Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

Drypers Singapore now has their own Facebook Page and they have appointed me (and Ann from babyboydblog.com) to be their Drypers Mommies!

*big smile*

It’s where we all can share our parenting experiences, any upcoming events, promotions, contests and other useful links!

You can drop us a question on parenting (or anything) on its wall too.

So come, and hop over to their FB site!

[Btw, are you on my Facebook already? Click HERE to add me yeah, and please do let me know if you’re a reader!]

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Just earlier today I wrote on their Discussion Page about how blogging is just SO common nowadays amongst parents.

It’s an easy way for us to share photos and updates with family and friends!

It’s a great way to record special moments and milestones too! (especially since our memory does get rusty over time!)

Anyway.

I’m doing up a list of Parenting Blogs there!

And so if you’re a blogging parent, you’re very most welcome to share your blog URL!

Click HERE to go straight to the Drypers Discussion Page.

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And errr … here’s a shot of me and little Vai showing off his Drypers diapers, hehe.

He wears them (size XXL) only when he sleeps at night.

When you have little children around the house, seeing piles and piles of dirty laundry is sort of … inevitable.

School uniform. Socks. Pyjamas. Dirtied home clothes. Towels. All these plus many more. AND not to forget, OUR OWN dirty laundry!

[The kids, as part of their ‘assigned responsibility‘, would regularly help and bring the to-be-washed clothes from our bathroom to the laundry. And, sometimes they’d help and place them into the washing machine too]

The thing is, although we rely on our washing machine to ALWAYS work and do its job (on average, 3 washes a week, for my case), it can unfortunately … break down.

I remember how ours couldn’t spin properly last year, and when the ‘washing machine expert’ came to fix it, I asked him heaps of questions on HOW to better care for the drum and my front-loading washing machine.

And here are some useful tips I learned:

– Do NOT overload the machine (read: the clothes need to move freely enough during the washing)
– If the machine is only half-filled, choose the ‘less water’ setting
– Distribute the clothes evenly inside the machine

And most of all, I remember him telling me, ‘Choose low-suds detergent!’

[To read more about why too much foam is not good for our washing machine, click HERE]

[Remember to NOT over-fill the tub]

And so I searched for ‘low suds’ detergent that would work well with my ‘front loading’ washing machine, and I came across ‘SPIN Low Suds’.

Have been using it since!

Here are some of the benefits of this low suds detergent:

– Eliminates 99.9% of bacteria
– No detergent residues
– Eliminates unpleasant odour
– Less suds / foam in the washing machine leads to easier cleaning and less water needed for rinsing (ie. saves water and energy)
– Formulated for Singapore’s water condition
– Environmentally friendly (awarded the ‘Green Label’ by Singapore Environmental Council)

You can read more about its benefits HERE and HERE!

[For best results, work out the right amount of detergent to use]

And errr … I don’t know about you, but I personally prefer adding a little bit of a softener too for that added softness and nice smell, hehe.

[Anya loves the part where she gets to pour out the fabric softener]

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PHOTO CONTEST

Here is a contest you all can easily participate in, … and hopefully WIN prizes!

Simply email a photo of you with SPIN and Sofsil, The Perfect Match, to :
spinsofsil.theperfectmatch@gmail.com

Click HERE to read about the full details of the Photo Contest.

Prizes to be won: 20 x 1 year supply of SPIN 5kg and Softsil 2L!!

Now wouldn’t THAT be super useful for your home?

Contest ends on Thursday, June 10th … so HURRY, get creative and email those photo entries over!!

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Upcoming Bus Ads and Give-Away

Here’s a heads up for you:

Watch out for these double decker buses next month (JUNE)!

Because when you snap photos of this double-decker bus, you can stand to win prizes too!

Have fun, everyone … and all the best with the Photo Contest, everyone!

Being the second child in the family, Vai gets to see Anya write, draw and do her homework.

And I guess it naturally encourages him to do something similar too.

Recently he asked me if he could have some kind of a ‘homework’, so he could sit down together with Anya who’s working on hers at the time.

And so, this was what I gave him yesterday.

A row of numbers for him to write.

He was so happy!

With full concentration, he completed everything, one by one.

I guess it made him felt like a ‘bigger kid’ *smile*

And oh, I totally LOVE this early handwriting.

The crookedness, the mistakes and all.

Something worth treasuring, for sure.

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Btw, here’s how Anya looked like at 3 years 2 months old, when she first learned how to ‘write’ numbers and alphabets.

Can’t believe that was THREE years ago already!

[Drawing by Anya]

As I sit and think about mothers today, one of the first things that comes to mind is the everydayness of life that mothers face. Day in, day out.

The dishes piling in the sink.
The clean laundry pile waiting to be ironed.
A toddler belting out a scream (yes, the one that neighbours are probably quite familiar with!).
The meals to be prepared.
The crumbs under the table waiting to be swept clean.
The never-ending questions of a preschooler.
The spills waiting to be wiped.

The truth is, these things are the stuff of our daily life, aren’t they?

The ‘job’ of a mother.

Often, we grow tired and exhausted too.

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Recently, I’m reminded of God’s Word and how we should be thankful to HIM for this phase of life.

The phase where the children – whom HE has entrusted in our lives – are growing up.

The phase where we have to still wipe their noses, hear their cries and wash their many little dirty clothes.

I’m again reminded how being a mother is indeed a privilege.

