Thursday, 26 March 2009

From Mom to Justin


Although mommy nags at you incessantly the minute you wake up : -


to brush your teeth and wipe your face,

to have your breakfast with nothing but haste,

to change your clothes and get ready for school,

to listen to teachers and focus in school.


Unfortunately this is not the end,

for when you come back home, I start again: -

to have your afternoon snack,

before your bath,

to finish your homework,

before your play,


throughout the day to
mind your manners,

to say please, thank you and excuse me.


And when it comes to dinner time : -

to sit up straight with shoulders back,

and chew your food without showing your teeth,

to stop giggling and joking with your brother,

but eat your food as fast as you can.


And finally when the day is near its end,

to have your milk and bedtime story,

to brush your teeth and wipe your face.


I feel so happy to see a patient boy,

always so eager to give me a hug and say "Good Night",


Even more so,

when I see this note : -



I love you very much too, my little darling!

Tuesday, 24 March 2009

Making Pizza

It's school holidays for Justin this week. I have been thinking of ways to keep both of them busy and out of trouble at home. Making their own pizza was something which I had in mind.


With all the ingredients available at home, I did some quick preparation cutting the ingredients before asking the kids to the table. I used ready made crust from the supermarket. There are simple recipes for pizza crusts that kids can do but I decided to keep it simple since this was their first try.

Justin was so excited that he wanted to make the pizza immediately. So we started at 11am. Both the kids spread the tomato paste on the crust, followed by their 'generous' amounts of toppings with the choice of their own. Well, almost. Until Justin decided to pile up the ingredients to the size of an anthill.



Both of them used all of the ingredients on the table - sausage, ham, pineapple, corn and capsicum. After they finished with their toppings, we added a little more pizza sauce and sprinkled cheese on it. It looked so yummy that Jonathan started munching the cheese and corn. Last but not least, into the oven to bake for 15 minutes.


With 15 minutes to spare, the kids went back to play. This time they played with Baby Einstein's "The World Around Me - Oceans" board book. From reading the book, they ventured to role playing "bus driver and passenger" with lots of giggles and laughs. As you can see from the picture, 1 book split into 2 after that. (*faint*)

How was the pizza? Well, it turned out pretty well. The kids made some mess while adding the toppings but it was fun. Nothing too messy for me to handle.

Justin's pizza


Jonathan's pizza

Any guesses whose pizza tasted better?

Tuesday, 17 March 2009

Learning With the Kids

Incident #1

I was reading to Jonathan about the story of "The Little Red Hen" after dinner, while Justin was colouring his St. Patricks worksheet from school. I knew he was listening because he occasionally popped his head over to read the story. The story ended with the little red hen eating the warm fresh bread with "oodles of creamy butter" by herself, because her friends didn't help her at all.

Justin recently brought back a Scholastic book titled "Oodles of Noodles" from school. I asked him if he knew the meaning of "oodles". He immediately said, "A lot of creamy butter". I was taken by surprise because I didn't explain that to him the other time. (This is the embarassing part where mommy wasn't 100% sure of the answer) We checked the dictionary together, he found the word. It meant "a large quantity". Bingo! He was right.


Incident #2

Mom
: Do you feel that the weather is warmer now? Spring is almost here.

Jus : Sou desu ka! ["Is that so? Oh I see!"]

Mom: Sugoi ne! ["Cool!"] pleasantly surprised

Mom:
Watashi wa Justin ga suki desu ["I like Justin"]

Jus : Suki desu!

This ended up in lots of laughs and giggles. I started speaking some Japanese words which he knew and he giggled so much. Speaking of which, Justin taught me how to use words like "sugoi", "suki" and "chotto matte". He instructs me to say "sugoi" everytime he or Jonathan does a strike in bowling.

Kids, .... love them and learn together.

Saturday, 14 March 2009

Breakfast Crepes

I decided to make crepes for breakfast today. Something special for the kids on a Saturday morning. It's really easy. The only preparation needed was to cut the fruits and fry the crepe mix. After that, the kids chose their own fruit toppings and folded their crepes.

Fruit crepe


Add maple syrup


Add whipped cream


Half eaten crepe (lolz!)

******************
UPDATE:

Conversation before Justin went to bed:


Justin : Mommy, what are we having for breakfast tomorrow?
Mom : I haven't decided yet. Maybe bread with jam? What would you like for breakfast?
Justin : Crepes! (Eyes gleaming)

Sunday, 8 March 2009

Visit to Ueno Zoological Gardens

I didn't have time to upload the zoo pictures as I was busy studying my Japanese. Lots of worksheets to complete. The good news is - I have finished the hiragana characters! I am beginning to read some words on banners, product labels and TV subtitles. Yippee!! Of course, learning Hiragana characters is only a small part. There is still Katagana and Kanji. But I am happy to have achieved the milestone.

Last week we took a leisurely walk at the zoo. We saw Okapis, giraffes, rhinoes, and hippoes before heading to the cafeteria for lunch. The highlight of the day was the Children's Zoo where the boys patted the sheeps. At first the kids were a little apprehensive, but after the first try, they gleamed with joy and wanted to pat again. Justin was giggling non-stop while touching the sheep's ears.

They also had a chance to feed the animals. Justin kept on going back to the zookeeper for more grass. Jonathan was a little shy. He walked around with a blade of grass (everyone was holding a bunch) and walked towards the sheep. Just as the sheep opened his mouth to eat the grass, Jonathan yelped and ran away.

We completed the West Garden of the zoo by 3pm and headed back home for the kids to have an afternoon nap. Jonathan knocked out completely after his milk in the car. Getting Justin to sleep was also easy, "Do you want to sleep for awhile in the car? Or go back and sleep for 2 hours?". He usually chooses the first. (*Q.E.D.*)

Saturday, 7 March 2009

A Little Here and There

Some random pictures over the last two weeks:

Can you spot Justin?

Justin having soccer practice with his classmates Hylke and Eamon after school. Someone (not going to mention who) said that he looked as if he was going to kick the girl. Well, no, he didn't. ;p


Kids At Home
Jonathan fixing Mickey & Friends 60 pcs puzzle



Wizards & Dragons puzzle


Having their milk and bedtime story.
Jon seriously reading. (Hee! Hee!)


Playing "dumb" with papa


Drawing lesson with papa