Tim loves this and so do I. It is the Japanese Green soy bean called Edamame. I got a pack from Jusco and I usually steam it when I want some snacks to chew on. Another great snack that my family has is sweet corn. Tim and Emily love getting those little corns out from the cob. It is another healthy way to snack. It is definately better than fries, chips or sweets.

Now Emily discovered prunes from SunSweet. After she takes it, her stool becomes soft.

I remembered Emily didn’t want to wear any dresses. She preferred wearing tees and pants/shorts. She didn’t want anyone to tie her hair or put clips on it. She will pull everything down.

Now she is totally changed, every week when we go to church she wants to put on her lovely dresses. By the way, Jess can sew very pretty dresses. If you have a gal, go to her website to have a look. I got some from her.

The other day, she was playing with the Barbie doll that I purchased when she was 2. She didn’t know how to play then and it was on sale. She saw some a small packet of plastic and she asked me what it was. I told her that it was to make the nails pretty. At that instance, she demanded I made her nails pretty. Girls are always girls. Look.

Anyway, she ask me to buy her a princess gown. I wonder which ball she is invited to.

Tim is a fan of mooncake, fortunately it is once a year kind of festival. The way Tim eats mooncake, I probably will go bankrupt soon. He can finished one mooncake all by himself. Mooncakes are not what it used to be. I am still a fan of the traditional mooncakes. Now mooncakes comes in many colors and very costly. I remember I used to buy it for half the price.

A few weeks back, I was shopping at Jusco with Tim and Emily. Tim saw mooncakes and his eyes were big. He kept asking me to buy. I asked him what he wants as there are so many types to choose from. In Jusco, the mooncake’s stalls were setup in rows. Each brand has a menu. Tim picked up the menu and scanned through. He went to the next and the next because he couldn’t find what he wanted. Finally found one stall which have his type but the promoter was nowhere to be found. He was very upset.

He went to another stall to scan the menu again. After the third stall, he found another of his choice. However, the promoter said that it ran out of stock. Tim was frustrated. By now he scanned through all the stalls but none avail. Anyway we waited for the MIA promoter to return, she did and Tim was happy.

As for Emily, she told me that she wanted the purple yam mooncake and got what she wants. Simple. Now guess what mooncake Tim wanted? I think only 2 brands has it.

Tim was looking for is the dragon fruit mooncake, dark pink in the inside.

I read an article in a health magazine stating that statistics show that after having children, parents reduce the time for exercise. Many will abandon their exercise program due to limited time and fatigue after taking care of their young ones.

It is so true. I am not blaming my children for lack of exercise but my poor time management. I have lots to do but little time spent on exercise. I remembered that I used to go hiking up the Bukit Jambul hill after work. Now I am not sure whether I have the stamina to do that. I need to set aside time for exercise. A good tip is to bring the children along for exercise. It will be fun like walk in the park, play some football kicking and go for a run with the children.

Next thing that the children may cause us to be unhealthy would be encouraging us to eat in fast food chain. Fast food is usually high in carbohydrate, sugar and fat. It is also unhealthy for the children. Most of the time, my children like to go there because of the toy. Maybe I should psycho them in giving them a toy, if they finished their vegetables. :giggles:

Of course there are the junk foods, the ice-cream, the cheese cakes, carbonated drinks and the list goes on.

Lastly, for some it is the baby fat that is hard to get rid off after having children. Let me tell you that most people have the wrong concept that pregnant woman needs to eat for 2. However the doctor will advise you otherwise. But who can resist the cravings that are caused by our hormones? The secret in getting rid of those baby fat and you don’t even need to go for those expensive sliming or diet or what not program is breastfeeding. Ask any breastfeeding mom, they will attest to it.

Do you think your children have made you unhealthy? Share it in the comment box.

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I spotted that my electricity bill has gone up and price also went up.

Previously: First 200 units are 0.218 per unit. Above 200 units is 0.289 per unit. Not sure what is the ceiling because we never reach it.

Now: First 500 units are 0.3 per unit. Above 500 units is 0.39 per unit.

That is about 38% increase for first 200 units. That’s a lot!

