up in the florida sky..

The bags are unpacked and i'm settled.

Finally.

The last 2 weeks have just been a whirl of setting up home, housekeeping, stocking up groceries, and settling into a routine that all of us can function happily.

And to our dismay, the hot hot hot Florida weather is no better than Singapore's with daily afternoon downpours nearly every day this week.

Nonetheless, key highlights that have kept our spirits up have been god-sent. Literally...

What greeted us after one of those thunderstorms in just perfect splendid colours
... My camera really didn't do justice to what we saw...

And a typical sunset here ...

But my personal favourite this weekend... catching the launch of the space shuttle Discovery on friday night at 2359hrs.

It was exciting as we watched the live launch on our laptops of the Discovery at Kennedy Space Centre some 3hrs drive from here. The minute the rocket launched, we rushed out of the house to gaze into the dark night sky. A minute or so later, we spied this wonderful bright spark in the sky.... AMAZING... and followed its trajectory till we could see no more, than silently made our way back to the house, with me adament that we shall see the next launch live at Kennedy :)

We've HIT the books this week, and as usual, the start is always tough going. Lots of bargaining, negotiating, and setting of ground rules as the girls try their luck sussing out my limits :P Nonetheless, I have big hopes of achieving GREAT THings with the girls, and enjoying every step of the way. To date, i've not come even remotely close to this ideal. But one can still hope :)

And we made this !! to cement in our brains the different levels of the atmosphere :)

Scrap-wise, something i did of my friend's totally adorable boys, to share....



And this just AMAZING layout my friend Sash did of Faye ..... thanks a million dearie.. it's such a treasure and is displayed now on my mantle :)

Am busy putting together the DT layouts for Apron Strings so check back soon to see the full reveal !!

August PageMaps and giveaway by Apron Strings

If you gals haven't already seen it, the August PageMaps are out and they are just tooo fun to play with and I was sooo privileged to be asked to contribute a Layout !!!!!

Here's what i did with this sketch ...

Nature's Captive

Some close ups using Sassafras Lass and Websters' goodies :)

AND what's more .... Apron Strings Design is sponsoring a WHOLE breadbox kit for the sketch contest ongoing on the PageMaps blog !!! There's still time and contest ends 16th Aug 09 so get your act together ladies !! :)

Incredulous

Exactly ! this slip from blog world - tsk tsk tsk ..... inexcusable !!!

So no excuses. Simply a perfect reasoning of the ol' fashioned whirlwind of life mangled by long road trips, lots and lots of travelling, packing, unpacking and tons of stress. Luckily this was balanced by mesmerizing views , delighted kids, and (mostly) happy ME.

How not to be when its the Grand Canyon/ Monument Valley and Las Vegas we are talking about !

A childhood dream come true, it's wonderful seeing the girls lap it up too as they took in this view and 'sweated' in their bid to become Junior Rangers of the Grand Canyon National Park.

(Girls taking their ranger pledge)

Then there's Monument Valley - intensely spiritual, with its many mesas and buttes carved solely by nature's forces. The mammoth rock structures are deeply captivating particularly at sunset, especially when one is privileged to witness the peeking of the moon behind the crimson plateau across the desert

And some scrappy goodness to share too ! Just love how this wonderful hobby enables that release from the craziness of life. And better yet, a meaningful way to make someone else extremely happy too !

Here's a mini-album i did for my friend's mom's birthday ...


And one of C who is just soooooo grown up already - i want my baby back *wail * !!!

Almost Five

LIFE IS ....

It is.

With zoo visits, some scrappy time, retail therapy (thanks to sales at Banana Republic & Children's Place) and happy kids... how to ask for more ??? Plus, C is reading!! Yeah ! Finally !!!

AND i finished this humongous ABC album for fathers' day !!

Nearly killed me, but am sooo happy with the result ! Can you imagine - 26 pages !! I used mostly SFTIO 's Jan 09 kit (Patience) which blended blues, browns, beiges and oranges perfectly !

