He's 4 days into...

enjoying his brand new bed....& new quilt & beddings, and now he likes to tuck himself to bed each night after tucking his bear in first. Being in a baby cot for exactly 3 years & 1 month, Kay was thrilled to be getting a new bed, and one which was a gift from my colleague in Malaysia, and when we first laid eyes on this new bed last Saturday, we're blown away by its bright colours, and best part of it...it's a "train bed" to Kay, and to mummy, it totally matches the Ikea bedsheets we bought a week earlier before the bed arrives, and not knowing what type of kids design was on the bed, or even the colour which it's going to be in untill the final review.



With the removal of his baby cot, it also means more space for him to do stuff he likes drawing on his "teacher board" which he calls it, and a super great gift (Crayola Art Studio Easel from Uncle Yixi & Aunt Jianxi on his 3rd birthday) for kids of his age. So with this play corner of his, he is now spending more time either playing with his fleet of cars, or be building blocks with us, or read and great thing about it is that both me & jayce fits comfortable within his play area.

Here's me sneaking behind him on Sunday to just take a quick shot while he's reading.....

And here's a quick post of my earlier canvas gift to my brother which i didn't get the time to take a photo of till last weekend....i'm definitely dollies crazy cause you can always find them in my LO's.

And i'm determined to start using up older scrap supplies, using a litte from American Craft "Blue Skies" series in my latest LO, and my current favourite - misting using recycles chipboard alpha packaging & i tresure & use like precious these Scenic Route (their no longer around anymore) lettering sticker fonts (got them in both white & black).

Title: Hello

So how's mid week so far for you?

This Lil One....

* is one with 2 very distinct characters

* fiercely guards his independence

* totally dislikes the camera, and to get such a shot, i count myself lucky

* is a mini version of me as Jayce would always say cause he sounds & acts so much like me

* is a total sweet heart, and would say things that melt my heart always. He just said to me this morning "mummy you good boy"...while hugging my head, and gave me pecks of kisses on my forehead....

* loves to sing and dance (& during bedtime me & him would have our very own mini concert in the dark with daddy being the only member of the audience, and it doesn't matter how horribly out of tune both of us were)

* is into building blocks

* has his moods, and what he does or likes to do all depends on his mood of the day



I have my trying times with him whereby i would be thinking "what more can i do" for this lil boy to get him to be a little bit more of everything i wish for in a good kid, but after all he's my 3 year old, and the more we expect out of them, we often find ourselves disappointed. So life goes with me doing my best each day to bring him up the best way I can, see the good part of him cause he's an angel after all, and he's been truly the best thing ever for me. He's healthy, happy, and have this heap of love from everyone in the family, so what more can i ask for? My dad always say to me "Kay's only 3 years old, and you've got to know what's this lil 3 year ol thinking about", he's not really going to understand everything at one time.

Moving on to the scrapping front, this was the sight of my scrap desk as of this morning....still sorting, and definitely working on something new for my lil guy till about 3am this morning...

Yes it's tuesday, and it's another 3 more days before my weekend arrives cause it's starting as of Friday for me this week. So a good long weekend for me, and a much longer one for Kay cause it's Youth day holiday , and he's off from school again next monday. I wish i was a kid again....

Feeling all well rested

Feels good to know that my mind is not as cluttered as last week, feeling more alive maybe because whatever challenging happended last week stays in the past, and I'm all ready to have a great new week ahead.

School's re-open today for Kaylen, and being one who loves school, he even't said to me this morning that he isn't going to grams place today, but straight to school....I had the chance to drop him to school today, and like my everyday, I'm happy that sometimes if time permits, I get to spend that extra half hour or more fetching him & dropping him to school, so good to just get Kaylen into my daily work system, and even if it's just a glimpse, I'm one happy person. This is how much it means to just be with him.

With school holidays over, I'm thrilled to still be seeing these photos taken by his good ol' Uncle Yixi at the Singapore Art Museum last friday....from the photos you can tell just how much he enjoyed being there...

