Saturday scrapping: Favourite projects for 2011

Hello!  Nothing new to share on the scrapping front as we've been really busy... but here's my favourite projects for this year:

:: Baby album for Junior J (view the pages here and here):

:: An altered suitcase for Papermarket:

:: A layout for Junior J's 26th month:

Happy new year in advance, friends!  I'm excited for 2012!

Thankful Tuesdays: The year that was 2011

As a new year approaches, I've been looking back at 2011 and reflecting on how much has happened.  So I couldn't resist speed browsing through the year's posts and picking out photos that depicted 2011 for us (warning: photo-heavy post ahead!).  

This was the year that the hubby finished his specialist exams and got promoted.  He flew off a couple of times overseas for conferences.  It was also the year that I managed to finish my research and dissertation, and graduated. 

One highlight was welcoming a new addition to the family:

And of course, this little baby has been showered with lots of love all around!

This was the year we saw Junior J mature so much.  He's gone from this...

... to this:

He's grown up so much!  He's now feeding himself, and is a lot more independent.  While he used to be rather timid, he is now more confident (except with strangers!) and is turning into a regular little monkey.  The boy chatters incessantly and makes us laugh. 

We've learnt more about God through stories and activities:

Marching around Jericho

And of course, did lots and lots of art and craft:

Painting dots so that he can look like a whale shark!

This is my favourite painting of the year, done by the boy on his own using paints, a paintbrush, a toothbrush
and the netting used to wrap a wine bottle.  Plus loads of hand-printing!

A lot of cooking got done this year...

... and we visited many places, like museums, and took long walks together as a family:

At the National Museum

Tramping on the tracks

We visited Taiwan for the second time and froze our butts off:

We decluttered a lot:

All for the karung guni!  (Now Junior J loves shouting "Karung guni!",
sometimes at the most inappropriate times!)

Of course, there were bumps on the road. like facing the normal problems of childhood, such as constipation, wheezing fits, night wakings, and of course, the terrible twos:

There was also that major fall the boy had:

But we've managed to weather through all that.  All in all, the year has been full of God's grace, and our family indeed is very blessed.  We're so thankful for all that has been given to us this year!

2011 was a blast, and we're looking forward to 2012, both excited and nervously (since its the year of the big move overseas)... and trusting in God to bring us through!

Are you looking forward to a new year?

Monday Made: Christmas cards

We don't have any set family Christmas traditions yet, but I've realized making our own little cards has become an annual thing.  Last year, we made these, and this year we tried something similar, but using a different medium.  Junior J got to break out a pack of gel markers (normal markers don't show up well) and got to scribble all over red construction paper.  Then we punched the bell shapes out.  He applied the glue while I pasted the shapes down:  

He was amusing himself by sticking the shapes on the glue-stick,
 and passing them to me in this manner!

I'd help to write the words outside, and Junior J got to write those inside the card (while I held his hand).  He also tried to sneak in some scribbles here and there, and also tried adding more squiggles on those bell shapes he felt were more plain:

Guess this is going to be one of our traditions, except we'll probably try making them earlier next time!  Does your family have any Christmas traditions?

Here's wishing you a...

Cheers, from all of us!

Weekend wanderings: Older

It was the hubby's birthday yesterday, and we made this little "art piece" for him.  Just our handprints on a little canvas, which I thought would be pretty simple, and I stuck on the words and the heart first on the canvas:

The hand-printing part wasn't as easy as expected though.  Junior J got all excited and said he wanted to print all over the canvas, and I had to restrain him and promise that he could do his printing on another piece of paper after that.  Baby J screamed his head off when I applied paint on his hand, and refused to open his palm, and after a few tries the best I got was a smushed up version of his handprint.  Then the paint seeped behind the lettering so I ended up patching it up with white paint while hiding from the hubby in the study.  Anyway, not one of our best projects, but the hubby loved it, so we're really glad. :) 

Junior J also made a card, and I held his hand to write the words:

The inside was layered thick with paint, along with all sorts of texture (he recently made the discovery that he could scrap paint off using the end of his paintbrush):

Didn't have time to do anything nicer like making a cake or breakfast in bed, but we did have dinner at Labrador Seafood (we've never gone there before and I thought it would be nice to bring the family for a walk around the area before dinner, only it rained buckets and we nearly even ditched our plans to visit the place!).  The hubby loves seafood, especially crab, so I thought the place would be perfect.  The crab was pretty yummy...

... but the rest of the food (the supposedly good mee goring and satay) wasn't fantastic.  They do have a pretty wide range of dishes there though:

We had a good laugh about the giant squid.  Heehee.  

Junior J did enjoy the satay though (give him anything on a stick and a sauce for dipping and he's good to go!), and promptly helped himself to one before any of us had started on dinner!

Caught in the act!

All in all, I think the hubby had a pretty good time.  Happy birthday dear, we love you!

