Friday, May 29, 2009
My oh my
Today I'd completed 3 layouts. One showcase in the previous post for my mom and another 2 on Grace. The layouts are for the Color Me Daisy challenge.
I foresee that I will be very busy and will not have time for scrapbooking in the coming few days, starting tomorrow (I mean today). Reason being, friend's wedding dinner on Friday, my birthday dinner on Saturday, cousin's wedding dinner on Sunday. By then the deadlines for all the challenges will be over. Thus, you see me posting something at this time. Hehehehe....gonna be a zombie tomorrow.
Well, here's the layouts:
It's never too late
Nevertheless, I ended up choosing this pretty photo that we took (with Grace) in our recent (I mean back in Feb'09) visit to Kuala Lumpur. It's a good photo to show how my mother was and is always there when I needed her, even now that I'm a mother myself. Well, enough of words, lets have a lot at the layout.
Err...I think it's better for me to write down the journalling here
It says:
Thank you mom,
- for being there when all I know is cry
- for being there when I sprained my arm (really badly)
- for being there to protect me when I got beaten
- for being there participating in my nursery sports day
- for being there when I got married
- for being there when I lost my first unborn child
- for being there when I gave birth to Grace
- for being there when I just need a little break from Grace
- for just being there.
Materials:
Paper - My Mind's Eye Sundress Bloom Ironed Floral Paper
Aplhas - BasicGrey Mellow wilma Mini Monograms
Journalling - Teresa Collins Bracket Cover (white)
Others - Darkroom Door stamps, Tim Holtz Distress It Ink, flower
Thursday, May 28, 2009
I'm happy today
After months and months of thinking and longing, I finally decided to get myself a ProvoCraft Cuttlebug. For those whom are in scrapbooking or card making, you may know what Cuttlebug is, but for the benefits of my other friends and families, this is a Die Cut Emboss Machine. It's been bugging me for long whether to invest on one and now finally, I got it as a birthday present from my hubby. Thanks Hubby Moses! I will be getting in more dies on my birthday and these will be jointly "donated" (as termed by my sister) by my sister, Sherril; brother, Daniel; mother-in-law, Suan Kee, and my parents. Thank you all!
Why then is Grace happier than me? When I receive the parcel this morning, she kept asking me whose package is that. I told her, "I don't know, let's find out afterwards" (I know she will make a fuss if I answered that it's mine). After breakfast, immediately she told me to go find out whose is it. So I cracked open the packaging and Grace was so excited with "Woo...Waa". Stole all my excitement...sigh.
Then once I read the instruction on the manual, Grace begins her action. I cut my scrap pieces of coloured paper into smaller pieces and then Grace did the rest, with me helping her in aligning the layers. After which, she announced happily that she made all those cute "stamps". Well, see her in action.
Wednesday, May 27, 2009
Doctor's Fan
Yesterday was a very simple day with our daily routine and usual food. At night we went to church for a "Rice Dumpling Night" fellowship where we compete to make the best rice dumpling. We had some floor mat on the floor and Grace was so excited running up and down the hall and lying and touching the floor mat. Unfortunately, being my daughter, she had some trait of allergy to dirt and dust. We were not aware of this previously. Later at night, we noted that there's red spots (smaller than mosquito bites) all over her face and body. Showed both my parents and my mother-in-law. All of us agreed that it's allergy and thought that it would disappear later.
Reaching home, as it was too late at night, I did not bath her but instead clean her hands and give her a little wipe over her body and face. Then she was off to dreamland. At about 2a.m. she woke up and started to scratch all over her body and couldn't get on with her sleep. So we switch on the lights for inspection and noted there were quite a lot of red spots.
While we had the lights on, Grace was making fuss and whimpering for us to switch off the lights. However, at the mention of "let's bring her to the doctors so that we can get some cream or lotion to apply on the red spots", she immediately stop her whimpering, sit up and asked to be carried. And she sure looked excited to get to see the doctor. At the clinic, while waiting, she was like observing the whole area and asking this and that. It was like 2.30p.m. rather than 2.30a.m. My oh my, why does she likes going to the doctors so much?
Once home, she demanded to take medicine and apply the cream. Of course, I skip the oral medicine, provided it is really very serious and just had the lotion applied.
Today, she's feeling much better.
Monday, May 25, 2009
"Phew....my ears get some rest today!"
Grace has recovered from her fever and cough. And now the mummy gets the sore throat and today I woke up "voiceless"!
