Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

[Somehow more and more teeth fell out closer to her 7th birthday, hehe. She’s lost a total of 6 teeth so far.]

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Okay. I need to warn you. This is a LONGGGG post! =)

About three weeks before Anya’s 7th birthday, she asked if I could make her birthday cake with fondant this time round (since we had no oven last year and I experimented with ‘steaming her birthday cake’ and used fresh cream on it =)

And.

When I asked if she had any particular ‘theme’ that she’d really like (provided that I could make it, of course!), she replied, ‘Hmm, Mommy, can we have Rapunzel? You can make the long hair with fondant and have it all around the cake’.

Errr.

Obviously I had NO idea how to make such a cake, let alone a RAPUNZEL theme! I mean, the first and only time I made anything out of fondant was when I made Vai’s birthday cake last year. That’s it. So, as I was about to throw the idea out the window, I casually shared what Anya said to me on Facebook.

And guess what?

Quite a few people left encouraging comments, and in the end I decided to just give it a go anyway! (Yes, I know, I was a little ‘mad’, I guess. Haha.)

Anyway.

I thought I should just share how I planned and made the Rapunzel cake with you today.

The stuff I learned and the mistakes I did.

So. Here goes.
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After I decided to go for the ‘challenge’:

1. I browsed the internet for ideas. Then, I drew a rough sketch of what I ‘HOPED’ the cake would look like.

I know. I’m an ambitious amateur. Haha.

(When attempting to do something, I often aim for the ‘sky’, because I thought … worse comes to worst, at least I should reach 5% of what I initially aim? =)

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2. I decided that I’d make Marshmallow Fondant again (like what I did for Vai’s 4th birthday cake last year!)

Btw, click HERE to read the step-by-step instructions on how you can make your own Marshmallow Fondant.

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And, here’re my mistakes!

Mistake #1
I should’ve made the fondant (from scratch) at least 5 days BEFORE the celebration, so that there’s enough time for the fondant to ‘dry up’ (I made it only 3 days before the day! Bad planning!)

Mistake #2
After making the fondant and cutting them in shapes (ie. before leaving them in the open to ‘dry up’), I should’ve made sure that it’s not too ‘soft’ (ie. I should use more icing sugar).

As you can see, the purple ones on the plate were rather … ‘shiny’. They’re too soft (My mistake too that I made these too CLOSE to the birthday date!)

In the end (thanks to some friends who left their comments on my Facebook!), I resorted to brushing plain flour on the ones that I needed to dry up a little better! (eg. Like the purple ‘roof tiles’, the ‘tower’, etc)

Mistake #3
I forgot to SIFT my icing sugar in my 1st batch of marshmallow fondant! As the result, I had COUNTLESS little white balls ALL OVER my fondant surface!

I spent an hour or so HANDPICKING the bigger balls of icing sugar OFF the fondant (like, some 200 of them!). AND, even after doing that, there’re still little white dots on the fondant’s surface! Ugh. In the end, I chose to not waste the fondant anyway and just use it!

[The next time I’m making a cake with fondant again, I think I’ll get a ready-made rolled fondant. I was told that the brand ‘Bakels’ has a rather nice taste]

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3. Making different ‘parts’ of the cake

These were the main parts of the cake:

– Tower
– Roof
– Rapunzel
– Butter cake as the round base

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TOWER

When I browsed for ideas, I saw many using ‘ice cream cones’ as the roof of castles. So I thought, okay, I’d use ice cream cones too then.

And I initially thought of using toilet paper rolls to create the ‘towers’! [Luckily I scrapped that idea, haha!]

As I churned ideas in my head, I opened my kitchen cabinets and … I decided to just use my Tupperware, wrap it with fondant, and use THAT as my tower!

To create the ‘bricks-look’, I used a knife.

And, since the fondant didn’t seem to dry up, I brushed the surface with plain flour! [Which helped a bit]

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ROOF

Since I decided to use a Tupperware as the ‘tower’, I could no longer use an ice cream cone as the ‘roof’! It’d be way too small!

So I made my own ‘roof’. Out of paper carton! Haha.

[It was like my little experimental arts and crafts session!]

