Some little DIY home projects

*necklace hanger*
Art Friend has an amazing supply of DIY materials. And the imagination is limitless.
I bought a small piece of raw wood board and a packet of these 'miniature wooden pots'.

Glue the 'pots' onto the board. To cover the unsightly holes, I glued punched out papers. Paint everything white with acrylic paint. Easy peasy.

My new necklace knob hooks adhered with 3M double-sided tape.

*fabric scrap flags*

*wooden pegs*
Paint is my new friend. I'm starting to paint everything.

3M double-sided tape, if you hate hammering nails into wall, and if you don't mind peeling it off in future. Some wall paint may peel off together.

I used painted wooden pegs to hang these.

And guess what this is for...

Am I a genius or what. Tudor windows are a pain when it comes to fixing curtain rails on them. For the longest time, I had the curtains tied onto the grill with strings. Now it looks neat!

Love love love the handmade home :)

Letters To My Boys: Keeping Your Marriage In Love

Dear sons,
Some day you will find someone whom you want to share your everything with. Your dreams, your fears, your joy, your frustrations, your hope and many little mundane details in your daily life. If you have not found that someone, then it is not time yet or it's not meant to be. Accept that and live well anyway. If you have, cherish her as long as you both shall live. Even after many years of marriage, it cannot survive on love alone. It needs regular effort and thoughtfulness to keep it warm. You may be able to find many resources on 'How To Maintain A Happy Marriage', those are good, and these are personal ones from me.

1. Continue sharing your everything. This is actually a powerful way to keep yourselves emotionally engaged with each other. And this is one of the top reasons for a happy marriage. Set aside time for a hearty chat. Don't forget to ask her about her day regardless of how mundane it might be. She may have many friends whom she confides in, but at the end of the day, you are probably her bestest friend to share her everything with.

2. Once in a while, be a romantic fool. Anniversaries are good days to be that fool. Remind her how it felt to be courted. This, my sons, will bring a sparkle to her heart. Arrange for babysitting (I'll be glad to help), surprise her at work with a call and tell her to meet you at a fancy restaurant for a candlelight dinner. Never underrate the value of a candlelight dinner. It's common, it's old fashioned, but it works.

3. Have regular date nights. Go for a movie, or a supper. Or sneak out for ice cream.

4. Hugs. And kisses. Both will be nice.

5. Never let go of a chance to hold her hand. Even when it's getting wrinkled. Physical affections are the easiest way to show her that you still care. And it's free. Play with her fingers, caress her back, stroke her hair. These are instant intimacy gestures that will, again, bring sparkle to her heart. You may not know it, but it does.

It every mother's dream to be able to raise a fine husband and to see him enjoy a blissful happy marriage.

XOXO
Mummy

I Hate The World Day

(wanted to post this last week but I was out of orbit in a hormonal sort of way)

I'm having one of those days where it feels as though some bad planetary alignment is causing me to become a cosmic bitch or something.

I am riding the worst ever emo roller coaster ride since last week. Worst part is that I can't control it. PMS is lethal. It's true because I was thinking of wanting to attempt to try to end my life last night. I can't even cheer myself up, let alone my pretty collection of fabric stash. For those who go through this every month or those who have been through this before, you know how it feels. For those who don't, I can't really describe it. I guess it's like drugs. Like a bitch drug.

But why is it so toxic lately? I told my hormones to f*** off for 5 minutes while I sit with a sane brain to rationalize my ups and downs. They say the top reason why women get angry, is usually because of their husbands/boyfriends/wives/girlfriends. Yes?

Yes. He's been very stressed about work. In fact, I can't remember when was the last time he WASN'T stressed about work. Poor guy. I tried my utmost best to be understanding and gracious though I didn't like those regular night out for drinks and not-coming-home-for-dinners. I know sometimes he has to, and sometimes he just wants to chill outside. I'm empathetic when he talks about his ugly encounters with ugly contractors. It makes me want to kill them. And then lately there were more stressed up days where he'd be so exhausted that he'll just doze off on the couch after dinner while I am hanging out with the kids. Poor guy.

Suddenly, I wasn't just going to 'let it pass'. This bitch ain't going to LET IT PASS. His work stress have been affecting me! And fueling my hormonal fire! We. Are. Both. On. Fire. These two weeks alone, I have been MAD at him FIVE times. FIVE! It's so tiring.

Oh please, my period, come already.

A Beautiful Ad for Moms

Prepare tissues yo.

Couple of links...

21 Pictures that Will Restore Your Faith in Humanity.

Useful Everyday Objects.

Things I'm Afraid To Tell You...

