The end of 2010

Wow... it is Christmas again... It's been a year since we moved to Shanghai from KK. How did it happen so fast?

We are still here, everything is great. We enjoyed the family vacation to Bali and I passed by Jakarta for a few days. And it had been great.

I know I haven't been here for a while. I need a kick to write back here more regularly . So.. for now let's talk about Christmas. We had a simple day, like usual , our way of Christmas , to church and opening presents in the morning. The girls of course had a blast !!

So now the New Year is just around the corner. And people start to talk about New Year Resolutions  ( which they will break in February by the way LOL ) But I think it is good ( if you see in in a positive way ) to have NY resolution if you asked me. Why? Because it is a therapy, a way to see our self  , to set a goal and to practice self discipline  ( we as adult need a discipline as much as children do! But we are too ignorant to admit it right?) .

This  year I want to keep my New Year Resolution simple ( and I think you can use this resolutions too!!):
To EAT
To PRAY
To LOVE
( Yup as you know the movie/book : EAT PRAY LOVE)
And I want to add
To LIVE and To LAUGH

So I can say that I want to EAT more ( huh?) PRAY more, LOVE more, LIVE more and LAUGH more

If you ask for details of those, it would be something like this
EAT - to enjoy more food , too cook healthy meal more
PRAY- to pray more , to be more close to God , serving HIM
LOVE- to love unconditionally more and to spread love
LIVE-to live to the fullest in a positive ways of course and enjoy my live.
LAUGH - to be able to laugh at my self more


 MERRY CHRISTMAS AND HAPPY NEW YEAR TO YOU ALL!!!

XOXO
S.R

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Hohoho!!!
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It's up! The same tree from KK -malaysia! Our first xmas in sh since the moving.
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Si tolol dan si tilil
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@faceboook
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Inspired !!

Well.. that is not me but my girl Indy ! She is not a little girl anymore ( well kinda still ) but I see a big dream in her. Positive dream that is. :) And what is life without dream right?

So the HS group had their annual Entrepreneur Day the other week. And each kid need to come up with something they made ( with or without help from the parents), if possible something unique ( thinking to trademark their stuffs too? lol)
Indy got this button set kits from the creative aunty back in KK , Sabah. She loves it and enjoying it. So she came up with the idea to sell the button hair clip for that day. And it was a hit! It was sold out! ^_^
The main idea is not just to make money of course, but to support each other, and buy some things also from the other "entrepreneur", and they also learn to be creative, and they do simple math too !  I think it is fun!
Some kids really do came up with great idea from bicycle container holder, hand drawn illustrated comic books, unique pen, necklace, banana bread ( yummy) pumpkin cookies and many more.

Indy got inspired and wanted to learn  more art skills and some basic sewing ( I hope we can work this  out next January) . And of course I like to see her to be so inspired. She wants to learn how to make soap and try to sell it, or some felt toys and to sell some home made recycle letter paper too.(perhaps greeting cards?). The ideas are endless....

One friend of mine told me today , that she doesn't want her daughter just know how to study from books and do well in test, she wants her daughter to learn other skills and hobby too ( a NON- electronic hobby that 's it! WII , DS, PSP, PS 1-2-3, Facebook games  doesn't count ! ^_^)
And then Indy asked me : can I have my online store when I am bigger? to sell my creation? I could do that in my free time right?
Well... why not???

If she could make her dream to be real , let's say during her teenage time, she could manage to do tiny biz based on her hobby (selling felt toys?soaps? greeting cards? hair accessories etc) I will be so proud and happy for her (as proud as a straight A student's parents perharps!! lol)
Everything start with a dream  but remember :

“Some people dream of success while others wake up and work hard at it.”

 

 

Enjoy some of the photos : 

 

Bikes for rent

Bikes for rent at downtown Shanghai ( fuxing road n huaihai rd) part of making shanghai a greener city.
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Sneak peek!

Lil models :p
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Our review

I bought this king size memory foam mattress a few months back , and we love it! Now we added the pillows too :D

And they put my review on their website ( just to share :P)

 XOXO

S.R

 

Husband woke up without back pain for the first time in a very long time!

Posted by Sandra and Nikolay Rocco - Shanghai Expats from Indonesia and Italy

Me and my husband have been moving around in Asia for more than 12 years and we are tired of our "landlord" bed and longing for a good bed of our own. And finally decided to invest on SlumberMAAX mattress.

We thought this as our "gifts" to rewarded our self. My husband had back pain for a long time before this. So I make a "rush" order at the evening and asked for deliver the next day. ( my husband had reached the point when enough bad bed is enough!). And the service is great! We got the mattress at our requested day and time! The online ordering process was smooth and painless (trust me I am a big online shopping fan and the experience with SlumberMAAX is remarkable). And this morning my husband woke up without back pain for the first time in a very long time!

Efforts VS Excuses

I just saw a very neat quote ( from children's study room ) that is so simple and yet very inspiring .

