Christy @ Kidsrsimple, Author at Kids 'R' Simple

PhotoBook with Canon HD FotoJournal

I used to print out photos and put into self adhesive photo albums and add in some keepsakes like the hospital delivery mum-and-child wrist-tags and ultrasound photos. It took a lot of time to develop the photos, arrange manually, and re-do the arrangement if I had missed a page or left with a couple of photos in the end not knowing what to do with them. The cost of developing photos and buying the albums were not cheap. And the albums are really bulky.

When I chanced upon PhotoBooks at a roadshow, the PhotoBook displays had me sold to the idea and since then, I have been developing PhotoBooks instead of doing up albums. The advantages of PhotoBooks are aplenty!

Advantages:
1) Arrangement of photos is easily done by clicking on the computer software.
2) No need to make multiple trips to the photo shop and Popular bookstore to buy albums.
3) I can shut off my computer if I am doing halfway without stacks of photographs lying around on the floor.
4) I can add interesting masks, decorations, cute pictures and nice texts on PhotoBooks.
5) PhotoBooks are slim and do not take up much space.
6) I can duplicate PhotoBooks and gift to parents and friends. I had duplicated 3 PhotoBooks as Christmas gifts to my parents and my in-laws for a common family trip. I find it a very meaningful gift especially when our parents usually do not print out photos on their own.

The cost of PhotoBooks varies with different PhotoBook company. The earlier PhotoBooks that I had bought were pretty affordable. They had promotions and it worked out to be about $68 for a 40 page soft copy photobook. The app was user-friendly but the photo quality was not so good.

Then I had a chance to review Canon HD FotoJournal (PhotoBooks) and I must say that I am totally impressed with the quality of the prints and the quality of the pages! I am not saying that because this is a sponsored post, but it is every bit the truth!

I had done up 2 PhotoBooks from the Canon FotoJournal app. One is a square 10″ x 10″ Softcover PhotoBook and the other is a Landscape 8″ x 12″ Softcover PhotoBook. Even though it is stated as softcover, it is really a good quality hard cover!

For the square 10″ x 10″ PhotoBook, I use it to compile my Master 5’s birth to 4 yo photos. As it always happens when you have many kids, the first 2 kids’ albums were completed way before they reached 2 years old and my Master 5 only has his first one done up last month!

With the landscape 8″ x 12″ PhotoBook, I put together the photos from our Malaysia Road Trip that we went last June.

Steps in doing up a PhotoBook with Canon HD Fotojournal:
1. Choose a PhotoBook – visit Canon eshop to buy the PhotoBook size and type you like and you will receive an email from Fotohub that provides the voucher code for printing the PhotoBook.
2. Download PhotoBook software – download the FotoIdeas software
3. Create PhotoBook – There are many templates, layouts, masks, decorative stickers and etc to explore. You will be having fun exploring on each of them.
4. Choose and edit Photos first – Before importing photos into the software, I will choose the photos I want in a folder and edit them one by one. Canon software has simple editing functions too.
5. Install your favourite fonts – Ensure you have your favourite fonts downloaded in your computer so that you can use them on the PhotoBook.
6. Arrange Photos – Once photos are good to use, I will arrange the photos on the cover, on every page till the last back cover.
7. Decorate PhotoBook – When Layout of photos are done, I will then decorate each photo and each page.
8. Save – Do remember to save if you are leaving it halfway done to do other things.
9. Send for printing – Send to FotoOutlets or Foto Online and they will prompt you to enter the voucher code that you had previously received.
10. Check the preview – An email with a pdf preview will be sent to you to vet through your masterpiece and if you are satisfied, click “confirm” or if not click “disapprove”. I like this function as it will show you how the end product will look like.
Done!

Be prepared to spend a few days working on one PhotoBook. It takes some effort and time to complete one but it is definitely worth it as you will be showing off the PhotoBook to friends and relatives and reminiscing the moments with your kids.

As compared to my earlier PhotoBooks, Canon HD Fotojournal definitely produces better quality pictures in high resolution. The pages are really thick! My old PhotoBooks have decent pages that are similar to those high quality brochures, but Canon’s pages are thicker than my old PhotoBooks’ soft cover pages! You can imagine that the so-called Canon softcover is actually more like a hard cover!

