Daughter – “Who was that Mummy?”
Me – ” I don’t know darling”
Daughter – “But Mummy! WHO WAS IT?”
Me – ” I don’t know, I have never seen them before!”
Daughter – “Well neither have I, I’m not tall enough!”

I had to have a little giggle!

My youngest girl, Sweetie is wearing the very first dress I ever bought her big sister from H&M Girls – it was better quality then. My Boy is having a very casual day…Tween seems to know how to add her own jewels. This is another Monsoon dress from the good old days. Amazing colour and details. The cardi is Gap.

Thanks for reading!

My daughter and I were looking at the stars earlier and she said to me “Mummy, I wish I saw a wishing star”.  I said, “What would you wish for?”  ”Nothing Mummy, I just wish I saw one.”

I’m so glad to find these H&M jeans for my Boy. He’s very active and they seem to give him enough room whatever he does. The top he’s wearing is his favourite: knitted polo shirt that’s comfy and smart enough for travel wear. It’s also a nice weight.

He just loved using the pull along cabin bag. Thanks for reading!

If there is something we never actually talks about that often is regarding the “kids/baby”. It’s not because we hate kids or we are not planning to. We just wanted to at least enjoy every moments left as a couple; no baby/kid, no responsibilities, and yeah, no one to share the attention with. My husband is a very loving person; and I do understand why he doesn’t want to talk much about that issue.

There is nothing wrong about that. I know that having kid is a full responsibility, and no one can know unless you are in the actual situation. I am glad that he is a person who actually thinks and plan for our future. As a respect to what he wants; I never tried to open any serious conversation about kids, although sometimes it cannot be avoided. (Giggling)

So yesterday, he was on the way home to office. We decided to meet at the supermarket, to buy stuffs for home. When we were at the mall, we stopped-by first at the KFC, to eat something. He is starving and I am too. (Sigh) While we were sitting and waiting for our order; my husband saw Asian guy, and Czech woman with their kid. They were eating next to our table. My husband says “That’s weird, baby looks more like Czech. Kid never have any looks from his father (Asian).”

For me, it’s not normal to hear that my husband actually share his thoughts about kid stuff. Then we started to talk about our possible future kids.

SOFT HEARTED OR STRONG PERSONALITY. WHAT WOULD YOU BE?

Me:“Well, if we will have baby then that is the time we will know who actually have strong genes. “

Him: “Yeah, but I want our baby to have your nose.”

Me: “Why my nose? It’s not pointed, I like yours better.”

Him: “I like your nose, its cute and small.”

Me: “If you want our future kids to have my nose, then I want them to have your hair color (Giggling)”

Him: “Aha, okay then… I want them to have your skin tone.”

Me: “hmm, okay then. You think they will be more like me or more like you? “

Him: “I don’t have any idea, but if there is something I want… I want them to have my heart, and not like yours.”

Me: “What? Why?”

Him: “‘Cuz your hearth is too soft, pitiful, and so good. I mean too good. If they will have same like yours then, they would also be sad when they see beggars on the street, or feel pity once they came home after seeing some beggars.”

Me: “Was that so bad to have soft hearth?”

Him: “No, but I wanted them to have mine, so they will be strong, but in some spot; there is soft side. They will not suffer in their life; and also… so I will have just one person to think about how to calm down.. only you (Laughing)”

So that is how are conversation, went out. In the end, we only wanted our future kids, to be healthy, and respectful.

My one and only Boy in the world! Sandwiched very closely by less than 2 years between 2 sisters, you have to give him a little sympathy. As a toddler when his big sister revelled in new clothes and shoes, he refused to wear anything if it was new. He just would not put it on so I never mentioned the new word and had to smuggle outgrown clothes out of his drawers and replace them with those new, washed and ready to wear. Thinking back it must be the comfort level that’s high or even uppermost on every man’s requirements for clothes. Old clothes are soft and starting to take your shape. Fast forward to his first Junior School Disco last year when he realised the importance and benefits of looking good….among the other boys and shock, horror, the girls too! He changed his tune somewhat.

His go to of polo shirt, jeans or cargos and trainers. He used to turn the hem up but no more.

