Growing up: Boy in the month of May

Boy is growing fast. Here are some highlights of the month:

We pulled out one of his front teeth. A snapshot of the ever-changing facade of his ivories. Hopefully we don't have to start an orthodontic-treatment fund :-p

He's learning to express himself more via drawing.

He brings Mummy breakfast in bed :-)

He learned how to tie balloons ... after many, many tries!!

 He and Big Sister attended a chess workshop during the school holidays, where he showed off his "skills" with the 4-step checkmate.

He attended the school's sports day as a spectator this round, cheering on Big Sister, who participated in the Brownies' march pass. 

Art: Emerging Talent

Girl has been surprising us with her drawings of late. If you've seen her usual scribbles, there's nothing particularly artistic about them. But when she has a reference point, she is now able to replicate the drawing rather accurately ... a skill that she picked up mainly on her own.

Alice Miranda ... sketched while waiting for dinner to arrive

 

Respiratory system ... drawn as a school assignment

A pop-up card for Daddy before he went for an overseas trip

Monster High's Nefera

"Commissioned" drawing ... a request from a friend;
she learned to piece together parts of the body
that are not visible in a single reference photo

Doll house furniture making: learning to handle heavy machinery

Jottings: Bits & Bobs in March

Mummy has been busy, so here's a quick rundown of some of the fun stuff we've been up to.

Minecraft is the flavour of the season. But iPad time is limited, so when you can't play, you draw :-)

More lunch-time scribbles

We came home late to this Goodnight note from the kiddos.

Every Captain America needs a (disposable plate) shield!

Lego, lego, lego at Bricks 4 Kidz.

Girl and 2 friends assembled this wooden doll house all by themselves! This fantastic Malaysian-styled house was bought in support of EPIC Homes' fundraiser.
 

Finally finished our long-overdue paint-by-numbers canvas art!

Growing Up: Snapshot of Baby in February

Baby is not really a baby anymore ... especially since he has a little sibling on the way. But it's always a joy to see how he grows in his motor skills, imagination and logical thinking.

Writing can still be a chore for him,
but he more willingly puts pencil to paper nowadays

 

Blocks and tractors still hold an appeal for him.
"Look mom, Tractorland," he said,
in reference to our visit to Tractors Malaysia
more than a year ago (see pix below).

Any reason not to do homework ...
"I don't have to write the zero, because zero is nothing."

Nature: Save the Environment with BYOB

There's a neat little shop in Damansara Kim called BYOB, which stands for "Bring Your Own Bottle".

We all know how harmful plastic bottles are to the environment, so with this little concept detergent store, we can now find a way to reduce wastage of our empty plastic bottles.

BYOB collects used mineral water bottles and empty detergent containers etc and refills them with eco-friendly household cleaning products. The products are produced using less chemicals by an OEM local manufacturer that produces and exports to companies in Singapore, Australia and the US. The product range is rather extensive — from car care and clothing and fabric detergent, to floor and kitchen cleaners, as well as personal care and a natural range of supplies.

Since we have a mounting stash of plastic bottles at home, we brought some over and left with bottles of floor cleaners (lavender and lemon), glass cleaner, fabric softener and laundry detergent. They were pretty affordable — about 20-25% cheaper than the cheapest range in the hypermarkets. Hopefully they work as well, then we can can see some significant savings in our monthly grocery bills. 

So check it out if you wanna reduce or reuse plastics and save some moolah while you're at it!


BYOB DAMANSARA
15, SS20 11, Damansara Kim, 47400 Petaling Jaya
Tel: 012-2455480

Opening hours:
Mon-Fri: 10am-6pm
Sat-Sun: 9am-4pm

Kitchen: Egged On

Boy loves eggs, and after seeing me cook eggs for Daddy's Valentine's Day breakfast, he decided he wanted to try his hand too.

So the next morning, before basketball training, he woke up early to cook scrambled eggs for the whole family. He also fried some bacon in the air fryer and set the table.

Proud of my 7-year-old!

Garden: Juicy Flowers

Last October, we paid a visit to Free Tree Society in Bangsar ... and got free trees — a lemongrass and a roselle plant.

Surprisingly, even though our ground was not very good and we hardly spent much time tending to the plants, both thrived bountifully! Our roselle came home with 2 calyces (flowers) and quickly sprouted several more. The key, they say, is to harvest the calyx often to keep the plant fruiting.

When we had about 15 mature calyces, we peeled off the red petals from the seed pods within.

Then we boiled the petals with some lemongrass and sugar, giving us a refreshing syrupy drink that serves as a great Ribena substitute for the kids. 

Will be drying the seed pods to save the lovely heart-shaped seeds and hopefully be able to plant more roselle plants.