Here’s what I did:

a) Measured the diameter of the Tupperware (so I could ensure the roof’s diameter is ‘bigger’)

b) Drew a circle, cut it out, cut a line (half way towards the middle), created a ‘cone shape’, and used scotch tapes to stick it together!

c) As the paper carton’s surface was smooth, I covered it with crepe paper, just so that my ‘purple fondant tiles’ would (hopefully) stick better!

d) With liquid glue, I stuck the ’tiles’ onto the paper roof. The purple fondant tiles tended to ‘slide down’ though (because they’re NOT dry / hard enough!). So, I decided to just make TWO roofs, covered half of each with the purple tiles, and left each one to dry in a slightly ‘slanted’ position.

[I also dusted plain flour onto the ‘roofs’ and ‘combined’ the two halves together the night before]

Note: This part of the cake was obviously NOT meant to be eaten! =)

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THE CAKE

Anya specifically asked for butter cake (since she doesn’t like any other cake much). So, thanks to a friend who gave me a butter cake recipe, I tested the recipe one week before her birthday, shared it with our church friends, and went ahead with the recipe for Anya’s actual birthday get-together.

[I used the same butter cake recipe to make the cupcakes, which we gave out as simple ‘goodie-bags’ to her Sunday School friends]

[Made the cupcakes in the morning of the birthday]

I baked the cake the night before, covered it with buttercream frosting, and put it in the fridge. On the actual day, I covered the cake (with the hardened frosting) with the marshmallow fondant.

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More of my mistakes:

– I forgot to buy the cake’s base (you know, that ‘aluminium-foil covered wooden base’), so I used aluminium foil and covered my plastic turning table instead!

–  I forgot to buy the carton box for the cake! So in the end, we took a taxi with me holding the cake with Rapunzel on it in one hand, and the tower in another (I placed the tower on the cake only when we reached our church)

– I only checked the ‘expiry date’ of my ‘self raising flour’ BEFORE making the cake. Bad, bad planning! Because only then I realised one pack was already expired, and that’s why I only managed to bake the cupcakes in the morning of the actual day! (Thanking my hubby for going to the supermarket that morning to buy some flour for me!)

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EXTRAS

– To cover the ‘unsightly vertical line’ on the ‘tower’, I used green-coloured fondant as the ‘vine’.

– To create small ‘bushes’, I pushed two balls of green-coloured fondant through a strainer

– When combining the two ‘roofs’, there’s apparently NOT enough purple roof tiles to cover all surfaces, so I errr … used pink tiles instead, hehe.

– Two nights before Anya’s birthday get-together, I realised I could NOT have Rapunzel looking out the window (since I’m using Tupperware as the tower).

So I made some last minute changes to the initial idea and sketch.

I created a window and had Rapunzel sitting just below the tower instead, hehe. And, her hair could then go all around the round cake!

[I created the ‘hair’ by individually hand-rolling the yellow-coloured fondant, because I could NOT find the kids’ playdough tool that can make ‘long noodle shapes’!]

When Anya first saw ‘Rapunzel’ on our dining table, the first thing she innocently asked was, ‘Mommy, why is the Rapunzel chubby?’ Haha. I told her it’s because that’s the only way I could get Rapunzel to ‘sit down and NOT fall’. AND, it’s because this Rapunzel stayed in the tower for too long and didn’t get to exercise much. Haha.

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Anyway.

Here’re some photos of Anya’s 7th birthday get-together that Sunday, March 6th!

[Just in case you’re wondering, Anya was sitting down and Vai was standing up in this photo, hehe]

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The cake had many flaws, dents and imperfections, but I was just SOOO glad and thankful to God that everything was okay overall =)

Friends who ate the butter cake and cupcakes shared with us how the taste was nice too (PHEW!).

I’m glad too that I went ahead with the ‘challenge’ and learned SO many things along the way!

And finally, I’d just like to say:

– I personally wouldn’t put in this much effort if it weren’t for the kids. My hope and prayer is for our children to always know in their heart that we love them very much, and that we always will.

– I hope by sharing the whole process (and the mistakes I made), you’ll get more ideas, improvise and create much better works than what I made! =)

Here’s to MORE family adventures! Jiayou! =)

One of the most frequently asked questions I get from people is, ‘So, is it a boy or a girl?’

And the answer I always give is, ‘Errr … I still don’t know actually, since the baby keeps blocking the view every time my doctor does the scan!’

Really, it’s just weird.

Most people would’ve known the gender by the time they’re at least FIVE months pregnant.

And, I’m now well into my 7th month of pregnancy (my 29th week, to be exact), and am still kept in the dark by the baby =)

During our regular check-ups, baby would either be crossing its legs, giving me a ‘back view’, or blocking THE view with its thighs, etc.

Hmm.

