Inside the mind of a child… this is a very cool and comfortable “tent”
Complete with “bathroom” and “closet (where all the clothes are in)
Apparently it was not big enough for the little sister to tag along…so it was moved to “UNDER the table”
Inside the mind of a child… where creativity and simplicity filled the space….
Life is as good as what you choose to believe and imagine! So let it be….
Flo
What did you get for Valentine’s day?? I was a little sad yesterday!
My dear hubby said, “Your surprise is tomorrow morning”. I asked eagerly, ” is a HARP on the way?!”
Nope! This am, I GOT BACON ROSES!
Seriously, I was SPEECHLESS! He asked,” why aren’t you smiling?” After I composed myself and looked at the boys I said,”THANK YOU! That is cute! Who’s idea was it?”
You have to give it to a man that watched the youtube video on how to make bacon roses with his 2 sons and decided, ” Let’s make this for mommy! She loves roses and bacon!” He took a bunch of pictures too because he KNOWS I will blog this!
This is how you make bacon roses!
Roll the bacon
Cut foil strips
Cover the outsie of the bacon with foil strips and baked it!
Bought artificial roses and takes the roses out!
Take toothpicks… and cut it short!
Put it into the stem!
Stick bacon roses to the toothpicks!
You got bacon roses!
I LOVE this man! The fact that he went to walmart and got all these stuff to make bacon roses! 🙂
I asked him,” Why don’t you just by me flowers and starbucks this morning?” Well everyone gives roses! I want to be different! You know it is harder to give you BACON roses than if I just go to Kroger or order online! TRUE! Though I am still speechless! 🙂
BACON ROSES it is for me for Valentines day 2014! I guess a man truly loves you when he gave you BACON for valentine’s day!
Flo
Chinese has different characters for LOVE. “Téng” is usually use to describe parental love means “ache” or “love dearly”. Its homophone means “RATTAN”. Homophone is like “bat” for the animal and “bat” for baseball.
Chinese parents usually say,” Wo hen teng ni” which means I really love you dearly. The fact that the meaning says “love dearly” and ache can also means that parents LOVES their children so dearly that it hurts
What is interesting to me is the homophone for this character is “téng” for rattan! Hmmm no wonder Chinese parents often beat their kids with rattan! 🙂 I remember when I was little my maternal grandmother chased me and my cousins around her house with this rattan tool. The tool was used to beat mattresses because she used to hang mattresses out in the sun to kill the germs 🙂
Since that was “teng” is the Chinese character for LOVE… Do we have different character to express children’s love to parents??
Sure we do…. but we don’t call it love! In Chinese children’s love to parents can be expressed in what is called “filial piety”. Children have the responsibilities to RESPECT their parents, care for them, make them proud and carry the family honor!
Remember MULAN?? She didn’t say she went to war for her father because she loves her father… It’s to defend the family honor and of course SHE LOVES her father. That was how she expressed her love!
The character for is “xiào”. It consists of 2 different characters. Lao is for “old” or elderly and zi for son. See the character is showing that the “son” is carrying the “old”
So what about “Ai” the famous Chinese word for LOVE?? Well, that word is actually for romantic love. The first part is GRIP… to me that shows how 2 people hold hands as they walk into their marriage. GRIP to me means seriously holding on into something, taking marriage vows seriously as they walk together entering the “ROOF” representing the home…Inside or under the roof is the character for HEART! The center of it all is the LOVE from your HEART… and the foundation of it all is FRIENDSHIP! Isn’t it beautiful?
HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY everyone!
Flo
I have been wondering why we kept receiving boxes since last week.
Guys have hobbies right? Some might be cars or sports… My dear hubby’s first love is moi (said the confidence me! ) and computer/technology…
He often shops online for those electronic stuff. So it is not uncommon for me to receive boxes that are not mine and I never ask him about his purchases…
Anyway, I came home to a big box and asked, “what the heck is this?”
Dear hubby, ” OH, I want to build a COMPUTER with the boys” 🙂
Me,” WHY?”
Dear hubby: ” Why, not? I built my first computer when I was 18!”
Me thinking to myself ” Hmmmm yes… 18… our boys are 11 and 6! I guess we both TRULY believe in EARLY intervention in educating our kiddos! I guess that is also what happened when a geek married a nerd :-)”
He has a list for items that the boys have to keep track as it arrived
So I told him, “I have to blog it!!”
So friends expect “HOW TO BUILD your own computer 101 in a few weeks! ” 🙂
Flo
Friends,
HAPPY FRIDAY! I am kicking off a “Friend’s Friday” because I have been blessed with hundreds of AMAZING friends, so I am going to let you hear a little bit from them! This event is so perfect for a day like this because I have body ache and sore throat but too hyper to sleep all day!
