mr. maker inspired

Little big boy and I were watching Mister Maker one afternoon and I got inspired by what he did. So I decided that Sean do something like it in one of our sessions.

This is really easy and fun.

just another kitchexperiment

Look what I made in the kitchen! It's another kitchexperiment.



I didn't know I had a slice of pink salmon in the freezer for two weeks and decided to panfry it in a tablespoon of olive oil. I had no idea if it's still alright to eat it, because like I said, it's been in the freezer for two weeks. Maybe more. I don't know.

Anyway, it turned out good and sweet. Thanks to an imagination and some leftover pineapple in the fridge.

can't stop him from growing up

My 4 year old is growing and there's no denying. He's claiming independence, in his own little ways, from us. For instance, when we're in a mall, he wants to walk on his own without being hold by the hand, which is scary because he might get lost. And whenever we're inside a shop, he browses on his own and only calls our attention if he wants something. Or, when he gets bored, he goes out of the shop and go few meters away from our eyesight which translates to heart attacks. Alright, that's an exagge. But did you get the picture?

Whenever it's storytime, he chooses what book/s to read and at times leads the mini-discussions. And what's with asking us with, "What's funny, guys?" whenever he sees or hears me and Bee laughing.

Not to mention he'd like to go up and down the escalator on his own. Gack!

Bee told me yesterday that he can't accept his only child is growing up fast. He said, Sean is still a baby. His baby. Na hala!

I could only imagine the daddy crying on Sean's wedding day. Hahahahaha! Knowing my husband. *wink* *wink*

out with the old, in with the new

I'm tired of wearing the same old boring house clothes since I arrived in SG. So I told Bee that I want to update my house clothes soon. Good thing there's a sale at the neighborhood mall, and I couldn't resist not buying $5 tanks and shirts and $7 fleece lounger capris. I bought 5 items for just $29! Weee! I'm going back tomorrow to buy racerback tanks and camis. I want to buy a lightweight pullover or henley, but SG is crazy hot and humid these past weeks so I'm not decided yet. But let's see tomorrow.

And speaking of clothes, shempre hindi magpapahuli si forever boyfriend. He's slowly updating his dress shirts and pants because he's down to 2 sizes. Haaay, envy!

When will it be my turn to update my wardrobe? I'm still stuck with oversized shirts and jeans because, minus all those flowery words, I'm still BIG.

Go away hormonal imbalance. You're making my life more complicated. As if it's not already complicated to begin with.

hairy sitch

I wonder. Does our leg hair grow as we get older? Mine’s growing, and they’re a bit thicker than usual. I’ve never waxed nor shaved my legs because my mom told me in primary school that when and if I shave my legs, the hair would grow thick and I’ll have a man’s hairy leg, which frightened me.

But now few of my leg hair are growing, the lowest part at least. I’m just worried of a “domino effect” sooner or later. I’ve never been conscious about my leg hair until last month. Although I still don’t want to shave or wax my leg hair, but the uneven length makes my legs ugly.

LSS: Say Forever

I never thought I'd make a wrong move at all
I always stay in doubt of things I never find
I realized I was only human but that was no excuse
So in a way we'll make it better
Let's stay together and true


(chorus)
Say you love me
Say you need me
And be forever true to my heart and my soul and hold me again
as we pretend we never hurt each other
No goodbyes now
Tie the knots now
And try to be the best of what lovers can be
Straight from the heart
Hoping our love will always be forever


Sometimes it takes mistakes to find there's nothing wrong
I don't believe we'll get through this by being alone
If I could only turn back the hands of time now
ours won't have to be of used
We've got to change our ways and maybe
Maybe start anew


(bridge)
Don't want the pain to keep going on and on
You will be safe now here in my arms
Hoping your arms

(Repeat Chorus)


I am not sure of the entire lyrics. I was trying my best to type the words as I hear them. But my hearing isn't perfect. Heeee. Besides, I couldn't find the lyrics anywhere. So tap on my back.

our school updates

I've been really lazy in updating this blog. It's not that I don't have the time, but I'm preoccupied with other stuffs like Pet Society (as usual) and homeschool stuffs. My, I can't even afford to visit my friends' blogs. Plus(!)I am taking my afternoon naps with Sean these past few days.