Look at the thick pages and the front and back covers!

Because of this, each page is also waterproof too. As we accidentally spilled some water on the pages, the water did not seep through. Each PhotoBook comes with a casing to protect the book. My old PhotoBooks only provided a transparent self adhesive wrapper.

The software is easy to use although I would love to have one preview button to preview my progress instead of waiting for the finalized preview version. The rest of the features are useful especially the layout function. When I find myself out of ideas, I would simply drag the photos I want on a page and drag the layout and drop on that page which will automatically arrange the photos in the chosen layout format.

With better quality pictures and pages, the price naturally is steeper than all my previous PhotoBook purchases. The price of the Square 10″ x 10″ is $125 and that of Landscape 8″ x 12″ is $75, both consist of 20 pages.

If you have never tried your hands on a PhotoBook, perhaps, you should really start one soon! Printing family and kids’ photos out onto a book is definitely a worthwhile activity to work on instead of keeping the photos in our hard disk. What’s more, it makes a really meaningful gift to loved ones 😃

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post by Canon. We were gifted vouchers for 2 PhotoBooks for the purpose of this review. I spent many late nights and early mornings to do up the PhotoBooks, so all opinions are definitely 100% mine 🙂

Floral Garage CNY Hamper {+Giveaway}

This year my Chinese New Year (CNY) preparation starts early. I have already bought all my clothes in one shop during the Christmas season sale. And I got a $100 voucher from the same store to shop for my kids’ clothes at another popular kids’ brand. I am almost done in new year clothes even before 1st day of 2017!

As for spring cleaning, I have started 2nd half of last year and I am pleased to declutter lots of stuff, donating clothes and toys, selling some big items on Carousell, gift hands-me-down to cousins and friends, and throwing off things that we will never touch and not good enough for others.

The next thing on my list will be on CNY decoration. We have the pussy willow on most years just like we have Christmas tree put up every year. This year, we will be getting a fresh flower floral display from Floral Garage. Since the flowers are fresh, we have made arrangement to have it deliver nearer CNY. I am really looking forward to receiving it! Fresh flowers for the New Year will certainly add a festive fresh breath to the house!

Below are some of the flowers that I find from Floral Garage that are quite suitable for Chinese New Year:

song-birds

rami

payet

Floral Garage is an online florist that was set up only in 2015. What you can find in their online shop includes bouquets, flower arrangements for all occasions, hampers, party supplies for birthdays, weddings, tassels, garlands, etc.

They have recently launched their CNY hampers on their website on 9 Jan. There is a variety to choose from of different prices, such as Treasure Chest Hampers, Evergreen (Pyramid) Hampers, Mandarin Orange Hampers and Basket Hampers which includes flower arrangement. If you order before 25 January, you can enjoy storewide 20% off too! For corporate customers, if they register for free for their corporate accounts, they can have 11% off for all their staff.

LIFETIME STOREWIDE DISCOUNT CODE of 15%

Guys, if you are reading this, take this quote down and jot in your phone! This will save you some money for that special occasion!

Just quote:

christyXFG15

…………………………………………………………………….

GIVEAWAY OF A CNY HAMPER WORTH $128!!

Includes:

1 x New Moon Razor Clams 425 g

1 x New Moon Limpets 425 g

1 x New Moon Top Shell 312 g

1 x Hock Hua Dried Mushroom 250 g

1 x Ban Yuan Ginseng Jujube 180 g

CNY Artificial Flower and Decoration Packaging

Complimentary Card Note

Free Delivery

Floral Garage is giving one lucky reader The Imperial Treasure Premium CNY Hamper worth $128 which will be delivered to the doorstep!!

Steps to participate:

1) Leave a comment on the facebook post telling me one bonding activity that you do with your kids for CNY.

2) Tag 5 friends along with your comment.

3) Sign up to follow my blog via email, please refer to sidebar of blog page (on computer) or endbar (on mobile). Do remember to tell me in the facebook comments that you have done this step and your email address so that I can look out for it.

Giveaway ends on 19 January 2359 and will be announced on facebook and this post on 20 January.

