gratification

It is always gratifying to see the children happy with something that I made for them. It's one of the reasons why I like to sew. Josh is generally blase about clothes and won't bat an eyelid at whatever he's given to wear, so he'll cheerfully wear whatever I make for him. Noah is usually thrilled to have homemade clothes because it's something that belongs to him and him alone - no sharing necessary! (One of the perils of growing up in a big family!) Lucy is starting to show some vanity and wants to wear whatever is new in her section of the wardrobe. And Emma... well, so long as it's something pink and twirly, she'll heap praises on me. ("Good mummy! You're a good mummy!" or "I love it, mummy, so beautiful!")

Cooking for the children, on the other hand, is sometimes a little trickier. My kids have clearly defined ideas of what they like and don't like. Josh is by far the best eater (and it shows too - every time his pediatrician sees him, she asks if he exercises outside of school. Luckily he has taekwondo and swimming.). Two of his loves are eggs and ham. I made quiche lorraine for Saturday morning breakfast, figuring that it'd be a hit with him at least. And it was. He polished off the leftovers the next day and was sorely disappointed when there was none left. Emma is the pastry queen and will happily peel off the pastry from the whole quiche if I let her, not that I did.

Noah and Lucy weren't all that keen, but that could be because they couldn't wait for the quiche to be done and had eaten already. Oh well, two out of four isn't too bad! I used the recipe from here, but added some romano cheese that I already had in the fridge.

kcwc day 5

Emma is quintessentially girly.

As in she loves pink, princesses, twirly skirts, new shoes, ballet and glitter. If she could, she would be in dresses all day, everyday.

She vehemently rejects t-shirts and shorts every single time I suggest them.

Then I discovered that what I needed for her to change her mind was peer pressure! She came back home from school one day actually asking for me to make her shorts because one of her friends in school thought it'd be a good idea for them to coordinate their outfits! *shockers*

Digression: While I am happy that she deigns to wear shorts and pants now, I worry about how easily swayed she is!

So this is her shorts, which aren't shorts because she decided that she wanted them to be mid-calf length. I let her pick out the fabric from what I had in my stash.


Edited to add: The girl has changed her mind! She says she likes the pants but won't wear them, because "shorts are not comfortable". Haiyah.

back in the day

Penpals don't exist anymore.

Because nobody writes letters with a pen anymore.

Back when I was in secondary school, writing to penpals was one of those things that lots of people did. I think teenage magazines used to have lists of people who wanted penpals, complete with their list of hobbies so that you could pick someone who had the same interests as you. I had a couple. I wrote to penpals in Hong Kong, Greece and France. I have obviously lost touch with them. although I did meet up with my penpal from Paris when I backpacked in Europe. I stayed over at her apartment for a night and she showed me the Eiffel Tower. I remember that she was very into all things Asian - which was a little funny because I was very interested in all things French.

Anyway, all this to lead up to this: 2011 International Postcard Swap for Families. I've signed us up and am already thinking of what sort of postcards to send off. Maybe with a little gift too?

emma is five

Emma's birthday always marks the beginning of birthday season in our family. We have three birthdays in three consecutive months. She wanted a princess cake. Actually she'd been asking for one since last year, and I was initially quite hopeful that she'd forgotten. But no such luck. It gave me some impetus to overcome my fear of working with fondant though. So the princess' skirt didn't fall straight down, but that's what skirts are like, right?

Birthday celebration at school

Emma's birthday fell on Chinese New Year eve this year, so it seems particularly appropriate to include this picture of her at the Chinese Gardens. She loves this skirt for the twirl factor. I used the circle skirt tutorial from MADE.

Does she look like she's having a Marilyn Monroe moment?