Jenna, kneeling before the snowman the girls made
out of blankets, a felt carrot, plastic broomsticks, and
their dress-up magician's hat:
"Dear Jesus, please don't let our snowmen melt. Amen."
Thursday, November 19, 2009
Faith
Jenna, kneeling before the snowman the girls made
out of blankets, a felt carrot, plastic broomsticks, and
their dress-up magician's hat:
"Dear Jesus, please don't let our snowmen melt. Amen."
Jenna is 3 years old
O happy little Jenna!
Funny, kind, serious, mellow, big-hearted child!
You love cuddling and pulling mom's hair. You think
your veins are owies. You love anything in sets. You turn
everything into a sheet of cookies for baking. You are
so good at puzzles and so assiduous in your crafting.
You love foam stickers and make the most beautiful art.
You surprised us by how early you knew your ABCs
and numbers. You are so thrilled to be able to get
yourself a drink, which you drink with a straw and
a fork. You've given up napping because you think
"sleeping is boring! Boring!" You think it is wonderful
to be big enough to use scissors, and spend many
happy hours cutting paper into teeny little pieces. You
only want to wear dresses. You say the funniest, funniest
things. You ask us, "Is this working for you?" and
"Does this help you?" and "What's that purple thing?
I mean the indigo, NOT the violet!" You invented the
Jumping Bean dance. You are so, so, so proud to be 3!
Three weeks late, here are photos from Jenna's birthday weekend:
G. Karen and G. Arne came to celebrate with us.
Jenna asked for a blue Hello Kitty cake, so we gave her one.
I got slightly carried away with my star nozzle.
Funny, kind, serious, mellow, big-hearted child!
You love cuddling and pulling mom's hair. You think
your veins are owies. You love anything in sets. You turn
everything into a sheet of cookies for baking. You are
so good at puzzles and so assiduous in your crafting.
You love foam stickers and make the most beautiful art.
You surprised us by how early you knew your ABCs
and numbers. You are so thrilled to be able to get
yourself a drink, which you drink with a straw and
a fork. You've given up napping because you think
"sleeping is boring! Boring!" You think it is wonderful
to be big enough to use scissors, and spend many
happy hours cutting paper into teeny little pieces. You
only want to wear dresses. You say the funniest, funniest
things. You ask us, "Is this working for you?" and
"Does this help you?" and "What's that purple thing?
I mean the indigo, NOT the violet!" You invented the
Jumping Bean dance. You are so, so, so proud to be 3!
Three weeks late, here are photos from Jenna's birthday weekend:
G. Karen and G. Arne came to celebrate with us.
Jenna asked for a blue Hello Kitty cake, so we gave her one.
I got slightly carried away with my star nozzle.
Her little blue playhouse/candy store that had to be
made in secret over one and a half weeks of late
sewing nights. So much fun. More photos here.
A quiet moment after her party to enjoy her new doll
(thank you, G. Mae and G. Desmond!)
Kate is 19 months old
Ah, our Kate. So much packed into one small person.
You are potty-training. All by yourself.
Just because your sisters can do it. You love being big and anything that makes you feel big. You dispense your own water from the fridge door.
You undress and dress yourself (well, just pants).
You want to help bake, cook, clean.
You say, "Come too?" and "Have it?" so you won't be left out.
You tell knock-knock jokes, not very well.
But we still laugh, so we can hear you say, "Funny. Joke." You say, "sorry", "hello mum!", "There it is!"
"What, mum?" when we call you. You love reading and will come to us with your
stack of little books, pleading, "Weet! Fofa!" so we
will read to you on the sofa (our laps are your
second choice, but only if you cannot convince us
that sofas are best). You sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star -
and will continue after the second line if we help.
You do Jesus Loves Me with actions. You've mumbled,
"Mum, favorite song, please" so we will sing you back
to sleep. You pat your little chest and say, with
rounded eyes, "(S)cared!" when you are startled.
We love watching you be gentle with your dolls.
You adore dogs. You love the Disney princesses,
and collectively call them all Prettyrella.
You simultaneously wear us out and are so
much fun to be with - what's not to love?
