Neigh

 

Isabel had a friend's birthday party to attend back in January (actually, there were 5 parties to attend back in January)

And I wanted to include something handmade into the gift.

The friend was horse crazy, according to her mother, so I made a barn-like stable to go with the pony she was getting.

 

Isabel pleaded with me to be allowed to play with it before having to wrap it up and head off to the party. It makes my heart warm when she is excited about something that I make, so I let her. 

 

It was adorable hearing her made-up conversations between her horses. 

The stable was made based on this dollhouse tutorial by UK lass in US . 

I did not follow the tutorial to the tee -- I was in a "wing it" mood and therefore glanced at the pictures and took it from there

The dimensions of the stable was increased to be able to fit the horse that it was made for, I used felt and cardboard, and the way I fitted the cardboard into the felt and secured it were....not conventional. 

The most fun portion of the project was in the details --- from the brooms to sweep the stable out, a pitchfork for spreading hay, to the individual stables inside.

I am very tempted to make a double story barn with window cutouts for Isabel

(so that the horses would actually be able to look outside, rather than staring dumbly at a blank wall -- although now I am talking about a toy being able to see, which may be a different set of problems altogether)

Joy

I had a very nice surprise waiting for me in my mailbox this weekend. 

(Well...technically, it was waiting in the post office. And has been so for the past two weeks. Hadn't had a chance to pop into the post office until now) 

Thank you very, very much, dear cousin!

I'm afraid that I almost started weeping when I flipped it open, and had to walk away to compose myself before continuing --   

This is my favorite picture in the calendar...

  

Followed by February

 

I miss my family

 

Happy Valentine's Day!

One of the activities that Isabel and I did over the past weekend when we were snowbound (besides lots of shoveling and long soaks in the tub) was crafting Valentine cards for her little friends at school

 

I decorated some, she decorated most.

The girls got lollipop butterflies (based on this) the boys got crappily made hearts (because it was Wednesday night when I finally got around to making those, and I was tired of churning up the same thing over and over again)

   

And the teachers got little bee cards with a Burt's Bee lip balm based on the idea found here 

Because my printer is broken, I did not have the option of just printing off those cards, but it was more fun to hand draw/decorate it anyway (albeit not quite as pretty)

Happy Valentine's Day!

 

 Isabel with her V-day haul =)

 

Happy Chinese New Year

A wish for us to you...

This is what's happening on my side of the world on this holiday

 

A far cry from the heat that usually accompanies CNY celebrations back home

Our "reunion" dinner --

 

I remember having rice and chinese sausages (along with other dishes) on the morning of the first day of Chinese New Year at my grandmother's house with all of my mother's siblings and their families prior to other extended family members arriving for their CNY visits. Then it is pretty much house-hopping for the rest of the week or so.

Our dinner for tonight -- an odd one to be sure, to celebrate, but it's a lot better than instant noodles, yah? (although I do love my indomie). My second attempt at a roast chicken, and my first attempt at gravy....yumm..the gravy.....

Isabel's first experience of eating a chicken off the bone

Still figuring out how it works...

Yummy, she says!

 

Still wish we were back though.

Perhaps next year. 

Ob-sessed

I have a thing for the ballet. The dances, the dancers, the poise, the grace.

I wish I had been able to go for ballet classes when I was a kid.
Therefore, you bet that I am living vicariously through Isabel. =)

I have been looking for art for the house and have been obsessed with the following --

 

I keep going back to the artist's etsy shop to look and hem and haw....

   

Aren't they gorgeous?! 

Why It Is Difficult

I am fortunate enough to be able to work from the comfort of my home at least once a week. 

However, there are times where it gets trying... 

Kid 1: 

 

"Kid" 2: 

Melly the dog starts out innocently enough by lounging around on the floor next to me...

 

Then she starts to feel forsaken and pokes her nose up to get attention...

And inevitably, to ensure that I am aware of her existance....she will try to hop onto my chair. And will proceed to lay there until I cramp up and push her down again.

 

 This whole household is mad. 

Orange

Stimulating conversations that occur in this household =)

 I was impressed that she knew how to peel an orange (a clementine, really) by herself.

At 1:26, it cracks me up when she holds her hand up

(I sound funny on video)

Christmas

 

Cards were sent out, but I got pretty carried away with practicing my calligraphy...so there may be some that went undelivered because the postman may not have been able to read it... 