I let him tuck the front in a little bit so it’s not too long. He’s in between sizes now so it’s difficult to find the right fit.

Mini Man Closet

Very simple but it took me a while to find the right balance: went through a phase when he had too many of everything then the other extreme, almost overnight everything became too tight and/or too short. Nothing is a duplicate in size because to offset him growing, there’s really 2 sizes in his closet and that’s why I keep the number of items to the minimum at all times. I’m trying to apply the same process to the girls’ clothes. I buy 99.9% of their clothes at Gap, Zara and H&M.

1. School uniform stuff (trousers can be used for smart occasions such as concerts and xmas events)
2. a couple of jeans – blue and black
3. a couple of lighter trousers – blues and khakis
4. bermnuda shorts – left over from the Summer and he likes to wear these at home not so much the sweatpants
5. polo shirts, plain tees and a couple of shirts (classic light blue or white)
6. zip up hoodie, baseball cardigan – no sweatshirts as he never wears them
7. a couple of jumpers he only wears when it’s really freezing and he’s caught a bad cold by not wearing enough clothes!
8. casual shoes for weekends, wellingtons
9. raincoat, casual jacket (short parka) and warm school winter coat
10. vests – thermal and plain – he refuses to wear a scarf so every layer matters during the cold months
11. hat and ski type gloves which is his prefered style and cap/sunglasses
12. a tie – it’s getting its full use this year with concerts, a wedding and xmas events to come later this year.

Thanks for reading!

My Tween Girl is feeling very self conscious due to the eczema flare up on her face. The heat doesn’t help but it’s getting better slowly. I bought this green print skirt long before she was big enough to wear it from Monsoon. She was about 7 years old and at the height of her pink obssession so she never even glanced at it! I used to buy most of their dresses at Monsoon but in the last couple of years there’s been fewer and fewer things that I like. One thing’s for sure, I’m so glad I have Sweetie to pass it down to because girls’ clothes can be horribly expensive. I love this skirt so much, I’m going to make Sweetie wear it as much as possible. The Ray-Bans complete the retro look.

Thanks for reading!

You can buy stuff like food and clothes for your monster,items for your room and a lot more. But I think one of the best things on Moshi monsters is getting moshlings. Moshlings are pets for your monster. To get them  you will need to do is go to the seed cart.For that go out into the garden and click on the arrow to go to the seed cart. Buy three seeds. The seeds are love berries,star blossems,dragon fruit and magic beans and finally a moon orchid. Only if you plant THREE seeds will you get a moshling.

Plant them in the soil wait for one day and they will grow but also there is another way.The happier your monster the faster the seeds grow- that is a tip! One thing you should remember is that only moshi members are allowed to get more than two moshlings.  If your not,  you can still get two moshlings.

If you don’t get a moshling the cluecoo bird on your right will give you hints or tips to get a moshling.  I’ll give you a seed code you have to plant three star blossems and you will get a snookums. it’s a baby dino and it’s one of the cutest moshlings!

There are ULTRA RARE moshlings too.For example oddie the doughnut moshling and the  most rarest moshling of all!

Moshi monsters is a very fun game and one of my favourite ones to I hope all of you enjoy it !!!

Anna Soney (8 yrs)

The surprises that happen when you least expect them! Yep, that’s me in a helicopter I just came across the other day. If I had time to prepare for a helicopter ride, I would have stressed out so much but as it was, all I had to do was simply jump in. So this dress is now officially my ‘flying dress’!

How not to descend from your chopper! See, this is why I don’t wear my dresses too short just in case I end up having to do this sort of thing…Yeah, the pilot was cute.

It was a magical feeling to be in the air and having an almost 360′ view of the horizon and the ground below.

My kids were so in awe as you can imagine. Anything that’s good enough for Suri Cruise is good enough for my trio – lol!

I love how my Boy got into the drama of the occasion and how the wind whipped up Tween girl’s long hair.

They all did so well. I forgot to take a photo of me wearing my yellow life jacket – that was the ultimate colour blocking.