Sometime ago, blogger Jess Constable created the first list of "Things I'm Afraid To Tell You". Other bloggers started to read, share, tweet and support it. Since then it has become like a movement in the blogosphere. Here is an article about it.

I thought this would be a good time to share mine. Well, it's not really a list but a feeling that swept over me intensely for 2 days. Or 3. And it happened this week.

*Once in a long while, I wish I live alone*

This is a nasty mean thought. I truly love my husband and boys with every fibre and cells in my body, but there are a few times I wish I'm just me. Just for a day. I'm afraid to say it because I don't want this wish to come true. But for just one day, I would like to spend the day being just me.

I don't have to rush home to my kids (think crazy traffic).

I get to choose what I want to have for dinner, whatever, whenever, wherever I want. A little fancy meal in town with a good book or a bowl of plain instant noodle in front of the TV.

I get to watch TV. Any channels I want, any movies I want, and how long I want to leave the TV on.

I get to go shopping after work.

And come home as late as I want.

I get to craft FOREVER.

I get to redecorate every room however I want.

I get to blast out classical music while I shower.

I get to sleep early if I want to.

These are now luxuries to me. I can only wait till the boys are much older I guess. I'm wondering if I'm preparing myself way in advance for the future that holds for me. Seriously, it is reality now for many women. My husband would be out playing golf for the rest of his life, my boys would live their own lives and be out of the house most of the time, and I would have all these luxuries then!

18 years countdown...

*deep breath* There, I've said it.

Crazy About the VW Campervan

Print by stefanierenee.


Printed moleskin notebook by rainydaystory.


Another cute print by christinamccall.


And this cute personalized wall name plaque by ShopLittles.


It gets better... These are portable speaker with AM/FM radio and clock made by Japanese folks Zumreed. AHHHHHHHRRRRRRRGGGH!! CANNOT TAHAN ALREADY!


I couldn't resist... I HAD to buy something VW camper bus! These 4 napkins are screenprinted by ohlittlerabbit.

PEACE Y'ALL!

Rawa Island Revisited!

I must say, after 3.5 years, Rawa beach hasn't changed! And it's a good thing. The sand is still powdery white, the shore is still azure and the facilities are well maintained, in fact there is a new little shop selling beachwear and other necessity, and a snorkel rental counter.

The jetty.
That mega orange slide is a new addition, but it's not complete yet. The smaller blue slide is still there. You slide from the jetty platform down to the sea. How awesome is that.


The entrance to the main facility; the restaurant. Food is second in priority here because all that playing in the beach makes you really hungry. The food is considerably good for a simple beach resort like this. Lunches are buffet style. They serve rice (but of course), an assortment of pasta, some finger food like nuggets and fries, fancier main dishes like beef stroganoff, chicken and mackerel in sauce names I can't remember because by then my eyes were already blinded by the white sand, ladies finger in sambal sauce (wah this one I like), fruits, local pandan cake, and many others. You play hard and eat hard. Saturday nights are BBQ nights.


Our beachfront chalet.


This unit comes with a double bed and single bed. The others have two single beds. Thank goodness I managed to get this one. The wall hanging sucks big time but who cares...


...because the view from the bed is LIKE.THIS.
Ok this picture not so good but you can imagine the view. OH.


Basic furniture. A dresser, two chairs we never sat on coz what's the point, the beach is out there! And a closet big enough to fit clothes for one month.


FACILITIES

The bar. Alcoholics welcomed here.


The ping pong table is still around. Good fun.


TV lounge area. The couches are pretty worn out but no big deal, the beach is beautiful. There is ASTRO so the boys could watch their cartoons at night.


Quite a number of picnic tables and benches along the beachfront area. And hammocks too, they are clean and NOT torn, and I find that amazing.


OK, get ready. THE BEACH!!











Just can't get enough.




Further along the beach. Another resort, more rugged and basic.



My boys having fun.










Darren is a wanderlust. He has the tendency to wander off by himself. He just keeps walking without looking back, and considering this is a safe beach, I find this so adorable. There he is, playing by himself.


The husband doing a single somersault dive. I never knew he could do this!


Under the jetty. Many folks hang around the shore close to the jetty because there are many fishes and small crabs there.


The father and son kayaking.


The swing in front of our chalet.




The resident peacock. We saw a white one too, absolutely stunning, but I couldn't take a picture in time.


The happy and contented beach lovers.


I am impressed how well maintained the beach and the facilities are. Didn't change much compared to our first Rawa Island trip back in October 2008. The only big difference was the tides. Back then, the tide went very low in the evening that it was impossible to swim. Now, the tide is pretty consistent. In the late evening, the tide went down just a little bit, and you can still swim. Now we know!

