Bookworm Tag

Thank you Allthingspurple for passing this tag to me. Sorry it took me so long to post it.

This is a long one. Here goes :

Do you remember how you developed a love for reading?
I used to travel very often and to past time, I picked up reading.

What are some books you read as a child?
That is so long ago! I can't remember but I do remember one, Enid Blyton,

What is your favourite genre?
Crime, in Chinese or English.

Do you have a favourite novel?
No.

Where do you usually read?
I usually read outside their enrichment center or at home, on my bed or in the toilet. Sometimes, we read together in their playroom cum study room.

When do you usually read?
I read while waiting for my kids' enrichment lessons to end or during our silent reading time at home.

Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
No.

Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
No.

Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
I used to buy books more than 10 yrs ago, till I came across this book store in my neighborhood market. Now, he knows what kind of books I like and will recommend it to me. I can sell the books back to him at a lower price and if I like the book, I keep it. For Chinese books, I borrow from the library.

Do you keep most of the books you buy?
I kept them till last year I invited our nieces and nephews to my house to choose what they want.

If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them? Were they some of the same ones you read as a child?
Yes, Enid Blyton, That's the only one I remember

Do you keep a TBR (to be read) list?
Yes. Those under Peter Robinson. I have 2 or 3 more of his books that I haven't read.

What’s next?
I'm still waiting for the vendor to bring in the other books from Peter Robinson.

What books would you like to reread?
I usually don't reread unless I finish reading the book that I have.

Who are your favourite authors?
Henning Mankell, Peter Robinson, Hakan Nesser and the Chinese author who wrote Wesley stories.

And I love to pass this tag to :

Angeline
Louisa
Michelle (you can choose where you want to post it )

Bento #63 & My Nonsense

Before LZdaddy left for his trip, we went supermarket to stock up plenty of food in the fridge. When we were at the supermarket, we were so excited! Looking at all the frozen food and chiller food, LZ gave suggestions what to buy and we ended up with many grocery bags.

Actually, we tried not to at this time coz my fridge going to 'die' soon but better have food than no food at all. Delivery would take a long time if we are very hungry. LZdaddy and I don't really like to stock up too much frozen food. LZdaddy thinks that I will leave it till it expires. Hahaha... But now that I have little beanie and he will be away, he worried no one to buy anything for me to eat when I am hungry in the middle of the night and of coz when LZ hungry too. So sweet hor?

Top tier: My melody shaped rice, cucumber, steamed siew mai (prawn & pork dumpling), quail egg & cherry tomato. Bottom tier: Cherries, steamed corn and butter shaped carrots.

Aiyo.... Why am I talking about all this? Oh! Since I have so much frozen food, I decided to prepare some for L's bento. So in it you see the frozen siew mai (she asked for that), actually it is quite tasty. The previous bento post also has frozen food, char siew pau. Make my morning so easy! Just steam it and I can prepare other stuffs. For the rice, I used the My Melody cookie cutter to shape it.

See the new bento box? L loves it and me too! Otherwise I wouldn't buy it. Hehehe.... I am a very fair person hor, I bought a new water bottle for Z. L definitely has more bento box than Z. I have another 1+ yr to stock up more bento boxes for him unless he said he doesn't want to bring food to school.

Chinese End of Term Performance - Z

So fast it is end of another term for Z's Chinese enrichment class and they had a mini performance. This term they were taught the names for family members. I enjoyed watching their class performance and the kids are all so cute! When they saw me taking pic for Z, they said "Auntie! Auntie! Take picture for us also!" I obliged and took a group pic. How can say no to them?

Z missed 2 of the lessons and he wasn't so sure how to address some family members. Like mommy's brother, etc. I'm not worried, all I have to do is to go through it with him at home. Oh! To tell the truth, I am not so sure of some of it. Now, with the list, I can learn it with him.

Make A Guess!

3lilangels mentioned that her girlet guessed that little beanie is a girl. I thought why not let my blogging friends guess too? See my side bar? I have put up a poll, just for fun to see whether you think my little beanie is a BOY or a GIRL.

I have been feeling very sick, due to morning sickness. I had morning sickness to when I was pregnant with LZ. Both times, it happened often in the evening. This time it is different.... It comes anytime of the day. Yesterday, when I was about to start driving, I started vomiting. Thank goodness it happened BEFORE I start driving. I can't wait for Saturday to come.... LZdaddy will be back and I can rest well then. Hopefully I will feel better after 3 months.

