静水盈盈

Nagging in (pleasant)Disguise

Laura found this application called "Stickies" on our computer and started sending me notes. 

The second the computer is waken up, the notes are popped right on the desktop. I can read, write and reply to her notes in few clicks. Simple, fast and no more waste of paper "Post-It". 

I even find it more convenient than email. Besides, the cute note makes my job easier. If you know how hard it is for me to resist nagging, then you know how much she welcome some non-nagging input, something that's easier for her to take. 

As I am writing this, I cannot help thinking that everything comes along with a reason. I doubt we would have found this as convenient, useful and necessary a year ago. Laura is a good daughter. I could tell when she resisted "fighting" back (at my nagging) because she didn't want to hurt my feelings. I could see her silent protests when my nagging got on her nerves.

She needs time and space to grow up. Looks like a good time to start trying something different. With that being said, nagging is still considered part of mother's job (right?) I guess I have hard time letting go. 

Happy Father's Day

Found this online. Made me smile. Added a few more lines. To all the Daddies out there!(I'm sure you can think more)

Just In Time for Father's Day

This is a fun project you could do with your kids during the summer, especially if your kids are small and love doing crafts. And it's also a great idea for the Father's Day. Your kids could draw/paint/write anything they want, on T-Shirt, for instance. 

The process is simple. The materials are easy to find: washable glue, fabric paint, brushes and the fabric ( We used an old legging)

First, I used glue to outline the images Sophie wanted on the fabric. She wanted a cello, a ladybug, a bunny, and two peace signs. If you happen to have a new glue bottle, which the glue could run easily and smoothly, you might want your kids to do this step.

Then let the glue dry. Make sure you lay the fabric flat so the glue won't run.

The next step is the fun part --- painting! You could mix the paint with water to make it lighter, mix the paints to make new colors. The possibility is endless. I let Sophie do this step. She loves it! (Oops, we forgot to insert a board under the fabric, so whatever color was painted on the front ended up on the back too.)

Again, let the finished fabric dry. I know I'm supposed to wait at least 24 hours before the washing step. But Sophie couldn't wait. Neither could I. ( I needed to know if this worked so that I could let Sophie go ahead and do her Father's Day gift. Shhh...)

It didn't take long for the legging to completely dry on the backyard table. ( This is Oklahoma.Today's temperature is 96F.) Then I washed the legging, to take the glue off. Another 30 minutes to dry, it's done! 

It worked! So Sophie started to use this method to make a Father's Day gift. ( It's quite messy! That's all I could say. The paint ended up on her fingers, face and her own dress. Of course, most paint ended up on the gift!)

 

Just In Time for Summer!

Sophie loves to wear her hair long. It seems impossible to persuade her to get a haircut. It gets so hot here in Oklahoma in summer. They go swimming, they go roller skating, riding on scooters... Sometimes they end up taking more than one shower in a day. It would make the job so much easier if the hair could be shorter.

"Sophie, do you want to have your hair cut, just a little bit short? It will grow back before you know it." 

"No! I have to put it into a bun!"  

But Laura had her hair cut a few days ago. You know the rest of the story. "Mom, I want to have my hair cut short, just like Laura!" 

She DID have her hair cut (by Mom), and it's not like Laura's, and it's not just a little bit short. It's SO much shorter! That's usually what happens when I tried to even out the hair on both sides. This side needs to be shorter... oh, this side seems a little bit longer... I think I just need to take one more centimeter from this side until ... and they still don't look right!

Later on, Laura, who's witnessed the whole process, said to me, "Mom, now I know what happened to my hair when I was little. Poor Sophie!" 

But poor Sophie was as happy as she could be for the rest of the day.

端午节快乐 Happy Dragon Boat Festival 2011

Happy Duanwu!

Happy Chinese Dragon Boat Festival!

This year, the festival falls on Monday, June 6th. Both girls are already home for the summer break, so we have plenty of time to "mess around".

I read "The Legend of the Maiden White Snake", the traditional story associated with the festival to Sophie; we learned to write the characters; we watched Dragon Boat Race on Youtube; we made some sachets... most of all, we made Zongzi.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

2007 Dragon Boat Festival: 2007 Duanwu
2008 Dragon Boat Festival: 端午思故, 香包和香坠

2009 Dragon Boat Festival: 姐妹俩包粽子