Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Just in case you’re not yet familiar with what Jipaban.com is, … it’s an online shop where you’ll find all sorts of things, from clothes, accessories, shoes, to unique gifts and board games!

Was invited (and thrilled!) to join their ‘December Bloggers All Star Editors’ and the photoshoot was done at their office cum studio a few weeks ago!

(Frankly, I was SO glad that the kids eventually joined me in the shoots, because I felt too awkward standing there alone under the spotlights! Not a model lah … =)

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Anyway, we’re on these pages : Womens Fashion, Gifts & Lifestyle and Movies!

And, here’re some behind the scene shots taken during the photo shoot! =)

[That’s us with Valerie, who’s super tall, friendly and is Miss Singapore Universe 2011!]

We were all busy for the wedding of Wilson’s youngest brother over the weekend.

Anya was one of the flower girls.

Vai was the ring bearer.

Brie … um, she played the role of a baby niece in a cute satin dress =)

Here are some photos to share!

Vai was his silly self and happily looked smart in his black suit.

A few days before the wedding day he cheekily showed me (in full details, … face, body movement and all!) the different funny faces he’d make as he carry the ring pillow and walk down the aisle!

And I was like, ‘Noooo …’

Haha. Such a joker lah he!

(Now that’s a bit of Singlish for you, hehe)

This is Anya and her cousin, Keira, practising their walk down the aisle just before the wedding service began.

They both did very well and we’re all very proud of them!

As for the ring bearer, hey hey hey … he surprised us all by walking down the aisle slowly with the wedding rings on a pillow in his hands, and … he was all smiles too! =)

Well done, lil guy!

When it comes to activity ideas for kids, I personally prefer to re-use what we already have at our home, where possible.

In this case, we chose a used (green tea) plastic bottle to make a flower and a pen holder! =)

Here’s how we made them!

Plastic Bottle Flower

Using a pen knife, I cut out the top part of the bottle, about 1/3 of the way down.

Then I cut the sides (refer to the image above, on the right)

Anya then did the ‘colouring’, using acrylic paint.

Plastic Bottle Pen Holder

Using the same plastic bottle, I cut out the bottom third of the bottle.

Vai then coloured the outer side in using acrylic paint.

And VOILA!

Here are our recycled plastic bottle flower and pen holder! =)

Veeeerryy easy to make, yes?

And hey, we’re using an everyday household item and recycling it too! =)

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Happy painting and crafting with your family, everyone!

Just wondering, how familiar are you with the Muppets?

For me, I grew up knowing Kermit the Frog and Miss Piggy really well. Somehow the rest of the characters didn’t grab much of my attention at the time though =)

As for Anya, our 7.5yo girl, … she’s only familiar with Kermit the Frog! =)

And I guess that’s because Kermit sometimes makes an appearance on the Sesame Street episodes she watched when she’s smaller?

If you ask me, I really can’t remember the last time I watched Kermit and Miss Piggy on TV.

It’s been SO long since I watched the Muppets!

Well, … today I’d like to share with you that Kermit the Frog, Miss Piggy and their friends are back! On the big screen, on December 8th! Their first movie in TWELVE years!

Here’s the official synopsis:

On vacation in Los Angeles, Walter, the world’s biggest Muppet fan, his brother Gary (Jason Segel) and Gary’s girlfriend Mary (Amy Adams) from Smalltown, USA, discover the nefarious plan of oilman Tex Richman (Chris Cooper) to raze the Muppet Theater and drill for the oil recently discovered beneath the Muppets’ former stomping grounds. To stage a telethon and raise the $10 million needed to save the theater, Walter, Mary and Gary help Kermit reunite the Muppets, who have all gone their separate ways. With signature celebrity cameos, Disney’s “The Muppets” hits the big screen this 8 December 2011!

And here’s the official movie trailer!

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Out of curiosity, I showed Anya and Vai the movie trailer and the Muppets’ movie poster below!

I then asked them to pick one character that they like =)

And you know what?

Almost immediately, Anya picked … Miss Piggy =)

She said she liked Miss Piggy’s hair and long eyelashes =)

Anya didn’t like Miss Piggy’s voice though. Miss Piggy sounded more like a man, she said! Haha.

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As for Vai, he looked at each of the character on the poster (this is BEFORE he watched the movie trailer), and he picked … Animal – the lively character in the Muppets =)

Interesting choices, I thought!

And it made me wonder if kids naturally choose the ones that they themselves can identify with.

What do you think?

Which character do your kids choose out of all the Muppets?

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Anyway, I’d like to share with you more about the movie, and the different applications they have on Facebook.

Here goes:

– Click HERE to check out its official Facebook Page!

– Click HERE to follow their official Twitter Page!

– Click HERE to go to their official Youtube channel and watch more of their videos!

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FACEBOOK APPLICATIONS

The movie is about getting a few old friends together again, and it sure is something nice that we can do to our friends too – ie. Connecting and reuniting them with others.

Here’s one app that you should check out! It’s called ‘The Muppets Reunite!‘

This application basically lets you connect two of your existing Facebook friends.

And once you’ve chosen the two friends – old school mates, colleagues, cousins, you name them – a ‘Muppets Reunite video’ is created, and you can post the video AND your message on each of their Facebook walls!

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Here’s another fun one that you should watch and try out!

It’s called the ‘Never Ending Mahna Mahna Phenomahna‘ =)

People around the world can post their own one-second video clip where they say the words ‘Mahna Mahna’! (The more silly faces they make, the better, hehe)

Then all these submitted videos are included into the endless Mahna Mahna song! =)

Give it a try and include YOUR video clip in it too! =)

Anyway.

