Monday, December 31, 2012

{Thankful Today} 2012 was...

... the year of exploration. Of flying half-way across the world to stay in a foreign land that spoke a foreign language.


It was a year of learning how to live amidst the changing seasons. Of savouring the colours of fall and the scents of spring, and managing the chills of winter. 


It was a year of exploring Europe. Where we got to see beauty and grandeur, soak up history and culture, and try all sorts of food.


More importantly, it was a year of travelling together as a family. Of learning how to live together and grow together, no matter where we were.


It was a year of growth. Of seeing this boy hurtle to becoming a four year old, full of chatter and ideas, still obstinate, still learning how to manage his emotions. 


It was a year of loving another little one, and savouring those baby moments, which are so fleeting and precious.


And again, it was a year of learning. Of reading lots of books, and learning about the world around us. Of creating with lots of cardboard. Of being humbled and learning how to cope without help, and learning to say "I'm sorry". It was a year of making new friends (both over here, and back in SG through the mum blogger's group), a year of learning how to cook. It was a year of tiredness, and yet, a year of joy.

I am very thankful for all that 2012 has brought, just as we were thankful for all that God gave us in 2011. And most of all, we are thankful for God's providence through this year, and how He has kept us, and loved us through it all. 

What are you thankful for in 2012?

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Join us in giving thanks this December! Details and the list of thankful topics are in this post. (If you are writing more than one post in a week, do include the date of your post when you add your linky!)


Mum in the Making

{Thankful Today} 19-28 Dec: Catching up

The year is drawing to a close, and this is just to play catch up for the remaining photos I've snapped but yet to blog about for Thankful Today: 

:: 19 Dec, Round: I am so thankful we got to make our rounds for the Christmas markets in town, which Germany is so famous for. I don't like the commercial aspect of the season, but I do love how Christmas does give us an opportunity to share about the reason for the season, plus savour good times with family and friends. And of course, Junior J is especially thrilled that almost every market he visits has a carousel!


:: 20-21 Dec, 7 o'clock, Dinner: Mealtimes recently became a battle with the little one, and I'm glad we've found out one reason for his restlessness. This little kiddo has decided that he wants to feed himself! So now we give him chunks of food to self-feed, and sometimes a bowl and spoon, and most of the food more or less goes in. I'm thankful that he's actually very willing to stuff strips of chicken into his mouth and chomp on them with his 8 little teeth!


:: 22 Dec, Room: I'm also very glad that the boys have lots of room to play in our place over here. And am also thankful for all that room in their heart to forgive and love their parents.

Recently, they decided that the fridge made a great hideout,
especially since it came with 3 compartments and doors to lift!

:: 24 Dec, Star: We spent time choosing decorations for the tree, and this one was picked out by Junior J for his brother, who is fascinated by stars (and "star" happens to be one of baby J's first words as well). It is also a lovely reminder of that star that shone to herald Christ coming down as a baby!


:: 28 Dec, Where I walked: We really have been blessed to be able to travel so much this year, and it was wonderful exploring Prague together at the end of the year. We had a lovely time watching the sun set from Charles Bridge, as well as looking at all those swans on the banks of the river.


And so, 2012 is almost done. What are you thankful for about this year?

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Join us in giving thanks this December! Details and the list of thankful topics are in this post. (If you are writing more than one post in a week, do include the date of your post when you add your linky!)


Mum in the Making

Saturday, December 29, 2012

{Thankful Today} 23 & 27 Dec: Celebration, and someone

We are really really thankful for someone special. And that person is the hubby. So we had a little celebration for him the past Sunday, where we went all the way down to Dusseldorf for Japanese food (the hubs loves Asian food). Our favourite sushi place was closed, so we ended up eating Korean food, which turned out to be a happy accident. The food was good, and the owner gave the kids yummy melon popsicles, which we ate inside the car (it was way too cold to eat them outside!).

