Sophia at Ramya's party

The girls go to Ramya's party and give the present that they (mostly made)

Sophia immediately launches into a very loud description.

"Yamya. This is your pyesent. We made it for you. This is one bag. Anjali dyawed this on top. Then we maded this handle. We made it fyom plastic bottles."

"It doesnt look like plastic bottles", says Ramya's mother.

"We maded it fyom plastic bottles. My mommy cutted the plastic bottles and then we colored them and then my mommy putted it in the oven"
 
She pulls out the bunny

"Then you see this is a yabbit. I maded this yabbit and this cyown my mummy made it and then she stitched some things on it. And this is an album, we made - no we didnt make this album, we founded it and then we putted our dyawings in it"

She went on with the descriptions for a good fifteen minutes, much to the amusement of all the party guests.

Unfortunately, she developed a sudden fever on Sunday evening, right after her afternoon nap, and could sleep overnight. Anjali stayed the night with Ramya and husband and I sneaked Sophia out.

We were almost halfway home (Ramya's dad was driving us) before she realized where we were.

"I want to sleep overnight in Yamya's house!"

I reasoned with her that we were going to make another present for Ramya and Ramya's father added that he would come to pick her up.

She reached home and put in about half an hour to make a necklace with beads and straws and pasta and all sorts of stuff to take for "Yamya"

Ofcourse, she was totally poofed by then and I took her to bed.

When the lights went off, she brought up the overnight tantrum again.

"Hello, Ramani", i said "We have finished the present. Can you ask Ramya's father to come and pick up Sophia? Ok.. No problem. Bye!"

"Sophia, Ramani aunty said that Ramya's father will come in one hour. "

She was not to be bought over. "You dont have a phone in your hand!"

Sunday morning she work up and went straight to her rocking chair, without a word. We went to sit with her.

"Mummy *sniff* I want to go overnight at Yamya's house. Please can I?"

Naturally we couldnt, but we took her to Yamya's house to play for a bit when we went to pick Anjali up. Then she says

"Yamani aunty!, you know, when my mummy speaks with you at night, she dont need any phone! she can speak with her head only."

Recycling Spotlight: How to make a birthday present

DIY gifts have gone a cycle in the past generation. In the olden days, I believe that all gifts were DIY. IN the Bagavatham, it states that when Baby Krishna was born, the gopis who came to exclaim at the baby brought beautiful gifts that they had made.

In western literature too, homemade gift giving was very pervasive. In Anne of green gables, for instance, people were giving each other casseroles, embroideries and baby clothes.

Then shops opened everywhere for everything and buying became a status symbol because it showed that you can spend money. Handmade gift giving became a looked down upon phenomenon, unless, ofcourse, you bought something that was handmade.

As birthday and other presents got purchased, soon homes got overwhelmed with things people didnt want, and things they definitely didnt need. Plastic toys, shape sorts, tea sets etc were all very good toys, but they lacked the charm of old world toys.

In the blogosphere, it seems to me that handmade is coming back. And for a number of previousbirthday parties, given enough party notice, i have switched my gifts from something bought to something handmade and, hopefully age appropriate.

For Ramya's birthday, the girls pitched in with enthusiasm. That is interesting, because the girls have two parties to attend to this month, Ramya's and Cai wen's. Cai Wen is one of Anjali's classmates from piano.

While talking about presents, I asked Anjali if she would like to make a present for Caiwen too. Only for Ramya, said Anjali and Sophia.

I am glad that they give their handmade efforts to the people they love the most.

Now for the present

The box itself is below. It is supposed to be a bag - handles missing still and to be done. I just finished it this morning, but Anjali already started the decoration process
 

This is what the inside looks like, giving you a clear idea of what it is made of

This is the doll that Sophia made for Ramya

THis is the doll that Anjali made. She refused to put eyes and nose and hair, asking me to pack a set of beads instead - "It is a puzzle mummy", she explained. "Ramya has to do it herself"

That is a nice gesture, though, knowing Anjali, I suspect that she might just have wanted to do something more interesting

Like this. What is it? On the outside, it looks like a notebook or an album

It is. But when you open it, it reveals itself for what it really is

"Ramya's art book"

And inside is a handmade birthday card from Anjali

"Happy Birtday too Ramya"

And a birthday card from Sophia, who, as we know likes to make three dimensional colalge constructions using about two tubefuls of glue

At the back are the compartments - to put in color pencils and markers

A couple of velcro joined tabs for hanging scotch tape

And a pouch for erasers and sharpeners

There you are: a portable art studio

Anjali's ballet rehearsal

Recycling Spotlight: Sock baby tutorial

I made this sock baby for Sophia in about half an hour on Thursday morning, since she asked for a doll to be made from a couple of her old socks. I gave it to her when i got back from work, and she took it to the mall with her. However, she lost the doll on the way back from the mall, much to her extreme sorrow. So I have promised to make her another one, once I get more stuffing material and after we finish the goody bag for Ramya.

Here is the tutorial.

You need two socks. Cut the first sock just below the heel and stuff

I used some old sponge that came as packing material for the stuffing. What I will stuff dolls with when the sponge runs out, i dont know

Once you are happy with the shape of the face, tie the bottom.

Cut the second sock also just below the heel

Stuff

Attach to head

This is how it should look like when it is attached. There is a bit of sock on the top, thats ok.

This is the back. I am sure some more talented people can avoid the bunch on the back, but there you are.

