About human history

"Whenever you look in history, the people at that time are influenced by loads of stuff that is new and from other countries.  We tend to think that countries, and the people who live there, stay the same.  But in fact countries are always changing: accepting new people and new ideas.  Soon, what was once 'different' becomes part of what is 'normal'.  It becomes part of what a nation is…… I reckon if we all looked back far enough we'd find our ancestors come from somewhere else other than where we are today.  We are all invaders and we are all settlers." quoted from Tyler, Stranger at the Gates.

This is actually a children book I read to Lucas tonight.  What a beautiful book!

花名

我跟Lucas哥哥討論替家中各人起一個花名°Lucas說他叫糖糖, 我叫Cookie, Daddy是班蘭蛋糕°我們問Linus弟弟他的花名是甚麼, 他說: 「我叫Bobbie呀!」Okay喎!

Bed time stories

The best time after a hard work day is telling the two boys stories before their bed time.  I read two for them today.

Boys, sleep tight!! Kisses from Mommy!

Cupcake sweetie

This morning, Lucas sneaked into our bed before school as usual.


I tucked him under the duvet, he circled his arms around my neck, then he said, 'Mommy, I dreamed you made cupcakes for us last night!'


Oh this was extremely sweet.  I also melted.....


Should make two dozens of cupcakes this weekend!

Credit card

Lucas wanted to have a huge Hong Kong MTR toy set he saw in Toy R's, which cost more than HK$300.


Since we had bought him and Linus many toys in this summer holiday, I did't want him to get lose in this fierce consuming culture, I have an obligation to convey the kids the correct concept of spending.  Therefore, I ask him to delay his gratification - he should do some saving if he really wants to have this toy.


Of course, Lucas has no income, but what I ask him to do is to cut the current consumption.  For example, he wanted to purchase a little car when in a bookstore, I told him it was not a good idea to buy that little car because he should save money for the bigger toy he wanted.


This afternoon, Lucas begged for the MTR toy set again, and asked if I could go to the shop with him today.  I reminded him the saving plan.


'But I have money!' he said.


'So where is your money?' I asked.


'In my wallet!' Then he dug out an empty wallet an uncle gave him last time.


I knew this was pretty cruel but I should let him recognize the truth. 'Having a wallet doesn't mean you have money, your wallet is empty.'


Then he took out a toy cashier.  Suddenly he shouted happily, 'I have money, see mommy, I have money!!'  He showed me a toy plastic gold card which came along with the toy cashier.


'Oh sweetie, this is just a toy card, you cannot pay by it.' I tried to explain.


He protested, 'No mommy, you can get money when you swipe this card.' He then showed me how to get money by scanning the toy card by the barcode scanner which connected to the toy cashier.


I smiled and said, 'Little boy, you cannot get money simply by swiping a card.  Instead, you should work hard and save money you earn in a bank, then you can use your money through swiping your card.'


Frankly, I don't think it was a good time to bring up the concept of credit card - sometimes you don't need to save but you can buy, given that you have a credit.  Therefore, I just told him how debit card worked.


'That's why daddy and mommy should work hard to earn you a fortune.' I continued.


Lucas seemed to digest what I had told, then he said, 'mommy, how about we play the cooking set now?'


He is such a good kid.

Preciousness

Preciousness means: 

• you can fetch up your children from school sometimes.
• you can bring your children to interest classes sometimes.
• you can read them stories every night.
• you can teach them writing and drawing.
• you can kiss them before sleep.
• you can treat them a scoop of delicious ice-cream sometimes.
• you can bake them cupcakes and cookies several times a month.
• After all, that means you can spend time with your children, to witness their growth, and discover you are growing with them.

I feel content with my current life.  I love my family.

We love summer

In this summer holiday, I can spend much more time with Lucas and Linus.

Lucas is attending summer holiday, it is great that he enjoys it much.