We went to the library last Friday to borrow more books for the little one. And so far, he's got a favorite from the bunch -- Chicka Chicka 123. He, too, likes Chicka Chicka Boom Boom, but not as much as the first. We've borrowed around 7 or 8 books, and so far we've only touched on 3 and that includes The Witch with a Twitch that I read to him yesterday. Sapilitan pa. If I gave in to him, we would have been reading Chicka Chicka 123 again..... for the nth time!

With our short sessions per day, we did mostly pre-reading activities, math counters and exercises, review on number spellings, puzzles, writing exercises, some science and cut and paste activities.

We also did a couple of activities for the fine motor skills, but we, or rather he didn't dwell on it long enough and got bored.

I re-introduced to him (scissors) cutting, but the no-blade scissors I bought him last week was a total failure. It wouldn't even cut through a paper. Tsk! Almost $2 put to waste. Pang Jollibee na sana yun ha.

NOTE: Some photos below are from the previous house which I forgot to post.
































Anyway, almost every parent that I talk to is discouraging me from transferring Sean to the public school system. They have almost the same reasons like the mother I've spoken to last Wednesday morning in school. I need not elaborate it, but I've given my opinion about it though. However it it's really that bad, then I will just withdraw the little boy after a month. Why after a month you may ask. It's because I can't get the money back from the school. So the admin staff that I've spoken to adviced me to send my boy to their school for a month, then I sign a withdrawal form a month in advance. So that means on January 2, the first day Sean sets foot on his new school would be the day I'm going to sign a withdrawal form, too.

Haaaay! Such a hassle going through registration and enrollment only to sign for a withdrawal a few months later. But I'm not gonna pay $140 a month for play doh and coloring activities. We do that at home.

One Pinay mother in Sean's present school said she didn't enroll her daughter in a public preschool, even if it's just below their block, because of unsatisfactory output from the students. And with this, I really made up my mind to just close my eyes whenever I top up Sean's and my EZlink cards every month.

And to quote the little boy's school admin, "Sometimes you have to travel far to get to the best school."

parent to parent

This morning, while waiting for the little boy's school to open, I had the chance to talk to a parent about the school and a couple of other preschools/kindergartens that she had enrolled her other 2 children in.

First, we talked about our time issue with the school, because honestly, us parents have no idea on what time the school opens for the day. The class starts at 9 every morning, and there are days when the school doors open a few minutes after 830 or, as late as 5 minutes before 9. There is no consistency, which ticks the parents off, and that includes moi especially if I have somewhere important to go to.

The parent asked me about my thoughts on the class curriculum, to which I said that the thing that I don't like is they (students) are drilled with paper works. Of course, I wasn't able to explain further because she chimed in that the first school that she sent one of her children to is more into play. So she transferred this child into a government school, which came out unsatisfactory for her liking, especially the Chinese class, because her child hasn't improved at all. She added that her child couldn't even write her/his name in Chinese, and realized the previous school was better because it was learn and play.

I informed her that I'm transferring Sean to a government school next term, to which she hesitated. And I told her that I'm not particular with Chinese because the little boy won't be finishing his studies in SG anyway. I just didn't tell her that we'll be even asking for an exemption from the Chinese class. I also mentioned about homeschool, but I guess she has no idea what I was talking about.

Anyway, based on our conversation, I could say that she wants serious learning like say more papers and workbooks to fill and excercises for her 3 year old. While I, on the other hand, want a play base learning for my little one -- Montessori inspired/approach, learning through play.

But whichever method or whatever works for the child, his/her parent is the best judge when it comes to education.