Random Bits and Bobs

Ever since Bubs started primary school, weekdays have been a blurry rush of beating peak time traffic, unpacking and repacking his school bag, cramming in some revision all while trying to cook dinner and do the laundry at the same time. Whew! I get tired even thinking of it. Bub's weakest subject is Bahasa Melayu so I usually scan his school books to have an idea of what the teacher has covered, jot down a quick vocab list to practise with him and also get him to do a page or two from workbooks. Sometimes Bubs will read a Malay picture book with Hubs and again, I quiz him on vocabulary. #TigerMum, hear me roar. 

So apart from school stuff, this is what we have been up to. I've said it again and again, Bubs is incredibly lucky to have grandparents that adore him and think that he can do no wrong. During the last school holidays, both sets of grandparents were squabbling over who got to look after him.

Meal planning has been such a time saver and sometimes on weekends, I pre-cook for the week ahead and store them in the freezer. This simple braised peanut dish is a favourite of mine as it makes for a tasty side dish to rice porridge. All you need, apart from the time required to slowly braising them, are peanuts (soaked for a few hours to soften them), star anise, cloves, cinnamon pieces, 5 spice powder, soy sauce, dash of oyster sauce and sugar to taste.

Taking some time out to smell the roses admire bonsais. My dad's friend has this amazing bonsai collection and each time I visit him, I am just in awe at how artistic he is in arranging the layout and the infinite care and patience he has in babying them. Look at how he packed soil and rocks on a very shallow tray and getting them to form a craggy mount for the bonsai to grow on.

Bubs has been trying his hand at short creative writing and at times, I don't know whether to laugh or cry at his attempts. In typical Bubs style, he rushes through his work to get it over with. For his imaginary pet monkey, he initially stopped after "it won't eat you", saw me arching an eyebrow at him and tapping at the paper, before wisely deciding to expand it just a bit more. Bubs, oh, Bubs ...

Art is one of his favourite classes so he was excited to do this cool fingerpainting art at home. We found it amusing that strong-willed Bubs was unusually insistent in following the art teacher's suggested composition, right down to the exact number of flowers ;)

And random scribbling to his heart's content. He's recently discovered the beauty of ink-based markers (more vibrant & bolder than colour pencils) and is obsessed with using them all the time.

Bub's Art

Recently Bubs likes to doodle random things on blank pieces of paper that he scavenges around the house. I've tried persuading him to document them all in an art journal but he refuses so whenever he leaves little drawings, I snap photos of them.

This was a superhero colouring book but he got bored with colouring it so he stuck the stickers on the blank side and started drawing his own version of them. Sooo cute and he's very proud of his artwork.

This is this other passion: sketches of robots. I've to admit, the frenzied glint in their eyes do have a certain charm to them ;)

He loves his Chalkapella tee which is the perfect canvas for his creations. Bubs is learning how to spell and his scribbles are sometimes so funny that we can't help but to snicker at them. He figured out the word "nite" by sounding it and asked if that's how to spell the Dark Knight. Technically he's right (or should I say rite?) so we left it as that. The other day, he told us that he wants to "meet a parrot, Mummy, M-E-A-T!"

And we're working on farewell gifts for his schoolmates for his last year at kindy.

All About Bubs

A round up of all the activities that Bubs have been enjoying for the past couple of weeks. Still in denial that he's going to be in primary school next year, where did all those years of clinging tightly to me, slipping that once chubby hand of his into mine, that sweet lilting voice go to?

My Dad is hates drawing attention to himself - so it's definitely love for his grandson that allows him to get over this to let Bubs sing Happy Birthday loudly in a restaurant complete with candle blowing and cutting the cake.

These Magna Tiles have been one of our best buys. They are insanely heavy and the closest place that stocks them in a retail outlet is Singapore so I have been relying on the kindness of some folks to cart back a few sets of the 32 piece ones for us. Bubs got frustrated with them when he was much younger because these are more fiddly than Lego but when his fine motor skills got better, he liked them more.

Houses and vehicles for his dolls action figures. I love eavesdropping whenever he plays with his toys, he puts on different (but always gruff) voices for each character.

He likes sketching colourful robots and ninjas.

His school has a list of birthday children in its monthly newsletter so we make birthday cards for each of them to practise his handwriting.

Crafting with cupcake liners. Thank you, Google, for being filled with so many cool ideas for us to borrow.

I don't know why it's taken me so long to try this sensory activity. I got a few packets of Daiso's water beads for plants and since I didn't use up all of them, I handed over a tub to Bubs with strict instructions not to eat them, a bowl of shaving cream, a bowl of ice cubes and some scoops. He had so much fun with them! These bounce like crazy on the floor so be careful not to drop them, they also break if you step on them plus the clear ones are virtually invisible once they get mixed into a tub of water.

Shaving Cream Marbling

This has to be one of Bub's most favourite craft in a while, so much that we've done it a few times now. It's a fantastic sensory plus fun experience.

