my 2nd handmade christmas garland

the second christmas garland is pretty easy to make.
the most time consuming bit was cutting the circles
and (ok ^_^ so there are actually two time consuming bits to it)
the sprinkling of glass glitter and drying.

as soon as the right size is determined, 
cut out the circles, then fold into half, cut again to get the semicircles.
i got different printed patterns in red and embossed ones in white.

punch holes on the upper corners of the semicircles 
for the ribbon to go through and link up all the semicircles.
i found a very nice piece of grosgrain ribbon from a craft store
which is thin enough to go through the punched holes.

to add a bit of glitter and shine to the garland,
i added chunky german glass glitter to the semicircles in white.
line the curved side of the semicircle with white glue 
and sprinkle the glitter over it.
shake to let the excess fall out.
wait overnight for the glue to dry completely.

the effect of the chunky german glass glitter turns out well...
as they are chunky and transparent enough,
they resemble frozen ice tips!

work in progress

with little bb's unwillingness to go to bed early,

the window of my free time diminishes

that explains why the christmas decoration is 

still

work under construction....

well,

at least i got the big windows covered...

i am now working on all the doors of the house.....

hope i can finish it this week!

p.s. 

i managed to take some pictures of how this paper garland was made...

super easy,

just takes a bit of time.

needless to say,

i don't have time yet to upload the pictures.

tomorrow i plan to run around during my lunch break to get more stuff for decorations..

one busy little toddler

these are all the *artistic* work done by mama and little bb together....

we have been to this playgroup for three times

and look!  we got five pieces of work done already!

actually there are a couple more 

but they, including a piece of colored rock, are drying in the school now....

impressionism!!!

hahaha.....

this work is up to your imagination

whatever you see is whatever it is!

here, what we were supposed to do was to smear red paint and yellow paint

to make orange!

this one was made by rolling a toy car over blue paint,
then ran the car over the track....

