd time and after numerous calls). Mummy Chia demonstrated by covering her face and saying the same words using vaious tones, ie 妈妈，我吃饱了。我不要了!

She also have the children volunteered to read out the words using various tones, and their voices were recorded and played back. Again, the children found this amusing


Expressing Feelings via Body Movements 肢体

Video 4 - Click here [JK showing how he would cry 哭]


The last method discussed was by body movements. Mummy Chia prepared some actions words & pictures and got the children to volunteer and act them out. Therefore, by observing the body movements, you can tell what he/she is doing, (eg walking, crawling, crying etc)


The children were getting pretty listless, just in time for light snacks before proceeding for individual's lunch.

We were reading a bedtime story when we chanced upon these words "fertilised egg", and without a doubt, Phebe queried.

Phebe : "Mummy what is FERTILISED EGG'?"

I tried to explain, "You know mummy told you about women having menses, right?"

Phebe nodded her head and I continued.

Me : "Eggs will flow out together with the blood..."

Phebe : "NOOOOOOO!!! Human begins don't lay eggs!!!"

Oops, we did talk about the difference between animals that give birth to young by laying eggs and those that do not (including human beings). And now I am telling her the female produces eggs ... how do I explain...

Me : "Yes you are right! We don’t LAY eggs but our body produces eggs; so tiny that you cannot really see with your eggs. And men produces sperms ..."

Phebe : "What is SPERM, mummy?"

Oh God!!!

Me : "Erm ... sperms are like tadpoles, they swim in water. So the female's eggs will stay in the body, wait for a little while, and if there are no sperms, the eggs will flow out together with the blood. Nothing happens, no baby."

Me : "But if the sperm go into the egg, it is call FERTILISED EGG; then baby will be form!"

Me : "For human beings, the fertilised egg will grow into a baby, inside the mummy's tummy, with no shell. For some other animals, the mummy will lay the egg out, with shell, and the baby will grow inside the egg shell until it is old enough to break out of the shell."

Me : "Get it?"

Phebe : "mmm"

Not sure if she understood what I said ....

Another item Phebe showed me when I picked her up from school. It was another 'paper bag' made from two pieces of A4 paper, secured with tapes.

What I liked about this, was the design on the front. Colourful heart shapes with beautiful lines around it.

Nice

Another book that Phebe wrote, but incomplete ...
I have no idea what her story line is ????

Book 2 - Titled: "You are at the beach"















[Cover Page]
You are at the beach

[Page 1]
one day there was a cat at the beach.
mum says you are at the beach.
I am
I am
me too.

[Page 2]
Suddenly, it became hoter and hoter.
so they go in a ball
Filled up with air and water.
air and water is For you to float.

[Page 3]
Well I think we all have to stay here.
why.
Because its very very Fun here!
hmmm oh ya.
its very Fun here!
see I Told you.

[Page 4]
Yeahhhhh
we are all having Fun here!
But why are you angry.
oh nothing
I was about to say good.

[Page 5]
oh ok.
But are you ok Because you look soo pale to me.
I was about to say good girl

......... to be continued

Phebe is into creating her own story books these days.

She put together several sheets of A4 paper and stapled them into booklets
This round, she made four booklets and has written 1-1/2 stories.
With corresponding illustrations on the left, her story lines were written on the right.

I thought they were really good attempts despite errors with grammar, spelling, punctuation, flow of thoughts etc.
I tried to type exactly how she wrote it ...


Book 1 - Titled: "take the bike"












[Cover Page]
Book 1: Titled "take the bike"
Readen by Phebe
drawn by Phebe

[Page 1]
once upon a time, there was a dog.
the dog sat on the Bike riding it all the way home.
his MOM and DAD went home with the Bike.

[Page 2]
MOM went shoping at the market.
MOM take the Baby and put the Baby on the stroller.
the Baby lied on the stroller.

[Page 3]
The baby cried on the stroller.
Mummy carried the baby and said "What's the Matter wuth you" are you ok?

[Page 4]
"Do you want Food or veg or meat or fruits or what? mummy said.

[Page 5]
The baby say.
I want Food and meat
mum say ok
Do you want to eat the things you say.
Yes say the Baby

[Page 6]
ok mum will buy the Food that you want ok? say the baby's brother.
OK! says the baby.

[Page 7]
So mum went to the shop to buy the things that the Baby wants.

