Exploring Our Children’s Potentials

We have all received God’s grace.

Be it good health, a family, the ability to work and perform, musical talents, the ability to give encouraging words, creative minds. Anything. And no one could ever say, ‘I have never received any of such grace.’

The thing is, many tend to forget that for every grace that we’ve received, we are responsible and accountable for it.

Grace of God demands responsibility.

If we have a relatively higher IQ than others, do we use it to manipulate others and twist what’s true and right?

If we are someone with many talents, do we waste them away by not exploring and developing them further?

If we are blessed with one or two or more little ones in the family, do we abuse our ‘parental authority’? Do we stop learning to be better parents for them, the kind God wants us to be?

Have we been responsible with what we have been blessed with?

The reality is, we’ll all need to answer for everything that we’ve chosen to do in our lives. And those who’ve wasted or misused God’s abundant grace will be judged, twice as hard.

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If we’re blessed with high intellects, then let us be people who are humble too.

If we’re blessed with many talents, then let us be people who are righteous too.

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God has planted different potentials in everyone of us. The question is, have we discovered, explored and developed our God-given potentials to the max?

Have we done our best?

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[note: This post is inspired by today’s sermon by Rev. Stephen Tong]

Hey hey hey … Chinese New Year is just round the corner!

To get our kids involved in ‘something chinese’, I thought our crafting sessions at home should also be ‘chinese-related’, hehe.

And this was what we did.

We did some simple chinese paper cutting!

REALLY really simple ones.

[If you’re not familiar with what Chinese Paper Cutting is all about, click HERE to see some samples of what they could look like!]

It’s going to be the year of the tiger, so Anya cut out a ‘tiger’ picture (which errr … due to my so-badly-need-to-be-improved ‘drawing skills’, it looked more like a smiling PIG!)

And Vai did a butterfly.

[To help Vai better distinguish which areas he’s supposed to cut out, I drew stripes on those areas]

Vai can’t cut quite like his sister just yet, so I chose to draw for him this simple design (intentionally ‘ignored’ the butterfly’s antennas to make it simpler for him to cut)

To start cutting the paper from the ‘inside’, I asked the kids to ‘pinch’ and cut bits of the area that’s supposed to be ‘removed’ (see picture above). This way, they could start to cut from that ‘inner cut-out hole’.

Anya got the whole idea of cutting ‘from the inside’ and had no problems with the task.

I had to frequently help and hold the paper for Vai though while he concentrated on cutting the ‘inside part’ of the paper (ie. without chopping off the frame and the butterfly itself).

I had to remind him to NOT cut from the four outer sides of the paper, because we wanted the keep the butterfly picture ‘intact’ (with all sides touching the ‘picture frame’)

After they’re done with the cutting, they used crayons and drew on them.

Anya added some stripes on the ‘tiger face’ (and made it look a little more like a tiger, and less of a pig! Good on you, Anya! Haha)

Vai scribbled different colours on the butterfly (to make it all ‘nice and colourful’, he said)

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So there you go.

A really simple ‘Chinese New Year’ activity idea for your little ones *smile*

Happy crafting!

Here’s one little surprise for the kids when they reached home, all tired and hungry, from school.

A simple bento I prepared before I went to pick them both.

And Anya pretty much guessed the whole ‘picture’ correctly.

The halved brocolli as the ‘trees’. Omelette as the ‘sky’. Diced chicken as the ‘pebbles’.

Towards the bottom half, I put some rice (I used Thai Fragrant Rice actually, hehe) and placed some carrots on top.

They sort of looked like logs by the river … errr, no?

One of the great things about living in Singapore is the possibility of being exposed to different cultures.

Learning about how certain manners are acceptable in some, but not in others. How things are done, arranged or regarded differently. All this helps a lot in enriching our knowledge and in keeping our minds open, I think.

Last week I was invited to a social media preview of the upcoming blockbuster exhibition called Treasury of the World at the Asian Civilisations Museum.

We were given turbans to wear (and bring home!), we watched an Indian dance performance and we learned more about what Treasury of the World exhibition is all about!

Here, this is what the exhibition is all about (extracted from yesterday.sg)

Immerse yourself in the opulence of the legendary Mughal Empire (1526 – 1858), one of the wealthiest, most powerful dynasties the world has ever known. Treasury of the World features a dazzling array of 402 exquisite jewelled works of art from Mughal India, from The al-Sabah Collection in Kuwait.

The rulers of the Mughal empire were so renowned for their lavish lifestyle, love of beauty and vast collection of precious objects, that the Mughal emperor Jahangir was once described in a letter by the English Ambassador Thomas Roe as ‘the treasury of the world’.

Visit this exhibition to learn more about the diverse techniques in the jewelled arts used by the artisans and craftsmen during the Mughal period.