Definitely will go back!

For bookings, go here.

Stay-At-Home Mom

Josie, my trusty helper was back to her Philippines hometown for two weeks. So I got to be a stay-home mom. And I enjoyed it frankly speaking! It was such a fresh change and it felt fulfilling looking after my home and family. Morever it was the school holidays so, we went places too! Nowhere far and fancy, just nearby, here and there, and it was the best arrangement this way with a toddler in tow. We get to travel and yet get close to home. Short trips are less stressful and tiring! (next up, pictures of our little trips!)

While I was at home doing housewifey stuff, I started a list of things to make for my home. Crafter's disease, what can I say. And I managed to complete a few, so now I have 56 more projects to go. Yikes, better make that 5 to 6 instead. Pictures soon!

What Children Actually Want

Today, mothers are the busiest lot. Especially working mothers. In Singapore, kiasu parenting is real. My colleagues are considered mild I think. Their children go to piano AND violin classes, but because the children themselves are interested to learn. So far I have not met anyone who push their kids to enrichment classes. But Singaporean parents want their kids to learn and master at least one additional skill, be it music or art or sports. Fair enough.

While we work tirelessly to strive to be a better mother everyday, we forgot to stop and ask our kids how they are. It's something so simple yet easily forgettable. And then I came across this article by Erin Kurt who is a teacher. On every Mother's Day, she would ask her students things their mothers or guardians did to make them feel loved and happy. This assignment of 16 years drew the same conclusions. And these made me smile and tear up a bit because I am not doing these with Daniel as frequently as I used to since Darren came along, and I feel bad. This article just revived my mummy spirit! Here it is:

The Top Ten Things Kids Really Want Their Parents To Do With Them

1. Come into my bedroom at night, tuck me in and sing me a song. Also tell me stories about when you were little.
2. Give me hugs and kisses and sit and talk with me privately.
3. Spend quality time just with me, not with my brothers and sisters around.
4. Give me nutritious food so I can grow up healthy.
5. At dinner talk about what we could do together on the weekend.
6. At night talk to me about anything; love, school, family etc.
7. Let me play outside a lot.
8. Cuddle under a blanket and watch our favorite TV show together.
9. Discipline me. It makes me feel like you care.
10. Leave special messages in my desk or lunch bag.

Do you feel your heart tingling like mine right now?

The Little Things...

..are the ones that keep a happy marriage, happier.

Recently, we had kept little surprises in each other's car when we leave for work. I'd leave a cereal bar snack in his car when he's too busy or forgets to have his lunch, and this morning after a whole night of coughing, I saw a packet of Woods Lozenges tucked in my middle compartment as I was leaving home in the morning.

Sweetness.

Men have...

...penile advantage. It is a privilege boys are born with and will carry it for the rest of their lives. It's like a golden supreme VIP card for life. No application or renewal required. It is just automatic. ESPECIALLY in Asia. ESPECIALLY the generation before... this generation.

With this membership of the penile supremacy club, His Majesty will enjoy the following privileges and immunities:

1. Household care is not his core responsibility. If he does help out with some housechores, he is a Westerner, or they live in a Western country. Or it is to repay some spiritual karma he owes from his past lives. A man's place is not in the kitchen, unless he is Jamie Oliver or that hot sexy Anthony Bourdain.

2. Childcare involves mostly play, roughplay, tickleplay, holding the kid upside down, watching TV together and handing the kid a smartphone installed with many games. If he cleans up his baby's poop soiled butt, it is to repay some spiritual karma as well.

3. If he falls sick, he can rest and sleep all day in the room WITHOUT disturbances. And be served porridge and medication. On the contrary, if a mother falls sick, she still drags her body out of bed because the kids are incessantly harrassing her for this and that.

4. When planning for a trip, all he does is approve or disapprove. The wife will do the research, book the most ideal and cost-effective accomodation, arrange transportation, book flights, buy travel insurance and a map.

5. When travelling, he loads and unloads the packed luggages, and drive. If not driving, then he's just the bag boy. The wife will pack EVERYTHING in an organized manner, unpack upon arriving at destination, repack everything and unpack everything at home after the trip. Including the baby stuff.

6. When quarelling, he can just take off to have a drink with his friends at their favourite bar. He can confide in his friends or the bartender, or just chill and cool down. She, on the other hand, cannot just take off and leave her kids unattended, or the dishes unwashed in the sink. She would just have to bear with it, or release the anger fumes while doing the dishes and putting the kids to bed. And then fume more, when she's alone in bed while he is out drinking.

7. The corporate world out there. Nuff said.

How many of these are true?