Another Project

While this  mini stationary station  can't be compare to school's or tuition center supplies, I think this is enough for our small family. The goal is to be able to have a group work with 6 kids without having to wait for turn for scissor, markers, crayon ,glue, tapes etc.

I always like to have my girl's friends over and for them to do some "project" or art n crafts time.  When I was young , I remember, I can always bring my friends home and do something in my parent's  tiny and messy house. My mom was always so friendly too with my friends. And that is something I'll always cherish until today. And I want my girls to remember me the same way. :)


To live in a house instead of an apartment sure will help a lot with out hospitality ability, but that doesn't only depends on the size of the house. We need to be more creative :)

Hey... it is another long weekend here in China ( 1st October is China National day) and we got our schedule ready!

XOXO

S.R

Yard sale

Waaah saw this cool wooden doll house at yard sale. But someone already bought it. Indy is soooo upset rigth now :).
But she got other small toys for a cheap price!
And i got children winter clothes at low price too! Next time we will be here early!!!

Balance Bike

I seldom bought toys for my kids lately, and I avoid the small many pieces of toys ( like ice cream toys set, sushi set, etc) I have enough of that scattered around my living room. And I like to have my kids play outdoor  in our apartment compound( because we do not have our own yard now).

A few months back I saw this type of bike at Indy's friend house. It is wooden ( lovely!! ) and the bike has no pedal.And a 3 years old can "run" with it and balance. So that is " balance bike" or "run bike" or pedal less bike!
It will teach the kids to learn how to balance the bike naturaly. While Maya already has a small bike with training wheels, and she is good at pedaling, she  , like many kids on her age, still depends on the training wheels.
Indy just mastered the bike a few months back, and it was a pain for me to taught her. Thanks God it was just a short process but still .......^_^

So I decided to buy this balance bike for Maya.

 

This is the description of the bike :

Using its own legs for balance and movement your child will have instant success without the falls, scrapes and frustration common to learning how to ride a conventional bike. Later on the transfer to a bike will be extremely easy for each kid because of the skills it learned before.

We learn to crawl before we can walk, and run before we can bike. So why do kids have to leap from tricycles to bicycles without learning how to balance a bike on their own?

Bicycles with training wheels are one way, but these can give a child a false confidence when those training wheels come off. Teaching your child to ride a bike with a pedal free wooden bicycle or metal bike introduces balance, steering, and speed control before they push the pedals of their first two-wheeler.

Only in China :))

Hairy crabs season is here! from RMB 25/pcs to RMB 100/pcs

Toads or frogs?? For sell in supermarket ( metro) shanghai. :))
Gigantic!!

Open mind, Open heart.

With the new school year started here in September, my schedule is been very busy too. Not to mentioned that one of our girl is still being home schooled. She loves being home school-ed ,in fact she told me : Can I be home school-ed until high school? And my reaction was : WHAT???

Jokes aside, it's not always been easy. I admit that. But we love the flexibility of home schooling,  I think if she ever go to regular school, that what we will miss the most. :FLEXIBILITY and the opportunity for her to be her self , to express her self  without being force into the stereo type of what girls her age should behave and should do.

My second girl is still going to local bi-lingual school. Her Mandarin level is very impressive I must say. My 2 girls socialization skills is great too. They can just make friends in a snap. So that is another example to burst the myth : HS kid will have social problem. Well not in Indy's case. I think the more she grow , the more she amazed me with her ability to make friends , to care about other or even to start conversation. I think someone ability to socialize has nothing to do with how she is educated, it's more from her personality .

She is joining the Girl Scouts this year. And I will co-lead with other parents as volunteer. We are both super excited for this. Since she is homeschool, we must join the troop that is under other private school. There are 6 girls including herself. And all of them , of course, come from the same school and know each other. I was worry at first that Indy will not fit in or will be ignored. But to my amazement, in a matter of minutes , the 6 of them are playing like best friends, laughing at Indy's silly jokes, and running around. 2 of the girls are still shy when they need to introduce themselves . Some are so shy that the mother need to stand up next to them to help them speak. But Indy, she just stood up and say : Hi everyone, I am Indy, I am 8, I am homeschooled, and that is my mom over there. , and my naughty lil sister over there. And my b'day is coming soon!
I mean she didn't make an " outstanding" speech but I admire her confident and to be able to do simple public speaking. I think that is was I, my self, lacked of as a student. I didn't have that much of opportunity to do public speaking in front of the class. Our old style system was still, teacher talk, student must be silent and listening  ( ermm in most cases :  teacher talk, student daydreaming ^_^)



So speaking of girl scouts I think she will have wonderful time . As the GS encourage the activities to be girls lead. Not leader lead. The leader will guide them but not telling them what to do. Leader will help them in a way but the last decision is on their hands.

This is my first time to volunteer, I respect and admire other mom volunteers, and I am glad to be part of them too. I still have lots of things to learn, a lot of question to ask, a lot of mistakes to be make. But I come with open heart, open mind, and I checked out my ego at the door. I come to see and learn and try my best. To push my own boundaries :)

The Girl Scout Law

On my honor, I will try to serve God and my country

To help people at all times

And to live by the Girl Scout Law

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The Girl Scout Law

I will do my best to be honest and fair

,friendly and helpful, considerate and caring, 

courageous and strong

and responsible for what I say and do.

And to respect my self and others, respect authority

use resources wisely

make the world a better place

and to be a sister to every Girl Scout.

One of the best advice of the month

I am still exploring a lot of new thing, I might be good at some but I definitely still need to learn and need a lot of guidance at other too.


A lady sent to me something good to read , and to remember , that at anything new that you do ( or at the first time you meet new people/new crowd ) or when you are new into something, you need to come with and OPEN HEART, OPEN MIND, CHECK YOUR EGO AT THE DOOR.

I think it 's great to check out our ego sometimes out of the door, and to come with open mind and heart. .
I always believe that I could learn something from the people we are least expected.



Cheers
XOXO
S.R

A few events come together!!

First of all, let me wish all of my Muslims friends and blogger friends :
Selamat Hari Raya Idul Fitri! It's a blessed to celebrate the special day with your family and love one. I admire and give my heart to those who can't be with their family during this special day. So for those of you who has the blessing to spend any special holiday with your family , please cherished it to the max!

And another event , is the memory of one of the biggest tragedy of the world. 9.11.2001. 9 years ago, the world has witnessed the brutality and cruelty of evil power that has possessed some individuals. God bless those who has lost their live on that day, and also  bless  their family .


Another event is  our 11th Anniversary  ^_^.  The date is 11th September 1999. It's fun to remember that day :). Our wedding was simple  but I always know that the wedding is just for a day, I prefer to have long lasting marriage rather than an impressive grand wedding ( and maybe a few diamonds rings on the top of the simple wedding hihihihi :P )

And that is the reason to celebrate. We gonna hit the trendiest place in town for drinks, dinner and clubbing!
:) Who said the fun stop after marriage and children! Once in a while we gonna have some fun too!

hugs to all! xoxo
S.R

No inspiration

I've been not blog much lately... I have no inspiration to write this time , I don't know why :)
Our lives is still going on pretty well , the girls are good, the school has start back, Indy is still being homeschool, And she is joining girls scout, doing some sport and tennis twice a week.  In fact her 8th birthday is coming soon.

And I am still as usual juggling between being mom, wife and human being ( with needs of shopping, meeting friends and having fun ). But yet ... I still don't have inspiration to write :)

Oh and guess what... our 11th anniversary is on this weekend. Another year has pass!

Sexiness wears thin after a while and beauty fades, but to be married to a man who makes you laugh every day, ah, now that's a real treat."