So, I can’t think of a better person to start than BEA! Bea and I went to the same high school in Indonesia. I remember her as friendly, sweet and smart! Now, she is a wedding planner in MN and founded BEE THE BUZZ event! (www.beethebuzzevent.com). Check out her blog here and be inspired!
So here you go, from the DESK OF BEA MULAWARMAN…
Every home activity in my book must have two components: fun and feasibility. It must be fun for everyone (i.e. no stress for the person who prepares it) and feasible – or in other words, achievable. I have a hard time spending and laboring hours on end for something that will be wreck in five minutes. Also, this does not have to be done on Valentine’s day or Valentine’s week. It could teach our kids to be loving and kind for the rest of their days and lives.
So here are my top 5 Valentine’s to dos with kids at home:
1. Valentine’s Love Messages
I find it simple and effective. Write loving messages for your kids (and don’t forget your hubby!) on your bathroom mirror with a window marker or soap on Valentine’s week. You can do this every day or every other day or maybe one for that week! Have your kids leave notes for you, their dad and each other.
{image from gwenmossblog.blogspot.com}
If you have older kids, write a real letter (yes, with pen & paper) and tell them how much you love them.
My kids were playing with washi tape the other day and this is what they came up with: a board of “I love you because …” is also easy to make and oh, so sweet!
2. (Non-candy) Valentine’s favor for school
My daughter and I did this a few years ago and it is still our favorite! Click here for tutorial on how to make it.
3. Valentine’s Reading Books
A few books in our house have been a favorite to read on Valentine’s.
Geronimo’s Valentine
Cupid Doesn’t Flip Hamburgers
Roses are pink, Your feet really stink
Valentine’s friends
4. Valentine’s Board Games
Care Bear’s Warm Feelings – The Game that Melts Cold Hearts
It is an easy game that can be enjoyed with Children under 10 years old
Tic-Tac-Toe hearts
Click here on how to create one!
{image from alphamom.com}
5. Valentine’s Cooking Lesson
If you have kids big enough to learn how to cook, I’d start them with a simple scrambled egg (with parental supervision, of course!). My daughter loves making them and my son loves to eat them! Click here for a recipe from pickledplum.com
Isn’t she amazing!
Hope you enjoyed it! Please let me know via comment or fb what you think about Friend’s Friday!
PS: Message me if you would like to be featured on my blog. You don’t have to be a blogger! To friends from Zero to Hero, this is in response to challenge day 29: Creating an editorial calendar! Message me if you would like to participate!
Flo
Today marked the 7th SNOW DAY for my kiddos! This snow day is driving me CRAZY!!! First of all, we are still working on the calamity day’s assignment for the 6th snow day (last Wed). Yes, yes… it’s due in 14 days… but on top of the assignment my kiddos are still having their regular school work/assessment (aka test) that they have to prepare…
Anyway, today I decided NOT to be so helpless! My boss asked me,” do you really want to come in for a meeting at noon?” I said, ” YES!” Not because I am so dedicated! But because I have to finish grading all these quizzes by FRIDAY and because my KIDS started wrecking the house 🙂
So off we went! We got stuck stuck at Wendy’s drive thru and 2 gentlemen pushed my car! 🙂
Then about 1- 2 minutes later a truck cleared the drive thru! NICE!!
Made it to the parking lot! Almost got stuck!
So they hang out in my office while I met with my boss!
WE came home and I had this GRANDIOSE IDEA that they are going to do their homework and I will grade 50 or so student’s quizzes each with 3 pages!
We sat down and worked for about two hours! The 2 hours didn’t look this quiet and peaceful though! This picture perfect lasted 2 minutes!
Today I learn that I will definitely not going to homeschool my kiddos because….
I can NOT TEACH 3 kiddos who are at different ages together! I admire those who can! I wonder what Laura Ingalls Wilder did in that 1 room school house..
I found out that I am not that smart and has forgotten MOST if not almost all of my math (exception: basic addition, subtraction, division and multiplication). Heck it was about measurement and conversion! I didn’t grow up here so I had to google “feet, inches, ounces, cups” and all those good stuff! I grew up with simple kg, km, cm, ml 🙂
Dealing with a 4 year old drama queen is NOT my forte…
I believe that their TEACHERS are way smarter than me and KNOW MORE than me in regards to all these common core and curriculum stuff. HECK they know all about those different clouds! Cirrus… Cumulus… (I know them too now because I used GOOGLE HAH! What would I do without GOOGLE!
I can’t help a 5th grader write his writing assignment when HE is the one correcting my grammar 🙂
Anyway, some of you may think, ” But SHE is a TEACHER and for those with special challenges and some very severe ones… SHE IS SO PATIENCE!”
Let me tell you the truth!
My KIDS listen to their teachers better than they listen to me so I am not that patient at all with them.