To make the summer more interesting, we sometimes invite Clarice and Isaac to come over to join our 'home summer camp'.  These are the activities we would hold from time to time:

• Water painting
• Finger painting
• Playdoh time (I would even make them homemade playdoh, which is very soft and with vibrant colours)
• Swimming
• Outdoor bubbles time (if the sun is not too fierce)
• Reading time
• Little chef time (they help me to make cookies)

Have fun kids!!

迪欣湖

上星期六我們第一次去迪欣湖,天氣剛好,不太熱不太冷,陰天°

由於是週六早上,沒有太多旅遊巴來的遊客,環境很舒服,我們在草地上野餐,還過到一種極小的青蛙,我想它就是全球只有大嶼山獨有的盧文氏樹蛙°

立立愛跳,我們要不停阻止立立誤踏小青蛙,它們是面臨絕種的動物啊!

這是一個好地方,我們考慮找一個早上架車到那兒跑步和踏單車!

I love sunshine!!

It has been very warm in Hong Kong right after the CNY.


Last Sunday, we went to the Gold Coast to enjoy the sunshine (BTW, how come Hongkongese love to use names of places from other countries,there are places called Soho, Manhattan... Hill, and Gold Coast!!!  I know Hong Kong has its colonial history, but definitely it is not the key reason that people raise such kind of names for places).


Anyway, the babies wore short sleeves T-shirt and pants.  We walked along the beach, built sand tunnels and volcanoes, picked shells, stepped into the cold sea water.


What a beautiful afternoon.

Lucas and Linus loved mommy-made chocolate sponge cake!

Yesterday Lucas told me he wanted to eat mommy-made cake.  I gave him several options: cookies, green tea sponge cake, chocolate sponge cake and fluffy paper-wrapped cake, then he chose chocolate sponge cake.


When the baby woke up from a nap, they could not wait to pop a piece of cake into their mouths.  Finally, they ate more half of the cake (I used a 8 inches cake mould).


I 'melted' when I saw my adorable babies enjoyed eating what I had made.

當個全職媽媽

我的寶貝朗朗立立:

你們知道嗎?媽媽作了一個很勇敢的決定,我當上全職媽媽°

為什麼?真的沒有什麼,只是想見到你們多一些,想跟你們一起玩,一起笑°

想多點時間跟Daddy拍拖°

想做多些好吃的蛋糕及曲奇餅給你們°

希望十年後,我回頭看時,不會覺得錯過些甚麼°

哈哈,這篇網誌是趁著你們午睡時寫的!

Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve

We went to Tai Po Kau Nature Reserve yesterday for hiking. Four of us (Jeff, Lucas, Linus and me) walked for around two hours.

There was something funny (yet a bit dangerous) happened. When I was swinging hands with Lucas and walked up the path, something from the top fell down, the first thing was a piece of bark. Then when we walked closely, more pieces of barks came off, then followed by two big pieces of logs. When I looked up, it was a MONKEY!!! I told Lucas there was a naughty monkey above us and wanted to bully mamei. We ran away from that monkey but Lucas seemed to miss it a lot, he kept singing, “Monkey is naughty, he wanna play with mamei and Long Long”.

We walked further into the area and reached a “park”, there was a wooden slide, the babies ran up and down it without a stop. The passer-by joked that they were very happy but I should be very exhausted. (I brought Linus up and down the slide; it was just like having weight-lifting exercise, with a 30 pounds dumbbell)…
What a happy morning, all of us love hiking.

New Sofa

We bought a 2-seat sofa for double "L"s, you can tell they like it a lot.

Early babies eat bread

Lucas and Linus know what “Dolce Vita” is.

Every morning after milk, the two babies would sit on (sometimes fight for) their little sofa together, to enjoy their second breakfast, usually bread or toast.

Their pose is just like a boss in the office, sometime they put their legs up and lean backward, to rest in a very laid-back position, and watching Disney Channel, smiling with Little Einsteins or Noddy or Handy Manny.