as seen, the *driver* did not follow directions
he got a bit out of control

instead of going *8*

it ran back and forth.

~~~ i am singing in the rain ~~~
~~~ singing in the rain!!! ~~~


~~~ rain drops keep falling on my head! ~~~

a pear......  painted with a pear shaped stencil...

nothing exciting with this one...

..... and a pair of rabbit ears...

though little bb likes it in his hands more than on his head....

i kept putting it on his head

he kept pulling it down

not long, 

one ear got pulled off....

hahahaha

what will we be doing together in our next session?

new outfit

finally!
i received my order yesterday!


the iphone case which i like a lot was broken....
and since then i have had a couple of other cases which i didn't really like much.


then, i got a xmas update email from cath kidson
and saw this new pattern.


bird + flowers!


i'm loving it!


p.s.
somotu has changed the lens of the camera.
i still haven't figured out how to use it....
all the photos i took came out blurry....
needs more practicing

my pumpkin

i have been very bad with recording bits and pieces in this space....
there is so much i want to write and make a record of
but i simply don't have enough time and energy...
will try my best to keep up.

anyway,
it has gotten to a point where i am seriously thinking of giving little bb a major haircut.


why?
because 9 of out 10 tens he is mistaken for a baby girl!
it must be because of his hair.


i have not really cut his hair since his birth.
his hair was a little bit curly when he was smaller and i found it to cute to cut...
then days after days, months after months, his hair grows longer and longer.


the only part i trim every now and then is the bangs.
simply because they were poking his eyes.
i have not touched the hair at the back.


now, the hair at the back has touched his little shoulders and have started to curl inwards....
to be honest, i think it looks perfectly ok,
well, at least he hasn't started school and i don't think it matters.


but recently i got so many questions about whether he is a boy or girl
which gets me start wondering whether i should try to cut the hair at the back....


even if i decided to,
i don't know where to begin with the cutting!
i am just scared that i will make him look even worse!  ahahahaha


so as of now, i am still thinking...
perhaps i should take him to a salon...


anyway, last sunday,
i had to trim his bangs.....
poking his eyes again.


he didn't want to be bound to the high chair...
it was quite a struggle for us both...


at least in the end,
his bangs are much shorter....
though uneven!


he resembles a pumpkin now with his puffy face and bob hairstyle.

ready for christmas!?

christmas is my favorite favorite time of the year

i love the warmth and love that fill this period of time

every year i will try to do something for our home

to further enhance that christmas feeling

and every year i will struggle with the color theme...

whether it should be all white or should i throw in a little bit of color

almost every year, i would ended up with white.

this year, i decided to be bold and try colors!

(i think little bb has some influence on this.....  

with his arrival, i feel there is more *color* in the world!)

so, the colors are red, green and white!

(yes i know, how conventional and un-adventurous!

but i figure it's hard to go wrong with this combo)

i have started with the big windows in the living room..

it is a paper garland.... with strips of paper curved to make shapes that resemble christmas bells....

honestly, i think it doesn't look as nice as i have thought.

it looks a bit bare.

so right now, i am working on a second paper garland which will be a bit different from this one already made.

i have yet to fill up the rest of the house with other christmas decorations....

walking

have been extremely busy with this and that lately
whether it is at work or at home,
it seems like there is a stream of things i need to take care of.....
hardly have time for myself anymore


anyway,
this past weekend, we had some good fun.
little bb has his first walk in the mall.
he was so happy and excited that he kept making very funny sounds in high pitch.
i guess it must be there are so many shops with colorful decorations and people walking around which got him really busy and nosy.


little bb has been kind of slow in learning to walk.
for one, we all agreed that he is one little lazy body.
he prefers crawling to walking.
i think it's because he has figured that it is much faster to get to where he wants to go by crawling.


and secondly, it's really because he wasn't given enough chances to practice.
when we all go to work, he is usually in his playpen or high chair.


last week when i stayed home,
i let him do all the crawling, stumbling he wanted...
and he did make a lot more progress with walking.


i can tell that he is realizing the fun and adventures that comes with walking
and he is enjoying it more and more!

mixed

tears almost came out when i needed to get up and get ready for work this morning


little bb was still sound asleep
and i looked at him for a long time
i ran my fingers through his hair
i pat his face lightly
and kissed him on his face


however much unwilling and difficult it was
i got up


it was more difficult for me this morning than 
that morning when i had to get up at the end of my maternity leave


i guess it is more difficult now than back then
because little bb is a lot more responsive to a lot of things as he is afterall, a year old already
and he babbles and giggles and smiles alot


as i settled down in the office,
began my daily work,
responded to emails,
answered phone calls....
i found myself enjoying this other part of life.
i still like the kind of challenge and satisfaction associated with work.


i don't know,
i still don't know whether i would like being a full-time mom for good....


at this moment,
it would be ideal if my work allows me to work on certain days of the week only
and i could spend the rest of the week with little bb without having to check blackberry or answer phone calls.....
but this is just in my dreams....
don't think such kind of job exists here!

day and night

i did not return to the office today.

worked from home instead.
wanted to stay home and make sure our helper is alright.


morning was quite packed with work.
managed to sneak out during lunch hours to get food for little bb and our helper.
rushed back to take a conference call at 2pm.
i don't like conference calls that starts at 9am or 2pm sharp.
