Gingerbread Man @PD Part1

Thea and Emil started off the workshop with their version og The GingerBread Man. They were supposed to have rehearsed but as they had been out fishing till 1am the previous night, the storytelling session was rather impromptu.

Emil had never heard of The GingerBread Man story and Fai felt he had to help Emil out a bit.

JY handing out gingerbread dough that was prepared by Uncle Danny.

The kids had to roll and cut their cookies. some improvised and created their own designs

Han's Pirate and treasure chest

Gingerbread cookies waiting for the oven.

Cooling in the cake studio

JY's icing. She had to outline all the cookies with her steady and skillful touch. Everyone else had shaky hands and the outlines turned out clumpy and awful.

Such fun!
The colours were amazing - bright and cheerful.

Smoothing out the icing with a satay stick.

JY piping and piping and piping....

Sprinkles!

The kids were so focused the entire workshop. They had so much fun playing with the icing and sprinkles, there weren't enough cookies to satisfy their creativity. They could have continued decorating for hours.

Pregnant Gingerbread Woman

Mommies had fun too

Han's cookies.

Ean enjoying his snack.

A great, big thank you to Teri and Danny for another successful baking-decorating workshop. The support from the homeschooling group has been tremendous. Their keen participation make organising such events a delight.

Outdoor Preschool - Norway

An interesting concept. I wonder if such an approach is acceptable to parents in Malaysia. It would be wonderful if likeminded parents pool together to create such a setting for kids here to learn from Mother Nature.
My kids are rather reluctant to go to the beach by themselves but enjoy the beach thoroughly when they have friends to share the beach with - building intricate sandcastles using tiny pinecones as soldiers, going fishing, swimming and exploring the shoreline.
Having a group of friends that meet daily to do such activities would be great.

Click here for a look at a Forest Kindergarten in Switzerland

Fishing @ PD

2 men with their jala (A fish net that is cast by hand. Lots of skill is involved to open up the net into a perfect circle)
Han with a fish net - the scoop and catch type.

Han trying to catch a school of tiny fish.
Ean was walking around with his collection of hermit crabs in the net.

Lala (small clams) that were dug up the previous night for bait

Thea crushing the live bait and Fai extracting lala from its shell

Lala without shell

JY and Emil trying to untangle a messy bundle of fishing line.
Before they could cast their first line, it started to rain heavily.

The kids ran back to the car. The girls couldn't wait to get back home to stomp in puddles.

Wreath

JY's unschooling friend from Penang came to stay for a few days.

The girls went around the neighbourhood looking for flowers and leaves one evening

Wire was looped about 3x around an 8inch cake tin to get the desired shape and size.

Leaves were then entwined around the wreath loop and secured with short floral wires.

Wreath hoop with leaves.
Now to add the flowers.

Wreath 1

Wreath 2

Han concentrating on his wreath. He was very proud of his creation and paraded around with it.

Homebirth...getting ready with books

This book came highly recommended.

The only CD I own that prohibits listening in moving vehicles.

Lots of easy to follow instructions and comparison between homebirthing and hospital births.

I especially liked the chapter on the history of obstetrics. It was a very eye-opening read.

For all my babies, I had just followed my obgyn's advice from the first visit to delivery. I was the perfect, compliant, never questioning patient.

"As long as baby is healthy" was my philosophy back then, it didn't matter how I was manhandled, humiliated, cut and sewn up.

With my 5th baby, it has finally dawned on me that I have been a dimwit.

Probably baby No5 triggered some grey cells. Baby No5 is one very strong willed baby. No way will baby No5 be induced into the world without permission.

I have been very fortunate to have supportive homebirth mothers who had willingly shared their inspiring birth stories. I thank them for leading me to homebirthing.

Another highly recommended book.

A homeschooling mother from Holland told me that this book is a 'must read'. She went on to say that all mothers in Holland give birth at home in the presence of a midwife. Only in very rare cases are births done in the hospital. She was surprised that the trend in Malaysia was in reverse.

Vaginal Powers! I am discovering inner secrets.
DH is assigned birth companion and has the two books shoved under his nose at certain chapters that I felt required his attention.
He flipped through Ina May's wincing and grimacing at every turn of the page.
DH took some time accepting the fact that he will be the one receiving the baby. Talking to a homebirth father helped to allay some of his fears. He is still skeptical but has come to accept that his wife is adamant.

Next purchase, the birth ball, a 65cm gym ball and a pool.

Rock Climbing @ Extreme Park Shah Alam

The boys playing in the nice cool 'cave'. The boys had to keep themselves entertained for 3 hours as JY had signed up for a 3 hour course.
It was hot and sunny out in the rock climbing area, so we took refuge in the wonderful air-conditioned confines of a fast food joint and let the boys doodle away.
Fai's into playing UNO, so we played that as well. And ate lots of fries too.

One of the schoolkids who were there before us, zooming down the flying fox after scaling the wall.

JY and XP putting their gear on

Receiving instructions

JY had on her sandals and was allowed to climb with it. Eventually she found being barefoot made climbing easier.

JY found it exhilarating and challenging especially at the trickier walls where the rocks were far between and she had to leap to reach the next rock.

Next challenge - Rock climbing at Batu Caves.

Canopy Walkway @FRIM

Our welcoming commitee as we started on the Rover Track towards the entrance of the Canopy Walk
Tickets for the canopy walk had to be purchased at the Information Centre. More info here.

The trek was pleasant on a Sunday morning.

Ean walked most of the way

The weekend crowd.

Only 5 people were allowed onto the walkway at each interval. And we had to space ourselves 4 feet apart.

We could imagine Emil, the German exchange student, waving his hands and singing his national anthem if he were to see this sign. I shall bring him here one day.

Walked up a steep, narrow staircase

Beginning of the walkway

He checked our tickets and ensured we kept our distance

The view was spectacular. If only we had more time to marvel at the scenery.

Lovely timber decking

We were more cautious on the trail down to the starting point. As there were a few sandy and slippery spots.

We were greeted by a wonderful picnic spot at the end of the trail.

Crystal clear water, shallow, sandy stream, huge boulders, devoid of a crowd......perfect!

On the way back to the carpark, Fai looked upwards trying to spot bird's nests and that was when he saw the trees with the Crown Shyness phenomenon - the kapur tree.
I was so intent on reaching the parking lot (it was drizzling slightly) that I had totally ignored the splendour around me.
Fai informed his sister and she pointed to the sky and said "Look!"
Everyone looked up and went "Wow!"