I bought this linen shirt dress in the White Company sale a few years ago and it’s been one of the best investment pieces (also in navy here) for Summer and holidays. I updated it with my favourite brights – Chartreuse yellow belt and my vintage orange Celine shoulder bag. Does it look like I have a tan already within hours of touch down? I reckon I could go for World’s Fastest Tanner record!

My Tween girl wearing a stripe jersey dress and a purple cardigan. She was a little concerned about how short the dress is – did I pass on my own neurosis about this? But I told her it’s hot and she has beautiful legs so it’s OK!

I changed my travel outfit to this colour block shift dress. It was cold enough when we set off for a jacket, sadly adding to the luggage. Inside my nylon bag are my camera, water, tissues and snacks plus another nylon bag.

At check in it was noted that my cabin bag weighed in at 11kg when the max is 7kg. The check in person was very good and labelled it as 8kg and told me to take out 1kg and distribute it among the children before going through to the departure lounge. I did that then as soon as we were through I repacked it back and passed a leisurely couple of hours before going to our boarding gate.

I should really subtitle this post ‘How to Ruin the Look of a Chanel Reissue’. I meant to use a tote bag but it ended up being too heavy. I have all the essentials in the Reissue but a little too much as you should never over stuff a bag like this. The size is already too big for me but the capacity is perfect as an everyday bag. It would just look as it’s meant to with a little less inside!

Once boarded I was able to put everything up inside the luggage rack but first took out the spare nylon bag and tissues and put my Reissue inside to store it protected under the seat in front. A tote bag would have been too bulky this time. My dress was super comfortable.

Here is Tween looking very pleased with her choice of travel outfit, Breton H&M jumper (this is wonderful, all cotton, machine washes well and a great shape), tee, scarf, orange cotton trousers and trainers (unseen). She’s trying to grow out her fringe hence the multiple hair clips.

“姐，Daddy said he only wants to live for 99 years.”   …

(ok, some background, before bidding goodnight, Ying asked her Dad how long he wanted to live, as she’d decided to live for One Thousand and Two Hundreds years)

“That means, after 99 years, then the next year Daddy will die. And then left only two of us.”

“Ya. Only two of us left in this world then… ” Ling paused,  ”.. and may be with our children.” Ling continued.

“But 生孩子很痛。” Ying commented.   [translation: giving birth is very painful.]

“Ya。。。 不要紧啦，让那些勇敢的人生孩子，我不勇敢，我不要生。” Ling came up the idea. [translation: ya, but never mind, let those brave people give birth baby, I am not brave, I don't want to give birth baby.]

“对啦，我也是不勇敢，让勇敢的人生好了。我也不要生。” Ying agreed. [translation: true, I am also not brave, let the brave people do it. I don't want to give birth baby either.]

…

Hahaha, I almost fell down from my bed…

We prepared for this since a month ago. Every night, she just read the speech once, and tried to memorize it (and Ying sat beside, memorized them quietly as well). Now, both Ling and Ying can read it out aloud by heart.

Thinking to keep this speech she presented, something they can look at again when they grow up, some fond memory during Ling Std 1…

校长，陈副校长，各位老师及同学们，大家下午好。今天我要讲的周训是“心灵”。

人的心灵都是纯洁的，善良的，美丽的。心灵的美存在于那些快乐人的心中。曾经有位老人说他是世界上最富有的人，他说的不是钱多，而是快乐。快乐也能满足我们的内心。我们每天都要检查我们的心灵，只许有好的想法，不许有坏的念头。

谢谢。

Thanks to the school and teachers for this great exposure as well.

“Fine. Everything goes well.” She replied with a big smile, and continued to explain in detail how it’s done, where she was seated on the backstage, who won, who didn’t show up ….

“You really enjoyed it, right?” I smiled also.

“Yup,  and teacher gave me a present for helping out. And I did say ‘Thank You’.” another big smile on her face

Thank you teacher Teo. 

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On the staircase going up to their Yamaha class tonight, met Ling’s classmate Jia Yi,

“Auntie, I get No. 3 in singing competition in my school.” greeted Jia Yi.

“Well done!  You must be very happy.” I commented.

