Back to school farewell party

Time really slipped through our hands like sand! I can’t believe that it has been almost 3 years since Russell and now Netanya started attending this playgroup on Friday. This playgroup aimed to help children to speak more mandarin and inculcate in them an interest in the Chinese language and culture through songs and games. Over the years, the group has expanded and the children have become such good friends. Even the mothers, we have found a special friendship among us.

Yesterday, the last Friday before school starts, we have a back to school party. It was a pretty emotional one for us because it was also a ‘farewell’ party for the children who will not be coming to this playgroup anymore. Three of kids, including Russell, will start going to school on Fridays for their kindergarten and pre-k classes. We will probably only see each other on special occasions, holidays or next summer. We’re really going to miss them. 

Have we got a bookworm here?

Netanya loves to read, uh…actually she can’t read on her own yet, to put it more accurately, she loves being read to. Since she was about 10 months old I think, she displayed a strong interest in reading. Her favorite thing to do is to pick a book, climb onto your lap and listen to a story. She’s also at the stage whereby she can identify and name objects in the books. If she spot something that she knows, she’ll point at it and shout it’s name in delight. She also likes to act out parts of a story, if she sees a dog sleeping, she’ll put her finger to the lips and say ‘Shhhh…’, or when we read ‘Jack jumps over the candle stick’, she too will be ‘jumping’ (with her feet still planted to ground, she hasn’t learned how to jump yet). It is really fun watching her learning from books and enjoying the stories.

This morning, she unloaded a box of books onto the couch, sat herself down in the middle of the pile and started ‘reading’ all by herself one book after another. I’m really happy that she loves to read, I hope this interest will keep up as she gets older.

The Orbit

Remember the big box that came with Russell’s toy? Well, for weeks Russell has been pestering me to make that into a space shuttle with him. Last Friday, when we had nothing to do, we finally got to work. For about 2 hours, we did some rocket science engineering work in our garage, cutting, painting, then more cutting and more painting. When we finally finished the paint job, all 3 of us were covered with paint. Since we were in the garage and it was such a hot day, I turned on the garden hose and let the kids have some water play and also to clean ourselves and the place up at the same time.

In the afternoon, when all the pieces were dry, we assemble the parts together. We had so much fun and Russell was really proud of his space shuttle. I asked him to give it a name, at first I suggested that he name it after himself since he spent so much effort making it, but he didn’t think that was a good idea. He paused and thought for a while then blurted out “Orbit, I want to name it Orbit.” I loved that name, it was such an apt name for a space shuttle. I am proud of him too.

Birthday flowers for Aunt Agnes

               

Aunt Agnes’ birthday is sometime this month, we couldn’t send our beautiful sunflowers all the way back to Singapore, so Russell made some for her. Hopefully it will reach her on time.

“Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to you. Happy birthday to Aunt Agnes….happy birthday to you!”

Eversince our last visit back to Singapore, Russell has a better understanding of what it means to have extended family. He likes to send photos and crafts back for his uncles, aunts, grandparents and cousins, especially when it is for someone’s birthday. During our nightime prayer, he’ll remind me to pray for our family in Singapore (if I forget). I’m really happy that he shows love for his extended family even though he spent so little time with them.  

Hot Brown

To celebrate my BD this year, my beloved hubby got up extra early on a Sunday morning to cook me a special breakfast. We saw a program on Foodtv, showing how Hot Brown was made. It looked really delicious so my DH decided to try making that with Russell for me. With two kids who need to be in bed by 8.30 every night, it is impossible to go out for a BD dinner in a restaurant.  Plus, what can be more romantic and special than having your hubby cook a meal for you.  I loved the idea of having a BD breakfast, and that Hot brown turned out to be very (sinfully) delicious.

 

Here’s the recipe, in case anyone is interested to try it.

To make french toasts: 5 slices of bread, 3 eggs

Beat eggs lightly. Drench bread in egg mixture and fry bread on grill pan (frying pan) until they are golden on both sides. Now, line a baking dish with the french toasts.

To top the french toasts: turkey ham, big tomatoes

Roll up a few slices of  turkey ham and place them on the french toasts. Put as many slices as you want. Cut the tomatoes into thick slices, sprinkle salt and pepper, then put them on the grill pan, on high heat, grill them for about 30 seconds on each side. Place grilled tomatoes on top of the turkey ham.  

To make cream sauce: 1 cup of heavy cream, shredded swiss cheese, shredded parmesan cheese

Bring heavy cream to boil, remove from heat, stir in desired amount of shredded and parmesan cheese. Pour cream sauce over the assembled layers, then top it with more parmesan cheese.

Set oven to broiler. Place baking dish in oven, remove when sauce appears bubbly (about 5 minutes).

To finish it off: Sprinkle some parsley and top it with bacon.

Now all you need is your favorite tea and you’re ready to dig in.

WARNING: Do not drive or operate any machinery after eating hot brown. You may experience extreme fullness and drowsiness. The best thing to do after this meal is a good nap.