[Page 8]
"Give me the things that you buy because is my Food!"
But share the things with brother.

[Page 9]
ok said the baby nervously.
Why are you saying that hmmm the mummy angrily

[Page 10]
The End

Video - Click here






We passed by the bowling alley at E!Hub couple times but never had the chance to try it out, due to time constraint (heard there have the lighter bowl for children). Therefore, when we saw the kiddy bowling lanes at Compass Point's Timezone, we didn't hesitate to try it out.

Pretty cool and fun indeed (for kids) and 1 game is never enough. It costs S$1.50 per game of 5 frames, and you have 2 chances to knock down the ten pins in each frame. Watch the video to see how excited she was when she hit the pins!!! (too bad, no sound after uploading)

Delivery box with 2 side compartments







The other day, I picked Phebe from Shekinah and she eagerly ran towards me with 'this' in her arms. She exclaimed that it was her "Delivery Box" and told me how she did it all by herself.

"You can put things here and there are 2 side pockets to put smaller things!" she explained excitedly.

It was indeed 'ingenious' of her to create one, but back in my head, I was concerned about storage space back home!!!


Some Designs

1) Happy New Year
2) Merry X'mas

She doodled on a piece of paper and I thought it was pretty nice.


Snake & Ladder

The images here may not be clear enough. Another creation from Phebe, and she showed it to me when I picked her up from Shekinah. It was meant to be a replicate of the Snake & Ladder game.

She drew squares to fill the A4 paper.





"Mummy its over " [she learned this line from 'Just For Laughs' when the show was over)





"3 ==> Go to 24" [Meant to be ladder going up from 3 to 24]





"19 ==> Go to win" [Meant to be another ladder going up from 19 to the last winning square]





"29 ==> Go to 16 " [Meant to be snake, sliding down from 29 to 16]

I found this amusing

24 Dec 2008, 0900: For Shekinah's Party - Focaccia with Eggs, Carrots & Mayo








Bought all the ingredients yesterday, woke up this morning to prepare the sandwiches. Cut into fingers and wrapped it up with cling wrap individually (for easy handling), then arranged into aluminium tray, covered and brought it down to her school together with a gift to exchange.

Of course, Phebe was all doll up and smelling good (she has her own perfume, given by one of my brother-in-laws)

Portion : 2 loaves of focaccia bread, I used 12 eggs, I think about 4 carrots (small to medium), 1 small bottle of mayo
Conclusion : Ingredients were too much for 2 loaves, about one-third less (or more) would be sufficient


24 Dec 2008, 1000: For Office's Party - Tiramisu with Strawberries (Cointreau and Kahlua)









Strawberries were diced and pre-soaked overnight, so was done earlier. Then prepared all the necessary ingredients and started to layer them into individual cups.

Not enough of mascarpone cheese mixture, so tried to buy another 250g more on 23rd but the NTUC I went to ran out of it, so detoured to the nearest Cold Storage, also ran out. So desperate, drive to Tampines Giant and you know what .... also don’t have. Called my friend, Nancy for help and finally decided to substitute it with cream cheese (which I bought 2kg earlier from Poon Huat, trying the Bega brand for the very first time, taste pretty much the same as Phili's!)

Portion : Made 13 individual cups
Conclusion : Sufficient for a party of about 20, not all take alcohol or cheese

P.S. Scratched my head really hard (plus procrastinated), thinking of what to get for the S$10 gift exchange .... plus no time to shop around. Finally managed to find this really nice big Christmas tin full of different flavoured pop corns !!! Thought it was a pretty interesting gift


24 Dec 2008, 1800: For Grandma's Party - Fried Mifen and Japanese Cheesecake







One of my aunts prepared healthy curry (no milk, yogurt nor coconut milk, just puree tomatoes and curry paste), cousin's brought meat stuff, so I fried mifen with mostly veg and baked an American cheesecake.

Fried Mifen

Portion: 2 packets of chilli brand mifen, carrots, cabbage, mushrooms, eggs and ham.
Conclusion: Way too much for about 9 adults (extras after filling out my new 5L thermal pot!!!), plus aunty bought 3 huge French loaf, perhaps 1 packet would be sufficient? Taste (Veg Oyster sauce, all purpose seasoning and grandma's rice wine) and ingredients were alright.

American Cheesecake

This time, I added Oreo biscuits (remove white cream and mixed with melted butter) as the base. Prefer this to digestive biscuits cos less sweet, but slightly more work. Added fresh strawberries on top for deco, nice?