Take the remaining half of the sock and cut below the heel. With the right side in, gather stitch the raw edge

Turn inside out to make the hat. Sew. Draw or sew eyes and mouth. Sew through the stuffing to make arms and legs

You can see that the sock has lint. It is not new

Things we have been doing

I have been very silent over the past few days, mostly due to a mad deadline at work, whcih thankfully got extended by a month.

Here are some of the stuff we have been doing

The girls are helping me by going all out to make a present for Ramya's birthday. They have made a portable art studio for her (I helped with it, of course) and two awesome art pieces / cards to add to the art studio. They have also decorated the art studio beautifully. I am now making a bag to pack Ramya's many presents in (remember the sock dolls from a couple of weeks ago that Anjali and Sophia made? Those go in too.) and the girls are suppose to help me make a handle for the bag - probably I will use foam beads or paper mache beads if we have time to make and paint them by Saturday.

Sophia, ofcourse, is all excited by the prospect of an overnight at Yamya's house.

Dolphins: An argumentative opportunity

The long weekend with nothing to do on Friday and Sunday meant that we could have atleast a day out. So we went to Sentosa yesterday and took the girls to the underwater world.

The girls were predictably excited during the dolphin show, but I spent a good bit of time doing the show grumping about the state in which the dolphins were kept - a pool the size of a Jacuzzi, and a pool the size of a 50 meter swimming pool for the show. I actually went to the show commentator after that to ask about the dolphin living conditions and was told that the dolphins are kept seperate in the Jacuzzi pools as it is logistically complicated to leave them all in the big pool and that they take turns to go in the big pool for exercise.

I am forced to draw comparison with the Zoo, where the oragutan space is bigger than the dolphin enclosure in the underwater world. I cant help being outraged.

Some of the outrage must have rubbed off  to the girls because, after spending a couple of hours at the beach and coming back bone tired, Anjali lay down on the floor and refused to move. Sophia, on the other hand, with a bit of cajoling, went to the bathroom, stripped and began to dance and prance in the shower cubicle.

"Anjali" I exclaimed, "Stop dilly dallying and get in the shower"

No response

"Anjali, I spoke to you about dilly dallying and you said that you will make an effort to stop"

"Mom! That was for going outside. We are back home and I can dilly daddly here"

"No you cant. You are tired and I need to get you in the shower before you have dinner. You are full of sand"

By now, i had succeeded in getting Anjali up and to follow me to the bathroom, although she was stomping her feet.

"Anjali, you can dilly dally. It is a question of where you dilly dally. See, Sophia is in the bathroom, but she is not taking a shower and she is dilly dallying, but mummy is not scolding her", said husband

Sophia is still doing her dance in the shower cubicle.

"You know what", said Anjali, with a lot of ferocity in her voice "She may be dancing in the shower, but she is not happy"

Sophia is going "la la la la"

"She is not happy because you have put her in a cage and locked her up like a dolphin!"

Recycling Spotlight: Garden lanterns

I wish I could take credit for this one, but it was organized by the hort park for Gardener's day out.

Threading beads through a wire

decorating with stickers and pouring colored sand make the lantern look very pretty

Anjali also chose to draw on the foam stickers and the bottle

Ofcourse, everyone knows what Sophia's favorite color is.

Sophia broke her lantern when she got home (outside the front door thankfully so it was easier to clean), and I gave her an old plastic water bottle to repaint her stuff instead. She is happy with it, though we cant put a real candle in them.

Color wonder

I dont really like coloring books much, but Santa was requested to give a magic paint book for Christmas. It wasnt used much until a few days ago, and Anjali colors the pictures very well. They have some spots that resist the markers, making them somewhat magical. I think it is a good product to take on a plane trip

Menu card

Mister sereal 2 sns (cents)

for breakfast tomorrow morning

A peek into our reflections book

Our reflections book is simply a watercolor sketchbook that I picked up at DAISO for $2. Just before bedtime, we turn down the lights and Anjali draws something in the book. It is encouraged, though not obligatory that she draws something related to her day. Sometimes she draws about what inspired her, at other times, about a creative idea that occurred to her. We keep the drawings simple, mostly pencil sketches, with little accessorizing

 Anjali's birthday cake

 Sometimes they reflect people and emotions. She usually, but not always dates them

 One of the few accessorized drawings

 Anjali and Sophia's dream house which they described and then drew. It has a swimming pool on the groundfloor and a swimming pool on the balcony and you can slide from one pool to another. And there is a (cant remember what it is called - one of those things that you hold and swing from one pole to another when someone pushes you) that connects the house to the civil service club swimming pool.

 One of the days when I told her off, she was mad at me and painted my face blue.

 I think this is representative of a playground day - see the swings on top of the house?

This was after the trip to the museum - the museum on the left - the tents depicting henna and stencil art on the right - she refused to draw the kites.

Recycling spotlight: Upcycled airplane socks

For the past week or so, I have been working on this

It took two pairs of airline socks - the white was from Singapore airlines and the red from Qantas. We went on a number of long haul trips last year and four people multipled by 4 long haul trips is a lot of socks.

Then I motivated the girls to do these. They just require a single sock, stuffing and rubberbands - no scissors or needles. They are supposedly one of the many presents being planned for Ramya for her birthday.

Sophia made this. But we still have to work out the hair.

Anjali made this. She put in effort to sew up the "hat" using ladder stitches.

And if you turn it upside down, it becomes a rabbit. We have to add in the facial features though.