Several of my good friends are homeschooling their children! Today you have my respect and LOVE! I can not in a million year picture myself doing this on a daily basis! You truly must be called to homeschool your kiddos because it is so NOT EASY!
Initially, I was happy when they got their 6th day calamity day’s assignment because it gave them something to do. But now I am WORRY…. WHAT IF we have another snow day again (soon)… This assignment is PILING UP on top of MY WORK and MY ASSIGNMENTS!
HARD being a Stay Home Working MOM!
So we went to get ice cream… YES on a snowy day that started at a LEVEL 2 snow emergency 🙂
Flo…
Another Snow day yesterday for us here…. It’s okay because we got extra time to prepare for the Chinese New Year and I got to catch up with the ZERO TO HERO wordpress blog challenge!
Yesterday we made a meihwa new year’s tree. I found the meihwa/plum blossoms at JoAnn..
Strings and red envelope (Ang Pao)
Then we just hang them on the tree!
VOILA! The Chinese New Year Tree…. Back home, you can find big tree like this BIG meihwa tree …. They are more decorated too… But I like mine! I like that we are teaching our kiddos the tradition!
Here is the rest of the decoration!
1. Meihwa tree: Do you know mei hwa is PLUM BLOSSOMS! Plum blossoms is one of my favorite flower because they are very unique! These are the facts why they are so special! Do you know that plum blossoms are winter flowers. It usually bloom in late winter or early spring. They are kind of similar to cherry blossoms. In DC there are cherry blossoms tree everywhere and they usually bloom in March.They will blossom from a tree branch that seems dead, came out before the leaves! A flower that came out of what seems a “dead bark/branch, the blossoms show courage, hope, and beauty!
2. Oranges = gold, Tangerine=luck…. So having oranges and tangerines during Chinese new year celebrations is a must because they symbolically mean good luck and prosperity!
3. A red envelope (紅包, hóngbāo) … red is for good luck for Chinese people 🙂 This was always what I was waiting for when I was a child back home! You will receive it ONLY after you “pai pai” or pay respect by putting your fist together and say,” Kiong hi, Kiong hi, Xin Nian Kuai Le or Gong Xi Fa Choi” Loosely translated : Happy New Year!” Usually married working couples would give them to children and elderly.
4. Golden peanuts on the glass container to the right of the tree represents longevity. Chocolate in pretty red and gold wrapper next to it also means prosperity!
5. Tray of togetherness next to the oranges. In the middle is kumquat candies for wealth and prosperity. Kumquat is a type of oranges.The big flat orange color candies are lotus root candies for purity. Next are candies with watermelon seeds inside for fertility, joy and happiness. The colorful coconut ribbons for togetherness and family unity! Next to the coconut ribbons are lotus seeds for prosperity and many kiddos! Candied melon for good health and growth. I have to skip the one compartment because I don’t know what the flat candy is. The round white candies to the left of the orange lotus root are longans for bringing many good sons! 🙂 There are 8 trays… 8 is a lucky number for Chinese… Usually you would include 5 spice peanuts. I don’t know how to make it but if you would like to make the peanuts, here is the recipe for five spice long life peanuts
Hope you are having fun preparing for the Chinese New Year! It is so hard to keep the family heritage and tradition alive in our children’s lives… This was the most important celebration that I celebrate when I was home. In America, we will try the best we can to keep it alive. Here is another Asian’s family account to keep the tradition alive too. She has an interesting blog as well that you may enjoyed! Little Passport
Let’s celebrate the coming of the YEAR OF THE HORSE!
To all my teacher friends…. I have been trying to find another “race” to track practice minutes… So here is what I came up with. Of course the kids helped yesterday (Sunday) since it was snowing pretty bad here.
They helped with the letters
J helped me cut them after we put contact papers on…
He was the one that put them together on the wall as well!
Finally! This is how it works for my piano students…
1. Each student has to keep log of how many minutes they practice at home (with parent’s signature)… A minimum of 10 min a day is required!
2. When they come for lesson they will show me. They can move their monkey accordingly.
3. Once they reach the top, they can take a coconut and start a coconut pile!
4. If they don’t have at least 3 practices in a week they will GO BACK to the bottom!
5. The winner with the most coconut will be announced in the next recital (June)
6. This time all 3 kiddos want to be included in the race too… so their names are included!
Flo
So we got snowed in yesterday and today…. So far the kiddos and I have been productive… They were somewhat motivated that it’s 7 days before Chinese New Year so we must clean the house and make it look good!
Yesterday, J asked me to teach him how to do laundry… of course I said, “YES!” He did his own laundry!
Then he taught his brother how to do his laundry!
Then S decided to help me and he organized the breakfast closet!