Let your efforts rise above your excuses

How simple is it, and yet how true...

It could be use in any part of our life regardless age.

It is very true for students ( even for my daughter Indy's age ).. I want her to make effort rather than to use any excuses ( that the assignment is too difficult, the weather is too cold to run outside, she is too young, or that her reading skill is still limited)

But yet.... since I don't want to be a "talk only mom" who did nothing except preaching their kids, I want to be the mom who is and who always be learning with their kids, and I always told my girls that I  don't always know everything, let's discover and find the answer together, if I know more than them it is because I m much older than them but perhaps when I was at their age, I know lesser than them.

And I think that quote is good for me too ( and  perhaps you too? )

How many times we let our excuses took control of our life? How many time we did not make enough effort to try? 

I had use many excuses too rather that use effort. It is not always easy. The first thing that come in mind for me right this second is when we want to improve our physical health as in dieting. I don't really do diet but I do believe in balance eating. But when we want to try to loose some pounds, often , we use many excuses ( I DID!! :P) But I am doing effort right now, with strong determination to be healthier in and out. ( not just to loose some pounds that I gained over the last months ! :D)

And I really need to use a lot of effort during my homeschool time. How easy it is too slip into temptations and be mad with our children ( as in home school) but again, we need to make effort not just making up excuses!

I do believe in self discipline. I try to teach that for my girls that. I do teach them to pray to ask the strength from God as well, but if we just wait and pray , I think that won't be happening. God wants us to try too!

When I watched the move Eat , Pray, Love , they told the story, which I've hearad before, the story of a man who is praying every day to a Saint's statue every single day . He prayed and asked : please let me win a lottery... please let me win a lottery...please let me win a lottery...... every single day.

Then one day , the Saint's statue had enough and came to live and said to the praying man : please buy the ticket! please by the ticket! please by the ticket!!!

^_^ I do believe in the power of prayer, I do believe in miracle. But that doesn't mean that we just need to sit around waiting for opportunity, chances, friendship, loves, forgiveness etc to come to us without making any effort ....

So  let;s do some effort today and try to make no more excuse!

Good luck for whatever you try to achieve.

XOXO

S.R

Soapnuts liquid how to

I've been wanting to share this since ages ago ( ok months ago) but I keep forgetting about it. Truth is since I do this regularly, I don't think people might be interested in it ( I did share about soapnuts benefits in this blog too)
And today, a few of Facebook's friend  posted this articles about the danger in the artificial fragrance. And of course SOAP NUTS  come to mind. I've been using it for more than 7 months now together with vinegar, baking soda and tea tree/lavender oil.

My helper of course was pestering me about this.. it doenst clean well, no suds.. bla bla bla.. So I Googled it and find the info in Mandarin and printed and asked her to read.  Mission Accomplished ! Hah! ^_^

So here is what I do ( once a week or so)

Put the soap nuts in the cloth bag ( a hand full) , and boil with a pot full of water.
Let it boil then shimmer for another 15 minutes. Let it cool for a bit and then put in the container and your soapnut liquid is ready to be use!
And throw the soapnuts.

Another simple way is just to make the "TEA". Just put the bag in a bowl hot water for a few minutes, then use the "tea" for washing. You can re-use the soapnuts for 5 more times.

Or just put in the bag of soapnuts into washing machine ( hot water setting is the best) , then add baking soda in the detergent compartment and vinegar in the softener compartment. I add the TTO and LO in the bag just for antiseptic and great smell! And Voila!... my laundry is done.


PS : you liquid soapnuts must be use within a week or so. It doesnt have any preservative. As for me a pot  ( 2-3 medium bottle) is good for a week or so.

Happy trying...

Green living.. for healthier live and better earth!

Xoxo

S.R

Indiana's 8th bday

She is 8 last month ! And we didn't have any party for her this time, due to the National Holiday and her friends were not around . So we treated her to Barbie World Cafe. The 4 floors building full of....guess it right.. BARBIE. And as we all know...it is all in PINK!. Started from the escalator above pic)

And there is this giant exhibition of barbie in PINK ( what else?) from the floor up to the ceiling !

And of course... there is store ... where you can find anything Barbie. From dolls, clothing, make up, Barbie town, fashion stage and salon /spa too.

And there is this : the showcase of Barbie in traditional costume of some countries. And in some of well known designers  ( Juicy Couture, Versace, Gucci, Prada etc)

And these are my favorite from their collection , it is very wearable ! The Little Black Dress ! I feel like I want one each on my size! LOL

And there is the Vera Wang's dress too!

Maya take a pose at Barbie boutique with the dummy cake.

Us.. inside the elevator ( in PINK!)

And finally we reached the restaurant :

The Birthday girl with mamma and papa!

With real size Barbie!

At home with the cakes!!!

And it is presents time!

It is HEELYS from Mamma! Plus backpack and waterproof watch

 

And Skate Scooter from Papa!

Happy Birthday, Indiana Chiara Rocco!( late posting heheh)