He's in Walther's Garden (without a doubt hopping up & down), and having just pure fun with these what i call "five stone" pillows....



These cute lil green veggie monsters I call them (i love giving names to everything I see)....kay didn't really like them cause he's never a fan of anything monsters...

With his all time favourite animal - the PANDA!!! The only time he is so willing to pose for us....

In the lovely enchanted forest, and i must say, even us adults were captivated with the fantastic sight....

His colouring of the paper butterflies... he's a total "neat colourer" i call him...very stingy with the crayons...hmmm

He loves this interactive art the most....totally hands on with diverting of "water"

And him walking through this field of daisies, and they grow back much after you've done walking through them, and you know what Kay said "i'm the cut grass uncle"....wahahaha...

So if you have the time, go visit SAM at 8Q cause the Children's Garden is on from now till 18th July. A good thing for the lil ones....they might not understand the work yet or appreciate them, it's the exposure & how much it stimulates their senses.

Gotten sometime over the weekend to also organise my scrap supplies, and even if i'm not totally done with it yet, I manage to rest my mind of anything creative or scrappy since last week, and i tell you even when I'm not scrapping anything for most of last week, it was hard to really keep away. Even if it's just organising and sorting the scrap supplies, it made me happy. I attempted some scrapping only yesterday, n i had fun with these simple LO's.

This piece was a re-do piece cause I just had to take an earlier LO apart cause i wasn't doing justice to the photo since my mood was lousy last week, and was lousy got the better of me when I scrapped the photo....so here's another go at this photo..simple, totally green, and i like it's simplicity of it...

Title: This Day

And the 2nd LO, worked on a grid type of format (i love doing grid like layouts), and i like how soothing the latest range of October Afternoon papers go so well with this photo of Kay....i'm never too far away from flowers though and you'll find them always in Kay's LO for sure...that's me i guess..

Title: Hi Gorgeous

To a wonderful start of the week...here i come!!

An Arty Experience

It's the Children's Season at the Singapore Art Museum (SAM at 8Q), we went for it this morning, being Kay's very 1st exposure to artworks in various kinds, it's certainly an eye opening experience for him, and he even had a butterfly which he coloured with his name on it, & stuck on a particular corner of that wall. All that sensory experience since it involves interactive art. For me, it's my 1st time at the musuem, and I ending up with an environmentally friendly sort of bag with that cute bunny named "walther" on it as a sourvenir. I'm sure this won't be Kay's last interaction with such contemporary art. Will post his arty experience photos next week.

Thanks Pooi for the recommendation, we had a ball of a time there!!

It's countdown to the weekends, and yup we're looking forward to tomorrow as Kay's going to be getting his new bed and away with the baby cot bed after spending 3 years sleeping in it, a new blankie he calls it (a.k.a a quilt, & his very 1st one), and we're hoping he would like his new bed frame cause it's been with us for more than 1 year as a gift from one of my collegues who's relative makes kids beds & furnitures in Malaysia, and we've not taken a peek at what the design is, so we'll see it only tomorrow when Jayce puts it up together. While daddy's doing that, me & Kay will be out of the home, a bus/mrt trip to town, couple hours at ION with my mom & friend of ours for lunch, and this would be the very 2nd time where it's just us without daddy, and this time I'm not driving. So hoping for good weather, and a very well behaved 3 year old tomorrow.

Enjoy your weekends!

Friends are like....

* your "other half" where they complement you in so many ways

*ones who love you for who you are

*rainbows, bright, beautiful and you feel a smile when they appear

*angels following you through your life

And thanks G for all those and how much I appreciate her presence whenever we meet, or chat or even just sms. She's definitely a special one who's close to my heart, and bringing so much into our friendship (soon to be 1 year since I've known her), surely not long, but it feels like I've known her for a super long time. She's honest, and speaks her mind, and I'm thankful that she's always managed to bring some sense into what's reality for me.

She's made my day yesterday so much more lighter even if it means seeing her for about an hour over at Coffeebean, just eat & drink ,and chat non stop. She's always making and giving me the sweetest stuff....and aint they pretty, how can you still be feeling horrid when you see these....Thanks G for all these happy happy stuff, and for just sitting and listening to me yak non stop yesterday.

