Wordless Wednesday - 1st Haircut

Shhh...Going Wordless with
Project Alicia
Sakura Haruka

Kitchen Exploits - Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

Portobello Mushrooms are so deliciously meaty. I first fell in love with them served as a juicy patty between burger buns at a vegetarian restaurant.

Later, I would again taste them beautifully grilled at a friend's home during one of the lovely meals she hosts. It was from her that I learned the secret of cooking them this way - first on a stove-top and then finishing them the oven. The mushrooms are kept juicy, and we are rewarded with a lovely bite.

Mushrooms as big as these fare well when seasoned as you would a piece of meat. They are great as sides to a big meal, or even as a main course with some carbs and greens. There are so many options of toppings. You can choose to use chopped mushroom stems, minced meat, ham, bacon, tomatoes, herbs, and cheese, among others.

In this picture, I used chopped mushrooms, shredded cheese, a dash of dried oregano and olive oil:

 

Grilled Portobello Mushrooms

Fresh Portobello Mushrooms, stems removed
per mushroom:

1/2T balsamic vinegar

1/2T olive oil
1 clove chopped garlic
1/2T chopped onion
coarse black pepper
salt
choice of topping (optional)

1. Season mushrooms with vinegar, olive oil, garlic and onion for at least an hour.

2. Sprinkle with salt just before cooking.

3. Cook on a well-oiled skillet. Don't toss the mushrooms around. Leave them to cook for about four minutes each side, starting with the caps facing up.

4. Remove mushrooms from skillet and place on a baking tray. Put toppings if desired.

5. Put in a preheated oven set to "Grill" at 180C. Grill for 10-15 minutes. Serve!

3 strategies to cope with the lack of sleep

My Dad came by this morning to help me watch Bun, so that I could catch up on much needed sleep. It has been a trying week to say the least, with one particularly bad night of her waking up every hour, inconsolable at times. We have spied two little teeth peeking through, her 3rd and 4th teeth, and I suspect (and hope!) more are on the way.

With Dad helping to babysit, I took the opportunity to take a nap, and woke up an hour later with a fright, thinking that I overslept and forgot to drive Bubbles to school. It took a few moments for me shake off the wool in my head and register that I already sent Bubbles to school and came home to nap.

Most parents with young children would comprehend just how sleep-deprived one can get. I just heard about a friend who fell asleep while making a presentation at work, because his baby was keeping him up for too many nights in a row!

How does one manage to function? With babies letting teething woes, mental leaps, sleep regressions, growth spurts or basic ole' hunger get in the way of night-time sleep, some practical tips are in order for those of us who lack sleep.

Here are three of my coping strategies:

1. Choose Sleep, whenever you can
It is always tempting to do 100 other things when the babies sleep and we find some time to ourselves. Granted, some things are essential, like basic cleaning, that need to be done. But there are also many other tempting activities like browsing the Web, reading, watching TV, or even experimenting in the kitchen. After all, we reason, when else can we schedule in leisurely pursuits? I have learned the hard way that when I am tired, and know that I lack sleep, I should prioritize sleep above everything else. Doing this sharpens my saw, and I emerge from naps well-rested and ready to take on the world again (or blog, as like this post).

2. Eat Well, and this includes your caffeine fix
Everyone knows the benefits of eating healthy, so I wouldn't talk too much about that. Caffeine on the other hand, is generally viewed to be bad as it creates a vicious cycle, with a dependency on it. However, there are times when one simply needs a caffeine boost to get through the day in one piece. I say, down your favourite brew when you need it! When desperate, and having already met my caffeine quota for the day, I would also take chicken essence or Vitamin B-complex pills. They help clear my head a little, and allow me to function.

3. Look Your Best - conceal, conceal, conceal
I am a basic make-up sort of girl. Slap on some sunblock, a pat of powder, a blusher, and I'm ready to go. Lately, however, I have taken the trouble to whip out my long forgotten tube of concealer, and actually using it around my eyes. I'm amazed (although why should I be??) how much better I look - more alive and radiant. Looking more rested than I actually am, I have found, helps lift me out of the I-am-zonked-and-I-look-crap zone to the I-look-great-and-I-will-survive mood. I get the extra push in the right direction to get through the day. If make-up is not your thing, wearing something that makes you look cheery could help too.

So now you know how I survive! Strategies 1, 2 and 3. What are some of yours? I would love to hear how other parents manage!