Hrmm…everything is costly now. I told my children that everyone sleeps in the same room so that we only utilize 1 air condition at night instead of 2. My children were so excited and happy to be able to sleep with papa and mummy. My hubby said that they woke up happier too and for Emily, less moody in the morning.

It is good to have the children sleep together with us. One of my friends said when the children grew older, they probably don’t want to do that. How true, so enjoyed it while I can. They are able to sleep in their own room, if they want too. In addition my family can conserved energy too.

Let’s see what my electricity bill like for next month.

One day Emily returned home after going out with her papa. She shouted.

Emily: Mummy! Mummy!
Mummy: I am in here, honey.
Emily: I have something for you. *all excited*
Mummy: What is it? *all excited too*

She showed me what she got and here it is. Nice a not?

Sometimes she will pluck flowers for me. Isn’t she sweet?

Last Saturday, Tim and her school had an open day for parents and teachers to meet and talk about the progress of the children. For Emily, she excels in everything she does. However she needs to improve her “moodiness”. As for Tim, he has improved in everything.

I also learned that Emily is the school principal assistance. Her principal told me that she knows who is who and she also knows what class the children is in. See how kepoh she can be. She helps the principal to send messages and do things for her. I am so proud of her.

Yeap many of you were correct, Tim drew the one of the Olympic Mascots, Jingjing – bring smiles to children. He got the toy from McDonalds. Today is the Beijing Olympic 2008 opening day. It also falls on 080808. Anyway what is supposed to happen on 080808? People getting married? People delivering babies? For me, it is just another working day.

I heard from my Beijing counterparts that the site decided to shutdown and request workers to work from home. How nice. I guess it is to reduce traffic congestion on the road. After all, it is a grand day for Beijing.

By the way, the opening ceremony for Beijing Olympic will be @ 8pm on 08/08/08 Beijing time. If I see another 8, I will go crazy! Talk about auspicious who can beat us Chinese.

Tell me what you are doing on 08/08/08?

Someone just send me this, we know what some people will do….Get Themselves Stuck.

You all know Tim loves drawing. Now whatever he draws, he will paste it onto the wall of the stair case using tape. It is like his mini art gallery. Most of his recent drawings are on Transformers. Sometimes he tried to duplicate flyers or something he sees.

Guess what is this?

Early morning as I was rushing out of the house, I was greeted by something strange. Usually I will wear my shoes with my half foot in and fix it when I am in the car. As I was fixing my shoes, my toes felt a little wet and cold. Now my shoes didn’t look wet. I pull out my foot. Suddenly something jump out, it was a small dark looking toad.

My hubby helped me to catch it by hand and threw it back into our garden. It felt funny, it must been looking for his princess in my shoes. Fortunately I am not frightened by it but it did give me a chill up my spine when it jumped out. At first I thought it was a dead big bug. Lesson learnt, always dust out my shoes before wearing.

I promised that I will blog again about Emily Yamaha JMC, for those parents who are interested in sending the child to music class. Emily has been going to JMC for over 3 months now and she is slowly learning how to play the keyboard, recognizing the different notes and singing in tune.

For the first few classes, the children were taught how to recognize the music notes. In the DVD, there are songs that are focus on Do, Do Re Me, Do Re Me Fa and Do Re Me Fa So. I must say that the melodies are very catchy and easy to listen. There was a piece that is called “Roller Coaster” and in the music, there were a series of Do. Then another piece that is called “Elephant” that focus on Do Re Do. It is a fun way to teach children music.

The teacher also taught the children to sing in notes like:

Twinkle Twinkle Little Star:
do do so so la la so
fa fa me me re re do
so so fa fa me me re
so so fa fa me me re
do do so so la la so
fa fa me me re re do

Hot Cross Bun
Hot cross bun, hot cross bun
Warm and yummy hot cross bun
me re do me re do
do do re re me re do

And of course after recognizing the notes, they get to play the keyboard with their little fingers. Emily fingers are still very small, so she need to stretch a bit to play the note So. Right hand, right thumb on Do and last finger on So.

At the end of the day, it takes a lot of practice to master it. It is not just robotic playing but it has to be played from the heart. That is when it makes sweet melody.

By the way, I got her a free keyboard. Why free? It was from my project recognition reward.