This pretty little album sits now in front of my work desk, and i take peeks at it to remind myself....

Certainly i must say that my recent horrid mood does rub off on my layouts, and G's manage to even see it that i had a hard time trying to complete my recent LO's, and this is a wake up call to why i scrap in the first place. Not out of any deadline to rush, or being up to date with my photos & scrap work, i almost lost that particular reason why this hobby is my love from the start. I guess i just have too many things in my mind lately to see through, the piles of photos & supplies to work with, and having to even stare for the longest time for just 1 part of the LO, so there it is for me. No more scrapping till I'm ready, organised with the scrap supplies, and just take my time.

So for tomorrow, I made a very last minute decision to be on half day leave to bring Kay to this fun looking place....all thanks to Pooi, she's certainly so good with where to bring her lil one....Singapore Art Museum and their latest Children's Season, here we come to their magical art garden with so much inspirational artworks of nature!!!

Be back with more photos!!.

They're out....

Photos that will always put a smile on my face anytime. Wedding photos to be exact, and not of any one, but of my brother. Everything perfect at their happy occasion, and to me, meaning yipee more photos to be scrapping for this lovely couple cause I'm still not anywhere near to starting their wedding mini album.

So here are some to start with....

*love my sis-in-law's colour choice of her hand bouquet



*looking totally beautiful on her very special day

* a very smart looking wedding entourage for my bro...especially when you have BFF who are girls

*a chic 2 seater BMW for your own drive

*the happy couple

*the rings

*any & everything around scrapbooking

* a very super tired looking lil guy at the end of the dinner. See the "i try to smile but i can't" face.

* and how cool is it that we've our photo with G & M, she's a doll and terribly sweet couple, and we've got this short chance to actually catch up at the wedding dinner even when I'm sent flying from one place to another throughout the whole dinner

I'm off now to meet G, haven't seen her for about 1 month....so here's to all the catching up I need to do....

Living it Real...

I envy, I wish of so many things in life, and truly I've lived my life always wanting to do what's right & best for my family. Somehow, I know there would be challenges that I'll be facing with from time to time, issues that i can't seem to solve, and taking a look at my life right now, it is alright to just live it as real as it gets for me.

* returning home to a messy living room where the pillows will be laying on the floor instead of where they are suppose to be, and likely a glass left over from the night before. It's still going to be alright.
* toys laying all over the place, and chances of me finding Kay's motorcycle in the walkway into the kitchen. It's still going to be alright
*beds that are unmade. It's still going to be alright
*piling up of the laundry to be taken care of both unwashed & washed. It's still going to be alright
*my scrap desk looking as if Hurricane Katrina had just came by. Still it's going to be alright.
* thinking that i'm behind time on scrapping up to date photos, and the rule of taking at least photos for Kay once a month. Still it's going to be alright.
*dishes that had been dried since 1 week ago but not kept in the cupboards.
*that Jayce is definitely a better housekeeper than I am, no doubts about that. Still it's alright.
*Not knowing at times how to handle Kay and his tantrums and moods as he grows up so tremendously quick, and wanting so bad for him to figure out that there are certain codes of conduct. It's still going to be alright just as long as we keep him inline.
*wanting to do more for Kay, and what's best for him, and yes it does mean having others to discipline him for me. It's still going to be alright.
*finding a consensus with Jayce on how we want Kay to be brought up, and having different views & disagreements. It's still going to be alright.
* working through issues at work, at times it seems like we're fighting this war, it gets to me mentally & totally drains me out. It's still going to be alright.

I certainly have a thing about doing stuff in my life to their best, wanting everything in our home to be organised, neat, wanting to have a balance in my work & everyday life, and certainly facing the fact that once things don't go according to what I've planned, it will definitely irk me, but still it's going to be alright.

I'm living life like i'm on a tight rope, no flexibility, and i happen also unintentionally rub off this tightness in life to people around me especially my dear hubby. It sometimes take me life moments to wake me a little, and see cause i'm just too busy with the everyday just going through it just like this.

