Marizipan Babies

The woman who made these is definitely talented......



These babies are made of cake frosting


Thought you would be as fascinated as I was with it.


They are all made with marzipan...really unbelievable!


Every detail is amazing, and they look so real.

Marzipan is Almond paste: a sweet paste made of ground almonds and sugar, often with egg whites or yolks, used as a layer in cakes or molded into ornamental shapes.


But who could take a bite? Not me for sure!!

Beach Party

It's great when your school is near the beach. So little D's class had their end of term party by the beach. Here are some photos of their party.
(Unfortunately I was not there, so I am unable to tell you much about what happened)
Listening attentively to their teacher's instructions


Getting ready for some games

Enjoying sand play.

Holding hands with her partner.

Tucking heartily into the grub!

Walking on the beach

A walking dictionary

That's what I used to feel like!!

Everytime the children are reading and they come across a word that's new to them, they would go: "Mum, what's the meaning of ......"

Initially I would tell them the meaning of the word. BUT now I dont! That is, not unless I want to emphasize a point, or teach them something related to it.

Why? Because I read somewhere that if we just tell them the meaning, they are not likely going to learn and remember it. However, if they look it up in the dictionary, the very act of taking out the dictionary, looking up the word, and seeing the words describing the meaning and actually reading it for themselves, the chances of them remembering the meaning will be much much higher. (Some precentages were quoted, but I cant remember it.)

So, because of that, now my reply to them when they ask me the for the meaning of a word is: "Gee! I am not sure. Can you look it up in the dictionary and tell me the meaning?" And, I dont feel like a walking dictionary anymore!

My kids and A wedding

My kids have not been to many weddings as not many of my friends or rellies are of the marriageable age.

On friday night, after I came home from a meeting at school, Little D came running to me with a BIG smile on her face: Mummy, Aunty L is getting married tomorrow! Can I go for the wedding??

That comment really made me laugh coz Aunty L, who works for FIL, is 58 years old, and FIL's longest serving employee. She wasnt getting married, but her son was. Was not planning to bring Little D, even though the whole family was invited, coz, you know, wedding dinners start sooooo late and she was likely to be tired even before the dinner started. But it looks like MIL had already done her bit to share the news with Little D and that sure got her all excited and wanting to go. So, last night, saw us all at the wedding dinner.

Since everyone was all dressed up, I thought it would be good to take some photos of the kids. But as usual, N refused to smile for the camera. Took a couple of shots and he either had a frown or a goofy look on his face! Sigh!

Before the dinner started, they showed a montage of the bride and groom's photos which included photos taken during their younger days. N, commented that the groom looked nerdy in one of the pics, which gave me the opppotunity to tell him: N, you better smile nicely for your photos. If not, when you get married, I will have no nice photos to use for your video.

When the wedding couple came out, Little D was all excited, as all little girls are when they see the bride. She was so captivated by the bride's beautiful gown. As we were seated quite far away, I asked her if she could see? And she said: Yes, I can see the bride with the prince.

Huh? Prince? She thought the groom was the prince. You know how we always talk about the bride at weddings, and the groom is the poor unnoticed one? I realised that we had never used the word "groom" nor explained it to her before!! The groom will be most pleased to find out that he was called a prince!

During the dinner, a video of the morning's events was also shown. When it came to the tea ceremony, N commented: How come they are serving tea to so many old people. You mean they went to an old folk's home for their wedding?

That really cracked us all up!! He did not realise that those old people were all the rellies of the bride and groom!!

Must say that I had no regrets bringing them all to the wedding coz they managed to learn a thing or two there!!

Would you shave your head for a good cause?

Honestly, would you? I have thought about it many times, but I am just too chicken (maybe its vanity) to do it.

I know of one brave young lady that would do it. She is none other than Shelly. If you would donate $20 to the Children's cancer foundation, she would shave her head bald. It is not that I want to see her bald. Its not a dare of some sort. I salute her for her concern and care for the children who are ill, that she is willing to sacrifice her beautiful locks for an extremely good cause. So, since I am not willing to do it, I thought that I can do my bit by helping her get more donations before she goes bald. So, please, please, please donate if you can afford it.

I asked my son N last week if he would do it. But he said "No". I have tried to reason with him to do it, coz of what difference is it to a small boy with hair that grows sooooo fast, that I have to bring him to the hairdressers every 5 weeks! Also, an added bonus for him would be that he will not get into trouble with the discipline master for sure. I guess if someone in the family leads by example he may do it. Hmmmm, must try to convince hubby to do it, dont you think?

Preparing for the Olympics

The preparations began long ago. It's less than a 100 days to the Olympics and look at some of the pretty things they did to the gardens there:












Wish I could be there to see it up close!!

Flowers from my garden

If you have been reading the blogs by bp and stardust, you would have seen lots of beautiful flowers from their gardens as well as the parks that they have been visiting. It's spring where they are, and its spring that brings the most beautiful flowers. I too, want to share with you and them what I have in my garden:

These are the red torch ginger flowers. The very same ones where the stems are used when making rojak (a local salad with shrimp paste).



They make a very attractive and unusal bouquet when put in a vase.


The weather here has been unbearably hot this past fortnight, with highs of 34C almost every day and night. And guess what? The bougainvillas bloom especially well when the weather is really hot.



Here are the flowers from the red frangipani tree. I love that deep red colour.


And, my favourite:
I dont know what these are called but they bloom only in the mornings. They seem to be standing up and waving at me! And that brightens my day!


I hope I brightened yours too!! Have a great weekend!