Congratulations to Kristina Ongdee in winning this fabulous hamper from Floral Garage! The organizer shall be contacting you for the delivery of the hamper. Thank you everyone for participating! For those who did not win in this round, stay tune for the next giveaway! Happy New Year! 🙂

Disclaimer: This is a sponsored post. I am glad to be able to reward one of my lucky readers with a giveaway for CNY! Hope you are already preparing well for the festive day! 🙂

The Start of PSLE Preparations From A Mum Who Insists On NO TUITION

I have wanted to title this as “The Start of PSLE Preparations From The Laid-Back Mum”. But I am not exactly so laid-back anymore after my girl, Missy 12, failed her Math in P3. I cannot label myself as laid-back since I do teach and revise with my kids one month before examinations. In comparison with most parents, I have done very minimal for my kids’ academic. There is one thing I have stick to my guns and am crossing my fingers that I am doing a right thing, is to insist on not sending my kids to tuition.

This year, Missy 12 is taking PSLE (Primary School Leaving Examinations), her first National Examination at a tender age of 12. I am not going to lament why the need for PSLE and why can’t kids just move on to Secondary school without going through such major stress. This post is about how we are going to revise for PSLE on our own, free of external tuition.

If there are tuition centres for parents to teach techniques in answering English Comprehension Cloze, Comprehension, Science open-ended questions, Chinese Comprehension and Composition tips, you bet, I will sign up for it. I will gladly use my time to learn and go back to teach Missy 12, so as to save her time. Perhaps I am unaware of any. So please let me know if you know of one ok?

I must admit that tuition centres or private tuition teachers have bags of tricks and techniques to teach students on how to answer questions. That is the major advantage of going for tuition classes. So by denying my girl to go to such sure-win classes, many have question about my sanity and label me as a stubborn bull. To speak the truth, I am scared too.

Should I stop Missy 12’s new piano classes now (she has recently asked to resume her piano class after 1.5 years of break) when everyone is doing the opposite by taking a year break from any kind of enrichment classes? Should I invest $100+ per lesson to give her a booster in English? Should I ignore her tiredness from 3 times a week of intensive Volleyball training and insist she go to 1.5 hours of tuition multiply by 2 or 3 subjects every week plus 1 hour travelling time back and forth? Or perhaps others may ask why is she still playing sports and going for NAFA art classes during this crucial year?

There are various reasons why I do not send her to tuition classes and why she is still continuing enrichment classes.

FATIGUE PREVENTS OPTIMAL LEARNING

Firstly, she has never attended a single tuition class and forcing her to do it now may backfire her learning interest. If she cannot catch what is taught in class, she may not catch it in another tuition class. Switching off when one has lost interest and simply too tired could happen to anyone. Besides travelling on the road to and fro tuition will deplete all her energy and attention needed in the class.

TRUST IN SCHOOL TEACHERS

Secondly, I believe our MOE-trained school teachers are very qualified to teach the students good enough to do well in PSLE. If not, shouldn’t we send our kids to tuition classes instead and skip school entirely?

STRIKING A BALANCE

Thirdly, I believe in BALANCE. I want my girl to be happy and learn holistically. I worry about her stress levels this year.

On the first day of school, her form teacher wrote down the test and exam schedule from Jan to Sep. I can feel that the teachers have started to emphasize to the students on how critical this year is, and have no reservations in instilling the awareness and stress in them. I am not so sure if Missy 12 feels the stress, but I took a picture of what she jotted down on this schedule and I couldn’t take my eyes off the snapshot of the schedule the next day. I am determined to “wake up” from my laid-back self and do my best to ensure she does reasonably well. It will still be only Mom Tuition and no external tuition. At the same time, I am also determined to balance her stress and ensure she still has a life. So, her piano and art classes and volleyball practices are forms of de-stress in my opinion and should not stop. I will respect her if, at any point of time, she thinks she wants to stop any of them. So far, she has not raised a flag.

REVISION PLANS

Ever since I saw the Jan to Sep exam schedule, I have gone to the Popular bookstore to buy more assessment books. I had chanced upon a parent who taught an unorthodox method to improve English in a short time. I had talked to several mums whose kids have been through PSLE. I have talked to teacher friends. Finally I discussed all my findings and thoughts with Kel.