The hubby's birthday is so close to Christmas, that I sometimes find it challenging to prepare something special for him amidst the craziness leading to Christmas. However, this round, the boys and I managed to pick out a little something on one of our mornings out, and we made him an extra-special card. The outside looks like an ordinary scrappy card...

Flowers and flourish from Zva Creative. Papers and stickers from Echo Park's "This and That" collection.

But the inside contains hand-made items from the boys. Firstly, a birthday card, made by Junior J, which slots into a pocket in the card:

If you're wondering about the ducks, its one of the boys' fav activities with Papa. 

As well as a picture of a "birthday cake" which Junior J drew, which slots into another pocket. We didn't manage to bake a real cake this round since we left for our road trip the day after!


So thankful for simple family celebrations. What about you? What are you thankful for, as 2012 closes?

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Join us in giving thanks this December! Details and the list of thankful topics are in this post. (If you are writing more than one post in a week, do include the date of your post when you add your linky!)


Mum in the Making

Friday, December 28, 2012

{Thankful Today} 25-26 Dec: A Christmas journey


We spent Christmas eve and Christmas day on the road, travelling to Eastern Europe. It was quite an impromptu trip, as the hubby found out last Friday that his next working day was actually the 2nd of Jan. He came back, asked me "guess when is my next working day?", and suggested we go for a quick family trip. So there was a flurry of packing and planning and we set off on Monday (after making our rounds to give presents to some friends!).

Christmas day was quite the adventure, as there was fog when we crossed over to Czech Republic, and the mercury dipped to almost zero. It had snowed, so everywhere was blanketed in white (before that, we were lamenting that it was not going to be a white Christmas since it was forecasted to be a warmish week in Germany!). I think the fog messed with the GPS, and we got lost for a long while (that warrants a separate post next time). We are just thankful that we did find our way to our apartment, and for journey mercies through the fog and snow. And that we changed our tyres to snow tyres before the trip (even though the forecast had no snow in sight).

And I am grateful for a simple Christmas spent with family. No sumptuous dinner (hubby and I had our favourite curry letup maggie mee, and Junior J ate a sandwich), as the shops were all closed, followed by a simple movie (The Crippled Lamb). So thankful for being able to spend Christmas together, remembering the greatest gift of all!

How was your Christmas? I hope it was a blessed one!

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Join us in giving thanks this December! Details and the list of thankful topics are in this post. (If you are writing more than one post in a week, do include the date of your post when you add your linky!)


Mum in the Making
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Monday, December 24, 2012

{Thankful Today} 18 Dec: Gift

Baby J trying to add his own Duplo blocks to decorate the tree. 

Our tree is finally up, and the gifts are finally wrapped. I am so thankful for gifts in all forms, the sudden news that the hubby is off work this week, the hugs and kisses from both boys, the gift of time with family. We will be on the road this week, so here's wishing everyone a blessed Christmas in advance (in case I don't get internet!)! Let's continue to remember the greatest gift of Jesus Christ during this Christmas season...

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Join us in giving thanks this December! Details and the list of thankful topics are in this post. (If you are writing more than one post in a week, do include the date of your post when you add your linky!)


Mum in the Making

Friday, December 21, 2012

Festive Food: Christmas bentos

Hello hello! Am popping by to share two bentos that Junior J had over the past week, that were Christmas-themed. The first was a simple Christmas scene, with a large star:


The sandwich was an omelette with a cheesy filling. I just sliced triangles off the top two corners to make a house.


I didn't have a large star cutter, so I just winged it and cut the star out of cheese using a knife. The light rays are made of mayonnaise, which was supposed to go with the salad.


And the tree was made of salad leaves (its called feldsalat here, and you can easily replicate this with other salad leaves), and dotted with cheese hearts to remind the boy that this is a season of remembering God's love.


The second bento was done in a box. We had tortelloni stuffed with ricotta cheese and spinach that night, in a garlicky tomato sauce (I just fried tomatoes with loads of garlic, some herbs and salt). I dressed things up a little bit by adding a Christmas tree using broccoli florets, and decorating it with carrot hearts and some mayonnaise:


And for dessert, the boy got some fruits (persimmon and blueberries). I arranged the berries in a cross to remind the boy of what the Christmas tree symbolizes!