You are potty-training. All by yourself.
Just because your sisters can do it. You love being big and anything that makes you feel big. You dispense your own water from the fridge door.
You undress and dress yourself (well, just pants).
You want to help bake, cook, clean.
You say, "Come too?" and "Have it?" so you won't be left out.
You tell knock-knock jokes, not very well.
But we still laugh, so we can hear you say, "Funny. Joke." You say, "sorry", "hello mum!", "There it is!"
"What, mum?" when we call you. You love reading and will come to us with your
stack of little books, pleading, "Weet! Fofa!" so we
will read to you on the sofa (our laps are your
second choice, but only if you cannot convince us
that sofas are best). You sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star -
and will continue after the second line if we help.
You do Jesus Loves Me with actions. You've mumbled,
"Mum, favorite song, please" so we will sing you back
to sleep. You pat your little chest and say, with
rounded eyes, "(S)cared!" when you are startled.
We love watching you be gentle with your dolls.
You adore dogs. You love the Disney princesses,
and collectively call them all Prettyrella.
You simultaneously wear us out and are so
much fun to be with - what's not to love?
More Fall Updates
We are having a beautiful, beautiful autumn! After a bitterly
cold Halloween and that early snow (followed by days upon
days of miserable grey), we were blessed again with the
clear blue skies, sunshine and crisp cool air of fall.
Also gorgeous, lingering sunsets
migrating geese
and morning frost.
The past weeks were even warm enough to hit the
parks again, which we did every day if we could. One
afternoon, we surprised Emily with a picnic tea at a new
(and now favorite) park- we picked her up from school
and headed to "the black, purple and blue park" (Jenna
names parks by the color combination of the play equipment.
Two weekends ago, we went to another
favorite park and took photos.
And Dave has put the yard machines away for the winter.
We have many, many trees in our yard, and therefore lots
and lots of leaves, still falling.
Haven't forgotten that I owe you all Jenna's and Kate's
chronological updates. We've been busy enjoying the
fall (and navigating the weird naptime-school
chauffeuring thing).
cold Halloween and that early snow (followed by days upon
days of miserable grey), we were blessed again with the
clear blue skies, sunshine and crisp cool air of fall.
Also gorgeous, lingering sunsets
migrating geese
and morning frost.
The past weeks were even warm enough to hit the
parks again, which we did every day if we could. One
afternoon, we surprised Emily with a picnic tea at a new
(and now favorite) park- we picked her up from school
and headed to "the black, purple and blue park" (Jenna
names parks by the color combination of the play equipment.
Two weekends ago, we went to another
favorite park and took photos.
And Dave has put the yard machines away for the winter.
We have many, many trees in our yard, and therefore lots
and lots of leaves, still falling.
Haven't forgotten that I owe you all Jenna's and Kate's
chronological updates. We've been busy enjoying the
fall (and navigating the weird naptime-school
chauffeuring thing).
Monday, November 16, 2009
Kerepek Update
As of today, number of packets of kerepek left = 7.
I was surprised (and highly amused) to find the inclusion of a zip-loc style resealable strip at the top of the packets, which is a new feature. As if I would ever use it. Nobody, absolutely nobody, eats a partial packet of kerepek and saves any for a later snacking time.
All three children wanted to try it. So I grudgingly let them. All three said, "sour!"
Kate also said, "More!"
Bah.
She ate about a quarter of the packet. A whole quarter! Not sure whether to be proud or dismayed.
I was surprised (and highly amused) to find the inclusion of a zip-loc style resealable strip at the top of the packets, which is a new feature. As if I would ever use it. Nobody, absolutely nobody, eats a partial packet of kerepek and saves any for a later snacking time.
All three children wanted to try it. So I grudgingly let them. All three said, "sour!"
Kate also said, "More!"
Bah.
She ate about a quarter of the packet. A whole quarter! Not sure whether to be proud or dismayed.
Snacks From Familiar Shores
Mum and Dad sent a lovely package in the post this week.
In it were some edibles that I finally weakened enough to
beg them to send.
