Photobooth

*Taking a break from holiday reporting...


As part of our extensive list of loot from the holiday (which we are going to cover some other day), Mama actually ended up with a working webcam and a Photobooth application.
And somehow, suddenly, the computer is full of photos like these:

... as Kecil delighted at finding herself directly on screen. She started with bugging Mama for more 'taking photos', but she soon graduated to taking photos herself.

I foresee Mama's harddisk filling up rapidly unless Mama stays vigilant in guarding her computer. Still... I'd  say I should enjoy it while I can.

Weekend morning

These are how some of our weekend mornings look like:

With an extra pair of legs (and no body!) poking out of the wiggly blanket

A sleepy face under the mess of cute, curly hair

Two (!) wiggly extra occupant on Mama & Daddy's bed with their relentless effort to get Mama & Daddy OUT of the bed. Hmmppphh!

With a Kid and a fluffy Dog in tow, I guess Mama's day of lazing on the bed the whole day during weekends are kind of over. Sigh.

But oh well, at least they are the parents' guarantee that the weekend will not pass by unnoticed around here.

How was your weekend?

Friday ...

... was a wildly anticipated day, with the dress finally getting its first wear ... for the Skool's United Nations Day celebration!

In addition, with the UN Day finally out of the way, Mama felt that it was time to get to the Christmas decorations!

All in all, Friday was a very tiring day. So perhaps we shall continue with the rest of the story (both on the UN day AND the first installment of this year's Christmas stories) tomorrow.
At least you all know already what the trailer was all about, no?

The Box

There are days when all we did seems to be going out for walkies
But there are also days when all we did was to stay at home, messing up the house, doing whatever crazy stuff that Mama thought of in the name of (hopefully) nurturing creativity and what nots
Like painting a cardboard box

The story was that the long-empty house next door finally got an occupant last week
Arriving in the middle of the night, we only woke up the following day to a huge stack of empty boxes unpacked by the movers
And all Mama could think of was how fantastic those boxes would be to play with
So we took a box.
...
Well.. actually we took a few, plus some packing materials which Mama thought could be use for all kinds of things
Unfortunately the garbage men took them, with the exception of one box that Kecil had painstakingly dragged inside for immediate usage.
And that was how we ended up with our canvas for that day.

So we painted, and drew, and then apparently Mama made Kecil cry due to some inconsiderate painting of Kecil's drawing space. Hmmppttffftttt!
But hey, the box is still there, serving as a hiding place, a peek-a-boo facilitator (Kecil would hide inside and burst open, giggling crazily), a dog house (for imaginary dog, not the Dog. The Dog wouldn't get anywhere too close to the box!), all in all a multi purpose toy indeed.
And me thinks I should really stop buying Kecil toys but rather source for more material like the box. Ha!

As usual, I guess Mama is just a fan of the idea of open-ended, cheap toys made of things that is available around the house.
How about you? You have any fantastic make-shift toys at home?

Halloween ...

It was two years ago that Kecil had her first Halloween. Freshly arrived at the new house barely 2 weeks before Halloween, we did not dress Kecil up in any special costume and barely managed to come up with paltry decoration and enough candy for the hungry hordes of 'ghosts' that arrived at our door step.
Of course, Kecil had to have some candy too!

Last year, we were not home during the holiday as we went to attend a family celebration in Indonesia. This year, however, we were so here to soak the atmosphere, and even get Kecil dressed up! (with limited success, hmmm....)

Check out the decoration at the neighbor's house! Mama is so envious of those pumpkins.
Like... where on earth did they get those pumpkins around here? All Mama could find were small, green pumpkin, nothing so perfectly orange like those babies!

But just in case you are wondering about Kecil's Halloween costume ...

After seeing one such character in her favorite Dora series, Kecil actually did mention that she wanted to be one, complete with the broom. She even mentioned that she was going to fly fly fly!
The cape and the hat was then bought at the very last minute at the store, and Mama thought the orange embroidery (not shown) would go well with her existing orange dress.

Unfortunately!
Somehow Kecil balked from wearing the costume on the D-hour itself!
Like... she put them on (hat and cape) and Mama was just making a move to get the camera, and she took it off. Grmmbblll!
Perhaps because it was dark, already at night, I am not too sure.

In any case, at least we still managed to get a photo-op the following day, and hence, may I present ... (drumroll please):

Adorable, no?
As for the trick or treat night itself, Kecil wore an alternate costume, many thanks to Ami's Mama.
Yes, Mama and Kecil actually went for a real, bona fide trick-or-treat to join Ami and her family. But a few houses down, after Kecil froze, petrified by a Scream mask, we decided to go home. Of course we did not get mountains of candy, which is not a Bad Thing in Mama's opinion. The little that we got is bad enough since Kecil is still recovering from her last bout of cough.
The best part was that although Kecil have not seem to grasp the idea of dressing up for Halloween, she quickly grasp the idea that the candies are HERS, not to be shared with Mama and Daddy with the exception of doling out bits that she does not quite like. Hmmmppphh....