We came out with a timetable for revision. We worked out how to settle the other 2 kids when I am teaching my girl. We put up a revision plan and teaching method for English, the weakest subject. I shall share details on how we go about revising in another post.

Each weeknight, we will have 30 minutes revision time for English. You may think it is very short. However, I am a working mum. Night time is short and precious. Energy is low, attention span is short. My girl returns late on 4 weekdays in a week from school’s commitment. She will need time to rest and do her homework. She may have questions that need my help to teach her too. Some time has to be catered to that.

Every weekend, we will have 2 parts of revision according to our weekend schedule. First part will be an hour’s revision and second part will be an hour and a half. Saturday will be focusing on Math and Sunday will be on Science.

That leaves Chinese out of the whole revision plan. Chinese is our kids’ strongest subject and it really helps to free up time for the rest of the subjects. It is hard to achieve bilingual excellence. While Chinese is their strongest subject, naturally, English becomes the weaker one. The reason why Chinese is a stronger subject is because we are a Chinese speaking family and my kids watch Channel 8 drama serials, listen to Chinese radio station and Chinese songs. Even though they do not have too much problem with Chinese, they still need to brush up compositions and get the right technique to answering Chinese Comprehension questions.

CHANGE OF ROUTINES TO PREP PSLE

Some routines will have to change a bit.

Sleeping early

This is a really difficult routine to change. Perhaps with one child, I may be able to enforce this with breeze since there are no toddler who runs in and out of the room before bed and no sibling to chat and giggle with long after lights out. I told Missy 12 that a simple way to help her do well in academic is to sleep early, as simple as that. A clear mind is like an empty sponge. It absorbs knowledge faster and allows one to think better. We are trying to have a lights out by 930pm.

No night TV

The kids love to watch the Chinese Drama serial at 9pm to 10pm. This will have to stop. I do allow them to have an hour of TV time in the day time once they have finished their homework.

Less weekend activities

This year, we may have to cut down on our weekend activities for the sake of Missy 12’s critical year. She has lots of homework from Friday school and has started to ask for more time to do homework. The first time she asked for homework time, I was slightly taken aback. The kids are growing up and school work is mounting. I have since cut down on blog events and ensure homework is done before we bring them out. Nevertheless, I will balance revision time with play. Moderating stress is my priority too.

Other siblings

So what do the other 2 kids do when I am revising with my Missy 12? I have decided to task Master 10 to play with Master 5. It works sometimes and it poses great challenges on other times. Master 5 yearns for attention after not seeing me for the whole day. I have even thought of the convenient way of giving the ipad so that he can quietly watch some YouTube videos and I can have some peaceful serious revision time. If you have good ideas on how to handle the other kids, do help me on this too!

To prepare for PSLE which is taking place in September, I will most likely take up lesser blog commitment and cut down on my girl night dates. It is indeed a family examination since everyone in the house has to change routine and adjust in one way or another to give moral support. I will be blogging more on PSLE preparation and my experience on it as we go along. I hope our revision plan works and who knows, I may really send my girl to intensive tuition if nothing works out!

I welcome PSLE mums to drop a comment below or on facebook page to exchange ideas and advice. Thank you in advance!

Till the next PSLE post!

Village Hotel Katong Staycation + Kim Choo Peranakan Experience

I like Village Hotels by Far East Hospitality. Why? Because they package in family bonding activities with each family stay. Last year, we stayed in Village Hotel Changi and had a blast of a family bonding time cycling around Changi Village, Bowling, checking out 3 playgrounds, Swimming at the beach and walked back to our hotel room for a shower and then more swimming in the hotel’s 2 swimming pools. The Play and Stay was the package for Village Hotel Changi. So, what do they have this time at Village Hotel Katong staycation? We took up the Cultural Tour and Stay package. Beside the Peranakan theme you can spot everywhere in the hotel, they invite families who book with them to an interesting cultural experience in Kim Choo Kueh Chang to learn how to wrap Bak Chang (rice dumpling). You must read on to find out what is so interesting about this Peranakan shop!