Wordless Wednesday - Hand in hand we march

Shhh...Going Wordless with
Project Alicia
Sakura Haruka

Flip for Joy - Interview with Jiang Meiru

When I first heard about Flip for Joy and the story behind it, I was both in awe of Meiru's vision and determination, and relieved that I finally have a dependable source to go to for children's Chinese books.

I decided then that I didn't want to simply share about the awesome books that her website carries, but also the story and face behind its creation. I hope you enjoy reading this interview as much as I enjoyed putting it together.

Jiang Meiru is a mother of a 3-year-old boy and the owner of Flip for Joy 乐翻天, an online bookstore that features a range of selected Chinese books for children. A former Chinese teacher in a Junior College, Meiru started this store as a way to bring good quality books to children, pursuing her passion for educating the young in the Chinese language.

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Flip for Joy 乐翻天 is such a happy name. Could you share with us what exactly Flip for Joy is about and how was its name chosen?
"We just want the best for our kids. This applies to teaching them the Chinese language too."

This was the basis of how Flip for Joy was formed. I started the bookstore with a good friend of mine. We both enjoy and believe in reading to our children. While it was easy to find a wide variety and selection of English books, high quality Chinese books that were engaging, fun, and will interest our children didn't seem as easily accessible. I started looking internationally and bought quality titles for ourselves. Over time, friends started asking me to purchase books for them too! Thanks to their encouragement, we decided to take a leap of faith and start Flip for Joy, so as to share the excellent selection with more people. 

I was previously teaching Chinese language in a junior college but was diagnosed with a locally aggressive tumour when my son turned 5 months. The rare cancer was caused by pregnancy hormones that went wrong and I had to undergo an extensive surgery and radiotherapy. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise as I decided to become a stay-home mum to recuperate and spend time nurturing my 3 year old. Now, I am an aspiring mum-preneur. Flip for Joy allows me to continue pursuing my passion for educating our young in the Chinese language.

It's such a joy to read and reading Chinese books can be just as delightful. So "Flip for Joy 乐翻天 " just popped into my head almost right away, followed by the taglines "Flip a page, Flip for Joy" and "翻一篇，乐翻天"! 

That is inspiring, Meiru! I am encouraged by you. Could you share how do you go about selecting books for Flip for Joy?
Flip for Joy's book selection is good enough for my own child! Being trained in the teaching of the Chinese language, I have high expectations when it comes to educational resources and I'm very passionate about teaching the Chinese language to my child. A lot of time and effort have been spent on searching for books that are fun, exciting and engaging. I'll always try reading the books with my 3 year old before writing the synopsis and recommendations in both Chinese and English so as to help parents who have difficulty reading in Chinese. Many of our books are bestsellers and award-winning titles loved by children worldwide. You can find popular children's titles like Dear Zoo, The Very Hungry Caterpillar, Brown Bear Brown Bear What Do You See and The Giving Tree in our bookstore and our children can now get to enjoy these classics in the Chinese language or even in both languages!

We have categorized our books into 3 main categories: Flip for FUN, KNOWLEDGE, LOVE:
Flip for FUN books are highly interactive and a whole lot of fun!
Flip for KNOWLEDGE are insightful and have rich elements of story-telling.
Flip for LOVE books help children love the important values in life.

We have also put together Flip Flip Hooray Starter Packs for ages 0-3, 3-5 and 5-7 for parents who want help with selecting books. Each pack will have at least 1 book from each of the 3 categories to provide variety for hours of quality reading. We even provide hanyu pinyin on a separate document for certain popular titles just so more parents and their little ones can enjoy them! 

Having hanyu pinyin certainly helps me read to my girls! What are some tips you can share with parents like myself, to help us interest our children in Chinese books? 
As Emile Buchwald said: "Children are made readers on the laps of their parents." Make a commitment to read regularly to your children and enjoy the bonding in the process. Get other family members involved too. Reading aloud allows you to share the various emotions experienced in the book with your little ones and reading it expressively makes it captivating and engaging! 

Start off by getting books with themes that your child is interested in eg. animals, vehicles. If your child enjoys hands-on activities, choose books with interactive elements such as stickers, lift the flaps and pull outs. 

If your child is reluctant to read Chinese books, you can consider getting Chinese or bilingual versions of the English books that they enjoy (eg. Dear Zoo, The Hungry Caterpillar, Press Here), or get books by authors that they like (eg. Eric Carle, Karen Katz). The familiarity will make the idea of reading Chinese books more welcoming and give them confidence when they understand the stories. 

