Art and Craft for Kids... keeping those little fingers busy, busy

The school holidays have flown by... almost, thanks to some wonderful art and craft sites I found online. Here are some of my favourites (and Jeshan's too).

http://wondertime.go.com/create-and-play/crafts

http://katherinemariephotography.com/blog/creating

http://paintedpaperintheartroom.blogspot.com/

http://marymaking.blogspot.com/

http://thatartistwoman.blogspot.com/

and some stuff Jeshan and I made over the holidays...

The Invisible Mother

My sister-in-law sent me this article and it really ministered to me (and made me cry). Hope you like it too... MOM.



Invisible Mother.....


It all began to make sense, the blank stares, the lack of response, the way one of the kids will walk into the room while I'm on the phone and ask to be taken to the store. Inside I'm thinking, 'Can't you see I'm on the phone?'

Obviously not; no one can see if I'm on the phone, or cooking, or sweeping the floor, or even standing on my head in the corner, because no one can see me at all. I'm invisible.. The invisible Mom. Some days I am only a pair of hands, nothing more! Can you fix this? Can you tie this? Can you open this??

Some days I'm not a pair of hands; I'm not even a human being. I'm a clock to ask, 'What time is it?' I'm a satellite guide to answer, 'What number is the Disney Channel?' I'm a car to order, 'Right around 5:30, please.'

I was certain that these were the hands that once held books and the eyes that studied history and the mind that graduated summa cum laude -but now, they had disappeared into the peanut butter, never to be seen again. She's going, she's going, she's gone!?

One night, a group of us were having dinner, celebrating the return of a friend from England . Janice had just gotten back from a fabulous trip, and she was going on and on about the hotel she stayed in. I was sitting there, looking around at the others all put together so well. It was hard not to compare and feel sorry for myself. I was feeling pretty pathetic, when Janice turned to me with a beautifully wrapped package, and said, 'I brought you this.' It was a book on the great cathedrals of Europe .

I wasn't exactly sure why she'd given it to me until I read her inscription: 'To Charlotte, with admiration for the greatness of what you are building when no one sees.'

In the days ahead I would read - no, devour - the book. And I would discover what would become for me, four life-changing truths, after which I could pattern my work: No one can say who built the great cathedrals - we have no record of their names. These builders gave their whole lives for a work they would never see finished. They made great sacrifices and expected no credit. The passion of their building was fueled by their faith that the eyes of God saw everything.

A legendary story in the book told of a rich man who came to visit the cathedral while it was being built, and he saw a workman carving a tiny bird on the inside of a beam. He was puzzled and asked the man, 'Why are you spending so much time carving that bird into a beam that will be covered by the roof. No one will ever see it. And the workman replied, 'Because God sees.'

I closed the book, feeling the missing piece fall into place. It was almost as if I heard God whispering to me, 'I see you, Charlotte. I see the sacrifices you make every day, even when no one around you does.

No act of kindness you've done, no sequin you've sewn on, no cupcake you've

baked, is too small for me to notice and smile over. You are building a great cathedral, but you can't see right now what it will become. At times, my invisibility feels like an affliction. But it is not a disease that is erasing my life. It is the cure for the disease of my own self-centeredness. It is the antidote to my strong, stubborn pride.

I keep the right perspective when I see myself as a great builder. As one of the people who show up at a job that they will never see finished, to work on something that their name will never be on. The writer of the book went so far as to say that no cathedrals could ever be built in our lifetime because there are so few people willing to sacrifice to that degree.

When I really think about it, I don't want my son to tell the friend he's

bringing home from college for Thanksgiving, “My Mom gets up at 4 in the morning and bakes homemade pies, and then she hand bastes a turkey for 3 hours and presses all the linens for the table.” That would mean I'd built a shrine or a monument to myself. I just want him to want to come home. And then, if there is anything more to say to his friend, to add, “You're gonna love it there.”

As mothers, we are building great cathedrals. We cannot be seen if we're doing it right. And one day, it is very possible that the world will marvel, not only at what we have built, but at the beauty that has been added to the world by the sacrifices of invisible women.

Great Job, MOM!

My Boys

So.... our second son Jeremy Trishan, was born on July 13, 2009. Sometimes I am unnerved by the fact that I have a house full of boys... when I grew up in a house full of girls! Anyway, it has been a learning curve I can tell you that.

Jeshan loves his little brother. As with all children with a new baby in the house, he does get a little rough when playing with the baby, but only because he doesn't know his own strength. You should watch him trying to get Jeremy's attention though... he is just the cutest. He tries immitating us... you know how adults bob their heads up and down when talking to a little baby? Well Jeshan does this, while flashing his brightest smile and talking in a high pitched voice "Hi Jeremy, Hi Jeremy, Hi Jeremy". Jeremy has a special laugh and smile just for Jeshan.

Speaking of smiles, Jeremy is full of it! I've never seen a baby smile so much and for such a sustained period. You just need to talk to him and he will give you a wide toothless grin, while wagging his tongue... as though he too is saying hi.