I must say THANK YOU to my 2 precious, LZ, for being so sweet to let me rest, especially L. Yesterday, she helped me go through Z's Chinese spelling with him while I rest. She also keep him company whenever she can. I know she will be of great of help to me when little beanie is born. (praying hard)

Z, on the other hand, seems to be more 'sticky' than usual. He may be more 'sticky' but at least I am glad to know he looks forward to having another sibling. Remember I mentioned that he 'tickle' my tummy? He is still doing it. Now he hopes little beanie will be a boy, so that he can share his toys and dino cards.

Both of them are still kissing and greeting beanie (my tummy) . How sweet!

Enough of my ranting..... Don't forget to guess the sex of little beanie before you go at the sidebar ya! Thank you Sorry... No prize for guessing it right. Hehehe....

Bento #62

Hotdog Bun with lettuce, tomato & cucumber, small container with ketchup and cherries coated with chocolate

It looks so messy. I was in a rush that I didn't have time to wait for the chocolate coating to dry before I put it into the box. My girl told me when she open the box, the chocolate was all over the bun. She didn't mind coz it was chocolate and she finished everything, including the messy cherries!

One good thing about going marketing with LZ is that they give me ideas what to prepare. Like today's bento, it was Z's idea! Frankly, I rather they think than I 'crack' my brain. So if you are like me, lazy, go marketing with your kids. We go section by section and see what they like. Sometimes, if I see something new that they never try before, I would suggest cooking that. Oh! We also choose a supermarket that is really big and with lots of selection.

Bento #61

Top tier: Cookies, Japanese grapes. Bottom tier: Char siew pau (pork buns), steamed corn, cherry tomato and cucumber on stick.

An easy bento, I steamed the pau and corn together. Noticed I have lettuce in most of L's bento? She loves all types of letttuce! She reminds every now and then must put lettuce in it. I am happy to do so coz bento looks nicer too!

Bento #60 - Pooh Again

Left: Pooh shaped apples, Pooh shaped sandwich with ham and tomatoes with cucumbers on sticks.

I like what I prepared today! Hehehe... L didn't get a chance to see it this morning coz I got the bento ready much earlier.

LZdaddy went overseas last night and for the next few days, I will be the one sending them to school! Let's hope I can get them to school in time, especially L. But poor Z, he has to leave the house much earlier. That also means that I have less time in the morning to prepare bento-s!

Back To School - Z

Z is finally back in school today! He has not been to school for 2 months, minus the 1st day he went to school after June holiday. He was not used to getting up so early this morning and he had to wake up an hour earlier than his usual time. LZdaddy is not in town and I have to send both kids to school... I can't possibly leave him alone when I send jiejie to school.

He knew he will be going back to school and I was surprised yesterday he did his computer homework and school homework without me asking him to. He knew he missed a few computer lessons, so he checked the date on the front page (there's a page which tells them on which date do which page of homework) and took the initiative to do it. He wanted to do more but I stopped him. He just started writing and I don't want him to do too much. I noticed his handwriting and colouring skills are not as good as before but can't blame him.... It will take some time...

While teacher mopping the classroom, they waited outside

We arrived school half hour early and 1 of his classmates were there and soon 2 more joined in. He was very quiet and I told him I will wait outside his classroom till more of his classmates arrived. I wanted to give him some time to warm up before I go off. Just then, one of his classmates (the one in the pic seated next to him) asked "Z, how is your hand? Are you feeling better?" I was soooo touched! This boy is so sweet to show concern to his classmate! I immediately went up to him and thanked him for showing concern to Z.

Later when I picked him from school, he told me he was happy to be back in school and to see his friends, especially Joash and Jordon. I was so glad to hear that.

Please Switch On The Light

Z does not sleep alone, he shares room with L. We usually turn off all the lights when we sleep and we don't even have a night light. They never have problem sleeping in darkness not even when they were babies.

At times, he requests LZdaddy to stay with him for a while after Bible stories. Since that Friday, he wants us to leave the entrance light on. If we forget, he will remind us. Few days after that Friday, I told him it was ok and that jiejie was with him but he insisted that I leave the light on. Sometimes when we saw that he is fast asleep, we turn off the light. Then minutes or hours later, we will see him coming to our room and asks for the light.

