Year Ender

The month of December is always busy for most people. Everyone's trying to finish certain things before the year ends. Not to mention Christmas and New Year's Day, two most important holidays of the year, the latter coming within a week's gap from the former. Those reunions, parties, gatherings, and the cannot-turn-down Christmas luncheon invitations from friends were really time and energy-consuming. But don't get me wrong. This is still the most exciting and my favorite season of the year. In fact, on Christmas Day, I'm glad to know that I still have that child-like anticipation of waking up to Christmas morn, not excited about the presents to receive, or the food to eat but with deep appreciation what Christmas truly is.

Here are our holiday whereabouts...

Aside from visiting Ashrie’s two godmothers, one in Ang Mo Kio and one in Boon Lay (and we still have one to visit next year), we attended three Christmas church gatherings and two lunch invitations during the week. And in between, we also made sure that we have our own celebration at home so we cooked for both Christmas and New Year Dinner.

Our simple Christmas spread

Ashrie at the
A Christmas to Remember Event

A Christmas to Remember, an event attended by
Filipino expats at Evangel Family Church

We did this glass mosaic at the W-Party.
This is actually 1tile out of 99 more pieces
for a project at church.

What a fitting way to end the year than to thank JESUS for His sufficient grace and providence that help us through the year 2011. To all, a very Happy New Year!

Pink!

It's a well known fact that boys would veer towards the color blue while little girls would pick red or purple and of course, pink!

Lately, we've been noticing that Ashrie has been choosing the color pink above any other color. She would prefer strawberry ice cream because it's pink. She likes strawberry Pocky, pink gummy bears (or should I say Marks & Spencer's pink gummy pigs), she loves her pink toys, and if there is a pink color option of anything she would surely pick that.

I think that's the same reason why she chose these three:

Converse All-Star for Kids

Flower Gem Ballet Flats by GAP Kids

Lil Lady from the
Twinkle Toes Collection by Skechers

For the sneakers, we would definitely opt for the red or violet but you guessed it right, she chose pink. But for the shoes, we think that no other color would be perfect than pink!

Little Tikes Spray & Rescue Fire Truck

Ashrie opened up her first Christmas present (as promised to her by her mom), after my parents arrived in Singapore a few days back. The box is taking too much space in the living room and it really seems awkward to see a humongous box in the corner. It's almost the size of a mini refrigerator or even taller (no exaggerations!)

It might be a bit "boyish" for our princess but it's free so it's just fine. A few weeks back, Huggies Singapore together with FairPrice launched their Christmas promotion of giving away Little Tikes Spray & Rescue Fire Trucks which is worth $199 to the first 1000 customers who would send their receipts of $150 worth of participating Huggies products. And of course we were in.

Good thing a handyman (my dad) was in the house during the time of the opening because it's a bit challenging to assemble. Without him, I would probably take a longer time to fix it. Thanks Dad!

That's the story of the red fire truck. Note that it is operated by foot to floor action, meaning your tot needs to use her feet to pedal through the house or your yard. And make sure that the water container is empty if you don't want your house or yourselves to get wet.

Watercolor on Paper

Presenting Ashrie's latest artwork! It's her best painting to date. It's composed of a colorful palette of blues and purple, orange and yellows, with delicate scrapings which create (what seems to be) a flock of birds (or bats) hovering in the sky.

The following are the "before and after framing" photos, and her two latest artworks side by side.

Mortimer's Christmas Manger

If you are looking for a short story to read to your children this Christmas, well I've got one recommendation. Mortimer's Christmas Manger by Karma Wilson and Jane Chapman is a joy to read and a very appropriate one on Christmas Eve, indeed!

When we borrowed this book from the library, we thought it was just an ordinary book about Christmas trees, and holiday decorations. But there is simply so much more.

Mortimer (nice name for a mouse, by the way) was unhappy in his dirty, cramped mouse hole so he decided to take a stroll. He found the Nativity Scene, or the manger specifically as a cozy replacement. Enjoying the warm hay every night he had a change of heart when he discovers to whom it really belongs.

Be reminded and be blessed this Christmas with this heart-warming, thought-provoking little treasure. And may all of us have a Mortimer-like realization of what Christmas is truly all about.

Merry Christmas!

Christmas Bonus

No, not that one, Christmas Kidscraft Bonus! That's what I meant.

Honestly, there was a time during the “making” of the KidsCraft Series that I doubted that we can actually accomplish it. But we did. And today I will actually share a bonus craft! Christmas is coming and I’m sure many kids are excited to wake up on Christmas morning where they can finally open the beautifully-wrapped, name-tagged presents under the Christmas tree, presents which have been enticing them since the day you placed them there.

And to make the Christmas experience extra special, I hope this easy-to-do craft would help.

You will need:
Felt fabric
Buttons
Thread
String or Ribbon
Needle and Scissors
Pen or Pencil

Here’s how:
1. Trace the “stocking” shape on two sheets of felt fabric. (Front and back)
2. Create an accent. For us, we chose holly leaves and buttons for the berries.
3. Stitch the accents first and then seal all the sides together leaving an opening at the top.
4. Place a ribbon as a hanger.

Here’s how it works:
With all due respect to Santa, and for personal reasons, we as parents would not create the illusion that he is the one putting the stuff into our child’s stockings. Rather, on Christmas Eve, we will let her placed the stockings on our home’s bedroom doors and would request the room’s occupier to fill it with goodies for her. She would still have the anticipation, something to expect and look forward to, but on a more realistic sense. Call us what you want but it’s our plan.

You know what, I even know of parents who told their kids that Jesus would come and put something on their stockings. Some say an angel would appear in the night to fill those up and still others say fairies. The list goes on and on but for us, we just want to keep it straight and simple.

I’ll be updating you on how it went… soon.

Eleven

Yes. We’re still celebrating “monthsaries” every now and then. And today (if my calculations are right) is our 132nd monthsary! 11 years since the day we officially became BF and GF.

Sometimes, I missed those times…

On Visits

"Visitors, like fish smell in three days". Benjamin Franklin

Not so when you like your visitors, or they're family, or when you put them on the fridge, the fish that is.

Anne, Jane's sister was here the past month and it has been quite a busy month for us. You see, having visitors sometimes require you to be a tour guide. That means we have to do a lot of walking and "tourist spots visiting". It's fun to share information to first time visitors, and as you share what you know about the place you're going, you'll be amazed as their eyes widen in interest with their new found knowledge. Like a kid who doesn't want to blink an eye because they do not want to miss a thing. I'm exaggerating but it's actually something like that. Tiring? Indeed! But rewarding because we have extra hands to help us in the house and look after Ashrie since we don't have a helper. So for her arrival, Jane and I finally managed to have an afternoon date (we just had dinner at a Japanese restaurant, we cannot afford the time to see a movie) at a nearby mall after more than two years! That really meant something for us.

My Parents' 2009 Visit

This month, after more than two years, my folks will be back to Singapore to spend the holidays with us. Both my brother and I are already staying here so it is best for them just to visit us here rather than us visiting them back home.

They were here for a month (two weeks only for my Dad) when Jane gave birth so it's more of a "support trip" to say the least. This time hopefully they will be able to see more places, visit more parks and just have some quality bonding time with their first and only grandchild.

More updates on their visit soon and more Christmas posts, probably.

Hmmm, it's the 6th of December already. Aren't you excited for Christmas? Well we are. Have a Merry Christmas!