You'll need:

• Watercolour paper (normal paper will get too soggy)
• Shaving cream (again, Tesco's my favourite because of the price)
• Liquid watercolours/food colouring
• Ruler
• Toothpick 

Start by squeezing shaving cream all over a tray or large dish.

Drop some of the watercolours into the shaving cream.

Use a toothpick to swirl them around. For some reason, it always reminds me of marbled cheesecake and I crave a slice or two at this point.

Carefully press the paper onto the coloured and swirled shaving cream.

Immediately scrape the shaving cream off the paper using a ruler.

You'll end up with a one of a kind marbled paper.

We used them as gift tags and bookmarks. It's coated slightly and drawing on them with markers is a bit difficult so we wrote lil notes on the back of them.

Paper Plate Fish Bowl

Much to everyone's amazement (mine included, hah!), our guppies are still alive and we've also managed to add in a couple of cherry red shrimp.



The aquatic plants and gravel are courtesy of work colleagues so all in all, this has been a very cost effective fish tank.

After much begging to bring the fish to kindy for show and tell and being firmly rejected, Bubs was placated with this paper plate version that he happily carted off to school with.

You'll need:

• Paper plate
• Felt or paper scraps
• Beans or pea gravel

I reminded Bubs that the ocean has many different shades of blue so he used a few different tones to colour the paper plate.

He then busied himself with sketching and colouring different fishes on some scrap paper. I helped him cut them out after he added details like eyes and scales. "Winkles, Mummy, they have winkles on their bodies!"

We made good use of the soybeans from his school's risshun festival and leftover felt to decorate the paper plate fish bowl.

His very own fish bowl :)

Marching Out

March has been such a whirlwind for us, there was a week long spring break plus work was incredibly hectic.

We took advantage of the sunny weather to arrange play dates outdoors as early as possible in the morning. Bubs and his chum had so much fun monkeying around at the Youth Park playground before dipping into the refreshingly cool wading pool.

This was at a friend's new place and for some reason, Bubs is absolutely terrific of water slides. He refuses to go down, no matter how much we try to cajole him.

We've had several new additions to our little family. Folks, I present to you ...

Swimmy, Sharky and Sucky - don't look at me, Bubs decided on the names for our guppies. A friend was so successful in breeding them that she gave us some baby guppies. I was in charge of decorating the aquarium, Bubs feeds them when he remembers and Hubs is in charge of sanitisation.

Hubs has been (literally) rolling out meatballs. He makes them fresh from mince and they taste amazing with pasta sauce. Bubs and I keep begging him to make extra to freeze for quick dinners.

I've probably shared this before: Bub's school has a bun making session weekly where the kids get to roll out the dough and add extras, like sunflower seeds and raisins. They draw on the brown paper bag and I love snapping photos of Bub's artwork. 

Speaking of school, they've started teaching Bubs some Chinese this year. Hubs and I find his writing to be so cute!

He's also showing an interest in sketching. My Mum thought that these were mice ;)

Plus, he has a "special" gal pal now at school :) They like to send each other love notes and it's so sweet!

Chalkapella

Aunt D gave Bubs the coolest gift: a Chalkapella t-shirt. This is such an amazing concept: a washable blackboard fabric surface printed on a white cotton tee. The secret lies within the box of chalks bundled with each tee; these are smudge proof and dustless so Bubs could chalk to his heart's content.

Plus, Chalkapella pledges to allocate 10% from its revenue to children in need, so you're only wearing a truly unique one of a kind tee but also putting a smile on the needy too.

Each box comes with 3 primary colours: red, blue, yellow plus 2 sticks of white. The colours were vibrant against the black background though you kind of have to press on them harder for it to pop more. Rest assured that the chalks are very sturdy so they don't break that easily, unless the old school, powdery ones that snap into half. Don't worry if you end up with a wobbly line as you can fix mistakes by gently rubbing with a damp cloth.

 

Bubs got straight to work sketching his picture.

 

Even my Mum couldn't resist and added some finishing touches. "Use more colours, fill up the space!" she urged.

Bubs with his finished (and wearable) work of art.

After seeing the fun both of them had, I wanted a go at it too ;)

What better way to test how smudge-proof the tee was than a 2 hour practise session? True to its promise, the pictures stayed on and we were impressed. Bubs is also extra pleased with the Star Wars fabric cover that my Mum made for him.

Wax Resist Art

I gave G quite a scare when I ping-ed him around midnight last week to ask if he had any white candles to spare me.

"Are you planning some kind of ritual?" he asked suspiciously.

Just a fun one :) Wax resist art ... or rather, batik in its simplest form.

You'll need:
White candles
White paper
Watercolours

Bubs found it frustrating to draw his picture with the white candle as it was close to invisible and he couldn't see where to place his objects. I suggested that he first draw it out using pencil on another piece of paper then try using the white candle to copy it out again.

His version of a white polar bear in a snowstorm ;) I promised him that he'd see his picture once he started painting it.

Bubs somewhat patiently painting his sketch in lines.

I showed Bubs how he could mix colours in so it wouldn't just be a single colour.

Voila :) His finished work of art.