After reading a particular book, parents can try to seize teachable moments to relate to the content of the book and even design activities to complement the book eg. Visiting the zoo after reading Dear Zoo and refer to the animals in Mandarin or making a caterpillar art piece (such as a hand puppet) and animate the story again.  

These are useful tips, thank you! How have your customers responded to Flip for Joy's books? We like to hear what other parents think! 
We are very encouraged and thankful for the positive feedback from our customers. Many parents said that they had a tough time looking for quality Chinese books, while some had no idea how to choose appropriate books for their children. 

Some parents also shared that their children were only interested in English books and barely touched the Chinese ones they had. Books from Flip for Joy on the other hand, not only managed to capture their children's attention, but to engage them!

We've also responded to special requests and delivered books to customers in Australia, US, UK, Thailand and Hong Kong. They were so grateful that their children can be exposed to the Chinese language through Flip for Joy books even though they are far away from home. 

It is great to know that you have fans from abroad too! What plans do you have for Flip for Joy in the upcoming year? What we can look forward to? 
At Flip for Joy, we greatly value the input from our customers and we're dedicated to expanding our book selection and bring in more board books, books with hanyu pinyin, readers that help in early language development and books for older children in the primary schools. We are also looking forward to bring in other exciting forms of educational material that help in the learning of the Chinese language, such as activity books, flash cards, puzzles, wooden character tiles and more. We will also continue to share with fellow parents resources and insights on the learning of the Chinese language on our Flip for Joy Facebook page. 

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Thank you Meiru! I look forward to more of Flip for Joy's products!

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I will be writing a review next week about Flip for Joy's books, and offering a Flip for Joy voucher as a giveaway. Stay tuned!

Kitchen Exploits - Chocolate Date Balls

 

Chocolate is one of the favourite things my family likes to eat. We always have chocolate in the fridge, and chocolate desserts often get eaten up the quickest. 

Unfortunately chocolate desserts do require quite a lot of sugar to sweeten them. Cocoa in itself is extremely bitter. I often cut sugar required in recipes, and I found out the hard way once that adding too little sugar to a recipe that includes cocoa can result in very bitter-tasting results.

I first read about the idea of using dates to sweeten a chocolate dessert through an e-newsletter from Little Green Dot. This is a lovely website about Green Living and it shares interesting ideas about Eco-friendly and natural options in Singapore. I subsequently found many other recipes online that use dates in a similar way, and got curious about trying to make some chocolate-dates desserts of my own.

This Chocolate Date Balls recipe is probably one of the easiest, if not the easiest. It requires only three ingredients and a blender. To be honest, I was expecting these little balls to taste like some fake chocolate dessert, something that chocolate lovers would detest. To my delight, these have a rich chocolate flavour, and have passed the "Bubbles' Test". She thinks they are regular chocolate with nuts in them - and views them as a special treat just like any other candy. 

Dates contain an impressive list of nutrients, vitamins, antioxidants and dietary fibre. I feel good when I replace some of the sugar intake of my family with dates instead of processed sugars!

If your family likes chocolate just like mine, you might want to try this!

Chocolate Date Balls

1 cup chopped medjool dates

3T cocoa powder

1/4 cup chopped nuts (I used walnuts)

1. Put chopped dates into a blender and blend.

2. Gradually add cocoa powder and continue blending till smooth.

3. Stir in chopped nuts.

4. Form into little balls and eat! (keep uneaten balls in fridge)

Bread Yard

Bread Yard is one of my favourite places to go to for weekday breakfasts and lunches.

When I was still working, I held countless lunch discussions there. Now that I no longer go to the office, this is a choice venue for my breakfast appointments.

Its modern rustic set-up and the promise of freshly baked artisan breads are always a draw for me. Hands down, their Ham and Cheese sandwich is my favourite - it comes with delicious gooey cheese and thinly sliced apples, resulting in a beautiful combination of textures and flavours.

This little place is the brainchild of Ivan Ting, currently a student at SUTD, where Bread Yard itself is situated. Today, you will find his mother, sister and a few trusted friends working alongside him, providing unassuming, friendly service. They work really hard, as breads are baked on site early each morning for the day.

Besides delighting in their breads, I adore how they do eggs. There is something about perfectly cooked and seasoned eggs that heightens the enjoyment of a breakfast.

