The Christmas Tree

Our Christmas tree in the living room. The theme is the same as last year, Red and Gold. Love the star at the top the best. But some of the fragile glass ornaments are really glittery and gorgeous.

The Alternative to Swimming

It has been raining a lot these past couple of weeks. Typical of December. So swimming lessons typically get cancelled. There are other things to do besides swimming at the club. This is just one of them.

Weekly Scraps

I've gone out of my comfort zone with these two layouts. I'm using Sassafras which is not one my usual style. But I really love the backgrounds. They fit the photos really well. I've also mixed and matched leftover papers from other collections, OA and Pink Paislee. And used different layout sketches. Both of which I don't ordinarily do. I did like how it all seemed to blend together at the end though. 

In the second layout, I didn't have time to finish the journalling AND take a photo so I just took the photo. I did complete the journalling in the end. I also tried out the new Frixion pens by Pilot. Where the ink can be rubbed off by friction. And doesn't leave a trace. Quite amazing actually. Great for me because sometimes I tend to have some mistakes in the journalling. I will get more...

Brothers

Brothers = God Choosen Best Friends.

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An Amazing Weekend

Yep, had a great weekend. Tiring. But great.

For one, Hubbie's back! :) Yay. Missed him a lot. I wasn't sleeping well for one thing. And it was rather dull in the evenings without him around. So he's back, and I'm sleeping better. No more headaches in the morning...

Another thing, my company had a conference over the weekend in Rasa Sentosa. So they sponsored a night's stay. I just had up top up to pay for the difference for a larger family room. So the kids got a night's stay in Sentosa as well.

The hotel was rather crowded because of 3 weddings happening all at once and it was a weekend. But they really had a great time. At the play areas and the beach. But it was oh-so-hot! So we all cooled off in the pool.

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Weekly Scraps

So I'm finally working my way into my August photos. This is a photo of my boys during their school's National Day celebration. They are supposed to wear red and white. The colours of the Singapore flag. I usually take the opportunity to wear my red Ferrari top which is the only thing red that I own.

I used the rest of the OA school house collection. I especially love the chipboard banner. I just had to use it all up. I like how the layout turned out bright and cheery.






Since the National Day is always a school holiday, we spent it at the club together with all of Bryan and Gabriel's cousins. They all had an awesome time. First they went swimming, which turned out to be a fabulous thing to do. It was an incredibly hot day. Then, when it got too hot to swim, we all went bowling. And enjoyed fries with chicken wings.

For this, I used the rest of my old OA stuff, mainly from Campfire and Thrift Shop. Flowers and leaves were from a friend. I really like how OA collections can be mixed and matched, to create unique layouts.

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Kinder Graduation

A big congratulations to Bryan. He graduated from preschool yesterday. It was a big ceremony with each child called up to receive their certificate. Complete with the cap and gown. So proud of him. He's done really well so far. And he's really growing up well. It's been a great 4 years in Ascension Kindergarten. He has made lots of friends and his teachers like him a lot. I hope he keeps his friends, even as he moves on to the next stage of his life. Primary School.

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The Weather Report

The weather in Singapore's been changing from hot and dry to not-so-hot and wet. December is typically the monsoon period, when it rains and rains. That day, it was baking hot. The boys wanted to take a walk but found it so sunny that they both put on their 'sunglasses'.

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Enjoying a Hot Day

Congratulations to Bryan who was just awarded his Bronze Swimsafer Swimming Award. He swam great. And did everything else very well too. Very proud of him!

That day turned out to be a very hot morning and noon. Gabriel chilled out in the wading pool. While Bryan took his Bronze test. It was all very well for the two of them. While Mommy ended up finding pockets of shade to rest in while playing photographer. Phew! It's a good thing I decided to slap on lots of sunscreen too.

The day ended with a cool thunderstorm which meant we all slept very well that night.

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The Big Camera

Since hubbie borrowed my camera for his Japan trip, I am left with his Nikon D700. I don't usually use his camera because it is very heavy. And very bulky. It does not fit into my handbag as easily as my Lumix. I have to carry it's own shoulder bag.

But I have to say, it takes beautiful photos. Even without trying very hard. The colour comes out fabulous. And even if there is a colour cast from the lighting, it's easily fixed. Way better than my Lumix which I already think is a great camera.

So here I am playing with it, getting fabulous shot after shot of my dog, my boys and everything else in between. I am so tempted to try out the new micro 4/3rd Lumix cameras. If it can give me photos like these, it would be awesome!

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Best Friends

Best Friends - My two boys had a great time on Monday. It was a public holiday and they had an awesome time together. In the morning, we explored a new playground. Bryan had the time of his life exploring the playground. Gabriel was very brave with all the slides.

In the afternoon, I let them out of the house for a bit. Bryan went cycling. While Gabriel tried out his scooter. I made him go slow. But it was great fun for him. Better than just the garden. I do need to get him a proper helmet.

I think they are beginning to realise what fun having a brother can be. A God-given best friend. And together they learn how to share things with each other, play together and care for each other. Which are great life lessons for their own personal growth. (And since they can keep each other company, they don't pester Mommy so much)

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Weekly Scraps

These photos were taken when Bryan was learning to ride his two-wheeled bicycle. He has since mastered it quite well. And loves his bicycle a lot. He's always badgering me to let him cycle outside the house.



Gabriel is still too young to ride a bicycle. But he does enjoy building his sandcastles on the beach. Doesn't he look so cute with his sunglasses on?

For these two layouts, I used a mixture of Pink Paislee Daily Junk as well as the latest Nantucket collection. I especially love the hexoganal shaped tiles and the wooden alphabets from Pink Paislee.