When Daddy came home from ballet with mei mei, we decided to start working on the “homework station” down in the basement!
By 11 pm last night we got the finished product! Yes, it took us that long because we watched 2 movies for a break! 🙂
The labels are in post it because we need to know what will work best for us. Any suggestion friends?? I have SO MANY PAPERS to keep up from school! 😦
We decided on this routine last night when they come home from school:
1.Put homework on their own tray on the top of the shelf.
2. Put their “take home folders” in the top box.
3. Put any projects, worksheets reading logs in the middle box
4. Put past/returned tests and homeworks in the bottom box.
Will it work? I don’t know… we’ll have to see about that! 🙂 I will keep you posted of what works and doesn’t work…
If any of you has a suggestion for me… Please comment and let me know! What works in your home?
Flo….
Today challenge was taken from the Daily Prompt :
Do you have a reputation? Well, many of my friends called me a SUPER MOM!
What is it, and where did it come from? I think they call me a SUPER MOM because I am in grad school, teaching and seems to have it together, plus all the extra fancy cookies and cakes I managed to make for my kiddos..
Is it accurate? ABSOLUTELY NOT!! I never feel that I am a super mom..In fact my reply is usually, ” I am NOT!” I am usually embarassed… and deep inside thinking, “If only they knew…. :-)”
What do you think about it?
Obviously I don’t think I am a super mom and this is the reason why: (The truths are in red)
1. I am not in a graduate program by choice. I am in a graduate program because God told me so.. Since he owned me I better do what HE says. If you want to know why, read: the path I didn’t choose
2. Making cookies like for Halloween does NOT make you a super mom… It just mean that you are a mom who like to bake…Some moms sew… some moms loves to clean and organized (NOT ME!) I like to bake 🙂
THE TRUTH: We had to bake that day because I HAD A SUPER BAD DAY at work! If we didn’t bake, I would have cried ALL DAY! So we baked to distract me… That way, my kids focused their creativity into something more productive than making messes at home that would drove me over the edge that day! Not to mention that they were practicing their fine motor skills and concentration! 🙂
2.
3. Throwing super cool birthday parties do NOT make you a super mom either 🙂 You know that I didn’t come up with those ideas… That’s why we all LOVE GOOGLE!! 🙂
Yes, there was smoke coming out of that chocolate cake volcano…
Yes, he actually able to SHOOT those little angry birds and knocked down the pigs on the wafer blocks
and little snow white party was a success…
THE TRUTH: Most of the time the kids’ birthday parties were 2, 3 or even 5 weeks late because they had to be according to MY SCHEDULE! We usually had a small family dinner on the day. Then, when I don’t have anything due, I called friends (YES, it is usually the last minute :-). Lately, I got a great trick : I ordered the cake from the grocery store, then decorated it! An example would be that snow white birthday cake 🙂
Why did I throw such parties? Because my children are precious and they mean the world to me! I often feel so GUILTY when they came to me and say ,” Mommy can we play or do you have homework?” ” Mommy, are you staying home today? I want to play with you…” So making their BIRTHDAY’s WISH come true is one way for me to let them know that their BIRTHDAY is very important and special to me!
4. I have it all together, my kids are doing well in school and my life seems to be in order..
THE TRUTH: Not really! My kids are doing well because we invested in them since they were little.. They read so well because we always find the time to read to them!
My house is clean and organized (if you announced your visit few days prior 🙂 )because my friend who happens to be my childcare provider/house manager is AMAZING!! I don’t know what I would do without her! Usually, if you didn’t let me know ahead of time.. it is MESSY because I didn’t have time to hide everything down in the basement 🙂
Laundry gets done and I can do my homework because my husband is AMAZING!!!
I am not a supermom… Do you know that I told people I turn into a mean witch by 10 pm because I am so tired and cranky 🙂 I have yelled at my kids.. I have lost it too… My best friends know what can happen when I am stressing out beyond my limit 🙂
I am still preserving my sanity right now because I have so many wonderful girlfriends that I can laugh with when I had a very bad day or week… Then come home to super sweet one of a kind family that love kisses and hugs…
So I AM NOT a super mom at all!!
If I have to nominate someone to be a super mom, I would say that parents of children who have special challenges ARE SUPERMOMS! If I have to pick one, I would have to pick Michael Phillips’ mom! Have you heard about him?
He is a 30+ years old man who is a “computer gamer” that has spinal muscular atrophy. He can not move his muscles 😦 He used to communicate by typing with his thumb. Now he is typing with his eyebrows. Watch him!! You will look at your life with a different perspective!
I work with children with severe challenges. Some as severe… some less severe… Regardless of what their challenges are, their moms are full of HOPE and they don’t give up… THESE MOMS deserve to be called SUPER MOMS… not me!
Happy Friday everyone! 🙂
Flo
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