Also on the menu are various desserts and sides to complement to your choice of sandwich/main course.

Bread Yard also does takeaways. I sometimes have my little helper assist me in carrying the loaves home :) (We bought two different loaves and had them halved to swop with my parents - so we get to enjoy both flavours.)

Bread Yard 
20 Dover Drive
Block 4, SUTD
S138682
T: 6779 7986

Toddibox Giveaway - WINNER

Thank you all for participating in the Toddibox giveaway!

 

Congratulations to Fiona (11th participant) for winning a January box!

We hope you and your son Julien enjoy the book and activities.

Please email me to claim your prize.

Wordless Wednesday - Bowl vs Broccoli

Shhh...Going Wordless with
Project Alicia
Sakura Haruka

Breakfast Meet-ups

School has started for Bubbles, and this means I get a bit of time in the mornings to do things I otherwise would not with two kids in tow.

I schedule in chores, go for little outings with and for Bun, or simply stay home to work when she takes her morning nap.

There is now some semblance of a rhythm in the routines that take place in our household. With this, there comes courage for me to plan breakfast meet-ups with the closest friends just once or twice a week, careful not to tip the delicate balance between adequate rest and more play.

We had so much to catch up on, with this girlfriend's travels the last couple of weeks, and my surgery and family commitments. I was thankful she suggested a nice quiet place so we could hang out uninterrupted to chat.

I felt alive, and the me-before-babies was temporarily awakened as we conversed. We talked about the future, and agreed to hold each other accountable for behaviours we have decided are unbecoming and unfavourable, for the older women we will eventually be. 

Reflecting on this conversation, I marvel at how God has allowed our paths to cross. Two so very different people in a friendship held by the threads of common understanding, mutual respect, and comfortable companionship.

The breakfast was delicious, and a lovely way to spend the morning.

Our enjoyment must have rubbed off on Bun too, who happily played on the sofa before comfortably falling asleep in the stroller. If this behaviour continues, breakfast meet-ups with friends could become a staple in my weekly routine!

Rise and Shine - Breakfast for Kids

What did you have for breakfast this morning? 

If you have kids, what did they have?

(Yummy granola courtesy of Rise and Shine, made by the talented Sherie of Maameemoomoo.)

While I insist that my kids eat breakfast every morning, it is a case of "do as I say" and not "do as I do". It is not uncommon for me to miss breakfast myself on a jam-packed routine weekday, although I am now more conscious about eating, and eating healthy.

Here are some stats provided by the Breakfast for Kids team. I am hoping that the 46% who say that kids do not have the time to eat, have kids who get something in their tummies during the school recess:

The Rise and Shine Breakfast Campaign is one of the many lead up events to the Rise and Shine -  Asia’s first Children’s Health and Development Expo, later in the year.

This campaign aims to promote daily healthy breakfast eating habits among children aged 4-12 years old. The team has organised ambient installations, storytelling sessions, and theatre performances to engage parents and children, highlighting the importance of healthy breakfast eating. Have a look at their Events page for more information about how you can join in.

The campaign finale will be a Rise and Shine Carnival, featuring the largest breakfast picnic in Singapore taking place on 3 March 2013. Sounds like fun! Do keep tabs on their website for details about how you and your family can join in.

Here's to healthy breakfasts!

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I'm a Rise and Shine ambassador and will be a partner in promoting information about children's health and development this year. Watch this space for future posts!

Kitchen Exploits - Chicken in Milk

This week I would like to share a Jamie Oliver recipe that has become a regular feature on our dining table. It is a variation of the usual roast chicken, and produces meat that is really tender.

The ingredients sound weird at first - so much milk? - but the gravy that you end up with is pretty amazing.

We have eaten this as chicken pieces served with sides of potatoes or grains. Sometimes, I shred the whole chicken and serve it on wilted spinach and pasta with gravy drizzled over. It is a nice change from other white sauces, and the lemon zest really lifts the flavours.

As with roast chicken, the bones are reserved to make delicious stock.

There are a few recipes floating around online with slight differences in ingredients used. What I ended up with is a combination of what I found and a few modifications.