Started to have a sore throat on Saturday and it got worse on Sunday. It worsen on Sunday night, why? Because even with such sore throat, I took durians. Hahhaaa.....can't help it! I just can't resist good food!
Well, I guess Grace will be free of nagging and scolding for another day or maybe two.
Sunday, May 24, 2009
Swing
1. patterned paper background
2. ribbon
3. hand stitching
4. a button
5. more than one kind of alpha
I used Scrap-n-crop.com's May Kit.
Friday, May 22, 2009
Outdoor fun
This layout features the green stretch just outside our condominium. When it's not raining, and when the mummy is not lazy, Grace gets her walk along the stretch. I've created the patterned cardstock using Darkroom Door stamps which I got it for free..hehehe..., coloured the alphas purple, punch out little flowers and coloured them using Tim Holtz Distress Ink (worn lipstick) and stitching to imitate the movement of the butterflies. And this is for the Color Me Daisy challenge.
Thursday, May 21, 2009
A good laugh
Then this conversation took place (again conversation are translated from mandarin; I did not put in the chinese words this time, as some of the words I don't know how it looks like in chinese..hehehe...):
Grace: Who's in there?
Mummy: I think is "shen shen" (aunt)
Grace: What is she doing inside?
Mummy: I don't know.
Grace: What is she doing inside? (a little agitated this time)
Mummy: I don't know,
Grace: (starts to whimper) I'm want to talk (or more of like, I'm trying to talk) to you. Don't say "I don't know"!
Mummy: Dumb
Is this something you get out of a 2 1/2 year-old kid?
Getting better
Then during the evening, when I was about to feed her with macaroni, I tested her temperature and was in was a big shock. 38.9 degree Celsius! Oh my! How could it be so high? Temp again, and this time 39 degree Celsius. Both hubby and I got panic and decided to bring her to the clinic again. Yes, back to the panel clinic that we went on Tuesday. This time a different doctor. But when he checked, it was only 38.1 degree Celsius. So we asked why such a big difference. He gave us a vague answer and we were not satisfied. He ended up testing again using our thermometer (yes, I brought it along) and another thermometer of his (which is using Infrared technology). All 3 (including the first one) gave us different result, ranging from 38.1 degree to 39 degree. All tested about the same time. He did a further check on Grace and says nothing serious.
While on the back, hubby and I discuss and thought we should take a second opinion. Better be "kiasu" than risking Grace to high fever. So when headed to a children specialist clinic. And this time we were assured and was advised accordingly. The doctor even found that Grace is having throat infection (which in the first place caused the fever), which the previous doctor did not mention. The doctor gave antibiotics (he mentioned that it's already the 2 second day and she's still having high fever, so no choice). Ok, the parents are happy and relief now. What about the little girl?
Well, Grace was very very happy to go to the specialist clinic. Why? First, while waiting, she gets to play at the mini indoor playground and second, the doctor gave her not 1 but 2 tablets of vitamin C. Till today, she's still mentioning that the doctor gave her vitamin C.
So how's Grace now? This morning, she woke up with no fever but still a little of cough and running nose. Very active as usual, ride on my back (like I'm a horse) for many, and I mean many times. Well, guess she's recovering fast.
Wednesday, May 20, 2009
I'm worried
While at the clinic visiting the doctor, she even asked what's the use of those equipment on the doctor's desk and willingly open her mouth wide so as the doctor could check if she's having sore throat. A busy body girl as always.
Hopefully she will recover soon.
Instead of getting too stressed out, I decided to give myself a relief by engaging in scrapbooking. Made a layout for the Color Me Daisy May 2009 Challenge. In this layout, I used 2 of my newly learned techniques (learnt during the recent art retreat with Rachel Greig).
Monday, May 18, 2009
My First Art Retreat (Crop Party)
We (my mom, Grace and I) reached KL on Thursday afternoon, with me giving my mom heads up on Grace's daily routine (as mom will be taking care of Grace while I attend the art retreat). My brother briefed me on the LRT and walking routes to reach Royal Selangor Club. I was so excited (as usual) to have such a great opportunity. Boy, I was so excited that I could hardly sleep at night (now, laugh your heads off if you like).
The next morning, I reach the retreat location without fuss (I'm good in directions!) and was then ready to have FUN! Sure enough, Rachel did make it a great and fun class. On top of making crafts, each of the attendee has a marvelous door gift and lucky draw gift, compliment from Scrap-n-Crop. I had some additional from Rachel herself (3 packs of Australian chocolates) and 1 set of Viva La Flora Vol 2 Rubber Stamps(for winning the 1-Day free pass for this retreat)! Great! Thanks to both, Rachel and Scrap-n-Crop.