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Venue: Asian Civilisations Museum

Dates: 12 Feb 2010 – 27 June 2010

This exhibition is btw, showcased for the first time in Asia after visiting prestigious museums like the Louvre in Paris and the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York.

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And if you’re a family with kids like us, well .. there ARE activities lined up for little ones too at the end of March.

More info below!

FESTIVAL | THE MIGHTY MUGHALS

Date & Time: 27 & 28 March 2010 (Saturday – Sunday)
Time: 12pm – 5pm;

Free admission to Galleries from 9am – 7pm!

Relive the glory days of the magnificent Mughal Empire with music, performances and food fit for an emperor! Become a mighty warrior as you try your hand at the Mughals’ favourite past-time of archery or transform into a beautiful princess as you try on stunning Mughal outfits. Watch colourful dances unfold and try out delicious Mughal food! Kids can also look forward to fun activities created specially for them!

Also, throughout the exhibition itself we’ll also have:

. Discovery Wall: Enlarged paintings of scenes from the Mughal court with flaps that can be lifted to reveal fun facts
. Turban stations: Visitors can try on headwear popular in the Mughal court
. Activity booklets, jewellery stamping and colouring stations for children

Can’t wait to check it ourselves then at the end of March!

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Now, thanks to the Asian Civilisations Museum, there are FIVE pairs of tickets to giveaway, especially for you readers!

You simply need to write in and complete this sentence :

We’d like to visit the Treasury of the World exhibition because …

Submit your written entry latest by this Sunday, 7 February 2010, and the 5 winning names will be announced on Monday, 8 February!

All the best!

Anya is close to turning 6 years old now, while Vai is close to turning 3.5 years old.

At this age, they both love each others’ company!

[Though of course, being siblings and all, they do get on each others’ nerves FREQUENTLY too!]

Vai plays the role of the family clown (as always!), and he’d make silly faces, noises and body moves, while Anya watches, laughs her head off and ENCOURAGES him to do MORE of such acts.

The big sister thoroughly enjoys the silly acts, while the little brother enjoys the spontaneous (and LOUD) laughter from his ‘audience’!

And this, I tell you, takes place EVERY DAY and ANYWHERE.

On the bus. On the train. While waiting for the train (yes, while other passengers look on and smile at their random silliness!). While walking back home from school. And of course at home.

Oh well.

It’s nice watching these two siblings get along well and entertain each other so much.

Because without them realising it, it’s all part and parcel of building a stronger bond within the family.

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Errr … sometimes I wish they are a little less loud though *smile*

More than a week ago we had a giveaway contest happening where FIVE lucky winners will win some cool prizes from Babe75.com!

TWO winners will win the Lil Rinser, and THREE winners will win the Tilty Cup!

You see, I LOVE running giveaway contests, but I always find it hard when it comes to choosing the winners.

Which was why I let Random.Org generate the winning numbers for me instead!

*smile*

And here are the winners:

LIL RINSER

1) Jane Koh
2) Vivien

TILTY CUP

1) Gwen
2) Justina
3) Sofia

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Congratulations to the winners!

And to everyone of you who participated in the contest, … THANK YOU!

(Psst, there’s going to be another contest real soon … do give it another go when it happens yeah!)

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And to all five winners:

Please let me know your mailing address via email : leonny[at]oureverydaythings[dot]com (latest by this Saturday, 6 Feb)

And we’ll arrange to have the prize sent to you soon after.

Thanks everyone!

Okay.

Let me start by saying … yes, I cook. I cook because I need to. Not quite because I LOVE to cook.

I’m not adventurous when it comes to cooking. And I’m constantly amazed at those who can regularly come up with different variety of meals and yummy cakes, who regard cooking / baking as a form of stress-reliever too!

Now. Some two weeks ago, I received an invitation from Edelman (on behalf of the Health Promotion Board) to attend a parenting event where bloggers get to learn more about healthy eating for children through creative Bento making.

And upon reading that email, the first thing that popped in my mind was, ‘Hmm … Me? Making those cute Japanese-style lunch boxes? I totally have NO idea how and have NEVER done it. I’d most probably be one of the clueless people in the workshop too, but … hey WHY NOT!’

Anyway, I wouldn’t have known what bento making (or anything for that matter) is like, if I had never given it a try, yes?

So there I was last Saturday, attending my first ever ‘food-related’ workshop at Cairnhill Community Club.

Here’s how the whole 2-hour session went, … in pictures.

[Warning: there are HEAPS of photos in this post! Get ready to scroll down a lot!]

[Angie, our bento instructor, showing the different kinds of bento themes one can make, and explaining how it’s important to incorporate colourful and healthy food / fruit combination in each box]

Everyone who attended the workshop received a ‘bento souvenir set’ (Top picture). Basically we received the basic ‘tools’ needed to start making our own bento, ie. cute lunch boxes, shaped cookie cutters, etc.

