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!