25 Dec 2008, 1000: For Wild Idea's Party - Pasta with 2 Sauces (Carbonara and Bolognese) and Japanese Cheesecake









Considering that there will be little ones, I chose Pasta Elbows instead of spaghetti or linguine and a choice of cream and tomato based sauce for variety, though added the same ingredients for easy preparation.

Pasta

Portion : 3 packets of 500g Pasta Elbows (it was written to serve 4 but so wrong!! Again max out the 5L thermal pot, I have to use a much bigger pot), ham, mushrooms, potatoes, carrots, celery (but didn’t have time to use it), 2 bottles each of Carbonara and Bolognese sauces.
Conclusion : Again, way too much for about 15 adults, plus another mum prepared sandwiches as carbo. Think probably 2 packets will do? Otherwise, taste (nothing else added) and ingredients were alright.

Gingerbread

One of my 'must-do' items, cos it really smell great during (and after) baking. Phebe and Eileen can’t keep their noses away from the kitchen and requested to eat them when done. Lucky for them, some came apart when I was transferring the baked but still soft ones over to the cooling rack and they gobbled them down Good thing there were enough to give out.


Verdict :
- Felt accomplished, though pretty stressful at times - happy stress is good
- Was kind of worried preparing (both cooking and baking) for a party, mainly concern about taste but turned out pretty alright (no negative feedback so far ).
- Also tried to prepare different kind of food for different parties, each time. Am I too ambitious?
- BUT, I am REALLY REALLY REALLY TERRIBLE at estimation the amount of food to cater for ... good thing friends and relatives were willing to take-away. Thank you so so much. hehe

Welcome Session [Led by Mummy CE]

We kicked start at about 1030 with the welcoming session.
CE asked a child to come forward to pick a nametag, then approached that child and wished him or her 'Merry Christmas' and asked that child how he or she would like to be welcomed. Then all of us sang the welcome song, after which that child proceeded to pick another nametag and this continued to the last child.


X'mas Crafts [Prepared by Mummy KY]








Mummy KY prepared 2 crafts, 1 each for WI1 and WI2.

For WI1 - it was a X'mas tree, beautifully decorated with different shiny items, red ribbons, tinsel, candy canes (red and white pipe cleaners, twisted), pom pom balls etc secured with pins.

For WI2 - it was a Santa X'mas card, where the head and body was the palm print of the child in white paint, and added wiggle eyes, red nose and mouth to complete.

Time seemed to be running really fast ... not much time left, quickly proceeded to the next item, which was the play ...

X'mas Play - The Three Little Pigs [Performed by Wild Idea Children]

Re-used the old script and some of the props made 2 years ago, WI1 performed the Three Little Pigs. With characters assigned by lots drawn some time back, the play was called for action. Zero rehearsal time, the performance was not screen perfect but it was a good attempt. Mummies put in the effort to do the props and rehearsed with the kids, individually. Just needed some time for group rehearsal, which I will factor in for our next play, if any. Anyway, great job children!!!








........ Pic 1 ........... Pic 2 ........... Pic 3 .................. Pic 4 ................ Pic 5

Pic 1 ==> Our 2 little narrators, Jay Kai & Xinyi, reading the script.
Pic 2 ==> Phebe the Wolf trying to enter the house of straw built by Benedict, Pig # 1.
Pic 3 ==> Benedict, Pig # 1 ran into Zen Teng, Pig # 2's house of stick.
Pic 4 ==> Adriel, Pig # 3 & other 2 pigs and narrators trying to build the house of bricks together (to fasten the pace )
Pic 5 ==> Wolf trying to climb down the red chimney, 3 pigs got ready the orange hot pot of water to drown the wolf, but wolf refused to be dead .......


X'mas Games: Pictionary [Prepared by Mummy Chia]





Mummy Chia prepared some words on paper. Children took turn to come forward to pick a piece before proceeding to draw picture(s) on the easal that describe the word. The first child that gave the correct answer was rewarded. The children really enjoyed this game, and of course being rewarded.