Its nearly impossible to catch a shot of everyone looking at the camera!

2 months

Dearest baby,

You just turned 2 months!  The first month was a time of adjustment for all of us, but I must say you were relatively easier to feed, so it came as no surprise to us when you put on quite a bit of weight.  (It's very satisfying to see all those chubby folds on your arms and legs!)  When you are hungry you like to stick out your tongue, or even suck loudly at your little fist, which amuses us very much.

Look Baby J, this is Trunky!

This past month has seen you starting to become a rather sociable little creature.  You've started cooing and gurgling at us, especially when we talk to you, and we find that irresistible.  You also hold conversations with the toys in your baby gym, and can lift your head to look around you.  Your brother now showers you with kisses everyday, and likes to hold your hand (but he sometimes tries to disturb you with a whack or two, or he would shout at you when you are napping).  Most of the time though, you two get along really well, and he would sing songs or talk to you while you coo at him.

All dressed for bed, in hand-me-down jammies.

You are able to fall asleep on your own in your cot sometimes, but most days I end up putting you in the carrier for your naps while i go about doing the housework.  I'm glad that your feeding frequency at night has decreased, and you occasionally go 3.5 hours between night feeds.

Your jaundice cleared up recently (no more poking at the polyclinic, yay!), thank God!  And most of all, we are thankful for the big blessing we have in you, little boy!

Love,
Your Mama
(who has resorted to journaling your milestones here since she has no time to do any layouts!)

Messy Mittwoch: You know you have kids when...

:: You constantly trip over toys and stuff scattered all over the floor.  (Stepping on lego is mighty painful, btw.)

:: You find a scorpion lurking next to your computer, and a wombat staring at you in the shower.

:: You get a literal breakfast in bed, involving a lumpy pillow because toy fruits have been stuffed under it.  And steak on the bed head.

:: You spend half your life washing something: a poopy butt, a potty accident, dishes, spills, clothes, little grubby hands.

:: You spend more time swinging and less time working.

:: Your sofa has green stripes on them.  Permanently.

:: Your bed is constantly being un-made, as the pillows and blankets are needed to form deserts and volcanoes, and the bolster is needed as a roller coaster ride for Daffy duck.

:: Your study shelves have suddenly been overrun with Curious George books and learning materials, which are so numerous they are piling up in boxes on the floor.

:: You and your spouse have a standard list of descriptions with regards to the size of poop, like nugget, pisang and pellet.

:: You hear the pitter patter of feet coming to greet you when you come home.

:: You make-up silly songs about everything and anything, such as apples, wombats and zebras!

Anything else to add?

PS: The toy tornado has been driving me nuts, so yesterday I enforced clean-up time, which resulted in a massive tantrum... but we're going to make the little boy pack up every day (we used to do it, but I think it lapsed after awhile).  Meanwhile, we've just gotten an Expedit bookcase to house his books.  Just looking at those neat little square compartments makes you want to get organized!  (You can take a peek at some examples here...)

Thankful Tuesdays: Full

These days, our life is full.  Each day is busy.  And I'm thankful to God for:

:: His Word that gives hope and comfort, and reminds us that our life is complete in Him.

:: The hubby, who thoughtfully came back during his break to give me a hand.  I love how we complement each other in terms of our parenting.

:: Junior J, who reminds me not to get my plaster wet.  And whose silly antics (like walking around with his blanket over his head) make me laugh.  My heart sometimes feels like bursting when I see that little boy smile.

:: This little baby, who started gurgling on my birthday.  And who now loves cooing at you and smiling whenever you talk to him.  I'd forgotten how cute they can be at this age!  He really completes our little family.

:: Simple things that keep little hands full and occupied.  Like threading stars.  Or playing with paint.

:: Full dryers that work tirelessly to dry our laundry these days, when the rain never seems to stop.

:: Love, that can cover faults and cracks and fill up hearts to the brim.  That generate little gestures of affection.  And lead to spontaneous little kisses.

"I want to hold baby J's hand!", something he declares everyday.  When he's not trying to whack or poke him that is.

Life is full.  And fulfilling.  What are you thankful for today?

Monday Made: Nativity

Hello!  Just popping in to share a little Nativity set I prepared for Junior J over the weekend:

Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus

Shepherd and animals

Wise men

Angel

These are free printables designed by Marloes de Vries, a designer from the Netherlands.  You can get your copy here (via How about Orange).  There are non-coloured versions too, which you can get your older kids to colour!  We laminated our copy, but that made gluing the parts difficult, so we ended up using scotch-tape instead.

And as I predicted, Junior J was most interested in the cow and donkey instead of the people.  He ran off to play with the animals first, then went to examine baby Jesus. And exclaimed "Its Christmas today!". Little boy's cough is getting better, and we play-acted out the story of Christmas this morning using these little people.  Perhaps if we have time, we might just make a little house for them.  We'll see!