It's her birthday!

My (not so) little one turns 7 today. Where did all the years fly to? She's really not a baby anymore. She has developed into a sweet, independent young lady, whom I can depend on to do tasks. She's always there to remind me of things that I might forget (see this mummy is getting old). She's there to take care of me when my feet hurt and she squeezes my hand tight when I am going down the stairs so I do not fall over.

I've never really had to worry about her, in terms of how she behaves or carries herself, and not that she's my precious one that's why I'm saying this, but most of her friends' mums who have watched her while I was busy, and she had to be in their care, have nothing but praise for her, that she's sensible and wise, and well-behaved. Even her teacher now says that she seemed shy the first time they met, and she can't believe that the girl is actually quite outspoken. I'm proud of her that she has shone in class and she is one of 4 'managers' picked by the teacher, well, to 'manage' the girls. Haha!

She has a love for languages and reading. For her age, I am amazed at her spelling skills, but I can't deny she's got her mummy's genes in that. I remember when I was in school, I was probably the best speller in class. I'm sure my classmates can attest to that. I used to be their 'dictionary' when they needed help in spelling a word. And I have absolutely no regrets in sending her to her previous kindy, where I feel had helped her develop her strong foundation in her mother tongue. I must remember, though, to speak more Mandarin to her. I find myself slackening in that department lately, since she started going to P1. Maybe it's just me psychologically, (or most convent girls can tell you that), it is uncool to speak Mandarin. Haha.

She loves art and craft and you can find her doodling every day without fail. I encourage her to draw a lot. And her drawings are really great too.

I know that even though she doesn't call me at recess, she actually misses me a lot in the time we are apart, for in the last couple of days, her actions really speak louder than her words. She's more lovey, always wanting to hold hands and even last night when she was going to sleep, she lay her head on my arm and asked if I was sick (I don't allow her to come near me when I am ill).
I said I wasn't, and she planted a big kiss on my lips. How sweet and touching is that.

However, I need to learn to let go now, not by choice, but really, I can't, anymore, be a part of her school life, can't peek through the viewing room (unlike in her kindy) where I could watch her in class, interacting with her classmates and teachers. It's a part of her growing up, that unfortunately, I won't be able to witness. I wish I could be a fly on the wall and follow her around in class, not to keep an eye on her, but rather to not be shut out from that world of hers.

I'm really proud of my little lady and of all the things that she has achieved to date, and I wish her all the best in life, and may she continue to blossom beautifully.

Happy birthday my dearest darling. Have a wonderful day, and remember that mummy loves you always. May God bless you and may your guardian angel watch over you in all that you do.

A very happy birthday to princess' godma too. Have a blast, KY, and cheers to many more years of wonderful friendship. I'm glad that you are in my life, through all the ups and downs, and I love you!

Birthday celebration in school + Bento #4

We made some chocolate-covered strawberries for the girls in class this morning, thus was really busy. Made some pancakes for her bento as well.

I don't know if they usually allow kids to celebrate their birthdays in school, but instead of a cake, I decided strawberries were healthier and they would really like the chocolate part of it. It also wouldn't be as messy. This was a last minute thing which I only thought of yesterday, thus made do with whatever chocolate chips I had in the fridge, melted them, and dipped almost two cartons of strawberries, which I picked up with KY, at Giant last Sunday. Imagine $2.95 for a punnet of Korean ones and I only saw them on offer at Vivo. When I went to IMM the day after, Giant there was selling them at $5plus. I also packed goody bags for them but didn't take a photo.

I am told that, every day, the girls are curious to see what's in princess' bentos, so she's really proud of that, but it still doesn't change her mind about catered food. I gave her simple ready stuff today, but I think it was too little as she didn't have her lunch, but it's ok, hubby is taking us out to a sushi dinner soon. :D

She had mini pancakes, cherry tomatoes, blueberries and cheese cubes.

Ah huh, princess had a goody bag too, so I'm able to take a photo of what was in it. Most of the sweeties are gone though...

I really couldn't resist the Cinnamoroll pencil cases from Daiso, and actually went to a few outlets to scout for them. Thanks also to KY for helping me with this task. I initially had to contend with only half the class getting them and the other half getting bags but just the day before sending them to school, the kind lady at Daiso called me up with good news that the cases were in! Now, everyone would have the same. :D You can tell I'm a Sanrio fan through and through. And it was something I discovered in primary school when I would save up my money to go across to MPH and buy a little hankerchief, or a pencil cap, or just little stuff. I'm glad that Daiso has made it very affordable, although they have limited stuff. Once in a while, I still indulge in them at the Sanrio outlet at Taka.

Primary School + Bento #1, 2, 3

My baby is all grown up. Sob sob. She started her formal primary education on 2 Jan 2009. I can't for the life of me figure out why the Ministry has to begin a new school year on a Friday.

She got up at 9am on Friday and wanted immediately to put on her uniform. I'm told she wasn't the only one... seems it was a problem with the P1s in the afternoon session. Hehe!

I now have more hours to myself in the afternoon, but haven't had a real break yet. I think that will have to wait till next week when I have more time on my hands. This week has been filled with doctor visits, sending her to school, my own doc's appt etc. But I do feel I'm not so rushed for time and have more hours to play with. I have even started cooking dinner everyday, on top of preparing her bentos.

On the first day of school, they started classes at 2.30pm. That was a really nice gesture on the part of the school. It was only 4hrs, and princess felt it was too short. She couldn't wait to go the full 5-1/2hrs on Monday. That was a good start. A pity we weren't allowed near the classrooms or even in the hall to take photos. They must know what an exciting time it is for parents with kids going to primary school for the first time, so why deny us that joy.