I talked to him the other day and asked him why, he said he thinks of the removal of the pins and he is scared. Gosh! He is so traumatized by the incident! I hope this is not going to affect him long term.... My poor baby.... What can I do to make him feel better? I assure him everyday that it is over and he is ok now but he still can't get over it. I really don't know what to do.... Hope he will get over it in no time... Meanwhile, we will have to leave the light on for him.

Memory Lane

A place that we found at Kallang Leisure Park called Memory Lane. They sell old stuffs and they have old records too, so if you want to dress your house retro, can check it out. We were not interested in buying but it was nice to see some of the old stuffs.

L @ Felix's Party

This was L's first invitation to her classmate's party at Macdonald. Thought of not letting her go coz LZdaddy would be flying off tomorrow... She looked disappointed so we gave in... She was so happy that she dressed herself up with ring and necklace! My vain princess! Hahaha...

I was very happy to see her get along so well with her classmates. The pic at the bottom was L and Elsie. She gets along very well with Elsie and I get along with her Mom too. I just found out that her Mom is expecting! That means we have 3 kids of the same age. What a coincidence! I was surprised to see her teacher turned up! During mealtime, she sat with her form teacher and I can tell that her teacher likes her.

During the party time, we sat outside the party room and we(LZdaddy, Z and I) had dinner while waiting for L. I am gonna miss LZdaddy coz he will be away for a week. Glad that we were able to spend some quiet time together today.

Bento #59

Left: Bacon wtih vehicle pasta. Right: Hello Kitty shaped almond jelly with fresh longan.

I can't believe that I prepared pasta again... What to do... That's my kids favourite. For the pasta recipe, you can get from HERE. This is one my kids' favourite and I can cook that everyday for them. Hahaha...

A Call From Her

A call from who? Who else but my little girl! Yeah! Finally I received a call from her just now after 6 months in school. She has made a few phone calls to LZdaddy since school started but never to me.

LZ have no problem remembering LZdaddy's hp number but when comes to mine, they can never remember... I thought my number was easier to remember. We taught them since young to remember one of our numbers, just in case of emergency.

I told L I was jealous that she called LZdaddy but never me. Yes! I was jealous! Finally now I can tell daddy that my girl calls me too! Hahaha.... If I am not pregnant now, you will see me jumping with joy! She told me she tried calling a few times (before today) but she always got the wrong number. Like yesterday, she called but she missed out one number so she couldn't get me.

Awwww.... She sounds so sweet over the phone! Especially today... Hehehe... OK... My girl is forever so sweet lah, whether it is over the phone or in person(thick-skinned mommy).

Bento #57 & #58

Bento #57 - LZdaddy's bento

From left, clockwise: Rice with parsley, chicken & prawn paste sesame balls (2 layers), stir fry extra fine beans with carrots, Japanese grapes, cherries (bottom), chilli padi(yellow container) and small container of soya sauce.

Bento #58 - L's bento

Top tier: stir fry extra fine beans with carrots, ketchup (blue container) and minced chicken & prawn paste sesame balls. Bottom tier: irani sushi (tofu pouches with rice) and Japanese grapes.

Both the bento have almost the same items. I wanted to put more into L's box to fill up the gap but I know it will be wasted coz that will be too much for her. She complained why daddy has cherries and she doesn't have. I told her she has been having cherries for the past 2 bento-s so it would be nice for a change and I promised her more cherries this afternoon.

I woke up very early today, I think it was 5+ coz little beanie thinks mommy needs to vomit before cooking. After spending 15 mins in the toilet, I started preparing the chicken balls. I should have prepared the balls last night but I was too tired. While I was making the prawns paste, Z woke up. Oops! Must be the grinding too loud. I told him to go back to bed and he said he felt very fresh! 15 mins later, he was fast asleep on my bed.

Back to my cooking..... After preparing the balls, I put in the oven to bake it and started frying the beans. The chicken is healthy coz I baked it and it was my first time doing it. LZdaddy woke up and couldn't resist it. He said he liked it! Phew!

I bought the grapes yesterday with Blessed Mum (Rachel's Mum) and it's expensive! It cost slightly more than $10 for a small box but it is really very sweet. Talking about Michelle, I gonna miss talking to her coz she will be away for few weeks and our kids will have less chatting time too. Michelle, must ask your hubby bring Rachel & Charmaine to church ya! And you come back fast fast! Hehehe....