Decorating the Christmas tree

Benji putting the star on top

Zac is choosing the perfect spot for his ornament

Benji the builder

Christmas in Paris

Sounds great, doesn't it?

Tonight one of the bedtime books I read was "Madeline's Rescue" by Ludwig Bemelmans. Madeline lives in Paris. Tonight Benji informed me that he thought it'd be a good idea for us to go for a trip to Paris for Christmas. The reason? So he could ride on a boat like the picture and also to skate board.

The poor boy is going to be sorely disappointed come Christmas day.

Benji in the sling???

Benji was really insistent in wanting to get into Mommy's sling a few days ago so I finally agreed. It turns out the claim that it can carry 50 lbs. is accurate (Benji is 34 lbs. currently).

Like father, like son

February 2007

November 2007

Anybody weary of the whining of a 3 year old?

I know there must be others like me out there, who just really feel like you can't listen to another whiny word or you will implode. Or maybe it's just me. Here's a verse God showed me today that has given me some encouragement:

"Let us not become weary in doing good, [even when the recipient isn't deserving] for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. [Oh, you mean I can't just give up?? Today I was definitely tempted. Harvest? I am DEFINITELY ready for some harvest.] Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers [especially my own family, specifically a certain 3 year old who will go unnamed]." (italics are my own comments added) - Galatians 6:9-10

Anybody who is having a better day than me and reads this, I'd love some prayers for patience and that my eyes will be focused on the harvest.

Apple, it's just different

So we finally got rid of our old, old computer last week. We bought an iMac, and have now put our self into the "Windows switcher" category of computer users.

We've been needing to replace our old computer since August last year for various reasons. As part of the criteria for getting a new computer, I've been keeping tab of our computing habit and shortlisted the following as our main use for a computer at home:

1. Internet
2. Digital life (our photos and videos)
3. Productivity (spreadsheet, document, presentation)
4. AV console (really as our movie theater)

Based on the above, we could really go Windows or Mac as a platform to adopt, and with Mac pricing being more and more competitive as they are now, Mac has become a consideration for me. At that time too, both camps have been touting their upcoming OSes, so I wanted to at least wait and see what they have to offer before buying.

So January came and Vista was released and..... was a big flop (IMHO). Vista's hardware requirements are insane and feature-wise, nothing much to offer that's new. That's when we decided we will give Mac a try for once. Of course we had to wait till now to get it because Leopard just got released roughly three weeks ago.

Being a first time Mac user, I was very curious about all the things being said about being a Mac user - snobbish bunch of folks, think they are better than the rest of the world, etc etc. Why are people branding them this way and why are the Mac-faithfuls so... faithful even when the company was at the brink of losing it all? I thought I'd try to discover it for myself, therefore paid much attention to the tiniest littlest thing about my personal experience with the iMac. So here's a list (so far) from my first day till now, starting even from the unboxing experience.

1. Everything down to the most insignificant thing is neatly packed - I deal with Dells and Lenovos at work and those machines come neatly packed except the mouse, manuals and CDs. Those three most often than not are thrown into a large box that goes on top of the chassis. However, pick up the iMac packaging and shake the box, you will not hear anything jiggling inside. That's because everything is neatly and tightly packed. Everything (keyboard, mouse, manuals, CDs, remote, batteries) has its proper place cut out for/shaped to fit in one single box.
2. Adhesive on the plastic CD jackets - Can you remember the last time you have to pull a CD/DVD out from one of those flimsy plastic jacket? You pull back the lip (sealed onto the jacket by some adhesive strip), start pulling the CD/DVD out and what happens? The lip closes back and the adhesive strip (which is on the lip) is now stuck to your CD! Why can't they put the adhesive strip on the jacket, which is how Apple did theirs?
3. One way batteries - How do you have to install batteries on devices that require batteries installed parallel (one next to another, not one behind another)? You have to alternate them (first one goes in +-; second goes in -+; and on and on) right? With Apple's Wireless Mighty Mouse, you put all the batteries in the same way, +-)
4. Integration of little, seemingly insignificant tools but highly useful - Spotlight (Apple's search) can return you dictionary entries and is also an instant calculator as you search for things. Dictionary can return Wiki entries. Now I don't have to hit the web or launch apps to do this.
5. Help that helps - Help on the Mac is just so cool. You want to do something but don't know how to get there. Pull up search and start typing. If it's something you have to navigate the menu to get to, Search will put a big blue arrow next to the menu item to get your attention.
6. Stereo sounds - Sure, stereo sounds have been around for a while, but from an OS' default sound scheme? Try sending a mail from Apple Mail. When the mail is sent, you'll hear a jet engine swoosh by from your left to your right.

Like I said, I'm paying attention to the tiniest of details here. There is nothing revolutionary in the above-list, but it does reflect on the level of detail a company pays attention to in its products. So far, Apple has not disappoint. Have I have applications crash, or have to restart my Mac? Absolutely. But it has also done the task I need it to do simply and easily. I'll probably blog about that in the future. But right now, I'm just having fun learning to do things differently.

Our 14 hour camping trip

We arrived at the campsite at 4 p.m. on Friday. We left the campsite at 6 a.m. on Saturday. A brief but memorable camping trip.

I enjoyed the camping trip we took a few weeks ago so much that I really wanted to go again before wintertime. Sometimes it's best to let these things go - especially if you have a son with an ear infection AND a cough and it getting into late autumn already. But I was not deterred, and therefore earned the Worst Mother award by forging ahead with the planned trip.

On the positive: I got to make and eat a s'more. Benji got to throw rocks into the lake. Zachary got to enjoy rambling among the leaves. We made family memories.

On the not-so-positive side: It got dark at 5:30 p.m. Benji had a tantrum because we required him to put on his hat and coat. Benji had another tantrum when we tried to get Amoxicillin down his throat (to treat the ear infection). During bedtime in the tent Benji coughed and then threw up - on one of our sleeping bags. We had no extras so we just had to clean it the best we could, turn it around, and use it. Benji continued to cough a lot that night, which made his parents worry every time we heard him cough, thinking how stupid we were for coming. It was colder at night than we expected and we (meaning the parents) froze. Shearn Yoong got to where his feet were numb. Very little sleep actually occurred.

By six o'clock, we decided that we had had enough family camping memories for the year. I drove the kids home in my car, with the heat blasting at full power. Shearn Yoong took the tent down and packed up the rest of the gear ... in 10 minutes flat - no small feat in the dark. This proves how motivating cold weather is.

I finished Zac's stocking

And I even got it finished before Christmas! (Of course, this is his 2nd Christmas but he didn't seem to mind last year.)

I got the pattern and the yarn from my aunt and uncle's shop Straw into Gold - check it out at www.straw.com

Caramel apples

Benji is checking the Joy of Cooking recipe for caramel with Nona's supervision (it's unwise to let a toddler free reign with the brown sugar!). We have a annual tradition of making caramel apples at Halloween time, but this is first year where we decided to make the caramel from scratch. Now, opening caramel wrappers and melting them down is quite good. However, we now know true caramel goodness. It is only four ingredients: heavy cream, dark corn syrup, brown sugar, and butter - and is definitely worth a little more effort. I'm thinking we need to make a new tradition of making them mid-November as well! :)