I realize that the Village Hotels are located in places with great food choices! The entire stretch of East Coast Road has an uncountable number of restaurants and shops! Yes, “uncountable” is the right word for it. The shops lined both sides of the road and you will definitely not go hungry staying in this hotel. Just beside it, is the 112 Katong Shopping Mall and connecting to Village Hotel Katong is the Katong V Mall with Fairprice Finest supermarket. With supermarkets and 2 malls within the vicinity, there is no need to worry if you forget to bring a thing or two.

It was a little confusing to find the entrance of this hotel. We took some time to realize that the hotel entrance is right behind the Katong V Mall.

The check-in was a breeze and I love the Peranakan themed decorations everywhere we go.

We had a family room which could accomodate the 5 of us, but the kids were a little disappointed that there was no bath tub. I will certainly keep that in mind the next time I book a staycation. Bath tubs are the kids’ favourite and serve as an alternative when the swimming pool is icy cold on rainy days. There was some slight rain and it stopped when we arrived. The kids did not hesitate to jump into the swimming pool even though it was a very cool weather. Swimming Pools are a MUST-HAVE when you are bringing kids to a staycation, for this, I will not forget!

If we were to compare Village Hotel Katong (VHK) and Village Hotel Changi (VHC), I would say that VHK needs a bit of refurbishment. We can tell from the exterior and interior of the hotel that the hotel had seen better days and it would be good to do some renovations just like the VHC did a few years back.

Rooms
The family room was supposed to have 1 king bed + 1 queen bed. However, we requested for a baby cot and due to space constraint, they changed to 2 queen beds instead to accommodate the cot. My 4yo toddler can still fit into the baby cot. So, Missy 11 shared the bed with me and Master 9 with the hub. The room has a balcony attached overlooking the pool.

20161217_150432_002 — Jumping onto the bed is a customary thing to do!

Amenities
Village Hotel Katong has a gymnasium, outdoor swimming pool, and a Peranakan Club Lounge for Club members. The in-room amenities include:
Hair Dryer
In-room safe box
Iron and Ironing board
Electric Kettle
46″ LED TV
Cable TV Channels
Wireless Broadband Access
Handy Phone
Bar Fridge
Mineral water
Tea and coffee bags
Bath, Shampoo and Conditioner and Lotion
Standing Rain Shower

This is the first time I see a handy phone in a hotel room. It has 4G service and allows guests to bring it out when they go sight-seeing in Singapore to check out google maps, food, places to go, make international and local internet calls, enjoy discounts, etc just like your own handphone but totally Free-of-charge! Isn’t this so thoughtful and cool?

The Peranakan Lounge (for club members)

The Peranakan Lounge, located on Level 6, is only accessible for guests staying in the Club Room, Peranakan Club Room, Junior Suite and Suite. We were given complimentary access to the Club Lounge too but it was limited to adults and my kids were not allowed in. Since we could not leave the kids behind to enjoy the complimentary cocktail and light snacks, we only took some complimentary can drinks from the lounge bar to fill up our bar fridge as suggested by the reception lady.

Swimming Pool

The Swimming Pool is located on Level 4 and we need to pass by the Katong Kitchen, the restaurant for breakfast and meals, to reach the pool. The pool has one side of 1m depth and the other side of 1.8m depth. Even though there was nothing too fanciful about the pool, my kids had a great time as usual. They hardly needed any other features and they could frolic in the pool all day just with their goggles and water guns. Nevermind that the pool was cold, they moved about a great deal enough to keep themselves warm.

Kim Choo Kueh Chang

After checking out the amenities, and had an hour of swim, we head out to Kim Choo Kueh Chang which is just opposite the Katong V Mall (at the back of the hotel).

Kim Choo Kueh Chang shop was easy to find. It occupies 2 shop units and is accessible to their hidden gems on the second storey. They sell assorted Peranakan kuehs and bak changs at the front of the shop. We walked further in and behind a glass partition was Mr Edmond waiting for us to start a food cultural introduction on everything Peranakan.

All of us were served a tray of goodies: Otah, Nyonya Dumpling, Nine-layered Kueh and a pot of Butterfly Pea Flower tea or Blue Tea.

The friendly Mr Edmond gave us a brief introduction on each of the goodies on the tray. It was interesting to know that eating Nine-layer Kueh by peeling one layer by layer signifies living life as it is. He went on to explain how there are salty and sweet version of the dumpling and where Otah came from.

