Aren't They Adorable?!

A christmas gift for my girls...from their Aunt Shea Yin.

The bear stripped bare! Be ready for a transformation by my girls...

A sweet little girl with a lovely hat...

A cool girl with an army hat & dark glasses

a mysterious spy

A sexy blonde in a bikini & sun glasses

A rock star?

Having a nap...zzzzzzz

A book lover (but it looks as if she's dozing off too!)

Kids can be really creative (My girls dressed up the bear and took the photos without my help at all). That's why they're as cute & lovely as the cuddly bear!

Merry Christmas!

My office deco...

Please, Please Don't Compare!

Mom tells the little girl, "Quick, finish your food! Even our neighbour Ah Hua is done with her meal."

Teenage girl tells her mom, "I sure wanna join. Even our neighbour Ah Hua has signed up for it!"

My cartoon above was published in Sin Chiew Jit Poh back in 1996. I still remember I was inspired by an article in Reader's Digest about "Not to compare your child with others".

I constantly remind myself of that. Of course, at times I'd forget especially when my kids are too complacent and didn't give their best. I would compare them with others and that would usually made them very unhappy.

I know it's unfair to make comparison. Everyone is unique and has different strengths and weaknesses. Most of the time, I would encourage them by saying, "Hey, with this new piece of knowledge/new vocab, you're better than yesterday!" And I'll be happy for them as long as there's some improvement in their grades.

..................................................................................

Comparison

the following are extracted from the internet:

"Comparison brings inferiority, superiority. When you don't compare, all inferiority, all superiority, disappears. Then you are, you are simply there. A small bush or a big high tree--it doesn't matter; you are yourself..."

Commentary:

Who ever told you that the bamboo is more beautiful than the oak, or the oak more valuable than the bamboo? Do you think the oak wishes it had a hollow trunk like this bamboo? Does the bamboo feel jealous of the oak because it is bigger and its leaves change color in the fall? The very idea of the two trees comparing themselves to each other seems ridiculous, but we humans seem to find this habit very hard to break. Let's face it, there is always going to be somebody who is more beautiful, more talented, stronger, more intelligent, or apparently happier than you are. And conversely, there will always be those who are less than you in all these ways. The way to find out who you are is not by comparing yourself with others, but by looking to see whether you are fulfilling your own potential in the best way you know how.

- Osho The Sun Rises in the Evening Chapter 4

A Meaningful Afternoon

Last saturday afternoon my family and my daughter's friend's family visited a childcare centre with kids of single parents who can't afford to take care of them. We brought along food, art & craft materials and gifts. (All the items were prepared by the mother of my daughter's friend who initiated the visit and invited us a few hours before going)

The lady in this picture is the mother of my daughter's friend. I'm grateful she invited my family along.

Kids love gifts...especially the gifts of love.

Pay It Forward

Last Sunday evening my family witnessed a motorcyclist falling off his motorbike and got injured. He had blood at the corner of his mouth, and seemed to be in pain.

We pulled over to check on him, while leaving our kids and maid inside the car. We knew the passers-by might think we knock him down. However, we did not have the heart to leave him lying helplessly by the road. We repeatedly asked him whether he wanted to go clinic but he said he wanted to go home. After a while, we realized he might be short of cash. We offered to pay for him and he then agreed to let us drive him to the clinic.

The clinic nurse cleaned his wounds and the doctor gave him a jab & some pills which cost RM98. When we reached his hostel, this young security guard from Sabah who was only 5 years older than my boy thanked us with a “terima kasih” . He did not offer to pay us back and I did not expect that either. Just a month ago, he was knocked down by a car but that driver just sped off! HOW I DESPISE SUCH IRRESPONSIBLE DRIVER!

Many years ago my girlfriend and I were helped by a kindhearted Pakcik when our motorbike broke down at night. He helped us to fix the spark plug and that enabled us to go back to our hostel safely. I was forever grateful to that unsung hero.

Being a young student at that time, the only thing I could do was kept thanking him for his help. Now, I'm glad that young motorcyclist gave me a chance to help him. I hope one day he'll also "pay it forward" by lending a helping hand to others in need.

It Isn't An Art Lesson!

My daughter didn't do well in her final term science exam. Some of the questions were simple and direct yet she got them wrong. I discovered she had problem recognizing some chinese characters.

She claimed that she NEVER learnt "白昼" before. But I found that 2 chinese characters printed big and clear on her textbook!

"YA ho... actually i learnt that before..." she said softly.

Obviously my artistic daughter was DISTRACTED by her own drawing of bird singing & perching on a lamp post!!!

We just couldn't resist the sale!

So far, the only type of sale I couldn't resist is the BOOK SALE.

Recently, my GPS (Gua Punya Suami) brought me to the Big Bad Wolf Book Sale in Sri Kembangan twice and came home with more than one hundred books. We brought our 3 kids & maid along but on the second time, we went there without them.

Bought a lot of Horrible Science series, Chicken Soup for Preteen Soul, Tennage Soul, Writer Soul, 2 Geronimo Stilton comics (all the Geronimo storybooks were grabbed by those early birds), Star Wars novels, Go Girl series, Candy Apple series, Judy Blume series, even Captain Underpants & Anthony Howitz series. Also grabbed books on yoga, recipe, RM8 "Who Moved My Cheese?" (RM29.90 in Popular Bookstore) , IQ book, magazine etc.