When Jason's sister Jennifer was here, she would ask him every hour, every day, "Hi Jeremy, you want to eat cendol? Shall we go for ice kacang?" and three month old Jeremy would laugh and smile and kick his legs - sometimes even clasping his hands together in glee.

Penang, December 2008

On boxing day last year, we packed the kids up in the car and headed North for a short holiday. My eldest sister Sandra and her family were down from Dubai, and we decided to go away together for a few days. We stayed at the Park Royal Resort, ate at the famous Fatty Loh Chicken Rice, made sand castles on the beach and frolicked for hours in the pool...

Jeshan, the Artist

Have to keep the little fella busy with all sorts of activities or he will turn his room, my room... the house, upside down.

Here he is some time back doing one of his fav things... painting. I have since put the paints away... it is only allowed when he is fully supervised, otherwise the chairs and walls get painted too :)

"Mothers of Little Boys work from son up till son down" - Unknown.

Little Drummer Boy

We always knew Jeshan had rhythm - from the time he could sit up we would notice him moving to the beat of whatever was playing on the CD player or on TV. In church, he always gets excited when the musicians take their place and start to play. As he grew older he expressed his interest in the drums... and would go inspect them after sunday service was over. He just started classes at Kindermuzik last week. It was so much fun to watch him in class... Can't wait till he starts playing the drums in church!

Nobody knows what a boy is worth,
And the world must wait and see;
For every man in a honored place,
Is a boy that used to be.
- Philips Brooks.

God is Good and Men are Fools

Everything you created and everything you do is good

O Maker of Heaven and Earth.

Aren't the flowers magnificient in their bloom?

The mountains hauntingly beautiful even from the distance?

The gentle gurgling of the stream a balm to the soul?

The stunning sing song of birds a wondrous way to wake up every morning?

How marvelous the work of your hands!

What a creative detailed God.

You thought of everything.

You thought of us when you made the Earth.

We praise you for your abundant goodness.

Now we ask for your forgiveness O merciful Father

for we have ruined the perfect world you made for us.

We have stripped the oceans of fish

and destroyed the mangrove playgrounds of fishlings.

We have flattened our hills and clogged the rivers.

Chopped down trees and put up concrete pavements.

Eat things we don't have to and throw out what others can use.

You gave us natural products, we made plastic ones.

You gave us green fields and we poured poison into them.

What fools!

Can't we see?

We will ourselves ingest this poison,

and have the residue from plastic seep into our veins.

The beauty of the Earth, will be replaced with garbage

The trancending winds will pivot into raging storms

The gentle sunshine already eschewed for burning rays!

The sources of our food, clean water and CO2...extirpated!

We have subverted rain into acid

Converted drains and streams to sewers.

Redirected rivers, and

Halted the passage of animals.

Alas...We have turned on ourselves!

We are the antitheses of perfection

the terminators of our age

The annihilators of our inheritance.

The wreckers of our children's heritage.

Man... we are but fools, buffoons

And we leave a legacy of imprudence, selfishness and greed

In our wake.

How many of these have you done?

I picked this up from Marina's Musings. Am afraid I could not trace the original source. Do look through this list of 100 THINGS TO DO and see which ones you have done. I have highlighted the ones I have in orange. Green highlights my personal comments.