After we savored the delicious goodies, we were taught the correct way of wrapping bak chang. My Missy 11 was taught previously by her grandma and hence was pretty good in picking up the tips of wrapping a dumpling. My toddler helped but made a mess of the green beans which were used instead of the real meat and rice. Thank goodness it was only spilling of green beans.

Once we were done with it, we were invited to the second storey and it revealed a Peranakan Museum! Mr Edmond went on with his very interesting talk on the Peranakan culture on Kebayas and language. We were very impressed that the shop created a Peranakan inspired shawl for Michelle Obama! Mr Edmond shared that the Peranakan culture reached as far as to The Queen of England who had a Peranakan brooch designed in Singapore too, although it was not made in their shop! Now, we are really proud to be Singaporeans and happy that we have so many talents in this tiny island.

Antique sewing machine. My mum and MIL still have this in their houses!

Isn't this the antique love letters clamp? — Isn’t this the antique love letters clamp?

This was the storage cabinet in the earlier days when there was no fridge.

The next side of the second storey is where the customers can walk in for a tailor-made Kebaya. It probably has the widest selection of kebayas you can find. They are so pretty! It has been my wish from young to wear a Kebaya set. I told Missy 11 that I would custom-made a set of Kebaya to wear on her wedding day 🙂

After the Kim Choo Peranakan Experience, we walked along the long stretch of East Coast Road to eat Hokkien Mee for dinner and strolled back to the hotel. It was a rest and relax evening. Instead of heading out for shopping or squeezing through Orchard Road for lights viewing, we decided to have a game of cards and snuggle on the bed for movies and tidbits. After all, we were here to enjoy the hotel!

Buffet Breakfast at Katong Kitchen

The next morning, we had breakfast at Katong Kitchen at Level 4. The buffet breakfast is included in the staycation package. The breakfast is on Asian and Western cuisine. I would say the spread is decent and good for us. They have the usual buffet fanfare like Otah, Ham, waffle, hashbrown, Mee Tai Mak and Chinese dishes, Dim Sum, Salad, Cereals, Drinks, Fruits, Yogurt, Bread and Pastries, Cooking station for mee soup and scramble eggs and more. But if you are looking for a wide range of buffet spread, then it may not be for you.

20161218_092758 — Char Siew Bao and Glutinous Rice The kids love the glutinous rice!

20161218_093259 — They provide children’s cutlery set

After breakfast, we hop into the swimming pool again! We simply could not check out till we had spent another 2 hours in the pool playing with water guns and kicking the water.

The Cultural Tour and Stay Experience Package consists of:

Peranakan Couple Experience
For just S$195, enjoy:
• One night’s accommodation in Deluxe Room
• Unlimited WiFi access
• Buffet breakfast for two at Katong Kitchen
• FREE 2-hour Peranakan experience at Kim Choo
• Late check-out at 3pm (subject to availability)

Peranakan Family Experience
For just S$285, enjoy:
• One night’s accommodation in Family Room
• Unlimited WiFi access
• Buffet breakfast for 2 adults, 2 children at Katong Kitchen
• FREE 2-hour Peranakan experience at Kim Choo
• Late check-out at 3pm (subject to availability)

Book period : Now till 31 December 2017
Stay period: Now till 31 December 2017

Rates are exclusive of 10% Service Charge & 7% GST

Check here for more information and current promotions!!

Disclaimer: We were invited for a staycation during the December holidays. This is the 2nd time we stay in Far East Hospitality’s hotels and we really find both the ‘Play and Stay’ and ‘Cultural Tour and Stay’ packages very suitable for families 🙂 Do check out their website for more options!

Ending 2016 with Contentment

It is interesting to read my past resolutions and then reflecting on where I am at the end of each year. My past resolutions usually revolve around the same common things like:

Cut down social media
Live in the moment
Slow Down

I think it is alright to repeat some resolutions. Life changes with each year and sometimes life events prevent us from keeping to our targets. For some resolutions, they need more conscious effort and change of personal habits. Most importantly, we need to reflect and check on what we have done correctly and let them continue; or for those that we did not handle so well, we need to learn from life’s lessons.

