Sept holidays so far!

We are midway through the September holidays. I love the week long holidays because they give us some time to recharge, not having to rush and have our schedule dictated by school runs, meals and naps. I rather like the idea of being somewhat laissez faire in our routines, such that the children do not have to nap by a certain timing, lest we face the ugly 1am sleep monster.

So, what have we done so far? Well, we...

Built a tent
Cooked up a storm
Stayed in a hotel
Sang out our hearts
Painted the skies
Ran around the race track
Played pretend... alot

Heh.

With the exception of Hockey Pokey, we have been staying home really. Both littles took turns to run a fever. S' fever was especially scary, hitting 39.9 degrees one evening. We are praying that N is spared, so that we can continue our holiday plans for the rest of the week.

While the rest of the country is out celebrating and rocking all kinds of learning outdoors, I'm learning to be thankful. For the rest and from escaping the haze. The newspaper advised children, pregnant women and the elderly to avoid being outdoors and i guess since we hit 2 out of the 3 mentioned groups, we ought to heed their advice. :)

Really though, i'm enjoying watching the littles play together. I marvel at how far their imagination can take them and the pure giggles that explode from their exploit of the far ends of the earth. They are at such a precocious age, innocent enough to not demand that i bring them out, but daring and imaginative enough to make the most of what they have. And that i think, defines fun.

Took out our rusty camera to capture their master pieces! This is the first time they are drawing before painting their works in water colour. One depicts a flower garden while the other, a playground scene. Not too bad for children of a lazy mother who finally relented to let her children paint after countless demands!

December's Necklace

December December... where did October & November go? Well at least I figured out that I have not figured out how to sleep normal human hours and still have the time to do everything on my list. Now I just have to figure how to do it.

Noah's now 4.5 months and counting. This time with much less anxiety (learning to trust and let go finally!), I'm really enjoying the snuggles and growing up process more. We are literally watching him grow before our eyes. And having Shanah to snuggle and play tickles together? That's a bonus beyond bonus. Two sweethearts, wow, my heart just exploded.

I think we have now figured a schedule of sorts and with that, we managed some home activities here and there to feed my craft addiction. This love for crafts started when my mummy used to buy me craft books and materials when I was a child, and the interest kinda stuck on me all these years. I'm really glad that Shanah has also taken an interest in crafts and it's my wish that she takes it further and creates amazing things to bless those around her.

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Necklace with bubble tea straw (because we all love bubble tea, closetlover or not)

Adapted from No Time for Flashcards 

I really love this activity because it's so simple and fuss free, yet it works on two motor skills at the same time! Especially for pre-writers, this really builds on their finger dexterity to help in future writing skills.

Materials needed:

3 Bubble tea straws (softer ones so it's easier to cut)
1m of ribbon/string
Scissors
Tape

I started by getting Shanah all excited about doing 'something' special. She's kinda girly, so making necklaces is totally up her alley. Plus the fact that i took out her special kiddy scissors - that got her really excited.

I demonstrated how to cut the straw with the scissors. Then i held her hands to do it together with her. When she has gotten the hang of it, i allowed her to do the cutting herself. Two things to note, firstly, cut a suitable length that allows for easy threading. Secondly, the straws can get rather sharp after you cut them, so watch out of those! The ability to use the scissors requires hand-eye coordination and some strength - both of which requires much practice. So if it's your first time, guide your child through the whole cutting process.

After cutting the straws, it's time to string the parts! One end of the ribbon was taped to the floor while the other end was folded and taped to make it easier for little hands to thread the straws in.





It took Shanah a few tries to get the threading right. She was initially alittle frustrated to put the ribbon through the straw only to have it drop out again. But once she figured how to thread the ribbon through and pull it out the other side, she's was really pleased with herself. In fact, halfway through the activity Noah woke up from his nap, and I was able to attend to him as she finished up her necklace!

When the threading's all done, just tie a knot, cut up the excess ribbon and you have a bubble tea necklace! 



Proudly wearing her necklace, declaring that she wanted to show her daddy her handicraft!