Little Wonders - Rob Thomas

I have borrowed 'Meet the Robinsons' many times from the PJ Community library and I never tire from watching it with my kids. The storyline is fabulous. From watching it I managed to discuss adoption, realising our dreams, dealing with setbacks, letting go of hurt and frustration, moving on, moving forward, family......with my kids. When opportunity permits and when the situation is right, I will say ' Remember when Lewis..."

And this song by Rob Thomas just moves me to tears.

What about the Walt Disney quote that appears at the end of the show:

We keep moving forward, opening new doors, doing new things, because we are curious and curiousity keeps leading us down new paths. We are always exploring and experimenting.

I think those words of wisdom will be my unschooling mantra for 2011.

PJ Community Library

I love libraries and nothing gives me greater pleasure than spending half a day with my kids in one.

The PJ community library would organise activities kids during the school holidays.

If only they would have storytelling sessions instead of sandart.

The kids section is located on the ground floor.

JY used to spend time with me and the boys in this section.

Over the years she has progressed from Enid Blyton's Enchanted Forest and Malory Towers to Harry Porter and Princess Diaries.

These days she would help me return the books, leave the library bag with me and inform me she would be at her usual floors and zoom off.

Now she looks for Darren Shan, Ellen Schreiber, Cake decorating and clay sculpting books.

The boys would head for the redspot section, choose their favourite 'Read Only' books and wait for me to read to them.

"We can't take them home, right mommy? So we must read ALL of them here! "

Ean found his favourite - Barney!

Pasar Malam @ Petaling Garden

Pasar malam or night market is very much a part of Malaysian life.
The Petaling Garden pasar malam is a short walk from my house and is held wednesdays from 5 to 9 pm.

Steaming hot sweetcorn is a must-have for my kids.

The nonya kuih stall is always swamped with customers. Fai would always ask for a piece and since it costs 70cents a piece, I would always give him RM1, so that he can count out the change. It would be more maths practice for Fai when one of his brothers want a piece too.

The kids would get to pick their favourite fruits, get a few sticks of satay, then head home for a sumptious feast.

Three of Fai's favourite fruits; persimmon, nangka/jackfruit and dragonfruit

A day out in PJ 7 Dec 2010

It was a lovely cloudy afternoon and the boys were restless at home. JY was busy in the kitchen baking up a storm. So I took the boys to Taman Jaya.

Climbing web and shark swing.

Fai at the picnic bench drawing a sketch of the park.

Ean watching 2 boys playing badminton.

This man was busy picking up saga seeds. The boys picked up a few themselves. Bright red in colour, they are easy to spot.

When on a nature walkabout with Gary in FRIM, he mentioned that the insides of the saga seeds were poisonous. I did a search and indeed they are poisonous. I guess the general rule of anything that is brightly coloured in nature is poisonous.

The beautiful saga tree. Bird's nest ferns and wild orchids were growing on its trunk.

Lots of kerengga (weaver ants) on the saga tree. They can inflict a painful bite so be keep a watch out for them.

After the park, we headed to PJ Old Town.

Han's sandal strap snapped when we were on a nature walk in FRIM. We finally found the time to stop by at the five foot way cobbler in PJ Old town. These cobblers would sit outside the row of shop on stools waiting for customers to drop by with their array of tools on display. The boys watched intently as he showed off his craftmanship. The cost for sewing the strap back on was RM1.

We walked along the rows of shops and admired the wares on display.

Before going for the tree planting project in Raja Muda, I had a hard time looking for little rubber boots for the boys. Here they are lined up in a row just a 5 minute drive from my house.