When Monday rolled by, she asked me if I was happy that she was going to be away for so many hours during the day. I told her that I was going to miss her, and she said she would too. I told her she could call me up at recess. And she said she'd do that after having her snack. The first few days, they had their snacks just outside the classroom, but have since moved to the tuckshop as of yesterday. The tuckshop stalls aren't open in the afternoon so the kids either have to cater food from the school-appointed vendor, or else bring snacks from home. I chose the latter of course. Unfortunately, after the 3rd day, my girl requested that she be put on the catering programme in the 2nd semester. %l Oh well, guess she wants to belong to the majority. She says their food look really yummy. There goes mummy's creative bentos. :P

She has yet to call me during recess, and I don't expect her to. I am indeed happy that she has settled in so well, and thanks to KY & A, got to meet a friend from school at J's bbq. They see each other every day now, as little M will drop by to chat with princess and her classmate, J, who so happens to be M's best friend. Unfortunately they are not in the same class.

Here are some bentos that I have prepared for her thus far...

On the 3rd day of school, I fried some udon with ham, corn kernels, onion, and omelette, which I cut into strips, and topped it off with fishcakes her godma bought her. Aren't they very pretty? I always include fruits in all her bento boxes each day, and because Korean strawberries are plentiful now, she has them almost every day.

Hair is a total headache of mine, because it's short but yet not that short that she doesn't have to tie it up, so am really hoping her hair grows faster.

One of the hairstyles that I did. Need to document them so I can refer here for ideas. :)

Wednesday was a busy day for us as she had ballet class in the morning, which left me with little time to prepare anything for her. I bought some ready sushi and packed them in with some grapes. It was also kind of a late lunch for her as she had to rush through her lunch after coming back from class, so didn't eat a lot of it.

For today, I made her some chapati rolls with cheese sausages, and included some pineapple tarts (her favourite CNY cookie). Also some skewered fruits, as well as a snowman marshmallow and some sweeties she wanted to share with her friends.

As they have a photo session today for their Smart card (I'm not sure what that is, but I assume it's the bus passes), I had to tie her hair up neatly, and decided to braid them and put little ribbons at the end. Unfortunately the wind was very strong this afternoon, so hopefully it's not messed up too much.

Sick

I was down with a serious bout of tummy flu which started on Boxing Day morning and it lasted a week. The throwing up was so bad it was continuous at I had to get a jab from the doc to stop it that same afternoon. It did help but then a high fever developed for an entire night and thank God that hubby was on leave for that period so he could take care of me, the chores as well as the little girl. I was very weak and could hardly get out of bed. But 2 days after the fever stopped, I started having the runs, and till today, my tummy is still not fully recovered. But I'm more or less back to normal now, and have started preparing good bags for princess' classmates on Friday. I can't believe that she's turning 7 so soon, in less than a weeks' time.

Too long...

Wow, just looking at the date on my last posting... it's 18 Dec 08. Goodness, that is really a long time since I last updated. Well, a Happy New Year to you all. My apologies to those who have asked for recipes or details regarding caterers etc. I'll try to update those soon.

It was a really busy time the last 2 weeks of Dec, what with Christmas & the many play dates we had. There were two play dates at our place, with Princess' classmates from kindy, an art-themed one where the kids painted on canvases over at J's, and there was also a cookie decoration on over at a swimming class mum, M's, place. We had loads of fun. Every day was packed with activities. We wanted to spend as much time as possible with friends whom we won't get to meet so much now.

Mashed potatoes, salmon with bearnaise sauce, and baked chicken thighs.

Baby spinach & rocket salad, with persimmon, cherry tomatoes, dried blueberries & almond flakes, with a balsamic vinegar (courtesy of beau lotus) dressing.

We had a simple Christmas dinner this year, as always, with mum and sis in attendance. I didn't bake a turkey, no energy for that, but even though simple, mum still thought I put in too much effort into the prep. But really, I only started preparing for the dinner 2hrs' before it was due. The salad was easy to prepare, no cooking involved. The salmon too was quick. Only the chicken took a slightly longer time to bake. Oh yes, I did prepare an apple pie and served it with ice-cream, and the little flower biscuit hors d'oeuvres were filled with canned tuna mixed with some finely chopped onion.

Apple Pie

A friend, Jo, shared this apple pie recipe with me and I love it, especially the crumb topping.

I cheated with frozen pie crust like she did.

- About 4 Granny Smith apples (chopped or sliced)
- Mix apples with about 1 tablespoon of lemon juice

In a mixing bowl, mix together:
- 1/3 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup all purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- a little nutmeg if you like
Then mix apples into mixing bowl and mix together. Pour into pie crust.

For the crumble topping:
- 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup butter

Rub butter with fingertips into flour and sugar till mixture becomes crumbly and sprinkle over pie. Bake till pie has turned a brownish color at 350F.

It's Christmas

Is it Christmas already? I really wish time will go slower. I still have loads to do, cookies to be baked and sent out (very very late). Gosh, I don't even have time to think about Christmas. This year, I'm not going to bother myself with a Christmas dinner. Have not planned what to do yet, but princess has her heart set on one. She is telling grandma and I, that she is planning the dinner menu, and she mentioned stuff like turkey, pasta, sushi, fried rice (?????). What???? Oh, whatever!

Her mini Christmas tree - everything from Daiso. Oops, not the nativity scene though.

Instead of spraying snow, we used stickers this year. Love the gingerbread house and people.

I think I caught the decoration bug from KY this year. After visiting her house with all the lovely decor, I decided to do up mine with little touches as well. What have you done for Christmas?