Like I mentioned, this is my first time attending a crop party, also my first time in trying out all the techniques taught in the call, first time using rubber stamps (I mean for craft related), first time playing with distress ink and also first time experimenting with Dimensional Pearls. Not forgetting shopping for the first batch of my rubber stamps and inks collection.
Words, words, words. Where are the photos? I'm terribly sorry, I brought my camera with the intention of taking lots of photos, but it ended up stuck in my hand bag, cause I was overly concentrating in those "toys". I did managed to snap 2 though.
Now to share on my finish products (not the best though):
First class was Distress It Mini Book
Then, it was a layout using the crayon resist technique
The last one was making cards using Dimensional Pearls
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Will be back to post on my experience at the Art Retreat with Rachel Greig
Wednesday, May 13, 2009
How I wish....
A scraplift challenge from Color Me Daisy, but a good layout to convey my wish to you ta chie. It has been ten years since you last visited us at home and we all miss you so so much. Seeing that there's a new addition (well, not very new now) in our family, I think it is time that you board that plane and come back for a re-union.
Monday, May 11, 2009
What makes Grace happy?
See for yourself (these are only 2 of the many):
Sunday, May 10, 2009
Scrumptious Mother's Day Dinner
Well, we had it at home. Who's the chef? They are brother and sister - in law, Moh Herng and Phaik Sim. Bravo both of you. We really had a good dinner. Delicious.
We had a good time during dinner with Auntie Mei Lian and Uncle Long Aun with us. Then later we had Alex and Siew Kean joined us for dessert. Then we had David (another brother-in-law) and family and Maurice (yet another brother-in-law) and family joined us via video conference. We had whole lot of fun laughing and talking. A fun, economy, and most of all heart-warming way of celebrating this special day!
Once again thanks to our chef for taking the effort!
Happy Mother's Day!
Happy Mother's Day to my mom.
Happy Mother's Day to my mom-in-law.
Happy Mother's Day to me.
Here's a handicraft that Grace (with almost all the help of her teacher in Children Sunday School) made for me. When she give me this, she says "Mummy, 我爱你." (Mummy, I love you).
Saturday, May 9, 2009
I will be attending Scap-n-Crop.com's Art Retreat with Rachel Greig on 15th May 2009r
For the whole afternoon, I was busy making arrangements with relevant person for the trip down to KL for this special "relief" that I wanted so much. It at first started with a little disappointment. My fault for not informing my brother earlier, whom is staying in KL that I may be going during this time. He already had something on during the weekends, thus not able to accommodate us (my mom, Grace and me). Thus, we need to search for hotels. Then we have this concern of leaving my mom alone with Grace at the hotel. It will not be so convenient as compared to staying at brother's house. So I requested my sister to apply for a-day leave on Friday, so that she could accompany mom and Grace. But, due to too short of a notice, she couldn't get the leave. My hubby was very busy with work these days too. No choice. I was a little worried that Grace may not be able to go without me for the whole day and worried that my mom would be too tired. You see, this little girl seldom was out of my sight for long hours. That's what I meant when I say, I needed a little more reason to attend to something that interest me so much.
Then things get a little better. My mom called and assured me that she's ok with taking care of Grace and she's even going to pay for the air ticket for all of us. THANKS MOM! Then it's time for hotel. Found a hotel which is not far from the retreat site, but hubby told me to hold on with the booking, maybe there'll changes later. Then later at night, my brother sms-ed me and told me that he will be able to accommodate us till Saturday morning, which is very well with me. So, things are all cleared now, just that I would not be able to join the 2nd day of the retreat even when I'm prepared to pay for the course fee myself. Never mind, 1 day is already a blessing to me.
Friday, May 8, 2009
Grace! Why won't you sleep?
Is she hyperactive? Praying hard that she's not!
When it comes to sleep time, it sometimes really drives me crazy. No other person can put her to bed, only me. Sometimes when she's really tired, she may allow daddy to put her to bed, but most of the times, she's not tired when it's normal kiddies sleep time, i.e. around 10pm, she'll be full of energy. I wonder why? She may take 2 hours from the time we lights off to doze off. Argh...this sometimes bother me a lot. You see, all of my time during the day is dedicated to her, with some small intervals when she played with her grandma and uncle and aunt. Thus, I only have the time for myself (to watch my dramas, to surf the Internet, scrapbooking) after she'd call the day off. So, it's a little irritating lying down next to her, trying hard not to fall asleep myself, and persuading her to sleep.