Well. I know, I know. We already have a girl and a boy, and it shouldn’t really matter if the third one is a boy or a girl, right?

Yep. I agree.

What’s most important is that the baby is healthy and well.

But errr … I must admit. I am curious and would LOVE to know =)

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PS: So I’ve been getting ‘guesses’ from people. Some say it’ll be a boy! Some others say it’ll definitely be a girl! Haha.

If you ask me, I totally have NO instinct nor a clue if it’ll be a girl or a boy. Hmm. Perhaps you’d like to take a wild guess? =)

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Click HERE to see baby no. 3’s week-by-week pregnancy journal!

One of my favourite photos this week.

Taken after the kids were done with their swimming lesson.

It’s been a little more than 7 months since Anya and Vai started their weekly swimming lessons, and they’ve been progressing relatively well.

They look forward to their swimming lessons and they can now do the breaststroke without holding onto the swim board all the time.

Anyway, I thought as long as they have fun while learning how to swim and what general water safety means, I’m happy for them too!

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PS: SO happy too that for 3 weeks in a row I managed to conquer my ‘laziness’ and actually SWIM as well when they have their lessons! *Whoopee*

[Click HERE to read a little more on why Swimming is a GREAT pregnancy exercise!]
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He could spontaneously give me a hug.

He would come to my bed and say, ‘Morning, Mommy’ and give me a kiss.

He would, without fail, kiss my bulging tummy a number of times, everyday.

He would immediately ask, ‘Are you OK, Jie-Jie Anya?’ and helped her up, when she accidentally tripped or fell.

He could quietly sob if he’s sad about something (eg. Not being allowed to do something by his sister)

He would give me a ‘push’ (a little ‘boost’ from behind) whenever I slowly walk up the steps (of an overhead bridge).

Ah.

Who would’ve thought that the little guy who likes cars, who sometimes chooses to purposely not listen nor obey, and who sometimes flings his Lego bricks around is apparently soft on the inside.

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We love you, little guy.

And something tells me that you’ll be a great big brother to the littlest one in the family.

I’ve heard of Reebonz from friends. I know they sell good stuff at a fraction of the original price, and the stuff are available only for a short period of time. I’m familiar with its cute little ribbon logo. And yes, I’ve seen Reebonz ad from time to time on the right sidebar of my Facebook too.

But frankly, I’ve always associated Reebonz with adult fashion and accessories.

Well, until they got in touch with me recently and shared how they now have Reebonz Kids as well!

And, Reebonz Kids offers much more than just kids fashion.

Every week or so, they also offer fun and educational crafts, toys and games, ie. Quality brands that are NOT found in Singapore (but are sold by Reebonz at a cheaper price than those in retail stores!).

[Btw, you need to be a member to shop on Reebonz, and membership is FREE. I created my account in a few seconds! Just click this INVITATION LINK to sign up!]

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Today they’re launching a range of Beleduc items on its website and thanks to the Reebonz Singapore Team, they sent this Beleduc-TORRETA games for Anya and Vai to test out!

Here’s my first impression when I received the parcel : NICE presentation! I love the carrier and how the box was nicely wrapped in gold ribbon! A great looking gift if you’re getting it for someone special, for sure.

Anyway.

I was really keen to see how the kids would react when they got the games in their hands.

Anya is 7yo now. Vai is 4.5yo, and … the box says that it’s for kids aged 4 and above (and it’s for 2 to 4 players).

Well, I wanted to see whether they’d like it. Whether they’d find it fun. Whether they would play with it in any other ways (you know, kids are kids, and they’re capable of creating new ‘rules’ and games using the same toys!)

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So, here’s what happened when they got their hands on the gift from Reebonz!

[Unwrapping a gift is always so much fun!]

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A total of 25 colourful bricks and 2 dice. And the kids are challenged to build towers with them!

[Ah, I KNOW the kids would LOVE this!]

You see, they can either use the dice with colours or the dice with dots. Then, depending on the colour OR number of dots that come up when the dice is thrown, the kids need to stack the ‘bricks’ accordingly! The winner is the one who stacks the bricks skillfully and produces the highest tower!

Haha. The suspense and the anticipation! The kids enjoyed the Torreta game a LOT!!

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Personally, I like such games because it allows the kids to play together (which is a great way to nurture positive sibling relationships), AND have fun while exercising their fine motor skill too.

