Bento Lesson

Dinner is served!

My elder girl asked me to teach her how to make bentos. Thus, even though we did not intend to have a picnic outside due to the weather conditions, we made a bento-ish dinner. It took me twice as long teaching her to do it as opposed to doing it on my own, especially since it is a far more delicate process than normal cooking. The panda bear ended up not looking as nice as I wanted because we had to rush towards the end. As it was, dinner started half an hour late. Despite the difficulty level, I'm glad to teach my little apprentice something she enjoys doing and eating. *grin*

Peeling the carrot

Punching out the stars & flowers

Cutting up the sausage

Poking the raw spaghetti
through the sausage

Making the Hello Kitty ham

Boiled and cooked

Her favourite part of the bento

Big brother's "sleeping" panda bear

Apple ladybugs for the rest

 

Brillant Boy

While we were at the library, Joram was fiddling with the keyboard at the title search counter. To my great surprise, he started pointing out the letters and numbers accurately to me. He has only been to school for 5 months and he could already know all the alphabets and numbers. This makes him the fastest learner among the kids. I'm so proud of him!

Belated Mothers' Day

Since the Mothers' Day weekend was reserved for the grandmas on both sides of the family, my own celebration was postponed to the following Saturday. I did briefly have some fun on the actual day itself doing paddle boats with the older three kids though. Joram was too afraid to try, so he stayed on the shore. Poor boy... If only the weather were not so blazing hot. 

Receiving cards from my children becomes increasingly meaningful as they grow older and are able to write more interesting and thoughtful things. I look forward to better expressions of their love in the future. *wink*

Black Pepper Crab

Chili Crab

Blueberry Bingsu

Red Bean Bingsu

Joshua took me out on a date in the effort to make up for my sacrifice but I simply can't take a break from being a homemaker. My idea of fun these days is actually leisurely purchasing household things and stuff for my kids at Daiso! (As opposed to going through my shopping list at supersonic speed while being torn in 5 different directions.) At least, I got to eat my favourite food (crabs) and try something new (bingsu). The best part was that the Long Beach Restaurant offer the option of de-shelling the crabs for their customers. This was the first time I ate crabs without soiling my own fingers! Yippee!

Another item on our agenda was going for a couple's massage but the slots were fully booked for today. I look forward to the appointment we made for two weeks later. *beam*

I can't believe that a few years ago, I would have taken the opportunity of such special occasions to try the reverse bungee G-Max or the Wild Wild Wet. However, the thought of such things now simply makes me tired. Alas, parenting has truly aged me beyond belief. :P

My prayers as a mother are that by this time next year:
1) Kid no. 1 will learn the value of diligence
2) Kid no. 2 will be totally healed of her eczema
3) Jaide will mature exponentially
4) Joram will be toilet trained and drop his afternoon nap
5) Most importantly, for the older three to have deep personal encounters with God and for Joram to finally accept Jesus as his Lord and Saviour.