(cover)


gosh ... don't think i'll undetake something of this scale for a long long time...

here are some highlights..

*M*

*T*

*V*

AND completed this LO of C too - surely one of my faves..

AND we are celebrating our 13th anniversary tomorrow too ! My am i getting old ! LOL !!!

Have a great week ahead everyone !

Apron Strings Jun DT reveal

The Apron Strings Jun kit was such fun to play with !

The Small breadbox kit conveniently themes 3 different mini-kits together with matching cutie bellies to play with. It was just tooo easy to put together ! Featured papers are Doodlebug, Jenni Bowlin and Fancy Pants this month. Plus, Lori puts together a wonderful newsletter to go with the kits each month that lays out just what you need to do and gives so many inspirational ideas to put those pages together.

AND I achieved some 7 layouts and 2 cards with the kit and also had fun mixing the different lines around !! ah, the Jenni Bowlin line with its blues, blacks and reds ... my favourite...

"Grow Baby Grow"

- a tribute to my pint-sized Faye who is still all of 14 kg... Sigh... what does it take to fatten this girl ??!!! AND to add to my woes, i can't seem to find full cream milk in the supermarkets in the US, cos' parents here seem to have the opposite problem to mine !

I just love this close-up.... Faye just gets sooo broody at times. I suspect she might have a split personality !! LOL !! What a complex 4 year old !!

"The many sides of you"

"Free 2 Play"

Away from the stresses of a school-going kid in Singapore, this girl just PLAYs and PLAYs all afternoon ! I love that R now has the time for a more carefree childhood, and we're not rushing from class to class all the time. So glad we made the decision to just pack up and move..

"Reach for the Stars"
A reminder to R that she can have fun, and reach for the Stars at the same time !
Some other fun LOs capturing the day to days of what we get up to !

"SO close"

"Enroute"

"Yum"

Simple quick cards i made with leftovers...

This is now hanging on my kitchen cabinet above my stove..

Thanks for dropping by !!

Bad...

i know...

ME that is, for being so slack in updating my blog :)
Sorry, friends ... guess you can call it a blog rut i was in, and events accumulated to such an extent that it was too tough to put it all down !

So here's the greatly condensed version to explain my lapse.....

San Francisco - here we come !!

While everyone back home was busy preparing for the mid-year exams, the girls here were living it up - on a road trip - driving many miles to San Francisco and San Jose and visiting R's Godma in Sacramento.

Finally some of their own kind (kids) that is to play with !! The girls have been soo deprived - socially that is - and missing all their friends back home. They've hardly any playmates here except each other. And me, YIPPPEE !! Some decent ADULT female company, as i caught up with my 2 friends living here. Plus really great homecooked Chinese food too ! BLISS !!

En-route the scenary up the California coast was breathtaking as we travelled up the Pacific Highway, hugging the vertical cliffs amid foggy clouds like these snaps show ...

R is now quite a dare-devil and will climb over boulders and rocks just to get to the top of a mount to gaze into the Pacific blues...

C was quite happy with other means of entertaining herself....

But their favourite - yea ... shell picking ... STILL

On the way, we said hello to some squirrels, deer and sea lions...

Back to the grind

Now back home, they're hitting the books while their peers are on holiday !! R's lao shi sent her a sample of a Chinese composition that is expected at P2 and i flipped !!! GOSH !! how AM I EVER going to help her to write to such a standard, when i can't even put a decent sentence in Mandarin together any more ! Panic....

Well guess i just gotta focus on what i CAN do... I try to do a core academic subject a day (be it Eng, Math or Mandarin) and a more general knowledge based one - be it geography, history, or literature. Yesterday, we covered the topic of pyramids and MUMMIES - one of my all time favourite subjects ... haahhaha...

here's a glimpse of our homeschool session ...
(that was C's spelling for the day on the top left side of board)

This was R's version of what she got out of it...

And this is C's (very proud of herself) version ...

AND I've been busy with lots of scrapping too for Apron Strings ! Check back for the DT reveal this 15th !!