AND, if you ask me, I think kids as young as 2 years old can get their hands on this too because while playing, they also learn:

– to stack the bricks steadily (ie. Concentration and fine motor skill)

– the names of different colours (ie. Colour recognition)

– the different proportions in size and quantity

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And, errr … as for our little guy, he immediately found a different way to play with the bricks so he can still play when Anya’s not around to play with him!

And, I do find it amazing how he could stack all TWENTY FIVE of the bricks well! =)

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Btw, For Beleduc items, here’re some of the ones available for sale starting today!

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Anyway.

Do check out the other items available for sale on Reebonz.com!

And oh, don’t forget that you need to be a member to shop. Just click this INVITATION LINK to sign up for free!

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And, do ‘LIKE’ their Reebonz Singapore Facebook Page too, coz you’ll then get $5 off your next purchase!

Happy browsing and shopping!

Hope you’ll find something special for your loved ones!

When it comes to ‘looking after ourselves’, especially AFTER we’re married, there’s this one tip (shared by some ‘seniors’) that I often keep in mind.

They said:

Wives, later on … when you’re busy looking after the children fulltime : remember to look after and keep yourself ‘physically attractive’ in the eyes of your husband.

Because, other than being a mother, you are a wife too. And as much as you need to be there for your children, your husband needs you as well.

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When we’ve been married to the same person for years and years, I must say that somehow there IS just this tendency to … take things for granted.

And if we’ve become stay at home mommies (who naturally are busy with our kids and other house matters), we too may somehow forget to ‘look nice’ for the husbands.

[What say you, btw?]

Anyway, I just wrote a post over on the Estee Lauder blog on this.

Click HERE to read it yeah.

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And hmmm, I know I need to (shamelessly) ask you this, … errr, have you voted for me?

*blush*

If you haven’t, hope you can support by voting for me yeah. Simply hop over to Estee Lauder Singapore Facebook Page, ‘LIKE’ the page if you haven’t done so, and click the ‘CyberWhite‘ tab on the left sidebar to vote! =)

As promised, if I won, I’ll share half of my prizes with my voters, AND on top of that, there’s also a weekly draw btw, where you can win $200 worth of product hampers from Estee Lauder too!

Thanks everyone! =)

This is a shot of Daddy and the two kids at Hong Kong Science Museum during our most recent trip there in December last year.

We were at this particular ‘How to Save Energy at Home’ exhibit area for a LONG time.

And the main reason was, … the kids THOROUGHLY enjoyed playing with the laser guns!

You see, there were different ‘settings’ in the hall (eg. Living room, dining room, home office, etc) and we had to point the laser gun to different ‘targets’ set around the area! And when we hit the target (eg. the round thing just below the air-conditioner, pictured below), more info on how we could save energy at home (eg. Consider using a fan instead of switching on the air-con all the time) will appear on a computer screen next to laser gun.

I thought it was a GREAT way of educating visitors and introducing them to the many different ways we can actively conserve energy!

Even our 4yo Vai could remember (until today!) how we should ‘save electricity’ at home.

Personally, I feel we should all consider doing (or start introducing) simple little energy-saving actions at home for two main reasons.

1) For the good of the environment

Each time we switch on the air-con, the TV or our computers, the Singapore power plants generate the electricity we need by burning fossil fuels (eg. oil and natural gas), which consequently releases carbon dioxide (CO₂) which is a greenhouse gas. Excess CO₂ traps more heat from the sun via the greenhouse effect, causing climate change. And we all know how weird our weather patterns around the world have been in recent years!

[Click HERE to read more on this ‘climate change’ issue on the E2 Singapore website]

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2) To reduce our overall electricity bills

I don’t know if many of you are aware that our electricity tariff has recently gone up (refer to the Media Release above, or click HERE to read the PDF version).

Frankly, this is something I’ve just recently realised, and it does make our little actions / adjustments around the house (ie. To better save electricity) more … justifiable. I mean, the ‘savings’ may not be in ‘thousands of dollars’, but hey … even if we could save just a few hundred dollars a year (eg. less than $300), it still means we’re making good use of the money we have.

Anyway.

Here are three practical ‘energy-saving’ tips (and the respective costs we could’ve saved) that I’d like to share with you today!

1) Use a fan instead of the air-conditioner!

Interesting info:
A fan uses less than 1/10th of the energy used by an air-conditioner!

Savings:
About S$55 a month or $665 a year!

[When it’s warm, we switch on our ceiling fans in our dining / living room, and we usually just leave bedroom windows wide open. Btw, we have wrought-iron window grilles at home, for safety reasons, especially when we have kids at home)

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2) The lower the air-conditioner temperature setting, the MORE energy used.

