Thursday, February 22, 2007

Spending time wisely

I am obsessed with time. I always make sure there's a watch on my wrist and a clock in each room. I cringe when the batteries die on me, especially when there aren't any replacements in the house!!!

Now, running a household with with four children and a man, it's difficult to be on time. No matter how early you start getting ready, how much you try, you can never be as punctual as you used to! And to make things worst, in the end, it's you who's not yet ready!!! Ironic!
If you were to peep in my organiser (I am a conventional one who prefers pen and paper - not the electronic organiser!), you'd discover that I'm such a planner. Things go wrong when I don't organise myself properly. Well, they go wrong anyway, but with a clear layout, I can at least make myself believe that my life is in order.

Last week I was busy keeping the children occupied during the half-term school break. Every night, I think of what to do with my children so that they can make full use of the time they have. If I don't do this, then there would be screams and shouts, moans and groans. They get easily bored with the computer, television, PSP, gameboy, toys and books. So much for technology.

Perhaps I have always been around fixing activities and games for them that they always come to me for ideas of fun. My second twin loves art. He has been rather creative, in fact. Let me share with you among the things he has done (some have met with accidents and been destroyed....).
This he made when he was sick and missed school. Don't ask me what it is. Perhaps a digital sleeve destroyer or some sort.

Then, when he was bored one evening, he made this. A headgear that was then presented to the little D on his birthday.

Last week, I got this card from him (there was no specific occasion).


*******

So, anyway, these were the things we did during the whole week:
Monday: lazed around to enjoy the holiday - computer, gameboy, storybooks, TV, TV and more TV.

Tuesday: we went a-baking at mamasarah's. Well, they did more TV watching - errrr, maybe it was 2 dvds they watched!
Wednesday: we made a trip to the City Farm. It's a wonderful place to go to because there are animals and ... it's free! A few months ago the farm was running out of funds and was at the verge of closing down. Today, it has got all sorts of support from various businesses and organisations. Well, we loved the animals so much that we didn't forget to drop some pennies into the donation box. It's for support. There were goats and sheep. We had brought some carrots to feed them but the hungry (and manja!) goats scared us!!
Guinea pigs and rabbits. This guinea pig was called Sypup and he's sponsored. Cute, eh?There were ducks, chicken, and a couple of ponies. But my batteries failed me. So sorry guys, no little ponies here!!! Oh, and don't forget, a farm must have oink! oink! Oh dear, were they ugly!

Thursday: some story-telling and games, and more TV and computer for the kids!! Mommy had to do some work!
Friday: Coventry Transport Museum. This is also free. Yay! It was very educational. First, we parked a little bit further (for free parking!) and dropped by Swanswell Park to say hello to the swans and ducks, as well as to feed them.

After saying goodbye to the swans, ducks and pigeons, we skipped away to our destination. First, we had to pass this
and go through this:
In the museum, we saw penny-farthings (this, my 6+ princess helped me spell - the bicycle with one small wheel infront and big one behind),
bicycles, tricycles, motorcycles, cars, carriages, etc. Many were made in Coventry itself, so kids were amazed at that!

A model of how cars were originally made. Black and white for effect!


Designing their own car!

And, don't forget to sign in the Guest book! Ahaksss.....

Saturday: Cheshire Oaks, where the slogan is: Guilty-Free shopping. As if!! How could they put that slogan up??? I feel soooooo guilty because we spent more than 50 pounds at Denby(again!!). Apparently, the playground was great! Prior to the shopping, we went through old English countryside. In a place called Pree, the small and cute houses ALL had names. Among all, there was a typical cottage.
We stopped by fields and the children climbed over one fence to pat a horse having his tea (or was it lunch?). Oh, it was also to get a close-up of the horsie...
Sunday: back to de popular Sunday hangout: carboot sale!

Now that the weather's much better, InsyaAllah we'll be making more educational trips (especially involving animals because they love them!).

11 comments:

aNIe said...

Kak Lady pun sama ngan D...selalu jadi the last one bersiap sebab sibuk menyiapkan sikecik yang berlari kesana kemari & kak lady jugak terpaksa membakar kalori mengejar dia...dan paling tidak pun jadi Tarzan...

Wow...anak2 d ni memang kreatif ye...hehehehe...gelihati tengok tangan yang dibungkus dengan kotak tu....mesti banyak tgk cerita pada robot & star wars or somewhat like that...

Mulan said...

the kids had so much fun tu!! syok tengok. we're stucked at home during cny hols here, no where to go, no place to visit. creative nya twin 2 tu.

Kaklong Syikin said...

salam,

kalah saya ngan d ni, very organized person. malunya saya..

ni boleh motivate saya nak jadi very discipline person. tq again.

penuh aktiviti ngan anak2..best. eh, sukalah saya tgk kad tu, nampak kreatif.

mahsuri said...

Hi D,

Bestnye playing with the kids. I had to think of what to do with them during cny hols. But anyway, just love being with them....
Luv your pics

Luv
LI

k.d said...

You got a productive mid-term eh. My daughter dok umah je.. entertaining her baby sister and a friend's daughter who was sent to my home.

Hmmm...kena start her routine balik before school nie.

And Chesire Oak...oooohhh *drool...drool*

D said...

kak lady,
ooooooeeeeoooooo!!!!(Tarzan panggil Jane!)

mulan,
gong xi fa chai then, to you...

kak long,
konon nak organise tak sama dengan organised! heheheh... nak idup, kan?

li a.k.a supermom,
I'm sure you have a wonderful time with the kids! tried baking? I'm sure princess D and H would lurve doing those!!

k.d,
wipe that drool off your face and just get your family down here!!

Intan said...

d, i like the one your child did with you in the pink tutu. You lah tu kan?

IBU said...

wahhhh D, so cool one la u. Agak2 ada plan to become event organiser / event planner tak?

D said...

intan,
like me in that tutu?? auwwww.. *blush*

ibu,
well, you're not all wrong because i used to cook up activities for kids back in malaysia. so, event planner for kids are fine by me. hahahah!! inilah mommy yang selalu buat activity for the kids and frens during school hols. jez doing my little bit: learning a little while having fun la kononnya. if not, parents will be driven mad thinking of how to entertain kids during the hols.

Anonymous said...

D,
Thank you for visiting my blog.

Seronoknya. Teringat semasa saya di Dundee (1992-1993) dan Bangor, North Wales (1996-1999).

Cuma pesan saya: Jangan habiskan pound dan pence anda di Car boot Sale. Pengalaman saya menceritakan: Bila balik di Malaysia anda menyesal dengan apa yang telah dibeli.

Sikit-sikit bolehlah!

Thanks D, take care and enjoy ur day.

D said...

mki,
thanks for the reminder. i know, banyak bencana carboot. tapi we all pergi biasa ada target dan budget. MrD nak cari plier la, saya carik puncher la... hehehe.. tapi bencana carboot tu, kalau nampak benda murah, tempted jugak. kadang-kadang balik tangan kosong je!