Well, the morning after Halloween arrived soon enough without any trace of the scary sights of the night before (or the hordes of the 'funny looking beings' thronging the streets).
Kecil, the Dog and Mama went out for early morning walk in Kecil's 'alternate costume'.

Lesson from the day: perhaps we'll go with something more fancy and less scary, with a lot more involvement from Kecil. Perhaps then she'll participate more willingly with all the hullabaloo.
Yet another possibility is to stay inside and avoid the scary stuff outdoor, or even skip town altogether. We'll see, we'll see.

these yellow boots ...

These yellow boots were sort of passed on from Ami,
Who happened to have two pairs of the same size, one pink and one yellow,
Which then was not worn since it kind of clashed with Ami's pink raincoat,
But was a definite match to Kecil's yellow raincoat.

And so began the story of the yellow boots.

A perfect fit, the boots made many appearances here as Kecil, happy as a punch with her matching raingear, took to conquering the outdoor, well-equipped in a land that has thirsted for a long while for rains.
And so there was that first storm, the following rains, the paper & plastic boat games outside, more outdoor games cum photo-op, and even casual walk on a non-rainy day with the boots, just because she loves her yellow boots so much.

Ah yes, Kecil does love those boots (just as Mama does!),
But Kecil seems to inherit her parents' genes of big feet as well,
And a couple of weeks back, Kecil had started complaining of feet hurt, followed by inability to wear those lovely boots of hers anymore,
And just like that, the boots was no longer a fit. Hhhhh.....

So it was time for new boots, especially in the face of violent storms and rains,
Not that she would go outside during those, mind you! Still... in the interest of being prepared...
Mama and Daddy managed to find Kecil ... a pair of PINK boots with heart pattern!

Ha! Aren't they adorable? And Kecil loves them too! (Of course! Mama & Daddy did involve her in the selection process. After all, we wanted to get something at least slightly too big to give her feet some room to grow)

There are, however, two little problems.
One, in a case of pretty bad timing, we only managed to find the boots towards the end of the rainy season. Hmmpph.
So... will there still be rainy days for her to wear it? Not sure.
If there isn't, would the boots still fit her by the time the next rainy season come? Ummm.. not sure either.
Ah well.

Problem two?
Ah.. well... you still remember Kecil's raincoat, right?
Yes, exactly. It's YELLOW!
Ahem, so now Kecil is 'waiting' for her pink raincoat with hearts.
She does not demand. She does not ask. She just knows that Mama would get her one.

Ummm... Not so sure about that. Not with the yellow raincoat still a wee too big and in good condition. Sorry, Cil.
Now... why don't we just deal with the rest of your long list of 'wants', instead?

Ah yes, the long list of 'wants'.
Of course, we'll start with what we need first, then we'll go on to the wants, OK?

the blanket

Between dreaming, growing, resting and generally sleeping, sometimes accident does happen while her royal Highness was sleeping.
Given such predilection, a thick comforter that does not fit into the in-house washing machine is not the most practical arrangement of Kecil's sleeping area, no matter how much Kecil love to snuggle under the said comforter right before she falls asleep daily.
So we came up with a new arrangement.
It's called a new blanket.

A pink, flowery, extremely girly Hello Kitty blanket. Ahem.
Well... for one, the girl in question happen to love both the color pink and Hello Kitty.
Two, it just so happen that the market in town has, not one but two!, shops specializing in Hello Kitty merchandise, which include the said blanket, at affordable prices.
What a Mama to do?

So the Little Girl LOVES her new blankie.
Both for sleeping and for jumping around whenever she came to her room to be greeted with a sight of the said blanket spread over her bed, proudly displaying the huge Kitty.

Hhh... this Mama never thought that she would buy something like it.
But then again, Kecil is happy.
So Mama is happy.

Night night, Kecil. Sleep well and sweet dreams.

Nesat & Nalgae

The Backyard after the Typhoons

It had been an interesting week last week, with two typhoons after the other
In fact, Nesat was definitely the strongest typhoon we had ever encountered in our stay here
With signal 3 alert applied to the city and its vicinity, we all hunkered down in the house (including Daddy!) listening to the wind and watching the storm wreaked its havoc.

There were some grumpy faces, as one realized there will be no school, the other no walkies, another no blogging time, yet other (not pictured) more work to make up for lost days....
But I guess it will be too much out of the usual character not to make the best use of what we got
So we spent some time at home, at times sans electricity, being cheerful as we can, enjoying each others' company.... the likes.

So, we did some creative hair-styling, take some self-photos (yes, Kecil as well!), take some Mama & Kecil photos...

Eat some instant noodles and watch some YouTube (because the cable TV was the first thing that went down as the storm hit, and when the lights started flickering, Mama deemed it more prudent to stick with noodles rather than taking chances with the electric stove and coming up with half-cooked dish)

And since Daddy was home, Kecil took the opportunity to 'get' her own uhmmm... jungle gym?
(Usually it was Mama's privilege to be such. Arr... I guess now I know why parents buy their kids stuff like jungle gym and mini playground equipment for indoor use: to avoid being used as one. Hmm...)