Recommended:
Set the temperature at about 25 deg Celsius.

Savings:
For every degree raised, we save about S$20 a year!

[We occasionally switch on the air-con at night, and when do, it’s usually set at either 25 or 26 deg Celsius, and we always have the timer on too, ie. To automatically switch off after a good 4-5 hours]

[One of the things we teach the kids is to make sure that the refrigerator door is SHUT properly whenever they open it. I’m glad our fridge comes with this ‘beeping’ sound that goes off if the door is not shut well in a few seconds]

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3) Go for energy-efficient appliances (eg. air-con, refrigerator) by checking the energy labels.

Singapore’s National Environment Agency (NEA) has this Database of Registered Goods on its website! (For air-cons, refrigerators and clothes dryers). This means, you can actually check how ‘green’ a particular product and brand is and calculate the estimated overall cost of using it at home! SO useful!

Click HERE to go to that NEA page!

And, click HERE to read a whole list of other useful energy-saving tips shared by E2 Singapore!

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Here’s one last thing I’d like to bring your attention to!

There’s this Energy Challenge Online Game on the E2 Singapore website where you can win Best Denki vouchers!

Basically, game participants will:

– Be given ‘$5000’ to replace their existing home appliances with those from a shopping cart

– Go around the ‘home’ to : turn off appliances and turn down consumption to achieve ‘maximum savings’ in electricity consumption within the shortest period of time

Game participants who can save the most energy within the shortest period of time will have their chance to win the vouchers!

Click HERE to start playing the online game!

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Have fun everyone, and happy ‘cost and energy-saving’ too! =)

[Personally, I much prefer THIS kind of ‘human interactions’. It allows the parent and child to bond and have fun together too. Realistically though, we parents are often too tired to be ‘engaged’  throughout the bus trip and prefer to simply sit and relax for a while]

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I don’t know about you, but I feel there’s one increasing ‘trend’ that’s happening amongst us, that is: we tend to occupy ourselves with gadgets.

Anywhere.

Anytime.

[And I know I’m very prone to this too, and I need to constantly remind myself to ‘disconnect to connect’ with loved ones who’re around me. I wrote a post on this sometime ago, btw, click HERE to read it!]

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I do notice that kids are picking up this ‘trend’ as well (without them realising, obviously).

ie. They somehow prefer to keep themselves occupied with ‘some thing’. They find it ‘hard’ to be still and NOT do anything much.

For our case, rather than sit in a car (or the bus or the train) ‘doing nothing’, our kids often ask for our mobile phone (more specifically, Daddy’s Iphone!) so they could play with a game or two.

Anya, for example, would sometimes ask if she could see my phone (to simply fiddle or write some things on the ‘Notes’ page, because my phone has NO games on it!) within 2-3 minutes upon boarding the bus. The bus trip itself may not even last for more than 10 mins!

Sometimes I DO let them play with my phone (or Daddy’s Iphone if he’s with us). BUT, most of the time I would VERY MUCH prefer that they do OTHER activities, ie. Things OTHER than engaging themselves in gadgets. Especially when they have other friends or families around them.

I mean, they (and us) could always  :

– TALK and CHAT with each other

– LOOK OUT the window and check out the many passing cars or whatever other things that are happening OUTSIDE

[When Vai asks to play with our phone, I’d sometimes look out the bus window and ask if he could name the different car brands he sees. It’s a simple way of distracting and engaging him in a ‘different’ activity, and it often works. And as he does it, I’d need to pay attention and listen to him as well, which often requires quite a bit of ‘self denial’ because I often prefer to just sit quietly and ‘not talk’]

– PLAY traditional games like ‘chopsticks’, ‘heart attack’, ‘guess the animal’, or even the game ‘elephant, man and ant’ (an Indonesian game using 3 fingers, like what Vai and Daddy were doing in the photo above!)

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Personally, I just feel such ‘human’ INTERACTIONS are much better than simply engaging one’s concentration on a small screen (well, a big one if you’re using an Ipad, a laptop or a computer!).

I mean, I’m okay with technology and all, BUT I’m NOT okay if technology increasingly takes away human relationships and interactions.

And, I must say, I do notice that kids often (automatically) ask to play with gadgets because other than the fact that it’s more fun than doing ‘nothing’, the parents often do not regularly initiate interactions with the little ones to begin with, anyway (or are busy with their own gadgets too).

Hmm. I don’t know.

Do YOU notice this trend too? How do you normally respond to it?