As I realized that I had not really done up any goals right in the beginning of the year, I shall reflect upon the following areas that kind of sum up my life in 2016:

1) Health and fitness
2) Hobbies
3) My Life
4) Family Life
5) My random thoughts

1) Health and Fitness

Getting in shape and maintaining good health have always been a priority for me. I need to be in tip top condition to mind little children and run the household. No wonder a friend marveled that mums are the BEST EMPLOYEES because we can multi-task super well within a very tight timeline! Don’t you agree?

Exercising

I have signed up for the National Steps Challenge and synced it to my Samsung Health app on my mobile. Ever since then, I have been diligently checking my steps. For the first few weeks, I was tracking my meal calories too, but eventually gave it up as it was quite a tedious tracking. I was not sure if the represented meal that I chose from the list was correctly matching the calories that I was taking in. Plus I was not going to succumb as a calorie tracking servant. However, tracking it for a few weeks helped me to understand that a bowl of dry mushroom and pork noodles has a calorie of 500cal! My usual jog of 3km only burns 160cal! I need to choose my options carefully and remind myself to eat in moderation of everything.

This app motivates me to walk more. For the second half of this year, I have been walking to and fro the MRT station everyday to work and back home. Most days, I clock about 8000 steps. On weekends, I can clock more than 10k steps because I need to run after the kids and ferry them to and fro playgrounds, classes and running errands.

I am doing Pilates once a week. But I have stopped jogging due to the school holidays. I have to sleep more while I can. Once school starts, I will have to wake up at 615am everyday, then jogging or brisk walking can resume, yeah!

Eating

A recent medical report showed that I have tipped the scale and now officially “OVERWEIGHT”! This is the first time I have fallen into the unhealthy range in BMI and you bet I am super upset. I am determined to shed off 3 kg by Chinese New Year which is in a month’s time. I have already shed off 1.5 kg with the following changes to my diet:

Eating salad with minimal dressing twice a week for lunch.
During dinner time, I will cut down my rice intake to 2 tablespoonfuls and eat more vegetables and drink more soup.
On weekends, I will still eat as per normal with my family. But, I am consciously choosing healthier options even during this feasting period.

Sleeping

I find it challenging to go to bed early. The night is so short and I have so many things to do with the kids. After the kids sleep at 10pm, that is when I have my own me-time to do my own things. I will need to work more on getting adequate sleep, perhaps sleeping early and waking up an hour earlier than usual.

2) Hobbies

Reading

This is probably the only thing that I am consistent in. To date, I have read 10 books this year with a couple that I was not able to finish due to library date due or simply it was too depressing. I have never had such a thirst for reading in my school days. I will certainly be reading into 2017.

1) Everything I Never Told You by Celeste Ng
2) When Breath Becomes Air by Paul Kalanithi
3) It’s Easy To Cry by Subhas Anandan
4) Raising Boys by Steve Biddulph
5) 最美的一课 by 杨红樱
6) Charlotte’s Web by E. B White
7) Your Time-starved Marriage by Les and Leslie Parrott
8) When Our Grown Kids Disappoint Us by Jane Adams
9) It’s OK to Go Up The Slide by Heather Shumaker
10) Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone by J.K Rowling
11) Harry Potter – The Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Baking

I have been baking more frequently these days. While I am no master in baking, I enjoy the baking moments with the kids and even with their friends when they come over. It is encouraging when the kids have all praises for my cakes, cookies and ice-cream.

3) My Life

Working Life

This year is a year of career change. I have never thought that I would quit my job of 11 years and change to a different industry and different role. It was a rare opportunity that came knocking on my door and I could not have left at a better time. This new company is a true “Work-Life Balance” company that I need badly. It has flexi-work arrangements and is pro-family. Next year, I will need to spend more time with my eldest as she will be taking her PSLE exams, and at the same time spend more time with my young kids.

A few days ago, Master 4 decided that I would not be going to work anymore. He told me,”Mummy, you are not going to work anymore.” in his simple and limited words. But I totally got what he meant! He is such a cutie, isn’t he? He wants to make a decision for me to quit my work!