[All these you can easily get for yourselves for $2 each from Daiso, btw. And as far as I know there are three outlets in Singapore: Vivo City, Plaza Singapura and IMM]

And this is a shot of the kitchen where we :
… listened to Ms Letty, a nutritionist, who shared more about healty eating
… listened to Angie who explained more about bento-making
… made our own bento within an hour

When we were all told, ‘Okay, now it’s time to make your own bento!’, I looked around and saw everyone going to the different ‘stations’ (where food and fruits were nicely supplied).

And I stood there thinking, ‘Errr … I have NO idea what to make and where to start …’

[Anya and Vai came to join in the fun. And Vai, errr … he cut and ate what’s on the table!]

But soon after, these two little ones (who waited outside during the presentations) came in and joined me in ‘bento-making’.

Anya suggested making something using our star and heart-shaped cutters.

I still had no idea what I’d make, but I thought I should just start putting different colourful food into my box and see what I could make out of them.

This is us looking busy.

Vai, … well, he cut bits and pieces of food. He probably assumed he’s in an arts and craft session!

AND. When the one hour deadline was up, this was what I managed to come up with! Haha.

Whoopee!

Am happy with what I made!

And here’s a group photo of everyone who went for the workshop.

[Happy to have met other bloggers, especially those whose blogs I’ve read before and those who’ve read my blog too, like Sherlyn, Keropok Man, Klessis, Levine and Angelia Tay! So nice to have met you guys in person!)

And here are some shots taken by the kids using my Canon Ixus (top left was taken by Anya, the rest were taken by Vai).

I love their framing, hehe.

And one of best things about bento-making is … seeing it all gobbled up happily by the kids!

*YAY*

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Now that I’ve attended the bento-making workshop, I guess the two big questions are …

Am I inspired? Will I make my own bento again at home?

And the answer to both is, … YES!

Because really, it’s not as ‘hard’ as it looks after you’ve tried making one.

(Realistically though, I don’t think any of my home-made bentos would be half as cute and elaborate as those made by real bento-lovers]

And here’s proof of how ‘inspired’ I was.

The very next day, I prepared this simple bento for the kids to eat after Sunday School!

Rice balls + seaweed powder + chicken teriyaki on the inside + sweet corn and green peas.

And I’d like to call this Bento … ‘When the morning sun rises over the mountains and the green pasture’, haha.

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[Photos]
More than half of the photos in this post were taken by Wilson, who came to babysit the kids at the start of workshop straight after his tennis game in the morning! Thank youuu …

Wilson and I have talked about going to East Coast Park with the kids (and renting rollerblades for ourselves too!) when Anya and Vai are at least able to move about comfortably in their rollerblades and scooter.

It’d be really nice to actually go rollerblading together, we thought. And I personally so looked forward to it.

AND, we all actually WENT last Saturday *YAY*

We brought along Anya’s rollerblades, Vai’s scooter, extra clothes (just in case they need to get changed), our water bottle, hats and bits of other things … and plonk them all into one big bag.

The weather was great. A few friends came along. It was a nice late afternoon spent by the beach!

Here are some photos to share …

Wilson and I rented our rollerblades from Inline Culture (S$10 for the first hour), the one closest to East Coast Park’s McDonald’s.

While Daddy, Mommy and Anya had rollerblades on, Vai was totally content with his own little scooter.

And this is me stretching my arm forward as far as possible to take a shot of my own rollerblades and Anya’s, hehe. Just thought of capturing our first ‘Mommy and daughter rollerblading time by the beach’ moment.

Ah finally, we had a FAMILY photo too!

(as you can tell from my ‘sheer excitement’, we don’t have many of such shots, hehe)

*Thanks Aiyin for capturing it for us*

[Vai and Nate : Time flies when you’re having so much sand fun]

And of course, what’s East Coast Park without any sand play?

After going around and keeping ourselves ‘physically active’ for about an hour or so, we spent the rest of our late afternoon by the beach with our friends.

Love the blue sky too!

It was such a GREAT day out for all of us!

And, I totally welcome the idea of checking out East Coast Park again soon.

[Photos]
All, except our ‘family shot’, were taken using my Canon Ixus 970 IS

[Info]
– Bring along your socks if you plan to rent and go rollerblading
– Kids most likely look forward to some sand play fun, so it’d be great if you can bring along some things for them to play with
– Extra clean clothes (and a towel) will sure be handy if your kids get all wet while playing by the beach
– If you wish, bring along your kite! It was nice and breezy when we’re there!
– Quite a few shops rent out bicycles, wave boards and others there too!