9:30am or 2:30pm is better.....  
anyway, had another call at 5:30pm....


little bb made some good progress today with walking by himself.
he loves to crawl and is too lazy to try to walk.
today, i used toys to lure him to walk a few more steps than usual....

these are from yesterday...
the star ferry ride across the harbour,
followed by an early dinner at a nice cozy little deli
where little bb did some *drawing*
and had his first taste of frozen yoghurt...
(i seriously think the chocolate syrup topping made him overly excited till 1am last night!)
then followed by a nice stroll along the harbour

last day

we finally took little bb to ride the star ferry today

we had two rides ~ from tst to central and back to tst from central

it was a very nice ride....  cool autumn breeze kissed us and city night lights greeted us on the return trip

had a quick but nice dinner at a nice deli

strolled along the harbour, watched the beautiful night lights along the harbour and across the harbour

and were able to see the xmas celebration night lights too!

it was a very very nice and relaxed day....

though sad news ended the day, our helper has returned from home. 
her mother passed away on sunday.....
we feel sorry and sad for her loss...

day 7

weather continued to be pretty bad today...


no,
this is the standard description of weather like today's.


actually,
i love it.


rainy, cloudy and a bit cold.


how do i like to spend such a day?


in the past, it would be
~ staying at home, listening to my favorite albums, doing nothing or reading magazines, or making things
~ riding in a car, watching the rain, watching patterns they create, watching the rain drops slide down the windows, listening to the rain knocking on the windows
~ daydreaming
~ sipping coffee
~ cuddling with brownie and sugar
~ having somotu next to me


now, it is
~ all of the above
plus
snuggling with little bb, sniffing his baby (and sweaty) scent


today is spent as above....


somotu took half day off and off we drove to a far away place....
i enjoyed the ride in the car a lot.....
the rain, the music and my loved ones


p.s.
brownie and sugar have a new look after the visit to the parlor


p.p.s.
these days are coming to an end soon.....
i will miss these days


p.p.p.s
i realize i hardly have any time for myself...
i don't get to brush my teeth, wash my face sometimes (yucks!)
i don't get to drink water
i don't get to eat properly until when everyone is sound asleep (like now, i am eating away when it is almost 2am....  so unhealthy but so yummy)
i don't get to look at the mirror
i don't get to comb my hair
nonetheless, little bb sees me the same ^_^
who cares what others think or see!?  haha!

day 6

my original plan was to ride the star ferry to central with little bb...


on sunday, while we were walking along the harbour,
it suddenly dawn on me that little bb has not yet rode the ferry.
i think little bb will love the ride as there will be lots of people and 
can get close to the sea!
it's also the perfect weather to do the ride, with the autumn breeze,
it will be an enjoyable one.


however, weather was quite bad today.
it rained most of the day.
though i am not bothered by the rain, i was told not to go out...


but i couldn't sit still in the house, i wanted to bring little bb out.
so instead, we went to the mall nearby,
went to the book shop to read some books,
checked out the toys
and had tea with grandma....


little bb is quite fond of "reading" books.
he loves to keep turning the pages back and forth,
pointing at the pictures and "saying" things,
though i have no idea what he is trying to tell me,
i pretend i understand ^_^


p.s.
one thing i am quite concerned with is that little bb doesn't like to drink water....
and it seems that he is also becoming picky with fruits.
he used to like all kinds of fruits (well except avocado),
but today, he hide his face when i was trying to give him banana....
???

cake x 2

i spent quite a bit of time on the birthday cake for little bb's 1st birthday party.

i wanted the cake to be a bit more special,

and i didn't want to go back to the one where we ordered one when he was 100 days old.

i did check out one located in central.

it is supposed to be quite popular but i didn't find any designs i like.

moreover, for the price they are charging,

i think they should do a better job.

i also thought of taking a class to make my own

but i figured there wasn't enough time,

plus i don't have an oven at home.

just when i thought i might end up just getting a conventional one,

i found a boutique party supply shop which carries cute and a bit less frequently seen items.

the party themes and stuff for girls are a lot prettier than the ones for boys.

but obviously, i don't have a choice here!!

the set for boys that i ended up picking was animal parade.

it comes in a color theme that i like, pastel tones.

no, i can't take bright red, bright blue... hahaha

i thought i might as well ask the shop owner if they have any recommendations for cakes.

and he did!

the cake shop was one which i had come across before.

it was a promotion they did at a shopping mall and yes, they made some very pretty cupcakes.

what i did next was did some sketching of how i like it to be made and in what color...

i wanted it to match with the animal parade theme.

after a few sketches, a few phone calls and emails,

the shop confirmed that they could make one.

i was anxiously waiting for the delivery date,

wasn't sure if it will indeed turn out to be the same as what i had drawn.

and of course, i was worried too about the taste.

this is it!
i am very happy with it!
the animals were done very nicely... they were even coated with glitter!
and i love the scallops round the cake...  they were done very finely, just the way how i had it in my sketches.
i am also glad that the guests quite like the taste...  it was chocolate underneath the fondant.
not too sweet and the cake was soft and moist enough.
i didn't get to take pictures of the cake myself though,
thanks to ah king, joanna and KM for taking pictures of it for me.

..... and the animals (actually just the zebra and the birthday message) found themselves on another cake on the actual birthday of little bb.

the other animals, the lion, the giraffe and elephant, were adopted by our little guests...

we were left with just the zebra.

i got this ready-to-go cake simply because it was small enough for just the few of us,

and it is in white color!

i decorated it with marshmellows left over from the party.

i think they look quite nice together!