With the acceptance of this new job, it means my SAHM dream has to be shelved off too. Perhaps it will never come true if we never come to the day when we can live comfortably on one income. Giving up financial freedom is a big consideration for me now that the kids are older. I love that I can buy gifts for them, sometimes on impulse and bring them to restaurants during our 1-on-1 dates. I can bring my parents to hi-tea and pamper myself from time to time. Having 2 incomes will also not burden my spouse too much and lead to unnecessary stress and tension in our daily interaction. Money is important, but I believe in going through thick and thin with my spouse as long as we are healthy and happy.

After work hours

I am determined to spend quality time and do more activities with the kids just like a SAHM if I were one. I manage to make an Advent calendar to surprise the kids every day till Christmas. During school holidays, I take off from work to bring them out, sometimes for 1-on-1 with each kid. On normal days, I try to read to Master 4 every night and spend some alone time with the elder 2 before bed. Most days are challenging due to homework and academic coaching, so we will spend more time on weekends together.

For what I could not do as a SAHM during day time, I try my best to make up for it in the evening and weekends. This is also made possible when I have a good helper to save my time from doing chores. When my helper goes back to her home town next year to get married, I may return to helperless days. I am pretty sure we can manage alright to split the chores in the family as we had done before.

Connecting with family and friends

On connecting with family and friends, I am keeping up nicely with friends on girl nights’ out, perhaps a little too frequent. I do have many good friends to catch up with. I will have to work on dating my mum and dad and hubby more frequently next year. Although I had a couple holiday trip with my hubby this year, I feel that I am still not spending enough couple time with him.

4) Family Life

…on BIG FAMILY TRAVEL TRIP

This year, we have brought the kids on a road trip to Malaysia in June and a staycation in December. Compared to last year, this is a much humble year in family holiday plans. We missed our big family trip too. Time is not on our side. It is my wish to bring both my hub’s parents and my own parents on a trip every year while all are healthy and able to walk and travel. I am a little disappointed that we could not do it this year but we will definitely plan one for next year after Missy’s big national exams.

Many of my friends around me are surprised that we bring both sets of parents on holiday trips every year. First, the expenses are high and it would be much cheaper to travel as a family of 5 instead of 9. Second, most parents and in-laws cannot get along but we are lucky to have ours on very good relationship and are good travel buddies. Third, the itinerary is challenging to cater for old and young at the same time.

Everyone in the family looks forward to a BIG Family Trip together. Our kids love their Grandpas and Grandmas’ company. Kel and I love to bring our parents around the world. Such happy family moments are to be cherished and so what if we do not have much savings left after each big family trip? Money can be earned but family moments like this are hard to come by and we wish to continue our annual big family trips as long as our parents are able and healthy.

…on Family Bonding

We have lots of bonding opportunities throughout the year. We brought the kids to many places to play. I find that the places we are going are gradually taking a shift towards catering to bigger kids. One good thing is that the elder 2 still enjoy playing childish games with the littlest one. Recently, I got a toy car garage for Master 4, and the elder 2 played on it with cars till midnight! It is amazing to know they are enjoying simple toys and games rather than technology.

This year, my elder 2 have been on very good sibling relationship. They had their phase of non-stop squabbling and fights, so it is heartening to know they are on such good terms now. For this, I am extremely pleased and can’t ask for more.

5) My Random Thoughts

Contentment is really about being happy with what you have in your life. We are not a well-to-do family, but that does not mean we cannot give our kids a happy family. Who doesn’t want to be debt-free and have loads of money to spend? However, as what my hub says, if you earn more, you spend more.

Right now, I am contented with staying in our cosy HDB flat. I am contented that we can spend time with our kids every evening. I am contented that we have home-cooked meals to eat. I am contented that our kids and their grandparents have strong bonding. I am contented that we can still afford to use our savings to travel as a big family. I am contented that we are a happy family. Most importantly, I am contented that we are all healthy.

There are so many things to be contented about. I would like to end 2016 with feeling contented about my life even though it is certainly not a bed of roses. Perhaps it is about reaching a maturity in life when material things do not matter as much as good health and family ties, and making do with whatever I have and owned. Somehow I am treasuring my current life more than ever and I am really, really contented.

At this very moment, I am a happy woman, a happy wife and a happy mummy. I hope everyone is happy and contented at where they are now and able to find happiness in simple things in life.

Author: Christy @ Kidsrsimple