1. Started your own blog.
2. Slept under the stars.
3. Played in a band.
4. Visited Hawaii.
5. Watched a meteor shower.
6. Given more than you can afford to charity.
7. Been to Disneyland.
8. Climbed a mountain. (Mt. Kinabalu)
9. Held a praying mantis. (though one once landed on my head)
10. Sang a solo.
11. Bungee jumped.
12. Visited Paris.
13. Watched a lightning storm at sea.
14. Taught yourself an art from scratch.
15. Adopted a child.
16. Had food poisoning.
17. Walked to the top of the Statue of Liberty.
18. Grown your own vegetables.
19. Seen the Mona Lisa in France.
20. Slept on a train.
21. Had a pillow fight.
22. Hitch hiked.
23. Taken a sick day when you’re not ill.
24. Built a snow fort.
25. Held a lamb.
26. Gone skinny dipping. (though I was once invited to!)
27. Run a Marathon.
28. Ridden in a gondola in Venice.
29. Seen a total eclipse.
30. Watched a sunrise or sunset.
31. Hit a home run.
32. Been on a cruise.
33. Seen Niagara Falls in person.
34. Visited the birthplace of your ancestors. (been to the country, but not the village)
35. Seen an Amish community.
36. Taught yourself a new language.
37. Had enough money to be truly satisfied.
38. Seen the Leaning Tower of Pisa in person.
39. Gone rock climbing.
40. Seen Michelangelo’s David.
41. Sung karaoke.
42. Seen Old Faithful geyser erupt.
43. Bought a stranger a meal at a restaurant.
44. Visited Africa.
45. Walked on a beach by moonlight.
46. Been transported in an ambulance.
47. Had your portrait painted / drawn.
48. Gone deep sea fishing.
49. Seen the Sistine Chapel in person.
50. Been to the top of the Eiffel Tower in Paris.
51. Gone scuba diving or snorkeling.
52. Kissed in the rain.
53. Played in the mud.
54. Gone to a drive-in theater.
55. Been in a movie.
56. Visited the Great Wall of China.
57. Started a business.
58. Taken a martial arts class.
59. Visited Russia.
60. Served at a soup kitchen.
61. Sold Girl Scout Cookies.
62. Gone whale watching.
63. Got flowers for no reason.
64. Donated blood, platelets or plasma.
65. Gone sky diving.
66. Visited a Nazi Concentration Camp.
67. Bounced a check.
68. Flown in a helicopter.
69. Saved a favorite childhood toy.
70. Visited the Lincoln Memorial.
71. Eaten Caviar.
72. Pieced a quilt.
73. Stood in Times Square.
74. Toured the Everglades.
75. Been fired from a job.
76. Seen the Changing of the Guards in London.
77. Broken a bone. (does breaking someone elses bone count? I dropped my sister trying to carry her when she was four and I was five and she broke her arm!)
78. Been on a speeding motorcycle.
79. Seen the Grand Canyon in person.
80. Published a book.
81. Visited the Vatican.
82. Bought a brand new car.
83. Walked in Jerusalem.
84. Had your picture in the newspaper.
85. Read the entire Bible. (working on it)
86. Visited the White House.
87. Killed and prepared an animal for eating.
88. Had chickenpox.
89. Saved someone’s life. (though my life has been saved twice - once at sea and once in a pool)
90. Sat on a jury.
91. Met someone famous.
92. Joined a book club.
93. Lost a loved one.
94. Had a baby
95. Seen the Alamo in person.
96. Swam in the Great Salt Lake.
97. Been involved in a law suit.
98. Owned a cell phone.
99. Been stung by a bee. (twice...)
100. Read an entire book in one day.


This list made me think of some of the things I have done that I feel are really precious. Here are some of them:

1. Gone backpacking
2. Eaten kangaroo meat
3. Gone sandboarding on sand dunes outside of Melbourne somewhere
4. Climbed the Sydney Harbour Bridge
5. Visited Loagan Bunut in Sarawak
6. Slept through the night in a hammock in the jungles of Cameron Highlands.
7. Eaten zebra meat
8. Gone right round the island of Penang on a motorbike
9. Watched the Penguin Parade at the Philips Island Nature Park (in Melbourne)
10. Been carried in the arms of Spiderman
11. Cooked, camped and slept in Hell's Gate National Park in Kenya with just one other person and there was no one around for miles.
12. Gone dolphin watching
13. Come face to face with a mainland serow (which is an elusive mountain goat found in Malaysia and few other parts of Asia - considered an achievement because it is almost never seen in the wild in Malaysia)
14. Collected a bag full of rubber seeds from a rubber estate when I was about six (and got caning from mum afterwards for going into forbidden territory)
15. Bathed under a water fall after spending a night in the jungle
16. Used a pit latrine (a hole dug in the ground to use as a toilet when staying in the jungle)
17. Started my own fire (while camping in the jungle)
18. Cruised Tasik Bera
19. Stayed in an Orang Asli village
20. Rode an elephant
21. Rode a motorbike without a license
22. Bought and paid for my own SLR.
23. Made stuff that people actually bought
24. Went to Mexico (Puerto Nuevo) just to eat the chilli lobsters
25. Had breakfast by the sea in San Diego
26. Seen a windmill
27. Given talks to college students
28. Watched a few events at the Commonwealth Games in Kuala Lumpur
29. Went fishing with my father a few times when I was a kid
3o. Carried an Orang Utan on my lap
31. Carried a Koala Bear
32. Climbed a tree
33. Visited the Bin Dinh tunnels built by the communists in South Vietnam, and crawled through a short distance of it.
34. Driven through Santa Monica Boulevard
35. Milked a cow and had the sweetest, freshest milk afterwards
36. Come face to face with a wild cheetah
37. Played with a lion cub
38. Walked down the Hollywood Walk of Fame
39. Had surgery

My art and craft work

Find us at Amcorp Mall on Saturdays 10am-5pm

Jeshan plays cricket with Geoff

One of the things I love about our new home is that it is right next to a linear park. Thus it is not a problem that we don't have much land in our compound. We just have to open the gate and cross the drain to access all the space we could possibly need.

This was taken when Uncle Geoff and Aunty Jeyam were in Malaysia in August and were staying with us. Both of them have a wonderful way with kids and Jeshan took to them instantly. He wouldn't let Uncle Geoff out of his sight.

Journey from Success to Significance - John C Maxwell

The purpose of life is not to be happy.

The purpose of life is to matter,

to be productive, to have it make some difference

that you lived at all.

Happiness, in the ancient, noble verse,

means self fulfillment and is given tot hose who

use to the fullest whatever talents

God or luck or fate bestowed upon them.

-LEO ROSTEN