Mama got to take pictures of her beautiful people (yes, they are mine, all mine!!!)

We might not quite like having typhoons at our doorstep too often. But once in a while, I am sure we can deal with. Perhaps with more instant noodle and battery power (for alternative sources of sustenance, light and entertainment).
There is sun outside today, so maybe we'll stop here just so Mama and Kecil can go out to enjoy ourselves before yet another storm. The storm season is not yet over!

Wishing you good weather and fun!

Skool & Mama-made

Mama posted this one more than a year ago, just as Kecil was turning two. The pseudo-banner was made partly as part of celebration, and partly because Mama just read that it benefits young children to be introduced early to their own name just so they can recognize it.

At two years old last year, it was WAY too early.

This year, however, with Kecil already starting on the alphabets in Skool... it's just timely.

So... since the banner was in no way permanent, we had to make a brand new one.

or two... ahem ...

Well... actually the sketches were made first, since Mama used that to also introduced the alphabets that made Kecil's name. Hence the cat, the tree etc.

I am very happy to report that Kecil did manage to recognize ALL the items despite Mama's less than spectacular drawing skills. Ahem.

The Apple and the Butterfly were from Skool. I did mention that Kecil has started on the alphabets in Skool, right?

Kecil made the choice to put them upstairs instead of the usual wall downstairs.

Currently Mama does not have a nice pic of our usual Skool wall, but as usual, it is still growing. We love that wall. On the other hand, at some other corner of the house, we do have a new 'totem'.

A number totem, indeed! Kecil went through the numbers before going through the alphabets. I guess her 8 and 9 are kept in Skool, but we have not had the chance to make our own. Mama and Kecil did make one of the numbers that currently made up our Number Totem. Can you guess which one it was?

This Mama is no way near accomplishing homeschooling. Still, it's always fun (and hopefully educational) to do some crafts with the Little One. This Mama does hope that we will still have a lot, many things to do together in future. In the meantime, I think she likes what Mama did so far.

How about you? Have you done any craft lately? This Mama happens to have a box full of stationary and colored papers, however, you can always start with as simple as cereal boxes and crayons. That was all it took (uhmm.. OK, plus string and a stapler) to make Kecil's banner.

We have a hidden outtake somewhere in this post. Check it out! And do comment below to let me know you love it, in addition to your guess for the Number Totem! Looking forward to hear from you!

This picture...

... is not one that Mama the Photographer wants out from her bag,
With all the ugly, cluttered background, atrocious lighting.... there are so many things which are soo... wrong, that make the picture so... ugly
With the exception of THAT expression.

But for Mama the Mom, THIS is the picture that often happen in real life,
And so this picture is here.
For just as Mama's favorite pic from days long gone,
This picture would someday remind this Mama of these days,
When a certain little girl would bug Mama for making 'chocolate', apparently just so she can eat some butter (no joke!), play with some flour and lick some batter
When certain pair of hands 'helped' Mama out, smelling ingredients and poking batters for taste,
When the kitchen would get oh so dirty despite all Mama's effort to be careful (all thanks to a certain assistant), with sugar everywhere, flour on the floor, and of course, one happy, chocolatey little girl

This is THE picture

Which Mama shares, because it is so precious.

These days...

Amidst all the thunderstorms, the gloomy gray skies, the unbelievable humidity (that has given rise to the growth of some nasty stuff around the house, eeeekkkkS!), and the general lack of sunshine, it had been a struggle to find inspirations for writing, for photographing, for anything.
I hope this kind of explain the lack of post from last week.
It just seemed as if we were simply plodding everyday, in a house that's never clean (thanks to certain little things, both of the microbe and two-legged variety), without even the necessary breaks (daily walkies are usually a fresh change of scenery for Mama).
But the sun seems to be making an appearance this week, so... we are crossing our fingers for a better week ahead.

In the meantime, Mama did manage to snap these pics to offer you a glimpse to our moody, gloomy days:

The ever-messy house, thanks to a certain on-going construction of cupcake cum castle cum rainbow cum house (whichever suits her at that moment of time).
Mama and Tita had been given ultimatums not to touch the said structure.
Of course, sometimes, when Mama or Tita couldn't stand the mess anymore, we did demolish the structure in order to have a proper clean up. That structure is an amazing dust/debris magnet, seriously!
Then we would have to deal with the resulting tantrum. Ahem.
And of course, a new structure was quickly erected to replace the old one.
And so the story went of our ever-messy house.

I'd say, even the Dog is not immune to the general gloominess.
With the Elizabethan collar attached to prevent her from licking her operation wound... she's been a bit grumpy as well. Not to mention the lack of walkies, the ever present threat of thunder (she's absolutely terrified of thunder!), the prospect of being left alone in the house many hours at least 3 days a week....

But, oh well... as said before, the sun has made a come back.
So.. here's to the return of some of our old routine, and hopefully, for truly better weather soon!