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Pony Ride

The weather was great last weekend. It was also the weekend that I knew lots of kids would be at home studying. So I brought the boys to the zoo. It was just the 3 of us. And we had a lovely time. The zoo was definitely quieter that morning. And there was hardly a queue for anything.

Bryan wanted to go down to see the kangaroos. So we went that way. But the kangaroos weren't in. Maybe it was too early? So he was a bit disappointed. Since it was still early, Bryan wanted to go on his pony ride. But that was quite a distance away. I thought we should take a lazy ride on the tram around the zoo to the pony ride. And Gabriel was happy with that too. He liked the tram. Although he kept calling it the train.

At the pony ride, Gabriel also wanted to sit on the horse. And he was really brave about it too. Even though it was rather high up for him. And it was his first time. When he got off, I asked if he wanted another go. Gabriel said, "Tomorrow." Bryan on the other hand, enjoyed himself tremendously. He had a great time.

I bought the boys a drink and off we went on the tram back to the entrance of the zoo.

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A Special Scrap

I don't usually do altered stuff. I much prefer to do layouts which I put into folders. However, I recently managed to get this lovely wooden photo display. And I decided to use it to showcase some of my favourite photos from our Melbourne trip.

I first coloured the frame with Prima's chalk ink. And I cut out various icons from Webster's Pages leftover papers. I used a lot of their Seaside Retreat and Yacht Club papers. I also used Prima's flowers, tiles. And AC alphabets. I was actually quite concerned with the papers/pieces falling off. But so far so good.

It was fun doing this altered layout. It's a great visual reminder of the trip without having to flip through albums. Previously, I did some altered board books. But I realised after everyone has flipped through them, stuff would start coming out or bending at the edges. And I had to keep them away from my boys. But this photo display is much more practical. And there's no need for excess handling. I might do more of this next time...

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Concert 2011

On Saturday, both Bryan and Gabriel had their school concert. This would be Bryan's last year in Kindergarten and his last concert. And Gabriel's first one. So it was a special one for us. Their grandparents came along to watch this time.

Bryan was a school boy. And his number consisted of kids dancing to the song by Justin Bieber "Never Say Never'. I'm not at fan of the singer or the song. But when my boy performs to it, it's a great song. In his performance, Bryan had a solo bit where he did cartwheels. It was fabulous! I'm so proud of him.

Gabriel did a spanish number. And he had a couple of shakers to use in his number. He was really cute! I thought he'd be a bit lost but he was actually not too bad. He remembered where to go and stand and he moved to the beat.

We got everything on video. It was awesome. I was one proud mom.

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Short Trip

This weekend we took a short trip down to Malacca. We wanted to run in the new car as well. It was a good drive, there wasn't any jam at all. And the weather was good.

The food was fabulous. We had a wide variety of stuff, from noodles to suckling pig and 'bah-kut-teh'. The boys enjoyed the drive in the new car. Bryan especially had his own seat at the back of the car. But I think they enjoyed the playground the most.

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Time Off

I spent the first half of the week with the kids. I took a couple of days off to do Mommy things like pick them up from school, fill up forms for Bryan's new school, getting Bryan's new school uniform, sending Bryan to his swimming class. Then the car's battery went flat, and AA had problems restarting it. So had it towed back to the service centre to get it recharged. So had a mostly busy start to the week.

But it was nice to spend some time with the boys, especially Bryan. I was surprised to see how much he has matured. He could be helpful and usually remembered what I told him. And he didn't throw much of a tantrum at all and stopped whining. I think perhaps it had to do with him starting primary school next year. I think he knew he needed to behave a bit more like a big boy.

Gabriel is still cute and adorable. And still my little boy. And he's learning that a NO means a NO. He still throws his tantrums but it's not as bad and he stops once he realises he's not getting his way. And the two of them are getting along, although Gabriel still tends to take advantage of the fact that he's younger.

Sigh, they grow up so fast...

Weekly Scraps

These are my last photos I wanted to scrap from our Melbourne trip. It was a nostalgic trip for us, a lot of the buildings and landmarks were still there, almost 10 years since we studied in Melbourne University. And it was great to see everything again. I had a great time in Melbourne and sometimes I do miss the weather and some of the landmarks in Melbourne.

I used Websters Ladies and Gents collection with Country Estate. I thought both collections went very well together. The wooden clock is from Kaiser Craft. Flowers from Prima.




I love this photo. It's taken in the apartment we rented in Melbourne. I am actually trying to get Gabriel to finish his milk before going out. Hubbie took this photo of him laughing. It was perfect timing. I used up the rest of Websters Country Estate and some icons from Ladies and Gents. Alphabets from American Craft. Flowers and bird from Prima. I also used Prima's new Chalk inks to ink the edges. The Chalk inks are small and shaped like a tear-drop which makes it easy to ink uneven edges. It's fabulous to use for that distressed look. And they are very affordable too.

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Haircuts

The boys had their haircuts on Sunday. Bryan had his done in a grownup salon. At one of those $10 places. Gabriel still gets his done in a kids salon. It's more expensive but he gets to watch Thomas and he is also given a balloon after.

Aren't they looking so smart now.

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Weekly Scrap

Skiing... Bryan actually learned how to ski when he was up in Mt Buller in Australia. He took lessons and after that, he could ski a little bit. We were very proud of him. I think he just needs a few more lessons to start skiing with the rest of us.

This layout I did right after I got Prima's new distressing tool and chalk inks. The inks are very easy to use and when applied, actually really looked vintagy. The distressing tool, I experimented with the edges of the photo mats. It's not so obvious in this photo but looks nice up close. The tool is very easy to use, you can use it to scrape the edges of the paper and distress it in various ways. No more scraping with fingernails and sandpaper.

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