Childhood Experiments

Posted on November 7, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress


There is no doubt that childhood is a period of experimentation, of making mistakes and of course, doing silly things. Remembering these things will always leave a smile on my face. For me, there certainly wasn’t any shortage when it came to that!

In one of my early childhood experiments, I tried making a snow cone from scratch, without any snow cone machine and without any tools of any kind; and all this because I was curious as to how to make one at home (after all how difficult could it have been?). Without a snow cone machine or ice shaving machine of any kind, I had to scrape the ice from the freezer and use that instead…I know, it sounds really really silly when I think about it now, but what did I know eh?

I put the ice into a little cup and then I simply poured rose flavored syrup or any kind of cordial on top of it, but you know, since the amount of scraped ice was meager, it was absolutely miserable to see the ice melt under the syrup! What I had envisioned to be my yummy and delicious snow cone became a little cup of rose syrup with floating bits of ice in it. It was a total epic fail; and the ice did not even taste at all good!

I don’t do that anymore because now I get my snow cone fix at stalls which actually sell snow cones in various colors and tastes.
Seriously though, if someone wants to make snow cones that actually look and taste good, they should invest in a professional snow cone machine. There are lots of choices available nowadays, just visit any of the retail shops or visit the site and you will see what I mean.

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Time to Get Some Questions Answered

Posted on November 6, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress

When I started telling everyone about my third pregnancy, responses ranged from excitement to nonchalance (perhaps shock?), and I did get many questions about it.  Here are a select few which may help to shed some light, in case you were wondering along those same lines.

Was it planned or was it an *accident*?

This has got to be the No. 1 most asked question this pregnancy around.  Most people are happy with 2 kids, and most people figured we were, too, I suppose given that we already have a boy and a girl and my *ahem* age, but here I am, knocked up all over again.

So the answer to this is that it was actually partially planned, I would say 50:50.

We initially were trying for a baby to be born this year end, but when our window period passed, we kinda forgot about it and let things be.  About that same time, I started going back to the gym very regularly…and I would say that a healthier me made me conceive more easily.

Do you know if it’s a boy or girl?

At our last checkup, the OB-GYN could not tell for sure yet.  Baby was lying on the back and it was hard to tell definitely.  Perhaps during the next checkup in about 2 weeks’ time.

Are you still going to the gym?

Yes, I have been going rather regularly, although the frequency reduced a little during the first trimester, due to my fatigue and nausea episodes.  I picked up the pace again in the second trimester but I have since freezed my membership temporarily (reason for this has nothing to do with pregnancy and will be revealed at a later date).

Bottom-line: Exercise is excellent for pregnancy; as a means to curb nausea, and a means to make mommy-to-be feel better about herself; but the important thing is to listen to the body and to know your own limits.  Oh yeah, no jumping exercises though, but I had plenty of alternative options which I used.

Wow…it’s going to be tough handling two kids and a baby on the way?  How are you going to do it?  Will you be getting a maid?

We will take it one step at a time, I guess.  At the moment, the prospect of it is rather daunting, I’d admit, but getting a maid is definitely the last thing on my mind now.  However, I really wish I could do well working from home AND caring for the kids at the same time.  It would mean the world to me.

Ethan is well on his way to being a very capable and independent young chap and Hannah will hopefully follow in his footsteps.  I will certainly need a lot of help from them both to care for the baby too.

**********

In fact, hubby and I had been going back and forth about whether or not to have no. 3 before I conceived; and when I asked him what the main reason was, his reply was,

“My love, we have so much LOVE to give…we definitely have more than enough to give our LOVE to a third child.”

Ain’t that precious? 🙂

Posted in Close to Heart & Home, Parenting & Motherhood, Thoughts & Scribblings | Tagged , , , , , | 3 Comments

Going Back in Time with Snow Cones

Posted on November 6, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress


If I have not mentioned it before, I’ll say it now: I have an incredible weakness for snow cones. I remember when I was a youngster with only my bicycle as a means of transportation, my good friend and I would hunt down this man selling snow cones at his mobile stall. Truth be told, it was just shaved ice with some sweet sugary syrup poured on it. Cheap thrills as a cheap dessert if you ask me, but it was so good! Not a very healthy kind of dessert, but it was definitely thirst-quenching in our kind of scorching hot weather. We had to eat it really fast too, before it melted into a watery gooey mess before our eyes!