What to do...my 3 kids have different preference. My girls are selective but my son reads a wide range of books (including his sisters' books). Even my maid bought a few books & magazines too!

After all, what's better than reading?

Art Exam (Fantasy or Reality?)

A day after halloween, I forced my son to prepare for his final term art exam. I told him to take it seriously because every subject will contribute to his total marks, especially since he'd set his goal to stay in the good class.

I always remind my kids to work hard and play hard. I must admit I'm "realistic" and wanted them to stay in the good class, because I still believe in the "urban myth" that teachers will focus more on good class students (so that I can get the most out of my taxpayer money, hee...hee...).

In order to achieve his (& my) goal, I decided to help him sketch out a drawing based on the topic which I thought could help him score a higher marks.

There're 5 titles to choose from:

1. Alam Fantasi Idaman Anda (The fantasy world of your dream)

2. Poster - Amalkan Gaya Hidup Sihat

3. Poster - Hormat-Menghormati Amalan Mulia

4. Pesta Air

5. Gambarkan permandangan di waktu banjir (flood scene)

My son is impatient, hardly colour anything and only draws stick man, monsters and weapons. Knowing his strength & weakness, I had to simplify the drawing for him.

However, he's not happy with it and insisted to draw the Fantasy World. After some arguing, I gave in and told him to show me what he could draw.

The result of too much X-box games...he said that's what he's going to draw for his final term exam. Well...ok...but I'm also worried about his colouring skill!!! He's so impatient and if he's to use watercolour, the main character may end up disappearing from the picture! (I kept reminding him to draw the main character bigger)

Fortunately his sister has a set of "Watercolour Pencil". Realistically, that's the best way for him to fill up the background without accidentally "swallowing" the man character. On his second sketch, he drew the main character bigger. Better that way, easier for him to colour :-P

I do not have high hope that he's going to score a good mark. Maybe my world is closer to "Reality" (marks! marks! marks!) and his is still closer to "Fantasy" (monster! monster! monster!) .

Surprisingly a few days ago he came home announcing he got 53/60! WOW!

He is fortunate to have a teacher who is generous in giving marks and is open enough to listen to the kid's heart! Lucky you, son!

Another Priceless Halloween Memory

Halloween is no fun without costume. In the past, we utilized whatever in our wardrobe to make costumes. This year, we decided to make a trip to Costume World to see what we could rent.

RM 20 for a pirate bandana & belt with a skull buckle.

I bought a RM2 red colour fabric from Kamdar and paid a tailor RM8 to make a simple vest.

RM20 for colorful garlands and wrist band. I later found out that Toy R Us has those items and it's only RM17.90! Too late for me to regret.

It cost me RM3 to buy the material to make this simple hula skirt.

It will cost me RM30 if I rent the skirt plus garlands and wristband from Costume World.

I simply love this Wonder Woman costume and it looks nice on my daughter. The material is good and it comes with head band and wrist band too. It costs RM50. It's worth the money because I also took some photos wearing it :-)

In total, we spent RM90 on the costume rental. However, I paid a deposit of RM180 which was later refunded when those costumes were returned in good condition. (TIPS: It's better to visit the store a few weeks earlier. The place will be crowded when halloween is approaching)

I got this idea from the internet. I used a foam card to make the above, and one roll of orange color paper to make the tentacles. With the help of a super glue and black tape, plus 2 used CD, a squid was born!

I paid RM20 for 2 pcs of balaclava from a shop in AmCorp Mall.

It's worth spending a small amount on halloween for those PRICELESS memories!

Happy Halloween 2010!

Once again, we've our halloween celebration. This year, we had it on Saturday instead of Sunday so that kids do not need to worry about school on the next day.

My lovely nieces are definitely not the "Too School To Be Cool" type!

And my sis-in-law has always been a good sport. She was an ugly & scary witch in '08 serving kids with "finger" food (she baked cookies that looked like real fingers). In 2009 she transformed herself into a sexy witch with bats on top of her head, and this year she decided to wear her mom's dress and swing into the 70s!

The sweet little mermaid...the pirate found her in an island and
made her the pet!

The pretty devil is my special guest this year. She's a very dear friend of mine since Primary 1.

My boy and his friend YS are "Mercenaries" ( I thought it's called
"Killer" or "Assassin" but he corrected me and taught me a new terminology instead). YY the special guest is a cool Ninja.

The first group of trick or treaters arrived on time.

More joined in for trick or treating...

Wanna get an autograph from"Lady GaGa" ?

I found my Mini Me!

It cost me less than RM10 to transform my maid into a squid (a simple art and craft). She was a Pontianak in 2009 and this year decided not to scare the kids anymore.

Let's make strange faces!

Some simple quizzes to win "gold coins" from the pirate.

"Which monster is blue and loves cookies?"

"Which monster is green and has a lot of stitches all over his face and body?"

"Which is the friendliest ghost?"

"Which monster kills people in their dreams?"

"What do you call the witch's brewing pot?"

HAPPY HALLOWEEN to those who know the answers!