So Yin Wen, a post to myself as a reminder that i have to relax, loosen my grip on things or ideals for what's life suppose to be from my point of view, and constantly tell myself that it's not end of the world if something is not done, it's just going to be alright.

It's alright that I'm not going to be finished scrapping one too many lovely photos of Kay's last month birthday picnic any time soon, & my love for scrapbooking is totally a nutty affair (jayce loves to say i've this thing for paper), or obssessed. So here's the latest....

Title: This Day

Materials:

Patterened Paper: October Afternoon, Pink Paislee (The Scrapbook Carton)

Fancy Pants "Wishful" (thanks Pooi for making this range of paper look so yummy that

i had to get my hands on them)

Cork pieces : Pink Paislee (The Scrapbook Carton)

Rub on: Jenni Bowlin

Tape: Washi Tape, Pink Paislee

Resin frames: Melissa France (The Scrapbook Carton)

Stickers: Heidi Swapp, Making Memories

Letters: Webster Pages

Title: My 3 Year Old

Materials:

Patterened Paper: My Mind Eyes,

American Craft "Dear Lizzy" (The Scrapbook Carton)

Metal key: Tattered Angels

Letter: Jenni Bowlin, American Craft

That's life for you, mine in particular :)

Happy Tuesday!!

It's going to be a "Bolt" week

I'm declaring it in our household this week that it's a definite Bolt Week for us and as i speak, I've watched this about 10 times already within just a few days. Oh yes, and more to come since I've been treated with half a Bolt session this morning alone.....

We're slowly turning into characters in the movie when I hear Kay say that he's Bolt, I'm Penny, and guess who's Jayce suppose to be....Rhino the Hamster wahahaha....He dances to the song by Miley Cyrus & John Travolta each time it's played, and yes it's a very nice song cause i even found myself humming along with it.

Kay's memorised to the stage as to when the villain motocycles would drop from the helicopter, to when there would be a loose tyre rolling about, to when the pigeons will apprear....he's also been asking between the movie "where's Penny?"

I know given another week into this Bolt Mania, this movie will be joining the likes of his favourite list of movies to watch like "KungFu Panda".

So to our week filled with nothing but Bolt movies, have a good one ahead you all!!!

This week...

Went through it just like this. It's literally like "what it's Friday again?". What can i say about this week? Life is busy as always , going through work at its busiest part with what seems to be endless meetings, discussions & plans for our new financial year. The fun part about this week was having a go at Universal Studio on Tuesday with my cousins & Jayce, and it's all good great fun cause i'm a sucker for rides (to think that we've actually gone on twice for the "Return of the Mummy's Ride, and had myself thrown left, right, up & down, and a huge bruise on my thigh to add...ouch!!! + being totally drenched in the Jurassic Park Lost World's ride). Was a good thing that Kay wasn't there cause all that waiting time, & the drizzle in the late morning, & following that the immense hot weather & the fact that most of the rides are not suitable for him yet, he's not really going to be enjoying himself. What's more important was the time spent with the 4 teenagers whom I use to hang out alot when their lots younger, and having them at my home at the weekends for movie night and sleepovers. Now i hardly get to spend quality time other then weekly dinners at grams where we see each other, but nothing like chatting for hours, enjoying the thrill rides, having a great grilled burger lunch and exchange conversations as how they're doing in school and in life. These are times that I've missed since a long way back. Kids when they grow up, they don't hang around as much cause they will have their own circle of friends, and no longer kids.

So this week was more tiring as it seems that age really caught up to the both of us cause Jayce had sore legs the following day after Universal Studio, and he wasn't so much a fan of rides (he felt really sick after the junior shrek ride, heard him literally give a squeal when we're in the midst of the Shrek 4D Movie, a twisted shoulder after the mummy ride cause the seats are a lil way to tiny for someone his size, so conclusion - he's really not a "ride kind of guy".