Mommy and Daddy will work hard to win you bread!

The meaning of Christmas

I was very lazy in blog writing in recent few months. The key reason is I was terribly busy at home. (Yesterday Lucas did not allow me to go washroom because he did not want me to be out of his radar, when I was really having the urge). Having two babies is difficult to having your own time.

Christmas is all around and I have bought two cartoon DVDs for the babies. One is Peanut, another one is Little Einstein.

Four of us watched the Peanut DVD altogether. The babies were not very interest though. I always feel Peanut comic fits adults more.

It is about Charile Brown, the pessimistic boy who is feeling isolated and miserable during the Christmas time. He feels Christmas is just an enormous commercial activity which give excuse to merchants to encourage customers to have extravagant spending. He craves to know the true meaning of Christmas. At that moment, he is nominated to be the director of a Christmas drama, and everyone is wondering this would be the lousiest Christmas performance ever, because Charlie Brown has picked a small and weak Christmas tree with falling leaves and for the performance…

When Charlie feels hopeless and everyone is frustrated, Linus tells Charlie Brown the true meaning of Christmas is wishing the world full of joy, bliss and peace. Charlie brings this humble tree to his backyard; he doesn’t notice the kids are following him. When he goes back home desperately, the kids work together and beautify the tree, it becomes as attractive and fabulous as other metallic big ones.

Charlie hears the noise and he runs out from his house. He cannot believe what in front of his eyes. The kids hold him tight and sing songs together.

This is the meaning of Christmas!

This is the sweetest Christmas story I have ever heard.

Sky

We moved to our own cozy net finally.

Lucas loves the new place, he wanders around the flat everyday and pushing bean bags and boxes everywhere.

Unlike his elder brother, little Linus needs more time to get used of the new environment, but he is still as cheerful as usual.

People comment their room is extraordinarily beautiful. It is like a lovely corner of a pair of little princes.

I love the view outside also. You can see a hill from the windows. If they lie on the floor, they can stare at a large piece of non-fragmented sky, and to study the movement of clouds, or simply to day dream.

This is the most precious thing we can give them.

I hope when they grow bigger, they will know how to appreciate the sky, which would allow them to stretch their imagination beyond any boundaries.

Turtle

Tonight we chatted with Lucas and asked if he would like to dress up in Halloween. He said yes, then when we asked him what he would want to dress like, he said....

TURTLE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We burst into laugh. Then we asked him what Daddy should dress like, he said....

TOOTHPASTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I am so lucky that he had made up his mind what I should dress like.

We are thinking Linus can be a pumpkin that night!

My two little angels

I should count my blessings everyday. I am so lucky to have two angel-like babies, they are god sent gifts.

The brothers have totally different personality. Lucas is sensitive, Linus is straight forward. Lucas is delicate, Linus is more sturdy. I feel it is amazing.

I love to cuddle both of them while watching TV in sofa or in bed, the babies will stay quietly and enjoy such cozy moment. I do hope such comfortable feeling can imprint in their mind. When they grow up, they may face a lot challenges and difficulties, I hope they will recall such homey feeling, and remember that no matter what, their mommy also thinks they are the best, and support them unconditionally.

This is what mommy should be, and love to be!!

It is not easy to be a mother....

Lucas loves tunnel, but he was scared to go into this tunnel by himself, so I squeezed into the tunnel with him, which actually big enough for kids only....

Baby massage

Despite the long working hours, if possible, I would do baby massage in the evening.

I have finished a can of L'occitane Mama-bebe cream, it is no longer available in the stores. Then I switch to Julique Baby's calming massage oil, which contains chamomile and lavender essential oils.

My sister said the kids are really having great life, and Jeff is jealous about it.

Baby massage can achieve bonding between parents and children. Tonight when I was squeezing Linus's arms gently, he rewarded me a big sweet toothless smile!!!

I wish I could spend more time with them.