Atta pumpkin twist

Thai style pumpkin pan mee made of atta flour.

Pumpkin capati with the left over pan mee dough.

It was quite a productive day. I had a kunyit facial, washed the toilet during bath, created the above 2 dishes. ( previously made dough) It is quite convenient to have some capati dough ready in the fridge. heat it up with some cheese makes a healthy finger snack.

棕的感动 Dumplings that touch you.

A work of art. A beautifully crafted dumpling from Sarawak.

This year I have the priviledge to receive many different homemade dumplings from friends and neighbour.

First was a vegetarian dumpling - this one bought from Da ai educare. no meat, still managed to keep some good flavour. a humble celebration.

Then chang from Muar - made by Janice's mom. Everything comes in double - double mushroom, chestnuts, pork... you can feel the warmly double happiness there.

- chang from my sinsei neighbour - she made it with her fellow staff in the fully equipped clinic kitchen. tasted very yummy too, i suspect she flavored it with some salted fish.

- chang from my good old friend Jade - Her mom makes lovely chang without fail every year. She uses red bean in her chang wrapped by lovely white glutinous rice. The fatty meat used was soft and melts in your mouth.

- also chang from my good friend Myra - She made it with her mil. Delivered to me in a mickey mouse bag. It is also made with the white glutinous rice without the dark soya sauce. This time has some garlic accent in it.

and lastly a chang from sarawak made my Joshua's aunt- wrapped in local bamboo leave pluck from the local tropical forrest. thick and deep texture neatly wrapped the content with bamboo string. It has lovely white glutinous rice as well, and the ingredient taste slightly sweet with a dash of nyonya influence. it is simply heavenly and touched every bit of my heart. Also a big thanks to Esther for serving it to me first thing in the morning.

so 6 different types of chang I have tasted this year. It is a warm festival celeberated with great art and friendship. I can only be thankful.

Crafty Indulgence

want to avoid buying the commercial cartoon backpack. 

Wonderful craft book to inspire the boys,
they don't know what to do when the tv is off.

Found this lovely craft book from the big book shop in atria for RM14.90 - Summer Crafts by Marjorie Galen. Feeling warm and fuzzy after browsing it. can't wait to share this with shanyang. he loves making things. I' ve been wanting to make a backpack for each of my boys. found a pattern inside.

Also found an extremely beautiful craft blog by an artist in Portland made for his twins, there are lots of simple and artistic ideas. Here's a free DIY paper city template - city & people , vehicles , helicopter. A Malaysian homeschool mom also does something similar paper template for sale in Etsy. She has a free facebox template for download as well. Such wonderful work from home ideas.

copyright :madebyjoel.com

a Homeschooling day

Homeschooling is slowing flowing in my vein now. I can now easily come out with things to do for especially a 3 yr old, just off my head. it's great. After all the reading and researching,  today i was doing it without having to refer to a book or the computer. Just went with the flow, observing the kids.

We bring a long a mat sometimes,  just chill in the park, reading, sketching.

We managed to climb this tree before it was chopped.  It's important to bond with the trees.

Going to the park is our important morning routine. I wake up in the morning not knowing what to do usually. Visiting the lovely park near my house is often the best answer. The park is just 1 min walk, and has about 50 trees. Xuan starts to run following the track once he reaches the park. It's wonderful to see him knowing what to do naturally. I will do some walking and meditation under the trees.

The brothers posed for me as they were walking home. Look at Xuan, he was so thrilled with his elder brother holding him.

After for about 30 min in the park, we head home for a shower. 1 year old xinyuan will go for her late morning nap. While my "student exchange" from cambodia will help me to prepare lunch. That leaves me some free time without a baby. Suddenly it strikes me to do a lap book with xuan. I have read and talked so much about it, but have never done it b4.

With some colour papers and tools, we are doing a shape book. i help xuan to cut some shapes out, he  happily sticks it. I feel great, don't know about xuan. he thought we were doing a card. he has already decided to give it to Aunty Dora.

Then it is lunch time, and hopefully they will nap soon, then it is my happy hour!