Another happy girl wearing a big smile today

Ya… it’s the singing competition season now…

{Glum face} Oh, I’m not at all sure about this H&M Girls dress. I bought it for my Tween girl (in her absence) but only a size bigger was available hoping it might run small and fit her – it doesn’t so I tried it on. It’s such a lovely weight jersey with a slash neckline and pockets. It’s certainly shorter than I would normally wear….this is very graphic….and the most stripes I’ve seen since our recent trip to the zoo….

{Happy face} Well…….if it’s just for holidays and the beach, a few extra inches of leg wouldn’t kill me especially for the sake of keeping cool. I’ll only be too happy to use my vintage Celine shoulder bag and Tanner Krolle clutch. These sandals are so comfy, I forgot I had them on! Yes, I’m ready now, Summer holidays, bring it on!

Wearing some of her holiday clothes and accessories. Everytime I look at her, she’s changing and *ahem* developing…..scary!

She just threw on her brother’s new parka – I’ve gone parka mad and love this one for the sandy colour and how well made it is.

Flowers instantly make me smile even on the wettest, gloomiest days like today. I dashed out in the drizzle with my Tween girl to cut some roses from the garden. She held the basket (while I cut) for the blooms to tumble into all covered in raindrops. Even with just 2 bushes and a dozen ‘wild’ blooms, it’s enough for 3 rooms including the dining table – I just love flowers at the table! We’ve already planted 5 more rose bushes and want to add a couple fruit trees later this year. It’s just the start of so much I could do in the garden *sigh* including finding a little tree house/shed for the children.

I’ve come a very long way from treating my accessories as an afterthought. It’s the biggest thing I’ve learnt to date. Away from home, footwear is all important and I never take too much jewellery or other bits – the one time I actually make do with the bare essentials!

I worked my way from the feet up compiling our packing list. Going anywhere away from home makes me think what will my feet have to do so the answer pretty much decides the outfit. There’s nothing worse than uncomfortable or painful shoes and sandals on holiday, even if you’re on the beach you still have to wear something. I’ve never owned more than one or two pairs of flat sandals at any one time. The only pair I bought last year remain practically new since Summer never came. The above are the ones I found for us. I expect a lot from sandals, they must be comfortable enough to sight see, wear with trousers, skirts and dresses for day and night. They are seasonal and therefore must work the hardest in my closet of transeasonal items!

And here are kids’ sunglasses all by Ray-Ban. My eldest is sporting the classic Wayfarer style and her siblings are wearing Aviators. I didn’t even know they did kids’ glasses! I scored these at amazing prices online and I can now check if my prescription will work in Aviators for me as I need new glasses anyway.

I’ll foloow up this post soon with essential jewellery, scarves and the bags I’m taking in Part II

]]> http://silkpathdiary.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/zoo/ Fri, 08 Jun 2012 19:43:43 +0000 silkpathdiary http://silkpathdiary.wordpress.com/2012/06/08/zoo/ I don’t have the best memories of visiting zoos when I was a kid: the inevitable odour and the overwhelming feeling of sadness for the animals. Thankfully, my children don’t seem to feel the same so off we went to the zoo this week!

For a few hours we felt transported to different parts of the world by Nature and animals. It was a great day out for everyone!

Later when I was back, my housekeeper told me, “You know, your girls were telling me, ‘Daddy just talked to me for a short while, then he continue with his computer, looking at his cars. 他不管我们的。’” Haha, .. I can only smiled. Ya. Recently I seldom argue or get myself upset of Mr Daddy’s behavior.  But then, time really flies. Now they are big enough to tell.

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Last Saturday, half way having our meal, Mom called and informed that Doctor said she could go home. So, she called to ask to me bring her clothes she wanted to wear.

In the car, I was discussing with the girls the plan.

Ling said, “We go home, pack for Ah Ma, then go brush our teeth, then we can go fetch Ah Ma.”

I corrected, “Let me go get Ah Ma’s clothes, you two go straight to brush your teeth, then we can leave faster.”

“Yes!” The girls cheered.

“Mummy go get the clothes, we go upstair to brush our teeth, and Daddy do nothing. Ya, that is what Daddy always do, nothing, or sitting in front of TV. ” Ying repeated with a cheeky smile.