Even on the days when I have no plans to stay awake, (meaning I went to bed together with her), she could play on and on and on, with mummy and daddy lying down silently. She would do all sorts of things, and avoid stepping on us. When she really did step on us, she would say "sorry" and then continue doing what she's doing. Sigh.....
Newly acquired skill
And she insisted that she still has the strength after doing so like thirty times!
Thursday, May 7, 2009
What makes you happy?
For me it is really simple. When Grace is happy, I am happy!
Role play
Mummy: (pretending to be a baby)...mummy, 我要 "nen nen". (mummy, I want "nen nen")
Grace: (pretending herself as mummy).....ok, 我开给你. (ok, I will "open" for you)..(pretending to unhook the latch so as to breastfeed)
Mummy: (lie down in front of grace, as it Grace is cuddling me and pretend to drink milk)
Grace: (patting my back and sing)..."Night time, sleep time, say goodnight time, good night moon shimmering bright....bla bla bla" ~ a song from Hi-5 that I sing to her whenever I breastfeed her and want her to sleep
(Half way thru, Grace ask me to change position, where she repeated the whole of the above until a point when she decided that the breastfeeding time is done)
Mummy: (pretending to whimper)....mummy, mummy, 我要 "nen nen" (mummy, mummy, I still want "nen nen")
Grace: (very stern).....没有 "nen nen" 了,不要吵. (no more "nen nen", don't make noise)
Mummy: (now being myself)....Exactly my point! Don't make noise when mummy say enough! Grin
Tuesday, May 5, 2009
4 of US
I thought it would be great to share the journalling here (it might not be very visible from the layout). On the general page it was written:
3 sisters and a brother. We grew up together, having lots of sweet, sour and spicy memories. We played together - dressed up using towels, blankets and pieces of cloth, "cooking" using the many wild flowers and plants found in our garden; we fought over many things - over who gets to 頋门 when sitting in the car, over who gets to eat the drumstick, over who gets to eat the mango seed; we went for vacation together - we travelled around Peninsular Malaysia, visited zoo, museum, beaches, places of interest; we learned and studied together in our air-conditioned (something very glamorous at that time) study room, we laught together, we make fun of each other, we tease each other, we quarreled with each other over the tiniest thing on earth, but of all WE LOVE EACH OTHER!
Then on the next page, it introduces each of us:
Her name is Yeongshe Ng Davis. Being the first born to our parents, she was born on July 12, 1975. She was a piano teacher but now worked full-time as an Accounts Payable Assistant. She has passion for gardening (she’s got a marvellous garden), baking and cooking very nice food (hope to be able to taste it one day). As much as she loves cooking, she also loves eating, especially when it is Shrimp Alfredo, Spaghetti & Meatballs or Steak. She likes things that are in the shades of purple, lilac and/or burgundy.
The second in the line is me, Yeong Shong. I was born 3 years after my eldest sister on June 1, 1978. I was having a good career prospect as Finance Supervisor but later on gave it up for my daughter Grace and since then was and is a full-time mom. I’m obsessed with scrapbooking (that’s why this page), is having a growing passion for baking and always loved watching tv drama. By looking at my size, one could know that I love to eat, especially when it is SWEET! I also love Japanese and Korean food. I like things that are with flowers and in the shades of green, purple and pink/red.
The only torn among the roses is Ching Herng or better known as Daniel or you could also call him Daniu. He was born only about 18 months after me on December 18, 1979. He was a Technical Services Executive earlier, but was then promoted to Technical Services Manager (wow!). He definitely loves travelling (he’d been to many countries on both business and own account), shopping (for branded stuff) and facebooking. When it comes to food, in general, he loves Chinese food, Thai food and Japanese food. He likes things that are in the shades of pink, green and black.
The youngest of us all is Yeong Chian. She gave herself the name Sherril and since she was known with that name. She was born 7 years (I think she was an accident) after YeongShe on March 9, 1982. She had only started working a few years back as a Customer Service Representative in Ambank. She likes to stick her butt to the chair playing computer games, chatting with her "lao kong" thru msn and facebooking (gosh!). She loves eating especially when it comes to Korean bibimbap, titbits and laksa. She loves things that are in the shades of blue, green and/or pink.