Chicken in Milk

Adapted from here and here

1 chicken

Salt & pepper

125g salted butter

1 cinnamon stick

A large handful of fresh sage, stems removed

Zest of 2 lemons

10-15 garlic cloves, skin on

565ml fresh milk

1. Preheat oven to 190C.

2. Season chicken with salt and pepper

3. In a dutch oven that just fits the chicken, heat up butter and brown chicken all over.

4. Place chicken on a plate and throw away the butter, or reserve for other use.

5. Place chicken back in the pot. Pour in milk.

6. Add all the other ingredients - sprinkle the lemon zest, cinnamon stick and the garlic into the milk, adding the sage last.

7. Put pot into the oven on the middle rack. Cook for 1.5 hours, basting every half and hour. 

8. Remove from oven and serve chicken with the sauce as you wish.

Do you know where this is?

I thought this would be a fun thing to do:

As a family, we always try to avoid crowds by seeking out quiet places to visit on weekends. As far as possible, we try to avoid malls, or the usual places for families to hang out. Too many humans and too much noise do not make us happy campers.

A couple of weeks ago, we discovered an unlikely place with big open spaces to wander around in. It has water features - some with beautiful fish swimming in them, and interesting sculptures. Being the Christmas season, there is also a huge Christmas tree on display, with decorations rivaling those on the Orchard Road belt.

What else does one do when presented with a giant Christmas tree?

(Big butt alert)

After spending part of an afternoon there letting Bubbles run around, we headed back the same evening for dinner. It was as charming in the evening as it was in the day - with the pretty lights artistically placed all around.

I was curious to know, my dear readers - if you too know of this place? Or are we just slow to catch on? It seems too pretty to be missed, but we saw only one other family the both times we were there!

Wordless Wednesday - A Party of Two

Shhh...Going Wordless with
Project Alicia
Sakura Haruka

Toddibox - Review and Giveaway

During the recent year-end school holidays, Bubbles made quite a number of Christmas decorations. A few were thanks to Toddibox sending us a December box of activities for us to try out.

(Scroll to the bottom of this post to read how you can win a January box!)

Toddibox is run by a group of educators. It is a monthly subscription box filled with multi-disciplinary approach activities AND a storybook based on a given theme. Toddibox targets children aged 3-6 and includes activity guides for parents.

The creators of Toddibox design the activities with the aim to help children relate to the real world, and to enable them be self-motivated learners.

I found the craft activities quite age appropriate. Bubbles was able to do them without much supervision. I liked it that all the materials needed for each activity were provided and nicely packaged. If you have done craft work with children you would know that a large part of time spent is on the prep work - be it sourcing the materials needed or cutting them down to size.

 The handmade Christmas wreath that hung on our door (I added my own ribbon).

The number of activities provided in the box was generous. We had 8 different activities in our December box in addition to a storybook. I thought this to be well-worth the S$39.95 a single box would cost to buy.

The activities came in four different categories:

Ten Fingers

Thinking Tots

Tempo & Beat

Test Tube

The Tempo and Beat category was most interesting to me, as I do not have a habit of incorporating music into activities I do with Bubbles. Having this segment provided helpful ideas.

The instruction guides were simple, with only written instructions. I thought this was sufficient given that that activities were easily explained. However, having no pictures this meant that most children would need an adult to explain what needs to be done.

There was quite a bit of cutting required for one of the activities though, as pictured above. Thankfully we did this when we had family visiting, so the cutting work was shared.

We really liked this pretty wreath which was a pegging and numbering activity. I kept it for Bun to use in the future!

I was hoping to do more activities with Bubbles before posting this review, but looking at our schedule, that could mean after Chinese New Year! If you would like a more detailed review, I would recommend reading Sarah's write-up here - she even has an additional PDF document you can download.

Would you like to win a January Toddibox?

The theme is "Me, Me, Me" - all about the child - Emotions, 5 Senses etc

 

If so, simply leave a comment on this post to say who you would like the box for and why!

This giveaway is open to Singapore addresses only and the contest ends on Monday 14 January 11pm.

Do share this with folks who may be interested to participate!

Kitchen Exploits - Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

This week's Kitchen Exploits is a bit of a cheater's version because it doesn't actually involve any cooking.

But hey, chocolate and strawberries. How wrong can that be?
Plus, (though not surprisingly) Bubbles has requested for a repeat of this, and it did come out of my kitchen!

Chocolate-Dipped Strawberries

A handful of fresh strawberries. Leaves removed.

 A small bowl of your favourite chocolate, melted.

*A small bowl of whatever nuts you like (we used walnuts), chopped.

Provide skewers or dessert forks for DIY fun :)

*If you like something fancier, add coloured sprinkles or tiny marshmallows!