Behold - ubi kayu pedas! Or kerepek. Or King Of Snacks.
Front view:
In it were some edibles that I finally weakened enough to
beg them to send.
Behold - ubi kayu pedas! Or kerepek. Or King Of Snacks.
Front view:
Back view:
Oh, all right, I'll zoom in on the label so you can see what
it's made of, this delicacy from foreign lands:
it's made of, this delicacy from foreign lands:
They were remiss in omitting "peanuts" from their list of ingredients, incidentally. And also anchovies, although they
did confess this (ikan bilis) in the snack name.
It is my undoing. I have effortlessly consumed numerous packets
of these in one sitting (and so has Sean, my brother). Sean
and I used to be very serious about ferreting out the best ubi
kayu pedas in Singapore. Or at least in the East Coast. We
would buy a packet from every Indian provision shop we
passed by and do taste tests. We would rate them on
taste, crunchiness, spiciness, ratio of tapioca to anchovies/
peanuts and how much need be consumed before one
develops a sore throat and is unable to go to school.
Some of the independent home-factory brands were very good.
But Houten had the monopoly on the 30-cent Small Packets
(equivalent to 100-calorie packs in the US, but of course
nowhere as low as 100 calories). I remember as a very
small child, buying smaller clear-plastic packs of these
for 10 or 20 cents from the Indian provision shop in the
void deck of the next block of flats. Along with Hudson's
and Murray Mint sweets (good for soothing burning
tongues). Children were exposed from a young and
tender age to chilli. Especially in Peranakan families.
It was a coming-of-age milestone when a proud
parent could tell the relatives, "Ah Girl/ Ah Boy (what
many children were generically called) can eat chilli now."
Well do I remember the shame of ordering noodles from
the hawker center and sheepishly telling the vendors,
"no chilli, please, Uncle".
Sedap!* I shall ration my 8 packets of course.
Thank you, Mum and Dad!
Trivia: when I was a teacher, I had a discussion
with one of the clerical staff on how to make home-made
kerepek. Wish I'd paid more attention to her instructions.
Here is what the kids got:
Another memoir from my childhood. Every child in Singapore
knows and loves these little cookies with the royal-icing
flower toppings. Our girls fondly call this Flower Cookies
and panic whenever we run low. In the 4 years we've lived here,
we've always been able to replenish our supply on trips to
Singapore, or when visiting family bring them. This is
the first time we've been completely depleted, so it was
nice to get a new batch this week!
We made a video of the kids opening the package but who
knows when I will get round to uploading it, given the
state of my blogging here (or the lack thereof) nowadays.
*Delicious
Interpreting the Bible - by Emily
Emily played Sunday School today with her dolls.
The lesson of the day was an account of a miracle, which
she taught with the help of her felt board. Here is a picture
of the felt board illustrating said lesson.
Can you guess which miracle it was?
Clue: this is Jesus:
Ah, those who were stumped might need to re-read Matthew 14: 13-21.
Through the eyes of a child, that is.
Those who did guess it, congratulations - you are not
prejudiced by the different eating methods that evolved
down the centuries. Yes, it is Jesus Feeding the 5000!
The 5000, Emily tells me, are represented by "the big
group of people in the corner (represented by our remaining
3 felt human figures) who are (from left to right)
Joseph, a girl and Mary."
My favorite detail is the flower - because a good meal
is only ever served on a well-dressed table.
The lesson of the day was an account of a miracle, which
she taught with the help of her felt board. Here is a picture
of the felt board illustrating said lesson.
Can you guess which miracle it was?
Clue: this is Jesus:
Ah, those who were stumped might need to re-read Matthew 14: 13-21.
Through the eyes of a child, that is.
Those who did guess it, congratulations - you are not
prejudiced by the different eating methods that evolved
down the centuries. Yes, it is Jesus Feeding the 5000!
The 5000, Emily tells me, are represented by "the big
group of people in the corner (represented by our remaining
3 felt human figures) who are (from left to right)
Joseph, a girl and Mary."
My favorite detail is the flower - because a good meal
is only ever served on a well-dressed table.
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