Mummy, take one
Later both mother and daughter sat on the couch enjoying our Vitagen. Knowing my little girl, I was drinking the Vitagen really slow as I know she might change her mind as to the flavour that she choose. True enough, after a few sip from her own bottle of Vitagen, she came to me wanting to taste mine. After tasting mine, she exchange her half empty bottle with my three quarter full bottle. I let her and so she started to empty the bottle. As usual, I was drinking at slow pace. After emptying almost half of the new bottle (the one that was initially mine), she came and exchange with me again. This practice goes on and on until she finished both bottles.
So here it is, we started off with 1 bottle each, but ended up the mummy drinking only half a bottle while the daughter drank one half bottle! Smart eh?
Monday, May 4, 2009
Just for laughs
Well there are 3 incidents starring me, while there's 1 incident which I witness.
Let's start with the 1 that I witnessed:
I was still in primary school that time and was waiting for my mom or dad (I can't remember) to come fetch me home from school. While I was waiting, I noticed this lady waiting in her car for her daughter. Now, this lady was sitting in the driver seat, with the door open. But the thing is that, she's sitting with her legs outside the car on the ground. And since she had been waiting for quite sometime, she took her shoes off. Then came her daughter running out from her classroom and into the car. The lady put her legs into the car, closed the door and off she went. Moments later, I saw her car in the school compound again, back to the very spot that she was parking just now, open the door, legs out and into the shoes that was left on the ground and off she went again, embarrassed!
Now on to the part that I was being silly.
One: I can't remember which year this happen. When I was young, I started to learn piano together with my younger brother. Our piano lesson was in the afternoon, after our school time. Now, do you know how tired it was for a kid to attend to tuition or lessons after school? Let me tell you, it was very tiring. We were taking piano lesson at the home of a teacher whom was a family friend. While my brother, Daniel was having his go at the piano, I dozed off, cause I was so tired. Then when it was my turn, Daniel came an wake me up, telling me that it was my turn. I woke up, stood up, thinking that it was time to go home, took my bag and head straight to the door. Daniel and my teacher stopped me. There I was with my face as red as tomato!
Two: There was a year where my house was invaded by caterpillar. Some how, all of the butterflies and moths in Taiping (my hometown) came and lay eggs on the many trees outside our house. Everywhere we go, there were caterpillars and that was very gross. So we had to temporarily moved to our church while the town council people do their work. Then one night, when everyone was sleeping soundly, something happened (not going to tell you what happened yet). My elder sister, Yeong She, woke us up. Now, there's this practice that our elder sister woke us up in the morning to prepare for school. When she woke me up, she told me something, but I never noticed. Maybe I was just too sleepy. So I woke up, walked to the bathroom and started to get myself clean. Then I headed back to the room and get changed. Only when I was changing, I noticed, where was everyone else? Then, I recalled that my sis did tell me something. I ran to the window and look out. There's a fire opposite the church. And that was why my sister woke us up. So that we could get ready to escape when things get nasty. And there I was getting ready for school in the middle of the night, and in the middle of a fire!
Three: I was a very aggressive person when I was young. Maybe I'm still aggressive now too. When I want something to be done, that thing needs to be done. No excuses, no delays. So whenever people promises me something, I need it to be done. If I'm not mistaken, I was in my matriculation year when this happens. My mom promised me to take me out to buy a scientific calculator which I need for my studies. I was, somehow, very excited. So we went out to several places to purchase the calculator. Why several places? For some reason, this type of calculator was not that popular. I couldn't recall how many places we'd been. She drove me to a local supermarket and I was so eager to get down from the car. Now, I took my slippers off when I was in the car, and when the car stop, I didn't look but just slip into the slippers that were available in the car and off I went dashing 4 floors up to the counter to check if they still sell the calculator. Nope, they were out of stock. Then when I was on my way down, I noticed. Gosh! I was wearing different slippers on both feet! One foot with a green slipper and the other with a purple slipper! My goodness! I rush all the way down, embarrassed. My cousin whom was following me said that he heard people saying why I was wearing different slippers. Now, who leave the other pair of slippers there???
Laughing your lungs out? Hope it brighten up your day!
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Another go.....
Being a mother is fun and happy but sometimes I might also be overwhelmed! These few days, I was not in the very best mood, and was a little cranky. How I hope I could get at least a day off. And winning the above contest will give me this day-off from Grace, while allowing me to dive into something that I obsess on. And so, I am hoping to be the lucky one selected!
On another note, or maybe it could be the same note, I came out with this layout, journaling my thoughts and feelings being a mummy to Grace. Enjoy!