The rest of this week was just spent feeling real tired after each day at work, not going any where near my scrap desk (i've got a LO which is only 10% done, and it's just sitting there since Monday) cause i just felt empty in the creative department, so I'm not about to attempt any LO till i'm in the mood. I seriously need some help with inspiration.

So here's one which I did sometime back but didn't have time to show it for my pal - KY. It's of her precious lil girl - Val. Hope she'll like this simple 12x12" LO cause she has this wall which she places the LO's I've done for her in the past along side her creations.

Title: Daughter

So it's off to Father's Day celebration tonight at the latest - Fremantle Seafood Market, a newly opened joint at Clarke Quay, and yes I certainly miss Perth, and for sure Fremantle, and not to mention seafood platter...yums... We're booked for a place by the riverside tonight, and i love that i'm ending my week with this dinner with my family before heading for a good rest & some good ol time with Kay over the weekends. I miss my boy!

Hope you're all looking forward to the weekends...Enjoy!

There is something about the both of them...

My 2 boys share this special relationship between them. There are days where Jayce is called "daddy elephant", or "daddy scoop" or "student jayce", and at times i would hear Kay say "daddy you're a cat". There are also bad days between the both of them where i will hear Kay say " kay don't like daddy", "daddy sad sad face", or "daddy angry", and he would just pout & make a face, or stick his tongue out.

Honestly Jayce doesn't spend as much time as he wished he would with Kay. Daddy's always working very hard, and to Kay it's alright that daddy goes to work, and it's such that he's used to not seeing daddy as much. I hope as he grows up, he would know that despite daddy not being there all of the weekends, that daddy's doing everything for him to have a better life. This is the same exact thing my dad did too so that we could all have better lives , and yes it sure wasn't an easy road. We didn't see very much of our dad cause of the intensive overseas travel, but still we're close.

To Kay, daddy's his playtime buddy, but truly daddy's his protector in any situation, his handy man when it comes to getting toys fixed up, daddy's definitely "kill the bug" guy, "wear my night socks for me" guy and if you want me to name it....there's going to be loads. See even without Kay knowing that daddy's actually spending his every free minute looking out for him.

It's Father's Day approaching, and I created this LO for my very special guys, and it's a title which only they would know what it means to each other, and what they say to each other every day (i get my own mummy version too)....

Title: "Woof Woof Woof Daddy", "Meow Meow Meow Kaylen"

(it's i love you to each other)

To all daddys out there, a very Happy Father's Day!

It's short...

but certainly we had great fun. I know at least Kaylen enjoyed himself being at a new place, being at the waters again after more than 1 year cause our 1st attempt at the swimming pool failed terribly, and him ended up in tears.

He saw us packed our bags, and when i told him we're heading to Sentosa, he asked me "we go to the airport?", "we take the airplane"....wahahaha...

We're surely going to be back again....next time at Hard Rock Hotel (rooms are so much more contemporary & chic) cause we sort of prefer it over Festive Hotel though....(kay loves the loft beds)

Here's some photos taken from my digi cam.

Here's Kay at the beach & pool at Hard Rock Hotel (my parents got a room there, and we love the pool & the clean beach since Festive Hotel's swimming pool is not ready yet)

With daddy getting all hands on with the sand castle building (but truly Jayce was the one building all that sand castle while all Kay wanted was his bucket & spade and going else where....)

This was what he truly wanted to do & be....all alone in the middle of the waters, just scooping sand in & out of his bucket. He was at the same spot for a good 1/2 hour.

We just let him explore this element of water which he hated so much since young, and honestly speaking most of the lil ones loves water, loves swimming pools & beaches...but i so happen to have one lil one that doesn't like so much of this...initially even seeing this beautiful view of the pool & the beach he wanted me to carry him and hold on to his hand, and when we approached the sandy beach, he even asked "daddy, why you take off your shoe?" (which means he doesn't like even having his feet in the sand). So I'm certainly taking this slow with him and i'm glad today, he went as far as he felt comfortable and even to the extend that he didn't really want to get out.

It's back to work for me...and planning our trip next to Hort Park....