A privilege many women would LOVE to have, but don’t.

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Someone once said, ‘If you’re a parent … the days are long, but the years are short’.

And that is SO right.

One day we’ll look into the kids’ bedrooms and see empty beds.

The cries and laughters we now hear everyday will be replaced with silence.

The laundry basket will one day contain only your clothes and your spouse’s.

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Going through the everydayness of life and its daily challenges can indeed be draining.

BUT.

When we look beyond today and see the special role, task and responsibility we have been given by God as mothers whose lives greatly influence these little ones, we’ll sure find the joy and extra strength from Him too.

I am SO thankful to God for reminding me of all these things, and how His grace will always be sufficient for us who put our trust and hope in Him.

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Happy Mother’s Day.

This was what I made some two weeks ago, and finally, I managed to write a post about it.

Anya’s very own felt hairclips!

Simple and relatively fast to make (I really enjoyed making them!), and here’s how YOU can make some yourselves too!

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What you’ll need:

– Metal clips (see picture above)
(I’d personally suggest choosing bigger metal clips so the ‘clip’ is firmer)

– Felt (contracting colours are better)

– Needle and thread, and scissors

– Super glue

What you do:

1. Decide on what you want to make, eg. a flower or a two-three layered heart shape should be good for a start

2. Cut out your felt (I roughly drew on the felt using a pencil before cutting them out)

3. Use a thread colour that’s different from the felt so that the hand-stitches are nicely visible

[eg. The stitches can be made to look like ‘fish scales’ too. The possibility is endless!]

4. Once you’re done stitching the felt, it’s time to cover the clip with felt.

5. To cover the ‘back of clip’, cut out some felt (exact shape of the clip, see above picture), and slide the clip’s back into the slit. Use super glue to stick the felt onto the metal clip.

6. I cut out more felt, and covered the ‘front’ of the clip using super glue.

7. You can either sew the flower you’ve sewn onto the clip OR use super glue. I did both *smile*

And that’s it!

Your very own personalised, cute (and affordable) felt hairclips!

Which are great as gifts too!

[Btw, you don’t have to be familiar with sewing to do projects like this, because I myself have never had any interest in needles and thread, until just recently, ie. I’m a complete beginner who can’t even sew or cut a straight line properly, haha]

Now I need to look for some red and black felt as Vai wants a felt Lightning McQueen ‘brooch’ of some kind for his bag! Hehe.

I was walking around a shopping centre yesterday when I saw a poster and suddenly realised how Mother’s Day is THIS SUNDAY.

I mean, we’re in the month of May ALREADY!

Ah anyway.

I’d just like to call out to all mommies out there to take a shot (or two, or LOTS of them!) with your little ones this week.

ESPECIALLY this week, because this coming Sunday is a special day for all Moms out there! *smile*

So remember to get your camera out and start snapping away yeah!

Have fun!

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[Photo was taken yesterday, using a timer]

Hi everyone!

It’s that time of the year when I’d (shamelessly) ask for your support! *smile*

Singapore Blog Awards 2010 has started its NOMINATION phase, and Our Everyday Things IS nominated under ‘Best Photography Blog’!

*Yay*

[Last year, Our Everyday Things was selected as one of the top ten finalists under ‘Best Photography Blog’, but another blogger went home as the winner]

Now for this year, my site is NOT YET in the Top Ten, and that’s where I hope you can show your support by RALLYING for my blog.

[The organiser with choose the Top Ten blogs AFTER the nomination phase is over on May 9th]

How to Rally for Our Everyday Things:

1. Go to the website http://sgblogawards.omy.sg/category/

2. If you already have an account with omy.sg, simply LOGIN. If not, please do create one (see picture above)

3. After you sign in, go to the ‘Category’ page again  http://sgblogawards.omy.sg/category/ and click ‘Best Photography Blog’, and look for ‘Our Everyday Things’ (it may be on page 2 or 3)

4. Once you’ve seen it, click the red star with the word ‘RALLY’ next to it!

5. You can rally for me every day, btw!

6. This ‘Rallying Phase’ will end next Sunday, 9 May 2010!

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And btw, you can rally for me even if you’re NOT in Singapore.

Just put your country’s Identification number when you register / create your account and when filling in your Personal Particulars (where you’re asked for your ‘NRIC / FIN no.’)

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I don’t know if Our Everyday Things will get into the Top Ten this year. And I don’t know if it’d WIN at all.

All I know is that IF my site WON the Best Photography Blog Award this year, it’ll be able to reach out to MORE people and hopefully INSPIRE more and more around the world with its stories and images!

Which, has always been my hope and prayer.

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Look forward to your support.

Thanks everyone!

How have we been reacting when we’re faced with struggles and challenges in life?

The way we regard and view our life’s difficulties will determine how we get through life’s hurdles.

We can always feel sorry for ourselves, complain and give up.

Or, we can learn to see how our characters can be made stronger, further shaped and sharpened when we ourselves go through life’s difficulty.

ie. We learn most when we’re faced with life’s struggles and challenges.

We learn how to roller-blade better, after we give it a go, wobble, fall, and get up again.

We learn how to be more patient and cool-headed, when we’re faced with pressing or frustrating situations.

Just like how gold becomes purer after going through intense high temperature.

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Let us ask God for the much needed mercy and strength to go through every single hurdle in life that He’s allowed to take place in our life.

For we know we could never go through life’s ups and downs with our own strength.