This meal was all nicely boxed up in Tyrrell Katz dinosaur snack boxes, which the boy loves (You can purchase these over at JED Packs!). It comes in a set of three nesting boxes, which is good because you can keep the dessert separated from the main meal. This way, I can give the boy his fruits at the end, or he will gobble those up first and then pick at his mains! Another plus point is that they are dishwasher-safe (hubby is breathing a sigh of relief at not having to wash these!), freezer-safe and BPA-free. 


Both meals were done without requiring any bento tools save for a heart- and star-shaped food cutter, as well as a food pick. So you can easily make something similar at home!

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This post is part of a fun festive food train hosted by DinoMama. Do hop on to get more yummy inspiration for this Christmas season!

Image and video hosting by TinyPic

Tomorrow, PC would be sharing her recipe for biscotti! 

PC is an ordinary mother of two girls, aged 7 and 2 respectively. She opted for a part-time working scheme this year (and the next), in order to better juggle between family and work (as well as herself). 

She blogs at Simply Us, a place which keeps her sane amidst all the whining and messes.

[Disclaimer: We received a set of snack boxes from JED Packs! for review purposes, and opinions are my own.] 

Thursday, December 20, 2012

Little letters


Junior J loves receiving mail in the letterbox, and we have been sending postcards addressed to him and baby J when we travel. Recently, he's also starting "writing" to a couple of penpals (mostly back in SG). He's always been reluctant to learn how to write, but on certain days, he asks me to hold his hand while I guide him in writing simple letters to his friends. Some days we send off postcards, decorated liberally with animals, some days it's letters written using markers.


Its quite a joy to see the exchanges these penpals have: handmade cards from Poppy ("FURRY BALLS!" he exclaims, eyes going as round as the balls themselves when he opens one envelope), imaginative games from Lee, letters loaded with stickers from a friend in Oz. It's amazing to see how these little fellows communicate in the written form, young as they are. (And I think us mums are having as much fun as them with this penpal thing!)

What about you? Does your child write letters, or have a penpal?

Its a wrap!

We just managed to buy wrapping paper yesterday. Before that, all I had was brown paper to do all my gift wrapping (no time to go out when the kids were sick!), so I resorted to using washi tape to dressing up those plain packages for friends back home (more over here too): 




I still need to finish up those presents for friends over here, so I better run. At least I have wrapping paper for this lot!  Have you wrapped all your presents yet?

Wednesday, December 19, 2012

{Thankful Today} 17 Dec: Bright


The lights are up all over Munster, and its feeling really Christmassy now. The Christmas markets are bustling and bright, and the air is full of the smell of gluhwein (mulled wine). I can't believe its less than a week to Christmas, and we've still got so much to do!

Whatever the case, I'm thankful for smiles that to me, are brighter than any Christmas lights. :) (This little boy really loves candles and anything bright!)

PS: We're also giving thanks for our move to Germany over here! Do pop by to say hi!

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Join us in giving thanks this December! Details and the list of thankful topics are in this post. (If you are writing more than one post in a week, do include the date of your post when you add your linky!)


Mum in the Making

Tuesday, December 18, 2012

Monday Made: More Christmas cards


Junior J has more or less recovered (I wish I could say the same for his brother!), and we managed to make some Christmas cards the other day. I found these little stick-on felt trees at a sale, and thought we could use them in our cards. So we got down to tearing strips of white paper (as "snow")...


... and he had quite a bit of fun crumpling them up (for texture):


Then he stuck on trees on the snow...


We punched out stars using a Daiso paper punch and added light rays with a white colour pencil (he described it as "turning on the star", and insisted on turning each one on, once he stuck the star down!). Then I helped him to cut out a little house for each card which he then pasted down, to represent the place Jesus was born.


Simple, and quick yes? If you need more ideas, here's two more that we made (over here and here). 

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