Puzzled

I loved it when my kids are playing together and they are both happy with what their doing (and it last for more than 30mins.. hehe). Lance was solving the jigsaw puzzles and Lyle decided to join him. I had some of my peace and quiet time while their busy solving these puzzles. This has given me an idea, next time I'll buy them the 10 - 20 pieces puzzles ;-)

What is Churp Churp?

I learned about Churp Churp thru a friend. Helping someone earn a dollar just by signing up and it didn't cost me anything. Churp Churp is an opportunity to earn some money online. No worries they wouldn't sell you anything. You just have to sign-up to be a member and you'll earn by sharing messages on the latest updates, campaigns and events to your friends. Interested? Click on this link to sign-up. I'll be earning SGD1.00 for every successful sign-up =)

To learn more about Churp Churp here's the link to their FAQ page ->> http://www.churpchurp.com/faq-churper/

Below is my Churp Churp Dashboard. There you can see the amount I already earned (SGD 0.51). Yeah, I know it isn't something to brag about but as you can see I just completed two tasks and haven't been a very active Churper. I'm sharing this with you and if you know that this is  something that you can benefit from then why not try it. We spent a lot of time using Facebook and Twitter and this could help us earn some extra money.

Once you signed up and become a churper, you can start spreading the word and invite your friends to join and start earning the rewards.
Sign-up now ->> http://www.churpchurp.com/lanilei12/share/churpinvite-sg

For my friends in the Philippines, you can also be a churper. Click on this link ->> http://ph.churpchurp.com/

PlayDoh time

It's a holiday today! It's Singapore's 46th National day. Majulah Singapura!

No work for mommy today! Yey =) We didn't go anywhere and just stayed at home. Bonding moment with my boys. I introduced them to PlayDoh. It was given as a gift to Lyle some time ago which we haven't opened yet. I actually delayed opening it because I'm not a fan of playing with clay. Today is the day that my view of clay had changed =) Both Lyle and Lance enjoyed playing and molding the clay into different things they could imagine. We didn't notice the time we had been busy and when I checked the time almost 2 hours had already passed. We all had a good time and its a good way for my boys to learn and be creative.

Mommy's little helper

Lyle is starting to get interested in the kitchen. He's asking me what's the thing I'm holding or the vegetable I'm chopping and he tries to imitate what I'm doing.  It made me happy and proud when he said "Mommy, can I help you?" Of course this would mean that the kitchen will be messier if I let him but I dont want to put off the helpful spirit  he has on that moment. I assigned him the task of chopping the stalks of spinach. We search for the toy surgical knife from his play doctor set and that's what he used for chopping. He started his task and was so serious at it and at the same time having fun =) Here's a photo of Lyle while helping me in the kitchen.

This is just a start of Lyle's adventure in the kitchen. As for now, I'll just follow his interest and encourage him. I'll try my best not to worry so much about the mess (fellow moms, I know you unnderstand what I mean.. hehe). And of course, I'll schedule our cooking session when I'm not in a hurry and I have all the patience I can muster.

Here are some tips from a Babycenter guest blogger on how to have fun in the kitchen with your kids:

1. Do all your preparations before hand ~ unless you like getting them to help you find the ingredients needed. This just speeds up the process.

2. Find safe ways to involve them ~ I wouldn’t recommend they chop up the vegetables with the butcher knife, but they can do a lot more than you probably think.

3. Choose simple recipes ~ especially when first starting out. You don’t want to go big at first becuase you may end up frustrated and never want to cook with them again.

4. Allow taste testing ~ I know you stick your finger in to give it a taste so let them too! My favorite part of baking with my mom was licking the spoon, or the entire bowl for that matter.

5. Ask questions ~ “What do you think goes in next?” Kids can have a short attention span at the best of times and this will keep them interested.

6. Teach them a good chef always cleans up ~ There’s something very satisfactory when you’re done and it’s all cleaned up. Clutter/mess is just added stress you don’t need.

7. Take lots of pictures! ~ I don’t know about your kids, but my kids love to be the center of attention and with today’s digital generation, they love seeing themselves “on film”.

Here's the link to the the article - 7 tips for cooking with your kids

I'm back!

It's been a long time since the last time I posted anything here. I've been into a blogging hiatus and it took much effort to try to be back again. So much had happened and so many moments had passed that I wasn't able to share in this blog. My mind is wandering and been staring in the monitor for quite some time and couldn't think of anything. I really don't know where to start. I have to pick up the pieces and start with baby steps again. I don't have to pressure and overwhelm myself. I'll just post and write as comfortably as I can. I want this blog to be active again and would like to be back for good. I need to make time for this and not wait for the time to be able to write.