Farewell to 2012 in Photos

I have been trying to squeeze out time to do some personal reflections and plan for the year ahead. With a sick, koala-clinging baby and a pre-schooler in the home, it has been tough. I have not had longer than a 2-hour stretch of sleep in the last four days!

Thankfully, when words fail, pictures/photographs sometimes help. Although these photos are just a tiny dollop of what happened - especially given that I dropped the habit of photographing everything - doing this has given me some clarity in planning for the new year.

Linking up with Farewell Stranger, here's my 2012!

January

Bubbles started school! Suddenly having her apart from family for a couple of hours a day was as nerve-wrecking for me as it was for her. Thankfully till today I still think it was a great decision. She has lovely teachers and has grown so much through her experiences in school. 

February
. . . . . . 

. . . . . . 

This was a tough month for me. I was in the thick of pre-natal blues and a stomach flu bug was making its rounds in my home. I couldn't find any photographs taken with my cameras for this month.

March

March is usually a month of celebrations as it holds the birthdays of Roboman and I. It is also the month where we got married. It was in March that I got better control of my moods and emotions. We celebrated our birthdays and anniversary in the simplest of ways. This birthday cake was made and delivered by one of my long-time friends. Our anniversary celebration was to walk around the Botanic Gardens after dinner, eating ice-cream. 

April

Bubbles and I had the honour of featuring in the 25th wedding anniversary celebration of my dear mentor and friend. I as the Emcee of the dinner, and Bubbles as a flower girl. I borrowed a sparkly green dress that skimmed my pregnant belly, and Bubbles wore a white dress gifted the Christmas before.

May

Our little Bun arrived, in perfect timing. She has brought us much joy, and is a much-anticipated younger sister for Bubbles.

June

As with most people who go through traditional Chinese confinement practices, the first half of June went by as a blur for me. We celebrated Bun's turning 1 month with a buffet lunch for the extended family. We gave out red eggs and cupcakes. For the rest of June, we had the company of many friends and family who took time to visit and spend time with us.

July

We went for our first 'big' family outing to the Underwater World at Sentosa. It was a trip that inspired Bubbles' 3rd birthday party. I had us all dressed in similar blue/green hues, but we didn't manage to get a family snapshot on our camera. We were still amateurs at going out with 2 (instead of one) kids. Instead, we settled for a touristy hard copy photo taken by the resident photographer. It had us superimposed onto a sea scene (cheesy). Now I don't know what to do with the photo!

August

I baked and baked in August, failing many times just to learn what worked. We had groups of guests over for tea, and play dates where little girls played dress up. A bunch of colleagues came by for cake and muffins, bringing with them office updates that already seemed so foreign to me. The conversations that day reaffirmed my decision about focusing this season of life on family.

September

September was really a month about Bubbles' 3rd birthday. We had family coming to visit and stay for a couple of days. And as always this meant a lot of eating. It was also when a Mid-Autumn Festival party a neighbour organised took place. Bubbles had her first experience playing with sparklers. She started off hesitant, played with a few, and then decided it was not that much fun and went off to munch on party snacks!

October

The photo folder of this month shows mainly food that I have been cooking. This, I suppose, sorts of explains why I decided to start the Kitchen Exploits series to chronicle my experiments in the kitchen.  Other than food, I was also starting to really enjoy stay-at-home-motherhood-of-two, and basking in the cuteness of my babies :)

November

This was a special month for us. We made the decision to travel back to Roboman's home church in Malaysia to do a dedication of our children. By dedicating our children to our God, we made a public promise to bring them up in His ways, to the best our ability. It is almost like a baptism, where one makes such a declaration for oneself, except that this is one where parents make a commitment in parenting their children. I also underwent two surgical procedures this month. Thankfully, all is well. After about 2 weeks of pain, I was pretty much up and about.

December

Oh, it was impossible to select a photo to represent our wonderful December! We had such an amazing time as a family. We played with snow, took Bun swimming for the first time, went on tons of outings, had family visiting, and hosted Christmas and NYE dinners. We had lazy mornings, spent time outdoors, played, read, crafted, cooked and feasted. This photo is simply a fun, irreverent snapshot of Bubbles' hands. We visited Hello Kitty Town and she got her nails painted (and sticker-ed) there! She was thrilled at being allowed this "grown-up" treat, while I mark it as a milestone for my parenting permissiveness :)

Farewell, 2012. Thank you for the amazing ride!