Things have certainly come a long way since then. I do not think that the snow cone man had a very hi-tech snow machine cone, hence hygiene becomes rather suspect, now that I think of it. However, with so many types of snow cone machines now available, people who are in this business will have endless choices on their hands with tons of products to view before they make their selections. Even the syrups used on the snow cones come in loads of flavors now, making it possible to make very pretty snow cones indeed. In addition, these snow cones will definitely be hygienic, and yummy to boot!

Here in Malaysia, where it is hot and humid almost all the time, in addition to snow cone machines, we see a lot of shaved ice machines, for making “ice kacang”, one of my favorite desserts of all time. It is also used for other ice-related desserts in this region, where the demand is definitely high.

Now, wouldn’t you say the snow cone machine would make an excellent accompaniment to my proverbial popcorn cart?

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Looking for a Cheap Lippie That Actually Works?

Posted on November 5, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress

Well, I’m happy to say that you have come to the right place!  Very rarely do I feel strongly for a makeup product, and very much less so for a lipstick, because frankly I’m not much of a lippie person.

However, I recently stumbled on this gold of a find by chance actually.  A couple of months ago, when my son was preparing for his annual concert, I was on the hunt for a lipstick that he could use.  Oh yes, the kids had to put on stage makeup and being the paranoid mom I sometimes am, I wanted him to use his own lipstick, for hygienic reasons, of course!  He had remarked that my current lipsticks (mostly Estee Lauders) were too sticky for him so I was looking for a lighter formula that would feel like nothing on his lips.

I asked my good blogging friend, Paris B, for advice and she pointed me in the direction of Maybelline Watershine Pure lipsticks.  I never would have thought of those because I used this same Watershine range a few years back (when Maybelline first launched it) and it felt really greasy on my lips.  However, I hopped over to the nearest Guardian at my next opportunity and was delighted to find that the Maybelline lippies were on SALE!  At RM19++ per lippie, it was definitely a steal!

After testing out the colors, I chose R21, simply because I was looking for a Red shade for stage performing purposes.  Frankly though, the naming convention employed by Maybelline could not have been more boring…although its efficacy more than made up for this little oversight.  I believe R refers to Red, which means the lipstick shade is in the Reds category.

I tried it on my son just to let him test out how it felt and he said it felt like NOTHING at all!  That was a good indicator!

I then tried it on myself and I was blown away!  I loved how smooth it glided on my lips, and although it went on a little sheer, I have no complaints because I discovered that it did not stain cups!  Wheeee!!!!

So amazed was I that I went and bought another shade, this time in B23.  See what I told you about the naming convention?  This one is very close to my lip color and looks great when I use nude makeup.  Plus I think in the end, Ethan used this brown shade instead for his concert, so as not to look TOO made-up.

I have only good things to say about the Maybelline Watershine Pure lipstick, and I would go so far as to say this is probably the best lipstick you can get for under RM20!  Might this be the lipstick that would create that lipstick addict out of me? 😀

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Jazzing Up a Room with a Poster Could Not be Simpler

Posted on November 5, 2012 by The Giddy Tigress


I have always wanted to remodel and redesign the kids’ bedrooms, just to let them have have that special personal space to call their own. But now, from lack of space, we are unable to proceed on any plan just yet. That might change soon, I hope! 😀

I have also always told the kids that they are most welcome to offer their ideas for organizing or decorating their rooms; be it for shelving, storage or items to be put in their rooms. One of the items which I find intriguing for a kid’s or toddler’s room (or for any room) might very well be a poster custom made for the person inhabiting that room. A well-chosen poster for a room acts as a great focal point for a beautiful and organized room. The mind-boggling question is to decide what poster exactly to get.

Finding a suitable picture might be easy for some; it could be simply a picture from a recent vacation, or a picture of something you like, or a still-life portrait; but in order to get that poster printing quality, it can sometimes be a daunting task. Thankfully, we have options now, whether to print them in old school printing shops or opt for the hassle-free online poster printing.

There are many poster printers around, so it is best that a good one is decided on, based upon the size, lamination and design option. Of course, very importantly for me, is top notch customer service. Some online poster printers offer plenty of printing products to view from, in addition to conventional posters. For instance, customized calendars and pretty cards are quite the rage these days.

At the moment, I’m kind of digging abstract art posters but I reckon my kids would certainly beg to differ. I would also want to frame those posters if budget permits. 🙂

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