Hahaha… I looked at Daddy’s face, all red… Hahaha …

1. Luggage: what can everyone carry with ease balanced against what we need to take? Ideally we should just check in one large suitcase. I need to be hands free to be able to pull along a cabin bag. My kids can each carry a small rucksack with essentials (my girls will want to take half their bedrooms and my Boy will want ALL of his Lego!)
2. Packing: decide on an edited list for everyone (especially Mummy!)
3. Travel outfits: layers for the varying temperatures en route
4. Medication + first aid: with kids you always have to be reasonably prepared and in our case, I will have to carry an Epi Pen (will need to check if supporting documents are required with it)
5. Food and beverage: with kids you always need a light food supply and I always take some water (never juice or pop) for the long journey to the airport
6. Spare clothes: with kids you always need a spare set just in case

I will tackle 2. first and list tops and bottoms for them, clothes for myself, toiletries, underwear,  accessories, swimwear and footwear then I can better judge what will fit in our luggage for checking in. The carry on will have to fit my 3 handbags and shoes plus spare clothes for the kids. It’s going to be hard to decide on my travel outfit this time because I need to be as comfortable as possible but dislike wearing trousers on a plane – and I don’t wear leggings, cargos, pyjamas, joggers or tracksuit – at least not out in public.

I did the Kids Talk at Church on Sunday, and i was thinking about our church and how in a way we are like a tool box, or God’s tool box.
You see we all have different gifts, or different tallents if you will… it says in 1 Corinthians 12:4-6 that:
“4 There are different kinds of spiritual gifts, but they all come from the same Spirit. 5 There are different ways to serve the same Lord, 6 and we can each do different things. Yet the same God works in all of us and helps us in everything we do.”

The point is that as it says, there are different ways to serve the Lord, often people say that i dont have a place that i can help with, but at one level we need to think outside the normal toolbox as such. i did pull out the normal tools from my tool box, a hammer, a ruler, a spanner, etc. and this very relevant to our church as we are curently building a new church and lots of people are doing a great help and a great ministry in serving the rest of us by doing a lot of building work, and to them it is a great ministry as hopefully this new building will help our church grow and introduce new people to Jesus.

But i also pulled out some kitchen stuff, as we have so many people who serve us all by morning tea, or by taking a meal to someone who is sick or whatever. then i pulled out the calculator and the stapler, as we also have people using their gifts behind the scenes as such, doing all the paper work, the paying the bills, and a whole range of other things…

Are you getting the picture, we all have different gifts and we all use them in service of God and of each other some are more public than others but without some, some of our ministries would struggle.

The last thing i pulled out of my tool box was my bible, now it is clear that in church’s that there are people who’s gift is being able to explain the bible clearly and to be able to teach from it, weather up front from the pulpit, or in Sunday school classes on in bible study groups throughout the week. 

I think the danger though is thinking of the bible like we think of the other tools of gifts, like i don’t cook because i understand from past experience that it is not really my gift or my talent. know i know that there are people who think about the bible or the gospel in those terms, i know people think well i am not the best person for that, other people will be better able to explain the Gospel to this person than i would, so they don’t try. We all have the words of truth, and it is our irresponsibility to speak them, it is not just to be left to a few but it is our responsibility.

^{1 Peter 4:10-11} Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms. ¹¹ If anyone speaks, they should do so as one who speaks the very words of God. If anyone serves, they should do so with the strength God provides, so that in all things God may be praised through Jesus Christ. To him be the glory and the power for ever and ever. Amen.

And this is part of the reason why I struggle with my waistline I love baking for my children and prefer them to eat homemade than buy ready made. This is one of our family favourites. I  only recently thought to put the same mixture in cake cases than the usual loaf tins. The little cakes are much easier to pack in lunch boxes, a picnic basket or share out. The loaves freeze very well so I always bake a big batch.

“No.. not tonight. ” Ying replied, which was a surprise to me. First time no nan-nan.

“I want to have some time to chit-chat with 姐姐. Every time before we finish talking, you all will call out ‘睡了!’. She continued.

“You never give us enough time.” She frowned.

hahahaha … ya, what Ah Ma said is right, luckily you two have each other. One will be too lonely.