 

Whoops? 

 

In any case, Merry Christmas from my little family to yours 

Christmas Countdown: Dominic the Donkey

Christmas Countdown: 5 Little Cookies

Christmas Countdown: O' Christmas Tree

It's The Holiday Season...

The Christmas tree is up...

The Christmas cards have been sent out

The "mass" gifts have been bought, customized, wrapped and distributed...

The festive gear has been donned...

 

And we have sweet treats to both make....

And gorge eat...

And new traditions were made...

 

Can't believe that Christmas is 4 days away

   

 

Circle Time!

September 2010

She just got that watch from the Bangsar pasar malam and she was fascinated that "Barney in there" and would sing the Barney song when she looked at the watch.

More of KL

Missing home and the company it provides...

It was nice to have a social life and the feeling of companionship again...

Where else can I get submerged in a game of gin rummy while my daughter is otherwise occupied by piggyback rides?

Although I'm not sure if Granduncle Steven needed painkillers the next day....

Also miss having shopping companions...

 

And other willing taste-testers of newfangled concoctions...mmmm....mango-pomelo-milk thing....

Kitty Kat Sharing...

She was trying to convince me to share the candy that she gave me -- notice that she already has a Hershey in her hand -- no mention on sharing that one with me!

 Kitty-kat = Kit Kat

p/s: ignore the mess in the background please...I was cleaning out the pantry closet...

Memories

When I was going through my pictures to find the Halloween ones, I naturally came across others that I have forgotten about

First Christmas - it is rare that I have a picture with Isabel even back then

Possibly my most favorite picture of her...she was probably around 9 months?

 

I remember taking this picture when she saw I was snacking on something and immediately came scooting over to check it out in hopes of getting a bite...

 

Or perhaps this one is, when she is younger --- ? 

 

Drooly, baby face ---- I could gobble her up!

And a startling discovery --- I've taken barely 500 pictures with my real camera since October of last year. And majority of those pictures are not related to Isabel. 

I shall have to rectify that. 

 

Halloween - Through the Years

Every year, Isabel's daycare will host a Halloween parade, featuring costumes that the teachers make for the whole class.

This year, Isabel's class went as robots

This is the last time that Isabel will be participating in this parade...because next year, she'll be in kindergarten.

Feeling sentimental, I went through my archives and dug up old pictures from all the past parades -

Halloween 2011 -- not quite sure what they are....NASCAR drivers?

 Halloween 2010 - bag full of jellybeans! Probably my favorite costume --- look at those cheeks!

She actually didn't get to attend the Halloween parade in 2009, which would be her very first Halloween -- we were in DC to attend my granduncle's funeral. 

So here's the personal costume that I bought instead for her first year of trick or treating

 

Oh, my baby. I miss the days when she was a baby. 

Because she was A.DO.RA.BLE!! 

 

Natural Disasters and Such

There are times when I question more times than I usually do about why I am living in this particular region.

Within a week this past month, we've experienced a hurricane, and then a bad snowstorm.

Power went out both times.

Morning after Sandy. Dawn to a new day - there is to be light after the darkness

But, came out feeling thankful that it wasn't worse than it was (actually, remarkable blessed that all I had was power outage -- heck...that just meant that I had a day off work =D)

House in the neighborhood that had a tree resting on it, thanks to Sandy

So here's how we entertained ourselves in the dark with the aid of a torchlight that my former husband kindly provided (since his house kept its power...#@$!$%)

We painted pumpkins

We built "Momma and Izzy" snowpeople 

(the snow was fantastic for snowman building, I have to say)

And we petted and cuddled Melly - who was brought home 1 day before Sandy hit

And if I wasn't counting my blessings enough after finally arriving home safe and sound from an awful, awful drive home in the snow...

(2 detours due to cars spinning out, fishtailing in the roads because my car does horrendous in the snow, and having to have my neighbor pull my car up into the driveway for me because I couldn't get it in due to the incline and the snow and the fact that another neighbor insisted on parking 2 inches away from my driveway)

I had this waiting for me on the doorstep...

 

A box full of persimmons from my aunt in CA - which Isabel devoured.

 

 

Blessed indeed.

Thank you to all who's reached out to us during this time to check on us. 

Love to all of you.