X'mas Games: Don't Forget The Lyrics [Prepared by Mummy Finna]








Next game was prepared by me. Did a round of survey amongst the mummies and gathered some songs that the children knew. I wanted to combine Christmas carolling in the game and finally came up with 8 songs that comprised of X'mas, nursery and children songs, they were:

1) Jingle Bells
2) Santa Claus Is Coming To Town
3) Eensy weensy spider
4) My Bonnie
5) Top of The World
6) Five Hundred Miles
7) Sunshine
If all the raindrops

Left out several words and created our very own version for our group. Again, the children were enthusiastic and willingly raised their hands, came forward and stood up in front of all and sang. We sang as a group and kept silent when we came to the blanks, the child that stood up sang out the missing words all by him/herself!!! Really proud of them

X'mas Lunch & Gifts Exchange

Kept games short as we were running late and headed for pot luck lunch, yummy!!! Most mums could eat in peace (almost) cos the little ones were able to eat on her own, so we sat around chatting.

Gifts exchanged was next - another hi-light and the children were thrilled with sooooooo many gifts.

See our very own little Santa, isn't he adorable?! He is none other than Benedict! :-0


Merry Christmas to all my Wild Idea friends, young and young-at-heart - see you soon, in 2009 !!!!

Yesterday, while I was doing the laundry, Phebe came to me and said, "Mummy, you forgot to close your wardrobe door!"

So, I replied, "Oh is it? So, did you close it for me?"

Phebe replied, "No."

I asked, "Why not?"

Phebe, "Because you are more than 9 or 10 years old. You are a woman!!!"

Deep down I was laughing but controlled and asked her, "Can you help me to close it then?"

Again, she replied, "No"

I was slightly angry, "Why not?"

The rascal said, "Because you didn’t ask nicely and didn’t use the word 'PLEASE' !!!!"

Fine, I asked her nicely, "Phebe, can you PLEASE help mummy close the wardrobe door?"

She grinned and said, "OK .... ONLY THIS TIME!!!!!"

..................... :-X

I was wrapping up the christmas presents and got Phebe to work on the cards. The usual A4 size paper would probably take a long time since we have numerous cards to do, so I suggested using the smaller coloured/patterned square papers instead.

I really liked the designs she drew on the inside of the cards, she added some text and stick on some 'Cut patterned paper' and ta da - all done

Instead of a cake, Phebe and I celebrated my birthday at home with a pint of Ben & Jerry (New York Super Fudge Chunk). Of course, we DID NOT finish it all but was satisfactory

I actually bought 2 packets of glutinous rice balls (peanuts and red bean) for the steamboat lunch yesterday, but forgot to bring it out, plus I guess the choc fondue was quite enough.

Bought it on an impulse, cos there was a sudden urge to celebrate "The Winter Festival 冬至", that's how I was named 冬洁, though I hardly use my Chinese name.

The Dōngzhì Festival or Winter Solstice Festival (Chinese: 冬至; Pinyin: dōng zhì; "The Extreme of Winter") is one of the most important festivals celebrated by the Chinese and other East Asians during the Dongzhi solar term on or around December 22 when sunshine is weakest and daylight shortest; i.e., on the first day of the Dongzhi solar term

The origins of this festival can be traced back to the Yin and Yang philosophy of balance and harmony in the cosmos. After this celebration, there will be days with longer daylight hours and therefore an increase in positive energy flowing in. The philosophical significance of this is symbolized by the I Ching hexagram fù (復, "Returning").

Traditionally, the Dongzhi Festival is also a time for the family to get together. One activity that occurs during these get together (especially in the southern parts of China and in Chinese communities overseas) is the making and eating of Tangyuan (湯圓, Cantonese jyutping: tong1 jyun2; Mandarin Pinyin: Tāng Yuán) or balls of glutinous rice, which symbolize reunion. Tangyuan are made of glutinous rice flour and sometimes brightly coloured. Each family member receives at least one large Tang Yuan in addition to several small ones. The flour balls may be plain or stuffed. They are cooked in a sweet soup or savoury broth with both the ball and the soup/broth served in one bowl.

In northern China, people typically eat dumplings on Dongzhi. It is said to have originated from Zhang Zhongjing in the Han Dynasty. On one cold winter day, he saw the poor suffering from chilblains on their ears. Feeling sympathetic, he ordered his apprentices to make dumplings with lamb and other ingredients, and distribute them among the poor to keep them warm, to keep their ears from getting chilblains. Since the dumplings were shaped like ears, Zhang named the dish "qǜ hán jiāo ěr tāng" or dumpling soup that expels the cold. From that time on, it has been a tradition to eat dumplings on the day of Dongzhi.