To end this post, I’ve prepared a slightly different poster for you.

See if you can spot a baby in it, hehe!

Enjoy the Muppets, everyone!!

[Photos were taken with iphone, using ‘Leme Cam’ app, and compiled into a collage using ‘Photos Wall’ app! A really useful app, btw!=) ]

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We went. And we had fun.

Um, to be exact … Anya AND Vai had loads of water-play fun there at Birdz of Play! =)

I’ve shared more photos and info on my Facebook!

Click HERE to view them yeah!

[Brie played by the side, but no, she didn’t actually get into the waters. Not just yet =) ]

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Btw, here are some quick tips and info:

– Do bring along spare clothes, towels and sunblock cream for the kiddos

– Bringing along your ponchos will probably be great too since it’s been raining a lot these days.

– There are lockers available near the water playground’s toilets.

– There are clean toilets nearby and there’re outdoor shower areas too.

– There’s a Ben&Jerry’s outlet at Birdz of Play area. They serve snacks and drinks. For heavier meals, you’d need to go to their 2 eating places, the Hawk cafe and Bongo Burgers (located just outside their main entrance).

Note: Meals are rather pricey there, so you may want to bring along your water bottles and snacks too =)

– Check out their shows and attractions’ schedules online before going there. This way, you’ll know which ones you’d like to watch, where they are located, and ensure you’re there for the shows.

Frankly, I’ve never imagined that there’ll be another baby in the house after Vai.

But then again, life is full of surprises. Wonderful surprises.

(I shared about our thoughts and struggles when we first thought about having baby no. 3 in the family last year)

And today, we have one big sister, and one little sister in the family!

Anya is 7 years older than Brie, and there’s hardly any sibling rivalry since Brie was born.

Well, at least I can say there’s none SO FAR.

Since Brie was born, Anya likes to play with her little sister. She’d offer to carry her. She can babysit Brie while I do some cooking in the kitchen. It’s nice.

(The same goes between Vai and Brie actually. And Vai is 5 years older than his little sister)

Many people tell me that there’ll hardly be any sibling rivalry if the age gap is rather big between the kids.

And I thought, … while it may be true, bigger age gaps does not necessarily translate to loving sibling relationships between the kids, yes? Because how we parents continually encourage positive sibling relationships amongst the kids do play a big role too in how they eventually relate and connect with each other.

Yes? No?

What say you?

I know of people who spend so much in December.

They splurge on new clothes, shoes, gadgets, you name them. While it’s not completely ‘wrong’, there’s this thing that concerns me more: They buy all these things … for themselves.

They feel that since they’ve worked hard throughout the year, it is justifiable to spend heaps on whatever that they feel like getting. Again, ‘for themselves’.

If I may, I’d like to encourage a different way of spending our December this year.

Instead of making it a month of buying things for ourselves, how about spending THAT money to buy things for others?

Instead of getting the usual eight or more things for our wardrobe, how about getting less, much less, this December for ourselves, and instead spend THAT money on say, your Mom’s wardrobe? Eg. Go shopping together with your Mom, and spend more quality time with her, especially if you haven’t been doing much of it throughout the year.

And, instead of buying lots of gifts for our own children, how about giving them just one or two this December and spend that extra money you’re going to spend anyway to help the less fortunate?

Because really, while many of us have a loving good time with our loved ones, the reality is, many others here in Singapore and around the world are simply … not able to.

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Today I’d like to highlight to you that when you go and order gifts online for your loved ones, when you buy tickets to travel with your family AND when all those purchases are done with MasterCard cards, MasterCard will make a contribution to Singapore Children’s Society, helping them help other children, youth and families in need.

Yes, this applies to every single online transaction (on ANY site) made between now and December 31st!

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Here are some other offers that MasterCard has in store for you this December :

1) S$50 shopping vouchers will be given out to those who meet all the criteria below:

a) The first 1600 people who register their MasterCard cards
b) Those who spend a minimum of US$500 on international websites (those that bill in currencies other than Singapore dollars)

Note: US$500 can be spent in a maximum of three online transactions of US$50 or more

2) 10% off shipping through vPOSTEUROPE, vPOSTJAPAN and vPOSTUSA

Note:
– Please click HERE for more info
– A minimum spending of S$40, if done through vPOSTUSA

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Please click HERE to read the full details of all of the above and its terms and conditions.

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Let’s make this December OUR season of Giving.

For we all know, it is indeed more blessed to give, than to receive.

Brie is now 6 months 1 week old.

And she’s recently found the enjoyment of moving about on her own.

Yes, she’s crawling all over the place now. And it’s frankly a little sooner than what I expected.

[And this means, I need to sweep and mop our floor more frequently! She’s practically on our floor – no mats – everyday now]

When Vai was a baby, he picked up how to crawl and climb rather early. He climbed on boxes, our sofa and our gate when he was about 9 months old! But, when I checked my past blog posts (yeah, I NEEDED to check on my blog to remember stuff. I’m old and rusty in the head, people), at the age of 6 months and 1 week, Vai was still learning how to balance himself when sitting up.

So, this means, our little Brie is picking up on her gross motor skills even earlier than her older bro?

[I confess. I cut her fringe the other day, and it didn’t turn out too good. SO glad she’s a little baby and people still think such an accidental fringe is cute, haha]

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Anyway, I remind myself how every child is unique. How we should treat and value each child in the family according to their unique characters. And how we should always learn to treasure their milestones, however big, however small.

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And, here’s a clip capturing her ‘I’m coming to youuuu’ early crawling days!

Enjoy! =)